Let the MAGIC BEGIN, Monday, September 29, 2014

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old…

We grow OLD because we STOP playing…”

I THINK that My Friends and I are going to be JUST FINE!  We have been playing.

My friend, Lynn, had the first elf that I knew about and it was not very long before several of my friends wanted an Elf…

Our friend, Miss Brenda Griffith, of The Rusty Thimble, is the maker of our elves, well except for ONE that Miss Ramona made when Miss Brenda had to take a break to care for her mother who had a HORRIBLE fall…so He is NOW one of us, TOO!

She has an etsy shoop and a blog, so be sure to get the links on her page and VISIT!  The Blog link can be found on the left side of my blog.   She is so very talented!

Click HERE to visit The Rusty Thimble on Facebook 

A funny thing happens SOMETIMES when the season’s change…our ELVES awaken and start to explore and to see what they have missed while doing other things in preparation to MAKE THE MAGIC HAPPEN!!

On Sunday, I heard chairs being moved, things being knocked over and a lot of scampering...This is WHAT I found...Poor Charlie…I don’t think he UNDERSTANDS taking a drive to see the fall leaves…He got the car down from the mantle, found some Flower picks, threw them on the floor and had Charcoal to take the picture of his FALL Sunday afternoon drive…He said he had HEARD me talk about taking Fall Drives on Sundays with my family to see the leaves…oh, Charlie, you ARE a Prince, and the FAIREST in ALL the Land, but this is TOO early for the leaves to change colors and this is NOT how we do it in the South…we go OUTSIDE to take a drive...sigh…Oh, Well, He DOES wish you all, Happy Fall!

Sheila’s elf,  Edgar, was helping her decorate on Sunday! He LOVES halloween! She is going to  have to make him a mask that fits!

Sheila is a WONDERFUL artist and does beautiful scroll work.  This is the link to her Facebook page and you can also find her blog link on the right side of my blog. 

 This is the Link to go to Sheila's Facebook Page

Levi Winston III was helping my friend, Linda, pack up an order last week. He's such a great helper! He helped her make a pot of pintos…we ALL hope he didn’t get gassy….eek! 

This is Willie and his first day of fall…Willie was created by Miss Ramona since Miss Brenda had to take care of her mother, but we love Willie and welcome him to our GROUP of Elves…He is doing his very best to keep the CROWS away…

This is the Link to Mindy's Website
She cuts wood for those who can't! 
This is the LINK to Mindy's Facebook Page 

Bernard,  is another member of the group…he was out RIDING the Flamingo’s (doesn’t EVERY ONE do this) on the first day of fall!

Wendy is one of the most AMAZING sculptures that I have seen…She specializes in gourds and had EDUCATED all of us in “gourd sex” to teach us how she pollinates the blooms in the summer…Oh dear me, the things I have learned that I NEVER KNEW I needed to know!  Please go visit Wendy’s page on Facebook.

This is the LINK to Wendy's Page

I’ve introduced all of you to Hinkley in a previous blog post…Hinkley has had a tough year…He was created to replace the original elf when he was lost in a housefire on Cape Cod…It has been a TOUGH year for Lynn, but it is WONDERFUL to see the journey she has shared with us to FINALLY be HOME AT LAST…You will want to visit Lynn’s Facebook page to keep up with her WONDERFUL documentation of the struggles and JOYS…You can also find her blog link on the left side of my blog…

This is the LINK to Lynn's Facebook Page 

No, there is ONE elf we are STILL trying to find…His name is HOMER, but oh dear me…This PICTURE shows his Momma, who is searching for him and NOW we KNOW why he is HIDING…

 

Don't expect to see Homer this year...can you BLAME him??

Oh dear me…My friends are CRA-CRA, but I would NOT have it any other way…

Have a great week and I HOPE that I have put a smile on your face…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte

Apples and Fall, Sunday, September 21, 2014

There is something about Fall and Apples!  Once it becomes cooler, I start to crave fresh apples…I guess it goes back to when we had a WONDERFUL Apple Orchard in our county.  We would ALWAYS stop there on our way back from Appalachian Homecoming the First Week of October and Mother and I would make at least one more trip to have sandwiches/soup.  I really do miss the Robin’s Nest!

There isn’t much better than slicing an apple and dipping it into caramel, either!  Mother would often put apple slices on our plates for supper and while I would not be too excited when I saw it, ONCE I bit into an apple, the slices were soon gone…HOW COULD I FORGET how much I like apples?

A few years back, we had a summer storm, which is absolutely NORMAL for Middle Tennessee and Mother called me to tell me that she and Daddy were fine…I hated to admit that I didn’t realize it was even storming, since I worked an hour away and we didn’t have windows in my office.  Mother had said that the small shed that was once used to house my oldest brother’s first show cows, BUT what REALLY upset her was the fact that they lost the apple tree. 

Mother LOVED that apple tree and would often sing as she walked the short way down the lane to get a bucket full of apples to prepare for lunch…they were the PERFECT apples for her.  We mourned the loss of that apple tree for the rest of her life, even though friends and family kept her well-supplied with apples, knowing how she loved cooked apples.

We tried our BEST to grow another apple tree, but the invasion of those crazy beetles ate EVERY leaf and a tree cannot live without leaves…Daddy finally just gave up!

During the last two years of Mother’s life, I tried EVERYTHING I could think of to give her something to do and to keep her hands as busy as I could, and that often meant stopping to pick up apples from my cousin’s house for mother to peel and put into the freezer!  It became a JOKE that if Cheryl (her niece) called to invite her to the house for the day, she KNEW it was to PEEL APPLES!

Thank YOU God, for APPLES and the MEMORIES they bring to my heart.

On Saturday, I think I went into APPLE OVERLOAD.  I had, what in my opinion, was the PERFECT FALL LUNCH.  I made a grilled cheese sandwich on 12-grain bread with a mix of Cheddar, Mozzarella, and Parmesan Cheese and a Slice of ham.  When I took it off of the heat, I added sliced lettuce and a tomato.  I also had a SLICED apple, a few grapes and I opened a NEW FRESH bag of Lay’s Potato Chips.  I ALSO had some Apple Cider with a splash of SPARKLING Apple Cider for some added FIZZ…OH DEAR!  It was so Delicious!

SO, keeping in the THEME of Apples, later in the night, I made Apple Dumplings!!  YES, I will make them again.  I did not have Granny Smith Apples, but I did have Tart McIntosh Apples, so that is what I used…I used 4 apples instead of the two BIG Apples and placed 2 pieces into each triangle of crescent roll…NEXT Time I make it, I think I will use an extra slice of apple in each dumpling since there was so much sugar, but I thought they were pretty good AND they passed the ULTIMATE TASTE TEST of CHARCOAL!!

I KNOW, I am a BROKEN record, but if you have never had the JOY of eating a freshly picked piece of fruit or a vegetable, make plans to MAKE that HAPPEN…there is no way for me to simply WRITE how wonderful the taste difference is!!

I HOPE that you will take the time to enjoy one of YOUR FALL Favorites this week…NOTHING beats making a FOOD MEMORY!

Have the most BLESSED of Days and STOP to ENJOY the beauty that is all around YOU…blessings to YOU…~charlotte

APPLE DUMPLINGS

2 large Granny Smith apples

2 (10-oz) cans refrigerated crescent rolls

3⁄4 c butter (1 1⁄2 sticks), melted

1 1⁄2 c sugar

1 T cinnamon

1 (12-oz) can Mountain Dew, Mellow Yellow or Sierra Mist (clear carbonated soda) (this is 1 1/2 cups)

Peel and cut each apple into 8 wedges. Separate crescent rolls and wrap one roll around each piece of apple. (I had small apples, so I used 4 apples and put 2 pieces into each triangle.) Pour half of melted butter in a (9 X 13-inch) baking dish and place apple rolls side by side in baking dish. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top of rolls. Drizzle with remaining butter and pour soda on top. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 8-10 servings

note:  this looks like a LOT of sugar, and it is, but IF you use Granny Smith Apples, you will NEED the sugar! It really is delicious.