Our treats are ready for the witches and gobblins that will come visiting this evening. My little ones will be dressed as Pooh, a lion, and an 1800's colonial woman. They're terribly excited today!

A tradition that's been carried over since my childhood: kielbasa and potato salad for dinner...

Ever since I was a kid, my mom would make that for supper on Halloween. She said it was quick and easy after she got home from work, and us kids were just itching to get out the door to go trick-or-treating. So when I got married and had my own kids, I carried on the tradition. I'm not a huge fan of the meal myself, but my kids like it and ask for it every year. Even my oldest, who's 23 says, "Mom, don't forget, kielbasa and potato salad..." Yes, I remember....

What's For Dinner?

Menu for Two Weeks Worth of Dinners
Creamy Cauliflower Soup - home-made bread - Three Bean Salad
Calzones w/sausage & ricotta filling - green salad
Bean Burritos - taco chips and salsa
Beef Stew - oatmeal rolls - green salad
Baked Parmesan Chicken - brown rice pilaf - peas
Cinncinatti Chili - fresh veggie platter and dip
Potato & Cheese soup - blueberry muffins - cut tomatoes
Bacon, Cheese, Onion, & Tomatoe broiled sandwiches - veggie platter & dip
Chicken and Green Bean Casserole - green salad
Pizza - fresh veggie platter
Chili Con-carne over brown rice - cucumber/dill, sour cream salad
Escarole Soup - home-made wheat bread
Baked Potato w/Meat, cheese and sauce - green beans
Chicken Stir Fry with brown rice - green salad
Sloppy Joes - corn on the cob - antipasto

Lunches
Left-overs first
Egg Salad
Tuna Salad
Peanut Butter Crackers
Milk w/each lunch, carrot, celery, radishes, and cucumbers and piece of fruit for dessert.

Breakfasts
Oat meal w/apples, necterines, or blueberries in crockpot, with dollop of yogurt on top
Oatmeal/bran cereal
Fruit and yogurt topped with granola
Left over oatmeal & fruit muffins, with a fruit/yogurt smoothie
Scrambled Eggs & Toast
Bisquits and Smoothie
Chocolate Chip Pancakes - Sunday only... Thanks, Gary!

Snacks
Fruit
Popcorn
Oatmeal or choc chip cookies - home-made
Pretzels
Yogurt
Brownies - home-made
Hot Chocolate - home-made

Coffee

What are your favorite kinds of coffee? (Brands, Roasts, anything at all you'd like to share!)

I love Starbucks Decaf or specialty coffees as long as they're decaf.

Do you prefer whole bean or ground coffee?

Either is fine with me!

This time of year, there are often Holiday Blends available, and many flavored coffees - do you drink flavored coffee?

Yes, I like blended coffees, flavored, yes.

Do you enjoy special blends? yes

How do you take your coffee? Cream and Sugar? Straight up? Decaf?

I like my coffee with cream and sugar, and yes, decaf

dDo you prefer drinking from a nice thick mug, or a matched cup and saucer?

From a nice thick mug

n

Winter and Holidays - PLEASE be descriptive! Your pal will need this information to be sure to put together a package you will enjoy!

What is your favorite part of Winter?

Going for brisk walks, and knitting and watching a movie.

Do you celebrate a holiday in December, and if so, which holiday?

Christmas

If you celebrate Christmas, do you put up a tree?

Oh, yest!

Would you enjoy items related to the holiday, or would you prefer a Winter themed package?

Either is fine.

Do you collect anything?

No

Are there any holiday or winter-themed items (Snowmen, Angels, Snoflakes, Santas, etc) that you collect?

No

Do you wear scarves?

Yes

Mittens?

Yes

Hats?

Yes

What is your favorite holiday or winter treat?

Hot chocolate

Please share a favorite Winter or Holiday memory.

One year, our neighbor dressed up as Santa, and came in the back door, to our kitchen. I really, really thought that was Santa!

Yarn and Crafting Do you Knit or Crochet?

Knit... for about 21 years, when first pregnant with my second child.

For how long?

21 years

ike wooden, metal, or plastic needles\hooks? Circular or straight?

Wooden, circular or straight

What sort of projects do you enjoy making?

mittens, hats, scarves, any type of baby gift

What are your favorite types of yarn to work with?

anything soft!

Do you spin or dye?

No

Do you do other crafts such as scrapbooking or needlepoint or anything else?

Couonted thread embroidery, nearly any kind of needlework, sewing, and crochet

GeneralWhen is your birthday?

04/15

u have any children? (Furry kind count!)

I have seven children, three cats and two dogs, oh, and about 15 or so chickens

What are your favorite colors?

purple, blue, pink

Do you have any allergies?

Nope

My typing isn't really this bad, it's just that for some reason, I can't delete and correct :(

Over the Clothesline

The clothesline is full today! One of my favorite things in life is hanging clothes. I know that sounds odd, but really, I love it. I've been hanging clothes most of my life. When I was young, my mom always let me help her, and throughout my married life, I've always hung our wash.
Some days, I get some help. The above photo is my daughter. I must have been too busy that
day. I've taught all my older children how to do laundry and hang clothes. You might think it's a no-brainer, but really, there is a method I like best. Interested? I thought so :)
Here's my tried and true method: I try to hang the heaviest clothes on the back line, like jeans or sweatshirts first. As I go "in", I hang lighter-weight clothes, to lessen the line from drooping. As I work my way to the other end, I hang heavier clothes again. The next line, I like to hang wash cloths, smaller dish towels, underclothing, socks, etc. That way, the air circulates nicely around the clothes.
On the next line(s) I hang towels. That usually takes up one line in itself. If I have other small items, then I use the next line. The next line usually has shirts, PJ's, etc. in the same method as described above.
On days that I dry sheets and occasionally blankets and quilts, I never fold the sheets and use one line. Instead I use two lines to get enough air circulation. Also, when the weather gets colder, I make sure I take the clothes out of the washer, shake, and lay in the laundry basket, in the reverse order I hang. That way my hands aren't frost-bitten before I'm done. See, I told ya, I've put more thought into hanging clothes than I probably should...but there you have it!

Dish Cloth

A dish cloth I started today. It's a terribly easy pattern I got free off the internet. It's a four row repeat and goes like this: cast on 45 stitches, knit a row, purl the next, knit one purl one for the third row and purl the last row, for fifteen repeats, if I remember correctly. Easy or what? I'm using cheapie Sugar 'N Cream Cotton, but the color is just lovely... like butter...

Foolin' Around

Me, Kaleigh, and Kierra just foolin' around. Gotch ya , Casey!

Fall Kitchen Table

Here are a couple pieces of counted cross-stitch I did. I bring them out each fall to adorn our kitchen table. Between the aroma of the Yankee Candle burning and the apple pie in the oven, our home is just oozing Fall!

Fall Foliage in the Berkshires

What a beautiful day today was! The sky was a brilliant blue, and the sun was shining high in the sky. A typical fall day here in New England. It was the perfect day to go for a Sunday drive, leaf-peeping. This area is a stones throw from where we live. The picture of the cabin appears to be abandoned, but the interesting thing was the giant paper-wasp nest. Do you see it? It was huge!

Gifford Jacket
I bought this yarn, Plymouth Encore Chunky, while on vacation in Rhode Island in August. I've been wanting to make a cardigan sweater for some time, but it seemed like an overwhelming project for me. So in order for it to be within my reach, I compromised and bought the chunky yarn and a pattern that calls for the use of chunky yarn. The pattern is called Gifford Jacket by Louise. It's an easy pattern, and as long as you know the construction of making a sweater, you'd do fine. As you can see, I'm almost done. I need just a little bit of quiet when working on the sleeves because I'm counting rows, but at times quiet is hard to come by. It should be finished soon though... I'll post a picture when I'm done.

Turkey Slaughtering Day

Well, yesterday was turkey slaughtering day at our house! We raised six turkeys through the summer and yesterday was the day for them to come to their end. My parents came up and my husband took the day off, while two of my sons helped. It's a dirty job, indeed, but in the end, we wound up with five 23-25 lb. hens, and one 29 lb. Tom! My parents, my brother, my friend, Sue, and my husband's co-worker all have an all-natural turkey for Thanksgiving. We kept the tom and one hen. I'm glad they're done and in the freezer.
It was a wonderful biology lesson for a couple of the kids, but keeping the little ones away was a task all in itself!