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Happy last day of 2022....time is flying, for sure. I still feel like it was just 2000.
I'm enjoying being a hermit. I usually like it when the house is quiet, although I miss my family after they leave. But this year, being a hermit is exactly what I needed. I'm sad to not be with my siblings this weekend as was planned but I couldn't face the drive and I just don't enjoy always being around the three dogs all at once. As far as I know, there is no public transportation to northern WI, I'll have to look at a bus maybe but I bet it doesn't go further than Green Bay. My daughter and I have been discussing when I should move closer to either her or my sibs. My son is here but truthfully, I don't see him a lot, not as much as I'd like, and I can't see him handling things for me. I really need to move to get the impetus for purging stuff. The problem is, I will accumulate again if I have my own place. I'm not a hoarder, I just enjoy my things and, except for stamping stuff which I have way too much of, I only really shop at thrift stores. I love vintage!.
Glad you're home, Shelly. I'm really sorry about all the sickness going around. Seems to be what Christmas 2022 was all about for lots of people. Delayed Christmas dinners abounded with my friends! Ann, I'm glad you finally saw some family. I went shopping for some small stocking stuffers last week for my grands, I was so tempted to buy a little makeup for the oldest one but I resisted. She is using mascara, her eyes are gorgeous, but I don't want to start something. I have never been into makeup.
It is so dark in the mornings now. I wake up too early but it seems like it's the middle of the night.
Catherine, I will be thinking of you in the coming days as you give your daughter her wings. That fan is awesome. I remember the year when my Mom gave me a Christmas card that my Dad had created for his parents when he was in the army during WWII. I'm guessing his parents saved it and Dad found it in the house when my Grandma died. My Dad died in 1990 and she gave it to me that Christmas. The story is that he didn't have any paints with him so he used plants, berries for watercolors. I framed the card. I just love it, it's so gorgeous.
COVID!!!! I'm so tired of that word. Sounds like China is in trouble again. Yikes. Gracie, make your husband get that booster whenever he is able. Shelly, I'm glad you are negative. My sister went for a test a couple of days ago. She has had a plugged ear for a week (she is in healthcare but it's a mystery if she ever goes to the doctor), she woke up very dizzy and vomiting. Turns out it's probably vertigo, although I guess a virus can trigger that. She actually missed a day of work...amazing.
Kathy, no chocolate???? Did the checkout person question you about that? I have a Canon, it's great!
Shirl, just started watching the King's College carols...Once in Royal David's City isn't a carol we often sing but I love it, especially with men's and boy's voices. Those descants....amazing. It's an hour long, I will keep watching. Thanks for sharing that.
Shelly, thinking of your sister in law. Not exactly sure why you have to go to Mexico, isn't there someone there who can deal with everything? Or do you have to clean out the house of possessions? You'd need to get temporary residency? wow. sounds like a lot.
Well, I guess I'm done writing this autobiography...Have a great NYE...I'm just trying to decide what pair of pjs to wear tonight.
Jayne, I understand better now why you bit into those candle waxes. It reminds me of Dumbledore when he tries a Bertie Botts jelly bean and it's ear wax.
I sure love all of my Christmas cards from all of you....just splendid. Splendid is my word for 2023. I don't remember what my word for 2022 was, I must not have used it much. Thanks, Dagmar, for the 2023 picture. I hope no one shoots off fireworks around here....dogs don't like them and I don't either. Maybe I'm a dog.
__________________ Jean Bean the Dancing Queen "You can play a shoestring if you're sincere." -John Coltrane
Jeans last comment made me nearly spit my coffee! Happy New Year to the best group of friends a girl can have! I'm still working on my goals for the new year. Daily Bible reading and prayer is at the top of the list. Sometimes I jump into my day and don't think about it till later. I also need to lose some weight. Not to look better but to feel better. I want to drink more water and make lists because when I have a to-do list I get more accomplished. I want to be kind considerate and thoughtful. I want to be more positive. I want to send at least one card a month that isn't birthday related. And no snacking after 7:00 p.m. I think that was my biggest downfall. I stay up late and snacked a lot. That will require some willpower to not bring things into the house that will call my name.
And yes, Jean. Sirens bells and whistles went off at the checkout when my order rang up with no chocolate! LOL
I never make new year resolutions as I always forget but when we finally get home we will need to loose some weight, LOL
Kathy did you get any chocolate for pressies for Christmas or had they sold out of cherry kisses!! Steve bought me a jar of assorted nuts In chocolate!
our son bought me a pile of craft mags so lots of DP and new stamps.
I don’t eat after my dinner as I have terrible trapped wind and am up half the night taking my anti gas pills, I’ve had it twice since Christmas, too much rich food, our DIL eats constantly in the evening , crisps , nuts etc, I would never sleep!
No cherry cordial kisses for Christmas, Jan. But I think 15 bags was more than enough....yet I would still eat more if I could get my hands on them! LOL. I actually started working on my goals already. I figure if I can start early, then I'm probably going to succeed.
I have lists on my iPhone, among other lists I have one for things to take to SF, goodies and pressies, another of things to take back to Spain , I already have a small suitcase full to take home, I also had one of things to bring here, I have to have lists or else I forget.
Happy New Year to all my alpha friends. I don't make NY resolutions. I can make a list and forget to look at it or lose it, so they are not effective. I have never been goal oriented -- just live in the moment.
Jean, my mom used to take the bus (Greyhound) between Rhinelander and Milwaukee, so they may still have a route through there. I don't think there was an actual bus station in Rhinelander. But they had a stop there.
Do any of you ladies remember getting windmill cookies for snacks in elementary school to go with your milk? I found a recipe, so thought I would try it. I made the dough today, but then it has to be refrigerated for 4 hours or overnight. Then you roll it out, cut it and press a design into each cookie (but that's not going to happen, because I don't have anything to do that with). Then you put the cookies on parchment lined cookie sheets, freeze for 30 minutes and then bake. So I think the remainder of the process will be happening tomorrow.
DH has a bottle of wine chilling for tonight (not champagne, don't like that). We'll see if he makes it until midnight.
Melody, my DH barely makes it to 8:30! He tried a couple of nights to stay up later while our DD and family were here. bTW prayers for their 18 hour drive home. They left at 5 am our time, and expect to get home around 11 pm their time. Long drive. First time this year to drive it all in one day.
miss them, already.
beautiful We played lots and lots of games, and took walks, and ate a lot! I am with you Jan, going to bed full because we have been eating so much! I had to get up last night and take some tums. We were cooking three meals a day. We usually eat two, or three with a small third one. We fed them well. SIL and adult grandsons eat a lot. Granddaughter does well, too. I baked goodies, DH made the Christmas mix, and DD brought goodies. Even bachelor 26 year . old grandson brought goodies.
So far, we have done 7 loads of wash. Just finished last one. Only one was clothes. Still have one to do with blankets. Two loads of towels, three loads of sheets (not any for our bed). 1 load of tablecloths, placemats, napkins. One of clothes. LOL I have a lot of sweets left, and have been eating them. We are not even cooking! We feel like all we have done is eat! But we still piece on the lemon blueberry bread, pistachio cookies, brownies, Christmas mix, and assorted chocolate candy. Why didn’t I think to send home with DD? She still had bunches of goodies and a ton of chocolate they were taking with them!
Kandie, I hope you didn’t break anything, when we fall at this age, we break. I know!
Catherine, I feel for you with DD leaving. Glad she found a roommate. Great gift for your hubby.
glad you are home safe, Shelly. Hope you feel better quickly. Hope all my Alpha sisters are healthy for the new year. Ann, glad you can have family for NYE. It is definitely quiet around here since the fabulous five have left! Jean , thinking of you and what you said about quiet after family left. We do enjoy the quiet, but miss them!
Happy New Year to all of you.
__________________ Sharon ♥Blog: Foxy StampingScrapbook Goal: 2024: 30/60 as of 06/30/24
Gracie, I should have broke up my post, too. LOL. It is so long, and I see something got missed up in my typing, Don’t know what I was saying with beautiful up there by itself. I must have deleted something by mistake. Does anyone else’s typing sometimes go where you weren’t typing! It goes in a complete different place, sometimes in the middle of a word! Maybe I was saying it was beautiful here, 58, and I walked my 4 miles.
__________________ Sharon ♥Blog: Foxy StampingScrapbook Goal: 2024: 30/60 as of 06/30/24
Happy New Year dear Alpha friends! DH is feeling a bit better. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get Covid. Staying away from him. I ordered pizza and I'm sure we will be in bed before midnight.
__________________ Judy aka Gracie "Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." Maya Angelou
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DH and I always try to have a kiss at midnight-just to start the year with love! If we fall asleep early, the neighborhood fireworks tend to wake us up at the appointed hour!
I don't make resolutions but many years I have taken a few moments at the end of the year to reflect on the things I accomplished in the last year. I find it is refreshing to recall the positive instead of focusing on "what I need to do better". Certainly, there can be goals, but I tend to make those more generally about what could be improved instead of "lose 10 pounds" type of goals.
Anyway, best wishes to all for a healthy and happy 2023.
Happy New Year. May it be a healthy and safe one. We were chatting about 2000. Remember when the world was going to end? I can’t believe that was 23 years ago. That’s crazy.
Gracie good to hear that your DH is improving.
I’d better remind myself of my intentions. Kathy good luck with your goals and anyone else who has made some.
__________________ The Difference Between Try and Triumph Is Just A Little Ump Wednesday: Alpha Challenge
Thursday: Ways To Use It Challenge
Monthly: MMJ Challenge….get inky and have fun
Ooh, Gracie, pizza sounds like a plan. We are not doing anything for New Years, well, except maybe order a pizza, lol. This morning we got an invite for dinner at friends for Sunday night so that was great to get that invite. I will be taking the baking I did just before the 25th.
Glad your dh is feeling better.
Jean I loved Once in Royal David's City too after hearing them sing. The instrumental of it is featured on our Spotify Cozy Christmas Jazz album and I have always liked listening to it on there.
And that card you made for IC with the fabulous quote. I love what you made!!
Jayne, you got New Years before all of us!
Melody I have not heard of windmill cookies. I have never attempted rolling out dough for cookies either. Would like to but seems too messy for me to undertake at the moment. Can I just roll them in a ball and press down?
Jan, I hear ya on too much food. I get terrible indigestion from it too.
Great pic, Dagmar!
Happy New Year to Ann and all of you- Kandie, Teri, Linda, Sharon, Kathy, Shelly and everyone else. Here's to none of us getting any more covid in 2023!
Shirl
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Shirl, I've never made the windmill cookies before, but I don't see why you couldn't do them in balls and maybe press them with a fork like peanut butter cookies. I'm not sure if that would be any easier than using cookie cutters. I only have 2 cookie cutters, a metal scalloped circle (which is really old with a wood handle) and Tupperware ones that are two-sided circles (each side is a different size). So whichever way I make these, they are going to be circles. The recipe I found has a number of unusual spices in it -- cardamom, coriander, mace, and white pepper. Plus a bunch of normal ones. Basically these are spice cookies, heavy on ginger.
I have taken cookie recipes like chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal & pressed them into a 9"x13" pan and baked them as bar cookies. They taste the same and are a whole lot easier.
Thanks Melody! Yes, I want things to be easy, so to me rolling in balls sounds easier than rolling out. That recipe does sound delicious for those cookies. Do you think I would still have to refrigerate it for four hours if I was just going to roll it into balls? If not, re reading what you have to do is quite the process.
Hope you have success and you mail me some, lol.......
Shirl, 4 hours does seem like a long time. I would think you could probably roll the balls without doing that, or at least for less time. Anytime dough is sticky, you can always use flour on your hands.
Let me see if I can attach the recipe & let you decide for yourself.
Did you guys see this message: Here is the message that has just been posted: *************** With great sorrow, I share the sad news that Carlene Prichard (Chatterbox-1) died. Surrounded by her family, she passed just after midnight January 1, 2023.
She loved receiving your cards and had them displayed where she could easily see them. During one of her hospital stays, and aid started to move the cards to make room for something. Carlene quickly said, " Leave them right where they are. Those are my cards!" You helped uplift her spirits.
We will miss her friendship, her wonderful smile, quirky sense of humor, generosity and love. Carla
Happy New Year, everyone! I kept seeing friends comment about happy new year to their friends who wouldn't still be up at midnight...felt kind of left out! Ha! DD1 had a couple of friends over in the afternoon for game night - afternoon, really. It was a farewell game time together. They left around 7 pm or so and then it was just a family New Year's Eve. We rang in the New Year with Martinelli's sparkling cider, finished watching the movie we were watching and then went to bed. DD2 got very little sleep last night and had to get up early for work today. She is going to be tired!
Kandie, I hope you are OK, missing your posts and concerned how you are after your fall.
Yum, Ann, lasagne and cheesy garlic bread? So tasty!
Shirl, did Princess Kate play piano again this year? Just curious.
Kathy, I'm with you on HP printers. Sorry to say that as I used to love their printers.
Gracie, glad your DH is doing better and praying you avoid getting it. We are taking the southern route out of Phoenix trying to avoid bad weather so no, unfortunately, won't be going through Payson. That would have been fun though.
Shelly, praying for your family and you.
Wonderful new year photo, Dagmar.
Jean, I'd love to see a photo of that Christmas card. So fabulous that your mom gave it to you.
Kathy, I wouldn't be surprised if alarms sounded when you didn't buy chocolate. They were probably concerned if you were OK!
Melody, I have never heard of windmill cookies. I will look over that recipe, sounds tasty!
Sharon, I hope your family made it safely home. It sounds like you had a lovely time. And yes, I have had my typing shift from where I was typing to some other location when working on my Macbook. I'm not sure what causes it, it is annoying!
Shirl, my family Christmas cookies are rolled sugar cookies that are rolled, cut into shapes, and then frosted. So tasty! But I only make them at Christmastime and I never give them away though I do share them with my brother and his family because they are my family tradition.
I'd better get back to my tasks for today as we leave tomorrow.
Oh, that is awful news about Carlene. So very sorry to hear that, Ann. I am shocked and saddened as well. Just too many deaths lately. SCS has suffered another great loss.
Catherine, I don't think she did, now that you mention it. I will have to go back and watch it all over again.
Thank you for the recipe Melody. I printed it out. They looked good stamped but if one is not doing that, I am sure they taste good regardless.
Gracie how was the pizza? We ended up just making a sandwich, lol....
Shirl
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Shirl... Here's what I did with the cookies. I rolled them into balls. Then I used a fork to press a criss-cross in them to flatten. As the dough started to warm up from the fridge and my hands, the fork started to stick, so I started dipping it in sugar before pressing the cookies. That worked well. I baked each pan 14 minutes. They baked fine and taste good - I guess I'd call it a ginger-spice cookie. I couldn't tell you if they really taste like the windmill cookies, because it's been too many decades since I last tasted one. If you search online, they also come up as Speculaas or Speculoos.
So shocked and sorry to hear of Carlene’s passing. I didn’t know that she was ill and thought it was some of her family members who were ill. I think from memory she has an elderly mother. The last time I heard from her she sent me a pm thanking me for commenting on her cards. So sad. Thinking of her family and friends.
__________________ The Difference Between Try and Triumph Is Just A Little Ump Wednesday: Alpha Challenge
Thursday: Ways To Use It Challenge
Monthly: MMJ Challenge….get inky and have fun
Thanks Melody for the baking details on those cookies! Very much appreciated! We had speculoos cookies when we were in Belgium.
Just checked Carlene's blog and the last time she posted on that was in Oct.
I just thought she was recuperating all this time. The teapotters had sent her cards in Nov. I am still in shock as I am sure her family is. Just so sad.
Melody-thanks for the speculoos recipe. I might give it a try. I think the only spice I do not have is the mace. What does that taste like? But it only calls for 1/4 teaspoon so I doubt it will be missed.
We had those cookies regularly when I was a kid. There was a travelling peddler who had a delivery truck filled with a variety of Dutch products. He arrived about once a month and my mother bought some of his goods. I loved the komijnekaas (a semi-hard cheese speckled with cumin seeds), XX salted black licorice, almond banket (a butter rich pastry wrapped around an almond paste center) and the speckuloos. I remember we once bought a pair of wooden shoes. They were painted bright yellow and had navy blue flowers and windmill designs on the toe. They seemed gigantic to me, but maybe they were just my father's shoe size-13.
My computer told me that the lasagna soup recipe PDF was not from a secure site, so it would not open. You have me curious because in our house we love a stuffed bell pepper soup recipe. We first had the soup at a diner and my guess was that they had stuffed bell peppers on special the day before, but had left-overs, so the cook whacked up the stuffed bell peppers, dumped everything into a pot and threw in a can of tomato soup and a portion of beef broth for good measure, simmered it for a while and made it the "new" soup du jour.
Teri, I don't think you'd miss the mace in the cookies, as they have a lot of other spices. DH looked that up and apparently it's made from the nutmeg plant, but a different part (don't remember what he said). I did not put the cookies in the freezer before baking, because I think that part is so they won't lose the beauty of the pressed design.
I can type up the lasagna soup recipe into a doc file and attach that here. That's usually the way I store my recipes, but this one was set up nicely & it was easy to print the pdf. The site is Craftsy & I've never had any issues with it. I originally connected to it through Michael's craft store. They have a lot of free video lessons.
A fair amount of chat since I posted on NYE! Sounds like we all survived the NYE eating etc.
Speaking of eating, I never eat after dinner, which sometimes comes between 4 and 5 pm. I have never been much of a snacker. Have I kept the weight off? Nope.
I had kind of a weird NYE. I was watching something on PBS, at about 8 pm, the power went off for two or three seconds. I barely had time to react and say a bad word before it came back on. We did have some freezing rain that night It was a pretty widespread outage, not the whole village. Who knows?
Then I was woken up by my phone. I always turn off the volume but for some reason, I forgot that night. Then the firecrackers started. When did people start setting off fireworks on NYE?? And then to top it off, I was woken up again by the heating system. We have hot water heat, which I grew up with, but for some reason, the system in this house has always been rather noisy with water going through the pipes. I've been told that shouldn't be the case. Well in the last two weeks, it sounds like a waterfall right over my bed. It's intermittent, never at the same time. Upstairs lady keeps her heat at 68 24/7 so I don't think it should be doing this. Upstairs is going to talk to the landlord about it because it wakes her up too. I run a white noise machine at night and I can hear it over that.
I just watched the recap of the Packer game from yesterday....go Pack go!
When I was a kid, I didn't like Windmill cookies. I love them now. Because my brother lived in Holland, MI, I bought all sorts of Dutch treats like Banket and the cookies. I love almond paste!!!!!! I love Danish Kringle and the only kind I buy is the almond filled one. Speaking of cookies, my store had some Oreo type cookies with peppermint stick filling.....delicious. I broke a few cookies over some vanilla ice cream....extra delicious. Melody, I don't remember ever getting a snack in elementary school.
Sharon, that's a lot of laundry!!!!! Holy cow. I just read an article on Facebook about using a top sheet. I keep seeing surveys about whether one should use a top sheet or not. My thought is 'who cares, do what you want!' My second thought is yes, of course, use a top sheet. Well this article finally stated the best reason to use a top sheet....don't have to wash blankets then. And I sleep with only a top sheet in the summer. I have to have something on top of me, even if I'm too hot.
That is a really really long drive for your family, Sharon. And I'm whining about a 4 hour drive north. I will admit to my Alpha sisters that I love it when my family comes and love it when they leave. As I always tell my grands when I visit them, if I don't leave, I can't come back. My place is too small and I like my space.
Gracie, I'm happy your husband is improving. It's amazing to me when a spouse doesn't get it. How does that not happen????
Teri, I like that 'what I need to do better.' Fun little story about your Dutch sales person. I remember getting excited when the milkman would come.
Shirl, is that jazz Once in Royal David's City the Stan Kenton version?? I have the album Stan Kenton Christmas, just love it. When I got married, my husband gave that album to his grooms men.
Per Carlene, I would think we could use the address that was in the tea party for her. Or was the address a hospital? Or maybe message Carla.
Guess that's it from me. Safe trip, Catherine. I'm sure some tears will be shed.
__________________ Jean Bean the Dancing Queen "You can play a shoestring if you're sincere." -John Coltrane
Woohoo! Printer setup went smoothly! I didn't set it up on a computer, only on my tablets and cellphone. I'm sure there will be more to learn but I printed an email and a pdf file (which I didn't realize was 5 pages!) Oh well, I have to buy ink cartridges anyway because they only give you a starter cartridges with enough ink to get you set up and printing. DS just went down to Walmart so he's going to pick me up a set of new cartridges. I don't usually print much, so I hope this stuff doesn't dry up in between printings. Maybe I'll just print a small page every month.
Well now, this is unusual. Sammy just climbed up on my lap and laid down. I usually have to chase her to get to hold her! I got her a remote controlled mouse for christmas. she loved the thing so much that she carried it out and promptly dropped it in her water bowl! Now it doesn't seem to want to work right. if I pick it up and hold it I can get it to spin wheels to go forward but it won't go in reverse now. I think I may just take it apart to see if I can fix it. I like tinkering with stuff. A lot of times I can actually fix it. Maybe not this time if the water got inside. I thought I grabbed it quick enough but time will tell.
Good morning! Today is the day we start our long drive. We are going the southern route (for road condition reasons) which makes it 39 hours of driving time according to the computer. We'll see what happens. We've mapped our route, know where we plan to stay each night, etc. We are off to a great start - our route south of Sacramento is flooded and closed. So, we'll switch to taking I5 south which is a less interesting drive than 99. We leave this afternoon after I get some work done.
Regarding Carlene, her DH had been having health problems I remember her sharing that here. And she also had had some but I didn't realize it was anything so serious. And yes, she has an elderly (in her 90s, I think) mom who lives in the Redding area if I remember correctly. Still so shocked and saddened by this news.
Melody, I've never heard of those cookies but we love spices here so I'll have to try them. I have made a pumpkin lasagne soup - vegan version - and it is so tasty! I wasn't able to go to the site you linked for the lasagne soup recipe.
Jean, we LOVE that flavor of Oreo cookie. Last year is my first time knowing about them. So tasty! I had forgotten about them and didn't look for them this year (which is probably just as well).
Kathy, yay for easy printer set up! Wesley doesn't climb on our laps either, we have to pick her up. I hope she does OK at my brother's house while we are gone. She is such a people cat that we thought that would be best rather than having her isolated all day and just getting food morning and evening from a neighbor. We did take her with us to their house on Christmas day which was a little overwhelming for her but at least she's been there recently.
