Be Here Now

Still your mind from wandering And just Be

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since 2012 this gem, which I found in a Family Circle magazine, has been at each Thanksgiving table.  It is always requested and loved. Wishing you and yours a wonderful day focusing on all of your blessings and enjoying some yummy food!  

Log Cabin Stashbusting/Magic Ball Knit Blanket

I have been staring at my Magic Balls for two years and tried a few times to turn them into something which I thought looked good and failed. Finally I have found a knit pattern which I am loving so much! It is a log cabin pattern for a blanket which I have tweaked to …

August Sunset

Fall Recipes

I recently picked up this new magazine at Tractor Supply and I’m loving it. I’ve made two recipes from this already and have plans to make more. They are easy with common ingredients and many are for the crockpot. I haven’t seen any magazines from Centennial Home or Centennial Kitchen before (have you?). I’m glad …

Fall is coming!

This weekend felt like autumn in the air!  So I was busy in the kitchen. We had a wonderful beef roast and veggies in the crockpot, Chicken Cacciatore with homemade drop biscuits, Quiche with fresh veggies and bacon and French Toast with my Apple Cranberry topping for Sunday breakfast, Beef Vegetable Tortellini soup, and a …

National Christmas Center

In July 2014 we visited the National Christmas Center in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  I really enjoyed that visit and now I am very happy that I was able to get there.  I wanted to return earlier this year and discovered that they closed and were looking for a buyer to keep it going.  I recently …

Pennsylvania Dutch Shoo-Fly Pie

Here in Pennsylvania Dutch Country one of the most popular recipes to the region is the Shoo-Fly Pie.  There are so many versions of this pie available including the Chocolate Shoo-Fly Pie with Peanut Butter icing over the top portion which we receive each Christmas from our Amish neighbors.  That is so delicious! The one …

Under the Canopy

I enjoy standing under the canopy of a Weeping Willow tree to see the sky.  Such an amazing view!

Good Friday and His Plan

This is Holy Week.  The most important week of the year in the Christian calendar and the reason we are Christians.  It is even more important than Christmas.  Today is the day in which Jesus Christ was crucified and on Sunday we will celebrate with zeal His resurrection.  I am not a minister; however, after reading Bible …

Blush at Sunset

I love the look of photos when taken during the 'golden hour' of the evening while the sun is setting.  These flowers look especially beautiful with the sunset glow on them.

Deep Purple

I love the deep purple of this flower against the darker background.  This was taken one evening when the sun was going down.

The Chick Next Door

She and her pals are always happy to see us come with food to share.

Rural Sunset

I love this tree and am sad to see it is dying.  It is such a huge tree with a thick trunk; must be very old.  I love the look of the bare branches against the blue sky with the red sun light on the mountain.  This was taken around 7:40 p.m. one evening this …

Getting into Manual Mode

I must admit that I have struggled with understanding the three elements which create the exposure of an image.  It hasn't been easy for me to understand; however, this week I watched some episodes of an instructor teaching all the elements of a DSLR camera and he explained the exposure elements in a way that …

Walking the camera

I took the camera for a short walk today and captured a handful of images.

The best homemade pancakes

This is our go-to recipe for easy-to-make and tasty pancakes.  No more boxed mixes for us!  Give them a try and you'll never go back to boxed pancake mix either. Whisk 1 1/2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda in a bowl. Whisk …

Those Golden Hours

If I could I would bottle the time of those long and lazy summer days of my childhood. When I wasn't in school and my only daily priority was play with no worries and responsibilities. I would say those are the best days. I've been contemplating a written piece concerning that time and how to best convey …

Dreaming about house plans

After Wednesday's Powerball drawing with someone else winning the 750 million jackpot, and I having only one of the numbers, the reason we'll never win such a huge amount of money dawned on me; we are filled with common sense, and sometimes frugality, in regards to spending money.  If we would come into such a …

Salmon soup

This was the recipe which my grandmother made and I love it. I don’t know where it originated from and I haven’t found it yet in any vintage cookbook I own.  Maybe it was a recipe she created or was one her mother made. Debone the salmon and mix everything together in a 5 quart …