Happy Mother's Day

I'm finally getting caught up on my DVR'd programs.
Heard this song on Parenthood, and had to find and listen to the rest of it.

Made me cry!
Sure sign of a great song.

Full circle.

That's all I could think as it played.

From thoughts of my little joys, that aren't so little anymore...
to my sweet Nannie, who fancied holding the hands of her children and grandchildren.

If I could turn back the hands of time
and read her mind as we sat quietly holding hands on her couch,
I can't help but feel like the lyrics would be quite similar to her thoughts:

I see your face in mine
And I know there will come a time
When you will take my hand
And I will understand
That you're there, too.

Hope you enjoy the song as much as I did!

It'll make your heart swell!

And, Happy Mother's Day!

I'm off to my childhood home for lunch with my own Mama.

See you again tomorrow!

~Nannie~

Saying goodbye to Nannie.

Be back when I can...

(Refrigerator) Sweet Pickles for Canning

After a trip to the State Farmer's Market this week, I had enough pickling cucumbers to make another batch of sweet pickles for Superman. I had no clue how many quarts of pickles I could put up with a bushel of cucumbers... it was a lot!First, I pulled out my 'Mouli'. It's the neatest little 80's gadget! This one belonged to my Nannie. (You could also use a mandolin to slice the cucumbers super-thin.)Once you've sliced the cucumbers, they need to be sprinkled with 2-3 tbsp. of good salt. I use Himalayan sea salt.It will take about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, to allow the salt to pull out water from the cucumbers.

It will start out looking like this:But as the water is pulled from the cucumbers, it'll look like this:The more water pulled from the cucumbers, the better able to absorb the liquid and spices you'll add shortly!

Once I've finished slicing the cucumbers, I begin chopping up the bell peppers and onions. I didn't have any green bell peppers today, so I used the red bell peppers that I had on hand.You can add the peppers and onions to the salted mix, as well.

Next, simmer your pickling spice mixture on the stove until the sugar dissolves.

After allowing the salted cucumbers to sit for 2 hours, drain off the liquid. (There will be LOTS!) And rinse the cucumbers, peppers, and onions in a strainer.

Load your canning jars with the vegetables, then fill the jars with the warm pickling spice solution. A bushel of cucumbers made LOTS of pickles! I had to make 5x the amount of pickling spice solution in order to have enough to cover the cucumbers sufficiently.Also, you don't want to pack the cucumbers in the jar tightly!

They will absorb the pickling spice solution, and so you need enough room in the jar to hold extra solution. The first time I made this recipe, I noticed that after a week in the refrigerator, the jars had very little solution in them. Only pack the jars to below the neck. This will allow for excess solution that will be absorbed by the pickles as they age.In the end, a bushel of cucumbers produced 11 quarts and 3 pints of sweet pickles.

The 12th jar is filled with onions, red bell peppers, and banana peppers for Superman!

Recipe:

1 cup green bell peppers

7 cups pickling cucumbers

1 cup onions

Pickling Spice Recipe:

1 1/2 cup white or apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups sugar or sucanat

1 tsp. celery seed

1 tsp. mustard seed

**To keep the pickles crunchy, you don't water bath process them! You simply store the jars in your refrigerator. They keep 5-6 months stored in the refrigerator. However, I've never had a supply last that long at our house! They are a new family favorite!

**Allow the pickles to age for a week or two before eating. The longer they sit, the better they taste!

The Thanksgiving Chair & The View

This was the scene early Thanksgiving morning. THE Baby with MY Baby.And a little later in the day MY Baby squished in it again with Paw Paw. Before lunch, Nannie arrived. As matriarch of the family, she booted all the boys out of the comfy chair and took up residence...for most of the day! She's feisty like that!After seconds and probably thirds from the yummy Thanksgiving meal, Superman snuck out for a walk with my camera. Here are a few of the shots of the view from the cabin.Although I like to pretend I'm the photographer in the family, Superman really is!But, shhhhh! Don't tell him I told you!

Happy Mother's Day

For Mama & Nannie~ I found some fun photos and thought I'd share them with you for Mother's Day! Enjoy!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

About four years ago I was still teaching middle school. Desperate for a way to come home and be the mom that I couldn't be while working, I came up with a brilliant idea to make and market nap mat covers for daycares. Because you see, when your children are 3 and 5, and have spent two years in daycare, you find your inner creative goddess. You come up with all sorts of ways to stop the spread of germs, some of which are actually cute and functional and may make you a little money.

My sweet Nannie, who has always let it be known how much she believes in each and every one of her grandchildren, gave me her sewing machine. It was her way of kick-starting me in my new brainchild of a sewing empire.

Unfortunately, the only sewing this domestic goddess knew how to do was replacing buttons and a little cross-stitching. So this is what happened to the sewing machine... It became a Nannie shrine of sorts. I covered it with a table cloth she made, and put my pictures of her and Paw Paw on top. And you know what, I didn't feel terribly guilty about not learning to sew...at first.

After all, I had this...

Well, ultimately I was able to come home and be just a mom. (Not knocking those of you mamas that can work outside of the home and do all the mama stuff, too. My hat goes off to you! I'm just not so great at multi-tasking!)

Well, recently my littlest joy became obsessed with karate. And when his karate uniform needed to be hemmed, I remembered that I owned a sewing machine. And I decided that surely I could learn how to sew on my own.

How hard could it be, right?

I opened the stool of Nannie's sewing machine and discovered that the "Original Domestic Goddess" not only still had her manual for the machine, but it was in pristine condition...

ONE HOUR later, I had managed to thread the needle.

ONE & A HALF HOURS into my feat, I realized that Nannie was indeed correct when she told me the sewing machine would need to be oiled and serviced before I used it. The motor was running, and the circle do-hickey was spinning, but the belt wasn't budging! I called the local sewing machine repair shop and was referred to someone that made house calls. That someone was headed out of town on a two week ski trip. He put me on the schedule for when he returned. And last Friday that dear, sweet man came and fixed Nannie's sewing machine for me-and even taught me how to work it!

He had sweet things to say about how well maintained it was, and how he had never seen an original manual in such good condition. Obviously he hasn't met a lot of women like the Original Domestic Goddess that is Nannie, bless his heart!

I called Nannie after the repairman left. I told her all about getting it back in working order and all the sweet things that were said about her machine and her care for it. She got choked up. I got choked up. When I hung up the phone I squalled. Needless to say, it took me a few days to start any sewing projects. Superman swears that I will cry at a Hallmark commercial, and I was afraid if I got all sentimental while trying to sew that we might end up in the emergency room having to have a needle and thread removed from my fingers. Seriously!

Wanna meet the Original Domestic Goddess?She was a cutie, huh? She's in her 90's and is still a cutie! And her husband was quite a hottie! They made pretty babies. And their pretty babies made pretty grandbabies. And the pretty grandbabies have made some pretty great-grandbabies. You get the picture?

Meet Paw Paw...Does he look familiar? I think THE Baby looks a lot like him.

Here's a look at the machine. I think it is gorgeous, but I may be partial. The engraved metal embellishments are my favorite part about the whole machine. Well, that and the sound it makes. I cranked it up today and worked on my first project. I got all teary eyed when I heard it. It reminded me of the bazillion hours I spent with Nannie when I was little. It made me homesick. But that's OK. They're all happy memories, and I'll be visiting with her this Monday. See how gorgeous this part is?!?! I love it!!!

I love this part, too. Just knowing that Nannie's fingers attached that little slip of fabric and stuck each of those pins and needles in makes it a little sweeter! I don't see myself removing it any time in the near future...or probably ever!Superman pointed out the serial number for me. I'm still trying to research any information I can find. Any sewing machine savvy people out there that can guide me?OK, now here's the part that really, seriously made me cry. Seriously! Yes ma'am, I had a little moment filled with wet, salty, sentimental, happy, sad (probably hormonal) tears! When you open the stool, it smells like Nannie's house. I love that smell. It makes me want to be careful not to open it too often, because I don't want the smell to go away. Here's a look at some of the neat things I found inside...Some leftover patches. The top ones are from my dad's and uncle's Boy Scout Troop. Nannie was their Den Mother. The ones on the left are from Dad's military days. And Donald Duck, well I know who he is, but I don't know why he was in there!
This packet of patches made me laugh out loud. I threatened to use them on Superman's work pants. He said he didn't think so! Don't they scream the 1970's?And of course, just in case I get motivated to make slip covers, dresses, curtains, or bedspreads, I can always pull out Nannie's books and whip up a few! Ding Dang Y'all, I just may start up that nap mat business after all! So after this blissful, tearful nostalgic day, I did finally decide to tackle one sewing project. I was on the verge of throwing away the liner to the boys' dirty clothes hamper. It had seen better days, and chose to rebel against me when I washed it with towels once or ten times. The seams were ripped and the fabric was frayed. Five minutes and four very crooked seams later... And those karate pants, the whole reason I decided to have the sewing machine fixed- they're still too long. I figure I'll get to them before the littlest joy has his next karate class! Maybe!

Neither Tide Nor Time Waits for Man

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had! We spent it with my side of the family, which made it even more special. You see, as a child, we always spent Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family and Christmas with my mom's side of the family. There have been a few Thanksgivings during the decade I've been married to Superman that we have spent Thanksgiving day with his family. They're nice people. They cook great food. And I like them, really, I do! But, I always felt heart-sick being away from my dad's side of the family. I guess it's one of those give and takes you just have to get used to once you get married. You can only be in so many places in one day, right?

Thankfully, Superman is a wonderful man! And thankfully, as long as his tummy is full, he really doesn't care where he spends the holidays these day! And thankfully, he loves Nannie, too!

My dad's mom, Nannie, is now in her 90's. I feel a true sense of urgency to spend as much time with her as I can these days. With each holiday I become more and more aware that I can't take for granted the special times I have with her. This photo of us was taken as we sat on the couch and chatted late Thanksgiving night. We were reminiscing about raising our boys, as usual. She is known for her funny sayings. My favorite one is one that she quotes when she's tired, "The old gray mare ain't quite what she used to be." It always makes me chuckle when she says it.

She also has a knack for bringing me to tears, as you can tell by the picture. She had just popped out another Nannie-ism and given me the title for this post. Isn't it amazing how much insight and wisdom you can get from your grandparents? It made me stop and think about the quote she recalled, "Neither tide nor time waits for man." It was a bit of food for thought!

When I was younger, Nannie and Paw Paw had a cabin in the mountains. It was a retreat for us away from the rest of the world, and we loved to go. Usually they would load up all 5 grandkids, and off to the mountains we went. I think that is where my love of the mountains comes from. Love of the mountains is one thing that all 5 of us cousins share in common. Maybe that's why we all spend Thanksgiving in the mountains in cabins now that we've grown up. This year, Nannie was able to make the trip! It was one of the best and happiest Thanksgivings I can remember!

Here's KK, second oldest cousin, with Nannie. KK is the most like Nannie. They share looks, height, and stubbornness in common! (Hee! Hee!) When I say they share height in common, I only mean they have similar height... not that they have a lot of height! They're both just a tad over 5 foot tall! KK had on heels (I think) and thus her tall appearance!

We welcomed a precious little newbie to the list of cousins last Thanksgiving. My boys were roaming outside for much of the day, so A-Man was the object of my photographic obsession! Here's one of the gazillion photos I snapped of him with Nannie. He's too cute for words!

Oh, and here's just one of him being adorable...

Don't you just want to eat him up?

Kanga

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

This is the 2nd night in a row that sleep has escaped me, so what did I find to do? A little quiz that told me what I already knew... long gone are my Tigger days!

My mind keeps picturing my dad's mom, Nannie! She's 91 now, and just as spunky as she's always been. Well, she might have slowed down from 100 mph to 85 mph, but you get the picture. Anyway, Nannie has the gift of offending you amidst her compliments, but you gotta love that little lady. For example, almost every time I go back home and visit Nannie, we find ourselves discussing our boys. I have two sons, and Nannie has two sons. We compare notes on the sweet things they do, how little boys always love their mamas, and share our little stories. We've even been known to argue about which one of us had the cutest boys. Y'all think I'm kidding, but it's the truth sure as I'm breathing! (And for the record, all four boys are genetic marvels!!! So any of you family members back home reading this, make sure you tell Nannie that part, too!) Like Kanga, Nannie doesn't tolerate misbehaving, and I'm a little too old for time out!

Where was I? Did I mention that I am sleep deprived? Oh yeah, Nannie's gift of offending you while complimenting you... During my visits with Nannie, she almost always takes hold of my hand or pats me on the leg while telling me,
"Dana, you sure did manage to grow up and become a good wife and mama." Which sound good in theory, but if you were to be a fly on the wall and witness this happening, you would see that just as she's uttering such sweetness, she's also shaking her head from left to right and staring off, deep in thought. I always feel that her mind is re-playing me pitching a hissy fit, or clanging my clogs while walking on her side porch, or heaven only knows what else! (Have I mentioned before that I inherited a bit of Nannie's stubbornness?)

But despite what childhood memories she might be re-playing in her mind, as I read that I am a Kanga, my mind flashes to a million childhood memories of time spent with her. If I am like Kanga: warm, kind, and good with children, it's only because I learned from Nannie's example!

So reflect on your childhood. Who influenced you? How do you see that person's influence in your adult life?