Friday Funny

I know this is late, but it's close enough to Thanksgiving that I thought I could still share it!

Cooking Thursday

The recipe I'm sharing today is one I did on Thanksgiving Day.  We had a lot of people and one turkey wouldn't have been enough, so Cheri did a turkey and I did a few turkey breasts to go with it.  I found a recipe that promised flavorful moist meat, and it really was.  I did it in the crock pot to keep the oven open for other things.  It was so easy and was really good!
I actually have another turkey breast in the freezer that Bob brought home from work, so I'll be using this recipe again in the not too distant future!

(not my photo - I forgot to take one!)

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

1 boneless turkey breast, 2-3 pounds

6 tablespoons butter, 

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt butter, stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour mixture into large crock pot, add turkey, flipping it to cover with butter mix.

Cook on low for 7-8 hours, occasionally basting with butter mix.

Remove from crock pot 15 minutes before slicing.

You can also cook this in the oven.

Place turkey on shallow rack in roasting pan.  Pour butter mix over top.  

Bake at 325 degrees for 2 - 21/2 hours, until meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.  Baste turkey occasionally with butter mix.  Let sit for 15 minutes before slicing.

Wordless Wednesday

Birthday fun!

It was my birthday on Saturday, and I thought I would show you some of the  fun celebrating I did.
Since the girls didn't have school on Friday, and I had the day off, Laura asked if they could take e out for lunch.  Now, who would turn that down?  :)

They picked me up and she was telling me she was taking me to a nice restaurant about 25 minutes from our house,  I was saying she could just go somewhere here in town and not drive, when Ruby piped up from the backseat. "Mumma, remember it's Grandma's birthday so she can go wherever she wants!" Laura told me she was saying that because she had to remind them of that on the way to get me, because they wanted to go to McDonalds.

We went to the nice restaurant instead of McDonalds!

 Alaina thought it was quite special to get to drink out of the "fancy" cup.

Ruby was having fun coloring.
We had a very good lunch and a nice time together, although the girls thought there was too much driving involved.

They gave me these cute cards they made - which are always better than anything you can buy!

From Ruby.  I wish my legs were a little bit closer in length to this,  :)

Alaina was very proud of her card.  It was 2 pages, and the part under the rainbow was cut out so you could see the picture she drew of the two of us together on the second page.

She also colored this door hanger for me.,  It's now hanging on the bedroom door.

Last, but not least, Bob brought me these pretty red and white roses on Saturday when he came home from work.

I had Saturday off, but Bob had to work all day, so we went out for supper on Friday night.  I spent the day Saturday getting all the Christmas decorations out, so I felt pretty productive by the time he got home.

Thanksgiving Day

We had my whole family over on Thanksgiving Day.  We don't have a huge house, so it's crowded when a big group comes, but we make do and we had a fun day!

There were 21 of us for dinner.  The whole family was there, except for Andy and Nikki in KY, and our niece Arianna who came at suppertime.
People starting arriving a little after 12 and we had dinner at 12:30.

 Aren't these cute?  I found this online, just had to print it off on kraft paper, cut them and write the names on.

We made full use of our downstairs family room.  Tables were stretched end to end, and everyone fit!  We had such a good meal with all the typical Thanksgiving fixings.

The girls enjoyed the dinner, Ruby was trying to catch her ice cube instead of drinking the water.

 After dinner, my brother was fooling around with the girls.

 The guys stayed downstairs to watch football, the kids came upstairs and played video games.

 Our step-mom Ann, Terri, Cheri and I played cards in the dining room.

Ruby went from place to place checking on things, and then tried to hide under the table.

 Most everyone stayed for supper too, which was left over turkey on buns.  This is Andrew and Heather, along with our niece Katelyn and her husband Nathan.

 This is my nephew Nick, who was sticking his face in front of my camera.  I warned him I would take his pic and post it, and here it is!

Here's my Dad and step mom; two wonderful people that we are so blessed to have in our lives.
Dad is 87, Ann is 88 and they are both doing well.  Dad really enjoys a day like this, surrounded with all his family!  And that is crtainly something to be thankful for.
Hope you all had a nice day as well.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends from the States.  We'll have a full house - all of my family will be here, over 20 people! I have many things to be thankful for, including family.
I hope you all have a wonderful day, with time to reflect on the ways God has blessed you.
I'll see you next week.

Wordless Wednesday

The zoo comes to visit

We had some fun visitors at the nursing home this week.
Our local zoo has a program where they take some animals out for educational purposes. They came to visit us, and our residents were quite excited about it.
Here's a few of the critters that came.

 This is a wood turtle.  Everyone got to touch its shell which was exciting for some, and others weren't thrilled.

 This is a salamander.  It couldn't be touched because it absorbs things into its skin which puts it as risk, even from perfume and lotions.  I must admit, it's not something I would want to touch anyway!

This owl was the favorite.  It's an owl that was injured and can't fly, so it stays at the zoo.  Isn't it cute?

This was a fun event for our residents and the staff enjoyed it too!

Unicorn Party

This is a slightly late post!  We had a birthday party for Alaina and Ruby last week.
They had seen a unicorn cake and thought it was the coolest thing, so their party turned into a unicorn party!

The girls arrived in unicorn headbands, but Ruby didn't keep hers on long.

They also had unicorn socks and leggings!

We had pizza on unicorn plates.

Then it was time to open presents which is always fun!

Have you heard of the book - The Wonky Donkey?  It achieved fame on the internet with a Scottish Grandma reading it to her grandson, but she was laughing so hard she could hardly read.  The book was out of print and everyone was trying to get it.  More were recently printed and my sister Cheri found this one for the girls.  The funny thing is that Heather had also gotten a copy and was going to give it to me, and Laura had tucked one away for Christmas.  Guess great minds think alike!  So, Grandpa read the book and as you can tell, everyone thought it was great!

After reading the book it was time to take out that unicorn cake.

Blowing out candles - 7 on one side of the cake and 4 on the other.

It was a fun unicorn party!

Friday Funny

Cooking Thursday

It's getting cold here!  That means it's soup weather.  Today's recipe is one of our favorites.  It's so easy and so very good!

Cheesy Potato Soup

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

4 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) Campbell's Condensed Cream of Potato Soup

4 soup cans milk

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 large russet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)

1/2 cup chopped fresh chives

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)

1. Stir the bacon, onion, soup, milk, black pepper, potatoes, & 1/4 cup chives in a 6 quart slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or until the potatoes are tender.

3. Add the cheese and stir until the cheese is melted. Serve with the remaining chives.

Wordless Wednesday

I took this photo out of our living room window.  This beautiful beech tree is a treat to see in every season!

Sisters shopping trip!

Every year, my two sisters, Terri and Cheri, and I go Christmas shopping together.  We try to go in early November, before it gets too busy, and hopefully before the roads are bad because of snow.
Our annual trip took place this past Friday and Saturday.  We shop in our area, so things can be returned if necessary.

This is what I woke up to on Friday morning.  The first snow of the season!  It was a little slushy, but the roads weren't too bad.

We started out at 9 am, and shopped all day.   We have a great time together, and if you had been near us, you may have heard a lot of laughter!

One of our stops was World Market, where they hide 4 bells in the morning, and 4 in the afternoon.  I found one in the afternoon, which gave me $10 off my purchase!

After shopping all day, we went to a favorite restaurant for a nice supper.
Then it was time to check into our hotel.

 Our luggage rack was filled with bags instead of luggage.  :)

 We sorted everything out, and went over our lists, to see if we needed to pick anything up the next day.

 Then it's time for a yummy dessert!

After returning home, it's time to sort and wrap.  Under all this is my piano...  There are bags for each of my family members, and inside are the wrapped stocking stuffers, all ready to go when the decorations go up for Christmas.

This is something we all look forward too.  We have so much fun, and accomplish a lot too!

Autumn comes to an end...

It's been a less colorful Fall than usual. The colors have been a little less brilliant, and there's been far less red than usual.  However, we've seen lots of bright yellow!  A lot of the trees are looking pretty bare at this point, but there are some that are hanging on, and there are some beautiful spots still around.
Here's a few pictures from around our home that were taken last week.  Tomorrow I'll share what it looked like at the end of the week!

 Here's the general look - some color, some green and some empty trees!

 This little creek looks pretty with all the yellow around it.

Isn't the tree behind our gate pretty?

 a little orange...

Another pretty yellow tree.  I like seeing the leaves pile up on the ground too.

This is our road.  Our house is on the left, a little past the pine tree. It's always nice to turn onto our road and see the trees.