Cute Game...Thanks Darlene

This cute game was forwarded to me by my friend Darlene. She knows how much I like to pick apples!
Try it...how many can you save? Click here to try.
My highese score: Saved 85, missed 15 (100 apples total).

Today I'm 18, 919 days old. Well...the picture was taken yesterday. I was younger then...only 18,918 days old!
Oh...and I'm finally excited about watching t.v. Survivor China and The Bachelor have started up again. So now I have something to look forward to watching on t.v. again!

Making Apple Pies

We're still working on our apples and pears. John and I picked the last of them off the trees early this week.
I made a couple of apple pies this week. I wanted to add the recipe I use. This is by FAR the BEST and EASIEST crust recipe I have ever used. Be sure to double the recipe if you want to have a double crust on pie, as this is just for bottom crust.

Crust Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
3 tablespoons ice water

Mix flour and salt together. Cut in shortening til mixture resembled coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour (I use 4). Gently gather into a ball. Roll out dough. Put in pie plate.
I just put all the ingredients in at one time into my KitchenAid and let it mix it all up. So easy! (Maybe a blender or a regular mixer would do the same thing?)

Filling Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 medium (6 cups) apples, peeled, sliced 1/4 inch
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all filling ingredients except apples, 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon sugar in large bowl. Add apples; toss lightly to coat. Spoon apple mixture into crust. Place dough over filling. Trim, seal and crimp or flute edge. Cut 5 or 6 large slits in crust. Brush with 1 tablespoon melted butter; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar. Cover edge of crust with 2-inch strip aluminium foil. Bake 35 minutes; remove aluminium foil. Continue baking for 10-20 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Cool pie 30 minutes; serve warm.

And just one more SECRET I learned from one of the ladies here who makes the BEST apple pies I have ever tasted: put a pinch of cardamom in your filling (it's part of the ginger family). Try a pinch next time you make an apple pie and you'll see what I mean! Delicious!

18,916 Days Old

Today I am 18,916 days old. Yeah, I'm 51 years old, and will be 52 in a couple of months. But when it comes down to it, all we have it TODAY! I like the concept of looking at my life in days as opposed to years. It certainly ties in with the Bible teachings. That we should not worry about tomorrow and let each day be sufficient unto itself. That we are not even guaranteed a tomorrow because we don't know when we will die. That Jesus could return at any moment and judge the whole world. So we should be ready at all times. It's simple really.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

If you want to calculate how many days old you are, click on this link.

And if you want to calculate your "real" age click on this link.

That's My Girl

Zoe Summer 2007

Zoey Girl

Sisters

Aminah is almost 9 years older than her sister Zoe.

Peek A Boo

My grandaughter Zoe had a blast with just a simple chair! (for a good 2 minutes anyway!!!)

Aminah's Dance Recital

Here she is with her Grandma Carol.

And here she is with her mom (my daughter Angie) and her sister Zoe.
Pictures I took "backstage" before my grandaughter's dance recital.

This One's For Darlene

All right. I'm changing my profile picture just for you!

Downstairs

And here's a few of the downstairs. It has a big family room and we have our office down there as well.
Our dog Mike usually doesn't like having his picture taken. But he just followed me around and seemed to want to get in all the pictures today!

Inside The House

It occurred to me that I havn't posted any pictures of the inside of our home. These aren't the best pictures, but it'll give you an idea what it looks like inside anyway!
This is the upstairs where the living room, kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms are.

Three Essentials

When you have as many apples as we do you HAVE GOT to have: an apple peeler, an apple corer, and...a helper!

Today

Guess what I did today? Yep, picked *a few* apples and pears. John bought me an apple/corer (isn't he sweet???) so it'll be easier to get them ready for...applesauce, frozen slices for apple crisps/pies. I don't can:( The pears look a little funky but it doesn't effect the taste at all!

I finished reading my book "House of sand and fog", finally! Thought I'd never get finished. It was such a strange book. Boring at first, then it got kinda interesting, then it got boring, til finally I just wanted to get it over with! I can't imagine suffering through the movie...it would have to be so boring??? Anyway, not my favorite. Maybe a 2?

I'm starting "The Secret Life of Bees" now. Everybody's talking about how good it is. We'll see!!!

Pear and Apple Trees

We have pear and apple trees in our yard here. In Florida we had blueberries, figs, Satsumas...but I've never had either of these in my yard. They are very fruitful!