Because I was too Chicken to read it...

Eric R. Gardner my brother in law passed away from  a courageous  battle with Cancer last week, 

receiving the diagnosis in February only to pass away in May.  My sister emailed me and asked if 

there was anything  I would like to say in Celebration of Eric's  Life on which was to be held on 

Wednesday.  I thought to myself. “Oh my, I could never do that, I’m a pretty emotional person and not sure 

sure I would be able to actually speak in any coherent language."

 Anyway I had pretty much decided I would bow out but...

 I was outside in the sun on Monday , I always feel a special connection to God and my own loved

ones past when the sun is shining down on me , it always just feels so good and the sun shine

 always makes me feel like I’m smiling inside. 

 While  washing my car  I was thinking  when our own Dad had a heart attack so many years ago

 , (coincidentally right on the same golf course where this service is being held and my brother just told

me it was on the 16th Tee ) Eric was the first one to offer to come pick my children and I up and 

bring us to Keene to be with our grieving family it was a long trip and he kept me talking the whole way to 

keep everyone relaxed, smiling and even laughing at some of his famous stories.

 Eric was the one at our fathers funeral who brought  all our spirits up with his witty story and that big 

smile of his while  telling us about the last few hours of our Dads life in a  funny story about the

Golf game He, my dad and my brother shared.   While I was thinking about that I

thought how little I really knew about Eric, never really spending more than an

after noon holiday or a quick dinner with He and Missy. But I do know this, he made my

Sister happy and for that I am grateful and I thank him, He was a loved Father and 


Grampa and for that I am grateful and Thank him.  People always say bad things about

lawyers especially in the line of practice Eric worked in but I know very well how

compassionate Eric was just from being around him. And how loved he was by his family.

I have one thing I want to say to all who are left behind, Missy, all the children and the

Grand children.  I do so believe in God, I do so believe in the power of prayer.  I do

know you are going to feel sad, and your going to miss Eric, there is no doubt about

that But I also know that he is still here with us in spirit. You just have to believe and

watch for the signs.  One day you’ll feel so sad and you’ll look and

there will be a beautiful rainbow in the sky, one day you’ll feel all alone and the song of

a bird or the color of a bright flower will remind that your not,

one day you’ll be hurting inside and a song will come on the radio that will bring a smile

to your face  Watch for the signs and welcome them and feel good knowing he is

watching over you. And be like me , feel good when the sun shines down on you, warming

your shoulders like a warm hug.

Tomato Soup can you say MMM Mmmm Good?

Taking in my new style of living I am learning from my son and daughter I have decided if I can make it then I am no longer going to buy it.  So I've started making my own soups, sauces, bread you name it. The garden has been started so even better, sometime this fall I'll be putting up my very own tomatoes to make this soup! OH I am so excited about this, its a great feeling ! Anyhow the soup !

I start of with about:
10 Good sized tomatos quartered.
              ( I've tried several types so far I have no favorites so I think any kind works fine.)
 Get a good sized soup pot and put about 1/4 cup of water in the bottom then add the tomatoes, I usually take a chopper at that point and chop them well so they cook down a bit quicker or you can do that before you add them to the pot too whichever works easier for you!  Boil the tomatoes until they are soft the juice is boiling well.
I take them off the stove and put them through my blender at this point, and then strain to remove the seeds.  Of course if you don't want to go through this process you can buy a couple cans of tomatoes but you'll be surprised how much salt is in that can.

Get another large pot and add :
2 tablespoons of Oil.
 1 Large chopped Onion
 2 chopped garlic cloves
 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
 1/4 cup of celery
your tomatoes or 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
1 quart of vegetable broth
1 tablespoon of worcester sauce

simmer this for about 1/2 an hour or until the vegetables are soft.
Removed from stove and blend with your blender or food processor until smooth.

Add:
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
and a few drops of Franks Extra Hot

Pour into a cup and mmm mmm good!

A walk to home and back to town?

Yep so I needed to take our Jeep in to get the winter snow tires off, of course its my fault if it snows this weekend, you can put the blame right on me well and a bunch of other people who were doing the same thing, we were thinking that it must be spring NOW!  I decided since it was a perfect walking day in the upper 50's with a light breeze blowing that I would walk home and back later to get the car about 2 1/2 miles each way.

First  thing along my walk I noticed to discover it IS Spring was the sound of "Peepers" in the air!  Some places people might have snakes or crocs in their swamps..well we have "Peepers" they won't hurt you but if you don't like the sound of "Peep, Peep, Peep" over and over then they might just drive you a bit nutty. Me, I love um.!

We have had alot of rain this spring, plus a huge snow storm dropping 2 feet of snow and melting in 3 days so we've got no water shortages here!

Interesting how the trees in in full bloom down in the valley where up in the mountains where we live the buds haven't opened fully yet.

Uh Oh, the skies were getting really dark ahead at this point I still had about a mile and a half to walk , luckily from this point on there were plenty of places to duck in to if it started raining.  This is the reason I brought my cell phone to take photos and nt my Canon Rebel Xti, the cell phone is MUCH easier to stuff in a pocket to stay dry!

Now I"m walking into Montgomery Village, I love it here, such a quaint little Town with well taken care of homes and beautiful gardens to enjoy.

Another sign of all that water, course with all the mountains around the water does have to come down..:) This is a beautiful little brook though with a few water falls further up which I can even hear from our house after the rains fall.

Looking at back at where I had been, the road had recently been graded and was quite slick and muddy to walk on glad I wore my hiking shoes with the grippy soles. Almost home about 1/2 mile to go but the hardest part as the elevation is about to move up from 400 feet to 800 feet quick!

There is something special about Vermont. Usually though I can see a mountain in the distance there but it was all covered up with clouds from the upcoming storm.

In the distance I can see the hill that soon I'll be climbing, I remember when I first moved here it took me so long to walk up there , having to stop and rest so many times, but living here has made me healthier and now I can walk up it and rest just to enjoy the sites! What do they stay , you have to stop to smell the roses , right?

Up we go , luckily the mud was drier here or the walk up would of been quite difficult.

First grade almost over on to the next one. It was a beautiful day, what a great walk.

Around here we've got animals everywhere, I found several deer tracks crossing the road.

Almost home and I'm still smiling.:)

When I got home I did some gardening until the storm hit. Oh and what a storm it was, the wind came up like crazy and I saw two trees topple over , I ran inside and I thought, " oh my, I'm so glad I got home before THAT started!"






Later on that afternoon, I had to walk back down into the center to pick up my Jeep, the sky was blue and it looked like the storm was over so I got my sneakers back on and grabbed my raincoat just incase.  The sky was blue most of the way but when I got on the stretch where there are no houses I looked behind me to see this...

Yep, there was rain in the air and it was coming fast, so I put it in high gear to see if I could beat it before it got to where I was.

Well, after a bit I could see that wasn't going to happen, luckily the town garage was right up ahead and I knew they had a big open garage for the sand and salt , I walked inside a bit a few minutes later it let loose! Wow I was glad I had a place to take cover!

When the rain let up to a sprinkle I stepped outside and looked back to see blue sky coming so I zipped up my coat and put up my hood and started walking again. It actually felt quite refreshing!

I was in the center soon and enjoying the fresh smells of the flowering trees again.

Spring is in the air!












So I finally saw the garage in site , the chill in the air had got to my bones so when I saw this sign I thought. hmmmm PIzza for dinner...what a great idea! Usually I do make my own but after walking 5 miles today I figured heck let someone else make me dinner! And thats what I did!

So that was my adventure for the day! Now I hear we are getting snow...I guess its my fault since I had the snow tires taken off!

Mmmmmmm Banana Bread

Tried a new recipe and added my own twist and ooo I like it...:) Only thing is my bread pan was a bit too big next time I will use the 8" pan to give the bread more depth.

If using a conventional bread pan grease and flour it (I just got some of those nifty rubber looking loaf pans wow! no oil needed and the bread just POPS out! love them!)

Mix together:
1/2 cup nuts ( I know my daughter doesn't like nuts in bread but I love um...:)
1 farm fresh egg
3 ripened bananas
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tbls unsalted butter melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

add to this mixture
2 cups of flour
1  1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
only stir enough to  mix in the ingredients over mixing will make the bread tough.

spoon into pan and bake for 1 hour in a preheated 350 degree oven
when done let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
If you have a big dog put it up HIGH......(I've lost many loaves by thinking, its hot, he won't eat it....)