Happy Birthday Dear Patrick!!

These are some of our junky, outdoors shoes sitting by the door. I keep my sweetie's size 13's there just as a reminder every time I go to the door. I also leave his old sneakers just outside the door too. Baby Rocket Dog likes to steal one once in a while and run around the cabin with it. She and Hootie really miss Pat when he's gone too. Today, Sept.30th, is Patrick's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!! I love you and miss you. XOXO-Cassie

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter O

Oboe (ō'bō) n.

A slender woodwind instrument with a conical bore and a double-reed mouthpiece, having a range of three octaves and a penetrating, poignant sound. (the above definition was taken from Answers.com) My cousin Mary's daughter, Kayla is an oboist. While she was in high school she played in the orchestra and even traveled to New York City to perform a couple years ago. She was offered some music scholarships but decided to attend the University of Wyoming on an academic scholarship. The oboe is the instrument in the orchestra that all the rest of the instruments must tune to. That's because it is the most difficult instrument to tune! I sometimes get the oboe's sound mixed up with the bassoon, but they are really very different. The bassoon is deeper, lower I think. The following video is from The Mission (which was one of Jessica's favorite movies) and features the oboe ~ "Gabriel's Oboe". I hope you can listen to it all the way through. It is truly lovely.

For more A to Z Mondays please visit Jen's blog...just click HERE!! Hope you have a great week.

love, Cassie

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter P

Pooches

Yup, I love my pooches. Here is Hootie in Baby's old ski jacket (it's a little tight on her now). A few shots of the pups and us at the Fall Fest up on Schweitzer Mountain a few weeks ago too. I was gonna do Patrick, but upon checking it seems I used his P the first time around!! For a change I am getting this post in early!!

For more A to Z bloggers go visit buddy Jen. Happy A to Z Monday!!

love, Cassie

Oooo La la...Yummy Tomatoes!

This is a yummy dish that I made myself for lunch today. I made the "no cook" tomato sauce last evening and this morning when I opened the refrigerator door the savory aroma of garlic wafted through the cabin. I could barely wait until lunch time to give it a taste!

If any of you have access to fresh tomatoes I highly recommend this quick and easy recipe. I got it from one of the Sunday magazines a few weeks ago (along with the baked tomato recipe). I will give it to you here, but without any actual amounts, since I don't have the actual recipe with me. I didn't exactly follow the instructions anyway. :<)

NO BAKE TOMATO SAUCE

Ripe tomatoes

kosher salt

ground black peppercorns

fresh basil (cut into fine strips)

crushed garlic cloves (I used a lot of this!)

extra virgin olive oil

Cut up your tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and basil. Lightly toss with olive oil. Cover bowl with clear wrap and let sit at room temp for 4 hours.

That's all there was to it. I also roasted tomato slices last night to freeze, but used too much olive oil so they never got quite dry. They taste delicious though so I ate a few and froze the rest anyway. I'm sure they'll come in handy in a future recipe.

Well that's all for the happy homemaker today. he he. Wish my sweetie was here to enjoy my creations fresh. You all have a great weekend. Blessings & love, Cassie

Marilyn's Tomatoes

My buddy Marilyn has a ton of tomatoes in her garden. Several different varieties. She gave me some green tomatoes for my special green tomato casserole a few weeks ago. Then she had me over for supper and we ate tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad and steamed asparagus. Delish!! I took this photo of some of her crop that she and her daughter-in-law made into canned salsa. Maybe she'll have me over for a Mexican feast? Hint, hint.

Yesterday I went back over to Marilyn's place and she loaded me up with a mess of tomatoes. I'm going to roast some of them and then freeze them. It'll be my first attempt, so I'll let you know how they turn out. I had a luscious tomato and cheese on whole wheat sandwich last night, then topped it off with grape tomatoes I purchased at the vegetable stand my friend Fern Yoder owns. I'm really overdosing on tomatoes (which I used to get hives from!). But when they are fresh and sweet like they are now, and right off the vine, I have no self control!! Maybe I'll go on an all tomato diet. Patrick is back in Phoenix so I can eat weirdly now. ;<)

Hope everyone is having a great week. love,Cassie

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter Q

Don't you think Freddie looked way cuter with the mustache?? Queen (band) (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) Queen were an English rock band. Formed in London in 1970 following the demise of the band Smile, Queen consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. The band became popular with audiences via their hit songs, live performances, originality and showmanship.[2] Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in an industry poll.[3] Queen enjoyed success in the UK in the early 1970s with the albums Queen and Queen II, but it was with the release of Sheer Heart Attack in 1974 and A Night at the Opera the following year that the band gained international success. They have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums and numerous compilation albums. Since Mercury's death and Deacon's retirement, May and Taylor have performed infrequently together at special events and programmes as members of other ensembles. Between 2004 to 2009 the duo collaborated with Paul Rodgers, under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers. Okay, I must admit We Will Rock You was one of my faves when I was a youngster. If you want to check it out, just click HERE! (Oh my now I'm thinking of H.S. & when I was a cheer leader! We used to cheer to the beginning beat even though Queen wasn't even a band yet!!) Happy Monday. Go see Jen. love,Cassie

Never Forget

I don’t have words to express the pain I feel today for the thousands of people whose lives were changed because of the terrorist acts of radical Muslims on September 11th ,2001.

If you get the chance to, please visit http://www.foundingbloggers.com/ and view the video titled The Falling Man.

God bless America.

A - Z Monday ~ The Letter R

Our Welsh Terrier Hootie & his friend Agatha the Fox Terrier assisting at the local Rodeo...

Rodeo...One of the "funnest" sports around!

Now let's see what Jen is doing for the letter R. Happy Labor Day friends! love, Cassie

Z to A Mondays - The Letter S

Schweitzer Mountain and Sandpoint, Idaho Two of my favorite places in the U.S.A.!! We spent many lovely summers on top of Schweitzer before buying our property in Bonners Ferry.

Go visit Jen’s blog to see all the other A to Z Monday bloggers.

Oh, and my apologies for making this a Tuesday post. Patrick arrived home with a rental truck and we had to get it unloaded! I’ll try to be better next Monday.;<)

love, Cassie