I recieved an email with this cool site in it today and thought I would share it with you.
Its called SIMPLE SATELLITE TRACKING and this site allows you to feed YOUR country and town into it and then it gives you a PRINTABLE sheet which tells you exactly when satellites are flying over your place! It also tells you how bright they will be and which direction to look in to see it.
AND if you have a mobile phone, you can sign up to SPACEWEATHER PHONE on the site and it will tell you when a satellite is passing - almost in your backyard!
To visit this cool site just click on the following screenshot (I took of MY town's satellite schedule)
Life is BUSY! Good busy. Would not have it any other way. Thanks for all you who keep reminding me to post. Without your reminders I'd just hole up here all winter like a hibernating type of animal. I'll jump right into my post.
Last week I enjoyed a luncheon with my church family and I decided to make two easy recipes. They are both ones which can be prepared the day ahead and then cooked on the day OF your event. Real COMFORT food for a chilly or wet day.
Barb's Easy Slow Cooker French Onion Soup
Warning! NOT a diet recipe though you are welcome to give it your own healthy makeover.
Take:
About a cup.
Just enough to 'enhance' the flavour - this is in place of 1/4 cup white wine. I think I used about 1/4 cup apple juice and 1 tbsp vinegar. Add it bits and keep tasting - you'll KNOW when its right/
Cook for 6 hours!
Ok - from this point its your choice. At home I put some in a heat proof bowl, add a toasted crust of light bread (french - or 1/2 kaiser bun) Top with a slice of Havarti and toss the works under the broiler till the cheese is nice and melty. Obviously its so delicious I did not wait around to take a picture of this.
And the crowd pleasing and time saving recipe is Oven Grilled Cheese. I was thinking - how can I speed up the two sandwich per pan sort - well, by doing it in the oven. Its like this: Preheat oven to 450. Butter 9 slices of bread, lay them butter side down on a foil lined cookie sheet. Add a cheese slice ontop of each, top with another slice of bread. Butter all the tops. Put in oven, bake 6-8 mins on each side till golden brown.
*****
Keep some opinions to yourself. Say what you please of others, but never repeat what you hear said of them to themselves. If you have nothing to offer of yourself, laugh with the witty, assent to the wise; they will not think the worse of you for it. Listen to information on subjects you are unaquainted with, instead of always striving to lead the conversation to some favourite one of your own. By the last method you will shine, but not improve. I am ashamed myself ever to open my lips on any question I have not written upon.
~ William Hazlitt
*****
I was thinking the other day as I was baking, what things I would keep of my Gramma's had I had the choice in it. Other than the beautiful woodpecker toothpick holder, which my lovely friend Shirley sent me a ways back (I treasure it each day, Shirley - it sits right above my kitchen sink) - the other items I'd have wanted of Gramma's are:
Bible
Knitting Needles
Sewing Machine
Pin Cushion
Wooden Spoon
Canner
Her Reading Glasses
Cookie Cutters
garden spade
These are the things which make me think of her most. I think of HER whenever I use these things of my own at home.
What would YOU have kept had you had a choice?
*****
I am going on a REAL DATE tonight with my husband - I'm very excited about this - saw these gals on our local TV station.
*****
click on picture to visit Kristi's Site!
With Christmas a short time away its time we are all in preparation. What better way than to begin to prepare our HEARTS first - then all will flow from this? If your thoughts are turning to the real meaning of Christmas you can find inspiration in the music of Christian Music Artist Kristi Northrup - she's giving her CD album away for FREE (option to donate to some great missions if you feel led to do so) Why not get into the GIVING early by passing Kristi's website to a friend who needs a lift? Help spread THE WORD!
******
I am still planning on making some more Brass Plate words in the future - still have to find time to take photos (using Mr.'s camera as my flash is broken) In the meantime I've been experimenting with some nice swirls and created you this Overlay/Embellishment set - hope you enjoy! They are provided as a FULL PSD file, or smashed down into both a nice 12 x 12 overlay - one with/one without emboss. Download is BIG.
PuhLeese don't share this yourself - at least have your friends come download for themselves. Click on the preview photo to get :) Won't you send me a snap of how YOU use these pretties so I can "TOOT" you here?
We had our first snow of the year, yesterday! It did not stick except on the tops of the hills and even lightly then.
Its a beautiful day today. I've pre-prepared (is that a real word?) a crock of french onion soup for tomorrow's luncheon at our church and also juiced fresh Pink Lady apples from the orchard. My hunny bunny is taking me for Dim Sum in a few moments. The little bakery downtown used to offer it EVERY day, then they took it away but have begun again - due to popular demand. Oh happy is me!
I'll share a random thought here. I make my husband blush all the time with the questions I ask people. The questions are out of my mouth before I think of them sometimes. For example, when I was at the dentist the week before last, I asked "Has the power ever gone out when you were working on a patient?" (Yes, but it did not create a problem) and when I overheard the assistant say she could not locate a certain tool and they seem to be getting lost I asked "Has anyone ever had light fingers and lifted equiptment or tools when you leave them alone in the room?" (No, not that they are aware of) Haha, will they be watching ME now?
Anyways, I LOVE to ask people questions. I have an unexhaustable curiousity and I'm very often rewarded when I ask. I DO have a line I draw when I query - I don't try to PRY. One blessing I've found is that some people LOVE to be asked.
How about YOU? Do you like to ask, or do you refrain?
I had the pleasure to spend Rememberance Day (Wednesday, November 11th here in Canada) with my dear friend Eileen. To be honest, I had no idea at the time she was a Veteran. I was so thankful to have visited at this exact time for had I not she may have not realized it was even Rememberance Day at all! After she shared her story we made sure she pinned her medal on her sweater and sent her down to the lunchroom at the home where she lives. I mentioned the medal to the care-aides so they might query her on her story.
If you would like to know more about the Women's Land Army, you can click HERE.
Oh Me, Oh My, what HAVE I been up to? I've been recieving emails to ask if I'm "OK" because I have not posted in so long, and I thank you for caring!
VALINDA - you are ever so patient, always faithful and you are the sort of friend I hope I am to others. You never let more than a few days go by without checking in on me. I truly appreciate you.
KIM, you keep tabs on me too - and you're almost spooky in the way you seem to send lil encouragements my way at EXACTLY when I need it. OMGosh, OMGosh x 100 - I just went to your bloggy and Judy's and its confirmed I missed (or should I say MESSED your birthday) Sigh sigh. Forgive, please. Everyone else, pls, hop over to Kims and wish her a happy old live long day for me? She's got some great giveaways to celebrate her milestone as well!
And MELANIE, dear daughter, I did not realize you get your "Mommy-fix" at my blog. That alone is reason to be more diligent.
So what HAVE I been up to? {and speaking about daughters, encouragement in the same breath} I have been working on my health and beauty regime. On the inside, trying to eat healthier, on the outside (if I were an insect you might say I have been working on my exoskeleton) - I've been RUNNING!!! and working out on an elliptical on a regular basis. Ok, yeah if you have followed me for a long time you're shaking your head asking "running?" for I have creaky knees that grind, will eventually have to be replaced. Well, its a foregone conclusion they are going to wear out all on their own, I may as well enjoy running and being in great shape so that WHEN that transpires the road to recovery will be faster and easier. I can't tell you how good it feels.
My Mr. and I have so many fond memories tied up in running. We used to run AT NIGHT, thats right middle of the night, but safely, down bike paths with loads of moonlight. It still plays in my head like a romantic moonlight movie score. I see the silhouettes of trees against the bruised black/blue night sky, with silver ribbons of light playing from the edges of the clouds. I see the moon ringed with frosty translucent pastel rainbows, shimmering. I see stars twinkling like studs in a velvet sky. I see bright streaks of colour painted onto the undulating water on the lake in a perpetual cycle. Ahhh, so do you see how running is so much more to me than just a way to stay in shape?
I'm into eating healthier. I'm not a breakfast person EVER except on very very special events, but I do have a date with my Magic Bullet each day and I whip up fresh, slushy fruit drinks to start me out. I never know what colour will happen. Sometimes pumice, sometimes fuschia, sometimes green with little black seeds (kiwi). All the blueberries, peaches, pears etc that I froze in the heat of the summer is blessing me now with a delicious bit of the okanagan in my mug each day.
And I'm really REALLY into salads. I'm sort of stuck on ones made with leafy baby greens/herbs, peppers, carrots, apples (picked straight off a tree practically right outside my window) toasted pecans - all tossed with a smidge of extra virgin olive oil and apple balsamic vinegar.
Then, for more of my OUTSIDE, I've been experimenting with make-up. Our daughter Melanie shared links with me for KANDEE the Makeup Artist. Have you ever seen her? Watched one of her YouTube Videos? Visited her blogs? If not, you MUST. Talk about talent, she has a true gift to 'do make-up' and she's a tremendous encourager as well! Here's one of her Video's so you can see what I mean.
Our daughter sort of went wild experimenting one day and this is what she came out looking like - is that pretty cool? Now I have never seen her looking like this and she assures me this is NOT her daily look LOL! But it is impressive nevertheless! I've been playing around with some of Kandee's tips and hints for makeup and learned a lot.
Melanie, Good Goth Girl!
I've been knitting! Ok well, I'm sure everyone agrees its nice to recieve a hand made gift. I wanted to make something for my sister Nina for her birthday and after looking at a lot of ideas I thought I would try to knit some 'wrist warmers' Well... they certainly are NOVEL, and I really will be surprised if she ever does wear them, but they were my first and she can just treasure them in a drawer somewhere. Since my effort at hers I've been working on more - actually refining the basic pattern I had and adding in a few features. I did learn how to knit using a set of circular needles from watching a YouTube video by a lady who tells us to think of the one needle not in use at any given time as a 'swinging udder'. Sounds strange, but it works. I do NOT know how to crochet. One day, one day I am sure.
I've been LEARNING Adobe Illustrator and digital photography at the school where my Mr. teaches. I'm loving it, managing to attend twice a week.
Leena and husband Jussi
And lastly, I've been doing quite a bit with our Women's group at our church. We've begun hosting the occaisional crafts night and have established a weekly bible study group. Its been a wonderful time of connection and growth, though it calls for a lot of commitment and hard work. I also maintain a blog for our Women's group and you might want to check that out as I just updated and posted a beautiful song sung by a guest last Sunday - Leena, singing "Standing on Holy Ground" Click HERE to be taken to our OCC Women's Blog
And, I did manage to make one small teensy giveaway. Kristy YaYa (blog reader) suggested all sorts of wonderful boy/guy type words to be fashioned out of the brass stencil I have. Kristy, more WILL come, but I have to confess this is all I could get out of an entire shoot last time. My camera's flash is DEAD and gone and I need to purchase another. Out of 50 photos I took only this word turned out clear enough for me to cut out. Look for more words in the future, I will borrow my Mr's camera if I have to.
MORE birthday wishes (November 6th) going out to.... (drumroll!)
Nina my sister and super duper card maker. Wishing you an amazing, special happy day. I hope you had a good sleep in & I love you more than words can say. You're catching up to me haha! Here you make cards for everyone else in the universe (see her cards and wish her a happy birthday on her blog HERE) - I hope you get them all poured back, Sis!
And to Candy - I'm ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you're going to be pampered by your family. Can't wait to share via your Mom's (Judy) blog in the near future.
I certainly didn't win any favour when I did not include a link for those delicious Portuguese Buns I posted pictures of. Well, I wanted a big build-up ok?
Actually I did not have any shortening the batch I made, and they were small and so I decided I was going to wait and make them BIGGER and put the shortening in as well - THEN I was going to share but thats not going to happen this week due to a hectic schedule, sooooo You can find the recipe by clicking on the picture of the buns, below. I found out the OFFICIAL name for these is Papasecos
I hope yours turns out as good as mine!
My poor husband is under the influence of some virus - could it be swine or H1N1? I don't know but its certainly not good. I was forwarded Dr. Oz's Prevention Rules and I guess, even though its too late for our household they might help yours.
The following advice, given by Dr. Oz, makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know: The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu): 1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications). 2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe.) 3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine or Hydrogen Peroxide if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method. 4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water, or hydrogen peroxide. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose softly once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.* 5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption. 6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm
*****
Lastly - I've not created anything to give away for a while so I decided to make a small gift for you. I will be making several words in this series and would love your suggestions. These were based from a set of antique brass stencil letters I picked up at our local thrift store last week. This can really be used as a stencil too. I've left it without a drop shadow so you can add your own. Enjoy!
Click on the preview to be taken to the download site. (PS - I would LOVE to see how you use this in a project!)
Ha, I have SO MUCH to blog that I think I will only blog one little thing. :|
Osoyoos has a large population of Portuguese people and we used to buy the most delicious Portuguese buns from a magazine shop on main street. That's right - a magazine shop! The buns were baked in Vancouver (I was told) and they would get trucked in to various locations around the valley each Saturday.
It was always a good idea to 'reserve' a few dozen because if you didn't they were GONE within an hour of arrival. And this was hundreds of buns! They were so good the tourists and locals alike would flock to the store to purchase them. On the rare occasion the buns were not sold out the owners would store them in the freezer and you could buy them that way as well.
Then, the magazine shop suffered a fire, and we could no longer get the buns. Oh woe was me (and a lot of other people as well) - until I found out we could buy them from an East Indian Market this side of Oliver... then eventually even they stopped getting them. Sigh sigh, what to do - by now I was totally addicted to them!
WHAT MADE them so special?
A light as a feather bun with an angel food cake soft inside and a chewy, nutty roasty flavoured crust (which when toasted makes a crackly, satisfyingly crunchy toast) Sometimes they arrived all coated in flour which had a roasted flavour and made them 'shish' against each other. And the aroma? Indescribable!
So, I decided the other day to look for a recipe on the internet. It was not easy to track down a genuine one but after much searching I found one which brought me very close to the original ones we used to buy.
We used to buy ones shaped like this - like little footballs - and sometimes they came round with the indent down the middle. Mine are on the small size, the ones we used to get were about twice as big.
Here they are ready to pop into the oven after rising!
And here they are in their full glory! Light as a feather, nicely browned, and the smell........
Now I will not have to long for them again. My Mr. has made me promise NOT to bake them too often - he cannot resist!
Ok, so I am sort of laughing here because I KNOW my friend Betty will be by at some time and is surely going to be drooling over MY post. So, its sort of a revenge thing - travel on over to Betty's blog and you will see what I mean - (SHE posted a recipe on hers that looks DE-LISH!) and I made the mistake of visiting her ON AN EMPTY TUMMY. Aarrrrghhh - I had a binge after that haha! Click on the preview below to visit Betty.
I'm such a BAD blogger lately. Its funny how it goes, sometimes you can't find a thing to blog about of interest and other times life is so rich and full and BUSY that there's simply no time to blog, thus creating and overabundance of bloggable materials.
Such has been the case for me and I keep telling myself "I'll blog tomorrow... " but then my tomorrows are as busy as ever. I've been meaning to journal about my last visit with my (SIL) Sister in Law, Judy. (this is THREE Sister in Law visits in one summer! Woo Hoo!)
Judy's visits with me are always a whirlwind of activity because we share a love of all things digital + scrapbooking and so we use the time for her to pick my brain and learn new things. She's so much more talented than she ever gives herself credit for - which is quickly apparent if one visits her blog - just click on the picture below to do that.
At any rate we fit a LOT into our visit. We managed to go shopping, thrift shopping, dining out and all sorts of fun activities.
This is our friend Alison (left) with Judy (right) at the viewpoint just south of Penticton.
And here's me and Judy! We did a zoom-zoom trip into town where we tore up the stores and thrift stores and then tucked into a buffet Chinese dinner. I don't think we could have felt like posing afterward so its a good thing we took our pics before.
While Judy visited we also did our rounds to get some fresh tomatoes and also an always profitable and entertaining drop in to the local packing house to get apples.
When we drove into the packing house parking lot we could not resist the pull of the brilliant golden hues of these brushes against the rich reds of the apple bins.
Then it was up the other side of the valley to the viewpoint and vista at Anarchist Mountain.
And finally, my favorite photo of all -
Thank you for an awesome visit, Judy - it was the nicest visit we've ever had and I enjoyed my time with you completely. You are very special to me and I love you dearly.
<><><><><>
I am starting some courses at the Learning Centre and a Bible Study with the women from my church on Tuesdays and slating Wednesdays to be my 'creative day' (won't be answering the phone or nuthin!) ... well what I'm trying to tell you is that if you don't see as much of me its because I am trying to get organized and ahead and blogging seems to be a luxury. Don't give up on me - one of the courses I'll be taking is Adobe Illustrator so I'm hoping some of my lessons turn out to be some items I can use for giveaway! Thanks for still coming to visit me even though I've not been able to visit all of YOU!
%5B5%5D.jpg "Portugese Buns (2)")
%5B2%5D.jpg "Portugese Buns (4)")
