Different Days

 Since my Young Mama Days, Hubby has managed to surprise me every year with the most wonderful gift.  


His Time. 


 He would save up his Use or Lose time off throughout the year then in the busiest of months, he would spend it all.  This would mean that the whole month or at least a majority of the month of December, He Was Mine.  To a young mama with four children and a very busy life, this meant daily support with gift making, treat baking, snow playing and shopping. wrapping and decorating.  It was the best gift ever.  And we loved our time together even though we were usually just grabbing smooches as we passed each other en route to another task.

 Then our house got empty.


Our little kiddos had homes of their own and Hubby and I found ourselves without the busy-ness that consumes young homes.  However, we are creatures of habit and Hubby habitually saved his use or lose for just widdo ol' me.  I haven't sent Christmas Cards in years.  We quit gift exchanges long ago.  This year, the big tree stayed in the basement and only the newest of decorations came out.  In short, there just wasn't much for either one of us to do.  Not being the type to sit still, this year, we sought out Different Days.  This year, our time off took us to different occupations, things that in the previous years of parenting would never been possible....or even considered.

 This year, the last big shopping weekend before Christmas, we went to an auction.  
While most were scurrying around in the mall, Hubby and I searched out the most rural of locations on a very temperate Saturday in December to a hidden home that housed most of the vintage sewing machines known to man.  I got a glimpse of my own estate auction in the future walking through this elderly woman's collection of all things sewing.  Materials, kitschy furniture and dishes from another time, out buildings full of all kinds of useful and decorative things spanning many decades.  The day was bright and agreeable to be out in, unlike most mid Decembers.  We passed on the lengthy wait for a very special vintage sewing machine, but felt a little lighter in spirit after leaving the beautiful, distant location.

We found an unusual stop for lunch in the nearest town.  A deli with an emphasis on cheese.  All things cheese.  No indoor seating, so we just took our very unique sandwiches and ate in the car.  Because it was Different Day.

We needed to leave the auction so that we could help Youngest Son prepare for his First Annual Christmas Dance.  A hoot if I ever saw one.  YS rented out a local dance studio and put on a most jolly of dances in lieu of gifts for his friends.
 We had a blast baking and decorating and of course, dancing to his well selected play list of musical favorites and obscure (to me) artists.  Hubby and I waited for the right song, danced hard, then departed, leaving the younguns to their Big Fun.

 A few days later, found me preparing to go to my Christmas Brunch with my Fleur de Lis Ladies.  Any time this fun group of women meet is a joy, but the Christmas Gathering is particularly inspirational.  Our hostess is our poet laureate of the bunch, a 91 year old jewel of a woman, that hosts us at her home, prepares the turkey, yeast rolls, dressing and dumplings.  Two other ninety year old members, brought covered dishes as well.  The encouragement I receive from the tiny time with these wonderful women, spurs me on like nothing else.  They are gifts.  This year, the hostess left this message on my answering machine:'Don't forget Fleur de lis Christmas Dinner Monday.  Bring a covered dish. (pause) And put something in it!'  See?  A positive hoot.


I tried to take her photo but she kept moving as I aimed the camera.  Lord, may I have her energy when I am her age.

 Of course, there has been plenty of time for crafting, embroidery, crocheting, while Hubby drives me around the countryside and while we watch an endless selection of Netflix streaming.

Then, our Biggest Different Days Diversions:


1.  Passport Application!!  Yes!  First time out of the country this coming year in celebration of our 40th Anniversary.  We headed to the Big City to accomplish this only to find out a bit into our journey that we had left our filled out applications in the buffet drawer.  In the dining room, ten miles back.  In days passed, with time of the essence, we would have railed at our stupidity and cursed at the waste of time.  This time, in the era of Different Days, we laughed and shook our heads and whooped at the craziness of leaving at home, the main purpose of the trip.  Too funny.  Other years, it could have been the reason for a rather large To Do......


2.  Hand Gun Purchase!  I KNOW! For years, I would not let Hubby even reveal his guns in my presence.  I had no idea where in the house they even where, that 's how good he was at hiding them.  But as in all things changing, I have come around to the thinking that a little personal protection might not be a bad thing.  I plan to take a firearms class, practice at a shooting range, and become a very legal hand gun owner with my very own gun.  Hubby and I were coming home from a rather superfluous errand the other night and after 'rocking the value menu' (E/A's Hubby saying) at our local fast foodery, we happened by a new gun shop in town.  They were closing as we passed but Hubby pursued on, asking the owners as they were leaving for the day, their hours etc.  The men leaving their store decided to reopen their shop, show us the best arm for my needs and we proceeded to fill out the proper paperwork and off we went, intending on shopping for tulip bulbs at Lowes and coming home with a very nice firearm.  See?  Different Days!  Who Knew??


For all you most busy of young mama's:  Hang In There!  Your time is coming...!! 

Different Days is well worth the wait......

Birthday Craftiness

Kinda see why I believed our little Miss Vivien needed a Birthday Crown, right?
She just is a crown kinda gal.
So Grammy prepared long ago for her Birthday princessy chapeau. Pulled out all my best stitches and glittery vintage sequins for my sweetie pie.
And thus set the precedent for her Crafty Birthday.....

First of all, she needed a cake.
And not just any cake.
No.
An owlie cake for our little hootie owl. The little girl that has hoohooed since she was itty bitty, thus compelling her mama to call her her little owlie.
Flickr provided the most amiable owl cake ever. Simple, even a traveling grammy could handle it.
So I did.

Of course, Vivie needed a summer play outfit with owlies on it, right?

Then Pretend Daughter Kris in all her 'spare time' thought that she should dust off her ol sewing machine and make Miss Viv a snazzy Mod Dress courtesy of the Sewing for Baby book.

Miss Viv appears to think that the Owlie Cake taste just okay.
(it was her first foray into sugared desserts; maybe it might steer her clear of all other attempts huh?)

And finally, here she is with her little Cake Eatin' Onesie on that her mama embellished with a dandy little mama knitted cupcake...
Aren't they two pretty girls?

Crafty Birthdays. Love em.

This and That

Teamwork.
That's what it takes.
At no time does it mean more than at Christmas time.
There was a time in my life, that I was unable to leave my home. Agoraphobic.
Hubby would encourage and cajole and compromise. For many years, he did all the Christmas shopping. Some years, out of sheer determination to help him, I would accompany him; he bringing things to the front of the store for my approval. Each year, it appeared that I could get farther into the store/mall. Each attempt would be met with a big 'atta girl' and that little acknowledgement was all it took for me to seek to 'try harder' the next time.
In time (20 years), I was able to be a full complement to the Team Cory shopping expedition. Just when the advent of online shopping came into vogue, I was able to hit the real stores. The internet and my issues, just missed each other.....Funny.
So Hubby and I are used to teaming it.
From tag teaming with sick kids to me mowing the yard and him doing the grocery shopping, me taking the garbage out to him emptying the dishwasher, we've usually been able to strike out a deal.
Today was Neighbor Gifting.
Hubby baked the Holiday Hearth Bread, an old reliable from the 70's.
I kept busy making the bread bags that will go with.
As you can see above, his results are usually swell. Mine usually has some bumps....

And of course, his ways are not my ways; he measures meticulously whilst I tend to throw things in.
He aligns his work space and prepares specifically.
I make a space wherever.
It's usually best if I get out of his way to prevent annoyance. :D

Hubby loves a good high school basketball game. When our boys were playing, years ago, he would be the dad that was cheering wildly and of course, goes without saying, he was the one that got off early so he could attend the out of town games.
He misses it.
Faithful Friend's son plays this year. Hubby follows the stories on the games, watches game times and locations and watches intently.
He wanted to attend tonights home game so I went with.
He's just so cute about it! Can hardly resist.

A monumentous job Hubby has taken on this vacation, is to go through all our old VHS tapes and throw away all those that have not faired well and of course, watch those oldy old videos from a long time ago.
Tough job, huh?
In the doing of this task, he stumbled upon our Advent Tree 'ornaments'! I still have the felt tree that wore these symbolic devotional adornments, but, sadly, I thought the ornaments had long been lost.
And yet, they perservere; just hidden for many years....
Back in the day of small children, our Advent Devotionals would wrap up with one of the children bearing the honor of adding the next ornament, counting down and remembering the story each represented....
Good memories of Christmases past...
Onward to Christmas present!
Baby Girl and her Hubby are on their way home! Eldest Son and Lovely Wife come tomorrow!
Hooray for Holidays!!!

It's Time

The Autumnal Shift has occurred.
It comes late here in Southern Indiana but when it does it's unmistakeable.
I find myself shuffling leaves when out walking Dixie.
The song of the locust is waning and the bird's songs are less frequent.

And I start making soup......

In my later years, I must have accumulated enough recipes that coming up with new ones, seems to be no problem. Have I possibly lived long enough to have mixed everything up together that I now know instinctively what works and what doesn't?

Recently, Eldest Son and Lovely Wife joined us for supper and I wanted it to be special.
The dinner won considerable kudos especially from me! Only I know how really surprised we all should have been that it all came out as well as it did!
And I want to share my new favorite recipes.....

(This first recipe, the soup course, was not my own invention...Wish it was...it was awesome!:D It is courtesy of a Dannon Yogurt ad in a Sunday supplement...)

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
1 3/4 cup Dannon all natural plain yogurt
2 TBSP. canola oil
1 large sweet onion, sliced
2 tsp ground cumin
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (ED NOTE: I parboiled the potatoes to make prep work easier; just slip off jackets and cube as required without all the hard work!)
1 1/2 Qt. chicken broth
2 TBSP chopped parsley or cilantro
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

1. In a soup pot heat oil. Add onions and cumin and saute 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer soup 20-25 minutes.
2. Puree soup with 1 1/2 cups of yogurt and parsley or cilantro. Serve each portion of soup with a dollop of remaining yogurt and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.

Makes 12 servings

Mustard Crusted Pork Loin

3 lb pork loin
4 cloves of garlic (peeled)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 Dijon mustard
2 cups seasoned salad croutons
Canola spray
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
1. Use a roasting pan with a rack. Spray the rack with the canola spray. Place the pork on the rack and make four deep slits with a sharp paring knife, evenly spaced. Place the peeled garlic in the deep slits.
2. Sprinkle the pork with the salt and pepper and pour the oil and vinegar over it all.3. Place pork, uncovered, in the oven for 15 minutes
4. Remove the pork and reduce oven temp to 350
5. Spread the mustard over the pork evenly, covering it well...
6. Crush the croutons (place them in a bag and roll over with a rolling pin) and sprinkle over the pork evenly
7. Place in the 350 degree oven for 2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 180 degrees. do not overcook....

Mixed Baked Squash

Mix a variety of squash (I used patty pan, summer, zucchini, some unknown reddish orange squash I bought from the Amish at the Farmer's Market)

Cut open the squash that need it and remove seeds.

Place the sliced/cubed/quartered squash in a pyrex casserole.

Place butter pats on random squash pieces.
Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar.
Chop 1/2 cup of pecans and sprinkle. Can also add raisins or other dried fruit. Live dangerously.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 30 min or until squash is tender...

Burn some vanilla candles and decorate with gourds that grew in your garden because you threw some out last year and the seeds just planted themselves.

Enjoy the new season, okay?

Off to the sewing room....

Friday Festival Finale

PETA should probably look away right now.
A small boy with a goldfish won in a game too late at night.
A small boy with a deep seated need to 'pet' the goldfish in his temporary home.
I informed the dad that my bets were on making it to the highway.
Knowing his son better than me, he bet on making it to their parking space.
The Friday Night Frenzy after having one night pretty much canceled.
Huge crowds. Lots of cars and the obligatory mud everywhere. Wow.
I would like to tell you that the photo below is someone from the festival.
However, this is Eldest Son's way of entertaining himself while we do the dishes after a wonderful supper of Mustard Crusted Pork Loin, Mixed Squash Bake, Spinach Salad and brownies. We always chocolate when Lovely Wife is coming for dinner. It's just what we do......We are pleased to say that Eldest Son's earring is Lovely Wife's bracelet even though we did think it quite fetching on ES's ear......Carnival games. Lovely Wife would not let any us touch anything.
Probably wise.....

Sewing today involved finishing a beret, making place mats for aforementioned dinner tonight out of vintage towels that are too fragile for towel use but are spending retirement as place mats and cutting out a patchworky type of tote bag for an order of five that I have......

Cooking, baking, sewing, little rain, Eldest Son and Lovely Wife for supper AND Persimmon Ice Cream at the Festival after....

What a good day it was....