Up a country road.....

(Me in my high school years)

How I miss country life up that old country road. I miss the long evenings of catching lightning bugs with mason jars. I miss drawing hopscotch on the patio with a piece of chalk and going down in the driveway to get a rock to toss for the game.

(Me, Daddy, my sister Rachel)

 I miss the endless hours of playing jacks and jumping road. I miss playing marbles in the dirt in the driveway and running Matchbox cars down the concrete draining ditch Daddy put on the hill. I miss the end of summer when school starts and the evenings grow shorter. I miss hot chocolate after bath time, when the winter winds are howling outside. I miss cheeseburgers, Pepsi, barbeque Snyder's and Saps donuts for supper every Thursday. I miss playing Sorry and Mille Bornes and Monopoly for endless hours. I miss the board game sets Uncle Charlie would get us for Christmas. I miss jumping in leaves and the smell of them burning at the end of the evening. I miss hot dogs and marshmallows over the old charcoal grill.

(L-R: Me, my cousin Nancy sitting, sister Rachel standing and brother Jack)

 I miss Mommy sprinkling the clothes that came in from the line and tying them up in a tablecloth. She would put them in the refrigerator and then iron them the next day while we watch Pete and Gladys, I Love Lucy, and Hazel.

(Me and Rachel)

I miss me and my sister listening to those old 45's and dreaming about our boyfriends. I miss my brother's playing in the next room.

(Daddy, Jack, Rachel and Me) 

I miss long walks on Sunday up in the woods. I miss Sunday dinner with fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and hot rolls. I miss chocolate cake and cold sliced peaches for dessert. I miss coming back from our Sunday walks and drinking a big tall glass of ice cold well water. Clean, clear and pure. There has never been anything to quinch the thirst like that old well water.

(Me and my baby brother, Andy)

I miss walking up town to Herald's Barber Shop with Daddy for his hair cut and I remember Herald teasing me and asking me if I wanted him to cut all those curls off (I had Shirley Temple hair when I was little.) I remember going with Daddy into Brady's Hardware and I remember their old paint stained hardwood floors that creaked when you walked.

(Rachel and me, the last year we got dolls for Christmas)

I miss so many things about that time, but the love is still there. The bonds are still as strong as they were in our childhood and the memories will forever keep us young.

(Me)

 

Thoughts and prayers going out

Thoughts and prayers going out to all this morning that are being ravaged by Irene. Praying for your safety.

Our choir is practicing a special song for 9-11. I'll need to pack some tissues. The video to go with the words will be powerful.

I was going to keep three of the grandbabies last night, but it ended up being kids night at the local racetrack where their uncle races and I didn't want to keep them from that so I'll take them after Labor Day.

Can't believe Labor Day is coming up so fast. We will be decorating for fall before you know it. I'm going shopping with a friend on Labor Day. My Donna Sharp fall purse is on my wish list if they have it in stock.

One of my grandson's caught some kind of stomach virus. His mommy said he was a sick little boy last night. Hope he feels better today.

Got a call late yesterday afternoon to see if I could teach the 4-5 year olds in Children's Church. I love teaching that class. They are such a fun, interesting age. The theme is Thanking Jesus for the things He does for us. This one should be fun. I always get a kick out of what that age is thankful for.

Bought some adorable pink and purple variegated yarn yesterday. The granddaughters are going to fall in love with what it is going to be used for. They are both pink and purple lovers.

Isn't this butterfly beautiful. I thought it may be injured because it let me get so close, but as soon as I got my shot and walked away, he flew off just fine.

 On that note, I'm going to fly away as well. Need to get ready for church. Have a very blessed day today.

Welcome Weekend with a nature walk...



That just about says it all. It's been a long week...or seems like it to me. I feel like I've been chained to my desk most of the week. And when I wasn't at my desk, I was either running errands in the hot city or organizing closets. It's just been a full week.

I do not like going into the city. I hate the heat that comes up from the sidewalks. I don't like the traffic or the hubbub going on. I'm a country girl and always will be. But I spend so much time in "civilization" any more that I'm worried about losing my country roots. So I tested it earlier.

I took a break and walked out back to the river...barefoot...no shoes or flip flops...just me and Mother Nature. And I made it. No pain, no agony, no "ow-ow-ow". Just a normal walk as if my feet were fully sheathed.

 Apparently I wear too many flip flops. Checkout the tan lines. Oops, need a pedi tonight. Excuse the fading polish. My little old size 5 1/2's look like they are getting chubby. Can I call it swollen?

There appears to be a storm brewing so I walked down to the river. I think the French Broad River is one of the prettiest rivers I've ever seen. Especially when they have let water out of the lake to rise her to full tide. 

 Check out the cute little orange flowers that are growing out of the rock on the bank. Just one little plant. You never know what you will find when you search in nature.

 The wind started whipping up pretty good while I was down at the river.

 I could take a lawn chair and sit under the leaves of the willow tree for hours when the weather is like this. Of course, with there being a chance of lightning, a metal lawn chair....under a tree....during a storm? Maybe not one of my better ideas.

 Remember my flowers that I didn't plant this year, but they came up about a month or so ago. Well, not only do I have yellow ones, but I have a pink one as well. I'm not touching them for fear I'll kill them.

In a neighboring pot, a lone tomato plant sprung from nowhere. Tonight I saw 3 fuzzies little pods where it is getting ready to bloom. Who knew we had such green thumbs that we could grow without even planting!

I want to leave you with a very important message I received in an email the other day:

WARNING! If you receive an email from someone about meat coming in a can.....Don't open it....It's SPAM!  That one just cracked me up so I had to share it.

Love and happiness to you all for a great weekend!

Mystery Giveaway revealed......

Congratulations! We have a winner. And the winner is.......

Well, wait a minute, let's see what she has won.....

As I was trying to think of what I wanted to give as a giveaway, I remembered how everybody loved the giveaway of the Thirty-One Gift items. So I thought about this cute little mini organizing tote as the giveaway......

But then I also had a copy of this wonderful book that was so uplifting that I just wanted somebody to enjoy it as much as I did. So I thought about Fresh Brewed Life as the giveaway...

As I weighed the options, I thought "Why not both!" So I tucked the book inside the mini organizer and thought it made a cute little gift...

But then I thought, the poor little gift looks forlorn with just a tote and a book. So I thought, what would make a good addition to curling up with a book...I KNOW! A nice antique tea cup for those cool fall mornings when a cup of hot tea sounds so good.

And if you are going to have a cup of tea, you need an adorable teaspoon to stir it with.

Now, I am very satisfied with the gift and hope the winner will be, too.

So I guess you would like to know who the winner is? Well, using Random.org, we find that the winning number is .....

#4 is Julie.

Congratulations Julie. I will send you an email to get your address. What a great way to welcome you to my blog!

Mason Jar Madness

I am in awe of all the different ways people are decorating with mason jars. This cute bouquet with apples just looks so September"ish". I love it. Here are some other ways of using mason jars that has caught my attention.



Random Wednesday and a Giveaway...

..... It's going to be a "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" kind of day today. If you look the definition up in the dictionary, one version says it means Fantastic.

.....Two of my friends are having a birthday today. Happy birthday Ms. Robin and Ms. P.J. Hope you both have a wonderful, blessed day.

.....P.J.'s 18 year old nephew is suffering from cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. He has a tumor in his lungs that needs to be shrunk by at least 50% before they can do the transplant. He has been through numerous rounds of chemo to no avail. Last week, they completed the series of a very radical chemo treatment which combined many forms of chemo into one. He had the PET scan Monday and they get the results today. I can't think of a better birthday present for P.J. than to find out the cancer has shrunk. Please say a prayer for her nephew, John. He has a twin brother who is donating the bone marrow for the transplant if the chemo did its job. UPDATE: AFTER THIS POSTED, WE GOT THE WORD THAT JOHN'S CANCER IS IN 100% REMISSION. HE CAN SCHEDULE A TRIP TO COLUMBUS NOW FOR THE BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT. PRAISE TO GOD! CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR HIM.

.....It's mid-week and I am sick. I have a bad case of the "over-the-hump so I don't want to do anything-itis". Unfortunately, I have a whole list of to-do items for today so guess being lazy isn't gonna happen.

.....I'm thinking about having another giveaway. This time, it's going to be a mystery gift. No clues or hints will be given. I've got something in mind I think you'd like. Just be a follower and leave a comment if you would like to receive a mystery gift. I'm gonna make this one short and sweet. We'll draw in two days. So leave a comment on this post if you'd like to win a special little something on Friday.