Patriot's Up Close And Personal

Yesterday was family day for us at Gilette Stadium.  We all loaded onto a bus and traveled down to Foxboro to watch the game.  It's about a 3-4 hour drive depending on traffic and it was nice to have someone else doing the driving.  All the  little cousins had fun making tents between the seats and running back and forth and everyone else gabbed with each other non stop as only families can do.

It was nice that some of us got to go down on the field during the game to see everything up close.  That's always a thrill.  From left to right this is Son, Nephew, Nephew on scooter, Nephew and BIL.  You may notice none of us women got a pass to go down...........what's with that????

It's fun to see the players come onto the field this close.

It's nice watching the game in the skybox as you are undercover no matter what the weather is.  These big windows open if you want to hear the crowd and if it's not feezing cold!  I like sports if they are climate controlled!!

This place is HUGE!  Wouldn't it be nice to have a riding ring even a quarter this big?  I know, always thinking in terms of horses.

What made it even nicer was that the Pat's won the game!

We are supposed to get some snow tonight, about 4-9 inches depending on what weather station you watch.  They are already talking about a huge storm on New Year's Day but things can change before then so we don't get too excited about it.  We did have enough snow to do a bit of snowmobiling until it rained all day yesterday and took almost all of it off.  I didn't get out but Son took T and D out for a ride.  They've sure been getting hit with snow in some parts of the country,  much more then we have.

I put away a few Christmas things today and got all of the linens washed.  I want to iron the napkins before I put those in the china closet drawer so that they will be all nice for the next time I want to use them.  Seeing as I had things out of the china closet I took the opportunity to clean it as it was a bit dusty in places.  I like keeping my tree up in the living room and the mantel decorated as I enjoy the lights when I am in there.  I will keep my villages up over my kitchen cupboards until March as they are not specifically Christmas but winter.

I will be having my Pioneer Woman Cookbook give away soon so be sure to enter!  You don't have to have a blog to enter as I have some people that read that don't have blogs but you have to leave a comment.  You can send your cookbooks to her to have them signed if you want.  She's a nice gal, her sense of humor just cracks me up.  I wish she had come to Maine on her book tour.  Think she would if I called?

Christmas Eve,cooking mice,and still no spell check

The Christmas tree is looking rather bare this morning.  The packages have been opened and gone to their respective homes, the turkey carcass is ready to go in the stock pot, the pies have been eaten and the Christmas dishes are in the dishwasher, clean and ready to be put away for another year.  What a lovely time with family and friends.  We had a big crowd on Christmas Eve and a small one on Christmas Day.  The only things missing were the snow birds down in the sunny south safe from the ice, snow and windchills that we have here.

I'm going to back up a bit.  There was a lot of cooking going on here the day before Christmas.  I love to cook and I usually have a little helper here assisting me.  Thanks to Miss Pea over at Pea's Corner we were making the little mice that she made a couple of weeks ago.


Dipping the cherries in chocolate.

Adding the Hersey Kiss to the front and putting the slivered almonds on for the ears.

Adding the eyes.  We didn't have a small tip for the frosting so our eyes were a bit iffy.

The finished project!  Notice the dab of frosting on Miss T's lip!!! Hummmmmmmm.........

We had everyone eat one when they came in before they could open a present.  We told them that they were real mice dipped in chocolate.  :o)  This is Ana our first mouse eater!

I love to bake for the holidays.  Especially yeast rolls.  They are so easy and my family raves about them which makes me feel good!

It's always good to have a glass of eggnog to sip on while baking.

My heavy duty mixer does most of the kneading for me.

I always like to do some though,  it's just a good down home feeling to be kneading dough.

The finished product!  Yum!

Christmas Eve the whole family arrived about 5 pm.  I had hot cider simmering ready for them to partake.  DIL's Mom makes the best frosted brownies and I would show you a picture but they are all gone!  DIL makes her famous hot chicken dip that is to die for and others bring other goodies too.  Peanut butter balls, cookies, pies etc.  We have the stange tradition of getting several big buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, mashed potato, gravy and coleslaw too.

After we eat the little ones open their stockings first and then I play Santa and the fun begins.

Grampie and Mr. D.

Matching Nascar jackets for D and K!

A snowboard for Cousin K!

A new nighty for Miss T!

Guess I should finish this up as your eyes are probably glazed over by now.  Will continue next post.  I had a wonderful surprise Christmas morning.  I got an e-mail saying that I had won Donna's give away of an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Pioneer Woman's cookbook!!!!!!! As you know I had bought a copy but of course it wasn't autographed so this was so exciting!!!  Thank you Donna for having such a nice give away, I love it!  Now I'm trying to decide if I should have a give away for the one I already had.......what do you think?  It's been used a few times but I don't think there are any stains on it.  Let me know what you think, is it correct to give away one that I have used??????  It's a GREAT cookbook with lots of wonderful pictures in it and as Donna said there are cowboys so we will take a moment of silence just to think about that! :o)

The Stockings Were Hung By The Chimney With Care........

I guess it's going to be a white Christmas around here.  The weatherman is predicting around six inches of the white stuff in our area.  Once again further north from here they are going to get hammered with snow.  Now those of us who like to snowmobile are rejoicing in the news but I also heard some grumbling at the grocery store today.  If you are going to live in Tundra Country as Mrs. Mom calls it up here you have to have something you like to do outside or it makes for a long winter.  We used to ski every weekend.  Badly.  We never progressed much beyond the bunny slopes but boy oh boy did we have fun.  The Hubs and I would be puttering down the hill at a nice even snowplow and Son would zoom by us headed for the slopes with horrible names like Suicide Slide! That was then and this is now.  I don't want to break a leg or anything else for that matter so I haven't been skiing for quite a number of years.  They call this maturity or just plain getting old and not having the guts to do what I used to do.  Sigh......

Miss T came over after school yesterday to help me with some things around the house.  We ended up making cookies, that was much more fun then dusting or picking up.  I found this cookie maker thingy at The Christmas Shop when I was there this fall after meeting up with Dawn so we thought we would try it out.

First we had to make the dough, thank you very much Pillsbury.  Then you pulled the trigger and the little cookie plopped out.

After they were baked and cooled we mixed up some frosting and food coloring and put it in the little thingy and put the tip thing on the end to frost them.  I guess you can tell by my lingo that I am not a professional cake decorator.  Our attempts at roses and leaves left a lot to be desired but we had a blast and that's all that matters!

I finally finished my table runner!  I have been dragging my feet lately in my sewing room but the Friday Night Sew In really inspired me to get going.  I didn't have the best place to take the pictures but you will get the idea.

It's Santa, Mrs. Santa, a reindeer and an elf plus the North Pole.

I like the lights in the reindeer antlers.

Also have been getting my table set up for Christmas dinner.

Time to watch a couple of Christmas shows and then to bed.  Lots to do tomorrow but all the shopping is done and the stockings are stuffed.  Time to reflect on what this season is all about and celebrate the birth of our Saviour.  Time to count our blessings as many people don't even have a roof over their heads or a warm shower or hot meal.    Time to enjoy our family and make memories.  I hope you all have a blessed Christmas! 

Silver bells, silver bells, it's Christmas time in the COUNTRY!

I really enjoy sitting here in the dark and watching the cars go by looking at all the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.  A few people have started or added to their businesses by renting out limos to take you and your friends around seeing the sights.  Last night I saw a big bus with lights all around the edges going by slowly.  That's new this year, I hope they do well.

I do close the curtains if I am sitting here in my pj's watching television.  I feel like they can see right into my house.  Usually there is not much traffic at all up my way as we are off the main road so I don't think too much about it but this time of year it's a different story.

I got a call yesterday from the doctor who is going to operate on Nick January 5th.  He just wanted to introduce himself and talk a bit about Nick and what the procedure will be.  I thought that was nice, we don't usually get that courtesy as people when we are going in for surgery.  We will go down the day before and they will do some more x-rays and blood work and then the surgery will be the day after that.  I can watch the surgery if I want to, which I do.  He did explain that it is a little unnerving at first to see your horse on his back with his legs in the air and a tube down his throat so I should prepare myself for that.  The Hubs would rather throw himself in front of a train then watch surgery so I guess he won't be present!

Visiting hours are all day during regular office hours so I can be there as much as I want.  He will be there for one or two days after surgery if all goes as planned so we will have four days there total. I am going to take brushes so that I can do some grooming while visiting him.  Don't know if I will be able to give him carrots or not.  Probably nothing the day before.  Go to newenglandequine.com if you want to take a looksy.  

Speaking of vet clinics, I got a call from one of my sisters yesterday telling me about a friends dog that just had surgery.  I don't know what kind of dog it is but he suffers from separation anxiety and he ate a glove, a bandana, some screws, a couple of nails and a sock all at one time!  He had successful surgery and came home and immediately ate three Brillo pads when he was left alone again!!!  Thankfully these exited on their own so no further surgery was needed but don't you think this poor dog needs another dog to keep him company?  Or doggy day care?  We have lots of places around here that have doggie daycare and the dogs love it.  My SIL's dog goes one day a week and plays so hard that he is exhausted when he gets home.  He loves it! He would go every day of the week if he could!  Do you all have doggie daycare in your area?

It's still quite cold here and we are waiting for the big storm that has been hitting the Carolina's and Virginia to get up this way.  According to the weatherman it should be pretty well pooped before it gets here and we might only get four inches or so.  Just a dusting for us.  I feel badly for the states that are getting hit so hard that aren't used to hardly any snow at all and now are getting 18 inches or more!  All's I can say is I hope they stay home and off the roads so that they are safe!

Tomorrow is Christmas Sunday.  Where has the time gone?  I can't wait to hear all the special music that is planned.  It is one of my favorite services of the year with all of the old Christmas carols and the church brimming to capacity.  Our church is relatively small with a congregation of about 250.  We are a real family and care about each other in good times and in times of need.  We pray for one another.  It is my home away from home.  We are trying to get more involved in helping those in need in the community and are setting up a 'free' store for those that need warm clothing thanks to my friend Mimi who is heading it up.  I need to take in some things for it as I have an abundance of 'gently used' coats, sweaters, mittens, boots and such around here.  I need to get everything washed and make sure there are no buttons missing.  The Hubs had better nail down anything he doesn't want to be donated!  :o)

Where are my long johns?

Oh my, it's blustery and cold today!  I wore my pj's under my clothes for extra warmth when I went up to the stable today to see the boys.  I had on two pair of gloves and my hood on to keep my ears warm.  The wind was blowing hard off the river which is just down over the hill from the barn and it whips up over the pasture with great force.  Once we got inside the barn it was much warmer, I didn't even need my gloves which helps when you are trying to get burrs out of forelocks and tails.  How they find them I will never know but they do.


We are still waiting to hear from the Equine Clinic.  I went to their web site which is quite impressive.  I went through it bit by bit and liked what I read.  It will most likely be after Christmas before we get the call but that's okay as Nick is on 1/2 gram of bute twice a day to keep him comfortable.  We turned them out in the inside arena to play for a while as it is too cold to put them outside but we didn't let them run or jump around any.  They trotted around and sniffed and squealed and had a good time!


I'll tell you I have met some really nice people in this blogging world!  One of them left me a comment offering us a place to stay as she lives only about a half hour from the clinic!  How nice is that?!  We will probably stay right near the clinic so that I can walk back and forth if there is a place that close but I was very touched by her thoughtfulness!  We are going to try to get together for coffee and a gabfest so that will be fun!!!  Thanks Sue!!!!!!!!


The turkeys are back.  I just counted 16 roosting on the pasture fence.  They seem to come in two groups and I think there are about 40 in all.  I can see my feed bill going ka-ching  ka-ching this winter!  They eat more grain then the horses do and also love the birds sunflower hearts and scarf those right up before the birds get them all.

We had our Christmas Sunday School program last Sunday evening.  All the kiddos were out with their dress up clothes on and looked so nice.  I tried to get some pictures but the main lights were off in the scantuary so I didn't get as many as I wanted, they just came out too dark.  I was sitting in the front row and got one of Funsize playing the piano.  She was playing for the program.

Here is Mary and Joseph played by a couple of the 5th graders and the lady on the stage is Marcia and she is a hoot!  She always has the best costumes and gets the message across mixing humor and seriousness.

The Hubs surprised me with an early Christmas gift, some new pieces to go with my Christmas In The City series!  I had fun rearranging everything.

I love the man climbing the ladder to put the lights on the tree in the town's square!  Thanks R!!!! xoxoxo

Well duty calls.  I need to get a few more Christmas cards done and spaghetti sauce to make for dinner.  I got everything wrapped last night but nothing is under the tree yet.  I don't put them under until just a couple days before Christmas as the cats like to play in them and tear off the bows.  Naughty kitties!