It's Been a While...

Sorry about that. It's been a while since I've posted. The holidays came and went quickly. Then January came and went. My, how time is flying!

Thanksgiving we had a house full, like I mentioned. What I didn't mention was that we had a power outage the day after Thanksgiving. So, we ate dinner outside the following night because we had to. It was REALLY cold. My niece and nephew brought tamales from Florida that they made. You can't beat homemade food! This was a real treat for me to eat fresh tamales. I've never been invited to a Latin home for dinner. That is kind of hard to believe since I have so many culturally diverse friends.

Here is how we cooked the tamales.

Tamales Cooked Outdoors

We started to cook them on the grill my hubby made, but the water didn't boil fast enough or hard enough. My nephew brought over parts of his turkey fryer and my canning pot served us well. I had enough cooling racks to fit inside to hold the tamales while they steamed. Yummy stuff! I got the recipe!

Then, we went to Florida to visit these relatives for Christmas. We had a really nice time. We took some very small gifts this year. I made dish towel angels and they turned out really nice. I can't find my original pattern on the internet. When I do, I'll link it here. In the mean time, check out the internet for your own. There are several styles to make. I should've taken a picture.

Here is a picture of the whimsical part of my Santa Claus collection.

Whimsical Santas

 OK. There are a few snowmen in there, too. They are still cute. My porcelain Santas are on the other mantel and I didn't get a pic of them this year.

Here is the village we set up on our buffet.

Christmas Village

I have a small collection of porcelain houses that we usually put under the tree. The tree needs a bit of a hike off the ground to fit these under. I don't want to do that with the dogs traipsing around. I also collect aluminum ware. I love the stuff. Most of it is from yard sales. I like using these to serve dinners for company. Sometimes just for us, too.

The new year came and Hubby and I sit and wait for the ball to drop. This year we had a cheese tray, spread with crackers and doggie biscuits. I was in the kitchen getting our small snack tray ready and Hubby asked me to wait while he set up the living room. He put a tablecloth down and our pillows up against the back of the couch. I didn't know about the table (stool) and cloth for the table. He's so sweet!

Trixie Eyeing the Goods!

Well, the ball dropped in Times Square and we woke up at 12:04 a.m. We missed it! We must be getting old or something.

Our weather has been really up and down this year. One day we'll have 70 degree F weather. The next it will be in the 30's. Up and down and up and down. Today was in the 60's. It was nice and sunny. Tomorrow, we're expecting 30's and freezing rain. Wednesday may bring 2-3 inches of snow. I need to start planting my garden and it's hard to figure the weather out this year.

If we get the weather, look for pics. It is a novelty down here to get snow and icy rain.

Take care. 

Cleaning Up Outside

We started our day by going to the Ladson Flea Market to get fresh fruits and vegetables. There is a particular stand that is very clean and tidy which has fresh produce at really reasonable prices. I spend usually no more than $20 when I buy from them. Hubby loves their apples and makes it a point to take me every week. It only takes about 15 minutes from the time we park to the time we return. Everything is well organized and there are a lot of people stocking the shelves. For $20, we eat a lot of fresh produce every week. This week I bought 2 heads of romaine, 1 head of iceberg, 20# of russet potatoes, 3 cucumbers, 12 roma tomatoes and 8 gala apples. In the regular grocery store, I'd be paying about $30 for this amount. It is totally worth it. They also have Hispanic foods and spices, which I buy when I need them. Also, really nice clover honey.

When we came home, I fixed lunch and we went to a car show. It was really disappointing. There were 5 cars there. Not much of a show, if you ask me. We didn't stay.

When we came home again, I painted the doors to our pump house, a post that holds the garden hose and the compost bin pickets. Then I cut down dead branches from some of my shrubs. We collected about 5 strawberries and watered the garden.

Hubby mixed up a couple of batches of fish emulsion and sprayed the whole yard. Our whole yard smells like dead fish. This will last only for about 2 hours. Fish emulsion is the best fertilizer we've found. It's great for indoor plants and outdoor plants. Love it!

Right now, I'm waiting for the BBQ'd ribs to come out of the oven. We'll have vinegar and oil potato salad and a green salad with it.

I hope you had a great day today!

Take care.