MOUNT RAINIER

My favorite mountain ...Mount Rainier. This is one of the things I miss most about living in the mid-west now. My brother-in-law sent us these pictures and really made me homesick

I will be making a trip back there to see my family in September..I really can't wait. With Winter being so long here I am torn between summer passing quickly so I can make that trip or summer passing slowing because winters are so harsh. Anyway it will be nice to see the family.

AROUND THE COTTAGE...

We have been busy around here trying to decide on more furniture. It takes so much time to go looking and then agree on something but we have...the loveseat came and the coffee table and end table have been ordered...then comes the chair and ottoman and soon a sofa table and small end table to go near the chair for all of hubby's STUFF. Babysitting has been going well and I have 3 days off. I will really enjoy the time to relax( if I get any) and catch up with things. Tonight I tried a salmon with an orange-mustard sauce. I roasted the asparagus with olive oil in the oven and had rice pilaf. I also had a very green salad-- lettuce, cucumbers and avocado. Very good and I felt good. Ellie and I have been walking but not much in the way of results. My daughter-in-law reminded me about how many krumkake I ate and then I realized maybe they were the culprits. Maybe this dinner will help with the healthy eating anyway.

Eleanor recieved a new toy at Grandmas house

She is growing but still on the petite side

she really likes standing up and not always on the floor

You can't tell from here but when I am feeding her sometimes she reminds me of my niece
Autumn when she was little. It is in her eyes and nose, when you have the bottle in her mouth that is all you can see and with that dark hair. Autumn was petite and still is. I never had a petite girl , they were premies but grew to be bigger than their mother.

This was a new outfit and Grandma dressed in the same colors that day but forgot to get a picture of both of us. (pink and black)

She is chewing on everything now
We are becoming close friends and she is starting to laugh
She isn't as fond of Grandpa just yet but he is a big burly looking guy

maybe it is the beard or glasses or he is kinda loud but the other day

they were bonding and it was adorable. I will have to post that picture when I get it uploaded.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

COTTAGE UPDATES

Yesterday I made krumkake for the other blog(lefsagirlsinthekitchen) and filled them with this wonderful cream but the problem lies in the fact that I could not stop eating them and today they are all gone, granted my hubby and son had a few but really one should learn self control. They were sooo, sooo, good!!!

Valentines flowers from my hubby

I hinted that I want all white to go with the table.

carnations and roses my favorite

I have been so busy with babysitting, caring for the sick family, including myself ,and trying to catch up on all the house stuff that I had forgotten to eat breakfast. With this virus that hit us no-one has felt much like eating but this day I was getting my appitite back and so I made myself a little brunch. Have you ever made apple and potatoes together with just a hint of onion? It was really good then the scrambled eggs with peppers, mushrooms, and onions..no cheese. It still needed a little something so I sliced a tomato, sprinkled a bit of salt and finally enjoyed a nice meal after several days of being sick. That is where the orange juice comes in..vitamin c to try and keep healthy

I cook the red potatoes seperately from the apples then add them together for about 5 minutes and saute the onion first, a sweet onion is best. Looking forward to a day off from babysitting and a little rest...still have the house to get in order but I think there will be plenty of time. Hope everyone stays well and this noro virus stays outta your town. 24 hours of misery and then a week of recuperation but you can function.
~SEE YA ALL NEXT TIME~.

SNOW AND VIRUS HIT THE COTTAGE

We had three days of snow and illness. It all started last Saturday when my husband collapsed at work. If you read my last post you will see the details there. Sunday was a little better for him but I had been nursing a cold that was getting worse. I went out grocery shopping because the snow was getting worse and we needed a few supplies. Monday my son decided to keep Ellie home so as not to be exposed to all the germs and the roads were not very good with all the snow that had fallen in the night. It helped me alot because I was nusrsing my husband back to health. I am not sure how many men out there turn into ...ummm... babies when they get sick but it seems like the men in my family somehow get everything much worse than us women-folk. He was feeling quite a bit better by Monday and I got much worse but someone has to hold down the fort so I kept plugging along with chores and lunches and cups of tea and glasses of water and then there was the temperature taking and making sure he was all ok. I soon collapsed into bed and took a long needed nap. I GOT SICK. While all this is going on we had a snowstorm hit for 3 days. Not a really bad one only about 9 inches of the whitestuff. It really messes up the roads because they don't plow the secondary roads very well untill it is all over. The sun has come out today and things are looking a little brighter.

Last week was hubbys birthday and I had my grandson Hunter for a few days so we made him a birthday cake. I am always looking for things to do with Hunter because he has so much energy and not much attention span. I posted these pictures backwards...sorry.

licking the beater, his favorite part

yum, yum grandma. May I have some more please.

Testing the pan to make sure it has enough cooking spray so the cake won't stick. Later when we went to frost it he stuck his fingers in it to make sure it was ready to frost. Gotta love the grand babies

Eleanor is growing but still a petite girl. She has been developing a sweet, shy personality. She is really beginning to smile and giggle. I am still recovering but feeling better so I watched her yesterday. I found out today her mommy is sick. Those viruses sure can be nasty.

some pictures of the fruit leather I make

I cut it in pieces and then roll it in wax paper. That seems to work best for unrolling it later it is quite easy to make and I will post it on the lefsagirlsinthekitchen blog. My sister-in-law Kathy (spotoncederpond) and neice Autumn and myself have started a food blog together. I am looking forward to getting back to it soon.

SATURDAY SCARE

This is not where I expected to spend my Saturday. EMERGENCY ROOM at the hospital with my hubby.

I have been babysitting both granchildren the past few weeks and have gotten very behind in house cleaning, baking, blogging and a bunch of other things. So today was the day I would catch up. My husband let me sleep in a bit, not telling me he had been feeling ill all night. He went to work anyway, without breakfast or lunch, and we have food issues. We cannot skip meals. I was up at 700am thinking oh boy will I get a lot done today...God had other plans for me today. My son called and said his dad was ill at work and they called the ambulance and he was headed to the hospital. We are very, very lucky or should I say God was gracious this time.. it turned out to be a virus and dehydration. It really makes you stop and think what would life be like without your spouse. We have been making some plans for retirement and what if one of us passes on but boy it sure was a big scare today. It keeps everything in perspective how precious life is and should not be taken for granted. I always thought I would be ready for such an event but I found out today you just can't plan for eveything...I am a BIGTIME planner...just ask my kids. Thank you God for letting him spend just a little more time on this earth with me. It does make you stop and ponder abit about what we are in for at our age. I hope to be back blogging soon.