Grandma Erickson's cinnamon rolls

In preparation of Easter morning, I started making Grandma Erickson's cinnamon rolls. She always started by thawing a loaf of frozen bread dough and rolling it out.

I buttered a pie plate.

Then I buttered the top of the dough.

That was followed by a sprinkling of sugar.  (Yes, bad on bad.)

I love cinnamon so I put a liberal dusting on top.  Dale likes raisins and nuts so I added them too.

I rolled up the dough and sliced it into equal width pieces.

I left plenty of space between the rolls for them to raise again.

I refrigerated them over night and took them out 2 hours before they needed to go into the oven. They raised nice!

They baked to a beautiful golden brown.

Butter, powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream made a nice topping. 

The topping melted and glazed the top of the rolls.

A delicious treat for Easter morning.

Quilt Wall hangings

April 2nd I was rushing to get some quilting done before summer hit.

I was making 3 similar but unique quilts. They all have the same blocks but in different positions. 

Each of these fabrics have significant words or meanings.  ... the bees can't fly. It is a good thing no one told them!

Sunflowers with encouraging words and the names of God.

Bees and the sweet honey they make.

Even more words of encouragement!

Oh wait! Something is a bit sheepish. I even took the time to make my own ribbing. Hmmm now that is a good use of oil shipping tubes.

Happy adoption

A friend of mine is adopting 5 children soon from the same family. 

She had a private adoption celebration planned for Saturday until the storm hit.  They got snowed in. The celebration was moved to Sunday. I have been working hard to create a heart shaped sachet for each child. 

For the boys I've made the names of God and bees. For the girls I've made the names of God and lambs. I put a chip of cedar wood in each and added an essential oil. 

I am looking forward to the celebration Easter Sunday afternoon.

March 22, 2018

I was in Louisiana watching the leaves. Today, November 2nd I am in Maryland watching the leaves fall.

Warehouse No. 1 Restaurant

A coworker told me that I had to go to this restaurant because of the scenery.  Or more precisely the flooded Ouachita river.

Squint and look at the bridges. They are about a foot above the water. The scenery was beautiful!

The food was good too. I started out with a simple garden salad.

It was more expensive than I'm used to and I saw one of my favorite desserts.  

The chicken Alfredo was excellent! I sat out on the porch just inches above the water.  I asked if they had flooded and the waiter said it was close but no water came inside.

Cream Bruele!  Yum! They could have held the flame back just a touch but the base was a perfect consistency. I'll give the meal 🌟🌟🌟🌟

After supper, I went out onto the levy.

I took a short walk. It was about 69 degrees with just enough clouds to make a beautiful sunset.

It was beautiful any way that you looked at it.

The water was just feet away from the bottom of the bridge.

The entrance on to the bridge was at least 8 feet below the top of the levy. So if the flood waters got that high, all the water would flood into the nearby streets.

Sorry  but I can't get that concept out of my head.

There were several pine trees on the road side of the levy.  This is the kind of pine tree that I would like at the farm.

On the way back I found myself taking pictures of the pretty weeds and giggling. Grandma Stella Field used to make grandpa stop to take pictures of the pretty weeds in the road ditches when they were on vacation. 

Here is the view to the other direction. I can tell the water is high. But unless I go back to the area I will not understand how high this actually is right now.

I was sitting on the deck at the restaurant. Less than a foot away from flooding.  Although you would think that this view begs the same question as the end of the bridge, it doesn't. There is a "sea wall" on the other side of the restaurant. 

I would hate to see their flood insurance cost. ...just saying

Back on the Bayou

March 20th I was back in Louisiana. I love this little restaurant at the edge of the Bayou. 

There is a college nearby with a water skiing team.

They are amazing to watch!

The restaurant has many beautiful  iews of the river.

They have good food too. With the seasonings in Louisiana it is difficult for me to find food that my stomach can handle.

There goes another water skier.

A spring sunset is glowing and perfect. 

There were a couple women on the patio drinking wine. They were kind enough to let me use their glass as a prop.

Never be afraid to look at life from different points of view.

You will be suprised at what you see.