Mmmmmm!!! *SHRIMP*!!!

And...there was a nice bowl of cocktail sauce, freshly made with grated horseradish in it! We can all breathe clearly now!!! :)
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Rice Crispy Treats!

Yummmmmy! We had to make more treats! Very simple, but they sure are tasty!

Hmmmmm, what should we make next.....
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Cabbage / Broccoli & Red Onion Salad...

One of our "nibblies" for tonight. We're just making all sorts of savory & sweet goodies to snack the old year away!
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Stirring up a batch of Spicey Parmesan Crackers...

This is just one of the many "nibblies" we'll have tonight.
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Erik's 17th Birthday!

Hard to believe he was so tiny when he arrived! When he finally got to come home, he was only 4#2oz!!!

There's Katie, waiting for her piece of cake after the photos were snapped...

Chocolate cake, white buttercream icing...
.
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It's an Angel !!!

Yes, here's my daughter Katie on Sunday evening during the Christmas Program @ church. She was one of 4 angels.

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My pickup, now "two-tone"...

We got a few inches of snow... & now flurries. Probably about the end of it.
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Erik, Katie & Zoe w/ Christmas Dinner

Just before we sat down to eat... Had to take a quick photo. Yes...little Zoe got some, too!
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Christmas Dinner

We had a small dinner this year, since we're not at "home @ the cabin" in Colorado.

We had a spiral sliced ham, dressing, cranberries, sweet potatoes... Dessert later.

Another photo coming in a bit...
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A Winter Wonderland

Here we are, with a White Christmas landscape! We got several inches of the white stuff, with flurries today.
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Christmas Eve 2010 - Erik & Katie w/ Zoe

Here they are in front of our small fiber optic tree...our Christmas tree for this year.

The stocking on the wall in back, is an Advent Stocking. They've been taking turns placing an item on the stocking.

Erik will be 17 on the 27th!!! Katie is 12-1/2 now! (13 in May). Zoe, well...we're not sure on her age, but we're going with 12, same as Katie, judging from some beginning cataracts, etc. She also has "selective hearing loss"... (Kinda like Erik & Katie...)
:)
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"Yesterday's Treasure", a 1950 Presto pressure cooker...

Came complete with the original cookbook!!! $8...

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Cast Iron, all reseasoned...

My "treasures", all reseasoned, ready to put to use once again. I always wonder who used them in the past...who they were, where they lived...what did they cook...
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Two of my cast iron pans...

They're soaking in a Coca Cola bath, prior to a Crisco baking!
:)
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Today's Treasure

Sooo, here's another li'l treasure from thrifting... Any guesses? That's a quarter for size reference. And...it cost a whole quarter!
:)
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More "Camping Cookware"!!! :)

Yep, another thrifting day turned up 2 covered, copper bottomed Revere Ware pans! Since it was 1/2 price day on housewares, both pans cost me a whopping $2.99.....
:)
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And...for your Thursday evening quiz.....

Who would like to guess what this pan is for??? I'll give one clue: Made in Germany...
(Cost me 50c...)
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Another "Find"!!!

Here's another treasure from the latest thrift shopping trek. This is a Lodge cast iron griddle. Needs cleaning & reseasoning, but for $4, I'm very happy to do it!
:)
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2 Revere Ware Pans

While wandering around in a thrift shop the other day, I found these 2 frying pans, old, made in USA Revere Ware!

Since it was 1/2 price day on housewares, I snatched up these 2 pans, along with a couple other items I'll post later.

For those just dying of curiosity, the large pan was $2, the smaller pan $1...
:)

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Christmas VW's!!! :)

Seen @ a restaurant parking lot in Illinois on Friday. All decked out for Christmas!

My favorite holiday! And, yes, I wish folks a "Merry Christmas", not "Happy Holidays"! :)

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"Turkey in the works"...

Here's our "gobble"... Its about 2/3rds done. Just opened up the pven to baste, & took a pic. Its only 14#. Usually we deep-fry our turkeys, but since our turkey fryer is in Colorado, & we're OTR in Illinois, we had to stuff it in the oven... *sigh*
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"Decorated Homemade Cole Slaw" :)

We *love* homemade cole slaw! We decorated it this time with tiny "grape" tomatoes...
:)
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Beautiful Sunset 4:45pm

Getting chilly out there... The birds have really been hurrying south the last couple of weeks...

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Sunset behind the Birdhouse...

Cool, beautiful evening...

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Another view of my latest treasure! :)

Yes, Lodge cast iron is truly a treasure in my book! I love it!

This is a view of it showing it's nice, curvey handles...

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Today's Treasure...

My daughter Katie & I went to an antique mall today... This was the #1 treasure for today!

A 12" Lodge cast iron pan... Needs cleaning & reseasoning, but a very nice pan!

You probably *don't* want to know what I paid for it!
:)
.
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Ahhh, *COFFEE*!!!

Yep, here is my beloved Bunn coffeemaker! I received as a Christmas gift, 2005. Fresh pot is ready!!!

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My "new" treasure... Any ideas??? :)

I know at least one of you will know what this is.
:)
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Winter Wheat

Its in the field at the back of the 1st tree line, that bright green. Its doing quite well...

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10am Thu @ the farm...

This is in southern Illinois... Kind of a cool cloudy day... Some farmers still out harvesting in the area. Ours is all harvested & the field planted now in winter wheat...
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Tuesday's "finds"...

We went thrift shopping on Tuesday. I've been wanting to pick up a table of some sort for working on my assorted crafts, including leathercraft, beading, & jewelry.

*Voila*!!! Found a drawing table, solid inch thick top, all metal base & supports, & also a nice office chair to go along with it. Got both of them for a grand total of $24.98!!!

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Katie & Zoe

We went trick-or-treating today... The entire town turns out for Halloween! It was great fun!!!

All the shops pass out candy to *everyone*, no matter your age, as long as you're in costume! Most adults dressed up!

This is a photo of Katie with Zoe, when we returned from town. She was all decked out in glittery, sparkley witch clothes, with her black western hat, which has a lot of sparkley Aurora Borealis stones set in the front & sides. She made a very pretty "Western Witch"...
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"Boots"...

Today ended up being a very sad day...

We, my son Erik, daughter Katie & I headed up to do some shopping at a couple of our favorite thrift shops. We were gone quite awhile, as I stopped by a local medical clinic, then an hour+ each way, plus about an hour in each shop.

We returned to the cabin, unloaded our treasures, then left for town to the school's Halloween carnival. They hardly had anything, so we headed back home.

We had been home only about 1/2 an hour, when Katie came running downstairs... Bootsy had apparently died sometime today. We knew it was coming, as she had been sick for some time, but we had hoped she had more time left.

She was a sweet old kitty, grey & white. She was also a *huge* kitty! She had won every "Fat Cat" contest she had ever been in!!!

RIP Boots / Bootsy
.
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Katie & Ellisa

Here's Katie, my 12yr old daughter, & her 13yr old cousin here from northern CA.

We roamed all around town & the area, stopped ion to have lunch @ a little local restaurant / pub, (great sandwiches / salads). They're having a great time!
Ơ̴̴̴̴̴̴͡.̮Ơ̴̴͡

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Nice, warm fire going...

Actually, the "1st Snow" pic was from yesterday, Monday, but this morning, its bright blue skies, & cooooold, so the wood stove will be getting a workout!

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Got Snow???

Yep, we got our 1st snow of the season today...perhaps around 3" or so.

My *BLUE* pickup is hiding out under her blanket of snow in this picture...

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Snowing all afternoon!

There's Katie all bundled up, with a saucer. Its 33* right now, snow still coming down! Guess I got their snow pants just in time!
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Katie & her new sock bunny! :)

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Now I need to remember what email address to send photos to... I remember setting up the "secret word" part of it... Can anyone LMK the rest of it???
LOL

Yaaaaay!!! OK, I've figured out what # to send my posts to...
Now you're all in "trouble"...
:)

Testing out the BB...

*WOW*, I'm in shock!!!

I'm truly shocked, stunned & amazed... I've got *12*, yes, *12* followers!!!  

Incredible!!!

Now I need to figure out how to send posts & photos from my phone, as I'm rarely on the laptop... 

(don't hold your breath.....)

I have a Van, I'm a Mom, my name is ~Karen~.....

Finally, I'm online with my very own blog... I hope you are all happy now, all of you who have been pestering me to get one!  LOL

Please don't get too excited over it, as I have enough trouble getting on facebook once in awhile, so don't hold your breath over this being a daily thing!  LOL