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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Little Women

~A new book to add to my very favorite list!

After a productively busy week there is nothing better then coming home from such a wonderful church service, having lunch and enjoy the stormy weather outside. And to top that off to sit and read to my hearts content! Well, just about! :)



This has been has been my feelings the last couple of weeks over this book; having the greatest desire to stop and sit and read this wonderful book, but then telling myself not to read to fast because there will be no more! And that is a very sad thought!

 One of the reasons I had not read it before was that I was lazy and thought the movie was good enough! What was I thinking? And I also think I was afraid to read it in the past because of the sad part in the story. And yes, indeed it is sad, but all of the joys and sweets mixed with the sorrow reminds me of life and how beautiful and precious it is. How precious family is. I don't think I have laughed out-loud so much from a book. The creativity of Louisa May Alcot is so inspiring and enjoyable. She has encouraged me in so many areas. First of all in being a women, wife, daughter, sister and friend. If you have not read this book give it a try and be delighted. 

Here is a litte a little insert to wet your tongue :D


One of these was the "P.C.," for as secret societies were the fashion, it was thought proper to have one; and as all the girls admired Dickens, they called themselves the Pickwick Club. 
With a few interruptions, they had kept this up for a year and met every Saturday evening in the garret, on which occasion the ceremonies were as follows:
 Three chairs were arranged in a row before a table on which was a lamp, also four white badges, with a big "P.C." in different colors on each, and the weekly newspaper called The Pickwick Portfolio, to which all contributed something while Jo, who reveled in pens and ink, was the editor. As seven o'clock, the four members ascended to the clubroom, tied their badges round their heads, and took their seats with great solemnity. 
Meg, as the eldest, was Samuel Pickwick; Jo, being of a literary turn, Augustus Snodgrass; Beth, because she was round and rosy, Tracy Tupman; Amy, who was always trying to do what she couldn't was Nathaniel Winkle. Pickwick, the president read the paper, which was filled with original tales, poetry, local news, funny advertisements and hints, in which they good-naturdley reminded each other of their faults and shortcomings. On one occasion, Mr. Pickwick put on a pair of spectacles without any glasses, rapped upon the table, hemmed and having stared hard and Mr. Snodgrass, who was tilting back his chair, till he arranged himself properly, began to read.


"The Pickwick Portfolio"
May 20 18-
Poet's Corner


Again we meet to celebrate
With badge and solemn rite,
Our fifty-second anniversary,
In Pickwick Hall, tonight.


We all are here in perfect health,
None gone from our small band;


Again we see each well known face,
And press each friendly hand.
Our Pickwick, always at his post,
with reverence we greet,
As spectacles on nose, he reads
Our well-filled weekly sheet.


Although he suffers from a cold,
We joy to hear him speak,
For words of wisdom him fall,
In spite of croak or squeak.
Old six-foot Snodgrass looms on high,
With elephantine grace,
And beams upon the company,
With brown and jovial face.
Poetic fire lights up his eye,
He struggles gainst his lot.
Behold ambition on his brow,
And on his nose, a blot.
Next our peaceful Tupman comes,
So rosy, plump and sweet,
Who chokes with laughter at the puns,
And tumbles off his seat.
Prim little Winkle too is here,
With every hair in place,
A model of propriety,
Though he hates to wash his face.


The year is gone, we still unite 
To joke and laugh and read,
And tread the path of literature
That doth to glory lead.


Long may our paper prosper well,
Our club unbroken be,
And coming years their blessings pour
On the useful, gay
'P.C.'.

A. SNODGRASS


A Sympathizing friend sends the following gem:



A LAMENT For
 S.B. PAT PAW

We mourn the loss of our little pet,
And sigh o'er her hapless fate,
For never more by the fire she'll sit,

Nor play by the old green gate.

The little grave where her infant sleeps
Is neath the chestnut tree;
But o'er her grave we may not weep,
We know not where it may be.

Her empty bed, her idle ball,
will never see her more;
No gentle tap, no loving purr
Is heard at the parlor door.

Another cat comes after her mice,
A cat with a dirty face;
But she does not hunt as our darling did,
Nor play with her airy grace.

Her stealthy paws tread the very hall 
Where Snowball used to play.
But she only spits at the dog our pet.
She is useful and mild, and does her best,
But she is not fair to see,
And we cannot giver her your place dear,
Nor worship her as we worship thee.

~A.S.


Ha, wow, I didn't intend to put so much in! I couldn't resist!
~A very blessed Sunday to all my dear friends!~



Thursday, August 26, 2010

Foundation Making


~ Mixing before we poured it into our bottle. Its so so pretty!



 Marie and I were able to finally make each other's foundation while they were out here a few weeks ago.  I had been out of my foundation for a couple of weeks and had waited because we both knew we would be out in the sun a ton while they were visiting and didn't want to get tan and then have to cover it up! 

Anyways, it was so fun matching the makeup to our exact color. I am sure I will have to make another foundation in the middle of winter seeing how dark I am right now :) Mixing my color was so fun, I can't wait! :)

I think pictures of makeup are really pretty. I don't know why!
 ;D

~My Summer Liquid Foundation Recipe~
(For my records)

5 pumps of Pearl
25 pumps  Porcelain
5 pumps Ivory
2 pumps Yellow Toner
0.5 Hydrator

~In the future add 3 more pumps of the Pearl~



Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Our Little Pooky

Here are a bunch of pictures of Winston laughing with his Daddy. I wish you could hear the sounds too.  He makes this deep exclamation of sound and then laughs so hard that I am afraid he won't catch his breath to breathe! Then he holds the same tone for five seconds until he breaks out laughing again. So cute! I will have to capture it on a video. The only problem with videos, is that I can't keep it short enough to upload to blogger! But I'll do my best :)

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Remembering......

Out little get-away last weekend was so refreshing and I am refreshed all over again looking at these pictures! Benjamin was able to get a really really nice deal at one of the nicest resorts in Orlando. I took a bunch of pictures of the beauty of our surroundings. And I am so thankful I did!


I have been devouring Little Women. I have never read it before, I don't know why! I will write a review about this book and share what I LOVED about it.
 The shower head and sink faucet were so nice! 




This is the view from floor eleven. It was pretty frightening to look down! I was too scared to take a picture.


Going down the elevator.


The lady is not sitting on the piano lol, it just looks like that.




~A friendly parrot~


A beautiful view from our floor.......


A little paradise!


We stayed in one of the little caves out of the sun. It was so cozy!
Look at those two cuties!!









What a little joy!







Orlando, you were gorgeous! I hope to see you again!!

A very blessed weekend to all.....
 :)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Tea Cake

I have been craving a tea cake for quite awhile and with the excuse have having company and finding this recipe I baked it up for a fun teatime. 





I found this cake in a Victoria tea book that my Mom had gotten me for my birthday last year. 
When I saw this recipe it stood out because it calls for a 1 1/4 cup of heavy cream! A cake with heavy cream, I knew would be divine! And it was!

Here is the recipe. I made a few changes because I didn't have Blackberry Jam so I used Lemon Curd. And instead of Lemonade I used Frozen Orange Juice. And the Lime garnish was the only thing I had on hand to garnish the top with. The cake was so moist and just heavy enough for a tea cake. It was exactly what I had been craving. And I was really pleased with the orange juice concentrate in the cake and frosting instead of the lemonade. :D

Blackberry Jam Cake

2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups granulated suger
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 /14 cup heavy cream, chilled
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

Filling and Garnish:
3/4 cup blackberry jam or preserves
Purple pansies and fresh blackberries

To Make The Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 *F. Butter and flour two 8 inch round cake pans. Shake out any excess flour.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a chilled small mixing bowl of an electric mixer, gradually beat the lemonade concentrate into the cream at low speed. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the mixture holds its shape. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
4. In another small bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs and vanilla with clean beaters set at high speed until the mixture is thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Fold the egg mixture into the cream mixture. Then gently fold in the dry ingredients. When evenly mixed, divide the batter equally  between the prepared pans.
5. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; then remove the layers and let them cool completely on the racks.

To Make The Frosting:
In a chilled bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream and confectioners sugar. With the mixer set at low speed, gradually beat in the lemonade concentrate. Increase the speed to medium and beat until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble The Cake:
Arrange one cake layer on a serving plate and spread it with jam or preserves. Place the other layer on top. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the frosting and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Decorate with pansies and blackberries.


Monday, August 16, 2010

Cousin Time

It was so nice to have the cousins together again. Here are the two boys in the same pose that we had them in the last time we were all together. Both are much bigger :)
These pictures were rushed and Zane hadn't had his nap. It was the last day we were all together before Marie and Jon headed to the airport. You can see Zane's sleepy eyes :( so cute! 


~I think Winston wants to help Zane feel better :D



~And he hopes putting his hand on his face will help him to stop crying and keep the noise down!
:D



~Zane 13 months and Winston 6 Months



Take a look at their last visit together and how much younger they both were.

Benjamin and I were away this last weekend. It was so nice especially since we had to say goodbye to our company last week. The trip to Orlando helped sooth away my sorrow after our family returned to Ohio. 
Benjamin had bought us tickets in January to the Freedom Concerts put on by Colonel Oliver North and Sean Hannity. The concert was so nice and it was especially nice to see Sean Hannity! Michael W. Smith was one of the performers. He was the best out of everyone and I'll never forget the beautiful songs. 
We stayed in such a nice hotel. Benjamin bid on Priceline for one of the nicest resorts in the area and we got a smoking deal! I have some fun pictures to post soon of our little getaway.

A very happy Monday to all!


Thursday, August 12, 2010

Visiting Fun!!

Well, our delightful visit with our delightful family came to an end last night. It was wonderful! I'll let the pics tell all :)
~I can't get enough of my sister and time flies to fast when we are together!




~Yummy cranberry scones for breakfast



~The picture below is Zane eyeing Winston in his car, clearly on a mission and Winston posing for the camera not knowing what's coming next




~Zane making life so much fun for baby!




~"And now its time to go backwards Winston"


~Zane and kitty enthralled with Benjamin's music making :) I thought this picture was adorable!



~Aunty snuggling with Winston when trying to do laundry. Winston was perfectly cozy and didn't want anything else but to stare at his sweet aunty!






And yes, there was much tea drinking going on! ;)

I have bundles of pictures to post still. Marie already beet me to the beach ones. 
But I'll post those too :D