Dee, you tire me out reading your posts! You don't like to stay still for long do you?

Stacy...Actually, I can't stay still for too long, because of osteoporosis, if I sit too long, I have trouble walking and I can't stand for any length of time either because of pain. So it's a no win situation! Today is hubby's 69th birthday, so I baked him, his favorite, pumpkin pie. We will have crab cakes for dinner. This morning I made 2 gingerbread wreaths, one large and one smaller. They are adorable! Tomorrow is Craft Guild, so I must get busy and write some notes. Dee

As everyone has probably heard, we have another tragedy in the murder of innocent children. Lancaster County is the sister city to York County where I live. My husband grew up in Lancaster and we lived there for a number of years after we were married. It has the most beautiful countryside and we have driven past this schoolhouse many times. The Amish are most forgiving and the gentlest of people. Pray for the families of all and pray that God will hear our call to stop this horrific violence in this country and our world. Dee

They have been in my thoughts non stop since I heard of the tragedy. I have 3 daughters, ages 15 months to 10 years so this hits closer to home then most.

The Amish have shown the world a lesson of true faith...forgiveness. May we all learn from what they have shown us. In setting up funds to help, they have humblly accepted help with the understanding that a fund must also be set up for the Roberts widow and her children. The Amish also came to the funeral of Charles Roberts, showing that they forgave him. They truly believe that if they do not forgive on earth, how can they expect that God will forgive their sins to enter Heaven. Donations may be made to: The Nickel Mines Children's Funds Coatsville Savings Bank, 1082 Georgetown Rd., Paradise, PA 17562 or Roberts Family Fund, same address. Dee

A beautiful day in York! The news is that the Amish schoolhouse will be torn down or burned and another school built on a different site. The children will be home schooled until the next school year. I have been busy at church, as we now have a craft room for our supplies and finished products and I have been organizing and labeling rubbermaid containers. We are currently making Christmas ornaments of all sorts and then we will make Santa head bells from large clay pots and lighted snowman heads from large glass jars. Time is running out, so I must get going. Anyone got any craft ideas that they want to share? Dee

The little one room school house was torn down this morning shortly after 4:00 am. The ground will be returned to farmland. This is a step toward healing for the community and the children. Dee

Thank goodness. I can't imagine having to return to the old school house or sending my children back.

Stacy...What a wonderful blessing to have 3 girls! Your youngest is beautiful! I have one son who just turned 47 on the 12th. I can't believe I am soon to be 65! George and I married young, he was 21 and me just 17. He shipped out on a tour of duty serving in the Navy and I had to write to him to give him the news that I became pregnet on our "honeymoon" and the Dr. thought it might be twins! As it turned out, just one. Wow! Can you imagine his surprise? He was able to come home when the baby was born. I shared a room with an Amish mother who just had her 6th child. George has a crazy sense of humor, and when he entered the room, it was filled with the Amish, visiting the new mother, and with that George said "another stunt like this and I'm calling the wedding off!" You should have seen their faces and I turned red with embarassment! We still have every letter that we wrote to each other for the next 2 years. I'm sure I'll have some exerts from them in the book that I am planning on writng. Dee

The latest news on the Amish children. 4 of the 5 children have been released from the hospital. 2 are expected to make a full recovery. Over $1,000,000. ha been raised for the families. The woman who was pregnant, gave birth to a girl and named her Naiomi Rose after one of the children who died.

Been busy with crafts, our show is in 2 weeks and then I'm going to rest! Dee

Happy Halloween to all the tricksters out there. I've been in making crafts night and day. Our Holiday Bazaar & Bake Sale is this Friday and Saturday. For the bake sale, today, I am making Peanut Butter fudge and homemade peppermint marshmellows. Thursday, I'll make Choc cupcakes filled with choc chip cream filling. Ummm! I usually make decorated flower cupcakes but they take soo long and I'm worn out! I love to bake desserts. My son is a baker and Monday, he dropped of a beautiful loaf of 5 grain bread with sesame seeds on top. It was soo good warmed with butter and honey. Well, now that I've got all of you readers salivating...I'm going into the kitchen and get started! I'll Talk to you after the sale this weekend. Dee

Dee! You can't post something like that and run! LOL I think we may have to force you to share!

It has been a very emotional week. I have lost one of my best friends. My sister, Shirley. She died unexpectedly in her sleep at age 67. We come from a broken home. In the 50's, as teenagers, we shared an apt. and both worked to take care of ourselves. We were the original "Laverne and Shirley." Only I was the prim and proper Shirley and she was the fun loving Laverne. She even has sweaters that had a big "L" initial on them! She left me with so many good memories and I shall always miss her...I thank God for the Blessings of having her for my sister.

During this time I also had to have our church Holiday Craft Bazaar. My church family was a great support to me. Our final count is not in yet, but we raised over $2,500 that will go to support our missions fund. It was wonderful to see so many people come and enjoy selecting our crafts and baked goods! We joined in a circle and gave our thanks to the Lord for the success of the event. Dee

Dee ... I am sorry for your loss ... and I am thinking of you during this time ...

Dee, I'm so sorry. May your wonderful memories of her sustain you during this difficult time. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Hi everyone!
Thanks Stacy and Wingy for your thoughts and prayers. The death of a sibling makes you feel vey vunerable.

Well we have had some beautiful fall weather here in south central PA. and the country side is beautifully dressed in fall colors. Temps were up to the 70's on Thursday and Friday. Today is rainy...and after George spent yesterday afternoon cleaning up all the leaves in the front and back yard, the rain has brought more down and the back yard is totally blanketed in leaves again! We went to some church holiday bazaars yesterday and it seems that everyone is already busy Christmas shopping in the malls. Even George got in the shopping mood. This is a man who hates to shop (except for food). He bought 5 sweaters and 4 shirts, I couldn't believe it. Of course we had to go back 3 times to exchange things because the man refused to try them on in the store!...Is this a "man thing"? I haven't shopped for clothes since I retired, and have actually given half of my professional wardrobe to a former co-worker. I made one promise about clothes to myself when I retired...NO ELASTIC BAND jeans or slacks...they make it too comfortable to gain weight when wearing them! I'm going to suggest to Adam to start a receipe exchange for the holidays. Hope everyone likes that idea! Talk to you later and THANKS for making me so popular to read! Dee

As many of you know, many of our USA solitaire players are probably out shopping on "Black Friday". Some stores in our area opened their doors at 12:01 am on Friday morning! The "Black Friday" term comes from the retailers. It is the day that they hope to come our of the "red" for the year. For me, it is too crazy and wild and the behavior of many, is not keeping with the spirit of the holiday. But if you shopped today, I hope you had a good day and no one knocked you down or stole items out of your shopping cart. So now we can start our holiday decorating, baking and preparing for enjoying the upcoming holidays with our family and friends.

Dee, I'm sorry that I'm so late in expressing my sympathy to you in the loss of your sister, but I haven't had a chance to check out the forum probably since July or August. My computer was sick and finally crashed about 6 weeks ago. I haven't found the computer I want to get to replace it at the price I want, SOOOOO I only get to check my emails and play a few solitaire games about once a week, (twice this week) It definitely SUUUUCCCCCKKKKKSSSSSS!!!!! I'm glad your church bazaar was so successful. Would certainly love to have the recipes for the items you made. They sound absolutely YUMMY!!!!! When I was in western PA the end of August for my high school reunion, I drove up to Cleveland to visit my friend whom I worked with on the Indian reservation in KS 43 years ago! We had a great 2 days together -- the most time we've ever had to visit with each other since our year working together. The drive up there was absolutely GORGEOUS! All the different lush green colors were just so amazingly beautiful!

Suzy Q...Thank you for your thoughts. I still can't believe she is gone. I sure hope you get your new computer soooon! Maybe you can find a good deal during the holiday season. I am still exhausted from the bazaar! But it was great fun! Now I am focusing on decorating and then baking for the holidays. I have posted 2 receipes for you and who ever may be interested in your Introduce Yourself/Suzy Q They are easy and both soo good! I will post the filled cupcakes and frosting later. Everyone is going crazy over them. They too are easy! If you have any special receipes you would like to share, please do. All our leaves are down now and we have had temps in the 60's for the past 4 days but tomorrow it is to be in the 50's. Hard to believe we are soon to be in December. Talk to you all later.

Christmas socks...
I got out my Christmas socks yesterday and I have 18 pair! Why?...you may ask...well because when I had my first injury due to osteoarthritis, (1 broken leg and 1 broken arm) friends brought me cheer gifts, some of which were Christmas socks. Then after the second injury (2 broken legs) more gift socks!...because I could not walk but needed to keep my feet warm. When I returned to work, I no longer could wear shoes with heels, so I "dressed up" my footwear with socks! Now I guess I have well over 50 pair of socks that cover all the holidays year round ...And the best part?...my feet are WARM!