Happy Fall!

The leaves have turned (or perhaps completely fallen where you live) and the air is finally getting cool. To celebrate, I thought I'd share with all of you the wassail recipe that has come to be known as Karen's Wassail among my circle of southern friends.

In truth, this wassail recipe belongs to the Macktown Historical Society. Stephen Mack was a pioneer who settled Macktown in what is now my hometown, Rockton, Ill. The namesake of my middle school married the namesake of my high school - Hononegah, disputably the daughter of a Potawatomie Indian chief. There are two stories as to how they may have met. One legend has it that Mack became sick from fever and that Hononegah nursed him back to health. In another, Mack was an advisor to the local chief but was despised by the people because he refused to sell alcohol and firearms to them. So they plotted to kill him. Hononegah reportedly either hid Mack in a barrel or met him in the woods to warn him of the plan. Mack became so grateful to her that he decided to be her husband. (Thanks, Wikipedia, for refreshing my memory.)

As a girl my girl scout troop and I, led by my mother, would dress up in Victorian dresses and help the historical society give tours at Mack's home, just a few minutes from where I grew up. We'd decorate a little Christmas tree with ornaments we'd made in the style of the time and sing Christmas carols from the parlor to visitors. And in the kitchen there was always hot wassail on the stove, filling the entire house with a sweet aroma.

So here you go. Enjoy! And Happy Turkey Day!

Karen's (stolen) Wassail
1 gallon apple cider
4 cups cranberry juice
2 cups orange juice
2 cups brown sugar
4-5 cinnamon sticks

Combine ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Can be refrigerated and reheated. Serve hot with cinnamon sticks.

The New Addition (no I haven't had the baby yet)

So I have a rambunctious dog, an indoor cat I have trouble keeping indoors, am still grieving over the loss of my other kitty, and am in the middle of a dozen major house projects. Oh, and I'm pregnant, and have all those life-changing experiences associated with that coming up in the very near future.

What better time to get a new kitten?

We didn't plan on it. I sent David to the vet last week to pick up Jonas from his annual exam, and the vet told him she was thinking of us the other day. Then she showed him The Kitten. David couldn't resist. He held her, played with her, even took her picture. And then came home with those same sweet pleading eyes he had when he first saw Joe's pound puppy photo. The vet said The Kitten loves people, dogs and other cats. Which describes our household. And she's just plain sweet.

We took the weekend to think about it, then decided what the heck. The vet said we can bring her back at any time if it doesn't work out - even six months from now. But it looks like it's going to work out. She's quite the cuddler, and it's actually been really great having a new little bundle of energy running around.

We're introducing her to the other pets slowly. Right now The Kitten is confined to the back bedroom, a paradise of toy mice, scratching pads and kitty beds. David and I trade off spending time with her and with the other pets, around whom we try to act like nothing's different. Mazzy doesn't seem to notice the new addition. This weekend we're going to try putting a towel that The Kitten's been sleeping on under Mazzy's food bowl to get her used to the smell. Eventually we'll move up to letting them sniff each other from under the door, then give The Kitten more and more run of the house. I think she's ready for that step now. She's already made a break for the hallway several times.

Jonas seems to be adjusting much more quickly. He's been very curious about what we've been hiding in the back room. So this morning David let him in. He had him lie down while The Kitten explored around him. Joe showed no interest in her - he was focused only on the treat in David's hand. Reportedly The Kitten thinks Jonas' tail is the greatest toy in the world. After batting that around for awhile she bravely ventured up to his face, and he let her sniff him without growling or making any threatening faces.

Now we need a name. We're really stuck on this point. Ironically we had no trouble coming up with boy and girl names for our unborn child but now sit around the dinner table throwing around names for a cat. So we are now open to suggestions. Anyone got any good cat names? We're feeling the pressure to find one soon before she becomes simply The Kitten forever.

Prison Break, Season 2

Crazy, I know. Two blog posts in a day from me. I definitely should be safe from Bill's stinky fish email for awhile. But had to share with you a "Guess what Jonas did" story.

We came home from a pumpkin carving party Halloween weekend, fully expecting to hear Jonas' loud and obnoxious barking from the back yard. But it was dead quiet. My first thought was that he somehow had found a new way to escape the yard. But we went inside, and he came running down the hall toward us, excitedly wagging his tail and offering some shredded stuffed animal in his jowls. Next thought: How in the world did I forget to put him outside before we left? We all know how Jonas is banned from being inside because of the terrible things he does to my furiture. But I distinctly remembered putting him and his dinner out back. Then we saw it - a huge hole in the screen of the back window. We'd left the windows open to get some fresh air into the house while we were out. My dumb dog managed to escape his yard to get INTO the house. Who does that?

Then my third thought - where's Mazzy? Not in the house, of course. So David and I grabbed the flashlight and went out scouring the neighborhood for my little escape artist (I'm sure she put Joe up to tearing the hole in the screen). All I could think about as we searched was how much it would stink to have lost both my cats in a matter of months. But by the time we got back to the house, there she was, outside the window (which was now closed) trying to jump back in through the hole in the screen. Phew.

Jonas spent the next day nursing his paw, which he apparently hurt by shreading a huge hole in a metal screen. We had no sympathy for him. Too bad he probably didn't associate tearing screen=hurt paw. We keep the back windows closed while we're gone now.

Progress Report

Well we've started the house painting project. We're doing the back first so we can perfect our method before painting the more frequently viewed front. Already we've seen improvement in our technique, and it's really starting to look pretty good.





We bought several small cans of different shades of brown paint from Home Depot and painted samples of each on the side of our shed (which we plan to tear down some day). One color was too light, the other too dark, a third too pink. The favorite, however, turned out to be the only one that seemed to require two coats - which means more paint and more expense. I was also nervous at first at how orange it looked when wet. It's called wine barrel - in the photo it's the color on the right and left sides. The far right shows how it looks with just one coat. Now compare that with the wheel barrel in the photo and you can understand why I was concerned.

But after a few hours of drying it toned down to a nice reddish brown, so we took a leap of faith and bought a few buckets of it, along with some black suede for the trim.






Now after two weekends and a few evenings, we have almost finished the entire back side of the house. Here's some before, during and after shots for ya. Rolling is awesome - it gets so much done so quickly. But the way the boards are on our house we have to use a brush to paint the narrow, inset boards. Between that and the trim progress seems slow. I also made the mistake this weekend of walking around the house and seeing how much more house we have to go.





But we'll get there. Especially since we're calling in reinforcements - my parents-in-law - next weekend to help speed things up before the cold weather (and my growing belly) make the work too difficult for me and David to finish.

BEFORE (YCH)

AFTER (YAY!)