A Busy Saturday and Easter Cards

Hi everyone. How was your day today??? We had a pretty busy day for a Saturday. We picked up our finished income tax.....yay! Uncle Sam is giving some of our money back. One of the things I invested was a new computer, so some of that money will go towards it. Microsoft decided they no longer want to support Windows XP. So on April 8th "D-day" will come for those still using XP's. Kim Komando, a computer guru on the radio, said, those still on XP stand the chance of getting hacked and/or getting virus's. I took my XP off line last week, and will use it downstairs with my Cricut. Kim also says that 1/3 of the people in the world are still on XP, it's worked well for 12 years and has been a popular program, oh well, I guess that is progress for ya.

We also mailed a package off to CA to a man who ordered some CDs and tapes from JP. Then JP took off for church to clean it and then practice his accordion for the service tomorrow. Leaving me to my computer for awhile. I decided to take a short nap before JP got home. Then we were off to a thrift store, the pawn shop and Walmart. When we got home I took Kylie for a short walk then it was time to make dinner. Roasted vegies, hamburgers and baked potato. Yep a busy day....right now I have a pie in the oven if you go to Patty's blog, she talks about her "plop pie" it sounded so good, I needed to try it. http://atticfullofclutter.blogspot.com

Thought I would post a few Easter Cards that I have in my Etsy store. I made this card last Easter, had a few left and decided to make a set of 4 cards for $8.50+postage. The inside of this card is calligraphy with He Lives.

I made this card a couple of years ago....the inside verse says "Happy Easter"

This card was made this year, I got the idea for this card on one of the Etsy stores....was rather fun to make....need to make some more to give to a few friends. The inside of this card is blank, but I most likely will add "Happy Easter".

This card and the purple one were from a couple of years ago, if it does not sell this year, I probably will add it to the Hospice cards next year.

This is a newer card, using the same cuttlebug folder but not cutting it out like the blue and brown cross was. Inside says "Happy Easter"

Oh....I forgot to say I bought a few tea cups and saucers and an elephant creamer. I think I will try selling them in my Etsy store. Going to try something different. I figured with the store name Cards4ubyLouise and other Treasures....other Treasures could also include some vintage things...I do have some books listed and photo's I have taken.....so we shall see how that goes.

Just a reminder...I am celebrating going on 7 years doing this blog. I will be doing a gift give-away....a set of cards and an extra surprise!!! So if you would like to be a part of the give away, just leave a comment and become a follower if you aren't already.

You have a great weekend and keep looking up....I need to go check out the pie....hopefully it did not burn...hahahaha. Cheers ~ Louise

Note: The pie turned out perfectly golden brown....now to taste it when it cools down a bit.

My Apple Tree and a Recipe

Hi everyone. Hope you are all doing well and staying cool in this very warm weather.
Today I am going to tell you about this wonderful apple tree. I am not really sure what the name of the apple tree is, the apples are green, they cook up really good and are not too sweet. I planted the tree probably about 15-20 years ago. It took a very long time to grow....now it is so tall, it is hard to reach the apples even with an extender basket. I need a TALL person!!!
In the above picture is a shot of our tree in the spring....oh my, it was just full of blossoms this year....I was so excited. During the winter, either the squirrel or rabbits got a hold of my two apple trees and ate the bark off the trees. My neighbor thought the trees were ruined. So did I for that matter.
Then, one spring morning I looked out the window and "oh my gosh" the tree was just loaded with flowers. We ended up not spraying the tree. Just letting it go natural. I mentioned I had two trees. The other tree is a red apple tree. As far as I can see, there are only 1 or 2 apples up there. Maybe next year will be its' year to show off!!!

Oh my....apples in the tree!!! There have been apples before, but NOT so big and NOT so abundant!!! My goodness every branch was just loaded with apples!!! I've made a few pickings since this picture was taken. Some of the apples are buggy inside. But then, some are just fine. The birds and squirrels get their share. So I think if I can get a good share of cooked apples in the freezer I will be happy.

In this picture are some apples I picked tonight with our new little $25 apple extender from Menards. I am hoping that the basket will pay for itself. Maybe it has and I have not realized it as yet.

In this picture is a shot of the apples still left in the tree that are too high for Louise to reach even with the basket extender.

So here we are, tonight with 20 apples waiting to be cut and sliced in the kitchen sink.

So here is a picture of the apples cooked up in it's sauce. All I do is add about a cup of water with the apples, cook them up a bit, add cinnamon, and maybe 4 packets of stevia. (if you use sugar, maybe about 1/4 cup of sugar, depends how sweet you want the apples), then I add some corn starch with a little bit of water and mix with the apples to thicken the juice. Taste test to see if they are cooked through and sweet enough for your taste.

Okay...here is the recipe. I found it on www.cooks.com  Look for it under "Cherry Streusel Coffee Cake." I found with this recipe, you can use any fruit you desire...that is why I am using my apples. (I've used cherries also) Bake this coffee cake/pie at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Pie filling
Cream together the butter and sugar, add eggs. Add dry ingredients next and beat well. Batter will be heavy. Spread 3/4 of the batter in a 9x13 inch pan. Cover with the pie filling. Drop remaining batter by spoonfuls over filling.
 Sprinkle with the following mixture.
4 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
One last step....I sprinkle the top of the cake with some more cinnamon, of course this is with the apple pie. Using other fruit would be optional.

Another thing about this recipe...I cut all the ingredients in half, so instead of making a 9x13, I make a pie pan...which is enough for JP and I.
I have company coming next weekend, so I may make a 9x13 apple dessert then.

After baking, a slice of heaven. Adding some whip cream or ice cream to this dessert would really top it off.

Taste Testing....mmmmmm....good!!

Well there you have it, a wonderful dessert for any time, any place and any where. I really like making this, as it is really easy and goes fast. JP likes it a lot too, but then he is not a hard person to please when it comes to food, he eats most anything I concoct and always knows that if I follow a recipe, I never quite follow it to the "T"....always changing some ingredient.

Hope you enjoy this recipe...I sure do. Have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

Cherries and Apples

 Hi Everyone, how are your days going? Keeping cool has been a priority lately. Gets pretty warm in the house, like almost 90 degrees, but we keep the air conditioner going in the kitchen and fans going in the other rooms. So it is bearable. I like when it is cool enough and I can put a blanket on to keep warm. Looks like there is a big cool-down for the next week so we all will be comfortable till the next heat-wave.

 The other day a friend called and asked if I would like some cherries......I said yes. So I went to pick them up and spent the evening cleaning, sorting, pitting and cooking them. After they cooled I put them in containers and froze them. I pulled a few recipes from the internet, Freezer Jam, Cherry Dump Cobbler and Sara's Famous Cherry Crisp are on the agenda for these cherries along with a couple of smoothies and maybe some cherry frozen pops.

 The cherries that did not make the pick landed on the ground for the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and flies to eat. Nobody touched them, so they landed in the compost pile. The little chipmunk in this picture was checking them out....maybe he thought they were too sour though.

 I am really excited, cause I finally have apples growing in my apple tree. I sure do hope they make it, the limbs are bending over cause there are so many apples in the tree. I think these apples will remain green. I have another tree that is supposed to have red apples........but that one has not produced yet. These trees are over 10 years old. So hopefully this is the year for apple pies and sauce!!!!

Another shot of the apples from a different angle. So you all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.

One of these days I will get some cards up. I have not been working on cards for awhile as my studio is still all torn up and I am still re-organizing. And I have been so busy with my gardens......time just gets away. Cheers ~ Louise

Blueberry Pie and Planters Station

 Hi everyone, how are you all doing today? Feels like it is going to be a warm day today, already put the air conditioner on in the kitchen. The fans have been blowing all night long, so there is an ever so light breeze flowing through the house.

Well, as you can see in the above picture, we have blueberries!!! A friend brought them over on Saturday, oh yum were they ever good. I froze some, made sauce, ate some, made a salad and fruit salad bowl and oh, made a baked oatmeal with berries breakfast dish. AND this lovely pie in the next picture.

 I just kind of through this together using the left over Phillio sheets in the refrig, spraying each layer, then I dabbed whipped cream cheese on the phillio sheets, then poured the cooked berries over the cream cheese. Baked at 375 for 20 minutes and WAH-LAH a wonderful, tasty torte. It lasted two days. I certainly will make this again.

 Here is a piece of that pie.........only thing missing is the whip cream. Which I bought when we went out to the store later on in the day. The next piece of pie was even better!!!

 Here you see JP eating his pie, he doesn't like pictures taken of himself, nor does he like pictures taken while he eats.......or what he is eating....but we all know "Pie was on his agenda"!!!

 In the picture above is our new/old planting station and JP is giving it a work-out. I bought a bunch of petunia plants for him to plant. I paid $2.25 for 9 containers with 3 plants in each (27 little plants). So he planted them in 5 containers and took them to the church for decoration.

We have taken and planted zinnias around the church, but they got "weed-whacked" so we thought maybe planting them in pots would discourage the "weed-whacker" and he would know for sure he is to "STOP there are plants planted here"!!!!!

I took this picture from the kitchen window, you can see my purple clover in the forefront. Don't think JP knew I was taking this picture of him. I think this planting station will work out well for us. At least it is up high enough that we don't have to bend down. One person told me...."why do you need a planting station, just use the ground." Why yes, the older one gets, the harder it is to bend down and get on the knees!!! THEN it is hard to get up........so I say, "to each his own."

Well, tis time to cut this blog short, it is getting late, going on 12 noon. Time to get ready and take my bike into the bicycle shop to get fixed. It's a Schwinn and is over 42 years old. The tires are bad and it needs to be cleaned up. Gonna try riding it around the block for the rest of this summer.

Talk to you all later and have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise