Tea, Crochet, Football and Baseball

Yes, this is a full day!  First, there was TEA!  How I love tea!  There were several others there at our virtual tea party hosted by  MUM of  mumssimplyliving@blogspot.com.  A big Thank You to her for organizing this wonderful day, having fun together, and learning from one another.  This is what mine started out looking like.

As the day wore on, we ate most of our little goodies, and drank tea, hubby & me.  So this what it looks like now.  We did save some goodies for Noah when he gets home from work.  

I'm full    from all that food, so now I am     making applesauce.  Yes, I finally bought some apples to make applesauce.  If this comes out good, then I will make more.  It's kind of expensive, but I don't care.  I want homemade applesauce, and I WILL have it!        

So now that is all done, now there is football, baseball layer, and crocheting in the meantime.  Actually, I'm putting together this green blanket that I started awhile ago.  And then I have to put the baby blanket together, too, as all the pieces are ready for that.  So let me go enjoy the rest of this day!  Love you all, and welcome your comments and visits.  Thank you for listening to me!   lol.  Later.....JO 

      

 

 OH,  yes, I am sorry, but there are more pictures here than I intended, and I can't get them off.  xxoo

Tea Party!

Finally, the day has come for our tea party.  It's my first time visiting, so pardon me for being late.  Also, I'm in the USA, so the time difference is confusing for me.  Today, tea is hosted by MUM, and we thank her for being such a wonderful hostess.

I am so excited to join the tea party, and all I have left to share with you are goodies, but who doesn't love goodies.  Mine is a Rustic Fall themed tea party, since it is such lovely Fall weather.  I have lots of hot tea ready for you, an excellent Earl Grey, with lavender.  Wonderful!  And tho they have disappeared already, I had cucumber sandwiches with mint butter, chicken salad with walnuts, and sliced turkey, cream cheese and whole cranberry sauce.  Yum, they were good.  Hubby loved them.  What's left is just as good tho, and that is scones, with jam, cream puffs, banana/strawberry muffins, and little pumpkin cakes with cream cheese frosting.  Enjoy!!  And do try that tea!

This has been great fun and I hope you enjoy my Rustic Fall theme.  We must enjoy tea whenever we can!  It's been fun visiting with you all, and seeing how you "do" tea!  Love you all!     Later.........JO

Chicken Pot Pie

Hello .......
I was busy today, but I made chicken pot pie early in the day, so it would be ready to pop in the oven.

I found a wonderful recipe in an older magazine (don't remember what it was), and found it to be the easiest I had ever tried, and the most delicious..  So it is now a go-to recipe at least every two weeks, for this family.  As you can see, chicken, peas, carrots, celery and onions, plus a nice gravy, cover it with a bought pie crust.  You can make it ahead and keep it in the fridge til you are ready for it, later in the day.  

When you are ready to put it in the oven, ju

st make some slices into the crust, brush with egg and water,  bake.  Yummmmmm!      

Looks good, eh?   Recipe below.    Enjoy

. 

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

                                Meanwhile, cook 4 small potatoes (optional) , cubed 1/2 " pieces, until fairly tender.  Drain.                                                                     

                                                            

Bake two chicken breasts about 20 min. Or until cooked thru.  Heat 3 tablespoons butter in large skillet and add 3 large carrots,  diced, and 1 med. onion, chopped.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, about 1/2 tsp. each, along with 2 bay leaves, and 3/4 tsp. garlic powder.   Cook 3 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, then add 2 large celery stalks, chopped, and cook about 4 minutes more, or until tender.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup  flour over veggies and stir in, adding a tablespoon of butter, if necessary.  Gradually stir in 1 and 1/2 14.5 cans of low salt chicken broth to the skillet. Reduce heat and simmer for just a few minutes, to thicken the gravy, then add in cubed chicken, potatoes and peas.  Remove bay leaves, and add in 1/8 tsp. nutmeg, if desired.  Turn off heat, and let sit for ten minutes.  Roll out a refrigerated pie crust to fit casserole dish.  I used a 10" x 10" Corning dish.  Pour filling into casserole dish, and top with 

crust fitting it to pan.  Make a few slits into the top, brush with egg wash, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 400 degrees, or until bubbling, and brown on top.  

Ok.  This is the first time I have ever posted a recipe, so if it's wonky, please let me know.   I hope you try it, and like it as much as we do.  We love it!  

By the way, a big thank you to those of you who have joined my site, or left comments for me.  It warms my heart, really!! Thank you.  xxoo

Later.........  JO

Football and Crochet!

FOOTBALL AND CROCHET!  

That's all I have to say for today!  xxoo

Later.......JO

Housecleaning!

Hellooooo......

I know, housecleaning is not the most interesting subject of the day, but it is my subject of the day, I am afraid.  I am not a meticulous housekeeper, but I do like me house to be somewhat orderly, and it is NOT at the moment.  Sooooo...... I must do some housework today.  Of course, I started out the day in bed, with my cup of tea, reading blogs of all the interesting things others are doing and I am not,  and started longing to just sit and crochet all day, but I scratched that thought quickly, came in the kitchen, emptied the dishwasher, and loaded last night's dishes.  See, I hadn't even done last night's dishes.

We had strawberry shortcake for dinner last night.  Just that.  Do you ever do that?  We had had a nice  lunch out together and weren't very hungry (look at these bowls, does that look  like we weren't very hungry? )lol, and I had a nice bowl of fresh strawberries in the fridge, so that's what we had. Anyway, so I have been working on my house this morning, and this afternoon;  cleaning the kitchen, dishes, laundry, picking up things left around the house, junk mail, and organizing in general.  Then,tomorrow, when it is Crochet and Football day, I can relax and crochet.  I hope.  Today is Red Sox day, game four of the playoffs, and I can't miss that game.  Actually that is soon, and I have to pick up Noah from work.  Better get cracking!

Later.......JO.         Go, Red Sox!!

Title Change

Hellooooooo......

I have changed my blog title, name, to Aging Gracefully, although nothing about me is particularly graceful, I just didn't like the "old" title (pardon the pun).  It just sounds nicer, don't you think, a little more polished.  Hope you don't mind - I am a bit fickle -  but I just was not comfortable with the title!  Hope the change doesn't keep you from following me.

Later...........   JO  

Somebody Help Me!!

Yes!  Somebody help me.  Took my grandson to work at 7:00 a.m., (his car is out of commission), and on the way home, thought I would stop by some yard sales.  Did I mention I LOVE yard sales.  Love other people's treasures (junk), and imagining what I might be able to do with it.  RECYCLING  at its best!  I've been looking for something to use for a table in front of my little red love seat in the family room.  I've seen a cute rustic table, but it was $129.00, and I don't want to spend that much so I keep looking.  I found these two, and they have nice little wooden feet on them, and one is slightly taller than the other, which I actually like, so I got them for $7.00 for the pair.  Whoa!  I was lovin' that!  But I need another project like I need warts, and yet...... I bought them anyway.

Anyway, I must stop doing this.  I guess it is kind of my personality.  I get obsessed with things.  I just read on someone's  blog yesterday ( sorry, I can't remember whose it was),  that she gets into too many projects, and then doesn't seem to get anything done, cause she's jumping from one to another.  That's me!  Gotta stop doing this, work on one thing at a time and finish them.  Yes, MUM, I am working on finishing the green afghan, and hopefully will post pics of the finished product next week.  Maybe during my Crochet  and Football Sunday this weekend.  I know that the following Sunday is your tea, and that will trump over football!  I haven't forgotten.

So, that is one way that I need help.  No more yard sales, til I finish a few things.  Right?  The other way I need help is, that now that I bought these two adorable basket type seat thingys that I will use for coffee tables, I am not sure what to do with them.  As you can see they are a bit beat up, and I thought I would like to paint them.  Has anyone had any experience with painting this kind of surface, and do you have any idea for color? I have the red love seat, a black Windsor chair next to it, an oriental type rug, and white walls.  I want something cheery and bright, I think, but not white.  What do you think?  Help?!!  Any ideas will be appreciated.

Ok.  Thanks for listening.  And stop giving me so many great ideas!  (I don't mean it!)

Later..........  JO

I Was Melancholy

So, I was reading a post from thepioneerwoman.com, and she was making homemade applesauce.  I hadn't even thought about homemade applesauce in years, but all of a sudden it made me melancholy. We lived on a small "farm" in a small town in Massachusetts for many years, where we had almost four acres of land, with chickens, pigs, goats, geese and lots of garden.  So, I sold eggs, corn, tomatoes and strawberries, just at a little table on the street where we lived.  It was a main thoroughfare, so it was pretty busily travelled.

I loved those days, as I was raising my kids, busy every day with them, their activities, the farm, my hubby, etc., etc.  It was hard work, but lots of fun, too.  I miss that.  We had bonfires at parties, hayrides for the kids a few times, grew pumpkins, and delighted in watching the kids try to pick up the biggest one they could.  And I canned, froze veggies and fruits,  milked a goat every day,just for our own use, and had meat from the pigs, and eggs from the chickens, strawberries when they were in season, etc.  I LOVED that life.  That kind of life continued when we moved to Vermont in 1978' and had a 119 acre farm there.  A proper farm.  We had a few cows, raised heifers, had chickens, and I continued canning, and freezing, etc.

To get to the point, I used to buy bushels of apples, especially in Massachusetts, and I would make pies and freeze them, and applesauce, and Apple butter.  I canned the applesauce and apple butter, and in those days, I had an old hand worked food mill.  I would cut the apples, skin, core and all, simmer them with a little water, til they were cooked, then put them thru the foodmill.  Because I left the skin on, the applesauce would have a nice pink color from those skins.   And it was the most delicious applesauce I ever had.  I would can as many jars as I could, cause we all loved it! and it would be gone before we knew it.  Here's the food mill.  Yep, I still have it.  To me, that wasn't work, it was just plain heavenly fun!


SorryI am getting long- winded.  Well, I have decided if I can find enough apples,  probably not at the grocery store, as they are too expensive, I am going to make applesauce.  I am so excited!  I'll check out farmer's markets, maybe I can find a bushel there.

Anyway , I WAS melancholy, but then I determined I would find cheaper apples and make my applesauce, so I felt a little better.  But THEN, the doorbell rang and guess what I had there?  My package was delivered from Susanbranch.com that I had ordered about ten days ago.   I haven't even unpacked all of it yet, but that package did the trick.  I am no longer Melancholy!!!  I know I WILL HAVE applesauce soon, and I have all these little goodies waiting for me as I unpack the box that arrived.  I waited a long time to order these items, and now they have come.  Isn't life beautiful?

I have got to get busy and start supper, and then I can open the box, and then go outside. And sit on the patio in this wonderful Fall air, and crochet, with a cup of tea.  Now, WHY would I be melancholy???

Later....  JO

P.S.  If you haven't visited The Pioneer Woman, or Susan Branch, do so soon, as they are both wonderful places to visit!!  xxoo

The Old Lady Won! TEMPORARILY!

Well, the old lady won!  I never did get back to sleep the other night.  I slept earlier, woke up around 1:00 a.m., and never got back to sleep.  So, I gave in, crocheted, took a shower, and got over to the yard sale at 6:30 a.m.  We were very busy Friday, and sold quite a bit; got home about 2:30 in the afternoon, went right to bed, as I was so tired.  I slept until 5:00 and then went out for supper with my hubby.  Back to bed at 10:30 and slept right thru until 6:30 this a.m., at which time I packed up my patio table and chairs for the yard sale, and headed over there.  We didn't do as well today, but I did sell the table and chairs, so now I can go ahead with my plans for the kitchen table, of which I will show some pics tomorrow, along with my other projects.
So the old lady took over a little for a couple of days.  I will have my Crochet and Football Day again tomorrow, as it is Sunday.  So that means a good day of rest, and then watch out, old lady!
later....  JO

Go away, old lady!

It's 3:00 in the morning, and I have to get up at 6:00, and I can't sleep.  I tried playing games - too busy.  I tried my favorite activity on the IPad - Pinterest - filled my head with too many future projects.  I tried reading blogs - made me feel like I don't do enough.  I think there's an old lady trying to get into my head, as I have felt very tired for the past few days, but she's not gettin in!  She's trying to creep up on me, but it's not gonna happen.  Gotta tell myself - Self, you are just tired, cause you have been busy lately.  And tomorrow is no exception.  Brother-in-law is having a big yard sale, and I am going over to help.  Maybe that will get me going again.  I LOVE yard sales.  There will be me, him, my brother, and my niece.  We laugh, have coffee, or iced tea, bagels for breakfast, get a pizza later, and have a great old gabfest in the meantime.  We don't get together often enough.  And...... We will sell stuff!  Great fun, albeit tiring.
Yeah, that's what is going to happen.  So go away, old lady!  You have no place here.  Now, for some hot chocolate, and then I will go to sleep.  That'll work.  And just think, I can bring my crocheting with me and work on that!  It'll be a perfect day.  I can sleep tomorrow night!    Later......JO

Loving Fall Days!

Ok.  Here I am again, and I got the pics I wanted.  The first is the rhubarb pie and salmon I made a couple of weeks ago.  The others are of the garland I made from a pattern by Karen Wiederhold, a pumpkin garland, and I love it.  Thank you, Karen!  I sent pics to my daughter and she wants one too, so I started one for her.  That will cheer up her little apartment. 

All this blog work is confusing at times, but maybe after a couple of years, I will be expert at it, like some of you other wonderful bloggers that I see.  Your work is soooooo inspiring, and it has egged me on to do more and more.  I'm lovin' it!!  All of this has helped me so much, and I can't thank you all enough.  I was in such a rut, and all I had to do was look at all of you, and the lives that you deal with, then pick up my crochet hook, and go to it!  

Anyway, to Fall Days...... I LOVE Fall!  Of course, it is not the same in Arizona as it was in Massachusetts, or in Vermont, but it is wonderful nonetheless.  If I go up North a bit, I will be able to see more foliage, but the weather here is absolutely glorious!  It is still in the 80's and even 90's this week, but will begin to cool down a little more next week, I think.  I tend to try to drag myself out of bed a little earlier in the Fall, as I want to drink in every moment of this beautiful weather.  It is so nice to be able to sit out on the patio, have a cup of tea, and read Victoria, or Country Home, or crochet, or just sit and contemplate!  

Well, that means I gotta go, get some work done, and then sit out there again.  In the evenings, it's a cuppa tea or a glass of wine!   Later.....JO

I'm not a quitter!

Ok.  I did it once, then the whole post disappeared.   So I try again.  Below, is the breakfast bake that I made and everybody loved!   And a slice of it on the plate.  Ham, potatoes, peppers, eggs; it was delish!    

Then the pics of squares of my new afghan.   It's coming along.  And my newest pillow.   Which I absolutely love.  I still have some things to figure out on this photo adding thing, but I will do it.  

Later.....JO

Football and Crochet!

Today is Sunday!   That means football!  And, since I have to sit still, for the most part,, to watch football, then I might as well crochet.   Right?  I would do a little ironing, but you know how I feel about Sundays.  Fun things!  Tomorrow, maybe, ironing and back to the shed.  A little, at least.

Yesterday, I found a pretty white tablecloth at a yard sale ( love yard sales ) , but I don't want white, so I tea-dyed it, and it is perfect!  Now, I had seen a nice idea on Pinterest where they took doilies and sewed them around the edge of the tablecloth, and I loved it.  I have some old doilies that I don't know what to do with, so voila!, that's what I am going to do.  I know already that I don't have enough, so this week, I'll have an excuse to do some yard sales.  They are in abundance in the Fall and the Spring, here in our community in Arizona, so I hope to find some pretty doilies.  This may take awhile, cause I don't have a sewing machine, and it will have to be all hand sewing.

My herb garden is doing well, (Sept. 8 Post).  Haha.  I have been using some of the basil and oregano, and thyme, which has been nice.  I so long for a garden, but....., so I do with what I have.  I love the photos of and ramblings about, other bloggers' gardens!

I also have another nice project I want to work on soon, while it is cooler.  That is an old drop leaf table that was my mother's.  I am not sure what I want to do with it, but I am thinking painting it a pretty robins egg blue, or light turquoise.  Any ideas????  I'm open to ideas.  I'm going to use it in my kitchen, and move my white wrought iron and glass table with chairs to the patio.

Well,  I wish a enjoyable, blessed Sunday to you all.  Thank you for your comments.  I welcome more, if you feel inclined.  Have a great day!

Later.......  JO

Procrastinator!

That's what I am!  I am a terrible procrastinator.  I've been procrastinating cleaning my storage shed, which is attached to my patio.  But when I almost couldn't step foot into it anymore, I thought it might be time.  Haha.  So, I started it yesterday.  I did a little with the help of my grandson, but I can only do a little at a time, due to my back, and my knee, mostly.  Ouches!  So,today my back hurts.  Of course.  Anyway, while I was cleaning I found some craft supplies in a plastic tub.  Also, I found a partially finished (naturally, because I am a procrastinator)  sweater, in a pretty red color.  The back and one side are done, but the other side was not.  But there was no pattern there.  (What was I thinking?)  so now I have to pray that I kept the pattern and look for it.   AND!!,  there was no extra yarn, just enough for the second front, I think, but not enough for the sleeves.  That's ok, as I can just make it into a vest, but if I can't find the pattern I am out of luck.  I am not a really talented knitter, but maybe I can figure out from the other front what to do on this one.  Oh, why do I procrastinate???

All I can do is try.  But not right now, as I have too many things in the mix now.  It is just one of several projects that I haven't finished, another of which is a beautiful pineapple tablecloth, but I'll have tell you about that another time.  I can't bear to think about it.  Right now, I have finished all the squares for my new afghan, so I want to get that put together.   Then, by Monday, I have to work on the shed again. Please, Lord, don't let me find any more unfinished projects!  Later, JO

Life, more usual!

Life is getting back to the usual.  Summer is over,  Fall is here, the holidays are coming.  So, I am starting to think who is going to do Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, etc.  Did I forget Halloween?  No, not really.  We live in a senior living community.  One of those 55 and older places, where it's so clean and neat, quiet and where there are no children.  Or very rarely, anyway.  Grandchildren visit but only for hours at a time.  No children to give out candy to.  I miss the children in the area, but I do like how it is nice and clean and quiet.  But again, I miss having children around; to see their little faces, speak with them, and especially to see their faces at Halloween when they come to the door.  When we lived in Massachusetts, we always had a big bowl of candy by the door, and we dressed up our kids, and our grandson, and took them around the neighborhood, too!  I remember trick or treating when I was a child, usually with my twin brothers, and looking into our goodie bags under the street lights, to see what we had, or could exchange with one another.  Such fun!
Anyway, getting back to life as usual.  Usually, I do Thanksgiving, as it is my favorite holiday of the year.   I also used to do a appetizer thing for Christmas Eve, and then my sister did Christmas dinner.  Last year was different, as it was the first Christmas since my sister passed away, and the holidays aren't the usual anymore.  So, we have to work out how things will be done from here on out.  We'll make it work.  But things will not be the same.
Also, as usual, all our favorite shows are back, so that gives me a lot of time to work on projects, as I can't sit and watch tv without doing something else.  That's just how I am.  I think I talked about this before, saying I can't sit still in one place for long without doing something with my hands, usually.  I iron, I fold clothes, I sort junk mail, and I love to crochet or knit.
Speaking of crochet, my afghan squares are almost done, and I will be putting it together soon.   Almost time to look for another project!  Ooh, goodie!  I see so much inspiration on others' blogs, etc., it is overwhelming, but I will keep trying to improve my talents.   Ummm, my efforts.  I don't consider myself talented.  I am not a really creative person, as are some of you bloggers out there.  I just enjoy the crafts sooooo much, I want to be like all of you.  So I will keep up my efforts, and have fun with it in the meantime.  Thank you all so much for the inspiration!  My praises to you!
On another subject, my other love, cooking, at which I am not an expert either, I made some absolutely delicious  muffins this a.m.  I had a very ripe banana, which I often use with apples, and baking mix.  But today, I made them a little differently, and impulsively, I might add.   I used the banana, baking mix, egg, sugar, orange marmalade, and cream instead of milk.  OMG. They were light, and delicious!  I hope I can copy the recipe another time, because I didn't measure.  Like I said, impulsive!  I have a bad habit of doing that.  
Well, I've got to go.  Tomorrow I will make an upside down cranberry cake.    Later.....JO