Red River Rising ~ Outdoor Wednesday

I am joining Outdoor Wednesday again, you will find it over at A Southern Daydreamer. Please check it out for more great photos.

The Red River flows North from Minnesota into North Dakota and on into Manitoba, Canada. I live in Manitoba and every year there are dire predictions as to how badly the Red River will flood in the Spring time. Thankfully, this year there will only be a minor flood. Compared to other years, that is.
I wanted this photo taken with me in it to give you an idea of how large these pieces of ice are. They are very small this year compared to last year. These ice jams were in the Selkirk area. But they move very quickly. So today, for instance, the ice jams are probably several miles up the river and not to be seen in this area at all.

The Canada Geese are back, that is a sure sign of Spring. They can be heard every day, honking their way back to their home for the Summer.

My husband took all of the photos, so thanks go to him.
Thank you, sweetheart.

The road across the bridge normally would continue, but not during flood season. It is completely cut off here for several weeks, thanks to the Red River.

It is very scary standing on the bridge looking down into the water. You can hear the ice crunch against the bridge underneath you. To make it worse there are several pigeons that nest under this bridge and if you listen it sounds very ghostly. I would not want to be here at night!

Thank you for coming by, be sure to leave me a comment to let me know you were here.

Have a great day,

Cindy

Mmmm... Home Made Bread!

Recently I purchased a Taste of Home magazine and in it I found a recipe for Sunflower Seed & Honey Wheat Bread. I substituted 1/3 cup sugar for the 1/3 cup honey and I used multi grain flour in place of the whole wheat flour. I also put 1/2 cup Sunny Boy Cereal in the wet ingredients before I added all of the flour.

I keep my furnace set fairly warm on baking day, because bread won't rise in a cool drafty room. I sit it on top of my stove if I am using the oven and I always put a clean dish towel over it to keep it warm.

The middle loaf did not raise as well as the other two, but it rose enough.

Mm mm...can you smell it?

Here's the recipe, click on the photo and it will be large enough to read. As you can see I cut back on the salt. I put three teaspoons in it the first time I made this recipe and it made a very salty bread. So I cut it back to two teaspoons and it is just right, I think. When making a yeast bread, be sure to knead the dough for as long as the recipe suggests, because that is what gives the bread a lovely soft consistency. Also make sure that the dough is always kept warm. Being too cold slows down the effectiveness or the working of the yeast and it will take forever and a day for it to rise properly and sometimes it just never rises if it isn't warm enough. But don't make it too HOT, because that kills the yeast. Yeast bread is very finicky. But so worthwhile to make!

I also made banana bread today, I downloaded a photo for you to see, but Blogger is giving me all kinds of trouble today, so it's nowhere to be seen.

I hope you are all having a yummy Monday, I certainly am!

Cindy

Moving Furniture

(Before)

Originally my antique dresser was behind my couch.

But I moved it to be on the side wall and I think I like it there better.

The color on the wall is not right in this photo.

I didn't take a photo of the dark bookcase on the wall below because I was never

happy with this wall or with how the bookcase looked on it.

But I am very happy with the bookcase now. Have a look.

(After)

The photo above was taken without a flash. Interior photos are so difficult, the colors never

quite look right. The rest of the photos are with flash. The colors look so washed out for some reason. The color on the walls below are more true to life.

(After)

Do you like how I put a white bookcase there instead of the dark one that was on the wall where I put my dresser? I think the light colors look better than the dark one did.




Do you see the ring of keys on the left of the bookcase? I found that in a Sally Ann in Grand Forks, ND when we were there recently. I had been eyeing Pottery Barns so I was delighted to find that.




I feel like it has a lighter Spring feeling to it, now. What do you think, dear reader?
Thank you for stopping by today, I wish you all a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,

Beautiful Old Buildings

Thank you to every one that left me birthday greetings over the last two days, they were greatly appreciated. I love being a part of the Blogging world. Through my blog I have met the most wonderful, kind, loving people in the world.

We recently took a quick trip to Chicago and some of the small towns in that area. We were there for a Minister's Conference and were greatly blessed. We made some new friends that I'm quite sure we will visit again next year at this time. It was a life changing experience.

While there we drove through some of the small towns in the Chicago area. They are so picturesque and so my husband caught a few of them on camera.

This photo was taken the day that we left. The weather was so beautiful, up in the 60's F, I'm sure. Here I am enjoying the warm sunshine as we overlooked a small valley in Illinois. My dad was born and raised in Benton, Illinois, we didn't go that far South, but just being in Illinois was a thrill to me.

I love the US, I was born in the state of Washington and have many friends and family in the USA. I find people to be so friendly there, much more friendly than Canadians for some reason. I'm not quite sure why. While there we ate at the Cracker Barrel several different times. I love their menu!

Today I am joining Outdoor Wednesday, be sure to visit there and enjoy more outdoor scenes.

It's My Day!

...because it's my Birthday today, March the 22nd!! (Please ignore the date at the top, I can't edit that for some reason.)

My birthday has always been my favorite day of the year. I can remember looking forward to it with great anticipation when I was little and I'm not much different now.

I am 52 years young today. I am so grateful for the years God has allowed me to have and for the beautiful blessed life He has given me. How am I blessed, well let me count the ways.

1. I have a husband who loves me and treats me like a Queen.

2. I have children who love me and tell me often that they do.

3. I have four healthy, happy, young grandchildren and they love me too.

4. I have a beautiful Church family who I love to worship with.

5. I have five wonderful siblings and their spouses and all of their children that I am so blessed to love and be loved by.

6. I have many, many friends. Too many to count and I count my blogging friends, too. I have made some precious connections with women all over the world and I enjoy visiting them and reading their comments when they visit me. Thank you all of you dear people and you know who you are. I love you and am very grateful for you.

I was eighteen months old in this photo, sorry for the poor quality, but it is OLD!



I have been very spoiled this year. My youngest sister Sue gave me this when I was out visiting her two months ago.

She also gave me the keys that you see hanging above and below. I adore old keys.

My oldest daughter gave me the bird plate holder.

Carolyn also gave me these two very old urns, aren't they beautiful?

My hubby bought the crown for me and a brown sweater that I really love, I don't have a photo of it.

I just love this!

On Sunday my sweet friend Wendy and her husband went out to lunch with us and she gave me a heavenly smelling candle and some chocolate kisses.

You see, I have been very spoiled and I am loving every minute of it.

Thank you for stopping by and celebrating this very special day with me, please leave me a comment and let me know that you were here.


Love and hugs to all,

Thrifty Thursday and a Birthday

I am joining Thrifty Thursday today

I love a good deal, don't you? And I love silver.

I have decorated my whole new kitchen buffet in a very thrifty way.

I have a favorite GoodWill store where they always have lots of old silver pieces that

I am able to pick up at prices between 10 cents and maybe $2.00.

I paid about 80 cents for the tray above and I love the look of silver trays.

I love the color of this tray. It only cost a couple of dollars, too.

I don't clean up any of my silver, I just wash them

in soap and water and use them!

The large tray can be seen better in the first photo.

The silver teapot was the first

piece of silver that I ever purchased and it was about $2.00.
That's only a few of my silver pieces, I am continually adding to my collection

and at the prices that I find them, who can blame me.

Do you like old silver? If not, tell me what you do collect that is very, very thrifty!

Happy Birthday to my sweet daughter-in-law Maranetta.
Maranetta is one of the sweetest girls in the world and we are so blessed
to have her in our family. We love you dearest Maranetta! The photos
in the frame above are the beautiful grandchildren that she and our
son have given us. I am so thankful for the day that our son married her.
We are so blessed!

Have a beautiful Thursday!!!

Love Me Some Beadboard!!!

I am so excited to finally be able to say that my kitchen is FINISHED!!!

So to start with, I will give you a little reminder of the "Before". These were taken after we

had begun renovations, the wall are all lathe and plaster with several layers of paint and

wallpaper. We had previously painted the kitchen yellow and that has stayed, except for

where we put BEAD BOARD!!!

Now for the "AFTER"

It doesn't even look the same, does it?

My daughter gave me the plate holder for my soon to be birthday.

And over the weekend I made the shade that is on the valance that is on the window.

I attempted to make a French buillonne shade, it resembles one, but I'm not going to say

that it is one. The buillonne window covering is very popular in Belgium and my dear blogger friend Greet has them on the windows in her kitchen. I have admired them ever since I first saw them, so I attempted to make one.

Isn't the bead board YUMMY? My sweet hubby put it up one board at a time and painted it all as well. He's the best and as they say, he's a keeper!

I love my crock sitting there too, it catches my recycle.
You can see the cork floor here, too. It is a very comfortable floor to

stand on for long periods of time.

The paint color isn't right in any of the photos. It is a soft buttery yellow, but not as dead as the first photos show.

Hugs,