SpruceHill

Twilight is here!

The movie is here and everyone is so excited! We can't wait to see it!

The music video is pretty cool too!

Little house

 

I have posted a picture of this little house before. It is at the end of our lane. I have no idea any history on it. The house that sits up on the hill behind us is very old c.1745 and was an established Catholic mission. It is one of the oldest structures built by Catholics in our county. So I imagine that maybe this little house was a part of the mission in some way.

 

It looks as though it had burned at one time. You can still see the charred wood in some of the windows.

 

It's crumbling shell looks so bleak and abandoned in the winter.

 

Since it is along the road it is thought maybe that it was a tavern of some kind. The priest who owned the mission had several structures on his property such as a gristmill and millrace that are thought to be the first mills in the surrounding valley. I guess for now we can only imagine what it was. It's kind of fun wondering what it's purpose was.

Happy Friday!

A recipe for Nicole

Corn Chowder

 

Yesterday I was on a mission. To find a good soup recipe to post. My friend Nicole requested another soup recipe and I just could not let her down. I spent a good chunk of my morning looking for a corn chowder recipe I liked but I was not successful. So I did what I always do when I can't find the perfect recipe, I made one up myself.

The ingredients.....

1/2 pound of bacon

3TBS butter

1/4 cup flour

1 small onion chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

2 cups of frozen or canned corn (the sweeter the better)

3 small new potatoes, diced

1 can of creamed corn

2 cups of chicken broth

2 cups of milk of half and half (I used milk)

 1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

a dash of thyme, and parsley

                      

Fry the bacon in a nice sized soup pot. After it is finished break into small pieces and put back in the pot. Add onions and celery, cook until soft. Add and melt butter then add the flour. Cook for just a few minutes until blended. add chicken broth, chopped potatoes and corn. Simmer for about 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add milk,creamed corn,thyme, parsley, salt and pepper.

 

 Simmer for 20 minutes or so until it gets nice and thick. Again I like my soup to sit so when I made it in the morning I let it simmer for a while and then put in in the fridge until dinner time. You can also do it in the crock pot (Nicole).

Everyone loved it, it was a big hit. It is sweet yet savory. I served it with grilled cheese sandwiches after riding (it was super cold outside) If I had the time I would have made some nice biscuits.

Enjoy!

    

Snow!!!?

This morning I was on a mission, a shopping mission. Big E's birthday falls in December, so I try to do most of my holiday shopping before that. So this morning I went out (after stopping at Starbucks for sustenance) to continue my Christmas/birthday shopping. I was on a roll, I got tons of things done. My latte however wore off and by 11:00 I was getting a bit grumpy. I have found that now I have NO tolerance sometimes for things or people that are taking away my precious time. While at the mall I was jumped by several people trying to sell me things I didn't want or need. It made me even grumpier. I left the mall satisfied yet frustrated and a little pissed off. On the way home I kept thinking about how I feel differently about Christmas now. Not just Christmas but holidays in general. How I can't stand it when things like that happen. Not tolerant of being asked If I want another 10% off If I could just open a charge account! Um No thanks! So I was driving home and the closer I got to home the cloudier it got. By the time I got home it was snowing! Yes, snowing in November in Maryland!

   

I quickly ran to find my camera and ran outside. It was beautiful, quiet and cold. The dogs ran around in a very excited state.

     

It was over as quickly as it started but it left me happier and in a better mood. Something as simple as a little snow shower lifted my spirits and made me happy and thankful for the coming holiday season.

 

Sadie was quite excited and ran around, jumped up on the porch and barked at me. (Sadie never barks at me like that :)

Survivorship

One of the hardest parts of cancer is survivorship. Diagnosis and treatment is hard too, but when you are in it you are doing something. Survivorship is hard because you are not actively fighting anything. It is mentally and physically draining. It sounds funny I know, I have gone through it all in the last year. I am having a hard time with this transition. Not going to doctor appointments, not having treatments. It throws you a bit. I should be done, ready to face the world. Being cancer free (If there is really such a thing) should be joyful, and celebrated! So why is it so hard?

 

Hair update!!!!!!!!!!! Well here it is for your viewing pleasure! I am not real keen on this picture. It is probably just me being insecure about my looks. I thought you would all like to see how thick my hair is getting. I almost need to start using my hair dryer :)