A New Obsession

Since it won't stop raining I have been saying away from my gardening, and have found a new obsession. I have always loved and collected dolls. But none quite like this one.
She is Ellowyne Wilde, a newly created doll from Wilde Imagination. Her biggest problem in life is that she suffers from "ennui." And each outfit and doll has a story to fit the mood.
Here is Ellowyne in her Pale Memories outfit. I found this plump chair at a local flea market.

Another Ellowynne is currently wearing her "Highland Lows." I found another chair for her at the same flea market. I think she looks perfect in it.









And the final picture today is of Ellowyne's best friend, Prudence Moody.
She seems to like wild colors and if you look closely you will see streaks of
pink in her hair. She knows how to have fun.

If you don't already know these dolls and their stories you should visit the Wilde Imagination website. Or better still join our yahoo groups to celebrate Ellowyne and friends.

The Colors of Spring

This has to be the best spring ever. I can't remember ever being so thankful and enjoying it so much. It wasn't an awful winter but seemed long and dreary. Even this persistent little violet was anxious to see the spring.

So I have started making plans for gardening. I had hand surgery a couple
of weeks ago so still have to be careful but am itching to get out there.

I love violets and am enjoying them in my yard. They are such a pretty color
and even look good with the "dreaded" dandelions.

Another thing I love about spring is hearing all the birds. We have a number of bird feeders around the yard so we can enjoy them all summer and even some in the winter. Our most prolific bird is the Gold Finch. In the winter they are still here in their winter drab coats but of they are so pretty when they turn that lovely yellow. And doesn't this one look nice with a backdrop of apple blossoms.

Patriots Day!!!!

Patriots Day

If your have never lived in Massachusetts or Maine you may never have heard of Patriots Day. But that day is a HOLIDAY in those two states. It is a celebration of the ride of Paul Revere that set off the Revolutionary War.
It is celebrated in Modern days by the running of the Boston Marathon and later in the day a Boston Red Sox Game. After living all over the country and never having heard of Patriots Day I was delighted to learn about it after we moved to Maine. An extra holiday.
Of course as with all holidays now it is celebrated on the nearest Monday instead now so it will be Monday the 21st instead of the traditional April 19th.
So.... to help you celebrate this day go to this site and read Longfellow's poem about Paul Revere's ride and remember how lucky we are to live in our wonderful country and are continued to be protected by loyal American's who are there to sacrifice for us.
The poem starts

Paul Revere's Ride 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow  

  Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; 
Hardly a man is now alive 
Who remembers that famous day and year.    
 (click here for the whole poem)

Trigger Finger, Spring and a recipe

It is most assuredly spring. Tulips, Forsythia and daffodils are everywhere and the trees are beginning to come to life. I hope to be able to get out into the yard soon to do some cleaning up, planting and such.

However it may take a couple more weeks. I just had surgery on my right hand (I am right handed of course) for Trigger finger... I had two fingers that were so bad I couldn't do much normal with the hand. So after cortisone shots and other treatments didn't work it was decided to go for the surgery. It was pretty simple apparently and I was back using my hand that evening.... except for the wrap and bandage. Now less than a week later it is about back to normal except for the stitches which will come out next week. Then I can get back to gardening and sewing and other fun things.

Everyone knows that FRENCH'S® French Fried Onions are yummy and great for the quintessential Thanksgiving recipe Green Bean Casserole. But they have added a new classic to their recipe list.......French's Crunchy Onion Chicken. My daughter introduced me to this awhile back and now it is a favorite in our house too. The recipe for this is at their website or conveniently on the can itself.
Last night I cooked it and added a pasta salad favorite to it. And..... we had homemade Banana Cream Pie too cause we had a few overripe bananas.

I didn't take a picture of the pie but here is the dinner as it was served..... Notice I used one of my Polish Pottery dishes for the honey mustard we use as a dip for the chicken.
The recipe for the pasta salad is simple Cook up a favorite pasta, we like bow ties (farfale). Add fresh baby spinach and feta cheese, crumbled. It can be mixed to your taste, more or less spinach, more or less feta. I got the idea for this from the Deli. They sell something similar there don't know if it is exactly the same but we like it the way I make it.

Spring has sprung

What a pleasant surprise to find my daffodils beginning to bloom. That MUST mean spring is HERE. Not many other clues yet but it must be near.

The tulips are up and the hyacinths and poking through the ground. No forsythia yet but hope it will be soon.

This has been a LONG winter. We are ready for a change.

Bristol Here We Come

As Nascar fans we love to head South for the Spring Race at Bristol. To us it is the best of all the venues to watch a race. And we stay in a super campground run by a pair of our favorite people, Heather and Paul Davis.

Two years ago at the Spring Race it snowed. Last year it was sunny and in the 70s. This year the story was rain.

On Thursday night we were able to attend the Family fun night put on by the Race sponsors Food City. It wasn't as much fun as last year but we enjoyed seeing all the show cars and eating the BRATS.
On Friday we headed for the track to watch practice and hoped to see qualifying. Well..... not to be as it rained off and on all afternoon and so qualifying for the Cup race was canceled as well as the other practices. But we had loads of fun back at the campground so it wasn't all bad.

On Saturday Nationwide's qualifying was canceled but they did start the race that afternoon and got in 171 laps of the 300 before they called it because of rain. Clint Boyer won the race. Once again we headed back to the campground.
Finally, on Sunday we woke to NO RAIN!! After a leisurely breakfast we headed over to the racetrack. Finally we were able to see the full race.












There were lots of opening festivities. We just happened to sit in the section that was chosen to participate in the card stunts. I had to get these pics elsewhere since we couldn't see from where we were. In the first one we were sitting near the top in the yellow section just above the "s" in thanks. In the second one we were seated near the top in between S and A in a blue section.
During the opening ceremonies Dale Jarrett drove up
in the "big brown truck" you can see that in the
picture at the right. It was his last points race.

The race was a wild one at times. Just as most races at Bristol are. Jeff Burton was the surprise winner after Kevin Harvick spun out Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin ran out of gas.
We were so thankful that we were able to see the race we really came for and enjoy the afternoon.
The walk back to the campground was SLOW at best since all 150 thousand fans left at once. And overhead we saw the helicopters flying the drivers to the airport.
On Monday we headed home to see our lonely cats and to do a LOT of laundry. It was a great weekend.


You can click on the pictures to see them better.

Tuffy's Great Adventure

Two weeks ago today one of our cats, Tuffy, snuck out the back door and took off for points unknown. We advertised, called radio stations, the local SPCA etc. etc. etc. We called all our neighbors. We got calls of sightings from all over the place. We had about given up on finding her when we got a call from our next door neighbor. She had spotted Tuffy on her front porch. Tuffy disappeared before we could get over there, but...... it was a great relief to know that she was alive and not that for away. So everyone was on alert. That was Saturday.
Then on Sunday, we call a call to come to our neighbors house because Tuffy had just run under the porch. !!!!!
Yes!!!. She was there. I called out to her and she poked her head out just enough to let me know it was her. Then finally Bill got her out by giving Tuffy her favorite treats. And home she came. At first she was a bit tentative but it didn't take her long to check out her favorite haunts. She drank a lot of water too. Probably a bit dehydrated but basically she was the same but a bit thinner and didn't seem to worse for her adventure. It is just amazing to us that this indoor cat could survive so well outside. We had several snow storms and heavy rains during this time, not to mention cold and ice. But as she is named she is ONE TUFF CAT.

The reason she is named Tuffy has certainly been proved to be a correct one after this current escapade. She was born under another neighbors porch three years ago and was the first of the little kittys to wander away from her mother.... a local stray cat. She was already proving her adventurous nature. She joined our family along with a sister cat named Spooky.


Spooky still lives up to her name cause she is a real nervous cat. With Tuffy returning to the fold Spooky's nose seems a bit out of joint. I think she was enjoying being queen bee. She is also a bit afraid of Tuffy.... Hope she will come around soon.

We are so happy to have Tuffy back home again. Sure hope the two cats can become friends again like they were in this picture taken a month or so ago.