I Finally Passed On

I can cross something off my list.  Passing On.  Not the permanent life altering passing on to the next life (oh now that's deep huh!), but the passing on of the pass it on project.

Remember my post about being a lucky duck here?  I told you about being part of the Pass It On project...... it was months ago so if you don't remember I understand.  I slapped myself for being so slow with it.

So what was my problem with getting it done?

The "What":  It wasn't that I didn't know what to do. It wasn't that I didn't know what to pass on.
The "When":  I certainly knew when to pass it on, and that was much sooner than I eventually did!
The "Where":  It could be anywhere, there was no limit.
The "Why":  Basically to perform a random act of kindness.  Why do something nice?  Because we all can!
The "Who":  And herein lies the problem.......it was that I love all my blog friends so much I could not decide who to pass it on too!

Really.
Like Lay's tater chips, I did not think I could pick just one.  But I could not send to 20 (unlike my crazy Pass It On mentor).

Fortunately some of my buds from my fav blogs were already participating so I didn't double up by asking them again.  I agonized over who to pick, how to pick, and finally I came to the conclusion I just couldn't pick.  So I put a bunch of my favorite blogs into a bowl (if you are reading this there is a good chance you were in the bowl) and I used the scientific method.

The scientific genius

 I had the princess in pigtails reach into the bowl and pull out a name.  No competition of who I liked more, it was strictly a matter of if you were already in the bowl, I wanted to pick you.  This is KEY.  It was like my children, I loved them all - each for their own qualities and things they contribute to me being me.  So no matter who was pulled out, I was going to be thrilled.

I also had to determine if the person plucked from the bowl would be able to participate because there is a commitment.   Then I had to say to myself..... self, be not afraid.  Just offer it up, if they can participate they will.  If not, it's not personal so get over it.  Then I quit talking to myself.

So someone received these baubles of kitchen beauty.

I reused the original Pass It On paint chips that I thought were so darn clever......

Packaged up the goods and shipped them off to where the yellow jasmine blooms.

South Carolina. 

But Bliss, you ask, who did they go too and what are these jeweled pieces of art?

These are cake testers.  You know, the diva version of the familiar toothpick.  A couple years ago #2 daughter started making and selling them to pay for her gas to college.  You can read a bit about them on her shout out page, or see more on her Etsy site. 

The cake testers are unique, original, useful and pretty....... like the blogger who received them.  I put them together specially for her with agates and all glass beads.  I also told her every time she stabs the helll out of a cake she can think of me.

The recipient blogger doesn't like to bake, not even a little, but from time to time she has too and since she is the queen of her kitchen she deserved to have a tiny scepter of kitchen bling.

This gal can whip up a truffle with a cake filling and you do need a tester for that...

Or she can turn you on to a new beer because she's friendly like that....

She hosts home tours that make you drool (you may never see mine but not for lack of trying only lack of cleaning).  She might just be one of the reasons you are reading this now - she brought us together when our blogs were infants.  She has a secret crush on a musician that I would tell you about, but some things are private in blogland.  Funny how well we get to know folks in a short amount of time.  My all time favorite link party also happens at her place (notice the cute Valentine by Moi  when you click).

And she dooo love her some Halloween.   If there is some link thing and project judging going on this Fall, SO count me in (insert my evil laugh here).

She is a friend too many, and I doos think of her as one of mine.  Heck I even spray painted coke cans in pastel colors inspired by her.  It's pretty inspiring to be able to inspire someone to paint coke cans to begin with, 'ya know? 

So I should doo like ya'll and be a tease (the Northerner said ya'll.  Or is that yawl?).  Tell you I'll have the reveal tomorrow.  But I'm way too nice to leave you hanging like that.

So in my very best James Bond voice I give you the recipient of my pass it on project........... Doo's, Debbie Doos.

So because I couldn't send a cake tester to all my bestest buddies, in July I will be hosting a giveaway so everyone can enter to win one.  Details on that and also my very first link party with 4 other great bloggers......... coming soon!

Hankie Noodle Dandy

The pool noodle party has arrived hosted by some of my favorite bloggers.  

If I sound excited it's because I am, simply because I'm actually ready.  

Usually I'm scrambling at the last minute for link parties or miss them all together.  

Not this time, no siree.

I'm on top of this party I am.

Literally - I could float around on it.

Dough Horseshoes or Lucky Bagels

I am determined to have an entry into at least one of the Bloggy Olympic events.  I missed the decorating event last week and this week it is kitchen.  Paint is coming up. The hostess with the mostest for kitchen week is Jane @ JanesAdventuresInDinner.  While you are there admire her new blog design, it's cute.  Then admire what she made for the food event.  Yum.  Very yum.

Lord knows I am not a food photographer, and forget that I've been cooking and making edibles all weekend and never took a picture of one thing.  I'm also not very good at writing a serious tutorial. 

Currently I have the best darn tater salad in the fridge, chicken marinating, a 7 bean dish in the crock pot and a rhubarb cake cooling on the stove.  I didn't take one photo.  Bad Bliss.  A photo of a cooling cake?  Boring.  Bean dish.... looks like mush in the crockpot (and that's being kind).  Raw chicken?  Dangerous.  Tater salad...... secret recipe.

So I went back through my thousands of photos to see if there was any recipe I have ever made that I took a picture of.

One time we had Cornish game hens on the grill, I think someone gave them to us.  Notice Brawn has "parts" grilling for the dog.  Not sure why I have a "during" photo of this.  No secret tips or recipe for them either so they are out.

Photo from The Whimsical Wife

Eureka!  Bingo!  By George I've got it!  A while ago I did make homemade bagels - and miracle of all miracles I did take photos!  The recipe came from The Whimsical Wife.  Mine were more like dough horseshoes, so pretend they are pretty, but the famdamily liked them and ate them all.  (These would of been a good entry in the Stinky Linky party over at HatingMartha).  I also Googled homemade bagels after because I seriously never thought of making my own, and there are more recipes than you can throw a horseshoe at.  Bagels are not hard to make, so if you have never tried, I suggest you do, just don't model the ones you make after mine.

Boiling a dough Horseshoe, otherwise known as Lucky bagels

The recipe below is from the Whimsical Wife. Hard to believe mine are from the same recipe as the photo of hers huh?  Hey, I said they tasted good so forget they weren't much to look at!

Makes 8

Ingredients:

4 cups bread flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp instant yeast

1-1/4- 1-1/2 cups of warm water.

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to worry about soaking the yeast when you use instant yeast (most yeast sold these days is instant yeast). The dough should feel stiff, but add the extra water if it's really stiff, or you can't get all the dry flour incorporated.

Plop the dough down onto the counter, and knead for about ten minutes, or until the dough is uniform and smooth.

Cut the dough into 8 equal sized balls, and let rest for 10-20 minutes.

Pre heat your oven to 220 Degrees.

Now, take each of the dough balls and using two hands, roll it into a little snake on the counter. When the snake is longer than the width of your two hands, wrap it around your dominant roiling hand. The dough rope should be wrapped so the overlapping ends are together at your palm, near the start of your fingers. Now take the two overlapping ends, and use your palm to squish/roll these two ends together. Once the dough is fused, you should have a perfectly circular bagel-to-be! This is the only part of the process that can take a little practice before your bagels will look really professional. Don't get discouraged if they don't look perfect, it just takes practice!

Let your bagels rest on the counter for about 20 minutes, and meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil, and grease a large baking tray lightly. You can just rub a splash of vegetable oil and rub it around.

After the 20 minute wait, your bagels will start to look puffy, and it's time to get them boiling! Add them as many at a time as you can to your boiling water without crowding them. Boil for about a minute, turn them over, and boil for another minute. Take them out a let dry for a minute and then place them on your oiled baking tray. Repeat until all the bagels are boiled.

Add the tray to the oven, and after 10 minutes, flip the bagels over, bake for another ten minutes; and they're done!

Let them cool for at least 20 minutes, get the cream cheese ready, and feast on what's got to be one of the best weekend brunch treats possible!

You can add any toppings you like to these. To make sesame, onions, poppy seed, caraway etc. etc. bagels just have a dry plate ready with the seed or spice topping spread out on it. After the bagels have come out of the boiling water, place them face down onto the seeds, and then place the seed side up onto the baking tray. Bake and flip as for plain bagels.

Recipe Adapted From: http://johndlee.hubpages.com

I wrote this post to be in the Bloggy Olympics and by gosh I'm linking the bagels up!

Janes Adventures In Dinner

The Keg and The Crap

Opps I crafted. 

Yes I realized that silly song phrase has probably been said over and over on blogs, but really..... I don't care.

As for me crafting, sure I've painted some furniture and done some stuff here and there, but when I say I crafted, I mean I-Me-Moi, actually came up with something  

all     on     my     own.  

Sooooo my fine feathered friends...... this post was originally shared with Cassie over at Primitive & Proper so if you want to see what I made out of this 10 inch high 1919 Root Beer keg you will have to stop there.

When Camera Duty Calls

This weekend I will be putting my doggies to the ground and if they don't howl too loud after all the miles I put on them, I will be back on Sunday needing a foot massage.

I have a job to do that even I think is pretty cool (you can read more about it here).  I will be taking photo's of stars.  Yes really.  Not the kind in a galaxy far far away, the country kind that sing songs like 'Some Beach' and 'Independence Day'.

Growing up in California - the San Fernando Valley to be exact - and working in Beverly Hills, I really don't get star struck.  You will never find me mixing business with pleasure and asking for any autographs and it doesn't matter that in real life I would probably have my radio tuned to classic rock - I can still appreciate a good country tune especially when it's belted out by someone easy on the eyes.

But I do Google recent pictures of who I have to stalk.  It wouldn't be good to take pictures of Willie Nelson only to find out it was some other old dude in a bandana!

It starts out like this.....
stacks of chairs waiting to be lined up in rows in the VIP seating area in front of the stage.

The back of the stage will be bustling with stage crew, tons of equipment, roadies, band members, their friends, and other celebrities who snag backstage passes because of who they are.  I will wander among them, trying not to look out of place.  HA!

I have no tattoos, no ten gallon hat.  No cowboy boots or beer goggles.  I won't be wearing any Daisy Dukes or tube tops, and honestly most of the people I see wearing those shouldn't be wearing them either!  In fact based on what I see folks wearing I shouldn't worry for one minute what I have on or looking out of place!

I'll make sure to take some photos of the interesting people who pay to be there not just the beautiful ones who get paid to be there.  There is a difference and I know you want to see it.

Some of the time I'll be in front of this long metal rail that separates the adoring fans on one side from the highly paid singers on the stage.  They sacrifice the paparazzi by putting the media pit in between. The rail might keep me safe from being squished by adoring fans but if it doesn't I'll be the first to perish.

I will also spend a lot of time standing watching..... right behind that wood deck rail on the top right of the above photo.  It's not as high as the tower and I don't have to climb to get there.  Not even steps since it is just a big ramp for rolling equipment.

This spot isn't the best vantage point to get pictures anyway unless I was 6 feet tall, so for part of the time I will throw caution to the wind and roam among the crowd.  I will climb the tower and fly in the plane for aerials.  I will have beer spilled on me, elbows in my face, and my equipment knocked more than once resulting in photos that can't be used.  My feet and back will ache, my hair will look like crap or may be covered with a baseball hat if it's really bad.  I'll be hot, smelly, approaching epic crabbiness and by days end the only thing I will be thinking about is a shower.

All the while laughing with my bag lady at people as they pass.

The majority of the crowd is made up of people who look like this.  

People who don't get free tickets because they know someone, 

will have to line up at the gates with their chairs waiting for the opening bell.

Then they will run like the wind to get the best spot - the closest that they can in general seating.  It is survival of the fittest, ummm, or fastest.  And I will take pictures and move out of the way so they don't run me over, even though standing next to me are cops and security laughing at the running people.

There is about a thousand people behind those first two men at gate #2, 

and they could care less if they flip me into the air as they run by.

Soon the running fans will want to fill their tank with beverage and the taps below 

will be flowing and everything will be right in their world. 

If it rains some of them will play in the mud.  The crowd will have a good time no matter what.
If it rains on me, my equipment and I will hide till it is done.
No rain please.  It messes my hair even worse.

I will try to peek in the dressing room coolers to see what the beautiful people like to eat when they are on the road.  These are not Hollywood types, there will not be any beluga or pate.  Usually it's fruit and fancy waters.

Eventually a hush will come over the area and the crowd that swells to 15,000 will stand to watch, or squint depending on where they are, as one of the beautiful people 

grabs a geetar, takes to the stage and does their country thang with a little country twang.  

And I will hope to get that million dollar photograph out of the thousands taken.

Or at least enough that are not blurry because someone knocked over the 5'2" paparazzi.

Pitcher Full of Sunshine

Flowers By Bliss Ranch Daughters

 When I see a project I like from a fellow blogger that I actually think I can do.... I pin it to my "Stuff to Make" Pinterest board.  I may never get around to all the stuff I've got pinned, but it's fun when I do one. 

Like the above project from Jaime at Crafty Scrappy Happy.

When I read her post I thought HEY I can do that because I have the exact same stamps she used.  I've had mine for about 13 years - purchased them for making baby announcements when #6 was born and probably haven't used them since.

Now I just had to come across something suitable for stamping on.  

And if that something suitable happens to be a white tin pitcher similar to Jaime's well so be it.

I got out my stamps, (I really did, not sure why they aren't in the picture) and my Distress Ink stamp pad and thought about what to put on it.  

I know everyone uses You Are My Sunshine for things, but it is a song close to my heart.  

My dear daddy used to sing it all the time to my momma 

and I can't hear it or see the words without thinking of him.  

So...........

I also had another pitcher that I debated not painting because I sort of liked the faded rusty look it had, but I wanted the whites to match.  I had one letter R from my first failed attempt at using letter stencils. 

Both of the pitchers are in my kitchen window.  I used one for some fresh lilacs last week, and the other is holding some paper flowers my daughters have been making.


Salvaged DIY Whites @FunkyJunkInteriors



Sadly linking to my last Newbie Party @ DebbieDoos 
 CraftOmaniac Monday @Craft-O-Maniac
Sunday Stop @ Joy2Journey 
Elizabeth & Co. Be Inspired Link Party 
CowGirl Up @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Sammy in the Rain

Our Memorial weekend is probably going to be a wash out, 

as in rain every day at least off and on.  

Maybe fire up the grill for some fast meat that goes on a bun 

only to whisk it into the house when it's cooked.  

My dad would of grilled, a little rain wouldn't of stopped him.  

He was happy to have the freedom to do it, even in the rain.

Most of the kids are harmless these days - I've had this pitchfork poked in the ground by the mudroom door for about 15 years - back when you did take your life 

into your hands entering a home with 5 (at that time) kids.  

I felt people should be warned.  The kids had the freedom to run, play and be heard.

I have had to touch up the paint a couple times on the wood flag. 

We also have a huge sign Brawn made when our oldest 

and two of his buddies were in the Marines.  

It says.....

"Land of the Free Because of the Brave".

We hang it on a tree by the road (photo another time, it's raining 'ya know!).

Our oldest joined 4 months after 9/11 while he was in college.

He finished his last few months of college, got his degree 

and headed off to do his part.

This weekend I have the freedom to be eating this............

The Grilled Pepper Jack Cheese Sammy

6 months ago I discovered this sandwich at the blog Uncluttered Lifestyle, which caught my eye as that's where I felt I was at with my home.....it needed some uncluttering.  Since then I've spent more time hauling junk into my house and learning how to work with it (thanks to all you talented bloggers) 

than I have spent hauling stuff out.  

Every week Iesha inspires me to free myself and unclutter something, 

even if it's just going through a makeup drawer  or junk cabinet.  

But this weekend because of rain, I'm just inspired to eat.

This is my very favorite sammy.  It has deli meat, tomato, grilled onions, 

pepper-jack cheese, tastes great on any interesting bread you enjoy, 

and I add avocado to mine which is sort of like the frosting on the cake for me.  

You can find her recipe here. 

Remember those lucky ducks Klous and Clyde?  

They are getting really big and don't mind this weather at all.  

My daughter has trained them to come when she calls.  

She also had to build them their own pond.  

When she can train them not to leave duck doo on the patio 

they can swim in the pond back there. 

I guess since we won't be enjoying the patio this weekend 

Klous & Clyde could maybe have the freedom to do so.  

The rain should wash the doo away.

Yes the land of the free because of the brave.  

We don't take any of it for granted at Bliss Ranch.

The Green Grass of Home

We have a yard and "areas".  A few yards really, and we refer to all the areas around here in various ways so we know just the spot we are talking about.

There is the back yard, the bottom back yard, the front side yard, the front yard, the yard on the side, the far yard, the down the driveway yard, the back shed, over by the basketball court area, the big field on the hill, the dry marsh, the woods, over by the chickens, the garden, and the back field.  I can use these terms and usually direct Brawn to a specific area for whatever the need is.  The kids I might have to draw a map and physically take them to where I'm talking about if it involves working.

Little Shed

In the backyard we have this little shed, not to be confused with the big shed in the back or the potting shed in the front side yard.  In the little shed we park the lawnmowers, bikes and sand toys over winter.  Next to it are a couple birdhouses on some old deck posts that are inhabited every year.  Everything is due for a painting, and I will probably just use something I already have.

I would love to turn my little shed into something like this.........

(source)

Or this one over at Thistlewood Farm that Kari calls her Art House....

I would love an art shed.

The hostas next to the back yard shed got off to an early growing season.  I hadn't even got rid of last years long dead parts before the hostas were huge.

Also in the back yard is a patio and pond area where the hostas thrive.  Some of them were scheduled to be removed before they got too big.  Hmmmm, I think we missed the timing on that.

A few years ago I was sitting on the patio looking around and I wondered what I could do to hide the big 'ol ugly air conditioning unit.  We had a pile of old deck posts, so Brawn whipped me up a form with two panels and I smashed some china and stained glass along with some mirror and made a big mosaic to hide it.

In the front side yard we have what used to be a play house.  Five years ago I turned it into a potting shed, but there is no longer anything that resembles potting or garden supplies inside.  Brawn has taken it over for work supplies.  I am serving an eviction notice to his supplies.  On my to-do list is turn it back into a playhouse for The Grands.

                     

 What you can't see hanging on the left side is a potting ledge where I inconveniently pot plants.  Most of my plants in pots are in the back yard, the potting shed is in the front side yard.  Also on the to-do list is make a potting bench that I can keep on the back deck.

This old tiki torch oil lamp is by the pool in the back yard just waiting to light up some fun summer nights.

In the front yard is this area between the two entries to the house.  The tree is a dwarf Japanese Maple and the long tall spikey things will soon be sporting beautiful stargazer lilies.  I bought 6 bulbs for .99¢ a few years ago and needed a place to plant them.  I stuck them in the ground here and this is where they stayed.  There used to be a beautiful birch tree in this spot but it got too big for the area.

 My front porch flowers were just planted and consist of ferns, marigolds and impatiens.  The pots were in need of paint.  They used to be pale yellow.  Gwen at The Bold Abode painted some pots which gave me the idea to paint mine.  First I tried pastel blue, not at all right for my porch, so the other color spray paint I had was green.  I wish the storm door could go, but we get some nasty weather in the winter.  Tomorrow I will take out the window and put in the screen.

I have a lot of other "yards" and "areas" to take pictures of.  Today I noticed some of my wild roses are blooming.  Seems early to see those and they look real healthy.  As of today our garden is planted.  There is always a never ending list of outside chores.  I have flowers on my table that need to be planted.  Tomorrow?

  

Show us your Garden party @ The Polohouse

Linking the Mosaic Air Conditioner Cover to:

Tuesday's Treasures @ MyUncommonSliceOfSuburbia
  Newbie Party @ DebbieDoos