turkey feathers

Begin Again

 So, someone else in the family has taken up knitting.  I tell ya, our Sarah is a quick study.  She whipped this scarf out in no time after Grace showed her the basics.  It's quite endearing to look over and see the two of them sitting together knitting.  Ah, sister love, it warms a mother's heart. 

Another thing on my radar (um, for the girls of coarse--but not really), is this darling felt sewing tote from CK.  Now I ask you, is this crazy cute, or what?  It's featured in the winter catalog, now available online from the UK here.  Please, visit at your own peril though. I seriously wanted to have a good cry afterwards. It's all SO sweet and inaccessible.  And, among other things, I'm still thinking about this post entitled 'Letting Go'.  Still hard to accept that a fantastic magazine like Home Companion (and others) can just fade away forever.  Indeed, the times are a changing.  Sigh.

 Time to get busy!

Sweet Blessings

 
As I write, the house still smells of cinnamon and cake.  Grace was in the kitchen all day yesterday baking up a number of scrumptious things to celebrate her sister's birthday, and for a day of giving thanks.  I still

have some presents to wrap, and more housekeeping to do, company coming this afternoon and
more tomorrow; so I have to make this short and sweet.  

After re-reading all the stories last night (left in comments for this post), I kept coming back to one.  The story of Henry, the shoe-fetish Quasimodo ROOSTER! It really tickled my funny bone.  The story goes as follows::

"I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your furry friend. I've been there myself, and I truly sympathize. Now for a funny story....

Growing up, everyone in the neighborhood knew we were the family with a weak spot for unwanted critters. We ended up with a wide variety of stray creatures over the years, including the infamous Henry.... An eighth grade class at the local school had raised a rooster as a science experiment. Now that they were done, they needed to find a home for him. The cage in which they had kept Henry had caused his feet to become deformed so he walked sideways with a limp in a very quasimoto-like fashion. In addition to this, he was more than a little neurotic and had some behavioral issues. My Nana was a sweet and compassionate woman, so, of course we took in Henry and gave him a new home.

Henry was an interesting creature, and soon began to run the social empire that was the pet population of the back yard. He decided the garage was his, and defended it vigorously against intruders, both animal and human alike. It was soon discovered that Henry was also very amorous, and had an unnatural fetish for shoes. Anytime a person walked out the door and attempted to enter the garage, Henry would come hobbling sideways with his wings spread wide and proceed to get frisky with the offender's shoes! Needless to say, all of us ladies and children were terrified of Henry and gave him a wide berth...

The problem was, the extra fridge and freezer were in the garage and we often needed access when there were no men folk around to venture into the fray. A creative solution was needed, and finally found. We collected old shoes in a basket near the garage door. When we needed something from the garage, we would throw a shoe to the far end and wait until Henry ran to make his romantic advances on it. As soon as he was otherwise engaged, we would run in as fast as we could and grab what we needed. We were always sure to make a speedy exit. The highlight of the weekend for us kids was watching Papa go into the garage with his work boots on to collect all the shoes. Some of my earliest memories are of him in the garage with Henry clinging to Papa's feet for dear life, clucking and flapping away. Henry went on to live a very full Rooster life in the garage. Despite his early life in a rotten old cage, he was happy in his own way, and fancied himself to be quite the ladies (well, shoes) man. I always think of him fondly whenever I see roosters, and remember how much color he added to my childhood days."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So, Kristy my dear,  CONGRATULATIONS you are the winner -- my book will be on its way to you pronto!  Thanks every body for participating and sharing your funny stories with me.  It was a blast reading through them and it really brightened our days.  Here's a funny for you. . .

H a p p y   T h a n k s g i v i n g !

Washing Away the Blues

Oh the humanity!!  I keep stopping in here and reading your stories and laughing---SO much!  If you haven't already, just go read a few, you'll see what I'm talking about.  Thanks, good peeps of the earth.  We are smiling again.  And keep those stories coming--I'll announce the winner of the book give-away Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving. 

Speaking of turkey day, are you ready?  It's coming up fast and Sarah's birthday is smack dab in the middle of it too. Busy, busy...  We're planning a small gathering here again this year, so time to clean my house and start making pies.  Pronto!

Unrelated:  I keep running across recipes and testimonies in favor of homemade laundry detergent and finally got around to making some and testing it out this weekend.  I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by all accounts.  I started out with a small batch: one bar castile soap (this is Dr. Bonner's above), 1 box baking soda, and 2 cups Borax.  I took liberties of adding a few drops of lavender oil.  Then I used one tiny ladle-full (about 2 T.) to wash a full load of white towels, and they came out beautifully.  If you're interested, there are dozens of other recipes out on the Internet--just do a search for: homemade laundry detergent; and be prepared to be amazed.

In Memory Of

Another batch of books just arrived and I do believe it is time for another give-away!

If you'd like a chance to win an autographed copy of my book for yourself (or to give to a friend), please make us laugh!  Tell us about a funny thing that happened to you.  Share your story in the comment section, so we can all giggle together.  We especially need some cheering up around here, having just laid to rest our furry little hamster friend, Pumpkin, who died peacefully in his sleep (of old age) Thursday night.  He was actually Sarah's pet, but I think I sobbed more than anyone!  I do have a soft spot for animals.   And not just woolly ones either.  I'll be using my laugh-O-meter this time to choose a winner, which will be announced on Wednesday (11-25-09). 

To readers around the globe: I welcome your stories as well---but due to sky-high postage rates the drawing is limited to U. S. residents.  

Farewell sweet friend. 

You touched our hearts and will surely be missed.

*Update:  Thanks everyone for all the laughs and cute stories!  Comments are now closed.  Winner to be announced soon!

Dreaming

 
This picture is inspiring me right now.  It's a scene I'd love to place myself in.  I've been pushing to get certain things done and haven't taken any time to relax, so I cut this out (as a reminder) to do that.  This beautiful photo is from a feature CL magazine did recently about children's author, Mark Kimball Moulton, and his storybook home he calls, Sparrow Hill.  There are more 'before and after' pictures on his website showing how he transformed a plain house into a homey haven.  Follow the links on the site if you want to see more, and be sure and check out Magical Momentswhere he attended a party for Tasha Tudor's 88th birthday in 2003.  (There's one picture where you can see her in the background.)  So cute.

Speaking of magazines...the latest Marie Claire Idees arrived in my mailbox last week and I've barely had a chance to thumb through it.  This amazing wool quilt caught my eye though.  Just another nifty way to reuse wool scraps.  If you want, go to the mci blog for more inspiration and crafty goodness.  THIS advent calendar  is awesome.  You can download the PDF patterns for all the boxes and cute tags and use them for other tiny treats as well.  I really need to make some time for this.  Happy crafting! 

 

 

Crunchy Maple Corn

 
Since we make most of our snacks, I'm always thrilled when I find a new way to make them even more healthy.  We LOVE caramel corn, but traditional recipes call for sugar + corn syrup, so I decided to experiment a bit and found a quick alternative made from real (organic) maple syrup instead.  And, it's super easy.  The hardest part---not eating it all at once after you make it! 

NOTES::  Be sure and use a large sauce pot when you make the caramel, because the boiling syrup will foam up and increase in volume more than double when you add the baking soda.   It's a bit startling--however, kids may find this weird chemistry interesting and will be convinced you're a genius.  Another tip:  I use a hot-air popper positioned next to a large stainless steel roasting pan so that the popcorn falls into it as it pops.  I call this my, "one-step, one-less-bowl-to-clean method".  (smile)

This recipe is for the "light" version, you can double the amount of maple syrup without changing any of the other ingredients for a more caramelized result. 

Crunchy Maple Corn

8 cups popped corn (1 cup un-popped)
1 stick of butter (1/4 lb.)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda (reserve)
1/2 cup Spanish peanuts (optional)

Directions:  Pop or place corn into a large 11 x 15" baking pan; shake pan to sift "old maids" to the bottom and remove them.  Sprinkle nuts on top if desired.  In a large sauce pot, melt butter; add syrup, salt, and cream of tartar and whisk together until well blended.  Bring to a boil and whisk in baking soda.  Remove from heat and continue whisking for about 30 seconds.  Mixture will foam up.  Pour evenly over popped corn and fold lightly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to coat.  Don't worry if you can't coat all the popcorn at once, eventually it all gets distributed.  Bake in a low 200 degree oven for 30 minutes; removing the pan at 10 minute intervals to stir and re-coat.  Remove from heat and let cool before storing in tins or food-grade cello bags.  Avoid storing it in plastic bags or containors, popcorn will get sticky.  If you live in a damp climate, as I do, I find packing it up within 5 minutes of taking it out of the oven keeps it nice and crunchy. 

 
Or you can just eat it---immediately. Yum!

UPDATE:  Hello everyone....for some reason I am not able to reply in the comment box, so the recipe has been clarified per your requests.  That is; one stick of butter, not a whole pound. Happy munching....

 

Box Art

I did a double-take when I passed by the coat-rack and saw all these big eyes staring back.  How cute are these, I ask you?  Grace whipped them up.  She's actually been making and experimenting with these folded paper boxes since she was about seven. Yes, they are that simple.  You can use almost any sturdy paper; these were made from a wall calendar from last year--great way to recycle, no?  Think: cute boxes for gifting.  A fun rainy day project for sure--and the rainy days are here again.  Evidenced by all the crafting, stitching, knitting, and baking happening around here lately.  Oh--and I have a new recipe for carmel corn that you will really appreciate, if not LOVE!!  I'll try and post it later this week.  Box tutorial here. 

Gobble-Gobble

Do you like my new 2009 November banner?  I find it funny, and somewhat strange that my blog should now have actual live turkeys  on it. 

Because, back in 2005, when I dubbed this cyper spot "turkey feathers", I wasn't seeing wild turkeys from the porch or out the window or huddled in my flower beds.  Neither did I have turkeys or feathers (in particular) on my mind.  In fact, I never thought about turkeys very much at all except on Thanksgiving. 

Just why the name turkey feathers  even popped into my head in the first place is still a mystery, except to say, that the hour was late and it was thought up and decided in under two minutes--which may have had something to do with it. 

Yes, I'm sure it did. 

I suppose I settled on the matter quickly because it conveyed an attitude that fit the premise (light-hearted), and that was that.  If I'd known then, that whatever I created, might *possibly* manifest, I probably would have taken a more thoughtful approach.  Certainly, "lollipop rainbows" or "chocolate butterflies", or something more glamorous or desirable would have been chosen.  Ya know, just in case.  What's weird is, turkeys don't generally hang around my house.  They've just shown up recently.  And I don't want to read too much into that, but I do believe in divine cosmic humor.

Sometimes it arrives just when we need it the most.  Like now.

 

I just need to keep an eye out for it.