It's Not Pretty, But It's Cake!

Ok, here's the story:
My hubby has started playing hockey again. I am so happy for him because he really loves to play hockey and he hasn't played for at least 13 years! The first day he pulled a muscle (the body wasn't caught up to what the mind wanted). Then a week later played again. He said he felt great and wowza! he was just HAPPY with everything!
Well, we went shopping this morning and he made a comment about having fun playing hockey again and he sure would love to indulge in some carrot cake. Me, make carrot cake? It did not have chocolate in it, it has raisins in it, but my hubby loves carrot cake. I didn't know that. So, because he has been the easiest guy to be around these last two weeks, I decided to make cake for him.
Now don't go thinking I made all this from scratch! Betty Crocker and I are buds!
Here are the two rounds I baked.....they look alright....even without chocolate in them and it smelled so good in my house. I have them cooling so I can frost them (more Betty Crocker). It's not pretty, but it's cake! My skills as a cake decorator are lacking but I figure it'll be just as good without all the fancy schmancy decorating.

First slice.....gone! He couldn't wait until it was ready to cut.

When asked how it was, the response was....GOOD!

This cake is safe from me in this house. It smelled great while it was baking and I love frosting out of a can, but.....this one is alllllll for the hubbs.

Snackers

It was right around supper time when our "deer alarm" went off (our Shelty: Daisy). We had these two guys in the back yard munching on the grass. I'm sure they had already been under the apple tree as I had put out some carrots and celery for them.
If you look close, you can still see the spots on the first deer. They have been coming into our yard since they were old enough. This is momma, I'm guessing. She was the look-out and when she heard my camera take the picture they all ran into the back yard behind all the trees.

We are so lucky to live where we do. We are on the out skirts of town and close enough that it doesn't take a lot of time to get into town for grocery shopping, etc.

I've seen so many different animals here: bear, wolf, squirrels, chipmunks, coyotes and more.

It's been interesting watching the deer. They are very cautious. It's getting to that time.....deer season.

Hope my little deer family hang around here and don't venture out into the open fields. We all know what happened to Bambi's mommy!

Having Lunch At The Park

I left work at noon to find something to eat. I wasn't really sure what I was hungry for. I headed for a small grocery store in Hancock for some soup but I really wasn't hankerin' (is that a word?) for soup...so I passed by. Then I remembered another little cafe in the old hospital. What the heck.....I'll give it a try.


I ordered the Hot Oven Roasted Turkey Dijon. This is how it's described on the menu:


Fresh roasted turkey topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions, provolone cheese, a creamy Dijon sauce and served on an Italian Batard, with pickle & chips-$6.95.


Sounded good to me, so I ordered it. I wasn't sure what Italian Batard was but I love bread--any bread--so I wasn't too concerned.
The cafe is called Kangas' Cafe. They also do catering and I have been at several weddings where they have catered and I enjoyed their food. Today was no exception. This is the "to-go" box with their menu and the gentleman at the counter gave me the two candies. PERFECT!

I drove to a small park close to work to eat and noticed this little guy busy with his pine cone. I couldn't eat all the bread or all the chips so I shared with him.

He carried this pine cone all over the park. He'd run with it in his mouth, drop it, run away from it, then come back and get it. Funny!

I watched him for a bit and then had to head back to work.

Turkey in my belly......I'll need a nap break this afternoon. Hope I can hold out for the rest of the day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gettin' My Bakin' ON!

I decided to get a little baking done on Sunday. I love chocolate chip cookies but making them in bar form is so much easier. Your not tied to the oven making batch after batch.
So, I got all the ingredients together (Love, Love, Love my kitchen aid mixer).
Found a GREAT helper! He's always ready to help out.

My grandson helped put all the ingredients in the mixer. Just follow the directions on the back of the chocolate chip bag and you're good to go! We chatted away while we watched the mixer do its job! This little guy is super fun to be around.

Once mixed we dumped it into the jelly roll pan......

and baked 'er up!!

Baking duties are over for the week.

My daughter has a volleyball game on Tuesday and that is the only thing on my agenda for after work this week. AHHHHH!

Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Decorating

I've been decorating for Halloween and am still working on my porch.
I am so proud of myself because I haven't spent any money on this decorating yet. I made this picture on a whim and I think it turned out great! The picture frame was just hanging around in my basement. I spray painted it black and spray painted the matting green. Then I printed out the Halloween saying a put it all together. Cute! My table is still a work in progress. I had some white candles and the candle holder in the basement. I took all those and spray painted them all black. Then I put the spider webbing on the candle holder and the picture. The material on the bottom is something that was in my halloween box so I threw that on there. Now I just need to find some other things to add. I think I'll check out Goodwill and see what I can find to turn into halloween decorating treasure. I do want to find a good size skull (obviously not a real one--don't worry hubby, you can sleep with your eyes closed) to put on one side of the candle holder.
What do you think?

Everything here I had. I changed out the paper in the window for halloween and printed out a couple mice to have hanging out up there.

The last picture is of my table. I never know what to use here. I love table runners and I have one for just about every occasion. This time I put a square tablecloth under a slice of tree. I was lucky to take a few from my step-sons wedding.Then just an autumn string of leaves and a pumpkin faced tin.

I've been having tons of fun doing trash to treasure projects and am quite please at home much money I have saved.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks for stopping by!

I Love To Create

More things I would love to make time for to create:

Would love to make this for my hubby's golf friends. I just may do this for next year. Oh how I love Frankenstein! He's one of my favorite Halloween decorations.

This I want to try and paint on canvas for my grandson. He loves big machines and I know he would love this on his wall.

This is a caa-ute Christmas card! I love the little box too.

I am working on some Halloween boxes to put treats in for some special Trick or Treaters. I will put them up on here as soon as I purchase another memory card for my camera.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Catching Up!

I'm trying to catch up on my blog....please be patient with me.

Life happens way too fast and I don't want to miss a thing!

Pictures of My Son's Wedding

This is my son Michael and his wife Brooke. They were married this summer in Puerto Rico.
This kid of mine is so fun to be around! His imagination is really what I enjoy the most! He's ALWAYS been able to make me laugh.
This beautiful lady he married is a doll! She is so kind and loving and to top things off, she is an orthopedic surgeon. That'll come in handy when body parts need replacing!:) This is just a gorgeous picture! I love the background...and it's real....it's not a backdrop!

Isn't this so sweet!

Just waiting for his lady. What a handsome dude!

More wedding photos later.

Thanks for stopping by.