Mother Goose and Haiku

So about three weeks ago, I was at my favorite store, Target. I parked my car at the grassy median between the parking lanes and parking lot road.

Seated directly in front of my vehicle, was this goose.

I was in the store for about a half hour. I returned and the goose was still there. Actually she appeared to be doing a little dance and then she nestled back down in the same spot. Was she nesting? Are her little chicks going to hatch right here in the busy Gurnee Target parking lot?

I think so . We drove by twice in field service. Once on Saturday and then again on Monday. Mother goose was still there!

I may have to let the folks at Target know about this. But really, what do I expect them to do? Block off the road?



Now on to my Haiku. This has been in the works for 5+ years. Here goes:



Beautiful is the

Phosphorescent glow of spring

Coming every year

I don't know why the text is underlined. That's not even a toolbar option. Can anybody help me turn it off?

Kissy

Thank you and DDCP update

If you've been following the Joli blog you know that the followers have increased greatly. You guys rock. And if you haven't been following...why in tarnation not?!?

Speaking of Joli--the hat bribes--I mean gifts--have arrived. I am very pleased. They are cute, cute, cute!

And I may get to keep one! I hadn't ordered one for myself, but one of the invitees is unable to make it. Something about her daughter's dance competition. So we wish the little one the best and we will miss her parents from our party.

Also, we will be using real dishes, napkins and flatware. No paper disposables for us. The barware, of course, is real. Can you imagine Josh serving real cocktails in plastic glasses? Never!

ttfn

New blog to follow

So most of you know that my mom and sister own this fabulous little shop, Joli, in SC. They have started a blog letting their loyal shoppers (and fans across the country) know what's going on. They also have a monthly newsletter.

Thus far they only have 2 followers...me and my dad. Now, we know that this doesn't actually mean that Dad and I are the only one to read the blog; we're just the only followers.

So please check out this blog: http://jolihomeandevents.blogspot.com/ Mom would love it if you made yourself a "follower." You don't have to comment, but you may want share your email addy in order to get the newsletter. No purchase necessary.

I am buying the Derby Day Hat Gifts from them. If you read the first 2 or 3 posts, you'll get hints about the contents.

Thanks for your help. Mom will love you for it. I will too.

Derby Day hat update

So I went to Michael's this afternoon.

This is what I came up with:



I'm sure you see where I'm going with this, and in fact I finished my hat yesterday. I'm choosing not to post a picture of my hat just yet because some of my friends invited to this shin dig, read my blog. I want my hat to be a surprise.

Questions Answered

Okay, and I'm stalling. I don't want to do the list of chores that I made for myself this morning.

One of these questions was posed to me long ago via a comment on an unrelated blog entry. It had to do with folding fitted sheets. I had gotten into the habit of stripping the sheets, washing them and putting them right back on the bed. That pretty much left the folding out of the equation. Last week (Thursday, specifically), however, I put a completely new set of sheets on the bed. This allowed me to do pretty much nothing for the remainder of the day and not fold the sheets until today.

So getting back to the question which had to do with making the flat and the fitted sheet fold to the same size. I've found that (I'm gonna go all elementary school teacher here with my folding descriptions) folding the flat sheet in a "hot-dog" (longways) fold and then in a "hamburger" (width-ways) fold yields the perfect shape. Now you fold that large squarish shape in thirds and then in half.

I nest the four corners of my fitted sheets. Then I fold down the excess fabric and now I can fold in half one way and then in half the other way.

Other tricks and tips: I fold my sheets inside out. This way when I lay them on the bed to dress it, everything is facing the right direction. I also put my folded sheet in one of the pillowcases. Keeps the whole set together nicely in the closet. This is important when every set of sheets you have is ecru.

The other question, also asked in a recent comment on this blog, had to do with whether my cookbook will be for sale. The answer is yes, I think so. I'm doing this as a wedding gift, so I feel like I should seek the recipient's permission before I make it available to others. Many of the recipe contributors have, however, indicated an interest. I can let you know when it's available and how to get a copy yourself. There is no profit to me from selling the book.

That's all for now.
Kissy H

Kentucky Derby Hat; progress on cookbook, anniversary celebration

As I wrote the title, I realized that while I intended this to be an update style entry, I haven't told you anything about either one of those topics. So here goes:

For the DDCP '09, we decided we'd like the girls to wear hats. It's traditional at the Race. I don't want anybody to go nuts, buying extravagant and expensive hats. I want them to go nuts decorating inexpensive hats in a most unusual and extravagant way. So I bought mine at Target yesterday. It's white, it's straw-like, has a very broad brim and and a very tiny bow. I'm not sure how I'll embellish it. Any ideas?


Now to the cookbook. I'm writing a cookbook. Well, not actually writing it, more like compiling recipes from sisters in the congregation. It was slow going at first, but now I'm getting recipes everyday. Woohoo! I'm very excited about this...it will actually be printed, be hardbound and have photographs. What better project could I have undertaken...cooking, photography, and desktop publishing. (Allegra I could do this for the school, if there is an interest. Maybe.)

Also, we're having the inlaws over after Memorial this evening to mark their annivesary. It's not for a few weeks yet, but it happens to fall on DDCP day, and I have the gifts...and well you know what that is like. So what am I serving?, you ask. I am making baked procuitto cups and filling them with my caprese bruschetta topping. Also, I made chocolate cherry brownies last night. Super easy. Mix your favorite box brownie mix. Heat jar of your favorite jam, jelly, or preserves. Pour the brownies into your pan and top them with the warm jelly. Swirl the two together, and voila!
And here are pics of the anniversary gifts:


Eileen is the self proclaimed queen of every thing, so this seemed appropriate.


And Peter loves Chocolate (it deserves to be capitalized when your talking about chocolate for Peter). These are not real asparagus, nor are the chocolate covered anything. This is pure chocolate, through and through.

That's all for now!