A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter K

The letter K. KIN.

Top photo is my dad, Leslie, and his only sibling, Auntie Vi probably ca. 1930. Middle photo is (L to R) my oldest sibling, Harley, me and my younger brother, Wayne around 1955. Bottom photo is (R to L) Harley and me about 24 years ago on Zuma Beach.

Yes, now that Patrick bought me the scanner I can thrill you with pictures from yesteryear of my KIN!! Now all I have to do is dig through the 10 boxes of loose, framed and albumed photos to find some good ones. Here are a few that I have managed to dig up.

Happy A to Z Monday! Jen has more on her blog sidebar.

love, Cassie

Our New Pantry ~ Step by Step

My finished, bi-fold doors. Aren't the pulls cool?? The one is a stone (from Misty Mtn) and the fish I got at a shop called Cabin Fever. This photo was at the end of my video, but for some reason the last few seconds aren't coming through. Oh well.

We have worked with Misty Mountain Furniture in Sandpoint, Idaho for over 6 years now and really appreciate their high quality craftsmanship. Their attention to detail is outstanding. Partners John & Chris made 2 built-in pieces for us for our little condo in Phoenix and we were so pleased with them that we knew we would try to work with them for some projects at our log cabin. They (re)built the stairs to our basement last year and installed a gate and some trim too. This year they built our pantry and the storage space in our mudroom, as well as another gate (to the loft) and the door for the utility room. Well, they haven't disappointed. I'm thrilled with the finished products. Hope you enjoy the little step by step video I made. (It took forever to upload the video, then it said ERROR. Drat. Now I'll try again. Hope my battery holds up so I can get this finished.)

Have a good week and blessings to all who read this blog.

love, Cassie

A to Z Mondays ~ the Letter L ~ Дорогой длинною

LONGING

n. A strong persistent yearning or desire, especially one that cannot be fulfilled.

I was over at friend John's blog the other day and he had a video of Bonnie Tyler with Only Men Aloud singing "Total Eclipse of the Sun". Sure enjoyed that blast from the past. I ventured back over to John's blog today and ended up on YouTube listening to the longer version, then I started listening to a bunch of other Bonnie Tyler videos and ended up with "Those Were The Days" (the version most Americans are familiar with was recorded in the 60's by Mary Hopkins)and from there---listened to all sorts of versions of that song! Leningrad Cowboys visuals were pretty edgy and fun, but decided to go with what is probably closest to the original Russian folk song: Дорогой длинною (pronounced: Dorogoi Dlinnoyu) . Oh yes, back to the letter L : this is probably one of the coolest songs ever written about LONGING. Enjoy.

For more A to Z Monday bloggers go visit Jen!

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter M ~ Part 1 ~ LOTS more photos in part 2 just below this post

(Just double click on collages to bigify.)

MURDER MYSTERY!!

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter M ~ Part 2

MURDER MYSTERY DINNER

Saturday evening I attended a Murder Mystery Dinner to benefit Second Chance Animal Shelter (the local no-kill shelter). I had never attended one of these Murder Mysteries before, but thought it sounded like fun. I was not disappointed...it was a blast!! Set in the Roaring 20's on a cruise liner, The SS Canine Queen, we all attended an elite (yummy) dinner that was supposed to be put on by the Captain. Well, it turns out the Captain was murdered!! Clues flew around the cabin left and right and at the end of the evening we were told who the culprit was. I'm not going to reveal that, just in case someone else attends a similar Murder Mystery Dinner. To use a cliche', "a good time was had by all." Such fun, and for a worthy cause too. Hope you enjoy the photos.

For more A to Z fun why not visit Jen's blog? Just click HERE. Happy Monday! love, Cassie

A to Z Monday ~ The Letter N

NAPPING

(Yes, I'm a day late...napping all day Monday!!)

For more A to Z bloggers go visit Jen. Have a great week.

love, Cassie

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