It seems like I am always apologizing....

I need to start blogging on a semi regular basis.  Life somehow gets in the way. Quite frankly,  I just haven't thought about it in a long time. I want to do better.

I bought my husband a Blackstone giddle for his birthday.  We had the maiden voyage,  smash burgers. They were delicious!   I believe that breakfast will be next on the agenda.   

If you have any favorite recipes for the griddle,  send them out way!  He's watched a lot of videos. 

I Can't Believe It's Been a Year..

One year* ago my husband called me from work.  He says "you're in  a pretty good mood considering that Davy Jones died."  I hadn't heard that one of my beloved Monkees had died from a heart attack, I was in shock. There was a huge piece of my childhood.... gone.

I remember as a young girl, I would sit in a corner by the HiFi and listen to my Monkee albums.  Their posters were on my bedroom walls.  I watched their show every week and then rushed outside to discuss it with the neighbor kids while on the swing set. I still have the same albums and now have the show on DVD.

Fast forward to 1986.  What!? The Monkees were coming to my town?  I went to the concert, third row, center stage.  The most wonderful night.  I even caught the towel Peter wiped his face with and then threw out into the audience. I was hooked again. My best friends and I would go to other Monkee concerts, all over the place.  We even went to a Monkee Convention in Chicago.  We saw the Teen Idol Tour with Davy, Bobby Sherman (another love) and Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits. I got to see Mike Nesmith on a solo tour in Atlanta in the early 1990's.

Davy wrote a book and had book-signing about 2 hours away from where I lived. That is a whole other story worthy of it's own.  Perhaps I'll tell it later.

I started collecting memorabilia. I have some of it displayed but most is packed away.  I would love to have a wall/room devoted to it. My best friend and I made a pact, which ever one of us dies first, the other gets her Monkees collection.

Davy's daughters have formed a non-profit foundation to help care for the horses that Davy had rescued. He had a great love for those horses. If you'd like to make a donation, go to the Davy Jones Equine Memorial Foundation site. Donations are tax deductible.

Rest in Peace, Manchester Cowboy.


*Davy died on February 29th-leap year.

Bad Blogger!

Wow!  I can't believe how long it has been since I posted.  We recently moved and with all that and getting the old house ready to put on the market....time just flew.

Our first significant amount of snow this winter arrived yesterday.  Fortunately, we didn't have to go out, so we were able to enjoy it.  Very nice soaking in the hot tub looking out at the snow covered hill.  My husband got to play with his snow-blower for the first time since he bought it 2 years ago. I hope you all are staying warm!

The snow melted off the roads today so we ventured out to the home show.  Those are always dangerous, too many ideas! We bought a new solar light for our flag pole.  It's great, telescoping and you can remove it if needed. The pole just sits in a tube in the ground. We got it from another home show a few years ago. If you are in the market for a pole or flags, I recommend Uncommon USA. We also have the LED Christmas tree that fits on the pole.  Everyone loves it!

An old friend is coming for a visit tomorrow.  I bought a couple of action movies for the guys to watch. I think we'll go to the German restaurant for dinner.  Should be fun!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Remembering & Honoring our Veterans

Bobby Minor

William Lynn

Clarence Edmison

On the news last night, I saw a story about a young man in Ohio who was working on his Eagle Scout Project.  He is interviewing WWII & Korean War Veterans and putting them on the website he started, Voices From the Front.  The site "was created with the mission to capture and preserve the stories of our military veterans, so that their experiences, their memories, and their deeds can be heard even after the men have passed on." 

You can help.  There is a questionnaire and press release form that you can download and interview veterans in your community.   Their stories can then be uploaded on the website.

My photos; Bobby Minor was my mothers first cousin.  He was killed when the Japanese attacked the USS Indianapolis.  William Lynn, my paternal grandfather.  He was a prisoner of war in Germany during WWII.  Clarence Edmison, my maternal grandfather.  He served in the medical corps as an ambulance driver during WWII.  I have many military members in my family, we are proud of each and every one of them.

Consider participating in the Voices From the Front. These men and women are National Treasures. Their stories deserve to be told so we never forget.

Beautiful Autumn

Autumn is here. The colors are amazing!  I love fall, the crisp air, the colorful leaves, apples, pumpkins....especially pumpkins. A friend of mine made a fall bread she found on Pintrest, it was so good!  The original blog it was found on was Whitney in Chicago. Try it, I think you'll love it as much as I did.

Fall Everything Bread
Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or any combo of all-purpose, spelt, white-wheat or whole wheat; Joy called for 2 AP/1.5 whole wheat and I would have used a combo but alas, all I had around was all-purpose)
• 2 cups light (or dark) brown sugar, packed; whichever you have around, I used dark
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves (I used a little more allspice because I didn’t have any cloves)
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, or just under two cups
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup chopped pecans plus 8 pecan halves
• 1 heaping cup fresh cranberries
• 1 medium apple, peeled and cored and cut into small pieces (I used a Spy, Joy suggests Granny Smith; I say anything but a grody Red Delicious)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour two loaf pans (or a combo of mini pans) and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and water.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together. Be careful to both not over mix the flour but still make sure that all the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped pecans, cranberries and apple chunks.
Divide the dough between the two greased pans and arrange pecan halves on top of each loaf. Sprinkle loaf with cinnamon and granulated sugar if you’d like.  Bake mini pans for 30-40 mins and full sized pans 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Let rest in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.
Cool completely before slicing. It may be a little crumbly since there is no egg in the recipe to bind up the gluten. Will keep well if wrapped in the freezer if you don’t want to share with friends or co-workers.