Filed under: Crafts and Hobbies | Tags: Christmas, Christmas gifts, Coffee Drink, Homemade, Kahlua, Recipes, Vanilla Bean, Vodka
Kahlua
- One 4-oz. jar instant coffee (use a dark & rich flavor)
- 8 cups sugar
- 2 vanilla beans
- ½ gallon vodka
- 5 cups distilled water
- A one-gallon bottle or container (preferably glass)
Boil water; add coffee and sugar. Let it cool. Pour vodka into a gallon container. Add vanilla bean; then add coffee mixture. Shake mixture every 5 days. Ready to drink on 31st day.
Thanks for all of the requests for this recipe. I hope you enjoy it…I sure do. I’ve had this recipe for 30 years – it is delicious. Great idea for Christmas gifts!
Filed under: Crafts and Hobbies | Tags: driftwood, pudding rocks, riverbank, rocks, striped rocks, walking stick
It’s about time to get back to one of my favorite hobbies…what I do is cruise along the rocky river banks looking for wood in cool shapes…and carry or drag them home. They are then put in “the really cool wood” pile. I mentally prioritize each piece, and the best ones will get sanded first. Lots of them will become walking sticks, but I have a few choice pieces that are destined for stardom…somewhere on the wall in our cabin. Okay, so far, I only have one on the wall, but every struggling wannabe artist has to start somewhere, right?
The next one on the list is a fantastic specimen, and I see it as an amazing hat rack. Trouble is…it will only house one hat. But what a hat rack it will be! I’m halfway done with it, and once done, I’ll put its picture in my blog.
I have a small collection of river rocks, too, and some of them are screaming to be grinded and polished down to a luster or a high shine. I wonder…could I??? I recently discovered that several of them are “pudding rocks” (or, as they say in Montana, “puddin’ rocks”)… black with white spots, basically…and apparently, they are very sought-after. I can picture a polished puddin’ rock. My real collection, though, is striped rocks. Each one has at least one stripe going thru it. Very cool…and hard to find.
Filed under: Crafts and Hobbies | Tags: California photography, coastal photography, ferry rides, harbors, Pacific coast, rocky coast, seals, surfers, tall ships
It’s finally finished! Hubby has finished his new DVD, and I believe it’s really the best so far. He has it on our website, and we’re already filling orders for it. He lived in Southern California for over 25 years, and this DVD has the best of Southern California’s rocky coastline, harbors, ferry rides, seals, tall ships, and surfers, accompanied by a beautiful musical score. I’m very proud of him!
Filed under: Crafts and Hobbies | Tags: baseball, basketball, Catholic School, college football, football, Montana State University, offensive guard, Phoenix Suns, Shaquille O'Neal, Sports, sports pictures, Steve Nash
With his sports picture collection proudly displayed on the vaulted ceiling in the loft, Hubby is so happy! Now he can sit back in his chair at the computer and gaze at his favorite sports figures. He loves all sports, and he has many favorite players (don’t ask me to name them….I go blank at the thought of most sports stuff). Maybe you can see in the pictures who his favorites are. There’s a lot of history in those pictures!
Hubby played college football at Montana State College (now MSU). Let’s see if I can remember…oh yes, I remember now……he was an offensive guard. And unfortunately, he’s got injuries that go along with it.
He has several cool trophies from when he played baseball as a kid in Brooklyn. He went to a Catholic school, and they had a winning baseball team! Who woulda’ thought?! Catholic school? Sports? It just never occurred to me.
Me? I was all thumbs and elbows, gangly and tall as a kid, so no trophies here…but I always secretly wished I’d somehow win one.
Since we got married, I’m trying to gain more sports knowledge, and I actually enjoy football and basketball now. I especially like Steve Nash on the Phoenix Suns basketball team. I had no idea a “short” guy (compared to his teammates) could play like that!! Dammit baby, white men CAN jump! I’m really looking forward to the playoffs, after getting familiar with Nash last year. And now the Suns have Shaquille O’Neal (did I spell that right?), so look out Lakers! 
Filed under: Crafts and Hobbies | Tags: Crafts, Hobbies and Little Projects, log cabin mailbox, log cabins, projects, Western photography
In the Spring, I hope to build a mini-cabin like this one with the help of my new Dremel tool that I got for my birthday (it’s really what I asked for). What a mailbox! We pass by it, when we go to the Woodbine trailhead in Custer National Forest, about 15 minutes from home. It looks as if it has withstood the test of time…as I have..
Filed under: Crafts and Hobbies | Tags: Bird feeder, blackbirds, Hobbies and Little Projects
We built this bird feeder last summer from scraps of wood and pieces of tree bark, and our abundant bird population loves it! The drawback is when 50 or s0 blackbirds flock to it at once, cleaning it out and leaving nothing for the little guys. We had to wrap it with a wire that prohibits the blackbirds from getting inside.
