A Pretty Vignette.....

This is the top of my dresser in my bedroom. I received the English bowl and pitcher from my wonderful sister-in-law a few years ago. She and her daughter went to England and while they were there, she bought several sets of the bowls & pitchers. She has many of them around her home. All antique and all beautiful. This set also has a toothbrush holder that matches. It is unusual to have all three pieces intact, the holder usually gets broken first. I was so honored to receive this gift and I cherish it.

I also have some vintage hats that I collect. These are two of them. The cowboy hat came to me one day when I was at a craft fair. It is a real hat that has some kind of hardener on it and then it was spray painted. So, it's not a hat that anyone would wear, but it's great for display. So here's the story of how I got it. ~~~I was there selling some of my painted wood pieces and at the end , when I was cleaning up, I went to put some trash in the big trash can that they had there, and lo and behold -- this beauty was on top of the can. I grabbed it instantly and it came home with me. I love it and it also has a permanent home here with me. The pink one was a thrift store find. I think it is so pretty and I could actually wear it, if I wanted too. I like the two hats together, mine and his with the roses in between~~~so romantic!

Come back tomorrow and see what else I have to show you.

'Till next time, Love ya, Jean

I was tagged!

A while back, I was tagged by Ember over at My Painted Chair. Well, it was around Christmas and I just couldn't take the time to participate. I didn't forget about it, I deeply appreciate it, and I'm honored that she chose me. So now I have a little time to do this, and here are the rules:



1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.



2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.



3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.



4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



So here goes:



1. I have 2 daughters, 2 son-in-laws, and 6 grandchildren, and a DBF.



2. I don't like shopping malls, unless I'm with someone else. Most malls are too big for me.



3. I come from a very large family, 6 sisters and 4 brothers.



4. I love country, easy listening and oldies music.



5. I always make my bed.



6. I drink decaf coffee or tea.



7. I am a gardener and I have a very large compost pile.



I'm wondering which of these are weird and which are random? hehe



I am going to tag seven people now: Donna, Michelle, Lorri, Sandyt, Candy, Maryjane, and Cat. I've been visiting your blogs for a while and I want to get to know you better!

Now, for the last part; I'm off to visit everyone's blogs to leave comments for all of you. (This is so exciting and I'm having so much fun doing this!
'Til next time, Love Ya, Jean

Bud Light Bread

A while back, I had purchased a Beer Bread Mix from a popular home products party company. It was good, but the cost was way more than I wanted to pay to get the mix a second time. So, I went on the Internet and got this recipe. I have to say that this is every bit as good as the packaged mix. And it is just about as easy. This is the bread when it came out of the oven.

This is how it looks after I took it out of the pan. It should cool for about 15 minutes before you cut it. This may seem like a lifetime, waiting for it to cool off. And it smells soooo good........
This is after it is cut. The picture is not that great, a little too much light. But, believe me, this is every bit as good, if not better than the mix. Did I say that before? So, here is the recipe:

Beer Bread

Serves 6-8

3 cups flour (sifted)

3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using self-rising flour)

1 teaspoon salt (omit if using self-rising flour)

1/4 cup sugar

1 (12 ounce) can beer

1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup will do just fine)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour the beer into a another bowl and then pour the dry ingredients in on top of the beer and stir with a large spoon.

3. Pour into a greased loaf pan.

4. Pour melted butter over mixture.

5. Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes. Cut with a serrated knife, and then.... Enjoy!

6. UPDATED NOTES: Sifting flour for bread recipes is a must-do. Most people just scoop the 1 cup measure in the flour canister and level it off. That compacts the flour and will turn your bread into a "hard biscuit". That's because they aren't sifting their flour! If you do not have a sifter, use a spoon to spoon the flour into the 1 cup measure. Try it once the "correct" way and you will see an amazing difference in the end product.

7. (Quoting from the Internet recipe)-- "I have had many emails from you kind folks about using non-alcoholic beverages instead of beer. That is fine to do, but I highly recommend adding a packet of dry active yeast or 2 teaspoons of Bread (Machine) Yeast so that you get a proper rise."

8. The final results should be a thick, hearty and very tasteful bread, not a brick!

I have made this bread three times now and it is always consistent and very good! The best part is that it costs about 1/10 the cost of the packaged mix. If you try this recipe, leave me a comment and let me know how you like it.

'Til next time, Love ya, Jean

Return to Real Life!

Hi Everyone, I'm back! The vacation went by way too fast for me. We had a marvelous time and Disney is the best!

We stayed at the Polynesian in the park and it was a wonderful hotel. The rooms are spacious, the grounds are beautiful, the pool is to die for, and they have every amenity you could ask for. The monorail runs right out in front of the hotel or you can take a boat across the water to get to the parks. It was great. This is my favorite sight at Magic Kingdom:

We actually did all four parks in 5 days, we went to Epcot for 2 days. It is so big and there's so much to see.

The only downside was the weather. It was very cold most of the time and very windy. We had one day when it was in the 60's, but the rest of the time we had our winter coats on. It was still a lot warmer than it was here and there is no snow there. It was good to see flowers, but they did have a lot of them covered to protect them from the frost and cold temperatures. The palm trees were beautiful.

I have been going through all the pictures I took and I plan on showing a few more once I get them organized.

It was a wonderful time and I can't wait to go back again.

'Til next time, Love ya, Jean

On Vacation!

It is time for some relaxation and fun! My family and I will be on vacation for the next week. 28 of us will be storming DisneyWorld. Look out, here we come! We will be returning on Wed., the 21st. I will be back then and I will be visiting all my friends and getting caught up on my blogging. Thanks to all of you who come by to visit and leave comments. See you soon!

Snowman On Fire?!

I received a new cake pan for Christmas from my daughter. It is a snowman pan and it makes two halves of the snowman, front and back. You ice it in the middle and stick the two halves together. Then you stick it in a base of icing, upright, and then ice the whole thing. I used a large star tip, and that helped to speed things up a little. It was pretty time consuming, but I think it was worth the effort. I love doing this type of cake, they always look so cute. I named him Frosty--So original, huh?

Here is Frosty in his "before" state: I made the cake for my Grandson's 15th birthday and he really liked it!

'Til next time, Love Ya, Jean

Love Poems

Today when I was at my favorite thrift store this little book caught my eye.
It has a beautiful velvety cover with gold lettering. After I got it home I started reading some of the poems and they put me in a romantic mood. I wanted to share a poem with you.

It's called: A Red, Red Rose---by Robert Burns

O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I:
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry:

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only Luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

According to the Introduction in the book, it says, "From the Bible to Shakespeare to Whitman and Dickenson, the face of love in poetry through the ages has changed. But the soul of love, which a good poem ultimately reveals, has remained the same. The joys and sorrows, ecstacies and agonies of love are universal qualities that will never change."

I'm looking forward to Valentine's Day and reading more of the lovely poems in this little gem of a book.

'Til next time, Love Ya, Jean