Saturday, November 29, 2008

fa la la la la la la la lahhhh

it's finally here....color and sparkle wherever you turn, christmas music on every station...and children beginning to fill themselves up with the anticipation of another year with santa...(yes, bouncing off the walls..)

i saw a page in southern living magazine (very last page)...a college choir in mississippi - singing christmas tree, oh what fun that would be to see...asked hubby, "how long do you think it would take to get to mississippi"? he gave me some squirrel and dance (a saying up here)....meaning he had no clue...so i googled away at singing christmas trees and thought i'd share what i found... i have yet to find a youtube video of the mississippi college - but i'm still searching. in the meantime, the video below
shows each and every little step that has been taken to pull together the grand performance.



Sunday, November 23, 2008


i'm in the studio late tonight... freezing rain tomorrow and snow on tuesday, so i'm cutting wood, painting molding and hopefully will have it sanded before the storm comes tonight...it can get quite cold out there sanding! i came across this 'menu' from the canton historical society, that i wanted to share with you....but PLEASE don't follow the cooking times, or, oh dear, you could make yourself sick...


THANKSGIVING DINNER 1884
BILL OF FARE
Roast turkey with cranberry and apple sauces

Sweet potatoes, roasted.

White potatoes, mashed

Macaroni and cheese.

Celery, pickles, cold slaw.

Rolls and Boston brown bread.

Mince and pumpkin pies.

Sweet cider Raisins and nuts

Black coffee


Our bill of fare is a simple one, and of course as many additions can be made to it as desired. The first article to make on either Monday or Tuesday are the pies.
Make the paste of one quart of flour, one half-pound of sweet, good butter, the same of lard, and one small cup of cold water. Chop the butter and lard into the flour, until as fine as powder, wet into a stiff dough, knead into a ball, and roll deftly and quickly into a thin sheet, always rolling from you. Fit on the pie plates.
For the pumpkin pies take one pint of stewed pumpkin, strained through a sieve, four eggs, one quart of milk, a little mace, cinnamon and nutmeg, and three-fourths of a cup of sugar. Beat well together and bake in a moderately hot oven without a cover. Before putting on the table sprinkle with powdered sugar.
If you have not mince meat already made buy from a good grocer a quart. Fill the pie plates and put on a thin crust.

Before serving place in the oven to heat.


The turkey should be ordered or bought a few days before Thanksgiving. Have him plump and firm, also tender. To test a tender turkey, lift the wings, and if the skin breaks easily he is alright. As soon as you get your turkey home dress it and place it in salt water, first washing it in several waters, and in the last, mixing in a teaspoonful of soda.

Two hours will roast a ten-pound turkey, if your fire is brisk. Make a dressing of bread crumbs, butter, pepper, salt, sage, thyme, sweet marjoram, one egg, and wet with a little hot milk. A little sausage and onion is liked by many. Sew the turkey up tightly, and dredge with flour. Baste at first with butter and water, afterward with the pan dripping.

Fried oysters laid about the dish, when the turkey is served, is an improvement.


The cranberries should be boiled until very tender, then strained and sweetened.

To make them jell, add a very little gelatine dissolved in warm water.
The apple sauce should be made of tart apples, and not sweetened. It may be also stuffed with gelatine, and both, if made the day before Thanksgiving, will save labor.


The white potatoes should be mashed as soon as done, and piled in a pyramid with a tiny tuft of parsley sticking out of the top.

Allow an hour or more to roast the sweet potatoes.

Keep the celery in water until time of serving.


Boil the macaroni in water until tender, then place in a deep dish, mix in a tablespoon of canned tomatoes, grate a little cheese over the layer, then put on another layer of macaroni, and so on until the dish is filled. Cover the top with grated cheese and place in a hot oven for ten minutes. Serve hot. This is a delicious dish.
Serve the cider with pie, and the raisins and nuts afterward, ending with a small cup of black coffee, which is made by taking a tea cup of coffee to a pint of water boil for ten minutes and serve without cream and sugar.--Canton Journal.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

ok...i'm just going to go for it...



no matter how hard i try to fight it i just can't resist the winter season any longer...snow, sledding and school closings are just bringing it on... if you are not aware i am married to mr. christmas himself...hubby each year begins hanging the lights by thanksgiving day. now i will admit that it is practical, for you never know how cold and snowy it will get, so starting thanksgiving day has always been a good thing. there is nothing more pitiful that driving by the family trying to hang lights up in december in the deep snow and wind...and you know they are thinking, why didn't i just do this last week as they are swinging on their ladder ready to take a fall into the snow bank...

well not us...no sirree...not with my mr. christmas at work through the wee hours of the darkness - i do have to put a control on him though. every year i say, 'no more lights', every year i find empty boxes of lights that he has carefully snuck in from the stores to add to his display...by the end of the season he would be able to tell you what stores have what lights, prices of the various designs and if there is a shortage of a certain light...and every year he points out to me all the big plastic holiday decorations that we 'could' have in the yard...each corner of the yard a different "theme"... and as he's telling me all these 'wonderful' ideas of his, his eyes are filled with a mad glee...i've put a stop, firmly, to the plastic santa, reindeer, and blow-ups that some crazy person is still creating year after year...but i know, eventually, he will start sneaking them in too....and when caught, he will claim 'it's for the kids!"....





Monday, November 17, 2008

every year i say i won't do it...




every single year i say i'm not going to do it....talk about christmas before thanksgiving....be lulled into the sparkling of christmas decorating....find myself singing carols before december 1st....ripping out pictures from magazines to be inspired by...heading out to craft stores or discount stores to buy "just the perfect little sparkle" to decorate with....



but i just can't stand it anymore....i just received my new country living magazine....and there it was, the most beautiful christmas tree on the cover...my heart leaped a bit with glee as my eyes danced in the sparkle of the balls... i found myself singing a carol yesterday - much to my horror...but i guess i will just give in and think about it just a little bit earlier this year...




over the next few weeks i'll be posting some ideas on great gifts that you can make, for as we all have heard over and over again...the economy will be putting a screech on some of our 'usual' shopping ideas...we can take this time to create a more simple and perhaps personal christmas for our friends and families...in these changing times i think we are being taken back to a simpler time where we can honestly feel once again, it's the thought of a gift, the giving of a gift that is to be treasured...



as you are pulling your decorations out this year to filling your home with festivities and your families traditions...sit back and take it all in....for it is magic...


Sunday, November 16, 2008

tech gadgets...









i love gadgets for my computer...if you surf the net enough you can find so many free programs that you can add to your site or your blog...i found this 'flag counter' a couple of weeks ago, and thought i just had to have it! whenever somebody reads my blog it shows what country they are from...it's fascinating to see how many people stumble upon you and where they are from...if you "must have" a counter yourself...just go down to the bottom left of my blog - you will see a box with many flags -click it on and you can have one for yourself...




United States
97
November 16, 2008

Canada
7
November 15, 2008

Luxembourg
3
November 10, 2008

Germany
1
November 15, 2008

Serbia
1
November 15, 2008

Greece
1
November 15, 2008

Sweden
1
November 12, 2008

India
1
November 10, 2008

China
1
November 6, 2008

Norway
1
November 5, 2008






from your flag counter you can click on any country and receive a history/geography lesson from the site...you can try it for yourself on the above listed countries....i just love this!

Friday, November 14, 2008

folk artist, april plummer


april plummer...

i have stumbled, in a good way, onto april plummer's whimsical folk art... while at home with her new baby girl, april began her creative journey into canvas several years ago. her artwork is touched with the color and whimsy of her life with this little one and she has designed artwork surrounding those special moments in her daughter's life; the fun and glee felt from puddle jumping, sledding and fireflies. her small family has dug roots deeply in the pennsylvania landscape and whether she is working with acrylics or with her husband on preserving those wonderful old tin ceilings she has a life where everyday is filled with never ending inspiration...


"firefly dance"


what makes april's work so interesting to me, and to stand apart from other artists is that many of april's paintings and collages contain poems that she has written, the inspiration for the painting. also, her commissioned pieces - for she works with clients individually to create a one-of-a-kind piece of art surrounding the clients children or special event, whether it's through poetry, colors, or the subject, she brings a visual 'memory' captured on canvas for her clients home.






currently she is working on a commission of a daughter's love for a watermelon that had grown in the garden over the summer, using a poem that her client had written...what a special piece of art this will be and a reminder to the family of this child's youth and wonderment...






you can take a peek at april's work on her site... http://awellkeptnest.com/ -
her blog to see what's going on...http://awellkeptnest.blogspot.com/
she also sells her work on the etsy site... http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6124233





if you have a special memory that you would like her to capture, be sure to contact her, for i know that our memories do fade over time, and some are just too sweet to surrender...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Rhythm of the Heart - Native American - Buffalo - Plains - Sioux

when i was a little girl we would travel by car through the plains... my sisters being older than i would call dibs on the backseat, which left me to lay in the "hammock" that is naturally made along the back window of a convertible...i do believe i had the best seat of all... we would see herds and herds of buffalo...oh how i miss that wild freedom of childhood mixed with the strength of the beasts...



Tuesday, November 11, 2008

i'm just a little bit nervous...


as many of you now know i have just written my first children's book... the final manuscript was sent yesterday and i'm just a bit nervous...the second guessing has begun now that it has left my hands...should i haves, maybe i could haves...



but here is how it all happened from the beginning to the end...i was asked to write a children's book for chetola resort, in blowing rock, about their two swans, Moses and Bertha, who swim about on their lake...




there were some points that needed to be included in this story - the story of the inn, the surrounding view of our appalachian mountains and the creatures on the land...history, educational information for the children mixed with entertaining swans...oh my

when my hubby (you know him!), volunteered me for this project, he of course, hadn't asked me. so when he came home and told me, i gave him my traditional look of horror, and told him, "i can't write a children's book!". he told me, "you write poems, i told them you were published", and off he went. just like him, you know? and there i was left standing, talking to myself.

well i did it. i submitted the beginning of the book and the ending - for i thought these probably would be the hardest to write. i got the go ahead - and wrote the middle. after many many phone calls to my mom, chief editor, queen of the english language, killer of sentence fragments, eraser of my dots dots dots...i submitted the final draft...




it was a fun adventure - for the view was breathtaking....chetola resort in blowing rock is a diamond within these mountains, a very special place to us all. many weddings are held at chetola for it is such a magical place, a fairy tale wedding with horse and carriage carrying the bride. this is the place that jan karon, wrote her wonderful series, about a small town named 'mitford'...for she was enchanted by this place too...an easy place to get lost in a good book...



Monday, November 10, 2008

gin the dancing dog...

my dad sent this video to me this morning...perfect for my monday morning. i was also reminded how much i do miss my Simon, that sly little grin of his! enjoy this and have a wonderful monday...




Wednesday, November 5, 2008

guess what?



guess what my favorite holiday in the whole wide world is? and it's almost here?


that would be thanksgiving...my most loved holiday of all....i think of the beautiful browned turkey, stuffing and cranberries...sparkling crystal and china...polished silver carefully placed on a crisp white tablecloth...




it is my time...the one time of year where i pull out everything beautiful from my cupboards for the table...the heirlooms passed down through my family...the only time that i use the linens and demand manners from this house full of male bodies...the time where i remind them of the finer and nicer things in life...




i pour over my new country living magazine....ahhhh, pretty holiday table displays. i'm inspired to have the most beautiful table that i've ever had before...and certainly this year i can make some things to make it extra special...those place cards are so pretty and the flowers in the cones would be so special...



now...here comes the screeching sound made from the needle running over an album (if you remember those)...

and now enters my real life thanksgiving...

the turkey is never ever done...we sit patiently for hours, year after year for the little guy to finish his magic in my oven...still to this day we've never figured out why it takes a couple of hours longer than it should, it just does, year after year...and it is something to ponder since most things i burn in a rather short amount of time...

the appetizers are long gone...and dishes are piling up high in my itty bitty kitchen already...as we move around the kitchen there are always heads hitting the pans from the hanging pot rack - bumping them time after time after time....we are all circling around each other to get through the narrow pass from the pan rack to the table between the animals...without falling...

the dogs are circling...making you feel like they are a pack of wolves...as soon as they are herded out the door, after much tripping and perhaps swearing....they somehow find there way back in through another door...they seem to have magical tactics on thanksgiving day...




hubby pulls off the skin from the turkey if he thinks i won't catch him, thinking the little bit will be worth my yelling at him to just stop it...scraps are thrown to the pets as i yell for them to stop it before the dogs explode all over the room...pleads from them all..."but it's thanksgiving" they say...

the tablecloth seldom actually ever touches the table for there always seems to be a lack of either an ironing board or iron...or both

we gather around our teeny tiny table - extra seats are added so that we are just about sitting on each others laps...and then somebody always needs to get back up to get something...and this causes an effect, everyone has to get up or readjust...and make sure the left handed ones are sitting next to each other...

and well, with my cooking...we know the rolls will always burn...the turkey will never get done...the potatoes will be lumpy for i own only a hand masher...we will be eating in sessions as food is eventually done and if it isn't ruined...i've somewhere misplaced my cooking abilities...i'm not sure what happened, it just happened...

but with all that madness...it still is my most perfect holiday...just having the family all together in one place - i couldn't want anything more...and the crystal, well it does look so pretty, and the china is so special and wonderful under any circumstances...

and the winner is....


the studio is in chaos....and that is a good place for me...if the studio is too clean and organized i seem to feel, well, confused....so boards of every shape color and design are being created right now for you and yours and they are everywhere in the studio...a little drawing, a little painting and a little woodwork all collide to pull this off before the holidays settle in...


in the back of my mind i am creating new boards for a december web show...this will be my 2nd show and i intend on having it at the very beginning of december just in case you may need that special gift to give...i will have many to choose from (well not that many, 5-6, for now i feel like an elf in the santa shop!), but hopefully something will catch your eye...and i'm hoping to create a new design if time will allow...if you would like to be notified of the web sale - just make sure that you have signed up for my email update list...and if you have not...just drop me an email at dianeallison@charter.net, and i will make sure you are added....


and the winner is (drum roll please)..........


holly kuhn


yes, holly you have won the well worn heart game board - Congratulations!!! holly was #58 in the drawing to help me celebrate the first day of snow!!! maybe next time, for those of you who didn't win this time...keep trying!

44th President of the United States of America

President Barack Obama