It's a boy!

We are happy to announce - Henry Lee!  Born just two days ago, 15 days early, but 6 lbs., 5 oz., mom and baby are doing fine!

We think he's pretty cute!  Of course we haven't been able to meet him yet, due to social distancing.  This is our first grandson; we have two granddaughters, both age 2.  I think Henry will be the little prince, lol!

Little Henry and dear Hannah.  So proud of her, she did good!

New dad, Danny, and his new love.  He's over the moon!

Looks like a magazine, right? Hannah is very clever and artistic, and she created this adorable nursery. The wall treatment is something she found on pinterest, she free-handed it just using a simple cardboard template.  My quilt is hanging on the crib; more on that later.

They'll be rocking little Henry in that chair pretty soon!  Sweet dreams, sweet Henry!

(Not) Wordless Wednesday

My view this morning!

Lovely neighbor created this to add some smiles.

Adds a little perspective, doesn't it?  The gentleman on the left could have been modeled after my dad, though he was in the Navy (including Pearl Harbor).  Kind of looks like he did, too, minus the baseball cap. Stay safe, everyone!

We shop, we cook, we eat

Scott and I have been cooking pretty much every day for the past several weeks.  I think we got takeout twice in all that time.  Here are a few keepers:

Recipe source:  Betty Crocker, purchased in 1978 (wedding gift!). My kind of recipe, one bowl, easy, and really delicious!

We had heavy cream in the frig, so we skipped the frosting and served with real whipped cream.  Check out my teeny stove!  Looks like we live in a tiny city apartment...nope, just a small mid-century ranch in the suburbs.

Now THESE are to write home about!  If you're ever in Minneapolis, consider visiting Al's Breakfast in the U of M neighborhood called Dinkytown.  There is but ONE counter, with about 15 stools.  That's it.  So you have to WAIT for your breakfast.  But oh, the food is worth it!  Here's a link to the recipe.  The recipe shows made with blueberries and walnuts, but I subbed in chocolate chips for the blueberries.  And you MUST use real maple syrup - pictured above is Anderson's Pure Maple Syrup, made by my godparents' family in Wisconsin.  They carry it at my local grocery store!

More proof of our tiny kitchen. Scott is backed up to the refrigerator, and to the left of the stove the counter takes a left turn and there is the sink.  It's a "step saver kitchen", that's for sure.
Scott is working on a quick pasta dish I saw on "The Kitchen" (food network).  They had a "pasta drop challenge" where you had to create a pasta sauce in the time it took for the pasta to cook!
Here is the link for Sunny's Quick Bolognese sauce.  We used 1# hamburger, crumbled and browned with olive oil, salt, and pepper for the meat, and pasta sauce for the pizza sauce.  It was clean-your-plate good.  

More recipes next time!
Stay safe, everyone!

Keeping busy!

Welcome back to my blog! Although I am busy - I've decided I've time enough to get back to blogging.  So here we go!

Although some folks are home with lots of time on their hands, I am home - but I am still working at both of my jobs.  I do customer service for a heating parts distributor, and I also teach piano lessons.  Since the stay at home order, I've been teaching via FaceTime, which has worked very well!

My home office setup.  My workplace brought over my computer and phone and got everything connected for me.  I've been here for just over 3 weeks - first using some vacation days, and now working from home.  The commute is great, but I miss my friends from the office.  Best to be home and try to stay safe.

Over the weekend, I made enough masks for our family, using some batik fabrics.  I used a design found online by Kaiser Permanente, see here.  Very clear instructions.  I made my masks with ties rather than elastic.  Models are my daughter and granddaughter.  Of course we miss our family, but if staying apart will keep us all healthy, it is a small price to pay!

Our other project lately has been painting our kitchen!  Good-bye green, hello white!  Going for a fresh new look.  I enjoy painting - but it's taking longer than I expected!  We're very good painters - but not very fast!