Some random thoughts for Monday!

I've noticed that many bloggers refer to their spouse as "Mr and then the blog name or the initials of blog name". Well, I thought about it and if I did that, 
my Hubby's name would be....................

wait for it.....................

wait..........

"Mr. Bubble", **giggle**

Now that's funny enough but if you knew my hubby, it would be even funnier. "Bubbly" is not a word I would use to describe my sweetheart, lol.

     Anywho, Mr Bubble **giggle** and I will be attending his company Christmas party. It is always held at a swanky restaurant in the City so of course I had to get a new dress. Have any of you tried finding a cocktail dress this year? The selection is HORRIBLE! I did buy a dress, I really like the dress, it fits well and minimizes my overly large thighs BUT..... it's black and I did not want a black dress. 
Every year at Mr Bubble's **giggle** party every woman wears a black dress, no exaggeration. So here is the dress I bought:

And a close up of the detail on the bodice:

I'm going to use one of these two purses:

The one on the right is vintage, my Aunt gave it to me back in the 60's when I was just a little girl. At the time I thought what in the world am I going to do with this, but that little purse has been to more formals, weddings and fancy parties than you can imagine. I think it will miss this party though as the one on the left matches the dress so well.

     I don't need a necklace, with all that detail at the neck so I'll probably just wear some big earrings and a bracelet. Not sure what I will do with my hair, straight as in my profile picture or let it go all natural curly and pull up the sides with some sparkly clips?

     And my shoes are another issue! If I go with strappy shoes, then I have to go bare legged and I hate going bare legged in the Winter. Hmm, will have to give that one some thought. 

     Oh and one last random thought which has nothing to do with getting dressed up. I tried a new turkey this year for Thanksgiving and it was the most wonderful turkey I have EVER tasted! 
It was a Honeysuckle White All Natural Turkey. Now I've had Honeysuckles before and they are always good but this was beyond amazing. 

It was so moist and tender, it practically melted in your mouth. Here's what their website says about this turkey:

"Frozen All Natural Whole Turkey

Product Description

Make any occasion a special event with a delicious Honeysuckle White® Frozen All Natural Whole Turkey. All Natural means No Added Hormones (federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in poultry), No Antibiotics Ever, No Additives or Preservatives and the turkeys are Vegetarian Fed. It also features an all natural basting, for a moist and juicy turkey every time. Whether it's a special occasion or you just want a meal to remember, make it great with our Frozen All Natural Whole Turkey."

I will always look for this turkey from now on!

Thanks for letting me ramble this morning! Have a great day, Nan

Special Prayer Request

I have a special prayer request today! 

I'm joining Charlotte and Ginger at Spiritual Sundays. Please visit their blog for more inspiring posts! My Youngest dd Emily along with her University choir, are leaving tomorrow morning for a ten day concert tour of China. If you could keep all of these amazing singers and the staff in your prayers for safe travels and wonderful performances I would so appreciate it. DD's University is affiliated with the Methodist Church and normally their Christmas tour is filled with beautiful Sacred music with a few secular tunes thrown in for good measure. However; they will not be permitted to sing the sacred songs on most of the tour.

 I'm posting a video, it's not the best video but it was the only one I could find but it is still lovely.

My Noodle Bowl

Happy  PINK Saturday everyone!

Please stop by and say HI to Ms Beverly, at How Sweet The Sound our host every week for PINK Saturday. 

This is my noodle bowl. 

My Dad bought it for my Mom many years ago at an auction. It was manufactured by Home Laughlin and the name of the pattern is Georgia.

I love the curved handles on the sides, the delicate gold rim and the sweet PINK berry pattern.

But I love this bowl because a couple times of year it comes out of the china cabinet to hold a family treasure..... Egg Noodles!

My Mother made these and her Mother before her and her Mother before her. I'm not sure how far back this recipe goes but I'm pretty sure it was probably brought from Germany with my ancestors. Every single Holiday spent with my Mom's Mom included a huge bowl of these, they were as much a part of the holiday dinners as turkey and pumpkin pie. And there is even a funny PINK story to go  with them! We always add a few drops of yellow food coloring when the noodles are cooking just to give them a little color. Well one year my mom added a few drops and started stirring the pot but the noodles didn't turn yellow, they turned PINK! Someone had switched the lids on the red and yellow food coloring.

But sadly, as much a part of our family traditions as these were, to my knowledge, I am the only relative of my grandma's that not only knows how to make them but still does. It's not hard to make them but it is a little time consuming and it does take practice.

There are only two ingredients, flour and eggs. To make a large batch to serve 6-8 people you will need 3 eggs and 2-3 cups of flour. In a large mixer (or food processor) beat the eggs until blended. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time. Knowing how much flour to add is one of the hardest things to judge. The dough should be sticky but not wet.

Once the eggs and flour are mixed, spread flour over a large area on your counter top and coat your hands with flour too. Remove the dough from the mixer and roll in to a ball. Lay the ball on the counter and begin rolling with a well floured rolling pin. Lift and flip the dough several times, adding more flour to the counter top. 

The dough is ready when it is the thickness thinner than a dime.

Cut this large rectangle in half, and stack the two halves on top of each other, coating the layers with flour before you stack. Cut this half in half again, and stack, adding more flour.

Now cut this in to two rectangles but do not stack. 

Using a sharp knife, cut each rectangle into strips. Separate the the four layers into 4 noodles and spread on a cookie sheet to dry for 2 days. 

When it's time to cook the noodles, bring two boxes of chicken broth to a boil and slowly add the noodles a few at a time. Continue boiling, stirring constantly until the noodles are cooked and the broth thickens, approximately 30 mins. Enjoy!

Friday Freebies!

TGIBF!

Happy Black Friday Everyone!

Smart you, instead of going out with all the other maniac shoppers, you decided to stay home and find some FREEbies on the internet. Well come along, no shopping bags needed!

This little reindeer applique is so stinkin cute and I can think of lot of ways to use this! Pick up the TUT and pattern at Noodles & Milk.

Bustle and Sew has the most amazing gift for you, the pattern for this sweet applique. She has two versions, one with deer and the other with fox. I LOVE this!

The amazingly talented Laurie Furnell has this beautiful 3D Poinsettia Ornament on her blog. Laurie is so sweet and always shares wonderful creations made with her original artwork!

And I LOVE these Clipart Doilies from Martha Stewart, think of all the possibilities!

These Animal Fantasy Bookplates from Saint Moxie would make a great little stocking stuffer for any book lover!

I LOVE this little tote from I Love to Create! It can be the gift or slip a gift into it!

Next, get this FREE printable subway art poster from eighteen25 at 
Mod Podge Rocks, Quick, simple and very cute decor!

and while you are at it, stop by eighteen25's blog and grab this great free printable gift for Grandma! They have so many cute projects so take a look around while you are there.

Get the pattern and tut to make this really cool stocking at 
Urban Threads 
 

That's it for this week. Happy Shopping and have a weekend filled with 

Bubbles of JOY! xxoo Nan

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my bloggy friends!

I have so, so much to be thankful for 

but this little prayer about sums it up! 

I hope each of you has a Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, love and more blessings than you can count!

xxoo Nan

You can click on the picture to bring up a larger, sharper image,

then right click and save.

Lookee What I found!

I was putting some Halloween decorations in the attic when I noticed this little spot of red poking out from under a pile of garbage bags filled with stuffed animals. 

Being the curious creature that I am, I decided to move the bags and in the process discovered something I thought had long since gone to the Goodwill! 

These two sweet garden Gnomes belonged to my parents. The little guy is 11" tall and the big guy measures 19-1/2" tall.

The big guy is holding a lantern in his hand. The white plastic part has started to crumble but I'm guessing the light still works. If so, I'm going to figure out something to replace the white part with. 

They both still have their original manufacturer's tag attached so I did a little investigating to see what I could find out about Heissner and was pleasantly surprised! I knew my parents purchased them around 1970, so that makes them about 40 years old but that is all I knew.

The first thing I learned is they were manufactured in Germany. The second thing I learned is that August Heissner was one of two people to produce Gnomes in quantity and started production around 1870. So you might say that the Heissner Gnomes are partially responsible for Gnomes becoming the popular little characters we know and love today. And since they are wearing read hats are decorative and I think old enough to be vintage,

I'm linking this post to REDnesday at It's a Very Cherry World and
Vintage Thingie Thursday at Coloradolady. 
and Rick Rack and Gingham!

Some random thoughts for Monday!

First, WHO took November and would you please bring it back!

Second, I went out on the screen porch Saturday morning. It was very early, the Sun was just coming up and I guess my eyes weren't quite focussed because I noticed a stick laying on the porch railing. 

My first thought was *Why did Hubby lay that stick on the railing?*

My second thought was * WHY is 'said stick' moving?*

And my third thought was * %$#@&^, that's not a stick!!!*

After I gained my composure and changed my underwear, LOL, I did what any dedicated blogger would do and grabbed my camera! Here is a picture of the 'stick'

It's not uncommon to see snakes here but it is this time of year AND to see one on my porch railing. Believe it or not, snakes don't bother me, unless they are poisonous. I just wasn't expecting this little guy at all so he startled me. 

And for my last random thought this Monday, I wanted to share some crafty finds from the weekend. One of my favorite places to find embellishments for projects is the Christmas wrapping paper isle. Look at these cute trims I found at Target!

These tinsel trims are all wired so you can bend them however you want. They also had a limey green that I didn't pick up and now wish I had. 

And look at these cuties! I really need to go back and get another spool of that white mini feather boa before they are all gone!

And from Wal Mart these great trims,

Sorry this last pic is a little blurry. 

I think any of these would be so cute on banners, cards, tags, etc. I need to check out Kmart and see what they have too. 

That's it for my randomness this week, see y'all on Wednesday! 

xxoo Nan

Scripture in Pictures Sunday 11/21

You may click on the picture to bring up a larger, sharper image,

then right click and save if you like!

May all of you have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving!

Peace and Love, Nan

Please visit Ginger and Charlotte 

at Spiritual Sundays

For more inspiring posts.

Pink Sturday!

   Happy PINK Saturday everyone!

My post today will be very short as I worked late and I'm exhausted!

If you've followed my blog for any length of time you know I LOVE vintage images especially those with children and animals. Over the Summer I purchased a sweet little vintage childrens book and these are a few of the images from this book. 

 I love her sweet little PINK purse and how the little dog is following behind with her shoe. 

 This is the little poem at the bottom of the page.

 And I love the PINK wallpaper and the little rug in this picture. Did you notice the little boy is wearing Mary Janes? 

This is the poem under this picture. It's a little torn and tattered but still cute. 

Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, our host for PINK Saturday. Have a wonderful weekend! xxoo Nan

Friday Freebies!

TGIF!

Happy Friday FREEbies everyone!

First up, I have a few FREEBIES for Thanksgiving! 

My Computer is My Canvas has this wonderful banner just in time for Thanksgiving!

And another really cute printable banner from At Second Street!

 Also in time for Thanksgiving, these so, so cute harvest candy corn boxes from Paper Plate and Plane! 

And don't forget about the kid's table! I would want to sit there if I could get this cute Pilgrim Mickey Candy Box from Family Fun!

Or this Mickey Pilgrim Hat:

Family Fun also has this great Thanksgiving Activity Placemat for the kids!

And now to get you revved up for Christmas, lists and Planners galore!

A new site to Moi, iMOM has the cutest FREE printable Christmas list!

And speaking of Christmas Lists, Family Fun has this really cute Christmas Wish List!

And if you REALLY want to be organized this Holiday season, this is the planner I have used for years. You can find everything you need to get organized at Organized Christmas!

There are several different planners to choose from with dozens of different pages to print! 

And why not get a head start on some wrapping?! You can find the template and the TUT to make this super cute Santa's hat gift card holder at My Creative Place. 

That's it for this week! Have a wonderful weekend, filled with Bubbles of Joy!

xxoo Nan