October Swap Card

We are slowly getting caught up. This month,we got together and swapped 2 cards. The first card was from Keri....

She used a cute little technique where you put some of the stamped images on the inside where they are visible and some on the outside. What a clever idea. Of course, she used the Lawn Fawn Baked with Love stamp and die set.

I used a new set from Pretty Pink Posh called Happy Snowman and the sentiment was from a Hero Arts Sentiment set...

I embossed the snow bank and put glitter around the edges of my snowman and the snowball pom poms are just too cute.

There you have it! Another swap completed. Stay tuned for Nov.

Puppy Class

Usually once a week, I get my fix of puppies when I attend Puppy Class for Autism Dog Services. It never gets tired when the new babies come in.

Robbie is so sweet and super chill.

Spark is exhausted after a mentally challenging class.

Marshall is a Superstar. Am I partial to chocolates?

Practising for the Public Access Test that they will all have to pass in order to be a Certified Service Dog. That hamburger looks tempting. Luna did a great job resisting temptation.

Poppy (cinnamon colour) is our only full Poodle. She's got lots of spunk, it will be interesting to watch her mature.

These pups are only 9 months old and doing so well!

It's a really good gig. I love talking dog and hanging out with some great Volunteers!

Paper Bag Apple Pie

My Mom clipped recipes out of the Brantford Expositor for years. Mary Moore always wrote a column. I don't think she was local, I believe she was syndicated but she had some great recipes. Fortuntely I scanned this one because I can't find the original at the moment.

I don't know if you can read the date or not but this recipe is from Sept 22, 1962.

Back in the "old" days you could choose to have your groceries bagged in paper. Nowadays the only paper that is available is the one you get at Thanksgiving time for the Food Drive. So I always save it just in case I happen to make this pie which I did for the past Thanksgiving.
You secure it with paperclips and place it on a cookie set and voila, when you open it up you have a perfectly cooked pie.

Now don't fret if you can't find a bag. My Aunt Janet says that you can bake it in an oven just like any old pie, just adjust the recipe a bit. I'll check with her and make sure I get the right temperature and time.

Paper Bag Apple Pie
1 unbaked 9inch pie shell
3 or 4 large baking apples
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter

Peel, core and chop up apples into chunks. About 7 cups. Combine with all the dry ingredients and toss to coat well. Spoon into pastry shell and drizzle with lemon juice. Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl cutting in the butter with a pastry blender an sprinkle over apples. Slide pie into a heavy paper bag and secure with paper clips and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 425F for one hour.

NOTE: If you don't have a paper bag, bake as usual. 425F for 10 minutes then 350F for 45-50 minutes

September Swap Card

Believe it or not, we are slowly getting caught up. I hope to use this snowy afternoon and knock off not one but two cards (sadly I had to put my Planner away for the time being).

I just did a simple card with patterned paper but I was stoked that I still had a maple leaf brad in my stash that was the perfect colour.

Keri did a cute card "Have a Brewtiful Day" using a stamp set from Lawn Fawn (we think). We're a pair. That's for sure. The embossing folder is Taylored Expressions. A good one for all things upcoming hearts.

Pet First Aid Certification

I recently spent a 10 hour day getting my official Certification for Pet First Aid. It was a day packed with so much good information and realistic because we practised the techniques on live animals (who squirm and move like in real life)

We learned how to do an overall body assessment looking for symmetry and signs of a problem.

We learned how to properly restrain an animal so we could do an examination.

We learned how and where to check for and measure vital signs. Here we are assessing breathing rate.

In this photo, we have bandaged an ear. Ears and paws bleed a lot so they need to be carefully bandaged.

We practised chest compressions and learned how to do Artificial Respiration and CPR.

We covered so much in our 10 hour course, I learned that I needed to add a few more items to my Pet First Aid kit and that I should likely carry one in the Van with me as well. I now feel much more prepared to deal with any Emergencies that my dogs or pets that I happen to be caring for might encounter.

Honey Beer Bread

Really bad photo but that was all that was left of the bread when I last served it (which was just after Christmas when I had people over for Chili) It is the perfect accompaniment and takes less then 5 mintues to pop in the oven. I first had this at our girls Cottage retreat (thanks Robin) and I've made it several times since. Of course, you best serve it warm from the oven. When I make it again, I'll make sure I take a photo before its devoured.

Honey Beer Bread
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup honey (warm in microwave for easy pour)
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer
4 Tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients. Slowly pour in honey and beer until just combined.
3. Pour half of the melted butter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Then add the batter on top in an even layer and brush the rest of the butter over the top.
4. Bake for 40 -50 min until the top of the bread is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Serve immediately.

*Can add 1 cup of grated cheese to make it more savoury

January Goals

I'm not sure about my 20 in 20 yet. I still have to do a recap and I have a feeling that I didn't accomplish too many. But that's ok, I don't really stress about completing everything. Life is busy. For me, they are just some ideas to keep in mind. But I was reading a couple blogs and those people decided to break things down to see if that keeps things more on track.

So for January, I've decided to adopt 3 habits or goals. Recently I had a neighbour come by and pop something in my fridge. Confession: I had been extremely busy the day and night before and I left my kitchen in a mess. Sigh!  So my habit for Jan is to try and leave no dishes in the sink (I usually drip dry as I don't have a dishwasher) I didn't quite start at the beginning of the month but there are no rules here.

1. Leave no dishes in the sink nightly

2. Spend 15 minutes a day reading, working on Planner, shredding documents (I find if I just get started I keep going)

3. Do 2 blog posts a week. (A more concrete goal then so many per year)

August Swap Card

I can't believe I'm typing that. How did we get so far behind? My fault entirely. Too much travel and other stuff going on but I promised I'd catch up and hopefully we will be snowed in a few times this winter so I have to stay home.

Keri did a sweet Fall card...

I can no longer recall what materials she used but isn't it so Fallish and colourful?

I used Neat and Tangled. It's a die set and stamp set called Awesome and I used vellum behind. Clever,eh? It has the blocked outline of the word which always looks good.

And I finally used some washi tape. This is a great way to add some colour quickly to a card. And fast.
So there you go. Another swap card and another blog post.

PS. This is my 600th post and my first post in 2020.