Category: Celebrations

Posted on

Valentines Day, no surprise

As sad as it is to say sometimes, my husband is not and never has been a romantic of any kind. Zip, Nada, Ziltch. In other words, we don’t do Valentines Day. I don’t even think he remembers when our anniversary is, since he’s never said anything after all of these years.

All this has caused me not to even try to make any plans or even attempts at trying to go out of my way with cards and such for him. It’s not really out of my way, but I don’t think it would mean anything. So, instead…I still get Valentines and candy and such for the kids, despite they are nearly all grown. Just something a little special.

When they were small, I’d make cookies and decorate them, and get balloons and have party with cake and Valentines. Now they all have plans it seems and so I just make supper for who ever happens to be home, and call it good enough. I might start volunteering at the school for the 1st and 2nd grade classes. Little kids still really like holidays and I think it might be just what I need to pick up my spirits.

Posted on

Bakers Twine

Have you ever heard of Baker’s Twine? Me neither. I have, for years, always kept some special twine in the kitchen that I used to tie the legs of poultry when I was roasting it. This twine is on a large cone, and I have had that twine so long that I don’t remember where (or exactly when) I bought it, and the label is long gone. But I do remember that when I got it that I had to go to a specialty place because I wanted to make sure that it was food-safe twine. I had read a recipe that called for using food-safe twine to tie the legs of poultry together, and that piqued my interest in finding it.

Before I purchased that particular twine, I never used any kind of twine when I was cooking, because I didn’t trust it to be food safe. This kitchen twine that I have now, I use it for everything that I need twine for – including bundling cardboard and newspapers together for recycling.

Last weekend I went to a birthday party, and saw that some of the gifts were tied with a very pretty, decorative twine. In the past I’ve seen gifts wrapped with yarn, but not this pretty twine before. I asked the people that had wrapped the gift “where did you find that pretty twine?” and they told me that they had found it online, and that it was called Bakers Twine. It didn’t take long for me to find a few websites that sell it! There are a lot of really pretty color combinations! I don’t know how I am going to choose which colors to buy!

Posted on

Picnic and Fireworks

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays because the family always goes down to the elementary school for the town celebration. The fire department sells grilled chicken dinner with potato chips, corn on the cob and cole slaw, there are several local bands playing music to provide entertainment, and when it gets dark the fire department sets off a pretty decent fireworks show. We get to see some of our friends that we haven’t seen in a while, spread a blanket out on the lawn and enjoy the nice weather.

Posted on

Restful Father’s Day

Father's Day (free clip art)
Father’s Day (free clip art)

My father loved to nap on the sofa whenever he got the chance. That made it a challenge to our large family, to let the house be quiet enough for him to sleep – we had a lot of very active and loud kids! We always wished he would nap in his bedroom, and I never understood why he did not do that.

On Father’s Day you could usually find him sleeping on the sofa in the afternoon. When he’d wake up, though, he would take us out to eat a nice dinner at a family steakhouse!

Posted on

Flag Day

History of Flag Day. Did you know that the American Flag that was flown at Fort Henry (the “Star Spangled Banner” flag) had fifteen stripes and fifteen stars? Some documentaries about the American Flag state that the American Flag has always had thirteen stripes. Not true! And apparently, Betsy Ross did NOT sew the first American flag!

Happy Birthday to the American Flag!

Posted on

Memorial Day garage sales

Around this area, Memorial Day weekend is the biggest yard, garage, estate and what ever type of sale one could ever want, weekend. I try to get up at the crack of dawn and get whoever is going with me around to be on the streets and roads by 8:00 am. It’s fun to make a girls day out of it. I’ve found though, lately my two sons have been wanting to come along. The problem with them going, is that they get tired of looking and road cruising, and then we have to take them back home.

This weekend, my daughters and I are planing on going to the sales and do some other shopping and errands that need to be done. It should be nice if the weather holds. Even if it doesn’t, I know of a lot of barn sales that are going on also. There are at least three flea markets we can hit that are inside, but with the temperatures staying on the warm side, it’s doubtful many garage sales or even tented sales will shut down.

 

Posted on

A very nice Mother’s Day

Mother’s day, my siblings and some of my Mom’s grand children gathered at her house to celebrate Mother’s Day. It was a nice day, with a lot of hugs going around and really great conversations between all of it.

What I loved about this day, was how laid back and peaceful it was. Even my Mom seemed to relax a bit and it was great. Usually she gets a bit antsy when there are a lot of people in her home, even if they are all “us kids” and she knows that we are there for her. She isn’t like that with me, but I go to spend time with her far more than my brothers and sisters do.

Once we got back to our house, the evening is going as smooth and peaceful as the whole day went. All in all, THAT is MY kind of way to spend Mother’s Day.

Posted on

Easter and garden supplies out

I went shopping yesterday and could not believe it!! Easter items are out already. To me, this is getting a bit out of hand. I asked the store clerk how long they had been out, since it looked like the shelves were pretty much picked over and I hadn’t gone to that store in awhile. He told me they had stocked Easter things right after Valentines Day. (SMH)

The great thing though, is that the garden supply section is now nearly fully stocked. Looks like I’m going to get an even bigger jump on shopping this year for my garden. I’m at least excited about that!

Posted on

Baking

Between cookies for the family and pies for the dinner at Steve’s house tomorrow I have been in the kitchen all day long. I do not mind I love to bake and I have had help today, my 6 year old Grandson David has been helping and if you have a 6 year old you know that it will take me longer to clean up the mess than it took to bake the cookies, but I do not mind it was a pleasant experience watching him absorb the cookie making process, and it will not be long and he will be ready to make cookies himself. A man that can cook is always a plus around the house. I think we are ready for Santa to visit tonight and I can not wait for the presents.

Posted on

Thank a Veteran

If you are going out today, I hope you have the chance to partake in some of the ceremonies that are being held around the country, honoring our veterans. They deserve all the thanks we can give them! Thank you veterans, for your service and sacrifice.

We used to go to the Veteran’s Day parade held in the Washington DC area every year. It was great fun to see the marching bands and the floats. I think the one they had in Old Town Alexandria was probably one of the best. The variety of entries, from antique cars to gymnastics groups, made the parade very interesting and exciting.