The Return of the Princess

Much to our delight Macy was back this week for her visit. We got her busy helping me break off the Brussels Sprouts from the stem. She said that she was going to eat one too ,but that changed fast when we started cooking them. She has a very narrow field of things she will eat, with PB&J being on top of the list. We keep trying to get her to try new things but have not succeeded . Yet.

She seems to always have a pleasant disposition when she is here. We have noticed that it changes fast when her parents show up or if she is on her own turf at home. It seems that this is the norm for all of the grandparents that we have talked to. Lucky us,we get the cream and none of the crust.
She decided to stay in her PJ's all day today and just play inside. Okay with me with the wind howling and temps in the teens.
She found the laundry basket and started playing so I got the camera .

All of this and the warm fire made her sleepy. She crawled up into GG's arms and fell asleep. A wonder time for both. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Ihid a camera in on the car seat to record some of the neat things she does when I pick her up. She is really pumped when I first get her and she does some funny things. Car Cam .

Bread making day

I had to try out the new fire brick addition to the oven today..so I made some Sweet Corn Raisin bread. I replaced half of the raisins with cranberries just for a change. Next time all raisins though because they add some sweetness.
The bricks maintained a nice even temperature and the bottom came out as brown as the top. I am eager to try out french bread too. Now I need a water injection system ! That would be something. Here is the bread coming out of the oven using the pizza peel that I got at the auction for a couple of dollars. Great tool. Soon we were cutting fresh bread and eating some soup from yesterday. Nice.

Picture a day-Monday again

Well I fixed the computer again. Today I got a new switch to replace the defective one and it may look weird it works. I hope that this is the end of the story.

While in town I stopped by the wood stove store and got 10 of these great fire bricks for
baking. Can't wait to try them out. They are going to be really good for pizza and french bread.

After town I started on a new soup. I am winging it on the ingredients .

Happy to say after cooking on the wood stove for 4 or 5 hours it tastes pretty good. It cooked down well and is what's for dinner tomorrow. I think that I will make some Sweet Corn Raisin Bread tomorrow.

Gin and I watched Julia/Julia tonight while the soup was on and loved it. Recomend it highly.

Picture a day-Sunday (the rest of the story)

I got the problem solved last night . For some reason my on/off button was flaky. I tore the computer apart and unplugged the wire from the switch at the motherboard and the problem stopped.

I soldered a toggle switch in place of the switch on the front and drilled a mounting hole. It works for now but I need a momentary contact switch to be correct. The one I had works but I will go looking today for another. More later.
Here is a better look inside. I was lucky that it wasn't something on the Motherboard and that it was fixable

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This is what I had planed to post Sunday before my computer fiasco (fiasco:a sudden failure: a complete collapse)got me down for the count. Gin made chicken fajita's and they were great!

Looks good on the plate.

I had one of my German dunkel beers with mine. I don't drink much beer but I do love a dark one once in a while. I found this brand last time I went to Nick and Jimmy's in Toledo . They carry a ton of different brands so I just ordered the darkest they had. My grandfather used to complain about the lite beer that they have in the U.S. He said that at one time the flies used to bother him ,but now the flies don't even want it! I have to admit he was right. Lite's not right. No flavor.

Okay today I have to get busy which means a trip to town. I need to replace the new switch I put on the computer last night and pick up some other stuff.

Later

Picture a day-Sunday

Well today I can't post any pictures because my computer is messed up again. It keeps turning off and on,off and on, over and over. I have it apart on the kitchen table right now and am looking into it . I never have had it apart this much before and hope that I can fix it cus i don't want to get a new one right now. Such is life.

Picture a day-Saturday

No I didn't get to see Macy or Sarah this week because Ginny has a bad cold and we didn't want to spread the fun, but I miss seeing them and this is a good shot of them all. Ben is wondering what the heck is going on!
We heard today that Sarah got another dog! It looks like a tall pit bull like Petey from Spanky and Our Gang series from the 30's. No word on a name yet.

This morning I noticed that the rope gasket on the wood stove was bad .

I found where the stove store was in Monroe and got a new one and some gasket cement. It looks like a new door now with a bright new gasket. While off ,I polished the gold plated frame and cleaned the glass etc.. With the weather above freezing now it was the perfect time. We have rain for the next couple of days . Too hot to use the wood stove for sure. Funny but when the temps get warmer it cost me more for gas because I can't use the wood. Come on Alberta Clipper!

This is what my bird house looks in the summer. Right now it is dead looking ,but the doves are all over it.

This is from the last time Macy visited. She is dishing out the yogurt for us at her tea party. I have taken so many pictures of her that she has delveloped her"photo op face".

Picture a day-Friday

I wish that this is what it looked like this morning but I would be have to run for office if I lied that much! This morning was another gloomy start...this picture was the sun setting one night this summer. Nice to see.

I had to stock up the wood today. With the warm weather I am not using as much and have enough left on the pile that I want to last this winter. I have another behind this one for next year and past. Soon I will have to get off my butt and start looking again for some free wood. Free for the cutting anyway.

I stocked up the back porch before the bad weather comes in. Rain for the next few days and warm weather. This is mostly Ash.

I decided that I needed to make some Oatmeal cookies. Gin's came out flat and tasted bad(her words). We buy oats by the 25 pound bag. Which is one third the price of Quaker Oats and I like it better too.

Mixing

Ready for the oven and they are nice and thick and chilled to prevent them from getting flat.

The finished product!

Look at how high! ( Note to Matt: Look raisins!)

Ginny and I played TOC tonight to pass the time.






This is the board that I made last year. We get it out once in a while just because it is unique

Picture a day-Thursday

Today I slept in...up late and I didn't have to be anywhere. The morning was bright or is that brite? Anyway it was good to see the sun again.

I just puttzed around the house today fixing things and tried to organize my work room a little. When Macy is not here I have a lot more time on my hands. I got this vent fan at the auction last month and had to make sure it worked and I am making a plant light from some auction stuff too.

I added an extension to my shelf to hold all of my stuff that I acquired. You never have enough space. I made the braces from 1/2 inch thin wall pipe that I had . Cheap.

The auction was tonight and it is just down the road so I almost always go. I didn't stay too long . I have learned to leave so I don't waste my money buying stuff that I don't need . Although I did pick up some hardware tonight.

This is the other side . They run two rings..one with the larger stuff and the small things in the other room.

Now I am home having tea with Gin and nursing her along. Her cold is getting a little better. We are hoping for her to get better before Sunday when the kids are coming over for a bagel/pizza making feast.

Sipping tea and settling in. Tomorrow I may bake something.

Picture a day-Wednesday

This morning...5 am. throw wood on the fire so that when Gin gets up the house is warm and the tea/coffee water is hot. This is a daily routine that works for us. I try to get Gin all of the water she wants before bed so she will be the one that does this. Works most of the time. Something to do with women's kidneys. (:

Headed to store and then to Mom's house to replace her kitchen outlet. I gave her a new cordless phone and it takes up one plug that she needed so I will make it a double outlet today.

Mom decides to make me some chicken noodle soup for lunch. Making her noodles from scratch. At 95 she still make some good soup.

In the mean time I remove the old box and install a double in it's place. Turns out to be very simple job for once. No surprises except that the wall is lathe board which is tricky to cut. No kind act goes without punishment is what my friend says but this time I skate.

Replaced all of the faceplates in the kitchen and we are happy!

Mom feeds me an sends me on my way. A good visit.

When I get home my sick wife has made me some oatmeal raisin cookies,my favorite. They are pretty flat but I am grateful. If someone knows how to keep them from getting flat let me know.

Planning to have steak in the wood stove tonight. So the day begins and ends at the wood stove. Not too bad.

Picture a day-Tuesday

In keeping with my Picture a Day theme... I had a friend over for breakfast and then we went to work at the church to do repairs. I installed new light fixtures on the out side of the building (4) and then repaired some of the lights inside. An all day event today.

Later I went back to see if the lights were coming on as they should and saw my friend Cliff had light on in his new barn that he is building. Not really a barn ,it will be a very large all purpose building. His wife fighting cancer and anytime that I get a chance to talk with him is well spent. Here is some of the 400 bales of insulation that will be going in the ceiling.

This is a bonus video of Ben on his last visit. He loves the sound of his mother's voice.

Picture a day-Monday

I thought that it would be good to try to post a picture a day to see what I do in a weeks time just for fun. Today I got water in the morning(with my 1000 gal tank). I need to blog that routine sometimes for those that wonder about that.
Mark called after lunch just about when the water was done filling and asked for help replacing his entrance light. I have access to the 14 foot step ladder needed for his high
Macy loved climbing the ladder to look out of the window above the doorway . Some place that she has never been.
We had to wait for Sarah to go get another bulb because one of the new ones was bad.

Macy and I waited up on the ledge until mom got back. She wasn't afraid of the height at all. Maybe because of the tree climbing we did this summer.

Well lets see what happens tomorrow.