A few days off . . .

.. . . from my blog that is. Not much going on so not much to write about - I'll be back in a few days!

I did go to the Dr. finally yesterday and got a course of steriods to help clear the congestion in my nose, chest and now my ears! Yes, I'm so 'clogged' up I can't hear very well, and it's all caused by allergies - what a pain!

Yay, it's Friday!

Oh, I'm so glad Friday is here already. This week has once again flown by but Friday couldn't get here fast enough. I am just so tired in the mornings at 6am, I don't know what's wrong with me? I'm thinking it might be my allergies. They've really been bothering me this past week or two. And on top of that I think I got a head cold last week, or it could have all just been allergies who knows. What I do know is that I couldn't taste or smell anything for quite a few days, which is annoying and frustrating and my sinuses hurt too!

I've been taking Claritin-D for a week now and it helps some but I think it's the allergies that drain my energy. I've been trying to drink a ton of water too. It's a good thing I have been staying home as I'm having to pee like every 10 minutes!!!

So I mentioned I would stay home a lot this week and that's just what I've done. I only left early on Monday and Tuesday to pick up Kristen from school and called in to Good Will on the way to drop some stuff off and go to the post office. Other than that, once I was home in the morning, I stayed home. And because I've stayed home all week there isn't really much to post about.

I just wanted to pop on here and write a quick little update incase you all wondered where I was and when I would post again.

I'll be back Monday with hopefully a little more interesting to read! Have a great weekend.

Soup of the Week!

I haven't had a chance to mention that I tried another soup last week! This one is from the Soup magazine I bought. I was browsing through it one day to see if there was any recipe that I could make without having to go out and buy ingredients for. . . I saw this one and thought I'd give it a try, I had everything in that I needed.

It's 'creamy ham and asparagus'. I just so happened to have some asparagus left from my meal the night before (remember Jason was away so I got to cook the foods he doesn't like, salmon and asparagus) :-) I also had some diced ham in the freezer.

Here's how mine turned out. . . .

The recipe follows for anyone that might like to try it. I really liked how it turned out, very tasty, very creamy, and I had it all to myself! Kristen didn't want to try this one, too many big pieces of veg floating around for her liking.

Creamy Ham and Asparagus Soup
1 1/2 cups fresh asparagus cooked(cut in 1" pieces)
1 medium carrot, julienned
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup cubed fully cooked ham
1 jar (2 1/2oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup half and half cream
salt and pepper to taste

Saute carrots in a saucepan with butter for 3-5 mins; add onions and saute 2 mins longer or until tender. Stir in flour, gradually add milk. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 mins. Add broth, ham and asparagus.
Reduce heat; add cream. Heat through but do not boil. Add salt and pepper, garnish with parsley.

Staying Home!

Last week seemed to fly by in a blur and I felt like I was running here there and everywhere, but basically doing nothing, so this week I want to make a concerted effort to stay home. I find the days seem longer when I come straight home from dropping Kristen off at school and don't go out again until 2pm to pick her up. Plus it will give me more time to catch up with blog visits and perhaps be able to blog more too.

As I mentioned last week I had book club at my house on Thursday evening. The book we read, which was The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, was set in Yorkshire England. We sometimes try to do food/snacks that go along with the book or the theme so I came up with the idea of having a 'Yorkshire tea party'. We didn't actually drink tea (we usually all like to have a glass of wine) but I got out my 'English' cook book and tried my hand at making my own scones and I made a little 'cake' that we call Maids of Honor(which were actually mentioned in the book). I'm happy to say both turned out very well, so much so that the ladies wanted me to email them the recipes ;-)

Here's a picture I managed to take of the scones. They were of course served with jam and fresh cream but I didn't manage to get a pic of one 'dressed' and ready to eat!


Here are the Maids of Honor (with Cadbury's chocolate fingers in the background).

They are made with a pastry bottom, filled with a little jam and then the topping is actually a cake mixture (you make your own, butter - sugar- flour- egg) that you spoon on top. Then you bake them for about 15 minutes.

And this is the table nearly fully set, I hadn't yet put the sandwiches out and the empty plate you see was for the 'English' cheddar cheese and the Wensleydale with cranberries cheese, which was a huge hit with everyone. I made small dainty sandwiches filled with chicken salad, salmon/mayo and cream cheese and cucumber.


All in all a very fun evening and if I say so myself, delicious food. Wish you could have been there!

Staying Home!

Last week seemed to fly by in a blur and I felt like I was running here there and everywhere, but basically doing nothing, so this week I want to make a concerted effort to stay home. I find the days seem longer when I come straight home from dropping Kristen off at school and don't go out again until 2pm to pick her up. Plus it will give me more time to catch up with blog visits and perhaps be able to blog more too.

As I mentioned last week I had book club at my house on Thursday evening. The book we read, which was The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, was set in Yorkshire England. We sometimes try to do food/snacks that go along with the book or the theme so I came up with the idea of having a 'Yorkshire tea party'. We didn't actually drink tea (we usually all like to have a glass of wine) but I got out my 'English' cook book and tried my hand at making my own scones and I made a little 'cake' that we call Maids of Honor(which were actually mentioned in the book). I'm happy to say both turned out very well, so much so that the ladies wanted me to email them the recipes ;-)

Here's a picture I managed to take of the scones. They were of course served with jam and fresh cream but I didn't manage to get a pic of one 'dressed' and ready to eat!


Here are the Maids of Honor (with Cadbury's chocolate fingers in the background).

They are made with a pastry bottom, filled with a little jam and then the topping is actually a cake mixture (you make your own, butter - sugar- flour- egg) that you spoon on top. Then you bake them for about 15 minutes.

And this is the table nearly fully set, I hadn't yet put the sandwiches out and the empty plate you see was for the 'English' cheddar cheese and the Wensleydale with cranberries cheese, which was a huge hit with everyone. I made small dainty sandwiches filled with chicken salad, salmon/mayo and cream cheese and cucumber.


All in all a very fun evening and if I say so myself, delicious food. Wish you could have been there!

The end of a busy week. . .

. . . and I think I'm getting sick :-( My throat started feeling very scratchy last night and is sore this morning. I'm hoping it's just allergies and not a cold. I don't feel sick other than the itchy throat, and I'm hoping it doesn't get any worse, only time will tell.

I really don't know where this week has gone! How can time fly by so quickly? I had book club here last night but I will post about that next time. Today I want to finally show some pictures of my finished bathroom (I know my sister has been waiting patiently to see them!). It's hard taking pictures of a room when you are looking directly at the window, but I tried my best.....

First off here are some before pictures, of just plain walls and blue tape!

And here are the finished pictures. . .

The color is called 'Suffolk Tan'? but I think to describe it I would say it's a soft sage kind of green. The window valance and towel are from Target. . .


As is the rug that you see in this last picture.

Overall I'm really happy with the look in here, it's much cozier looking than before, but I do still want to buy a few more accessories, like a new plant for my vanity, possibly a 'silk' orchid, and new candles in a burgandy/red color.

I hope to find more time to post after the weekend, and to make some 'visits.

It's going so fast. . .

. . . of course I'm talking about 'Time'! I keep wanting to sit down here and write more than just a quick post, but I always seem to be having to do something else? Jason left for Denver on Monday and he'll be back tomorrow night. Tomorrow night I am also hosting book club here otherwise I would have to miss it because Jason doesn't get home until after 10pm.

Kristen's school is having early release day today. They get out at 12pm so I will be heading out to pick her up in less than an hour! I've spent the morning tidying up the downstairs and getting out my Fall decor. The weather has cooled a little over the past few days (since Ike!) and it feels wonderful. This morning was only 58 degrees when we left for school and the high will be only 81. That may sound very warm to some of you but believe me, after high 90's most days it feels unseasonably cool to me.

So, for now this is another quick post. I may find time to post later today (and I know you're still waiting for photos of my bathroom!) if the hours don't run away from me again!

A Very Special Day!

Happy Birthday to the Sweetest Little Lady I know :-)

Happy Birthday Mam


We love you Mam!

Soup of the Week!

We're still waiting for cooler weather here in central Texas. I'm still longing for crisp cool days, and wishing I could see beautiful golden leaves falling to the ground, like I used to when we lived on the east coast. But the reality is it's still in the 90's here!

That doesn't stop me from wanting soup! Don't ask me why but over the past few days I've been craving some good old fashioned, heart warming, home made soup! And after I got this craving I just so happened to stumble on this magazine while I was in the book store the other day. . . .


I had one particular soup in mind this week that I just had to have. It's butternut squash soup. Now the other day (before I saw the magazine) I picked up a carton of soup to try at home. I've never bought butternut squash soup, nor have I ever made it - but I figured this way if I did make it I would be able to tell if it tasted anything like the store bought kind, or with some luck it would taste much much better. So I had the store bought soup the other day, right after my dentist appointment when it turned out I didn't just have one small cavity but two, and on both sides of my mouth I might add (you can imagine how that felt with both sides numb), the soup was just what I needed for lunch. And it was yummy.

Yesterday I made my own butternut squash soup, and get this, even though I bought a magazine with over 100 soups in it, I didn't use one of the recipes, ha ha! Isn't that just typical. I had already seen a Paula Deen recipe on foodnetwork.com that I wanted to try (you know how I love Paula Deen). Here it is:


It was pretty simple to make, just add butternut squash, carrots, onion,s and chicken stock to a pan, cook until tender, about 40 minutes then blend in a food processor and before serving add half a cup of cream (I used half and half in an attempt at keeping this a little healthier). It turned our yummy, but I felt like something was missing? I say this because my neighbor made some of this soup last year and he let me try it, and it had some other taste to it, I want to say like cinnamon or nutmeg maybe? I'm not sure, but I will have to ask him for his recipe and compare.

Anyway, great thing is, I asked Kristen to try the soup when she got home from school and asked for an honest opinion (didn't tell her what was in it til she tried it) and I was amazed to see both her thumbs go up :-) YAY! A soup packed with veggies and it gets two thumbs up from my 7 year old - ya gotta love that. Jason on the other hand is not a soup kinda guy. Don't know why, but I think he thinks soup is just not a meal? He sniffed at the pan, said it smelled good but has yet to try it.

So, that's my 'soup of the week'. I would like to try at least one new soup each week over the coming weeks (or it may be every other week!). But I will share with you when I do and give you my opinion (and Kristen's) on whether it's worth trying out. If it's really really good, I'll share the full recipe with you if you want to try it yourself ;-)

IN GOD WE TRUST

Another Quick Post!

As I thought would happen, I didn't get a chance to post again yesterday, and today will be just the same. I'm heading out in a few minutes to take Boo to the groomers. He's usually there a good 3 hours (sometimes even longer) so by the time I have to pick him back up I will probably be going for Kristen at school too. And once home I spend time with Kristen doing her homework, practicing piano, making dinner. . . . . and before I know it I will be heading to bed again at 9pm! Yes my bedtime is much earlier now, the early mornings are taking their toll! So all that said, I thought I would leave you with a photo show (haven't had one for a while).

This was another day at the beach when we were in England when the sun was actually shining and it was warm enough for Kristen to wear her swimsuit! The sea was freezing though, so she found a little warm pool to sit in. And notice the clouds in some of the pics, despite the sun shining in front of us, I turned around and there were big black clouds descending on us. Surprisingly we didn't get rain that day though! Enjoy!

Open Wide!

I'm off to the dentist this morning (and it's not just a check up)! I will try to blog later if the day doesn't get away from me, as it so often does. And I haven't forgotten about pictures of my bathroom. . . . . coming soon to a computer screen near you!

To my bloggy friends . . . .

(it's not raining, but I don't have a mood girl lounging on the sofa with sunshine!)

Just a quick little post to say hello to you all, and to thank the many of you that have left comments while you've been here. To Kia, I popped by your website and clicked on your blog but I couldn't see anywhere to leave a comment or a tag to let you know I'd come by. Thanks for visiting me, and if you come by again do let me know how I might leave you a message on your blog - it may be very obvious, but so obvious I'm missing it!

Nikki, hi and it's nice to meet you :-) thanks too for taking the time to leave a comment. I am really enjoying the Thirteenth Tale and am looking forward to the book club discussion in a couple of weeks at my house. This wasn't my pick but another girl's and we'd usually host the meeting at her house but my hubby will be out of town that week so I've offered to host again. I've been thinking of having a 'Yorkshire Tea' theme, seeing as the book is set in Yorkshire (and that way I can have a little tea party ;-) I looked up Diane Setterfield but can't see that she's written any more books as of yet. If you hear of a new one, do let me know. Also I wanted to pop by your blog and say hello but it appears to be a closed site, so hello to you from here, and if you do open your blog be sure to let me know so I can come visit :-)

To all my other bloggy friends, 'old and new' I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. I so appreciate the time you all take to pop in and 'read me'. I've had a couple more cups of Earl Grey since my last post and I do plan on trying more different teas in the near future. My friend Cindy loves tea (something I didn't really know, cos we always meet at Starbucks for a coffee!) and she is going to give me a few samples of the teas she drinks :-)

Ahhh, but if I continue to want tea, what I need next is a lovely new shiney kettle like Sue! (see her post dated Sept 1)! Believe it or not I don't even own a kettle :-o

Oh What Have I Done. . . .

. . . . and why did I wait so long to do it! I don't know what's gotten in to me but as you can see from the photos I didn't stop after Tuesday's little 'taste of tea'. Thank you for all your ideas about which teas to try and thank you Sadie for the idea of getting a little 'one cup' tea pot. As you can see from the photos, I did just that.

I was out and about this morning running some errands and needed to take curtains back to Linens and Things (that I had gotten to try for the bathroom), but it was a few minutes before 10am and they weren't open yet. So I popped next door to TJ Max. Usually I don't go in the shop, the one here just seems to have it's shelves packed with odds and ends it's almost like a yard sale! I didn't go in for anything particular, I just needed to wait a few minutes for the other store to open, but as I wandered the household aisles I remembered what Sadie had said about a teapot and lo and behold I saw one of those little cup and pots sitting on the shelf. It was a pretty little thing with red poppies on it and it was $12.99. Not a bad price really, but considering I didn't even know if I would like having 'real afternoon tea' I wasn't in a hurry to purchase it. I'm glad I didn't for just around the corner on another shelf was the little cup and pot you see in my picture. You're probably wondering where the teapot lid is? Well it isn't there. . . . and that's why the little set cost only $1 (yes that's about 50p Sadie!). I don't mind spending a dollar, and the way I look at it if it's just me wanting to drink a cup of tea (or two) I won't really miss the lid, after all it's not like I need to keep the whole pot hot.

So, here is a bigger picture of the pot with the cup under it, along with some other goodies I bought later in World Market.

Yay! as you can see Sadie, I managed to get the Twinings tea :-) I love this shop, I can actually buy a lot of 'English' goods there like Cadbury's Flakes, Mcvities biscuits and other choccies, PG Tips (if I wanted them) and today I saw Penquin biscuits and Jammie Dodgers - all this probably only makes sense to Sadie ;-) So I tried the Earl Grey, and I like it.

After just trying it on it's own I decided to try it with milk. . . .

. . . . . urghhhhh! And that's why I always thought I didn't like tea. With milk it just wasn't the same kind of drink. I didn't like it at all. Well now I know what to answer when someone says "milk and sugar in your tea, or lemon" ? I can already tell there is a slight lemony taste to Earl Grey and I think it would just add to the yumminess if I were to add a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Now about those scones! My Mam used to make some lovely scones and I have a recipe book that tells me how to make them (the ones that she did) but for today I wanted something quick, so I picked up the scone mix in World Market. Mix with 3/4 cup of water and pop them in the oven, in 15 minutes they were done.

Let's see a larger picture of them too . . . .

Y-U-M! I wish I had picked up a little jar of strawberry jam but I will have to get that another day. These were delicious, but I plan on seriously trying the recipe to create the ones my Mam used to make. And this will be no surprise to Sadie, these along with the cup of tea was my lunch!

I doubt I'll find time every day to have my little tea party, but I do plan on trying to do it at least 2 or 3 times a week. And perhaps you'll join me. Oooh, I think I'm going to like tea parties!

Afternoon Tea!

I'm not a tea drinker! I know, surprising considering I'm 'English', but for some reason I've never liked the taste and never drank it when I was little nor when I got older.

I've often wished I liked it and love the idea of tea parties and afternoon tea. So yesterday I did something I've never done before. . . . I had 'afternoon tea'! It was an herbal tea, Celestial Seasonings - Raspberry Zinger, to be exact. And it was really rather nice. I sat out on my deck and did a little reading while I drank it, and as you can see from the photo I used the most prettiest cup and saucer I own (Sue, do you recognize it?) :-)

I'd like to get in to the habit of having a quiet moment in the afternoons and trying some different teas. Perhaps I might be brave enough to try 'real' tea! This might be a question Sadie (or some other tea lover) can answer, but if a novice like myself wanted to try a nice tea, is there any particular one I should start with? Other than Tetley tea or PG Tips (the brands I'm most familiar with from home) I have no idea what to try.

It's windy here today but still very sunny and very hot. Yesterday it got up to 101 degrees :-/ I envy those who are already feeling the cooler days of Fall.

A Quiet Day!

Did you notice the graphic looks different? I'm holding a book in this one! I say "I" because when I use a graphic I often feel that it is to symbolize what I am personally doing :-) After all isn't that why we deliberately chose the one with the closest hair coloring and style to what we have?

So, today I'm having a quiet day, and I've been reading my bible study book and trying to read a few pages of the 'book club' selection for this month (The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield). School is back in session and I'm trying not to go rushing out every day to run errands or do grocery shopping! We only just started getting in to the swing of things last week when our schedule was messed up with having a Monday off. Not that I minded at all. I seriously do not like 6am mornings. And I don't believe they will get any easier as the year goes on. We only have darker mornings and colder days to come. And not that I mind that either (as I said in my previous post I am longing for Fall and much cooler days) but it just doesn't make getting up so early very easy! I'm enjoying just staying home today.

A few of you have asked how my Mam is doing, and wondered why I hadn't updated on here about how she is. Truth be told I've been getting a little upset over the past few days because although my Mam was out of hospital, her recovery to full health (well as full as can be expected at age 82) has been very slow. In fact she's so weak and frail that my sister has been staying with her since she got out of hospital over a week ago. It made me feel so helpless being so far away. I want to be there to help my sister look after my Mam and I can't be, so that is what has been upsetting me the most. Last I talked to my sister she told me that she had set up a rota and was having my 3 brothers take turns in sleeping at Mam's house so she could have a 'break'. And she deserves a break. I have 3 brothers and another sister over there and it's only right I think that they should take turns in being there for my Mam. My older sister lives a few hours away and works full time though, so it's difficult for her to be there. For my 3 brothers, none of them have young children so it's easier for them to arrange their schedules to help out. Still, I can't help but feel guilty that I'm not there taking my share :-(

Well anyway, that is the update. Mam is doing 'okay' but taking time to get her strength back. I still would appreciate your prayers.

Sorry for no pictures, there seems little to show at the minute!

Happy Labor Day!

Thank you to Sadie for another lovely 'gift'. Despite the heat we still have here in Texas (high 90's every day) I couldn't help but change over to a 'Fall' theme in here. I'm kind of ready for summer to be over and to have some much cooler weather, but I think it will be a few weeks yet before we feel any. But I'm in a 'fall-ish' mood and I had my 'Harvest' yankee candle burning the other day, it smelled so cozy!

I was trying to create a header for my blog so that Sadie's pretty graphic can stay at the top of my page, but for some reason I can't get my Paint Shop Pro animation shop to load. That is the way I used to copy a graphic on to the cream background. Adding just the graphic means I have to lose the Blog header at the top or have the graphic show behind the header which doesn't look right at all. So for now I guess I will have to just add the pretty graphic at the top of each post.

I got the bathroom finished on Saturday (I got it started on Friday). I had decided to paint the ceiling the same as the walls and ended up running out of paint! Had to go to the store to get more. By the time I was finished the room my arm was aching. I have to finish it off by getting some accessories and a rug then I'll take pics to show you.

Today I'm watching 'Gustav' on the news (as I'm sure everyone is). My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who is in the eye of the storm, especially the 'bloggy' friends we know. Be safe!