You too can be a pirate!

Arrrg - righty then.
It's a late Saturday and my nap is over. Let's play a tune. But what?
You read the post title, right? You saw the  magnificent wave above?

Take it away you scurvie pirate, you...

"Cast off the wotcha ma-doodles, mates! Hoist the thinga ma-bob!

Yes, the plank has to be pulled inside the ship before we set sail. (rolls eyes)"

(I don't know what to think about these modern day pirate wannabes.)

"You know how I hate five o'clock traffic!"

Aye cap'ain!

Winter ~ a gift

An old fashioned Winter with footprints in snow  
The lights of the house are all shining ~ full glow    

This evening is quiet the birds settled down   
No wind is out playing ~ no flakes swirling 'round 

An old fashioned Winter with old fashioned love
I hold dear this moment ~  a gift from above

dcrelief ~ Celebrate the Small Things

It's great to be back after a two month sabbatical from this bloghop! I'm excited to read about your celebrations. Before I share mine with you ~ here are some changes. 

Welcome to our new sponsor  ~ 

Lexa Cain

Welcome to our co- hosts ~

LG Keltner @ Writing Off the Edge 

Katie @ TheCyborg Mom

What am I celebrating? I thought you'd never ask...

1 ~ I have finally baked a successful apple cobbler.With this baking stuff, ingredients have to be accurate. Have a slice...

2 ~ Looking for adventure - I joined a music blog hop! Twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th, we do a "Battle of the Bands." Come over and listen to my two song choices. You can vote for the one you like best. (Yes, I'm promoting me, why not?) Look for my button in the right-hand margin that says: "dcrelief ~ I like Sax."  Go ahead... push that!

Alex J. Cavanaugh ~ mini ninja captain

3 ~ I'm celebrating Alex J. Cavanaugh's special site for Dragon of the Stars..."What Are the "Kargrandes?"  Every Monday morning, Alex will give us a new clue. A piece of the puzzle will fall into place, all the way up until the day before Dragon’s release... April 7, 2015! There's a button in the right-hand margin. Push it to get the newest clue!

I hope everyone has a fun celebration day. Thank you for hopping over here! And now ~  the linky vehicle we travel on...

Early, early wrap up ~ details below

The rain will surely go,
are we expecting snow?
Weather channel says ice.
No rain, isn't that nice?

'Tis ice, oh what a shame.
My blanket calls my name.
Let's stay in bed all day.
And skip the blog, hooray!


Oh no, we have blog hops.
You know those things don't stop?
The posting zone won't wait.
You can't reset the date.

Now go to bed and dream.
Of lovely words to stream.
Of things you want to say.
And post them on their day.


"dcrelief ~ Battle of the Bands" will post on Thursday, January 15, 2015. A newly opened blog.

"dcrelief - Celebrate the Small Things" will post here on Friday, January 16, 2015. 

"an artful blogger" will remain on it's normal comedic-chaotic schedule.

You know this means no airport visit, right? Teddy? Teddy? zzzzz...zzz

Is this you?

Once upon a time I felt I had to "help" someone see the light... no subject was taboo. It became burdensome because some people refused to "see"... then they'd certainly not agree... with me. What's wrong with these people? Don't they have "half a brain"?

So the time arrived when I no longer posted on political newspaper articles, and instead I went to bed. Yes, you can still find me leaving comments on blogs and other sites, but I do it for different reasons today. I'm happier without the drama. Lately several places are involved in topics I would have jumped in on, in the past. But that's just it... I read about these same topics many years ago and have watched them come full circle... still no solutions. Maybe you've experienced the same thing I have?

Are you one to bang away at your computer or other equipment, and try to "help" someone see the light? Are you right? Are you sure? Do zombies really exist? (Ha! Just threw that in to see if you're paying attention.) Is the madcap of drama something to think about or would you rather see a post on my apple cobbler?(smile)

The recipe for the cookies... and Mark Gungor Returns!

Two requests received ~

Post the cookie recipe

Re-post Mark Gungor




Butter Cookies - makes 48 cookies

8 ounces unsalted butter
3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
2 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS
Beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla together until smooth and creamy.
Mix in the egg yolk until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once.
Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.
Scrape onto a lightly floured board and knead a few times, just until the dough smooths out.
Turn onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a log, wrap up and refrigerate for several hours or freeze.
Before baking, preheat the oven to 325°F.
Line your baking sheets with parchment.
Slice the dough into slices about 1/8" thick and place them on the sheets about an inch apart (they won't be spreading very much, but they need air room around each cookie).
Bake until JUST beginning to turn golden around the edges, about 16-18 minutes.

Note: you can do many things with these cookies.
You could roll the dough out and cut shapes.
You could slice them even thinner and sandwich them with chocolate or jam or lemon curd.
You could make them and then dip them halfway into chocolate.
You could just make them and eat them, which is my favorite.

Mark Gungor's funny video #1 last 2:56 mins. "Meaning of Words".

 

Video #2 10:04 mins. "How Men and Women Keep Score."