Will it never end?????

Only five days to go!  I am so over political advertisements!  Right now I don't care who wins.  And I probably won't care much when it's over either.  It seems to me it's just a bunch of people seeing how much they can spend to hold power.  Bah.  Humbug.

Now.  On to important things ... I made a pie today!  Probably sounds like braggin' but it's pretty yummy, too.  So I'm sharing the recipe here and saying it's just as good as Wick's Sugar Cream Pie!  Big talk, I know -- but try it, and let me know if you did and if you liked it, and how it worked for you!

INDIANA SUGAR PIE (from Marcia Adams' "Heartland" Amish cookbook)

1 8" unbaked pie shell
4 T. all-purpose flour
2 T. cold butter
1 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 c. heavy (whipping) cream
1 c. milk (whole, 1%, 2% ...)
1 t. vanilla extract
grated nutmeg for garnish

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Blend the flour, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor until well combined and smooth, about 5 seconds. Pour into the unbaked pie shell.

Add the cream and mix gently, thoroughly with your fingers, being careful not to break through the bottom crust.

In a measuring cup, combine the milk and vanilla; pour over the top of the cream mixture but don't stir in.  Sprinkle lavishly with nutmeg.  Place pie on baking sheet for stability.  Bake for 1 1/2 hours.  (This seems too long, but it does require long baking.  And remember, it's only at 300 degrees F.)

The center of the pie will be bubbly and still a little wiggly.  Cool completely at room temperature before cutting.  Store leftovers in frig.

Here it  is, right out of the oven.  I know; it looks like it didn't bake long enough, but it did and it firmed up perfectly.  We just had a piece tonight with a cup of coffee and it was delish.  And so simple!  ANYONE can make this pie.  Honestly.

I was successful in the "stirring" with my fingers because I just cut my nails back!  LOL!!! (And now that I look at them, I need a manicure ..........)

You know we enjoy visiting antiques shops.  Well, we went to Vincennes recently and visited Shakers Landing.  Found a couple of small green planters to add to my collection.  They had some neat stuff; we hadn't been there for some time and enjoyed the trip.  Had lunch at Procopio's; first time we'd been there and really enjoyed it.  I'd recommend that restaurant to anyone.  Also took a walk along the Wabash on their newly remodeled riverfront walk.  And drove along the new (to me) section of riverfront drive.  It was a beautiful fall day and it was good to be alive and out and about in Indiana!

They have an outside area with all sorts of architectural salvage ...

And indoors there's plenty to keep you occupied.  Love this 'weed' sign -- I probably should have bought it to put down along the river to help the pot farmers find their plot by boat.

I thought this lamp made from fittings was unusual and almost bought it.  Couldn't think of any place to put it though!  I did buy some yardsticks that I then used to make a 5-sided star.  Hung it on the wall downstairs.

We went to Michigan recently to visit Adrian and family.  Got to see Veronica play soccer.  She's second from the left in the picture below.  So proud of her and her team!  They had an excellent season.  Enjoyed a yummy Mexican dinner with them before we parted.  Life is good.  While we were there we visited a very nice church south of Hastings for Sunday services; friendly people.  The weather was cool but no rain, sleet or snow for the game or the trip.  The driving was good with some pretty color here and there along the way.  It was all good.  I'm really enjoying my new (used) Subaru!

Well, we finally had some pretty fall color over the weekend here and took a drive to see some of it.  On Monday we mowed and it was the best day!  Just wonderful weather and so good to be outdoors.  I kept finding things to do to stay out longer.  All of the yard 'stuff' is now put away and all the flower beds except one ready for the winter.  Sad.  It think it's the last time we'll have to mow for the season.  (Thank you God!)  But really -- I so enjoy being out on the mower when it's nice.  It's sort of mindless work and gives me time to think, sing, and pray.  (Don't tell anyone I sing.)  Only time I really mind it is when it's 90 and humid; then I'm hating it!  We had way too many mowing days like that this summer ... 

Met (brother) Don and Nancy for lunch at 21 North in Martinsville Tuesday.  What fun!  We ate and talked for 2 hours!  Great lunch, too.  It sure was good to see them; probably the last time till next spring.  We hated parting; stood out on the sidewalk and talked some more.  We'll all get busy with holiday events plus they'll leave for AZ soon.

Then Wednesday it turned ugly and I think all of the beautiful leaves were blown/rained off of the trees yesterday and today.  Today was a good day to be in.  Sewed some.  Baked the pie.  Helped Wendell clean out can lights.  Did the minutes from the last church council meeting (yeah! glad that's done!).  Read some on a very interesting book.  Just a good day to be indoors.

Here was the view out my kitchen window couple days ago.  Pretty I think.  Now the trees are much more bare.  I can see the river today through the woods.  God is good.

A new year for me ...

Today's my birthday.  It's just been a really good day so far ... beautiful weather, went to church, talked to one of my kids (so far) and my sweet granddaughter, read some on my current book ... what more could you ask?  We're enjoying an extension of summer in my part of Indiana.  It's been very warm and a little too humid for me but I'm not complaining because soon I'd just be complaining about the cold weather so ......  Yesterday we took a long drive over into Illinois and enjoyed brunch, a festival in Robinson, visiting about half a dozen antique shops, and topped it off with a frappe.  It was my pre-birthday celebration so I could just do a lot of nothing today!  And then got to see Notre Dame win a football game on TV last night.  God is good!

Lately we've been mowing a lot.  And keeping busy with the usual stuff it takes to keep an 8-acre parcel looking good.  And there's always house cleaning, laundry, shopping, errands and other "stuff".  I've enjoyed hooking with my friends and sewing with the Project Kindness women especially.  Speaking of that, here's some pictures (thanks Jane!) of some of the things we've done at PK:

Clothing protectors for adults at the Glenburn Home.

Miscellaneous lap quilts and fleece throws, also for Glenburn.

Surgery dolls, I 'think' for Peyton Manning Hospital or Riley.

One piece fleece hood w/ scarf for the homeless in Terre Haute.

In addition to this, we've made a LOT of pillow cases that we'll take to a couple of places here in Greene County.  Plus we're starting on some walker pockets.   For fun everyone made themselves an apron to work in out of homespun.  We need to take a group picture some time in those aprons ... hmmm.

Wendell took his tractor to the WRVAA Show in Elnora a few weeks ago.  It started off nice but turned into a rain out for Saturday and Sunday.  We went down on Thursday and enjoyed seeing all of the flea market things and walking through the tractor display.  And of course had a homemade ice cream, too.  Talked to several old friends there.  Some of them are trying to talk W. into going back to work at the sorghum shed but he just can't do that anymore.  But it's nice to feel missed he says ...  Here's a couple pictures from that event:

He has it all loaded and ready to take off.  It was a beautiful day!

Here's his tractor on display in the Case tractor area.  As you can see, the weather was starting to look iffy that day.

The gas station display area.  Some neat old things here!

Ford was the feature tractor this year and here was an unusual one.

Just a small portion of the tractors at the WRVAA show this year.

We spent a lot of time talking to this guy who owned this Corvair pickup truck.  It had a side loading ramp and a rear engine (which Wendell is talking with him about).  It is all original!  Cool!

We've enjoyed some really breathtaking sunsets this summer.  And the flowers have been beautiful, too.  Here's a couple pictures.  I especially like the sunset with the red roses in the foreground.  My morning glory vine have been blooming just the past couple weeks.  And I really like the clear true blue color.  (I never get tired of seeing the sunset out my window.)

Take care and have a very blessed week.  Remember, God is good.  All the time.