When I am Old ............

When I am old I shall watch parades in my wheelchair! Hopefully I will be interested and engaged enough in life to get dressed up and venture into town for a celebration.

While digging through my external hard drive in search of the Harvard Milk Days Parade photo, I came across a little gem. The entire day was a slice of small town America and everywhere my photographer's eye looked I found another interesting scene.

The street had been coated with a mixture that transformed it into a white carpet. Families arrived early to stake their claim and arrange their chairs. Kids darted out onto the parade route, rushing back to their parents when the fire truck sirens signaled the arrival of the first marching band. The Farmer found his spot and held fast while I walked both sides of the street hunting down photo ops.



These adorable ladies had been transported to the parade route from their senior living facility. They were set up on a prime piece of real estate along the parade route, lined up under the awning of a local restaurant and provided with cold drinks. As you can see they got all dolled up for the event. It was a VERY HOT day and I was shocked to see them dressed in long pants and sweaters! I guess this is proof positive that hot flashes eventually subside and the internal thermostat runs in the opposite direction.

I was so drawn to the woman on the left. They were all characters, trust me, but the woman on the left was so engaged in telling her story and the man was so intent on listening. It was such a precious moment. I hope they didn't mind the intrusion of a camera lens.

Can you imagine her tale? Perhaps it was a memory from days gone by, or what she had for breakfast that morning. There's no way to know. The gentleman seemed truly interested in her words as if she were imparting some rare wisdom.

Don't we all hope to have someone to listen to our stories.....when we are old?

The Way Back Machine

The time: 1941
The place: A picnic grove, somewhere

For those of you who thought the picnic was held on Friday ...... you're wrong! That was just the invitation and the sign up sheet, giving you time to whip up all those fabulous treats you volunteered to bring.

Today is the picnic and the weather is perfect.

If you have time load up your plate and tell us what you've chosen. Like me, I'm sure you've got some questions about some of the food....Pig Pickin' Cake for example. We are seriously going to need the recipe for that one. Keep an eye out for an e-mail because I'm going to be asking some of you for some recipes. I'd love to cook them and post the results. I promise to try and not BURN anything as I've been known to do in the past.

Before we hit the food table, we're going to draw for that apron.

The winner is NUMBER 16 - - - THIRKELLGIRL. E-mail me to claim your prize. Remember to send me your address.

OK...grab your plates. Here's the line up. Sorry I couldn't create links and I had to stop adding menu items around noonish on Saturday. There are only so many hours in a day and the Farmer needs his laundry done!



APPETIZERS
Cowboy Caviar with Tortilla chips - Embee
Celery filled with Peanut butter & Raisins - Harper
Deviled Eggs - Chris, Refining Life
Mango Salsa - Trish
Bacon Wrapped Dates - Jill
Artichoke dip with Pita Chips = Mrs. r
Hummus - mrs. R
Potato Skins - Mrs. R
Chips & Salsa - Ginny
Green onions fresh from the garden - Dejoni
Baked Crab Rangoons - Caroline
Onion Dip & Lay's Potato Chips - Romi

SALADS
Marinated Vegetable Salad - Nan
Tortellini Salad - thirkellgirl
Green Salad with Strawberries, Pear, Pecans & gorgonzola -- Angie
Three Bean Salad - Chris, Refining Life
Black Bean & Rice Salad - Trish
Snickers Salad - Heather
Ramen Noodle Salad - Hot Tub Lizzy
Taco Salad - Hot Tub Lizzy
Corn Salad - Amy
Spinach Chicken Salad - Lucy
Macaroni Salad - marty 52
Macaroni Salad - Julie n
Cookie Salad = Tinabean1988
Pasta Salad - Dejoni
Tandori Chicken Salad - Mommy Meryl
Oreo Salad - Kimberly
Orzo salad - Cara
Watergate Salad - Trixi
Pasta Salad - Michelle
Quinoa Tabbouleh salad - Windycityvegan


BREADS
Family Reunion Rolls - Chandra
Homemade Sausage Rolls Trasha
Garlic Bread - Adrienne

MAIN COURSE
Egg Salad Sandwiches - Vee
Buttermilk Fried Chicken - Dara
Ham & cheese sandwiches - Kat
Frikadeller - Jacki
Bacon & Egg Pie = Karen
Ham & Biscuits - Tam
Fried Chicken - Liberty Post Editor
Smoked Brisket & homemade flour tortillas - deanna
Spaghetti with angel hair pasta - adrienne

CASSEROLES
Paula Deen's Squash Casserole - Laura
Pioneer Woman's Green Beans - Trasha

FRUIT
Watermelon - mamahut
Fresh Fruit tray - party of 5
Smith County Watermelon - Deanna
Fresh Fruit - The Millers
Watermelon - Nona
Watermelon - Half Past kissin time


FRUIT SALAD
Cherry Fluff Salad - Heidi
Fruit Pizza - Anonymous
Ambrosia Salad - Ann
Mango Mousse - C.C.

POTATO SALAD
Baked Potato Salad - Ashley
Pat's Potato Salad - Pat
Roasted New Potato Salad - Melissa Lester
MIL's potato Salad - Mom Taxi Julie
Mom's Potato Salad -Dejoni
Sweet Potato Hash = mamasphere

DRINK
Ice Tea & lemonade - Chris, Refining Life
Huge Cooler with Southern Sweet Iced Tea - The epps family
Fresh Squeezed Lemonade - Kacey
Gallon of Sweet Tea - Kimmyj
HOMEMADE ROOT BEER!!!!! - Tinabean 1988
Lemonade - Swirl Girl
Mojito's - Swirl Girl
Thermos jug filled with homemade pink lemonade - Karenann
Homemade lemonade - Jenn

CAKE
Pig Pickin Cake - Laura
Black Magic Cake - Tiffany
Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake - Kim's treasures
Pea Pickin' Cake - Kimmy J
Banana Cake - Christie
Yellow Cake, lemon curd filling, buttercream icing...decorated~Katkit13
Cake - Jessica G.

COOKIES
Chocolate Chip Cookies - Angie
Snickerdoodles - Hot Tub Lizzy
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies = Mrs. S
Oatmeal Cookies with Raisins & Walnuts - Jenn
Grandma's Sugar Cookies - Cottage Rose
Chocolate Chip Cookies - Romi
Potato Chip Cookies - Rue

DESSERT
Oreo Cheesecake - Tara
Pioneer Woman's Pie - Sheri
Old Fashioned Banana Pudding - Graham Shenanigans
Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars - Rhiana
The Perfect Pie - Apple Joos
Texas Sheet Cake - Simple Answer
Brownies - Tracy P.
Pavlova = Karen
Caramel Chocolate Brownies - TinaBean 1988
Awesome Brownies - Trasha
Grasshopper Brownies - Themama
Derby Pie - dejoni
Banana Pudding - Neurotically Yours
Muddy Buddies - Adrienne
Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Pie - Nichole
Blackberry Cobbler -Kara
Killer Brownies - Katkit 13
Granny's homemade apple pie with apricot Brandy = Missy
Gooseberry pie - Missy
Strawberry Shortcake = Cara
Strawberry Pie - Stacey Moore

OTHER
Books - Bobbi
Horseshoes, Badminton, croquet - Stefanie
Basket to hold all the cell phones, and other modern annoyances - Stefani
extra Quilts - Marty 52
Tea towels to wipe your hands - Karenann
Sparklers - Amy



We'll light the sparklers later, after the fireflies go to sleep for the night.

-Suzanne

What a Day!

I want to thank EVERYONE who took the time to visit and leave comments yesterday at the Summertime Picnic planning event.

And a special thanks to Heather and Tiffany at The Secret in the Sauce for creating such a great place. In case you haven't guess by now, my blog was their Feature of the Day. What a great idea these ladies have come up with. The comments are so appreciated because we all spend time writing and gathering photographs for our daily posts and we like to know that we're not talking to ourselves!

The entire day was good for my self esteem. HECK, I felt like queen of the prom or better yet Parade Queen riding in a nifty vintage car.


(Milk Days Parade - Harvard, Illinois)

The vintage photos are all from my collection. I have plenty of old family photos but that never stops me from buying other people's family pics at estate sales and flea markets. I can spend hours pouring over old photos. All the other photos on this site are taken by me, I have probably 10,000 images stored here and there. Feel free to use them, just remember to "credit source".

The rendition of "Summertime" that was accompanying yesterday and today's post is by the Preservation Hall Band from New Orleans. It's where the Farmer and I spent our honeymoon, and many hours were spent sitting on the floor at Preservation Hall, listening to their jazz band.

Be sure to come back tomorrow because it's our weekly trip in the Wayback Machine. The picture will be vintage but I'll be putting all the picnic food out. I've had to rent extra tables and hire some crowd control.

Don't miss it, it's going to be fun. We're also going to draw the winner for the apron.

- Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife

Summertime picnic

We have lots of new guests joining us today via the SITS, otherwise known as The Secret is in the Sauce. Those of you who haven't joined in the fun, take a hop over there and check it out.

Instead of just hanging out in the kitchen I thought we'd head outside and have an old fashioned picnic! People don't seem to picnic like they did when I was a kid. We didn't have the money for big excursions and theme parks didn't even exist at that time. Yeah, I know, ancient history. We made our fun by organizing a loosely planned day at a forest preserve or state park. Grab the old quilt and I'll carry the picnic basket.



We were all outside in the sunshine for the day and it was a good excuse to leave behind the household chores. I remember playing ball, eating, taking naps on old quilts, eating, taking hikes, eating catching fireflies at dusk and eating. The best thing about the picnics of my childhood was the "potluck element". Everyone brought their favorite family recipe, whether it be an appetizer, casserole, pie or homemade ice cream cranked in an old wooden freezer. I think I see someone cutting a pie in this photo! (For the newcomers - I'm on a lifelong quest to find the perfect piece of pie.)



Today we're going to gather in the back forty under the trees. There are plenty of vintage picnic baskets to hold all the food. There's a covered cake plate if someone wants to bake a cake.

I've got a special surprise - I'm giving away one of my aprons which is made from Mary Jane Butter's pattern. Don't worry if you don't win the prize because I'm going to post a tutorial next week and show you how to make one for yourself. It's made from a man's dress shirt and it's easy, I promise!



Just leave an comment and let me know what you'd like to bring to the vitual picnic. I'm not going to assign any categories because I hate when people do that. So what if we end up with 52 desserts? It's more fun that way. Just tell us what you're bringing. You don't need to include the recipe. The drawing will be on Sunday morning. I'll close off entries at midnight (Central Standard Time) on Saturday..... because I seriously need my beauty sleep.



I'm bringing Edna's Fruit Salad which is a recipe my mom has been making since the late 1950's when our neighbor Edna brought it to a picnic. Here's the recipe:



Omigosh, I just thought about that cherry jello dish that has pretzels in it. AHHHH...it's so delicious. Does anyone have the recipe? I'd be forever grateful.


DON'T FORGET - Subscriptions are always FREE here "At Home....." If you like what you see, please subscribe. Don't miss a minute of our exciting life here on the prairie. We're going to go out again next week and watch the corn grow. Remember what I told you, it needs to be knee high by the Fourth of July.

The Miracle of Modern Medicine

You need only claim the events of your life to make yourself yours. When you truly possess all you have been and done, which may take some time, you are fierce with reality.

Florida Scott-Maxwell

I hope you haven't come here this morning to have your spirits lifted because unfortunately this is Serious Thursday, or alternately Soap Box Thursday.

We often talk about the miracle of modern medicine, and it's true, it is a miracle. If it wasn't for the advances in medicine some of us would be not be alive today.

But there's good news and bad news concerning modern medicine. The good news is we're living longer. The bad news is we're living longer.

My freshman science teacher used a phrase that I've never forgotten. It applies to many things in life beyond science. That phrase was, "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Yes, we're living longer, but that in itself replaces one set of problems with another. The reality is, if you live a very long time there's a price to pay. And that price is that you will lose some or all of your independence.

I'm determined to age responsibly.

What does that mean? Our uncle died recently, at 96 years of age. He was still climbing on his roof to do repairs. And for anyone who is tempted to say, "Oh, that's so cool....96 years old and still repairing his roof..." I will say it is not cool. His son is 74 and believe me at that age he should be able to relax and enjoy his retirement and not worry about his 96 yr. old dad climbing all over a roof. Aging responsibly means I do not want to create any unnecessary difficulties for my children.

It also means that we must be fierce with reality. This is a little easier for me because when I was diagnosed with Lupus over 10 years ago I was forced to deal with the limitations placed on me by the disease. Denial would only make things worse for everyone. I mourned the loss of good health quickly so that I could move on to my new normal. I knew that there would be days when I would not be able to function or fulfill my responsibilities. I needed to be OK with that and accept my limitations and make changes to my life to accommodate those changes.

Unfortunately we are in a situation that could prove to be very traumatic for a family member due to the fact that they are in denial about their situation and the DMV is most likely bringing the hammer down.

Illinois is one of the few states that stringently tests senior citizen's driving skills. Seniors are tested quite frequently until the age of 87 and at that point they are tested yearly. Family members also have the option to contact the Secretary of State's Office confidentially if they believe their family member is impaired. The senior would be contacted and tested without revealing the family's involvement.

- Do you have these discussions in your family?
- Have you ever faced the difficult task of asking for their keys?
- Have you ever been in fear that your inaction or denial of your family member's diminishing driving skills could lead to someone's injury or death?
- How can we determine when it's time to intervene?
- Would you be willing to be someone's transportation partner, or put together a support network?

We need to have these conversations.

I've discussed this issue with a lot of people and they all say, "Well, it's hard, because they'll lose their independence."

YES they will. That's the reality, so we should be addressing it before the 11th hour.

My own mom has made some major changes in her life that are leading up to the day when she no longer drives. She moved from a senior apartment in a very small town to a place in a nearby city. The new building has plenty of activities and transportation options.

I hope I'm never in the position of the elderly gentleman that my son and I encountered at the DMV last year. He arrived for the test in his pajamas and slippers! Everyone in the facility was looking at each other, thinking the same thing....this person actually drove here? He failed the driving test and seemed totally blindsided, having not given one moment of thought to the possibility of failure. His equally frail and confused wife kept asking, "But what does that mean? You failed? What does that mean?" Everyone in the DMV office knew what it meant. My mind was on fire. Where was their family? It was a scene that was sad beyond belief and totally unnecessary.

I hope I'm fierce enough with the truth to lay the keys down when the time comes, actually before the time comes.

NOTE: Please join me in my kitchen first thing tomorrow morning. I've got a fun day planned and there's going to be a contest! We need to be on our best behavior because I've got lots of new guests coming!

10,000 Ears of Corn - 1,500 lbs. of Steer

Mark your calendars.

Let's make a date.

The weekend of July 26th we're going to the Sugar Grove Corn Boil.



It's gonna be you and me and 10,000 ears of corn!

But before that we're going to take in the Kane County Fair.
Mark your daytimer or enter it into your Crackberry -

July 16th through July 20th.

What do you think? Should I enter something into the fair competition?

There will be plenty of cold drink because it's usually very hot.




It's a long five days for the kids showing livestock. But some of them have added to the college funds when the prize winners are auctioned off.





It's awesome to see a confident young woman control a 1,600 lb. steer.





You go girl!!

Remember, we've got a date.

Megadeath in the Butterfly House

A nearby town constructed a butterfly house a couple of years ago. It's a nice place to take my nieces for an afternoon and I often go there by myself to take photos.

Since many of the butterflies are not native to this area there are stringent rules laid down by the U.S.D.A. The entrance and exits have an airlock room. Before you leave the space you're examined to make sure there are no butterflies trying to bust out and cause havoc on the prairie.

It's not a huge space but there's a bench where you can sit and watch these creatures engage in behavior such as puddling. Last season they hosted about 17,000 visitors and many of those were children. It's a great educational opportunity, but only if we want to educate our children and not simply entertain them.

Someone I know home schools her children and one of their activities is to read a farm blog. Her goal is to educate her children in how food is grown, how livestock is raised and what goes on in the day-to-day operation of a family farm. This includes the losses. Livestock die due to many reasons and farm kids grow up with a realistic view on this aspect of the natural world.



Not so, it seems, in the butterfly house.

It was a hot afternoon when I decided to stop and capture some photos. I left my donation and entered through the airlock room. The sun filtered through the mesh screen covering the hoop structure, giving me the perfect lighting. It was hot and I'd skipped lunch which meant I was feeling crabby.

A number of moms arrived with their children in tow. One of the women insisted on using her child's name in every breath she took, and his name assumed an annoying quality.

"Look, McIntire, look! The butterflies are at the edge of the pool, McIntire. What do you think they're doing McIntire?"

She insisted on continuing this conversation even though little McIntire was obviously not listening.

"Oh look, McIntire, the butterfly has landed on your shoulder!"

At this point the young college student who was working in the butterfly house reminded the mother that the butterflies shouldn't be touched. Luckily the child listened.

The mom asked question, hoping to enlighten her son on the future of the butterflies. She turned to the college kid and asked, "What happens to these butterflies in the wintertime? Where do you send them?"

HUH?????

The poor college kid looked at me, and I looked at him in astonishment. What's he gonna say? At this point the heat has gotten to me big time and I want to turn to little McIntosh and say,

THEY DIE.....ALL THE BUTTERFLIES DIE!!!!!!!!!

Did I mention I was hot and crabby?

Discretion being the better part of valor, I kept my mouth shut and turned to watch how the college student would handle this. Maybe he'd tell McIntire that they're all sent to Miami to hang out with blue haired ladies.

"Well, ma'am, butterflies only live for two weeks.....so, actually they die."

The word "die" had barely left his lips when the mom leapt forward to cover her son's ears. No, no.....little McIntire can't hear the terrible words...the butterflies DIE.

The college kid seem astounded by her actions.

I was not.

Feed Me

The very first time I logged onto the internet was over 10 years ago. It's a wonder that I even figured out how to turn the computer on. Back then I was using an old boxy unit topped with a very small screen that was approximately 2 feet deep! In the intervening years my already pathetic computer skills did not progress with the technology.

I'm afraid to admit that until recently I had no idea what an RSS feed referred to and I certainly didn't subscribe to any feedburners. The truth is that each morning I would waste an interminable amount of time clicking on each link on my sidebar to see who had updated their blog. That's just plain crazy!! Thankfully I ran across someone who was discussing Bloglines or half my life would have been devoted to the link list.

Currently I have subscribed to 88 feeds and that's clearly not enough to keep me happy. Very few bloggers update daily and I have a voracious appetite when it comes to reading blogs. I love to read about how people live in different corners of the world, and I am truly interested in what makes people tick. Do you subscribe to a large number of blogs?

My blog appetite is eclectic and it does not match blog-for-blog the link list on my sidebar. My subscriptions include:

- Missionaries living in Honduras
- A man who is struggling to raise a baby after his wife dies shortly after the baby's birth.
- My former publisher and best boss, ever!
- Several families who live overseas (Diplomatic corps)]
- An Army recruiter's wife
- Several farm blogs
- A couple decorating blogs
- Photoblogs
- At least one food blog
- Corey at Tongue in Cheek (a class all her own)
- A good dose of crafty bloggers
- One REAL WRITER (the paid variety)
- One very, VERY successful mommy blog. It is so terrible and mean spirited. I shouldn't bother with it, but it's like a train wreck, you just have to look.
- One exotic blog.
- And lots and lots of just plain nice people who write about the beauty in the ordinary.

I wonder, what category I would fall under? Hmmmmmm.

Anyway, I'd love to hear about your blog reading habits. Feedburner? Not? Tell me about your must-reads because I need more .....FEED ME.

Field Trip - Let's Move a House!!

Sometimes my life out here in the cornfields is so exciting I can hardly stand it. The weather was clear on Friday which meant the house move that was scheduled for the previous week could finally take place. The historic Byron Kendall home was moved from Elburn, Illinois to nearby LaFox. The original portion of the home was built from hand hewn logs in 1840.

This move required a 4 mile journey including a tense crossing over an older bridge and a sharp left hand turn onto LaFox Road. Here's the house as it approaches the first hurdle, a set of power lines which must be removed.



There were large crews from the power company and the phone company on hand to pave the way for the passing home. The house comes down a hill towards the small bridge. This was the most dangerous and difficult part of the journey. The home was stalled here for quite some time while crews reinforced everything before the crossing.



You ain't seen nothing till you've seen a house come down the road. It's certainly not something you see everyday, but it's more common around here than you'd think. The last move I witnessed was when an old two-story country store was moved about a mile from here.



Here's a video of the house pulling out onto the road and heading down the highway.



It reaches it's new home, a spot cleared out of a small cornfield. Do you think it will live on at this location for another 168 years?



I could not believe those guys were under the house adjusting the metal skids WHILE the house was moving. I bet their mother's don't know what they do this.

When I uploaded these onto You Tube I came across quite a few (and more professionally recorded) videos of house and building moves. I love this video of the Trinity Lutheran Church in rural Iowa. The congregation had dwindled from 250 to only 13 members. Unwilling to allow the church to slowly disintegrate out in the cornfields the parishoners managed to have it moved to town, 12 miles away. This video is part of a National Geographic feature called "Monster Moves". This is amazing, funny and as described on You Tube, sometimes resembles a Fellini movie. I love the part when church comes up over the hill.



Well, that was the big excitement around here. Anything as exciting in your part of the world?

The Way Back Machine

The Time: Summer, 1958
The Place: Silver Sands Motel, Panama City, Florida

This photo brings back an incredible number of memories. Isn't it funny how much of our childhood is lost in the fog of time and yet some things remain crystal clear. I suppose it's a sign of aging.

There's nothing on the back of the photo to identify the time or place, but I don't need a reminder. It was burned in my memory by the hot summer sun.

We had made our yearly trek to Florida with another family, Bob & Helen Gulley and their children. They stayed at the Silver Sands Motel on the beach in Panama City and we stayed at our Uncle Jack's beach house.

The sand on the gulf coast is as white as salt and the water is clear and blue. I can smell the suntan oil that our mom slathered all over us. I'm shielding my eyes from the sun because I'm not cool enough to have shades. My brother (second from the left) is employing his best Lloyd Bridges Sea Hunt stance. See the three kids in the middle? Well, in the middle of the middle kids is my sister Cindy and she's looking crabby. On the right is my baby sister Pam. She is so stinking cute.

Here's a close up of Pam:



Look at that bathing suit. My mom made alot of our clothes, but judging from the complexity (the ruching) I don't think she made our swimsuits.

The Silver Sands had huge inner tubes that had the name of the motel painted on them. We used them to float in the shallow water.

What's that silly music you're listening to? (If you're reading this on June 22nd, it's Shep Wooley's Flying Purple People Eater.) It was the big hit that summer and we sat at the outdoor snack bar and begged my dad for money. We played Purple People Eater again and again, until the adults cried for mercy.

It was a fun summer vacation and one that I never forgot.

Did you have a great summer as a kid? One that was unforgettable?

Buttermilk Pound Cake and More

Several people have requested the recipe for my pound cake. I came upon this recipe over 30 years ago. It's my favorite. The buttermilk makes it very moist.



I always have to laugh when I share a recipe because it reminds me of a friend who would beg her mother-in-law for the recipes of her husband's favorite dishes. The mother-in-law would say, "Oh, of course dear" and would write out copies of the recipes. My friend always felt inadequate in the cooking department and her husband would always say, "It's good, but just not like my mom's."

My poor friend found out many years later that her mother-in-law had left key ingredients out of each recipe, this ensuring her own status as "Queen Cook" in the family. Oh my, how sad is that?

I've also had inquiries about the sandcastle cake pan. It's made by Nordic Ware. I got mine at Williams Sonoma. I checked out their website and they have lots of really cute pans, but not the sandcastle. I did find another site that carries the Sand Castle Cake Pan. It makes such a cute cake for children's parties and there are lots of decorating possibilities.

This is going to be a light blogging day because we're going to be heading out to another pig roast! I promise exciting things in the next week. I've been busy whipping up lots of blog fodder. The historic home was finally moved and I've got the pictures and videos to share. You haven't lived until you've seen a two-story house ambling down the road. It was like a house parade!

Also, we're going to have a serious discussion about a problem that we will all be facing in the next few years. Aging family members and the difficulties that arise as they get older. I'm finding that these difficulties are compounded by our own aging issues. A heavy situation is brewing here "At Home..." and it's one that is poised to change someone's life profoundly. I'm a true believer in sharing problems and seeking solutions together. Stay tuned for more in the next week.

I hope you have something wonderful planned for the weekend. Summer is short. Winter will be here before you know it, so let's get out into the sunshine!

Thank you for visiting!

Let's Get Together for Dessert

I'd love to invite all of you over for dessert. If only we weren't separated by the miles we could all share some cake and coffee and catch up on what's going on in our lives. But we can certainly do that in a cyber setting. So join me!

I'll have to admit that I spent many years being terrified of entertaining. But I had a wonderful mentor who told me to relax and enjoy the experience. The secret she said, was to be prepared. And she was right! As long as you're prepared you can really enjoy the evening.

When I'm having a party I make two lists, a shopping list and a to-do list. It's that easy. I get all my serving pieces together and ready to go and I decide what I'm going to serve. The food is prepared as far ahead as feasibly possible. For the dessert evening I decided to keep it simple by serving pound cake, ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. The guests can feel free to put everything together in whatever combination they wish.

But since it's summer I decided to drag out one of my $30 cake pans. I'm generally a frugal person but the devil made me buy this:



After my last fancy cake disaster I decided to spray liberally with PAM and stand guard over the oven. (The last time the oven inexplicably shut off somewhere in the middle of the baking process!)



I've got lots of pictures to share today so I'll spare you the pound cake recipe. Use your favorite recipe. A buttermilk poundcake works very well.



Just when I thought I had everything covered I discovered that the thermostat on the oven was not working properly and I ended up with a very dark brown sand castle. This castle has definitely had too much sun! Oh, and the little porch broke off.



Let's not be deterred by such matters. For those of you who commented about the complexity of a sandcastle cake....it's not at all complicated. Here's the beauty of a fancy cake pan. It does all the work for you. And even a very dark brown cake can look a little better if you tart it up a bit. I always use brown sugar or turbinado (raw) sugar for the sand. So cute. But this time I added whole strawberries and lemon slices for color. The flags are just bamboo skewers and a length of wide ribbon.



Early in the morning I snuck into the garden and cut these peonies. Luckily the were still OK. This is probably their last hurrah. In a day or two they will be toast.



The day of the party I set up three stations. The beauty of setting up different stations is that you don't have everyone clumped together in one space. I have so many interesting serving pieces that I decided to let everyone choose what they wanted to eat from. Here are some vintage glass luncheon plates with the space for the matching coffee cup. I love these. I made these pink gingham napkins several years ago and they've been used many times. The tablecloth was $2 on clearance many years ago. This is the first station.



On the table where the desserts will be displayed are some green leafy dishes and pressed glass bowls. (All thrifted items) This is the second station.



The coffee pot is set up in the wet bar area (third station), allowing everyone to help themselves. Remember, I want to enjoy the evening too!



The table is ready. Just before the guests arrive I'll whip the cream and bring out the desserts.



I'm going to be serving ice cream and I don't want to stand at the table scooping. Here's what I devised. Get two bowls, one smaller than the other. This is a trifle bowl and a clear mixing bowl. Put the smaller bowl inside the larger one and fill the space between the two bowls with water. You'll need to put a weight (can of soup) inside the smaller bowl to keep it from floating. Put these into the freezer and allow the water to freeze.



Scoop your ice cream into balls. They don't have to be perfectly round. Line them up on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Put in the freezer until time to serve. Put all the ice cream balls into the frozen bowl and they stay cold for awhile.



Light your candles just before your guests arrive. Plug in the coffee pot.



Bring out your food....and enjoy yourself with your guests!! Having a party is also a great motivator in getting your house clean and organized. This party pushed me to do some long overdue maintenance cleaning in this room. I love to entertain and when I follow the blueprint I'm rarely, if ever stressed.



I'm really glad you could join me for dessert, even if it was only cyber!

Do Housecats Eat Cake?

Do you have any mysteries in your house that defy explanation?

On Tuesday evening I hosted dessert for some of my friends in the neighborhood. Once a month we get together and meet at a local restaurant for dinner. After dinner we gather at someone's home for dessert and it was my turn to serve as hostess. I'll share photos and a recipe in the near future but right now I'm wondering if housecats eat cake.

I baked two pound cakes, a sandcastle cake as a design element for the table (to be eaten later) and a loaf style pound cake which was for slicing and serving. It was late when the ladies left and I put everything away except for the sandcastle cake. I left it at the center of a dining table. The nearest chair was sitting about 2 feet from the table which would rule out a snatch-and-grab by the Chihuahua's. Pancho is especially known for his table hopping, dinner stealing antics, but the distance between the chair and the table is beyond even his considerable talent.

This is the scene:



My CSI skills say that there's only one culprit that can be the perpetrator. Sparky the cat. And then I remember that this morning I found a pile of kitty gack on the carpet. It was the color of his dried cat foot but it certainly could have been mixed up with Sandcastle cake and brown sugar sand.

BUT.....I on the other hand I can''t rule out the tag team possibility. This has been known to happen before. The dogs bribe the cat with promises of future favors. In return the cat bats food off the table and they scramble around and gobble up the evidence. They're a sneaky bunch I tell you.

Dang. If it's not one animal creating chaos around here it's another or a combination of all three. The animals seem to have picked up where the kids left off.

So what nonsense have your pets been up to lately? I'll venture a guess they haven't chowed down on a Sandcastle cake!!!

Field Trip - Private Garden Tour - Part Two

As I mentioned yesterday, Donna's front garden is planted with all white flowers. But the back gardens, which sweep away from house are punched with color. The peony that we saw yesterday is one of the more colorful. They were originally in a 40-foot bed and that's alot of peonies!

Here are the hollyhocks, which were also among the original plantings. These aren't blooming yet, but they are colorful and happy flowers.



Here's a lovely rustic birdhouse bench that's just next to the old milk house. That's another hollyhock on the left, with the large leaves. Donna's garden is planted so that there's something in bloom throughout the summer.



Inside the milk house Donna has created a vignette of dried flowers and a garden sign.



Here's the milk house. The open farm fields are just behind that row of evergreens.



Ferns were also on the grounds when Donna moved in and these have been split and relocated to several areas including this nice display next to the horse barn.



Here's a hydrangea next to a colorful petunia. I don't know about you but I've never had luck with hydrangeas. These flourish!



The view from the back of the property if so lovely. It just draws you in, the gardens nestling close to the house.



If you have a copy of Cottage Living you'll recognize the corn crib. Unfortunately the clematis vines that are shown climbing up the sides did not survive the winter and Donna has had to replant and start from scratch. Such are the challenges that a gardener faces.



The hundreds of irises that encircle the corn crib are from one single clump that was given to Donna over 20 years ago.

Another look at those peonies putting on their show.



Star of Persia.



And another look at the beautiful plantings along the path leading to the back of the home.



Yesterday someone asked if Donna maintained these gardens by herself. Here's her answer:

"I do have help once a month with trim work, weeds, etc. I do cut grass and weed myself. And depending on the weather, I water (by hand) alot."

I'd like to thank Donna for graciously agreeing to open her gardens for a private tour just for the readers of "At Home...". The beauty of her garden is that no matter when you visit you'll be greeted by something beautiful. Believe me, as a midwesterner, even the garden in winter is stunning.

I'd also like to thank my readers for coming along for a little slice of rural Illinois. I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I did. I'm feeling all inspired. Perhaps tomorrow I'll go out and pull some weeds!

Field Trip - Private Garden Tour - Part Two

The beautiful gardens of La Fox resident Donna Neiler are featured in the May/June issue of Cottage Living magazine. It's still on the newstands so grab a copy. It has some wonderful photographs.

Donna is a whirlwind of energy. She serves on the board of Garfield Farm Heritage Society and one other professional organization. Her lovely home was built in the 1860's for the daughter of Timothy Garfield who ran the local inn. His home is now the Garfield Farm and Inn Museum. Angeline Garfield Harvey and her husband called this lovely place home in the late 1800's.



Donna and her husband purchased the home and three acres twenty seven years ago. The property a large barn, milk house, horse barn, silo and the corn crib featured in Cottage Living.

I drove past this property every day on my way to work at the local newspaper. For five years I watched the seasons change and could only glimpse the beautiful gardens that were tucked behind the house. I always wondered who tended this property with such care. I promised myself if I ever saw the owner in the garden I would stop and introduce myself. Commuters hours don't coincide with gardeners hours and the opportunity never presented itself.

Many times I would shoot photos of her Halloween display as I waited for a train to pass. In summer I'd marvel at the beautiful Annabelle hydrangeas in all their glory. Here's a photo of her porch in summer, so inviting with the white wicker furniture. The front gardens are planted in white. It makes for a very clean and fresh looking display.



I finally met Donna at the yearly awards ceremony for Garfield Farm Museum. I told her how much pleasure her gardens had given me, making an otherwise boring commute interesting. She invited me to stop anytime. Finally last summer, shortly after the Cottage Living photo shoot, I got to look into the wonderland that sweeps to west behind her home.

She has graciously invited my readers to a private tour of her property. When you pull into the drive between the house and the large barn you're greeted with this sight. The pathway leads to the rear entrance. The large beds hug the path and the irises were blooming in all their glory. What a sight!



If you walk further down the drive you can look back and see the rear of the house and the lush plantings. A local artist presented Donna with a drawing from this viewpoint. It hangs in her living room.



Directly behind the house is a large round flagstone patio. In this photo you can see the four large planters that ring the patio. It looks like a sea of green, rolling to the south.



The patio is the perfect place to sit in the evening as the sun goes down. Donna's friend was married in this garden six years ago.



The urns are traditional and add some height and drama. That's the silo in the background. The barn is hidden from view by the large pine tree.



Irises galore!!



The original planting included a forty foot bed of these peonies. Can you imagine the show they put on? She's split and moved the peonies around. Can anyone identify this? Since they were here when they purchased the property, she has no idea which variety this is.

It is spectacular, with a flat outer edging and ruffled center.



I took lots of photos, so come back tomorrow when we will tour the remainder of the property including everyone's favorite, the corn crib!