Autumn Splendor

It has been such a beautiful Autumn here.  We've had warm temperatures and sunshine.  The color changes have been a little slow, but suddenly they've popped!  Bob and I did a little driving on the back roads last week, just wandering and seeing what beauty we could find.

A one room school house

Yes, that's an old outhouse.

Another old one room schoolhouse

Here's my view at work

Here's our street.  Our driveway is on the left, just ahead of the trees that are meeting over the road.  

This is the view from our porch

Our side yard

And our front yard.  

God has surrounded us with beauty! The leaves are really starting to fall, so I'm afraid this will soon be gone, but we are enjoying it right now.

"Autumn winds begin to blow,
Colored leaves fall fast and slow,
Whirling, twirling all around,
Till at last they touch the ground."

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

I have a new recipe for you that has a funny story.  I had seen this recipe and saved the site.  When I went to make it, I took my laptop into the kitchen and set it on the counter to work from.
As I was adding ingredients, I thought I hadn't read it well the first time, as some things didn't seem familiar.  Then I realized that I must have bumped the laptop and sent it to another recipe!
So, we ended up with a recipe that was a combo of two recipes.  It was tasty, so next time, I'll do it the same way!

Crock Pot Cheesy Pasta and Beef

1 pound ground beef, browned and drain
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon dried garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
16 ounces tomato sauce
6 ounces tomato paste
1/3 cup red wine or beef broth
16 ounces penne pasta
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Place all ingredients except pasta and cheese into crock pot.  Cook on low for 6 hours.
Cook pasta as directed on package. Stir into beef mixture and cover with cheese.  Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Latest Home Project

I mentioned last week that Bob was working on a little home project and said I would show it to you later.  Well, here it is!
Earlier this year, we ordered a slider for our dining room.  It's something we've thought about for a while and decided it was time to actually do it.  We had to wait for awhile for the door to come in, and finally, in September they said they were ready to install it.
Here's what it looked like before:

Here's the dining room before.  There were 2 windows, and the glass in them had a film on them that would not come off!

Here's the back of the house.  You can see the double windows where the slider was going to be placed.

Here it is with the slider door in place.  There is a little patio off the door from the garage.  Next Spring, Bob will build a small patio under the slider door.

Here's how things looked after it was installed. You can see Bob had some trim work to do!

And here is the finished project.  Bob did a great job with the trim. It lets in lots of light and gives us a nice view of the back yard.

Making Slime!

I have a cute, fun craft to share with you.  A friend sent this one to me with instructions for making "pumpkin" slime.  It was easy and Alaina and Ruby said it was the best craft ever.

To make this, you need shaving cream, Elmers glue, saline solution, baking soda and food coloring.  But before we made the slime, we made cute little jars to put it in.

I found little glass jars with lids, and the girls used paint pens to paint jack-o-lantern faces on them.

They practiced on a paper plate, and then put it on the jar.

Then came the fun part!

4 cups of shaving cream in a bowl

Then mix in 1/2 cup white glue.  Once it's mixed, add orange food coloring till it's the color you want.

Then add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

and last - 1 tablespoon saline or contact solution. This is what makes it become slime.  Add more saline solution as needed until it comes off the side of the bowl and becomes ball like and sticks together.

It gets really stretchy!

As you work with it, the air bubbles go away and it gets smaller in size.

It didn't all fit in the jars, they each took home a zip lock bag too.
Now they have plans to make it in green for Christmas, and blue with glitter for winter.  
It's a little messy, but not bad and well worth it for the fun they had!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

Here's something new we tried recently. It's a good one for a night when you need a quick supper. Serve a salad with it, and you are good to go!
I halved this recipe for Bob and I and still had leftovers.

Mexican Pizza

1 lb of ground beef
1 chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp each cumin and dried cilantro
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Small Fajita size flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
Taco Sauce
2 cups of shredded cheese
Vegetable oil

Toppings: diced tomatoes, green onions, jalapenos, olives - your choice

Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add a chopped onion. Once beef is fully cooked drain any extra grease.
Season with salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, dried cilantro, and cayenne. Add minced garlic and stir.

While the beef is cooking lightly fry flour tortillas in a separate skillet. Add just enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the skillet. Fry tortillas on both sides until golden brown. Once tortillas are fried place them on paper towels to absorb any extra grease.

Heat up refried beans to make them easier to work with. Spread refried beans on top of flour tortillas. Add a scoop of ground beef. Add a little bit of shredded cheese and add another fried tortilla. Spoon some taco sauce on top of the tortilla and top with more shredded cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes. Place toppings of your choice on pizza and enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Acorns keep falling!

We have a lot of trees around our house, and most of them are oak trees. That means we get lots of acorns falling in our yard.  We've lived in this house for over 30 years, and we think this year tops all for the amount of acorns falling.

Here's one of the initial clean up piles. There's a few leaves on top but mostly acorns.  This time Bob hauled away 7 wheel barrows full from our front yard.

Not only are there lots of them, but they are so noisy this year.  It sounds like someone is throwing them against the house or the roof.
I got a video of the noise, but I can't get it uploaded here.  When the girls stayed overnight last weekend, they said it woke them up during the night.

Here, you can see all the acorns in the landscaping.

This is the drive to Bob's workshop.  No acorns have been cleaned up here, and look at them all.  This week, Bob cleared out another 11 wheel barrows full.

Looking up into the oak trees.  There's more acorns up there, but we do see an end in sight.  At least when the leaves come down, they are quiet!

More fun with our girlies!

Last weekend, we had our girls over again and had such a good time.  

We went out for supper and then came home and spent some time outside as the weather was perfect!

They had taken this bucket along, because they know we have an over abundance of acorns and they wanted to bring some home to the squirrels in their yard.  It didn't take long at all to gather all these.

After that, they tried to help Bob throw a weighted rope over some dead branches to pull them down.  They've done this before, but on this night they had no success!

We thought we should go for one last ice cream outing of the season.  They wanted to go to my Dad's favorite place, so we picked up my brother and took him too.  Everyone enjoyed it, plus it was a nice night for a drive.

The next morning, Bob took the girls to get donuts.  Someone had given him a gift card and the girls were thrilled to have a treat!

They had fun playing outside.  Alaina was practicing her volleyball skills...

while Ruby played on the skooter.

They still like to play on the playset.

and had fun walking on a trail out back.

We also did a fun craft that I'll show you next week.  Before we knew it, it was time to bring them home. 
Our girls are getting older and we know we have to appreciate this time while we can, and we do!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

You've probably heard of Mississippi Roast.  I've shared it here and it's the way I usually make roast now.  So when I saw this recipe, I knew it was one to try.  This one is Mississippi Chicken, made much like the roast. It cooks in the slow cooker, which is always a bonus for me.
The chicken was nice and tender with great flavor, so it'll be made again at our house!

Mississippi Chicken

2 pounds chicken breast or thighs
1 tablespoon of an Au Jus gravy packet
1 tablespoon ranch seasoning mix
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried onion
3 tablespoons butter, thinly sliced

Place the chicken into crockpot. Season it with the black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and minced onion.
Sprinkle the Au Jus mix and Ranch mix over all.
Add the thinly sliced butter to the tops of the chicken.
Cook on low for about 5-6 hours. If you're home while cooking, flip chicken over about halfway through your cooking time, but if you can't, it'll be fine.
Serve over mashed potatoes or rice.  You can shred it or serve it in chunks.

Prayer request

Some of you may know Anne from My Tata's Cottage. She asked me to share a prayer request.  Her son and his two young boys were i a terrible car accident this morning.  Someone in a truck with a trailer ran a red light and hit them.  Both boys were ejected from the car. 
Brody who is 6 has the most serious injuries and was airlifted to the childrens hospital.  Blake who is 5 was taken by ambulance.
That's all I know at this point, please pray for healing for them and for strength and peace for the family.

Please pray for those still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Helena and for those dealing with Hurricane Milton.  I think of Terri, Linda, Barb and Pam, all blogging friends who live there.  I have a niece who lives there that came back to Michigan to get away, but doesn't know what she will find when she returns.  Praying for safety for all who are in danger at this time.

Wordless Wednesday

 

(Longhorn cattle near my house)

River ride

Last weekend, a friend asked if we'd like to go out on a boat ride on the Grand River. The Grand River is about 1 1/2 miles from our house and we travel near it frequently. 
It was a beautiful day, sun shining and temps in the 80's.  Perfect for a ride on the river!

Here we are, getting the boat into the water.

On the water, checking out some of the big houses on the riverbank.

We saw a lot of swans, geese, egrets..  Our friends Roy and Kris said they often see bald eagles too.

Here's a pic from the front of the boat.  Bob's brother Tom and wife Bonnie in front, then Roy and Kris and Bob and I in back.

The river gets quite wide.

This is a bridge the pivots over the river.  I don't know if it's still used now, but it was cool to see.

This is a heavily traveled road, but also a drawbridge.

Here we are under the drawbridge.

Before long, we reached the channel in Grand Haven, where the Grand River flows into Lake Michigan.  Here's the Grand Haven Lighthouse, as seen from the water.  We've walked that pier often, but enjoyed the view from the water.

The beautiful waves of Lake Michigan.

On the lake, looking back at the Lighthouse and shore.

Then it was time to head back.

We saw some very large watercraft...

and some small ones.

Here's our view as we got closer to the end of this days boat ride.

And here's the end, pulling the boat out after a lovely afternoon!
We had a great time!