Busy Hands

Thanksgiving is a time of thanks for our many blessings. I am blessed to have spent my holiday with my family and especially ~the grandkids. I love Nana Time!

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of many bountiful blessings!

Grateful.
MFSD

More gratitude...

Dear God,

Thank you for this beautiful morning!

Amen,
MFSD

PS.
Please send rain.

Thanksgiving 2012

From Us to You~
Happy Thanksgiving!

In a Minute

What can you do in a minute?

We are in an instant - microwave world.
I am sooooo looking forward to Thanksgiving. It's a Made From Scratch Daily time. The recipes and foods created come from scratch and the heart. It takes a little longer to prepare- and yes a microwave still gets to be a part of the process-but it's all about the time spent with love ones in the kitchen. I love that we pull out the recipe files and look through those lovely, tasty recipes that came from our grandmothers and moms.

For now we had a "Minute" meal. Next week we'll celebrate our families. Thankful for our many blessings, and the gift of sharing a meal together!

Happy Thanksgiving to you!
MFSD
*I'll be taking a little break for the week!

Book Club

Highly recommended...

The book,

and the cookies!

Oh, yes!  We always have treats!

The cookies were from our local Subway~Yum!

(yeah...I had to mention the cookies, first.)

The story was set on Janus Rock, a small island

set apart from Western Australia.

We all really liked this book!

A+

We loved the way the author gave us a picture of

the isolation experienced while living in a lighthouse.

A great job was done of expressing the sense

of desperation, loss, and the intense need to love a child.

This is an original lighthouse lamp.

We (Handsome Man and myself) saw it in a museum in Juneau, Alaska.

My picture doesn't do it justice...It was beautiful.

The colors caught in the prisms were amazing!

(Sorry it doesn't show up here.)

Little did I know then that we would be reading

about a lighthouse for Book Club.

I wonder...what is it's story?

Reading again,

MFSD

PS. Thanks to our one member who still orders and reads the conventional way.  I wouldn't have a picture of the cover to share.  Kindle's are great, but...

Reflections

I am taking a moment to reflect...

Early mornings and Late evenings

are among my favorite times.

An Alaskan evening.

An Oklahoma sunrise.

A peek through one of my favorite trees.

The morning of...

A day of gratitude and remembrance.

(Thanks for the photo Handsome Man!)

Sigh...

MFSD

*I love colors!

Atlanta~

Recently, I went with my daughter to a National Conference for the

Education of Young Children.

There were educators, child care providers, parents, administrators from all over the world.

We met some fascinating people!

The conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia.

(This place was huge!)

((I haven't walked soooo much in a long time.))

(((Think I've established my walking habit again.)))

~Can you see Handsome Man smiling?~

It was an amazing experience!

The colors of Fall.

A view of Centennial Olympic Park.

And, yes~there were flowers.

And, yes~there was rain.

It seems I can travel to rain...

I just can't seem to get it at home.

On the road, again...

MFSD

Happy Veterans' Day

Happy Veterans' Day!

A day to say,

"Thank you."

To all the men and women who have served

and who are currently serving

our Country.

A grateful Nation sending thanks to all the families for their sacrifices.

A day of Remembrance and Gratitude,

MFSD

An Unexpected Surprise...

On our way home...

Handsome Man allowed me one last look at an Iowa Quilt Shop.

I chose this one~because of the name.

(I'm learning to really like my app!)

It was not a disappointment!

The name says it all~

The owner had just opened in August of this year.

Serendipity.

Yes, the owner had beautiful red hair,

and she was a delight to visit with!

Her story was~

she was ready for a change and decided to open a quilt shop.

This church building was available...

and the rest was history.

You would think with this kind of inventory~

she had been in business for years.

(She doesn't do things half way.  Her words, not mine.)

I found so many fun things...

I think I might have gone a little "crazy" too.

But just look at all the colors!

I couldn't help myself!

(By the way, Handsome Man was present for the entire shopping experience; he was settled comfortably on a church bench with his email.)

I love surprises!

This was another surprise~

opening doors to find treasures!

Treasure hunting,

MFSD

Dining Out

Galleria De Paco

Waterloo, IA

A European Dining Experience...

Spaghetti Potatoes, Dill Salmon, & Asparagus

everything was cooked to perfection.

Oh, yes...

An atmosphere of a recreated Sistene Chapel,

done by the owner's son,

with cans of spray paint.

It was amazing and beautiful!

How did he do it???

With Spray Cans of Paint????

Beautiful surroundings...

great service...

delicious food...

an evening with Handsome Man...

Oh, yes.

Bruschetta began the dining experience...

and it was all good from then on.

(This was definitely a "Calgon Take Me Away..." experience!)

Our new friends from Iowa had recommended the Galleria De Paco.  We were not dissappointed.  Thanks soooo much!

Dining out,

MFSD

PS.  Don't forget to exercise your right to vote today!

Mom Time

Mom Time.

One of my favorite things...

Is spending Mom Time with my girls.

I got to have some of this special time with one of them

this past weekend.  We love spending time in the kitchen.

We have sooooo much fun!

These were baked sweet potatoes in progress.

We are blessed to share these times with my Mom.

Four generations in the kitchen...

only thing that would have made it better is having both girls in the kitchen.

Mom's sweet potatoes are a family favorite!

Texas Layer Dessert in progress...

and, yes~sweet grandson in progress...too.

We love our boys!

I mentioned four generations in the kitchen.

Sweet boy hands keeping us entertained while we cook!

Life is full of sweet blessings!

Life is good.

MFSD

Quilting Time, Oops!

Sorry! This was not supposed to go

out on Thursday...

(I think I've mentioned before ~ I'm NOT a TECHIE!)

So...here we go again:

When you visit Iowa...

you can easily find Quilt shops.

Well...

if the barns and buildings have them...

there must be quilting shops.

This was a first stop.

She had many fall delights!

Of course conversations were struck up

asking where we were from and why we were there.

Handsome Man was able to share his part of the visit and I got to touch and

look all throughout the store.

(He's great at striking up a conversation.)

You can't let the outside be the judge of this shop.

It was a delight inside!

Infact, I found several kits and pieces that were a must have.

(Yes, I purchased quite a bit.)

And, again, Handsome Man had a great visit with the shop owner and...

I milled around.

Connie's was one of my favorite stops!

You can't (or shouldn't) judge a shop by it's storefront.

I found an app on my phone for seeking out local shops from where you are.

Ummmmmmm   Hmmmmmmm... :)  And, we did.

MFSD

Green is the Reason

This is it!

Our true reason for the road trip!

Handsome Man was invited to a Gold Key Tour...

and I tagged along.

(I've been a John Deere Green fan since I was a little girl.)

((I grew up going to my great uncle's dealership,

and riding along with my Dad on his combine when he custom harvested.))

So when the invitation came for a tour...

I was soooooo excited!

Obviously, Handsome Man is excited too!

Notice his big smile!

(And, yes, it surprised a few of my friends.)

((Nostalgia played a big part in my excitement.))

Handsome Man posed with a tractor similar to the one purchased.

See that huge smile!

Another photo op...

Don't we look amazing in our safety gear~

which was required during our tour of the factory.

Cute, huh...

The tour required a lot of walking~but it was fascinating to get to see the factory and the process of putting one of these giants together!  We were able to see the process from start to finish.  I'll never look at a tractor the same way!  The employees were so nice and friendly~ they love their Green!

Please note~we didn't buy this pretty little thing by ourselves!  It's a Bolay Farms 9R~we were very lucky to get to experience the tour.  We wore our Bolay Farms T's during the visit.  We were proud to represent the family.

Green Tourists,

MFSD