Debbie Delozier :: A Casual Affair

It seems this has been a very long morning.  So far I have finished just over an hour’s worth of cylinder posting for Dear J’s office, read my morning Lenten devotional and swept the floors.  I then, still in my pjs and barefooted by the way, chased the trash can down the road (boy, is that wind strong this morning, but hey, the snow is gone).

After that I started the laundry and have done 3 loads with 2 more waiting.  I’ve chopped celery and onion and sauteed them, then added rice, browned it a bit then added water to cook; all for the chicken/broccoli/rice casserole the teenager has been wanting so badly.

Then I made a white cake batter and a chocolate cake batter and made 30 2-tone cupcakes (24 regular size and 6 large size).  This is one of the large sized ones in the picture, you can’t tell it is 2-tone because the chocolate side is on the back.  I think I will call it my Volcano Cupcake because it looks like it has leaked molten batter all down it’s side.

I’ve done a very large sink full of dishes; washed, dried and put away.  I’ve cleaned a few past their prime foods out of the fridge, trashed them and carried the bags out to the garage for J to take care of.

I’ve drank 4 cups of coffee and am steeping tea for a pitcher of iced tea as we speak.  I am also thinking about what I should fix myself for lunch.

And, because I seem to be addicted to Farmtown on Facebook I have harvested (with J’s help early this morning) 30 fields of sunflowers, I’ve also planted 15 or so fields of coffeebeans and a few fields of rice, rearranged my fences for my sheep, cows, and pigs and bought a water well.

But now, I need to get back to it because I still have those 2 loads of laundry waiting, 30 cupcakes to frost, a casserole to finish preparing for our supper, a shower to take, lunch to fix and eat, and bowling league to get ready for all before supper tonight.

Hope you enjoy your Monday.

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The thunder and the snow stopped late evening yesterday only to start up about bedtime.  I don’t think it lasted very long on that go-round.

As I rounded the corner from the hall and into the kitchen this morning I was almost completely blinded by the sun bouncing off the bright, white snow covering the backyard and into the kitchen window.  J measured during the break in the snow and he measured 5 inches.  I don’t think it left much more when it began it’s 2nd round.

As beautiful as the blanketed ground is  the snow will not last long at all.  The weathermen are predicting temps in the upper 40s so we are going to be left with a mushy, wet yard.  But, being Spring, the flowers (if the freezing temps didn’t kill them), grasses, trees, not to mention the lakes around here, really need the extra moisture.

We will be trying to fit all our errands into the day.  You would have thought having all that extra indoor time yesterday I would have made up my menus and grocery lists.  Well, I didn’t;  don’t ask me why.  So now I need to close and get busy doing that so I can make a trip to market later.

Wishing you a wonderful Spring day.

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Yes, that is what we are experiencing this morning; Thunder Snow.  What exactly is Thunder Snow you ask. It is when thunder and sometimes lightening occur during a snow storm.  It is caused when a mass of cold air on top of warm, plus moist air closer to the ground come together.   It usually makes for a much heavier snow than you normally get, as can be seen in the picture.  If you would like more information please go here to read a National Geographic News item on Thunder Snow.

Because we are having this snow storm J and I were unable to do our normal Saturday errands, grocery shopping, etc.  Instead we have been killing time watching old movies and Retro TV, playing games and such on the computer, eating and napping.  It’s been a long day (really).  We were thinking it is good that it happened on a weekend so that the schools and such aren’t affected, but we just got a call a bit ago that church has been canceled for tomorrow.  Oh well!

Besides doing the above, really interesting stuff, I also did a little work on my Church Rose.  I probably could have finished it today but I am running low on solder and I hated to get in the middle of a touchy spot and run out completely and be stuck.  So here it is so far, my work in progress:

It is 17 x 17.  I don’t exactly know how I want to finish it, lead or chain.  Once I can get out (as in go to town) again, I will look at what is available.  I haven’t purchased stained glass materials in quite a while and the owner of my favorite shop in Tulsa sold out and retired last year so I need to find a new shop.  There is one shop in Tulsa that I’ve been to before and another one in Broken Arrow that I’d like to visit.  Maybe I’ll try to get there soon and see what designs of lead they have available.

If you would like to see a few pictures of our yard in blanketed in snow take a look at the March 2009 Thunder Snowstorm in the gallery.  You’ll notice there are not any pictures of my family in there; that is because my family is a bunch of sissies and we won’t go out in the cold.

Now it is supper time and I think I’ll head into the kitchen and, because it is freezing outside, make a pot of cheesy potato soup and a pan of cornbread.  Mmmmmm.

Hope you are keeping warm.

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This is my friend Sarah.  I’ve known her, or known of her, for several years, but have only become better acquainted with her in the last few years.  As a matter of fact, Sarah has known my teenager all her life.  She was even present at the hospital when the teenager was born.  It isn’t that she actually meant to be at the hospital, but she and Mom D had gone to Bartlesville for a women’s club meeting of some sort when the teenager decided it was the day to make her appearance into the world.  So, Mom came to the hospital with Sarah in tow.  The teenager just loves that story.

My friend Sarah is wonderful in so many ways.  She is a caring friend,  a leader in our church, lends her wonderful voice to our choir and is a marvelous cook, too.

Sarah prepared Lasagna soup for our Wednesday Lenten lunch.  Because I enjoyed it so very much I knew you would also and asked Sarah for her recipe.  So, here it is for you to try, and as we are waiting for an early Spring snow here in Oklahoma it is the most opportune time to make it.  Sarah says this is  a Rachael Rae recipe, originally; but she has added her own special touch to it.

You’ll need the following:

1 lb ground beef (chuck, round or sirloin)
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 carrots (peeled and chopped)
3-4 cloves garlic
4 cups chicken broth
28 0z can crushed tomatoes
1/4-1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 lb lasagna noodles
3/4-1 cup basil leaves, torn
1 C whole milk ricotta
grated parmigiano cheese

And here is what you’ll do with it:

In a soup pot,  brown the beef and season with salt and pepper.  Stir in onions, carrots and garlic and cook until softened.
Add chicken broth, tomatoes and oregano, cover and bring to a boil.
Break pasta into shorter pieces and add pasta and cook until al dente (about 15 minutes).
Stir in basil and cook another 5 -10 minutes.
Serve topped with a dollop of ricotta and french bread.

Give it a try, I know you’ll love it.

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Uh… I guess it would be more correct to say “glass to the grindstone” than nose to the grindstone. Glass work is what it is all about for the next day or so.  I have finally got my schedule chiseled here and there, dates and appointments moved to and fro, so that I can spend a few days with one of my favorite art materials.

I had cut the pieces for the particular pattern quite a while back. The cut pieces were put in a box and set aside until I had a little more time to work with them.  Now, months later I finally have a few days where I can turn my attention back to one of my loves.   This morning I smoothed the edges, using the grinder,  of the 22 pieces of the church rose.  After grinding I washed and dried each of the pieces.

After drying the pieces I put them together so that I could make sure each piece fit where it should.  After doing a little touch-up here or there I was able to renumber everything and am able to go on to the next step.

Other things going on this week:  J has been out of town most of the week.  He has been in Wichita for a water conference and is actually on his way home at this very moment.

The teenager is living the life of a high school senior with responsibilities of trying to get her research paper done and turned in by tomorrow, college entry forms, menu plans, room assignments and roommates.

The married couple is busy getting passports, etc as they have booked a cruise to Alaska for May.  They are planning on going into Canada so they will need the passports.  They are very excited and I am very jealous.  I’ve told J for years I think an Alaskan cruise (other than the cold) would be a fantastic thing to do.  I know they’ll have a fantastic time.

I’ve had my whittled down routine schedule this week:  Monday night Church bowling league in which friend Cathy bowled with us “regulars” when she subbed for Norma.  Tuesday I catered the Rotary club lunch as usual.  I tried all new recipes on them this week which consisted of an Asian Chicken Salad:

It is precooked chicken pieces that I had done in a terryaki type marinade, blanched broccoli, snap peas, sweet red bell peppers, cashews, etc in a ginger/peanut sauce.  Note to Kimberly Rae:  If you like that Oriental Coleslaw you will love this.  With this I served a spinach/mozzarella bread and the Jell-0 dish.  It was a light, Springtime style lunch.

Wednesday is our Lenten service and soup lunch at church.  As I was getting ready yesterday I called my cousin, Brenda, and asked her to come.  She came and shared the service and soup with us.

Oh, I have to mention the soups we had yesterday;  my good friend Sarah prepared a Lasagna Soup and a White Chili.  Normally I try to have a bit of both soups that are prepared, but yesterday I filled up on the Lasagna Soup which was sooooo yummy that I didn’t have room for any of the White Chili, but let me tell you, if the White Chili was anywhere near as good as the Lasagna Soup it had to be delicious.  I will ask my friend if I can post her recipe here and if she agrees I’ll give it to you, my friends, and you can give it a try.  It is delicious and I’m sure you’ll agree.

Also yesterday, I had a horrific scare on my way home after church.  I was headed south out of town and, as is normal this time of year in a farming community, you can see lots of tufts and billows of smoke dotting the horizon.  I’m driving along and notice one of the billows looks as if it is in Watova (which is where I live).  I really didn’t worry, we’ve got lots of pastures around us and farmers are always burning off their pastures.  But, as I get closer (within a mile) to the house I am thinking “wow, that is right in Watova”.

At this point on the highway, you can see our neighbor’s house up on the hill, which is right in line with our house, and was also, right in line with this huge billowing mass of smoke.  About a quarter of a mile from the turn-off to the house I can now see the fire, reaching it’s long, angry flames into the sky. That quarter of a mile seemed 10 miles long; although I hated to see what might be awaiting me once I turned the corner, it also seemed as if I couldn’t get to the corner fast enough.  My heart is beating so hard I am afraid it is going to burst right out of my chest.  I think I had also stopped breathing at this point, hating to see what awaited me as I turned off the highway and onto the road to our house.

Finally, I came to the turnoff and I turned, tears flooding my eyes.  I finally was able to take a great gasp of air as I see; the home J and I helped build, the home I brought our baby girls home to when we left the hospital,  the home we have had birthday and anniversary parties in, our safe haven from the world, was there, still standing, fully intact, safe and sound waiting for me to return.

The billowing smoke and angry flames that scared me beyond belief was across the street from our house where they have been tearing down the eye-sore house.  The owner didn’t alert any his neighbors that he would be setting this gigantic pile of debris on fire so we were all surprised (frightened) in this same manner when each of us came home yesterday.  I don’t mind though, I just hope I am never scared like that again.

It is raining (thundering and lightening) again, expected since it is now Spring.  What is a little surprising is that we are expecting snow on Saturday.  Funny, funny Oklahoma weather, 80s last week and snow on Saturday.

Now, I’m heading back to my glass work.  I hope you spend some of your day with something or someone you love.

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Okay; there really isn’t any fruit in this quick dessert and the cream is actually vanilla ice cream.  But it is a quick, do ahead, cool dessert that travels well.  The Rotary Club members seemed to like it, hope you do to.

You’ll need the following:

2 – 6 oz  (the large size) pks of any flavor Jell-O gelatin, any flavor you like (this one is peach)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
4 cups boiling water
1 qt vanilla ice cream

METHOD:

Set the ice cream out so that it can soften a little.  Cut the quart into quarters.

Empty the packets of Jell-O and the packet of unflavored gelatin in a bowl; pour the boiling water over the gelatins.  Stir until the gelatin is dissolved.

Add the ice cream and stir until it is all melted.

Pour everything into a 9×13 dish and refrigerate overnight.   As the gelatins set the ice cream will separate and settle on the top as a layer of cream.

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I lay in bed this morning, appreciating the softness of my spot in the mattress, the warmth of the comforter over me, the comfort of just laying there.  For some reason I have been sleeping late the last 3 or 4 mornings and this morning was no exception;  it was 8 o’clock and I needed to be getting myself out of that bed or I was not going to get a shower before church.  Besides, our Miss Jade (that cute, furry feline that thinks she is the princess of the house) was ready for her breakfast and was persistently meowing with increasing intensity.  So up I was.

The first thing I noticed as I walked into the kitchen was the morning sunlight brightly shining through the window.  It lit up the whole house.  I was suddenly smiling and humming as I made sure J and the teenager were awake and as I jumped into the shower.  It was Sunday and time for my family to gather at our Father’s house.

Was it a surprise when the sermon was our Jesus being the light of the world?  Is it a surprise on this bright “sun” shiny morning that we talk about Easter approaching and Jesus being the risen Son?  Is it just a coincidence that we call it “Sonshine” or that we go to worship on “Sonday”?

Here are a few more coincidences in my life:

1.  When I was in college I dated a guy named James.  It wasn’t like girlfriend/boyfriend dating it was more like he liked me a little more than I liked him, so we went out on a few “friendly” dates.  After 3 or 4 dates, one night I had a dream that I married a guy named James.  It scared me so much that the next day when we met up after class I broke it off with him.   That summer I met my J and we got married 6 weeks later.  It was a week or so after we married that I it hit me that his name was James and I remembered having that dream about marrying James G.  I think I might have freaked a bit.

2.  Today, after church, we took a spontaneous trip to Stillwater.  The teenager wanted to look around the campus and the town a little as she will be heading there next fall.  We will be taking a 2 day/2 night trip there in April for Student/Parent orientation, but we wanted today just to drive around a bit on our own.  Anyway, while we were there we drove past the first apartment the oldest daughter had after moving off campus.  Here is the coincidence;  this is the street sign at the end of the block of that first apartment:

  For those of you who don’t know, the oldest daughter, for the last 4 years, has been Mrs. Travis Miller.

Are these coincidences or fate or happenstance?  I just like to believe the Son is shining on me and mine.

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I received this book today from a very sweet lady.  She is a friend of Mom D’s and a new friend to me.  I can not wait to take it to bed with me this evening and read a bit from it.  Thanks so much, Sue.

Today I went to a tea party with Mom D.  Every year the local chapter of La Kee Kon holds a very large tea party;  each year has a different theme.  A few years ago I attended one and they held a Fashion Show.  Each fashion (and I use that term very loosely) was handmade and was just hilarious.  This year the theme was “Favorite Books”.  Each table was done up to represent a different book.  Italy was the theme for the table we sat at.  It was sat by my friend Sarah and was done just beautifully with books, flowers, bread and vegetables.  Great Job Sarah!

The speaker at today’s Tea was author (or should that be authoress?) Connie Cronley.  Connie lives in the Tulsa area and has written several books. She has worked with Tulsa Ballet Co., local media (tv and radio) and at this time is a coordinator of one of Tulsa’s soup kitchens.   And because Connie grew up here in Nowata she is just a plain ol’ local girl like the rest of us.    She must have went to school with my J’s Uncle John because when I was talking with her she asked if I was related to John Paul.  When I told her yes, she related how, in school,  he used to call her “Turnpike”.  A quizzical look must have crossed my face because she then added “I was straight up and down; no curves”.  Ha, sounds just like Uncle John.

One of Connie’s books is “Sometimes the Wheels Fall Off”.  The book was published in 2000 and Mom D gave our Cass an autographed copy of it as at that time Cass was a fellow journalist.  Please check out Connie’s website here to learn more about her.

I also made some pomegranate syrup from the juice that Pom Wonderful sent to me here while back.

Yes, what started out as 2 full bottles of fruit juice is now a thick, sweetly concentrated syrup that is now only enough to fill 1 1/2 jelly jars.  I’m planning to do something with it tomorrow.  I’ll let you know what I have tried and how it has turned out.

Now I’m off to bed with the gift of Front Porch Tales and do a bit of reading.

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We said good bye to Winter as we tucked ourselves in bed last night and said hello to Spring as we woke this morning.  Old Man Winter is a tough ol’ codger though and it looks like he is trying to hang on as long as he possibly can with his gray sky and chilly morning breeze.

But Ms. Spring is trying her best to break on out as you can tell by the picture.  Her teeny, tiny leaves are poking their shy little green faces out on some of the trees and bushes.  In a few more days, maybe another week or 2, once a few of the bolder, braver greens have appeared the meeker, more timid ones will more eagerly join them and we will see their bright, shiny green shades all over the place.

I want to say Congratulations to my friend Jami who became a new grandma in the eensy-weensy hours of this first full day of Spring.  Her brand new granddaughter (I’m sure the new joy of her life) was welcomed into the world by a crowd of cheering, smiling, laughing relatives this morning.

I think my Sweet J has been bitten (already) by the Spring “love-bug”.  He has taken a few days out of the office and for the last 2 days I can’t seem to shake him (ha).  He is being extra (extra) sweet.  Yesterday, I needed to go to Tulsa for a few things and while we were there he asked if he could take me clothes shopping.  Ha, Heck yeah.  Not only was he outside the dressing room when I came out with something new on, he walked around the area picking out more (and more) for me to try on.

He may be just trying to show me his appreciation for my helping him.  It seems every evening we are cutting, pulling and dragging more of the limbs and branches that were downed by the Ice Storm of 2007-2008.

He builds a big fire in the pit and we add more and more branches on the fire.  I don’t know if that is the Spring Bug or his ever resurfacing Fire Bug.  The man (and his youngest daughter) love to build a fire.  I’m not talking a little campfire or anything of the type; my J likes huge, rip-roaring 6 ft wide areas with 10 ft high flames (these are always in a pit).  There isn’t a roasting stick long enough that you could possibly get near enough to roast your hot dog. Last weekend he got too near his own fire and singed the hair on the right side of his head.  He didn’t even know it until I told him later that night.  The man does love his fires.

This morning I was helping the teenager with her accounting homework.  Boy, it has been 17 1/2 years since I’ve done any accounting other than our own home budget.  I used to do that type of thing every single day and now I don’t remember hardly any of it.  Whew, I’m just glad we got her numbers to balance.

I’ve also been working on the menu for the evening dinner that we’ll have for our church’s centennial.  I have all but the dessert decided.  I have the desserts narrowed down to 3 so will be trying to decide in the next week on a final one.  Once all that is decided I have to figure out how much of everything we’ll need for 100 plus how much it is going to cost and what we’ll charge per plate so that we’ll be able to make just a little extra.

Well, I guess I best be getting back to other things.  Hope you all have a wonderful 1st day of Spring.

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Before I get into the “whole weekend at church” post I want you to notice the stained glass window in the photo.  This window (although I wasn’t around at the time) was in our original church, which happened to be across the street from the church we are in now.  When they built the new church they saved the windows and moved them, too.

Here are a few more stained glass panes in our church, I’m thinking they, also, are from the original church, but I don’t know for sure.  Please forgive the angle these are taken at, they are up high (high, high).

I’m sure you know without me telling you, we are very proud of these stained glass windows.  I’m showing these to you because we recently took pictures of rooms, etc in the church because we are having a new pictorial directory made.  We are doing this because, our church,  the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ,  has been a “family” here in Nowata for 100 years.  We are planning a huge, 3 day celebration in early summer.  I will give you details as they  become set in stone.  It is going to be a blast, you can be sure.

On with the weekend news:  I know I titled this “A Whole Weekend At Church” but it was actually just “almost” a whole weekend.

The teenager, J, and I were all at the church about 11:30 on Saturday morning so that we could have our family picture taken for the directory.  We bought a few extra for family.  Don’t get your hopes up, they look exactly like us, so you know how that goes.  I was scheduled to work from 12:00 to 2:00 getting people signed in once they arrived for their own pictures.  So I did that, while Cathy, who has done all the organizing and getting everything else set up, was doing all the hard work.

Once 2 o’clock came I went ahead and stayed until 4, doing the same job.  The lady who was supposed to work from 2:00 to 4:00 had family things come up and  Cathy and I told her to go ahead and do what she needed to do and we would handle things at the church.  We were having a really good time visiting with all our friends and family that came in to have their pictures taken anyway.

Also, while I was at the church working J and the teenager drove in and picked up my car and got it all cleaned up for me.  Woo Hoo, a nice clean car.  Thanks, my Sweethearts.

After leaving the church and returning home I did a few things and then we started thinking about supper.  That is when the whole Olive Garden fiasco happened.

Sunday morning came and, as a family, we were once again back in church.  This is the 2nd week J’s parents have been back in the choir loft and singing with the choir.  Every since Dad’s surgery back in September they have not been in the choir.  First because of healing time, then even though his heart was ready to be back in the choir, his lungs just weren’t ready for singing;  and Mom wasn’t leaving his side too often.   But last week, they took their usual seats in the choir loft.  It is just fantastic seeing them in their regular places. I’m not the only one who thinks so either, because everyone has mentioned it and we, as a congregation, lifted it up to the Lord as one of our joys.

After church on Sunday we went down to Talala (where I grew up) and met up with my brother and his family and my younger sister and her husband at Mom and Dad’s house.  Yesterday was my mom and dad’s 52nd wedding anniversary and my brother and my sisters and I, along with our families had had large (16×20) pictures made and framed of the  photos we’d had taken last month of my mom and dad with the 4 of us “kids”.  Of course, Mom and Daddy loved them.  We then all took them to dinner at Monterey’s in Owasso. We ate and had a great time.

Then this morning about 3:00 I was sooooo sick and ended up either in the bathroom or on the couch until after 6:30 this morning.  I finally went back to bed and slept until 8:30 this morning.  I’m thinking, because we have been eating at home more lately and making the few changes we’ve made to our already fairly healthy diet that eating out at Sonic on Saturday afternoon (J and the teenager brought me a fish sandwich while I was working at the church), then Olive Garden, then Monterey yesterday afternoon, it was just too much for my stomach.  So, tonight it is back to our regular home fare which is much lighter and fresher I’m sure.

And, speaking of eating at home this evening, I best get to thinking about it as J and I are bowling with the church league at 7.  Right now I’m thinking of grilled chicken and sauteed asparagus over fettuccine with a light garlic sauce and a large Spring Greens Salad.

Love and bowling balls.

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