Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Rumble of Random Thoughts

I took this picture on the way home yesterday from a wonderful visit with my cousin. I loved the fall colors that are just starting to show and the way that road seemed to jump up and turn.
Yes - I stopped in the middle of the road.....


My cousin reminded me yesterday that I have not posted anything new on here in awhile. I feel like such a slacker! I have been so busy and stressed with work that I come home and collapse just about every afternoon! It seems like work has been consuming every spare moment of my life lately. I'm so ready for things to slow down at work! Fall break starts October 13 and I can't wait!

I've been busy today just enjoying being at home. I made a large pot of beef & vegetable soup and put most of it in the freezer. I froze enough for about 4 meals. It will taste great on those cool evenings when I don't feel like cooking supper. All I will have to do is warm up the soup and maybe fix some cornbread to go with it when I get home. Grilled cheese or pimento cheese sandwiches would be good with it too.

I also made M&M Cookies tonight. I used a sugar cookie recipe and added 2 cups of Halloween M&Ms. I didn't chill the dough like the recipe suggested. I just rolled them into golf ball sized balls and pressed them down with my fingers. I made about 3 dozen and I'm sure they will not last long around here! Here is a picture (click on it to make it bigger) of the recipe card and a few of the cookies:

My big project for today was making a rack to put on my kitchen door. A friend of mine from work showed me this picture in a Penney's catalog this past week and my first thought was - I can make one of those!
My husband gave me a jigsaw and cordless drill for Christmas a few years ago. I have made simple little shelves and racks since then. This afternoon we went to Lowes and I bought some pieces of wood, hooks, and spray paint for my project. I didn't want it as long as the one the picture. I'm going to hang it up tomorrow afternoon in my kitchen. I had to touch up a few places on the wood tonight with the paint where a bug got on it while it was still wet. I can't wait to hang up my old aprons and dish cloths on it! The best part is I spent about $10 to make this rack!


I hope this week goes by fast. I have a big box of pine cones waiting for me to play with next week. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with them but I'm sure an idea will come to me soon. If you have any pine cone suggestions, please let me know!
I thinking of some kind of Christmas decorations......


Have a great week!
Lesa

2 comments:

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Your cookies look delicious, but I can't have many of them or my sugar goes ballistic.

Good job on the rack! My front door and kitchen door are both steel so I'd have to mount mine on the wall, but that would work too.

Pine cones bundled with cinnamon sticks and holiday ribbons and piks make a gorgeous decoration and/or gift, and they also look great added to a wreath.

Sprinkle with peppermint, pine or cinnamon oil for holiday potpourri, and they can be burned in the fireplace for a crackling fire. They make good kindling, by the way.

Smear pinecones with peanut butter or shortening, even used shortening, and roll in bird seed for a neat bird feeder. Tie a ribbon on top and they make great gifts too.

Hope this week is less stressful than the last several, Lesa.

Love and hugs,

Diane

Anonymous said...

That rack looks great! I love it when folks are able to see past the advertisement to realize that some things that they sell for lots of $$ are really quite simple to create on your own.

Pine cones? One year I painted several silver and gold and displayed them in a glass bowl on my coffee table. The next year I took those same silver and gold ones and attached them to a piece of evergreen garland and added some holly berries and used it to decorate above the bay window in the living room. One year the boys and I painted the tips white and then dipped the wet white paint in glitter--they were beautiful, but it's a VERY MESSY CRAFT with two small children! I think I'm still finding glitter in the kitchen! And, my favorite...each year the kids and I make birdfeeders by mixing Crisco and peanut butter, slathering it all over the cones, and then rolling them in birdseed. Tie a ribbon on the top, and viola! Birdfeeder. The boys give these as Christmas gifts each year, and we also hang several outside. They're quite popular...both with the gift recipients AND with the birds!