Somewhere...

Over the Rainbow.............And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true. We had a wonderful (dreamy) weekend at the lake. One of dear friends turned 50 and we celebrated his birthday. After eating a filling meal of Duck and Rotisserie Chicken we had birthday cake, just as a gentle rain began to fall in the evening sunshine. We were blessed with a rainbow to share with our friends as we enjoyed our cake and ice cream. The picture does not do it justice. The colors were so much more vibrant. You can see the leaves are starting to come out on the trees. We didn't need the electric heater or the furnace in the RV this weekend, finally. We spend four nights at the lake, so very little quilting or sewing is going on right now. My dad is in town this week from FL. He turns 79 Thursday. I see another birthday party in the near future. We'll eat out for this one. I've spent enough time in the kitchen recently.

Monday, Monday!

Mondays are always terrible after a wonderful weekend away at the lake. Summersville lake is filled to summer pool and boats are starting to gradually appear in the water. We went trail riding on mules along the Meadow and Gauley Rivers on Saturday. Most of the 44 mile trail was on old railroad tracks. The rails are removed and trails are made for hiking, biking and 4 wheeling. The weather was beautiful, around 68 degrees, perfect for riding. We crossed four old railroad bridges that go across the rivers and streams and went through 2 tunnels, each tunnel was 1/2 mile long. The kids really enjoyed the echo in the tunnels. We had lunch on the Gauley River, and watch several kayaks paddle byI forgot my camera and took these photos with my new htc cell phone. I really wish I had my camera, I missed some really great photo ops.

Saturday night I made homemade pizza with homemade dough, pulled pork, peppers, onions, and mushrooms, on the grill. Best pizza in the world, made on the grill. It rained on Sunday but that did not matter....we slept in and enjoyed the day at campground doing absolutely nothing. We did not get home until 9 PM Sunday night.....unloaded the jeep and went straight to bed.....when we woke up it was the dreaded MONDAY! But I do believe spring has finally arrived in West Virginia.

TGIF.......

....We have so much to accomplish this weekend. Tomorrow is the first Saturday I will awaken in my bed, in my home, instead of the camper or out of town since last March. I love weekends at the campground in the fall. But we need to roundup the camping and began readiness for the holiday season. Don and I will go to Summersville Lake on Saturday morning and winterize the camper and pull our boat home for storage. We plan to turn the camper around on the site, facing the other direction. For the past two years it faced the woods, (everyone thinks we are antisocial) and we want to face our camping friends next year. Don asked the campground owners to move the power box to the other side of the site this winter. We do not want to add 50 feet of electric cord to the existing cord. Hopefully when we return in the spring, the power box is relocated. If not, Don will turn the camper back facing the woods.

I worked myself hard and furious this past week....washed everything washable in the camper. All the sheets, blankets, towels, beach towels, dish towels, rugs, etc and packed them in XXL Ziploc Bags. I love those huge bags. In the spring when we open the camper every thing will be fresh smelling and clean. Saturday I'll clean the carpet while Don washes the outside of the camper and then we will winterize the water lines, clean the holding tanks, empty the hot water tank, and cover the camper with a huge tarp. Geez...I hope the wind isn't blowing, it's hard enough to cover that elephant without the wind helping.

I hope to be home early enough on Saturday evening so I can make my

cakes-in-a-jar. I have the pint jars and the recipes ready to go...just need time to make them. This is the first time for me, making cakes-in-a-jar. It looks like a neat idea. I want to make apple cakes.

We are dog sitting for Coby,
my son and daughter-in-law's Lab puppy. They have season tickets to WVU football games. We dog sit almost every weekend.

The Blog Begins

I've read blogs for several years now, considered blogging myself, but felt a little intimidated by the process. Recently I reconsidered the idea and decided that not only could I share my life’s experiences with others, the blog would serve as a diary of my life’s experiences and expectations.

I love my business of Home Health, caring for the elderly and disabled and giving West Virginia’s children a healthy start in life but I am most content sitting in my sewing room creating projects with fabric and thread. I sew and machine embroider on my Bernina Artista 200/730E. I digitize and tweak my embroidery designs with Bernina Artista Designer Plus V5 software. My fabric stash and thread collection is huge. I have more projects and ideas (in my head) than I will ever have time to complete.

Cooking is another hobby of mine and I should say, "it's not very good for the figure." I love baking, especially breads and sweets and trying new recipes. I spend a lot of time during the winter months watching the FOOD channel while I sew. I recently tried this different recipe for chicken salad. I used left over homemade rotisserie chicken. The couscous was different.

Couscous Salad with Chicken and Chopped Vegetables

The yogurt dressing has a hint of sweetness from the honey and an extra zing from the vinegar.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 1/2 cups chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup (1/8-inch-thick) diagonally cut carrot
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 tablespoons dried currants
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Salad Preparation
To prepare salad, bring water, 1 teaspoon oil, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Place in a large bowl; cool to room temperature.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining oil to pan. Add the bell pepper, zucchini, and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes or until bell pepper is tender. Add bell pepper mixture, chicken, carrot, onions, currants, mint, and black pepper to couscous; toss gently to combine.

To prepare dressing, combine yogurt and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over couscous mixture, tossing gently to combine.
Carla Fitzgerald Williams
Cooking Light, JUNE 2004

Don and I spend 8 months a year camping in Summersville. Our home's about 24 miles away and 1 of my 3 offices is only 10 miles from the campground. We have a 30 foot Terry Camper with slide outs and it sits on a seasonal campsite from March 1 until November 30. We spend about half of our time at the campground and the other half at our home every year. My office is a converted lake home in a wooded area about 1 mile from the lake. Don and I own the home and rent it to my business for use as an office. It is a peacefully place and I love working from this remote office. Even though we converted it to an office we kept the lake house character and someday when we retire we can use the home as a second home or rent it on a weekly basis to lake vacationers.

The picture at the top of my page is Summersville Lake in the fall after the Core of Engineers starts letting the water out of the lake. White water rafting seasons begins. The boaters start complaining about the rafters taking our water. Our fall season was long and warm. What a shame that our lake water was drained into the Gauley River. Oh well, it brings millions of dollars and white water enthusiasts from all over the world to our state every year. But we hate to give up boating especially when the fall weather is warm and dry.

I will post pictures of my sewing projects in a day or two after I figure out this blogging thing. Right now I'm doing good getting everything set up to post.