This and that

Hello Folks,

It’s hard to believe that it is November already. This year has zipped by. Our temperatures are very nice. The past two days it’s been cloudy all day, tonight we may get some rain. Haven’t had any in over a week and I had to hand water some things today.

I hope those who have been hurt by Hurricane Sandy will have some relief soon, my heart goes out to all who are having to deal with the aftermath of this awful storm.

It is catastrophes like these that make you appreciate all that you have in life.

I follow a great blog about farm life and gardening in the Ozarks. Glenda is a wonderful baker and she posted a recipe for Oatmeal bread the other day, and I gave it a try on Sunday in my bread machine and I love it. It is the best oatmeal bread I’ve made. You can find the recipe here on her blog.

Here are pictures of my loaf.

Side view.

I lay the bread halves cut side down and then cut slices, if that makes sense to you, giving us more slices. This bread was really delicious, especially lightly toasted and spread with butter.  I used Craisins.

Yesterday I drove to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a set of 4 small pie tins, for pot pies,  made by Caphalon.  I called the store after seeing online that they did have them, because I didn’t want to drive that distance if they weren’t. The person I talked to said yes they did have them. So off I went to do errands and that was going to be my last stop before heading home.

I had decided I was going to buy a couple of nice votive candles if they had them and I wanted to see if they had a donut pan too, as I’ve been wanting to bake doughnuts.  There was a small selection of candles as I walked in, and I fell for Mistletoe’s scent. It smells like Christmas pines. Then, I saw the doughnut pan made by Wilton. I already have some of their cake pans. So, these things went into the shopping basket I was carrying. I then proceeded to look for the pie tins. Well, I found the Caphalon baking pans, but NO set of pie tins. I asked three different people, and they said we don’t have them. Finally one of the managers looked them up and said we don’t carry them in store. I told him I had called the store and someone had told me that they were here.  He said well, we can order them for you, have them shipped to your home and no shipping charge, since you drove here and they weren’t here. I told him thank you and that that would be fine. I had a 20% off coupon too for one item, and used it on that since it was the most expensive item, and what I intended to use it for anyway. He then asked me if I knew the person’s name who I had talked with on the phone, I told him, and he had this person write up the order, and probably gave him the what for, afterwards.  I look forward to using these little tins I just have to wait a bit longer. I had the chicken pot pie ingredients cooked and ready so was a tad disappointed that I didn’t get to use them this time.

Here is my first batch of baked doughnuts made this morning. These were delicious and easy.  I found the recipe here. There are other recipes I’m going to try as well, plus I found one or two for baked yeast doughnuts. Morning’s Minion got me wanting some doughnuts after she mentioned her husband making a batch the other morning. You can read her post here.

I’ve about got three more embroidered and beaded, framed hearts almost ready to go in my Etsy shop. They were fun to make.

This one is ~ 5 1/2 inches wide x 5 1/4 inches high, overall size.

This one approximately 5 1/4 inches square. outside dimensions.

This one is 4 1/2 inches wide by 4 inches high.

Not much in the way of blooms right now.

This is a dwarf poinciana.

I was washing dishes looking out the scullery window the other day when I spied two mockingbirds in the bath in the secret garden area. I watched for a bit then got my camera hoping they would still be there. They were.

I like his reflection in the water, and his serious look. He was watching the other bird bathing.

This guy was having a ball. I don’t know how many times he jumped in and did his thing. He made me feel happy just watching him in the afternoon sunlight.

Miss Tork decided to jump into my clothespin basket when I was finished hanging out a load of laundry, earlier that morning.

That’s it for now. Wishing you all a great week.

FlowerLady Lorraine

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We can only be said to be alive in those moments

when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. 

Thornton Wilder