Snowy White Days and Milk Glass

I'm back from my blog hiatus caused by those back to back (no pun intended) SI joint injections where they did the "burn baby burn" technique on 7 nerves. If you are one of my friends that is waiting on something from me, I'll get it to you this week, sorry, I've been wayyyy out of regular society! LOL

We have a LOVELY big FAT flake snow fall today. Here's a peek out from our kitchen toward the playhouse. I have bird feed and squirrel food back there, notice the little Junco on the roof! The snow is pretty and WHITE but I want to show you some other white goodness.  I'm really ready for the PINK, PURPLE, YELLOW and GREEN of spring.  It can't get here fast enough but in the meantime, here is some WHITE I LOVE!

My wonderful and favorite sister, Brandy (yes, she's my only sister) has a birthday in January. She's been collecting hobnail milk glass from various Goodwills and has a pretty little collection. I had my friend take me to my FAVORITE store (as you know, I've talked about it a TON) to get just the PERFECT gift for a perfect sister! If you don't know, my fave store is YE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP at 3100 Aldino Road, Churchville Maryland 410-734-6228. The delightful and happy as can be owner (BOB, I know you are going to read this and since you will NEVER let me live it down that I warned my blog readers that you are a bit crotchety) Bob has everything and anything you could ever want when it comes to antiques, collectables and just plain old unique decor schtuff!  The store is JAM-PACKED with goodness, I bent down to look inside of a display case and the bottom half was chock full of goodies that made my heart pitterpat.  I saw a bit of this hopnail piece and asked Bob what it was.  After a few minutes of his rearranging he pulled it out and I almost SWOONED!  It was perfect for Brandy.  It's a large Fenton milk glass hobnail centerpiece on a pedestal.  I think she's going to love it...I'm going to have a hard time giving it to her!  I also got this DOUBLE DELIGHTFUL little International Sterling Compote.  It's little and sweet, about 6 inches across, you can see the size of it compared to the penny.  It has a great patina so I'm not really going to clean it up much.  How gorgeous will this look with a pile of chocolate covered strawberries on a table set for a baby shower.  I love adding height with various pedestals when I have a spread for a party. It makes everything more interesting.  If you want to check out some other photos of the oodles of goodness at the curiosity shop check out here: Lots of goodies 1  Photo goodness 2  Photo goodness 3 Photo goodies of my milk bottles Photo goodies 4  Photo goodness 5 It would also be SUPER sweet piled with pretty chocolate bon bons for Valentines day.  AND...he has another one...it's a bit deeper and has a Rose of Sharon pattern. It's more expensive than mine but it's BEAUTIFUL!
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I plan on having two cups of coffee one day and reorganizing my cabinets that are glass fronted (you know the ones in the now BLACK painted kitchen that I still HAVEN'T revealed because it's NOT quite done) to pare down the schtuff in there.  I keep my slightly large cookbook collection in there, so that's not going any where but I'd like to mix some of my patinad silver pieces in with the white and colored goodies in there for a cleaner look.  So stay tuned! ;-)

I'm sorry, what did you say?

Loafing around is pretty much what I've been doing. I'm DYING to go somewhere exciting (and a wee bit warmer) and take some photos. That's not going to happen so you are stuck of photos of Cole and the Dogs. These photos are not artistic in any sense. It's about the best I can do from the family room couch using the incredibly dreaded flash. Yes, we DO have all three dogs still. Crazy, you say? YUP. The right home hasn't presented it self yet but it will. In the meantime, everyone is getting along but we watch them like hawks and take as many precautions as we can.

I'm sorry, what did you say? (READ this, it's funny, I swear!)

Last Thursday I had my first Sacroiliac Joint RFA (radio frequency ablation), I think it's also called a SI Joint Rhizotomy. You know, that thing I told you about where they go in about 6 inches into a skinny joint in the area that attaches the pelvis to the spine and they play some hard core LONG HAIR Metal music or something that just kills the nerves 'cause they can't stand it. Not really, but something like that. Let me tell you
how it went.

(This will show you that I've lost all amounts of modesty and I'm totally letting the 'net know)

As you may recall, I'm laying on the table on my belly with pillows under my tummy so my lower back and bum stick up in the air a bit. Not that I need to make my bum look any more exaggerated (think JLo at New Years eve minus the horrific ape-like real fur and sparkly spandex body suit that no mother of twins, this one included, should EVER be caught dead in). My face is in a pillow so of COURSE my speech is a bit muffled. I'm just sayin'. Dr. Doctor strolls in the OR in his shiny Gucci loafers (remember I can really only see from the knee down at this point unless I crane my neck. The one that has difficulty craning due to the titanium plate and screws installed last year.) As Dr. Doctor is preparing to insert the 4 hollow needles that will carry the other 80's rock
and roll bearing needles to the nerves, I turn my head to the side and say,

"WOULD IT HELP, IF I MOVED TO FLORIDA?"

Meaning, would the warmth of the sunshine state give me a little more fun back in my back.

Dr. Doctor just stares at me for a moment with very wide eyes and a hint of a smile on his usually unsmiling face and then says, "I'm sorry, what did you say?" So I repeat, "would it help if I moved to Florida?" Recognition BLOOMS over his face and he visibly relaxes and says, "YES, yes it would!" then he utters something a bit scary. "Do you want to know what I THOUGHT you said?" Of course, I say yes, "OF course?" This is the part where if I was more faint of heart, delicate of sensibilities and probably had more class and wasn't on pain meds that sometimes make me reveal thoughts best kept to oneself; I wouldn't share the following comment from Dr. Doctor with you. Dr. Doctor says, "WOULD IT HELP IF I FART A LITTLE?"

Sound it out my friends, it almost has the same number of syllables. ALMOST. I then get the giggles because no amount of ANYTHING could make me say such a comment. EVER. Well, there was that one time when Matt's band played a place and everyone was having such a good time that they locked the doors at two a.m. and the band kept playing and the round of shots was free...maybe then I would have said it but I doubt it. ANYWAY...

Now the ICE is broken. I decide to share a story with Dr. Doctor that I don't normally share (I think this is where the medicine sometimes comes into play). I tell the Dr. to ignore my foul language for just a moment but I NEED to share a story with him. I tell him that ever since I was little, my father has ALWAYS said I talk like a SH*T salesman with a mouth full of samples. Yes. I. Went. There. Thank GOODNESS, he loved it and we all got a good laugh from everything. The mood was actually so light that after he got all the RFA needles in place he said, "COOK her!" I think that means burn the nerves...I hope. Because he did 4 nerves, I've been out of commission a tad more than usual, you know 'cause the nerves are all like, "what the HECK?" and decide to throw some extra pain around. He warned me that would happen for about 8 days.  Today, I get to go and do it all over again but this time on the left side. So please excuse my absence. Perhaps it will make your heart grow fonder?

As I laze around, Matt has been working his buttocks off on projects. No, the kitchen isn't done. Sorry. BUT this TV cabinet almost is. It still needs paint inside. Matt built it ENTIRELY from REUSED materials, except for the new handles and 1 foot of trim around that center cubby. He used most of the wood from what was in THIS built in that we still haven't decided on. So our house looks like a construction zone but I'll never complain. BTW, our family room had been painted that green color at one time...well under the chair rail that is no longer there. ;-)

Nana B's Butter Cookies and Si joint Deja vu

These cookies will not win a beauty contest, I promise. However, they are SO delicious in their simple taste and I wanted to share them with you. They are normally slightly prettier than this but the only brown sugar I had was a TAD on the crusty hard rock like side and it didn't blend as well as normal with the butter. And OHHHh the BUTTER! You'll feel like Paula Deen baking these! One of Matt's contractors he deals with has a dairy farm and his cows provide milk to make Land O'Lakes butter. Every Christmas we get several pounds of butter from him. It is a highlight for me! This house goes through butter like water and I don't bake a FRACTION of what I did before my back decided to get all wonkified. When you make these, separate the dough into 2 rolls wrapped in plastic wrap and chill them well. Then use a very SHARP knife and slice them off as thin as possible.

Nana B's Butter Cookies

1 lb of softened BUTTER
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
4 1/2 cups flour SIFTED (definitely sift it)
1/2 tsp salt.

Cream butter and sugar well. Mix in flour and salt and mix till a very stiff dough forms but don't over mix.

form into roll and chill covered.
Slice off thin slices and bake on cookie sheet at 375 for 8-9 minutes

(I use a convection oven and they bake for about 7 min.

ENJOY!


Last week, they called the day of my SI joint injections and cancelled due to the weather. So now I'm having it done THIS Thursday instead. I'm looking forward to it, I'm hoping it helps a bit!