Alpine Coaster

Now doesn't this look like fun?  It's an Alpine Coaster!

 

Jaw dropping, high-speed, brakeless journey down the mountain. Austrian downhill coaster is nevertheless terrifying." The coaster located Mieders , Austria , starts at the top of a mountain, reachable by a cable car. It's pretty simple: single pipe, single person, single giant sloping, winding hill. But through hundreds of pine trees whizzing past you on tight bank curves and it gets a bit scarier. Oh, there's no brakes!!!

 

 

I wonder how many Raviolis could ride this coaster?  It sure looks like fun.  Love to all of you.

Dog Christmas

Hello my ravs.  It's been a few weeks as Grandma-ma has been very busy getting ready for Christmas.  Here is a sweet little video of a dog an his Christmas.

 

 What a sweet baby, he reminds me of Squirt!

Love to all of you, Grandma-ma

How to Annoy a Frog

Hello my raviolis. Everyone loves video games and I think this frog sorta enjoyed it.  Let's watch, shall we?

And that, my friends, is Mother Nature setting things right. Love to all of you. Grandma-ma

Funny Friday photos

Hello raviolis.  Today I have funny photos to share.

 

Your eyes are drawn to the penguins and what they are doing but do you see the happy little seal sneaking a photo op in the corner?  This funny little guy was not supposed to be in the picture but he popped up just as the wildlife photographer hit the button.

 

 Look how clever this costume is for this German Shepherd pup.  this is the biggest spider you will ever see. I how many trick or treaters or neighborhood cats  he scares away.

This is a real fish and it is called a Blobfish.  It lives at deep depths in the ocean where the pressure is several dozen times higher than at sea level, which would make gas bladders inefficient for maintaining buoyancy.   Instead, the flesh of the blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than water; this allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming.   It looks like a fleshly old man doesn't it? 

 So, which broom shall we ride today?

How funny is this tiger?  Yup, somebody painted their dog to look like a Halloween tiger.  This picture makes me laugh.  So, tell grandma-ma which of these pictures is your favorite.  I think my favorite is the sneaky little seal popping into the photo or the tiger dog.  

I can't seem to decide.  How about you?

 

Word of the Week Wednesday

Hello my raviolis.  It's been a while since we did word of the week Wednesday, but today's word is nothing short of what you will see in the below video...Amazing.

Yes, today's word is amazing.

Amazing is defined as being to affect with great wonder; astonish and surprise.

 

Watch as you see the ocean tide return to the sea under the blocks of ice.  What follows is magical.

It is truly amazing and another wonder of nature.  Grandma-ma has to admit that she would venture into this short lived world.  Would you?

Ghostly fruit cups

Hello My Raviolis.  Don't these look tasty?  Nothing like fruit  cups that have a spooky look to them.   These are super easy to make.  You will need a package  of Peeps Ghosts, some whipped cream, two cups of pineapple  and two cups of mandarin oranges.  You can use canned, just  be sure to drain as much of the liquid it sits in from the fruit.   Fresh fruit really is best and has the most flavor. Fill glasses half full of your fruit, top with some whipped cream and add a Peep Ghostie in the center.  Yummy.  Let's eat!

Monkey Face Orchid

 Hello my raviolis.  Today I want to share with you a very interesting flower.  It is an orchid that looks like a monkey face.  Nature is so grand in all of her cleverness and these wonderful orchids come from the south-eastern Ecuadorian and Peruvian cloud forests.

 Its scientific name is Dracula simia.  "Simia" stands for "simian" and this remarkable orchid bears more than a passing resemblance to a monkey’s face. The Dracula (genus) part of its name refers to the strange characteristic of the two long spurs of the sepals, reminiscent of the fangs of a certain Transylvanian count of film and fiction fame.

Wouldn't it be fun to see these in real life?  They say they blossoms smell like oranges.  What fun to see a monkey face in a flower that smells like oranges.  Have a wonderful day my raviolis. Grandma-ma loves you.

Clockwork - K'nex Ball Machine

How cool is this? Grandma-ma loves this kind of scientific creativity. It is full of color and light and movement and all very well thought out. As you watch this vid, think of ways you would make the balls travel.

 

The builder, Austin Granger, says this is his fifth major K'nex ball machine, and the largest and most complex K'nex structure he has made to date. It took 8 months to build, has over 40,000 pieces, over 450 feet of track, 21 different paths, 8 motors, 5 lifts, and a one-of-a-kind computer-controlled crane, as well as two computer-controlled illuminated K'nex balls.

He filled is room with this structure.   Wouldn't it be fun to go to sleep at night watching the balls move around and around?  I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I did. Grandma-ma loves you.

Cinderella's Carriage Pumpkin

Isn't this beautiful, my raviolis?  What a fun way to decorate for Halloween and turn your pumpkins into Cinderalla's coach.

 

 

This first coach is easy to make. Have mom or dad help you with the cutting out of the door and windows.  Then you can decorate with pretty jewels from your local craft or dollar store. Add a crown and Cinderella and you have a pumpkin coach.

 

This is a much fancier version and takes a little more time to complete.

 You’ll Need

3 ornate metal belt buckles - go to Goodwill to find cheap belts for these buckles.
1 pumpkin, about 12 inches tall
Pencil or marker

Knife
Craft glue
1 ornate lamp finial - dollar store or hardware store
Cordless drill fitted with ¼-inch bit
4 gourds, about 4 inches tall
2 quarter-inch dowel rods, cut to the approximate diameter of your pumpkin
4 ornate drawer pulls - dollar store
Heavy-gauge florist’s wire

1. Trace the inside of each belt buckle on the pumpkin with a pencil and cut to create openings for two windows and a door.  Glue the hardware over the openings. Remove or cut down the stem until
it’s even with the flesh of the pumpkin, and twist the finial into the  top.

2. To create wheels, drill a hole through the center  of each gourd. Insert one dowel rod into the holes of two gourds to  create an axle, and secure with glue. Repeat to create a second set of  wheels. Finish off all four wheels by inserting a drawer pull into the outside hole of each gourd for hubcaps.

3. Line up the two sets of wheels next to each other  at about the same width as your pumpkin. Then wrap wire from one dowel rod to the other to fasten the axles together and to create a webbing
for the pumpkin carriage to sit on.

4. Gently place your carriage on the wire.

 

If you create a pumpkin coach this Halloween season, please send grandma-ma a photo so she can put it up on your blog.  Love Grandma-ma

Baby Bunny

Okay my ravs...here is a cute and very sugary sweet little video that will have you humming and singing the silly song that is accompanied with it. But that is okay, because these are baby bunnies.

Source: youtube.com via Marsha on Pinterest

We love baby bunnies and I especially love you, my raviolis. Love Grandma-ma

To dream and to paint.

Hello my raviolis.  I have some beautiful photos to share with you today.  Let's start with this amazing tree tent.  It is magical to me.  What do you think?  Wouldn't it be fun to sleep under the stars with fireflys blinking all around us in a tree tent?

 

 We could talk about anything and everything and then fall asleep with the moon and stars shining down upon us. 

Have you seen these before?  This is hand art by artist Guido Daniele who specializes in illusion body painting.  He has taken the hand and painted it to resemble many of God's beautiful creatures.

 

 

 

 

 

 Which is your favorite?  Do you know which is Grandma-ma's favorite?  I'll give you a hint, it's NOT the fish.  Even though you know how much I love the sea, that is not my favorite hand painting.  If you think you know, tell me in a comment to this post.  Love you my raviolis.

 

Mummy Hot Dogs

Okay, my raviolis, I get it.  It's not Halloween...YET.  But I had to post this easy peasy recipe because it is just too fun not to share ahead of time.

 

A package of your favorite hot dogs ( I would use Ball Park Turkey or Beef Franks, one Crescent rolls container and some mustard.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Open up the Crescent rolls by giving it a hard "whump" on the counter and take out all of the dough.  Open gently and lay out on a floured board and using a rolling pin, flatten to a large rectangle.  Do not separate the crescents.  You want to make a large rectangle.   

With mom or dad's assistance, you can use a pizza cutter (roller) and cut out long, 1/2 inch wide strips of crescent dough.  Then take your favorite hotdogs (or even smoky links-brats) and wrap them up like mummy's with the dough.  Leave a little of the face showing so after you bake these up, you can add mustard eyes.

Lay your mummies on a cookie tray and bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from heat and let cool for about 2 minutes.  Add mustard eyes.

You are now ready to enjoy your mummy dogs.  Don't forget the catsup to dip them in and now you have bloody mummies. LOL 

Grandma-ma loves you very much.  Bon Appetit.

Nutella Filled Sugar Cookie Cups

Hello my raviolis.  Look at these delightful cookies filled with Nutella.  When I saw this picture I immediately thought of my 7-cheese ravioli who loves Nutella as much as her mom.  So I thought you would enjoy making these one day.  Once the weather turns cooler, this is a perfect little treat to make.  

 

 

 

Nutella Filled Sugar Cookie Cups

by Paige @ The Sweet Spot

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Nutella
• toffee bits, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray a mini muffin pan generously with cooking spray.
3. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder; set aside.
4. Cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.
5. Beat in egg and vanilla.
6. Gradually stir dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
7. Roll dough into walnut sized balls and place them in the muffin pan.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.
9. Let cool for one minute then take a teaspoon size measuring spoon and press down making an indention on each cookie cup.
10. Fill with Nutella and top with toffee bits, if using.

Farm It May Be

Hello my raviolis.  Now, this is a young man who loves what he does.  He made this video to Carley's Call me, maybe.  It will make you laugh and giggle and smile and just feel good.  Oh, and there is a special word he uses for a grandparent...listen for it.

I hope you enjoyed this video as much as grandma-ma does.  Love you all my raviolis.

Swimming with music

Hello my raviolis.  Guess what grandma-ma purchased.  It is as big as a cheese nib, it is green, it plays music, and grandma-ma can take it in the pool with her. Give up?  Did you guess what it is?

If you guessed a waterproof iPod shuffle then you were correct.  Grandma-ma purchased a metallic green one and loaded it up with 12 songs to swim by.  It was so much fun to listen to music while I was lap swimming.

 

I think this fishie wants one too.  Can you guess a song that I may have on my iPod shuffle?  Here is a hint, three hamsters dance to this song and also like to drive a Soul and they say, "Everyday I'm shuffling." 

Have a wonderful day my raviolis and know that Grampy and I love you all.