Wordless Wednesday

What love looked like! This is my Great Grandparents, Ida Maye and Hank Freiboth. They were loved so much raisng 7 children. That makes getting together now hard unless we rent a hall to do it in. This family is amamzing and they were together for over 60 years. Not one day goes by that I don't think of them.

Tempt my Tummy Tuesday!

I love this time of the year because Peaches are in season. Our neighbors have a peach tree and we are lucky that they are nice and that they are willig to share. So I will share some fun things to make with the in season Peaches................ Yes today I made two pies and a blackberry crisp! Yummy. All from my garden. Enjoy!



Peach Pie

Prep Time:

1 Hr Cook Time:

45 MinReady In:

1 Hr 45 Min

Servings (Help)

US Metric Calculate

Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9 inch pie

Ingredients

10 fresh peaches, pitted and sliced 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup white sugar 1/4 cup butter 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions

Mix flour, sugar and butter into crumb stage.

Place one crust in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. Line the shell with some sliced peaches. Sprinkle some of the butter mixture on top of the peaches, then put more peaches on top of the the crumb mixture. Continue layering until both the peaches and crumbs are gone.

Top with lattice strips of pie crust.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden. Allow pie to cool before slicing. Best when eaten fresh.


Peach Pie!

Ingredients


6 eggs, beaten 3 1/2 cups white sugar 10 fresh peaches, pitted and chopped 4 cups heavy cream 2 cups half-and-half cream 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

In large bowl, mix together eggs and sugar until smooth; puree peaches in blender or food processor and stir 5 cups of puree into egg mixture. Stir in cream, half-and-half, vanilla and salt and mix well.

Pour mixture into freezer canister of ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions


Peach Jelly... ( a great gift to stock up on for xmas) yes I said it!

 
 
 
Ingredients


12 fresh peaches, pitted and chopped 4 1/2 cups white sugar 1 (2 ounce) package dry pectin

Directions

Crush 1 cup chopped peaches in the bottom of a large saucepan. Add remaining peaches, and set pan over medium-low heat. Bring to a low boil, and cook for about 20 minutes or until peaches become liquid (my family likes a few bits of peach left) .

Pour peaches into a bowl, and then measure 6 cups back into the pan. Add sugar, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Gradually stir in dry pectin, and boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat after 1 minute, and transfer to sterilized jars. Process in hot water bath canner for 10 minutes. Let cool, and place on shelf.

Last but not least,

Peach Omelet
 
Ingredients


1 cup peeled, sliced peaches 2 tablespoons lemon juice 4 slices bacon 2 tablespoons water 6 eggs 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon white sugar 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 pinch paprika

Directions

Mix peaches with lemon juice; set aside. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoons bacon grease in skillet.

In a large bowl, mix together crumbled bacon, water, eggs, chives, salt, sugar and black pepper.

Reheat bacon grease over medium high heat. When grease is hot, pour egg batter into pan. Arrange peach slices on top of egg batter. Cover and cook over medium heat for 1 minute. Uncover and cook until set. Sprinkle with paprika. Let cool slightly before serving.

Meet Me Monday.................

1. What are you most afraid of?

Let's see besides snakes, I can only think of one big thing.....Death!

I am so incredibly terrified of dying. I can't even bring myself to think of one of my family memebers or close friends passing away. I just think that my life wouldn't be the same without any of them. I am an only child and have been worried about this for as long as I can remember.
Obsessive much?


2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?

Well right now no but when my hair is a little long, well them I'm a flat iron girl...but, back in the day, when I had long hair, I was a curling iron girl...just couldn't get the job done with a flat one!

3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?
Phone to the ear. I know everyday that I am behind the wheel I am breaking the law! Opps!
Yes.  I do get the weird quirk/fear. If I'm passing a police officer, I always try to act non-chalant and hide it...like he/she can't tell that I'm jabbering away on my phone! I'm afraid they'll pull me over, throw me in the clink for talking on my phone.

But it doesn't stop me.

4. Do you have a matching bedroom set? No I try to but I don't. I am going to do a bedroom, makeover in the future. It would be great to have a grown up room! So when I get done with my bedroom make-over I will post before and after pictres. Promise!


5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
Yes, I do. I feel there are people that spirits are left behind.

I like "scary stuff"...I enjoy the occasional ghost story...and I get totally intrigued by stories like the Glensheen Mansion. Oooooh, gives me the shivers just a little bit!

Sunday re-cap.

This past week has gone by so fast. I tryly never thought that this summer would almost be over in a blink of an eye. I am wondering if I am the only one that feels this way. I hate when summer ends, but I love when the fall starts. Here in Kingston today the weather was rainy and wet. Then this afternoon it ended with some heat and some sunshine. It was a pretty lazy day. I didn't shower I didn't get dressed I just lazy dazed around.

This week was so crazy busy that I could hardly keep up with anything and so my blog got a little forgotten.
Then I got told by a random person that my blog needed polish and that it wasn't as good as it could be.  The words that I read in the email that was sent to me made me feel sad and dumb. I decided that I would take a break for a little while and try to re-group. This is my baby. I love writing my blog and reading all of yours, the relationships I have because of this blog are amazing. That the fact of us having become freinds because of this blog is just wonderful. It is a great feeling to know that I can hop on this computer and just let it all out there and you will all be right there to lift me up. Just wish others could remember that saying..........."if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all." Yeah do what your mommy taught you.

Another reason that I haven't been writing this past week is because the MAC isn't working well. I have to take it into the shop for some work. It will be so freaking nice to have my baby back. I miss how easy it is compared to the PC and how in 5 years it has yet to crash on me!

My friend Steph and I went to this beautiful lodge on the Hood Canal. It was amazing. I will be posting that on Friday. I have been given some thought to the post and going over my notes and truly hope I can go back with my "Hub's" I think it would be just amazing in the dead of winter with the snow falling all over the property. Because of the lap top being down I have to do all my posts on a blackberry so please bare with me if you do happen to see the type o!

I promise I will be more into writing this week and that I will get to all of your blogs to say hi!  One more camping trip planned for the summer and its done. We have gone three times so far this summer and it has to be the best summer that I have had in a very long time.

Have a great night and a very wonderful Monday morning.

Meet Me Monday..............

1. Have you ever visited another country?
Not yet but there are a ton of places that I hope my blogging about Travel will lead me to.
I want to go and backpack Europe. I am planning so many things in my mind its crazy. :)
Oh I went to Victoria B.C. One time does that count? I always think as us and Victoria and Vancouver as part of Washington. :) We are so close and I love them all eh'

2. Where is the strangest place you have ever been?
Hands down the underground with my "sister" in Colorado Springs. I thought I was going to die
when we went into this black dungeon of a bar that use to be where people would go and get cremated. And the Goth crowd was around us but these people were my age, I am all into twilight but come on! :)

3. What is your favorite season?
I love all the seasons but I really love the fall, I love the colors the foods, the laying in bed to read, the last of the bon fires, the football games, the leaves changing, my Mom, Hub's,Daddy's, my sister in law's and my "sister" b-day. Craft fairs, hay rides, the boo at the zoo, the fairs, I love them all....Yup I love the fall.

4. What one song will always cheer you up?
The one on practical magic movie with the word's You put the Lime in the coke you nutt! :)
Also LA women by the doors when you drive in to the Valley of LA and for the first time you see all those lights. My Parents did this every time we drove to California. :)

5. What Disney character do you resemble most?
Oh man...... I would have to say Mary Poppins, not just because I dabble in nannying, and all things domestic but when I do those travel review's it seems like I have her bag. I'm pretty entertaining and I have a man that is my equal not all of who I am. Whenever I am sick I still to this day watch that movie over and over and over. I am able to get anyone to love me with a spoonful of sugar.

Say something Saturday.... SweetBrier Patch Review.......

Sweetbrier Patch is what I am going to write about this month. This is my saving grace for my dogs. The way in how they get groomed is so wonderful now. My Dog’s use to get so scared when we would hit a mile or two away from the groomers. Now that Sweetbrier Patch come to our home make both of my fur babies feel so much more at ease. Plus when I am at home writing then they each get some one on one time with me and I think that we all love that.

Linnie became a resident  of Kingston in 1994. Her grandparents built a summer home on Miller Bay in 1942. Back then it was just a summer cabin to visit when they would come from the "big city". There was no road beyond Bay Marine, so they would have to walk past that point. Showing her roots she told me  “My grandfather taught "electricity" at the U of W. My father grew up on Miller Bay and started his own business reparing outboard motors when he was only 12 years old! My aunt was a postmaster.”

“I love Kingston!” Linnie said.  When she moved here in 1994 from Spokane she lived in her grandparent's house on the bay for about a year. Like most people Linnie fell in love with Kingston the first time she drove through it. Something very quaint about it always stuck with her. Linnie and her husband purchased property on South Kingston 13 years ago, Linnie just couldn't imagine a better place to raise her kids. The friendly and supportive community and the willingness to help one another makes this place special.” I really wouldn't change a thing.”

When I asked Linnie if there was anything she would like to see in the community, She said “ I would like to see Kingston offer a dog park at some point in the future. I think there are many dog lovers in our area that would really appreciate a place to take their dogs and socialize.” With that being said I couldn’t agree more. Maybe this is just one more thing our growing community needs to work together on. 

 When she came to the idea to do grooming she had been in between jobs about 3-1/2 years ago and really gave it a lot of thought about what to pursue next.  She happened to be visiting with my friend one evening and we were tossing out different ideas and she said, "Hey, I always thought it would be fun to be a groomer. Especially if you were a mobile groomer". I didn't really think much of it that night but it really stuck with me for a few weeks” This lead her to start doing some research on grooming schools and grooming in our area. With that research she found a few schools on the Seattle side and a couple of mobile groomers around the Kitsap Peninsula. But only a few. This idea started to take off.

When she decided  to make the leap three years ago she never gave it a second thought and to this day has never looked back. “That's kind of how I am about things. Full speed ahead. I knew that is I wanted my business to work that I would have to offer something different. By going mobile this would offer service to your door, less stress on the dogs, and one on one attention in a safe and loving environment” Her  husband Chuck "tagged" along with me and after about a year, we decided to add a second trailer to help meet the demand. Chuck helps out with some of the larger bath dogs. In addition they use only natural and organic products and everything is biodegradable.  You could call us "green groomers".

In asking about her business I asked what the hardest part is and Linnie said that It would have to have been the commuting to Marysville for grooming school 5-6 days a week for 3-1/2 months, during the winter.  That is a lot of time to give when you have a family and we are on the Peninsula. All of us that have done it even one time knows that it takes dedication and that is just how dedicated Linnie was.

 The upside to having her own business is that I get to set my own hours and it works well for taking time off  to spend time with her family. The downside is that there is only one of her, so when she is booked full, she is booked full! I know this because it takes 4-6 weeks to get in with her.  I drag my feet sometimes and it just means that my poor dogs have to wait because I wont go to anyone else. I wait for an opening.

They give to the community as well, by donating gift certificates for local area auctions and have volunteered thier services at some local events. “We groomed the dogs that were in our son's classes at Gordon the past 2 years as our "volunteer" time.” They even have their own discount program for grooming service dogs and dogs of disabled veterans. In the future Linnie said “ I am hoping to work out some details with the Salvation Army and are hoping to start a program where we can groom some dogs for the homeless.”  It made me even more proud and wanting to keep my business with Sweetbrier Patch when she told me “I am a veteran myself, so it means a lot to me go give back where I can”

Linnie gives all the credit to her awesome family that consists of her husband, Chuck, and three sons, Talon, Colin, and Gavin.

In the future they are hoping to open a grooming shop in Kingston within the next 5 years, in addition to being mobile. We also want to offer a pick up and delivery option to the salon as we realize mobile might not work for everyone. I know that those that know and use Sweetbrier Patch hope so too.

Linnie is so passionate about what I do and everyday she get to work with dogs. Who wouldn't love that.

 “ The best thing I have learned from running my own business is that as long as you stay true to yourself, be honest with your clients,  and do your very best everyday then success is sure to follow!”  Linnie is part of our family now. We love all she does to our dogs and if my dogs love her and aren’t afraid of her, but instead run up to her even when they know their getting a bath it means something. Animals just know who to love and trust and those of us that are lucky to get Linnie to groom our dogs know it too, She is a special lady with a great business.

 Linnie would like to take some time to  just have to add “ That if  it weren't for all of those wonderful and patient clients that stuck with me through all of the "bad hair" days with their pups.first hair cuts. I wouldn't be where I'm at today. And for that I am truly grateful. Also for the wonderful pet stores and veterinarians who have recommended our services.”

One last note Sweetbrier Patch serves Kingston, Hansville, Poulsbo, & Bainbridge Island.

Happy Birthday to one of my best friends.

The Friendship that I have with Stephanie is one that started the way any other friendship would start. It was a day that "Hub's" said it was okay to go to a yard sale because it was only a few streets down from where we lived at the time. So we went over introduced ourselves and in an instant we were talking and exchanging numbers to meet up and have dinner together. They had three babies and we were getting close to trying to work on adopting. Here this girl just met me and we tell her we were working on starting a family and she gave me tons of baby items that her two year old twins no longer needed. 

This right here tell's you what an amazing person Steph really is. 

   Over the next few months we became even closer and got to really know one another.

Knowing that our friendship was a once in a life time find.  We are there for each other when we need someone to listen, to laugh with and to give a shoulder when we need to cry. 

My Hub's and her Hub's S went on the Husband play date and pasted with flying colors.

They have become the best of friends as well. 

Yeah for Husband Play dates!!!

 Over the years our families have become family. 

Celebrating daily events, special moments in each others lives.

Even become Auntie and Uncle to their three children.

Making the fact that "Hub's" and I feel a lot better not having 

a baby of our own. ( Yet )

I love the fact that this friendship is one I will have for the rest of my life.

She is my rock and is there whenever I need her. ( I need her alot)

When we needed a place to live they let us stay for free in their back cottage.

 Until we were able to get back on our feet.

 

 I will never be able to pay back the wonderful things they have done for us. 

One thing is for certain we are the lucky ones to have her and S in our lives. 

I  am not the only one that know's that being Steph's friend is a gift.

  She has ton's of friends.  

Each and every one of us know 

    how lucky We really are!     

I LOVE YOU STEPH!!

THANKS FOR LETTING ME BE A PART OF YOUR LIFE!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!