I made another new address stone with a new block shape.
All kinds of ideas are floating in my head with this new stone shape.
These blocks can be found at Walmart for a mere $1.27. So cheap!
I spray painted it black and then got out my number stencils.
Cheap, quick and easy. Just like I like my men. ;)
I’M KIDDING!
I can see I need to make a few touch ups before it finds a permanent home.
I’ve got some more ideas for these stones for Halloween. I just love the shape of them.
Stay tuned!
Yesterday I painted rocks. I did a lot of other things too but the only thing I have to show for the day are the rocks.
My husband went to see the Alabama and Duke Football Game. And The Tide Did Roll! I watched some of it on TV. Not pretty for the Duke fans.
Anyway, I had the whole day to myself after plans for several activities fell through and so after some lunch and some shopping I watched some football and I painted rocks.
I saw the idea to paint Halloween/Fall words on rocks on a blog somewhere. Sorry to whomever I owe “idea credit”. I can’t remember where I saw them.
There are so many Halloween words out there. I ran out of rocks.
I would like to get a few more rocks so that I can include some of the words I missed like “Werewolf”, “acorn”, and “Frankenstein”.
At first I had plans to take the dog out for a walk in the woods to look for rocks. But the strange thing is that around here rocks are kind of hard to find.
So, I remembered that I had a bag of polished stones that I used in a candle arrangement once. So I took them outside and spray painted them black.
I used some white craft paint and a very thin brush to paint every possible Halloween word I could think of on them.
And here is my plate of rocks. I think they are kind of cute.
My son took one look at them and said “Why?”
:)
I was back out at the Triad Farmer’s Market and this is what I saw. Put me right in the mood. The mood for Fall.
A beautiful day. And I picked out two pumpkins.
When I came home I couldn’t help but pull out some more decorations.
The wreath is on the door and the candy corn is on the table in the foyer.
I even put out fresh candy. I have to confess that sometimes I have been known to save last year’s candy corn and put it back out early in the Fall of the next year. If I didn’t do that my kids would devour it all within the first few days. So I started putting out the old candy corn and it worked like a charm. The kid’s would taste it and think it wasn’t all that good and so my corn would last a long time. Then right before Halloween I would swap it out with a fresh bag. Well, the kids are older now and hardly ever at home. So I think it’s safe to put out the new stuff early in the season. I am living large this year with a fresh bag in September!!
This stuff is addicting. It has a “crack-like” quality you might say. :)
Spread some cream cheese on a cracker and top off with some of this deliciousness.
First you taste the sweetness. And THEN you get the after burn. Mmmmm…!
Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
4 Cups Jalapeno Peppers, chopped (approximately 1 1/2 pounds)
1 3/4 Cups Sugar
1 Cup water
Chop up the Jalapeno Peppers into very small pieces. I chopped mine very small to look almost like relish. Use a food processor if you have one. You want a fine chop but do not turn them to liquid. Please use gloves if you have them to save yourself from burning your hands and eyes.
***You can control how hot your Jalapeno Pepper Jelly is by reducing how many seeds and how much of the white ribs inside the pepper you include when chopping up your Jalapenos. That is where the "heat" is.
In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the chopped peppers, sugar and water to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes and stir occaisionally. Reduce the liquid to a syrupy consistency.
Add 2 or 4 drops of green food coloring if desired.
When it is a nice thick and syrupy consistency, remove from the heat. Stir. Ladle into clean jelly jars. Secure them with lids. Let cool.
Makes 6 mini jelly jars.
Store in the refrigerator.
Impossible to stop at just one.
These are so cute in the mini quilted jelly jars. They would also make great Christmas gifts.
Give these a try. Super easy! Perfect to make this time of year with the end of the season crop of Jalapeno Peppers. And very economical too.
The jelly jars were $7.00 for a box of 12 and the Jalapeno peppers were only $1.49 a pound. I have to confess I bought the peppers at the supermarket. I’ll bet I can get them cheaper at the Farmer’s Market. Next year I am going to grow my own in the garden. Making the one batch of 6 jars cost me less than $6.00. So that is less than a dollar a jar.
The Farmer’s Market is switching to Autumn mode. I could snap photos at the Farmer’s Market all day long.
I made a quick stop at the Farmer’s Market for the last of the tomatoes and here is what else I found.
The last of the beans I would suspect. The end of them will be when we get our first frost. But, we still have lots of time before that happens.
I love the vibrant yellow of these squash. And I love these white squash. Not sure what kind they are and I have no clue what to do with them except maybe put them in a bowl and admire them. :) Anybody out there know what to do with them?
And more peppers. Peppers everywhere. I need to start digging around for some pepper recipes. Do you have any good ones?
This is a photo of the World’s Saddest Birthday Cake.
This is what happens to impatient amateur bakers who don’t wait for their cakes to properly cool before they insist on icing them.
This cake had such potential too. It was my husband’s Birthday and I thought I would surprise him with a Lemon Raspberry Birthday cake.
He was surprised alright. :)
The icing looked like a lava flow. Very unappetizing. But, it really did taste good. I swear. Honest!
And also, I finally created an index for all the recipes I have posted so far on my blog. (Don’t worry, I did NOT include the Raspberry Lemon cake in the photo above. You have been spared. :)) I cannot tell you how much time and energy I have wasted searching my OWN BLOG for the recipe of something I made and liked enough to try again! And if I was having trouble I’m sure other people out there were also throwing their hands up in the air. So, after much trial and error I came up with my own version of a Recipe Index. I am sure there is an easier way to create one of these for the sidebar of a blog…but I really am clueless when it comes to a lot of these blog design things and so I kind of invented my own way. AND… I think I got the job done.
Look for the Recipe Index box (as pictured above) on the side bar of my blog to be taken to a listing of all my posted recipes. And I know I don’t say it enough…but I so appreciate all of you out there who read my blog!! THANK YOU!
Today I had the pleasure of visiting the Ronald MacDonald House in Winston-Salem and was able to see first hand what an amazing and special place it is. I was excited to be invited to a Carolina Blogger’s Event which was hosted by the Ronald MacDonald house to give us a sneak peak at the beautifully remodeled and expanded house and to also give us the opportunity to meet other bloggers from the area. Here is a photo of all of us. It was so fun to meet each and every one of them.
The house which just recently completed an 18 bedroom expansion and remodeling is hosting an Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony tomorrow to celebrate the expansion which will now allow them to host even more families who have children in the care of Brenner’s Children’s Hospital or Forsyth Medical Center in Winston- Salem, North Carolina.
We were able to tour the house which looks like 4 separate houses from the front but if you go around to the back of the house (where I happened to park) you can see that all four of these houses have been connected. When you are inside the houses you can see that all four of the houses are connected seamlessly into one huge home (31,000 square feet with 35 bedrooms) and the house just flows from one gorgeous room to the next.
I took so many photos of this beautiful place. Each room was decorated and furnished with nothing but he best. And the colors used were so current, fresh, and calming. Lot’s of blues’s and greens were used and the artwork on the walls was incredible too.
There is nothing more frightening than a sick child and the RMH gives the families of these sick children a place to stay where there is support of the staff and the other families staying there who understand what these families are going through. 569 families from all around the state of North Carolina were hosted by the Ronald MacDonald House just last year and the new expansion will allow them to host an additional 700 families!!
If you think about how difficult it would be to be away from your home with a sick child you can see how having a beautiful and supportive place to stay would be such a relief to the families staying here. The house has everything a guest could need. In addition to the gorgeous kitchen and bedrooms with their own bathrooms, guest also have access to a huge laundry room, playrooms and a playground in the back for little ones, a rec room for teenagers, and a family room to share and meet with some of the other guests. And best of all, the house is just across the street from Brenner’s Children’s Hospital and only 2 miles from Forsyth Medical Center.
We started our tour by meeting first in the kitchen…my favorite room in any house and this room was huge. I loved the blue colors they used on the walls and in the tiles. There were duplicates of all the appliances. Stainless steel dishwashers, cooking ranges, and even trash compactors. Beautiful cabinets and counter tops.
I was amazed at how many volunteers actively donate their time, energy , and money. More than 260 “regular” volunteers and counting. Meals are prepared and served by some of these volunteers every day of the week for the families staying here. Monday night is the only exception which is “McDonald”s Night” and on that night families are treated to a McDonald’s meal of their choice.
And look at this beautiful eating area.
A beautiful and huge room for the families staying here to share their meals in.
And I got to meet this happy guy. His name is Watson and he lives at the RMH. He helps keep the guests of RMH company and he also co-writes The Ronald MacDonald House of Winston-Salem Blog with the very sweet Laura Walsh who was also a pleasure to meet! It was such a pleasure to spend part of my day meeting and visiting with all of the people who make this place so special. It was also very fun for me to meet some of the other bloggers in my area face to face. If you ever get the chance to support the RMH I hope you do. The work they do and the comfort they provide to families with sick children is incredibly worthwhile. Click on this link to learn more about The Ronald McDonald House Charities and the important work they do. Thanks to everyone I met today who made this event so fun and the tour so memorable!
