green. really?

We have never used green as a color in decorating our home. I've never even had green in my wardrobe. But it's become a new feature color in our living room and kitchen. And I love it! Hubby also painted the fireplace white. The painting is not quite done yet, due to a freakish eye injury he suffered on Sunday. We got him in to see a top-notch doc yesterday, and it's not as bad as we feared. Fortunately, he should be healed in a day or two.

By the way, the new Behr paint with primer in it is really good stuff. Here's the fireplace as a work-in-progress. My sweet hubby did a beautiful job! After 26 years of not really loving the fireplace in the living room, I'm loving my "new" white fireplace. Thanks, Hon!

pumpkin pie & piano

What happens when you run out of pumpkin pie? You make more! Right about this time each year, I start making pumpkin pie until my family begs me to stop. I love pumpkin pie and they do too. I just think I love it more. For the guys in the family, it's a perfect excuse to consume whipped cream. They'll put whipped cream on just about anything.

I use the Libby's pumpkin pie recipe, but I substitute fat-free instead of regular evaporated milk. To me, that gives it a lighter taste (and is better for you). I've got a nice little collection of Longaberger pie plates (they're awesome), and I look for just about any excuse to bake a pie. Ooh, I can smell this pumpkin pie as it's baking now. MmmMmm!

And here's Noah after his piano performance at this year's Fall Festival this past Saturday. He played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (first movement) beautifully. His dad and I were so proud! I captured a video of the performance on my new cell phone. Now we just have to figure out how to get it off the phone and onto a computer. I'll update when that happens. : : Better go check on that pie!

Happy Veteran's Day

Thank you to all those who have served our great nation. May we prove ourselves deserving of your courage, dedication and sacrifices.

tamale pie

This is another item I recently got from my Aunt Shirley's house - a vintage Corning Ware covered cassarole dish. I actually gasped when I opened the cupboard door and saw it! I have a fondness for Pennsylvania Dutch designs and this reminds me of that style. So yesterday I used it for the first time to make Two-Bean Tamale Pie, a yummy recipe from a vegetarian cookbook my sister Deborah gave us many years ago. It got three thumbs up at dinner.

fall-ish

Finally, some cool-ish weather here, and it's time for chocolate chip pumpkin muffins.

Got them out of the oven just before I dashed off to work.

And on another "note," here's Noah and the awesome Ms. Marina at a piano recital several weeks ago. Awesome teacher + awesome student = beautiful music!

car :: dance :: retro mixer

Recent events at i.a.n.b.d.

CAR ::

Noah finally got himself some wheels! Actually, it's my step-dad's 11-year-old Buick, but it's in great shape. Took awhile to get the paperwork in order, but now Noah's got wheels and he's a happy camper! And so am I since I've been sharing my wheels with one offspring or another for four years. We worked it out beautifully most of the time, but it's a blessing to not have to do all that figuring out of shedules. Whew!

DANCE ::

Emily's dance company, Chara, took their 2009-10 company member pictures recently, and they are exquisite! So proud of my ballerina.

RETRO MIXER ::

My dear cousin Lonnie invited me and my sis over to his mom's house to pick out something to remember our Aunt Shirley by. We each got a piece of art that reminds us of her. And I was able to convince Lonnie that I would give her mixer (over 40 years old!) a very loving home.

Well, I think it was love at first sight when my hubby got a look at it. He cleaned it up all brand-spanking-new and hurried over to Ace Hardware to get a brand new cord, since the original one was twisted up from all those years of preparing wonderful food. (He even gave our "old" hand mixer to Emily! Who needs two hand mixers?)

Maybe we'll get another 40 years out of this beauty. That's lots of pancakes and mashed potatoes (two of hubby's specialties).

BTW, I managed to do a little sewing/crafting last weekend.

Emily asked for an iron and ironing board while she was home last weekend. I had recently inherited my mom's iron, which is much nicer than the one I had, so I gifted Emily my old iron. In the garage was an old (kind of stinky) tabletop ironing board that had also been my mom's. So quick as a wink, I fashioned a new ironing board cover and pad with items on hand. The new fabric is much more "Emily" than the old (on the right). She gave me a happy, smiling "Thanks, Mom!" <3

a donkey named Carol

Ever since I was a young girl, I've had a soft spot for donkeys. One morning in June, I visited the donkeys over at Bear Creek Park and snapped this picture. They've got two donkeys there and they come right up to the fence to see the visitors.

Recently I was thinking about donkeys and realized I really don't know much about them, so I did a google search and found this sweet, sweet story about a donkey named Carol.

This little donkey belonged to my Grandmother B. I've always wondered who gave it to her. And I'm sure this little donkey never really had a name. Maybe Carol would be a good name for her.