Country Western Song

Many people can relate to this song. Saw it on Facebook. I thought it was "cute". 'It is hard to kiss the lips at night that chew your as- ... '
Well, you get the picture!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjkLf_X88WM

From Mickey-snow pics

In case we forget what we come south to avoid....

see where the snow is over the fence

this is looking down my sidewalk toward my front deck

this shows the drift between my place and next door

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES!!!!

Lemon Filling:

3 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

3 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. lemon zest, loosely packed

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Cupcakes:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Meringue:

3 egg whites

pinch of salt

1/4 cup sugar

1) Make lemon filling: In small saucepan over low heat, whisk egg yolks, sugar, flour, and salt; whisk in lemon juice, lemon zest, water, and melted butter; increase heat to medium and, whisking constantly, cook until lemon filling is smooth and thick, about 7 minutes; remove from heat and set aside

2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees

3) Make cupcakes: In medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs, lemon juice, baking powder, and salt; beat in flour until just combined

4) Divide cupcake batter between 12 cupcake liners in a muffin pan; bake 15-16 minutes until center of cupcakes firms up; remove cupcakes from oven and cool 5-8 minutes (do not turn off oven)

5) Meanwhile, make meringue: beat egg whites with salt until mixture begins to stiffen; add sugar and beat until meringue is stiff and forms pretty peaks (don't overdo it)

6) With a sharp knife, remove center of each cupcake (about 1" in diameter), leaving a layer of cupcake beneath cut out; discard cupcake core (or treat the weary baker to a tart little snack); fill cupcake centers with lemon filling

7) Divide dollops of meringue between cupcakes, spreading out to edges and gently tapping with back of spoon to form peaks; return cupcakes to oven and bake an additional 5-6 minutes until meringue peaks are golden brown; remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes; refrigerate an hour or more before serving

Makes: 12 absolutely delicious cupcakes

Slow down

I sent out an email to some of my newbie computer people because I haven't heard from any of them for a few days. The feedback is that they are figuring out things on their own. Good news! For them and me. I did get a bit of a hint that Fridays lesson should be about organizing files and folders. That is something that can get out of hand before you know it as we all know.
Butch has a cold/allergies. I also have a touch of the allergy business. The trees are leafing out and it is always a time that gives our allergies fits both north and south. Butch being the energizer bunny that he is always works through this cold/allergy business. I on the other hand if it is severe curl up in a ball and wait till it goes away. I am not at that point but if I were suffering in the same way he is I would be.
Our friends in Canyon Lake, Terry and Lisa Linder will be picking up our headboard at Ikea for us in the next few days. So that seals our path out of the valley this Spring. We will be going to Canyon Lake for sure. Do not know where from there. That is still an unknown.
My thoughts have been turning in that direction lately but only my thoughts. We went back way too early last Spring and we do not plan to repeat that mistake. We shivered for two months last year. We would have the house this year so we would not be shivering in the moho at least.
So it is time to check in the the Sochi Olympics...
Till next time!

Snow Rollers in Iowa

From an Iowa friend:

This was on Channel 8  KCCI tv in Des Moines tonight.  I had never heard of them.   John the weather man said he has been there for 27 yrs and he had never seen them before.   Guess the wind and the snow have to be just right for them to form.

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/rare-snow-rollers-form-in-iowa/24524000

Love Janette

Spread the laughter, share the cheer
Let's be happy, while we're here!!

Spring Has Sprung

There is hope. Spring has sprung in Sunny South Texas.

The leaves have returned to the trees and the forecast looks closer to normal

It seems fine having our weather returning to what we are more accustomed to.

WEBSITE OF THE DAY-LibriVox

LibriVox https://librivox.org/. Free public domain audio books for anyone to listen to — on their computers, iPods or other mobile device, or to burn onto a CD. More than 7,000 cataloged works available, and growing. Librivox is a non-commercial, non-profit and ad-free project, powered by volunteers (maybe you?).

Elise in a train hat- Super cute!

Hopeful

The weather moderated a bit today and tomorrow is supposed to be a jewel with temps in the mid 70's with sunshine! Next Tuesday is another dip but then it looks good for 10 days out with temps staying in the 70's. I really feel bad for people coming to the valley for the first time. They are not getting the best view of this very beautiful place and I could see where they would think we were not worth a second look.
We have been in bad weather mode for what seems like ages. I am hoping we can venture out into the sunshine and do some different activities more in keeping with summer...like grilling a burger...or wearing shorts...or watching the bobble heads in the pool. Hopeful...ever hopeful!!

Winter in South Texas

This has been the coldest winter we have ever spent in South Texas. In the olden days the weather is a non-issue. We used to joke about the weather report being all of of 30 seconds long and monotonous. Today the temps did not get out of the 30's. Has that ever happened before? Yes, maybe once or perhaps twice in a whole winter!  We are having to wash our winter clothes far more frequently and many of us did not bring enough with us to last from one wash day to the next. Cabin fever is taking its toll as well. Yes, we can get out and scurry from one building to another but being the warm blooded folk we have become we are very reluctant to do so. Butch and I had a conversation this morning whereby we are toying with the idea of staying here longer this Spring. It is far too early to make that call but it is a seed in the back of our minds.

Butch had a pool league to play in this afternoon and he did not do well. We came to the conclusion that his hands are like ice and being plagued with arthritis form all his winters of outdoor work they simply do not work as well as he would like. He sat with a heating pad on his hands for the remainder of the afternoon and finally managed to get the cold to leave his hands.
I have stayed in most of the day and worked on beading some rings and some computer work. I have on two pair of socks, two shirts topped off with a hooded sweatshirt and I have not once broke a sweat.

So tomorrow I must get out because I have computer classes in the morning. Will anyone show up?

Clean Your RV Windows & Mirrors Super Fast (no window cleaner )

Today is not a good window cleaning day but it could be a perfect video watching day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egT7FYHlWho

Up North Great Grands

Leo is learning to vacuum very early in life

Elise is working with edible glitter

And Ethan is outside having fun with snow,,,lots of snow!

From Grandpa Gary

Who has no school today and has not had school for most of the week.
View of his deck...

And then...
Gary says...

Got around to editing a pic I took last week. Leo was a little fussy so I thought he might need his bottle early. Next thing I know, he put himself to sleep by the back door where momma left from.

The Days are Full and Busy...

Coffee hour this morning of course and then I came home to get a soup going since our weather has been soup type weather far too often this winter. This next week is predicted to be more of the same. I was short a couple of carrots so I moseyed down to my friend Kay's place to borrow a couple of carrots. The veggie cart was scheduled to be here at 1:00 but I wanted the soup on its way to completion by then. And it was. When the cart arrived I bought 6 very large carrots, 2 very large heads of farm fresh cauliflower and a stalk of celery for $7. I returned Kay's carrots.
Then I helped one of my Apple/Mac people who has Chrome get the Magnolia contacts into her gmail account. That went smoothly and quickly.
Next a 3:00 pm haircut appt with Yolanda. Quick stop at the grocery store for some Crackers for Butch.
Home-
Soup for supper
And then Butch off to the Pool hall and me getting caught up on the computer. And this is how it goes. And here we are!!

Teeter kids go swimming!

The goggled girl-Elise

and her baby brother Leo-now 9 months old

It came to mind...

I took a few pictures for the next directory. They missed this years deadline so I put them in a file named  Magnolia directory 2015. 2015!! Oh my how time flies no matter if you are having fun or not!. It is so hard to believe we are into February already.
This afternoon I went to a friends house and there I was when the cold front came through and dropped the temp by 10 degrees in a matter of a few minutes. I had come without a jacket so I made the return trip in a beeline for home. Missed the second walk of the day. That has happened frequently this season, one of the coolest on record for South Texas.

A house was moved here in the park yesterday and I swear half the park were preoccupied with the process. I was preoccupied with other stuff but my friend Deon did get pictures and will be putting together a smilebox slideshow so keep checking for that.

Costco Thursday!

Peggy is kind enough to take us on a Costco tour, usually on Thursdays. We have a bunch of fun on girls day at Costco. We have a little lunch from all the offerings and sometimes we succumb to temptation and buy into it and other times we pass it by.

Letter to My Grandfather by Colleen O'Brien

Reading my friend Colleen's column is like an early morning walk with her on the bike trail.
In this one she ponders what her grandfather would think of the newfangled stuff we all have now.
Enjoy
http://greenecountynewsonline.com/2014/01/22/letter-to-my-grandfather/#more-2029

Catch up

Well now really, what have I been doing, the answer my friends is the same stuff as I was a week ago. My two brand new baby newbies are coming along at a very fast pace. I said to Sally,"When was it that your Chromebook got here?" The answer is 4 days ago! She is sending email and checking in on Facebook and beginning to be comfortable in doing that. Her hubby Don pretty much has his Kindle Fire figured out and can navigate it almost faster than I can. I doubt that it is a month old. They both have taken off like big agile birds.
Our weather in a word stinks. The trees were coated with ice this morning however the high for tomorrow will be 70+ and I am ready. I haven't had a good walk now for a couple of days.

I was very surprised to get an email from my sis-in-law Keri telling  me that her workplace is switching to Chrome/gmail. She isn't all that crazy about it, of course, because it is always a bit uncomfortable to change. Daughter-in-law Susan wasn't either when her workplace did the same. It has been long enough now  for Susan that I imagine she has figured it all out. I came to Chrome basically because I liked the speed of the browser compared to the other top two-Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.  I kind of doubt that Internet Explorer is still in the top 3 but it might be. It has probably been 8+  years since I last used it. The last time I did use it, on someone else's computer, I found that it had not changed much. Still slower than molasses in January.

So I find that helping others with their computers makes me a bit buggy eyed by the time I get to my own stuff. Oh yes, that reminds me of the 20-20-20 rule for sitting at the computer. To prevent eyestrain you are supposed to take a 20 second break every 20 minutes and look up and out at a point at least 20 feet away. Very good advice-Pass it on.

Now I think I will check in with my "Words with Friends" people and see how bad they are beating me.

Here we go again

The temps are to drop into the 40's and stay that way for a couple of days. I am always so grateful that my interests basically revolve around indoor activities. I love to walk and bike but a couple of days away from those activities are not bad. Now when we get into the 3rd day I start getting antsy.
This morning I wandered over to the pool hall to join the other ladies playing. I had a good time and played well.

I decided to look for a bit of color to add to the blog. It is kind of amazing that when I go back and look at pictures I take, I am whisked  back to that moment in time and I know exactly where the picture was taken, This was taken at the Leo and Keri Brooker house on their patio on the northeast part of their yard.

Now this is freaky. I turned the channel because I was "watching" the public television station but they decided to show a Texas political show so I stayed with public television but a different one and they were covering photographers and asking them how they feel about their photos and what they were thinking at the time they took the shot. My photo above was taken because I loved the color contrast and I am always partial to flowers.