Saturday, December 29, 2007

Ahhhhh, WINTER!!!

I LOVE Winter!!!! I am just cold-natured, I guess! Growing up in Iowa, I loved snow and winter. Moving to Arizona, when I was 12, was a MAJOR shock to me. We used to visit my grandparents here all the time, but, living in the heat SUCKED!!!!! And, believe this or not...the first year we were in Arizona, 1967, it SNOWED and they closed school! LOL 2 inches of snow will do that in the desert! HA! I get tired of the sun shining all the time...I love the cloudy days and rainy days and SNOWY days!

The 'low' road to Show LowYesterday, I went to Show Low. I had to go to Walmart and pick up my DVDs I had made of about 25 8mm rolls of film--dating back to 1962. OH MY! ~~~ This is a picture along the way. Can you see the rolling hills to drive up and down? Just a dusting of snow, I thought it was beautiful! This particular section reminds me of when we lived in Nebraska. The rolling hills, I guess. This is along the 'low road'. But, I think the summit is about 8500 feet. I had planned on coming back over the mountain, and getting some REAL snowy shots and one of the ski runs at Sunrise Ski Resort, but, I forgot when I left to go that way....duh! I was tired by the time I got out of the store. I was worried I would chinger my knee up and fall, so, I paid very close attention to my walking and held on to the shopping basket!!! LOL Oh, it sucks to get old! I was VERY surprised at how well stocked, with Christmas 'leftovers' ALL of the stores were that I was in there *and here in town* are. They almost looked as well stocked as BEFORE Christmas--if I'd have needed any Christmas stuff, I'd have had a field day! I think people are just not 'in the mood' for the Christmas we have gotten used to and are making changes in our outlooks of the holiday. Maybe, we all will start going back to the basics and what the season truly IS all about. Should be interesting next year.
When I got home around 4, I unloaded, got everything put away and sat down to watch part of the dvds while I was in the house by myself. oh.my.gosh .....I had to turn it off. Too sad. That surprised me. We used to watch those things faithfully, when we were growing up. I guess it HAS been a long time..... When I saw my grandma, I had to turn it off...... this morning, I was the first one up at 6:30, so, I creeped into the living room with my mocha coffee *I'll give you the mix recipe* and put a dvd in. Oh, what a sight to see. So many relatives I haven't seen in years....so many of them now gone on....everyone SO young!
I didn't specify any particular sorting of the films, but, they were 'sorta' in order--I did indicate 3 different bunches together. It did kinda jump arond, but, all in all, it was good. One of them is 195 minutes and I only watched about 3/4 of that one. They put music to them and they really are quite enjoyable. I can't find the words to how they make me feel or how to describe them.
There is some 'stigma' attached to them now, tho, because they *the movies* played a 'part' in a major family falling-out, or whatever. They had been bounced around in the family for a few years and had been in my possession twice, so, I finally just DID IT and had them put on dvd. At one point, my mom had said to 'just throw them away'. OH MY GOSH!!!! There are scenes of one of my brothers 1st birthday, family that is gone, and on and on.....they won't mean anything to some, but, to others they will. The quality of them is pretty poor for the most part, but, still..... I thought I would be getting 4 copies of them each, but, now maybe I can do that myself. I dunno.

I finished up the maroon afghan for the travel trailer last night. I always make my afghans BIG, and that thing is a MONSTER! LOL I did get a great deal at BIG LOTS on the pounders of yarn, so, I bought 7 skeins of a country blue, at $4 each, to do two more afghans....one for a friend and another for one of my boys. I hope to make each of them one for Christmas this year, and my friends birthday is in March, so, I will crocheting for a long time! LOL

Arizona Sunset
As I was sorting my AVON order this evening, I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, the sunset out front. I grabbed my camera and caught this, with our tree in the foreground. I love it.

Here's my Mocha Coffee Recipe for you:

MOCHA COFFEE MIX
1 C. dry milk powder
3/4 C. sugar
2/3 C. powdered coffee creamer
1/2 C. cocoa, unsweetened
1/3 C. instant coffee *pressed til fine*
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Press to make fine or you can run small amounts through a food processor.
I usually triple this recipe! It makes a great jar gift.
To make a mug of it, add about 4-5 heaping teaspoons to a mug of hot water, to your taste. Enjoy!

Today is the 3rd anniversary of when we took #2 son to the airport in Phoenix, on his way to his first AirBase in N. California.....what a sad day that was! I cried so hard when we got out of the car. I hugged him and told him, I couldn't teach him anymore, he didn't need me, now. He hugged tighter and told me he'd always need me......wahhhhhhhhhh, where's the dang tissue!?

Well, I'm offa here, gonna grab me a piece of pumpkin pie, and then, get my shower, THEN, I'm gonna sit on the loveseat, with my laptop and read 'The Confessions of a Pioneer Woman'. You HAVE to go to her blog!!!! I found her a week or so ago, and I've been reading through her archives.....only made it through her first month! I laughed til I pee'ed at a couple of her posts!
Leave me a comment if you agree with me about her site! LOL
count your blessings....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I MUST try your Mocha Coffee Recipe necessarily!! Unfortunately I haven't brown sugar at home and I have to buy it! Is it possible to prepare Mocha Coffee Recipe without it?

SherryBee said...

Oh, Ela...I don't know...I would think you would need the brown sugar for it. I don't know if there is a substitute for it. You might be able to find a sub online for it...I think you add molasses to granulated sugar?? Not sure.
Thanks for commenting, tho! I hope you do get to try it!