Memory Bears

After working for several hours yesterday, and most of the day today, I've finally completed the memory bears that I will be giving my mother and sister for Christmas.

When my Dad died, or maybe right before we decided to put him in hospice, the Hospice lady showed us some brochures and flyers for things we could have done for memories. When Mom saw the Memory Bear flyer, she said she wanted one. I decided then and there that I wanted to make one for her. I didn't get the clothing before I left back in July, but when Tom and I visited a couple of weeks ago, I asked Mom if I could have one of Dad's shirts. She said yes, and gave me two! So, I decided to make a bear for my sister, too.
The process started out over a week ago with finding a pattern that I liked. I combed Pinterest and the internet for a free pattern. That was much more difficult than I'd like to admit. Most of the free patterns had something that I didn't like about them - I just didn't like the way that they looked. And even with the keyword "free" in the search, most of the patterns that I did like cost something. Then, I came across the HowJoyful Bear. It was a free pattern and I was able to locate a couple of helpful videos on YouTube. Win-win!
Next came making a practice bear, great advice from yet another YouTube video, since I've never done anything like this before. I found some scrap fabric, cut out the pattern pieces and started pinning them together. Then, I started sewing. Step 1 - sew the ears. Easy. Step 2 - sew the forehead to the sides of the head, with the ears in place. Okay, not too bad. Wouldn't you know it, I got hung up on the third step?!? That's when I found this video and things got much better and started falling into place. I didn't stuff the practice bear, since I didn't have any stuffing at the time, but I did almost everything else, so, after I was able to get some Poly-fil at Wal-Mart, I felt confident enough to cut into my Dad's old shirts.
I worked on both bears at the same time, cutting, piecing, pinning and sewing, and that worked out pretty well. I didn't follow the step-by-step instructions like I did with the practice bear, I ended up sewing all the smaller pieces together before larger, assembly-type things. I also decided to make a slight addition that I'd read others had made, and I stuffed the ears and tail. That added to the difficulty of assembly, but it was worth it. Attaching the front to the back was the most difficult part, since those pieces don't match up perfectly. I ended up with some pinching (not pretty) and/or ruching (which is okay to look at). Attaching the head to the body was pretty bad, too, and I think the heads are going to fall off if these bears are squeezed too hard or abused in any way. I'm thinking about adding a bow around the neck so that my horrible stitching can be hidden.
All in all, the bears are not perfect, but they were made with love and I hope that they are loved and appreciated.

Dad

Thank you for giving me life, and being in my life.

Brussels Sprouts Gratin

Happy Thanksgiving! With family coming over, Dad put me in charge of providing the vegetable dish, and Wanda sent me a recipe for Brussels Sprouts Gratin - so I thought they'd be perfect to try. I enlisted the help of my nephew, and together we made a pretty good tasting dish.

Brussels Sprouts Gratin

Ingredients:

• 16 oz brussels sprouts, trimmed of outer leaves and sliced in half
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• black pepper, to taste
• olive oil spray
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup chopped shallots
• 2 tsp all purpose flour (or gluten free flour for GF)
• 3/4 cup fat free milk
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 2 oz grated Gruyere cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray an 8"x12" gratin dish or casserole with olive oil. Add the brussels sprouts and season with salt and pepper. Spray more olive oil over the brussels and place in the lower third of the oven. Bake 15 minutes, toss and bake an additional 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat a medium nonstick pan over medium heat. Add butter and let it melt, add the shallots and cook until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the shallots to make a roux, whisking for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the milk and stir with a wooden spoon until the roux is incorporated into the milk. Cook over medium-low heat for about 4 minutes, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Add fresh thyme, parmesan and half of the grated Gruyere cheese into the white sauce and stir until the cheese is melted and incorporated into the sauce.
3. Pour over the brussels sprouts, and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 15 minutes until top is lightly browned and bubbly.

The grocery store was out of Gruyere cheese, so on a recommendation that I found on the Internet, we used Jarlsberg. As I mentioned, I think it was a good dish, but the best part was the bonding time with my nephew!

Our Fourth of July

Mom's phone call came earlier last week, "What are you doing this weekend?" I told her I was working and she mentioned that she thought that we might get together to do a little geocaching. I told her of the plans that Tom and I had already made for July 4^th - geocaching along the C&D Canal - and would they like to join us? Talk to your Dad. I explained the plan to Dad, and invited them to come along. He'd let us know. Thursday, we knew.

We got a relatively early start, leaving shortly after 8 a.m., and between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., we had found 121 caches. Overall, it was a good time, and we got most of the ones that I had hoped for. Around 5 p.m., it started to rain, and we got soaked. At that point, we had just over 100 caches, but the next level badge on BadgeGen was 120 finds in a 24 hour period, so we cached for 5 more hours!

Having Phoon at C&D Canal

It was frustrating (arguing with the chauffer), exhausting (walking over seven miles) and rewarding (woo-hoo, 120 caches in 24 hours!), among other things. I don't know when we'll have the chance to do something like that again, so I'm glad for the opportunity.

Happy 3rd of July

Well, it was a bittersweet day for me. I decided a few months ago to leave Baltimore's Marching Ravens, and today, they were performing at the Independence Day parade in Havre de Grace. I was working, and the parade was still in progress as I left after my shift. I wanted to see everyone, but I didn't, do you know what I mean? Anyway...

Instead, Tom had planned a cook-out and invited Mario and Sally (our next-door neighbors), as well as my parents, who were arriving this evening to geocache with us tomorrow. We decided to try something new, cooking corn on the grill.

Roasting Ears of Corn

• 6 ears corn
• ¾ stick butter
• 1 slightly heaping T Herbes de Provence

1. Do not shuck ears - soak in a pot of water overnight.
2. Start grill) Drain ears, pulling off the first couple of leaves.
3. Pull remaining leaves down ear, about 3/4 of the way down. Remove silk.
4. Melt butter. Add Herbes de Provence. Stir.
5. Generously brush herb butter on ears.
6. Replace leaves on ears of corn, tie the tip closed with a leaf that had previously been removed.
7. When grill is ready, place ears on grill. Roast for 30 minutes on low to medium heat (20 minutes on medium to high heat), turning the ears every 5 minutes.

The corn turned out well. After being soaked all night, it was juicy, and the flavor of the spices was good.

GER Day 13

Dad and I went out to find two last Geocaches before I have to fly home tomorrow.

Schießlweiher - Bonus

Bonus - Hans im Wald

GER Day 12

It was Donnie's day to leave, so we drove him to Munich, and saw him off. On the way back, we stopped at multiple locations to do some Geocaching. I think I've created a monster - Dad is really into it right now. We found four caches, and were unsuccessful at a fifth.

Schießlweiher

Josephsthal - Joseph's Valley, part 1

Josephsthal - Joseph's Valley, part 2

Big Old Tree

I See the Light

I think I'm committed to going out tomorrow to find the fifth from today, plus the Bonus from the first one we stopped at. The Bonus from the multi-cache that we found first on this trip is still hanging over our heads. I've only got the one day left - do I relax or go Geocaching? Tomorrow will tell.

GER Day 11

Three cities, one day - this is crazy! We started in Passau. Donnie wanted to get a picture of the three rivers in one shot, but even though we climbed a mountain, we weren't in the right place for it.

Next, we went to Neuschönau to the Tree Top Walk.

It was pretty, darn cool. We walked amongst to tops of the trees in an established forest. The view was great!

Then, it was off the Regensburg to experience the Mai-Dult (the Volksfest). We walked around, took pictures, then took a seat in a beer garden and ate and drank a few things, then waited until the entertainment started. It was fun to see the German's in traditional dress, and watch them enjoy the festivities.

GER Day 10

Today was a stay-at-home day. The parents were exhausted from yesterday's excursions, so we just relaxed. But, Dad wasn't too tired to go Geocaching. He finally signed up for his own Geocaching account, so we went up to the multi-cache that the whole family participated in so that he could sign the log. Then, it was on to the next!

I took Dad to the location of the cache that I couldn't find several days ago, and he wanted to search some more, but after a good amount of time, he agreed that it couldn't be found. We then headed to the next location, which we were able to log successfully.

Weidener Ehrentafel: Das alte Wasserrad

Afterwards, we worked on the cache that was just down the street from Wanda's house. It was a little tricky to decipher, but Dad had the best idea, which eventually led to it's discovery. I'm glad we found it, it would probably have bugged me for a long time - it being so close, yet so far away.

Katrins Geburtstagscache

Part 1

Part 2

GER Day 9

Today was a long, but rewarding day! It started out at the Bastei Bridge near Dresden.

The views were absolutely breath-taking. While there, Dad and I found a Geocache in the Naturepark, and we set ourselves up to claim an Earthcache. These got us the Sachsen Geocaching souvenir.

Basteibrucke und Felsenburg Neurathen

Bastei

Then, it was off the Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. They are noted for their spas and mineral water springs. We started off by taking the funicular up the mountain to see the city from the Diana Lookout. Then we took a leisurely stroll, trying to find as many of the mineral springs as we could. These are a few that we found.

We even found a Geocache, and are primed to claim an Earthcache! So, we were able to claim the Czech Republic Geocaching souvenir.

Kolonada

Mineral Springs of Karlsbad

GER Day 8

Today was a marathon day. We started out in Bamberg, where we walked around “Little Venice” for a couple of hours. It was quite charming.

Then, we headed to Wonsees to see the Sanspareil Rock Garden. It was interesting to see the ruins of the old buildings there, and the artist’s drawings of what was there when these structures were still standing.

Our last stop was in Bayreuth, to see the Hermitage Gardens. It was interesting to think of royalty walking through those gardens at their leisure, taking in the sights.

While there, we stopped for a late lunch. We shared Schnitzel “Weiner Art”, “Ermitage” Bratwürste and Bayreuther Käsespätzle - all delicious.