Cold Morning...Warm Bread

I thought we were in Florida!  The thermometer read a nippy 38 degrees when we crawled out of our cozy bed this morning!!  No frost and no ice on the birdbath, which is really nice.  I know, don't be such a complainer.... Vt is below ZERO !  Well, it sure is nice out there now at 3 PM.  Don't even need my sweater.  And one does sleep really well when it is cooler.

I have slowed down a bit this week.  All our activities at the Hall have been cancelled because of a nasty respiratory bug that has so many laid low.  We are hoping to stop its spread by not having so many public gatherings.  SO I have done some housework, knit another scarf, made a big pot of soup today and a loaf of really great bread.   Rosemary olive oil bread. We had some for lunch, right out of the oven!  Yum ! Here's the recipe if you want to try it.

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

1 C. Warm Water

1 Tbsp. Sugar 

2 Tsp yeast

Combine these in a med. sized bowl then mix spices and flour together

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. fresh or 2 tsp. dried Rosemary

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp each... basil and oregano

1/4 tsp. garlic granules

2 C. flour  (I used 1 cup each bread flour and all purpose flour)

1 egg white and 1 tsp water for a wash just before baking

Mix up... knead and set to rise in warm place till doubled, about 40 min.

Punch down and knead till you can form a nice round loaf.

Place on a greased backing sheet or round baking stone if you have one.

When risen again, coat with the egg wash and sprinkle on another tsp. of rosemary

Bake at 350 for about 30-35 min.  

It was great warm!

Tomorrow my new cell phone arrives.... so they tell me !  Hope so as I am anxious to have an updated one.  It will take me awhile to learn how to use it I'm sure.  It will have a touch screen and be capable of lots of things.  (Bet it can't make a loaf of bread!)   I decided NOT to go with an iphone simply because I am to frugal to pay the monthly extravagance of having such a fancy one.  I did get an LG800G, which has a lot of bells and whistles IF I decide I want to use them or order apps.  TracFone has them now and I like the no contract concept and I now get triple minutes.  SO we will see how that works.

Just went out to pick some collards for my friend.  They grow like crazy here.  We have a Cardinal couple who come every afternoon to eat at the feeder and take a bath in the bird bath.  I have never before seen a male Cardinal hop right into the bird bath and splash around.  The little birds do it all the time but he really splashes it up!  Yesterday we had a bluebird come and check out the bluebird house.  Last year we didn't get any bluebirds.  Hope they liked the place and will move in.

The Collards

This birdseed has started to grow!

Mr. Cardinal in the bath

On Monday the grandkids and their mom came up to visit us.  SO great getting to hug them and spend some time with them.  How they grow!  Nick is taller than Grampa by a little bit!  Wow!  And so handsome too.  And our little Mikayla is all grown up and just a beautiful girl.  She is learning to drive! Can hardly believe it.  Both love their school and are doing really well.  Nick plays football and of course loves that.  Time marches on!

Keep well .... stay warm and I hope you don't get the bug!   Or the flu!   

A quote for you:    "God is the only one who can make the valley of trouble a door of  Hope"

                                                                                                                 Catherine Marshall

I hope your New Year is going well!!  It seems I get too busy these days and in this warm, sunny place with so many great friends around me!  This is actually the first year I have been such a 'gad-about' while here in Fl.

We have a calendar just full of great things going on here in Sunshine Village this year. Not to mention all the "Ladies' Days Out" we've had!  All those great Thrift Shops to visit and the neat places we find to have lunch.  There are great crafts to learn, even a new oil painting technique class coming up on Friday which I signed up for.  Last week we made coiled baskets and are working on those lovely knit boa scarves now.  Next week there will be a class on ladder ribbon necklaces.

The Boa Scarf I just finished

  Potlucks, ice cream socials, bonfire night, water aerobics, Wii bowling, American Sign Language Class, and entertainment nights!  This Saturday night we are treated to an evening of gospel music by a great band called The Fruit Pickers from the Baptist Church in Bushnell where I attend services in the winter.  They are such a great lively group with their guitars, banjo, base violin, etc.  Can't miss this!

SO you see where I have been ........ a lot.  Dennis is still working here in the Park and loves it, work is his hobby!  Gotta get it fixed and running right.  Three park models were purchased by the Park and have been remodeled and readied for sale or rental already this year.  Now they are busy rebuilding the big work barn that houses all the equipment needed to keep the place looking good.  A 'break room' is being built there for the workers to enjoy coffee breaks and good fellowship before and after a day's work.  Dennis works closely with another carpenter, Charley, who is also a Vermonter.  Only four day work week, six hours a day...... supposedly...... but there is a lot to do so some time off becomes 'hobby time' for these two.  They both have been called work-a-holics !  We do still manage to get a couple evenings with four other friends to play our lively, competitive card game of Bid Euchre. Girls are doing great this year!

I just hope I don't have some sort of socialization withdrawal when I get back to the hills and quietness of home in VT !  It is a much slower pace there for sure.  I do still have my quiet time nearly every day but just don't seem to get to writing in the blog.  Try to do better!

I am saddened by the passing of a wonderful friend and classmate a couple weeks ago.  BUT she is surely enjoying her heavenly home, free from all the health trials that are so prevalent here on earth!  She surely believed God's Word and especially I John 5:13  "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God: that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."  Also, I hear of another dear friend who is going through a very hard time now.  It is really hard being so far away when these things happen and we really want to be there physically to just comfort and be comforted by friends and family. My friend Cyndy reminds us that we need to ' pray without ceasing' and we do need to 'rejoice always'. I Thessalonians 16-25.   We are promised that our fervent prayers for one another really are heard and can be of much help. James 5:16.   Of course it is always right and wonderful to be giving thanks in all things, always.

I am looking forward to a visit from our Grandkids next week and the arrival of cousin Natalie and Jerry from VT for their annual stay in FL.

Nick & Mikayla

So now I will go and make dinner, yeah I still call our noonday meal dinner just like my Grammie did. And we do have our big meal at noon as Den is home for that before finishing up his day.  Kinda nice, we don't have to get home early from the pool to make a big meal at night.  Then I am going to plant some radishes and see if we get to eat them before leaving for home.

The grand essentials of happiness are:

Something to Do

Something to Love

And Something to Hope for.

Take care, all and keep well and warm.  I do like your comments so be brave and tell me just what you think!!  So Long and I will try to write more often.