Autumnal Words and Pictures

 

These mushrooms were growing in all areas of the yard, this particular clump was by the driveway.  I guess all the warm, wet weather we had this fall made them grow.  They're an interesting shape and color, I think.

I made these wind chimes at a Zoom caregivers craft meeting.  It was fun, but the invisible thread we used proved challenging for me.  When I removed it from the bag of supplies dropped off at my house by the moderator I figured I was going to be in trouble.  First, I couldn't find the end on the spool so ended up using a box cutter to slice some to get it started.  Then I had a tough time tying the knots to connect the shells to the ring at the top. I ended up finishing it the next morning after Hillary left because I was the only one not done at the end of the meeting, and despite assurances that nobody minded waiting for me to finish, I declined and said I'd finish in the morning because my eyes were tired which was the truth.  So anyhow I worked on it in the morning and as I'm trying to tie knots in invisible thread my brother, who is a man of many talents and writing science fiction adventure is his current project, was texting me about time travel and how it relates to the characters and the universe he's built for the story collection he's doing.  I think that pretty much sums up our lives--I try to tie knots in invisible thread so things don't fall apart, and he creates new worlds.  Somehow it all works.   

I made this cake because I had invited the above brother's family over for a Saturday afternoon of comfort food.  I made my mother's recipe macaroni and cheese (with just a couple of my own tweaks), her coleslaw, and bought some hearty rye bread because that is how she always served it and my sister in law loves that meal.  As it turned out, her mother passed away from end stage Alzheimer's and other health problems the night before so it was extra nice to be able to comfort her with our company and food.  I sent everyone home with leftovers.  I will include the recipe for the mac and cheese and coleslaw at the end of this post.

I stopped at the library one day on the way home from grocery shopping and took the picture of this tree.  Just because I thought it was pretty set against the blue sky.

It’s been a pretty busy season so far, what with things breaking down (still!) and running back and forth to feed Hillary at lunch time and just life in general.  I’m still trying to get a handle on all the clutter in the closets and laundry room and other places where it’s tucked away.  I’ve taken numerous trips to the clothing donation bins and soon I’ll be stopping at Goodwill with some household items we no longer use but are in great shape; hopefully someone else can get good use of them!  The patient hoist is dying on us and it was a couple weeks of playing phone and email tag with the repair company to get on the service visit schedule.  They are the only company in our area and the surrounding areas that does this, so they are very busy always, and I did look to see if I could call someone else but no luck so we are praying this hoist doesn’t give out all together before they can come---5 more days!  At any rate, we are gearing up for Halloween weekend which honestly I don’t expect to be much of a thing as our town has a big trick or treating event at the school to keep the kids safe and off the many roads in town without sidewalks.  Still, I bought candy just in case. Maybe this year we’ll have a few more kids, we’ll see.

Mom's Macaroni and Cheese

3 T butter + 1 T oil

3 T flour

2 C milk

3/4 - 1 C starchy water from the macaroni

16 oz block extra sharp yellow cheddar, shredded

1 16 oz pkg elbow macaroni

saltine crackers, approximately 1/2 stack

Cook macaroni according to pkg directions, retaining 1 C of the cooking liquid before draining. Set aside.  Melt butter & oil over low heat, stir in flour and cook together until very light brown. Whisk in milk a little at a time until smooth, cook until slightly thickened and small bubbles appear around the edges; stir in cheddar. Salt and pepper to taste.  Let  cook a few minutes to thicken slightly and add the starchy water, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and stir together with the drained macaroni in a large buttered casserole dish. Crush the crackers and spread over the top.  Bake in a 350* oven 30 minutes or until crackers look toasted and the cheese bubbles around the edges. Serve and enjoy!

Mom's Simple Cabbage Salad

1 small head cabbage

1/2 - 1 cup mayonnaise (depends on how moist you want it) 

1/4 cup sugar (more or less according to your taste)

Shred the cabbage and place in a bowl large enough to allow for mixing.  Sprinkle in the sugar and stir in the mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.