Comparing apples ... to apples...

Every year at Christmas time my Grandmother used to make applesauce cake - oh, she would make it other times of the year too (it was always my requested birthday cake if she was visiting during January) but at Christmas, she would “beef it up” a little - dates instead of raisins, candied fruit, more nuts. When I was in college she would send me some sometimes. It still is one of my favorite cakes, and it is one of those cakes that the longer it sits, the better it gets. The first time I made it, I was sure there was a typo - no eggs! A frantic call to my Grandma assured me that no, there were no eggs in this cake. So if you have someone who is allergic to eggs, you could make it for them.

I used to make it this time of the year to give to friends as a “New Year’s Cake” - somehow the last couple of years the applesauce just hasn’t gotten made - and like my minister, Rev. Nan, I buy the nuts and the butter in anticipation of making these treats and end up at the end of the month with a freezer full of nuts and butter,

But a few weeks ago, I actually bought the apples that I would need for this precious cake - Jonagolds for texture - they cook up firm and sweet, some Pink Lady apples - they smelled so “appley” in the store, guessing that they would cook up “saucy” and of course I had to throw in a couple of Granny Smiths for their tart flavor. The apples had been sitting the kitchen counter since we brought them home - I decided the other evening that I’d better cook them up before they started to get mushy.

As I was peeling these apples, it occurred to me how much they could be likened to the people in our lives - I’m sure you know someone who stays “firm” under pressure - or someone who is just a little bit “saucy” - Oh, and I forgot, I added in the neglected Galas that had been languishing in the fruit drawer. Do you have any friends you haven’t talked to lately? Are they “languishing in your fruit drawers”?
And of course, the colors of the apples intrigued me as well - there must be every shade from green to yellow to pink to deep reds - how dull it would be if they were all the same color. Hmm - sort of like real life, these apples are, don’t you think?

So, I got the applesauce made and put into the fridge, and we had pork chops the next night, - can’t have pork chops without applesauce, then The Shepherd decided that it made a pretty good snack (and good for him since I hadn’t added any sugar to it) Before I knew it, the applesauce was almost all gone – well, heck. Last night we got more apples and this afternoon, more applesauce was made – but this time, I didn’t let the opportunity get away. You have to be careful when you try a bite of it right out of the oven because the raisins are hot, hot, hot. ( I speak from experience – ha, ha) Here’s the recipe – make sure your applesauce is fresh and hot

Grandma Billie’s Applesauce Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease & flour a 9x13 pan. Get a couple of pounds of your favorite cooking apples to make (at least) three cups – big chunks of apple are OK.

Mix in a large bowl:
2 cups (or if not juicy, add an extra 1/2 – 3/4 cup or so) fresh applesauce.
(have hot) Add:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into small chunks so it will melt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

In a smaller bowl, sift together:
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or 1 tsp each cloves & nutmeg

After your butter is melted in the hot applesauce, add about ¾ of the dry ingredients to the applesauce mix and blend – with the last ¼ of the dry ingredients, add 2 cups of raisins and 2 cups of chopped walnuts.

Mixture will be very thick – pour into 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick or bamboo skewer comes out clean. Cool –

Very moist and rich cake, doesn’t need frosting. Better in slices (like banana bread..) rather than big chunks. It gets better as it sits – keep in refrigerator or freezer.

I'll take one of each, please........

more LOL cats

No you won't says The Shepherd!

Just letting you know that I'll be busy on the church newsletter this week, so I won't be posting much.

URGENT - Puppy mill ring busted in Western Washington

After I finished my previous post about my Christmas Caps, I decided to check out more info about this puppy mill thing that has been going on for the past week south of here. I know that many of my readers are animal lovers and felt that I needed to let you know about this.

The situation has snowballed and gotten progressively worse with each day. It is a very sad story - no arrests have been made, but I sure hope that some will be. Because one man was brave enought to turn in his friend, many many animals will be saved from a horrific life. Please read on.... (but, don't forget to take time to check out the pretty hats I made for my family for Christmas)....

As of Saturday, January 24, over 600 puppies and pregnant dogs have been seized from a puppy mill ring here in Western Washington.

These dogs were living in unimaginable filth and are now being taken care of at the Everett Humane Society, with most being cared for at the Skagit County Fairgrounds by the volunteers for an organization called "S.P.O.T." - (Saving Pets One at a Time). Many of the dogs are ill with parasites and other problems from the crowding and deplorable conditions they were living in. Many puppies had never been out of their crates.

They estimate that 80% of these dogs are pregnant and that the number of puppies expected to be born over the next few weeks could reach 1500! They are hoping that as the puppies are born, the females can be spayed, and that students from the veternary schools in the state can step in and assist with the surgeries.

Please check out these web sites for more information on how you can help the folks that are taking care of these (mostly) itty bitty dogs:

PuppyJustice.com and
Saving Pets One at a Time (S.P.O.T.)

Finally -

Finally the Christmas caps have been delivered, so I can show them to you.

This hat and scarf was made for my niece Jennifer and she said it fit perfectly. The hat is kind of slouchy/buckety looking affair with a flower stuck on the side - but it looked good on my co-worker, who acted as my model while I was making them, as I have a rather "grande sized head" that is too big to fit a standard ladies sized hat.

It is a wool/mohair/firestar blend from Dawn's Custom Carding that I picked up at Black Sheep Gathering last summer, and the yarn that I got the blue ribbon on at the NW Washington Fair last August. The fiber I got from Dawn's was really nice and so easy to spin. I will definately be stopping by that booth at next summer's BSG.

This one is called (appropriately) The Bobble Hat. I think it was my favorite one to make & I really love how it looks. The good news was that it fit my niece Sarah. (yeah~)

It is made out of Superwash Merino and hand combed colored mohair locks that were spun in closely the same color-way as the merino and plied with some white coreydale. I wasn't sure if there would be enough of the merino yarn to make the hat, and I was right, there wouldn't have been enough. I had never spun superwashed merino before (it came in one of those tightly braided hanks) and did not draft it down very well, so it was kind of a thick-thin yarn - Oh, that's right, that is called "novelty yarn" - yeah, that's the ticket.

The pattern for this hat was fairly straight forward until I got to the "bobble row" - when it plainly said "Make bobble" - no instructions on how or what a bobble was. Luckily I've been "shopping" on the Crafter's Choice Book Club and have all these wonderful new crochet "How-To" books, and luckily they had instructions on how to make a bobble. - It is actually made from the wrong side with five half/double crochets.
A bobble, up close.

This little beauty was made from the crocheted hat pattern from the fall "Spin-Off" magazine. They rarely have crochet patterns, and this one was really cute. I used it for Emma's hat and for her Grandmom's hat (My sister) - unfortunately Wisten's hat is a bit too small. We are hoping that she can size it by washing it. -




This was a wool, mohair blend that reminded me of my sister the minute I saw it. If you click on the picture to "biggify" it, you can see all the colors in this wool - navy, almost a green, a bit of black, turquoise, and some flecks of gold. I hope she can size it up so it fits her.




These are the "Cougar Caps" in Burgandy and Grey for my nephew Chris and his dad. I have heard that Glenn's hat is too small - It is pretty tightly crocheted - I don't know if my sis will be able to size it up or not. I haven't heard if Chris's fit or not.

The burgandy was some misc. wool that I got at BSG and I picked up the grey at our Spinner Guild "spin-in" last fall. I can't remember what it was, but it sure spun up nice.


Chris's wife Jennifer (both nephews married Jennifers!) had told me that she didn't get along with wool too well - it makes her very itchy - so I got some cotton yarn at my LYS - it has bits of green, gold and blue in it - very pretty and fun to crochet. This was supposed to be a newsboy style hat with a brim, but somehow, the brim never happened, so I turned it into a beret. I thought it was really cute. hopefully it fits.

I have two skeins of the yarn left so maybe I'll make her a scarf to go with it.

I guess I forgot to take a picture of the hat I made for Jake - it was the same style as the one for his brother Chris and their dad - but it was in Red & Black superwashed merino. He is a baseball and football coach at Ritzville High School in Eastern Washington and black & red are the school colors.

I'm really seeing the need to make a little book of the yarn that I am spinning - reminding myself of what went wrong and what went right...and what the yarn was composed of. I got a nice little blank book for Christmas - maybe that would be a good use for it.

Yes, it was a great day -

With one small disappointment -

Yesterday morning I got up "early" - in time to watch the "pre-festivities" - awesome to see all those people on the Mall - everyone looked to happy and excited.

Set up the VCR (yes, some of us still have VCR's) on the bedroom TV so I could record the events of the day for The Shepherd.

Watched the ceremony, puttered around a bit - went in and checked the VCR - Shut it off, because it was just TV guys blabbering - Rewound it to see how the recording looked - puttered around some more - by this time, the parade was on and decided that The Shepherd might like to see some of the parade - so I went back into the bedroom and hit "Record" (keep in mind that I had rewound it a bit....)
I made a nice dinner of baked salmon and potato rounds and made Inauguration Cobbler for dessert. We sat and watched the video of ALL the "whobodies" coming out onto the ceremony platform and just as Diane Feinstein said - "And now may I introduce Aretha Franklin to sing "America the Beautiful" - my video recording flipped over to the parade. I had recorded over THE WHOLE CEREMONY - I can't tell you how disappointed I am (and how disappointed the Shepherd was - I found bits and pieces on-line, but he wouldn't watch them). So that pretty much ended our evening - but here is the recipe for "Inauguration Cobbler"

INAUGURATION COBBLER
Makes 6 - 8 servings
For the filling:
8 cups frozen fruit - I used a bag of peaches, a bag of mixed fruit - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries and a couple cups of frozen cherries - thawed and drained into a colander
1 cup granulated sugar plus 2 or 3 tablespoons to shake over the crust before baking
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus (you could use Pumpkin Pie spice)
1/4 cup apricot jam mixed with 1/2 cup hot water (to melt it) - or if there is enough juice from your frozen fruit use that - but my fruit was not very juicy
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces

For the crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Crisco shortening
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. To make the filling, arrange the fruit in an even layer in the prepared baking pan. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon plus. Whisk in the water mixed with the apricot jam (or peach juice) until smooth. Pour the mixture over the peaches. Sprinkle the butter over the top. Set aside.
4. To make the crust, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the shortening and butter, then use a pastry blender or gloved hands to work them into the dry ingredients until the mixture forms pea-sized lumps.
5. Slowly add the water, adding enough and mixing only until the dough holds together. Do not over mix.
6. Place the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Roll out the dough into a rectangle slightly large than the baking pan and about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Remove the top sheet of parchment paper. The dough then can be cut into strips and woven into a crust over the cobbler or for an easier crust, invert the crust onto the baking pan and carefully peel off the parchment paper. Trim the crust to fit just inside the edge of the pan and make a couple of slits in the top. Sprinkle with 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar.
9. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until the crust is golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from the Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop in Chicago where Barack Obama had some in 2001 and proclaimed it very tasty.

The next time, I will use just peaches or just cherries - The Shepherd said it had "too many fruit flavors" for him. Oh, well. It was pretty.

A GREAT Day for America!

President Barack Obama

I am so excited. I knew I would be too distracted by the events of the day to be effective at my work so I have actually taken today off so I can sit, with my box of tissues (my sisters call it my "Lassie moments") and watch the inauguration in real time.

If you haven't already heard it, go to Oprah.com and listen to David Foster's new music - "America's Song".

And if I can figure out where I stashed the recipe (and IF I can find some frozen peaches at the store) I'll make President Obama's favorite Peach Cobbler for dessert tomorrow.

And I'll be singing:

This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California to the New York Island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway, I saw above me the endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley, This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps,
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me, a voice was sounding, This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
As the fog was lifting, a foice was calling,
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California to the New York Island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

Woodie Guthrie, copyright 1956

And every night, I say this prayer- "God, please keep our new president and his family safe from harm, amen."

Unexpected Pleasures ~ and six degrees of separation

A phone call from our neighbor earlier in the week - -
"We're having a little get together Saturday evening hope you'll come - Mike and Ellen are coming, and so are Nancy and Jim"

(Ellen is in my spinner guild - her husband is an awesome bluegrass musician - Nancy - you read about her on New Years...)

When we get there - the living rroom is filled with music -



And these are not your every day, garden variety musicians, I quickly realized - Our neighbor used to be in a bluegrass band, so one of his old band members was there - plus I have heard of, but never personally heard Laurel Bliss - who plays the dobro guitar like an angel - (see the spirit circle above her head? These little balls of light appear occasionally on my pictures - but not randomly - they appear on pictures of special events - lamb births, special people - I first thought that they were just dust spots, but then I realized that these spots were not on any other pictures in the batch - they just seem to appear on "special pictures" so The Shepherd and I finally decided that they could only be spirit circles)

I love to sing.

I love to sing harmony.

Mostly this freaks people out. They stop singing what they were singing - and try to sing "with" me - Drives me nuts. But not tonight - Bluegrass doesn't exist without some harmony - and mine was welcome. IT WAS WONDERFUL!





Oh, and the six degrees of separation?

When I had my 50th birthday party we invited many friends and neighbors - John & Wendy are neighbors, but Wendy and I have know each other for many years earlier as members of the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship - Our friends Nancy and Jim came to my birthday party and discovered that Jim & Wendy's husband John were old friends, having gone to grade school together - but had lost touch with one another.

Then, there was Ellen, from my spinner guild. Last year at Nancy's New Year's party, Mike and Ellen came, as did John & Wendy - Turns out John and Mike knew each other from playing bluegrass music together. And the wife of the fellow playing banjo tonight and I looked at each other and went "HI?" - Oh, my gosh - we took spinning class together last spring.

And then, there was another neighbor there tonight - when she & The Shepherd were talking about our sheep and when the next lambs were due, they got to talking about professions and turns out that her husband (who was there playing guitar) is on the board of the local Food Co-op -

In his other life as "The Landscaper", The Shepherd just finished the landscaping at the new Food Co-Op location here in town.

And the other great thing? Those of us who weren't holding a musical instrument in our laps? We were holding knitting needles, crochet hooks, or embroidery hoops. What an evening....


And did you notice these?

Go back up and look at all the windows in the other pictures. Our friend Wendy makes these beautiful decorations - they are kind of like doilies, but have beads crocheted into them and they are hooked onto a metal frame to make a sort of a "sun catcher" - and get this - (which drives me nuts - I can barely make a granny square) - she crochets them "free hand" ie. she doesn't use a pattern! How does she do that?

Unexpected Treasurers

Life is back to normal for most of us here in the county after our recent floods.

My birthday was an interesting day - I'll have to write about it later though because I have to go get ready to go to our neighbors for a little bluegrass sing-a-long - but here is a little story about an unexpected treasure that I got in the mail last month.

Oh, look, the postman left a package on the front porch.


What on earth could it be? I haven't ordered anything from amazon.com lately....










Actually this surprise present came just before Christmas, but with the snow and everything, the idea of showing it to you got set aside.
Wrapped in luxurious gold paper with a beautiful satin ribbon - what could it be???












This beautiful book was a gift from our frend Donna and I have all that new shetland/alpaca wool to spin up - doesn't that sould like it would be perfect for crocheted lace?

I have gotten "more than several" books for Christmas and over the past month. I need to sit down and make a plan- when to read, when to crochet and when to spin. Oh, my, way too many things to do.

Here's thinking of you, kids

This is our friends Kathy and Ralph from Sheep Thrills farm in Arizona. Please hold them in your thoughts today, as Ralph is having surgery on his spleen.

God speed to his surgeon and speedy recovery to you Ralph! (then you can go see that new grandbaby)

Love, Tina & The Shepherd (and the sheep and the cat, etc, etc.)

Looking Back Sunday

Hmmm - this was January 11, 2007 - (doesn't look too much different from last month does it?)

Tomorrow is my birthday - it will be one of the few that I can remember that we HAVEN'T had snow.











March 11, 2006 - The promise of spring time heralded by these narcissus - they are already starting to come up this year - unfazed by last months cold and snow.








July 11, 2007 - The Shepherd has two big beds of Japanese iris. Their blooming is one of my favorite times of the year.












December 11, 2007 - even thought the scarf that I made from this yarn was deemed "too scratchy" by my sister, I donated the last ball of it to help make a woven lap robe for a member of our spinner guild who had been hurt in an accident. It looked very pretty in her little blanket. All things have a place, I guess.

OK, gotta go, The Shepherd is taking me out to dinner to celebrate my b'day. Yum.

A flood report -

Many of you have seen the reports of the flooding here in the Pacific Northwest and I thought I'd update you on a few things from around our area.

We live in an area called Marietta - the old town of Marietta is down right on the Nooksack River - and has about 15 houses in that area which have all flooded - (for the umpteenth time) and the river, which is normally about 1/2 mile from our house is now about 1/4 mile from our house. But we are in the "high country" (The Shepherd and the neighbors jokingly decided we should be called "Marietta Heights") We're about 15 feet above sea level here (the river in this area being at sea level) and the "seasonal" stream that runs 30-40 feet from our back door has a very deep channel and although it's at the top of it's banks, we've never had it go over - so, we're pretty safe here.

When I heard that there was extensive flooding in Lewis County again, I had so many memories of the floods of December 2007 when the Black Sheep Creamery lost many of their flock of dairy sheep and suffered great damage to their farm. It was with dread that I clicked onto their web site this morning. But great relief! They are safe. Their animals have all been moved up to safety at Mountain Niche Farm. Kim & Doug took care of the sheep that survived the 2007 flood until the Gregory's got their farm back in order. My hat goes off to them for stepping up to the plate again. That is what neighbors do, or what neighbors "used to do" anyhow. It makes me glad to know that there are still good people like that in the world.

If The Shepherd gets any time tomorrow maybe he can get some pictures to show you.

New Year's at Nancy's

This is our friend Nancy - a few years ago she bought a farm out in the east county - it had this wonderful huge three car garage. One day when Nancy was looking around at the ReStore - our local "re-usable building materials place" (check out their web site & read their story - it's great!) - anyhow, she was looking around and found a wooden gymansium floor that had been removed from a school someplace, in sections that would be just the right size to put a new floor in her new garage - did I mention that Nancy is a talented musician who plays for Balkan dancers and likes to folk dance? This floor was the start of something great. At that time, several music venues had recently gone out of business in Bellingham - there was no place to play good old folk music - but with the installation of the floor, all that changed. Soon Nancy's farm became a favorite destination for music players and listeners alike - (it is also where my spinner guild generally meets)

In those days, there were lots of us who used to hang out at a local eaterie and music venue called "The Cookie Cafe" - the first New Year's Day after it closed, Nancy decided to have a "reunion/get together" of old friends from The Cookie - and a tradition was born. A potluck brunch with delectable food and music - what a great way to ring in the new year!


For the last several years, I have been making Ebelskivers, a little pancake ball baked in a special pan - they are really yummy, but it meant that I had to spend most of the time in the kitchen cooking. So this year, I decided to take a new dish - I had purchased all the ingredients to make it for our reception after our evening Christmas service that never happened - and it would be a perfect dish to take to Nancy's.




No, those aren't chocolate chips - they are capers - resting on a light schmear of sour cream. This dish is sooooo yummy - good on triscuits or little toast rounds. Yes, the recipe is at the end of this post...











And after we eat, the instruments come out -


and the band starts to grow -















And if you just want to sit and listen, the knitting comes out...



The musicians play everything from fiddles to spoons -











And the band keeps growing - adding another guitar or two and there is our friend Lynne on the bass...




Of ourse if you are going to Nancy's Farm, you have to stop and say hello to the sheep on your way down the driveway.



A good time is guaranteed to be had by all.



SMOKED SALMON CHEESECAKE

Buttery Cracker Crust
1 cup crushed buttery crackers (I used Ritz)
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
¼ tsp dill weed
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Heat oven to 375 degrees for crust. Mix ingredients until well blended. Press evenly in bottom of 9x3 inch spring form pan. Bake about 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
Filling:
3 8 ounce packages cream cheese, 2 regular, 1 “lite” softened
3 eggs
½ cup light sour cream
1/8 tsp Pampered Chef cajun seasoning
2 shakes Chipotle hot sauce
1 cup shredded Gouda Cheese (6 ounces) (I used Whatcom County Appel Farms Mild Gouda)
6 ounces smoked salmon, flaked

1 cup sour cream
2 - 3 tablespoons capers, drained

1. Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees. Beat cream cheese in large bowl w/electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then add sour cream and seasonings; beat until smooth. Stir in Gouda cheese and salmon. Mix until well blended. Spoon evenly over crust.
2. Bake 45 minutes until center is set. Turn off heat in oven and let pan sit in oven for another ½ hour. Remove from oven and let cool for about ½ hour. Run knife around edge of cheesecake to loosen, spread sour cream evenly over top. Cool another 1/2 hour at room temp. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours but not longer than 24 hours.
3. To serve, remove side of pan. Place cheesecake on serving platter. Sprinkle with capers, or you could decorate w/sliced green onions and red caviar, bell pepper or chopped tomatoes. Serve with crackers.
NOTE:
If you use a 10" spring form pan, bake crust only 5 minutes and bake cheesecake only 35 - 40 minutes.

Serves 36 as appetizer

Random thoughts, random acts and old axioms

Not necessarily in that order -

An old axiom (revised)

.....gone yesterday, here today.....

It was almost gone - just a few piles here and there








The six foot drifts were gone from the driveway










Until this morning that is...









The same old axiom (revised)

.....Hair today, gone tomorrow..... Speaking of white.....

My birthday is coming up. My hair has, like my mother's did, gone white on top first - kind of gives you that skunk look if you wear your hair down - I mostly wear mine up in a bun or pulled back in a terribly unstylish pony tail - I never claimed to be a fashion maven. BUT, now my eyebrows are turning white. I could ignore them for a while, then I started plucking them out, but that's gotta stop, or I'll look like a fat Lieutenant Illia (Who you say? Read up on your Star Trek)

A Random Thought -

.....You gotta watch what you say.......

Two of the "local merchants" that I named in my eight fav stores have contacted me to say "Thank You" - I was somewhat taken aback I guess, that my mention would even be noticed, let alone responded to - which was cool - I must admit, I was lazy and did not give you links, as most of them have web sites - oh, well, there's always Google, now, isn't there?

It also made me think about the fact that one never really knows who one's whole audience is - I know when I look at my site counter, that when Flagstaff comes up, my friend Kathy has been here here, or Leigh & Rascal in South Carolina, and there are others that I recognize, but for the most part, most of you out there are a mystery to me. As one blogger friend says on her side bar - "Would it kill ya to leave a comment?"

And Finally - A Random Act of Kindness ~

I confess, I have a great weakness for McDonald's Chicken Nuggets. All those commercials that were on while I was snowed in and eating "real food" for lunch - they were killing me! So, you guessed it, my first day back to work last week, I headed out to (one of my eight favorite restaurants) Mickey D's for lunch. Rainy and cold, I braved the drive up lane rather than get out and walk through the slushy mushy parking lot. Ordered my McNuggets & et-ceteras for my lunch and when I got to "Window #1" to pay, I was informed by the cashier that "The car in front of you paid for your lunch, and said to tell you that "Jesus loves you" -

Huh? Well, I'd never thought of that in conjunction with my fast food lunch, but what could I do, but ask what the people behind me had ordered - "A Kid's Meal" - "OK, I'll pay for their meal then", I said. - Which tickled the cashier and thoroughly confused the people at "Window #2" (the Pick-up window) who couldn't figure out why we were all paying for other peoples meals - someday they'll understand.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is our delayed and belated Christmas service at church. The Shepherd, who is also The Minister of Music is on high alert - Hopefully this new snow will be gone by morning (it's 38 degrees out - yay!) as we have about a 20 mile trip to get there -

I'm trusting that you all had a Happy and Safe New Years - I have pictures from our "New Year's at Nancy's Farm to show you and a yummy recipe for Smoked Salmon Cheesecake - but, you'll just have to wait - anyhow, it will give you something to come back for.

Why, Why, Why

I didn't think these up - (although I have wondered about some of them myself) but I thought some of them were very pertinent ~

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are almost dead?

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they already know there is not enough money?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars; but have to check when you say the paint is still wet?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, 'It's all right?' Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, 'That really hurt, why don't you watch where you're going?'

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

And my FAVORITE......The statistics on sanity is that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.