Sunrise, sunset

 

Recently we have had some really glorious skies at sunrise and sunset.  I thought I'd share a few photos with you today.  Above is Wednesday morning's sunrise.  We never get truly great sky photos here, because there are woods in every direction.  But these are all pretty even with the trees.

I love the "blue hour" effect on the snow in the sunrise photo at top.  The one below was taken at the same time.  Aren't the pinks and purples amazing?

Below are some sunset pictures from Tuesday.  They aren't quite as colorful as the sunrise, but are still nice.
 

Hope you've enjoyed these views of our recent morning and evening skies!

New Year hodgepodge

 

Wednesday again, and time for the Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond, where Joyce asks the questions and bloggers provide the answers.  Here goes!

1. Share one happy moment/memory from the holiday season. 

Probably getting to be in a room with four of our grandchildren and seeing seven more of them via Skype at the same time.  Oh, and here's another.  We were able to stay at our camp two mild nights in December.   On the second evening, three of our grandchildren came over for a visit before supper.  It was pure joy to chat with them all as our teenage grandsons sketched (one of them comfortably stretched out in the plaid recliner) and 7-year-old Arielle alternately nibbled at a candy cane and swung from the rafters.   After their mom called to say supper was ready, they headed out onto the dark forest path with their lights and we could hear them humming a lively hymn as they plunged into the woods.  An unforgettable memory!

2. Let's be reasonable with our expectations going into this new year, k? What is one thing you'd like to accomplish/improve/complete/do in 2022? 

Get the entire house decluttered and downsized. 

3. Every January 1st (since 1976) Lake Superior University has published a list of words they'd like to see banished from the Queen's English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse or just general uselessness (go here to read more about how the words are chosen). Here are the words/phrases they'd like to see banished in 2022-

wait, what?-no worries-at the end of the day-that being said-asking for a friend-circle back-deep dive-a new normal-you're on mute-supply chain

Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly? 

 Once in awhile I will say "no worries".  I don't use it often.

Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?

 Supply chain.  I'm tired of hearing about it.  I don't care much for "asking for a friend" either.

 Is there a word/phrase not on the list you'd like to add? 

Probably far too many to choose just one -- most of them from the past 2 years.

4. Best thing you ate in the month of December? 

Difficult choice!  Maybe the roast beef and gravy that my daughter prepared on Christmas Day.   But those caramel thumbprints Julia is displaying below were pretty amazing also.

5. January 5th is National Bird Day. Are you a bird lover? What's your favorite bird to see in the wild? Choose a phrase from the list that follows and tell us how it relates to your life currently...eat like a bird, bird's eye view, early bird, bird-brained, free as a bird, a little bird told me, or kill two birds with one stone.

I do enjoy birds.  My favorite bird to see in the wild may be a pileated woodpecker.  Owls are fun to see in the wild, too.  Free as a bird sounds good to me.  I've been dealing with issues from sciatica for a month but just got in to see the chiropractor this week.  I'm hoping in the next few days to feel free as a bird and able to get around easily.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Hmmm ... Not sure how it is that today is January 5th and I've yet to post any new year goals or come up with a potential word for the year.  Life has been oh so busy since New Year's Day!

Graphic from Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

Wouldn't you like to join in, too?  Head over to From This Side of the Pond to get the questions ... then answer them on your own blog and go back to link up!

January goals

 

Graphic from Sally Clarkson

 A new month and a new year!  Here are some of my goals for January:

* Keep up with Flylady's homemaking zones of the week if possible
* Renew my driver's license
* Complete a Scripture journaling plan for January
* Set some yearly goals for 2022
* Begin reading through the New Testament
* Do a 4-week study of Ephesians with Good Morning Girls
* Post in this blog several times per week
* Post in my Christmas blog as often as possible
*  Prepare for and attend a monthly ladies' Bible study
* Continue planning for family birthday gifts and crafting any handmade ones
* Craft some homemade Christmas gifts and decorations
* Spend a little time on some UFO craft projects
* Continue stocking my Etsy shop and continue selling vintage items
* Spend some time on my trust responsibilities
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able
* Plan meals with a greater emphasis on healthy eating
* Possibly plan a getaway with my hubby
* Memorize several Bible verses and review some older ones
* Get back into our study of the book of Daniel with younger believers
* Continue to help a widowed friend with the challenges of life in general
* Limit sugar; begin a 40-day sugar fast mid-month
* Get to bed by 9 pm each night  -- maybe even 8:30
* Drink enough water each day
* Walk and/or exercise at least 4 times each week

HEALTHY HABITS FOR JANUARY:  Drink more water/get more sleep/get more exercise/limit sugar

A tasty disaster!

 

Photo by Ashton at Something Swanky

One of the kinds of fudge that I really wanted to make this Christmas was some Salted Caramel Fudge.  I had written about this fudge in 2019 during Christmas in July on my Christmas blog.  You can read that post here: Salted Caramel Fudge.  I had found the recipe on the blog Something Swanky and have waited all this time to try it.  Looks good, don't you think?

So it was on my mental, if not my actual candy list for Christmas 2021.  If I had really been thinking, I would have had us make this fudge during our candy making day with the grandkids.  It's one of the easy fudge recipes that has you melting baking chips (white, in this case) with sweetened condensed milk (caramel flavored or dulce de leche in this case).  I had a can of the former in my pantry so that is what we used.

But this was after our candy making day, and Mr. T wanted to make something else from the candy list, so I suggested this easy sounding recipe.  As you see in the recipe if you follow the link, after melting the morsels and condensed milk together and spreading the mixture in a square pan, the next step is to melt either milk chocolate or dark chocolate morsels, spread them over the top, and then sprinkle on some sea salt.

And right there is where Mr. T ran into trouble.  He asked me if I thought he should chill the caramel layer or let it set for a time before adding the chocolate layer.  The recipe didn't say.  It had you seemingly going from one step directly to the other.  Well, I assumed there was probably a good reason for adding the chocolate layer right away ... namely, so that it would adhere well to the caramel layer and not flake off when the fudge was cut.  So I told him to go ahead and add it right away.

When he did, he was quite dismayed.  Rather than staying as an even layer on top of the caramel fudge, the chocolate (we had used dark chocolate) oozed down into it in a most uneven, and to his mind, unsightly way.  You can see a few of the remaining pieces and how they looked in the photo below.

When it was cooled and cut we found the fudge to be absolutely delicious.  However, he was still troubled by the way it looked.  

We usually put masking tape labels on our cookie and candy tins so we can easily locate the varieties we want for a specific use.  Imagine my surprise, then, when I later saw the way he had labeled the salted caramel fudge container:

This not only brought a chuckle to me, but it's been fun for others too.  On Monday night, we had our two oldest granddaughters over for our traditional "Christmas Eve" supper and gifts with them.  (This event hasn't taken place on the actual Christmas Eve for many years.)  Before they left that evening, we invited them to choose an array of cookies and fudge to take home with them.  They had liked the salted caramel fudge, so Mr. T brought in the tin so they could take what they wished.  I was busily hunting for plastic containers, so I didn't see this reaction, but I sure heard it as two laughing young voices chorused incredulously,  "Tasty Disaster Fudge?!?"

It may have a funny label, but it's a very delicious fudge.  Next time, he will let that first layer set before adding the chocolate.

A favorite gift from this Christmas

 

One of my favorite gifts this Christmas was made by two of my granddaughters (Julia - 15 and Arielle - 7) with a bit of help from their mom.  I guess you would call this a luminary, or maybe a candle jar.  Whatever you call it, it is pretty!

Photo at top is not the best picture as it was taken with a flash.  However, I do love the reflected tree lights in the photo.  I took another with my Kindle so will try adding that in also to give you a closer look.   Ah yes, this looks better.

I also took a couple Kindle photos in the daylight to show the details better.

The girls also made these for their music teachers (Julia) and Sunday School teacher (Arielle).  It looks as if they decoupaged sheet music, cut to size, and with a snowflake shape cut out of it,  to a pint mason jar with (probably) Mod Podge.  I haven't asked for the crafting particulars, but they did say that their mom cut the snowflake shapes out for them.  The sheet music is a Christmas carol, as you see: mine is O Come All Ye Faithful.  I think this was probably a sheet music printable, but am not sure.  It's lovely, anyway.  Then a simple jute tie around the top and some sweet red berry pips complete the project.  I love it!

Below is a little video of the jar with a flickering tea light inside.  It looks lovely with a real tea light candle (that's what it came with), but the one I used for the video was a battery operated tea light. 

 Isn't this a sweet project?

A Christmas cookie quote

 

I ended up posting quite a few photos (a couple of them are above) of Mr. T's Christmas cookie baking on Instagram throughout December.  Invariably someone would ask what we could possibly do with all of those cookies.  Well, as some of you know, we freeze them and then bring them out for neighbor gifts, hostess gifts, gifts for friends, fellowship dinners at church, and the like.  This year we didn't have a lot of room in the freezer, but it's been cold enough for the cookies to stay frozen on the front porch:

I recently ran across a quote that describes exactly how we use our cookies.  Every December, I get out all of my Gooseberry Patch Christmas books (one at a time) and page through them.    Book 6 is one of my favorites; in fact, I wrote a review of it on my Christmas blog: Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book 6.  This morning I was browsing through the cookie section and came upon a really sweet quote that I wanted to share with you all, for I think you will all recognize the truth of it.  There are sidebar quotes sprinkled throughout the book.  This one is from Rebecca Suiter of Checotah, Oklahoma.

"There is nothing like a plate of beautifully decorated cookies to highlight your Christmas table or to give to a special friend, and most of all, there is nothing like the cherished memory of making them with your children and grandchildren!" -- Rebecca Suiter

Isn't this so true?  Below is a plate of cookies my hubby arranged to take to friends.

And here is the dessert table at our daughter Carrie's on Christmas Day.  Isn't it beautiful?  The large cookie tray in the back was our dessert contribution and was also arranged by Mr. T.  

 Cookies have always been a big part of our Christmases.  And now you see, in case you were wondering, why we bake so many.

Some of our outdoor decorating

 This Christmas season, we did a little bit more outdoor lighting than usual.  Still pushing back against that dark winter!  I'll share some here, and some over at my Christmas blog.

At the top of the post is a little fir tree that is situated amidst other trees between our house and the road.  Mt. T wanted to put colored lights on it to cheer passers-by.

We have a neighbor (I use the term loosely; they live several miles from here) who strings trees in his woods with lights every year.  It seems like each year he adds a few more trees.  I can't tell you how cheering and heartwarming it is to see his simply lighted forest of trees when driving by in the evenings.  From what I understand, he and his wife have even received notes from complete strangers thanking them for the light display.  It is very simple, but so beautifully effective.

But back to our tiny fir tree.  It got nearly buried in snow when we had our nine inches a week or so before Christmas.  The photo above was taken from indoors and may be the best one that we got.  Below is one taken from outdoors.

We also did a little tree on our porch this year.  In the attic, when looking for an artificial tree to place in the loft at the camp, Mr. T came upon the top of a tree that he thought would work to serve as a small tree.  One day I was walking by the garage and noticed a stack of sap buckets.  Lightbulb moment!  Of course, being an artificial tree, it needed something to hold it in place within the bucket and also some weight to keep it from blowing over in the winter winds, so my handy husband figured out a solution with pieces of wood fitted around the trunk in the top of the bucket.

 
We've been pleased with how cheerful this looks!  Passers-by and visitors to our home can enjoy it, and it's also cheering to us to look out the windows and see it there.  Both sets of lights -- the colored on the fir tree and white on the porch tree -- are on timers set to come on around 4:30 pm and go off around 10 pm.  They also come on again for a few hours in the dark of early morning -- say from 5 am to 7 am.  Just letting our lights shine!