Nap time

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:40:52 -0800

2009_11_09 - Monday 001.JPG - Vox

I took this shot of Lady on Saturday before I left for work. I had to take it through the glass in the back door to keep from waking her up. I was supposed to have Monday off, but they ask me to work anyway. It wasn't too bad. We got the orders done and several cakes for the cake case, too. I worked by myself today. I had a lot more orders than we usually do on Monday. Today I felt really good about every cake I decorated. I felt like I had done the best I could do. Everyone seemed really happy when they picked up their cake, so that was nice, too. I did make a couple of unique cakes that I took pictures of, but I will wait until tomorrow to post the pictures. I want to go watch Monday night football!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

A beautiful Saturday in the country

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:43:21 -0800

2009_11_06 - 016.JPG - Vox

While I was outside with the dogs yesterday, that were poking around at something in the yard, so I went over to see what it was. This furry little creature looks like he is sunbathing, but I think he was dead. My hubby found two more dead animals over by the garden this morning. We have had a few mice in the house this fall, but not too many. We still have cats, but the dogs make them stay away from the house in the sheds. One of the females has a litter of half grown kittens. Bet they are wild!

It was absolutely beautiful here today, but I didn't get to enjoy very much of it. It was already 70 degrees when I left for work. We were swamped with cake orders again today. I worked on today's orders for a couple of hours, then I had to start working on cakes, etc. for our cake case because it was empty. As a result, I have to go in and work tomorrow. If I had been able to help with tomorrow's cakes today, I might have been able to stay home tomorrow. Oh, well. We didn't have any plans anyway.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Another lovely fall day

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:46:37 -0800

2009_11_06 - 003.JPG - Vox

Today was a wonderful, perfect fall day. Warm and sunny. And I didn't have to go to work until this afternoon. So this morning I was able to do some cooking and some sewing and after lunch, I grabbed my camera to go out and see what I could find. I really like the way the sky fades from a dark blue at the top of the photo to a very pale blue at the bottom. No editing, except cropping.

2009_11_06 - 004.JPG - Vox

Most of the leaves have already fallen off of the sycamore trees. This one is hanging on for another day.

2009_11_06 - 008.JPG - Vox

Found this fellow lurking on the side of a tree. Does anyone know what kind of insect he is?

2009_11_06 - 018.JPG - Vox

Most of our fall color has faded and most of the trees have lost their leaves but our bald cypress is just getting started. There is a shallow layer of needles under the tree, but the color in the ones left on the tree is stunning. In the sun, they look like polished copper.

I only worked five hours today, which was okay by me. I'm working on the sleeves of my granddaughter's dress now, so I may be able to finish it this weekend. I go in to work at 11:00 tomorrow, so I'll have some time, but I will probably spend most of it cooking. Hubby loves mashed cauliflower, so I'll probably do that, at least. Looks like we will be busy tomorrow. We have a whole stack of orders and one of the girls is out with H1N1. Sunday looks pretty crazy, too, but I'm not scheduled to work. I'm hoping for another nice day so I can get out with my camera again.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Another blog on Thursday

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:21:56 -0800

2009_11_05 - Thursday 008.JPG - Vox

I have really missed posting my meager thoughts and activities (such as they are) on my blog. I have also missed going out with my camera. So I'm doing both today, and making you sit though it! LOL

This is the table that is out on my screened in porch. Not a necessarily attractive arrangement, but I liked the way sun was slanting in.

2009_11_05 - Thursday 011

I still have a few petunia plants on the south side of the house that haven't given up. The leaves are protecting them from freezing.

2009_11_05 - Thursday 012.JPG - Vox

Here's some of the leaves that have collected in the bird bath. We live on the edge of a rise, so all of the leaves blow out of our yard. The wind does the raking for us, thank goodness!

Time to go fix dinner. I'm going to try meatloaf tonight. Hope I can get it mushed up enough that hubby can eat it!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Another cake

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:39:24 -0800

IMG_0059.JPG - Vox

I worked by myself on Monday and Tuesday of this week, but didn't have time to be very creative. I did do this cake, which I was rather proud of.

I'm finally digging out from under the pile of paperwork that has accumulated on my desk. I still have a way to go, but at least it is all on my desk now and not spilling over onto the floor. I think I have most of the bills paid. Still need to check my bank balances. I had received an Etsy order back in October, but didn't have time to get it shipped until today. I was totally out of practice. I hadn't received any orders in some time. I've been too busy to make any new things and get them listed. I'm still working on dresses for my granddaughter.

I'm also sending a lot more time fixing food than I usually do. I haven't found much good information on the web about soft food diets, but I did find a good site today about making homemade baby food. I've been afraid to try anything with meat in it. I'm going to give it a try today and see how it goes. My handheld blender has been a big help. I'm going to try to add a little ham to some navy bean soup. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for all your prayers. If you think of any good ideas for soft food, let me know. If we can keep body and soul together without surgery, that is the way we are leaning now. He will still have a test on Monday, and a consult with his doctor on Wednesday.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I'm still kicking!

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:06:30 -0800

2009_11_04 - Wednesday 008

Wow! Sorry it has been so long since I was home long enough to post anything. It has been crazy around here. Here is a photo of us (on the right) with my hubby's family that joined us for our 40th anniversary celebration on October 25th. Two of his sisters are in the bottom row in the center and his two brothers are in the top row. Not too bad for a bunch of old timers. My hubby is the baby of his family.

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for him. He is feeling much better. His doctor's decided not to operate last week, so he came home on Thursday, but I have worked every day since then. If I'm not working, I'm doing laundry or cooking special food for him. He is on a soft food diet, and so far, it seems to be working. He was supposed to have another test done today, but the tech who was scheduled to do the test was sick. So I've been making creamy soups, etc. so he can have something to eat. It hasn't been too bad, just time consuming.

We have finally had a couple of sunny days. And it is still warmer than normal for this time of year. The farmers are all happy because very few have their crops out of the field yet.

2009_11_04 - Wednesday 001

Another photo from the wine garden. Not quite as cute as the wart hogs, but charming none the less.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Another rainy day in the country

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:21:09 -0700

Just a note in case anyone was wondering what had happened to me. We had a wonderful time on Sunday celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary with our family. I went to work on Monday, then this morning I had to take my hubby to the city. He is having medical issues again. He went into the hospital tonight, and will have major surgery later this week. I'll post more when I have time.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

It's fall!

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:55:44 -0700

2009_10_17 - Saturday 027

This is the only fall color I have in my yard. This bush is about 30 years old, but we give it "haircuts" every year or two to keep it from growing too big.

2009_10_17 - Saturday 031

Off to the west of our house, there is a creek with bluffs that get some color in the trees. They are mostly hardwoods, a lot of oaks, so they don't have the brilliant colors that softwoods do. In this shot, the sun was peaking through the clouds in just the right place to highlight the trees.

2009_10_17 - Saturday 037

Even though we have had some cold weather, down to 28 on Sunday morning, I still have a few petunias hanging on. Of course I had to edit this one. I just love the watercolor effect. I intensified the color, too.

The dogs are off for a walk, so I'm going to sneak outside and see if I can find anything to take pictures of and/or dig up in the flower bed. I know I had a couple of plants that I meant to bring in. It may be too late!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

A day off, finally!

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:01:11 -0700

I can't remember the last time I had a day off when I didn't have to do anything or go anywhere. It was really nice. I slept in and took a nap. I washed clothes and spent several hours cooking. My hubby was in the hospital this week because he is having swallowing problems and now he is on a soft food diet. If you can't feed it to a baby, he can't have it. So I made broccoli cheese soup for lunch with chocolate pudding. I had bought a new immersible blender on Friday, so I used that to puree his soup. It turned out so nice that I pureed all of it. For dinner, I made mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, gravy, and green beans. He didn't eat any of the green beans. I ran the cauliflower through the blender with some milk to make sure it was creamy. He ate some more pudding and I had jello. I might lose a few pounds if we do this very long, but that wouldn't be a bad thing. His doctor is supposed to call on Monday with more information about some more tests that he has to go in for next week.

I finally took time tonight to look at the photos for our family reunion. There is one of the whole family that is pretty good. It is hard to get this many people all sitting still and looking in the same direction.

P10060ta103737_213.jpg - Vox

This is the whole gang, except for one daughter and her husband. She was sick, and he was out of town. Each family is more of less wearing the same color, and is together in the group. The exception is the red heads in grey. They got scattered around since their mom and dad weren't there. I'll see if I can find a picture of the six of them.

P10060ta103737_86.jpg - Vox

This is our oldest granddaughter with her baby, and her three sisters and little brother.

I have to work late again tomorrow, but we shouldn't be too busy, so I might be able to get some more pictures. All of the cakes and cupcakes that I made last week were gone by Friday. So, I guess I'll start over! Plus we took several orders based on the pictures I had taken and placed in our idea book. That has worked out really well.

I'm going to go relax and watch some college football.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Cakes, cakes, and more cakes

nobody@vox.com(Country By Design) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:23:59 -0700

I worked by myself today, and only had two orders, so I got to play the rest of the day. I made a few more cupcakes, and a case of cookies, then I finished decorating a rack of cakes that were already iced. I decided to do some experimenting with new ideas that I hadn't tried yet. See what you think.

IMG_0049.JPG - Vox

This isn't a new design, but I realized today that I didn't have a picture of one of these in our idea book. This has turned into my "signature" cake. Each of us has a design that we like to do that can be adapted with different colors, etc., looks good in the case, doesn't take too long to make, and sell really well. This one fits the bill perfectly. We sold 5 or 6 of them on Saturday. I call it Sprinkles and Strings.

IMG_0051.JPG - Vox

I have been thinking about this design all week, but hadn't had a chance to try it until today. The little spider is part of our Halloween cupcake decorations. I'll probably try a few more variations before I get one that I really like.

IMG_0053.JPG - Vox

I really like doing paintball designs with one color for Halloween. I also like the fact that each one is different, and that you don't have any idea when you start what the finished design is going to look like. I like the way these two creatures look like they are fighting with each other while being joined together.

IMG_0057.JPG - Vox

Here's the same basic design as the first cake, the blue one, but done up in fall/Halloween colors. The nice thing about this one is that it will work up through Thanksgiving.

IMG_0055.JPG - Vox

This is my most creative one today, even though it doesn't involve a lot of icing details. It is made almost entirely from cupcake decorations. I started with a cake with chocolate icing so I could get a really black background. Black air brushed onto white icing always looks a little grey. I used a volleyball for the moon and a fence that we stock for whatever for the cat to sit on. I made fluffy icing clouds for the bats and put little tuffs of grass around the pumpkins. The nicest thing about it is that it is easy enough that anyone on the staff will be able to make it from a picture. We'll have to see if we get any orders!

Cloudy and rainy again today, and rather cool. Another good day to be working at a nice inside job with lots of good artifical light. I always thought that I couldn't work if I couldn't see out, but now I can walk in in the morning and not have a clue about what is going on outside until I leave 9 or 10 hours later. I need bright light to feel good, but it doesn't have to be natural light.

My hubby isn't home tonight, so I need to go throw a couple more logs on the fire and get to bed.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend