(Dreaded) Annual Letter Is Back!

Yes, 2010 has been a hot and hootie, rootie tootie kind of year for us.  Here are a few of the details of our year:

• Father needs thumb surgery. Mother says the arthritis bump on his digit looks like a dog’s nose. Mother sees art in everything because she owns a paintbrush.
• Mother recently heard about Jane Marie's new 3 Second Memory Club. She desperately wants to join but Father is concerned they might not accept her. He thinks she’s over qualified because she remembered the name of the club.
• Father revealed his first pick-up line to Mother. “I’m wise beyond my leers.” Uncle Knuckle always did say Mother and Father were meant to be. Knuckles kin are very sensitive to matters of the heart.
• Daughter would like to be a novelist or composer. She can’t spell or read music but she has the titles for her future projects all ready to go. Her first murder mystery will be about a serial slasher. She’ll call it By the Light of the Slivery Moon. She also wants to do a Broadway musical about the life of Attila the Hun and call it Night and Day, You are the Hun. She’s so excited to get started, she’s already got a pad, a pencil and a kazoo. Talk about ambitious! 
• Mother entered her framed painted doll faces in the local fair. She didn’t win but the sheriff in town wants to hire her as a sketch artist. He says her dolls look like fugitives. Father is telling his friends they can get  free portraits if they rob banks. Mother is concerned. She’s afraid she’ll get carpal tunnel if she develops a clientele.
• Spew, our vomiting cat, licks the toilet bowl brush to clean his tongue. Father considered doing this until he realized the brush was too big for his mouth.
• Son-in-law washed his car.  He also found his phone.
• Mother massages her feet by rolling them back and forth over marbles in a shoebox. Mother is a health nut, you know.
• Uncle Knuckle went to the store by himself.
• Daughter is in training to run her first marathon. Father thinks that’s silly. He can get there faster by car.
• Father had emergency back surgery. Don’t worry. He is able to walk -- almost. He still needs crutches. Mother has hired a carpenter to secretly shorten each crutch tip an inch per day. Her goal is for him to stop relying on the crutches. Father, however, thinks he’s getting shorter. By next week, he’ll be crawling. He’s fine with it though. He’s sure he’s somehow found the Fountain of Yutes. Oh, Father is also planning his 152th birthday party.
• It rained.

Happy New Year from Amelia Island, Florida!

Randolph, the Red Nosed Rodent

Meet Randolph, the Red Nosed Rodent and his family of like-looking chocolate cherry rodents. Make your own quick and easy mousies and they will be the hit of any party. Yummo!  Go to ourr  website for the recipe: http://www.greenlightwrite.com/chocolatemice.htm and enjoy!

A Frosty of My Own!

We often walk to church. It was cold today and required a jacket.  As we entered the vestibule, an usher said to my husband, "Bruce, in that jacket and scarf, all you need is a top hat and pipe and you'll look like Frosty." And so we did and he does.  Meet my very own Frosty!                   





Former Fernandina Beach Mayor Bruce Malcolm can be seen reading to the children at the local library.  This time, Santa joined the fun!

Merry Christmas!

Waste Not That Candle

I love those expensive fragrant candles.  I dislike wasting the last bit of wax left unburned in the bottom.  It's easy to save the last of that wax and recycle/make your own candles that will burn for several more hours.  (To be honest, I haven't yet timed how much longer but we are talking hours.)

Remember, our family motto:  No space unfilled.  No cent unsaved.

For each candle you'll need:

remnants of candle wax in glass jar or jars

a store-bought wick (several feet sold in a package in craft stores) 

1 clean tuna or cat food can per jar candle (take care not to cut yourself on the inside top edge)

scissors

pencil

small sauce pan

tongs

pot holders

Follow the easy steps below:

Over low heat, melt the last of the wax in the original candle jar in a pan of water on the stovetop. 

 

While the wax is melting, cut a 3" to 4" length of wick. 
Wrap one end of the wick around the center of a pencil. Center the pencil with wick on top of the clean can, letting the loose end of the wick touch the bottom of the can.
Using tongs and pot holders to retrieve the hot jar from the water, pour the melted/scented wax into the clean
  cat food or tuna cans.

 

Let the wax cool about an hour. Remove the pencil and your new mini-candles are ready to burn.
You may pain the outside of the cans or decorate them if you wish.

Enjoy,

Jane Marie