Bacon Pop-Tart Time

A while back I had an epiphany, bacon pop-tarts. I like bacon and I like pop-tarts, so combining the two would create something awesome. I began by researching how to make pop-tarts. I found some websites that I thought might be helpful. The bacon jam seemed like it might be too spicy, and I did not want to spend that much time on it. The prospect of making a crust seemed like it would take too long also, so I went with regular bacon and crescent rolls for the crust. I decided that since most pop-tarts were sweet that I would make one pop-tart with blackberry jam. Sweet and savory together as one. That should work right?


Bacon frying in the skillet


I chopped the bacon, and then added some blackberry jam


I spread the mixture over the crescent rolls


I made one of just bacon


I pushed down the edges with a fork and made vent holes


Nice and brown right out of the oven


The regular bacon one was the best loved.


I personally enjoyed the bacon and blackberry jam

All in all everyone enjoyed it. Next time I will work on making the bacon jam and maybe even the crust. The regular bacon one was crumbly and needed some way to stay together. I just need a way to preserve them so I can have them whenever I want.

Cake Time

I visit the Cake Wrecks web site nearly everyday. It is hilarious. Instead of explaining it I will just say that you need to visit it if you are having a bad day. Seeing the mistakes of others brings me a modicum of joy. I am also always on the lookout for cakes that are wrecky. I found one last year and sent it in. Today I saw it on the cake wrecks website. I will not say what store I saw it in, but if you go to Cake Wrecks the one I sent in says "Go Eagls". I use this website to show my students why they need to know how to spell.

Writing Time

It is that time again. Nanowrimo is here. Otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. I participated last year and it really jump started me finishing my first novel. I ended up at around 88,000 words. I wrote almost every night through the month of November. It was great being able to track my progress and have know others were working toward a similar goal. By the way, the goal on the website is to write 50,000 words for the month. This is a really difficult goal, but if you work at it you can reach it.

Along with the website I have a quote from Ray Bradbury about writing that inspires me. The quote is from a Writer's Digest interview.

WD: You're terribly prolific, but a lot of writers produce one book in a lifetime. Would you advise young writers to spend all their time polishing one piece or to go for quantity?

BRADBURY: It simply follows that quantity produces quality. Only if you do a lot will you ever be any good. If you do very little, you'll never have quality of idea or quality of output. The excitement and creativity comes from a whole lot of doing; hoping you'll suddenly be struck by lightning. If you only write a few things, you're doomed. The history of literature is the history of prolific people. I always say to students, give me four pages a day, every day. That's three or four hundred thousand words a year. Most of that will be bilge, but the rest ... It will save your life!

I will be starting a new novel next month. I am not sure which one yet. I could do the sequel to the one I finished, or one of the two others that are bouncing around in my head. I encourage you to participate if you have a story inside you. Even if you never finish it you will enjoy the experience.

Light Time

A solar powered light. Sounds stupid right. Sounds like something out of Japan. I always thought so, until I saw these. Then I saw where someone made their own for much less. It is a nice accent for the yard and works as a portable night light when brought into the house.

The sun jar essentially captures the sun. It really does live up to its name. I had to build my own. I found a solar powered yard accent light at Big Lots and a canning jar Kelly had left over. I also used glue, a rubber band, aluminum foil and armour etch. I like how it turned out. I would like to find some jars like the ones pictured, but until then I will be happy with the one I have.


The unlit jar


Jar on. There is a light sensor on the top. I used the nickel to cover it so that it would shine.


The electronics inside the jar. I use the rubber band to hold the batteries suspended so the light shines out. I also put a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom so that the light would reflect out. The lid was two pieces. I just glued the solar panel to the outer part of the lid and did not use the other piece. I think it would look great for a bunch of these to hang from a tree.

Rabbit Time

We bought Clara a rabbit last summer at the Chesnee trade lot. It was only a few dollars. It was a cute white rabbit and Clara loved it. We had a rabbit hutch that Pat brought by so we were set. We brought the rabbit home and named it Sally. Clara was sure it was a girl. Many months later we found out that the rabbit is a boy. Clara disowned it saying that I could have it. She would have nothing to do with a boy rabbit.

I have since named it Monty.


I think I can train it to be an attack rabbit.

Bat Time

I have a shed where I keep my tools and building materials. It is often a mess. I have had many creatures sneak into the shed; several mice, a bird, various spiders, a snake, and currently a bat. I was cutting wood for the kids swing when I saw it sleeping in the rafters.


Creatures of the night must distort my camera because I could not get a clear picture.

I thought about killing it. I do not like creatures trespassing into my domain. Then I decided that if I hit it with a shovel and did not kill it I run the risk of needing a rabies shot, or of being bitten and gaining bat powers. It could be a radioactive bat.

We do live next to this.

However knowing my luck I would end up like this guy.


I guess he is happy, because he is laughing his freaky bat head off, but I could not afford to replace clothes every time I went batty.

Lindy Time

Today is Lindy's birthday. She is four years old today and has grown into the comedian in our family. She will do anything for a laugh. She likes to blurt out random phrases at times, and often they are quite funny, at least to me. She once saw a pocket and said, "A pocket, I want to put my hand in it." Another one of her sayings was to answer any question asked of her with, "Because Yes." or "Because No." The question did not really matter. She would just throw that out there and smile.

It was hard to find a picture for these posters because Lindy has a habit of glancing away from the camera as you take the picture. There are dozens of pictures where Lindy has a sidelong glance at something to the side.