1 cup soft butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. almond
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ¾ cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Refrigerate 30 min. Shape into finger by rolling a tsp full of dough. Using a butter knife, make 3 lines close together at center of finger for knuckle. Place sliced almond on top of one end. Bake. Cool 3 min. Take almond off and squeeze one drop of red frosting at base of almond (nail) and place back on cookie.

Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 min.

in Cherokee, western NC. Anne is a doctor at the Cherokee Native American Reservation and at the nursing home. It is for tribal members only at no cost. Chuck maintains the property of 44 acres. The horses use most of the land. There is a shed and natural pond for the horses. There are three beautiful horses, three loving, eager dogs and two cats. Chuck voluntarily mows a large portion of the grounds and has a very productive garden as you would expect of him. Anne and Chuck made delicious dinners every evening with fresh produce from the garden. The house is built like a lodge with large rooms and a porch which surrounds the whole house overlooking the garden, horses, valley and distant mountains. The foliage was very colorful while we were there.

So, let me start by apologizing for waiting so long to post a blog on here. I have been in India for 4 and a half weeks now and the whole experience has been very rewarding. Part of the reason it has been so rewarding is that there has been very little free time, and with the time that my fellow classmates and I get, we of course have many sights to see and things to do. On top of this, the internet in the hotel we are staying at (The Oakwood in Pune/Poona) has had spotty internet and when it is up it is often slow especially when many of us are trying to use the wireless (which also makes it very difficult to share photos). However, enough excuses. I feel bad for not filling you all in earlier. But maybe i can make up for it now.

May we please have loads?

It has been some time since we have posted here. That does not mean that Sylva has become routine. Yes there is a pattern here, and there has been more sameness not only of place but also of Anne’s work and Chuck’s chores, and of being in western Carolina; but our time here has been eventful. We have largely been successful in reserving weekends for recreation, mostly hiking, birding, and paddling and also motoring, shopping, blue grass, and Cherokee events.

The summer passed quickly and now as fall begins we are short-timers. New challenges are emerging – feeding the horses and managing the household in cold weather being most significant. Autumn is usually spectacular here. At six thousand feet the birches are already yellow and dropping leaves. Even here at 2500 feet the dogwoods are already purple and the sourwoods and blackgum are starting to redden. Two cold fronts have already passed and night temperatures are into the forties and fifties even as the mid-day sunshine is warm. The days are beautiful.

I got a promotion while living in Albany after the war up in Canton, area director, to cover 6 counties, covering over 5000 square miles, doing parole work. We lived at 19 Pearl Street and Mary's father died that October, 1954, so her mother Gertrude moved to Canton the same month we moved there, November 12,1954. Cathy was the baby; she would be 12 months old on November 23.

Salad dressing best if made the night before:
2 teaspoons of vinegar;
1/4 cup of sugar;
1 cup of mayonnaise;
mix above ingredients and refrigerate over night.

3 broccoli stalks - chopped finely;
1/2 cup purple onion - chopped;
10 bacon strips - cooked and crumble;
2/3 cup of raisins;
mix together with the salad dressing and refrigerate until used.
If desired sprinkle cashews on prior to serving.

A small town is a great place to raise a family. You feed them, dress them, send them out the door and they go everywhere on their own two feet no matter what the weather. We sent them out one morning and it was 50 below zero. We dressed them as warm as we could with two scarves. One tied in front to hold their coat collar up and one tied in back to cover their nose. I told them to run to school. They came home at noon for lunch. They said why did you tell us to run; it wasn't cold. We have movies of them walking up Pearl Street and turning around two or three times to wave good-bye.