Fruitcake and Stairs

December 1st just begs to be celebrated in some special way...so Mom made fruitcake...and I decoupaged the risers of our stairway to the downstairs.

Mom toasting the nuts for the fruitcake...nutty dog hoping something will fall on the floor.

The fruitcake turned out delicious.  Sophie helped.  Dad wondered whether it came out to about $1 per slice, which is just about right...maybe even $1.50 each.  Loaded with fruit and nuts!

The stairs are now a place where you can improve your knowledge of the world circa 1948, from the P Volume of the World Book Encyclopedia.  I have learned, for instance, that long ago green peas were believed to be "too sensual" to eat and that eating them would "leadeth to perdition."  Who knew?  I can think of some foods that might "leadeth to perdition", but peas have never been on the list.

Also, I learned, by observation, that Parent Teacher Associations were populated entirely by slim women with curly 'dos.  No men involved; they were too busy practicing their tumbling, an "advanced form of physical education."  See photo for proof.

Tumbling is SOOO manly!!

Interested in poulty, pets, penguins, portraits, painting, how paint is made, pentagons, plants, physical education, policemen, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, photography (Color!!), parrots, the Philippines, pine siskins, pelicans, personality?  Just stop and read the steps!

I still have some bits of touch up to do, and then touch up the paint on the treads, but what do you think?

I like!  And happy December!

Many Moons Later!

I see that my last post was on September 8th...since that day I have been to Montana and Nebraska and Wyoming and Utah and Oregon and Idaho and back to Washington...did I leave any states out?

I slept on a train seat, a couch, a loveseat, a chair, a small hide-a-bed, another couch, another couch covered in a dog blanket (!), another love seat, another chair, on 4 hotel beds, and in a car...I'm tired!  :)

But now I'm home with Ed, where I belong, and we have Dad and Mom Pierson here with us for awhile. We are looking forward to a multi-generational Thanksgiving next week.  Fun.

To my amazement, I have had time to paint a picture since I got home.  Not sure where the time came from.

And here is the process...I had these old paint by number sets, all dried out, but still interesting...

I wasn't sure what to do with them...throw them out?  color them with colored pencils?  use my acrylic paint?  what?  Then I thought, "Why now blow them up?"

So I colored the paper reproduction of the picture with colored pencils, looked for an interesting portion to blow up, and found this...

Next, I reproduced this picture on tracing paper, traced it onto the canvasboard, and began the fun part...painting!

Here it is almost done...just waiting on the last lightest pink and the white highlights...

I think I will do a smaller one next.  It was so fun!

Catching Up On Things

Let's see...since I wrote last we have had a Labor Day BBQ, Charlie and Grace came over for the afternoon, and I took a load of toys and books and games up to Aaron and Erin's new house in Mt. Vernon.

Here are some pictures, since we all know they are worth a 1000 words...

BBQ King

In case we get confused, this is Dad.

Charlie made signs for all of us.  Grace would make a wonderful Labor Day picketer, if ever she is needed.

Stop.

Grace Stop...Go.

Grace finally stopped.

Grace on her favorite toy.

Charlie's "sky scraper."

My moving van.

Charlie and Grace initiate the new play room.

This is the play room bath room!  This house has three BIG bathrooms...very cool.

Erin in her new kitchen.

Charlie shows me his new bedroom...or at least part of it.
So happy for the kids and this very cool old house in Mount Vernon.

Went to the Animal Fair!

Ed and I spent the day at the Evergreen State Fair.  At least once every year or so I need my fill of horses, funky chickens, very large sows with piglets, quilts, spinners spinning yarn, local grange displays (love these!!), sweet Walla Walla onion burgers, and funnel cakes!  So that's what we did today.

In the arena where the baked goods were displayed, Ed looked at one entry...

Ed:  Look at that nut cake!  It is FOUR YEARS OLD.
Me: (reading the entrant info)  No, the kid who baked it is four years old.
Ed:  Oh.  I was going to say...waiting four years to enter your cake!

I had a really good laugh at that.  And the cake did look seriously good, both for a four year old cake OR one baked by a four year old.

We had good old-fashioned fun.  Tractors, horses, chain saw carvers, the Navy Band (really good!), cowboy hats, 4H dog obedience trials...Nice day!

Why I Love This Place - # 348

Dungeness Crab:  This should probably be among the Top Ten reasons why I love living here, but since it has had to wait its turn due to being eaten too quickly all summer long, it isn't until now that it can become A Post.

We LOVE crab...specifically, we love Dungeness crab, and none better than the free, fresh crab we get regularly from our adorable neighbor who has a boat and goes crabbing every chance he gets.  Evidently they get tired of crab (!!!) or can't eat it fast enough (!!! again), so we end up getting two crabs, cleaned and cooked, about once a week during crabbing season.  Can life get any better than hearing your neighbor say "Could you use some crab?"  Could we???  Could we not???  As long as you catch it, we promise to eat it.

Usually we eat our crab straight up, with a tiny bit of garlic and butter.  As Erin said today, you have to have your fill of straight crab before you can even think of putting it into a crab cake, but...

Yesterday we had two nice crabs in the fridge, cooked and cleaned and ready to eat.  I thought, "Why not crab cakes this time?"

A couple of hours later, this is what we had.  A couple of hours, because I had to pick and clean the crab myself, all the while NOT eating it.  Easier said than done.

Here are the results.  Incidentally, No Bread Fillers for us!  I make these cakes almost all crab, with just a bit of stuff to hold them together.

The fresh crab, ready to be picked.  Who first thought of eating this thing?
Probably the same person who thought "Hey, if I take this horribly bitter olive and brine it
and salt it and wait for ages, it will be really good!"  Or the only survivor, who said "Hey, if I don't eat the leaves of the rhubarb, just the stems with tons of sugar, I can make a dessert with this! And we won't all die!  Bonus!"

Picking tools, and crab.

Always need lemon, and a cute juicer, too.

Two nice crabs made 7 nice sized cakes.  They have to rest in the refrigerator for an hour or so, since they have no filler to speak of, just crab and scallions from my garden, and a couple other things...

Are you drooling yet?

Not sure how this snuck in, but this is fresh produce from my garden, ready to have with the crab cakes.

Four cooked cakes, ready to eat.  No crumbs, no coating, just crab.

Last three cooking.

Fresh veggies and crab cakes.  A Northwest feast.

Crab cake with my homemade tartar sauce, which is awesome, if I do say so myself...which I do.
And a side of homegrown squash and beans!
Were there any left?  Hmmm....

And the pickles snuck in here somehow, too...today I made bread and butter pickles from the 5 lbs. of organic cucumbers I got from my Klesick Farm Box of Good.  Yum!

I also made refrigerator dills, a first for me.  I'll let you know how they taste in about 3 weeks or so.
Or Erin will, since I gave her a jar, too.

Doubly Dedicated, Doubly Proud (in a good way)

This morning Ed and I went to Aaron and Erin's church, Damascus Road, in Marysville.  It was a special day for them, and for us...Grace was dedicated, and the people who will be going up to Mount Vernon with the daughter church, Communion Church, beginning 9/11/11, were commissioned.  This includes Aaron and Erin and their kids.  We are doubly proud of our kids, in their desire to raise Grace for God's honor and glory, and in their desire to be part of reaching rural Skagit County with the truth of Jesus...also for God's honor and glory.

The day really was all about Him...but since I don't think God does photos, here are some from the church service.

Please excuse the lack of quality; small camera, big room.

Total silliness before church started.  Love that hair...umm, that would be Charlie's hair.  Ed got his head shaved yesterday.  Bald is beautiful.  Whenever I combed Charlie's hair, he voiced his concern that it might be "too flat."
He dislikes flat hair.  :)  No worries, kiddo.

Charlie with Ed, and in case we get confused, a smirking baby on a poster about baby dedications.

Grace and Aaron right before the dedication portion of the church service.

On Grandma Betty's lap, checking out Grandma Raye's bling.  Grace LOVES bling!

Beginning of Grace's dedication.  Jim, the pastor of Communion Church (new daughter church of Damascus Road), is doing the dedication part, next to Aaron and Grace.

Aaron doing the dedication part of Grace's dedication.  The dads do most of it, which is highly appropriate.
Damascus Road Church actually has a different phrase they use rather than Baby Dedication, but for some reason it eludes me right now.  It is more of a family dedication time.

All done.

This is Sam Ford (onstage), the Damascus Road pastor, talking before the prayer for the new Communion Church.  Jim, the pastor of Communion Church, is standing beside Aaron, who is holding Grace right in front of Sam.
Erin and Charlie are to the left of Aaron and Grace.
This only shows about 1/4 of the Communion Church people who were lined up along the front of the stage.

All dedicated and ready to go!

I know Aaron and Erin, and their kids, and all of Communion Church covet your prayers as they begin this new stage of their lives.

Wow, What a Trip!

After downloading about 300 pictures, I realized I should post some here for the world to see.

Erin and Charlie and Grace and I drove out to MT for the Big Wedding...which was gorgeous, by the way.  The trip was long and the kids were amazingly! astonishingly! wonderfully! good!  Erin had been especially worried about Gracie...who was a doll the whole time.  She's a little trooper...tripper? No...whatever, she and Charlie were wonderful.

A couple days before we left on the trip, I asked Ed if we should renew our AAA membership.  He thought it was a good idea, so we did.  Got my card and sticker, left on the trip.  The first night at the first hotel (Missoula) both Charlie and I (!!) flicked some little switch on the back doors of the Volvo...which meant now the doors could not be CLOSED!  Charlie did it accidentally; I did it on purpose (??) when I was trying to fix the first door.

Well, all I can say is Hooray for AAA!  One 2-minute phone call, to a real human who did NOT forward my call to another person in Sri Lanka or Java, and the doors were fixed.  I must admit, I would never have figured it out on my own, so the call was very necessary.

Poor Charlie felt so badly, he apologized again later that evening.  We had a nice little session discussing accidents and how they sometimes just happen...and I showed him my AAA card and said that is why I have this.  And, besides, Grandma flicked a switch, too.  We were in this together!

He then spent a LONG time playing with the cards in my wallet.  "Shopping" with them.  :)

Things I loved about this trip, other than time with my daughter and grandkids, which is a given, of course...

• The Weather!!!  So dry and sunny and warm!
• The long stretch of nothing on Eastern WA I-90.  For some reason, I love that part of this drive.
• Spokane, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite small cities.  
• Hawaiian shave ice - coconut cream pie flavor! Love at first bite.
• The whole Wedding Catering Thing - it was SOOOO fun and so much work, but in a really great way.
• The Wedding itself - Josh and Dani were the MOST amazing couple to work with...of course, they are related to me!  Enough said.
• Seeing so many family members in one place at one time.  Truly truly special. 
• Family hugs and talks.
• Shelby's bed - yes, thank you, Shelby, for going to Las Vegas so I could have your VERY comfortable bed.  Thank you so much!  (And sorry we couldn't spend more time with you - Charlie ADORES you!)
• Kyra and Maddy and how amazingly patient and loving and kind they both were all the time to the two babies.  Thank you, Sweet Girls!
• Patti's cookies - SOOO sorry you couldn't be there, Patti, but thanks for sending those yummy cookies in your stead.  My goodness, I was blown away by them.  AND they taste good, too!
• The large number of tall and gorgeous and kind and funny nephews and nieces...is there a more wonderful group of kids than my own nephews and nieces?  I seriously doubt it!
• My brothers (and their wives) - you guys are the world's best!  Love you all SO much.
• My sisters (and their husbands) - and you two are the world's best, too.  Jenny, you did an amazing job with all that wedding stuff; Patti, love and miss you...and of course, THOSE COOKIES! :)
• And last, my car.  This was my first trip in that Old Lady (or as Lindsay called it, The Quintessential Northwest Car - although I feel it is actually The Quintessential SEATTLE Car, but we won't quibble about that...it's a Volvo wagon...enough said!) and she performed amazingly well.  And got good gas mileage, too...FULLY loaded.

Here are some pix to back up my favorite things.  I am sure I will think of more favorites...that's another post.

Mom, Me, Grace, (Charlie), Dad right before we left to return home.

Grace, the Trip Trooper

Charlie, ALMOST asleep.  He was awesome on this trip!

Jenny, Mom, Me...like my Wedding Apron? :)

Yum...shave ice!

Mom, Me, Dani, Erin with Grace, Courtney

Rachel's Kitchen (Is that a Food Network show??), where I spent the vast majority of my week. 

Grace and me, at the actual wedding...the world's shortest, I think :).  It was perfect!
This is one of the very few times I sat down in the week.

Picnicking in Spokane on the way out.

Total cuteness.

At the hotel.

Just arrived, and the brothers are visiting...Camden, Jay, Bruce, (Betha), Dad, Mom.

Dad and Erin.

Watermelon Council USA Ad poster :).

Erin and Jenny.

Grace with Andrew, Evan, and Kellen.  So many cute guys, what's a lady to do?  Color, I guess.

The almonds.

The olives...these were so good.

Huh?  Rachel and me.

Grace, still adorable.

Grating onions for the pepper filling.  Or is this a shrine to oniondom?   The candle burns the onion gas so you don't cry so much.  And yes, it works.

Kyra and Maddie practicing kindness and patience.

Wonderful Kitchen Help...Betha does the peppers.  She and Rachel and Kyra and Maddy were SOOO helpful all week!

Maddy and Kyra and yarn.  My kind of girls!

Kyra, who was the best help ever on the day of the wedding.

Fruit tray.

Erin frosting the cupcakes for the "Cake"

The peppers...yum.

The salmon sandwiches, one of three types.

Cupcakes...SOOO beautiful!

Some of the food, ready to be gobbled up.

Lisa, (Jillian), Jenny.

Dani, Courtney, Daran.

Bruce, (Dad), Eric.

Dad and Mom's 80th party, and Lauren from the back.

I really would like one of those number cookies!

Lindsay with the quilt Mom made for their new baby!

Grace at hotel #2.

Me with Grace and Dad.  I love this picture.

Jenny, Mom, Me...again.
What a wonderful week.
What a wonderful family!