Mini Izzy Gets a Life

This doll had a perfectly fine face but something about the eyebrows bothered me so I repainted her. When will I learn????  I decided that I would NOT let myself paint her face again until I made arms and legs for her.  Right now she is thumbless, but I hope to change that today.

One thing I've noticed about me (maybe it's about moms at home) is how many things I expect myself to do at once.  I expect somehow that while I am making a doll I will also be able to magically do laundry and clean the house.  My husband doesn't feel that when he's at work he ought to be cleaning the house....he's actually very helpful at home.  I think saying, "I am doing this and not that" is helpful for me.  I am making a creation and NOT doing other things.  Ha ha!
Dixie Redmond

Purple Pear Cake

I made this over the weekend.  I love the color of it!  I am revisiting some of my old Weight Watchers recipes from 20 something years ago. This was a favorite easy, colorful dessert I used to make quite a bit. 

It's made with canned pears and frozen raspberries and blueberries, topped with a batter. Trying to figure out how little sugar and butter you need to retain taste is hard.   You might be able to adjust the butter and sugar down a tablespoon.  I tried halving it and you really need the sugar in the fruit part to counteract the tartness of the raspberries. 

You serve the cake upside down so that the fruit is on top.  1/6 of this cake is 306 calories and 1/8 of the cake is 226 calories, not counting topping you add. 

Go here for the printable recipe for Purple Pear Cake. 

Mix canned pears with frozen raspberries and blueberries, sugar, and melted butter

Fold the dry and wet ingredients for the cake together like you're making muffins.  

Stir just until you can't see anymore dry flour. 

Drop the batter on top of the fruit mixture.  

Then carefully spread the batter over the fruit.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

 

Cut the cake and serve with the fruit side UP. 

This is an easy dessert.  
Printable recipe for Purple Pear Cake. 

Dixie Redmond

Remembering and Thank You

Some years ago, we were getting ready to take our first ever family vacation flying to Florida for my Granddad's 100th birthday party.   We had an unexpected wait at the airport for 8 hours while our plane was being (ahem) worked on.  While we were waiting, a plane with troops landed.  The Bangor area is known for welcoming troops home since the first Gulf War.   My younger son, who was 6 at the time, was in awe of the military he saw, and asked if he could get some autographs.  We wanted to instill that these are people fighting for our country and they are heroes.  So we let him ask a few, who graciously and kindly signed our vacation scrapbook.  
I didn't post their signatures out of respect for their privacy, but I did wonder if they are still living and realized they might not be.  A sobering thought.  I want to express thankfulness for those who have fought and sacrificed everything as well as for those who are living and choose to keep serving our country.


Dixie Redmond

Scratchy Lunchroom Napkins Can Catch Tears

This week I went to a conference on Raising Aspirations for people with special needs who are transitioning from childhood to adulthood, and what the opportunities are.   A couple of the sessions had me catching tears with the scratchy lunchroom napkins I had shoved into my pocketbook at lunch.  The image of a 63 year old woman with her first paycheck ever was a beautiful one.  There were stories of hope, and there were stories of failure.   They both made me cry.  As a parent of a son with autism, I want to have high hopes for him.   What is reasonable to expect of him, of us, of the larger society?  A statement to "plan for your child to be poor" was heartbreaking.  Who wants to envision that for their child?

This week I watched American Idol with my younger son.  People have mixed views of American Idol.  But it's interesting to see these artists grow and change and become.   This 20 year old young man from Leesburg, Georgia won the competition and sang this song.   Which speaks so much to the journey ahead.  I've been carrying this song around with me while I work and mom.  These lines in particular:  


 "settle down it'll all be cleardon't pay no mind to the demons they fill you with fear.." 
Some of the worst decisions made in my in life have been fear-based.  I have to check myself if I am making a decision from fear.  If that's the case, then I wait.  Does this apply to art?  Yes.  It applies to decisions made about direction.  It applies to larger life as well.   
I have a deep respect for songwriters.  They write the accompaniment for people's lives, if you will. I believe they have a holy calling.  
Homewas written by Drew Pearson and Greg Holden.  
Check out singer songwriter Greg Holden's site here.And here he is singing the song he wrote:

Dixie Redmond

Uncrossed Tayes and Undotted Eis

An art friend and I were emailing back and forth about whether we would ever be able to do all of our ideas.  No.   No we won't.  It was a big revelation to me that not all ideas must be executed.   The world would be short a few reality shows if people realized that.  Some thoughts can just be.....thoughts! 
I used to think that the goal of life was to get everything in its place and have a problem-free horizon. That is not doable.  There is never a time when all of the Ts (tayes) are crossed and the Eis are dotted.  Just when you finish the laundry or dishes or whatever lo and behold there is another!  There's always something...accepting that for me has helped me enjoy life more.   So when you have to call the plumber because there's a leak in the upstairs bathroom, it's just part of the parade of tayes and eis that need to be crossed and dotted.  But some don't.  In fact,  I'm going to let some uncrossed tayes and undotted eis run with abandon across the landscape of my life. 
And yes, you spell T as taye and I as ei.  You can check the American Heritage dictionary.  Doesn't feel intuitive does it?
Dixie Redmond