Tuesday, December 31, 2013

...white deer...

...look what Scout and I saw on our way home...
...a sweet little albino deer...
...she must have been born this past spring or early summer...we had actually had a glimpse of her once before but couldn't get tot he camera quickly enough...so we were really surprised to get this second chance...
...albino deer occur about once in every 30,000 births...
~Have a lovely day!

Monday, December 30, 2013

...Vegan Gratin Jurassien

...a new post over at The Vegan Version...
...creamy and delicious vegan scalloped potatoes...Vegan Gratin Jurassien

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, December 28, 2013

...toothless...wisdom toothless that is...


...funny things he said on waking up...

...'how long have you been here?'...I said 'where?' (because of course I'd been there the entire time)...and he said...'in that chair?'...

...'can you check that they got them all 4?...I think I swallowed them'...'it feels like I swallowed them'...

...'my face feels funny'...

...'everything feels funny'...

...'I can't see'...I said 'open your eyes'...

...'why is everything so funny?'...he said while laughing...he laughed at everything...
...all in all it wasn't that bad...he's home now and resting comfortably (with the help of some drugs)...we have a timer set to change out the ice packs every 15 minutes...and A² will be over later...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, December 27, 2013

...Betty's Christmas...#36...

...there's an organization here called "Senior Santas"...it brings some Christmas cheer to our underprivileged Senior citizens who would otherwise have no Christmas present or visit...
...so we picked a card...#36...it's for Betty...and she's a vegetarian...imagine that...
...and all she wants for Christmas is food...and that...my friends...is hard to imagine...

...so we went shopping and bought dozens of cans of food...I checked about the frozen food she requested and the facility has no way to store that and make sure it stays frozen until it can be delivered...so we just went with canned...
...and then because canned food doesn't sound very Christmas present-ish to me...

...I got busy knitting her a pair of Christmas-y booties...
...it's my Super Simple Stockinette Stitch Slippers pattern...available on the sidebar or from Ravelry too...
...in a pretty Candy Cane colour...it's actually one strand of a worsted weight red held together with one strand of a super soft pink...both leftovers from baby blankets...here and here...
...I hope Betty had a very Merry Christmas!...

...and I hope you did as well...Blessings and Peace be with you this Christmas season...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

...Christmas Highlights...

...I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas filled with love and light...
...we went caroling...
...it was loads of fun...
...then we went in search of some pretty lights...
...and found some...
...then we went to Church for the Candlelight Service...it was lovely...
...we still had a little bit of snow left over from Christmas Eve and the day dawned bright and cold...very Christmas-y...and very Merry...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

...Wrapping it up...

...we're having a snowy Christmas Eve...as we wrap things up...

...we have a cozy fire in the fireplace...and we're looking forward to two Christmas Eve services at Church tonight...
...Wishing you and your families a joyous, blessed and merry Christmas!

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, December 23, 2013

...2013 Neighborhood Christmas Party...

...we hosted the first part of the Second Annual Neighborhood Christmas Party...ours is a progressive party...we had the Wassail/Christmas Punch/get started portion of the party at our house...the hors d'oeuvres and desserts were at other houses....
...we had (I think)32 people in our house...and everyone had a good time...our neighbors kept saying thank you...and how 'no one does these neighborhood parties anymore'...

...as for me...I love it...I love knowing my neighbors and stopping to talk with them when we're outside...putting names with the faces you see around your neighborhood...

...do you host or attend a neighborhood party?...

...last year's party here...

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

...KKC Christmas Store...

...this is the chaos that is the KKC Christmas Store...
...throughout the year the KKC kids (Kingdom Kids Club - what we call the youngest group of children's meeting on Wednesday nights at our Church)...can earn Bible Bucks for participating in different activities...

...then they can spend their Bible Bucks here...at the Christmas Store...to buy gifts for their family and friends...
...our Jr. and Sr. High youth manned the tables...
...and helped guide the little ones through the maze of presents...
...there were so many fun things to choose and there were three tables of free items if you ran out of bucks...
...our teenaged youth also manned a wrapping station (equally chaotic) next door to help the kids wrap their purchases...

...I was exhausted when it was over...but I can't even begin to tell you how much fun this was...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, December 20, 2013

...Christmas Get-together...

...after the Christmas Pageant practice...still on Saturday...I'm almost a week behind...
...we had a little get-together with A²'s family to exchange some gifts...her family is going to be out of town for Christmas...
...she gave me the most adorable little cast iron cookie pans...so we baked up the cookie mix that came with the pans...

...our favorite Chocolate Chip cookie dough will work well for this too...
...and we discussed making pancakes in the cute little pans...I figured that we can cook one side and then flip it onto a flat pan to cook the other side...that will be fun...
...then we headed to Stuff-Mart with the youth to do our Angel Tree shopping...
...the kids used all of the money they had made selling bread to buy the gifts...
...and finally the busiest of days ended with a huge present wrapping session back at the Church...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

...2013 Children's Christmas Pageant...

...another glimpse into our busy busy week...
...we had dress rehearsal on Saturday morning and then (of course) the Christmas Pageant at Church on Sunday...I was backstage for most of the play (the Angels had a costume change that I was in charge of)...but I could tell from the ooohs and aaahs and applause that it was spectacular...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

...2013 Winter Concert...

...it's time to get caught up on what is probably our busiest weekend of the year...
...we kicked it off Friday evening with the Christmas Concert...

...all tuxedos and black dresses...everyone looked so nice...
...Scout is pretty much right in the middle...
...I've drawn a green arrow here so you can find him easily...

...and a sample of my favorite of their Christmas selections...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

...4 more winners...

...since I had 4 additional ornaments...we have 4 more winners...
Vivian said... We all need a little peace in our lives, thank you.
PersimonDreams said... I love the ornaments! One of my favorite holiday times is
Evans Family said... pretty, pretty! thanks!

...and...
Rocksteadyemme said... thanks!

...in other news...we've been really really busy...and I'll catch you all up tomorrow...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, December 16, 2013

...and the winner is...

...the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day Winner is...
Laura...who was the 7th commenter...

...I pull all of the comments into excel...so they'll be neatly numbered...
...then I hop over to Random.org and the random number generator finds the winner...
...a big THANK YOU! to everyone who entered and the the hosts at Sew Mama Sew...this is always so much fun!

...and check back tomorrow because there will of course be more winners...I made a few extra ornaments and I want those to go to a good home too!...

...Hi Laura...and Congratulations!...You've been emailed all the particulars and you'll have your ornament soon! Merry Christmas and Happy Giveaway Day!

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

...Using up leftover Seitan Roast...Day 4...

...click here...to enter the 2013 Peace Ornament Giveaway...
Today is the LAST DAY!...Winner Announced Monday!...







...and today is also the 4th and final day of leftover seitan...a simple Crockpot Fajita recipe...
...slice the last bit of seitan into strips...
...make some vegan sour cream...

1 package silken tofu
1 tbsp light oil
3 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2-1 teaspoon salt, to taste

...super easy...but of course you can use Tofutti or any other Vegan Sour Cream that you like...
...add the vegan Sour Cream...some Taco Seasoning Mix...and about a cup of salsa to the crockpot...
...give it a stir...
...it looks nice and creamy...
...toss in your seitan strips...
...at this point it doesn't really matter how long you cook it...it's in a crockpot and everything is really already cooked...but long enough for the flavors to meld and develop and for the spices and dehydrated onions in the taco mix to rehydrate and become soft...we left ours unattended on the counter simmering for a couple of hours...that's the great thing about crockpots...
...then when you're ready to eat...just heat up some tortillas...
...and spoon a few stips down the center of each one...
...you don't want too much filling or it will be messy...
...creamy and spicy and so good...
...add a little fresh guacamole...and you're done...

...and that's the very end of our seitan roast...did you use yours all up?...

~Have a lovely day!