Peanut Butter Cookies

Here's an idea for a quick treat on a rainy Sunday afternoon!
Make your family a plate of Peanut Butter Cookies.  It's easy!

I bet you have all the ingredients on hand right now.

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup of peanut butter (I think chunky works best)
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all four ingredients in a mixing bowl with a big wooden spoon!
Then drop the peanut butter mixture (about 20 drops) on parchment
on a cookie sheet.  (You can take a fork and make crisscrosses
but we skip that step :-)  Put the cookies in a 350 degree preheated
oven for 5 to 10 minutes.  This is the tricky part.  You have to stay
close to these cookies and make sure they don't brown too quickly.
When they just start to brown, take them out.  Take the parchment
off the cookie sheet and let everything cool about 5 minutes.  The
sticky cookies will harden so they stick together.  Then...after the
milk is poured and the cookies are just warm, take a bite and
everyone will LOVE these cookies!

The best part is you have warm cookies about 15 minutes
after someone makes the suggestion you make them and
you always have the ingredients on hand.

Enjoy your rainy afternoons! Love, Lottie

Torn Between Two Houses

  Oh, my heart aches sometimes.....  All my life I wanted 

an old house to nurture and dress up.  I ' ve dreamed of it

since I was a little girl.

I found one in 2008 and when home prices went down

we could finally afford this OLD 1907 home to fix up

for our retirement home.  It was a dream come true!

I truly love the house! 

But buying it may not have been such a good idea.

1.  It took all our money to buy it and repair it! 

No money left for fun or for travel.

2.  I'm still working a five hour drive away! 

So, I have only spent twelve days in the house in 2011.

3.  Our sons can't visit us.  One lives 250 miles away and

the other son lives 500 miles away! 

How our heart aches ...

         4.  To keep the house, we have to pay to keep the

utilities on and taxes and yard upkeep, etc.

But...we love the house.  We absolutely love it!

I don't know what we are going to do.  Twelve days is not 

very much time to spend in your dream home.

It's just not practical.

And how can I ever sell my beloved blue cottage?

Can't keep both houses.   Oh my heart is torn.... 

What would you do?

Love, 

Lottie

A Year of Monday Motivations

Last year, I followed Kelly Miller at Tidy Brown Wren blog and
cleaned and organized a room a month.  I'm amazed at what great
motivation and tips can be found on Tidy Brown Wren.  Kelly is
a professional home organizer.

I work full time and commute to work in a town over an hour a day.
On top of that, I deal with medical issues every day.  I only have
the weekend to clean my home. For over ten years I had followed
Fly Lady and cleaned for 15 min. a day in a different room each
week.  I always had 15 min., but my house was never really cleaned
all at once. 

Kelly's Monday Motivations work!
By focusing on one room a month for a year, I've de-cluttered
everything, including my car.  And following Kelly is like having
a friend do it along with you. It's just more fun!

Last year, Kelly followed this plan.

January - Foyer/Entrance
February - Kitchen
March - Bathrooms
April - Bedrooms
May - Closets
June - Kid's rooms
July - Family Room/Living Room
August - Paper Work (I worked on the study/home office)
September - Car
October - Garage
November - Laundry Room
December - Dining Room

What Worked Really Well Last Year
October was great for cleaning out the garage!  The weather was
cool and we didn't have to cut grass.

December was really a great month for cleaning the dining room.
I didn't put out Christmas decorations in that room. It was really
nice and cozy.  I de-cluttered dishes, tablecloths, napkins, etc. 

And then there was January, which was to clean the hall and coat
closet.  This year, after already going through this process last
year, it took me and DH all of 5 min. to de-clutter the coat closet.
This year we are washing down walls. Here are some pictures.

After going through the house last year, I can already see how
much easier this year will be.   Check out Kelly's blog for some
great motivational tips!  Tidy Brown Wren

Love,
Lottie