Carrot/Pumpkin Cookies, with orange icing

Rainy days here, make me want to bake! Since I had found a carrot cookie recipe online last night, and scribbled it on a piece of scrap paper, that would be what I'd be baking today....

 First I threw dinner together, including preparing some carrots...{this recipe I'd found said they'd used canned carrots for the "1 cup of mashed carrots" that it called for.  We don't do much of any canned goods here, but always have fresh carrots around.}

 Once the mixer was running, Arianna came to see what was going on... By this time, the dough was ready to spoon onto sheets... She helped do that, and together we made the orange icing.  In 10 min. the first sheets were coming out of  the oven, and the cookies cooled quick enough that she was put to work icing them...

  I pulled out some of my cute fall dishes to put the iced cookies on.

 Here's a link to the recipe~~~
http://easybaked.net/2012/08/14/carrot-cookies-with-creamy-orange-frosting/#

raining on my flowers....

more Glads, blossoming... {these are my daughters, mine in the background, have already come and gone.}

 a drizzling rain, all day here... cancelled our plans of a day at the beach!

       one of my favorite flowers, is this---a Gerbera Daisy.  I'm so happy to see another blossom ready to open on this one!                       

and the invincible vincas.... through out the hot, HOT, HOT Summer Days, they've blossomed continually.

fabric stash

     I love fabric~~~ 
Especially fall themed, or even just fall colored fabrics!

                     Jewel tones get me, too...., oh yeah, jute, too!

        At Christmas time, I can always find something cute!

These are scraps left from items I've made for my grandbabies. 

and here are some tiny scraps left from dresses made for my daughters, back in the mid-90's, when they were young.
                                             

counting down the days...

5 days til our 7th anniversary.

This man I have loved since the moment I met him {back in '94, when we both were married to others who would eventually cheat on us with others.}  We were friends for a few years, then he moved away in '96, and I saw him once in 2000, and not again until 2004, when I was right in the midst of my nightmare. {I had just found out a few weeks prior, that my husband of just about 20 years had been screwing around with a girl that my parents were godparents to!---and that's only the beginning of that nightmare....but it's enough about it for now.}    When this man came back into my life, at just the right time, we were just friends.  I was enjoying riding on the back of his motorcycle, and just starting to breathe again, after weeks of crying all day and night.  He taught me so much {one of the qualities I'd always admired about him was the wisdom he had--I could sit and listen to him talk for hours}.  Anyhow, one night, at the top of the ferris wheel, our lives changed with one kiss.  And exactly one year from that kiss, we had a beautiful wedding with many friends and family around us.  That was 2005.  We had a couple of fun years together, and then a summer was spent with him having heart operations.  That slowed us down a little, but the big slow down came the following year--2008, he had a major stroke.  He didn't lose his ability to speak {but he lost his beautiful singing voice}. He didn't lose his wisdom, though he doesn't share it as much, and he gets tired so easily now.  He did lose the use of his left side, both arm/hand and leg/foot.  And his lung problems have intensified since the stroke, so that slowed down any physical therapy he's been able to do.  But, he still is my love, and such a wonderful caring person.



21 days til I turn 46. {I feel like I've gained a year!--I thought I was 46 already!}

Wow! How did I miss a whole year of being only 45? {Only 45...what?!! ONLY!!! only should be used for ages under 25!}  The only request I have for my birthday is for someone to make me a 'pumpkin roll' {recipe on the Libby's can of pumpkin!}.... and maybe some unexpected little surprise gifts!


and....


Can you believe it? It'll be here before you know it!