Not quite Grandma's chicken

So tonight in an effort to speed up the process of cooking dinner I ventured into the world of frying my chicken pieces without adult supervision:( This of course resulted in LOTS of smoke and "blackened" chicken for dinner instead of just breaded chicken as originally planned. I should have known better...there is a reason I BAKE everything and that reason is because me and the frying pan, well we don't have the best of relationships. We work on it occassionally but we were not in sync tonight. The good news...I know my new fire alarms work:)

And for the record the chicken was still tasty...just had a little "smokey" taste:)

3 in 1 catch up post

So I didn't get online to post photos for the last 3 nights so I am doing a 3 in 1 post-to play catch up this morning.

Jan 13 2011-Today's photo is late to upload but was taken on the 13th. Its a little "Cake" we put together for my nieces birthday since she didn't get to blow out any real candles on her actual birthday the day before.


New Niece is a photo of my first visit with my new niece on Friday Jan 14. A cutie already:)


Photo for Saturday Jan 15: Loud Falling Ice- So today I had the crap scared out of me a few times when I heard what turned out to be icicles falling off the house. The first time I thought it was the dryer falling through the floor or something and then this time I had realized what it was so I went outside to look and found the shattered ice not far from my car! As a bonus I have a few photos of the ice.

Snow Day! Jan 12 2011

Snow! Here is a shot of my house from the street at 4:30 am this morning before I got started shoveling the sidewalk and driveway before the sun came up. "I pick things up. I put things down."-Today, that was snow LOL I was all done around 6 am or so and while it was quite early, it was definately easier and better to just get it over with before the rest of the world was awake. It was also very peaceful-and I wasn't the only one. My neighbor was out doing his as well!



Here are a few more before and after shots of my work:)

Before!



After!








I have to admit that it was definately easier to do before it started to melt and re-freeze and get heavier that it was. We were lucky it was somewhat light and fluffy as well but snow is heavy even when its "fluffy".

What a Mess! 1-11-11

Well, today was a messy day! And there is snow coming which I am sure will just add to all the mess but at least it will look deceptively pretty if we get enough snow (hopefully I will have a photo of THAT tomorrow:)

So today my "photo of the day" is the 110 year old original sewer pipes that were removed from my yard today. Apparently they haven't worked in YEARS anyway. It was fascinating to watch but it was also an incredible mess. The big casualties of the day would be the big azeala bush we had and the front hedgerow. We had talked about updating the hedges to a different kind anyway...so come spring you should see some photos of something new.

Because of the location of the pipe and the work they needed to do they basically tore up 95% of the landscaping on the side and front of the house (of course the one bush that is still in front is this ugly one that we would be happy to lose anyway and will be gone in the spring LOL. I kept watching hoping the guy would move his backhoe thing over just a little bit to nip it but he never did...)

Anyway, here are the pipes:


For fun, here are some highlights from the day:










Let's hope the snow covers it a little:)

Tree Gone!

We had to have a tree cut down from in front of our property today so that some additional plumbing work could be done. It was sad because it was a beautiful tree but one that was enjoying and thriving off of our sewer/water lines a little too much-which is why it has to go.

I added a some extra photos here of the tree before and the stump after:)





Here is a couple photos of the tree in more flush days.

Go Eagles~Jan 9 2011

So normally I like to use the same photo for here and my 365project but I feel with my blog I have a little more freedom to do as I please where withthe project I am trying to limit to short and sweet photo of the day.

My photo for here is more of a "Creation" for the day-it is a photo I took yesterday I believe but I "dressed up" for game day.

Here is my frogs all ready for the big game and hoping for an Eagles Playoff Win!!!

A Visit in the Snow

This photo was taken today when I went out to the cemetary where both my grandparents and great grandparents are buried. In this picture you can not see it easily but if you look on the far left you will see a wreath by a grave and on the far right you see one as well. The one on the left is by my great grandparents. The one on the right is my grandparents. I love how lucky we were to have them so close to each other that they fall under the shadows of the same tree.



As a bonus because I just thought they looked pretty in the snow and its not a common photo, here are some close ups of those graves. I know it may seem odd to take this kind of photo to some people but to me, its just another way of preserving history. Having found photos my grandmother took of different graves has given me information I didn't always have when doing family history research. Also, to me, its just another way to show that while they may be gone, they are not forgotten.