Drool Link!

I am not the biggest Rice Crispies Treats fan.

I truly have not had them in probably 10 years.

BUT...

When I saw this, I thought

(I need to figure out how to make them sugar free)

ok, now..

I thought they looked amazing!

I love salty sweet. I am a spicy, salty savory girl for sure,

so salt with sweet is right up my ally!

I am giving you the link to the recipe and I know

that it will not take you long to run to your kitchen

ok, walk please, I do not want to be responsible for for your stubbed toe or broken ankle

and make these beauties!!

http://www.crumbsandchaos.net/2013/04/double-chocolate-salted-caramel-rice-krispie-treats/

 

My thanks to the sisters at Crumbs and Chaos!!

 



Flood Waters

I caught a few views of the flood waters

from our back yard.

It is truly amazing. I do not think the pictures

do it justice....since it is our back yard, we are

keenly aware of the large amount of land

that is currently under the rapidly moving waters

of the flooded Rock River.

The above picture is of our neighbors dock that was

for the winter, drug up on land from the river.

 

 This picture is of a tree on our bottom land and

the tree is around 25 feet tall.

This is straight across the river from our home

and the water is above the bank and flowing into

the farmer's field. 

The last two pictures are taken from my Mom's yard showing the land that is normally

used by the neighbors during the summer months for camping and picnicking....it will be a long while before they walk down there, let alone camping.

 

We did not get water in our basement, praise the Lord. There are so many who suffered greatly with water in their basements and the ruins that come with such a natural disaster.

 

Yard Work

I spent a few hours in the yard

picking up sticks....exciting right?

Not so much.

You see, we built our home on the land

that I lived on when I was born.

So I cleaned up after these trees when I

was a child and I am STILL cleaning up

after these trees today!!

I do not like it any more now than

I did then. Call me crazy, but I don't believe

that anyone grows into joyfully cleaning up the yard.

 Front Yard sticks..

 

Mom's side yard sticks. And yes, I picked up every one!

On a brighter note, this tree was planted by my Dad

when I was pregnant with my son.

 

I cannot believe that enough time has passed to make

this tree this big!!! It was a foot tall when my Dad

planted it! It must be at least 80 feet tall now.

Sigh.

Didn't my husband and I just bring our little boy home from the hospital like last week????

 

The yard is picked up. We now have enough of a pile of branches that a very large bon fire is in our very near future and even tho our son is no longer a baby, he is still as handsome as he was back when he used to walk by my side, down the road to my parents house to help clean up the yard.....

I think I must be in need of more children to get me out of the yard work!!!!!



This & That

I have been absent for a couple of days,

the reasons are lovely and sorrowful.

 

First, our son flew up from Austin to Chicago

on a job related trip, and we were blessed to be

able to head into Chicago on Monday night and

treat him to dinner. The conversation flowed and

we laughed a lot! I find such joy in being a parent

and really love our adult children.

 

Second, our oldest Daughter's Husband, Tom

has suffered the passing of his Father. Gerald was

diagnosed with end stage leukemia 5 weeks ago and

given 3 months to live. He passed away in the night

Monday. We are headed for the funeral tomorrow.

Wonderfully so, Gerald had given his life to our

Savior Jesus Christ in his last days and will live

in heaven for eternity, praise Him!

 

As you can imagine, life has been a bit crazy the past

few days and will continue thru the weekend.

 

I did however manage to get my Mother's Day Dinner

all planned, décor and food are on paper and that

makes it so much easier for me having plans done.

 

 

And for my own pleasure, I found this amazing picture and will re-create this on our deck as a date night with my amazing husband (as soon as life stops spinning out of control and the rain stops and the weather warms up and.....well, you get the picture!)

google search picture...source unknown



She Is Precious In My Sight

My Mom

She is precious to me.

She is precious to alot of people.

She has taught me alot.

She has shown me things that I shall never forget.

She has done much in her life so far.

She will be turning 80 this year.

We are planning a SURPRISE party to celebrate this event.

Please do not leak this to my Mommy.

I went over to her house yesterday and snapped

a few pictures of her doing one of her favorite things

Crocheting.

There is not alot that she is able to do these days

with her arthritis flaring and her eye sight failing.

But Crocheting is something she has always done

and can continue to do by memory.

These photos made me cry.

They are lovely. Not because I took them

but because of the subject.



 

A Quick, Easy Dessert!

Not only is this easy, fast to make and elegant

it is also Good!!!

It is a take on Boston Creme Pie.

Individual portions, and looks really special.

 

I had seen something like this before, but decided

to make my own version.

This is not sugar free, I have cut some of the sugar out of it but none of the flavor.

 

First, I ground up graham crackers to crumbs in

my food processor.

Put a layer in the bottom of individual containers

and tap to level.

 

 

Next add instant vanilla pudding (I used sugar free) and level that layer out also.

 

Follow up with another layer of crumbs and one more layer of pudding.

 

Lastly, top with a layer of ganache...which is

1/2 C. heavy cream heated to a simmer then turn off the heat, add in 1/4 C. of chocolate chunks or chips

semi sweet NOT milk chocolate. Mix when chips are melted, and add in 1/2 tsp of good vanilla.

 

This is what you will have in the end!!

 

Elegant enough for a special dinner.

Fun enough for a party!

Your family or guests will feel quite special when you

present them with something that looks like you have done alot of work....only you will know how super easy they really are!!

Clock Make Over!

I bought a new clock for the living room.

For some reason, this event did not make national news!!!

Really!??!

Ok, so my life NEVER makes national news but I am

pretty ok with that.

The clock really is new for me and I am excited

to share with you about it.

 

On a trip to Ikea while in Chicago leaving for our trip,

I saw the most amazing blue clock.

Like make my heart beat really fast kind of clock.

However, the clock was HUGE and cost $50.

They had a smaller version, but only in tan, that

cost a mere $11 which fit my budget so much better.

So, I bought the beige/tan clock and knew I could

make it as stunning as the huge one.

 

This is what I did:

This is the clock...pretty as is, but I really wanted blue.

 

 

First, I took off the ring and glass. I had to protect the face of the clock, so I did it with blue painters tape to ensure that I would not tear the face.

Not gonna lie... this was a pain in the neck!

I then took it down to the work shop in the basement and spray painted it a wonderful shade of blue.

I believe it is really close to the shade that the large clock was....aaaaand probably by now they have gotten in a shipment of small blue ones and I just was not patient enough to wait! Who Me? Not patient?

 

I am in love with my new clock!

Eleven dollars, some spray paint, and a small amount of patience....and voile'!!

Impatient or not, I DO have one really good looking clock!!



A Late Easter Dinner

We were traveling on Easter Sunday and we

decided to NOT skip our big Easter dinner but to

simply delay it a week.

I got a few pictures of the table setting going on,

the dessert table, and the spoils of the night.

Here is a look at it all!



 

 

 

Now you know why we did not forgo the festivities!

Going Batty!

There is a bridge on Congress St. in Austin

that is known as the "Bat Bridge".

No Robin here, literally bats!

20,000 to be exact. No, I am not embellishing.

At dusk each night, the bats leave their sleeping place

which is located in the crevices under the bridge,

and fly out to eat their share of bugs.

It is a destination.

 

While there, we met the nicest man who is deaf, and he was the biggest help ever!

(There is a huge school for the deaf in Austin)

This sweet man spoke to us in sign language that the untrained would understand and also in standard sign language which we know a bit.

He explained to us that we would want to be ON the

bridge and not under to see our best.

So, up on the bridge we waited.

 

And then they began.

 

And kept coming.....

and coming....

 

 

and coming!!

 

Some people did wait below.

 

This experience was both amazing and kinda creepy at the same time.

 

I would go to see it again for sure.

I would challenge anyone going to Austin to take the time to see this natural phenomenon,

completely worth it!!!

 

Austin is an amazing place that we just barely scratched the surface of.

We will return for sure, and explore more, find cool

fun place and sights and learn to love it as we

did New Orleans.