Count Your Blessings...Lessons in a Locksmith's Shop

My DH works so hard!  He worked all summer on the dental moulding and gutters after having a new roof put on our 1907 homeplace.  At 58 years old, he climbed a scaffold and inspected everything.  Then we found out there was a leak on the roof that made a big stain on our dining room ceiling.  We called the roofers and they made good on their guarantee  and fixed everything.  Now, three days before we are having thirty family members gathering at the homeplace for New Year's lunch, we find out the roof is leaking again.  Our roofer came over today, saw the leak, and lined up workmen to patch the ceiling, paint it all, replace wet insulation, and fix the roof, tomorrow! Boy, did we feel down!  How could we have such bad luck?

We felt so down, that we decided to get away from the house awhile and drove 30 miles to an old locksmith's shop.  The locksmith had located blanks to fit our 1907 front door lock and was saving them for us.  While we were waiting for our keys to be made, another couple our same age came into the shop.  We started talking and found out they were waiting to have a key made for their car.  Their house had burned and the car keys were hanging in the house and burned.  They had to get a key number from their car dealer to get a key made so they could drive their car away from their burned home!

Wow! Did I ever feel ashamed of feeling down about my troubles.  Our roof is being fixed tomorrow, and all will be well.  This couple lost everything they had: pictures, memories....their home. 

I was reminded today that I need keep things in perspective and feel gratitude for everything in my life. You just never know what a lesson life will give you in an old locksmith's shop.

Love,
Lottie

What a surpise!

DH and I drove all day to the homeplace and our two grown sons were already there.  They made cornbread and opened some cans of chili for a great meal when we arrived.  Then for the big surprise, they had already taken the Christmas tree out of the box and set it up in the living room.  The tree is 7 ft. tall, set up on top of round dining room table and it still doesn't reach the ceiling!  How nice to have such wonderful thoughtful sons!

Packing Up for Christmas

We are packing up all our Christmas decorations and taking them to our homeplace, two states away.  My son was able to get a few days off together at Christmas this year so we are packing up.  DH and I have to stay until repairs are made and then we have invited family over for New Year's Day.  So....I'll be gone from my blue cottage for a couple of weeks.  I'm taking extra time today looking out the windows at the birdfeeders and petting the cats.  I'll be back after New Year's to continue to blog, hopefully with new pictures to share!

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Lottie

Cheese Straws

I love cheese straws!  They make me think of Christmas party food.  I found a wonderful recipe tonight in The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook.by Matt Lee and Ted Lee.  That wrote "we began  developing the cheese straw of our dreams, and in the process found that cheese straws are among the easiest baked goods in the world.  If it weren't for the blade on the food processor, a toddler could do it.  You don't even need to grease the cookie sheet."

That did it for me!  Certain words in the above description guaranteed my success. (The cheese straw of my dreams that was so easy a toddler could do it.)  So I whipped up a recipe and started to cut the cheese straws, but something was wrong.  In my haste, I didn't measure correctly and I could not cut the straws.  So I dropped them on the pan, baked them and the cheese cookies were ok.

The words "so easy a toddler could do it" stayed in my head.  How could I have messed this up?  I started another batch.  This time I measured everything exactly.  The recipe turned out wonderful and I was able to cut long elegant cheese straws that truly tasted like dream cheese straws.  Here is the recipe.

Cheese Straws

1 1/2 cups grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon half-and-half

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a food processor, combine the cheese, butter, flour, salt, and red pepper and process in five 5 sec. pulses until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the half-and-half and process until the dough forms a ball, about 10 sec.

3.  On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into an 8 x 10 inch rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick.  With a sharp knife, cut the dough into long, thin strips, 1/4 to 1/3 inch wide (dipping the knife in flour after every few inches ensures a clean cut).  Gently transfer the strips to an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/4 inch between them.  The dough will sag and may break occasionally in the transfer, but don't be concerned - just do your best.  The straws can be any length, from 2 to 10 inches.

4.  Bake the straws on the middle rack for 15 min, or until the ends are barely browned.  Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool.

5.  Serve at room temperature.  Cheese straws will keep in the refrigerator, in a sealed container for 2 days.

Wonderful! Enjoy!
 Love,
Lottie

Homeplaces in the Heart

For the last 35 years, I have lived in South Carolina with my husband and sons.  All the rest of our family live in Alabama.  So for all those years, we traveled at least twice a year to visit family during different holidays.  Each time we enjoyed our families but felt like something was missing...our home.  So last spring, after all those years, my DH and I bought a "homeplace" in Alabama.  We found a house that we loved and wanted to work on and spend our holidays. A home for our family to love.

We do love it.  In fact, we dream about it!  We spent the summer working on it and my DH has been back several times this fall.  I haven't been "home" since July.

I call it our homeplace even though we have owned it only seven months and only lived in it about five weeks in the summer.  We are going to the "homeplace" during Christmas and I can't wait.

I started thinking about the word "homeplace" today.  I looked the word up in the dictionary and it means "a family home" or "birth place".  So I started thinking about my real "homeplace" which is in Grand Prairie, Texas.  I'm not really from Alabama at all, that is just where my dad, brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins live.

So here is picture of my first home which is my real "homeplace."

My first "homeplace" was a garage that my dad built himself.  We lived in the back of the garage.  It was pretty neat.  We didn't have a front door, only a door from the big bright kitchen to the back yard.  My room was a bed in a closet.  But what wonderful memories I have of that place!  I can't go there again in real life because the garage home was sold and torn down.  Two new homes are built there now. Every family member moved from Texas.  There is no reason to go back.

So I bought a new "homeplace" in Alabama to start new family traditions.  This new "homeplace" is 102 years old.  I love my blue cottage and love my job in SC, but I hear the whisper "time is short".  And I wake up every morning knowing that we all need to cherish the time we have with each other.  A "homeplace" can be anywhere, but the place it will always be is in your heart.


Lottie

Christmas Wreaths

I love Christmas Wreaths!  I have several that I take out for Christmas decorations.  They are not homemade wreaths but some I have found on sale over the years that I thought I had to have.  I did some research and found out that hanging a wreath at Christmas is a century's old tradition.  According to Elisabeth Ginsburg on www.naturehills.com, "Most wreathes are circular, and the circle has long been symbolic of the unbroken span of eternity, as well as the circular nature of life itself.  Used in mid December at the time of Winter Solstice, the circle symbolizes the certainly that the endless cycle of seasons will once again bring the return of light."  Here are a few of my Christmas wreaths from my home.

My mother-in-law gave me this grapevine wreath over twenty years ago.








                                           

Even my DH loves wreaths!  Look at these welcoming driveway gates that he built!

 

Happy Holidays!

Lottie

Dog memories

I can't help it...I just love our little brown dog Sardis.  He is the sweetest dog we have ever had and he is so much a part of our family!  But this Christmas, as we enjoy playing with our 2 yr.old puppy, I was going through our pictures and found one of our previous dog, Spot.  Spot is the reason we have Sardis.  Spot was seventeen years old when we had to put him down.  During those seventeen years, I often felt frustrated because our dog was not loving and playful.  You see, Spot was a beautiful Border Collie who loved to herd everybody and everything and patrol our yard.  He came from working stock and tried to do his best.  But he was a terrible dog to have in town.  He had no place to work and I think he was just as frustrated as we were.  He herded the mailman, the neighbor children, anyone walking down the street.  He never bit anyone, but he sure tried to put them in their place.  Spot got old and deaf and blind.  He patrolled the back yard until his hips failed.  One day I simply couldn't stand it anymore and went to the humane society and got a puppy!  The little brown puppy was wonderful and it was the happiest I had ever seen Spot.  But we had to put Spot down, and I think if I ever let myself cry, I'll never be able to stop.

Web Site discovery

My 25 yr. old son introduces me to new technology all the time.  Tonight we explored Google Documents and Dropbox.com.   Both very interesting places to place files so I can use several computers without using a flashdrive.

Then, he showed me www.slickdeals.net 

• I printed a $5 coupon on the total purchase (over $5) at a Hallmark store. (expire 12/24/09)
  
• I printed a coupon for a free item up to $13 with a $10 purchase at a Bath & Body Works store. (expire 12/24/09)

I don't usually have the time to print coupons and go out and buy the items, but I'm planning a trip to the local mall when I'm out for the week of Christmas.  I know it will be crowded, but sometimes life is better if it is structured and we have a purpose.  Besides, I like going to Bath & Body Works and the Hallmark store! Good excuse!

Treasure Today

Lottie

Fall Color

My husband is an artist and sees color everywhere.  I'm text oriented and see only black and white.  I love writing and the symbols and sounds of words.  But every once in a while, I'm shocked by color.  What beautiful beautiful maple trees are right out my front door!

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My blue cottage