Hello everyone...happy Wednesday to you!

I worked outside on the day that it was nice also. But it was not a pleasant experience. I don't know how many bugs I swallowed (gnats...they were also very bad) and actually had to come in twice to take out my contact & remove gnats that flew into my eyes.
Every time I would come near the house the ladybugs & the box elders would swarm me & get in my hair or on my clothes. Ugh! Just disgusting!
But this was not the worst of it.  I actually had a chipmunk fall on my head!

Ok..well, maybe not actually land on my head, but I was working under a big oak tree & he must have been jumping from one branch to another or something & he missed & fell out of the tree & he did hit the side of my shoulder as he fell right next to me. I don't know who was scared worse...him or me! If you have ever seen Ace Ventura, Pet Detective...I kind of looked like he did in the part with the bats flying out of the cave!  Well, after I finally calmed down from this experience, I went back to whacking those huge mystery plants that we have all over the yard. That is what I was doing, trimming them all back. Well next thing I know as I slam the weed whacker down into the ground to chop up another plant, I hear the most sickening sound of something that I just killed or decapitated...I don't know if it was a mouse, chimpunk or what...but that did it! I had enough outdoor fun for one friggin day!

Not a whole lot going on here really. Hubby is working hard & then trying to get some hunting time in when he can on the weekends.
Daughter is working hard. She got yet another promotion...more responsibility, another raise. So good for her!
I stay busy between the house, errands, cooking, my computer & crafts. I have also started my Christmas shopping. I can't believe how quick this year has flown by.  I have to start now though because I have to mail most of my stuff & also have to be ready for days that I won't want to get out later on when the weather is so bad. And I have a feeling that this is not going to be a very pleasant winter.

I guess I need to get this post submitted & get busy since it is already going on noon!

One last bit of fun...these short quizes are always fun.

Your Autumn Sense is Smell

You are a very sensitive, in tune person, and you have a good memory. You notice all the little smells associated with fall. Of course you love favorite smells like pumpkin pie cooking or a fire burning, but your nose is much more sensitive than that. You also notice the smell of fall leaves, the scent of a favorite sweater, and the aroma of fresh apples. You remember and cherish every detail of the season. In fact, the littlest things about fall give you the greatest amount of pleasure.

I hope today finds you all well.
 
So many have the flu right now. I got a flu shot last year for the first time, but don't know if I will get one (or both) of them this year. Do you get them? If so or if not, any good points to make about them?   I am telling daughter that she should get one since she works with the public. 

So after my last post about getting a "dusting" of snow...we got about 2 1/2 " of snow on Monday! Can you believe it!  I have a feeling this is going to be a very long winter!
It did all melt yesterday. It only stuck to the grassy areas also. But now there is more in the forecast for tomorrow & Friday.
Here are some pictures that I took on Monday of our Autumn snowfall....(if you are on FB you probably already seen these..)

Daughter & some friends of hers got together to carve some pumpkins  the other night. One of the girls' little boy came too. She had bought him a decorating kit that looked like Mr. Potato Head pieces...they were so cute!  Here are the results...

Notice the different faces on the little boys pumpkin in the 2 pictures...

Daughter is going trick -or- treating for Unicef this year...

http://youth.unicefusa.org/trickortreat/

This way she gets to dress up & go out with some of her friends AND do something important & worthwhile at the same time!

I got this in an email & had to share!

A DC airport ticket agent offers some examples of 'why' our country is in trouble!
 
1.I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)
 
2.I got a call from a Kansas Congressman's (Moore) staffer (Howard Bauleke), who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me with, ''I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in  Massachusetts  .''

Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ''Cape Cod is in  Massachusetts  , Capetown is in  Africa ''

his response -- click.
 
3. A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about a  Florida  package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in  Orlando  . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since  Orlando  is in the middle of the state.

He replied, 'don't lie to me, I looked on the map and  Florida  is a very thin state!'' (OMG)
 
4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife (Landra Reid) who asked, ''Is it possible to see  England  from  Canada  ?''

I said, ''No.''

She said, ''But they look so close on the map.'' (OMG, again!)
 
5.An aide for a cabinet member (Janet Napolitano) once called and asked if he could rent a car in  Dallas . I pulled up the reservation and noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in  Dallas  . When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, ''I heard  Dallas  was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.'' (Aghhhh)
 
6.An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky)  called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from  Detroit  left at 8:30 a.m., and got to  Chicago  at 8:33 a.m.

I explained that  Michigan  was an hour ahead of  Illinois  , but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.
 
7. A New York lawmaker, (Jerrold Nadler) called and asked, ''Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?'' I said, 'No, why do you ask?'

he replied, ''Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm overweight. I think that's very rude!''

After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for  Fresno  , Ca. is (FAT -  Fresno  Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on his luggage..
 
8. A Senator John Kerry aide (Lindsay Ross) called to inquire about a trip package to  Hawaii  . After going over all the cost info, she asked, ''Would it be cheaper to fly to  California  and then take the train to  Hawaii  ?''
 
9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman, Bobby Bright from  Ala  who asked, ''How do I know which plane to get on?''

I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ''I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.''
 
10. Senator Dianne Feinstein called and said, ''I need to fly to  Pepsi-Cola  ,  Florida  . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?''

I asked if she meant fly to  Pensacola  ,  FL  on a commuter plane.

She said, ''Yeah, whatever, smarty!''
 
11. Mary Landrieu  La. Senator called and had a question about the documents she needed in order to fly toChina . After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa. 'Oh, no I don't. I've been to  China  many times and never had to have one of those.''

I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa. When I told her this she said, ''Look, I've been toChina four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!''
 
12. A New Jersey Congressman (John Adler) called to make reservations, ''I want to go from  Chicago  to Rhino, New York  .''

I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ''Are you sure that's the name of the town?''

'Yes, what flights do you have?'' replied the man.

After some searching, I came back with, ''I'm sorry, sir, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a rhino anywhere."

''The man retorted, ''Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!''

So I scoured a map of the state of  New York  and finally offered, ''You don't mean  Buffalo  , do you?''

The reply? ''Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.''

Now you know why the Government is in the shape that it's in!
 
Could anyone be this DUMB?
 
YES, THEY WALK AMONG US, ARE IN POLITICS, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BREED. 
 

I don't write it, I just offer it for your consideration. Like manure, you just gotta spread it around.  
 
 

 From one day to another...the colors of fall got more brilliant & then this morning we wake up to a dusting of snow!

Slow down Mother Nature & let us enjoy the season.  Last Thursday I took these pictures around the area where we live. I could tell a huge difference in the magnitude of the colors from just the day before & also since I knew that snow was in the forecast, I knew that I had best capture the beauty when I could!

Enjoy fall from my neighborhood....

Now back at my house.... 

my driveway

around my yard

And this is what my back yard looked like this morning....

Yes, what a difference a day can make!

There is snow in the forecast off & on throughout next week. One day they say accumulations of 2-4" are possible.
I still haven't put out my pumpkins for Halloween yet!

I made a new Chex mix today. A couple of you had wanted me to post the recipe. I got it out of the Taste of Home magazine & then also saw it on one of the Chex cereal boxes. It was pretty yummy!

Snickerdoodle Chex Mix

1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups Chocolate Chex cereal
2 cups Cinnamon Chex cereal
4 cups popped popcorn
1/4 cup butter

In a small bowl, combine sugar & cinnamon; set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the cereals and popped popcorn,
In a 1-cup microwave safe measuring cup, microwave the butter on high about 40 seconds or until melted. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.
Microwave on high, stirring after 1 minute. Sprinkle half the sugar mixture evenly over cereal mixture, stir.  Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture; stir. Microwave mixture for 1 minute longer.
Spread on waxed paper or paper towels to cool.

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend.  We went last night to one of the community theaters & saw Chicago. We all enjoyed it.
Today, hubby did chores & I spent most of the day in the kitchen cooking & playing on the computer.  I am also in the process of putting all of my pictures from my old computer onto disks. I actually had done this, but only got up to June of last year. So I am finishing this up as that old computer is about ready for the graveyard.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

I am loving Fall! 

It is just absolutely gorgeous up here at this time of the year. It has been rainy & cool & dreary here the last several days . There was a neat thing that they had here this weekend. It was called Falling Leaves Art Studio Tour. We did it on Saturday since daughter was off that day too. You had a map & got to travel some backroads & scenic drives through central Wisconsin to visit artists & their studios. There were 17 studios on the tour & we did all of them & it took pretty much the full day to do. It was fun & we got to see some country that we haven't seen yet.
I didn't take any pictures inside the places of their art. I did take some on the drive & of some of their interesting studios that they had. Some were in just regular homes, some very rustic homes, a few barns....check out what all we saw on our trip....

This was at the first stop. Some of the proceeds of their art sales went towards this animal refuge which was on their property.

Daughter & I fell in love with the horses here...

Then these guys came running up to us! lol.. I guess they thought we had something that they didn't want to miss out on.
There were several llamas & Alpacas.

haha....she smiled & posed for me!

The horses were all so pretty & so sweet

Beautiful isn't it!

Elk on some game ranch that we passed

Tree farm. There are tons of these around here.

pretty rolling hills

I just loved this rustic shack!

Corny Lori! lol...

This was one of my favorite places. She made things from antlers & feathers.
She also had just a lot of neat stuff around her place.

haha...I loved him!

I just really liked this shot. I actually took it as we were driving. You can see the stormy clouds we had this day.

and more from our stormy drive...like this one despite the raindrops on the windshield!

Hubby just called & ruined my day....he said there are snow showers in the forecast for Sunday & Monday! WHAT! Of course, that is still a ways ahead ...hopefully the meteorologists are wrong.  I have a feeling that this is going to be a bad winter...especially since it was such a cool summer. I don't know if I am actually ready for it. But not much that I can do about it now is there?

Today is my dad's birthday!   I talked to him this morning.  I wish that we could celebrate with him.

   Have a great day dad. I love you. I'm with you in spirit


Also happy birthday to a very dear friend here on Xanga, Lee aka Priorities. I hope you have a wonderful day Lee.

I have another very easy & tasty recipe to share with you all.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 8 oz. carton spreadable chive & onion cream cheese
1 tablespoon butter
salt to taste
6 bacon strips

Flatten chicken breast halves to 1/2" thickness.
Spread 3 tablespoons cream cheese over each.  Dot with butter and sprinkle with salt; roll up. Wrap each chicken breast with bacon strip.
Place seam side down in a greased 13 x 9" baking pan.  Bake  uncovered at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170.
Broil 6" from the heat for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

Yummylicious!

Xanga shut down to do maintenance right when I submitted this earlier today....it ate some of my post too....grrrrr

I don't even remember what else I had on here, so I will just wish you all a good day & I hope you have a wonderful new week.

xoxo ~ Zany

Hello friends & family,

We had a chilly and a frosty start this morning. It was 30 degrees !  A little bit early I would say. But, I guess we have had fall like weather all summer so it will just jump right into wintery weather now that it is suppose to be fall!   Crazy Wisconsin weather!

I already hate it getting dark earlier in the evenings. At least the official time change isn't until 11/1.

I am enjoying my television shows being back on. I didn't watch much tv at all in the summer, but now I have several nights of shows on. I watch Desperate Housewives, House, Gossip Girl, Glee, & Grey's Anatomy, and then of course there is football!
I haven't started watching any of the other new shows. There was one I thought looked good from the previews, Fast Forward, I think it was called, but forgot to watch the premier & then missed the repeat. Did anyone see it & if so what did you think?

I am still nursing a really bad headache that I woke up with this morning. It seems like every year when I first start running the heat, I wake up with headaches, so that may be it.  Hubby wasn't feeling good yesterday or this morning. He feels like he is coming down with something. One of the girls in the office has been sick, so I am sure he picked up what she had.  He had to make a trip to Minnesota today so I hope he gets to feeling better.

We have officially lived in our home for 1 year now. I can't believe how quick this year has gone by.
Today is also the final day for September. Yikes!

I have a couple of recipes to share with you. First one I am ashamed to say, how easy  it was & that I have never ever made homemade applesauce before.   But since we had some apples from our trees this year & I was out of store bought applesauce one night when I was making pork chops, I found this online & made it. OMG...it was so yummy. Now I don't think that I will never buy the store version again!

Homemade Applesauce

4 medium apples
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. sugar (brown or white)
a few shakes of cinnamon

Peel, core and cut the apples into quarter.  Put cut-up apples, sugar, cinnamon & water into a 2 quart saucepan.  Cover and cook at medium heat (simmering) for 15 - 20 minutes.  Let apples cool, then mash them with a fork.
*4 servings

This other one is pretty darned quick & easy too.Got it out of that 5 ing. magazine that I have gotten so many great recipes from.
A great appetizer....

Sausage Wonton Cups

1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 green onions, chopped
16 wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese

In a small skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain if necessary. Stir in onions; set aside.
Press wonton wrappers into greased miniature muffin cups; lightly brush with oil. Bake at 350 for 6 -7 minutes or until golden brown.
Spoon 1 rounded tablespoon of the sausage mixture into each cup; top with 1 tablespoon of cheese.
Bake 3 - 4 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
Serve immediately.

Now you knew I couldn't do a post without any pictures, right!

I have some fall pictures to share with you...
first a few from inside my house...

 

one of my favorite pieces...& it came from one of my bff's right here in xanga'land!

Easy craft idea...make apple votive candleholders...just get a tealight & with a paring knife, cut top of apple to the size of candle, then using a melon baller, scoop out apple until candle sits inside. Be sure to use apples with a flat bottom.






Now from around my "neck of the woods"

The shot above & below were taken within just a few days of each other
You can see how quickly the color is coming out.

Yes, I love fall, and it is especially pretty here in the northwoods.

I best get my booty in gear now that it is already noon! lol....
I hope you all have a great day.

Finally, you say! Yes, I heard you!  I'm sorry, but I do love my camera & love to share my pictures

We woke to this sunrise on Saturday morning....

How I would love to wake up to that everyday. Wow!

We took a walk down to the dock before heading out.

This lighthouse was way off in the distance so I had to use all of my zoom to try to capture it.

I love this shot of hubby

Our next stop was Bayfield

That's right...I could easily be an Island Queen! lol

What a life...he was asleep on his boat!

What a guy...yes, he posed with this statue just because I asked him to! awwww

There were scarecrows of all sorts all over the town . Here are a few of my favorites...

These guys were on someone's front porch. I think I was more captivated by the flowers they had though!

I love this shot!

This one was on a bike! lol...YES, Cindy...they DO have fish boils up here! No, we didn't go to one though.

now in Superior...
Check out these  old ore docks

they just don't make things like that anymore!

Pretty big ship to be on Superior

The Bong Bridge

Now we are in Duluth, MN

Our final stop & probably the most fun was Canal Park.

There was tons of neat shops,clubs & restaurants.
A couple of lighthouses. A big park area. We definitely want to come back here sometime to explore it more.

This bridge raises when ships come through.

there were a lot of seagulls around! Big flying rats as my hubby calls them!

We fnished our day with dinner and a few cold ones at Old Chicago.

Hubby & I each got a different sampler tray of beers.
Mine were the ones on top & his are the ones below. Although we shared

Daughter was just happy to finally find a place up north that has deep dish pizza.
You can only find thin crust in the places around where we live at.

When we walked out of the restuarant, I saw Hell's Kitchen right across the street! Now I really have to go back!

Zany lovin' to you all and thank you for putting up with me & all of my pictures!

Happy Friday all!

Have I said lately how happy I am & how blessed that I am? I am lovin' life!
Thank you to my dear, sweet, hard working man for all that he provides for me.

I have more pictures to share from our road trip from last weekend...yeah, I'm a bit slow!  Sad thing is, I will have 1 more post of pics after this one to do!

First though, I have to share this corny joke that I read on one of my friends facebook pages....it is so corny, it is cute!
It made me laugh out loud....

What is the difference between Bird Flu and Swine Flu?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 For bird flu you need tweetment and for swine flu you need oinkment.

Did it make you snort? lol....

ok...back to the road trip...

We discovered what the town of Glidden, WI is famous for.  No, it isn't paint...that is what we thought too!

It is for this record black bear.

See there, you learned something new today!

The town of Ashland is a neat little town that we stopped in.
It is known for its murals painted on buildings throughout downtown.

These were just a few of the murals!
The next few shots are of some old buildings that I really liked.

 We spotted this on the side of the road...forget where exactly.

Love this shot of daughter!

Our next planned stop was to see some waterfalls. Unfortunately they are not just on the side of a road somewhere.
You have to really hike to get to some.

The scenery was beautiful as was the day though.

the first set of steps to climb. I lingered taking pictures, but you can see hubby & daughter at the top of these steps.

We get to the top & saw this sign showing an observation tower above, so we decided to go to it.

This involved a LOT of climbing!

Taking a break after that climb & actually still smiling!

enjoying Mother Nature...

Then we see THIS....oh no...more climbing...but this will be the end

I wish that I could say that the climb was worth it, but it really wasn't. Sure it was pretty, but not THAT pretty!
You couldn't see any of the falls from here either, which we thought you would be able to.

Oh well, we needed the exercise & it was pretty.
Now to go back down....much easier than climbing up!

Ugh...daughter says she needs to stop & rest for a minute. Her calves were hurting her.

Now on to find the waterfalls.

WHAT??? More climbing?  

grrrr

Now she is not smiling much! She is tired of these steps. Thank goodness for places to sit & rest!

Finally some of the falls!
Several different waterfalls all combined.

Nice spot for another rest & photo op!

Back down...almost done! "C'mon mom...quit taking so many pictures!"

Ah yes....quite the day...beatiful wonders from Mother Nature and sharing it with the love of my life!

Everyone have a wonderful weekend.
Zany lovin' to you all.

 My baby girl turned 20 this past Friday!

We started the day with breakfast at Perkins, which is her favorite place when she wants to eat a BIG breakfast!

She looks pretty excited about that food, doesn't she!

Time to head out onto the road for our road trip!

The leaves are already changing colors.

We saw this pretty park in Ladysmith, WI , so we pulled in...

So many of the little towns around here have a lake in the middle of them.

Making a birthday wish!

One of the places that was on our list of things to see was the Concrete Park in Phillips.
Go here to check out the story behind the park: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2251

This place was huge, with hundreds of statues all made out of concrete & adorned with beer bottles.

Sign showing how many miles to each town from Phillips

Taking some time out to chat on the phone & get some birthday wishes from her nana & pappa.

On the grounds is also a nature trail.

^picture above

These were the weirdest "berries" or plants....they look like eyeballs to me! I have no idea what they are.

I don't want to overload you with all of the pictures from the trip at once, so I am stopping here.

Now I need to make my rounds to visit all of you.

Saturday night the 3 of us went to check out the Fanny Hill Dinner Theatre in Eau Claire. It is something that we have been wanting to do for a while now & just never seemed to get around to it.

It has been around for about 30 years & also has a bed & breakfast. It is a hot spot for weddings & receptions. Also famous for its Sunday Champagne Brunches (which we also want to do sometime) and most especially for its live theater.

Back when daughter was actively doing her acting, I went to the shows quite often & really enjoyed them.  It definitely stirred up some emotions in both daughter & I when the show began. I really wish that she would get involved in the local theater here. There are so many of them around. She may. We will see.

Anyway, as promised...here are my photos from the evening.

I love this shot of Lori & Mike!
This little "welcome" building from what I could tell was just a storage building or something, but cute for photos.

This place sits high up on a bluff overlooking Eau Claire.

A neat old car parked on the grounds.

Hubby & I

some of the gardens

Lori's outfit matched the colors of these beautiful flowers at the main entrance.

Gorgeous flowers!

There was a wedding that was going to take place in one of the gardens that evening...

This was in the entrance to the restaurants. They have a regular dining room & then the Theater dining room.

they are being nice right now & smiling for me to take pictures...but you see that "look" on Lori's face!

oh no...she would never give me "the look"...she is such a princess!

Mike with his dinner...

He got prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes & carrots

Lori got Butternut Squash Ravioli

I got Pecan Crusted Chicken with a Hazlenut Cream sauce, garlic mashed potatoes & carrots.

I wanted to get a shot with all 3 of us in it...

Of course, Lori got irritated & had to act goofy & mess up the shot!

So I said, "PLEASE" smile & look happy....
This is what I get! LMAO!!
I guess that I can't blame them. I do LOVE my camera!

Love to you all from the Zany Family!