Maines Hans T Bear

Hello All,

Just wanted to share something special with all of you. As some of you know my Sister in Law, Kathy, my husband - her brother, Harry and I all live together on on mini farm in East Tennessee.

Well Kathy has had Bernese Mountain Dogs forever as far back as I have known her. Most are rescues from puppy mill seizures but there were a few here and there that came from reputable breeders. Her first puppy, Maines Hans T Bear - affectionally known as Hans was her biggest, her sweetest and her friend! And I say this with all the confidence in the world! He was 157 pounds a big teddy bear and so so so gentle! He loved everyone and would not have hurt a fly, unless......you attempted to hurt Kathy! And then I'm not to sure what would have happened! All he ever did was push the person out the way when something did happen! Well Kathy lived alone for a while and she has a heart condition. Well, of course when you are alone, the worst happens! Kathy had a heart attack! Hans washed and licked and petted at her until she came out of it and then when she opened her eyes and looked at him he brought her the phone!!! Hans saved her life! And when the paramedics came he let them in and just sat next to her with paw on her! You can't tell me he wasn't her friend!!!!

Well I loved Hans as did everyone who met him - he is no longer with us now but is always a great memory. Well I took Kathy's favorite puppy picture of him and commissioned a watercolor portrait!

Well the artist has become over the past year a friend of mine and adore her work! On her blog a while back she did "in progress" photos of one of her works of art - so I asked her, of course, if she would do this for me in this portrait. Well she did and the finished product as well as the "in progress" works of art at on her blog and I had to share!

You can see them at:

http://bethstonestudio.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoy!

Cake Recipe

This sounds all too good - I have to try it. I borrowed it from: http://laurasbestrecipes.com/ She has some lovely veggie recipes that are wonderful! I have not yet tried it but I will be trying it soon! If you try it let me know how it comes out and when I try it I'll share my results!

Pineapple Pumpkin Walnut Cake

This cake resembles a spicy carrot cake. You can modify the sugars to your own taste - more brown or darker brown for more molasses flavor. If you really love the cream cheese frosting, just double that recipe for a taller layer of frosting. The pumpkin puree can either be homemade or canned. You may also want to modify the spices to your taste... some prefer more spice than others.

Cake Ingredients:

* 1.5 cups walnuts
* 3 cups all purpose flour
* 1.5 cups sugar
* 1 cup light brown sugar
* 2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1.5 TBSP cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp nutmeg
* 1/2 tsp ginger
* pinch of allspice
* 1.25 cups canola oil
* 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 TBSP real vanilla extract
* 1.5 cups pumpkin puree
* 3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple
* 1 cup golden raisins (optional)
* 1 cup shredded coconut


Frosting

* 3 ounces cream cheese (room temp)
* 3 TBSP unsalted butter (room temp)
* 1.5 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1 tsp real vanilla extract
* 3 TBSP milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. LIghtly butter a 9 x 13 baking pan. Line w/ parchment paper along the bottom and sides.

Bake walnuts in a small pan until just lightly toasted (10 minutes) then chop.

In a large mixing bowl, stir flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. Add the oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat using mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the pumpkin and pineapple. Mix lightly until just combined. Using a spatula, fold in the walnuts and coconut... and raisins if you used them.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top using a spatula. Bake about 1 to 1.25 hours until it is firm in the center or until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer from pan to a wire rack and allow to cool at least 10 minutes.

Frosting:

Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add confectioners' sugar, vanilla and a little of the milk at a time to make the frosting creamy. Spread frosting on cooled cake.

Updating

Wow - it's been a while since I did anything out here - I'm working on updating everything today and probably tomorrow too. Thanks for being patient with me!

Beth Stone's Art Work! WOW!!!

You have to check out my friend's art work - and a give away she is doing for Thanksgiving!


http://bethstonestudio.blogspot.com/2009/11/thanksgiving-giveaway.html?showComment=1257217441400#c8220305620231831388

More Animations

I am still loving creating animations. Most of the animations within the tags are Lori's creations - the tag and the way it is put together is mine. You can see Lori's creations at Doodles from my Noodle She makes the most delightful things for me to play with in PSP! Thanks Lori for your unending generosity!

Life and it's ups and downs

Life is such a trip! Easiest way to put it! I am playing with government forms and lovely government yuck is the only way to put it. Why do they ask the same question 47 times in 47 different ways? Are they trying to catch me? Are they just bored? Who thinks up these forms????? Never mind legal ease - I need a psychiatrist just to answer a question!

Making difficult decisons lately - and hurting about all of them. Left my prayer chain at church - just felt it a burden. And praying should never be a burden. Also told the pastor that I am unable to continue doing the presentation at the moment for Sunday Celebration Services. Just feel lost and confused and need to step back from responsibilities for a while and decide what's best for me. If I sit still - Yes God I am listening - and actually listen to what He says - Maybe I'll get it! Because lately I'm feeling overwhelmed with responsibilites and have no time for me. Praying for peace, decision making and help with guidance in this red tape nonsense.

Ups, downs, in betweens, etc - it's all out there and in here too - I just need to find the right track for me and get on it!

The Generosity of Children

My heart is full - so full it's about to burst. Our church, small in size - but HUGE in heart - invited a group of children from a Florida based christian school up her for a mission trip. They were to work on needs in the community. One need was a member of our church who is having a baby, and needed to redo a room to have space for the baby. Another member a single mother with three boys needed some repair work to her home done - her roof, insulation and siding. And my family - of which I didn't know this was going to happen - got a new deck and a new wheelchair ramp for me! I am thrilled beyond words. These children did almost all of the work - of course, at their age - teenagers - they are not permitted to use electric tools. But they ripped our old porch and stairs/ramp and helped nail down and measure the boards. They were friendly, open, very sweet and worked very hard. Our church also had them to services on Sunday and to a dinner after church. They say they want to come back as they we very welcomed here and enjoyed the friendship and fellowship. I hope they do and I would love to go to visit them as well in Florida. Our church has some pictures of the event at www.disciplespoint.org - enjoy! God's Blessings on those lovely children!