Hope Gardens

I saw Paulie Perrette (Abby on NCIS) on Letterman last night and she spoke of her Twitter account and the reason for it:   

Matthew 25:40

King James Version (KJV)

 ⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

The Cat's Meow

 

In 1982, Faline Jones of Wooster, Ohio was a part-time Secretary. She supplemented her income with some craft work - she made cloth covered doorstops in the shape of a cat, and called them the Cat's Meow. Her "workshop" was her kitchen table.

One day, while visiting a gift shop that sold her Cat's Meow doorstops, some tiny wooden houses in in the shop caught her eye, and she thought, "I can do better than that." Using her sparse resources, she used $39 to buy several pieces of pine and went to work cutting out and painting a dozen two-dimensional miniature wooden houses.

She called her creations The Cat's Meow Village, taking the name from her previous business venture making the cat-shaped fabric doorstops. "I didn't want to throw away those business cards and letterheads," says Jones, 47. Following on her feline theme, Jones stamped a black cat on the front of the 4-by-5-inch wooden architectural facades and peddled her creations to several area gift shops.

"They are more than miniature houses," says Rosann Burger, then owner of the Country Traditions gift shop. "It's the moments and memories people associate with them."

The simple style of the handmade country cottages gave the designs a down-home feel. When a salesman noticed them in January 1983, he began taking orders and, within a year, 800 outlets were selling Jones' houses.

The designs are screen printed and each piece has the piece information, series date, Casper the cat, and Falines dated signature on them for authentication. Initially they were created as individual creations, but they quickly became popular sellers and were issued in sets and series. This increased their collector's value because now people would buy them to complete their series or set collections.

The Cliff House, Ogunquit, ME

I purchased the above Cat's Meow Village piece while staying at The Cliff House in Ogunquit ME. 

However my *favorite pieces are of three businesses that once thrived in Easton, Pennsylvania.

The only business that remains is The Carmel Corn Shop.   Formerly the Easton Post Office in 1797, and the home of Colonel Peter Ihre 1828 at 62 Centre Square.  The Carmel Corn Shop has been  open since 1931. The Carmel Corn Shop is a modest store on the square in Easton. A fire in their building closed them down at the end of '06, but they have since reopened and are as good as new! They, of course, make caramel corn!  

The Mohican Marketplace a turn of the century commercial building formerly located at 23 S. Fourth Street in Easton.    "The Last of the Mohican" was The Express-Times headline for the article Oct. 16, 1992, telling of the early-morning fire that swept through and destroyed the three-story 114-year-old landmark at 23-27 S. Fourth St. In the following weeks, the building was demolished. Several pieces of sculpted stone and "capital stone" from the Mohican's facade were rescued by the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society, according to the article.

Throughout the years, the Mohican had many owners and uses. Early on, Mohican patrons would arrive at the market in horse and buggy. The Mohican served as a grocery store, selling soy beans, pickles and peanut butter in wooden barrels. Bread sold for a nickel a loaf. Tubs of lard and butter were strategically placed in the market. The inviting smells from the bakery in the back of the building would draw plenty of customers inside.

In 1977, the building served as a marketplace with a variety of shops and a nightclub. The 19th- century building was bought in 1991 and then sold and bought again in June 1992. The once-flourishing marketplace lost its grandeur to bankruptcies, auctions and bad business transactions.

The Easton Sweet Shop that sat on the corner of Centre Square and Northampton Street when I was a kid was the spot where we were dropped off and caught the Trans Bridge Bus back to our hometown of Alpha, NJ. Very often we stopped in for french fries and a  soda while we waited for the bus.

In November of 1997 some of the scenes of the Francis Ford Copolla film "The Florentine," were shot at the Easton Sweet Shop.  Actors Chris Penn and Luke Perry were in the movie.

https://www.catsmeow.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategoriesDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10251

*I purchased the Easton, PA pieces at the:

Palmer Country Store

3606 Nicholas St, Easton, PA 18045

610-250-0320

Jumbo Shrimp Stuffed with Cheddar Crab Stuffing

 Prepping The Shrimp
 Here is a video to show you how to butterfly shrimp:



Peel and butterfly(deveining in the process) 1 -1 1/2 pounds of large or jumbo raw shrimp, leave the tails on for effect. Soak shrimp for 30 minutes in ice cold water to which you've added 1 ounce of vinegar. Then rinse well and pat dry with a paper towel. This process takes the iodine or fishy taste away.

 Cheddar Crap Stuffing
1/2 Cup minced onion sauteed in butter
1 teasp. minced garlic
1 lb of your choice of crabmeat
1 cup plain bread crumbs
 3/4 cup cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons of melted butter

Stir the crab stuffing ingredients together. 
Preheat oven to 500 degrees for 10 minutes. Drop oven temperature to 475 degrees.

Take a heaping teaspoon of mixture and form it into a ball and stuff each shrimp.  When you place them in a jelly roll pan fan the tail out. *When I worked at a seafood restaurant (Captain Skinner's Inn - Wilson Borough, PA) in the mid to late seventies we used oven safe stoneware for individual servings of six shrimp.   Drizzle them with a stick of melted butter and a sprinkle of paprika.  Bake shrimp for 8-10 minutes until tails begin to curl. Most people overcook shrimp. These will be perfect.


*I have been told that they taste like the former Youell's Oyster House on Cattel Street in Easton, PA!

TheyCallMePiano, An Amazing New Talent!

What a wonderful treat to see this amazing new talent warm up the audience at the Nat and Alex Wolff Black Sheep Concert at The Note in West Chester, PA last night!  I predict we all will see much more of her and on the Grammy Award's Show one day soon!





TheyCallMePiano Official Website Click Here


To read about the concert click here

A Lenten Sacrifice

Today is the first day of Lent.  I am giving up negative thinking.  The great inspirational speaker and pastor Robert Schuller created an acronym for LENT: Let's Eliminate Negative Thoughts.  So that is my Lenten sacrifice, Negative Thinking. This is a hard task, given that we live in such a negative thinking society with many daily trials,  dealing with others who enjoy creating havoc.  I will be diligent in prayer, and HE who came to save the world will see me through. 

The Way Home by Mattie Stepanek

“Sometimes the way home is love.
Sometimes the way home is together.
And sometimes the way home is
Not just love,
But loving each other.
And sometimes the way home is
Not just together,
But together with other people . . .
People you love a lot,
People you like a lot, and
People you are friends with.
But all of the times, the way home is
Every good thing that God told us to do.” 

The Word Of The Lord: "Whoever wishes to be my follower must deny his very self, take up his cross each day, and follow in my steps."                                   – Luke 9:23

Interview With Jill Stein Green Party Presidential Candidate for 2012!

 Kutztown University Radio Interview With Jill Stein Green Party Presidential Candidate for 2012! Today February 21, 2012...

At 2:00 PM EST , a special edition of "Kutztown Live" with   my son-in-law Michael Regensburger, this week sitting down at around 2:05 with Green Party  candidate for President Jill Stein.  Please tune in, here is the link: http://www.live365.com/stations/kurradio?site=pro

A fantastic interview! I am so proud of my son-in-law Mike.  He asked all the right questions! I think he got all the right answers too!

Sign Of An Early Spring

I took a short walk along the Little Schuylkill River on Saturday while visiting with my daughter in Port Clinton, PA.  Even though it was mid February I only needed to wear a fleece pullover because it was as warm as mid Spring.  I was looking for signs of an early Spring, and I think I found one.  I took this video, check it out:

City Chickens????

Kate Gosselin and her Brood

In today's Lehigh Valley Live there was an article about a woman in Alpha, NJ who had gone to the Alpha Borough Council to request permission to keep her daughter's 4H project chickens.  Chickens are under a code being enforced by the borough as being an exotic animal and it would be necessary to have a permit to keep them.

I can remember one of Alpha's "old timers”, a friend of my late mother told us that when she was a child, her parents who were immigrants from Eastern Europe had goats, pigs, and chickens. She even said that they often wandered into their home from the yard.

I suppose that is how that ordinance came into play. Perhaps a new code could be rewritten that includes steps to obtain a permit that will benefit everyone involved including neighboring property.After all the neighbors have rights too.

 I can remember having a neighbor once whose dog crapped all over their yard and they never cleaned it up. When I stepped out onto my patio the smell was unbearable, and dogs are allowable according to the present codes.



Advice on raising Chickens in your backyard.

The Gosselin Estate

Even Kate Gosselin raises Chickens for eggs!    Kate's abode is by no means in an urban setting.  It is about 20 miles from my house smack dab in the middle of the lovely Berks County countryside.




At the given rate of the government’s involvement in the lives of the 99% very soon it may be necessary to have a few chickens in order to sell eggs as was the case of struggling households during the depression.

Learn About Depression Egg Sellers From This Movie, Kit Kitteredge, An American Girl

Adding Pizzazz To A Cup Of Hot Chocolate

My daughter Jamiann made these for the hot chocolate.

Besides having tea for the grandchildren for the Valentine's Day Tea Party we also had hot chocolate.  My daughter brought these festive marshmallows for the hot chocolate.  I love to say, "Why have ordinary when you can have extraordinary!"  It is called adding Pizzazz!

Dip mini marshmallows in melted white chocolate and then dip in sprinkles.  These sprinkles were heart shaped for Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day Basket Cupcakes and Sugar Cubes...

 For the basket style cupcake:
 Make you favorite cupcakes and frost as you like....

1. Cut a length of silver glitter pipe cleaner that is long enough to tuck in each side of the cupcake to create a handle.

2. Thread  beads or place a bow to center of pipe cleaner.

3. Bend as in basket handle and tuck each side in between the cupcake and paper as in picture below.

 HEART SHAPED SUGAR CUBES

Candy hearts and a tea lite add a nice touch to a  vintage crystal punch cup.

 Mix 2 teaspoons of water to every cup of sugar you use, mix well, it will feel like damp sand like when making a sandcastle.

Place a sheet of parchment or foil paper on a cookie sheet.  Press some of the mixture into a tiny heart shaped cookie cutter, and carefully lift it up and away, repeat until you have the number of cubes you need.  Place out of the way to dry, about two hours.

To see our Valentine's Day Tea Party click here: Valentine's Tea Party

Valentine Linzer Tarts

Beat together 3/4 C Butter, with 1 C sugar, and 2 eggs, add 3 3/4 Cups Flour, 1 teasp. Baking Powder and 1/2 teasp.salt. Beat  until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll out 1/4 inch thick, and cut with heart cookie cutter for ever heart you will need to be making a matching one that you will use a smaller heart cookie cutter to remove the center. Bake 350 degrees 7-8 minutes Cool, spread Polaner All Fruit Seedless Raspberry Jelly on bottom cookie, place cookie with hole on top as in pic. Sprinkle with powder sugar.

I made these Linzer Tarts for our Valentine's Tea Party and Brunch. My nine year old and seven year old granddaughters helped!  That is how easy they are to make!   To read about and check out the photo album and movie click here:   Valentine's Tea Party

Beware Of The Cyberpath

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.  Mark Twain


*Colloquially, a cyberpath is defined as an individual with a pathological disorder(evidencing a mentally disturbed condition) who has access to the internet and uses the internet as a medium for acting out his or her pathology.  Another definition is that a cyberpath has come to mean a psychopath who uses the internet to find, stalk, and exploit others either online or in real life. 

 Many cyberpaths appear to be seeking only thrills and restrict their activity to the internet only, never seeking direct contact. This type of individual moves from victim to victim, easily becoming bored. 

Because psychological and emotional dominance are what they seek - and usually achieve - they leave a trail of psychological damage behind them. Other cyberpaths utilize the internet to find victims that they then proceed to exploit directly.  

 For the "strict" cyberpaths, (those that never seek face to face contact), accumulating followers that accept their dominance are very important.  The followers give adulation to the cyberpath, this follows a pattern very similar to cults.

Very often, cyberpaths will also be insulting and humiliating (in written words) in order to assert their dominance. They may seek out confidential information from online sources or from another individual and use it to embarrass or harass a third individual.  They may also use this confidential information about their victims to threaten or extort the victim; should their true agendas be found and/or exposed.

The cyberpath very often demonstrates other characteristics of pathological disorders such as pathologically lying. 

*Disseminating information regarding a new pathology.
  This is not my opinion, simply an article on what is thought to be a new pathology as per online research on the subject.

http://psychopathyawareness.wordpress.com/category/cyberpath/

The Cognitive Science Of Assumption

http://www.dilbert.com/

Confirmation Bias is a tendency for certain people to favor information that confirms their own beliefs or assumptions.  These people exhibit this bias when they selectively collect and remember information that confirms their theory or biased way of thinking. The effect is much stronger in emotionally charged individuals who act out of emotion instead of logical comprehension.  Those who act on emotion often interpret inconclusive evidence as supporting their presumptive position or theory.   This ambiguous discernment of their own interpretation and memory is called upon in their effort to report or explain attitude polarization; meaning the disagreement becomes more extreme as the different parties consider evidence on the issue.

For instance one party may see a woman pointing a finger at an object, when in fact she may be pointing in a direction such as South, or she may also be shaking the finger as in reprimanding or making a point in a discussion.    Others see a family congregating on family property having private conversations,  yet the cognitive assumption by the slanted perception sees entirely something else in order to confirm their bias.  I  may see someone responsibly caring for the aesthetic value of their yard, another may slant the situation to confirm their bias in another direction.  Politicians are famous for their Confirmation Bias.

There is also belief perseverance when a person holds onto false information even though the truth has been presented to them.  Illusory correlation is when two events or situations are falsely perceived to be connected by an individual who relies on their confirmation bias over the reality of a given situation.  The old adage still rings true, Assume = Ass + u + me or when you assume things trying to make an ass of someone else you are truly the only ass in the situation!

Oh Very Young, Never Truer Words Have Been Sung!

Cat Stevens 1971

Oh Very Young written by Cat Stevens 

born  Steven Demetre Georgiou, 

now known as Yusuf Islam 

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You're only dancing on this earth
For a short while
And though your dreams may toss
And turn you now.
They will vanish away -
Like your Daddy's best jeans
Denim blue fading up to the sky
And though you want him to last.
Forever you know he never will
(You know he never will)
And the patches
Make the goodbye harder still.

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
There'll never be a better chance

Cat Stevens, 
now Yusuf Islam 2011

To change your mind
And if you want this world
To see (a better day)
Will you carry
The words of love with you
Will you ride
The great white bird into heaven
And though you want to last.
Forever you know you never will
(You know you never will)
And the goodbye
Makes the journey harder still.

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You're only dancing on this earth
For a short while
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time. 

"Life is not lost by dying; 

life is lost minute by minute, 

day by dragging day, 

in all the thousand small uncaring ways."  

~Stephen Vincent Benét

Carpe Diem, seize the day!

To purchase this song and others by this artist: 

Click Here 

During This Eastern Europe Extreme Cold Spell

To my readers who live in Eastern Europe,  Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Hungary, Ukraine, currently experiencing the unusually cold weather this week:
1. Dress in layers.
Bundle up. Wear long underwear, sweaters, and even hats indoors. Remember the days of "sleeping caps"? They make sense when so much heat escapes from the head.  To avoid getting overheated inside, wear layers. I recommend a "wicking" polyester (or silk) undershirt next to your skin versus cotton.

The homeless use newspaper and cardboard which can also be shredded, balled up and stuffed into clothing to help insulate during the winter. I don't wish to think that anyone is in such dire circumstances, just thought I would include this in case you know anyone who just may need such assistance.  I once was told by an elderly woman who came from Hunterdon County, New Jersey that her grandmother taped newspaper over walls that had cracks in them back in the early 20th Century. Newspaper has a great insulating quality.

2. Keep Your Feet Warm

I highly recommend "house slippers" indoors. I know that it sounds a bit old-fashioned, but having the rubber sole really makes a difference.  You can also wear warm wool hunting socks. 

For the outdoors, it really helps to insert foam liners in your boots or hiking shoes to give your toes an extra layer of insulation.

3. Heat Up Your Bed

If you have 2 liter bottles as in soda/pop bottles.  Fill the empty bottle with very hot water(make sure the lid is on tight) place a couple in your bed just before you get in .   By the time you're ready for bed it's all nice and toasty. Believe it or not the water bottle stays warm all night long.  You can also use beans in a sock, tie it shut and warm it in a microwave.  

4. Harness the Sun

During the day, open the blinds and curtains on the south-facing windows—and let the Sun warm you. At night, close the blinds and curtains to better insulate your home.

5. Keep the Kitchen Cozy

Keep the kitchen cozy! Bake something in the oven, either dinner, dessert,  bake some bread..  Also, I always have a crock pot of  chili, or a pot soup going during the cold months.

6. Block Drafts

Beyond weather-stripping, which is difficult with old houses:
Hang blankets to close off the open stair well going to the second floor, since heat raises it keeps the warm air down stairs during non sleeping hours.
Don't forget to put something at the bottom of outside doors  when you can just feel the cold air pour in. You can buy a fancy roll or just use a blanket or towel.  Just like layers of clothing,  put layers at the windows. Between the window and the thermal-backed drapes place closed venetian blinds and a flannel-backed table cloth.  You can  hang a blanket over the entire exterior door because air doesn't just come in at the bottom. 

7. Stay Active

The Farmer's Almanac jokes that "one log can heat a house." Just run up the stairs with the log, throw it out the top window, and repeat three times. You'll be warm!
Keep active, this is a good time to clean out closets, garages, etc. Anything to keep active.



My thoughts and prayers are with you all! Please try and stay warm, and if you can,  stay in,  and off of the roads...stay safe!

The Power Of Words, Sharing an important message

Obnoxious Banter

Porky on the 'Little Rascals'

It is a common fact that very often adolescents make fun of their over weight peers.  

Psychologists agree that it is the adolescent's  insecurities of their own body image that very often lead them to harass others.

This pattern of adolescent bad behavior usually ends with the passage of adulthood and education.    However, as is the case of other personality disorders there are those who do not mature on a mental behavioral level. 

Very often the use of mind altering substances at a young age stunts the maturity of the brain.  Maturity in alcohol, marijuana and drug users is stunted when using begins. Emotional growth is stopped, as it is numbed by the usage.

They say that "users"  maintain the emotional age of when they began to use.   *Many began around 11-13. When a person starts numbing themselves to all the emotionally trying times in their life they have no mature ability to grow and deal with situations. 

Because of this immaturity they continue to harass and provoke childish battles with all that have the misfortune of finding themselves in a close proximity to these emotionally immature adults.

It is important to teach your children to have a high self esteem no matter what their outward appearance may be.  Nurture their emotional state of being and give them the tools to cope and to behave properly when they are around others. 

I always remember the words of the late Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, "God doesn't make junk!"  One little sentence that is so true.  He also made all different body types, and builds.  

I am thankful that my mother taught me to love myself, and to not make fun of others.  Her ability to love everyone unconditionally and to forgive easily gave me a strong emotional foundation.  Proverbs 22, ⁶Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.


* http://www.al-anon.org/how-to-find-a-meeting

http://www.beginningcatholic.com/how-to-pray.html

Something Sure Does Stink!

A grandfather was rocking in his chair on the front porch.  Very soon he fell asleep.  A few minutes later his devilish grandson appeared with a block of Limburger cheese.

The devilish grandchild smeared some of the  Limburger cheese on the grandfather's hair in the back, and took off to play with his friends.

A half an hour later the grandfather awoke.  He stood up and said, "Something sure does stink out here!"  He then walked into the parlor and again he said, "Something sure does stink in here!"  He headed out to the kitchen to get a bite to eat and he said, "Something sure does stink in here  too!"

Thus is the case very often that the stink isn't coming from an outer source and follows a person wherever they go.

I once heard this as part of a sermon made by a very wise pastor.  It never ceases to amaze me of man's ability to project their own shortcomings and bad behavior onto others, while all the time the stink is on them! 

Ice Cream Is Good For Your Soul, As Heard On The Hour Of Power...

A little boy was eating dinner at a restaurant with his family. He asked if he could say grace. His father said, "Of course!" He bowed his head and uttered, "Dear God thank you for the food we eat, thank you for the world so sweet, please have daddy let me have ice cream for dessert, with liberty and justice for all amen." 

Just then an elderly lady nearby was overheard saying, " Children today do not know how to pray, they are disrespectful." 

The little boy overheard her and looked very sad. Just then an elderly man who heard it all walked over knelt down and said, " I heard your very excellent prayer, and just wanted you to know that I heard that ice cream is good for the soul." The boy smiled in approval. 

Very soon a huge ice cream sundae was placed in front of him. He stood up and took the sundae over to the elderly lady placing it in front of her and said, " Ice Cream is good for your soul, and my soul is good already, here this is for you."