For all of you......

....that wanted my Matzo Ball soup recipe....

I cheat..!!......it's semi-homemade....

I use the Manschewitz Matzo Ball & Soup mix......comes in a nice little box and the cost is next to nothing.....my kind'a deal!!

Now the directions call for 2 1/2 quarts of water....which comes out to roughly 10 cups.......not enough taste for me....so i use 6 cups of chicken soup broth and 4 cups of water, plus the soup mix in the package....

Also...the directions instruct you to cool the mixed matzo mix for 15 minutes.........nagh!.....give it 45 minutes to an hour........mix is easier to handle......

And make those little balls about the size of a giant marble (i usually get 10-12 little matzos)....they puff-up real big and if they are too thick the centers will be hard and chewy......ugh!!

Just for fun ..... if i have carrots, onions or celery in the refrig.....i chop some up and throw it in.....

Matzo Ball soup is a very tasty-light soup.......great for a first course at a holiday meal....

And great for what "ails ya!"....... you've heard all the Jewish Penicillin jokes...!!

Enjoy

More snow on the way......gott'a run to the Wal*Marts.......

Mixed up marriage......

Yep...folks!.......we are a mixed religious crew at our little cabin.....

And one of the greatest things i learned from my Jewish mother-in-law was the benefits and comfort of Matzo Ball soup went your not feeling well......

In the 30 somethings years of our marriage.......i've made many pots of matzo balls and nursed the family thru many illnesses.......

So this week when the itchy nose - scratchy throat - tickle of a cough and aching of the various body parts started.......

I made a big pot of chicken matzo ball soup to take every four hours along with my decongestant... and my Air Bourne....

It's gone..!!! The guys have eaten it all!!...and left me the empty container!!

This calls for extreme measures.....

I'm confused.......

Ok.......this is the view from the front porch this AM...

Look at all that sunny-blue sky loveliness......however, i will admit to a little windiness...

~~~~~~~~~~~

These are the weather alerts we are under....

Number of Active Alerts: 3

ALERT 1 - Winter Storm Warning

A BLIZZARD WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6:00AM EST SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27

Issued: Friday, February 26, 2010 5:45 AM EST

Expires: Friday, February 26, 2010 4:00 PM EST

Details

ALERT 2 - Winter Storm Warning

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6:00AM EST SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28

Issued: Friday, February 26, 2010 5:45 AM EST

Expires: Friday, February 26, 2010 4:00 PM EST

Details

ALERT 3 - Non Precipitation Advisory

A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6:00AM EST SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27

Issued: Friday, February 26, 2010 5:06 AM EST

Expires: Friday, February 26, 2010 1:15 PM EST

Details

~~~~~~~

Sorry ..... weather guru's........can't see those "Blizzard" conditions from the front porch...

I know there are scientific methods of predicting the weather...... methods that involve satellite images....chart.....graphs.....many-many e-mails and computer print-outs...

But....riddle me this ole gurus of weather.......

"Do you sometimes......just sit in the back room and throw colored darts at the map?!"

Stay warm and enjoy..

In the Mail.......

"Icy Hot" is in the mail and on it's way to a child somewhere.....

The main fabric was an ice hockey theme.......hence the name...

The colors were the best!!

Hockey.......orange....blue......yellow and a backing of orange/red strip

I loved it...!!

Here it is ready to be mailed.....

Hey!!...there's my name plate.....ripped that sucker off the door the day i retired!!
I earned it.....it was coming with me!!

Anyway......mailed the quilt off yesterday.....came home and order another!!

Guess what...!!??

It's snowing!!

Enjoy

Wordless Wednesday.....

....Best Friends Forever....

At it Again.....

.......the male child...that is...!!

the neighborhood thru his eyes!!

Enjoy

How Rude.....

The fur babies and i were all sung in our bed early this AM...

when we were very rudely awakened....!!

No......not by the phone
No.....not by a pack of beagles running thru the yard.....
No.... not by car horns...or the school bus.....(yes...school today)....

But....by torrents of rain hitting the windows!!

Rain!!!!

Come on weather guys........we've still got snow on the ground....and now you bring us RAIN!!

Another children's song is running thru my head.....

Rain.....rain ....go away...
Come again another day.....

NOT....!!!

Enjoy

Digging out......

Woo Hoo!!.....here come the "D" Brothers...!!

Could this be the same feeling the settlers got when the Calvary appeared on the horizon as the Indian were surrounding the wagons..??

They're gonn'a dig out the parental units.....!!

Mom and Dad's cars have been out of the garage twice.....lets count that.....2 times!!
Since December 18th.....
Talk about good gas mileage!!

Look at all that snow.....no wonder i couldn't get my truck up there this time...

In my mind i keep hearing that children's song....

"the treads on the crawler go.....clank...clank....clank....

Clank.....clank.....clank ~~~~~~clank...clank....clank!!

*****

Well....anyway they're free.....!!!

Free to come and go when they want...!!

Better hurry.........more snow tomorrow night......

Enjoy

Check my hearing......please!!

What ...... what...... is that water i hear....??!!

Is that water i hear dripping down the drain pipes....??!!

Is that snow and ice i hear falling of the trees.....??!!

Look i can see the rock on the driveway......i can almost hear all that gravel smiling at the sun....

Yes......we're in a melt down.......

Weather guru's are predicting a high temp in the 50's for today and tomorrow....

The "D" brothers are coming to dig out the parental units drive this AM and then the "MAJOR" shopping trip will begin...!!

Wal*Mart start stocking those shelves.....we're on the way!!

Woo Hoo.....gott'a find my Bermuda shorts and sandals!!

Enjoy

The Perch....

This is Mia's perch...

When ever i'm in the kitchen....doesn't matter what i'm doing....

This is where she plops herself in the hopes of catching anything and everything that hits the floor...

Some days i believe she is a first cousin to Miss Piggy...

Boy!!....can this girl catch and eat crumbs......

(please excuse "sweats"....had just come in from shoveling snow)

Look there she is!!

"Drop it......Mommy......Drop it!!

Watch how quick i am!!

See how clean i keep the floor"

Stay warm and enjoy

The Challenge......

Look what i found in the middle of the road.....!!!

Yes peeps......the UPS truck could not make it up my driveway so he called and i said just leave it in the newspaper slot in the mailbox........welll......i forgot the power of the winds and when the male child ventured down the hill the next morning......it was in the middle of the road!!

Thank goodness for the snow and very little traffic!!

Anyway.....i had been reading all over quilt bloggerville about the ...

Downy..."Quilts for Kids"...challenge....

Soooo....i took a little hop-skip and jump over to their website and checked it out......

Here's the deal......they send you the pre-cut fabric and pattern for FREE....

you piece.....quilt......and send it back........Easy_Peasy!!

The only cost to you is the batting and shipping back to Quilts for Kids.....

Ordered my quilt last Friday and the UPS guy was calling me on Tuesday....whoa!!

If you think you my like to check this out......go to www.quiltsforkids.org....or...www.Downy.com..

It's pre-cut Mom!!.....revive up that sewing machine !....i'm gonna order us more!!

Stay safe and enjoy

Yummmmmm-O..!!

(click to enlarge)

I'm watching you.......

Come to Kitty....little birdies!!!

Still snowing up here.....stay safe and warm....

Could this be......

...the next Olympic winter sport...??!!

Introducing....."Snow Bound Dog Tickling...!!"

Isn't that a gold medal googly-eyed face....??!!

GO MAX....!!!.......GO USA....!!!

I need to get out of the house.......

Stay safe....warm.....and....enjoy

"Hey Mooooommmmmm....!!

Come quick!!

Look out the window....

That white fluffy stuff is falling out of the sky again...!!!

Yes......bloggerville.....!!

It's snowing again in the North Carolina high country.....

the weather guru's are predicting 3-5 more inches today......

CityBoy is moving his car to the bottom of the drive as i write this.....
he's suppose to work tonight........HA!

That's a Big "MAYBE" at this point....

Who in their right mind would be grocery shopping in the late afternoon during a snow storm...??

Just another question to ponder today......

Stay safe....warm......and enjoy...

Midnight Hour......

I've got a question.....


What is it with this mid-night hour thing....you know those darkest hours.....??!!


Why do the high winds come at night......?

Why do the hurricanes make land-fall at night......?

Why do the really heavy snow storms arrive at night.....?

Why did my labor pains start at night.....?

Why did my gall bladder attach my body during the dark hours......?

Why do the my worst migraine pains grab my head at night.......?


All these mysterious pains and happenings that in the day light we would take in stride and work thru......


And why did i wake at 2:30 AM with a pain in my left hip sooooo bad that i thought of waking CityBoy for a trip to the ER......honestly i thought i had broken my hip just laying in bed....!!

Then i heard the wind.....looked out the window........saw the snow falling....realized there was a cloud cover over the moon......

....took two Advil.......turned onto my right side......and went back to sleep

Stay warm and Enjoy

Thanks Canada......

Last night i stayed up to watch the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics.....

WOW......!!!!......BRAVO......!!

It was one of the best programs ever....!!

It inspired me to add some new experiences to the Bucket List......

I now want too ......

dance with the four tribes....

swim with the whales....

play and dance with the fiddlers....

fly on a wire with the young man from the circus....

ski the Rockies....

carry the flag with Donald...

have hair like the opera singer...

carry a torch with Wayne.....

and light a fire....!!

Oh Yeah.......i'd also like to ski....skate....play hockey......curl.....and all those other winter sports...

But......i'm fast approaching the Big 60 and the body just doesn't have an interest in sports anymore.......except from the bleachers or couch....

So i guess i'll just light the fire.......i've got a remote control for the gas fireplace.....!!

Seriously...to all my Canadian blogger friends out there.....

JOB WELL DONE....!!!

Stay safe....warm....and enjoy tthe little peak at spring on the top....

TGIF.......

Remember when we could look out the kitchen window and see this....??

Instead of this...!!

How many inches of snow have you gotten....??

Has cabin fever got'ya yet...??

How many days till Spring.......can any one tell me......??

Hello.....hello......anyone out there ...... ??

Stay safe....warm .....and enjoy...

Gonna be a Good Day.....

Look at these funny little "bumps" of snow on my front porch.....

I'm sure yesterdays swirling winds created these for my amusement.....

Well.....it's 7:30 in the AM and i've already found something that fascinates me....

.....the snow bumps....

The sun is coming up over the ridge....

Schools.....college classes ....and quilt guild has all been canceled for today....

which means ..... i don't have to go out in the messy, snowy, very cold, loveliness.....

But.....it's sooooo nice out......maybe i'll get some exercise by digging a path to the cars...

Or maybe not.....!

Plus....the winds have died down enough that the hungry herd is back at the feeder.....

Yep......gonna be a good day!!

Fur Baby Cabin Fever.....??

Yap......Yap......Yap.....!!

Bark.....Bark......Bark.....!!

Hooooowl.........Hooowl.....!!

Hey......Max...!!.......Pipe Down!!

I want to enjoy the peace and solitude of this beautiful winter scene...

He's not listening......

AHHHHHHHH...........CHARGE.....!!!

Can you hear me now!!!!!

Blizzard conditions here today...

Stay warm and Enjoy

She's At It Again.....!!

This was the look on Max's face after i jerked the bed sheets out from under him this morning.....
Had to get them in the washing machine....!!

You see......i have a touch of OCD when it comes to approaching snow storms....

The laundry ....... must be done!!

So i rush around the house.......grabbing up sheets....dog blankies.......kitty blankies......people throws....towels........and then the underwear....jeans....khakies.... and shirts......!!

Doing load ..... after load ..... at a frenzied pace.....

Can't be caught in a snow storm with dirty underwear...!!

Stay warm and Enjoy

In Between.....

Yep....we're in between snow storms....
Time to take stock and re-stock.....

So.....there's CityBoy...breaking up the ice on the curve in the driveway....

In an attempt to get the car back up to the house......

That way i don't have to walk down the drive........ahhhhh!!

Seems there is something at Radio Shack in Boone that he can't live without.....
knew there was another reason for the shoveling....

Then it's off to the bank ...... post office ...... the food store for me ..... exercise for him ...... the library, maybe ....... the electric company.......

Ohhhh........you know the routine......

'Cause....there's another one on the way...!!!

Stay warm and Enjoy

Tracks.....

We're walk'n.....

....in a winter wonderland today....

Sun is out.....temps will get into the 40's

It's gonna be a great day to dig out the cars!

Walk'n.........Walk'n......Walk'n....

But only until game time!!!

View from the Ice Bowl......

Actually...this is the view from the back door......from the bottom of the drive way.....


"The Ice Bowl"

My poor little light.....it's got a topping of snow.....

View to the left....there use'ta be a gentle downward slope to a dry creek bed....

Ahhhhhh......maybe i'll find it again in Spring.....

Hello.....big-tall fur trees.....

How do you like your coating of snow and ice..??

Note pitch of driveway.......this is about halfway down.....on the curve....

Good Morning......hard woods....!

Having trouble holding up your branches today...?

Almost to the top of the driveway......

Don't think we'll be putting the cars in the garage for a few days.....

And it's still snowing..!!

Stay warm and Enjoy