TOWANDA!!!!!!!!

What a great word, this is my word for the new year. Have you noticed all the subliminal and not so subliminal crap in the tv commercials recently? Just because the end of 2007 is fast approaching, the powers that be have decided we all need a life altering new year's resolution. Right now is the time to resolve to become all that we have not been able to be for our whole adult lives. I have resolved not to fall for it this year! I am not going to be forced to feel like an undisciplined pig just because I am not buying an ab -obliterator, selling my firstborn for frozen home delivered meals, or wrapping myself in saran wrap and meeting my husband at the door.

If you can't tell by now, I watched Fried Green Tomatoes last night. What a great movie. I forgot all about this one. I so identified with Evelyn Couch, she even looks a little like me. She is overweight, and going through menopause. The only part I don't identify with, is her relationship with her husband. Mine won't leave me alone! But, her relationship with herself and the world really hit home. The way she lets people get away with making her feel bad, and then Towanda was born. I wonder if Towanda was a result of hormones? Or was it a combination of hormones and Ninny? I just loved how she stood up for herself with her husband without losing it. That's the key, get your point accross without losing it or pissing off someone. This is what I am going to work on this year. How? I don't know... any ideas?

Calamity Kim came to town today! Stop by her blog to meet her at http://calamitykim.typepad.com/ We went to a great restaurant here in Cape Coral called Brew Babies http://www.brewbabies.com/ It is a very cool Calamity Kim kind of place. The food is great and the atmosphere just perfect. Kim has some great pictures on her flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/calamitykim/

We were planning on meeting Jennifer for lunch too, but ran into some technical difficulties. Too bad, it would have been great for them to meet. Jennifer has a really cool blog too http://somewhereknitting.blogspot.com/ She was going to teach Kim and I to knit. Hopefully we can reschedule with her very soon. So a change in plans was not to keep us from having fun. I took Kim out to Matlacha. And to our good fortune it was Arts night in Matlacha, they served us snacks and wine and treated us like royalty at every gallery we went to check it out at http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071213/GCLIVE02/712140317 It was fun seeing Kim again, I just wish my sister Carol could join us sometime. If she ever comes here again, we are going to have a sleepover. We will shop, swim, drink, and play with fabric and stuff. Carol is how I met Kim. My sister has a blog too http://workinprogress-wip.blogspot.com/ She is enjoying a snow day today. The weather in CT has been dreadfull. I kind of miss snow days, but not the cold or the shoveling.

I finally put up the Christmas Tree. I always wait until after my son Robert's Birthday. He was born on Friday Dec 13th 1974, Happy 33rd Birthday Robert. And I also made some fudge while I put up the tree.

















Putting up the tree is bittersweet for me. So many of the old ornaments hold memories. This one of the Lighthouse on Block Island RI, is especially hard for me. I bought this with my late daughter in law, Tanya, who went there with us on one of her last trips before she died of cancer at 23 years old. We miss you Tanya, Merry Christmas










And here is our Sparky's ornament. He left us last summer at the age of 14. He had a good dog life and we miss him too.



I saved Katie's pacifier. Katie is grown up now and in college. I miss that fat little screamer too! But she will be here next week and I won't miss her anymore at least for a month.










This one makes me laugh. I got this a few years ago from my neighbor, Deirdre, she called me one day and said you have to come over here and see this hideous thing someone gave me. She was so offended by this macaroni ornament and thought it was the ugliest thing she ever saw, so she gave it to me. She was a strange old bohemian woman, very artsy and wrote children's books. Merry Christmas Deirdre wherever you are.

Here is an old paper house that I got from my mother. She was throwing out some old ornaments and I rescued a few of these. I remember these from my childhood and they are kind of special to me.

This Russian Icon ornament is my favorite, I put it on the very top of the tree. It is tiny, only about 1" high,

Aren't these the coolest things? My friend Terri gave them to me last night. It is my newest favorite Christmas decoration!















They are glass blocks, she drilled a hole in them, put a 50 light strand in them ,and a wired ribbon bow. Awesome! Now to think about decorating outside. I remember when I waited too long , it would be so cold and sometimes the bushes had so much snow and ice on them, there was no way to get the lights on them. I guess here in Florida, I can't use that excuse! Those poor northerners are having a really bad snow/ice storm today. It was about 83 here today and sunny. (Don't tell them, they will swear at me) Hey, who says Christmas has to be cold and snowy, Jesus was born amongst palm trees and sand, not in the Swiss Alps! Even Saint Nicholas lived over there somewhere too! So, if you want a real authentic Christmas, come to Florida! HoHo Merry!!!!

RIVERBOTTOM BLUES BAND DEBUT'S AT THE BEACHED WHALE

Nick is in a new band now, it's a blues band. He is also in 2 other bands. We went to Ft Myers Beach on Saturday to hear them play. They were excellent. We had to stay up past out bedtime, but it was worth it.

I haven't blogged in a while, I have been neglectfully, I know it. Life just gets in the way sometimes. But nothing exciting or funny enough to blog about. Just work, and boring stuff like that going on. I have had a few normal weeks, no company, no events, just stuff, normal stuff. And that is a good thing sometimes.....

I am going to see Calamity Kim and Jenny this Friday and will remember to take my camera this time. These are two of the most creative people I know and I can't wait for them to meet. Check out their blogs on my sidebar. Jenny is at Somewhereknitting. She is going to teach Kim to knit. I think that is the only craft she hasn't done. I'll fill you all in over the weekend.

PIEROGI'S



We made pierogi's today. I decided to finally write down how to make them.

Ingredients:

Dough;
1/4 C sour cream
1 Egg
1 1/2 C water

Mix together in electric mixer bowl. Gradually add 4 - 6 cups of flour till just a little sticky, not dry like bread dough.

Fillings:

Cheese: 2 pkg farmers cheese, one egg, salt & pepper, mix together

Potato: about 2-3 cups mashed potatoes ( I cheated and bought the kind already made) 3 oz Velveeta cheese (optional)

Sourkraut: I small pkg sourkraut, drain and chop, fry some chopped onion and kraut together

Assembly:

I used a marble floured pastry board to roll out the dough, roll just enough to cover your board. Make it thin, but not too thin. Experiement with it to see how they go together once you fill them.

Cut into circles using a cookie cutter or glass. Put about 1 tsp filling in the middle. Fold the dough up and pinch it together to form a 1/2 circle. Lay on a lightly floured dish.

Bring water to boil in a large frying pan, about 1-2", add peirogis to the water, stir so they won't stick, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Have a shallow bowl ready with a few pats of butter in it. Put the hot pierogi in the dish. Stir around to coat with the butter.

When ready to eat them, I fry some onion, then add as many as the pan can hold and lightly brown them. Serve with sour cream, salt & pepper.

This recipe made 43 cheese pierogi and 48 potatoe. They are in the freezer, but won't be for long! You can freeze them, just put them in a ziploc, maybe 6 or 12 to a bag. Lay the bag flat to freeze so they don't stick together.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!



We had some family visiting for the Holiday. My Mother-in -Law, Helen. My Aunt Carolyn, her daughter Kathy, and granddaughter Leanne. I used the china from Gramma Otto that I was given recently. It is really nice. The centerpiece is the teapot,since it is missing a lid, I thought it would be a good use for it. We had all the usual turkey day food. The difference this year is that I sent Bob shopping for the dinner while I was working.
























TURNIP vs RUTABEGA



The rutabaga, swede or (yellow) turnip (Brassica napobrassica, or Brassica napus var. napobrassica) is a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip—see the turnip disambiguation page. Its leaves may also be eaten as a leaf vegetable.




Bob is a very smart man, but when it comes to certain things, like shopping, he is a total mess. He also has drive through speaker phobia. We can rehearse the order 5 times, but when he hears, "Welcome to Fat Ass Burger, how can I help you?" he stammers, studders, and forgets why he is there. I thought about this for a while last night and I think it is a 'fear of asking' thing? You know, asking for directions, food, where can I find Leeks, sex......etc.... Anyway, I sent him with a list, you know the usual stuff: Leeks, turnips, shallots, celery.....Well the poor guy, my list sent him over the edge.

I had no idea that turnips were those small purple and white things!
We always called the Rutabega a turnip...He checked with the produce guy, because my mother-in-law went with him and told him those little purple and white things are not turnips. But the package said turnips! Oh the dilemma, what to do???? Well, he ignored his mother and bought the stuff that said turnip. So, trying to be nice while unpacking the bags and muttering under my breath, I said, "what the hell are these things" while poking the purple and white things. "Those are turnips", no there not, "yes they are the produce guy said so and see they say turnip on the package". Well take em back and get the big yellowish thing whatever they call it, these are not turnips.

I just checked wikopedia, and guess what, I may have been wrong just a little bit. Actually what I wanted was a Rutabega, aka, yellow turnip. But I would appreciate any of you northerners checking at good old Stop and Shop and tell me what they call turnips.

Ok Carol, I will update my blog. I have a million excuses for neglecting my blog. But I won't bore you with the details. We are now officially the cheese in the sandwich of life. We picked up my 85 yr old mother-in-law and brought her here for the winter (?). I think she likes it here, she is unpacking and has a used tea bag safely stored in the cup cabinet. I also have the 'swing' station playing on XM. The big dilemma last night was that Lawrence Welk and the Wheel of Fortune were on at the same time, oh what to do!



Ok. Let's see what else is new......Oh yes, we can now walk through the house. The remodel is 98% done and the tool pile has moved to the garage. Oh and the garden is doing great. I actually have itty bitty cucumbers coming up and the sunflowers are blooming.
































Ok, now that's all I gotta say about that now!

BOATING IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Does this suck or what.??? Painting the bottom of a boat has to be one of the worst jobs in the world. My daughter was in the Coast Guard and she used to do this all the time. God Bless the Coast Guard!!!

Look at what it did to my toes! I was a sweaty dirty mess. On the up side, I did get a little sun and sweated off about 3 lbs.

Here are my toes after my pedicure, whew, that was stressfull............

Kitchen update:

We are getting there, I was even able to do a little accessorizing.

The only thing left too do is the backsplash, finish grouting the floor, tile the bar wall, and get the new table and chairs, I can't wait, it really has been an adventure. Poor Bob hasn't done so much manual labor in years, his poor bald head has so many boo boo's on it...I cam home from work today and he had a tissue stuck to his head with a blood. It looked like a bullet wound. poor baby.

Lover's Key State Park

Isn't this the coolest picture? I tried several times to capture this butterfly in action. I finally just kept clicking and caught him in action here. We went to Lover's key to have out boat hauled for servicing. I took my camera hoping to get a few nature shots in.

Check out my flickr page for more photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridadeb/

I have been really busy lately and haven't been a good blogger. I went back to my old job to help out after they had to fire my replacement. I am working about 20 hrs a week, but for more money, so I guess it is worth it. It is so weird that when your not working you think you can get so much accomplished. Wrong, I got very little accomplished while I was home for 5 months. I guess I work better under pressure. I have to start getting ready for the holidays and also for my mother-in-law who is spending the winter with us. I have to shovel out Katie's room for her, which is also known as my sewing room and Bob's office. If only I had just a little more space here! We will manage though, I really want her to stay with us for a while and enjoy this paradise we call home. I know your thinking, ' is she nuts?' I may be, but I am really hoping it works out. I will keep you posted.

Roaring 20's Hollywood Party

We attended the annual neighborhood October get together last night. Nancy and Harriette are sisters and each live alone in their own houses in our neighborhood. They are such fun neighbors Nancy is 72 and Harriette is almost 80. Nancy retired from the fashion industry and loves to have these theme parties every year.

Here I am with Audra. We remind me of Dr. Evil and Mini Me! She wears a size 1 and a half shoe and I wear an 11.
This is Nancy in the red and black and her party is in full swing.

This lovely couple is Debbie and Keith. Doesn't he look like Clark Gable? I made Debbie and Audra's costumes. We found this great dress for $10 at Goodwill it had the silk underdress with a lace overlay that were separate. I took the bottom of the lace part and sewed it onto the silk underdress for Debbie. For Audra used the remaining lace overlay and some bedroom sheer curtains and made the bottom and the bow. I made them both headbands . Two costumes for $10. now that is thrifty baby.

Here is a creampuff tower I made for the dessert table. It is just a styrofoam cone wrapped in foil, I drizzled chocolate candy melts over the creampuffs (buy them frozen at Costco and defrost) then attached them with toothpics and some cut apart fake spider rings. Put a little melted chocolate on the plate to hold the cone down. It is on a large black plastic platter, so it kind of resembles a witches hat.



Steve with the curtain on his head to see what he would look like with hair. What a good sport he is. Good thing he has no clue I blog!






No neighborhood party is complete without Louie and Shirley, they live next door to me. He is 91 and can run circles around most of the neighborhood. He has 12 kids (with his first wife) such a good Catholic that woman was, God rest her soul! He is still going strong with his 2nd wife who is at least a good 15 years younger than him.






We have a great neighborhood and we all had a wonderful night, Thanks Ladies!

Kitchen update........
We are getting close. I made a real meal tonight in my kitchen. Ihave a stove, cooktop, sink, dishwasher and a refrigerator all hooked up. So, no excuse to go out. Thanks Carol http://workinprogress-wip.blogspot.com/for the roasted cauliflower recipe, it was really good and I am not a fan of cauliflower. Take note of the phone message written on the wall ! Don't worry, I did call my mother.

I participated in the MILF Vice or Virtue Swap. I am so fortunate that my first swap partner dissapeared, because I got to swap with Mom-O-Matic!! If you haven't met her yet you are missing out big time. http://mom-o-matic.blogspot.com/ I got this great swap package in the mail and it is so Lotta. The date book is very very cool. It reminds me of the note pads my sister made me a few years ago. You can find my sister at http://workinprogress-wip.blogspot.com/ We all cracked up at the "Build this Bong" book. You can make a pipe or bong out of just about anything. It is a very fun book, in a coffee table conversation piece kind of way. The retro bedroom mood meter will come in handy! No more pretending to be asleep, just set the dial.

I have met some very cool people by blogging and putting pictures on flickr thanks to my sister who introduced me into this other social dimension of blogging.

I met Calamity Kim who I am happy to call a friend, check her out at

http://calamitykim.typepad.com/

She made these fake cupcakes that I now proudly own.

I was intimidated about blogging at first, because there are so many creative, wonderful, funny, and informative bloggers out there. I am none of those things, just a wanabe. I finally decided to just be me and if someone wants to read it, good for them, but I write for me and when I feel like it. Thanks to all you great bloggers and some good friends I have met in this cyberworld.

Life is on hold, kitchen remodeling has taken over our life. I have now become the 'fetch it bitch' also known as 'daddy's little helper'. I don't know how some people stay married while remodeling. Is 'remodeling' legal grounds for divorce? I have talked more under my breath in the last few weeks than out loud.

When I am helping him, he makes me feel like a 3 year old. I ask a question, and I either get a 10 minute dissertation on the virtues of measure twice cut once, or a 'not now honey, daddy's busy'. AGGGRRRHHH!

But, he is doing a wonderful job....as he has reminded me several times today. Somehow I have not had the desire to compliment him on this monumental task he has undertaken. I guess it is not my nature to be complimentary and mushy when I am totally aggrivated.

All is well today, he is at dome hepo again and should have everything ready for the counter tops to be installed on Monday. He is really quite a guy when we aren't remodeling.

Starting the Garden

Trying to keep my mind off of smoking, eating, remodeling, and friends illnesses. I could start exercising, but that my send my body into a state of shock. I haven't been this good to it since I was 6.


I love to grow things and make things. Since I live in SW Florida, it is time to start the garden. My daughter Katie started this last year, and has gone to NY for college. I decided to take over her garden this year.

















When I was in CT last month, I took some pictures of my old garden that my daughter Carolyn has taken over from me. The sunflowers inspired me to plant some here, I hope they grow here.






This is a portion of my old perennial garden with some black eyed susans and an old copper thingy that I salvaged from my mother-in-law a few years back.






I miss the perennial gardens from the northeast. I have none here in Florida. I suppose I should take a class on Florida Gardening. It is a different gardening world here. You have to plant things that tolerate extreme sun, heat, and drought. Then in the winter, you have to plant things that like water, heat, and sun. You also have to be careful about exotic and invasive plants that harm the ecosystem and take over. Things just grow like crazy here. You have to trim everything back or it will take over the yard.































UPDATE Check it out, one week after planting sunflower seeds I have plants with the 2nd set of leaves already. This is amazing. The package said 7-21 days for germination. I hope they make it, stay tooned for updates