My new love.

 About 2 years ago I lost part of my heart when my cat Patches died. I could never bring myself to get another cat for two reasons. First I never wanted to get that close to a animal again. I still miss her so much. Second I felt it would be disloyal to her, to try to replace her.
That all changed when we walked into my favorite book store. They are also  animal lovers. So They have animals for adoption in one corner of the store. I have volunteered several times to come and play with the cats. But I never felt the need to take one home. This time we were there just to buy a book.
I made the mistake of going to look at the animals. As soon as I saw her my heart jumped out of my chest. She was wearing that same expression Patches wore all the time. She also has that little white  widow's peek that patches had.
 My second mistake was holding her. I  couldn't, nor  did I want to put her down. When others came to look at her  I wanted them to go a way and leave us a lone.( Yes I know that was awful of me.) I just wanted her all to myself. My husband went up to the counter and adopted her right then. He said my smile ran for miles. I left the store with tears in my eyes and one very BIG smile.  I named her Cleopatches in memory of my cat Patches.

Pumpkin Fudge

Pumpkin Fudge!!

PUMPKIN FUDGE~ Southern Living

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 (12-ounce) package white chocolate morsels
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow cream
1cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Stir together first 6 ingredients in a 3 1/2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 234° (soft-ball stage) or for about 12 minutes.
Remove pan from heat; stir in remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour into a greased aluminum foil-lined 9-inch square pan. Let stand 2 hours or until completely cool; cut fudge into squares.

Notes: Line pan with aluminum foil before you begin to cook the fudge. Once the candy thermometer reaches 234° and the remaining ingredients are added, quickly spoon the fudge into the pan.
  

A Southern Style House Wife  had this recipe on her site and face book page. If your get the chance please check her out. She has a lot of cool stuff on her site.

Weekend of great deals

 I had a great weekend. Went yard saleing, something I very rarely have time to do. It was so much fun and I found wonderful deals. I got this cast iron waffle maker for my husband for 6 dollars.He can't wait to use it when we go camping.

This was my best deal ever. We actually were looking at the same design in Solvang. For only 2 of the curtains and the mantel cover it would have cost us about 50 dollars.  The yard sale ones were new and still in the package.

 I was able to not only get the same pattern ,but one more curtain for only 8 dollars total. Yes, I did the happy dance.

 My friend Ruth Ann has a set of these in her kitchen. I am always threatening to steal them. They are now safe. I found the same set for 10 dollars.

 This was just a cute jar for 25 cents.

 These patterns are from the 40 and 50's. The top one is a transfer. I am going to try to talk Heidi into us both making a table cloth with the fruit horn on it. Wish me luck.  Its a huge transfer with the horn and other fall items on it. It was marked for only a dollar.

These two patterns are not for me. I bought these for Willow Farms. ( a blog I follow.)  She loves things from that time era. They even have the original envelope they came in. They were also 1 dollar a piece.

  I was so happy with every thing I found. I need to make more time for yard saleing. Who knows what I'll find next time.

Finally Fall

Hope everyone has a great first day of Fall !

Surprised Harvest

Last year we tried growing watermelon . They never got ripe. So I was so happy to see this little guy hiding in the corn field.  

 He was so sweet and good. I was able to harvest 3 ripe melons for us. The deer got the other 4. I did all the work and they got more melon. Something seems wrong with that picture.

I thought my green beans were slowing down, as you can see I was wrong. This may sound wrong . But I wish they would stop. I am so tired of canning green beans. My green onions are on the right of the picture. I still have a lot that need harvest,so I guess I had better close and go do it.  Have a great weekend every one.

Zucchini Cakes

 I found this on All Recipes.com. They taste great and we all have lots of zucchini this time of year. It  good with sour cream and chives on top too.

Makes: 8 cakes

• 1 large zucchini grated, excess water removed (Note: To do this, after you grate the zucchini, put the grated zucchini into paper towels and squeeze to release the water)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
• sprinkle of ground nutmeg, about 1/8 teaspoon (Note: If you add too much it can quickly take over the taste, less is more) I did just a dash.
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients, except olive oil, in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Using a heaping tablespoon form the mixture into 8 patties.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Once heated, add patties and cook until golden brown. About 3-4 minutes per side. Serve.

  You can also top with ranch.Enjoy

Thank you everyone.

Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone for your heart warming comments. They meant a lot to me.
Just an update. I am home now. The first day home my husband stayed with me. Heidi ( love that girl) took good care of me the next day. She made me a great homemade dinner from her garden and  then we watched theEgg and I.
They still haven't found the cause for my heath issues, but have ruled out the dangerous stuff. That was a blessing. Still have some test to go thru,but I am sure they will find the cause.
My husband took me to Solvang this weekend  for Danish Days to get my mind off everything. I was still a little weak, but it was so sweet of him .I had a great time. We just took it slow.
I can't thank you enough for the loving comments.When your world is spinning out of control it's nice to know there are caring people out there.

Health post

I will be taking a break from blogging for a few days due to health problems and hospital stay. Please pray for me ,That they find the problem and  they can fix it. Thank everyone. Have a great week.

Fall Decor for the front yard

 Fall grabbed a hold of me.  So,I gave in and decorated the front yard. I haven't started in the house yet. But I sure it won't be long .

         I did some close up shoots . So you could see more details. Since the first picture was so far away. It was hard to get everything in one shoot. The corn stacks are from my garden.I got great corn this year.

 This little chicken will be use in as many ways as probably in my house after fall is over. I just fell in love with it.

 These are pumpkins from my garden. I had more around the hay bale ,but it was a bit to much.

 These are the flower baskets I have on my house. They look great with the fall flowers.

Found this at Rite-Aid for half off. It was just the touch the screen door needed.
I love to decorate for the seasons. Have a great weekend everyone.

Saturday harvest

This is our early morning  loot. I had to work so my husband blanched and froze  the carrots for me.  When I got home we were able to pick a another big bowl full of beans.
We weren't able to get them canned till 10:45 tonight.  I still have 30 ears of corn  to can. I think that will wait till after church tomorrow. I am to tired to even think about it tonight. This is the time a year it seems you never get ahead. Does anyone have recipes for preserving watermelon? I would love to be able to save it. I have 10 watermelon still in the garden.