Grandma Oma's World

While visiting my home in Futog, Serbia I came across some old slides.   My father made these in the early forties, when we were 2 ans 3 years old. These pictures were taken in the backyard of our home in Futog. It amazes me how the colors so well preserved. He even developed and printed his own pictures. Putting together slides was done professionally. Me in 1944 in Futog, Serbia My brother, Elemer, and I in 1944  My mother Maria, my Grandmother Hermina, my brother and I

After years of resisting, I finally went on a cruise.  Why did I resist? What could one do on a ship for days at the time? I imagined it is just eating, eating and more eating. In my mind there was nothing really appealing on a cruise because I felt it was too confining. I prefer to be more active on my travels. I like to hike and I like to camp. My idea of a good vacation was to spend  time packing a tent, sleeping bags, food in a cooler chest, then drive miles and miles, set up the tent and cook a dinner over a camp stove, clean dishes in cold water and go to sleep in a sleeping bag. What a wonderful vacation! Right? Me, Grandma Oma And than, I went on a CRUISE,  and I now, am hooked! What a great way to be spoiled! It is wonderful to be in a comfortable cabin, enjoy the views, take short hikes on the shore and then come back to a made bed with a piece of chocolate on my pillow. Why did I ever resisted a cruise? Here are some more pictures from this trip. Lea...

 I am so excited that this quilt on which the ladies of my quilting group, Scraps, worked for almost a year ended up in the the Bridal Suit of the Queen Anne Mansion in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Here is the story: This quilt was made entirely from bridal dresses. My quilting group got the dresses from an organization called Brides Against Breast Cancer.  The idea was to make a quilt then return it to the organization who than auctioned it of. The profits would then go for breast cancer research. Working on this quilt was fun and challenging. Most quilts are made of cotton; cotton is durable, easy to work with and easy to control. The bridal dress quilt was made of satin, lace and silk - all delicate materials hard to work with, slippery and stretchy. On the other hand it was fun for the group to work together and see the quilt become this beautiful piece of art. Once the quilt was finished in 2009 we entered it to the annual Quilters Anonymous quilt show in Monroe, Washin...

 Occasionally, I buy one lottery ticket, and than I don't check whether I won for days, weeks and sometimes even for months. I do this on purpose because then, I can spend all the time  fantasizing of what I would do with all the winnings - - the mega millions that suddenly will fall into my lap. First, I would get a good financial planer and a trustworthy lawyer to guide me and protect me from unscrupulous solicitors and relatives that I didn't even know I had. Then, my fantasy would start: 1.  I would gather my children and their families and take them on a fantasy trip on every continent of the world.  Whatever their wish would be we would do. 2. I would buy a vacation home large enough for the whole family. The location would be decided by my children so that they could go there whenever they want to. 3. I would completely remodel my home, or maybe buy a new home that would have everything in it that I always dreamed to have. 4. I am not going to for...

Someone told me  this a long time ago and I used it to guide many of my decisions: "If you think you can, or if you think you can't  you are right".

This is what I made today Today was my day to bake breads. I do not like bread machine because they take up to much space in the kitchen and the bread does not come out as real as if it were made by hand. I found this awesome bread recipe called Monsieur Montfort's French Bread   in an old Time-Life Cookbook and my breads are coming out perfect.Making these breads bring back memories of my Mother's weekly bread making rituals. We always made sourdough breads. My Mother would get up at about 4am and start the dough.  She would put the starter dough in a big bowl, add some water, yeast and some flour then let it rest a little bit. After that she would  add more flour and salt and start kneading.  After a while she would cover the bowl and let it rise. At about 6am she would punch the dough down make three loaves each about 2lbs, place them in bread loaves baskets lined with a floured towel and let them rise again. The baskets defined the shapes of the loaves. T...

I think we are all familiar with papasan chairs , the deep round rattan chairs with a very comfortable cushions. It seems to me that they have been around for as long as I remember and when we are not resting in them it is usually our dogs or cats who roll up in them. Well, while I was watching my 5 month old grand daughter, Brianna, I decided to put her down for a nap in the chair. Best decision I ever made! She fell right asleep and she napped for four hours. I think, because the chair has the curve, the baby gets the feeling of being held. She was safe, snug and warm. I now wonder, why didn't I use these chairs when I had babies? I think in certain circumstances these chairs are better than cribs or cradles.

Yesterday, my grand daughter, Gabriella, wanted pasta for lunch. So, we decided to make our own homemade pasta. Here is how we did it: 2 cups flour 2 eggs 2 Tbs oil 1 Tbs salt 2-3 Tbs water Mix everything up and knead until it is smooth and elastic about 10 minutes. The dough should be somewhat hard. If it is, too soft just add more flour and keep kneading. When it is smooth and elastic, make a ball and place it under a bowl for about 30 minutes. Than take it out and with a rolling pin role it to about 2/8 of an inch, really thin. Slice it in wide long sheets and than stack the sheets on top of each other with flour in between and slice it into noodles. Boil these noodles for 2-3 minutes and Voila - they are ready to eat with any sauce or just butter.

What a wonderful service! Today, as I was drinking my second cup of coffee I heard a ring on my computer. I clicked on the answer button and got connected to my sister, Maria, who lives in Serbia. We spoke and saw each other for about 30 minutes. The images were really good and our voices sounded as if we were in the same room. My sister just came home from a spa where she was recovering from a triple bypass surgery. I saw and spoke with my nephews, Tibi and Zsolt.I was walking with my computer around and showing her my sleeping grand daughter, Brianna, the living room, kitchen and the things I was getting ready to cook. Now, isn't life wonderful?

My birthday party was fantastic, one of the best in a long time. My daughter and her husband invited 14 of their friends and they all brought me quilting fabrics. All the fabrics are absolutely fantastic - batiks and fabulous Japanese prints. I can hardly wait to use them in a quilt. For the party we had a ton of appetizers like baked brie, stuffed grape leaves, puff pastry rolls, cheese, crackers, ham and Parmesan slices and grapes, than we had the lasagna diner with garlic bread and great salad and finally we had the three birthday cakes. Each cake was brought out separately with a set of candles and each time they sang me the happy birthday song. I had the opportunity to make three wishes. Now, isn't that great? How many of us have this opportunity to make three wishes with three cakes? Here the pictures of the Walnut Torte and the Dobos torte. The Raspberry torte was eaten before I had a chance to take a picture. Everything was just unbelievable and wonderful and I am ...

Sunday will be my 69th birthday. As custom dictates, birthdays are celebrated with birthday cakes. I know that my family loves me very much because they ordered, not one but, three birthday cakes: a Dobos Torte, a Walnut Torte and a Raspberry Whipped Cream Torte. With a lot of help, I am making all three. My family will add the candles. More pictures will follow.

My two month stint as a grand parent to a 3 year old and a 3 month old baby in Buffalo, NY, is challenging, rewarding and very, very tiring, but I would not trade it for anything. I came to Buffalo, NY with the idea that I would be a very organized grand parent, that in my spare time while the children are napping I would be quilting, than in the evenings I would play bridge and work out in the gym, and on the weekends I would be site seeing (after all Niagara Falls is only 15 minutes away, and Toronto 90 minutes). Looks like a good plan right? Well, my plan is working out – sort of: 1. I have learned to diversify and expand on my fashion sense: I realized that the baby’s spit-up does not much any of my clothes so I have the pleasure to change my outfits 2-3x daily. (Did my children ever spit-up when they were babies?) 2. Daily exercise and fitness activities: I get to work on upper body strength by delightfully carrying a 18lb baby in a 19lb car seat (daughter spent the extra $...