Making Soap With Gran'ma

I have been threatening to make soap with my granddaughters for a year now. I finally said lets do it. I buy the soap noodles from Soap Crafters and then melt them down and make my own soap. I really like this kind of soap. It lathers up and doesn’t make my skin itch. I use 12 oz. juice cans for molds. They really make a nice bar of soap when cut. The down side to making your own soap is waiting while the soap cures for three months. The longer the soap cures the harder it gets. The harder the soap the longer the bar lasts.

Anual Rice Krispie Bake Off

Every year my children have a Rice Krispie bake off. They alternate between Christmas and Thanksgiving depending on whose turn it is to go to for that holiday. The first year my husband was the judge and each year there after the winner from last year had to find judges. But now competition is rather fierce and the judges have had to go into the witness protection program. This year as soon as the judging was over the judges grabbed their loot and ran. We are running out of relatives and friends who are willing to face this group of unruly competitors. Because of one individual always winning this year I think the whole thing was rigged to keep that fantastic cook out of the running. All of the entries each year are creative and VERY tasty. This winner is awarded the Golden Spatula award the bragging rights for the next year.



1st place went to my new son in law. He made Reeses Peanut Butter cups.


2nd place went ton one of my daughters who made Churros Rice Krispies.


3rd place went to another daughter who made Apple Pie Rice Krispies.

Lights Out--I Thought I Paid the Power Bill

What a night this has been sometime after 6 p.m. the power went out and didn't come back on again until after 10 p.m.. We were sitting in the dark listening to a little wind up radio. Every few minutes it needed to be rewound because it was dying. We listened to short stories on NPR, Devotional talks, the ending the RSL soccer champion game, and a lot of other stations in between. The power company had a recorded message saying that the power would come back on at 10 p.m. When 10 p.m. came and still no electricity we called again. Their comment was, Oh you don't have any power yet. It has been snowing here all night and NOW the power is back on I have my electric blanket turned onto high. It's going to be a while until I thaw out. It was cold in here.

Oh Happy Day!

The melted lipstick is out of my pants! Between something called GooGone Spray Gel and Oxi Clean it has all been washed away. Now I just need to get the interesting orange smell out of my pants from the GooGone Spray Gel.

UPdate on the house that Jack is Building

It has been awhile since I've been to my son's house. This is the front of the house. The roof is on and he is now installing windows. He has done a wonderful job. This is the child that I one day hoped he would be the next Frank Lloyd Wright. He can see how something should be put together before it is built. He can see the answer to a math problem without figuring it out on paper. (Drove his math teachers crazy!) He didn't get this ability from me. If he did it must be a very recessive gene.













Ooops! Who are these interlopers? They are the peacocks that live next door to the Pincocks. The next door neighbors have peacocks. They are beautiful. In late summer and early fall the male drops his tail feathers. I have several of the hanging up in my classroom to help the children remember how to pronounce my name. The white one is the female.

Stupid is as Stupid Does and I’ve Been VERY STUPID!

Of all the places NOT to love this is the top of my list! I have a VERY BAD habit of leaving a whole tube of lipstick in the pockets of my clothes. I then will throw the article of clothing in the wash now that isn’t bad until I put the clothes in the dryer. Today I did the evil deed! I now have THREE very nice pairs of pants to use when I cleaning house and do yard work. I’ve just spent an hour cleaning out my dryer. I now have a load of rags in there on high hoping to soak up any RED lipstick in didn’t get. I had better things to do today. I WAS in the process of cutting out and sewing up pumpkins. NOT NOW! Oh no, not now! I’m going to have to google to see if I can find any remedy to get lipstick out. I HATE IT WHEN I DO THIS!

One True Thing

"...Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever." This one thing that I know. My biggest problem is trying to remember this when life has gotten me down. Lately I've been forgetting.

My Mother's & Grandmother's Quilt

I don't know when my mother's mother, "Grandma Zina", started this quilt. I do know that the flower's fabric came from at least the 1930's. In 2003 my mother took up the task of working on this quilt while she went through chemo treatments for bone cancer. Mom finally finished this quilt this year, 2009. WOW! Mom thanks that took a lot of work and love to put this quilt together. Thanks!

p.s. We all share the same name, Lenore.