Little houses in the grands' room

When my daughter was a girl, our family would paint one building each year during the holidays to add to the collection.  There are about 8 of them total.  Her grandparents joined in the painting too.  My grandgirls saw them in the attic this year and wanted to place them around their room at my house.....it brought back such fond memories that I am going to try this tradtition out on them this year.  We still have one unpainted building.  Now to find paints.....the original little pots we used are a bit dried up!

The third tree I have posted since I began blogging.....

We chose a slightly smaller one this year.  And got it for 19.00!  What a deal, and I love Christmas trees!!!! 

A little tree for the grands...in their room

Got out the little extra ornaments, and let them do it themselves.  They had so much fun, and then we got out the painted village, which I have not displayed in years, and they placed the little houses all over the room complete with kleenex snow....

Old road into Waynesville, NC

As we travelled it, we saw this old apple market which had lots of apples and other goodies.  The folks who worked there had been there for many years.  Don't you love the entrance to it?  Now that took some time....  

Cute little dresses......

Got these dresses on sale for the grandgirls.  They are hand-painted, and soft and comfy.  My sister will give them to the girls for Christmas.  She is not feeling well, so I did a little shopping for her.  Shhh....don't tell my grandgirls yet!  The little books will be for Joisah...he loves to be read to, and is not so fond of dresses!  :)

Inside the apple orchard store....

The red rockers were outside these windows.  Inside was lots of canned jellies, jams, salsas, pickles, and gifts.  It was a nice place.  Oh, and lots and lots of apples.  You could choose a basket that was a peck, a half peck, or two pecks.  

Still exists! Since my childhood.....

And inside were two guys that were stereotype mountain men....big bushy beards, thick mountain accents as if from the movies, leather hats, willing to barter for anything....Tom and I said when we left, "Were they for real?"  Could not be.  Then we said, "Well, do they do that for tourists?  It is actually kind of fun."   They gave me a free CD (they called it a DVD) of vintage, authentic bluegrass, a family singing.  It was surreal.  But I loved it.  I really respect people with mountain roots, so I am not making fun at all.  I admire their history and the stories that come out of Appalachia and the area.  In fact, it deeply interests me.  I read many good articles from the Foxfire interviews while I was there...first hand accounts of living through a forest fire, and making tree bark baskets....love it all.  But those guys, I could not figure them out but was glad they were there.  The mountain people I have known are trying hard to NOT appear like a sterotype.  This store, along with a couple of others that have been there forever, (one is closed, but still full of goodies) lies along old 441 right by Tallulah Gorge overlook.

Big honkin' tree.....where did the word honkin come from?

We were not sure what kind of tree it was.....but were glad it was still living and obviously has been for a long time!  It makes Tom look like a small kid!

How smoky were the Smokies???

Well, you can see for yourself!  This was rainy Monday, taken from the porch of the cabin.  We stayed on a Christmas tree farm that has old cabins reconstructed throughout the property.  It was a good time to visit.  They were preparing for the holidays.  On this day, we stayed inside and built a fire.  Loved it!!! 

Took a lots of rocker pictures.....who knows why?

These rockers were on the front porch of our cabin.  I was very tempted to put the tables in the back of my car!!!  I would love to have one similar to them on my porch.

Back from the mountains....posting a few photos

This was taken at an apple orchard store.  Near Tallulah Falls on old 441.  Inside were aisles and aisles of apples, jellies, fresh baked bread....and the apples were so sweet!  We bought a kind we had never tried before...Pink Lady.  And I got blueberry, elderberry and strawberry jams, and a bottle of honey.  The day was clear and crisp.  What a nice time.   

Pocohantas mothers the little ones.....

Thank you Lord, for blessing our family.  Loving hearts abound in these three.....always happy to see us, always chatty and open, and smiling......who cares if there is a dirty diaper or a whine or a need to discipline in there somewhere?  God is helping these little ones grow to know Him, and to respond in love and kindness.  All Saints Eve was no exception....they charmed the neighbors and us too.  Plus lots of sugar was involved....... 

Last year a princess, this year a queen......

She is movin' on up.  Hannah, petite, amazingly beautiful, and totally down to earth.  Love it.  Love her.  She is all her own person, and boy it will be fun to watch her grow up.

Third Giraffe to wear this now legendary costume....

Josiah is the third of our grandchildren to wear this.  The first time was eight years ago, and we tried it on little Abigail in Target and doubled over with laughter.  She was nine months old at the time.  All of them have cried when it was first put on and Josiah tried very hard to remove it last night, then quickly got the hang of the fact that folks would give him candy if he left it on!  Then he was off and running!  One neighbor said, "that is the shortest giraffe I have ever seen."

Spaghetti Pie from MaryJane Butters

I think I may have posted this recipe before a long time ago, but I made it this morning to bake this evening and thought I would post it again!  I got it from a MaryJanesFarm cookbook that was done several years ago.  Here is the easy recipe:

12 ounces spaghetti (about 1 1/2 inch across in your fist)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
2 cups cottage cheese
3 cups spaghetti sauce (home-made or 1 large bottle)
1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
3 Tbsp butter
2 eggs, well beaten

Cook spaghetti as usual.  Drain.  Stir butter into hot spaghetti.  Stir in parmesan cheese and eggs.  In two buttered 9" pie plates form "crusts" by putting the spaghetti divided equally into the bottom of both pie plates.  Spread cottage cheese evenly over both "crusts."  To each pie, payer 1 1/2 cups sauce on top of cottage cheese.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly over both pies.
Bake 350 degrees for 35 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve.  This refrigerates nicely and you can make it early in the day, or reheat for another meal. 

The winner is.......

Quiltingnana!  Congratulations!  Let me know your address.

Confessions time.  I fell asleep after Dancing with the Stars.  I woke up a little bit ago and thought, Oh No, I forgot to pick a winner of the giveaway!  I am so sorry! 

I have more crocheted items, so I am going to do another giveaway in the next week, so I will leave all the remaining names in the hat, fi you want me to! 

My first Give-Away ever.....do you like crocheted things?

The crocheted items in this photo are my first give-away on my blog.  I will announce the winner on Monday night at around 9:00 pm.  Let's just say it is to celebrate Columbus Day!  Just post here if you want your name in the hat!  

In the dark....

I usually like to include a photo with every post, but tonight for the first time, I have taken my laptop out to the back porch, and dark is falling.  I am listening to the night sounds just beginning.  I do not happen to have a photo of that.  I think I hear the fox coming for his dinner.  He has been making himself hard to see lately.  In the summer, he came and pranced all around the back yard, sometimes beringing a friend or two......maybe he is protecting something.

The weather here now is perfect.  Dry, sunny, warm but not hot.  I have been outside as much as possible.  Got to soak it up while it lasts.  Ironically, perfect weather is a rare thing here in North Florida.  The stars lately have been huge and bright.  No hurricanes (knock on wood), just a beautiful breeze.   

Quilt in the works

Another grandbaby is on the way, and I make a quilt for each.  Do not know yet if this one is a boy or a girl, but I chose colors that are muted and this time I did not make it baby-ish.  Don't know why, just felt like trying to make it look vintage and soft in color.  The pattern is called Savannah and is taken from a civil war quilt.
Will show more photos as it progressses.

little guy smiling......

Oh how good it is to be around these fresh little spirits....forever folks have found how wonderful it is to watch the generations grow and to love on our babies.....one of God's greatest gifts.... 

Pop Pop turns 61 and gets initiated by his grands.....

Well, the little ones climbed all over over pop pop on is birthday and I do not think he minded much.  This was after cake and ice cream and the sugar had kicked in.

Looking out on an early morning

From the same place on the porch, I looked out.  Can you see it?  Just a faint touch of red on the dogwood.  I know, I know...wishful thinking.  My garden is almost ready for planting the broccoli.  Just waiting for the nights to cool down a bit.

Looking in on an early morning

7:45 am.  Wanted to go out and see what the day was like.  Looked inside and snapped this photo.  Outside table, dining table, and behind those, kitchen table.  Still too warm for fall.  But a little color is just beginning to show in the dogwoods.  Almost time to get ready for my day at the church office.  But it was quiet here on the porch for a moment.  

Ready for a fire.......laughing

Decked out the fireplace, looking for another little scarecrow doll to represent my grandson.  These are Hannah and Abigial!  The girls love to look at them and say which one is theirs.

Falling in love with fall.....

Simply because it's lovely.....

Wanting Fall #2

Little pieces of fall color all over the house, and I am turning down the AC to make it cooler!!!  :) 

I can't stand it any longer - I want Autumn!!!

So today I made it Autumn inside my home and on the porch of the house.  Brought my things from the attic, and went to Jo-Ann's and bought more....got out my autumn linens......my favorite time of year, and September is only a day or so away, right?  More photos to come!

Shoes off everyone!

Sorry this photo is a little blurry.  Everyone came over tonight for spaghetti pie and salad, and then we all hung out and relaxed and played.  They take their shoes off as soon as they come in, except for Josiah, who at 1 1/2 has to have his shoes on at all times or he cries.  I loved the look of their shoes in our hallway.   Another blessing from God. 

Flowers in jars for my table

Had two couples over for dinner last night and I wish I had taken a photo of the table before we ate, because I liked it so much.  Definitely nothing fancy.  I used my pottery dishes, and deep red napkins, and then put fresh cut flowers in four jars for the centerpiece.  This morning I just had to take a photo of the centepiece.  It cost me all of two dollars.   

Tomato Pie - this is yummy!!!

This is the uncoooked pie, ready to go into the oven.  Here is the recipe: 

I deep dish pie shell

3-4 large tomatoes, chopped and slightly drained

6-8 fresh basil leaves, torn apart

3-4 green onions, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar and 1 cup shredded mozarella

(I used a bag of four cheese shredded cheese equaling two cups) 

1 cup mayo

real bacon bits

Bake the pie shell as directed on the container.  Mix the cheese and mayo in a bowl and set aside.

After pie shell is baked, remove it from oven and let cool for a few minutes.

  In shell layer tomatoes, basil and green onions, making two layers.

Top with the cheese mixture and the bacon bits.

Bale for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I lightly covered my pie as it baked to keep the crust from over browning.   

Old Wagon at New Salem

Another photo of New Salem, Illinois.  It was very picturesque, and primitive and beautiful all at the same time.  Gardens were everywhere, filled with veggies and flowers. 

Kidland in my upstairs...

When my daughter left our home, I had dreams of the beautiful guest rooms I would have to decorate and keep neat as a pin upstairs.  Three grandchildren later, (and a fourth on the way!) I can say my upstairs has become kidland.  A place of toys, crafts, kiddie beds, and diaper changing stations.  I am blessed.  Maybe things get messy and are definitely not HGTV quality, but I am definitely blessed.  :)

Abraham Lincoln in Illinois

I grew up in the city that was Abraham Lincoln's home before his family left on the train for Washington when he was elected President.  The Edward's place, where he courted his wife-to-be, lies just a few blocks south of my old house.  He came home to Springfield arriving at the same train station in a casket after he was shot.  New Salem, near Springfield, was his home base for many years while he was learning what he wanted to do in life.  I could tell many stories about him, but this is a photo of the town he settled in just as he was beginning to choose his future.

I can see for miles and miles......

And what I saw was corn, and corn and beautiful corn.  We just returned from our home state of Illinois, and I could not get enough of the driving the back roads, and even the big roads and seeing blue sky and cornfields.  What a bounty!!!  This year's crop is way over 7 feet already, and it is only mid-July.  God has so blessed this country with fertile fields and our time spent seeing all the farms and fields was priceless.... 

Two little sweet cocoons.....

Two little gals, wanting to take a snooze, but doing anything they can to prevent it!  Just having spent two hours splashing in the pool and running around, they said they were ready to "get warm and sunbathe (wrapped in a dry towel)."  July 4th.  (P.S. they did NOT fall asleep, though drooping eyes were very obvious!

Six kids at the house on July 4....one is napping

And the others played in the kiddie pool for over two hours...then they gathered, wet hair and all, on the couch for a new Curious George DVD (you can see Hannah is serious about having control of the remote)......gave them time to wind down.....and the adults, too!

July 4 - My 61st birhtday

July 4th.  All my life, this day has been a day of personal celebration.  I was born on this day.  My only child was born on this day, 31 years ago.  But today on my 61st, when one would think nothing could get better, it did.  I heard my son-in-law preach a sermon on the Christ-centered family, and how we must put God first in the family, and how we must all make Jesus our daily devotion including our children from the day they are born.  I sat at church, and looked at my son-in-law, who gives my daughter so much love and strength, and their three children, too, and wondered how it is that God chose to bless me so abundantly, me a terrible, and I mean terrible sinner.  It does not matter, I praise Him and only ask that I can bring His glory to those around me as a return present.

Ephesians

I am doing an inductive bible study on the book of Ephesians.  I have not done an inductive study this detailed before.  Reading through the book, each verse is examined for words pertaining to the trinity (and marked separately for God, Son, And Holy Spirit), and key words and phrases are studied.  This means reading each verse over and over, and it really begins to sink into your skin as it goes along.  I am finding it difficult, as I like to read, study and then stand back and look at a bigger picture, and look at the history and setting surrounding the study, and the Greek words used for certain verses....marking words using different color pencils is proving tedious!  I am surprised at my reaction.  I love bible study of any kind.  Lord, I pray that I can get the hang of this!  One of the other students last evening had prepared an entire notebook, and had completed what I knew were hours of daily work.  She had gone through each verse of the entire book of Ephesians, and written about each one, for all chapters.  Wowsers.  I had spent at least a half hour or more each day reading and re-reading the book, taking notes, and cross referencing and learning a lot, but I looked totally unprepared when I arrived.  I pray for help from the Lord, and I know He will.  

Thinking of getting this set-up for myself....

Here is how we set up waterplay for the kiddos on Memorial Day.  After it was full, we set up the sprinkler on the blue tarp. I wanted to play too!  I might just have to get one of these for me on those days when I could put on a suit and cool off and no one would be there to see me!  Perhaps I would not need the water toys....but then again....  :) 

Psalm 90

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations
Before the moutains were born, or you gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
You turn man back into dust
And say Return, O children of men.
For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by.
Or as a watch in the night.
You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; toward evening it fades and withers away.

For we have been consumed by Your anger
And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.
You have placed our iniquities before You
Our secret sins in the light of your presence.
For all our days have declined in yYour fury;
We have finished our years like a sigh.
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow.
For soon it is gone and we fly away.
Who understands the power of Your anger,
And Your fury according to the fear that is due You?
So teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom.

Do return, O LORD, how long will it be?
And be sorry for your servants
O satisfy us in the morning with your lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have seen evil.
Let Your work appear to Your servants
And Your majesty to their children
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us.
And confirm for us the work of our hands,
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

The Cucumber Crocodile......

I know, I know, you are thinking, this girl needs to get a life!  But take a look at a cucumber I picked from the garden yesterday!  Isn't this funny?  Come on, that's funny right thar, I don't care who ya are.  :)  

HAIL AMONG THE HYDRANGEAS....

See my garden, or what is left, in the photo below this post.  Yikes.

Hailstorm......squash is totally squashed

In the winter, I lost all the broccoli to the hungry squirrels.  This spring/summer garden was so lush and big and healthy.  But one hailstorm came and took it.  It gives a little insight into how devastating it must have been for farmers to lose their entire crop in a storm.  At least I can go to the market and buy more.  This photo does not show the peppers or the tomatoes.  The tomatoes on the vine are now bruised and pitted.  The peppers chewed up.  The hail sounded as if rocks were being thrown against every window in the house.   

get these girls off of me!

Now Josiah is a good-natured, always smiling fella.  He is so easy to take care of.  But when the camera comes out and the sisters hold him down for a smile, well you can see the reaction.  I think it is funny.  But then he is my little grandson.....the girls try very hard to pose, but him, not so much.

Sunday....a time of rest

Lately I have been trying to make Sunday a time of rest.  Not easy, as I think of those loads of laundry, and a porch that needs sweeping, and I feel guilty about reading a book on the sofa.  One thing I never feel I should not spend time on is Bible Study.  I try to accomplish that, especially if my bible has not been opened for several days.
Childhood memories of Sundays include the drive to my grandma's, family members sitting on the porch or under trees and talking for hours and hours (it dragged by when I was five or six) and a quiet drive back home in the dusk.  Going to church was a given.  Then K-Mart came to town.  And they were open (gasp) on Sundays!!!  So we all thought, is it wrong to shop on Sundays, and visit this store where folks were giving up their day of rest?  To this day, I feel a little nagging feeling when I shop on Sundays.  I think I am going to start listening again. 

If I ever wrote a book on growing older, it would be called that...."Listening Again".  I observe many of my generation, who have spent their adult lives ceasing to listen to the older people, refusing them the honor of wisdom, and now they are going back.  They are listening again.  Me too.

God, I want to spend the sunset years trying to listen harder.  To you, to your Word, and to the folks who taught me it was right to rest on Sunday.

The 4th generation to like this doggie....

My hubby's father had this (if you can believe it) as one of only two toys he owned as a little guy.  He also had a ball.  The cast iron dog is not light weight, and is our door stop, but our grandson, as his two sisters before him, and his mother before that, finds it intriguing, and always pets it as if it will come to life.

1928 Book-ends - where did I get these? So long ago.....

I have had these so long.  They have been doorstops, too.  On the back they say Angelus Call to Prayer 1928.  They are wrought iron coated in bronze, I think.  I love the way they look so Arts & Crafts period.  I just had a thought.  If our house ever burned down or got blown away from a hurricane, I would have a pretty good inventory of my stuff on my blog!  :)

Grandpa(or pop pop as we call him) and new little guy in photos

I was taking photos of family photos today.....don't know quite why......and took this one of the top of our armoire.  In the silver frame near the dried hydrangeas is our little grandson.  In the small oval is my hubby as a baby with his older brother.  Looks like the same child!!!  God is so good at letting us see the lifelines that flow through our time here on earth.  To everything there is a season....I see my mother's smile in our middle grand.  It warms my heart.    

A new, no...an old table.....

I love this table.....it is relatively new, but made from old wood and old legs from another table.  The top is one solid plank!  Now if I only had a wider one for my dining room!  This one lives in our center hall.  Sometimes I keep a table runner on it, but I felt like looking at the wood for awhile. 

Tomato to dream about - The Garden 2010

I see you little tomato!  Keep growing!   

Sugar Snap Blossom - The Garden 2010

God is so good!  He gives us beautiful blooms to look at and then turns them into delicious food for us to eat.

Squash Blossom - The garden 2010

I wish this weather could go on all summer.  Cool nights, just enough rain, no pests eating leaves yet.....I pray that this bloom will turn into a yummy treat!

I got a Tussie Mussie in the Mail!

 Well, I sent one and got one.  What you give you shall also receive!  And I love the one I received from Farmgirl Victoria.  It is loverly......!