Why do we even have Daylight savings time and what does it really save?

Honestly, this weekend will be rough.  It’s the weekend where we turn the clocks forward an hour.  Supposedly it is supposed to save daylight, but seriously there is plenty of research to prove that it saves nothing.  In reality, it causes many, many issues from more heart attacks to car accidents. 

People are walking around in a stupor for at least a few weeks afterward.  In a perfect world, the clocks will just stay where they are spring and fall. Why do we feel the need to readjust them twice a year?

You may think that I am just saying this because I am getting set to lose an hour of my time. You would be, however, wrong. I don’t do well even in the fall when we move the clocks the other direction. I am losing more than time.  My internal clock cannot just be rewound.  It will be on its own setting for quite some time before it bends to the government’s will.  Blame the circadian rhythm if you will.

So this weekend, while my body is thinking it’s 11 O’clock, my usual bedtime it won’t really be 11.  No, it will be midnight.  And then, the next morning, when my body will try and rise at 7:00 a.m., I will discover that it is an hour later.  And I will rush and consume obscene amounts of coffee in an effort to remove the fog that descends upon me.  And no, it won’t help. 

And since the first clock change in 1918 the powers that be are not happy with one time or date.  It seems that they’ve moved the dates later in the fall and earlier in the spring several times.  Pretty soon, if we are lucky the two will meet and then, voila! We will have the clocks stay the same for all 12 months!  One can only hope.

Welcome September

It's still warm in many parts of the country but September is here and soon there will be crisp days and cool nights.  In 21 short days, September 23 it will herald the first day of fall. 

I'm ready right now.  I'm ready for pumpkin spice everything from coffees to beers.  I'm ready for apple festivals and pies.  I'm ready for heirloom apples that you can't buy in the local grocery store.

I'm ready for the leaves to turn the beautiful magentas, reds, oranges and golds.  I'm ready for majestic blue ridge mountains to frame these colors with the backdrop mountain pines. 

I'm ready for tailgating, football and warm and spicy, hot and bubbly chili.  Craft and Renaissance fairs.  I'm looking forward to apple butter in big outdoor pots and kettle corn made fresh.  I'm ready for weather that begs for warm cozy sweaters and fires in the fireplace. 

You know how makeup companies sometimes categorize complexions into seasons.  Even if they label me a winter I guess you could say I'm an really an autumn at heart. 

What season are you?

Dress up your Halloween table with a sparkle spider.  He will guard your goodies in style! Quick and easy sequined spider is a fun project to do while watching TV.  This is a great group project too!

You will need:

2 ½” Styrofoam balls, each ball makes two spiders

Serrated steak knife

½” sequin pins

Gold and silver sequins

Two large red sequins

Tacky craft glue (other glues may dissolve the foam)

Chenille stems, in white/black striped and sparkle white

Black felt

Scissors

White colored pencil

Ruler

1.     Cut the Styrofoam ball in half using the serrated knife.  Rub the two cut sides together to smooth out.

2.     Place the cut circle on a piece of black felt and trace around with a white colored pencil.  Cut out.  Cut four 4-inch pieces of chenille stems from each color.  Add a dab of glue on the ends of the cut stems. Insert into the bottom sides of the Styrofoam ball half alternating each color.

3.     Add a generous amount of glue on the bottom of the ball half and attach the black felt.  Trim any excess if necessary.

4.     Begin adding the sequins.  Add some tacky glue to each area as you work smoothing with your finger. Insert the sequin pin through the hole in the sequin and push into the Styrofoam.  Continue until you have covered almost the entire piece.  Add two larger red sequins on the lower front for the eyes.  (See photo)

5.     Bend the chenille stems to form the legs and display your spider on your holiday tables.

Meat loaf cook off—and the winner is…

How do you make your meatloaf?  Do you make it with gravy or do you add a ketchup mixture on top?  Is your meatloaf moist and delicious comfort food or could it double as a weapon or building supply?

In my house I make two kinds of meatloaf.  My husband prefers the ketchup topped one and my son chooses the one covered in rich brown gravy.  Both are good if I say so myself so when my son came home from the air force for a visit I had a meatloaf cook off to settle the question once and for all which meatloaf is better.

I’m the judge, so maybe there is a little conflict of interest but it’s all in fun.  Admittedly they are both delicious.  (I told you there was a conflict of interest) So (drum roll please) which meatloaf won the cook off?

Rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat

It was hard, but the ketchup covered one was just a teeny bit tastier. These meatloaves pair well with mac and cheese or mashed potatoes.

The recipes follow: 

Ketchup style meatloaf

1 lb. Meatloaf mix (ground pork, veal and beef)

Breadcrumbs (about ¾ cup seasoned or unseasoned as you prefer or whatever you happen to have on hand)

½ small onion finely chopped

Clove of garlic minced

1 tsp. grill seasoning

1 egg

Dash of worcheshire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Topping:

In a small bowl combine about 1 cup of ketchup, a teaspoon of dry mustard and a tablespoon of brown sugar. 

Mix all the ingredients (except the topping) together and form into a loaf.  Place into a baking pan.  Mix together the topping ingredients and cover the top of the meatloaf with this mixture and place in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes.  Use a spoon to remove any dripped grease from the pan before serving. 

Runner up meatloaf:

1 lb. meatloaf mix

3/4 cup rolled oats (Yes oats, you won't even know it's there)

½ onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 egg

½ tsp grill seasoning

Dash of worcheshire sauce

Can of beef gravy

Mix all ingredients together and form into a loaf.  Place in a baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and spoon out any dripped grease from the pan.  Pour a can of beef gravy on top and put back in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Birthday, birthday, birthday

September is here and September and October are big on birthdays in my family.  First of all tomorrow is my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's birthdays.  They are siblings, not twins but born in different years on the same day!  Next, comes my step daughter on the 10th, after which my brother follows. His birthday is the 23rd, one week away from mine which is the 29th.  You'd think I'd be done with birthdays by then, but nope, not a chance.

My other brother is the 13th of October, my sister's the 15th and my daughter's is the 16th!

By the end of October I'm pretty darned sick of that birthday song and have gained about 15 lbs. from all the birthday cakes!

So for all you who are having birthday's this month...put on that birthday hat and maybe tip a glass or two and have a

Happy Birthday!

If you want to make a glass special for all the birthday's in your life check out the following tutorial on Make it easy crafts. 

Birthday party wine glass

Thanksgiving wishes and my favorite Thanksgiving tale...

May your stuffing be tasty,

May your turkey plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

- Anonymous

O'Henry's "Two Thanksgiving Day gentlemen"

Tiger burning bright

In case you are wondering I am suffering from spinal stenosis or a slipped/herniated disc, so I haven’t been around much lately.  Today is the first day I am able to get on a computer.  Unfortunately, the pain meds made me sicker than the illness!  Go figure right.  So now I’m back to plain old ibuprofen and muscle relaxers.  Please forgive me If I haven’t visited or commented in a while.  I’ll be up and about soon, because nothing keeps me down for long!

Halloween is right around the corner and sometimes its fun to dress up as a favorite animal.  Tigers have got to be one of the top choices.  I’ve done a lot of face-painting and I found that Snazaroo face paint works the best.  No, I wasn’t given anything to say that, I’m just speaking from experience.  I really don’t like the greasy face paints and this kind is soft, dries on the skin and stays on till you wash it off.

Did you know that the stripes on a tiger are like fingerprints and no two are exactly alike?  I painted this tiger from one at the national zoo. 

Hopefully tigers will be around for a long time but as you can see from the list below tigers are very endangered:

Bengal tiger: Less than 2,000


Indochinese tiger: 750-1,300


Siberian tiger: Around 450


Sumatran tiger: 400-500


Malayan tiger: 600-800


South Chinese tiger: Extinct in the wild


Caspian tiger: Extinct


Javan tiger: Extinct


Bali tiger: Extinct

If you sporting a tiger costume this year, why not educate others about tigers and give to a wildlife preservation organization?