Pitiful

     It's been several months that I've been eyeing a recipe I found online. A uniquely different pie called Upside Down Apple Pecan Pie.

    I've heard of, and eaten upside-down cakes before, but never a pie. I simply had to try.

    As I was about to spread the pecan mixture into the bottom of the pie pan I had some misgivings, but the recipe sounded so convincing that I went ahead and followed instructions.

    First the pecan mixture spread evenly across the bottom of the pie pan. Next I placed the bottom crust over it and filled it with the apples before covering the whole thing with the top crust and popping it into the oven.

    And then things started going wrong. The syrupy part of the pecans did exactly what I had been afraid it would do as it bubbled up the sides of the pie pan and dripped into the bottom of the oven, burning into an ugly black puddle.

    By the time the pie was done baking the syrup had all successfully made the transition from the bottom of my pie to the bottom of my oven.

    I went ahead and tried flipping it out onto a plate per instructions ... it didn't work either.

    The pecans remained welded to the bottom of the pan and had to be chiseled loose. I was tempted to simply put the entire pan in soak, but I really didn't like the thought of tossing all those pecans, so tedious scraping it was, until they were all rescued.

    This recipe has now been pinned to my Fails board on Pinterest so that I'm never tempted to try it again.

    If you want to try your hand at making this to show me it can be done, here's the link to the recipe.

Catching Up

     With everything that this year has held for us, writing, even here on my blog, has felt frivolous which meant day after day passed without any writing being done. Every time it felt like I was coming up for air, and maybe start returning to normal, something else would come along.

    So what were these events?

    First, as you're already aware ... my Mom's diagnosis, battle, and then passing away from cancer.

    Second ... Steven's health issues which were finally discovered to be Lyme Disease. He is much improved since we found out what it is and how to treat it.

    Third ... LV's eye that had been injured so badly in the explosion last year had a stitch pop when he over exerted himself at work. Thankfully his surgeon was able to do a quick procedure to remove it and it didn't require a hospital stay.

    And most recently ... my dear sister (in-law) Emma, passed away unexpectedly last week. It was just a little over nine years ago that her husband, LV's brother, had passed away leaving her and her eight children behind. While we are all rejoicing for her to finally be reunited with him and get to be with her Saviour, she will be so greatly missed.

    As much as I will miss my best friend and sister, my heart is crushed for her children. Yes, we'll all be okay, but heaven just got so much sweeter and we long for the day when we can be together with our loved ones again.

~~~~~

    Now that I've caught up with the major happenings I'm hoping to return to normal blogging again. In spite of everything, I have missed it.

    

Currently ...

 Reading ... in the Bible, this morning ... Philippians. 

In other books I have both of Peggy Rowe's books here waiting on me to dive in. I borrowed them from the library and they're due back on Saturday, so I'm hoping to get to them soon.

I'm having a harder time the last while simply reading for pleasure, but I have been enjoying stacks of non-fiction books on various topics of interest. Those include straw bale gardening, foraging for mushrooms, basket weaving, and of course lots of cookbooks.

Writing ... my writing has mostly consisted of writing letters to my Dad. 

I have attempted working on my in progress book, but found it frustrating, difficult, and hard to focus, so it has been pushed to the back burner, so to speak.

Watching ... a nature show called Eden: Untamed Planet.  So far we have really enjoyed it.

Listening ... to a scolding bird and the mournful moos of a cow who has been separated from her calf. I'm not sure if the bird is having some kind of problem, or is simply as tired of listening to the cow as I am.

Baking ... yesterday a pan of dark cherry bars were made. They turned out beautifully which is always a pleasure when trying a new recipe.

Cooking ... tonight there will be a curried vegetable stew and some herbed dinner rolls.

Feeling ... a bit all over the place. There's so much to be happy and thankful for. There's also sadness, concern, and other emotions all scrambled together.

Disliking ... flooded basements. Our late 1800's farmhouse has always had a stream of water running through the basement during spring thaws and when ever we have abundant rains. The floor is sloped so that it usually stays in a proper little stream all the way to the drain. 

With hurricane Ida sweeping through here on Wednesday and depositing loads of rain we experienced more flooding than we have had since moving here. The creek spilled over its banks and water covered the road. The basement drain no longer had a place to drain to. We ended up with several inches of water in the basement. Not horrible, but not pleasant either. 

Loving ... how nice the basement is since we cleaned it out after the flooding. There's still a bit of work to do down there, but at least all the flood damaged things have been cared for.

I intend to continue with the fall housecleaning as soon as I'm done with the basement.

Hiking ... we've been enjoying getting outdoors. There's something so healing and rejuvenating about spending time in nature.

Later today ... I'll be canning grape juice.  We won't be getting a whole lot this year, but even a few quarts are better than nothing.

We're all looking forward to enjoying it with popcorn later this winter.

The Only Thing Sure in Life ...

     Blink, blink, blink goes my cursor on the blank page in front of me. 
    Hundreds of thoughts tumble through my head, each presenting itself as a possible topic to use to write.
    Memories, recipes, thoughts, dreams, fears, all take a turn. Happy and light, sobering, joy filled, sadness, deep ponderings, and simple musings. They all come and go, while my cursor keeps on blinking patiently.
    Nothing seems appropriate to write about now.
    My Mom had her 65th birthday. That afternoon God called her home. On one hand I am so very happy for her to get to experience heaven and be with her beloved Saviour. On the other hand I wanted so much for her to be healed from her cancer, and be able to have many good years together earth-side.
    She was well loved by many people and will be sorely missed.
    Prayers would be appreciated, especially for my Dad as he tries to pick up the shattered pieces of his life.

Laughter

    There seems to be so much in life lately that simply is not funny. 

    First ...  my Mom was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and given only 8 - 12 weeks to live, and it is becoming quite obvious that they knew what they were talking about. I'm not ready to say good-bye yet, There is so much I still want to talk about with her. Time I want to spend at their house. I want her to meet her great-grandson, and the list goes on.

    Second ... we've been dealing with a poisonous spider bite on Steven's leg. The doctor prescribed several medications for it, and it is looking a lot better, but for a while there it was quite a sight, even while following doctor's orders.. Growing from the initial inflamed bite, to wrapping entirely around his leg and reaching from his ankle to an inch below his knee.

    But last night ... last night laughter rang through the house when LV was in hot pursuit of a pesky housefly. I was in the kitchen preparing a pizza. I had the toppings arranged nicely and was just ready to pop it in the oven when the fly came to check it out. LV tried to grab it with his hand. He missed the fly and sent the pizza toppings flying across the kitchen. Both our mouths dropped open, and then we dissolved in gales of laughter.

    I redid the pizza, and we ended up with little later, but still delicious supper. The slight delay was worth it though. It felt good to laugh again.