Cupcakes for my Aunt

I invited my cousin Steve and Aunt Norma over for dinner last weekend. Despite diabetes, I know Norma loves her sweets. So, I made some spice cupcakes and decided to have some fun decorating them with interesting toppings. Above clockwise chocolate topping, graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon sugar, brown sugar.
One never made it to a cupcake---applesauce and frosting looked curdled and disgusting---I pitched it.
Here's Steve taking his Tester's status a little too seriously.
Norma seemed to enjoy the cupcakes. But, the best ones were the nuttier versions:
On the left with pecans on top and the one of the right was frosting mixed with some peanut butter. That was my personal favorite!

Signs of Spring

Yahoo! Spring is here! That's not to say we might not have ice, hail and snow, but these signs of Spring give me hope!
The myrtle blooming was actually the first sign, followed by the carpenter bees---not a sign that I welcome.
The next sign was the return of the robins---the snow birds (juncos) haven't left yet, but. . .the grass is also greening.
Next, were the daffodils and the rabbits eating my tulips (the rabbit above is innocent).
The trees have just started to come out---pears and redbuds below.
But the real sign of spring was found inside---

Dave "multi-tasking"---watching NCAA basketball on TV and listening to a Cardinal baseball game on the radio!

The Shell Game

My favorite thing at the Beach is to walk along the shore line looking for shells.
I can't resist scallop shells---they are my favorites! The problem is, what do I do with all of the shells I've collected over the years? So, I try to limit myself to 20 of the best shells. The shells here are all ready for the Shell Olympics!
They are judged by size, color, most unusual, most complete (have to have both "feet"), how they look when wet! I tried to get Dave to hold up cards for each one so I could declare a winner, but. . . So, I had to do the judging, the coaching AND the presentations! The winners are:


The rest of the shells were returned to the beach. So, I suggested to Dave that maybe I should bring some of my other shells back this summer. I thought it might be fun to "plant" them in the beach for the grandchildren to find. Dave thought it would be funny if I taped my photo in the shells (similar to the year I put my school photo in the plastic Easter eggs).
Some of the shells are quite large---see below. Most of these were found in North Carolina. I found the big conch looking for my prescription sunglasses that had been knocked off by a wave. The shiny brown shell was brought back from my dad during World War II, so it is from China, Japan, the Phillipines? (the golf ball is to show size)
My shells are from Texas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Scotland. Wouldn't it be funny if some Shell Whiz found them in Alabama? But, the excited face of a child "finding" the shells would be even better (without my school photo).

Happy Anniversary Kyle and Rachel!

It's hard to believe that 9 years ago we were having a St. Patrick's Day rehearsal dinner!
Then, on March 18th Rachel and Kyle were married.
This is one of my favorite photos. You look so relaxed and unposed, but still sharing something important.
Finally, the announcement at the reception and your entrance under the crossed swords! Happy Anniversary!

Tight-wad or Scottish?

While there are some of "Scotch-Irish" ancestry who celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I don't (sorry, Kyle and Irish cousins). I used to wear orange on St. Patrick's Day and argue at length about St. Patrick being Welsh. So despite this being St. Patrick's Day, this blog is in honor of my Scottish roots (next year I'll honor my Welsh roots--Maewyn Succat, I won't neglect thee!)

An article on Yahoo! made me think. . . maybe I'm not just thrifty, maybe I'm a tightwad! Click here for the article. As my introduction suggests, I'm the product of Depression era parents. But, I also grew up in a household proud of it's "Scottish thriftiness." We know almost nothing about my grandmother's background and yet I can recall my mother saying, "Grandma is Scottish--she is a real penny pincher." Other than making clothes, I don't really recall my grandmother as being particularly tight with her money, but nevertheless, I grew up thinking that if Grandma was Scottish and thrifty, it was a good thing to be.

My husband and children are often ashamed of my thriftiness and it wasn't until I read that Yahoo article that I realized, that maybe I am a little extreme----not that I will change!
My husband objected to me handing him a spatula to scrape out the bottom of the jelly, so now I buy him jelly in a squeezable container. He also didn't like it when I stacked an old bottle of ketchup over a new one to get the last bit of ketchup out---again, I buy squeezable containers that store upside down. So, if I'm so weird, why did they invent these containers!?
I'm sure most people roll up their toothpaste to get the last bit out, but I get several more days out of my toothpaste containers by just cutting them open and dipping my toothbrush in. I also open up my moisturizer and make up to get the last bit out.

Also, I make my own blush---I like creamy blush but have all of these left-over bits of lipstick. So, I buy some creamy blush and mix it with the lipstick. I do remember my Scottish Grandmother Vennie Watson Wicker blotting her lipstick and then rubbing her cheeks---that's my kind of woman.

Train, Brett Twenter 2008

I haven't bought a package of plain white paper in years---we have always used paper from work. Even the girls' art and now my grandchildren's art is on re-cycled paper.
As part of my New Year's resolution to "use it up", I discovered several packages of sealed napkins from our wedding! At one time, I thought I'd save them for a big Silver Anniversary Party---well, that's come and gone, so we are using them up.
As you may or may not know, my souvenirs are always pens---practical and useful. But, I also collect them from motels and hotels.

Dave used to travel a lot, so he'd bring home soap and shampoo from his travels. I'm proud to say that I haven't bought shampoo or soap for my personal use in probably 20 years. My daughters and son-in-law (Kyle) often insisted on store-bought soap and shampoo. (I bought Kyle "Irish Spring" soap---what else---when he said he had a hard time with the minuscule "guest soap") I used to even have a contraption that put tiny bits of soap together to form a new bar---wonder what happened to that, Girls?
Pictured above is my new Watson tartan, a pin I purchased in Scotland and a Trinity necklace from Ireland. To all of the Scotch-Irish out there---let's find our own holiday and leave St. Patrick's Day to the Irish-Americans unless, of course, you can get your Irish friends to buy you a beer! Now, that would be a fine Scotch-Irish tradition!

"Mar sin leibh an dràsda."
"Slán go fóill"