...the really BIG day...

...Scout said this was the perfect early birthday present!...

...Scout's appointment card even said..."Next time is the BIG DAY! Congratulations!...

...we were there bright and early at 7:30 AM to get the braces off - a full 5 months earlier than planned...so we were beyond thrilled...and so very lucky to have found a second wonderful Orhtodontist to take over Scout's treatment plan...

...this photo is half-way through...the top braces are off...and the bottom ones still on...

...and the braces popped right off...to reveal a beautiful new smile!

...as a parting gift...they gave Scout this goodie bag full of things he couldn't have when he had braces (not the toothbrush of course...he had a toothbrush)...so cute!

~Have a lovely day!

TOMATES À LA PROVENÇALE

...finally a new post over at The Vegan Version...just a little too busy right now for much French cooking...

...but we found some awesome tomatoes over the weekend that I thought would be perfect for a Julia tomato dish...I think these would be nice served at an outside dinner as well...

~Have a lovely day!

...a very musical weekend...cont. ...

...after the African singers...

...the Bell Ringers came for 2 afternoon concerts...here they're playing a medley of Amen...

...a duet of Morning has Broken...

...a pretty amazing solo (that's a lot of bells) of Amazing Grace...

...and another duet...

...it was a lot of fun...have you ever been to a bell choir concert...I love listening to the bells...

~Have a lovely day!

...a very musical weekend...

...we had visitors from Africa at Church Sunday...

...they sang some songs in their native language...I'm not sure about which language it is...as they told us they were from South Sudan, Ethiopa, and Tanzania...

...we really enjoyed the music though...

The Pastor explained that this song is about the fact that one day we will be called to respond to the call of God...

...this song by the women was about the work that we have to do while we are here (on earth) and pray that the Holy Spirit blesses that work...

I'm hoping that I got the right explanation with the right song...and that you enjoy the videos as much as we did...it was so much fun meeting these wonderful people...

~Have a lovely day!

Sunshine Award

Sweet Lynn over at Fidlstix - spinning a good yarn gave me the Sunshine Blog Award...

1.Thank the blogger who nominated you. A BIG THANK YOU! to Lynn!

2. Answer the 10 questions on your favorite things.

3. Nominate 10 blogs to receive the Sunshine Award and let them know they've been nominated.

My list of favorites…
1. Favorite animal: in general?…dogs I guess...but I pretty much like all animals...and I don't eat them...
2. Favorite number: 4
3. Favorite non-alcoholic drink: TEA - just about any kind...
4. Facebook or Twitter: just the tiniest bit of both...
5. My passion: my family...then umm...probably knitting...
6. Getting or giving: giving
7. Favorite Pattern: whatever I'm currently working on obviously...
8. Favorite day of the week: definitely Sunday
9. Favorite flower: Daisy
10. Favorite country: U.S.A.

My nominations....so hard to choose...I could just attach my Reader list...

...here are the required 10...Go show them some Blog Love...

Katie's Calamities
Bits of Sunshine
Only the Manager
Periwinkles and Pine
Easie Peasie
Wisdom Comes Suddenly
Two Little Cabbages & cie
Thoughts and Biro Sketches
Little Things are Big
Then Sings my Soul

World of Karen - my sweet sister
Hall of Flowers - my Mom

~Have a Sunshiney Day!

...Shirataki Rice...

...I've been reading about this calorie free rice on several blogs and thought we'd give it a try...

...when you take it out of the package...it smells bad...really bad...kinda fishy smelling...not like something you'd want to eat...but I'd read about this too...and the directions say to rinse well...so we did...and surprisingly it didn't smell bad anymore...

...you're supposed to boil for a minute or two in water...I just added a Cilantro cube...I was making black beans and 'rice'...and I like Cilantro in that dish...

...so I boiled it for a couple of minutes...

...drained it...

...then spread it on a towel to dry a bit before adding the beans...

...it really appears to have the texture more of tapioca balls than rice as it's not sticky or starchy at all...

...a scoop of 'rice' and a scoop of beans...

...I was kinda surprised that it tasted just fine...it's just that the texture was a bit different from rice...not bad...just different...

...so...if you have a reason not to have regular rice...this will work...I have a bag of the noodles as well...I'll let you know how they are soon...

~Have a lovely day!

Tea for two...

...y'all know how much I love tea...not a day goes by that I don't drink at least a quart or two...

...so I was really surprised when this package arrived...as I had not ordered it...

...of course it was the Man who ordered it...just as a sweet surprise for me...

...the first one I opened was the Genmaicha 玄米茶?, "brown rice tea"...I'd never heard of this tea...but I'm looking forward to trying it...I'll let you know...I've told you about some interesting teas that I like before...so I'm excited to try this new one...

...this tea company Harney and Sons is new to me as well...the result of much research the Man tells me...

...I love how they list the information about the tea and its effects on the tin...

...so I asked the Man which one he wanted to try first...the Man is not really a tea drinker...but he humored me and chose the CTC Assam...

...so I warmed the pot and put a couple of spoonfuls in...

...you're supposed to put one for each cup...but I never do as I don't like it that strong...

...poured in the boiling water...

...covered with a cozy (I posted about the tea cozy before too) and let it steep...

...then poured a cup for the Man...

...he drinks his tea black...like his coffee...

...then a cup for me...which I certainly do not take black...

...but with sugar...and 'cream' really almond milk...sometimes I use plain Silk creamer if I have it...

...but this is just almond milk...

...what a delicious cup of tea...very much like Twinings Irish Breakfast...which doesn't surprise me at all...as it was always the Man's favorite...

~Have a lovely day!

...a new dryer vent...

...just crossing another thing off our list...the dryer vent...

...this is the (rather ingenious) way that we used to dry our clothes...the dryer vent went into a hole in this board...which fit perfectly in the window...you just slide the window shut against the board to hold it in place...it's kind of amazing that the judge and his wife actually did laundry this way for 40 years...but once we got into drilling the concrete wall...we were thinking that maybe we'd put up with it for a while longer...HA!...it really took more than twice as long as we thought it would...

...our general rule of thumb for household projects is to estimate the time you think it will take and then double it...it's been pretty accurate even if it is sort of funny...

...so the Man started drilling...this side...the concrete block side of the wall was pretty easy...

...and in no time at all...we had a nice round hole...

...then came the time consuming part...we drilled through the brick part of the wall...and things got a lot harder...literally...

...but we succeeded in punching a hole through that wall as well...put on the vent cover...

...and slid the dryer vent through from the outside...

...attached the flexible hose from the dryer...

...then the Man thought that the dryer hose was not very well attached...so another quick trip to the hardware store to get an elbow and an adapter and a couple of clamps and now it's sturdily finished...

...that's another thing about DIY projects...they almost always involve at least one more trip to the hardware store than you planned...HA!

...and now that the weather is nice enough to dry all the clothes outside...we have our dryer vent working...it's nice to be ready for winter or rainy days though...

Have a lovely day!

...Fat Free Vegan Sweet Mustard Dressing...

...I can't believe I've never shared this recipe with y'all...I make it all the time...

...it only has 5 ingredients...spicy mustard...vinegar...sugar...flour...and water...

...just mix it up in a pot and bring it to a boil...

...oh...6 ingredients...as I usually throw in some ground flax seed...just for the added Omega-3s...

...it will thicken up nicely...like a gravy...in fact...I could have called it salad gravy...HA!...

...I usually pour it into wide mouth jars as that seems to be the easiest way to serve it...we just spoon it onto our salads...I have a pretty carafe...but usually only use that for company...

...of course...the day I want to make a pretty salad for y'all...my grocery store was out of organic green leaf lettuce...so I had to use organic iceberg...oh well...I like iceberg too...

...we just drizzle a couple of spoonfuls of dressing over the salad...

...it clings really well...and it's yummy!

Fat Free Vegan Sweet Mustard Dressing

1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup sugar - we used organic beetroot sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/4 cup vinegar - we use Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups water

optional: 2 Tablespoons ground flax seed

Add all ingredients to a pot. Bring to a boil stirring constantly, cook a couple of minutes until thick and smooth. Pour into jars and store in the refrigerator. Serve cold.

...only 19 calories per serving...

...from my back deck...

...ssshhhh...do you see her...

...ah!...there she is...

...she's noshing away on some plants...

...doesn't she have a sweet face...

...time for a little rest...

~Have a lovely day!...