Hot Spiced Cider

Last year when we took the “kids” and grandkids to Calloway Gardens for the Fantasy In Lights show we stayed at The Lodge (gorgeous place!).   Every day they served the most delicious spiced cider in a huge silver urn.   Ever since then I’ve been on the hunt for a good recipe to make here at home.    I found one I liked on Pinterest that I basically followed.     The great thing about this is it’s made in a crock pot so you can leave it on and not have to watch it and it makes the house smell soooo good!

HOT SPICED CIDER

• 1/2 gallon apple cider (the original recipe called for 1 gallon but I have a small crock pot and since it’s just the two of us, I didn’t need to make a huge amount)
• 1 cup brown sugar, or more to taste (I used about 2 cups since I like my cider sweet….like me!)
• 1 tea spoon whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 orange slice

Pour apple cider in crock pot.    Add sugar and stir.    Put the cloves in a tea ball and add to pot.    Layer the cinnamon sticks and orange slices on top.    Cover and simmer on high, stirring occasionally.    Once hot, turn on low to keep warm.   

 

 

We’re having a “cold spell” here in Alabama this weekend so it’s a perfect time for a hot drink.    In fact, I’m going to have a cup right now!

Happy Birthday Sweet Daughter!

36 years ago today at 1:59 p.m. was one of the happiest days of my life!    My daughter was born and my life has never been the same.   She was 3 weeks overdue and she’s been running late ever since  (sorry Shannon) but I love you anyway!

Oh yeah, she was a butterball…as we say here in the south, fat and happy!

She was a beautiful baby (doesn’t every mother think that about their baby?) and she’s turned into a beautiful woman, both inside and out

My two at Easter in front of my mama and daddy’s house

 

One of her wedding photos…yeah, look at all that hair, her hair is gorgeous!

Her lakeside wedding…October 17, 1996 (they just celebrated their 15 year anniversary)

 

Shannon (in black w/feathers) with friends at Ball

 

Shannon and her husband at another Mardi Gras ball

I’m so fortunate that she lives close by and we talk every day.    She calls me every morning on her way to work and tells me the latest on the twins…I try and go by her office a couple of times during the week.    Today I’m taking her to lunch. 

I’ve been very blessed with both of my children…they didn’t give me too much trouble growing up, they’ve both made wonderful choices in their spouses, and have given us a total of 4 grandchildren.     

You make me proud to be your mama Shannon…I love you!

Dining Room Sideboard Dressed For Fall

I’m really enjoying seeing all the talent you all have been sharing with your fall decorations this fall.      I especially look forward to seeing what Yvonne over Stone Gable shares….she is uber talented!     Recently she shared her harvest buffet  which inspired me to do something similar in my dining room.    

 

I used one of my wicker trays, added some Dollar Tree pumpkins that I spray painted white, and a fall foliage bush from Hobby Lobby.     

 

I removed the stems from the “baby boo” pumpkins and sprayed them a creamy white…leaving some of the green showing.

 

I’ve looked everywhere for the real baby boo pumpkins locally but can’t find any.    I went to our local farmer’s market today and they were sold out

 

 

 

 

Since I took these pics earlier this week, the tray has actually been swapped out for another one I bought today that I like better than the one I originally used…..do you do that too?

I’m loving our weather we have been having lately…cooler mornings and beautiful afternoons.    This weekend hubby and I are going to a new flea market “down the road a piece” (that’s southern speak!); eating at Bates House of Turkey and topping that off with a stop at Priesters Pecans!   Hope you all have a glorious weekend too!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Saturday afternoon I decided to make one of our favorite soups…chicken tortilla soup.    It’s quick & easy and soooo good!    Although there are many recipes you can find for making this soup, here’s the one I use:

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

• 6-8 chicken tenders
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 can corn
• 1 can cream style corn* (undrained)
• chicken stock
• 1 block Velveeta Mexican cheese (cut into cubes)

Cook chicken until tender.     After cooking, cool and then chop in blender.      Put chopped chicken and Velveeta cheese in large pot, add chicken stock and cook until the cheese is completely melted.  (I used almost one box of chicken stock).    Then add in the can of corn and Rotel tomatoes.  

 

*DO NOT ADD THE CREAM CORN UNTIL JUST BEFORE SERVING*!  Cook 15-20 minutes on medium-low.     Just before serving, add the can of cream corn.      

You can serve this in bread bowls too.    We like ours with tortilla rounds.     You can also adapt this recipe to use ground beef instead of chicken…either way, it’s delish!   

 

I forgot I had this little tureen…when I found it in my dining room sideboard, I brought it out to use for this soup.     It’s perfect for fall!

Focus On Fashion

Before we get to some of my recent fashion finds, let me apologize for my absence on the blog….for the last 2-3 weeks we’ve been knee deep in renovating a half bath at my mom’s old house (which we recently rented out – yay!).   What started out as what we thought was a quick fix in the shower of her 50+ year old house resulted in completing gutting the entire bathroom and starting from scratch.     While the bathroom did need a complete overhaul, we didn’t need the $3,000+ price tag that went along with it.     So here’s a big shout out to my husband and our wonderful friend Scott for all their hard work and dedication on this project.

Now, onto the “fashion show”.   I don’t think I’ve ever shared my love of clothes & shoes on my blog but trust me….I LOVE CLOTHES & SHOES!    But since I’m no longer working I can’t justify my shopping addiction and have had to create a wardrobe that is suitable to wear around the house but with the addition of an accessory or two, looks good enough to go out.     Of course, Pinterest has played a large part in the revamp of my wardrobe.      I pin outfits I like and make notes of what I have and what I’d need to get a similar look.     I spent most of Tuesday shopping and think I did pretty good recreating some of my favorite looks.   

First I’m going to show you photos of some of the outfits I pinned:

 

 

Simple, simple…white button down shirt, jeans & leopard shoes

 

 

 

Black turtleneck, jeans, gray scarf & black boots

 

 

I’m on the hunt for a red vest and purse

 

 

I recently bought a cute white quilted vest for this look…and I love the yellow purse!

 

(source)

Love, love, love the gray and white and doesn’t that scarf pull it all together?

 

 

I’ve wanted this outfit since last year….I have a red stretch bracelet and still looking for a red infinity scarf

 

Love the gray knitted scarf

(source)

Too cute (I love the turquoise paired with gray…have to try this)!

 

Leopard scarf and yellow accents

(ALL IMAGES VIA PINTEREST UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED)

I had a few basic items such as a white shirt, black tops and jeans.    My shopping list included finding a gray scarf, leopard scarf, gray & white zebra scarf and leopard shoes.   I also picked up a chunky silver bracelet…I wear a lot of silver jewelry.

I think I hit the jackpot on all three!   I got the gray knit scarf at K-Mart ($7.99 on sale); gray & white zebra scarf at Ross ($9.99) and brown leopard scarf at Target ($14.99).    

I also found these cute leopard shoes at K-Mart.

I haven’t cut off the elastic tying the shoes together until I made sure they were going to be comfortable.    The price of the shoes was $19.99 but they rang up for $7.99!   

I also found these adorable velvet pumpkins at Ross….

Can you believe $2.99 each?!?!?!   The large ones were $4.99 but I only got 2 little ones…might go back and get a few more.    I’ve seen a couple of DIY velvet pumpkin tutorials so I might try my hand at making some but really, you can’t beat $2.99!

Our anniversary is this Friday…9 years!      See ya’ll later!!!

Fall Porch and Mantle

This weekend I was finally able to get up to daughter’s house to help her put out some fall/Halloween decorations.    She couldn’t wait for me to bring her the pumpkin topiary and add some fall touches to her mantle.  

I made her the “Boo” banner last year.    She bought a fall garland and the white pumpkin this year and everything else we used she already had.    We did buy a strand of white lights to add to the garland but she couldn’t find it so I’ll pick up another strand and we can add the lights later.

The banner was a fun and easy project.   

 

 

The “T” pumpkin was on clearance last year at Kirkland’s and belongs to granddaughter Taylor

 

Moving outside on the front porch is the pumpkin topiary I made her this year

 

I love how this project turned out!    I’ll share how I made the topiary later this week….it wasn’t hard to make at all

 

She bought a witch’s broom at Hobby Lobby and I added a lime green ribbon

 

 

 

And here’s her inspiration photo….I think we did a pretty good job of copying it.    I forgot to bring the other pumpkins which are scattered at the base of the kettle so we’ll add those later too.   

 

We are still knee deep in the renovations at my mom’s house…it’s like opening Pandora’s box, you do one thing and it leads to 12 more things to be done!   I’m hoping and praying no more bathroom drama this week so I can finish up the headboard for my guest room!

Hope ya’ll have a great week!

Headboard Headway

We F-I-N-A-L-L-Y got the headboard cut out!     Today we hubby added a piece to the back which bulked up the arch so the nail head trim would have something thick enough to nail into….does that make sense?   If I showed you pics of the progress it would make even less sense (LOL)!   But he knows what he’s doing and I’m just rolling with it!    We have to secure the “legs” to the back and then I can add the foam and finally the drop cloth and nail heads and the room will be DONE!     Well, done except for hanging pictures, etc.

Here is the shape we cut out.   During the final reveal I’ll tell the unusual item we used as a pattern for the headboard….it isn’t exactly identical on each side but once I add the fabric you won’t be able to tell.

 

 

 

In these photos it’s simply propped up on the top mattress so it’s a little higher than it will be once it’s finished.     But you can get a general idea of how it will look….of course, this is the raw wood stage.   (That shadow you see is the chandy…how distracting)!

The Heart of a Child

I wanted to share something that makes my heart full to overflowing about my granddaughter Taylor.    Recently her 3rd grade class was being taught about money and writing checks.    Let me tell a little background story first….

My daughter has a good friend who has four little boys!   The 2nd son was born with some medical issues which has necessitated him to be treated at a children’s hospital on a fairly regular basis.     Just recently he had a little incident which meant another trip to Children’s Hospital.     Daughter was telling Taylor a little about it….not to scare her but so they could include the little boy in their prayers.    

When it came Taylor’s time to write her “check” in class, she made it out for $900.40 (we don’t know what the .40 cents is for or the odd amount of $900) but she made it out to “Childred Hospital” and on the “for” line put her little friend’s name.

 

My daughter was telling the little boy’s mother about this and the mom told my daughter she could hardly respond because she was crying.   The mom also said her husband was not an emotional man, never even cried when their children were born, but when he saw this he cried like a baby.   

Taylor says she wants to be a nurse (or professional softball player!) and I think she certainly has a heart for helping people.  

On a very different note, I don’t have any of my fall decorating to share like I wanted to because we recently rented out my mom’s house and it’s been one thing after another wrong with the house!    Today we had to have one bathroom completely gutted and the tile man can’t start until next week, then we found out the 22 year old air conditioning/heating system is on its last leg and will most likely have to be replaced too….Cha-Ching!     I’m trying to stay on the positive side by thinking this will be a good resale feature down the road but it’s hard to be positive when the $$$ keep flying out the door.      My husband has been on vacation this week but spent his time running around town and working his butt hiney off at the house, with no end in sight any time soon.      We are accepting any and all donations (LOL!

Faux Grain sack Pillow

I’ve been wanting to replace the old worn out, faded burlap pillow on my front porch bench for some time now.    I really didn’t want to do another burlap one, although I still love that look.    Sunday afternoon it hit me….why not try my hand at making my own grain sack pillow  ?!   So I rummaged around in my drop cloth stash, placed the pillow form on the drop cloth and cut it out.     Then I taped off my stripes.

 

How do you like my fancy-schmancy work station (a/k/a the ironing board)?

Then I started painting my stripes….I thought I’d be smart and mark  where to paint but accidently marked one wrong spot…(but I can live with that!)

Once I painted my stripes I carefully removed the tape…..

 

….and lookie here, instant grain sack!  (see that “x’”…that’s the uh-oh place)

Then I sewed both long sides, leaving the shorter ends open.   

I pinned the ties on…got to go back and stitch them on but I thought it turned out pretty good.

 

Of course, I had to take it outside to see how it looked on the bench.

The other two pillows I got  last spring at Target…I think they all tie in nicely

 

 

(don’t look too close underneath the bench….you can see turquoise paint drops from when I painted the bench that hideous turquoise color)!

 

Well, that’s my big project for the weekend.    I did finish up the pumpkin topiary for my daughter and hope to get it up to her house this week.      It really turned out cute…..see for yourself….

I’ll give a quick little tutorial on how I made it and what I used later this week.     I just snapped this photo on my back deck this afternoon so I could text the picture to daughter for her “approval”!