Snakes, Deer and Frogs

My husband has met some new people while volunteering in various organizations while up North. One of the couples invited us, and another older couple, to their home for dinner last night. I had heard that this older couple were retired science teachers and very much naturalists as they have camped near the Arctic Circle for nearly two months.

I am very much a city girl having grown up in the Boston area and lived the past 28 years in a suburb of Washington DC. I believe that you go to the grocery store to buy your meat for dinner. This is just what I am familiar with. I learned that we were to eat venison that had just been shot by a neighbor the day before. Nothing against venison but I have never had it and of course, Bambi runs through my mind. All day I am dreading Bambi on my plate for dinner. Can I cut it up into small pieces and hid it under other things; can I even eat it?

We arrive at their house to find that in their living room resides their 20 foot long python snake. You heard me - 20 FEET LONG!!!!!! They bring here out, I had to pet it and then hold it as it is hissing at me. Then it poops on their carpeting and they give us a science lesson on snake poop.

I'm just not a snake girl, sad to say.

We got to their house early so we could watch their favorite movie, one that our son Jeff, who is a middle school science teacher, would love to show his students (or so they told us). I was rather doubtful but went along. The movie was called "Frog" and starred Shelley Duvall and Elliot Gould. It was okay but so dated as it was filmed in the mid 1980's and the girls had the big hair, station wagons for the family car (no mini-vans at that time), big aviator glasses (think Peter Marshall on the old Hollywood Squares).

Dinner followed with canned corn from last summer (very good), soggy Brussels Sprouts, couscous with Swiss Chard and .......BAMBI. I tried it and ate it. Not as bad as I thought it would be and my husband said that the host cooked it perfectly. I just needed to get over that I was eating a deer.

Conversation after dinner which was fine. We spoke about favorite movies and the hosts thought that the best movies were the East German movies (last time I remember East Germany was 1990) and those form China. I mentioned that I loved Sand Lot and Goonies, neither of which he had heard. Strange. Almost un-American. Unfortunately, I think we later bored the husband. He fell asleep at the dinner table. His wife said and did nothing and I can't believe that I am sitting there with a snake in the room, husband asleep, the bathroom in their bedroom is frigid because they don't heat the bedroom (the other guest guessed that it was 40 degrees). We were home by 9:00 PM.

Ribbon Blankets

I love to feel creative and that is a little difficult when I don't draw, sing or act. Instead I sew and cook. I love the feel of fabric and all the thoughts that enter my mind when I see and feel fine fabric. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all my ideas and don't get anything done. While I am up here in Michigan, my goal to to work on some of the projects that I have the supplies for.

I decided to make ribbon blankets for babies. I brought up north with me some incredibly soft and cuddly minkee fabric as well as some washed and oh so soft flannel to coordinate with it. I thought I had all my ribbons up here but instead only had a few. Off to WalMart I went to see what they. With my purchases in hand, it was time to cut out the fabrics, pin on the ribbons and see what I could come up with. Here is the end result. I hope to have many made for the summer craft shows up here. Let me know if you like them.

New Year's Resolution - a little late

What's the rush? Can't New Year's resolutions be made anytime in the first month of the New Year? Mine, and I am hanging my head down low, is to write more frequently on this blog. So many things have happened that I haven't written about or documented and they would have made such great blogs. I am going to mix it up a little - some from earlier this past year and some current.

Current - Our son Chris is finishing up his three weeks in Europe. He left Dec. 26th to join a study abroad program. He is working toward his MBA (graduation is May from George Washington University in Washington DC) and these three weeks are credits for him. He arrived in Barcelona and then traveled to Paris, Interlaken, Zurich, Venice and Milan. To read some of his adventures here is his blog: http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-465171.html The photos are all his. Once you have read this one, please click on next entry to read about his free weekend in Brugge, Belgium. Feel free to wander around his blog for all of his adventures around the world. The photo above is his taken on New Year's Eve in Paris.

Guess who the newest Schwalm will be?

All of our kids and their spouses and girlfriend came up here in northern Michigan for 4th of July. We are this little village along the bay of a large lake that has an old fashioned celebration. The kids wanted to be part of it so they all came up though arrivals and departures were staggered. Jeff and his wife Amber were the first to arrival followed by our older son Chris and his girlfriend Haley. Lisa and her husband Nate were the last to arrival. Anyway, fireworks here on the lake are held on the 3rd of July. We all gathered around the firepit waiting for it to get dark (which is around 10:00). Chris decided to take Haley out in the old rowboat to watch the fireworks. We cooked s'mores, made noises when they shot up the fireworks and had a great time. When Chris and Haley came back they made THE announcement...they were engaged to be married. Hope you enjoy our photos!

Does Bad Luck really comes in 3's or is it 6's?

You know, they say that bad luck comes in threes so how come I'm past three? Maybe I am headed towards six, which is two times the magical three. Over the winter, we had our lakehouse remodeled. In preparation for this, we purchased all new appliances. We had the stove and refrigerator towards the end of the summer. Love the new Kenmore refrigerator which has freezer on the bottom and French door for the refrigerator part. Number One: Over the winter, we ordered the Kenmore dishwasher and the Kenmore microwave/convection oven combination. My husband arrived here the third week of May and within days the microwave broke! He called the SEARS repair number and a week and a half later they came out, ordered parts and said that they would be back the next week. They "fixed" the microwave with the new parts. We used it for exactly a week and it broke again, the same problem as before. Grrrr. We are out of the 90 day return period but within the one year manufacturers warranty. Repairman will be out on Monday. They can either try to fix it again or declare it unrepairable. My guess is that they will try to fix it again. Number Two: Now, our refrigerator, which I love, does not meet the specs for its measurements. The cabinets were ordered based on the specs. Turns out our refrigerator bows out in the middle of the sides of the refrigerator. It barely fits into the space. The problem is that we have pull it out twice a year - to turn the water on for the ice maker and to turn it off when we leave in the fall. Hopefully the repairman will be able to look at that as well. Number Three: we ordered a new dining room set last Saturday and it was delivered last Wednesday. As they unpacked the dining room table, the delivery people noticed that the side off the table had a gouge. A new one is being delivered next week. Number Four: Last night at dinner, one of the dining room chairs split and a piece cracked off. Haven't called the furniture store yet but hoping it can be delivered when they deliver the table. Number Five: need to call Charter Communications because the DVR that we have through them does not record series. Sure I can go in and schedule one recording but not a series. Number Six: The dining room light fixture that we purchased and had installed this winter was warped and crooked. My dear husband had to take it down. buy a new one and then install it. Today I am picking up the new bicycle that I ordered last week. Hopefully it will be what I want; if not, I'll order another one. I wonder if I am working on my third set of threes? Only time will tell.

Quick and Easy Dessert to share

As I mentioned in my previous post, we needed to bring a snack to the barn on Friday evening. If you know anything about me, I never bring anything too plain. Simple yes but never too plain. So the thought process began in earnest Friday afternoon. I decided to combine chocolate chip cookie dough with a box of brownie mix. This was so simple that I am almost embarrassed to share it with you. Just don't give our little secret away.

Make the brownie mix according to the directions on the box for a 13 x 9 pan. Pour into the pan that has been sprayed with Pam. Then make any chocolate chip dough mix you like OR buy a box of chocolate chip dough mix at the grocery store. I believe that Betty Crocker has a mix. Once mixed, pour the mix over the brownie dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. When it cooled I made a chocolate ganache to spread on top. Sounds pretty fancy but it is almost as easy as opening a can of premade frosting. To make the chocolate ganache place in a bowl 9 oz of bittersweet chocolate that has been broken into small pieces. At the same time, cook 1 cup of heavy cream in a sauce pot till just before boiling. Once at that stage pour the cream over the chocolate pieces. Let it sit for a little while it melts the chocolate pieces then whisk till it is smooth. Spread it over the brownies and let it sit - yes that is a must. Let it sit for about 4 hours before you cut the brownies otherwise the brownies won't be firm enough to handle the cutting and the ganache will drip all over. Enjoy your dessert.

Barn Dancing

We are beginning to have a social life here in our new community thanks to the YMCA. While playing tennis there, Darrell met a woman who invited us to go to Clark's Ole Time Music Center at Clark's saw mill in Raphine. We were game for anything so we put on our best country clothes and joined Renata and her date for a fun evening. We were instructed to being a noni-alcoholic drink and a snack to share. Renata is well known there and she had a table reserved for us at the saw mill.

$5 admission is what they charged for a night of clean fun, country music by a live band, door prize and snacks from the communal table. Well, if you know anything about me, I don't know anything about country music. I grew up in the big city (Boston) and moved to a larger one (metro Washington DC) and just wasn't exposed to it. Darrell and I stumbled along learning the 2 step and a few other dances.

As we are dancing around the dance floor, we look up at the decorations on the wall. There is a large Confederate flag, pictures of General Lee and other Civil War southern generals. A little out of our element but fun nevertheless. We opened ourselves up to try something different and it was fun, clean entertainment. Everyone was very friendly to us.

Last night we went back for our second time. When they announced a Paula Jones dance, I vaguely remembered what it was - women in the inner circle, men in the outer walking in opposite directions. When the whistle blows, the man nearest to you grabs you and takes you for a spin till the whistle blows again.

What fun we had and I am sure that we will go back again to Clark's Saw Mill. Before we do that, Darrell wants to go to a western wear store and get a western shirt to wear. He's even talking about buying me boots! (these boots are made for "dancing").