Powerless

Well, we finally have heat and power after a bout with a hurricane...in Ohio! On Monday, we were hit by hurricane Sandy. Personally, the storm didn't seem nearly as bad as many others we have weathered. However, the rain saturated tree roots and combined with gusting winds to create a perfect storm (pun intended) to uproot many very large residential trees. So, Power went out Monday at dinner and stayed out until Friday afternoon. Mind you, many suffered much worse than we did. We had no loss of home, life or limb (human or arboreal, other than some easily moved branches). But, the effect of not knowing when it was coming back on was terrible. The house got down to 48 degrees by Friday. We had lost a full fridge and 2 freezers of food, despite much effort made to save it. Losing several hundred dollars worth of food just plain sucks! Especially food that was made from scratch and frozen to use over the winter. Here we are, getting by during the outage.

Hats at the table, no longer rude, but required! The ever-present crayons. I thank you Crayola, you saved some of my sanity.

I was 2 rows into a pattern for a barbie dress for Ollie's birthday when the power went out. I hadn't printed it :(  So, I winged it! My goal was a non-skanky style dress and I think I met that goal. Knitting with the smallest needles kept my frozen fingers nimble!

Halloween was postponed! Aunt Robyn visited with a ghoulish treat! Her treat? Power was on at her place when she got home!

Hats, many layers of clothes, more crayons...this is getting boring! and colder! The Poochies moved in with the generous Grand-Poochies for warmth and some Curious George episodes.

"In Case of Emergency" Hot chocolate

In a pan, mix 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, pinch o'salt and 1/3 cup boiling water.

Mix well and add 3 1/2 cups milk. heat until perfectly warm.

turn off heat and add 3/4 tsp. vanilla. Mix and pour.

Top with marshmallows and warm your insides!

Many candles!

Very important to keep the flashlights from wandering off! This was treated like a tabernacle of light!

Cold noses! Toast made on the stove top.

Hermes guards a pink bunny slipper while wearing a sock.


Some things I am glad about

• Gas stove! We couldn't run the oven, but we could hand-light the burners!
• Gas water tank meant hot water if it ran long enough!
• Having enough pantry items to make oatmeal, cocoa, homemade spaghetti sauce (?!?) and fresh squeezed lemonade.
• Postponed trick-or-treat meant we ate the candy we had for it.
• Having a really good children's library and art supplies. We read A TON!!!!!!!!!

I am so sorry that there are others that still don't have power. I hope that they are getting the help they need. I am so thankful for all the wonderful people that helped and offered us help. Times like this really lets you know who cares about you. Hugs, hugs, hugs to all of you!
I will end with Wolfie's exclamation as he realized that the power was on,
"I am drunk on electricity!"

Another party? You bet!

Shortly after the party for my mom-in-love, it was time to celebrate My Dad-in-love's birthday as well! I tried this recipe for a flan and I thought it turned out really well, although the pic isn't great. This is a great recipe if you love coconut flavor but don't love the stringy bits of coconut in your goodies.

Coconut Flan

6 eggs

1 can (14 0z) of sweetened condensed milk

1 can (12 oz) of evaporated milk

1 can (15 oz?) creme de coco

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 tsp. coconut extract flavoring

1 cup white sugar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• melt the 1 cup white sugar in a saucepan until melted and golden, pour into a 2 or 3 quart dish (2 quart will require longer baking), so that the bottom is covered. Set aside.
• With mixer: beat 6 eggs well. Add sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, creme de coco, whole milk and coconut extract. Mix well, at least 2 minutes. 
• Pour this into the glass dish, on top of the sugar and place the dish into a larger dish with at least an inch of water in the larger (outer) dish.
• Bake approximately 80 minutes, checking after the first hour. May need more cooking, especially if using 2 quart dish. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean when done. 
• Remove from outer pan and cool on a rack and then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
• To serve, run a knife around the edge and turn onto a serving plate. 
• Top each piece with whipped topping and enjoy!

Here are some pictures of the shindig!

Wolf helps learn Grandpa's secret pizza techniques!

Voila!

Singing and presenting Wendy's delicious brownies!

Coconut flan! Whoops, I started cutting it before I snapped the pic!

Gift time!

Who invited Gilligan?

Such a wonderful weekend was spent celebrating! It was nice to see Adam and Wendy, as schedules don't usually allow us to all be together. We also got to skype with Bret and Elizabeth and see baby Mae in motion! This is what makes times like this so special---family!

Party hearty!

I am a little late in posting these pictures,  but I wanted to share some pics of the partying that was done in honor of my Mother - in-love's birthday last weekend. We had so much fun,  just spending  a good chunk of time together. Which is exactly how birthdays should be celebrated,  don't you think? 

The boys helped decorate the cake,  wolf did the writing and Vlad did flowers!  Their first time using the icing bag! 

Wolf is pretty proud of his efforts

Helping Grandma Jo open her gifts 

A home made book for Grandma.

A few games of Quiddler played until the wee hours!
Although Vladdie isn't pictured (he was very busy trying to deflate a balloon with assorted flatware,  unsuccessfully),  he was present and helping Grandma celebrate! 

Cordially yours...

     I am in the process of making some adjustments 'round these parts. I will be trying out some recipes for tooth powder, laundry detergent and possibly perfume. But today I wanted to try to find a replacement for the drink of choice for the 7 and under crowd around  here. They love lemonade. They only drink water (not as much as I would like, this is another story), milk (not much), kefir and lemonade. Trouble is, I don't always have lemons, so often times I rely on bottled lemon juice. Unfortunately, this contains preservatives and that has been really bothering me. 

     In my search to replace this, I have taken a cue from my favorite Aussie blog,  Rhonda Hetzel's Down to earth, and tried a fruit cordial. It is delicious! Please check out her blog for recipes as well as many other homemade delights, as it is great!  I used what I had on hand: a bag of frozen mixed berries, 2 tsp. citric acid and some sugar. I made a simple syrup of  2 cups water and 2 cups sugar. I put it in the blender with about 300 grams of berries and the citric acid and blended until liquefied. I strained it through a cheesecloth into a glass container. Ahhhh, then I added some of this cordial (to taste) with ice water. So fresh and wonderful! This would be great with mineral water or soda water too. I found it excellent with plain old ice water though, but a squueze of lemon would have made it even better!. 

      This is supposed to last for 2 weeks, but I think it probably won't be here that long. It would be easy enough to halve this recipe if you only have a couple people in your home. We will see if this becomes a staple around here and will try it with other fruits too. I know some people have an issue with giving their family sugar, but for me, right now, I would be happy just cutting out preservatives.

    If you have had experience with making fruit cordials, please comment! This is all new to me :)

Happy anniversary!

We started out with the pillaging of a local thrift store armed with a 

half-off coupon. I scored some fabric, king-sized L. L. Bean flannel

 sheet set, coats,  boots, pj's,  books and a vintage pair of oxblood oxfords among many other things. 

A wonderful lunch at Phnom Penh and a walk through the West Side Market. A quick stop at Lilly's chocolates, which is very close to being heaven.

A lovely car ride out to Chagrin Falls and ice cream from Jeni's. A walk around the falls was nice. 

A nice long hike at the Heron rookery in Geauga county. We didn't run into another soul during an hour or more walk. Such lovely conversation.

Enjoying the sounds of a stream passing under a covered bridge. A few trees were already scarlet.

Perhaps a beaver's dam?

Can you spot the tiny toad that visited us?

This was a perfect day to cap off a decade of wonderful marriage. We talked about our hopes and dreams for the future and counted our blessings often throughout the day. I am one lucky lady!

Time well spent

This summer we spent most of our time off just being together,  wandering and enjoying some of our favorite places in our state,  Amish country. We love the Amish farms,  homes and people.  We absolutely love the areas in Ohio and Pennsylvania where they live. Good Earth magic in those rolling green hills. I love to use hand-powered tools in and outside of my home, so I love to wander around Amish shops. Plus,  where there are Amish,  there are good things to eat. We spent the past few months reading the Little House on the Prairie books aloud. We were able to see many of the things we read about while out in the Amish community. 

We camped a few times,  both in the Mohican and Punderson areas, both in different Amish communities.  Here is a little slice of the end of our Summer... 

A visit to Middlefield Cheese museum

Relaxing in the woods

Punderson lake

Hand pies,  aka fry pies at Nauvoo family market,  a great Amish store. They were delicious! 

Vlad tries out soap carving during a camping trip. 

A path behind our tent at Punderson. 

Home away from home at Punderson

Yes! Camp is all set up! 

The view of the lake from the back of our campsite. 

Vladdie battles a giant corn at a farmer's market outside Middlefield. 

Look at the gorgeous flowers they had at the end of August! 

They also had peaches. 

These lovely veggies went well with our Amish cheese for our camping picnics. 

Matt discovered a nest of hatching snapping turtles in the mulch at the Punderson Manor house. They were so cute!! 

I looooove moss!

Nights were spent in tents, with the boys drawing page after page of scenes from their favorite video games.

We read and read and read! The Long Winter was interesting to read during a heatwave. My favorite part of the Summer was the time Matt spent reading to me.

Of course there was knitting! These became socks for Matt.

Wolf checks in on some images on dad's phone to make sure he draws the boss battle from Metroid correctly. Details, details, details!

Who gave Vlad an ax?!?

We had a slow, sweet Summer spent wandering, sharing and enjoying each other's company. I will cherish the memories of this Summer for the rest of my life. While I am sad to see it end, I need to remember that another season awaits, filled with potential!

My Goodness, the garden wasn't the only thing growing this Summer!

These kids look so much older to me than they did a few months ago! Here are pics of them from May and then today!

I am also throwing in a pic from the first day of school. I know we homeschool, so backpacks in the front yard seems stupid, but pics of us at our kitchen table just seem even weirder! At any rate, they sure do grow up fast, as I now begin "officially" schooling my baby.  Hard to believe...cue the music while I wipe away a tear.