A breath arrested

Of mousers and men

A surprise treat awaited us on the first of the month. Mom made her yummy classic apple pie for dinner. DOD likes it served with a bit of sharp cheddar.
A family tradition after dinner. And lunch. And breakfast. Oh, and did we say dinner?

YAY! The day of Jay. We followed his progress through VA and PA. In the evening (did you know sunset arrives in Chester about 9 pm?) he finally showed up. He was not alone. His masters brought him. Dubya and Mitzy. I still think it's a 3, but it depends which way he's slinking. Anyway, the cats immediately made themselves at home in Mom's manse by barfing all over the place. SBDs: Silent barf devils. Actually, the cats were very sweet. When they weren't barfing.

Attack cat. Say that 30 times real fast. Yay, lil bro! Hang on tight!

Departure and reunion

The time to leave for the trip back east had finally arrived. DOD and I left LA on 30 June 09 anticipating a wonderful 3 weeks. It proved to be far better than we hoped. But I get ahead of myself. First, last minute arrangements were made before leaving.

Once that was done, DOD and I did the mass transit thing from home into the airport. That included using a bus, subway and then another bus (it's not as bad as it sounds). Here, DOD is running down the escalator into the subway. Even at his age he wears me out sometimes.
We paused briefly for a picture before entering the plane. The reunion was sweet indeed!

Manchester too

Do you realize that we vacationed in both Chester and Manchester?

So as not to leave out the prefix in visiting the rest of the fammmm, here is a shot of TJ and Tim.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Rest and relaxation

There is no better place to relax. We put a lot of hours into that back porch!

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Grandma's no bake cookies

There is nothing quite so yummy as a bite into one of these temptations.

Chocolate no-bake cookies became a dessert staple for most of us back in the sultry summer of '64. For others, the delectable delight was around long before that.

The magic for this treat was cooked up by Grandma. So it has that name. Some of us have followed in her footsteps. Just this past week, when DOD, Nancy and I were still in Chester, Mom made a batch. Hmm hmm good!


Grandma's no-bake cookies

2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk

Bring to a boil and stir for 1 1/2 minutes.* Remove from fire and add:

3 cups Quick Oats (Minute Oats)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Drop by teaspoons on cookie sheet. Better if they set a few hours. Grandma writes, "I remove mine to paper toweling after a little while."
*Might need to be increased to 2 1/2 minutes at high altitude.

Enjoy! Variations and discussions about no-bake cookies can be found at allrecipes.com.

Manchester leg is over

No pictures this time, as it is notoriously difficult to post them from public terminals. Hopefully, we can all begin posting pictures of the trip from our own computers soon. There's lots to post!

In the meantime, the Manchester leg of the trip is over now. The four of us are in Chester once again for another week of rest and relaxation.

It has been so good to see everyone!!

So, y'all, post away !!!!

The Back Porch

Our family blog ...

Begun 06 July 2009 on a sunny and sultry, wild and wonderful Monday morning in Chester, WV, for the enjoyment of our immediate family members ...

A way to give us more frequent and enjoyable glimpses into the accomplishments and importances of our lives ...

Our perspectives ...

Just for us ...

Our family ...

On the back porch ....