Catching the Winter Sunrise

winter trees and sunrise
Winter Sunrise

Some of the most beautiful moments of my days happened when sitting at the bus stop early in the morning on winter days. To enjoy seeing the sun coming up, I’d have to leave the house where too many trees kept me from seeing anything except a glimpse of orange far off. But at the bus stop, near the wide open area of the lake, it was sometimes a spectacular view.

Sometimes I’d bring my camera and take a walk after my son got off to school. That is just one wonderful advantage of working at home. Having the ability to work my own hours means enjoying the best parts of the day if I choose. Yes, I am lucky.

Now I don’t live near the lake and I never see a sunrise – except the occasional bright color way off through the neighbor’s trees. I always think about how beautiful it must be to live on a hill. If you live on a hill, I hope you take time to enjoy that beauty.

The woods are something I can enjoy. Whenever I walk in the woods I always think of this part of Robert Frost’s poem. It’s the only part I can ever remember.  Certainly the thickly wooded areas of woods in the northeast are lovely, dark and deep.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
(Robert Frost)

Life Overload – Making Kaleidoscope Images

design in pink and green
Fun with lilies

It’s all getting to me. The holidays – no tree up yet. The wedding plans – are called off. The lack of sales at my online stores – always happens this time of year. I need to get to the dentist. I need to find a good homeopath. Make a will. Find new health insurance. Write, blog, promote, bake, clean, walk, diet…. and on it goes. Until I just seem to shut down and do nothing.

So I began to play with my Paint program.  Usually I will design something when everything else gets tiresome.  I lose myself in playtime and usually discover new things while I’m at it.

Such was the case when I began to make kaleidoscope images from some of my photography.  I spent all day Sunday doing this.  I’d find an image with some good colors and mess with them until they looked good and then enlarge and save.

The round results are designs that I can add to products in my Zazzle stores such as the new wall clocks and dartboards.  They may never sell, but it was fun to do.  I am now considering some other uses for them as well.  If I can get my act together.

A Fake Christmas Tree is Good Enough

cat in the christmas tree
My Cat Loves Christmas!

It is December 8th and we don’t have the fake tree up yet. I’m sure the cat is looking forward to the commotion of setting up the tree. As you can see from the picture, Skittle was such a help while we put the tree together in 2011. It’s an indoor jungle gym for her. I don’t think we will even add decorations this year as she knocked them off one by one last year. Maybe we’ll add just a few unbreakable ones.

This rainy, cold, Saturday would be a good time to do the deed, but my desire is lacking. My teenage son doesn’t want to do much to help, but he likes the atmosphere of Christmas, of course. He says we should have a real tree, but he wants it to magically appear in the house all ready for the presents – those of which will also magically appear Christmas morning. In other words, he gets no joy out of picking out a tree or cutting a tree. Like most kids, he wants the gifts. So I say fake is the way we’ll go, as we have for the past few years.

All the years we lived in Florida we set up real, costly Christmas trees that were mostly dried out from the time we bought them. Continue reading “A Fake Christmas Tree is Good Enough”

Monkey Faces and Indian Pudding

Slow Cooker Indian Pudding
Slow Cooker Indian Pudding (Photo credit: lynn.gardner)

As I sit here trying to cool off at 3:00 AM – yes it’s winter and the inside temp. is 62, but I am hot, (you older ladies will understand), I was enjoying reading about the Indian Pudding again, and I was replying to comments on the re-blog post, from Laurie @ A Taste of Morning.  That Indian Pudding recipe and photo got me thinking of my grandparents and all the baking and cooking they did.

My grandmother always had cookies on her little counter in the kitchen and sometimes they were store bought, but I remember her holiday cooking best. She made “monkey faces” which were cookies filled with mincemeat, but I didn’t like mincemeat so she would put jam in some too. She made her own jam and jelly also and had a little dirt cellar where she kept her jars of preserves on wooden shelves.  The cookies – which were more like little pies because the dough was like thick pie dough- were made by plopping the mincemeat, or jam, onto a round piece of dough and then covering it with another round piece.  The edges would be pressed down with a fork and then slits made in the top.

She also made the tallest apple pies ever.  I used to call her apple pie “mountain pie” Continue reading “Monkey Faces and Indian Pudding”