Autumn tidings of cheer

Hello and a happy day to you, reader!

I hope you are enjoying the autumn season so far.

Fall leaves along Route 6, McKean County, PA

Up until today, we've recently been having some very summer-like weather.  For the past week and a half it has been in the low 80's and rather humid.  

I love fall and I've been kind disappointed with the reluctance of summer to give up its hold on our area.  A cold front blew through today with some much needed rain, and we're going to be in the mid 60's for the rest of the week.  Woohoo! 

I've been enjoying Orange and Spice tea (Bigelow brand) lately, just because it's the right time of the year to start enjoying it.  I haven't always been a tea drinker, but I do enjoy many of the herbal varieties.  I love iced tea, as well, but I consider that more of a spring/summer beverage, so come fall/winter, I start breaking out the tea. 

We went on a vacation last week and enjoyed our time in Western Pennsylvania.  I didn't take a ton of photos, but here are a few that we did take.  

Chapman State Park was our first stop.  While there, we came across (and hiked) a rail trail.

I wish we could have watched the old puffing, chuffing locomotives roll through the area!

 

The mist of the early morning greeted us on our hike! 

 

Sadly, when these were railroads, it meant that the timber from the land was taken- typically stripped till there were no trees left at all.  Thankfully, responsible forestry has been integrated so that logging no longer entails stripping the land down to nothing.  

We stayed in a cute little camping cottage.  

Camping Cottage 3

 Chapman State Park had some really nice hikes.  We went on a few, but I wished we could have gone on more.  The scenery was beautiful.  

Nature Trail

A few days later, we took the boat out to Lake Erie and went fishing on Presque Isle bay.  

On our way out, we saw these turtles hanging out on a log!   

 Map turtles

 

We putted out into Misery Bay where we saw the Perry Monument

 There's a boat tour company that is right in Misery Bay, too.  You can pay to take a ride on the Lady Kate and see scenic Lake Erie and learn about the history of the area.  Since we were here in mid-September, the tours were done for the year.  

The Lady Kate

 

Scott heard that the steel head were running up from the lake.  I believe they are a cross between a trout and a salmon.  They stay in Lake Erie until fall, and then migrate up into the tributary steams and spawn in the springtime.  These fish are a huge draw to the area.  In the late fall and winter, you'll see men lined up elbow to elbow trying to take one of these trophies home.  

Steel Head Trout in Walnut Creek

 Sometimes I feel like all we ever do on our vacations is fish, but then I remember how much my hubby loves it.  It really relaxes him and puts him in a great mood- whether he catches fish or not.  (And he usually does catch fish.) 

We were at Pymatuning later on that night and I captured this photo that I really liked. 

 

 It was dark enough that my camera couldn't quite capture anything but the outline of these plants.  I thought it was kind of pretty. 

We took a tour of Ohio Amish country and stopped at Heini's Cheese Chalet.  That place was huge.  They had around 50 different kinds of cheese that you could sample and purchase.  It was an interesting place, to say the least.  

 Heini's Cheese Chalet

We drove past this display, which I thought was really amazing!  

Someone had taken the time to fill the entire bed of this pick up truck with pumpkins and gourds!  I was on the wrong side of the bus to get a good picture- this is the best out of the 3 that I took, and it's still a little blurry, but you can kind of get the idea.  

 

After a long day of shopping and sampling, we stopped at Der Dutchman for supper.  No joke, I ate the best chicken I've ever had in my life there.  It was superb.  

 

It was a very fun (and long) day.  We both had a wonderful time.  

We drove home after staying at my parent's house for a few days, and then a couple days at the camp.  

 After a quick stop at the Kinzua Dam to use the facilities and check out the visitor center, we were on our way home.  

Kinzua Dam

 

We were treated to beautiful (early) leaf foliage while driving across Route 6.  

That was our vacation.  It wasn't a thrill a minute, but it was relaxing and fun!  :)  

Upon coming home, I've finally cleaned and decorated the place for autumn.  We bought a couple beautiful mums and some festive pumpkins and gourds to set on the front porch.  I'll have to post a picture of those some other day, since it is pitch dark outside right now.  

I bought a kit earlier this year to make 2 gallons of root beer.  I finally made it tonight.  It needs to ferment for a few days and then we can drink it!  I'm excited to see how it turned out.  Here's a picture of the finished bottles!

I'll be sure and let you know how it turned out.  :) 

I think that's about all for tonight, folks.  I pray that you have a great week and are enjoying the weather wherever you are.  Keep the home fires burning!  

Blessing to you my friend,

Mandy

 

Summer photos

Hello reader!

In my last post, I mentioned a few of the things we did this summer.  I thought maybe you'd like to see a few photographs of our adventures!


First up, our trip to Philadelphia!

Here is a picture of the Christ Church.  This place of worship hasn't missed a Sunday service since 1695, when it was founded! 

 

 Next up, we visited the famed Liberty Bell.  Let freedom ring! 

 

Here is a shot of the mall area, from the Constitution center.  Independence Hall looks sort of dinky compared to the buildings that now surround it!   

 Here is a picture inside Independence Hall.  In this very room, the Constitution was written and signed. 

 

 The Bourse Building- we ate lunch here.  There are many neat shops and eateries inside this beautiful old building. (It's the brown one in the middle!)

Here we are in the Constitution center 

 

Just across the street is the United States mint.  If you have coins in your pocket at this moment, chances are some of them were minted in this very building. 

A few weeks after we visited historic Philadelphia, we were on our way to Virginia to visit with Scott's cousins!

Our first stop was at Colonial Williamsburg.  We fearlessly hoofed through the streets in the hot and muggy 98 degree weather!

Here is a photo of the Governer's Mansion:

Here is a shot looking down the main street.  It was so quaint and lovely.  I'd be happy to go back, although I would prefer the weather be a tad cooler!  

 

We stopped at beautiful Yorktown Beach and had our picture taken here.  You can see the boat "The Alliance" in the background.  You can pay a fee and take a trip on this old fashioned sailing ship.  

The next day, we stopped and took a tour of the Yorktown Battlefield.  Here is a photograph of the Victory Monument.  It is HUGE!  It's also on a beautiful spot- you can see the York river just on the other side of those trees. 

 

We took a side trip to Virginia Beach on our last evening there. 

 

I thought this photo of the pier in the fading daylight was beautiful.  It was nice to dip our toes in the ocean 

 

before we returned home!

After our trip to Virginia, we went out to my parents to celebrate!  My brother Mike, and his fiancee, Barb, were recently married!  They had a reception at my parent's home.  

My Aunt Kathy surprised me with these:

 

It's an old set of Fire King dishes!  We had these in our family camp when I was growing up and we always called them "The camp-y dishes" as kids.  I love these bowls and mugs and was thrilled that she found them for me.  What a wonderful surprise!  :)

Anywhoo....


Back to the festivities! 


My niece Kendall was all tired out from drinking a delicious bottle, so I watched her and helped my mom inside while everyone was busy setting up the tables and chairs outdoors.  Isn't she a cutie pie? 

Here are the Mr. and Mrs.!  Congratulations, Mike and Barb!  

When we have parties, my dad typically cooks chickens on a spit- this time was no exception.  Don't they look delicious?  This is just before they were taken off and chopped up.  Yum yum! 

After the reception, we spent the night at my parent's home and caught up with my family.  We had a great time hanging out and getting to see Kendall was a fun bonus, too!

The weekend after that, my mother-in-law came out to stay with us for a few days and visit.  Here we all are at R B Winter State park.  My 2 year old niece, Abigail, is having a fun time playing in the chilly waters of Halfway dam.  I tried taking a few pictures of her, but she is always on the go and wasn't really in the mood for pictures!  lol  

 

Scott and Maggie (his mom) at the overlook in RB Winter State Park.  

Whew!  We've been busy this summer- running here and there.  When we finally had a weekend where we didn't need to do anything special, we decided we wanted to go to Briar Creek park and grill up some burgers.

Here is Scott manning the grill.  (This is just after we lit the charcoal, he doesn't really burn our food!  lol!) 

After eating, we took a walk around the park and posed for a picture. 

 

My husband managed to paint our back back to a nice glossy red this past month.  Doesn't it look spiffy?  He got some retro "Starcraft" stickers to put on the side of it, which made him a super happy fella.  I doubt you can see them in this photo, but they have the arrow running behind "Starcraft".  I would guess it was their logo in the 60's or early 70's.  

Here is the boat and truck right before launching at Rickett's Glenn State Park. 

 

It was the best fishing we've ever had at Lake Jean!  (Inside Rickett's Glenn SP).  

Here is Scott with a really nice perch. 

 

This was perch number two- he was a tad smaller than perch number 1, but we measured him anyway.

He also caught two chain pickerel while we were out there.  Unfortunately, due to the sunny weather and the bimini top on the boat, most of the pictures came out kind of like this one- 

 

rather shadow-y.  

All fishies were safely released back into the water.  They took off in a big hurry!  

So, there you have it, reader.  Just a glimpse into what I've been up to since June.  

As you can see, we weren't spending a lot of time at home- we were out running around like nobody's business!  

I hope that you liked my little photo tour.  I had a fun time putting it together, although it took a long, long, long time for my internet connection to upload all these photos.  Slow and steady wins the race!  lol 

Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for stopping by.  

Feel free to comment or ask any questions.  

May God bless you!  :) 

Country apple blessings

Hello again,

I'm so sorry that I've not posted anything for quite some time.  This summer has gotten away from me.

I'm ashamed to admit that most of July was spent in worry/anxiety.  I got notice for jury duty up in Scranton.  I wouldn't mind serving jury duty, except that I would have to drive into Scranton by myself.  I feel as though I must have mentioned it before, but driving sort of terrifies me.  If I never had to drive a car again, I would be okay with that.  At any rate, I mostly laid low...well, I felt as though I did, although we had tons going on! 

In fact, this has been one of the busiest summers I remember. 
My parents came out to visit 4th of July weekend, and my mother in law was in that weekend, too.  Two weeks later, we were off to visit my hubby's cousins in Virginia Beach.  Whew!  That place is crowded!  (We had a great time, though!!)  We had a week or two off again before more visitors came our way, my company picnic, my brother and new sister-in-law's wedding reception, and plenty of picnics, family get togethers, and lots of warm weather in between! 

Whew!  It's nice to have had two weekends in a row where we didn't have any plans.  In two weeks, we will be leaving to go on our vacation- which is really just a trip home to my mom and dad's house.  We'll be stopping at Chapman State Park first.  We'll stay two nights there in a camping cottage and hopefully catch up with a friend we haven't seen for a couple years. 

Next, we're heading down my parent's home, where we are planning on visiting with my family, and as a special treat, we booked a 1 day Anderson Bus trip.  It's called "Brown Bag Amish tour" and we'll be touring all sorts of Amish homes and businesses in Holmes County, Ohio.  At each stop, we get another free goodie for our brown bags!  Doesn't that sound like fun?  I know I am looking forward to it.  In addition to this, we're dragging the boat behind us and I'm sure my husband will be thrilled to fish Pymatuning, Conneaut Lake, and Presque Isle. 

After that, we're traveling to Tionesta, where we'll be meeting up with my Mother-in-law and we'll stay at my family's camp to celebrate her birthday.  I hope that we'll have a fun time and I know we're both looking forward to the trip! 

Anyway, that's what I've been up to lately!

So, here's the focus of my blog post today...

Do you have a park nearby?  Have you looked around at all?  Some of the parks in our area are loaded with apple trees that produce quite nice fruit.  They are tall and it's not like you can just climb up and pick the apples, but I do walk around and pick up the "drops" to make applesauce with. 

I'm sure not every place is the same, but our park has almost 12 old apple trees.  Some produce a lot of fruit and some produce...well, not very much.  At any rate, it's been a blessing to have a little early applesauce.

I would recommend checking with the park before you just go ahead and start picking apples in case they use them for some sort of demonstration (cider pressing, etc) but ours told us it was okay to just go ahead and pick up whatever we wanted. 

This was a wonderful find and a great free resource. 

I hope that you'll be able to find something similar where you live.

Have a wonderful day and may God Bless you, reader!  :)

Howdy reader! 

I hope that you're enjoying a lovely day.  It's a bit rainy here in Pennsylvania at the moment, but by the weekend, things are supposed to be sunny and nice.  Woohoo! 

We have a trip to Philadelphia this weekend, which both of us are looking forward to.  I will be sure to post some pictures after we get back.  Neither of us is really comfortable driving in the city, so we've opted to take a tour bus trip.  All the fun of the city without putting the miles on your car, getting lost, or (yikes) getting into a bad neighborhood by accident. 

This past weekend, we stayed at hubby's family cabin.  It is two miles off the main road, up a windy and steep dirt lane.  The property borders with a State Game Lands, so it's very quiet.

These past few weeks have been tough, with Beverly passing away, traveling, and trying to keep caught up with everything.  We all needed a bit of time to rest and recharge.  The cabin is a perfect place to do just that.

Scott and Wayne (my father-in-law) fished in the pond.  Actually, they are trying to catch as many fish as they can, because my hubby's great uncle, who owns the place, is draining the pond and is going to dig it out.  In the meantime, they've dug another smaller pond, right behind the old one.  Eventually, they will connect the two, but right now they're trying to get all the fish they can out of the big pond and into the small one! 

As you can see in the photo above, it's pretty filled in and the lily pads and cattails have kind of gone haywire!  These will all be dug out and the area with the cattails will actually be turned into a beach area so we can all swim in the pond again. 


Here are a few of the critters we spotted-

This lovely butterfly was outside of the cabin Saturday morning.  There were a whole bunch of them, but this one's picture seemed to come out the nicest.

And this cute little 5-lined skink.  He was pretty small.  This picture makes him look a lot bigger than he really was! 

We had to get a family shot before we left.  Here we are, refreshed and ready to head back to civilization.  (Okay, none of us really wanted to leave, but being responsible adults, we realized we had to come home. lol) 

Before we left, I made a few baked goods to take along with us.  My favorite was strawberry coffee cake.  It was delicious and very easy to make- it took hardly any time at all to mix it up and have it popped into the oven to bake.  Here is the recipe:

Strawberry Coffeecake

½ cup milk 

1½ cups sliced fresh strawberries

½ cup sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons  butter, softened

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

½ teaspoon salt 

 

Crumble Topping:

 ¼ cup cold butter

1 cup all-purpose flour 

½ cup sugar 

 

In a mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir to mix. In another bowl, add the egg, milk, and butter; stir; add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Pour mixture into a greased 8-inch square baking dish.Place strawberries evenly over the top of batter.With a pastry blender, cut in the butter until consistency of coarse crumbs.Sprinkle mixture evenly over the strawberries.Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean.

Take your time!

Last night, I was hurriedly cleaning the bathroom, when I suddenly stopped.  Why was I in such a hurry? 

Well, I was in a hurry, because, naturally, after working an 8 hour day, I wasn't really thrilled about cleaning the bathroom...plus I had laundry in the dryer, and needed to get supper started. 

I decided to stop hurriedly scrubbing and stop and think things through.  When I slowed down, I found I was less frustrated and that cleaning, while not enjoyable, certainly became less bothersome. 

Work your way down.  I started by dusting the cobwebs around the tops of the walls/ceiling area. (I wonder how long it has been since I've cleaned up there???)

Next I dusted the light fixtures, took all the stuff off the stand that sets around and above the commode, dusted all the shelves, dusted and cleaned the window and window sill, then work my way down to the toilet, cleaned the sink, and finally swept and mopped the floor.  I will be tackling the tub tonight. 

I found that once I decided I was going to clean in a certain manner, things went a lot better for me.  I wasn't so hurried and unhappy. 

When you clean your house, you are helping your family.  Yay!  :)

I threw together a stir fry for supper last night, which was both filling and light on fat and calories.  It's a good time of the year to start thinking about setting aside recipe ideas for warmer weather.

Those of you with central air probably don't like having your cooling unit running full-out in the summertime, and turning on the oven certainly can add to the burden of the unit. For others, like me, who don't have air conditioning (well, we have a window unit in the bedroom, but that won't help the downstairs at all), you know how miserable it is to come home to an 85 degree house and then have to turn on the oven.  Phew!

At any rate, stove top cooking seems to keep the kitchen cooler, and still produce an edible meal.  I know a lot of people enjoy grilling.  I like to eat grilled food, but I've never been comfortable operating a grill alone.  Call me a wuss.  Go ahead, I know you want to.  lol  At any rate, when it is 90 degrees outside, standing in front of a flaming BBQ is also not my idea of a fun time.  Hubby does grill occasionally on the weekends, but I'm afraid our gas grill is more a lawn ornament than anything.

Anyway I digress...

The other day, I googled warm weather recipes, hoping to find a few new ones to add to the old file.  What I found were oddities like BBQ Miso Eggplant or Squash Souffle.  Um...that might suit some people just fine, but I prefer more...human style food.
Here are a few of my favorite warm weather meals:
Tacos/Taco Salad
Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Cook meat all day in crockpot, come home, shred, add BBQ sauce, eat!)
BBQ Chicken in crockpot
Chicken Salad sandwiches
Green Salad with cubed chicken, strawberries, and feta. (Throw in a handful of sliced almonds if you have them)
Greek salad (diced tomatoes, green pepper, cucumber chunks, feta, and olives tossed with italian dressing)
Baked potato bar (microwave taters till done, then top with all kinds of fun stuff)

So, anyway, those are just a few ideas.  We like eating most all of them and they don't heat up the kitchen much. 

I wanted to leave you with this lovely sunset over Briar Creek Lake.  Hubby has had off the past couple days for bereavement and we've been going there around 7:30 or so to get some exercise in.  The view was stunning on Tuesday night. 

May God bless you, dear reader.  I pray that you are healthy, happy, and having a great day.  :)

Mandy

A tribute to Grandma

I wanted to blog a little bit today about my husband's grandmother, Beverly.

She passed away last Tuesday, May 28 from cancer.  She was 83 years old. 

We celebrated her life yesterday at a beautiful and moving funeral at Calvary Baptist Church, where she had been a member for 50 years. 

I didn't know Grandma well until I married Scott, which was in 2004.  She has instilled a few lasting impressions- I'd like to share a few of those now.

Sunday Dinner- This is my favorite memory of Grandma.  Every Sunday, she would have the entire family (that includes 8+ family members when I joined the family) over at 12:30 for dinner.  She cooked everything from scratch and the menu varied.  Some personal favorites were: Chicken and Waffles (it's a Pennsylvania Dutch dish- think chicken and biscuits, but fresh, crispy homemade waffles instead of biscuits), Pork and Sauerkraut, Hamburg BBQ (that's East-ylvanian for Sloppy Joes from scratch), Chicken and Rice Casserole, and so many others. 

The meal was prepared with care and served piping hot to anyone who came for dinner.  We had a family blessing before eating and everyone truly enjoyed spending time together at Grandma's house Sunday afternoons.

I always helped wash dishes afterward- after all, if someone is kind enough to cook a huge homemade meal for me, the least I can do it help by cleaning up!!  


Sour Cherries- The first year Scott and I moved to Bloomsburg, I remember going to an orchard to pick sour cherries on July 4th.  We spent the day in the sunshine, filling our pails with the red, tangy cherries.  Afterward, we went home and helped grandma take the stones out.  She rewarded us with a big bag of cherries, which I promptly turned into cherry pudding!  (I will definitely have to share that recipe, because it is delicious.) 

Above all, Beverly was involved and active in her church.  She was a true prayer warrior and prayer daily and constantly.  She was loved by her family and friends.  She will be missed very much. 

Running here, there, and everywhere!

Good morning, everyone!  (Or afternoon or evening, depending when you are visiting!)

First of all, a bread update for everyone.  This week's loaf is he best yet.  It rose wayyy up and filled the whole pan and is delicious!  Huzzah!  Now I need to work on texture.  It's not quite as deliciously chewy as I would like.  Perhaps I'm not doing something quite right, or perhaps this recipe simply does not make chewy bread . I thought the problem might be that I didn't knead it long enough, so I set a timer for 10 minutes.  After about 5 I was thinking "Oh!  This is never going to end!"  lol  I managed to knead the dough for about 8 minutes and figured that my arms falling off would be a worse consequence than having not-quite-as-chewy-as-I'd-like bread.  It makes excellent toast.

Anywhoo...


In addition to bread making, we've had quite a lot going on.

We went camping this past weekend, along with my in-laws.  My husband's twin brother, wife, and daughter came on Saturday afternoon and stayed Saturday night.  The weather was less than perfect, but we managed to have a good time, anyway.


We arrived Friday afternoon around 4:00 and quickly set up camp, as it appeared that it might start raining at any time.  Sure enough, 15 minutes after we had the tent up, along came the rain!  It continued to rain all night.

When we woke up on Saturday, we noticed the rain seemed to have slowed down a bit.  Hubby and I took a relaxing walk around the lake (there is a lovely paved path that encircles the lake) and came back to see if anyone else had woken up.  Nope!  We decided to go back in the tent and rest awhile longer since neither of us had slept very well and it was early. (I think we got back to the site around 6:45 am) We awoke about an hour later, and once again it was raining pretty hard.

 It rained until about 2:30 and then started to get nice.  Hurray! 

       Check out the blue sky view from the tent! 

The rest of Saturday, we went on a short hike, enjoyed spending time with our niece, Abigail, and had a campfire/weenie roast.  

Sunday dawned warm and sunny...


                            Good morning! 

  We started tearing down camp and in between eating meals and taking breaks/chatting with one another, we made it out of the campgrounds right at 3:00.  The nice think about camping in a PA State Park is that they offer such a late checkout.  You can stay and enjoy lunch on your last day and still have plenty of time to tear down and pack up. 

It was a nice weekend, all in all, despite the unfavorable weather conditions Friday and Saturday.

On a sadder note, Scott's grandmother, Beverly, has taken a turn for the worse and has been admitted into Hospice care.  She has cancer in several organs and does not wish to pursue treatment.  Please keep my hubby and his family in your prayers as this is a difficult time.