Boo!

I had this table sitting on the front porch during Trick or Treat hours. It was only from 5 to 8. Good thing the wind wasn't as strong tonight as last night.It would have blown table and all, away.And it's cast iron and oak.I didn't have too many kids. Only about 20, but out here at Fortieth and Plum,(forty miles from town and plum back in the sticks)that is several. Most of the parents were kids who grew up in the school where I worked for years, driving the bus and cooking. Hard to believe they are all grown now and have kids the age they were back then.I don't think about the time passing like it has, until I get to thinking about that.I haven't called Mom yet.She was expecting 100 or more kids. She said the neighbor lady and possibly a couple of the granddaughters would come and help her hand out candy, otherwise she was planning to turn off her lights and go to bed early.Too much for her at 83,soon to be 84. I don't blame her a bit on that. 100 plus Trick or Treaters is a bit much.Hope everyone had a fun night.

The Moon Flower

This is a picture of my Moon Flower. Not nearly as pretty as it grew to be later in the summer, as it doubled in size. It took over the entire corner of that bed, which I had not planned for. It nearly smothered out my lavender and a few other plants nearby. I hope to either move it next year or start a new bed just for it alone. It is an unusual plant. It only opens it's bloom at around 8 o'clock at night. It has a wonderful fragrance. That is why I placed it where I did. My husband and I sit out on the porch quite often in the early mornings or late evenings when the weather permits.

We are out there in the porch swing with our morning coffee lots of mornings when the paper person and the bus runs. Many mornings, it's still dark. Nonetheless, I am writing this to say, I harvested the seed pods today and cut the plant back for the winter. If anyone wants Moon Flower seeds, I have them. I gathered a 2 gallon bucket of seed pods. I tossed a few around the yard in different spots, hoping some would come up on their own next year. I am not real sure of it's growing habit yet. I had a plant once before, but lost it during the first season with the house fire. I got a new start from a friend this past year in time to enjoy it all summer. It is , indeed a novelty plant. Folks are astounded by it opening up, while they watch, and by it's sweet fragrance filling the evening air.

We Love Our Red Clay and Rock

Our little piece of ground is not the best for growing much of anything, but we keep trying. I do a lot of decorating with rocks and old recycled items. I wish I had taken more pictures of the rock that came out of the ground when we were digging our basement for the new house. My husband says that all this ground is good for, is to hold the rest of the world together.He also says that if you would have had to pay to have this red clay and rock hauled in here, we would have a fortune invested in the farm.I have been working on the soil in the yard and flower gardens for 30 years. He works on the pasture and the garden spot. I have always heard that all the sinkholes within a 50 mile radius of Mammoth Cave drain directly into the cave. I have planted so many seed and produced so much compost, and bought so much mulch in the last 30 years, to have it all wash away, I'll bet that is a beautiful place down around Mammoth Cave.It is bound to have ended up down that way somewhere.

Let's Have A Pincushion Party!

Nowadays, when I can't sleep at night, I find myself slipping off to the basement, dragging out my many boxes of craft supplies, and trying to think of something pretty to make with all my cherished possessions. Every winter it seems, I take up some type of craft and do just that one craft all winter.But lately,I am beginning to view that a little differently.It's a lot like gardening. A season is a long time to wait to learn from your mistakes, in order to make it better for the next season.There are too many crafts which I want to try, to continue doing the same craft over and over, all winter. So this winter, I think I will work on several projects.Nothing specific in mind yet. As I read some of the blogs, that helps me to decide what I want to try. That's where I got the pincushion idea. I had been making them out of various recycled products,like tiny cans,cardboard,wood,etc. and mine were covered with crocheted tops.Then I saw one lady's blog where she was piecing pretty materials together to make hers. That caught my eye, since I love and have so much material.So I gave it a try. I am enjoying this venture tremendously,as you can see. I was up till 3:00 AM this morning.I think I managed to make 3 new pincushions.My hot glue gun is now history, so I will have to make a trip to Michael's soon. I do sew a large portion of the elements, but use the glue gun occasionally.

Our Sarah

Funny how some folks think alike. I just finished a piece about Mom, and thought of something I wanted to share about my pet, only to find my sister had written about both topics just today. I guess certain things evoke thoughts of your family, your childhood home, childhood memories, and the like,and these emotions produce peace, tranquility and contentment. I've read that thinking about things of this nature has a healing effect on the body, as do laughter and tears.Possibly that is why our family has been blessed with such long periods of good health and happiness. But back to the story of my pet, Sarah. I was sorting through some of my crafts, getting them ready to photograph for various blog postings.I had a couple of pillows laid out on my bed to provide a dark background for my picture. I stepped out of the room for a moment, and when I returned, there was Sarah, sleeping among my craft items, across the two pillows. She has a habit of seeking out the most comfortable spots to sleep. She won't tolerate an uncomfortable bed.When she falls asleep on our bed, we crawl in and disturb her, she goes to the guest room to sleep. When she wants to play, she wants to play, but when she wants to sleep,leave her alone.

The Wisdon of Mothers

I was on the way to my chiropractor appointment one day this summer, and low and behold, there along the way, hung one of Mom's quilts on someone's clothesline.I recognized it immediately. I visited Mom after my appointment to tell her about seeing the quilt. At first I thought it was one of the quilts she had made for the soldiers, but then I noticed, it was not red, white, and blue, but red, blue and gray, the best I remember, but after discussing it with her, we decided that was probably one she made out of whatever material she had on hand, and donated it to the Church Closet for folks who needed household items for whatever reason. Burnouts,tornadoes, or simply down on their luck and needing some help.It was so nice to stumble across that quilt. You wonder sometimes, if things really get to the folks you intend them to. Mom always says,"We gave with a cheerful heart. That's all that matters".Even if we do learn later about the abuse of the system handling the cause.We did our part. She also said,"Freely give and freely you shall receive." And we have always had more than enough. (Vicki, I used the same picture as on your blog. Hope you don't mind. I do love that one, too.)

Good Friends and Family are Indeed a Blessing!

To My Special Blogging Friends,
I don't run the roads like some folks, stopping at every little gas station, grocery store, or restaurant along the road, or sit with the locals, morning after morning, like clockwork, drinking cup after cup of coffee, discussing the news form every corner of the globe, but I am guilty of taking a few minutes out of every day (or should I say, most days) to add to my blog and read others from a few good friends. I feel the friends I make while sitting here peacefully, in my home, typing a few words, is indeed, sharing a free special moments with dear friends.Whether we see each other, face to face or not, I feel a good friend is out there somewhere waiting to check their morning blog, just as I am. A lot of folks hit the coffee pot the first moment their eyes are open. Well, maybe the second. The bathroom has first dibs, but during those first few minutes, anyway for me, I hit the computer's On button. No paper or phone for me. I get the paper, but hardly ever read it, beyond the obituary column, and I use the phone, when absolutely necessary, but very little.
If friendships were not that important, I doubt there would be so many quotes in reference to them. Here are a few quotes I found this morning. I love quotes.
Life’s truest happiness is in the friendships we make along the way
The best times are always found when friends and family gather round
Love, laughter and friends always welcome
Love is blind. Friendship quietly closes its eyes
Keep company with those who make you better
Good friends are good for your health
Friendship sweetens the cares of life
Friends and family make this house a home
Friends are angels in disguise
Friends are God’s way of taking care of us
Friends are like quilts, they never loose their warmth
Friends are the family we choose
Friendship is a sheltering tree

These are only a few quotes from my collection on Friends.

I feel I am blessed to have so many dear friends.

Thanks to you all for adding a little extra spice to my life.

(The picture I have added is one of me and my siblings in 1959 or thereabouts.Three others siblings were born later. It was not the most glamorous picture of any of us, but the memories it holds are priceless. Those were the "Good Old Days".)

Turnips and Apple Butter,Yum!

A neighbor dropped by yesterday and left me a mess of turnips. Guess what we'll be having for lunch. We both like turnips. Me, more so than him,but with his diabetes, he is learning to eat a few things he had never tried(and doing great with it, I might add).
My two sisters and I got together last summer, and canned boocoodles of apple sauce. More than we needed, so I dumped a couple of jars into the crock pot yesterday and made applebutter. It will come in handy for little gifts, here and there. I get to use my talents in more ways then one with this venture. I am dressing up the little jars with remnants of the fabrics I have collected, and I'll cutsie them up with ribbons,lace,etc. I love 'playing' with my fabrics, ribbons and lace, buttons, and the like. Heaven knows I have plenty of it all. My siblings and my Mom save it for me whenever they stumble across tidbits that they'll not use.I wonder what I'll get into today. I don't have an agenda, so I'll head to the basement and see what develops. I'm sure you'll hear about it in one of my next blogs.

Gotta Check my Blog!

Isn't it funny how certain things will get you motivated. For the last 10 or 15 years that I worked, the one thing that would get me motivated, was getting up and turning on the CB radio at 4 in the morning. I would jump out of bed like a 4 year old. No aches or pains to be found, and my energy level was as if I had drank 3 cups of coffee.I would talk on that radio to friends all around the state of Kentucky, and maybe a few from other states, if the weather was just right. Then in an hour or so, I would get ready for work and be pumped with plenty of energy to get through my work day. I guess that's adrenaline that's pumped into your bloodstream, from doing something you enjoy. I need to do a little more research on that, but I think that is one of the substances that keeps your immune system healthy. I really do believe I was much healthier in those days. Gardening and crafts produce that kind of surge for me most days.But we had a house fire, and lost our radio set up. And, too, a lot of undesirables were getting on the air and messing the channel up for all the local CB'ers. That drove a lot of folks off the channel and off the radio altogether. Plus,several of our older friends on the radio, have died.There are a few reasons why we do not have a CB radio up and running now, but neither of us have fretted that much over it, as of yet. With the winter months coming on, and the trauma of the house fire subsiding, we may get the urge this winter for another CB radio set up.
I have told you this to get to this point. I have not been that quick to jump out of bed, feeling that great, since the CB days, but since I have started my blog, I find myself back in the routine of doing so. I can't wait to check my blog and the others I have been keeping up with.So far, my two sisters are my main reads, but as I learn my way around, I am checking out some others. Good Morning to everyone out there in Blogland. If it were possible, I would like to greet you all with the "Muleskinner Blues".That was my greeting on the CB radio. The UPS drivers would hear me waking up all the way to Bardstown, Ky. Those were some of the "Good Old Days".

Early to Bed, Early to Rise!

You know the saying, but I don't see any improvement on either of the three counts, healthy, wealthy, or wise, but I am a bit sleepy. After a long hard two days and one night with the grandkids, several more hours of company, and wrestling with the goats, building them a winter shelter, I went to bed at 8:30. That was early for me. Then, guess what! I was wide awake at 2:00 AM. Not that I couldn't find plenty to do. I just had to do it quietly. Organization is one of my weaknesses, but I was at it again. I can organize until the cows come home, and I'm no better off than when I began. The only thing I've accomplished is having moved everything around so, that I am an eternity finding anything ever again. I love doing so many different things, I have endless supplies of whatever I should need, no matter which craft I choose to do at any given moment. One of the daughters says I collect everything except stamps.I didn't dare tell her, but I had a few of those, too. I did purchase a sheet of Elvis Presley stamps. Nonetheless, I caught an extra hour of sleep before the husband awoke, so I'm good to go. The weatherman is calling for more rain, but hopefully, today will be warm and dry where I can start mulching my leaves. I was never one to burn leaves. It would be a crime for a gardener to do that. I mulch them for the compost pile or the chicken pen, and now the goat pen. They make wonderful bedding, and the chickens will turn them into compost for me. Saves me all that turning.Just wanted to write a quick note before I exit the house for the day. Have a great day!

My New Shelves

It's 9:00 pm and I am just finishing up for the night. Tonight was our regular Auction Night, but I chose to stay home and finish the shelves I started this morning. I have been asking for some more shelving for months, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and build them myself. I am so proud of them. I used whatever lumber I could find lying around the farm. I have access to lots of tools, so there was no reason why I could not do it. I come from a long line of do-it-yourself women. I probably have enough canned goods to fill them tonight, if the paint were dry, but I guess that will be another days venture.

P.S. My husband just came in and asked me if I planned to tell how he helped. I must admit. I had all the boards collected, measured and cut when he arrived home. I was in the process of putting all the pieces together. He did help me assemble the uprights and the 1st 4 shelves. I gathered up some more used lumber that I had hide away for safekeeping and cut 4 more shelves while he went to the Auction . I spent the rest of the evening painting the entire set of shelves. I may add another section later, if these do not hold all my canned goods.

My quilt has a BooBoo!

Today is a rainy and dreary old day, so I will experiment a little more with my blog. It is such fun. I am not much for quilting. I have one sister who inherited that talent from our Grandmother, and she does the beautiful decorative quilts that have pattern names, but I just put together an occasional quilt out of boredom, to use up some of my favorite pieces of material which I have collected. I do love collecting material. This is my "Most Favorite" of all the quilts I have made. I would have entered it in the County Fair under Beginner's Quilts, but I made a boo boo on the back. I used a blanket, but being not that familiar with quilting, I placed it on my top, but did not center it. When I got closer to the end, the blanket ran out and I had to piece it. I didn't want that to be seen, so I didn't show it in the fair. Nonetheless, I am proud of it anyway. I know I can do it, so that's all that mattered to me. I'll try any craft once to see if I can do it, then I'm done with that, for the most part. On to the next craft, until I hit on one I dearly love.

Have you washed your germs today?

On the news today, they had a segment on germs in your washing machine. I am already having a problem convincing my husband that my new washer and dryer were worth the switch. I wanted the new ones, simply because my old set was really old, but not broken. Tempermental at times, but still working. I read up on the appliances in Consumer Reports and the like , and decided I would save in so many ways by purchasing both, a new washer and dryer. The more modern ones would save me lots of money in the long run.I got a front loader that would hold a bigger load, use less water and electricity.Now they say the washing machine and dryer do not kill germs during the laundry process. You must run an empty machine with 1 cup of bleach and cold water every three or four uses, in order to kill the germs in the washer. I didn't hear how to kill them in the dryer. It seems the water nor the dryer temperature, gets hot enough to kill germs. And hot water hampers the bleach in doing its job when added to your wash. (I wonder if the bleach companies are behind this.)It seems we are encountering so many germs in our daily life anymore, I don't see how any of us survive. There are so many new germs that we are not even aware of, like the MRSA, it is scary. My household had a round with that, and believe me, you don't want it. So ladies, add this to your never ending list of "Things to Do that the Woman of the House is Responsible for Keeping in Check"

It's a Sad Night at our House Tonight!

I had to give up my two baby goats tonight. We have a neighbor who raises goats on a much bigger scale than mine. He has an excellent set up and lots of pasture and other goats.He offered to buy mine for a nice sum, so I couldn't refuse. The money is great, but the problem was they kept getting out of their pen and we live right on the road, so I couldn't take the chance of them getting hit and us getting sued.Besides, winter in coming, and I don't need to be out in the snow chasing them down every day. The kids and I have grown very close to them. We love them just as much as we do Sarah, Bear, and Dixie, our 3 dogs, but it is for the best that we do this.I kept the mother.She will be lonesome at first, but hopefully in a month or so, we will have her bred again so she will have new babies in the spring. The grandchildren will be happy to have new babies. I hope.We can all go by and visit Mattie and Josie whenever we want. They are just 1/2 mile down the road from us.

Some of my older crafts

I have some older crafts that survived the house fire in 2007,that I haven't had the heart to part with.The crewel was one I made in 1978-79. It won a ribbon at the county fair back then. It was my first crewel. I did one more which I liked better, but gave it to a friend. It was a red barn scene. That was my only experience with crewl work. Not my most favorite craft, but I just wanted to see if I could do it, then I was done.

I usually end up going back to projects using wood and paint. I give most of them away, sooner or later. The rooster plaque was made for a friend I met on the CB. I never met him personally, but spoke to him often over the air. He told about having a really mean rooster. That inspired me to make the plaque. I never did get to see or meet him. I'm not even sure if he is still living. We have lost a lot of older CB friends over the last year or two.

Patience brings Progress.

I only hope that's true in this case. I know one needs to "crawl before you walk" , but I feel I'll be crawling for awhile when it comes to learning my way around this blogging thing.

This is a wreath I bought at a consignment shop for $7. It was a natural wreath with the ribbon and roses already intact. At the same time, I saw a plaque that I dearly loved, but I refused to pay the $5 for it when I could come home and make my own, so that is what I did. I collect verses, so it was a chore trying to decide what verse to use, so I simply chose one, and plan to change it on occasion.I love making plaques and wallhangings anyway. I have picked up every stray piece of wood that I find, and wag it to my craft department to use later.If I don't, it will be used as firewood. I even have Mom collecting wood for me now. (Boards and dirt are a precious commodity nowadays).My husband burns every piece of wood he gets his hands on, especially since we are having these cool morning now. I have to hide my wood from him and hope he doesn't stump his toe one day and burn it all up anyway. I will be experimenting with this site each day for awhile , so hopefully it will improve.

Little to blog about today.

The day started much slower this morning, than usual.That wonderful new found tea that I'm loving so well, is not decaffinated.I was up cleaning the basement until 1:30 this morning.My eyes would not close. My heart was pounding so. I cleaned till I felt I would drop.After breakfast this morning, I went out to tackle the goat pen AGAIN. I caught one goat rushing under and one jumping over 3 strands of electric fence. I stretched a fourth strand along the top, and lowered the bottom strand in several places.I even coerced them into touching their noses to the fence to be sure it was working properly.It was.I ended up penning them up in a coral I had built for them. Hopefully, if they stay in there for a few days, they will be more content to stay in the fenced in area better without trying to get out.That's my reasoning, but I'll bet they have a totally different opinion about the matter. We'll see.If not, it may be "To market, to market, to sell 3 fat goats."Winter's coming, and I can't deal with that every day. I can't handle being out in the cold like I use to.

He needed my help taking the motor mounts off his Ford F-150 4X4 truck today, but since the fire, he couldn't find the right tools, so it will go to the garage in town. I thought that was where it needed to go in the 1st place anyway, but he felt he could do it.I did a little house cleaning this morning. Laid around the rest of the day.Not much to blog about here.Hope tomorrow is better.

Mom needs a trim!

Oops! I forgot to cut Mom's hair yesterday! We talked about it, but we did so much after that, I forgot to cut her hair. And it needed it bad. I awoke this morning, at 6 A.M. to go get the grandchildren(our day to keep them both,their parents both work weird shifts) So after picking up the kids, I rushed by Mom's(10 miles to the kids then 10 more miles more to Mom's) before she left for Sunday School, to cut her hair.She was elated. I couldn't let her go to church looking so shaggy. It had been several weeks since I had given her a trim.She has never gone to a beauty shop to have her hair fixed since she lived on St. Simon's, where the beautician was her best friend and Country Music Concert Companion.The kids were as patient as 8 and 4 year olds can be. Mom had cereal for them to eat while they waited on us to finish. Then we met Poppy at Kaye's for our breakfast(mine and his).He had been deer hunting. Black powder season was in for the weekend.When we were all finished, we all headed home to work on the firewood and goat pen. The kids were a big help on that.(Not joking)We had to rerun the entire goat pen in order to get access to the firewood pile.We paid the 2 kids a little for helping and gave Leah an extra $10 for getting all A's and B's and S's.She is saving for a nice TV for her room. John spends his as fast as he gets it on Hot Wheels. Usually F-150's.He goes to school now on Monday,Wednesdays, and Fridays, so he can't spend the night with us until Monday evenings now. Use to be Sunday nights.Poppy went hunting again tonight. I cooked squirrel for supper. Wow! What a day! It tires me out, all over again, just thinking about it. Can't wait to compose my next entry.This is fun. Later,later!

Saturday is Mom's Day!

I usually spend the day with Mom doing whatever she wants to do, on Saturdays. We never do a whole lot. She is 83 and getting around much slower these days.We usually go to the local drugstore and get her refills on whatever needed, then we hit WalMart. She gets all her over the counter meds and food items her doctor recommends she continues taking, which she does religiously. Sometimes I think he gets some sort of kickback on all that stuff. Mom has lost a lot of weight in the last year or two, but no wonder. She eats like a bird. I usually pick up something to contribute to our lunch. Sometimes we eat out, but then sometimes we pick up a little extra something to add to whatever she has in the fridge.Today we had a huge salad which we make with a club sandwich. I mean huge, too, bread and all. I picked up a cheese danish for dessert, which we couldn't eat after so much salad. We watched a program she had taped of her home state of Louisiana.Then we took our 'usual' nap. She doesn't sleep well at night, so I figure a little nap will help us both. Now it is our little ritual on Saturdays. Most of the family know we take our nap, so they try not to call till later.Hubby was deer hunting till late, so I had the evening to myself. I did some painting which I enjoy in the Fall and Winter months.This project was an American flag on a 20 pound rock. I enjoy painting on everything, rock included.Hopefully I'll learn to put a picture of it on here soon. It's getting late. I have the grandchildren tomorrow, so I'd better get all the sleep I can.There's no resting after they arrive.Good night!

Thanks for listening!

I love working with my computer, so I will give blogging a try. I normally don't spend that much time inside, but with the growing season coming to an end, I will squeeze in a few minutes, on occasion, to type a few thoughts in my blog. My life is very full. When I cannot be in my yard and garden, I have a gazillion craft projects and ideas waiting for me. I have a few animals that require some attention daily, also, so as you can see, this will be another project I will need to squeeze into my very busy schedule, but I think it will be worth it. Something about putting your thoughts into writing, does tend to release a little stress for me. I am here by myself most days, so possibly, it's a good substitute for someone to share your thought with. Thanks for listening.