Your ham might cook a bit faster if you turned the crockpot on…..

I write notes to myself all the time.  Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn’t, like yesterday when I left myself a note to put a big ham in the crockpot for dinner that night.

I know sometimes when I get up in the morning I have 50 things to get done so I leave a note on the kitchen bar to remind me to do things.  Sure enough when I got up I didn’t even get downstairs until 9 AM by the time I made the bed, picked up the bathroom and bedroom, sorted laundry, showered, did hair etc etc so when I came down and saw the note I scurried around getting the ham out, washing it, getting it in the Crock pot with some water etc etc

About 10:30 I thought to myself, I don’t smell the ham cooking yet.  Guess what?  I didn’t turn the crockpot on, just plugged it in!  Good grief.  Sooooooooo I turned it up on high and hoped for the best.  It did cook nicely the way I like it with the meat falling away from the bones but it would have been very disappointing to have the Hubs come in for dinner and the ham still cold in the crockpot.  Please tell me that you do things like that too!!!!

I did make custard and it came out fine.  It’s so easy to make and my family loves it.

Best Baked Custard

6 eggs slightly beaten

2/3 cup sugar

Dash of salt

2 teaspoons real vanilla

5 cups milk scalded (I do this in the microwave)

Nutmeg

Heat oven 350*. Blend eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla.  Gradually stir in scalded milk. Pour into 6 oz. custards cups and sprinkle with nutmeg. Place cups in a baking pan and pour very hot water into pan within 1/2 inch of top of cups.

Bake 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center of custard comes out clean. Remove cups from hot water and serve either hot or cold.  (We like cold.)  You can find this recipe in the old red Betty Crocker cookbook on page 184.  YUMMY!

We went to Mr. D’s first basketball game Saturday morning.  That’s him in the green shorts making a shot!

We missed Miss T’s game, that’s her in the middle in the black uniform with her hands in the air.  She made that shot so was very happy.  Son takes pictures for us if we can’t be there which isn’t very often.  They won this game 26 to 10, it was their first win.

We lost a dear friend last week, he passed away at the age of 81.  His name is Lee Lamson and he was one of my most favorite people around.  His sense of humor was incredible and he could have us in tears laughing so hard over a good story or joke.  He was a kind man.  Many years ago when I was still doing hairdressing I got a call from the funeral home that a family had requested me to come in and do the woman’s hair that used to be one of my clients.  I was floored.  I had never done that before and wasn’t sure how I would react to being in the prep room with dead people being prepared for their funerals.  I was a wimp.

I called Lee who worked in the funeral business at times and said I just don’t think I can do this.  He said yes you can, I will go with you!  Get your stuff ready and I will pick you up so that you don’t even have to drive, I guess he could tell my voice was shaky.

So he did.  And it was fine.  He was cracking jokes with some of the other funeral staff and I began to relax and did the hair without keeling over!  I will never forget his kindness in taking his afternoon to help me through that job.  We joked about it many times through the years since but I sure needed someone that day!

I’m happy to know that I will see him again someday, it is comforting.  He loved the Lord with all his heart.  He is also Funsize’s Grampa so please keep her and the rest of the family in your thoughts and prayers.  We miss him.

Miss T is getting off the bus here after school as Mr. D has a follow up check up at the pediatrician’s office.  He is doing well since his bout with pneumonia.

Quite a few of you asked what a Sound Pipe is.  It is a speaker system that hooks onto your ATV so that while you are out in the woods on the trails you can listen to the music that you have on your Ipod.  The white parts are the speakers.  You can also use it working out in the woods on the trails by running it off the battery as long as you don’t use it that way too long and run the battery down.  It was a fun goofy gift that I knew he wouldn’t be expecting as he is hard to buy for. :o)

Christmas 2011

We started out Christmas Eve Day having a Patriot’s party here on the ole range.  We all like to watch the game so decided it would be fun to watch it together before the Christmas festivities began.  Even Noodles got into the fun with Miss T.

There was lots of yummy food.

We decided to make some gingerbread men.

Can we say ‘calories’?  My hips are expanding just looking at this picture!!!

Lots of presents for good boys and girls.  A signed Patriot’s shirt for Cousin K!

A new rolling pin for Funsize!  Watch out Paul!!!!

Whoops! Caught me having some Coke.  Hey, it could have been the fudge!

Mr. D’s favorite, boxers from Rainforest Cafe.

A necklace for DIL.

All my young people except Funsize who had to leave early for a four hour trip to visit her boyfriends parents up north.

Bringing in the new bikes that were hidden in Mom and Dad’s apartment.

Sons new Sound Pipe!  Thanks Hollie for the suggestion, he really likes it.  Did Colt like his?

A Pogo stick for Miss T.

Hunting clothes for Cousin K.

Fun playing a new game.

I received several special gifts this year.  One was a book made for me by my niece Ashley.  I was very touched by the amount of work she put into it and all the lovely pictures she tracked down.  It is such a great idea if you want to do something special for someone.  She used Shutterfly.  She used every letter of the alphabet but I will put in just a few.

This one proves I CAN make good yeast rolls!

Funsize had a clock made up for me that I love.  It’s me, Miss T and Funsize on the horses one day last summer.  What a unique gift!!! I LOVE it!

My niece Ana did a collage for me with old and new pictures.  I’m sure it took a lot of time putting this together.  It even has my favorite picture of me and the Hubs right in the middle.

I am very blessed to have such wonderful caring nieces and nephews.  Some live quite a distance away but these three live right here in town and I see them often.  Can’t ask for much more then that!!

Welcome 2012

How many times do you write the wrong year when it first changes?  I find myself doing that many times until I finally get it through my head.  Someone told me once that they go through their first month of checks and write the year in on all of them. Sounds like it might be a good idea for me.

We had a nice quiet New Years Eve here at home.  We watched a couple of movies that were on tv.  I had never seen the Jaws movies about the sharks back quite a few years ago so it was interesting although rather gory.  The interesting part was to see the hair styles, clothing styles and the cars that they were driving.  I must Google it and see what year those movies were made.  That was easy, it was 1975.  You’ve got to love Google!

 

The big thing that I noticed was that no one wore a life jacket while boating, water skiing or floating around out on a raft.  Were we really that foolish back then?  I have a hard and fast rule at the camp, NO ONE goes out in the boat without a life vest on.  NO ONE.  I know it’s not ‘cool’ but but that is the way it is.  It doesn’t do you much good if you get thrown into the water and the life vest is under the seat.  I can be such a dictator at times! ha!

Someone sent me a few pictures from long ago that I thought I would share with you.  Yep, that’s me in the middle with the very curly hair, my oldest sister on the right and my next oldest sister on the left.  I think this was taken in from of St. John’s Church here in town.

This one was taken at the beach somewhere, maybe in Canada where some of my cousins live.  Again I am the one with the curly hair, I hated it back then but wish it was still that curly now. My mother was expecting my brother who is the baby of the family.  After four girls I think they were pretty excited to finally have a boy.  We didn’t spoil him or anything……

Here we are all grown up. I was the middle child which explains a lot…….. I would guess this picture was taken about 20 years ago.  Oh to be size 10 again…….waaaaaaaaaaaa!

We went to the lake today to check on the cottage.  The weather was so mild that I could have worked in my flower garden if I had wanted to.  Everything looked fine and the alarm was on.  Sometimes when the power goes out I don’t think it resets itself so we check often.

It was so peaceful there.  The Hubs was working on his IPad and I was puttering around, making the beds up with fresh sheets, Swiffering, checking the food in the cupboards and bringing home things that needed to be eaten before next summer, cleaning the toilets as well water leaves a lovely ring and just plain enjoying myself.  It was the opening day of ice fishing and there isn’t a lick of ice yet!  I can assure you there are some fishermen that are pretty bummed about that.

Son brought over the Christmas pictures and downloaded them onto my computer after we got home so you can bet your boots my next post will be about Christmas.  That’s a warning but I promise to only put in a few……….

Winter has arrived.

It was a short winter.  We actually had a white Christmas despite what the weather people said! Yay!

It was soft and fluffy, just the kind of snow to make a good snow angel in.  Also the kind to get the ole’ snowmobile out and drag the grand kids around the fields on their new snow tubes!

DIL and I were in the warmth of my truck following them around to get pictures.  Mr. D had had enough of the snow flying in his face so jumped in the truck with us!  Is that the stink eye or what?!!

Then we did some sledding down FIL’s hill out back of his house.

 

Now the rain has come in from the west and there isn’t a flake of snow to be seen anywhere!!!  It’s ALL GONE and the rain continues. WAAAAAAAAA!

I went down to visit my sister and just happened to have my camera with me as all good bloggers do.  Her house looked so pretty with all her Christmas decorations so I took some pictures.  My BIL always sets up a train set that he has had since he was a little boy.  This year it took him 13 hours to set it up!

Her tree looked so pretty.

I asked her who made the mittens that are hanging on the wall behind the tree as I thought they were so cute………..she said “you did”!  As I have said many times before, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!

That’s a pretty good blanket stitch if I do say so myself thank you very much!

She collects all things gingerbread men.

She got the toy soldier on the right at a Yankee Swap this year.

We had a wonderful Christmas.  I told the Hubs that I would love to do those few days all over again!  We had a Patriot’s party Christmas Eve afternoon to watch the game and then began the festivities at 5 o’clock.  I don’t have any pictures yet as I had Son and my niece taking them and they need to give me a copy.

Christmas morning we went to church and took up a whole row as we all wanted to set together.  We had two of our young men there that are home from the war and they gave testimony of a few of their experiences there.  One of them was given the job of chaplain in some of camps and he really enjoyed that.  They had opportunities to speak to some of the other soldiers of their trust in God.  As the old saying goes, there aren’t any ath*eists in foxholes.

We came home and had Christmas dinner, and so that you all don’t think I had the ultimate Norman Rockwell day, my yeast rolls that my family begs for came out like hockey pucks!!!! I have no idea why, I have made these rolls a hundred times, could make them in my sleep but these were AWFUL!  Then the next day when I was cleaning out my refrigerator I found the chopped onions and celery and melted butter that I had made ahead of time to put in my stuffing STILL IN THE REFRIGERATOR!  Sigh………as I said, a mind is……………blah, blah, blah……. now how does that go?