Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We had all the girls here this year except for my niece Brenna and her baby. I wish she could have made it, but I will see her soon. I have a nasty cold, but I still got the pies made.



Here is my Jack-O-Lantern Pie. Little did poor Jack know when he was sitting on my porch under the Halloween moon, that he would end up in my pie! Yummy, yummy!

Jack-O-Lantern Pie Recipe
1 Jack-O-Lantern cut in half, seeds and fibers scooped out and baked in 350 degree oven on greased baking sheet for an hour and 45 minutes or until very tender. Scoop flesh from rind and puree in food processor. You can package in 2 cup amounts and store in freezer for about 1 year.

4 cups Jack-o-Lantern puree
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 to 1 cup packed brown sugar (taste the pumpkin to see how bitter it is and add to taste)
1 teas salt
1 teas gr. ginger
1/2 teas gr. cloves
2 teas gr. cinnamon
1/2 teas gr. nutmeg
2 can evaporated milk
4 extra large eggs
2 pie crusts for 9 inch deep dish pie pans, or 10 inch pie pans (seriously, don't try the regular 9 inch)

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir together the sugars and spices and add to the eggs. Stir in the pumpkin puree. Gradually add in the evaporated milk. Pour into the pie shells. Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 and bake another 40 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool. Serve with ice cream!




My daughter Keirnath brought her bunny marshmallow and her dog Luke. they played in the front yard with our dogs Fern and Howie. It was like a menagerie, LOL.




Keirnath reads to her nieces Chloe and Moiren.




Here Moiren is caught red-handed getting into the bag of chips!




Dinner was a success as seen by how little was left after the ravaging horde hit it!

It was such a beautiful day. I wish I could have had more photos, but we were so busy laughing and talking and cooking and eating that we really didn't think about the camera. Oh well, we still have memories.

Fall Fell

Yes, Fall fell in just one day. All the leaves, in one fell swoop.


The cats were a bit unnerved by this phenomenon. I am sure they felt it was a conspiracy against them.


My youngest granddaughter, however was completely thrilled. She wanted to run in the crinkly leaves and throw them in the air.


Her delight is completely evident in her posture.

My husband however could only think of all the raking and sweeping he has to do now.
I think I will go roll in the leaves with Moiren. It sounds like more fun :)

Strike It Up

My husband's company is in contract negotiations right now and there are rumblings of a strike. The company wants to take a lot of things away from the workers because they say the economy has been so bad and business is down. Now that is true business is down, but they forget to say that they are STILL making a very nice profit. Borax is still needed world wide. There are only three mines in the entire world. So why should they ask they workers to take it in the back? It they were in the red or even just breaking even I might understand. But they are making a profit! This makes no sense to me. They want to take away retirement. Sick leave. Increase our medical contribution from 20% to 25%. We don't even know how much the company is actually spending on our policy since they have not disclosed this to the union even after it was requested. They want to take away seniority and many other things. My husband asked me to go with him to the union hall with him on Tuesday as a show of support. I am seriously tempted to dress as a suffragette. Of course the irony of that may be lost on people. It is a toss up between that and a 1950's housewife. I am into sarcasm as well *grin*

Twenty Mule Team Days

This weekend was Twenty Mule Team Days. This is a pretty big event in our town. It has been going on for years and we have been going for the 17 years we have lived in Boron. It starts with the parade in the morning and then everyone goes to the park were there are game booths, merchant booths and food booths. A stage with live music and sometimes pony rides for the children. I really look forward to the Chinese food booth. Orange chicken and Teryiaki chicken on a stick, YUM! Since we don't have a Chinese food place in town it is a real treat. There was also a food booth with funnel cakes. Chloe and Moiren shared one. They ate it so quickly I didn't get a picture!


One of the booths did free face painting. Moiren had a heart painted on her cheek.


Chloe with her gorgeous smile.


Moiren and Chloe on the playground.

I wished I had taken more pictures, but we were having so much fun the camera was forgotten about most of the time. Oh well. I still have the memories. *smile*

Highland War Babies

I am finally writing about the wonderful time I had with my granddaughters at Highland War. My job as Nana was to keep them occupied so their mom and dad could have some fun.




This meant spending quite a bit of time at the playground (the event was at a park) or shopping Merchant's Row. Needless to say the little minxes bled me dry of money!



Not that I mind really. They have me wrapped around their fingers!




It was really nice to be at an SCA event and for once not to have to be working. I usually merchant and it is tough! I never get out to see anything. This time I got to see the late night bardic events and the tourneys. I also got to shop, albeit it mostly was for the girls and not for me *grin*. I got to see some of the battle that my son-in-law fought in. He is in the red tunic in the photo.



I chatted with friends I had not seen since last year and even saw quite a few people wearing garb I had made over the years. It was quite satisfying.



Everyone is now trying to talk me into going out to Great Western War, even if it is for just a day. I am thinking about it. I do miss the medieval/renaissance life!

The Tea Party

My daughter Tarah is an awesome cook so when she decided to make an angelfood cake what choice did I have but to declare it a Tea Party Day! Tarah made some tea sandwiches and cut the cake and filled some slices with lemon glaze and blueberries and some with Nutella, yum! I made lemonade and passionfruit tea and made a call to my other daughter Tabitha to come over with her daughters Moiren and Chloe.




Of course what would a tea party be without HATS! We all wore hats and ate cucumber, ham and turkey sandwiches along with cake until we were bursting!




I poured out. It was certainly delicious tea! Moiren decided she needed a bit of sweetening. Well maybe more than a bit!




By the end of the day the entire sugar bowl was in her cup!

Then we had party crashers! Tom, my husband, even stole Moiren's hat!




Nebbie the cat thought she could snag a sandwich!




Nebbie then tried some lemonade, but it was not to her taste!

All in all it was a wonderful day! We will have to do it again some time soon.

Trampolines and Sunny Days

We have been having such beautiful weather out here in the desert. In fact it has been almost unseasonably cool! Temps in the mid 90's nice breezes and only a bit of humidity now and again. Just the weather to take a walk or go out and jump on the trampoline. Recently I had been seeing some suspicious footprints on the trampoline and wondered when they came from. The cats? But they were pretty big. Phineas has big feet, but somehow I did not think it was him. So I looked out the window yesterday after letting the dogs out and saw Fern jump up onto the trampoline! That little minx! So I ran out and started jumping on it with her. Instead of being afraid of it like I thought she would be, she liked it! So I ran and got my camera to record it. She definitely had a great time and has a lot more stamina than I do, LOL! I think I will have to add jumping everyday to my exercise routine. I think Fern will approve.

The Red Hat

Chloe in the Red HatOriginally uploaded by Peldyn

I have a cute red hat that a friend gave me. It proved to be irresistible for my granddaughters. They took turns wearing it and posing.



Moiren in the Red HatOriginally uploaded by Peldyn


I don't know what it is about the innocence and freshness of a young girl and a hat. It just has a certain charm. I know they caught at my heart :)

Of Hummingbirds and Other Things

My front yard is a haven. My granddaughters come over and play in it. The cats lounge in the grass. I like to sit on the front porch and see the lightening when there are storms or the sunrise some mornings. Just a few days ago I was sitting outside letting my hair dry in the sun when I was checked out by a hummingbird. She flew up to me and hovered right in front of my face and stared me down for a good 10 seconds. I had the feeling that she was claiming the yard for her own and telling me that I was not welcome. Now, if you didn't know it hummingbirds are very territorial. I have watched them try to drive off other birds and dive bomb the cats. I have just never had one have the nerve to look me in the eye! I have two very large fruitless mulberry trees in my front yard and they are full of bird nests, some of them are hummingbird nests. I know this because one year my husband was trimming the trees and there was one nestled in the branches. It was made out of spiderwebs! From then on I am very careful to make sure it is not nesting season when we trim the trees.
Anyways, it did give me pause to think that my front yard was not really MY front yard. I just happen to have paid for it. I actually share it with a whole assortment of creatures that could really care less if I was there or not. I think they would be happy if I left and took the cats with me! LOL
On that note I will leave you with this video of Beru the cat and her problems with the hummingbirds in our trees.

The Long and Short of It

shorts 011
Originally uploaded by Peldyn

With the hot weather I have been wearing mostly shorts lately and this pattern caught my eye recently at a yard sale. I loved the vintage retro look of it and since the style is back I snagged it up. I am thinking of making myself a pair of shorts out of it. I will need to go through my fabric stash to find the perfect fabric. I think stripes will be nice. I am pretty sure I have a light blue seersucker striped fabric that will be perfect for this project. I once hear that if you wore a style the first time it came out you shouldn't wear it when it comes back in style. WHAT? That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard. Of course they could be talking about micro-minis or hot pants, but that is a matter of good taste not fashion timing. I think these shorts will be just fine the second time around :)

A New Beginning

Widget
Originally uploaded by Peldyn

Those of you who know me well know that I have been ill for quite a while and the last few months it has gotten much worse. After many doctors and emergency room visits I eventually found a gastero doc who diagnosed me with a gallbladder problem and sent me in for an ultrasound. There they found hundreds of gallstones! Finally an answer for all the pain and sickness. So in June I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed. My surgeon was wonderful and the nurses in the hospital were so kind. I have been recovering well and now feel ready to get back to my life! I am amazed now at how it feels to not be in pain. I didn't even realized how much pain I was in everyday. Now I know how much it really was now it is gone. And to be able to eat! I hope to gain back some of the weigh I have lost and to get into shape. This is a new beginning for me.

So here is a lovely picture of my cat Widget. She is a happy kitty. She kept me company while I was recovering :)

Blogger Glitching

I have been having quite lot of problems with blogger lately. It has not been letting me comment on my friends blogs. It makes me sign in repeatedly and still will not accept that I am signed in when it comes to commenting and it is pretty frustrating. It even would not let me reply to a comment on my own blog the other day. I finally got it to accept me yesterday. I was at the comment box of a friends blog. I wanted to comment and it wouldn't let me, the google profile was not filled in like it is when I am signed in. I then clicked on the sign in box up in the upper right corner of the blog page. Of course I was actually signed in already as I always am so instead of doing what I usually do which is try to sign in again and then click back to the blog, I just hit the back button. It took me back to the comment box and voila! it had my google profile filled in and I could then comment! Now, I had to do this each and every time I wanted to comment on every blog. It wasn't permanent. But at least I have found some sort of fix. Now this never used to happen before. I don't know why it happens now and I wish blogger would fix it because it is pretty damn annoying. I also wonder how many people are having the same problem and if it is keeping them from commenting on my blogs? I am going to file a bug report on this if there is such a thing for blogger. BTW, I could not even post with my name and url or anonymously. Nothing, nada. So it was figure out some way to have it recognize that I was signed in or never be able to comment on a blog again. Major suckage!

The Flowers In My Garden

I have been TRYING to have a garden for years. Notice the emphasis on trying. I have been thwarted at every attempt by nature, children and beasts. One year I had such beautiful flowers and had them well established. I thought, "This is it, finally I have the garden I want." But no, it was not to be. That year we had a freak cold snap with temperatures to 0 degrees and it killed off everything. EVERYTHING! Even though I had mulched all the plants and covered them well. I gave up last year and didn't plant since I was so ill, but this year I gave in and bought some plants and seeds. I have hope you see. I have hope that someday the cats will stop pooping in the flowerbeds and chewing everything in sight. The dogs will stop digging. The kids will stop using it as their personal Flower shop and Mother Nature will have pity on me. Gawk, who am I kidding? I am just spitting in the wind.

My Garden

The roses in my garden,
don't look so pretty and gay.
The kitties have chewed their petals,
and chased the ladybugs away.

The holes that are in the lawn,
could turn an ankle or two.
It's amazing how much damage,
a baby with a spoon can do!

My pansies' upturned faces,
are spattered with mud and creased.
From all the digging the dog did,
when he escaped his leash.

The marigolds have been trampled,
I believe that they are dead.
From the raucous game of tag,
the kids played on their heads.

So my garden is not the best,
in fact it's rather sad.
But look at all the fun,
my kids and animals had!
© April 17, 2003

I wrote this poem and I think it explains it all. One last look here at a pitiful little bloom in my garden.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Having been ill for two weeks with a throat infection that literally took my voice away and with it any inclination to write, I am seriously late in updating my blog. The day I became ill Tom and I took Chloe to Disneyland to celebrate my birthday. This year Disneyland is letting you in for free on your birthday if you sign up in advance online. So cool! I did that and since I am a Southern California resident when we showed up at the park I also got another ticket for California Adventures that we get to use before the end of the month. Tom and Chloe got the extra ticket as well when they purchased theirs. We met up with a couple friends who have a yearly pass and spent the day in childish pleasure.

Here is Chloe and me with Jim and Kelly getting off the Carousel.

Tom, Chloe and me in a teacup.

Tom and Chloe

Like little monkeys in a cage on the Circus Train!


Unfortunately by the end of the evening I was pretty ill and had almost lost my voice. It hit fast and it hit hard. I was glad it waited until it was almost all over, but we missed the Fantasia show which was at 10:30pm because I just couldn't hold out any longer. Oh well, we will have to plan for next year!

Sigh Of Relief

After being on tenterhooks for a week I finally got a letter in the mail from the radiologist who read my mammogram with the diagnosis that it was normal. Well, that is nice to hear! I have normal fibrocystic breasts. Hmmm... I had no idea that I had fibrocystic breasts. I have never had symptoms until now. I wonder if perimenopause can bring on symptoms? I certainly have THAT. The freaking night hot flashes that wake me up at 2-3:00am are just a joy! If I am lucky I can get back to sleep when I cool back down. If not I am in for along sleepless night and a groggy, cranky day. You certainly do not want to be around for that! Add to that the erraticness of my periods and my winning personality and I am a definite charmer. Of course I have to put up with my husband whining like a baby when he has the slightest cold so I am sure he can put up with my bitchiness. After all, I do tend to coddle him when he is ill. Men just aren't made to handle stuff like us women are. I guess in a way I feel a sense of entitlement for taking care of him for all these years. He can take a tiny amount of heat. God knows I am FEELING the heat now. We have many more years to spend together and I know this stage will be over is a flash. I just hope it isn't a hot flash!

A Smashingly Good Time Was Had....Well Not Really

This semi tongue in cheek posting is brought to you today by the letters M, B, S, and O! Yes, I had a "mammogram" this week and had my "breasts" "smashed" and it was "owie"! I found that thing we all seek for but never want to find. The dreaded "lump". So after a few days of calling back and forth I FINALLY. I am emphasizing that word, finally got my mammogram scheduled for this past Wednesday. Took them long enough! Didn't they know the state I was in? I alternated between thinking Oh everything is alright, to sobbing disconsolately. Made me lots of fun to be around.
This is my first mammogram. I have never had one and it seems that my primary care doctor has been totally lax and should have had me in 10 years ago for a baseline mammogram and then at age 40 I should have started yearly screening mammograms. Needless to say I am in the market for a new physician. This is NOT the first medical issue she has let me down one, but hopefully it will be the last.
Now I am waiting for my results and hoping that the lump is nothing to worry about. Can you tell I really need a good stiff drink right about now?

A Baking Fit

I must have lost my mind. I spent an entire day in a baking frenzy. I made blueberry muffins, cranberry muffins, french bread, cheese bread, multigrain bread and also cooked dinner from scratch. The whole house was toasty warm and smelled of spices and bread and we tucked into such a luscious dinner. I am surprised we did not burst. Especially since we ate every single muffin that I baked and half the loaf of multigrain bread and part of the loaf of french bread! Of course I did have my granddaughter there to help me bake and eat and I do have a 16 year old nephew who can eat his weight in food, but still! We should all be comatose! I have to admit though, that nothing is like making it all yourself. I get such satisfaction from baking and cooking from scratch. I really feel connected to the food in a way that you don't get when you just open cans and packages. I like knowing exactly what is going into our bodies. It will be even more fun when I get to plant my garden and the first tender lettuces and radishes come up. Oh yum! I am so looking forward to that. Spring, you can not come too soon for me!

Cute Enough To Eat!

With all the depressing news I had to post this to put a smile on people's faces. I know it cheers me up when I see it!


I can just hear her say "Iz tastee and nutrishus!" This is our silly kitty Princess. Always curling up in small bowls or boxes. Now let's hope tomorrow is a better day!

Spiraling Downward

The way this country is going it is hard to stay optimistic. I am a very upbeat kind of girl. But the news I heard today made me very sad and pissed off too. My husband's company is laying off over 13,000 employees world wide. We knew it had to happen with the economy and all. But the way they are going about it is just shitty. Seems one employee found out he was laid off when security escorted him out the front gate. That was it. No thank you for a job well done, just a rude hustle out the gate. Another guy tried to log into his computer and wasn't able to. When he went to find out what was wrong they told him it was because he didn't work there any more. Oh well, that is nice to know! My husband says they are installing time card machines at the front gate now so you can stick your time card in and if it accepts it you still have a job, if it rejects it you don't. Oh boy! I bet that is going to be so fun! Just the way I want to start my day at work. Hmmm do I or don't I have a job. Let's see. Eeny, meeny miny, moe, I guess you have got to go!

Now I know companies have to tighten their belts and cut out the fat. But whatever happened to common courtesy and having compassion for your fellow man? You can do this in a way that is appropriate. The way this company is going about it is not right. I wonder if they realize that they may be breaking laws in the way they are going about this. Not letting people remove their own property from their desks and such. Unfortunately I forsee possible lawsuits resulting from such behavior and I know that that is the last thing that company needs right now.

I am still trying to be optimistic but I do not see things getting better any time soon. This country is in for a very tough time ahead and I hope the new president is up for the challenge. I have hope.

A Hike In The Desert

I got a chance to wear my cool new hoodie today. Of course I used a bit of blackmail to get his hoodie. Tom had shrunk an favorite sweater of mine in the wash and I kept harping on it to him, so when we were at REI on Sunday and I was gushing over this hoodie he said if I shut up about the sweater I could have it. No matter that it was $70.00 fucking dollars! You heard it. Never have I spent that much on a simple jacket, but I thought I better take the oportunity and run. Who knows when he will be this generous again! I also got a new shirt. (grin) I am not too evil am I?

So today we went on a 9 mile hike to an extinct volcano near where I live.
It was a gorgeous day in the desert. Temps in the 70's and bright sunny and clear. We took our pup Fern with us, some snacks and a sub sandwich for when we got to the top of the volcano. It was a nice hike until we got to the base. Then it was a bit of a tough climb. At the top the breeze was kind of chilly and I had to put my jacket on for a bit. Up until then I had it tied around my waist. Fern was running around like nobody's business until I got the sandwich out. Oh baby, she wanted some of that action!
Once that was finished off we sat for awhile and admired the view. Unfortunately though we had to make the return trip back. We used the bag the food had been in to pick up bottle and cans that litterbugs had tossed out to litter the desert. It felt good to clean up the environment that small bit. All too soon we were back at the truck driving back the couple miles home. I can't wait for our next hike!

Woah! What Happened to 2008?

It seems like I just blinked my eyes and now it is 2009. What happened to 2008? It sped by so fast it made my head spin. So many changes. The girls moving on into adulthood. Brenna moving in with her boyfriend and now expecting their first child. Tarah getting married. I am just plain dumbstruck at how it has all slipped by. Is that what I have to look forward to? The years flipping by, faster and faster like pages riffled in a book? I want to savor each moment! I don't want them to slip by so quickly! I want a time out right now. I hereby declare that time is not allowed to move forward anymore. At least not until I have caught up!