MEMORIES

Memories..at Christmas we have tons of them in our minds..the smells and the laughter. I added to them yesterday.. this cute boy sitting in a rocker.. will always be in my mind for Christmas 2012

The rocker was purchased for his mother when she was as young as he and then saved for her children. Finally it was back in use again, albeit quickly, and then he was  off to other toys. So very fast they grow..in a blink of an eye..and they are off to school and college and lives of their own. 

Theodore is not quite two, ahhh but the memories he will start having once he figures out that the wrapped packages have things he can actually PLAY with in them!! 

Now there is a face you can just love!!

CHRISTMAS 2012

It's time for the annual baking and making of holiday treats. This year instead of baking so much I just made the Rachael Ray fudge and covered a lot of cherries and pretzels. Upon seeing that a box of chocolate covered cherries in our DOLLAR store had went to 2$ a box I thought better of buying it and just decided to make my own. A tip from something I found told me to just add a tiny bit of Oil to some chocolate chips and microwave them until the melted.( Not water or anything else just oil.) This was the simple recipe..and it worked great. I didn't miss a fancy filling..the taste was there and that was enough. 



 Once I got started dipping.. I was having fun..I thought..WHAT ELSE can I cover. I got a bag of small twisted pretzels and covered some of them. Sis reminded me that some stores are selling those pretzels for quite a lot, so I tried butterscotch and white chips too. All came out pretty darn tasty. Nuts,fruit,whatever was available I was covering it..including my fingers!! The best thing about it is..it's simple, fast and you can keep them easy enough and place them in boxes to give away. LOVE IT!! Whatever goodies you are making or eating this Christmas season..hope you have a wonderful time doing them. 

           HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A  SAFE, WARM AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

THE REAL SANTA!!

This photo is making the rounds on the internet. It was taken last year, not by a real professional photographer but a woman who was taking her sleepy baby to visit Santa for the first time. I sure got a lump in my throat seeing it. What a wonderful Santa to visit..as close to real as it gets. Here is the story..

SUNNY WINTER DAY

December will be with us sooner than we know.  The sun was bright today with clouds trailing across the  blue sky, like smoke from winter chimneys. 

The view from my second floor window was broken only by the mighty  branches of an old walnut tree. Search as I might, I tried to find the woolly worm on my walk today
for signs of winter to come. All I could manage though, was a cotton tail rabbit running into the field .The silence of the day was broken by my footsteps and sounds of a nearby expressway. I looked to the skies and saw signs of the day coming to an end. The sun was beginning to set behind the neighbors barn. Time for walking done today, to search again tomorrow.

LIMBO LAND

LIMBO LAND

Sort of describes what is happening here right now.  I have kept things to myself for awhile waiting things out. I have been  in about 4 places in the past 6 months. I would not recommend it to anyone. Lots of times you feel like you are not sure just WHERE you are when you wake up in the morning. Some times you feel tired and sometimes scared and then other times you feel okay and ready to take on the world. 

I know this is a pretty open forum so I will not post the particulars, will just say that
I am doing what I can, and am still going. It's a hard life and only those who have been in my shoes will know how it feels. Seasons come and go and now the holidays are around and things are all scattered. No sense of normalcy. One day at a time I say, and I keep at it. 
CHERISH what you have dear blog family, this I do know. I am thankful for all the friends and supporters this Thanksgiving season. 
Thanksgiving Turkey Graphics

FALL BACK

FALL BACK..do I like it?? NO..not really.. I love the long days of summertime.I can do so much more in a day with them longer. Some get up early for work in the dark and now they come home in the dark. It's a sign of winter coming so I guess we just get used to it. I remember that last year the fall was warmer and it was nice to have winter take it's time getting here. Wish it was that way always. 

 I feel for all those who lost so much in Hurricane Sandy..now that it will get darker earlier..it will be colder too. No heat and winter right around the corner. People during hurricane Katrina did not have to worry about SNOW and ICE hampering their recovery process. I know some places never did recover there, some may not in New York or New Jersey either. Losing everything is so hard and so many will have to start over again. I pray for those who need help and shelter..it will be a long hard winter.
The RED CROSS is taking donations..I know that is a good thing but I also know that sometimes it takes awhile for the funds and the help to get where it is going. I was so relieved to see the marathon cancelled and those supplies moved to where they can be used. When they knew this once in a lifetime storm was coming they should have cancelled it sooner. It sure makes me wonder though,  with the elections coming, that the outcome could be accurate with so so many people NOT VOTING because they cannot get to the polls or have no poll to vote at. People are still in shock, reeling from the loss they have had and could care less about the election now. Will be interesting to see how it all comes out. 

FALL SCENES

   

LAST ROSE OF SUMMER

The ground covered in a heavy frost, I watched the steam rise off the deck, bright sun glaring down on it. I was glad I had ventured into the yard and picked the last rose of summer.

FALL UPDATE

Very old stove (sold right away)

This stove was very used in several workshops and hunters cabins. It went to a fine home where someone could admire and maybe even use it.  

70's Banana seat bike (sold)
It's the end of September already. Boy time is flying right into winter. All those tasks we have to do to get ready for it have to be done. One was have a sale and get rid of some of the stuff I had in storage so..off I went to some friends house and we put on a sale. Long days of setting up things and putting on prices..but it got done. The weather, however only co-operated a little. So we sold as much as we could the first day and what was left is going slowly due to rain and cold.The tarps covered the many parts and supplies we had on tables that were covered due to the rain.

Many antiques went very fast, mostly to a lucky person who got there ahead of others.
Most of the items were MAN RELATED tools and sports goods. No wonder we had such a large turn out. These old skillets were really nice in their day..he took them back in the shop and buffed the rust off and all of them sold right away. It was just a little effort to make a great sale item for someone. 

 I think if the rain and wind had not happened we would have sold out everything, as it was some people hate the miserable weather to shop in. Can't blame them a bit!

Old deer camp stove that ran on wood and propane..
lookers many..no takers.                                                   

9-11 REMEMBERED

I  couldn't  remember what I was doing on September 10th 2001. My blog at MSN spaces wasn't started until 2005. I keep a journal-calendar of daily things that might be important. My journal said I mowed lawn and it was a nice day. I made meatloaf for dinner and the next day mom had an hair appointment. Little did I know, or anyone else for that matter, that life in the U.S.A. would change drastically for us all. I think the whole world changed really. What affected us the next day,changed the way others in the world did things too. It was a bad time. For days we watched them go through all the hours of trying to find survivors, only to find few. The above video is what I watched the morning it happened, as it happened. I found this and wanted to add it here so I can keep it. 

                        

STUCK!!!

Calmly going about my task of cleaning the bathroom, something we all hate to do from time to time, I climbed in with cleaners at hand. I shoved the shaky glass door over and got a scary feeling all at the same time. TOO LATE! The door came off the runner and WHAM I was stuck. No way I could crawl over the top. I tried the other door and push and pried it as much as I could. NOTHING..absolutely NOT BUDGING. AT. ALL. Well this is a fine thing!! I can't clean, the fumes would take me over, I can't call for help..no one would hear but the CAT. What to do?? I can sit and wait. WHAT??? Sis would not be home for hours. Kept trying to pry the darn door open. Not wanting to break the glass..I went about trying to just get ONE inch open so that my hand could loosen it up. NOPE not working. Didn't help my poor hand either. All the knuckles are scraped now. So what to do?? My biggest nightmare come true.  WHAT WOULD YOU DO??? I just had nothing I could even break the glass with if I wanted to. 

You guessed it.. I sat and waited..tried on and off to get it open but finally gave up. I didn't want to steam up the bathroom or I would have taken a shower. TWO HOURS later..Sis comes home from work wondering who is yelling and what the heck has happened. SHE laughs and laughs thinking it is soooo funny.( Not if it was her she wouldn't.) She easily pops the door back on the runner from her side and it took her like 3 minutes to do it. She says to me, "OH did you clean the tub??" I wanted to smack her!! I wanted to, but I didn't.

THAT'S why I love shower curtains..you can replace them easy, they are colorful and modern and they NEVER keep you hostage in the shower!!  It did occur to me later that this IS LABOR DAY weekend. Weird and sometimes scary things happen on that weekend, they have for years, at least for me they have.  I decided that from now on I will keep that door open enough so I can at least escape just in case it happens again. My luck it just might too!!

A GOOD ONE..

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was
better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and
frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, “THAT’S IT! I have had enough. I am going
to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those
results, I will judge who does the better job.”

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets!

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than
hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly
flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of
course, the power went off..

   OH NO!!!!

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word
known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted
their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

It’s gone! It’s all GONE! “I lost everything when the power went
out!”

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from
the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

“Wait!” he screamed. “That’s not fair! He cheated! How come he has
all his work and I don’t have any?”

God just shrugged and said,….

JESUS SAVES!!!!

THIS was sent to me by my friend BOB BOWERS, I saved it...WE MISS YOU BOB!!

DON'T LAUGH

While moving and such last week I found myself in need of a snack so off to the store I went. I came across this stuff in a weird package. Low and behold it was on sale and I thought ..why not?? So I tried it. Just so happened that when I was trying it out, the manager of the storage park came by and saw me sucking it out of the package.
Embarrassed me to no end, but hey,.. I told him it was tasty! There was nothing in the package but applesauce and cinnamon. The cinnamon cut my craving for lunch, and I got right back to work. I wouldn't recommend this to small children, because of the screw on lid, but NOW I can see why the kids like those yogurts in a tube. Tasty and no spoons etc.

 My next venture into the store led me to the aisle where I could purchase those frozen delights in a bag..YEP.. took those outside to keep cool in the heatwave days we have been having too. I think I have been sent back to my childhood this summer by just the heat and the need to stay chilled. NO, no one saw me eating those pops, but if they had I probably would have offered them one too!!

HOPE YOU ALL ARE HAVING A COOL WEEK!!

CHANGES...

FINALLY DONE..I am not looking back either. It took months to fill my storage unit and only weeks to empty it. I called as many places and people as I could to help me get things out of there. Price was going up and I just could not see keeping things forever in there. My aches and pains are subsiding now from all the lifting. Looky who I found..still the same as the day it was purchased and the original hair. Someday may it bring me good luck. This one is from the 60's and now they sell all kinds but the older ones are much better. Oh I am amazed that there wasn't  something terrible said about how they were  unclothed and such.Today people are so strict about such things.

In the 60's WE dressed them and WE did their hair. When I researched it on E bay some are selling for a high price. Think I will hold on to mine for a while longer.


Recently I read an article that set me to thinking about my profile photo. I picked a photo I really liked from thousands on Google images. I have used it for years, but this article convinced me that it may be a good idea to use one of my own photos from now on.I sure didn't want to get sued for some image that I thought was FREE.So I know now that I what I would choose would be something that I could be sure would be MINE alone. So, I went about changing all my profile photos every place I could think of. There were more than I thought. So guess I will just use a sunset or some other photo I like from now on. You won't see the woman sitting on the beach anymore. 


It has been terrible hot and humid here like most of the country right now. I fear this winter we will all be suffering the affects of this. Prices will be so much higher. Grab what you can cheap now ,stock up if you can. Wish I had a tank to buy gas cheap too and store it for wintertime. Twenty cent rise here in just one day. Just crazy!


Got news that someone in the extended family has end stage Leukemia, such a shock and sending prayers to the whole family. AND SO IT GOES ON...


HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

BLESSED RAIN

I think I now have some idea how the settlers used to feel when they waited days and weeks for some rain. Last night, it came in buckets, accompanied by thunder and lightning. I somehow wanted to just run out and stand in it, but in the middle of the night that wasn't such a great idea. Seems every time it rained in Michigan it either went north or way south of us, missing the middle altogether. Well anyway we got our little drink of water. Not sure how long it will be until the next one. The plants needed that and so much more. Our ground here was so dry I am sure it just soaked right in and is still dry down below some.


Apologies to those who commented and they did not get published,I had no idea until I came back to my dashboard there were some ready for attention! 


Seth..I used calamine lotion on the ivy and that really did the job on the blisters that oozed. I used Benadryl cream for the itching and burning. Mine burned a lot and I thought that so odd. I hope you never have another encounter with that evil plant. I avoid any plant now that even resembles that stuff. ICK!


 Now that I have been around my sister's cat for awhile, I have figured out that it is a really laid back way of living being a cat. She sure is spoiled and sleeps a lot. Not sure of her nightly routine but in the daytime she is 
pretty quiet. Dogs have their duties to be watchful of their owners and such but this little lady is not very watchful. The heat is so bad this summer I feel bad for so many animals who might happen to be homeless right now. She lays right in front of the fan most of the time during the day,trying to stay cool.

Spent too many hours in the heat yesterday in the storage and paid dearly for it. Sure have learned that those places are like ovens. The farther you are from the doorway the less air you are going to get. Had to stop for the day and rest up.

All should be gone by the end of this month so no more hot days out there for me.

Sad to see it go though..lots of great memories there. 

Local news is that gas prices went down to 3.33 here and stations were busy while the price was low. I actually bought a gallon of milk last week for 1.99. Guess I got lucky. Didn't need a gallon, but a half costs more so why do that.Neighbors report that the house that mom owned is getting an inside makeover right now. Walls and such are changing from wallpaper that was at least 30 years old to paint and that is quite the improvement. Little by little they are making it their own too. My great nephew  celebrated his first birthday with a chocolate cupcake. Ate every single crumb. I am sure he will end up a chocolate lover like his mom and grandmother are.

They celebrated the birthday by moving into a new home of their own. No more renting for this family. Congrats to them. 

WELL HOPE WHEREVER YOU ARE, YOUR WEEKEND WILL BE A GREAT ONE!

JULY 4th, 2012

I try to remember July 4th celebrations in the past. There are things we usually do, places we go but this year it is just too darn hot. We have warnings out here for excessive heat until SATURDAY..some three days later. Will be sticking close to home. Ventured out yesterday to the store for some supplies. The place was really busy and I noticed the ice display and ice cream cooler really looking pretty empty. We all are looking for some relief. I wanted to make something for a special treat and ran across this photo at Pinterest. It looks so nice and tasty too. 

It is a sugar cookie dough baked into a round with cool whip and fruit. I know mine won't look exactly like it but similar. Great idea and very tasty. 

Watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew will be there too. 

STAY COOL AND HAVE A SAFE 4TH OF JULY!!

SUMMER VIEWS

I couldn't resist taking some shots of the flowers lately that have burst out just about everywhere. Day Lilies are taller this year than I have ever seen them. That old swing was just waiting for me to keep it company under the trees on a hot summer day.

Hope you all are keeping cool in this heatwave we are having. 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

TROUBLES...

If it weren't for trouble, then I would have a pretty boring life right now. The poison ivy, or whatever it was is healing now, but realllly slow . I found the calamine lotion really worked the best. Hope to get rid of that plant that was a big bother very soon. Thanks to some research and comments I will try a gallon of VINEGAR on it and see if that will kill it. Round up didn't seem to phase it much. The temps in the past day have been near 95 so maybe the heat and  the vinegar might do the job.

My wonderful laptop "Miracle" CRASHED last night around 9 PM..There is only one survivor.. ME. I will survive. It's only a machine..yeah
we all know how it feels though. REGRETS we have a few.. Like why the heck we didn't back up our photos better or why we didn't make paper copies of things or at 

least make a folder on our e mail for things so we could get to them? I backed up some but this last year or so not so much. Seems it is always something.
What she was will never be again.

Has anyone any experience with "CLOUDS" or folders that are provided within
Google e mail or other e mails? I sure wish I had MORE placed in there than what I

do. I use Google documents a lot and I am sure glad. Now I have NO access to  a whole lot right now. Appreciate your patience and comments on what you know..every little bit helps a person out. 

The above photo I saw on Pinterest..I GASPED at the idea of two pies inside two layers of cake iced with cream cheese frosting.. ahhhh can you say..heart attack waiting to happen??  It's called a "PIECAKEN"...well I know I sure won't be eating one anytime soon. 
HOPE YOU ALL ARE HAVING A WONDERFUL WEEK!!

NEWEST VIEWS

My views have changed over the past months..from this place to that. I still take photos and have my camera handy at all times. Here are some shots I have taken lately..as I look at them I can see why my allergies are running amuck right now, so much green and so many things that are new to me. Enjoy..

FEELS LIKE...MEMORIAL DAY??

Feels kinda like July fourth weekend instead of Memorial day around here. Weather is scorching hot and clear so far. Not sure if we will get any relief in the heat at all.

 I added some color and music to get me in the mood. Hope it won't be too much, I just felt like a parade I guess. We don't do many parades around here anymore. Not many used to show up so they decided to just march a few blocks and that was it. Kinda sad compared to years past with all the hoopla. I do pause to think of all those who served and are serving in our military and helping to keep us safe and free. They sure don't get enough credit for all they did and do. 

Whatever your plans are..I hope you have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!

A TUMBLE AND CHANGE..

By now most of you know I had a little tumble and fall accident this past week. I am still recovering from it, funny how something small can change your whole life.

    Talk about ..    

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

Robert Frost

 I recently had a chance to change things up some and maybe take myself in a new direction. I was going to try and take a chance anyway. Then I fell, and when I did,  I saw stars..well at least I think that's what they were. That pain was something I hadn't ever  felt before. I have fallen many time in my life, but  I immediately thought..OH now you have really broken it!  No, the kneecap wasn't broken but the whole thing is bruised and I was LUCKY!! So lucky. It made me take note of what limitations I have at this time of my life. So some plans had to change and I am left to sit around  healing up and trying to keep a positive spin on things.

 First time I had driven around in the car was yesterday. I was very careful for sure. Nothing like tweaking that thing over again, especially when you are away from home. Wearing a velcro elastic brace on it just to keep it in line. Trip to the store was even longer than I expected. Had forgotten how long and tired a trip it can be for someone who is disabled,  I felt pretty give out by the time I got home. I just have to take it easy for awhile. I find climbing steps a real challenge but I know it will be better day by day.  One step at a time. 

 I still cannot believe Memorial day weekend is coming soon.. I hope you all have a safe and happy one.

  

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Nothing like flowers for Mother's day..but 

Take a good look..this was an amazing photo I saw at Pinterest. I just could not believe the talent that some people have and what they use as to make their craft come alive.
BEAUTY is in the eye of the creator.  Amazing creations. 


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MOM'S IN BLOGLAND!!

DID YOU EVER?

Did you ever drive some where and wonder how you got there? The car just goes almost by itself. To work, or to home? Happens a lot to me lately. I start out one place and whiz over to someplace else. Guess my mind is cluttered with other things and just doesn't know what it is doing sometimes. Recently I drove to our old house twice and was headed someplace else. It's like something else took me over and I ended up there. 
I was really shocked when I arrived and saw three metal lawn chairs sitting on the porch that looked just like the ones we had. Antique ones. Sis and I both are almost SURE that there were things left in the attic of our garage that we did not know about. How in the world this young fella could get three green antique chairs just like the ones Dad and Mom had is beyond me. Sis said it's a sign from the folks.." we are still around." I am going to make it a point to drive by there and try to get the photo. Makes me wonder what else was up there. What treasures we could have found that Dad left for us. DID you ever wish you had checked something out that you didn't? We sure do now. 

                                   
I recently took a drive out in the country looking around for some nice photos of wild flowers, you know the ones that make us sneeze. We have had a lot of rain recently and the fields are full of all sorts of new growth right now. What I found mostly was that ever growing Phlox that seems to pop up in every yard and every roadside ditch. The purple and white is quite pleasing to the eye. DID you ever wish you hadn't put flowers in a vase with a cat in the house? Yeah..guilty here. Chalk it up to not being aware that cats are curious of all things new. WHAM..water and flowers everywhere. I never even got to sneeze at them. Didn't bother to put them back out on the table either. Lesson learned. 


DID you ever take a different route to some place out of the blue? Not so out of the blue I am thinking.. Several days ago I decided to take two different out of the way streets to go somewhere close in town. When I got to the place I saw that people were standing out talking and looking. When I looked there,a big nasty car accident. I would have been right there if I had went another way. Some how I was getting signals..go another way. You may think that is creepy or weird to believe, but me..I never take those vibes as nonsense. We make those decisions for a reason.I
sure don't question things like that any more. Chalk it up to experience or just my old age. Well, I  will stop rambling away..


HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK AHEAD!!