Fall Craft Project

I went to the Holy Hill Art and Craft show with my parents last week.  This was our second year going and we always have so much fun.  I had a couple of things I was looking for this year, one being the antique silverware jewelry I found last year and loved (I have three of the necklaces) and a fall wreath to put on our front door.  I lucked out in finding both and bought two necklaces and found purchasing a wreath to be rather expensive.  The wreaths I was looking at were beautiful but I had a difficult time justifying buying something for over $50 that would only be up for maybe a month or two.  I thought I could make something that looked similar for a much cheaper price.  This afternoon I lucked out and all the fall materials were 50% off at the craft store I was at.  I bought a variety of fake flowers and wreath for grand total of $15.  After getting all my materials together I found the process to be very easy and a lot of fun.  With enough hot glue the flowers all seemed to stay attached and I think I ended up with a pretty nice fall wreath.  Perhaps I have a new hobby! 

 

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All dressed up

For the past two years Nala and my parent’s dogs Jake and Libby have participated in the Green Lake Area Animal Shelter Dog Walk/Pet Contest.  The event starts out with a variety of contests: best trick, best tail wager, best kisser, smallest/largest dog and best costume and finishes up with a walk downtown.  Both years we have participated there has been a great turnout of people watching and dogs entered.  This year we did the costume contest and Nala was a Scarecrow and Jake and Libby were a Pirate and Bumble Bee.  There were a lot of great costumes and our group took 2nd place.  Each dog got a little treat and they were very excited!

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Time for some reading…

During the summer it seems like I hardly have enough time to get everything done in the day that I would want, let alone sit back and relax.  Reading is one of my favorite things to do and this summer it seems there hasn’t been much time to spare to sit back and pick up a book.  With the cooler weather around the corner I have a feeling I’m going to have more time to snuggle up and do some reading, I hope.  I have been looking up different lists of the Top 2010 books and have decided to make my own Top 10 List.  I hope to have a good variety of books and will certainly take any suggestions.  I’ve read good things about all the books I have found and can’t wait to get started!

1.  The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo

2.  The Girl Who Played with Fire

3.  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

4.  Eat, Pray, Love

5.  Three Cups of Tea

6.  Freedom

7.  Now Eat This

8.  Someone Knows My Name

9.  Sarah’s Key

10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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Good-bye Summer, Hello Fall

With summer coming to an end and autumn being less than 10 days away, I’ve been thinking of all the fun things that come with this time of year.  Apple orchards, Farmers Markets, Arts & Crafts Fairs, cooking and baking, beautiful hikes and leaves changing.  Fall is certainly my favorite season and always by the end of summer I’m ready for it to be here.  I love the cool, crisp weather and getting my sweaters, scarves and mittens out.  Now that it is cooling off I love being in the kitchen baking, or trying a new soup recipe.  I made minestrone soup last week and it was delicious, with a warm loaf of bread and fresh parmesan cheese!  I have a feeling chili and apple crisp will be on the menu soon.  Yum!  Here is the recipe I used for the minestrone soup, I found it on Kraftfoods.com.  It was so easy and your house smells wonderful as it cooks!

1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing 1   Onion, chopped 1 stalk Celery, chopped 1   Carrot, peeled, chopped 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained 1 can  (19 oz.) red kidney beans, rinsed 2 cans (14 oz. each) vegetable broth 2 cups  Water 1 tsp. Italian seasoning 1-1/2 cups  small shell macaroni, uncooked 1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

 

HEAT dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions, celery and carrots; cook 2 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Spoon into slow cooker. Add tomatoes, beans, broth, water and seasoning; stir. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW 6 hours (or on HIGH 3 hours).

STIR in macaroni; cook 10 to 15 min. or until macaroni is tender. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/zesty-minestrone-104591.aspx

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Curious Nala

The other day while sitting outside Nala came across this caterpillar and was very interested in getting her nose as close as possible without touching it.  It was so cute I had to take some pictures! 

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