The New Year Looks Bright

Hitting re-wind a bit.. this is the dinner hubby and I made on New Years Eve - baked BBQ pork ribs (he made) and scalloped potatoes (I made).  Also had corn.  Our 2 new bakers worked out wonderfully!  A great size and so nicely made, red enamel over steel.  I got experimental with the potatoes and added 1 minced garlic clove and a sprinkle of nutmeg.  The recipe called for 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper, which made it a bit spicy! :-)  But they were good and we had leftovers yesterday, too.  If you want either recipe, let me know.

My sister Roberta found this recipe, you add several things to ready made BBQ sauce and bake them for 3 hours or so, until tender.

This is my younger sister, Denise's recipe for scalloped potatoes.  I love my sisters! 

Yesterday and today have been brilliantly sunny and windy as heck!  Vista House has had gusts of 80 mph!  37 deg F in the day and 30 at night.  I stepped out to get a shot of the sunny day and you would not believe the roar of the wind in these trees!

Our tradition is to take all the Christmas decorations and tree down on New Years Day - which was yesterday and we got it almost all cleared away.  There are a few bits of RED that need to be banished for a while. :-)  I had ordered these little hand made snow globe-like jars with the idea in mind to give some away for xmas - :-D --- but was so charmed by them I decided they needed to stay right here.  They make a great tableaux with some clear candles - a gift from sister Roberta.  They came from Judy Clark on Etsy - 20 North Ora. 

The church is charming!  This is the front... 

When you turn the jar around, you see the entrance lobby of the church, above it in an alcove is an organ, in the sanctuary is a tiny pew with a book rack on the back with hymnals in it, and a pew, and a Christmas tree!

The other large jar has a little 2 story Victorian house - this is the front...

This is the back, it has a tree in the living room and all kinds of tiny furniture on both stories.  Just adorable.   

After a long day working to tidy the house up - we were asleep and the electricity went out at 4 am.  Poor hubby tried to get the generator going but although it started, it wouldn't produce electricity through the wire.  So, he started a fire in the fireplace to keep the house warm through the night.  Here it is blazing away this morning.  The electricity came back on a bit after noon, thank heavens.  We then had our coffee and breakfast.   

I thought I'd share one of the drawings I've done on the game "Draw Something".  I'm playing with 4 people.  My daughter Amy just got her first smart phone and is playing me from Ohio.  A family friend, Emily, is playing from Roseburg, Oregon.  A blog friend from Gloucestershire, UK.  And a friend name Hashi from Australia but currently living in Los Angeles - from my old days working for Talk City on the internet - she's in Mensa! :-)

I am looking forward to the new year.  My daughter and her husband have promised to bring our granddaughters to visit in July.  It will be the first time she'll have seen her brothers and their families in 2 years.  We look forward to spending lots of time with our grandsons and our sons and DILs all year.  I am also happy to think of sharing things with you all and reading about my blog friends "doings".  It looks bright to me.  

((hugs)), Teresa :-)