Lots Happening

Hello Blogger Babes,

It's me Cathy and YES, I am still here. I had been posting a Four O'clock Foto everyday and it was a lot of fun to show you my life. But then a few weeks ago I hit a dry spell and thought maybe everyday was overkill. I needed a break..I was burnt out, I had nothing to post about so I took a unofficial pause in blogging. I have been popping in to read all your stories and enjoyed every minute but myself, I was lost. It has been forever since I did any real crafts and so I put down my blog and let my creative juices take over. Now let me say that my creative juices are always bigger in my head but I still try. I have been trying some new things and would like to share them with you.. Between work, kids, house, dance, dogs, a very needy cat {all of a sudden, may be due to new puppy} I have been sewing, baking bread, doing crafts and planning my garden. I have taken pictures which you will see IF you continue to read but I haven't been going overboard. Ya see, I take pictures of everything..EVERYTHing...The camera {Baby} doesn't go in her diaper bag..she sits around the house for all to grab and capture THAT moment. Let me just say we have moments of all kind around here. I am shocked sometimes when I download and see where Baby has been. Surprising enough we have never misplaced her..maybe cause she is used everyday several times a day. Anywhooooo, moving on.. here is what I have been up to lately..A Beta fish that the oldest bought.. This one lived approximately 1/2 day longer then the refund time.. Don't you love

Jack's Pet's

refund policy. I don't even think it had a name..If I had to guess it would be Alan..{from the Hangover} The kids love this movie..I know it's maybe not very appropriate but whatever. You can shelter your kids to the point that they can't interact in public or when they do get FREE.. college, a friends house, their own apartment or even in a car with the opposite sex that they have been so tied up that they go crazy and try to slam everything in they are not allowed to do ... That's when trouble starts. So I give a little here and there and they seem to be good kids so far.. They have not got caught by the cops, they are not getting caught in sexual activities, they are not stealing so things are going well. We have all the friends over to our house which can be a zoo at times but atleast I know what they are doing. We hang out with the kids and their friends in every room of the house, nothing is OFF limits for us.. If they are with their boy/girl friend in the living room, basement we are welcome to come and go.. Actually the oldest's boyfriend likes to hang with us in the kitchen, livingroom or play XBOx with G... it's my theory and rules and so far it's working. Enough of that.. D is now obsessed with the movie

Sixteen Candles. He watches it all the time.

*******Ear Infection*******

In previous posts I mentioned that I had a terrible ear infection. Well last Friday I went to see a ENT {Ear, Nose and Throat} Doctor and he sucked a bunch of stuff out and said I ruptured my ear drum. I feel so much better. It didn't hurt unless I touched my ear but I couldn't hear and the white noise.. I was about to go crazy with the non-stop ringing.

Well anyways we tried Ear Candles. Very odd but it worked. Well it didn't clear the infection but if did take the stuff out. I won't show you pics of that cause mine was really nasty due to the puss pocket.. yeah.. I'll save them for another time.

******Garden Time******

You see I am tired of the snow.. I want to walk barefoot in the fresh green grass and smell the flowers {cause I don't have roses} So I got antsy and had a vision. I read where you don't want to water directly on the seeds so I came up with this idea that I would recycle the milk jugs by cutting them in half.
Then I would water down the handle. Brilliant or what? I know...the What!!


I sat them on a towel on the vent for warmth and let them go. .. This was January 30th. I told G the other day that they were sprouting and he asked what we were going to do with a 4ft tomato plant til May.. Silly man.. I have no idea but I will figure it out as I go.. I'm not a green thumb so for this plant to make it til then will be a miracle in itself. Of course when I put the "planter" down Baxter the inspector had to come check it out. Well that also brought Emma and Macy in too. ...
Baxter and Macy have only met a few times as you can see on her face and this was one of those times. Baxter had decided since there are now 2 Bitches in the house that he will live in our bathroom. I went in the other night to see him yawning and stretching.. I'm not sure if he came out of the armour door or from behind the toilet.. Either way, he watches when he comes downstairs for the rat.

^^^^^^^******MACY claire******^^^^^^^^

Now moving on to the rat-

For those of you that don't know I am a grandma..that's right. The oldest was given a puppy for Valentines Day..

She is supposed to be a

Silky Terrier

but the Vet says she is an

Australian Terrier.

Either way she is a sweet little thing and has a deeper bark than Emma. I was so afraid she would have a ear piercing squeal but she's gonna be fine.

When we first got her she didn't or couldn't go up the stairs so Emma and Baxter sat at the top out of reach.. Well D spent the whole day babysitting her while we were at a dance competition. She snoozed while

he read his Navy Seal

book for a report and then taught her to go UP the stairs.. Emma taught her to go down..kind of.. She lays her legs out like skiis and slides down using her front paws.



They have their moments.

She sure does love the sun coming in on the den couch. That's her daytime spot.

She fits in well and once she gets over puppy mode she will be a good dog.

*******

Homemade Bread

*******

I have been reading this awesome blog by Aura. She is a 27 year old with wisdom beyond her time. She cooks, {which I might steal some ideas from her cause I need healthier food.} she sews, she has awesome hair and makeup, she loves music and even listens to Jack Johnson.. I wish at 41 I could be that in tune with my body and life as she is at 27. I love reading all of her stories and seeing the pictures of her life. She has inspired me to try a few new things and making homemade bread is one of them. ..speaking of bread.. I may take a break here and get some started. It's so easy and the only real time it takes it to let it rise which you or I don't have to do anything.

I guess I didn't realize how easy bread was to make. I thought it took hours and work and hours and work. Now the first one I made did take a little longer for the braiding but other than that it's easy peasy.. I say this cause I can't BAKE... I can't make a decent cookie to save my life but for some reason along with my side kick G which I am now calling my

SExy Bread MaCHine

we did okay and was happy with the results.



Okay the first one we made was inspired by Aura. She mentioned that she eats this bread all the time and it's so good. It looked good and then when her mom made it for her I thought I would try it too. It is

Challah Bread (Hallah),

it's a Jewish Egg bread. We made Honey Challah. At first I didn't think we put enough honey in but when it was done it was dElish..


This recipe ended up making 4 loaves. I put Cinnamon / Sugar on one, it would be awesome for breakfast. Then I put Poppy Seeds on one, Sesame Seeds on another and left one plain. I was really excited cause I never thought I could make bread but I Or WE did and it felt so good to create something. I had no idea it was this easy.. Watch my cooking blog {No Chef Required} for the recipe..

*******************Granola********************

Well I like Granola.. I never buy it, it just seems too expensive. I like a crunch in my yogurt so last week when I served yogurt and blueberries I craved the crunch so I pulled out a pan and went to town. Now by the time I got done was this really going to be good for me?Probably not, but over all it's a great snack and better than a handful of Skittles.. MAYBE..


First I grabbed G's Fiber One ceral and a Kroger Natural Cereal and Cheerios.

I then added

Raisins, Craisins

A few Butterscotch Chips,

Coconut

Pecans

Peanut Butter

Honey

Apple Butter

Salt, Raw Sugar and

Poppy and Sesame SEEDs

I just mixed it all, spread on Greased cookie sheets {lined with foil} and warmed in the oven til the Butterscotch melted.

It turned out so so so so gooooodd.. I even had to make another batch a few days later. This time..well I forgot the Honey but added just a few Chocolate Chips.. this didn't work too well cause they burnt in the oven. I also sprinkled fiber and protein powder on top.. yummo. My creative juices were flowing then and G really likes it. I grab a handful passing through the kitchen. I put it on cereal last night. I take a bag to work...it's a keeper.

%%%%%%% Lunch Bagels %%%%%%%

G and I needed a quick lunch one day because we were going to venture off on another bread making session. I took Tyson Boneless Buffalo nuggets and threw them on a bagel with some ranch dressing, bacon, {spinach on mine} and some cheese. I have to admit, they were the best but with some tweaking they would be okay.

#########

French Bread

###########

Next G and I made French Bread. A lot easier than the Challah. It only takes 2 hours to rise and then another hour.. But the mixing part is a breeze.

I asked G to take pictures and this is what I got.. My pajama pants.. and then a bowl covered with plastic bag so the

yeast

/dough could rise.



My phone after the flying flour trick. I kind of made a mess but that's okay.





While the dough was rising I made a pork roast for dinner. We had left over sauerkraut from the Reuben's the night before so I make this, Mashed Taters, Asparagus and cake. I am not a pork eater but I pulled some meat and added barbque sauce and made a sandwich...I choked it down but didn't go back for more. Here is the finished product. Nice, warm, crusty French Bread.. It turned out..I'm surprised.


I made one loaf and the others I made into bread bowls shapes. This would be great for soup bowls. I made try some in a cupcake pan and see how it does. I just made another batch and it or I was neater this time. I used unbleached and whole wheat flour.. I don't know if "french bread" comes in whole wheat but around my house we are going to try it. Mr. C and Mr. E came to hang out and spend the night with D Saturday. They tore into my new creation. Mr. C loved it. I put butter on some and Strawberry Jam.. yeahhh.I also made a pineapple upside-down cake. I hate this pan, It's too shallow, it doesn't cook well and I should throw it out but I think {and this just hit me} I may mod podge it and put Valentine Suckers in it for the monsters.. I am so creative {SOME TIMES}. I always use the Pineapple juice as the water for the batter. I had almost a whole other cake pan of batter left so I poured it in and made jus a plain cake. Well the little monster {our taste tester} does like Pineapple and she picked up it straight away.. I tried to slide it past her but it didn't work. Random picture of Bananas.. I don't know.. I just sit around and take pics of STUFF..I have found a new creation.. G made me a brownie with Peppermint Stick ice cream and a cherry on top.. OMG it was so good. The girls tried a bowl the other night and liked it too. I don't have pictures of myself, nor do I like pictures of myself but as I was walking in the foyer I noticed my hair is getting longer so I snapped this.. I know it doesn't look long but for me it is.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SEWING>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I have been on a crafty kick lately so I broke out my old sewing machine. I think I blogged about it a few weeks ago. Well the metal bobbin thing with the little lever broke so I gave up. I still had a few things ie. cloth napkins, pillows that I wanted to finish but let it set and dreamed of getting them done. Well Saturday as the little one walked into the kitchen I saw a pair a pajama pants fly in the direction of my sewing pile.. She said the but busted out and that I could make something with them.. Cooooool. But I didn't have a sewing machine.

Pillow

So Super Bowl Sunday G and I went out and had a few beers, played Gin Rummy and watched the game.. GoSaints.. I love Mardi Gras and New Orleans but that's another story. After the game I ran to Walmart and bought myself a new little Singer Sewing Machine. Nothing fancy but it does the job. I have made several things since and will display them here for all of you to see my beginner sewing talents.

Tooth pillow and little bag for secret girl things. Oh yes that is coming for the little one..oh joy to us.. I told her to put a supply in her lunch box just in case. She doesn't carry a purse although she has some cutes ones including a Vera that I would like to get my hands on.

Another random picture. My kitchen sink.. My dish soap in a oil bottle and vinegar in the spray bottle. I use vinegar a lot to clean the sink and countertops.More sewing. We have these bath towels that have lost their shape, the end edges are gone and I am tired of getting out of the tub to find I grabbed an ancient towel that I couldn't dry my hair with. I know we need to break down and buy new ones but I don't. It would take a small fortune to buy enough towels for this household. Anyways.. moving on. I cut the old ones up and sewed them together making dish rags. The work great.. not too thick, not too thin.. I like them. If I run out of dish rags I always grab a dish towel to wipe.. they are just too big or long for this purpose.. so these little guys work wonders. My new invention for the house.

Back to the diningroom garden.. It's February 10th and I have sprouts to my tomato plants.. Yeah I don't really know what I am going to do when they get big but I will let ya know. Okay so moving on.. Uses for my french bread. Sunday morning I made French toast..awesome!!! Tuesday I made garlic bread.. awesome!!!

I know this may be a small thing to some but I am really proud of myself that I could make and have a loaf of French bread setting on my counter for use in so many things..

I put some garlic in butter and spread it on.Then I topped with cheese and waaalaaaa.. Garlic bread. If I had grown the garlic and made the butter I could truly call this homemade..

MOVING ON!!!!!

I bought scarf in 1998 on the one and only cruise that I have ever been on. I bought it to wear as a shaw with my "cocktail" dress. It's been in my closet ever since and this year when the oldest received a few big scarves for Christmas I pulled it off my scarf rack and have worn it since. It's been great to wrap my ears up since I had this nasty ear infection.

Emma Sue and Macy Claire were watching G shovel the snow. I couldn't get a good pic for the glare of the snow.

Speaking of snow.. See all of the

Yellow

snow.. They didn't get too far out the door to do their business.

It's now covered again with about the same amount.. Spring where are YoU?

Cold, lifeless branches.

ma went out for 3.5 minutes and this is what she looked like.. she is a snow bunny at heart. I did make her wear her coat with the collar up.. I'm sure glad I let her get a little shaggy this winter..she has sure needed it this last week. another random photo.. my pin cushion..that I made..yes I did..

Oh and here is the big craft of the week. I made the little one an apron..

Isn't that calling Little House on the Praire or what..

Well that's it for these last few weeks..well actually I have some other pics but that will be for another post considering this one took ForEVER to blog..

Thanks for visiting and hope you come back. If you have any questions about any of my artistic {NOT} ability please leave me a comment.. I really love comments but don't get that many cause.. I know.. I am BORING>>...!!! But thanks for taking the time to look into my crazy life.. NOw off to knead bread..