A Girl and her Drone- Plus Other Cool Gifts

Now Who is this gift for?

The tag says it is for Taylor, but do you think Pops has designs on it?

You have three guesses and the first two don't count.

Heck, Yes!!

It started out to be an inexpensive grocery store offering

for a pretty cool double bladed helicopter with a LED 

light, which we got for her cousin.  But then Pops said,

Let's go to the Hobby Shop!!

Uh oh.

 I went over to look at the "girl stuff" and when I came back

it was like the Geek convention.  Here they were talking

copters, gear, flight paths, ranges, etc.

Ummm, this is a kid's toy

(A Big Kid's toy from what I am seeing)

It doesn't look like any helicopter I've ever seen.

That's because it's a Quad Copter, or in other words

A Drone.

This one did not come with a camera but can be retro fitted.

It works on a  2.4 Ghz, a frequency Tom is licensed for

through his ham radio license, which means he can ramp

up power, better transmitters, etc.  Google has been 

talking about experimenting using these for repeaters

rather than towers, amazing!  These are similar to

what Amazon intends to use for package delivery.

 He is going to set up obstacle courses and landing targets

 once she gets good at it.  Pops seems to be practicing 

a lot, even when Taylor is not here!

He must be breaking it in for her.

That's it.

We got some other really cool gifts this year .

The cats got me a travel acrylic paint set.

 I also got some drawing pencils to go with it.

In  addition to a pocket knift and thumb guard for whittling.

I have no idea if I will be good at this but

thought it would be fun to try, especially

as we spend a lot of time sitting around the fire

or on the covered porch in the summer.

There are directions for making tiny animals

as well as other handy things.

Our neighbor gave us a Mushroom Mini Farm!

She had tried one of her own and it grew right out of

the box.  The photos were amazing, so pretty!

I'm looking forward to starting it.

Santa brought Pops an old time game,

he's always been fond of these things-

you know- how to unhook the horse shoes or

entwined nails or the peg games for tic tac toe.

Becky (my daughter) and Taylor (granddaughter)

Christmas Eve next door at my mother in law's house.

My daughter working as bartender.

Neighbors came to visit.

My brother/sister in law's mantle with the 

required opossum among the stockings (???)

Kids by the fire

Mom was not here, the first time in years and years.

She is still recovering from her months in the hospital, 

feeling much better and getting around the house 

unassisted now.  She spent the holiday with friends

 back in Arkansas. We gave her a Google Nexus so she

has her email and Facebook right by her chair and

can keep up with messages and photos of the family 

and friends.   It also has Google Hangouts which is

similar to Skype but easier. We'll teach her to use that

and we can video chat.

No Problem, I've Got Nine Others

It is so comforting to get a call at work from my husband

 and his first words are 

Look Up Mercy Clinic- find the closest one!

Huh?

No problem, I've just about cut off my finger and need

stitches, he tells me.

Go to the fire station, it's only 3 miles away, 

not 20 like the Urgent Care, I say.

No, just look up the address and hurry, he says,

since the blood is dripping all over.

Oh, and I hope I don't pass out.

WHAT!

As many of you know, he is woodworking and has been 

a carpenter for over 30 years so he's used to 

tools.  There's always a chance of injury and for

the most part his have been not too, too serious.

Until now.

He was making a bowl out of some of the wood 

from our property .  We have lots of hard maple and 

white oak plus sycamore and cedar.

Now I won't explain this right, but from what I gather,

the blade got jammed as he was cutting around something

 and kicked everything sideways, pulling his hand with it.

It sliced down his finger following the nail and

then a little sideways, cutting through the bone and

crushing it.  He had the sense to wrap it

properly and clean out whatever wood was left in it

before going to the doctor, a little CERT training

 kicked in.  The Doctor was pleased as it was 

the best thing to do if you can stand to

watch your finger split in half!

The bad thing is that it took 25 shots to try and

numb the pain.  He is one of the very few people 

that are unresponsive to the "caine" drugs such

as Novocaine and Lidocaine.  It makes sense

because the oral surgeon could never numb him

either.  The people who are likely to have this also

have joint connectivity issues or ADD (/ADHD),

both of which I suspect exist in my husband.

So, his hand was on fire for most of the day and night

but he is feeling better today.  It still hurts but

not the red hot pain of yesterday.

  It is causing some other problems such as 

showering (keeping it dry), buttoning and raising

and lowering the foot of his recliner.  I won't even

talk about the bathroom!

He's getting by and hopefully this will be healed

enough for him to work after the holidays. 

The good news is that we may have used his deductible

already and this one will be on the house!

Probably not though, it always has a way of costing money.

 I swear I am going to wrap him in boat bumpers and 

bubble wrap, plop a helmet on his head and give him

chainmail gloves.  He already has the steel toe boots.

I guess he'll finish that bowl after the stitches are

removed and the metal splint is off.  I can hardly 

wait to see what this one looks like!  

He'll never be able to be a hand model again!

(unless it's the Before photos)  

LOL

  

Here are some of the pens he has been selling, 

the bolt action ones seem to be the best sellers

especially to hunters and anyone wanting a novelty pen.

RIP Spot

I lost Spot on December 23.

It wasn't unusual for him to disappear for a day,

to tangle with any strays that might wander into

the yard, or go seeking trouble on his own.

So it didn't really surprise us when he limped home

the evening of the 22nd.  There was no visible signs of 

trauma, no blood, no broken bones or yelping when I 

picked him up.  We determined he may have twisted 

something and would be fine in a day or two.

I made  him a little bed out of my old sweaters piled 

into a box.  He walked in, got comfortable and

purred as I sat petting him.  

The next morning he wasn't in the box so we 

figured he was feeling much better and went out

for his normal stroll around the property.

It wasn't until I returned home on Tuesday evening

that I found him lifeless under the porch.

I took a flashlight and checked him out carefully,

still nothing to say what happened.

Now we figured he may have gotten into something

poisonous or caught a mouse that had been poisoned. 

We will never know.

I had to bury him Christmas Eve morning.

We live on a rocky ridge with little to no deep dirt

so I wrapped him in one of my old sweaters,

closed up his box and took him up to the

garden when Lizzie cat is buried. 

Tom gathered stones and brought a couple

of loads up with the tractor and we built a mound

of rock heavy enough so the animals can't disturb it. 

He was our only male, one of many strays that

stayed on with us.  I would say he was my cat

but really, I was his person and he knew he  had

dibs on my lap  as we sat around the fire or 

under the cover of the front porch.

It wasn't the Christmas gift I was looking forward to

but at least he didn't wander off as

some of the past strays have,  where I call

for them for days upon days.

He was a good cat and I'll really miss him.

Butterscotch Amaretto Cookies

Today is my neighbor's annual cookie exchange.

 I know this is coming up 12 months in advance,

but do I plan what I will bring?

Do I prebake?

NO.

So at the last minute- 

and I mean the Last Minute, we were driving to the store,

I came up with butterscotch amaretto cookies.

 To make the selection more attractive (hopefully)

I decided to package them in red wire baskets

lined with white tissue.  The cookies are wrapped

in cling wrap to keep them bundled and a little

tissue bunched up behind them to keep them upright.

I added dollar store items:

a scraper/spreader and a red and white scoop

that can be used for flour, grain, cat food, etc.

 Then I sprinkled the top with butterscotch candies

as well as strawberry filled hard candy.

Ingredients

  2 1/4 C flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

 2 sticks of butter (1 cup) softened

  3/4 C brown sugar - packed

3/4 C granulated sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 eggs - large

2 C butterscotch chips

(nuts optional)

Oven temperature 375 degrees F

Makes about 4-5 dozen cookies depending on size.

Set aside in a small bowl:

Flour, baking soda and salt

In a large bowl or with a mixer:

Beat the butter, sugars and almond extract until creamy

Add the eggs separately and continue to beat the batter.

Add the flour mixture a little at a time until well mixed.

Add in the butterscotch chips

Add nuts if desired  

I  place parchment paper onto insulated cookie sheets 

to make removal easier.  I drop about a tablespoon of dough 

into three or four rows until I have a dozen or 16 on a sheet.

Bake around 9 minutes, a minute or two more if needed.

 I slide mine from the sheets onto cooling racks 

(still on the parchment paper)

 so I can quickly reuse my pans with new parchment 

as I bake additional batches. 

These are sweet, very sweet.

If you prefer something a little less sweet 

try using white chocolate and dried cranberry

or other combinations of chips.

We made six dozen of the same cookies 

but there were nine people attending

which means you don't all get the same cookies.

To select your cookies, you take a number.

In this case I was #1 (Go Kathy!)

We line up and the first person (me) goes first around

the table and takes a batch of their choice.

Then #2, #3, etc. until we have made the rounds

and all the cookie batches were accounted for.

My selections were sugar cookies, gooey butter, spritz, 

another type of sugar cookies, double chocolate chip and

the coveted pineapple roll ups that the hostess made.

These are amazing and I have no idea how she makes them.

We also had time to mingle and have the appetizers, 

dips and sweets the hostess provided on top

of hot buttered rum or wine for those that preferred 

that to soda or water.  I stuck with water and a little

orange soda; however, I might have tried the hot

buttered rum if it had been a Saturday night.

Taylor is off school so she stayed with us and

attended the party, playing with the kids,

while my husband kept company with one of the husbands 

  up at the fire he made to burn off some of the brush.

We're all home now and I am skipping dinner,

  I had plenty of appetizers to tide me over

probably for days to come!

It it up for work tomorrow,

I'll be one of the very few there this week

since I have used all my days (and then some)

but it will be only Monday/Tuesday

and then we are off on Wednesday and Thursday

but back to work on Friday.

The tree is up and now all I have to do

if find the stockings and wrap some gifts.

 

My Diagnosis

I have had a strange malady.

I thought I was the ONLY ONE,

and it was too embarrassing to discuss.

So I scoured the internet until one day

I found my diagnosis!

I have 

INTERNET ELBOW

  Yes, that's right. Internet Elbow.

It starts out mysteriously, and you blame it on

everything but the actual cause.

It affects primarily office workers that are either

shorter or taller than average and who also

are using corner cubicles where their chair

is not the same height as the work surface

and there is no keyboard tray.

  When you are in this situation, you tend to 

lean into your desk, bracing yourself with one

or the other elbow, normally the non-mouse elbow.

Over the course of time you wear holes into your sleeves,

ruining your sweater, shirt or jacket!

The cure is to have proper posture and

position your chair so the padded arms are

at work surface height.  For those that are short,

as am I, you may need to prop your feet up to reach the  ground.

 Once you have your elbows off the work surface,

assuming it does not make your back or neck hurt,

your problem will be solved.

But what to do with the holes in your clothing?

 I am going to try to darn and patch.

This hole is pretty big - I stretched the sleeve over

a light bulb so you can see the hole.  It's a knit 

fabric, sort of a heavier T-shirt weight so the hole

looks larger than it is.  I may need to patch with either

  a good grade felt or suede to save the jacket. 

 I'll just tell them it's the new fashion!

I assume I can do this by fusing the material to the jacket

and providing a foundation fabric on the inside of the sleeve.

 I really thought I was the only one with this problem

but  when I mentioned it at lunch, everyone else started

telling me how they are wearing holes in their sleeves too.

        They had no idea what was causing it but now that we

know what we are dealing with, we can conquer this.

WORD VERIFICATION? When Did This Happen?

I tried to comment on my own  blog and

it is asking me to complete the 

Prove You Are Not A Robot  box.

I DO NOT have word verification on.

Comment moderation is ON, so I approve them first.

Where did this come from?

Santa and the Harley 2014

Flash forward to 2014 and Taylor is still visiting Santa

and being all photogenic on a Harley trike.  

She did a little shopping while we were waiting.

Trying to determine which one was the perfect gift

for Santa to bring a 10 year old!

Uncle Dan and Cousin Gabe had a few things in mind too.

The orange tree is still there, standing by the 

gift table where you can find almost anything Harley

from glasses to slippers.  And the purses,

don't forget the purses!

 Metal signs from vintage to modern.

Santa gave her a green apple flavored candy cane and 

promises of gifts to arrive since she had been so good.

We  signed up for the quilt raffle that is is this weekend

after the bake sale  so  we'll see what the future brings.

Santa Rides A Harley (Again)

This is a repeat post of our December 2007 visit

to Santa during a horrible ice storm so our 

three year old granddaughter, Taylor, would

not miss telling him what she wanted for Christmas.

It was a day of discovery both for a young girl

and also for an old grandma.  

Santa Rides a Harley

Sleet and snow blanketed our area unexpectedly December 2007 on a most important day, at least for three year old Taylor, our granddaughter.  It was the day she was supposed to see Santa and tell him what a fine girl she had been all year.   We were going to the mall which was at least thirty miles from our home and twenty of those are over curvy, hilly, two lane, no shoulder roads where roll-overs are the norm.  The fortunate ones don’t land upside down in the many small creeks. 

How was I going to break the news that we just couldn’t make it?  She truly is a fine girl.  One of the most well behaved children, kind and sharing.   I don’t say this simply because she is my grandchild, it was a concentrated effort of all parties involved to set limits, examples and actually provide discipline rather than have a kiddie free-for-all that is so common these days.  Then it hit us-

Our local paper advertised Santa’s arrival at the nearby Harley dealership.  It is located at the cross section of Hwy 44 and 50 just outside of Union, MO.  It stands by itself, very rural and of course has motorcycles in the parking lot.   I have passed by it several times and there have been some pretty strange looking people there.  I was a bit nervous; I had watched movies where Hell’s Angels terrorized towns.  They rode Harleys.   There were tatted up, leather capped, long hair bearded men - also women in tall boots donned in pure black leather with more than a hint of silver studding.  We could get there, but would we get back?

It was only eight miles away, we could make it.  We all jumped into the 4WD truck and headed to the dealership.   I asked my husband to wait in the truck with Taylor while I checked out the store, just in case we had to hightail it out of there.   No, I’m not the brave one, I just can’t reach the truck pedals to make the fast getaway.  He thinks I am ridiculous, a West County princess, but gives in to my request. 

I gingerly approached the door, entered the building and what to my wandering eyes did appear . . . . . ?  Sitting atop a beautiful, shiny motorcycle was a wonderfully jolly, white haired, bearded Santa donned in Santa red and white from tip to almost toe-the required black boots as the finishing touch.  The pretty lady elves in elfin garb, their pointy caps all green and red, ushered the little children to Santa, snapping photos of each- compliments of the dealership.   Little play areas were set up among the aisles where awaiting tots could build with blocks, play with tiny cars or hug stuffed bears. 

The store had been transformed into a winter wonderland with homemade decorations of candy canes and packages high up on the walls.  Display areas were filled with stuffed animals, an unusual selection with anteaters, opossums, skunks, chipmunks and squirrels, all at very reasonable prices.  There were Christmas trees- the traditional green bushy variety. There was also a very special orange and black tree covered in Harley ornaments, all very pretty and quality made.  Across the store was the bake sale with freshly made cookies, fudge and candies which rivaled any PTO selection I have seen.  All proceeds would go to charity, just one of their many charitable events throughout the year. 

I ran back to the truck to get Taylor.  She couldn’t miss this, and I couldn’t pass up this photo op!  Now this is our annual Christmas event.   She loves that Santa and you can tell how much he loves the kids.  He takes his time with them, no rushing.  He has an actual conversation with them, and also with the parents. Then he pulls everyone in for a group photo.   I’m no longer uneasy around the long haired, bearded, leather capped and tatted up patrons, in fact, I would really love to have one of their leather tooled black purses complete with the silver studding  but they are way above my price point!    I make certain to purchase several items from their bake sale and Taylor always gets her pick of unusual stuffed animals, my favorite being the opossum.

So the magic of Christmas didn’t stop at a child’s wonder but also transformed the preconceived ideas of a grandma.  Peace on earth and goodwill to all.  Merry Christmas.