Mama died December 20th while I held her hand.  We had her funeral the day before Christmas Eve.  My daughter, Summer, was expecting a new baby and lost it the day after Christmas. 

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I just enjoy changing what's in the center of my table.  I think it's fun and I have taken quite a few pictures through my time on HSB of my humble tablescapes as they are called these days.  As soon as I can get it figured out get my daughter-in-law over here I will group all the pictures in their own little catagory called "tablescapes". 

For now this is what's on my table.  I found the adorable sugar bowl, creamer and trivet set for next to nothing in a hospital gift shop marked down dirt cheap.  I already had the salt and pepper shakers and napkin rings that go with my everyday dishes that I love. (Walmart)  My little cow creamer just had to go there.  The napkins I pulled out of a drawer and found that they were a perfect match.  My mother gave them to me ages ago and I remember them from my childhood days. 

Soon I'll be switching to a Christmas table theme which is always fun.  But I think I'll likely come back to this one. 

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We welcomed a new little grandson into the world this week.  He is precious and we are thankful.

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I went to a big annual flea market in a little town nearby recently and the found that the home grown peanuts were selling like crazy. No wonder.  They were huge!   They were boiling them there on the spot or you could buy them roasted or just get them green (raw) like I did.  I got a big ole bag and lugged it back to the car right before heading home.  I had enough to fill 2 cookers then bagged them in quart bags and put them in the freezer.  All I have to do is take it out and let it thaw then warm them up a bit and they taste like they just came out of the pot.

answers about boiled peanuts from a previous post (2006)

OH, and by the way, that cute little green dish was a little gem I found at the flea market that day too to add to my collection of green milk glass and Jadite.  It was only a buck.  Sweet!

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Oh how good it feels to sit down and look through blogs and let my mind just go...........

I want to thank those who have prayed for my mother and I.  Thank you so much.  She is in ICU still after having  surgery on October 27th.   I thought many times she was not going to make it but she has.  She should've only been in the hospital for a relatively short stay but had one complication after another with pneumonia and respiratory failiure and her body becoming septic and blood clots and the list goes on.  She had a tracheotomy and peg tube yesterday put in and will move from ICU to a long term critical care unit and then on to a rehabilitation home for a year the doctor said today.  This all has been horrifying.  My mother was a well person before all this and got around great with no serious health issues and was very active and happy.   She had just had new flooring put down in her house and had gotten new furniture for her den and sun room.  She was enjoying her new car and loved wearing stylish clothes and was in Church every Sunday to give you an idea of how Mama is and of how shocking this has been for us.

As for me?  I stayed with her constantly for 17 days and then a sister came from another state and has been with her while I came home and got some much needed rest.  I believe I have been at my breaking point and have been just teetering on the edge of somewhere I've never been before.  I covet your prayers for my mother and myself and my entire family.  

I hope, as time allows between trips back and forth, to blog about other things again.  I love my blog and I miss it.  I think it would be good for me to do so and it would help me get my mind off of things if I'm able to.  So come back and visit. 

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Please keep my mother in your prayers.  She has had her surgery and had to go on a ventilator.  They will try to take her off tomorrow morning beginning at 6 am.  Keep me in your prayers also please.   I've been away from home with her since her surgery on last Monday.

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Please remember my mom in your prayers.  She just found out she has colon cancer.  Her surgery will be next Monday the 27th and we won't know much more until then.  Thank you.

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I dare you to eat this mac and cheese and see if you ever want to eat the premixed, boxed kind again in your lifetime.   You just won't ever be able to go back again so consider yourself warned.

I was plum embarrassed when I found myself literally salivating while stirring the cheese sauce and felt I must double the recipe as the pictures reveal.  I put the little dish away in the freezer for a later indulgence.  It is a comfort to me seeing it there everytime I open the freezer door for ice or a bag of peas or just to open the freezer door to look at it there.

Southern Belle's Macaroni & Cheese

1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, divided  (or a little more, who's looking?)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups whole milk  (use a bit more if you apply notes in parenthesis)

3/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese  (see note above next to butter)

3/4 cup shredded Colby/Monterey Jack Cheese blend  (see note above next to butter)

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper

3/4 cup bread crumbs  (see note above next to butter)

• Cook macaroni according to package directions in liberally salted water.
• Melt 5 tbsp butter in a medium saucepan.  Add flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about a minute.  Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the milk.  Return the pot to heat and bring back to a boil, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. 

• Remove the pot from heat and stir in the cheeses, salt and Cayenne pepper. (Lick the spoon several times.  You deserve it.  Call hubby to come in and lick the spoon because you are so proud of this cheese sauce you just made.)  (Okay.  That's enough.  Stop.  Stop it  I say.  The macaroni needs that sauce.)  Drain the macaroni and stir into the sauce.  Transfer mixture to a large baking dish.

• Melt remaining butter in a medium skillet.  Add bread crumbs and heat until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Spoon crumbs over macaroni mixture and bake until golden and bubbling, 15-20 minutes. 

PS.

This tastey treat was a wonderful accompaniment to Southern Belle's Macaroni & Cheese:

Southern Belle's Cabbage & Sausage

I sliced some of our favorite link sausage and browned it in the pot for a few minutes then stirred in a couple cups of water and coarsly chopped cabbage with a bit of salt.  While on high heat I used a large spoon to continually toss and turn the stuff for several minutes.  I turned the heat off and put the lid on for another couple of minutes then tossed a bit more.  When cooked this way the cabbage is perfectly seasoned, takes only minutes to prepare and has a tender-crunchiness that is down right addictive and a guarantee that not one bite goes to waste. 

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I just found this recipe over at Nikki's place and didn't want to lose track of it.  I'd just been searching for this very recipe a few days ago.  I'm on a banana kick lately.

www.homesteadblogger.com/thebearden/113701/

Mini Banana Whoopie Pies       (Adapted from Martha Stewart)

For the batter

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup sour cream
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the filling

16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

To prepare the batter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl, stir together banana and sour cream.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add egg and beat until combined. Mix in vanilla. Alternately mix flour and banana mixture into the creamed butter, beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Scoop the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4" round tip.

Pipe batter into 1 1/4" rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Place into the oven and bake until the edges are a light golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and transfer sheet of parchment to a wire rack and allow the soft cakes to cool completely.

To prepare the filling

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla, mixing until smooth and creamy. On the flat side of half the cakes, spoon about one tablespoon worth of the filling on top. Top with the unfilled halves to form a sandwich. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Makes about 36 whoopie pies.

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To those of you who will,  pop in and say hi to Regina.  She is a friend who has

been enjoying HSB for a long time and finally started her own blog.  I'm really

impressed by how she already knows how to put pictures up on her blog!   

http://www.homesteadblog.com/onthefarm

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After losing 12 chickens in a few days time we think the madness has stopped.  We borrowed a couple of live traps and set them the night following the last episode.  Next morning there was a coon in it.  We still can't figure out how he squeezed his body into such a small space but I guess he was determined.  Hubby took him way far away and turned him loose in the woods yesterday.  Last night he set the traps again and we didn't catch a thing so I think we probably got the guilty critter.  We plan to keep setting the traps for a while to be on the safe side plus the spaces are now boarded up and I dare say nothing can get in to hurt the chickens now. 

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Yesterday, to my horror, I found 3 dead chickens in their pen.  This morning hubby found 6.  We have thought and thought and looked and checked over the chicken yard high and low. No signs of entry whatsoever.  The only clue is that hubby says he's smelled the faintest hint of a skunk late at night and early in the morning for a few days.  So we started looking at how a skunk might could get in.  There was a small space around the top between the roof and the top of the coop wall that we boarded up.  The only chickens that have been killed are the little bitty bantam Mille Fleurs.  We only have 3 hens and 2 roosters left.  Only 1 of those is from the new batch we hatched last spring.  I'm sad and so mad I could cry and then cuss.  11 chickens total dead within a few days.  I don't think a dinner out on the town is gonna make me feel any better. 

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Day before yesterday I had some chickens get out of their gate and I caught all but 2.  Hubby had to work late and it was after dark before he made it home and went down there to see what he could do.   He couldn't catch them without waking up all the others who had already roosted for the night so we waited to try together yesterday morning after light.  (You know where this story is heading.) 

Sadly something had gotten to the 2 hens before we did and killed them and we found them in the pasture.  Not a good way to start the day out here in the country yesterday.   I'd been sad and mopey all day afterwards and felt to blame for the fate of my sweet hens.  ~~~~~~~changing the subject real quick:

The weather has been so nice.  I've not been running the air conditioner much at all.  Yesterday I didn't have to turn it on and I've even worn houseshoes inside instead of going barefooted as usual. 

Other than doing some wash and hanging it out to dry it was a quiet day of reading for me.  I can hardly believe October is here!  This month is my mother's, oldest daughter's and grandson's Birthday month.  I'm also anxiously looking forward to a big annual flea market and craft fair thats fast approaching!

My hubby  called on his way home from work yesterday afternoon and might've picked up on my mood though I really did try to hide it.  Then again he'd already seen me cry a little in the pasture.    He told me to get dressed and that we were going to drive to our favorite seafood restauraunt for supper.  I said, "Really?" kinda feeling my frown try to turn upside down just a bit.  We hung up and I did cry some final tears in the shower for my red and white hens and let the water wash them down the drain.  Once we were out and driving to the restaurant on the lake I began feeling almost 100% better.  It's a long but not too long drive over there and I love it when we are in the SUV or pick up truck together.  I have a captive audience.  So does he.  The conversation about this and that, who remembers... was just what I needed.  By the time I was finishing off that delicious seafood platter I wasn't even thinking about.......hmmm....well, I lost my train of thought I guess. 

By the way!  Go here for a nice Christmas giveaway contest! 

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This was the largest re-enlistment ceremony ever held in military history.   The ceremony was held on the 4th of July, 2008 at Al Faw Palace, Baghdad, Iraq . General David Petraeus officiated. This amazing story was ignored by the 'mainstream' media.

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