Christmas morning

We spent Christmas morning at my daughter's

We had a lovely brunch

and got to see the girls open their presents.

Shortbread

I think I found this recipe in Taste of the South.

It is so simple with just 3 ingredients.

I made 2 batches today so have a tin full to take to a friend.

Shortbread

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F

Cream together until light and fluffy

1 cup softened butter

and 1/2 cup sugar

Stir in 2 cups all-purpose flour.

Pat into a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Bake 30-40 minutes until lightly browned.

Remove from oven.

Prick with a fork in a zigzag pattern to allow steam to escape.

Allow to cool then cut. 

(I love the tins with the clear tops, I just got 2 but maybe I can find more of them).

Christmas

I love Christmas

Through the years I have collected so many Christmas items.

This is my big tree in the living room that has ornaments of all colors. 

I had to adjust the lights a bit after taking this pic :)

Some of my Coca Cola ornaments.

Opps, got too much of the cords in this pic. 

Thanksgiving

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We had a houseful of people. 

My sister was here. She has 2 more chemo treatments and then the chemo is done.

My granddaughter and great-nieces spent the night. 

Now I am decorating for Christmas. 

Tea to wash down the turkey :)

Soup

Southwestern Chicken Soup

Recipe from Country Woman magazine

I made this the other day and it was soooooo good.

I will be making it again. 

I love to make soups, everything in one pot.

What could be easier?

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ lb chicken, boneless, skinless cut into cubes

¼ cup chopped onion

2 stalks celery chopped (my addition)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 large carrot chopped (my addition)

1 can whole kernel corn drained

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 can chicken broth

1 tub of Knorr’s homestyle chicken stock (concentrated stock) (my addition)

1 can diced tomatoes and green chillies

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp salt

½ tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I left this one out)

Shredded cheese, fresh cilantro and sour cream for serving

Tortilla chips to crumble into soup if you want to

Saute onion, celery and carrot. Add chicken and sauté until chicken is no longer pink. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Stir in the can of tomatoes and green chillies, cook until carrots are tender. Then add spices, beans and corn. Cook about 20 minutes.

Top servings with cheese, cilantro, sour cream and chips.

September

Dressed for the country.

Growing up way too fast.

There is a hint of fall in the air. Nights are cooler, humidity is down, leaves are starting to get the smallest amount of color.  In a few weeks it should be beautiful.

Busy days

I've been busy taking my hubby to the doctor. He has hip, leg and knee problems mostly due to arthritis. The last doctor he saw referred him back to the first doctor. I asked him if he felt like he was on a merry go round.
I've also been busy with my sister who had surgery for colon and ovarian cancer. She started chemo last week. Praying for her every day.

We've had a lot of things in the garden keeping my busy, too. I've frozen corn, squash, and zucchini. I'm going to shred some zucchini and freeze it to use in bread.
Last week I canned green beans, made blackberry jam, and made blackberry jelly.
We managed a short trip to Virginia for hubby's family reunion.
Love this little sleepy face.

 And this little smiley face.

 Some of the canning.

 Corn from the garden

 Veggies from the garden

 Blackberries from vines we planted last year.

Mollie Makes project

I love Mollie Makes a UK craft magazine. I love the little gifts they always have on the cover. The other day I saw something so adorable in there I just had to make it for the baby granddaughter.

They said to use felt for the project but I had lots of fleece (Olivia and I use fleece for our stuffies) so that is what I used.

Spring

I love spring. Sometimes it starts here in February. I saw the first daffodils blooming at the end of February.
Then we have Bradford Pears and Redbuds.

Now the dogwoods are blooming and yes we had dogwood winter (it got really cold and threatened to frost). The azeleas are blooming. Some of our flowers are blooming.

I planted a few geraniums, petunias and marigolds. I have some seeds to plant.

A couple pictures of all the spring around us.
Dogwoods and azeleas.

  Dogwood bloom

 This wild violet seeded in the trunk of a tree.

 Tulips and bleeding hearts.

 More white azeleas.

Birthdays

April is the month for birthdays for both our grands.

The oldest is 12.

The baby is 1.

I think they are growing up way too fast.

I love every minute I get to spend with them.

Play day

Piper came to spend the day while her parents went to Ikea.

She jabbers all the time and says several words.

Her favorite word OUTSIDE and then being taken outside to play.

 Walking up the hill.  Isn't she too little for this?

 Riding in Olivia's little car. That Cabbage Patch Dolly was her mommy's.

A 2 1/2 hour nap.

Another Southern Snow Day

2 weeks ago it snowed and I was stuck in traffic with hubby for over 4 hours. We were in Chattanooga and it took us over 3 hours to go 2 miles. So I passed on a trip to Chattanoogga today. The roads are better today because it is warmer. Looks like it is supposed to bring ice later today. I hope Atlanta roads will be better than 2 weeks ago.

And no we don't have snow measured in feet. But this one is a wet snow that stuck to the trees. So I was happy sitting here eating breakfast and watching the birds at the bird feeders and reading issues of some of my favorite magazines.

Now to get off here and do some sewing on a quilt for the little one.

Yes it is cold here, too.

I have to admit the cold isn't my favorite time of year.

If we could just  have a tiny bit of snow to look at I might like it better.

But it keeps missing us. 

So I sit here and look at the bare trees and dreary skies until a flash or red catches my eye.

Watching the birds at the feeders is one of my favorite parts of winter.

Hubby had dr. appointments the other day. 

In between we met our daughter and the youngest grand. 

She had a little playtime at the mall playground.

Crawling everywhere.

You want to take my picture again?

Who cares if she's taking my picture again I have to figure this out.

Happy New Year

I've been trying to make new posts with pictures and for some reason just can't. I'm hoping this one will work.

We had a great Christmas but somehow it was just here and gone way too fast.

I had 3 little girls here for New Year's Eve. It seems to be a tradition for them.

This was at lunch on New Year's Eve.  My two grands.

New Year's Eve. My granddaughter and two great nieces.

Yesterday I got to spend the afternoon playing with this little one while her mommy and daddy took her big sister to a movie. She was in such a sweet, playful mood.