I Must Be A Once a Year Blogger

Why has it been so long since my last blog? Guess I didn't have much to say. But today I was watching "The Barefoot Contessa". I wanted to keep her recipe for Blueberry Crumble Cake and decided I'd share it here. And I can always come here when I want to make the cake.

Blueberry Crumble Cake

Mix in electric mixer:
6 T butter (room temp. butter left out over night makes the cake light)
3/4 c granulated sugar
2 x large eggs (left out at room temp.)
1 t. vanilla
Incorporate well.. add
1/2 t. lemon zest
2/3 c. sour cream

In a separate bowl mix and sift together,
1 1/4 c flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda

Add to wet mixture at low speed til just mixed.
With spatula stir in 1c. blueberries lightly.

Put in round 9" pan that has been smeared with butter and dusted with flour.

Then add streusel:
Melt 1 stick of butter.
 Mix 1/4c granulated sugar, 1/3 c brown sugar 1 t. cinnamon,  1/8 t. nutmeg. Add melted butter.
Add 1 1/3 c. flour. Mix all together. Make crumbly with hands and put on top of cake before baking.
Cook at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 min.

I've never made anything that Ina Garten has had on her show that wasn't absolutely delicious!!!!!!!

Now just a note of what's going on at our house today.
Michael is outside taking apart the 6 steps on our front porch. They are an accident waiting to happen. We figured we better do something before someone sues us. Once he has replace the steps, we will paint them and the deck portion of the porch. And we will add new railing. We have never liked the appearance of our front porch since the day we moved in.

Yesterday, I cleaned up his duck decoy collection with some "Pledge" and today I cleaned up the top shelf in the office and made a space for them for display. And if you've ever read the children's book If You Give a Mouse A Cookie,  I continued on with some more cleaning in the office and some more cleaning, and some more cleaning. I just about exhausted myself, which led to watching tv, which led to a recipe from "The Barefoot Contessa". So that's how we get the Blueberry Crumble Cake.

A New Start

It's been a while and, of course, a lot has happened in a year, but I've been coaxed into starting up the blog again. It's a nice hobby and keeps those interested up to date on the lives of a lazy retiree and her hard working adorable husband.

First the sad news. In March, we lost our darling 17 year old tabby cat, T.C. to old age although his diabetes may have contributed to loss of appetite and run down behavior. In May, I had to rush to Dallas to be with my mother during her last days with us after a massive stoke. She passed away on May 26th and it is still too heartbreaking to write about it here. We miss her and see this as a temporary separation from her. In the days to come, I will be stronger and will share many memories of our lives together. While I was in Dallas, we lost our sweetheart butterball, Koko. Michael found her paralyzed in the living room and within 24 hours at the emergency vet, she went downhill. We had to say goodbye to her on her 14th birthday, July 4th. Michael , Terry, Curtis and I have been supporting each other with laughter and tears when they come. Terry and her standard poodle, Charlie Brown, drove home with me in August and spent 3 weeks with us in Pa. Curtis stayed in Dallas and took care of the other two dogs, Ryan and Bitsy.

Now some good news. Is this good news? Winter is coming. We have spent the past few weekends getting the house ready for the cold weather. Michael finished a retaining wall under our backyard upper deck to put a shade garden in next spring. He's put up a new heat tape in the back of the house and plans another heat tape on the side of the house this weekend. We replaced the sensor light for our driveway and have plans to put the patio furniture in the garage by this weekend. Then one more plan to get ready for winter is to get all season tires for my car. It's about time. I have 50,000+ miles on the set I have now. On Saturday morning we will get the tires and THEN...we head to the Jamestown humane society to check out the kitties.
Yes, I do believe that belongs on the winter preparation list. We need something warm for our lap/s.

Time in Texas

I've been here over a month. Mother is recuperating in Garnet Hill Rehabilitation Facility. Each day gets a little easier for her. It's been a rough road for her though. Her surgery for a right hip replacement was on July 27. She spent 5 days at Baylor Hospital before she was moved to Reliant Rehab. They only allowed her to stay there two weeks and she was unable to move her leg the whole time she was there. That's when we found Garnet Hill. She can stay there for 100 days if needed before she will have to pay out of pocket.

In the meantime, we have moved her furniture to my sister's house. She wasn't happy about that but it's the best thing for her. Hopefully we will get a lot of Terry's house in order before mother comes home.

I've been here long enough to know that my hair needs color, my bangs need a major cutting job and I miss my husband and my two "kids" terribly. Michael has been more than the best husband in the world through all of this. He takes care of the cats so well that they actually love him now. He keeps the house together and is even doing outside work to improve our water drainage. I probably will be getting home in time to see the changing leaves and the first frost. And my family in Texas will be feeling better...I hope.

Little Rock, Arkansas

Thank you! My prayers were answered. I had a beautiful day of driving from Kentucky to Arkansas today. My room at my hotel last night was on the 2nd floor and apparently the man on the floor above me had to empty his suitcase, one piece of clothing at a time. He must have walked a mile across the floor and he was no light weight. He got up at 6 a.m. and so did I. I had my shower and my breakfast and was on the road by 7:30. The drive was uneventful, thank goodness. I will say though that Obama could send a little more stimulus money to the highway department in West Memphis, Arkansas. That bridge still hasn't been fixed and I've been on it 3 times now in 9 months. I'll be up for my drive of 4 and a half hours tomorrow. I cut off some driving time by doing most of the driving in the first two days.

On The Road

Here I am in Shepherdsville, KY after a looonnnnnggggggg drive today. I am on my way to Dallas to spend a few days with my mother before she has to have her hip replacement on Mon. the 27th. I started out at 7 a.m. thinking I would be in Louisville by 3 or 4 p.m. Ha! I got about 10 miles down the road when a truck and trailer pulled out in front of me on route 6. That just happened to be a truck from the Kelly Miller Circus heading west in front of me and never going over 40 miles an hour on a 55 mph road. I followed it to Union City and didn't get to Erie (a 50-55 min. drive) until 8:40. I zipped thru Cleveland and headed south on 71 passing by Medina waving to my in laws, "hidee ho family" as I sped by. I stopped for a leg stretch and gas in Lodi. Hey gas is 2.35 a gallon in Ohio folks. Then as I drove south of Mansfield I passed a van on it's way south but what made this van special was that it had Zem Zem Warren County Hospital Transfer van. Our next door neighbor, Ron Christy, is a Zem Zem and has the little motorized car that he rides in parades. No, that wasn't him driving the van, but what a small world. Two hundred plus miles from home and I see a Warren County van. The next town I came to was Columbus, Ohio. What a hold up. I followed all the signs and ended up taking I 71 south which turned into 70 East. I wasn't on 70 East more than a few min. when I thought somehow I had done something wrong. I was heading East instead of South?????? What happened. Then I was on I 270 which I knew went around the town. I knew I was not where I was supposed to be so I exited the freeway, ended up in a detour on route 33 and in a neighbor gas station, staring at my maps. HMMMMM?????? I decided to go back the way I came and after about 15 min. I ended up doing a complete circle right back to the same gas station. I decided to make a right this time and try another direction with a prayer asking for guidance out of there. It was long before I found I 70 East again, which took me to 270 again, and I decided to stick it out because I knew I270 circles the city and it will end up intersecting I 71 south at some point. I thought it might take me all day to find it but I was determined. Actually, what really had happened was the roads had taken me on a detour originally and I should have just stayed on the freeway for another 2 miles and I would have seen the signs to Cincinnati. Good grief!!! Another hour wasted.

Finally I get to Cincinnati but did I say that I had been driving in rain, rain, and more rain since Akron? After I passed through Cincinnati, it wasn't 15 min later and I was in bumper to bumper standing still traffice for at least 45 min. 10 miles because of an accident way up ahead. HO HUM WHEN WILL THIS END???? I thought. I had another 100 miles to go before I reached Louisville and I counted every mile. I wanted to get to the southern part of Louisville before stopping and I sure was tempted to stop at several hotels but I pushed on. I'm finally here and not until 6pm. My legs were like rubber and it is still raining but I have a nice room, I've talked to all the family, my nightie is on, my tummy is full and now I can play on the computer til I can't sit in this chair anymore. Tomorrow... my destination goal is Little Rock. We'll see.
Oh, and wait til they see me in Dallas. I'm bringing home grown sweet corn, and homemade strawberry jam.

No pictures for today's blog. How can I send pictures of my farm in Farmtown on Facebook? I'm sure there is a way. I have been on Farmtown most of the morning planting raspberries. I did do something constructive. I paid two bills and balanced the check book. Now how's that for a retired person's day? Michael and I plan on taking Debbie to dinner tonight because she is such a help when we want to leave for a day or two. She gives my baby his insulin in the morning and evening when we are gone. The last time she did that, she even cleaned the house a little and wouldn't take any pay for it. I think a dinner is a good start for repayment for her good deeds.

A Mini Vacation

Michael and I took a short trip to Johnstown, Pa. over the July 4th weekend. We toured the Johnstown flood museum which chronicled the 1889 flood when torential rains fell and broke the damn (not the first time) that held an artificially made lake. Johnstown got the brunt of the water flow and it killed over 2000 people. After we visited the museum, we went into the town and found the cemetery where 900 graves are marked in an unknown plot of those they couldn't identify. I also found a memorial to civil war soldiers in the cemetery. Quite amazing. We spent some time looking around the town of Johnstown and found an incline similar to the ones in Pittsburgh but this one carries cars and people up and down the hill. Of course, we had to ride it to say we did. We were going to have lunch at the top but it was a little too pricey so we did Mickey D's instead. We passed through Punxsatawny (spell that real fast ten times) and I had to make the driver take a detour up to Gobbler's Knob where the famous yearly Groundhog Day is celebrated. I think he got it right this year. Our 6 more weeks of winter is still here. I've had a blanket on at night for the last few weeks. I just can't wait to get to the Texas heat...NOT! Going UP! The incline in Johnstown, Pa. Michael in front of the incline carriage. This takes cars and people up and down the hill in Johnstown, Pa. Gobblers Knob, sight of the famous Phil who lets you know how much longer winter will last. A wood carving of a woodchuck in Punxsutawny Pa.