Craving Banana Muffins...

So I had a few bananas that needed to be used ASAP. Soooo....off I went to do a search on the internet for the best banana muffin ever. Then I realized, holy mackerel there are A LOT of recipes out there. I was successful though! I found THE yummiest muffin recipe from this blog....Cat Can Cook. Of course I find it on a blog that references a cat. I adore her cat logo. :) These are DE-licious. I also have a little secret. I like leaving my bananas in chunks and not really beat them down until they look like mashed potatoes. That way, you get a surprise when you bite into them!

Hope you try 'em! I'm going to package some up to bring to my sweetie. Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone!

A Stylish Award!!

We have been given an award by the wonderful and beautiful Miss Kitty over at A Cat's Golden Years. Miss Kitty has the most wonderful blog. It tells of Miss Kitty's golden years and my Mocha can relate. :) The kitties here always enjoy making new blogging friends. :) Please swing by and give Miss Kitty some kitty hugs and checkout the most beautiful golden eyes! We all want to give a big hugs and a huge thank you for awarding us this fabulous and stylish award!!

Now the Stylish Blogger Award asks the receiver to share seven things with my followers, seven things they may not be aware of. I am going to do a couple of these for each of the kitties. :)

First we will present Mr. Quincy.

1. When I first saw Quincy he was 4 months old and it was at a cat show. He was a show kitten and I fell in love with him at first sight. His show name was "Red Fred" but I didn't bring him home until a week later and drove three hours away to get him because I couldn't stop thinking about him. :)

2. Quincy was born on St. Patricks Day! He is the perfect little red head indeed!

Miss Mocha:

1. I bought Miss Mocha in Costa Mesa, California 15 years ago. I bought her at Petsmart during their adoption day. I had intended to purchase this adorable tabby kitten since the last tabby I had stayed with my ex husband after our divorce. :( Fortunately, a store attendant brought me this screaming ball of fur and fleas and begged me to take her because no one wanted her. You know me, being a soft heart and all..I succumbed to her blue eyes and screaming cries. Lol!

2. Mocha has had her battles with IBD. She is the strongest kitty I know as far as resilience and determination. A few times we thought we were going to lose her but she always bounces back! She has the strongest zest for life of any cat I know. :)

Last but not least, Miss Emma:

1. Little Miss Emma has a strange injury on her right back leg. When she was very young, only about 6 months old, she jumped off an outside chair that had a cushion on it and the cushion caught on her nail. She twisted her poor little foot and it has healed funny ever since. Now her leg bends both directions! Oh and she loves sleeping. :) Mommy is going to have to get Emma to start exercising a little though. ;)

2. Emma eats too much but she has the sweetest demeanor. She is never too feisty, always very sweet. She cleans Mr. Quincy ever chance she gets because she doesn't think he cleans himself all that well.

The last question I will leave to me. Something you may not know about me. Hmmm....besides looking at home decorating and crafting blogs, I adore fashion style blogs. I love fashion and makeup and all things girly!

Botanical Facelift

I got bored. I looked at the wall and one of my rustic window decors. I looked at the website in front of me. I began printing....and printing...and printing...and now my ink cartridges are low..and printing and printing.

Finally, voila. Ahhhh...much better than empty little windows. :)

My first black eye

And Sir Aragon (aka Ari) gave it to me. What a nice boy. I was haltering him up, facing the right direction, doing everything right and wham! He decided to shake his head right when I swung the halter around his neck and his head smacked me right in the face...specifically my eye area. I'm pretty sure I recall seeing stars. I can't believe I'm going to show you these pictures. My hair is a mess and I have no makeup on but since we've all been close for awhile I feel like I can share anything!

This is the day it happened. The swelling took a couple of days to go down.

About a week later...

It's so funny to see people's reactions when they see a woman with a black eye. No one ever asks what happens either. Anyway, I still have the awful color but hopefully by this week I will have a normal eye!

Dreamy

I'm getting inspired by these little white lights...

Three generations and a new hairstyle

I love this picture. We took it this past Christmas. Me, mom, sis, brother and my niece..equals three generations.

Holidays are definitely made for photos like this to cherish. :) Also, I tried a new hairstyle for Christmas. Sort of a braid crown. You probably can't see the braid too much with my dark hair but I still love the style. Here's Molly Sims with the same style. :)

Romantic, don't you think?

I want.....

Herb Chart

It's coming along great. This is where I left off with it about two weeks ago...and all because I am so disorganized. I lost my black artists marker that I was working with. *sigh* It WILL get done though!

My little secrets....

I'm not sure why this ran across my mind tonight as I looked at this picture. I'm not sure how I even came across this picture but I stared at it. Stared at her. What was she doing? What was she thinking? What was she hiding? A secret? We all have little secrets we don't like telling everyone but I'm going to start the year clean and tell you a few of mine. Don't ask why. I just thought it brave of me. :)

1. I am deathly afraid of water.

2. I'm a terrible procrastinator.

3. I'm highly unorganized.

4. I often do not finish what I start.

5. I am a daydreamer.

6. I have been suffering from insomnia, sometimes going to bed at 3 a.m.

7. I have to admit this but often love animals more than human beings.

8. I have seeing a therapist in my life.

9. I feel as though something big is on the horizon...something I will accomplish but don't know what it is yet.

10. I have a thing for bad boys (and I have a crush on Mark Wahlberg).

11. Almost all my friends are older than I am.

12. I regret never having children and becoming a full time mom.

13. I sometimes feel like a failure.

14. I never exercise.

15. I love puffed Cheetos.

16. I love Dots.

17. I want to make a quilt someday but am afraid of giving up before it's finished.

18. I wish I lived closer to my family. I miss them everyday.

19. I want to please everyone but know I can't and it hurts me when I can't.

20. I love driving long distances. It gives me time to think (and sing out loud).

What are your secrets?

A Very Proud Auntie!

So, last week I went home to California for the holidays. It could not have been a more perfect Christmas. The food was great...seeing my family was great, as always, and most of all getting to see my niece's new horse, CJ! I am such a proud Aunt. My niece, who's 12, has been riding horses for some time now. See, she's an English hunter/jumper equestrian rider and she has already acquired MANY ribbons. :) I think I'll be watching Paris in the Olympics one day. ;) Here are a few pictures of my beautiful niece, Paris and her new horse CJ.

She's a natural!

CJ has such great demeanor also. He's a very solid horse!

And I was even able to spend a little time grooming CJ with her while sis mucked out his stall, lol. Guess that's what mother's are for, huh? :) Thanks sis for taking a great picture of us!

More Christmas pictures to come as soon as I get a hold of 'em! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your families! :)

Tis the season for sweets, sweets and more sweets!

I've already given up eating good this month especially with all these goodies! Coreena, Jim's oldest, and I cooked up a storm the other night. She had two parties for school and she wanted to bring alot of goodies to share. I didn't even take a picture of everything. I was too busy stuffing my face and kept forgetting to take pictures and kept forgetting to help too!

Aren't these adorable? Chocolate dipped pretzel sticks sprinkled with crushed candy cane.

Sugared walnuts and chocolate chip pumpkin bread.

Of course we can't forget peppermint bark!

I'm sure after that evening I gained ten pounds. *sigh* I did remember the sugared walnut recipe though! Very easy and very addicting. I warn you!

SUGARED WALNUTS

1 cup sugar

1/2 tbs cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt.

6 tbs half and half.

1 tbs vanilla extract

2-3 cups of whole walnuts

Boil to soft ball stage or 236 degrees all ingredients.. Once you have reached 236 degrees add 1 tbs vanilla extract and quickly mix in 2-3 cups of the whole walnuts. Spread them out on wax paper and cool.

See, you know me....easy is good. :)

Tis the season....

I think I am back to blogging on a regular basis! :) The last three months I was attending a few classes at the local college including an herb class that I just love! So, much of my spare time was taken up by homework! My last piece of homework is for my herb class. I am currently working on a very large herb chart. I will be painting pictures of each herb I describe in the chart along with the botanical name, uses, etc. I hope it turns out good enough to frame later! I still have to turn it in before the start of winter session. In our last class the instructor brought us all the most delicious topping for vanilla ice cream...a sort of blueberry, orange and lavender compote! It was delicious! Different, I must admit but still VERY good. I'll include the recipe below if anyone is interested. :)

So, I am ready to start baking, crafting and enjoying the holidays!

Until then...a little cozy picture for your enjoyment. I've dressed the townhome with a little holiday cheer. Emma is certainly enjoying laying on the cozy couch by the fire. :)

Here's that delicious ice cream topping recipe! Enjoy! It's so easy to make.

Blueberry Lavender Ice Cream Topping

1 1/2 lbs frozen blueberries
20 stalks of lavender if you still have fresh lavender around - just need the tops of each stalk (the lavender buds) - this can be optional if you don't have access to fresh lavender buds
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of orange flavored liqueur

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add sugar and dissolve. Add orange liqueur and bring to a boil again. Add blueberry and lavender buds and return to a boil. Put in refrigerator until cold and serve over ice cream!

How easy is that? :)

Don't you wish life was this easy?

Although there are a couple of kit kats that I know of that seem to be gaining weight! Now where's that laser light? Lookout guys, here comes drill sergeant mommy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone in blog-land has a wonderful, cozy, warm and thankful Thanksgiving. As I've grown older I've come to learn Thanksgiving is not just about the turkey, good food and family but remembering to be thankful for what we have. I'm so thankful for my family and friends, a warm house, the love I get from my fur babies and just being alive, happy and well! Sometimes the holidays can bring out the negative in us but life is too short to waste time dwelling on the negatives in life. Just remember, every minute is a minute you will never get back, so enjoy life and make the most of what you DO have.

I'm baking a turkey, my mom's cranberry relish and the stuffing to bring to my best friend's house that will be full of family and friends. I think my turkey is going to be joined by two prime rib roasts and tons and tons of sides and desserts. Yay! We even have snow on the ground still!

Although I wish I were in California with my family, I am thankful I have my family here in Oregon to enjoy with. :) Anyway, I will be home for Christmas so I'm definitely looking forward to that!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Quincy, the lookout boy

Quincy's favorite place to sit is by the window. He's so curious about the neighbors and why everyone goes in and out of their garages all the time. He wanted to let me know that all the leaves have fallen from the trees and he senses a cold winter around the corner. He's a very good meteorologist you know. He tells me we're supposed to get some flurries this weekend...burrrrr!

Mom, somebody's gotta tell the neighbors snow is coming!

Well I'm fine....I have my winter coat on.

Close that window silly boy! I'm an old lady...I can't take the cold that well anymore! Sheesh! Mom can we throw him out in the cold? Please?

Having some fun before it gets too cold!

First of all, I want to apologize for the lack of posting lately. I miss posting and I miss my creative spark but I promise, it will all return very soon! In the meantime, my girlfriend Deb and I got a nice ride in last weekend on a rare day that it did not rain. :) You know I always find time for riding. :)

Riding bareback on my boy, Ari! Don't you love his little broomstick tail? Lol! Mind you the bareback riding was done in a small area by the trailer so don't attempt this unless you KNOW your horse!

Deb, Ari's real mom, riding bareback on Magic! Magic is a big boy....probably almost 17 hands now.

I think I've finally adjusted to the time change. When do we spring forward again? ;)

A one hour difference really does make a difference!

And it's made us all want to do this.


Is it just me or did you get affected by the time change too? I know it's only an hour but getting darker earlier makes me feel like I need to get to bed by 7 p.m.! Ugh.

Life has been crazy busy lately!

So my girlfriend, Susan and I decided we definitely need these for this winter. Okay, go ahead and laugh. Lol! That day we baked tons of pumpkin bread and these comforting things just topped the evening off!

We got them here if you're interested. :)