Chesnuts

Let me tell you about chesnuts: The doggone things do NOT pop-pop-pop like the lyric writers of the popular song Sleighride would like to have you think. They EXPLODE, blowing little chesnut body-parts all over creation, especially when you "roast" them on top of the woodburning trashburner stove, under a cast iron skillet.

Being a bit novice at the process, we did the best we knew how, thinking that we would try something new and interesting for Christmas this year.

Here is my evaluation of the experiment:

#1. Chesnuts taste better raw than roasted.

#2. Chesnuts explode, so find a way to contain the resulting blown-apartness.

#3. Do not try said experiment in close proximity to your recently out-of-school kindergarten-teaching daughter. She is absolutely great, but hadn't had enough time to rest up, just being dismissed for Christmas on the 23rd.

#4. I did enjoy the experiment. . . I would not repeat it. Ha-ha-ha.

Have to tell you, it was a wonderful breakfast. Wayne had made cornbread, but we all had to add our own little touch to the menu. Jake's description of the fare follows:

Train-wreck Eggs

Breakfast Meat besides

Fried Potatoes prepared with an Army Grater

in addition to

Wayne's great cornbread and

Exploding Chesnuts.

Man, don't Joanie's traditional Christmas sweet rolls sound great right now?? I almost called and asked for her recipe the week before and got too involved in other things. . .

Taught me two things:

#1. You have to have a thick skin with sons' accounts of home happenings.

#2. Don't procrastinate asking for a recipe.

Another Christmas tinged with unique family color!!

I am grateful we enjoyed some quiet Christmas stories in the afternoon before dinnertime. . . .

Christmas 08

Nice day. Wayne brought his mother for the afternoon and we read some wonderful Christmas picture books in front of the fire place while the ham cooked in the oven. Jim came over for a little while too and we thoroughly enjoyed the quiet time while we read. (We had had some excitement in the morning, revolving around breakfast preparation and chesnuts, but you'll have to read Sarah's blog for that.) Times involving Luzell seem to be increasingly peaceful. It was so nice to have Jake & Cody and Sarah home as well. A wonderful Christmas Day!!

Palm Tree, O Palm Tree

A panic call to Joanie's quilting hot line: "How do I make a palm tree pincushion?? Jake would like one for Cody for Christmas."

"Wel-l-l-l-l, I don't do three-dimentional quilting . . . But check out pincushions on Google . . ."

So this is what I came up with, after some thinking and head-scratching and digging through my material. Turned out kinda cute, if I do say so myself!!

Thanks for a great idea, Jake!

Merry Christmas, Cody!!!

LIGHT Parade

I've loved light parades since the first one I saw in Disneyland years ago. It was so magical.

A few years ago, a Christmas light parade became a part of the local celebration in the valley. Usually we don't go to town for it because the weather can be bitter, but this year our friends invited us to watch from the warmth of their new handicapped van, much better than being on the sidewalk in the snow that blew in late this afternoon. Here are some of the highlights:

Here's old Ronald McDonald in his little plastic-bubble-enclosed cabin.

On the other hand, the local middle school kids weren't dumb. Rather than march through the slush, they brought their band in a BUS and tootled through the open windows for all their fans.

Of course, you understand, all those white spots are snowflakes from the snowstorm we have needed so badly here.

Being this is a farming community, the tractors are even decorated!!

There aren't too many pics because my fingers got frosty, but you get the idea. It was pretty, and we were glad for shelter to where we could watch and friends to enjoy it with.

And when we got home, here is our little Christmas-decorated-inside, snowy-sunflowery house -- warm on the inside, even if the wreath on the porch is wrong for the season -- a great place to come home to!!

Ides of December -- Happy Christmas, All!!

For all of you people who decorate during Thanksgiving vacation for Christmas, I know you will not understand why some of us wait ... and wait ... and wait ...

And I will have to admit that there was one year that I entirely forgot my Christmas tree was UP. It was when we first moved here and there was not an insert in the fireplace hole. All the heat went up the chimney and all the cold came down. As a result, we just closed the Family Home Evening room doors until the weather got warmer. And so it was, in March when my visiting teachers came for their monthly visit, that I ushered them into the cleanest room in the house, the Family Home Evening room .... and was totally shocked to find my Christmas tree, still standing there in its glory, every needle intact because it had been so well refrigerated!! (I think that may have been the year we had a pinon pine tree that took up about 1/4th of the room: We had to lean out around it to see each other when we had visitors... )

So here it is only Dec 13th and our tree is UP and the Thanksgiving turkey is DOWN from the front door. Of course, the sunflowers are still on the front porch, in spite of the snow, but the Christmasie wreath will come along some time next week. But then, you have to understand that I had the Christmas wreath up all year, just changing flowers for the seasons until I put up the sunflowers about a month ago.

OK. So I'm not Martha Stewart, Susie-homemaker-decorator. Soooooo?

Anyway ......................... we had fun today decorating, Wayne & I.

And, Sarah, you will be glad to know that you won't have to do it this year!!!

Some years, bless her, she has come home at Christmas to a treeless house. She just sighs and heads for the decorations upstairs. This year, we decided to have fun with some seasonal stuff, so it's all done, honey!!

So, Happy Christmas to US all.

We hope you enjoy this wonderful season, doing the things that make your soul happy!!!

The tree goes in the crook of the stairs so we don't have to
lean around it!! We love the cozy, warmness of the living room, all those soft lights and warm colors.

Our Love to YOU!

Leftover Turkeys

Best thing about Thanksgiving is the leftovers, right?? This the day after the big feast and all the visiting. We are relaxing, enjoying the park and the fresh air and wiping the rain off the slides with an old towel. I love the colors on the slides and the kids' faces. Sarie is so fun with them. All of us love it.

ThanksGIVING 2008

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving: a great time to get together, eat a good meal, and enjoy family. And this year was truly a miraculous occasion. Andy & Sam both said they would come, but could not stay long because they had to be back to work before the week was done . . . We knew we would be doing our Enjoying of Each Other's Company on Thursday.

~~Little happy-face girlie cousins Lauryl & Lizzie. Daddy/Uncle Sam taught them how to cut butterflies on the fold of the paper so the wings would flap. Dining room chimney in the background.

~~Kade, Sammy & Lizzie looking down from the top of the stairs with the kids' Hidey-Hole library in back of them. They found some thread cones from a commercial sewing machine: they were playing bionic monster and Kade called them "claw protectors".

Andy, Becky & their crew arrived first, and I could tell the difference Grannie Camp each summer for the kids makes: they were at home and relaxed, glad to be in Elsinore. Greeting my grandkids was like saying hello again to old friends!!

~~ Here's Amy & Mike last summer: 24th of July in Monroe, the "traditional" (for the Bouchers) book sale. Usually it is in the basement of the library where it is pretty cool . (Two reasons for going: the books and the cool!) This year it was in the old firehouse to the side of the library building and not as refreshingly cool.

~~Wed night we ran out of bedrooms and were trying to find places for Andy & Becky's crew. The little kids were on the living room floor and couches, and Britty was reading in the library. I said, "Honey, would you like to sleep on this little bed (in the computer room up over the porch -- the one where you watch out when standing up or you conk your head)? You'll be in here by yourself . . ." Well, of course she wanted to, she always finds an excuse to play around in there when she visits. This time, however, she ended up with company . . . With Andy & Wayne visiting in the TV room and Sam & I in the dining room, Amy & Mike "visited" Britty until the TV couches were "vacant" and ended up staying the night. I don't know how the other 2 kids fit in there!

Next morning when Sam's kids woke up they just rattled around like they had always lived here. . . Josh, Lauryl & Kade felt at home and enjoyed their Boucher cousins. Sam's Josh (left) & Andy's Hunter (right) have a special friendship, as do Lauryl & Lizzie, and they got all excited to see each other.

While dinner was cooking and we were visiting during the day, I would find myself listening . . . Listening for the kiddies, how they were getting along . . . And all I found was the most wonderful, calm feeling of peace and happiness. No squabbles, and really, no kids under foot. They were off someplace in our funny little house with its hidey-holes, playing with each other. It was kind of a chilly day and they didn't go outside much, just played inside.

What a wonderful blessing, to feel joy and peace with your family, even though they don't see each other often. What a blessed occasion, to be able to celebrate a special holiday of gratitude and thankfulness with our loved ones . . . who love each other!!!

There are other pictures of Thanksgiving, and Sarah has some on her blog, but this is one of my favorites. After all the kids had played, and the gals had cooked, and everyone had eaten, the Grannie Cook was all tuckered out. That is when the Knights of the Dishpan popped up and banished us from the kitchen. And that's something a body can be thankful for!!

A special thanks to Sarie, Becky, Amy & Britty for their wonderful help and friendship . . . We, all of us, had such a great time being together!!!