Good Lesson

This was just shared on Facebook today, and I think it is worth sharing here.  I've been thinking that we need to make lots of memories for the bank account of memories while we can.


The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room …. just wait.”
“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life.”
She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.”
And with a smile, she said: “Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less

Ham & Mushroom Quiche Recipe

Saturday, I needed to take a meal to a P.E.O. friend who recently broke her hip.  Our P.E.O. group passed around a sign up sheet to take turns taking her meals twice a week for a few weeks.  Kind of interesting that she was in Arkansas to help her 102 year old aunt when she fell and broke her hip.   

This is a favorite recipe.  After having it for one meal, any extra pieces heat up in the microwave well.  It is easy to transport to take to others.


HAM & MUSHROOM QUICHE                      from Southern Living cookbooks

1 baked pie crust
3 green onions, sliced
1 T. melted butter
1 c. shredded Swiss cheese
3 slices bacon, crumbled
1  8 oz. can mushrooms
1 c. shredded ham (I like small chunks instead)
4 eggs, beaten 
1 sm. can evaporated milk
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. dry mustard
dash nutmeg
dash white pepper

Saute onions in butter.  Add mushrooms, ham and bacon.  Sprinkle cheese over crust.  Spoon meats over cheese.  Combine remaining ingredients; beat well.  Pour into shell.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until set and slightly browned.

Unbaked quiche can be covered with aluminum foil and frozen.  To serve, thaw overnight in refrigerator.  Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.  

Overnight French Toast Recipe

If you like French Toast and/or like to have something a little nicer for breakfast if you have overnight company, you will definitely want to try this recipe!  It's a keeper.  It is almost like dessert.

Note - I always use real butter, not margarine, when baking.  It makes a big difference.

OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST

2 T. corn syrup
1/2 c. butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 loaf sliced French bread

Combine the corn syrup, butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan.  Simmer until bubbly and the sugar has melted.  Pour over the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Place bread slices (may not need the whole loaf) over the mixture in the baking dish.  In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, vanilla and salt; pour over bread.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat oven to 350.  Uncover pan and bake 45 minutes.  

If you buy unsliced bread, slice it to about 1" thick.

Spraying the Beans

We had overnight company last night.  Jay and Heidi from S. Dakota were visiting family in the area.  Jay is the guy that takes Bill & friends out to the prairie dog towns when they go on their annual hunting trip in S. Dakota.  Heidi grew up here.

This morning we had a good breakfast before they headed out.  Overnight French Toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, juicy Missouri peaches and orange juice.  The Overnight French Toast was a big hit (recipe from Bill's sister - thanks Karen!)  I will share that recipe here soon.

Bill and Tim are spraying the beans fields.  Aphids have been found.  They got about 400 acres sprayed this afternoon.  We didn't have lunch due to the big breakfast so when Bill was broke down needing new fuel filters, he called for a snack and I took these pictures. 

On the way home I saw the rotten tree - looks like a good home for woodpeckers!  In the last picture, see what the last big branch left will hit when it falls!

 

Vacation Bible School

I remember going to Vacation Bible School (VBS) in our old church on the hill.  My favorite parts were singing and the good, homemade cookies we had.  Seems like we always had 2 cookies wrapped in a napkin - and lemonade or red Kool-Aid.  It's sad to me that now 1) they don't give kids anything red since it makes them hyper we now know and 2) they have "healthier" snacks/less sugar, no homemade cookies ever.   Everything comes from a box or bag and Walmart.

This is my church's VBS week.  We go from 8:45-noon.  I've been picking up our 2 great nieces and 2 friends in 2 locations in Pocahontas to go to VBS, and then when we get out, getting them to the summer free lunch at school in Pocahontas which closes at 12:30, then dropped back off at the 2 locations.  Kinda different for me!  Also helping with crafts at VBS which has gone very smoothly - we have lots of help.  I don't know the count for today, but we had 208 kids yesterday!   We had 52 at once in one of our time slots for crafts!   Lots of messy stuff that they love:  glitter, glue, paint, markers.

Here are some pictures from the week.  The older girls worked on their black canvases every day and got finished with applying 2 layers of Mod Podge today.  The girls were really creative with their pictures.    The older boys got to go out to the "shop" and make wooden flags with the men.

I think this was 5th & 6th grade

   

posing with part of the stage decor

Dad Would Be Proud

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a new dryer.  And we ended up getting a matching washer.  A couple weeks ago I noticed the lettering on the dryer was running or smearing.  Sometimes we hang a pair of Bill's dirty jeans off the top of the washer or dryer and spray all the oil and grease with Resolve.  So we figured the spray had gotten on the lettering and caused it to come off.   We could've wiped ALL the lettering off it was that bad.

I thought "oh no, brand new washer & dryer and messed up already".  But Bill thought I should mention it to our appliance dealer.  I remembered my new glass measuring cups I got last year and after the first run through the dishwasher the lettering was gone.  I e mailed the company (Corning?) just so they would know.  They ended up sending me a new one (I only told them about the 2 c. one and not the 1 c. too).  They have been through the dishwasher many times now and are fine.  Thought maybe that would be the case with this lettering.  Maybe a problem they have corrected.  Seilers, who have been in business in Pocahontas 39 years I think, said "sure, it's under warranty.  We'll get that panel and be out to put it on for you".

Dick came to do that today - at lunch time.  Bill had been trying to get a field sprayed before a bunch of rain hits later today so he was late getting home for lunch.  I was making boneless pork chops in the crock pot with a can of cheese soup like Diane does, homemade bread just out of the oven that was smelling good, green beans with ham, corn and peaches and happened to have just enough for three.  So I asked if he had had lunch and if not, would he like to eat with us.  He had not had lunch and was probably not going to and said "sure".  It was about 1:30. 

Dad always loved to have people over.  Mom and I are the types that want more notice and planning than this so I know Dad would be proud that I did this spur of the moment.  I'm trying to do that more.  It's supposed to be about the company and visiting right?  

Remember me mentioning learning good things from the blog "Reluctant Entertainer"?