mushroom cookies ~

Yes!

Cookies shaped like mushrooms.

Would you expect anything less from me ...

the Mushroom Queen of the neighborhood.

The ones with the red caps are a sour cream sugar cookie with a semi-sweet chocolate connecting the stems to the caps ~ topped with a sweet royal icing glaze.  They look like little Wine Caps.

The brown ones are a delectable ginger spice cookie with a chocolate dipping to hold them together.  

Sam saw these cookies and went, "EWE MUSHROOMS! You ruined the cookies!"  I tried to tell him they are just shaped like mushrooms... no mushrooms are in them.  

I also had some comments about them not being a Christmas "shaped" cookie.  Well...

apparently in Russia they are.  Why?  I don't know; but I like them.

Yum ...

So it begins ...

my crazy week of baking!

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

lookin' out my window ~

lookin' out my window ...

... I'm taking off ~

... coming in for the landing ~

... that chickadee is such a show off ~

... I know ~

... I missed it ~

... I could care less.

That was for you Jack!  I know how you love it when I para-phrase for the critters :)

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

happy dance ~

Doin' the happy dance.  I had a great check up yesterday.  No sign of the cancer and I don't have to go back to the doctor for SIX MONTHS!!!!  Yay!!!

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

hello ~

Hello

I see you.

I smell you.

* ~ *

I'm getting my craft on ... project progress so far:

I'm making some pine cones out of felt ~ the white ones are fleece and the little brown one in the middle is made out of fake leather.  I'm going to make more of the fake leather ones and possible try making some out of real leather. No more fleece though ... I didn't like how those turned out; the fleece isn't stiff enough to work with.  Once I get some pretty ribbon on them for hanging on the tree I might change my mind on the fleece.  Each one looks different ... no two alike.

Off to the doctor this afternoon for a check up to see if I'm still kicking this bladder cancer.  Wish me luck.

That's what I've been up to.

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

it's snowing ~

It's snowing!  I think this time it'll stick ... so far around 10 inches and it's still coming down.  This storm is a biggie ~ I guess it's suppose to be a few more days before it's over with.

We shoveled 3 times already and I'll probably shovel once more tonight to try to stay ahead of it ~ because it's such a pain in the behind if it freezes down on you and to try to move it later on.  I sure wish we had a snow blower and didn't have to do all this shoveling by hand.  I just keep telling myself it's good exercise and a little exercise won't kill me.

Sam's truck is loading up with the white stuff after he's only been here for a couple hours :

I don't mind the snow or the winter months ... I'm just not a huge fan of getting all the snow at once!

Good day to make doughnuts ~

I didn't even feel guilty eating one after all that shoveling I did today ~ but when I ate the second one I was cursing myself for it because I have really been trying to watch the carbs.  I don't know why I even bother sometimes.  It sure is hard not to bake and eat it too!  Plus ... I love to cook and bake goodies ... what to do ... what to do ... The holiday season is coming upon us and this is what I do! BAKE like a fool!!

I already packaged up 5 packages of doughnuts for the freezer ... the Grandloves got off the bus here today from early dismissal from school because of the snow and they dug into them pretty good and I'll send a bag full of doughnuts home with Sam.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

keeping the bears happy ~

Why?  Why?  Why does every little project that needs to be done turn into a bigger project than what you thought it would be????

It seems that everything we touch lately goes haywire and escalates into something more.

Take my door for example.  We needed to replace it because the framing around the glass was all cracked and beyond repair.  Okay... this should be a simple enough project.

We go and buy a door .... remember now.... we have to travel 200 plus miles out of town to do this.  We have measurements and everything with us.  We talk with the salesman ... everything seems in order.  We get home and WHAT!! It's the wrong size.

Our house walls are 2 x 6  .... not 2 x 4 like the door is intended for.  Why didn't that salesman point that out to us??? Stupid idiot.

Well... the door is in ... but we need to do some work on the trim work inside now to make adjustments of two inches:

It's a minor problem; but one none the less if that salesman would of pointed this out to us before hand.  grrrrrrr

Little things like this really rattle the cage of my sometimes OCD afflicted Dear Hubby.  He gets like a snarly grizzly bear and if poppa bear ain't happy, mama bear ain't happy.

Which brings us to this:

FINALLY ~ after two days of shear frustration there is smoke curling out of the chimney of the outdoor wood stove :)

Poppa Bear had to replace a pressure valve and the expansion tank ... more grizzly growling going on ... but it's done!!  Mama Bear is happy :)

THEN there's this project going on:

Where we used to have bait tanks in the garage when we had a bait shop we are now putting in a sink and counter and a small hot water heater ... so Dear Hubby can clean up out there when he's skinning his fur from trapping, etc...

It'll be good when that's done and I won't have to listen to him growling anymore :)

So in the meantime ...

... I'll make him some pea soup.  Soup is good for the soul.  I heard it can calm the ornery right out of a grizzly.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

joy ~

It snowed last night ... we got a couple inches ... and it's only in the 30's today.  Time to go out and brush off the snow and harvest the last of my mushrooms!

I was quite surprised to see that there were still this many coming on.  The darker ones are the Blue Dolphin Oysters, the light tan ~ the Pohu Oysters and the ones with the cracked looking caps are Shiitake.

I'm thinking a nice ol' kettle of mixed mushroom soup OR better yet ... a nice venison loin cooked on the grill smothered in 'shrooms.  Yum.

~ * ~

When the sun peeked out this morning it was so nice to see ... it left a nice glow cast across the living room ...

... but what really caught my eye was the blooms on the Thanksgiving Cactus.

They remind me of the flowers you see on orchids ...

 I love how the sunlight was filtering through the blooms :)

It's the little things that give me joy.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

patience grasshoppa ~

It took awhile ...

Remember waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy back in March when I started my avocado orchard on my window sill ?  ... lol

Well ... long story short ...

I started out with five ... they got rotten and fuzzy looking ... all except for one. I just kept on putting fresh water on it and ...

WAHLAHHHHH!!!!

after 7 long months of it sitting in the window ...

after 7 long months of Dear Hubby saying "How long is this glass with this big seed thing in it going to be sitting in the window?"

after 7 long months of me patiently waiting ...

after 7 long months of me looking at it whenever I did dishes ...

after 2 months of me putting a bogainvilla vine slip in a glass of water beside it ...

... telling it to put on some roots like it's neighbor ~

It finally happened!  My little avocado seed has a root.  

Can you believe it ... it took 7 months!  Not 7 weeks like all the literature I read on them says it takes.  7 months!  I wonder how long it will take for me to get an avocado off of it??  I hope I live long enough to find out.

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

nom noms ~

Can we talk?

I have a little problem.

It hurts right here.

Come sit on Grandma's lap ... 

let me see.

I think you need a little hugging and some loving.  Maybe a few little "nom nom nom's" on the cheek will help too.

I think it's working!

Oh thank you Grandma ~  here's some "nom nom nom's" right back at ya!

Once again ... all is well :)

Carry on!

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

apple pickin' ~

I hand picked a pretty nice bunch of apples off the tree this morning ~ and there's still some out there for the deer.

I started with the largest ones and worked my way down in size.

Now I KNOW Dear Hubby is going to be begging for a pie.

I saw this recipe and always wanted to attempt it; but seriously ... I can't imagine doing it ... but it sure does look tempting:

~ image from the internet ~

It's Paula Deen's Savannah High Apple Pie

Mercy!  I would love to bite into that ~ but would probably go into cardiac arrest or a diabetic coma!!  Oh why do I even look at stuff like this on the internet!! Oh... oh... oh... drool ... drool ... drool ... it has a caramel and pecan topping over apples ... oh lordy ... I have to quit dreaming and go do something constructive.

I think I'll make some Jello.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

more snow ~

It's only the first week of October and Old Man Winter decided to blow in and give us a tease of what's to come.

This was 4:30 a.m. when I got up with Dear Hubby to see him off to work.  The yard was white with snow!

We couldn't watch television because the snow was over the needle of the dish.  So before leaving for work, Dear Hubby ~ what a sweetie ~ took a pipe and put the mop into it so he could reach and cleaned it off for me.  

It really wasn't that necessary of a thing to do ... because I didn't even stay up this morning and watch TV like I usually do.  I went back to bed until 7:00 and by then most of the snow had already melted off. lol

It's a little early for snow in my neck of the woods.  I know (or at least I HOPE) we'll still have some nicer weather and get to enjoy fall a bit longer.  This tease of a snow just reminds us of all the things we still need to get in order before the big freeze of winter hits.  I need to put away the lawn furniture and hopefully get to finish cleaning up the rest of the leaves on the ground.  AND my shiitake mushrooms and oyster mushrooms are just starting to fruit and I really want a few more harvest off them if possible.

Also, I have a new to me greenhouse that needs to be set in place and sealed up so I can use it next spring.

Once I get those few projects under tow ... let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

it's snowing ~

Oh boy!  Here it comes and it's way too early for my liking.

As I write this ... it's snowing!  Yes Cheryl ... the "S" word.  And it's coming whether we like it or not.

It's not accumulating.  It's melting off as soon as it hits the ground; but none the less ... it's snowing!!!

Ohhhhh.... I'm just not ready for it yet; there's too much fall season I need to enjoy before it switches over to winter.  Where's my Indian Summer?  We still need to get the boat put away.

This change in weather did spark the Shiitake mushrooms to start putting on fruit ~ finally!  These logs were inoculated in May of 2013.  I swear ... it was like waiting for an elephant to give birth :)

So far ... just a handful of mushrooms; but I have high hopes for a pretty good harvest of them ... seeing as how wet it's been and how much the weather is switching up.  Fungi is finicky on when it wants to fruit.

I best get off the computer and go do something constructive ~ like fold that last load of laundry ... or maybe eat a bowl of Jello!

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

cooler days ~

The cooler days of fall are here.

I love the color of fall ~ the scents of fall ~ the feel of fall ~ I love it all !!!
















Only sad thing about the fall season is that it always seems to fly by too fast.

  Old Man Winter likes to show up too early.  I heard the weather man say this morning that we could have some light snow flurries as early as this coming Friday.  Friday?  This Friday?  That's only 2 days out!!!  Pray the weather man is wrong.

~~~*~~~~

There hasn't been much activity on the compost pile during the day ... but come night time the skunks have been busy checking it out.  Just what I didn't want to see.  Oh well.... just as long as they keep their tails down and I'm always up wind of them.

~~~*~~~

I wonder if Mom plans on picking the crab apples off her little tree or if she's going to let them go for the birds and deer?

Speaking of which ... these two come running into the yard if they hear an apple fall from the tree ...

... don't go flashing that tail at me ... I'm not going to chase you away from the tree.  I'll let you be as long as you leave a few apples for me.

~~~*~~~

 Taking a nap???  or watching TV???

Smile ... my little chickadees!

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel