Halloween Kitten

Autumn posed perfectly for this shot! She's turning into a little nut. She rolled this pumpkin all over the kitchen floor like it was a toy. We've started calling her Bindi the Jungle Kitty. She hides and stalks our feet (and the other cats) and just plays all the time. When she wants to be held, she comes and sits on our feet... mostly on B's feet... she likes him best. Can't wait for the vet to see her again. She's going to be so pleased with her progress!

Uptown Saturday Night in St. Augustine

I’ve found another place to put on my (ever increasing) list of places to visit. While I love fall, dear hubby would much rather be somewhere warmer. Florida might actually be a possibility. St. Augustine sounds interesting, and there’s an Uptown Saturday Night festival October 27, November 24, and December 29. Ok, so we missed the October one… but it goes on the last Saturday of every month. They feature galleries, book signings, antiques and live music. If he had to get dragged somewhere for St. Augustine shopping, it may as well be interesting. He’d like the live music, and the books. I’d like the antiques. St. Augustine is also a very old city. We’d both really enjoy walking around looking at the buildings. The festival goes from 5 to 9pm and they offer free parking, which is always nice.

The info I found on Uptown Saturday Night says that it’s like a party atmosphere, but with art openings, book signings by local authors, refreshments and music along Aviles Street, which is apparently the oldest street in America, and all the participating shops feature an open house with wine and refreshments.

Just as interesting for us would be seeing the city and surrounding area. We’re such history geeks. We’d enjoy seeing the old jail and the Ponce de Leon stuff at the National Archeological Park. We might even have to take the kids on this one!

Once I figured out the seatbelt...

I put my foot down... no one else in the family was allowed to have a ride in the new Mav before me. So, tonight in the pouring rain, we went out for a drive. The engine could use a little tuning, but she purrs with a little growl to her! What a great ride... well... once I figured how how to pull the shoulder belt down from its neatly folded position above the door, and hook it to the lap belt...Now C, who has been learning all sorts of things, like how to change oil and tires (I'm sure some new curse words, too), will be allowed to go for a ride. She's been loving helping her daddy with the cars. When we went to back to school night (how sad is this - we were the only parents there for her class!) the teacher said she heard nothing but how she works with her Dad on the cars... she wasn't sure if she had a Mom! Nahhh... I just teach her photography, bake with her, take her to dance every week, lead her GS troop... "Hi, I'm chopped liver." Guess that's the way it is. That's ok. She's a great kid... and now she can change my oil!

Fall in NEPA... Spring in Australia?

Well, it's Fall here in NEPA... and I love it. Poor dh is about to turn into Mr. Grumpy. I love fall. I love the changing leaves and the crisp bite to the air... I love getting out sweaters and snuggling under blankets. Dh... not so much. Come winter, he's like a caged bear. Heaven help us if we get a blizzard and we get snowed in!

So, I started thinking, where could we go this winter where it would be warm. The islands? Meh. I don't want to have to wear a bathing suit! What else is in the other hemisphere? Oh... Australia and New Zealand. That's somewhere I've always wanted to go. Then it was suggested that I check out this site about Adelaide Hotels. Adelaide is called the city of churches. I love old churches. One of my photographic goals is to master church windows. This would be a great place to visit! Through this site Hotels in Adelaide the accommodations wouldn't be an arm and a leg. There's so much to do, that you just need a place to stay!

Apparently, there are tons of wineries in the area, too. There are wineries close to me, but I'd love to check out the ones in other areas. I hadn't thought of Australia as a big wine producing country... guess I was wrong. Guess I'm going to have to bug dh until he gets his passport (mine is wasting away in the safe... waiting to be used again) and see if our mortgagees come through with the refinancing this February. Maybe we'll have enough to take a trip. I'll have him check out Brisbane Accommodation and see what he thinks.

Maybe we can zip over the NZ, too... join the rest of the tourons (word picked up from years living in the Poconos... dealing with the tourist morons) gawking at where they filmed the LOTR films. If we promise not to wear black socks and sandals can we come?

New Toy

Well... I have to admit... I love this car. I haven't even ridden in it yet, let alone driven it, but just having it out in front of the house, all inspected and license plated is very satisfying. The other (sigh) four... yes... FOUR Mavericks are all in various states of disrepair. The blue 4-door is getting stripped and sent to the junk yard. No one wants 4 doors. Sad to say, but they're yukky looking. The height of the 1970s grannymobile. The lines of the Mav. are ruined by the back doors. His dear, original red 73 Grabber is tarped, waiting for the garage to be built. He's been working on his welding skills on the 69.5 he bought. It has the key in the dashboard. Apparently, the engine compartment is nearly complete.

This new car (wait for it) has an 8-track player installed. I really want him to leave the 8Track installed, but modify it so that we can plug our iPods into it. I'm sure it can be done. We also have a full set of hubcaps that have the Maverick logo on them. No idea what they're worth...

After a sunny, dry summer, we're finally getting much needed rain... of course... now that he has a car he can drive and he wants to play...

Growing Kitten

The baby is growing like crazy. She's becoming an accepted member of the houshold. Rudy, the big Russian Blue cat, no longer runs away, and Sam, the snowshoes Persian, is slightly more tolerant of the baby's antics (like attacking Sam's tail while she's sleeping.) Autumn is all cat! She loves the mouse toy... she batted that around the kitchen for an hour straight last night, and she's currently back on the windowsill watching the birds come and go to the fun stick-on window bird feeder. She chatters at them just like the older cats.

L is completely in love with her. The poor kitten puts up with a lot of picking up and cuddling from that little girl, but that's how it is with kittens and kids. It's amazing that a month ago she was a listless, near death ball of what seemed to be gray fur. Complete turn-around. We couldn't be happier!

Great Bow

Who knew the 9 yr old would still be interested in wearing a bow in her hair? These are great bows. Another "dance Mom" makes them. She brought a box of them into dance on Saturday morning, and it was like a shark feeding frenzy. The poor woman sold half her bows before she could get out of the way. Can't wait to see what she comes up with for the winter holidays!

Rescued Kitten

There she is! Her neck is all better. The vet was able to cut off the big flappy scab and give her shots. (the area under her chin that looks white is where she's missing some fur) She's gained a whole pound since we took her in, doubling her weight. She's the sweetest little thing. She snuggles with us, plays, uses the litter (huge plus!!) and sleeps with C at night. She isn't afraid of the other cats... but they're not so happy with her. They'll come around. I hated doing it to our poor, old kitties, but...

And she is NOT being held against her will in that photo. She comes up and snuggles with us, and is quite happy to sit even in the lap of a 4 yr old! This, of course, thrills L to no end.

check it out

Click on the picture to check out my entry to JPG magazine, and if you like it, vote "YEAH"... leave a comment...I'd love to get published!

Out of the mouths...

L sat on her chair in the kitchen, her chin in her hand and sighed. She really wanted to play with her big sister who'd just gotten home from school.

"C's buried in homework," said L sadly. "Guess that's better than dirt."

Who knew 4 yr olds were philosophers...

Brioche Day!

Oh, how I love the internet. I have found the most wonderful blog/website called La tartine Gourmande, and today, I baked her Brioche recipe. The instructions were clear and easy. I am not going to post her recipe here... though I highly recommend visiting her site and trying it! I *will*, however, post my pictures.

Béa (the blogger, food stylist, cook, baker...) is French, and she posts recipes in English and French, and uses weights instead of just cups. This is a lovely thing when baking. I never realized, until I got my food scale, how off one can be when measuring flour, for example. I'd been to a King Arthur Flour seminar where they stressed the importance of "fluffing" your flour and spooning it into your measuring cup instead of scooping, which can pack the flour into your cup. I tried it. The weight difference was astounding.

Small plug for King Arthur... I never use anything but King Arthur Flour. Ok... it's $1 more/bag at the grocery store, but the gluten content is always the same, and the results never vary. Perfect pancakes on a Sunday morning every time! I was forced to buy [gasp] another brand a few weeks ago, and was punished with OK tasting, flat pancakes. [haha, flat as a pancake...] I grudgingly used it, but replaced it with KAF ASAP!! No more boring pancakes... back to the lovely, light, fluffy pancakes my family is spoiled by used to...

Anyway... the Brioche is wonderful. Light, airy and delicious. And the smell... oh... I so wish I could make this post scratch-and-sniff! My slight alterations to the recipe... I used my convection oven, so instead of 400C and 350C, I baked at 375C and 325C. My times were different as well, because of the convection and also the pans I used. I did not have a 10" loaf pan as shown in the recipe, so I used two Longaberger stoneware loaf pans. They're quite small. Actually, I had to remove a dough ball from each and add it to a small, round Longaberger crock, as I feared the rising dough would be too much for the little loaf pans.


Joy! The brioche came out looking very close to the "original" and I am very pleased. It's nearly gone...