Road Trip

Well, am I insulted, or what?

Yesterday, I was at my daughter's for her son's birthday, the one with the ice cream cake. My granddaughter was scheduled to work, and as that was in the other town, where I live, I said I'd drive her to work on my way home, save everyone else the trip.

But, we would be cutting it close, time wise, which of course, made the young girl fret. She told her Mom that if I was driving, we wouldn't make it on time...I drive slow apparently, and I don't take the highway.

I can hurry if I need to, but the last few times we've been out, we've been on a road trip, no hurry, no rush, no specific destination.

I'm going to have to sit this girl down and explain some of the finer details about driving. Road trip is like the words of that song...no particular place to go. Day trips are a drive out of town with a specific destination, like when my friend and I tour to the north country or east to my favorite store.

Everything else is just...pick-up, drop off, errands or appointments. Driving with a purpose.

Yes, K. we will definitely be having a talk.

The Birthday Cake

The day before his birthday, my grandson was excited, knowing his Mom and I were going to be, not baking, more assembling, his birthday cake. He had very specific ideas for what he wanted. Damn that YouTube, it gives these kids too much knowledge, and raises their expectations.

Because the picture he'd seen had chocolate syrup, sprinkles and a sugar cone, we made one smaller cake and decorated it just for him.

Of course, I think my peanut butter sauce makes all the difference. You can't beat the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.

I'm sharing the recipe, but it comes with a warning...it tastes great all by itself and it's hard to open the fridge and not have a taste. You can find all sorts of ways to use it, on ice cream, dipping cookies, and my daughter likes it on bananas. Enjoy.

In a small saucepan combine:  3/4 cup peanut butter
                                                  1/4 cup light corn syrup
                                                  1/4 cup half and half (I use coffee creamer, 50/50 with water)        
                                                  2 Tbsp butter or margarine
Cook over medium heat, just until margarine melts and mixture is smooth, remove from heat.
Stir in 1/4 cup powdered sugar, beat until smooth and creamy.
Cool completely.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Some time ago, I was having lunch with my daughter and her kids, and when it came to the dessert, my grandson's choice was the ice cream sandwich, rather than a sundae.

I had recently been on Pinterest, and seen a recipe for making the cookie part of an ice cream sandwich, and made the mistake of mentioning it.

I found myself promising this 7 year old I would make them for his birthday. Well, his birthday is days away, and I've never checked out the recipe.

He never forgot, has mentioned it often, and the other day brought his tablet over and showed me a YouTube video of a cake made from ice cream sandwiches.

Remind you of an elephant?

No Frills kindly had boxes of ice cream sandwiches on sale, and as my daughter frequently reminds me, do it the simple way, don't make life difficult.

So on Friday, I'm making my famous peanut butter sauce to add between the layers of ice cream bars, then when all is done, we'll 'ice' it with Cool Whip. Taking the easy way out.

I've learned a lesson here. These kids never forget a thing, and I need to take care in what I promise.

Looks good, doesn't it?

And apparently so simple. Happy Birthday Cole.

Drapes and Depression

When I moved here, three years ago, I was delighted to finally be able to hang a pair of drapes that I loved, but had been unable to use. They were a big flowery print, in shades of dusty rose and burgundy, with a beige/off white background.

Since the walls here are builder beige, and I have so many dark colored bookcases, I liked the spot of print and color. My sofa sits in front of the picture window, a soft green that coordinated with the greenery in the print.

I hung a set of champagne colored sheers, and added the flowered drapes, but found that they were not wide enough to cover the window and could only be decorative side panels. Well, damn.

Not willing to give up the color, I switched the sheers for solid white rod pocket drapes. Not as nice as the sheers, but the new drapes allowed me some privacy, especially at night. The problem with rod pocket drapes is that you can't open and close them on the rod, you need to tie them back.

My drapes came with matching tie backs, and I inserted the hook to use them. I didn't take into consideration how much it hurt my back, leaning over the sofa, trying to tie the white drapes back, and doing it all behind the pretty side panels.

I gave up and stopped opening my drapes. I made my world smaller, and for that time that my back was such an issue, it was already quite restricted. This kind of situation can affect you more than you realize.

When my daughter moved, her living room drapes didn't work in the new house, and she offered me the old ones. It was a generous offer, but then she's a generous person, who hates flowery prints. The new-to-me drapes were a soft green, with a tone on tone design, and they looked great with my sofa.

I changed the drapes and changed my world. Gone were the solid white, the showy flowers, and in their place I had drapes I could open and close at whim, using my handy grabber, as the tops were those large grommets rather than pleats and hooks.

I have let the sun in, or my view of the winter's snow. I can see that there is a world out there, see the comings and goings of my neighbors. I realize I had shut myself off, in more ways than one.

With summer almost here, I'll need to close my drapes again, to shut out the heat. The downfall to a window that faces the sunset. But I found a solution. I bought a new pair of drapes, and hung them under the green, on a tension rod. Both sets have the grommet tops and can be moved easily across the rods.

The new ones are a light brown, to match my chair. When closed, I can view the outside, and though light and semi sheer, they give me a break from the too bright afternoon sun. When it gets hot outside, I can close both sets, and hope to keep my place a shade of cool.

Never again will I let myself live in the doom and gloom, it's too depressing. Let the sunshine in.

On an Adventure

My fourteen year old granddaughter and I went on a picture taking road trip yesterday. I will admit we had fun, but we're scaredy cats at heart.

I love to take pictures of abandoned buildings, and on a road trip with my son and is family the other night, on our way to lacrosse, he showed me an empty and abandoned school. So that was out destination.

It was sad, to see the school over grown with weeds, the playground empty and neglected. The swing sets were still standing, but the swings removed, The climbing jungle gym rusted and lost in the weeds.

The side of the school closest to the road had the drapes closed, so we couldn't see in, but the other side had some boarded up windows, the drapes gone. We had a peek in, empty spaces, broken glass, silence.

My granddaughter looked in the back door, and we could see down the empty hall. It's just habit, I suppose, but she tried the door...and it was open. There was a sign posted on the inner door jamb, about private property and such, and I so wanted to venture in. My companion thought it was all creepy, and I admit it was eerie feeling. I only stepped in the door, took a picture and we left.

What a gutless pair we were. If I ventured back, I bet the door would be locked. I lost my chance. That's what you get when you play by the rules.