What We Did On Our Fall Vacation...

We left for 3 weeks of fun and vacation the first part of Oct. 

Our place in Ky. is a bit Rural. Our place also grows trees, flowers, and weeds 

as though they were in the middle of the jungle. 

The heat and the rain made for quite a bit of "cleaning up" for husband Ken.

This is an example of what we found. This is the north side of our old store building. 

if you look closely you can see the poor rose bush in there still trying to bloom amongst the trees, (yes, I said trees, we chop them out once a year) poison oak, Johnson grass, and the remains of a few flowers. 

This is a better photo of the roses. There were still several buds waiting to open. 

This is the South side of the same store building. you can't see the rose bush on this side. 

It's there, just overrun with Trees, (one is a good 2 ft. taller then the roof) and weeds. 

This is the East side of the barn. There is Polk growing here and lots of trumpet vine. 

Husband is allergic to trumpet vine. We cleaned this up very carefully. 

The North side of the store building. We took out the brick flower bed. 

Ken also painted this building and the east side of the barn. 

This side of the building still has lots of spring flowers that will be pretty in the spring, 

but will be easier for our "new" mowing kid to weed eat and mow around. 

The south side of the store building. It looks a lot better since

hubby painted it. I don't have a good photo of it.. so let your imagination 

run wild. LOL  it's White paint.. Not to much to imagine. 

I love how the roses still continue to bloom in all that mess.. 

:-)

I know shocking isn't it.. the East side of the barn. 

We removed the telephone poles and the flower bed. 

over the years the Polk choked out all the flowers. 

now our " new mowing kid' can mow right up to the barn. 

The trumpet vine has since been removed. 

Ken continuing his cleaning up of the gymnasium foundation. 

Poor hubby, he dug up stumps, trimmed bushes and trees, cleaned 

out flower beds, and burned huge brush piles. 

Most of the cleaning up is now done. There is still one big brush pile out back 

to burn, but we can do that on our next trip down. 

We both spent a lot of time outside. Ken doing all the hard work,

me running the wheelbarrow and providing food, drinks, and comedy relief. 

Happy Halloween....

Happy Halloween !!!

I can't believe how quickly October has flown by. We headed to Ky. for 3 weeks. I have lots to tell you about that trip. I didn't take the computer. I have a few things to tell you about that too. 

I have our Candy at the ready in the cute pumpkin, Ghost, Spider bowl I bought last year on clearance. 

I have my orange Halloween turtleneck with the black cat on the collar ready to put on along with my Cool "Trunk or Treat" shirt from Church. We have been doing Trunk or Treat for the past few years. always a great time. I'll be helping serve cider and donuts. I have my hat and gloves ready if I need them. I popped a couple of Advil for the knees, so I should be good for a while. 

I can't wait to see all the princesses and witches, super heroes and clowns that come to visit. I love seeing all the kids and their parents. It's a great time of fun for all of us. 

I hope you get some great treats tonight and NO tricks..  have fun and stay safe. 

Soup's On...

The one thing that Husband and I look forward to each fall is fall food. We sometimes refer to it as Winter food too. The good hot and hearty stuff that sticks to your ribs. We have just come off a summer of grilled steaks, burgers, dogs, and polish sausage. Lots of yummy fresh vegetables from the garden and mounds of Salads, tossed, potato, slaw. All that quick and cool food for the hot days of summer. The days when you don't want to "heat" the kitchen up.

The last week or so has been cool. We've had several frosts now and the garden is done. Husband picked the very last bits of it yesterday. A few puny tomatoes, some summer squash, and the last of the green peppers. He conveniently reminisced about how his mama would take the last of the garden stuff, beans etc. and make up a huge pot of soup. She added add some white beans and onions. Meat if she had it. And then all those lovely vegetables. Husband also remarked how much he loved that soup, and it was just the perfect weather for some Homemade Soup.

Today I cut up the rest of our roast beef (I've been craving a roast with carrots and onions for days) from Sunday along with the carrots. Then I added onions, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, the summer squash, the peppers and some canned great northern beans. It was wonderful. You would have thought he'd died and gone to heaven when he saw the soup pot on the stove.

I hate to see the warm weather leave. It's not gone yet. We will still have a few 70 degree days, but they are fewer now. I've brought out the flannel sheets and the blankets. I have dug out the sweatpants and long sleeved shirts, the sweaters and jackets. I've turned on the heat. I'm turning it back down. It warmed up nicely today. Hopefully I won't have to turn it on again for another week or so. I'm thinking Winter food now. Big pots of Chili, meat loaf, dumplings with Chicken, and Beef stew.  Homemade bread, Batches of cookies, and pies. Maybe even some pumpkin muffins.

Just A Dog...

Me and Duke 1960

"Just a dog".. 

I read that on a Status message from a friend on facebook yesterday.

 (scroll to the bottom of the page to read that message) 

Wow did it get me thinking.

How many times have I heard family and friends say... oh Karen, It's "just a dog".. Like the writer of the post said.. "they just don't understand".. It's more. A lot more.. 

That "dog" taught me about responsibility, loyalty, and love. 

That "dog" taught me about Joy and being happy about everything.

That "dog" taught me to care about the feelings of others. 

That "dog" would lay by my bed when I was sick and comfort me when I had a broken leg, or a broken heart.  

That "dog" would follow me to the ends of the earth.. just cause "that dog" wants to be with me. 

That "dog" would wake me up and get me going when depression and grief wanted to swallow me whole. 

That "dog" warns me of danger and will protect me with it's life. 

That "dog" thinks I'm the most wonderful thing in the world. 

That "dog" is my friend, psychologist, hunting buddy, snake killer, defender, and pillow. 

That "dog" is more then I can even explain. 

Butch 1950's

My life has be fuller because of "Just a dog".. 
“From time to time, people tell me, “lighten up, it’s just a dog”, or, “that’s a lot of money for just a dog”. They don’t understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for “just a dog”. Some of my proudest moments have come about with “just a dog”. Many hours have passed & my only company was “just a dog”, but I didn't once feel slighted. Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by “just a dog” & in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “just a dog” gave me comfort & reason to overcome the day. If you, too, think it’s “just a dog”, then you will probably understand phases like “just a friend”, “just a sunrise”, or “just a promise”. “Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, & pure unbridled joy. “Just a dog” brings out the compassion & patience that makes me a better person. Because of “just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks & look longingly to the future. So for me & folks like me, it’s not “just a dog” but an embodiment of all the hopes & dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, & the pure joy of the moment. “Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me & diverts my thoughts away from myself & the worries of the day. I hope that someday they can understand that it’s not “just a dog” but the thing that gives me humanity & keeps me from being “just a human.” So the next time you hear the phrase “just a dog”, just smile, because they “just don’t understand”

~Jae and Shannon Rodgers~

Living In The Moment...

If I could pass on a few important things to those I know and love this would be one of the top 10. 

LIVE IN THE MOMENT... Really live in it. Take mental pictures of it. Relish it. Touch it, feel it in your heart, smell it, and taste it.. Live in it. Don't worry about what must be done next. Live in the moment. 

I made a terrible mistake. How you say?  In living focused solely on what I had planned would come in the future. I hurried through my teenage years wishing to be older. Then I wished and propelled myself into being married with children. My husband and I had a dream of moving to our special place in Ky. and building our home and lives there. (when he retired) only 15 short years away. 

I spent my time planning and making plans for those far off days. I didn't pay very close attention to the ones I was living. The children had activities. It seemed like we bulled through them. Always hurrying to the next practice, the next game, the next thing on the list of things to do. 

I never made literal lists. Maybe I should have. I had a plan, and it was for what was to come in the future. A move, building, growing, all plans for 15-20 years in the future. Not really enjoying each day. Now don't get me wrong. I did enjoy days. I enjoyed the activity, but there was always an underlying hope that we could hurry through this stuff so we can get on to the good stuff. I thought the good stuff was coming. I was wrong. That mundane boring daily stuff, that kid stuff.. That was the good stuff. 

Oh my goodness how I miss it. I miss the homework. I miss the calls, I miss the rush of homecoming, football games, dances, practice, and games. I miss the talks about girlfriends and boyfriends and favorite actors and movies. I miss the 2 weeks of vacation between Christmas and New years when we would drag out the board games and play monopoly for hours. The movie nights with pizza and popcorn and Freddy on Elm st. or Chuckie, or Patrick Swayze and Dancing. 

I miss the smell of apple cider at the orchard and pumpkin innards on carving night. The Rushing around looking for something to make the costume out of. The glue and glitter that had to be gotten to make a special gift for Christmas. Singing together in the car. The long car trips to KY. and the fun we had fishing. 

Husband retired 15 yrs ago. Hear me. For 30 yrs. I have hustled and bustled through life so I could get on with my plan. I have had a wonderful life. I have loved it and wouldn't change any of it, But I so regret not living more in the moment. Unforeseen things happen and that 30 years of plans most likely will not take place. All that focus, all that time, not really wasted, but oh I wish I would have lived more in those moments in those days.  

I do that more these days. A lot more. When I turned 50 I had a great awakening. I realized that I needed to stop and enjoy what was happening at that moment and not worry about what would come next. I'm not saying not to have a plan. I'm not saying you shouldn't think about the future. What I am saying is don't let your today get away without stopping and savoring it. I stop and smell flowers now. Yes, it might make me 2 minutes late, but the flower was worth it. I leave the dishes in the sink and visit with the company that came for coffee. I look for something in each day to remember and savor. Some days are full, some days, Not so much. I go to bed at night now and recall what wonderful things happened. I'm not letting any of it pass without my notice. 

I read this on a favorite blog today. It really spoke to my heart. I hope it speaks to yours too. 

"The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is that I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs.

There is one picture of my kids sitting in the grass on a quilt on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed.  I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less." 
~Anna Quin




Live in your moments. There are plenty of days ahead when you will need to remember those moments. They will be so much more important then your list of to do's. 

    

The Trick is to 

Enjoy Life

Don't wish away

your Days

Waiting

For Better Ones

Ahead... 

~Marjorie Pay Hinkley~

Share A Blog: An Open Letter To Facebook

  Today I'm sharing a Blog post. It's an open letter to Facebook and Mark Z. I totally agree with Leanne. I use facebook for a quick and easy way to stay connected to my friends and family. I had a "MySpace" acct. it was so full of clutter and nonsense that the pages wouldn't load. When I found facebook and the lovely white page I was in Heaven. I could find friends and family members it was awesome. It gave me quicker access then email. I loved it.

 The writer of this blog share, Leanne,  is 35.. the average age of a fb user is 38. I'm 53. I have friends some older some younger who have thrown in the towel and given up on fb. I have others who are seriously considering it.

 Personally I don't care what games you were playing 20 minutes ago. I don't care that you liked Aunt Suzy's post about her dental appt. I don't need to know if my cousin in Texas likes Oscar Mayer bologna. I'm ok with that. I am not ok with giving me no option to turn off the scrolling feed on the right of the Home  page. I have over 1100 friends. I am not going to go through each one and unsubscribe from a myriad of updates. I've tried. It's to time consuming. FB should not be a job, but an enjoyment.

I will keep an eye out for post where those more fb savvy then I , come up with a way to fix all the stuff I don't want to see without spending hours going through each friend. I have already spent 3 days making lists for my friends, and placing each one. I have spent hours going through and tightening up my acct. and app security to try and eliminate as much of my chatter as I can from filling up others feed walls.

I do hope that someone at FB realizes that not all of us have 10 hours a day to sift through updates and comments to find what we really want to know.

You can find Leanne's Blog post:  here
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It states exactly how I'm feeling so eloquently. Thank you Leanne.

I Learned Something From An Ugly Pie...

It happened again tonight. Another Ugly Pie. Thank goodness it tasted good. A little on the Tart side, but good. It could have used some ice cream, but good. 

It all started just before I was going to make supper. Husband popped into the kitchen asking where my apple peeler was. I got it for him. Then he asked for a big bowl. As I was just about to ask how big, he grabbed my dishpan and said it would work just fine. He left the kitchen in a flurry. I didn't really pay much attention to him. I had been in the middle of trying to find some paperwork I had misplaced. 

After about 15 minutes he returned to my kitchen with a face full of GRIN.. He shoved the dishpan, that was now heaped full of apple slices, in my hands and said "Pie".. eyes gleaming. He headed off to the garage to get the mower. I had been given a task. I was stunned. 

Pie! Egad I don't have pie crusts. I don't know where my "OK" pie recipe is. How much crust do you make for a dishpan full of apple slices. How in the world am I suppose to make pie now. It wasn't on my list of things to do today. My list was done. I just had supper to make. No sir Pie was not on my list. 

I thumbed through 5 or 6 of my recipe boxes trying to remember where the pie crust recipe was. The one with boiling water and melting Crisco and flour. I finally found it. I attempted to make it. It was horrendous. Pie.. good grief how am I suppose to make a pie right this minute. The dog gone crust won't work up or roll out. Pie.. hmph.. 

After several attempts I finally got the bottom crust to roll out. I wrestled it into the pan. A deep dish baker I got from Pampered chef a few years ago. while I was working on the crust I cooked the apples down with some sugar twin (husband is diabetic) and cinnamon. I got the apples in the crust. whew.. they all fit. I then attempted to place the top crust. 

Not happening. It broke into about 20 pieces.. I tried patching it. I had already re-rolled it several times. I waded the whole mess up and tossed it. I decided I'd just make up some topping and sprinkle the yumminess all over the top and bake it that way. 

I found the two recipes for topping I had scratched on slips of paper. One I had tried was horrible. It just made a giant lump that tasted of flour on the top of the pie. I knew I held that recipe in my hands, but which one was it. goodness.. I chose. I'm not even suppose to be making pie I grumbled under my breath. I can't make a pie with no crust. Whose gonna eat this thing. grumble grumble grumble.. 

I mixed up the topping that looked like the one I would want. I was wrong.. as soon as I had it all glopped on the top and had baked it for a few minutes. I realized it was the horrible horrible horrible flour blob topping. I grabbed the pie out of the oven and attempted to remove the offensive topping. I got most of it. 

Now what.. I can't have apple pie with no crust or yummy topping.  Did I tell you I wasn't even suppose to be making pie. I quickly threw the horrible topping recipe out so I wouldn't make it by accident again. I grabbed the other recipe and whipped it up.. it sprinkled on like it was suppose to .. (big fist pump here) I tossed the pie back into the oven and made the coffee. Oh yes, we had company coming. I had spent 2 hours making a pie to put in the oven and bake for another hour. wow. NOT.. I was suppose to have made us supper too. I did not. No time now. The company was coming. 

The pie baked up well. It wasn't the prettiest pie I had ever made, but it would do. 

We all had a piece of it warm out of the oven. Husband, our company, and I. It was good. I hadn't even planned on making a pie. Hmmmm 

That got me to thinking. Life throws stuff at me I wasn't planning. I grumble to God about it. I look for a way to try and hurry it along and get through it; or I go to some of my old ways of dealing with things. Ways I thought I tossed away long ago. I continue to grumble to God about why now. It's not what I was planning. I don't want to have to deal with this now. It was not on my list for today !!!  

Sometimes it feels like God just shoved the dishpan in my hands and yells Pie.. 

Then all of a sudden it doesn't look so bad. Unexpected things or people show up. Then that Pie God wanted me to be ready with, whatever that Pie ends up being. Well it seems to work out just right. I see I needed that Pie. I just didn't realize it. 

Today my pie was ugly. I wasn't planning on dealing with all the problems associated with it. I wasn't prepared to make it. There were several times it was so ugly that parts of it had to be thrown away, But in the end we all had that pie. It was just what we needed.