flipster

During a recent trip to the library to research toilets (!) 

the librarian showed me a great app that has become a favorite. 

All you need is a library card to access 

hundreds of magazines including Consumer Reports.

Give it a try: Flipster - Digital Magazines

Product description

Flipster is a free digital magazine service provided courtesy of your library. The Flipster app manages your magazines downloaded from the Flipster website for anytime, anywhere viewing. Visit your library’s website to see if your library has subscribed to Flipster. Get access to popular magazines and read many of your favorite titles. 

If your library doesn’t yet offer Flipster, encourage them to sign up today. Now it’s time to relax, put your feet up and read your favorite magazines with Flipster!

things i will miss

I just finished reading Nora Ephron's book

I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections 

At the close of the book she wrote a list of things she won't and will miss.  It has inspired me to thoughtfully make my own list. I won't bore you with mine but I encourage you to think about what your list would look like.

Her is Nora's list . . .
What I Won't Miss

Dry skin
Bad dinners like the one we went to last night
E-mail
Technology in general
My closet
Washing my hair
Bras
Funerals
Illness everywhere
Polls that show that 32 percent of the American people believe in creationism
Polls
Fox TV
The collapse of the dollar
Bar mitzvahs
Mammograms
Dead flowers
The sound of the vacuum cleaner
Bills
E-mail. I know I already said it, but I want to emphasize it.
Small print
Panels on Women in Film
Taking off makeup every night

What I Will Miss

My kids
Nick
Spring
Fall
Waffles
The concept of waffles
Bacon
A walk in the park
The idea of a walk in the park
The park
Shakespeare in the Park
The bed
Reading in bed
Fireworks
Laughs
The view out the window
Twinkle lights
Butter
Dinner at home just the two of us
Dinner with friends
Dinner with friends in cities where none of us lives
Paris
Next year in Istanbul
Pride and Prejudice
The Christmas tree
Thanksgiving dinner
One for the table
The dogwood
Taking a bath
Coming over the bridge to Manhattan
Pie

The great Nora Ephron passed away on June 26th of 2012, aged 71, following a battle with leukemia that began in 2006. She had many strings to her bow, but most notably wrote the screenplays to some of the best loved films ever to grace the big screen, many of which she also directed and produced.

Julie & Julia 

You've Got Mail 

Sleepless in Seattle 

When Harry Met Sally

Mixed Nuts 

This Is My Life 

Heartburn

Silkwood

Hanging Up

Michael 

more joy with fewer things

Wish I had read this article in the 1980's.
Actually, it wasn't my kids who asked for more
it was I who gave them more.
My blog friends with young children should
definitely take a few minutes to read this.

{open article here}

the moment in the middle

the moment in the middle

hold your breath
here it is
Christmas eve
my favorite time of the Christmas season
the perfect moment between all the preparations and all of the celebrations

From the book Out to Cannan (the fourth book in the Mitford series)
by: Jan Karon

All is done yet all is yet to come . . .
"It was a moment of perfection he would probably not find again this year, and he sat without moving, almost without breathing. There was the upside of a garden, when one was digging and planting, heaving and hauling, and then the downside, when it was all weeding and grooming and watering and sweating. One had to be fleet to catch the moment in the middle, the mountaintop, when perfection was as brief as the visit of a butterfly to an outstretched palm."

santa

We were saddened to hear that our 

friends were retiring their Santa.

Soon after, we came home to 

find him in our driveway.

So . . . now he will live on our 

porch for the holidays.

{thank you Tom and Sharon}

banana cake

Banana Cake

{thank you Joanne Matwij}

This is one of the most requested recipes 

from our community potluck dinners

Beat together with mixer:
1 Pillsbury yellow cake mix
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of water
2 eggs

Stir into batter:
4 mashed bananas

Baking:
9x13 greased pan
Bake @ 350 for 35-40 minutes
Or
24 cupcakes
Bake @ 350 for 18-20 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1- 8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1 stick of unsalted butter (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½  cups of powder sugar

Whip the cream cheese and butter together, then add the vanilla. Keep whipping adding ½ cup sugar at a time. Continue whipping for several minutes until fluffy.

Optional:
Sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts on top.
Garnish with banana chips.

iris lee

another new baby is always 

a reason to post lots more photos

dahlia jo

a new baby is always 

a reason to post lots of photos

fisher price explosion

This is what happens when you  

save toys for 30 years

oval basket with spindle handle

I haven’t made a basket in forever. 

 It was good to be back at it.

This one is a housewarming gift. 

Do you have a new house?

It may be for you . . . 

{oval basket with spindle handle}