How to Make Fairy Gardens!

Last week, I was privileged to have my two Oklahoman grandkids here for the week.  Several days of that week, I also had my other grandson here, who lives here in town.  One of the things we did was making Fairy Gardens.  They turned out to be a great success.  I will share with you the steps we took to make them.

     How to Make A Fairy Garden

You will need:

  • a shallow container of some kind to put your garden in.  (I used a large base for flower pots.)
  • a few small rocks to put in the bottom of the dish
  • Enough dirt to fill the container most of the way
  • Little fairies, mushrooms and tiny houses  (I ordered a kit plus other things from Amazon.)
  • A few small plants to add trees to the garden.  (I used moss)
  • Excited children

DIRECTIONS:

If you are doing this on a table, cover it with newspaper.  Put containers on top of table.  Add containers of fairies and houses, etc.

Add rocks to bottom of containers.

Add soil to almost the top of the container.  We added a little sand to the soil.

Plant small plants in soil.  We used the moss.   (Be careful!  After they sat on the table all night, we had ants coming out that had been in the moss plants.)

Place small houses, trees, mushrooms, people, bridges, boats, fairies in the container, wherever the child wants.   (The wings were not attached to the fairies, when we got them.  I suspect a little dab of super glue would have solved that.  However, I had non-particular children so we just laid them out there.)

Sprinkle the moss with water.

Enjoy!  My grandson has his on his front porch, and he plays with it, rearranging it, every day.

Have you made Fairy Gardens?  What did you put in them?   Let me know what you think in the comments .

Grandma Ruddell

 

Celebrating My Freedom!

 FREEDOM!  FREEDOM!  FREEDOM!

   It’s the  4th of  July.  Dick has put the flag out to celebrate.  We’re proud to live in the USA!  Though the country seems to be in some turmoil at the moment, we’re still celebrating lots of freedoms.  So here are some thoughts of what freedoms we take for granted at times.

  • We have the freedom to travel in our country, without being attacked or shot down.
  • We aren’t trying to get to another country, because our jobs are so bad or such poor living conditions.  On the whole, we’re a pretty humane country.
  • We have the freedom to vote.  The results may not be what we wanted, but we CAN vote.
  • As a female, I have the freedom to dress how I want and have the freedom to drive.
  • As a female, I don’t have to look down or bow down to a man.  I can be strong on my own.
  • We have the freedom to watch any show on TV, and read newspapers.  We can state our own opinion.
  • We have the freedom to not condone and to report the abuse of any other person.
  • And MOST OF ALL, right now……I am enjoying the freedom from vacuuming because of my new ROBOT VACUUM!!!   I love it!    

I don’t know if we will be able to get out and take the grandkids to see fireworks tonight.  We thought about going somewhere last night, but we’d had a big day, and it was way too hot.  We chose to stay in.  I think it’s going to be “hotter than the 4th of July” today.  We’re going to make Fairy Gardens today or tomorrow.

What freedoms are you enjoying today?  How are you celebrating the 4th of July? Let me know, in the comments.

Grandma Ruddell

Things I Love Right Now!

Things are going well!  Here are a few things I’m loving right now:

  • Just spent last week celebrating my grandson’s sixth birthday.  Wow!
  • Friday, my grandson and granddaughter are coming, from Oklahoma, to spend a week with us.
  • Our backyard is starting to look a lot better.
  • I’ve applied to start getting Social Security in September.
  • I had a mammogram yesterday, and glad that’s off my plate.
  • Looking forward to the Sister Cities’ International Leadership Academy which is next month.  We will be keeping two ladies…one from Italy, and one from Indonesia.
  • Though Bill, the dog, went to a kennel for last weekend, he came home happy and still loves us.
  • Hearing my youngest grandchild start to put words together to make simple sentences.
  • Spending several hours at Winstar Casino.  I contributed to the Indian Nation’s education fund.
  • Just read a good book.  I love to read!

Have a good week.

Grandma Ruddell

Doesn’t Everyone Collect Heads???

Everyone DOES collect heads, don’t they????    Or perhaps something just a little fun and kooky??   I love weird things.  My collection of weird things tends to be an ice breaker at parties.  I’m always on the lookout for something fun. Some of my heads, my dad made.  They’ve set outside at the farm for years.  The one on the porch is the one I use to tell people where to find my house….”Look for the head on the porch.”

My collection started about  nine years ago.  My mom was ill, and living in Wichita with my brother and his wife.  I went up to Wichita, and stayed with them in the summer, for 3 or 4 weeks, helping out.  At the end of one of those times, my sister-in-law gave me a gift.  It was a man, holding an umbrella, riding a pig.  I used to collect pigs.  This was perfect!!!   And that began my collection of the weird and of heads.

Later, after my mother had passed away, we siblings were trying to decide what to do with all of the stuff left in mom’s house, sheds, and barn.  She loved to go to auctions.  She was also a teacher.  You know the teacher mentality???   “I might need that some day in my classroom!”   When we cleaned out the shed, we found, in the back, the bottom half of a mannequin.  I said “I need that!”  So…it turned out that my sister got the Fostoria, and I got the bottom half of a mannequin.  But, oh, I love it!   I get lots of comments on this piece.

I enjoy going to the Main Street Arts Festival, in Fort Worth.  We attend every year.  I have a small amount of money to spend.  One year,  my son was graduating from Seminary, and had been preaching in two small churches.  Upon Graduation, he was placed in a larger church, in the city.  I found this little person, that said “Preacher Man Goes to the City”.  Yep..he’s a little weird.  And yep..my son does not want that willed to him.

I have two more heads that I bought at the Art Festival, the following two years.  They are by the same artist.  One is a head on a stick.   (I used to have it in my music room, but my piano students always thought it was looking at them!  LOL)  I also have a boy with a head that is so big, it makes him fall over.

How about you?  Let me know in the comments, if you have a fun collection.  I’ll be posting another one of my collections, in the next few days.

Funeral Potatoes…a Friday Freezer Recipe

 

 

 

For probably 20 years, my family has made Funeral Potatoes for most of our family dinners.  My Aunt Virginia Fairchild used to help with Funeral Dinners at her church, and they always served these potatoes.  Actually, we thought we were kind of the only ones who called them Funeral Potatoes, but it appears that they are popular all over the US.  I just made these today, to take to a group function, as my part of dinner.  They were devoured!   I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like these potatoes, except perhaps my nephews, who don’t like cheese.  I am now in charge of Funeral luncheons at my church, and we serve these often.  The recipe is as follows, and I hope you enjoy them.

Funeral Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • Large pkg. of hash browns….I prefer the O’Brien ones with peppers and onions
  • If no hash browns are available with above additions, add 1/2 c. of diced peppers and onions.
  • 8 oz. Sour Cream
  • 2 sticks of margarine or butter
  • 1 can of cream of chicken soup
  • 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
  • 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Doritos or other crunchy chips

Directions:

  • Heat oven to 375*.  Grease a 9 x 13 pan.   Chop onions and peppers if using those.

Put hash browns into a large bowl.  Add sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper.

  • Melt one stick of butter and add to bowl.  Stir until well mixed.Spread mixture into greased pan.

  • Melt other stick of butter.  Crush Doritos, (in this case, I used Sour Cream and Cheese chips), and top the mixture in the pan with them.
  • Pour the melted butter over the Doritos.

  • Bake at 375* for about 40 – 45 minutes.

To FREEZE:   Cover unbaked mixture with foil and label.  This can be frozen and kept in the freezer for up to three months.  Thaw.  Bake as indicated above.

CROCKPOT:  Instead of baking in the oven, you could also use the Crockpot.  Spray with vegetable oil, or put a liner in the crockpot.  Put mixture in and cook on high for 2 – 3 hours, or low for 3 – 5 hours.

From the Recipe Files of Sherry Ruddell

Enjoy!   Leave me a comment to let me know how you like this recipe.  Push Like if you enjoyed this post.