I have been using a few victorian pictures thanks to a new friend

My new friend on facebook, Mary Dailey gave me permission to use a few of these victorian pictures that she was sharing at face book. She has collected many old cards like these. I went for them and now I have a few of them making my blog a little prettier. I selected a few in the colors that I love.

I suppose you have noticed that I have been sliding in my posting and I blame it on Facebook. About a month or so ago, I joined it to try it out. I have to admit I like all the groups. So far I have mostly stuck to Genealogy and Gardening groups. I haven't posted nearly as much as I would like. I admit I had a few programing problems with the new computer.

Actually, I feel like I have posted a lot. lol. I must be, because I am getting less done. I think they have great garden groups. There are a lot of fun people there.

Also, at this time of year, I enjoy reading the posting at Hgtv gardening message boards. They have some fantastic photographers over there too.

I'm just very grateful to have a computer running the way I need it to be. So I vow to be a little bit more regular. I am slacking in my blog reading, too. That's the worst thing.!!

With that little note, I know what has yet to be done today. So much to do. I love warm weather. I had better get crackin.

A cottage wannabe - Cottage Cemetery -Historic Cemetery in Augusta GA

Now there is a new kind of imput of cottage wannabe into the Cottage Industry. Read about it here Online first.
Cottage Cemetery -Historic Cemetery in Augusta GA:

"Contact Cottage Cemetery
Dear Friends, Cousins and Wanna Be's,
Please
join our effort to protect and preserve Cottage Cemetery. And be generous in
every way !!
To offer history, genealogy, stories, pictures, help with
cleanup days and if you have questions contact:
Anne Eve Carmichael Sherman
PO Box 700
Edisto Island, SC 29438
tidesofmarsh@bellsouth.net
To
contribute financially.......
Historic Augusta, Inc
- ear marked for Cottage Cemetery and mail to:
Historic Augusta, Inc For
Cottage Cemetery
...... Augusta, GA 30903 0037"

We have found A cottage wannabe again. A cottage cemetery, what will be next?

I have to admit it is a charming picture of woods and lane. A historic passage.

I just have to share this Blog I found --Coffee Pot People: With Cracked Pots

What's this?

Are you wondering what this is. I can't tell you. You'll have to find out for yourself at Anitra Cameron's etsy/ blog site. I do like those as well as the main items that draws one to her site and keeps you browsing for more.

I am especially crazy about her eye for good creative totems. Like the one I have here. She calls them coffee pot people. That is what first drew me to her site.

I am so excited to share her blog and her talent in her craft with the unusual.
You have got to visit her site and see these amazing crafty well done totems. It is glass totems with an addition to the usual. She has added a coffee pot in various forms and a face is painted on. I shall try a couple here and then you must see them at her site.

She can take ordinary household stuff and make it the neatest coffee pot person or some other kind of art. She has an eye for art. That is all I can say.

I like her title cracked pots. Mom used to say [crack pot meaning off person].

Anitra Cameron features other kinds of art and other peoples talents as well as her own.
This is the link where she discusses Megan's art. Since, I kind of like bowling ball art, I couldn't help myself, I had to include it here. I had to include this in. I do like mosaics!!
Coffee Pot People: Cracked Pots: "Megan covers things, mostly orbs, with old marbles. I love the ones she does that have things springing from the top the most, but they're all great fun. It's quite a process to make them. I asked her how she kept all the marbles from sliding down the balls as she worked and she was kind enough to explain it, but (I'm chuckling while I type, here) it isn't something I'd have the patience for myself!"

I don't know how Anitra came up with her coffee pot people. I find them creative and unique. That is what is fun about her site, to see what she makes next. Out of what other material? And what kind of coffee pot will she use with it?

Was It A Rednecked Easter at Cottage Wannabe?

Yes. Cheeap, Cheap with my peeps.

Orange u Rednecked at Easter? As we were at Cottage Wannabe? Bananas and Oranges. it might disappoint a few people! I didn't resist the unfunny pun. Sorry.

I wish I could lighten this up, but I have editing problems these days. This is one version of my Healthy red necked offering for Easter.

Again another version. Cream filled cupcakes. Not so Healthy of course, if it's Hostess cupcakes with red Ribbons. Or a copy cat version as you find in recipe below from Family Circle magazine. That's my little cotton bunny in the background.

A larger view of chocolate vanilla creamed cupcake.

I found a great recipe of a copycat cup cake In the April 17th Issue of Family Circle pp. 125 under Double Take heading. There are several good recipes and pictures of the copy cats.

The per servings for Hostess cup cake... 2 cakes = 1 serving. 99 g.;

350 calories; calories from fat 100; Calories per cake 100. calories per fat 50.

For two cake serving--

Total fat 11 g.; Sat. fat 6g.; Transfat 9.5 g.;

Cholest. 10.mg; Sodium 580 mg.;

Total carb 61 g.; Dietary fiber 2 g. ; Sugars 44g.; Protein 3 g.

WELL, SEE IT IS NOT NOT EMPTY CALORIES!

Takes twenty minutes of prep time. makes 24. Bake 350 for 20 minutes.

Per cupcakes. 256 calories; 12 g. fat [7 g. sat.]; 4 g. protein; 37 g. carb.; 2 g. fiber; 156. mg. sodium; 49 mg. cholesterol.

- Cream filled cupcakes.
_________________

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsps. baking soda.
1/2 tsp. salt1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup stick butter [unsalted]
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs

Filling and Swirl-
4 tbsp. Unsalted butter softened.
1 1/2 cups confectioner sugar.
2- 3 tbsp milk.

Glaze -
1/2/ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips.

How to do it:

1. Heat oven to 350 line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to blend. Combine the buttermilk and vanilla in a measuring cup.

3. Beat the butter and sugar in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer at medium mixing speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture.

4. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin pans, Bake until tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. 18 - 20 minutes. Transfer and cool on rack.

5. Filling and swirl. Beat butter in a medium size bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioner's sugar. add 2 tbsp. of milk and beat five minutes until almost white and light and fluffy. Add additional milk if mixture is too thick. spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with plain round tip. Remove cake from pan insert tip of pastry bag into top of cake about i1/2 inch deep and squeeze.

6. Meanwhile, make the Glaze. Heat the cream and corn syrup in a small sauce pan over medium heat until it just comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Cover and let stand five minutes. Whisk until smooth. Dip the tops of the cake in the glaze and let cool on cake rack ten minutes. change the piping tip on the pastry bag to a smaller round tip and make swirls on the top of the glazed cupcake. Note: I think one could experiment with the creamy marshmallow and the frosting for filling!

You don't like chocolate!!

You could do some large pretzel sticks as shown on page 108. The pretzels were dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with colorful sprinkles. I was going to use almond bark and pretty pastel sprinkles. But I didn't get it done. It is Easily done in microwave and dipped in chocolate or almond bark, then rolling in crushed cookies, toffee bits, or even m&m's after.

There is a recipe in the magazine for the popular coconut cakes sold in packages of two. With creme filling.
Surely it would be more economical than purchased bags of well known brands of candy and Hostess cakes..


It's more special as it is made with love.

My Easter Photos with anticipation for Spring

~~ GOOD MORNING! ~ How are you doing, in your corner of the Earth. Have you nice weather coming up for the weekend? Here in Wi., it has warmed, the wind has died down. I am not sure if there is a chance for rain, which usually happens at this time of year. I don't mind though, cause I think we might need some rain [ not snow, lol ] Easter, rain, and spring run together in my mind.

You know what, just maybe Spring is around the corner. Easter always is the forerunner for anticipation of Spring for me. I even went out for some pics. As a result of that excursion, I took some inside photos too. I have stretched out a few here, as they seemed a little small.??

You can see here a high table? With a birdcage. I love these fake birdcages. I was able to find at a Crazy day's stop [on a whim] on a trip through New Ulm on the way to my Mothers. That little habit is a blog of itself. So I won't elaborate right now. The plant inside getting west filtered sun is the White geranium from last summer. If I move it back to southern exposure, it might start flowering soon. It's a secret where I found some hard boiled Easter eggs.!! Well you never know who your readers are.! I do wish I could have had a decent palm tree for this shot. Mine has suffered this winter, cause I left it out in the sun last fall. You can see by this shot that I was setting the mood for Easter.

Another version with less flash. I wasn't able to crop or do any of my editing on any of these pictures. Except for the one photo, which I lost above. I had painted part of the photo on the table scarf mom made with Rudolphs red nose to brown so he could become a Bambie.

I decided to add it there. at the last minute. The idea was of course of babies born in spring. Remember Bambi and Flower. They are all a twitter about spring love. {Spring - See note 1}
Does this object look familiar? Yes it is the same high table ... or podium .. or even yet .. It is a Pulpit. Very Easter fitting wouldn't you say? I removed the top slanted book holder with a light, which, will come in handy at another point [wink] and time. Do you see the object to the left. I found it the same time that I found the Pulpit for free. I could have gone back for the desk they put there this week. But I told a friend about that, and I hope he gets over for it. No one seems to want it as it was there for a few days. You can't beat free.

I spent a little time on Photographing Easter this year. In spite of the fact that I had computer problems galore. I am running Windows xp professional, and I don't have my Kodak program for editing, that I usually use. But at least I was able to upload digital photos from my camera. [I am trying to get used to the new features of my new cheap laptop. ] If you look at my profile, you will see my other blogs have various types of schemes. I am saving one more for after Easter.

note 1 : A friend of mine in the past mentioned to me his theory about Easter and Christmas. He always said they were like mixed up. He said for birth, etc which happen naturally in many countries in the spring. so Christmas should be in the spring. I do agree with him, as it would be nicer too. Of course if we never had known Christmas with Snow.


We know from historical accounts that December 25 th - Christmas is not really the actual time of Christs birth. Maybe it was spring in the old countries.

But to me then, Easter in religious
sense is a renewal of life or spirit.
My belief is that Jesus arose from the dead, thus
being a renewal.
Just as the dead grass and the seemingly dead plants come
alive again.
I do think Easter is just as fitting to be in the
spring.
As one does some spirit renewal at new years, I think spring is that way
for me. It's a second chance for my cottage. There are always
special new plans from winter dreams of all sorts for
my garden,

Note 2: [As wll as my personal plans of self renewal which happen as the weather warms and I reflect back to ideas brought on before with the old new years resolutions] Save that for another blog.


With that thought of things to do, I really must get some housework done, before the children get home for the Holiday. Groceries haave to be gotten, some cooking has to be done, etc.

~ ~~ HAVE A NICE EASTER ~ ~

What is a Netbook computer? | Defensive Computing - CNET News

This knowledge could be useful for my selection.

Netbook is a new type of laptop computer, defined by size, price,
horsepower, and operating system. They are small, cheap, under-powered, and run
either an old or unfamiliar operating system.
Netbooks run either Windows XP
Home edition or Linux (not only is Linux unfamiliar to many, but the versions of
Linux on Netbooks are not the mainstream popular distributions). They do not run
XP Professional, Vista, or OS X. Microsoft arbitrarily restricts Netbooks from
running the Professional Edition of Windows XP. Likewise, Apple arbitrarily
restricts OS X to Apple hardware and it has never played in the low-end realm
that Netbooks occupy.* Vista requires too much horsepower to run well on a
Netbook. HP has been the only company to offer Vista on a Netbook. The price,
however, was so high that it's debatable whether such a machine qualifies as a
Netbook.
What is a
Netbook computer? Defensive Computing - CNET News: "Update: On October 24,
2008 CNET's Ina Fried reported that Microsoft has plans to make Windows 7, the
upcoming version of Windows that will replace Vista, available on Netbooks.
Size-wise, Netbooks have 9- or 10-inch screens, weigh from 2 to 3 pounds,
and sport keyboards sized from 80 percent to 95 percent of normal.
Price-wise, Netbooks start at about (all prices are rounded off and
approximate) $330 for a Linux-based model and $350 for an XP-based machine. The
high end of the Netbook price range is debatable. To me, anything over $500
isn't a Netbook. Still, many companies are marketing computers they refer to as
Netbooks for more than that. When HP first released their Mini-Notes, prices ran
from $500 to $1,200.
Update: As of October 15, 2008 prices at HP's website
range from $400 to $780.
Despite a huge proliferation of Netbook models,
these specs seem to be standard:
Screen resolution 1024x600
Intel Atom
CPU running at 1.6-GHz
Wi-Fi B and G
Ethernet at 100Mbps
A slot for
a flash RAM memory card
External VGA output jack
Integrated graphics
Two or three USB ports
Built-in camera
Headphone and microphone
jacks
What's missing
What's missing is just as interesting.
For one
thing, there is no optical drive. CDs and DVDs had to be thrown overboard to
reduce both the size and cost. Another omission is the now legacy PC card (aka
PCMCIA) slot. Most Netbooks don't include Bluetooth. And, while they do have
Ethernet and Wi-Fi, they don't include the fastest version of Ethernet (known as
gigabit Ethernet), the latest version of Wi-Fi (N) or the older 'A' version of
Wi-Fi.
I understand these omissions and many people can live with them.
However, I think....."
To read more click the link.

The best computer for blogging is........

I have been looking at computers this week. There are so many facts to keep in mind while searching.
And most of all what is best for a blogger, besides high speed.

So readers, tell me what is the best kind for you.