First Day of Spring!

Our friends Steve and Sherry Bieberich at SUNSHINE NURSERY (Highway 183 North out of Clinton, Oklahoma 580-323-6259) have always told us that things are better in multiples. They suggest to plant plants, trees, shrubs, etc. in odd numbers like 3, 5, 7, etc. The decorating shows on television also give this same advice to use inside your home.

Multiples make impact! The people who developed this housing division in Mustang, Oklahoma really made an impact with these Bradford Pear trees. The entire outside of the subdivision along 29th street is lined with these beautiful blooming trees. If you need any kind of tree I recommend you go to Sunshine Nursery.

As you start in the entrance of the subdivision all of the streets are lined with the same trees.

Beautiful blooming trees...the impact is just awesome!

I wish these photos would let you really see the beauty of these trees.

I love these blooms!

I really had the feeling of the first day of spring in these beautiful tree blooms.

Onion/Veggie Chopper

If you do not have one of these onion/veggie choppers in your kitchen, I recommend you get one. We love the one we have and my husband uses it all the time. It produces perfect chopped onions/veggies to use in all kinds of recipes.

It also has a handy dandy measuring cup on the side. You just turn the chopper on the end to see how much you have chopped.

You can chop more than one veggie and still have the measurements.

No risk of chopping fingers with a knife!

Onions, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and mushrooms all the exact same size!

Krazy Coupon Lady

This information is from the website of Heather Wheeler and Joanie Demer who are extreme coupon users and have awesome advice for the rest of us. You need to check out their site and learn how they do it! These impressive young ladies have coupon use down to a fine art! With the price of everything going up, we all need to learn from them. There are lots of coupons that can be printed directly from their site so fire up your printer and get started.

http://thekrazycouponlady.com

Who is this broad and how is she getting all this stuff for Free?



TheKrazyCouponLady, (KCL) is a place where savvy women (& secure men) come to find ways to save huge sums of cash!
At KCL, we teach you how to collect and redeem coupons with precision! We’re a great site for both couponing (v.) veterans and novice coupon users, or as we’ll affectionately refer to you here, “Coupon Virgins”. We’ll teach you to talk the talk in our Coupon Lingo, walk the walk in Coupon Basics and we’ll even help you get organized with your Coupon Binder before we send you out on your own!
Each week we scour your favorite local and national grocery ads for the best bargains. Then we start getting Krazy! We match these deals with coupons, overlapping promotions and rebates until you’re saving way over 50%, getting things for free and sometimes even getting paid to shop!

Who are the Krazy Coupon Ladies? We’re savvy young moms on a mission to slash our grocery bills by 50-90%! So get ready to hear your cashiers gasp and applaud as you purchase everyday items for pennies on the dollar! Get your Coupon Swagger on and get ready to hit the aisles!

Wear Green Tomorrow!

WEAR GREEN TOMORROW MARCH 17

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

This is my husband's favorite holiday....no shopping....no presents....no travel....no cooking huge meals...he says all you need to do is eat corned beef brisket with cabbage and drink green beer! For weeks he can be heard reciting Irish limericks...."I'm an Irishman, I'm an Irishman and I'm full of Irish booze....If you don't like my Irish song, I'll throw up on your shoes!" He is full of limericks!!

The History of St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day, celebrated every year on March 17, is a holiday honoring Saint Patrick, the missionary credited with converting the Irish to Christianity in the A.D. 400s. Saint Patrick's real name was Maewyn Succat. For his first 16 years, Maewyn lived a normal life as the son of a wealthy landowner and magistrate in Britain.

At 16, Maewyn was captured and sold into slavery by a group of pirates who raided his village. After six years of herding sheep, Maewyn escaped, went to France and became a priest, adopting the name Patrick.

During his training, Patrick discovered that his calling was to convert Irish pagans to Christianity. He returned to Ireland, established monasteries across the country, set up schools and churches, and converted many with his winning personality. Patrick carried on a very successful mission for thirty years. When he died on March 17, that day was commemorated as St. Patrick's Day.

Originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday. In America, in fact, St. Patrick's Day is basically a time when everyone becomes Irish, wears green and goes out to party.



This is the cute guy I put out on the top of my file cabinet at work.

Fun Facts...Did you know...


That green is associated with St. Patrick's Day because it's the color of spring?


That the shamrock is a traditional symbol because Saint Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to represent how the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit could exist as separate elements in the same entity?


That the first St. Patrick's Day in America was celebrated in Boston in 1737?


That the following things on St. Patrick's Day will bring you good luck? Finding a four-leaf clover, wearing green and kissing the Blarney Stone.

If you do not have anything green to wear, you can find these cute pins at Dollar General.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

RAKU

Edwin R. Helm is an awesome artist. He is proficient in acrylic painting, pencil drawings, jewelry, and clay sculptures, but his favorite media are watercolor painting and pottery. He is known in several states for his art and for giving free demonsrations of the process of RAKU POTTERY making.

Raku pottery is created with a specific ceramic firing process that uses both fire and smoke to create unique patterns and designs. With raku pottery, the piece is first bisque fired. Then, it is glazed and undergoes a raku firing process. The raku firing process requires a special raku kiln that is fueled by propane and reaches temperatures of about 1800°F (about 982°C).

In order to complete the firing process, the raku pottery must remain in the kiln for approximately 30 minutes. The raku pottery is then removed from the kiln using specially designed raku tongs. While the raku pottery piece is still hot and glowing, it is placed inside a metal can full of combustible materials. The heat emitted from the raku pottery causes these materials to catch on fire.

After the materials inside the metal can catch on fire, a lid is placed over the can and the raku pottery is sealed inside. The raku pottery is capable of withstanding these high temperatures and the fire within the can because it is made from a special type of clay that is capable of withstanding thermal shock. Traditional pottery clays, on the other hand, would crack from the drastic temperature changes raku pottery undergoes.

As the fire consumes the oxygen within the can, it also draws the oxygen out of the raku pottery and its glaze. This process is called post fire reduction. It is the post fire reduction stage that creates the unique look of raku pottery. The resulting patterns and colors are unpredictable, as they are created through the natural process of oxygen removal.

After the raku pottery remains in the sealed metal can for about 15 minutes, it is removed and placed in a can of water. This freezes the patterns that were created during the post fire reduction stage. The amount of time a piece should remain in the cooling water largely depends on the piece and its size.

These are examples of some of Ed Helm's other pottery, sculpture and art work at a local festival. My favorite pieces are the coffee cups he makes. I always drink my coffee out of a Helm cup on the weekends to get my creative juices flowing. There is something about his one of a kind cups that inspire me.

 

Not only does Ed Helm teach pottery at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, he also does a lot of volunteer work at the senior citizens center and many other philanthropic causes in the community. He is a one of a kind wonderful guy!

Ken's Pizza

It was 1961. A young 24 year old school teacher opened a small, one-man pizza restaurant in Tulsa, Oklahoma which was to be the birthplace of the growing, dynamic Mazzio's Corporation of today. That original restaurant -- named The Pizza Parlor -- delighted many Tulsans with the very first pizza they ever ate. The Pizza Parlor was in a tiny rented vacuum sweeper shop.  The school teacher was Ken Selby, who ran his new business virtually alone and after teaching a full day as well. Even in 1961 teachers needed a second job to support their teaching habit! Using his own recipe for sauce and mixing dough in a number 2 wash tub he opened November 11, 1961 and sold a 10 inch pepperoni pizza for $1.50. He used his daily sales to pay for the next days ingredients.

Four years of teaching all day and cooking pizzas until midnight, Selby formed a growing, loyal customer base. 1965 was a banner year of fateful decisions for Selby. He made pizza his full time job. He opened a second location, which exceeded the success of his first. Plus, the name changed to Ken's Pizza that solidly branded Selby's popular special recipe sauce and thin crust. Thin crust pizza is still my favorite!

In 1966 he sold his first franchise using his special sauce recipe and thin crust pizza dough. By 1975, his two starting stores steadily grew to a strong chain of over 100 company and franchise locations, and had spilled outside the Oklahoma.

Then, in the late 70's. Selby conceived a unique business approach to build more business for his already successful pizza enterprise. His idea called for more square footage of casual dining space, an expanded menu, thicker pizza served with much more meats and cheeses, sub sandwiches... along with a huge salad bar filled with more choices.

He decided he didn't like the name "Ken's" for an Italian eatery. He once read a book with a character named Maggio, so he decided to change the name of his business. One of his employees suggested he change the two "gg" in Maggio and use two "zz" like in the word pizza.

That new concept was Mazzio's Pizza. With a premiere in 1979, it was an instant hit that is still making sales and growth history. In ten years, the Mazzio's chain grew to over 150 locations in a dozen states, setting new industry benchmarks for sales along the way, it is still growing and ever changing. Selby was born and raised in Southern Oklahoma and is another Okie to make our state shine!

Those other guys:

1958 Frank and Dan Carney opened Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas

1960 Tom Monaghan founded Domino's Pizza and pioneered the delivery concept

1960 Michael Ilitch founded Little Caesars

1960 Pizza Inn was launched in Dallas

Jalapeno Pepper Cornbread

Jalapeno Pepper Cornbread

Use as many MADE IN OKLAHOMA products as possible!

(note: also used products from three other states that border Oklahoma) 

2 cups Shawnee Best White Corn Meal Mix

(Shawnee Milling Company Shawnee, Oklahoma)

1 1/2 Cups Braum's Milk

(Braum's Dairy Tuttle, Oklahoma)

2 eggs

(ours were from MoArk Productions Neosho, Missouri)

2 Tablespoons Melted Shortening or Oil

(Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc Kansas City, Kansas)

1 can whole kernel corn

(Allen's Canning Siloam Springs, Arkansas)

1/4 cup chopped Jalapeno Peppers

(Weatherford, Oklahoma)

My husband makes his cornbread in a 10 inch cast iron skillet.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. My husband puts his oil into the skillet and places the skillet in the oven to heat the skillet and the oil. Put corn meal in a mixing bowl. Add milk, egg, corn, jalapeno peppers. Stir only enough to throughly mix ingredients. Carefully remove hot skillet from the oven and pour hot oil in cornbread mixture. Stir only to mix oil in other ingredients. Pour cornbread mixture into hot skillet and return to oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes.

My husband placed jalapeno slices on top of his cornbread before baking to enhance his presentation. You can also add a cup of grated cheese to this recipe or chopped onions or both depending on what you have on hand or what you like to eat. My husband makes a variety of different ingredient cornbreads. Sometimes he uses cream corn, but it really makes it sweet.

I have to tell you this cornbread was so good! Hot from the oven with a little butter....so sorry you can only see it and not have a big slice of your own.

Cast Iron Skillet

My husband loves cooking with cast iron skillets. His favorite one was a well used 10 inch skillet. He made the mistake of letting one of the girls take the skillet on a camping trip and it never returned. We finally found a great new LODGE brand 10 inch cast iron skillet at Atwoods. He was so thrilled to once again have a "cornbread" skillet. The following information is what he did with the cast iron skillet to get it ready for cooking.

Instructions for seasoning a new cast iron skillet:

Wash with soap and water. Rinse and dry.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Place piece of aluminum foil on middle rack of oven.

Rub shortening all over cast iron skillet.

Place the skillet upside down on the aluminum foil in oven.

Bake at 250 degrees for one hour.

Turn oven off and just let the skillet "rest' in the oven until it is cool.

Now your new cast iron skillet is ready to use!

Always wash and dry your cast iron skillet immediately after using. After wash/dry my husband places his cast iron skillet on top of the stove with burner turned on medium to heat the skillet enough to make sure it is dry. If cast iron skillet is left wet it will rust. Now you are ready to get your own cornbread skillet and use the next recipe on this blog...

Sayre-Mann Mansion Ardmore, OK

The Sayre-Mann Mansion at 323 "F" Street SW was built in Ardmore, OK in 1887. The Queen Anne Style home was moved to this location in 1902. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. These photos do not do it justice. It is such a beautiful home. Can you imagine what it took to move this home?

A block down from the Sayre-Mann Mansion we saw this original hitching post. This entire several block area has some really beautiful old homes. Ardmore, the county seat of Carter County has a lot of historical places and things to see.

Head south on I-35 to Ardmore, OK and see some of these awesome places for yourself.

High Blood Pressure?

Do you have high blood pressure (hypertension)? My husband and I have taken high blood pressure medicine for years. I did a little reading and found that several foods are beneficial to those of us who have high blood pressure. Since we like to eat, this "good food list" was good news.

A healthy diet that includes potassium, magnesium and calcium can help lower and control high blood pressure. You should also include essential fatty acids, but cut back the saturated fats, salt and sugar.

The following are some of the foods we can eat to help with our high blood pressure:

Spinach

Sunflower Seeds

Bananas

Unsaturated Fats

Garlic

Tomatoes

Broccoli

Spinach is rich in magnesium which also helps prevent heart disease. Spinach also contains folate which protects the homocysteine levels in the body. Spinach is best raw in salads to get the most benefit.

Sunflower Seeds are rich in potassium, magnesium and phytosterols to aid the lowering of cholesterol levels.

Bananas are also rich in potassium and have a high fiber content. Two per day are good for you health.

Unsaturated fats provide essential fatty acid needed by our bodies. Fish contain omega-3 that helps prevent heart disease. Oily fish like trout, salmon and mackerel are the best for you. The best way to prepare them is to grill, bake or steam.

Garlic helps thin the blood and stops blood vessels clogging which reduces blood pressure. Garlic can be taken in pill form if you do not like the taste of eating it.

Tomatoes are full of calcium and potassium plus they contain vitamins A, C and E. Tomatoes also contain lycopene a antioxidant that also helps reduce heart disease. Drinking tomato juice is a good way to enjoy tomatoes. Just check the label and make sure there is no added salt or sugar.

Broccoli is high in potassium and contains chromium which helps with blood sugar regulation. It is best steamed or eaten raw.

High blood pressure is the silent killer so do not ignore it (I need blog followers).  I am sure there are other foods that would be good for high blood pressure, but luckily we happen to like the ones on this list.

Sweet Husband

My sweet husband surprised me with a new bottle of Celine Dion Parfum! A few weeks ago I told him I need to start looking for some plain Celine Dion, because my bottle I purchased in December 2009 was about to run out. I did not think about that conversation again.

The other night we went to Walgreens to grab some coffee that was on sale. When we got into the store I took a cart and went to find the coffee. I picked up a few other sale items and headed for the check out. Of course as usual he had headed off in another direction. When I finally found him we checked out and went to the car.

When we got to the car he handed me a sack with my Celine Dion Parfum! Wow I was so surprised! The plain Celine Dion Parfum is hard to find. You can find Celine Dion Chic, Celine Dion Sensational or Celine Dion Brilliance most of the time, but not her first fragrance Celine Dion Parfum.

Celine Dion Parfum is the only one I can wear that doesn't give me a headache. Other colognes or room sprays or air fresheners really make me crazy. So my sweet husband found my kind! Now I am set for at least another year.

Consumer Reports

Today is my Arkansas friend Pat's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT! She and I have been friends for thirty-six (or thirty-seven) years. She is like my other little sister. Her grandson was born on my grandson's birthday. We spend holidays together and visit nearly everyday. None of this has anything to do with this blog title, except it reminded me of this website Pat sent to me. I saved it to use "at a later date" and just now remembered that I wanted to share it with you.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safetyalerts/schoolsafety/

It is a great site to keep up with the latest consumer information. It gives the latest safety news, lists recalls of all kinds of products from food to toys, etc., gives health news and just about any topic you might need to check. I recommend you keep it in your favorites or where ever you put stuff you need to find later.

I recommend you check out Pat's blog too:      http://pearlcabin.blogspot.com/
She has awesome tips on how to live small,  how to cook for one and lots of other things.

Be sure to sign up to be a follower on Pearl Cabin too.

Wood Carving

My Uncle Ralph, who lives in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, does the neatest tiny wood carving ornaments. He takes a thin slice of a tree branch and creates these carvings.

These tiny owls are my favorites. I don't know how he gets so much detail in such tiny creatures.

Of course he had to make the Arkansas Razorback.

I love this shape of the State of Arkansas.

Note how he carved out the tree that does not touch the top.

This is his version of the War Eagle Mill.

I am proud that he gifted me with some of his wood carving art.

Granny's Love School Concert

Our grandson aka "Granny's Love" had his spring school concert last night in the new Performing Arts Center at the High School. He is the adorable child on the far right of this photo second row down from the top. He was just incredibly handsome in his little suit vest and tie. The blue shirt really made his eyes sparkle. I know you think I am partial, but he is so sweet.

This next photo is of the whole group. There were two concerts with each one with half the classes. This concert had four classes. They just opened this multi-million dollar Performing Arts Center which was built smack dab in the middle of the high school parking lot. The community raised money to purchase a $88,000.00 (yes, eighty-eight thousand dollars!) grand piano for the center. I would have been more thrilled with more parking less stairs.

If you notice Granny's Love has his hands clasped behind his back in most of the photos. I would bet money this is what they were all told to do. He is one of those wonderful children that wants to please and tries to do what he is told. He did not get that from his mother or his father. LOL

He told me that we needed to sit on the front row. He knows his Poppy can't see very well. The look on his face when he saw that we were front row center was so worth getting there way too early.

He wasn't real thrilled with this scarf twirling part of the performance. Note the wood rim around the stage area. There was at least a half dozen people trip on that while we were there. The teacher even made an announcement for parents to be careful and not fall over the wood rim! Are you kidding? What the heck is it for anyway?

OK it is hard to focus when you are a granny and your eyes water watching "the baby" at his concert. He just looks so grown up. It was only yesterday?? when I sat and rocked him to sleep singing....Jonathan Wesley is who you are...Granny's bright and shining star...Sent from heaven up above...Just for Papa to give his love...Jonathan...Jonathan...Jonathan Wesley is who you are...Or...Hush be still as any mouse there's a baby in the house lots of trucks and lots of toys all for Jonathan our beautiful baby boy...now my eyes are watering again!

This is a after concert photo of Granny's Love and our oldest daughter, his Mom. People tell us all the time that she looks and acts just like me and our other daughter looks and acts like my husband. Neither of the girls are too impressed by those observations. Makes me laugh!

Stephanie and Jonathan



Replacement Car

Last May we were lucky enough to find a 1st car for our sixteen year old Granddaughter, to get her to school and to work. It was a white Pontiac Grand Am and she loved it! On January 31st she was broadsided, on the driver's side of her beloved Grand Am, and it totaled the car. For 26 days she was without a car and had to drive her Mom's suv or my van....not cool for a sixteen year old! For 26 days we have had to listen to her whine about the guy running a stop sign and hitting her car so hard it spun and ended up in the opposite direction from which she was going.



Granddaughter and her brother "Granny's Love" in her 2nd car in less than a year!



Finally we got the reimbursement for her car and even though we had been looking for 26 days, it is hard to buy anything when you are waiting on the money to arrive. We had not found anything anyway. Her Aunt Kennda came and got her on Friday night and took her to OKC to look for cars.

Her Poppy and I started from Western Oklahoma hitting every car lot on the way to OKC on Saturday. OH MY ACHING HEAD. Used cars are way over priced! Seems that lots of folks had got their tax refund and wiped out the used car lots. We stopped at Smart Choice Auto Credit at 1100 West Main in Yukon, Oklahoma.

Curtis Ray the owner had been on the Rodeo Team at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford! Small world. He had one tan Pontiac Grand Am and was such a nice young man. He stayed open an extra hour and a half to let her test drive the car and do the paperwork. He is in the business of financing autos, but he was ok with us paying cash.



Granny's Love and our only Granddaughter "on the road again."



This car is tan the paper work says tan and depending on how I take the photos it changes from tan to gold. Granny's Love and I decided it is two colors depending on if it is day or night. LOL

Thanks to the car search committee for hitting every car lot in Oklahoma City and Norman and from Sayre to Yukon. For the hours spent over newspaper classified ads and on the computer. Searching for an affordable used car is absolute torture. The only thanks was a Wendy's burger after we finally found the car! YUKON, OKLAHOMA

Brush Your Cat

Brushing your cat not only removes dirt, grease and dead hair from her coat, but it helps to remove skin flakes and stimulates blood circulation, improving the overall condition of her skin. One or two brushings per week will help kitty to keep her healthy glow and you’ll find that regular sessions are especially beneficial when your cat ages and is no longer able to groom so meticulously on her own. I captured these RARE photos of Callie Ann in my husband's lap and allowing him to brush her! Callie Ann is NOT a lap cat, but she was loving the attention. It was her idea or it would not have been happening!

Brushing your cat also cuts down on the number of hair balls they have from grooming themselves. My husband brushes both cats, but usually just a stroke or two and they take off.

Look at Callie Ann's eyes....she things this is so wonderful. She is so relaxed.

Notice her tail up on my husband's t-shirt. When she comes walking into a room she has that plume tail straight up and does her ROYAL entrance.

When brushing your cat you should start at their head and go all the way to their tail. Remember to brush their tail too.

I think Callie Ann would have gone to sleep if I had not been snapping photos of her.

Callie Ann was rescued by my grandchildren from the barn of a local farmer. Now look at this cat and you will agree she was meant to be the Queen House Cat and not a barn cat. We think she is just beautiful. Of course we are the only ones who ever see her, because she runs and hides under our bed the minute she hears a strange voice in the house. I am still in shock that she was in his lap and that she allowed me to snap this many photos. Brush Your Cat.