Two Thumbs Up

...way up for Sandi's Mama's Angel Biscuits! Six of us ate them last night so that's actually 12 thumbs. ;D

The dough is so easy to work with...



My old can biscuit cutter that used to get tossed into the recycling bin prior to the labeling...



Into the skillet for baking. I had to bake mine longer than Sandi suggested, but that may be because they are bigger. My batch made two dozen and not three as Sandi said. See that ugly one? That's mine! It was soooo yummy. This biscuit is a cross between a biscuit and a roll...so light, so fine.



And now to the table for a rustic presentation.



This recipe is a definite keeper and you can find it right *here.*

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What am I going to do when my snowbank is gone? Honestly, what am I going to do? Well I won't worry about that today. Here's the ugly mess. I am determined to keep this real.



What about a little contest hidden nicely here on Saturday's post? Yes! That's just the thing. Leave a comment about when you believe the last vestiges of snow will be gone from this scene and I'll send a little prize (no telling what it might be) to the one who comes the closest. Don't select a date that someone else has already chosen. This could be fun.

Warning: Some people have been known to cheat.

Like this neighbor and that one, too!








Have a great Saturday, everyone. (Hope to catch up with all of you later this evening.)

Backyard Treasures

My Rhubarb Patch is Down There Somewhere

Have you seen the rhubarb growing in Lovella's garden? The thought of rhubarb already grown to that size made my head spin and it also made me wonder how my own was faring out in that Siberian wasteland I'm calling my backyard.



Yes! There is Life After the Long Winter

Covering it all back up again, I even prayed for it to thrive so that I might harvest enough for a pie. It's only been planted for two years and that means I'm not supposed to be harvesting a lot. I harvested nothing from it last year.

Then I turned my attention to the creek, which is flowing nicely...



and the gray birch that make me nervous since they don't appear to be as well established as I'd like; nevertheless, there they remain. I call them my sentinels.

Lastly, the deck, which is now in desperate need of paint. It's still laden with sheets of ice.

I can't take it anymore...let me just help this mess along...chop. chop. chop.

Oh my! Who knew that I had diamonds in the snow?

A Sonnet Perhaps?

Sonnet #30

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste;
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long-since-cancelled woe,
And moan th' expense of many a vanished sight;
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

~William Shakespeare

Once upon I time I committed that one to memory...I loved saying "bemoanèd." I remembered just enough to find it today. That's all.

I've only written one sonnet in my life. A bad one. Too awful to share here. Too awful to even consider entering a sonnet writing contest.

Perhaps you write poetry; perhaps you'd be interested in entering the "Bed of Roses" Sonnet Contest at A Prairie Home Companion. If you do, I hope you win!

It's the Little Things

As the old song goes "Little Things Mean a Lot." The older I get, the more convinced of it I am. It doesn't take much these days to give me pleasure in the simple joys. I've got lots of little things to share with you today.

These are some wee treasures that arrived in yesterday's mail from Among the Hedgerows.



Lynda tossed in the beautiful old-fashioned shoe tags as an extra, which was such a thoughtful thing to do. I love them! Thank you so much, Lynda! Do you see where I am putting my tags these days? Someplace where I can see them and enjoy them yet they'll be handy when tagging a gift. Look around, but don't look too far. ;>

Yesterday, Alison posted another marvelous list of Puttery Treats. Oh I love Puttery Treats!

What's any worse than seeing this in the laundry?



Well, besides this?



But we can change the first à la Puttery Treats to this:



And a few minutes of folding transforms that nasty pile, too.



(As you can see, I was desperate for a before and after!)

After all of the work on the tea cozy (see yesterday's post), I even made a little change to that. See?



On Monday, Pat gave such a wonderful link behind the scenes in comments for seasoned skillets. So many of you confessed that you didn't own a skillet, but I want everyone in the country to own a good skillet...at least one. So, for your browsing and shopping pleasure, I'm giving you the link to Lodge Manufacturing up front where you can see it.

This is my happy collection of skillets and cast iron pans that I keep seasoned by using edible mineral oil. I also treat wooden handles and my wooden utensils every month or so with the oil. You can use 100% vegetable oil or even shortening, but never use Canola oil or any oil that could go rancid. You can't go wrong to pick up the edible mineral oil as it lasts forever and is far easier to use.



Finally, as extra incentive to get out your cast iron skillet, to purchase one or to beg for one, here's the link to a recipe for corn bread in a skillet. Can you think of any better presentation for the supper table? Believe me, it makes people's eyes light up!

Have a fantastic Wednesday and don't forget to find a Puttery Treat Challenge to call your own! Remember: It's the little things...

Edited to Add: Yet another "Little Thing" as The Farmer's Wife is having a little giveaway and you can play along, too. Do you have a dear hubby who really needs to pay attention and notice things? Well "The Farmer" should pay better attention and that's what the giveaway is all about. Suzanne will be giving away his Farmall some beautiful dishcloths. Check it out!

Stitches-for-Tea

Welcome to this week's edition (April 6–12) of La Tea Dah's Hospital-i-tea where we are to share ideas and pictures that involve stitching for the tea table. Any kind of stitches count: sewing, embroidery, knitting, crochet, tatting, quilting, etc. The work can be yours or of someone else, but should be homemade rather than done by factory machines. Ideas are napkins, tea cozies, table linens, and other creations made with tea themes.


Alack and alas, until last evening at 5, I had nothing to share. I hated the idea of sitting out this week so much, even though I had made my apologies to La Tea Dah already, that I couldn't let it go without attempting something...anything! Besides, I'd always wanted a tea cozy...

So here's my picture story:

I remem-bered some old quilted fabric packed away for over 15 years, which definitely needed a good washing.


A friend had already sent me a tea cozy pattern. Thanks, Teresa!


Now that I know how to do my own bias tape, this part was a cinch.


Using this quilt block pattern, I was able to reproduce the following embroi-dery pattern. Source




...which changed this to

that











Yes, the time is correct...roughly five hours to change this to that, but who's counting when I can participate after all?!


Have fun on the remainder of your Stitches-for-Tea tour!

Biscuits and Skillet Cookies

Would you believe that I finally learned how to place homemade bias tape all the way around a towel? I did. Here's proof.



It certainly took me long enough, which is somewhat disturbing for me to consider that my brain power may not be quite as Einsteinesque as I'd like. [I really do need to add a wink here; otherwise, I just sound like an idiot, which I am...LOL!] But if one sits at Alicia's February 21st post long enough...I'm certain that she wondered and was considering calling out the blog police. For those of you who remember my doing this before, well, yes, I did, but that was back when I was doing a one or two edge treatment therefore avoiding the bends in the corner. There's probably an analogy there somewhere, but I'll save it for another day.

The little biscuit recipe comes from PatternBee. It was a happy day last week when my order arrived!





Now I have three other patterns to do — chicken a la king, strawberrry jam, and applesauce. I find the prices at PatternBee very reasonable. The last embroidery pattern that I purchased was for a gingerbread recipe and it cost more than all of these patterns put together and isn't any more charming (different company).

And all weekend long, whenever I needed a pick-me-up or something to serve drop-in guests, I had Cast Iron Skillet Cookies thanks to Brin. You can find her recipe right here.

















Remember last Friday when I was asking a lot of snoopy questions about your blogrolls? Well, check out what Dawn at The Feathered Nest is doing with hers and prepare to be amazed! This would work beautifully for any of you with lengthy blogrolls. In the meantime, I am going to ponder what to do with mine. I only need to make one or two quick changes and have a "policy" in place for what to do in the future. %}

Off to attempt something for tomorrow's post so that I can participate in this week's Tea Blogathon. I've already explained to La Tea Dah that I have nothing for show and tell. N-O-T-H-I-N-G and this will not do.

Have a wonderful Monday, dear friends.

The Implications of Our Faith

Let us consider the implications of our faith. Either Christ did everything for us or He did nothing...either all of our sins are totally forgiven or none of them are forgiven. Eternal life must last forever or how is it 'eternal'? You either stand in the righteousness of Christ or you have no righteousness at all. And what is faith? It is 'being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.' (Hebrews 11:1)~ Bob George (paraphrased)

Breathe
Michael W. Smith

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I I'm desperate for you
And I I'm I'm lost without you

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word spoken to me

And I'm, I'm desperate for you
And I'm, I'm lost without you

And I'm, I'm desperate for you
And I'm, I'm lost without you

I'm lost without you...

(Clicking on the song will take you to You Tube and Michael W. Smith singing.)

photo source (link broken, but allowed to stand)