Blueberry Plains

Lazy Blogger Redo…..

2012-01-14T11:01:00.001-05:00

I have been a terribly lazy blogger lately and I am also having problems with my blog.

There was a photo bucket icon that would just NOT go away. I don’t even know where it came from?

My husband is working on recapturing some of my old blog design…my header…etc.

Meanwhile I have a new temporary look (I think anyway) that’s not too bad. The other problem I have

with the blog is that it is repeating posts. It has to do with the layout having a double post box.

We can’t seem to get rid of it. Any ideas regarding this would be much appreciated? Thanks.

We survived the holidays. This year we had a lot going on and it left me emotionally drained.

Next year will be different. 2011 was not the greatest year for me. Right after Christmas I got

hit with a really bad flu/cold that set me back about 5 or 6 days. I felt like I was in a fog for that

whole time.My Kleenex box, my blanket, and my

cough drops were my best friends. I think I left the house just once. I started feeling reclusive.

It’s been a long time since I have been hit with a cold or flu…..and I had my FLU shot this year!!

I don’t want it back….that was brutal. We got some snow the other day….YAY!! I was really

sick of looking at the dead grass in the middle of January! Now it looks normal. We got 6 to 8 inches

and it is perfectly white and wonderful. ~~ I am still selling antique marbles for a friend. It’s his

deal but I take the photos, do the write-ups and listing and mailing. Here’s a link to the

Ebay auction….. MainelyMarbles if you are interested. I finished my blankets I have been

working on for both my adult kids before Christmas. I was furiously sewing every day, the

weeks before trying to get them done. I don’t have a sewing machine and I am not the

greatest seamstress but I get it done. Hopefully they will hold together!! Here are a few photos of

Kyle and Carissa and their new blankets Christmas day…………………………………………….

< < that is the two of them opening, and that

is my mother in law Alice in the photo in the background. I loved my new “fake tree” we got…..

Here they are holding them up……..below……. I added their first initial to each…..

Not the best picture but you get the idea. And here they are together after…..

The back of Carissa’s is a lavender fleece and Kyle’s is a chocolate fleece. She has a white satin binding and he has

a black satin binding. They are not your typical blankets…. just my style lap blankets. Don’t look too close!!

I love Christmas but this year left me feeling kind of empty. I am in a slump I

guess…..time to do something about that. I have some positive things happening on the horizon in my

life and for that I am grateful. Sometimes things happen and you have no control over it or the people

involved in “it”. Time to move on and give it all to God. January 3rd I lost my dear cousin to cancer.

I plan on doing a special post just for her soon. Gosh I hope I have not depressed any of you!! Sorry!

I have been in touch with Jean, Dawn’s mom, and Dawn has a surgery coming up soon and she also

broke her kneecap!! Ouchy….ouchy….ouchy OUCH!!! For God sakes….does this girl have to

go through anything else???? Please say a healing prayer for her ya’ll. Enuff’s enuff!! Take care and

I will be back soon….I promise….. ~ . . ~

What Wonderful Weather In Maine….

2011-11-10T09:35:00.001-05:00

We are experiencing some wonderful weather here in Maine.

Most days it feels like summer with temperatures reaching the 60’s.

It’s really very strange. Some mornings I need to scrape my windshield before I head out.

By mid afternoon it’s hot. I take a coat with me, and then peel it off later on in the day!!

One thing is for sure, we are saving on fuel and that’s a plus.

It’s November 10th and my husband plans on mowing the lawn this weekend!!!

I have some health issues I will hopefully be getting to the bottom of

tomorrow. I have to have a sonogram. Will know more then. I can’t seem to get back here

much lately but sure am going to try. My mother in law Alice and I took a wonderful trip

to Harpswell, Maine to see Dawn from the blogs and finally meet her mom Jean!! We had a

lot of fun! What a wonderful lady Jean is and we met her husband David too who was

delightful. Jean is quite the cook. She had prepared a wonderful meal for us that was to die

for. Soon, Alice and I would love to have she and Dawn up our way! Dawn looks fantastic

and seems to have come out of all she went through fine. She’s a tough lady. It was great to see her.

If I don’t get back here, I wanted to wish you all a and

am hoping you are all well. I think I may be back though…..at least I will give it a good try….

and get over to your blogs as well……take care….

Falling In Line…..

2011-09-21T12:44:00.001-04:00

Hello fellow bloggers! This picture is on my desktop right now. It always

makes me think of fall! It was taken in 2005 in the middle of harvesting

my garden that year. That’s my cat Baby and she still loves to hang out

on top of the picnic table and run up against the pumpkins. No tomatoes

this year though. It was the worst year I have ever had, for as long as I

have been gardening. All that heat we had this summer and me not wanting

to go out in it. For some reason I can’t take the heat anymore. It makes

me sick and very weak. I think it’s my heart meds but I’m not sure.

It might help if I lost some weight too!

We still miss Obie every day. That little guy brightened our day. Every time

we came home, without fail, he acted as if he had not seen us in a year.

Aren’t animals wonderful like that? Unconditional love. Someday we may

get another dog. Not right now. We are not ready yet. We have

Baby to keep us company and drive us crazy with her insistent Siamese

crying! Oh my, she tests the waters some days! Just thought I would pop in

and say hello. Not long from now, I plan on coming back and blogging at least

once a week I hope. For now I am getting the yard ready for winter, making

my son Kyle a lap blanket, crocheting, still selling marbles for my friend, and

just living life. I miss you all and will visit soon. Anybody know how Dawn is

doing? I emailed her recently but didn’t hear back? I hope she’s well. Be back

real soon…..

Hot, Hot, Hot… Summer So Far….

2011-07-30T11:14:00.002-04:00

Hey are any of you sick of this heat yet? I know there are a few of you that just adore this weather!

That is very foreign to me. I absolutely hate it. My favorite time of year is the fall. It’s when I come alive.

I can barely get to my garden without passing out. Of course it is suffering because of it. It has strange

looking bugs and some of my plants have damage from the bugs. It has been an unusual year for heat in Maine

That being said, bring on FALL!!! I am ready.~~~

My brother Art and sister in law Amy are headed home from Nashville on the 7th of August. One of the

things that we have planned together is to do a tribute to my parents on a radio station in our home town

of Yarmouth. The radio station is owned by a family friend. His name is Gary King. My father used to give him

banjo lessons. Gary plays a mean banjo amongst many other instruments and has an absolute love for old music.

Here’s a link to his website…..WYAR . Of course the YAR stands for Yarmouth….but you already figured that out!

We have a little intro regarding my folks and my brother will sing a couple of wonderful old songs my folks used to do.

My mothers specialties were Five Foot Two and Bill Bailey. That’s probably what we’ll sing. We also have a recording of

them from years ago. Should be fun.

I have harvested some beautiful gold zucchini and regular green already. That gold zucchini is soooooo bright yellow!!

I will get some photos of it. My spaghetti squash is coming along great. I planted everything too close I guess this year.

Hard to get to but plenty of produce! First year without tomatoes…never got to it. I don’t miss the tomato hornworm!

Just look at how disgusting that bug is……. Nope…not missed a bit.

This is my new problem. I just looked it up

on Google for the first time….now I know what I am dealing with…..the squash bug…..more on that when I figure out how to deal with them!!!

Stay cool everyone!!! ~~~~

THE BLACK CROW

2011-06-29T14:04:00.001-04:00

Not too long ago, I was happily off my diet, munching on a container

of French fries and a dollar menu cheeseburger from McDonalds.

My husband and I were sitting in a parking lot where we work. After

a while, the fries just didn’t seem as appealing to me as I thought

they would be. Don’t you hate that? You go off the diet because

you think you are missing out on something so good, to find out

it’s not so good. What a bummer that is. While I was sitting there

contemplating all of this, I noticed a Black Crow lurking on

the edge of the roof of the building next to me. He was cawing

away. It reminded me of the seagulls that we have here in Maine that

are such scavengers.

They are not the least bit shy and will fly right

next to you to get a bite of food. So….I figured the crow would too.

I threw out lots of fries as far past the car as I could. The Crow stayed on

the roofs edge. Suddenly, another large Crow swooped in and started

gathering. That gave our friend on the roof the courage to do the same.

Actually, it was more like “you’re not going to get my fries!”…I think! The Crow

that flew in, just scooped and flew off. The roof Crow did that once,

then he came back and scooped as many as he could get into his mouth.

That was an amazing site to see…all those fries being crammed into

his beak….over and over….dropping a couple and picking them back up!

Then I saw something I couldn’t believe. He took 5 or 6 fries (while the

other Crow was away), and put them into the bushes next to our car. He

then picked up a large, dry, oak leaf, and covered up the

fries!! I could hardly believe my eyes!! What an intelligent thing to do!! Meanwhile,

the other Crow came back looking for more. Our roof crow, was out of the

bushes, almost acting a little lame. He kind of cowered a bit, while picking up

a piece of gravel and chewing

on it, as if to say….this is all we have left to eat! How sly was that?

I began telling folks I know, what I saw. Many people already knew how

extremely intelligent these birds are. I went online and found out

many things about the Black Crow. The Intelligent Black Crow

Did you know they are known for using tools? And, did you know that

many Crows gathered together are called A Murder Of Crows?

That’s kind of spooky. Check this out….All About Crows ….

this is probably more information than anyone would ever want to know

about these birds! They have been coming to my back yard and field

since this past winter, for the first time, on a regular basis. They like

wide open spaces and composts….I have both in my back yard. I will take

some pictures and share with you sometime. What do you all think

about these birds?? A nuisance or do you like them?

You have GOT to see this video!!! I couldn’t believe it!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?????????????????????????????????

SPROUTING HAS BEGUN…..

2011-06-21T14:52:00.001-04:00

Almost all of my seeds in my garden have sprouted! I am so happy about that because I started late this year.

Not only late, but the first few days were raw and cold. I really wondered if the seeds would take.

My two rows of sweet corn are coming along but are slower than the couple of rows of colored corn. I love that

colored corn! Here is what it looked like last year….. after I made swags. My cosmic purple and rainbow carrots

are showing their fine blades through the soil. I have never tried Cosmic Purple carrots before but I hear they are very sweet. Here is

a photo of what they are supposed to look like………….pretty cool huh? And of course you can’t beat the rainbow carrots! Here they are….

You never know what you are going to get with these. I tried gold rush Zucchini this year and regular Zucchini. The gold rush is a yellow variety that looks like this…. They are both up and growing nicely.

I planted 3 different kinds of cucumbers. A pickling cuke, a long cuke, and a short vined one. On some, all of the seeds came up and others are a bit slow. My Watham butternut squash is coming up nicely and two new squashes I planted

this year, are Vermicelli Spaghetti and Red Eye.They are up and growing well. The red eye is supposed to be a good eating squash, and is fun for fall decorating.

I planted two different types of pumpkin. One is called Spookie…. It produces heavy yields of 7” across bright orange pumpkins. They have strong stems, very flavorful flesh, great for pies and for carving. Another variety I have tried in the past and the seeds never sprouted, is Lumina. The seed company gave me a free packet to try this year and they came up!! They are a white variety of pumpkin! Here’s a photo of one carved…… Cool huh? The orange flesh usually shows through from what I am told.

I have yet to get tomatoes but still plan on doing that. The only thing I forgot were sunflowers….I planted a variety that surprises me with many different colors.

Aren’t they pretty? So that’s it…..next time I will try to get some photos.

I saw a picture of Obie the other day on my computer and it just about tore my heart out. It sure does take time to get over our furry loved ones. I have started volunteering at a food bank in my town twice a month. It’s been really rewarding. I have had to cut back because of physical ailments but hope to do more in a different capacity. I worked with a woman from our local cooperative extension, to create a little cookbook of monthly food samplings that she brings in for the clients to taste. That was a lot of work but it was fun seeing their faces when they received it!~~

Our construction continues. I think I mentioned Lowe’s was replacing our kitchen floor. What a job that was! The two brothers that work for Lowe’s came here and did a fantastic job!! The first day it looked like someone blew up my kitchen. By the third day it was beautiful and looked almost identical to the original floor….without the grout crumbling! Now when I vacuum the floor, I don’t hear the PING PING PING of the grout flying up into the vacuum!! That’s a plus! Our newest bit of construction is ripping out carpet on a set of stairs and replacing them with Maple wood stairs. I will get pictures to show you as always!~~

This weekend I am going to try and get by to visit you all. For all of you that come by here….Thanks!!! You’re the best!! You know who you are…..you wonderful women you!!! See you soon……..And stay cooooooooooooooool……….

Happy Birthday Carissa…..

2011-06-12T08:39:00.001-04:00

Today is my dear daughter’s 29th birthday!! This is her (above) at a wedding.

And here she was dressed for the prom.

With Boyfriend Adam….(they broke up some time ago!)

This was her latest tattoo that I posted about a while back. She also has a dragonfly on her shoulder.

Here she is with her uncle Steve at Port Hole celebration in Portland.

And with her other uncle Art who entertained us all at Port Hole.

And with her best friend and roommate at the time, Brooke.

Playing a tinfoil guitar…..

Breakfast with her brother….

Hugging the real love of her life….her beloved dog Piper!!

Happy Birthday Honey!!!!

Well folks……I planted my garden yesterday….I know…I am late…but I got it done!! I am so proud of myself because it was not easy.

I have had a lot of health issues and pain….that’s ok…I have my garden in!! Yay!

I have multi-colored mini corn or popcorn, regular sweet corn, 3 different kinds of cukes, regular pumpkin and white pumpkin called Lumina,

tomatoes, regular green zucchini and yellow zucchini, butternut squash, vermicelli spaghetti squash, 2 rows of rainbow carrots and one row of

cosmic purple carrots, sunflowers, and red eye squash. I think that’s it but I may have forgotten something…not sure. Did you all plant gardens

this year????

Sad News…..

2011-06-07T14:48:00.001-04:00

It has not been easy to write in my blog. On May 23, of this year, we had to put Obie down.

It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. He was such a good boy and we

miss him terribly. After two years of being on insulin for his diabetes, he just got real sick.

I looked out the door one morning, to see him throwing up lots of phlegm, while he was

trying to go pee. That was heartbreaking and between Bobbie and I and the vet, we made

the that horrible decision. He is free now. We loved him dearly and we were with him at the

end with lots of kisses and hugs. I will be back soon……I miss you all too.

As I write this, our kitchen floor is being torn up and replaced. I am hold up

in my living room and he is pounding right outside the door! It’s very irritating but it has to be done.

I hope all of you are doing well. I will visit soon….just a lot going on right now….Debbie

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE….

2011-04-17T12:36:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone! Sorry I have not been blogging for quite some time!

We have been quite busy. I thought I would update a bit on what

is going on. First, an update on Obie…..and at the moment I am

kind of irritated with our little boy! He kept us up half the night last night!

We had a terrible rain and wind storm and that makes him very anxious. We

barely got any sleep. He paces and whines and pees….well leaks! Up and out

we took him and mopped and sopped. I’m tired and guess who has had their

breakfast, gone outside again, had their insulin and is now napping?

That’s right! Him!…not me! Arggg! Oh well…..

at least he is healthy in every other way. He turns 11 in a few days. That’s pretty

good. Ok…another update is our kitchen floor.

The last post I made about it

mentioned that our tiles were coming up. What a nightmare this has been. I can’t

even tell you how sick this has made us. The tiles are lifting now even more and

the grout is crumbling. One day I said to my husband…”Call Lowe’s”. He looked at

me funny and said “Why would we call Lowe’s? They are not going to do anything.”

Well, that turned out to be not true, and that phone call was our saving grace.

Turns out, the person at Lowe’s who originally walked us through all the “stuff” we needed

to make this project happen, gave us the wrong bonding agent for the tiles!! He

gave us the type that needs an additive and never told us. We now believe he

didn’t even know. It was a kid that started working at Lowe’s not too long before that,

stayed there for

one month and moved on. After talking with the manufacturer of the Mega bond,

they put the blame back on Lowes. Next, Lowe’s asked us to come to the store and pick out a floor.

That’s all they would say….so we went and looked at floors. What does this mean?

After a bit of a dance with the manager, Lowe’s is paying for our kitchen floor to be

torn out, and completely replaced by one of their professional crews. Can you believe it?!!!

We are thrilled that it is being replaced without cost to us, but not happy about being

under construction once again. We will have to probably get a motel for a couple of nights and

find a place for the animals. Ok….guess who is awake and wants to go back outside!! You guessed it!

My little Jack Russell!! I’ll be back soon to write more. Hope you are all well. Has anyone talked to Dawn?

AHHHHH SPRING IN MAINE

2011-03-12T10:44:00.003-05:00

It finally happened! Spring is just about here. One more week before it’s official on the calendars but I can feel it in the air today.

One of the signs of spring in Maine is the Portland Flower show. Portland Flower Show I didn’t make it this year but I saw photos of it and I thought I would

share some with you. Look at this wonderful Wood Sliced Walkway….. What a great idea not only for

recycling wood stumps, but it looks very cool. Here is best in show….. and Kitchen Door Garden….

Wow….if that doesn’t make you think spring! Before long we will be seeing some of these… along

the rivers and streams. Fiddleheads are a Maine delicacy. They taste like a cross between asparagus and broccoli. My kids used to really enjoy hunting

the streams for them. Yup…..spring is coming….finally…..we will all be enjoying that breath of fresh air and seeing sights like this….

and this…. and and and this ……….

We still have very high snow banks in the yard but for the first time in quite a while, I can see my picnic table in the back yard. It’s been buried all winter!

That’s a good sign! It’s been a long winter and I think we are all probably ready to be outside…..to open our windows and air the house out…..to

sit on the deck and drink in the air. It’s a new year….with new dreams….new gardens….new people to meet….new projects to begin outside….I guess a sense of

renewal for us all. I look forward to this spring with vigor! Come on Spring…….I’m ready for you!!

Tonight….we set out clocks ahead. We get an extra hour of daylight and that in itself is pretty thrilling. Happy Spring to you all. I just wanted to say a couple quick

things about 2 very special bloggers that have not been around here lately….like me!! Kathleen of Rural Maine has closed her blog but can be found on Facebook!

I will miss her but will keep in touch with her via emails. Dawn of C & G Design is still hanging in there. Her treatments continue so our prayers need to as well. She is

a very brave girl who needs all of our positive thoughts each day. I am hoping she makes it back to blogging very soon. She is in retreat mode and with all our well wishes

and God’s grace will be alright. God love her.

Happy Spring wherever you are!!!……….Hugs and Kisses to you all!!!!……

Hooked On That…..

2011-02-21T20:19:00.001-05:00

Do you have any shows that you can’t live without that are on tv?? The two that I absolutely have to see, both have the same first name. American Pickers, and American Idol. American Pickers is a fairly new show on the history channel. It’s on Monday nights at 9:00 p.m./8:00 p.m. central. The first time I watched it I knew I was hooked!! I am a yard sale junkie and I can’t pass up a good sale. These two guys…Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, are best friends who have been looking for deals their whole life. What a lot of us call treasure hunting, they call picking. Both from Iowa originally, they travel all over the country trying to find that perfect “pick”. Here’s a link to their show…. American Pickers and they also sell on Ebay!! They spend a lot of time in Tennessee and I think I have told you in the past that my brother lives there. Well….my brother was at a party a few months ago and ran into Mike Wolfe. He sent me this photo….It’s my brother, his wife, and Mike. Pretty cool. I guess he’s a really nice guy in person. You never know what you are going to see on that show. They find some really unusual old things. If you haven’t watched it yet….you are truly missing something pretty cool.

My other addiction is American Idol. You’d have to be living under a rock to have not seen that show advertised. For years it was Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell who hosted the show. This year is the first year without Paula and without Simon. They were replaced by Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. I could not even imagine those two in this role but I am pleasingly surprised. They add a special touch to this years show. Great show so far. Even if I miss an episode, my husband has found a way to download it….YaY!! He rocks!! So far it’s been a lot of fun watching the show.

Those are my two faves but we also like watching Criminal Minds….NCIS (the old one not the new one)….Pawn Stars on history channel…..now don’t misread that…It’s Pawn NOT Porn!! Ha ha.. We like most of the shows on the history channel as a matter of fact…..but our favorites are Ax Men….Ice Road Truckers….Swamp People….and one of my husband’s favorites is Top Gun. Ever seen any of these?

I want to thank Dawn’s mom for writing in my last post and letting us all know she is ok. We miss her and please continue to pray for her. Sounds like she’s doing ok but really, really, tired. There are some beautiful people out there in blogland!! Big hugs and kisses to you all!! I was so touched by what some people wrote in my last post. It warmed my heart. I really didn’t think anyone cared whether I posted or not! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy you guys!! Thanks….

Obie is doing well. He has not had another seizure since I last wrote. He’s a pretty happy boy most of the time….especially since he’s getting more food!! He loves to eat!! Oh ya….he’s a happy little guy….even if it’s just a little bit of dry dog food….to him that’s a treat!! Ok…..be back soon…..what do you all watch on television? Oh I forgot to mention that we got Netflix last year and we have been watching some really great movies. It’s so easy to just bring one up from the computer to the tv and there it is…..all you need is the popcorn! It’s just like being at the movies!! Only much more private…..sitting back in our recliners….with our night clothes and slippers on….a soda pop….bowl of popcorn and a cozy blanket. What more could you ask for? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Still Alive And Kicking……

2011-02-15T10:42:00.001-05:00

This is really what I feel like leaving on my blog!! I am so sorry I have not been by to visit you all and have not been blogging. Once I got away from it, my life just got so busy! Let me just tell you what I have been up to……….And it’s NOT that exciting!

1. Removing a lot of snow.

2. Being lazy and off and on the diet.

3. NOT lost any weight on the (four letter word!)

4. Trying to do some genealogical studies.

5. Researching my aunt’s murder from 1930.

6. Crocheting a scarf posted by one of the bloggers I follow.

7. Painting an old brown, gold stenciled, rocking chair I’ve had from the 80’s sage green and?? It’s a work in progress.

8. Trying to get ahold of Dawn, from C & G design??? Has ANYONE TALKED WITH HER??????? I am worried.

9. Checking out seed catalogs and scheming.

10. Finally sick of the snow and wishing for spring.

On a sad note, Obie had a couple of seizures we think. The vet claims they are just low sugar/glucose drops that LOOK like a seizure? We changed his food routine up slightly and keep a close eye on him and he is doing much better. He’s a tough little russell! Another sad note…..our kitchen floor that we spent LOTS of money on and labor and so on, is probably going to have to be ripped up!! That’s right…ripped up! It’s agonizing to even ponder the notion of doing this. The grout is lifting and breaking in some areas. We are told it may be something underneath. If there was any give in the plywood under the bucky board, that would possibly cause it. We won’t do anything until spring though at this point. It’s very discouraging. We try not to think about it much.

Happy belated Valentines to you all. I sat down at this computer yesterday and there was a big, beautiful, red screen saver on the desktop with hearts and a beautiful vase of roses and a message…..Happy Valentines Day….To My Wonderful Wife….With All My Love….Bobby. Wasn’t that sweet!! It was very professionally done….he made the whole thing himself!

Just wanted to let you all know I was still alive and well. I’ll be by to visit you all this weekend…….XOXOXOXOXO……

Special Prayers……

2011-01-19T18:20:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone…..I am asking for special prayers for our friend Dawn at C & G Designs. The chemo is kicking her butt and she is exhausted. Please keep her in your prayers each day if you would be so kind. I’ll be back soon and I know she will too.

Thanks………. to all you angels in advance!

A Surprise…..

2011-01-06T12:13:00.001-05:00

Hello All…..Just popping in to say I am still alive and well. We survived the holidays and doing fine. I am taking a break from blogging for a couple more weeks. Meanwhile I wanted to show you what my husband surprised me with for my birthday. A little old man knocked on my door and said…. “Are you Debbie?” … “Why yes I am”…I said. He then handed me these gorgeous spring flowers. They were so gorgeous I had to take many photos of them. When I got them the tulips were closed. After a couple days they opened. This photo was taken yesterday, January 5th.This one is dark but here….take a look at these….

Aren’t they beautiful? Makes me think of spring. Those tulips are such showoffs!! Standing so tall and proud like that! I wanted you also to see the lovely daisies and purple status and ferns that are taking a backseat to the lovely tulips!! I am soooo enjoying these flowers. It makes me think I need to have fresh flowers in the house at all times! Do you do that?? Happy New Year to you all and thanks for stopping by. You are all near and dear to my heart and I think of you often. I’ll be back soon….

A Birthday Post…..

2010-12-30T12:04:00.001-05:00

Just popping in to say hello and to let everyone know we had a wonderful Christmas.

Today is my birthday and I am doing absolutely nothing…nada…squat…zilch…zippo…

diddly-squat…jack…no ioda…zip…zot….goose egg!! And you wanna know why? Well…because

it’s my birthday and I can do that today!! Ha ha

I am really old today….56…I guess I feel about 46 and some days younger, and some days older.

One year ago today I was recuperating from a heart attack and I was four days without a

cigarette. I am very proud to say I am 368 days without a cigarette and I am pretty sure my heart

is doing good! Yay! What a flipping miracle.

My next challenge, will begin on January 3rd. I will begin, along with my husband,

to eat better and try to lose weight, slowly. I know we can do it. I have been succumbing to

all the fattening foods that the holiday brings with it. My plan for 2011 is to get healthy

and try and get off my duff more. I have terribly bad knees and plantar fasciitis in both feet.

It makes it hard to exercise without being in pain. I am guessing if I lose weight, that may get

a little better for me to deal with. So…say a prayer for me will ya? I need it. I wish you all a healthy

and happy 2011….filled with wonderful things…..Happy New Year Everyone!!

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-24T10:08:00.001-05:00

The stockings are filled and hung on the mantle.

The tree is up and decorated, AND so is the house.

The last bit of crown molding went up!

My cookies are all made and ready.

A few last minute presents to wrap and I think I’m done!!

Whew!! I thought I would never get to this day without

complete chaos and it’s here and we’re fine. Everyone is coming here tomorrow.

It should be a blast.

The menu is:

Penne Pasta Salad with roasted vegetables, basil, feta, and spinach.

Creamy Southern Pasta Salad

Spiral Ham

Shrimp Dip and crackers

Mixed Olives and pickles

Seafood chowder (made by Alice) with cod, crab, cusk, shrimp and haddock.

Vegetable platter and dip (carissa)

Appetizers and either Chicken parmesan or meatballs (my brother in law Joe)

Cookies and plenty of “junk” food!!

Cran/raspberry/ginger ale punch….with fruit.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

HAVE A HEALTHY & HAPPY HOLIDAY

I’M GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME TO RELAX AND ENJOY THIS HOLIDAY.

US BLOGGERS, TEND TO BE TYPE A PERSONALITIES! GOING TO TRY AND SLOW DOWN……WAY DOWN….TAKE IT EASY…..ENJOY ALL THAT IS IN FRONT OF ME……

AND HAVE FUN WITH MY KIDS AND MY FAMILY….SING A LITTLE…EAT A LITTLE….NOT GET TOO

EXCITED IF THE FLOOR GETS DIRTY OR OBIE GETS CRAZY….JUST REEEEELAAAAAXXXX.

I’LL GIVE IT A GOOD TRY….AND YOU KNOW WHY?? BECAUSE WE ARE ON HOLIDAY!!!!! YAY!!

XOXOXO ………SOME HOLIDAY LOVE GOING OUT TO YOU ALL…… HAVE FUN AND SEE YOU BACK HERE AFTER THE BIG DAY!! DEBBIE

Finally Getting In The Spirit…..

2010-12-10T10:36:00.001-05:00

I am finally getting into the spirit of Christmas.

Somewhere I found my holiday mojo?

I went out and purchased some of these….

And then I got some of

these…. And I decorated our

Maple tree outside. They were on sale at Rite aid…. 100 mini lights

in each box and they were 2 boxes for 5.00. I even bought a poinsettia!

Honestly….I ended up in a slight depression there for a bit and I was

wondering if I was going to bother even decorating. Last year we had a

gorgeous tree. The problem was it was so dry, that it shed its needles every

day and what a mess. We decided to have an artificial one this year. My father in law

Woody, showed up here a couple days ago, with a 7 foot blue mountain spruce

artificial tree!! My mother in law decorated that tree for years and it was beautiful.

She did many themes over the years. Anyway….my husband asked if he could have it

as they no longer use it and they said YES! So….it’s on my kitchen floor in a

box right now and will be decorated this weekend…..thanks to Woody and Alice!! It’s my first one and I know there is NOTHING like a REAL tree but they are getting quite expensive and some of the artificial ones are gorgeous!

I want to apologize to all of you in blogland. I haven’t been very good

at visiting lately. I’ve been in a slump. I promise I will be back soon. Our reno is coming to an end after today.

The crown molding goes up in the dining room today, and we will stop until after the holidays. We have a wonderful Christmas

party coming up at my brothers on the 19th. We are doing an old fashioned Yankee Swap! I can’t wait. It sure is a lot less expensive

buying two gifts versus 7 or 8! Do any of you do this? I am told a lot of people are this year.

Christmas is being held at my house this year. It should be fun! I am on the lookout for a nice vegetarian Christmas dish for

my daughter. I am hoping to cook a spiral ham and I have some other ideas. We usually do pot luck. Here are some pictures of my “old” country themed

house before we started renovating last year at Christmas… Here’s my old country beam that we cut out decorated for the last time!! And my snowmen…. and xmas cards all over my mothers hutch……

Kathleen’s card is in there!!! Let’s get closer…. And even closer….There it is….see the pink and white one with the deer? I loved that card Kathleen!

When I look back, this year, on all of the decorating I did last year, I have a bitter-sweet feeling about it all. You see…this was all done within 2 weeks of Christmas. A lot of the greenery I got from the woods at my husbands parents farm. I filled bags of it for myself and for Alice. Although it dried out quickly, it was really pretty. I was having a bit of a hard time getting this all up so I asked my husband to help me with some of it. Because we ended up with a dry tree and dry greenery, we decided to take it all down the day after Christmas. I started doing just that on December 26 of last year, 4 days before my 55th birthday. While doing that, I noticed I was not feeling well. Once in the ER in Portland, I was told I was having a heart attack. So….I have an uneasy feeling about it all I guess, for no reason. It’s been a long and very different year for me….but a good one. I am very grateful to be alive this Christmas. I am going to decorate the blue spruce Alice and woody gave us and as many other areas in the house as I can and enjoy the season. Hopefully I can take down the decorations after the holiday and NOT end up in the ER this year!! I’ll be back with new pictures soon……meanwhile….enjoy the season you all!!!

Another makeover……

2010-11-28T11:46:00.001-05:00

We are finally getting to the end of our long kitchen/dining room/hallway partial makeover!! Here are some before and after photos….

The kitchen floor before….I’m embarrassed to say we were hiding the tears in the the old 1983 linoleum with area rugs.

The new floor is a grayish ceramic tile in the kitchen and hallway as seen here.

And here is the old stencil above my cupboards I painted eons ago and the original color “bone” that was in my kitchen. Here is the new color in the kitchen….it’s called Cream Yellow…after the priming of course!

Before Primed Cream Yellow Then we began working on the dining room right next to the kitchen. The floor looked like this….. and now this …… What a huge difference! It’s gorgeous now!! We painted the ceiling in there tooSee the difference already? And we repainted the walls. They were already painted a light yellow called Filtered Sunlight but they needed updating. That stairway that you see in this photo, will be updated as well. In January, the carpet on those stairs will be replaced with birch treads. The mantle and railings and side boards will be painted. Here’s the dining room painted out…..ceiling and walls….with my curtains down…. That was before the floor was done. That monitor heater had to come out by our monitor guy the first day of the floor sanding. We used a small electric heater for 3 days.This is the pump behind it and the exhaust and the brackets it goes on. We love that heater. It’s the best way to heat a home….very inexpensive and efficient. See the beam Bobbie and David built? That needs painting still. See the transition board between the kitchen and dining room? Those are oak and our carpenter guy made them for us and the floor guy sanded them down and put poly on them for us. Here’s the new beam tricked out but not painted on one of the top sides. Here’s our guy sanding the floors…. Hard work that lasted three days. Once it was sanded, the wood began to show these gorgeous dark and light boards. We always thought the floor was just birch. Our guy showed us birch AND Maple too in the floor! What a surprise that was!! Here is a shot without the sealer on it…. See the dark and light boards? Lovely. Now here it is with the sealer and three coats of poly, after three days of coating and sanding and buffing…. It looks like glass! We absolutely LOVE it!! And here he is tipping his hat and saying goodbye….. a job well done!! Thanks Matt!!

What are we doing now? My curtains are still not back up so in the morning I see this still in my dining room…. and this…. That sun is very, very bright without my curtains, while sipping my morning coffee!! In the last picture you can see there is no baseboard molding or ceiling molding. We just purchased that yesterday from Lowe’s. It’s primed but needs painting. That will go up hopefully next week. Then….my curtains can go back up and I won’t feel like I’m living in a fish bowl at night!! Meanwhile, I have to find a dry cleaner to clean my curtains…..I keep putting that off! Geez….I wonder why? I don’t have enough going on here do I? So….that old country beam that was twisted and cracked that I once loved and still kind of miss, that looked like this… is gone. And now we have a much more contemporary beam that was designed by my husband and our loyal carpenter David that looks like this…. and this…….unpainted. They did good didn’t they? In fairness to my Bobbie (my husband), he painted the entire dining room ceiling and walls himself!! I am so grateful for that. He has a much steadier hand than I do cutting things out….Nice Job Honey!! Whooohooo!! We also have to fill all of those nail holes with puddy on all of the molding…etc….before we paint….like this…. When you are building something like this from scratch, it’s not always perfect, so there are cracks that need to be filled before painting. We talked about tricking out the beams a bit more, by painting a couple of colors on them. I thought about it for a few minutes and then said…. “nope!”…..they are going to be white….period! I am ready to wind down and just enjoy my house now and get ready for Christmas hopefully….my favorite holiday of the year. Although, that is changing too. I’m getting older now and more tired easily I guess. What I could do 5 years ago I can’t seem to now. Maybe it was the heart attack last year. Speaking of the heart attack….it will be one year ago that I had it….the day after Christmas!! I can hardly believe it. Do you know what else was a year ago???? The day I quit smoking cigarettes! What a flipping miracle that is!! Me?? Without a cigarette?? OMG I never would have believed it if someone told me I would quit! So it’s been a long year of being on medication. Before that, I only took an occasional aspirin….now I take one of those daily, along with three other pills….Simvastatin…..Plavix….and one other….along with some vitamins. Thank God for those pills….they saved my life. I had a stent put in and that saved my life too. Next Wednesday, I see my cardiologist and we will discuss my coming off the plavix….it’s been a year….they said to stay on for one year.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did. Lots of good food and family and as always, my mother in law Alice made my day. She makes me laugh and enjoy the day! She is more than a mother in law….she’s my best friend. I didn’t get many pictures but I did get one of my turkey I cooked the day before so we could have turkey sandwiches….. it came out nice. I didn’t stuff it because I knew I was going to have some of Alice’s famous Pork/Peach stuffing!! I did get a picture of my father in law Woody with my brother in law Joe’s new dog Jennabell….. She’s a good girl. And here’s Alice and Woody…. And of course the boys like to play xbox while waiting for dinner to be ready…. We had a very informal dinner and it was nice. The food was fabulous. Woody made mashed white and sweet potatoes and a huge Woody special Cole Slaw with shrimp added….Alice made her wonderful stuffing…..I made a pumpkin and apple pie and butternut squash and brought pickles, olives, cranberry, rolls, and salsa and chips. Joe had some nice eggnog and a wonderful veggie dish and two turkeys with dry rub on them that he deep fried. My son and his girlfriend brought a chocolate and a banana cream pie. So….we had plenty of good food!! I guess I have written long enough! Sorry about that. You will have to come back several days to read all this huh??!! See you all soon…..

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T10:18:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!! Enjoy this wonderful day with family and friends.

See you after this holiday!! Have fun and take a moment to be grateful!!…

A Few Of My Favorite Things

2010-11-17T12:09:00.001-05:00

There is a website that I keep in my favorites folder. It is mainly a place I go to, when I get a chance to dream. They have wonderful artwork like this…. . This place is called Cottage Chic and you will see things like this…. and this…..Got your attention yet? If it has, check out their website here…..Cottage Chic You will adore it if you love French Country and The cottage look like I do. I just wish I could afford their items……oh well….someday maybe.

Years ago, I ended up at a lady’s home here in my town. She was showing me around her cottage style home. As we got to the bathroom, I was pulled in by this wonderful aroma massaging my nostrils. Oh my Lord, what is that amazing smell? She had a beautiful old claw foot tub like this…. and there were candles and bath salts all around….but that wasn’t it. It was coming from the area behind the toilet. On the back of the toilet tank, she has an antique dish filled with these unusual soaps. That’s where it was coming from!! “WHAT is that?” ….I asked her??? “Oh those are Zumbars”….she said. Zum what? Long story short, I had just found the soap and the perfume that I would use and wear for the rest of my life. It’s an odd looking soap. It looks like this…. well here’s a closer look….It’s called Frankincense & Myrrh and it is made by a company called Indigo Wild. They make all natural products. Their soaps are made with goats milk. This is their all time bestseller and I can’t live without it. It has been a part of my life for over 10 years. I don’t always have the soap but I DO always have the perfume…..either this….body spray or this….roll on perfume called Eau de Zum. I get compliments all the time. People want to know what it is. I hear things like “who is it that smells so nice?” I usually don’t say anything and they end up narrowing it down to me. That’s kind of nice because I forget I have it on….I wear it every day. They have many other natural scents and products….check them out….Indigo Wild . Egads! I am starting to sound like Oprah…..doing My Favorite Things!! Oh well….I do like sharing! Let’s see…what else do I like….Ok….here’s a link I have saved for years. It is Chapman’s Cottage….Love looking at this one….here….take a lookie……Chapman Cottage Now wasn’t that cool? Another place I like to go and dream is a place where they sell lovely material for sewing. It is Hancocks Of Paducah I am sure you have all seen this site? Oh my goodness the material they have is beautiful!

And last but not least is a blog that I go and visit for inspiration from time to time. I keep thinking that someday I will be able to go there and download some of her wonderfully gifted and generous tutorials. Feathered Nest is a beautiful blog. A couple others I frequent occasionally are The Kitschy home of Deanne Zweig and this photo that I can’t seem to delete. I found it somewhere in my travels online>>>and have kept in my files forever….There’s something about this room that draws me in. It’s grandma meets cottage design with a twist….isn’t it cute?

Another site I have in my favorites, is a video library of embroidery stitches. What a wonderful website this one is. It has been hugely helpful to me in the past. I sometimes forget I have it in my favorites. Check it out….Needle N Thread . There is also a great place to go for crochet called My Picot. I think it is wonderful when people offer free patterns for things….don’t you?

Here’s one I have gazed at for some time called Victorian Sewing Accessories . Free patterns for things like this…. and ………..

this….. Search around the site to find many other helpful hints. And last but not least….A friend of mine makes these night light shades… with safety pins and beads. Each one is different…and they come in many colors…… She asked me to find a place where she could get beads and supplies like this to make them. I found a great place online and it was less expensive than many others. It’s called Craft King . Here you can get just about any craft item you can think of! So….there you have it….you have taken a walk through my favorites folder with me! I hope you found something you have to have like I did!! Enjoy…….

More Marbles…Black Ops….& Fables….

2010-11-15T07:21:00.001-05:00

Well our friend’s marbles did so well, he gave us some more to post on Ebay for him. I took the opportunity to put some of my own items on as well. Here’s a link to my auction…… Debbie's Auction The purses I have had for some time. I have posted about them in the past. Since we are redoing the house, it has put me in the mood to downsize. The cups are from my childhood. I’ve been looking at them in my mom’s old china closet for years and I never use them. I had to empty the china closet last week so I could bring it upstairs to my room. It gave me a chance to look at everything in there….and there’s a lot of stuff! So I will be adding some to the auction here and there.

Both my husband and I like to play video games….especially in the winter….it’s a long winter here in Maine. We ordered up two new ones. His is…

this game….. and mine is……..this game…… His is a shoot-em-up type game that I enjoy watching him play, and mine is a bit more like a legendary story I guess. We’ll have fun with them. My father and mother in law have Fable III too. We can actually jump in onto a game they are playing and play alongside! Isn’t that cool? They can do the same to us.

Obie is doing pretty good these days.For those of you that do not know, he is diabetic. We give him insulin twice a day by injection and he is on a strict diet most of the time. That is so it does not mess with his blood sugar. No…no…no….we don’t want to mess with blood sugar….because the consequences are not good! It involves massive drinking of water and massive urinating and panting and hiccoughing. We’d rather not deal with any of that. So, we have adapted our lives to Obie’s new diabetic life. What’s new? We have two baby gates. Wherever we are, Obie is too and the gate goes in the doorway. This way, we can keep an eye on him if he needs to go to the bathroom. He stopped “asking” to go out about 6 months ago. Oh he’ll go to the door, but he won’t bark, and that doesn’t work for us in the middle of the night! The gate works great! We did have to add something else in the bedroom. We gated him in with us each night when we went to bed. That worked for a while. On the occasion that he had to pee in the middle of the night, we couldn’t hear him. Remember?….he stopped barking….so he peed once on the rug. After shampooing the rug and making it nice and clean once again, my husband had an idea??? Let’s put down some kind of plastic to protect the rug until we decide to pull up the rug and replace it someday. Like we need more renovating? So, as much as I hate it, we have temporary plastic in there on the floor. Guess what? He hasn’t peed there since we did that. Yay! The other dilemma we have with our furry friend is that he hates guns!! Nail guns, shot guns, rifles, anything that sounds like a gun! I am the doggie sitter when the carpenter comes. I have to take him out of the house and we go for rides…etc. That can get a little stressful at 9:00 at night. That’s when our carpenter comes sometimes. Obie and I will be glad when we are done….so will my husband.

Today our floors get sanded. It will take three days and four coats of poly. They will be done by Wednesday if all goes well. I’ll get pictures! We will be without heat. Our monitor heater happens to be on that floor so it has to come out this morning. The monitor guy is coming in about 45 minutes to do that.

Because of all of this, we are not having Thanksgiving here at home. It will be at my brother in law Joe’s home! Yay! He will make the turkey and the rest of us will bring the fixings! My mother in law makes the best peach/pork stuffing! We are looking forward to it. Hope you are all going to have a wonderful holiday.

Those Chilean Miners!!

2010-11-08T08:06:00.001-05:00

By now you all have seen a story or two about those Chilean Miners that were rescued recently…

It was quite a story. But when I found this on Youtube……I laughed so hard that I had to play it 3 and then 4 times…what a riot this guy is. What a wonderful life…..he is stuck down in those mines for all those weeks….miles beneath the earth…..not knowing his fate or the fate of his fellow miners…..and then he ends up on the Letterman show doing this……

CHILEAN MINER

Only in America!!……….What a riot!!

Oh by the way……my marbles I put on Ebay for my friend did really well!! We watched them all week and they seemed to be hanging around at $17.00….then they jumped up to about 48.00 and stayed there until the last 45 minutes of the auction. Guess what they sold for?? I was completely shocked and thrilled…..they ended up selling for……….ready?????…………………..

$166.66 …….can you believe it?? I am not a fan of that number, but we did good! Our friend was pleased, and now he wants us to put on two more lots for him. I have been getting together another auction of my things to start hopefully sometime this week. Our carpenter is back and we had two good days of working on the beam…it’s awesome! His shoulder is better. He did such a great job this week, I made him an apple crumb pie! Of course both my husband and I totally forgot his wife and two kids are allergic to flour, wheat and dairy!! Poor guy had to eat the whole pie himself!! Do I hear a big AWE???? He loved it.This week is a big push for us to get our beam done, dining room painted, baseboards in dining room put down…etc…..and emptying out dining room, for the floor guy, who is coming on the 15th, to sand. It’s not over yet! I am taking pictures and will share when the whole thing is done! Hope all is well with all of you?!

Temporary Setback And Marbles…..

2010-11-02T11:25:00.001-04:00

Our carpenter and friend David fell from a 14 foot ladder last week. He hurt his shoulder and arm and is trying his best to take it easy. He’s not the sit still type! We are hoping he is feeling better and pain free soon. Meanwhile, we are on hold finishing up our kitchen. It’s frustrating but we’ll be fine. November 15th, our dining room floor will be sanded. It’s been probably 20 plus years since that has been done. It ‘s fairly small but a tricky one. There is a half round hearth that jots out onto the floor. We have a monitor heater on it that will be removed at 8:00 a.m. on the 15th by our monitor guy Ken. That will stay off the floor for 3 days, meaning we will have no heat…..well the sand guy Matt says he’s bringing a space heater….not exactly sure what that is? When the entire redo is done, I will share photos….instead of each step along the way. It’s just too slow right now.

A friend of ours asked us if we would put some old marbles on Ebay for him. We used to do Ebay auctions all the time. We would purchase things from yard sales and put on an auction. I haven’t done it in a long time. So…I took a bunch of pictures of the marbles and put it on. Here’s a link to it. Marbles Auction My Ebay name is Treasure-Keeper. I got hooked on it years ago when my cousin asked me to go to a yard sale with her. At that yard sale I found a rare Wendell August Forge Aluminum calendar plate inside an old barn. It had a very muscular man forging iron and you could barely see him because of the drips of old paint all over him. I took it home and cleaned it up. I paid .15 for it and my cousin put it on Ebay for me. I went by her house when the auction was ready to close. We watched it together. She showed me how to hit the “refresh” button to see if the bid had changed. That calendar plate went from 4.99 to 60.00 in a matter of minutes before it ended and I was hooked! That was the reason my husband and I purchased a computer eventually! Now he rebuilds them! Weird huh? Here’s a link to some lovely Wendell August Forge items they make today……Wendell August

So when my friend asked us to put those old marbles on for him, it brought back some cool memories. I have been getting together a bunch of stuff to put on my own auction. An old ouija board from the sixties, a vintage beaded purse…….and whatever else I come up with. I have too much stuff and it’s beginning to look like a yard sale in my house. It may take a couple of weeks to get together but it will be fun. Meanwhile we will be watching these……… And hoping they get some good bids. Our friend is called the marble man. He has been collecting for years. He claims these are worth one hundred dollars….we’ll see!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

2010-10-31T09:47:00.001-04:00

Have fun everyone!!

A Steady Rain……

2010-10-29T11:57:00.002-04:00

Hello all…..I wrote this the other day and saved it….just random thoughts and thought I would put it in anyway….

There is a steady rain here today. It’s dark and kind of dreary. One of those days when you want to just stoke a fire in the wood stove, or turn on your heat and curl up with a good book or a ball of yarn and a hook.

Obie got me up early this morning. Bobbie is still sleeping, which is good, because he is still not feeling well. He’s has a head and chest cold that won’t go away. It’s the cold that keeps on giving. It recycles itself. Last night I started noticing the catchy throat myself. I guess I’m getting it too.

I can hear the buzzing from the bedroom, the sound of his rhythmic snores. When your nose is stuffed up and your chest is full, it’s hard to breath while sleeping. His mouth is doing the work. That quiet chain saw sound is comforting to me. I’ve been hearing that for almost 22 years now. I can’t imagine NOT hearing it. It used to bother me…now it is comforting. Isn’t that strange. Years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.

I don’t think I would be able to sleep if he wasn’t here. There have only been a hand full of times in 22 years that we were not together at night and I couldn’t sleep. Can you sleep if your spouse is not with you? Maybe it’s me.

I was reading some of Claudia’s random thoughts over at Mockingbird Hill Cottage this morning. It got me thinking. There is something going on around the country that is very irritating to me. It happening with young girls and some women. When they speak, it sounds like they are asking a question? They used to call these people Valley Girls, in the 80’s. Is this the valley girl of today? Here is an example of what I mean, on a youtube video……

This girl has asked David Horowitz a question “Valley Girl Style”. It drives me crazy to hear people talking like this. The worst part of it is, if I am around someone speaking Valley girl for any length of time, my husband says I start talking like this too!! OMG…I like didn’t even know that! Ha ha….And you couldn’t even hear my valley girl accent….could you? So what’s up with this way of talking? Where did it come from? Paris Hilton? Where? There are so many women speaking Valley too! Come on ladies….what’s up with that! Very weird.

Yesterday, my son Kyle and his girlfriend Sarah came out for the day. They helped Bobbie and I get some work done here on the plains. My garden finally got put to bed and every last plant was dragged out and put into our big pile out back. We have an area where we put all of the leaves, pine needles and weeds and dead plants from my garden. Sarah and I did the garden and Kyle started on the leaves and pine needles on the front lawn. Then she joined him. They would fill a huge tarp and then drag it out back. They worked very hard. Here are some pictures they did not want me to take! That is a lot of leaves and pine needles. They work well together….although he tossed her into the pile at least twice! Here we go……MUSH!! MUSH!! Come on mom!! Do you HAVE to take pictures of us doing this??? Why YES son I do! Here Kyle….I’ll pull you AND the leaves.

That’s a heavy load. They are getting there! Just a little further to the right. What a great job they did!!! Yay!! And would you look at my beautiful garden all cleaned up by Sarah (and a little bit by me)…. It’s all ready for next year.

What a great day. The day before, I made a huge spaghetti sauce with ribs and sausage and lots of veggies and garlic. After the kids came in and got all the leaves out of their underwear (Sarah…from Kyle dumping her in the leaves too many times!)…..they sat down and filled their plates with pasta and sauce and fresh salads and iced tea. It was 70 degrees and the most perfect day to do this in late October. Bobbie mowed and also helped with raking and removal of logs and sticks. We got rid of 2 huge piles of brush a while back and now have a small, very neat pile, that we will burn soon. Obie and Kyle’s dog Katie enjoyed running around and playing. Obie did keep getting distracted by some strange critter hole. Jack Russell’s like to dig, and that he did. The problem was it was in front of the ramp going into our shed. I kept shooing him away and filling the hole and he kept coming back! The little devil was persistent! So……it was a great day and my yard is just about ready for winter. Bobbie and I are happy campers! Now if we can just get this construction done!

Finishing Touches…..

2010-10-17T10:13:00.001-04:00

This is a temporary feeding station for Baby and Obie in the kitchen. They eat together every morning and night, just like this, side by side. Today it was on this old rag of a rug. Behind the rug is a paint table temporarily folded up against the wall. Up against my front door is this… I hope there isn’t a fire cause we aren’t going anywhere fast! Since we are in the middle of finishing the beams, Bobbie wanted to make sure we had wiring put in them for our surround sound system we are purchasing at some point. He was thinking ahead as usual. Here’s the left beam above…. And the right. This will be concealed and eventually a speaker will go on each beam. Our finish boards are not on the sides of the beam yet. We are looking at lots of crown molding. The doors and frames got all painted and put back. WE purchased new door knobs yesterday, along with many more items…..another hundred or so dollars spent at Lowes! Boy do these doors brighten up our house! This is my Indian popcorn I grew in my garden this year! Aren’t they cute? I made 4 swags. These three hang on my deck and then I have another here… on my back door. I love the colors. I guess the corn won’t get popped! I also took a dark oak framed bulletin board that has hung in my kitchen for way too many years and gave it a makeover. You can see it kind of in this old kitchen picture hanging above the calendar in the left of the photo. See it covered with all those papers? Here it is now all girlied up….but before I show you, I have to tell you I had to blur out all the names and numbers on there so it looks weird!! Oh well….you get the idea? All those crazy white lines are me blurring out with the paint program. Not very good job! These cards are from two of my best girlfriends.. Can’t wait to hang it back up. Do you think it’s an improvement?

Back on my diet and I have already lost 6 pounds. Weigh in is tomorrow and I am thinking I may stay the same…..you know why? I did well most of the week….until this happened….. One of our customers stopped by and gave us these.BIG candy bars. His company makes the racks that hold these in the stores and he got them free. I can’t tell you how good that white chocolate coconut one was!! Oh my freaking God you have to try it! These are all new to the public. White coconut, chili, and sea salt. The only one I didn’t eat yet is the chili….it’s in the freezer calling my name each day……The sea salt is very strongly chocolate…deep chocolate and good. The white coconut is just plain addicting if you like white chocolate….my God who doesn’t?

Happy Fall to Ya’ll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

October Flying By…….

2010-10-14T18:36:00.002-04:00

Hope you are all doing well. This month seems to be flying by quickly. That didn’t happen in the heat of July! We had a long and very dry summer here in the northeast. I am very grateful for the cool temperatures during my absolute favorite season….fall. Looking back at my blog entries from last year, I noticed we were under construction last July through October too! What the heck? We must love torture? No….just kidding. I am extremely grateful we can do it.

Would you believe we are almost done….getting close. We love it so much, we decided to have our dining room floor re-sanded on Nov. 15!! I know….call us crazy…it’s alright! We will be without heat for 3 days. Our monitor heater is in that room and must be taken out. Pray for warm days! It’s ok….my husband thought ahead and we will be fine. The floor has looked pretty skuzzy for a while. It will be sanded right down and will get 3 coats of poly….one at a time…over 3 days time. What a treat! My kitchen and dining room floor too! It’ll feel like a new home!

I still have not put my garden to bed….next week I’ll do that with some help. I did get all my popcorn ears taken out and they are beautiful! I made 4 swags with them. I’ll show you next time I post.

So what do you all do for Halloween? Anything special? I used to have costume parties years ago….when my kids were very little. Then I focused on my kids going out trick or treating and what they would wear. Then they grew up and started going to their own parties. They I focused on handing out candy to the neighbor children. Then children stopped going trick or treating around here. Do you remember why children across the country stopped going out door to door? It was the apple razor blade scare. Remember that? Did you know that it is a myth? It’s an urban legend……read this….Poisoned Candy. I was shocked to find this out. Kids around here go to parties at schools and homes. A few will go out trick or treating. I’m not sure what they do in the city? What a shame that a myth caused all that fear. If I don’t make it back, have a wonderful end of October and …

Coming Along…..

2010-10-07T11:48:00.001-04:00

A sneak peek…..the old brick linoleum floor from 1983 in my kitchen, now looks like this!

That floor was not cleaned yet….still had some grout gunk but you get the idea. Believe it or not, that grout color is not white….it is Smokey Grey and so is the tile. It kind of grew on us after a while. It’s not the color they showed us at Lowe’s….don’t get me started! I don’t know how people do Reno’s and stay sane…honestly…..it must be why some move out and hire a crew to do everything. We cannot afford that so we do a lot ourselves.

Kitchen being painted (by us) and new doors being stored in the dining room. We found out they had to be painted after we hung them. They came back down and we are painting them now. Those old oak cabinets and black countertops won’t be replaced for some time to come. We will probably paint them at some point. The beam between this kitchen and our dining room had to come out and be replaced. It was cracking and moving and old.

Here is our friend cutting it into chunks after he has secured the ceiling on either side. That was quite a job. My son Kyle helping and Obie supervising.

Three new long boards go in side by side and then into the interior walls for support. These will not show. A custom beam will be boxed around it. Here’s the beginning of the custom beam. More boards to go up on the wall below and the top will have crown molding. We will need to paint it all. New doors begin to be put up but have to come down again to be painted. What were we thinking? It all worked out though. So much nicer than the old brown stained doors from the 80’s we had. These Christian doors are not solid wood but they serve the purpose and I think they look wonderful! They are about 60.00 a piece at Lowe’s. Goodbye old brown doors and molding……hello clean white doors and molding!!

I will post some more as we get closer to finishing. My wonderful husband put out his back and has been recooping for the last 4 days. All that heavy lifting!! So….we are at a standstill until next week. He needs to heal. I’ll be back with more soon. Sheila…..sorry I missed your kitchen makeover party! Hope all of you are well and enjoying this fall season! I have not even cleaned out my garden yet……next week…..and a yard sale is in order for possibly next weekend. I know….I’m crazy? When you renovate, you start to look at all your “stuff” differently I guess? Out with the old and in with the new? Something like that. See you soon…………….. I am not going to miss looking at this!!

I Didn’t Know That??…….

2010-09-29T11:56:00.000-04:00

Last year I called our local nursery and asked how I could keep my pumpkins and gourds from rotting so quickly. The answer I got was to give them all a bleach and water bath. Well, I did just that, and it worked!! Before I gave any of my pumpkins away to friends and family this year, they got a bath. I took about a half cup of bleach and added it to an empty quart container of milk, filled with warm water. With a rag dipped into this solution, I gently scrubbed the entire pumpkin. It’s important to get the stem and the other end too. By doing this, it kills all the bacteria that continues to grow, once it’s out of the garden. Wondering, if there was any information about this on the internet, I came across this crazy Science Experiment site regarding several projects…..including bleaching pumpkins! My Science Project Sure enough, the bleach experiment won out!

Has anyone ever heard of Incredible Pink? They sell it at Ace Hardware and it usually comes in a gallon plastic jug like this…..

Here’s a link to their website….INCREDIBLE PINK

not only does this stuff work, it is also biodegradable and non toxic. You can use it to clean most anything! I used it years ago to clean a friends walls who smoked cigarettes (ah cigarettes a thing of my past :( ) and the nicotine just dripped right off. You can use it full strength or put a little in a spray bottle with water. It’s just INCREDIBLE STUFF! Another good cleaning product sold by Ace Hardware is DIRTEX.

This stuff really cleans a pane of glass like you wouldn’t believe. It sprays out foam that makes those windows shine, shine, shine. Those are my two fall cleaning tips for 2010!!

Meanwhile, back here on the plains, we are still under construction. The floor is down and it is grouted. The kitchen is painted (a color called cream yellow) by Benjamin Moore. We have brand new interior doors that need painting. We are still putting down baseboard and crown molding and have many other minor things to finish. I am painting out light switches and outlet covers. We need to buy lights. It’s been quite exhausting at times but we’re getting it done. My wonderful husband has been working very hard!!! For my next post, I am in hopes of showing some before and after pictures. I am sorry I have not been able to get to your blogs. It’s really crazy here right now still. Hope you are all well? Our friend Dawn is home!!! Yay!! She just got home a couple of days ago…..I was shocked. She was in hospital for about a month!! Poor girl! She’s doing well and reading your comments so go ahead and leave them! She is recovering slowly but surely. Keep on praying for her. See ya’ll soon…….happy fall!!

It’s chicken manure at the big farms on my road that is wafting down here on a regular basis lately! Ouuuuulala…..it’s enough to make you want to never open your windows again! Yuckeroni….nasty stuff. But I guess it is the best stuff around to use next to cow manure (which is what I use)…………. this link gives some information regarding different types of dressings to use in gardens. MANURE MATTERS I guess it’s the best to use, but it sure does stink big time!!

September’s Happenings…..

2010-09-21T17:01:00.001-04:00

There’s a lot going on over here on the plains. Come on up the deck stairs & into the house and see. The garden is very close to being ready to pull everything out for the season. I got a million or so of these… One thing about the Roma is that the plants put out a lot of tomatoes!! Bushels!! I harvested some of these… and these… and was so happy to get a lot of these…

I am loving the look of my lemon colored sunflowers. The many branches on one plant are awesome!

I am so drawn to sunflowers. These always remind me of a brush stroke. And these too…. I didn’t get that many of these colors this year. A close up of a school bus yellow one. My popcorn is finally filling out and tassels are turning brown. Can’t wait to see if I got any colored corn! See how each plant puts off at least 3 to 5 ears! The sweet corn stalks are being used for this…. I make my own hay bales with a milk crate and long grass from the field. This one needs more grass….you can see the red crate coming through! All of those gourds and squash and pumpkins came from my garden this year. And this is what my husband has been doing a lot…. cutting tile on this saw in the yard!! He worked in the pouring rain for 5 hours last week cutting ceramic tile to be laid on my kitchen floor!! Can you believe it? I thought he was crazy but he wanted to get it done. He and his friend had made a plan for that night and they pulled it off! It’s a good thing he didn’t get sick. He was soaked to the bone! I will show some pictures of my new floor soon. It is getting grouted tonight.

I went to a yard sale this summer that my daughter had, and bought this…. casserole dish. Guess what? As I was leaving, I remembered that I bought it for her for Christmas about 3 or 4 years ago! Ha! Apparently that’s why I liked it? Shame on you Carissa! You could have at least hidden it or sold it before I came! Just kidding. I teased her about it before I left and am glad to have it. I already made a lasagna in it!

I met a very neat lady recently that owns a shop called Screen Door Collectibles. It’s a pretty funny story actually. I was out on a Saturday in my home town perusing yard sales. I had time to check out just one more quick one and I came across hers. Her shop is located in a one car garage next to her house. The yard sale was in the driveway leading up to the shop. I was mesmerized by the items I was seeing and also the hand painted folk art chairs and furniture! I finally made it up to the garage/shop and was even more excited at what I was seeing. I kept looking around trying to find the person running this lovely shop, when I heard a kind voice say “Can I help you find anything?” There she was….hand painting something…and sitting behind “Two brightly painted Screened Doors” that were connected together in the shape of a V and being used like one of those Japanese privacy screens!! How cute!! This was hanging on one of the screen windows and I think I paid a dollar for it…. I had to have it. It has beads on the ropes…. that are attached to old rusty bells…..pretty colored beads…see..

She had this bowl sitting on her desk behind the screens. It had some candy in it. I asked about it. She took the candy out and sold it to me for fifty cents. A piece had been glued back onto it. I couldn’t tell…..besides….it is for my room upstairs….so who cares! I loved it!! See the frog and the lily pads? Isn’t he cute? It has a twig base and it’s a Fitz and Floyd….so no wonder it’s so adorable!!

On a more personal note, I spoke with Dawn from C & G Design this week. She is supposed to be going home from the hospital tomorrow (Wednesday) and will begin Chemo as soon as she is feeling up to it. She will tell everyone what has happened to her I am sure. She’s been through a lot….she’s a very brave girl. Please continue to keep her in your prayers…..thank you.

A Friend In Need…….

2010-09-15T15:16:00.001-04:00

Most of you that follow my friend Dawn’s blog, at C & G Design, know that she is in the hospital. I have been calling her every chance I get and she is getting better day by day. She sure could use your prayers. She wanted me to tell you a few things. She is hoping to come home by weeks end. She is focused on healing, as she should be, so she will not be posting until she is feeling up to it. When I spoke with her this afternoon, she felt bad about that. I asked her why? She just thoroughly enjoys it and has met so many great people through the blogs. I want to thank those of you who have contacted me regarding Dawn. I let her know and she was really pleased. She’s a tough lady and she will get through this bump in the road. Make sure you check her blog each day….she’ll be back soon and I am sure she will by posting regarding exactly what happened to her!

I probably won’t be blogging for a couple of weeks because my kitchen is under construction. My refrigerator and stove are in my dining room. My little cape cod is upside down right now. We are repainting the walls, laying ceramic tile on the floor, putting in all new interior doors, replacing an old beam with an updated one and many other tasks along the way. We have been at it less than a week and already have had many mishaps that I will blog about at some other time!! My house is a mess and it drives me nuts. Why is it that carpenters think it is alright to leave the door wide open??? I must have killed, with no exaggeration, 60 house flies, between last night and today. Yuck!!

That’s ok…..I need to focus on the positive. My kitchen is going from 1983 to 2010!! Yay!!! The cupboards and sink won’t be done right now but that’s alright. We plan on painting the cupboards at some point. We are getting lots of pictures, in between shoveling out the sawdust and sheetrock dust. See you in a couple of weeks hopefully!! You all enjoy this beautiful season!!

September is finally here……

2010-09-08T14:56:00.001-04:00

The cooler weather is finally here and the trees here in New England will soon look like the above picture. This is by far, my favorite time of the year. Let me tell you what I love about the fall……

1. You can spend an entire day outside and not get overheated or bitten by bugs.

2. The cool fresh air is invigorating and getting outside chores done is a pleasure!

3. The trees are beginning to turn. What a gorgeous site to look at!

I guess that’s enough for me! I am so looking forward to my favorite season!! Of course with the fall season comes my favorite holidays too! Halloween …..then Thanksgiving …..then my favorite one of all….Christmas!!!!!!! My birthday falls just 5 days after Christmas and then of course there is New Years …..so it’s just one big long holiday season! It’s incredible. Who wouldn’t love it???

This last Saturday we had a gathering of family here. My kids were here and helped clean out the rest of my garden. The only thing left now are sunflowers, corn, and tomatoes. We dug up my beets and carrots and there were NO carrots to speak of. I let them go to the weeds. That won’t happen next year. There were some beets and the kids took them home, along with pumpkins, gourds, corn, butternut squash, cukes and sunflowers. We had quite a harvest. I didn’t get any pictures! Can you believe it? We had a wonderful meal. I made a creamy pasta salad that I just love! I got the recipe from a blog I follow called Deep South Dish and my oh my do they have wonderful recipes!! I also got my southern ice tea recipe from them. I added some frozen strawberries (thawed) and lemons sliced to it. It was fabulous. I also made a lasagna and an appetizer I got from another blog. They were stuffed jalapenos from OctoberFarm. Everyone devoured those right up! Joyce has some amazing recipes on her blog!! That woman is always cooking….good lord! Check her out! It was my father in law Woody’s birthday the day before so I made him an Arizona Angel food cake. It tastes good and it’s pretty. Sometime I will post the recipe. My mother in law Alice brought a ham sliced and Woody made a chili. My brother in law Joe brought breaded chicken covered with sauce and melted cheese….kind of a chicken parmesan…..it was great! He also made his famous homemade salsa and garlic hummus. My kids purchased cheese’s and crackers and homemade pickles and such to add to the goods. We also had some of my sour pickles I had made a while back. I will post the recipe for those too…..real simple….no canning! So….a great time was had by all and fall is just about here. Next post I promise will have pictures!! Please remember to keep our friend Dawn in your prayers from C & G Design. She is on the mend. :):):)

THOSE MISERABLE ALLERGIES…..

2010-09-01T10:52:00.001-04:00

I woke up this morning with a pretty good sized area that is very swollen, under my left eye!! For the past few days I have been rashing out here and there on my arms and wrists. An occasional small swelling will show up too on my wrists. I should have paid attention to it and taken the dreaded Benadryl that makes me so sleepy. Now I look like I have been in an accident! It’s not a good look. I think I scared a customer that came to the door a few minutes ago! Glad I don’t have to be anywhere today! My allergies, which I have been experiencing for about 9 months now, off and on, are a mystery to me and my doctors. I need to have an expensive blood work done to see if it is a result of my immune system. I cannot afford that right now but will have to have it done sometime soon I am sure.

Fall is on it’s way finally!! Although you would never know it here in Maine. The temps have been in the 90’s for the past two days and we broke some more records in the weather books. This year has been record breaking in many ways. I am harvesting my garden slowly. I am really pleased with the amount and quality of my pumpkins. I just cooked up some of the yellow corn and froze that. It was delicious. I still need to harvest the carrots by digging them up this year. I let the weeds take over in that area of the garden so I probably have NO carrots….we’ll see. My kids love to dig those up.

The kids are coming out here on Saturday. Bobbie and I are having the whole family over for a day of eating and visiting. An end of the summer gathering. I have been getting tomatoes from the garden but most are still green! I will never grow Roma’s again….they are too dry. The popcorn is beginning to show ears but it will still be a while. There won’t be many. I made the mistake of growing that corn in one single row. It should have been two…one beside the other. It needs that for seeding. Next year!

As soon as I get my camera charged up, I will take photos and show you what I mean. I must get pictures before this Saturday, when everyone will be going home with a basket of garden goodies. It’s a tradition!!

Please, everyone keep our friend Dawn, from C & G Design in your prayers for a speedy recovery from her surgery and a cancer free life from here on end. She is a very strong and brave girl but certainly our prayers can’t hurt. I hope you are all well. This Benadryl is kicking in and making me very sleepy so it’s time to sign off. Stay well and be happy. .~~.

Blogger Love……

2010-08-27T10:22:00.002-04:00

This year has been a tough one for me with many health issues. So, when my husband came in the door the other day announcing “someone has sent you a package,” it really lifted my spirits!! It was from my blogger buddy, Kathleen, from Millinocket, Maine!! Her blog is Rural Maine. I was amazed and thrilled and overwhelmed! She made something for little old me with her crafty little hands! Here is the handmade booklet she made me above, which came with an awesome letter, hand written by her, and all wrapped up and fastened with a pretty pink ribbon! It was just like Christmas! She scrapped me a booklet with a vintage sewing theme. I just love it! She does wonderful work…..well take a look…. That’s the front page. And then we look inside….neat!

Each page is different.

A close up above. Love those dress form stickers! And the beautiful ribbons hanging from the binder rings…..and the lovely cards……. that are tucked down into a pocket in each page…. are decorated with vintage stickers……also have a lovely ribbon tied at the top of each one. Kathleen says you can write on these cards….your favorite pattern or supplies or whatever you choose to! This is stamped on one of the pages and I think that sums it up. Simply handmade…..(not so simply I am sure!) by my friend Kathleen…..all the way from Millinocket, Maine….sent with love….just for me!! What a lucky girl I am!!

Life is Good…………

Thanks Kathleen…………XO

This And Tat…….

2010-08-21T15:53:00.001-04:00

No that’s not a mistake in my spelling, although I do that quite often! My daughter Carissa calls me this morning. She says….. “Guess what I did mom!! I got a new tattoo!! And guess what it is!!??” I try to guess….. “A guitar…a banjo….another insect….(she already has a dragonfly on her shoulder)….someone’s name?” “Oh my God!!”….she says….. “ I would NEVER have someone’s name tattooed on me!!” So…what is it Carissa?? “Well Mom….do you remember that song you used to sing and play on your guitar when we were young named What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor?” “Yes I do Carissa.” “Well I really dig old stuff and in the style of Joe ??? a tattoo artist friend of mine, I got an anchor with a flower and a bottle of corked wine. I downloaded the actual notes from the first line of that song, and sketched it out with what i wanted for my tattoo. I’ll send you an email with a picture of it.” Here’s the picture I got this afternoon from her…….. It’s on her side and boy doesn’t that look sore! She had been to the beach the day before and had a sunburn on the OTHER side thank goodness. I guess she sat for three grueling hours and then went right to work without any down time! I used to sing all the versions of that song to the kids when they were little….they loved it. Their favorite lines were “Put Him In The Scuppers With A Hose Pipe On Him” and “Shave His Belly With A Rusty Razor”. We had a lot of fun with that song and apparently they did too! I have NEVER had a tattoo, although I have always wanted one. Maybe I will get one. We’ll see. Do you have any tattoo’s? Let’s see them!! My son has two tribal tats and my husband has a double headed eagle on his arm. It seems to be the thing to do for young people today. The only thing is….once you get one….you are pretty much stuck with it! She got a really good deal on this one because the guy was an apprentice. You only have to tip him. Tattoo’s are quite expensive! My son got a good deal on his two combined for 175.00…..so he tells me. Generally that is what it would have been for each of them. I have a photo of each of them but the photos are not very good. I don’t like either one of these….especially the skull and bones one at the top. Oh well….I don’t have to sport them now do I!!!!

The Season Is Ending……

2010-08-18T13:13:00.001-04:00

I took some photos of my garden today. It looks more like September out there and I am not sure why? Everything except for the tomatoes is winding down now. It still looks big and overgrown and that is something I will not do next year. The regular corn above is tasseling out but looking spindly to me. The popcorn has the coolest colored tassels that the camera cannot do justice. Here are a few photos of the colors and I am assuming the popcorn will be the same color but not sure? That is IF it develops at all!

That one above is what they look like when they first start forming. The colors are bold, then they fade. The above one is a deep burgundy and the photo above that is pink. My sweet peppers on the deck are late and some just start to fruit and fall off.

Pumpkins and gourds are doing well. The pumpkin above it quite large and probably weighs between 8 and 10 pounds.

This small gourd is hanging from my sunflowers. It is cream colored on the top half and a light green on the bottom half. Cool huh? Baby pumpkins and gourds amongst the corn above.

Wasn’t I some excited to find a dumpling squash that actually made it!! Actually I found two so far! One is above and the other looks just like it only smaller.

I was beside myself when I found this Turks Turban gourd above!! I know these look like overgrown summer squash but I didn’t grow any summer squash so I am thinking these are gourds? I planted a mixture packet.

A couple of green striped gourds…..love these. Sunflowers are just starting to open. They got heavily attacked by copper beetles this year. And the birds love to knock the petals off and get to the seeds! I made a mistake in growing these Roma tomatoes. I should have done more research. They are supposed to be great for making tomato paste. How mush tomato paste can one make?? Next year I will go back to the Brandywine. The ones that taste just like an Amato’s tomato in an Italian sandwich!! You Mainers know what I’m talking about!!

I don’t know if you can see it amongst the weeds but that’s a butternut squash above. I have quite a few of those. That’s my favorite squash. I will cook and freeze some for the holidays. So…that’s it for now….until the harvest in a couple of weeks!!

All Is Well On The Plains…..

2010-08-11T09:44:00.001-04:00

Well I am alive and well. That is not me above in that contraption but I was in the same thing yesterday. It takes a 360 degree picture of your heart and also gives a reading as to how your blood is flowing through your heart. Here’s a link. Stress Test

It was a good part of the day going back and forth to the hospital. I got the results last night and my heart is healthy! What a blessing that is. I am pretty sure my nausea was caused by my taking a medication called Metoprolol Tartrate. I was supposed to take 1/2 a pill in the morning and another 12 hours later. I was taking it all in the morning…about 3 to 4 hours apart. I didn’t know. It lowers your heart rate and it’s no wonder I was so nauseas and tired.

More good news. My feet are finally feeling better. I still have some pain but nothing like it was. The plantar fasciitis seems to be lessening…thank God. It is a very painful thing. My new orthotics are working and I am not allergic. I lost about 5 pounds this last week! It looks like things are looking up. I just have to be vigilant and start slowly exercising so I don’t aggravate that foot. It’s been a long summer trying to get through this foot problem and figure out why I seem to be allergic to the universe this year. I am getting closer.

Boy do I have many lessons with my garden this year. I got greedy and planted way too much in too small of an area. I thought I had late blight but I don’t thank God! I did, however, get the giant tomato hornworms!! Those alien worms are baaaaaaaaaaack! Here’s what they look like… My girlfriend Chandra came by to help me with my garden when I was sick. She just about jumped out of her skin when she saw this!! They are disgusting!! And this is what it turns into!!!

I hate those bugs!! So all is well here on the plains. Things are getting back to normal. We still hate the heat and cannot wait until fall. My garden is in fall stage right now. It’s been an odd summer. We are one month ahead in the garden……it is like we are in September right now. Corn is tasseling, squash and pumpkin are turning, gourds are done growing, cukes are finishing up and tomatoes are slow to turn red. What can I say? It’s a very weird year for the garden and for me!!

Got Side Tracked……

2010-08-08T13:36:00.001-04:00

Hey all…..had a side trip on Friday to the above. Stayed the night and came home last night. I am fine. I have been having bouts of bad nausea lately. As you know, I had that when I had my heart attack so they wanted to be sure i was alright. I was observed and poked and prodded and they took way too much of my blood. What did I find out? ….There’s no place like home….click click….there’s no place like home….especially one with a comfortable bed and a private bathroom! I guess I will live and have to go have a stress test on Wednesday. Will keep you posted…..

Home From Nashville……

2010-08-04T11:20:00.001-04:00

My brother Art and my nephew Adam are home from Nashville for a week. Saturday night, we all went to DiMillo’s restaurant in Portland, Me. It’s a famous seafood place that is actually on a boat. Anyone that lives around here knows about DiMillo’s. The food is a bit expensive but pretty good. The big deal with this restaurant is that it is on an old car ferry boat that is docked permanently on a long wharf. Many folks dock their big boats right there too. It’s an historical place for Portland.

The above photo is an entrance to the boat when the weather is bad. The menu has an array of great choices. DiMillo's

I had the broiled haddock with baked potato, fresh filet green beans and a market salad, and Bobbie had the Scampi dish. We shared a calamari appetizer. The calamari was good but a bit greasy. The haddock was amazing and cooked just right. The baked potato was forgettable and the green beans should have been forgotten….they were not cooked. Bobbie loved his dish and I didn’t hear any complaints from anyone else. There was a bachelorette party of about 20 young women right next to us. That was interesting! They were drinking and passing a deck of cards around with naked young men on them! The bride to be was wearing a tiara and a big smile! My animated brother from Nashville just HAD to go over and find out what all the fuss was about! That’s how we knew what was what!

Unfortunately, two regretful things happened, the most important had to do with my brother Arthur. He was suffering from either a bacterial infection, the flu, or latent food poisoning. (You would never know from reading the above would you?) He had been sick a good part of the day and almost didn’t come. He did not eat but insisted we all go and that we all eat. He also, without our knowledge, picked up the tab and the tip for 8 of us!! We were upset about that but neither he nor the waitress would budge!! I guess it was his way of thanking all of us for the fund raiser we put on for him. Awe……:) The other regretful thing that happened, was that I forgot to charge my batteries in my camera! The only photos I got were of my niece Karen and one shot of her beautiful kitchen before we left for Portland! She and her husband were the ones that let us use their golf club a while back for the fund raiser for my brother. Here’s a link to that. Toody Brook And here are the only two photos I got at my nieces place….Gosh her place is huge and gorgeous! I’ll get some at another time. You just wouldn’t even believe it!

And then it died! But!! I did get some of the barbecue we had the next day at my brother Denny’s home!! We sat out on the back deck….it was a beautiful day. That’s my husband bob and my sister in law Mary Ellen, my brother Denny’s wife. She has one of those “new” screen doors that squeak when opened and SLAM when shut that sound just like an “old” camp door. I guess that is all the rage now! The kids certainly kept that thing a slammin!

That’s my brother Denny getting ready to grill. “What Mary Ellen? I need my what??”

“Oh….my apron! I’ll just stand here and act like i like wearing this thing!” Did I not get the phone call or the memo regarding plaid/striped shorts day?? Hold that apron up there Den!! Robert Anderson above left, my niece Karen’s husband and co-owner of Toddy Brook. Then my brother Steve shows up…. That’s him on the far left…..again with the striped shorts?? Is it a golf thing?? Whoops….my niece Jennifer’s husband Trevor on the far right apparently did NOT get the memo.

We had the standard appetizer plates and Denny cooked us all some great burgers and hot dogs with a huge tinfoil container of steamed onions and peppers to go on top! They were great! And we had many salads. I made a creamy pasta salad that I MUST share with you all in another post because it was AWESOME. I got it from a blog! And we also had THESE….well in between handsome Nolan ( my niece Karen’s son) on the left who was bored stiff and Chase (my niece Jennifer’s son) on the right who is adorable and younger.A closer picture of these beauties….. My brother Denny got lazy and cooked these lobsters with the bands on the claws! Robert told him it was not a good idea as the taste of the bands may come through….to which my brother replied….. “Oh no one would taste that….I added a can of beer to the cooking water!” Adam didn’t mind that any. He dug right in. Along with the rest of the crew. My husband was smacking his lips! My niece Jennifer’s adorable children….Amella and Chase. And then Chase wanted me to see his new bracelets that all the kids are wearing now…. Isn’t he just the cutest? I wandered around for a little while and came across this… It’s the right side of my brother Denny’s garage. He has ALWAYS been a car NUT! This garage used to have a huge hat collection. Now it’s apparently filling up with old license plates…..makes sense. His office is filled with old car memorabilia. I took these out of the garden and brought them with me to give to family. I have been averaging about 5 to 6 every other day for about a week or so now. God they are so much nicer than store bought! Fresh and juicy! We don’t eat bread but I must find some good bread so I can make myself a cucumber sandwich! The weekend was full….I got a chance to spend some time with my brother Art and my nephew Adam. We had a little bit of music from them as they each brought a guitar with them. And Bobbie and I left with a full stomach and a full heart. It was a good day. Poor Obie was at home waiting for us but we had one more stop to make before heading home…..work for just a few minutes. In front of our work is a wonderful stone I have admired for sometime. Here it is…. It is in a flower garden by the front door. Isn’t that cool? And behind that rock is this….. The smaller rock above it says…….

PEACE

Isn’t that nice?

It’s A Jungle Out There

2010-07-31T09:49:00.001-04:00

I snapped some photos of the jungle in the back yard I used to call my garden! It’s a tropical mess. The tomato and cuke plants are getting buried by the gourds and giant pumpkin and butternut. I can’t get to the sugar snap peas because I planted them too close to the corn!

It was so hard to find the little tags on the twigs I put beside each plant that I made new signs that stick out of the ground about 5 or more feet! I made them out of old bamboo rods with paint sticks taped to the tops. I wrote on the paint sticks with a permanent marker…the name of each vegetable….like large pumpkin, small pumpkin, regular cukes, pickling cukes…etc. After I stuck them all in the garden and stood back away from the garden, I took a good look. It reminded me of a Democratic Convention!!!!! Instead of IOWA or some other state it says CORN or GOURDS! It was pretty funny.

The butternut is coming along well and I found a giant pumpkin today! That was exciting because it’s hard to get underneath all those leaves without the bees getting you! See the bee inside that squash blossom above? They are all through the garden and very aggressive. The copper beetles are becoming less of a nuisance lately. The bees took over their job, but at least the bees are good for the garden!

See the ARC shaped gourd hidden in the above photo? We have been picking 4 to 6 cucumbers every other day. We eat salads every day and what a difference with the added freshness of those juicy cukes. My popcorn leaves are keeping right up with the regular yellow corn. Can’t wait to see if it matures and what it looks like. Harvesting should be interesting. It’s always fun. It’s my favorite part of growing a garden! Finding all those hidden treasures under the massive leaves!! You never know where a vegetable is going to end up or what strange form it will take. My next project is to make some old fashioned sour pickles in a large wide mouth jar. No canning….just drop them into the vinegar, solution. I have two recipes. Both are from elderly ladies here in my town and are almost identical. I have another one for dill pickles. I will share with you all when I do it.~..~ How’s your garden doing?

It’s An Inside Job……

2010-07-28T19:27:00.001-04:00

No…that’s not my quilt up above but isn’t it pretty? Typical Maine scene someone who knew what the heck they were doing created. Me?…I really just shoot from the hip…on a wing and a prayer! I know I have been doing a lot of whining about the heat. So I thought I would show you what I have been doing inside, while trying to avoid that heat. Last Christmas, i made two lap blankets. One for my wonderful friend and mother in law Alice, and one for my terrific father in law Woody! He actually posted photos of them a few posts ago. I made them from scraps I got at a yard sale. The material all came from L.L. Bean. A woman worked there and ended up with a huge amount of sample material. I was lucky enough to get several large boxes of it from her. I have done so many crafts with that material, I can’t even begin to tell you.

After seeing the lap blankets I made for A & W last Christmas, my husband Bob told me he would like one. So I started making him one. I don’t have a lot of masculine looking material left. He really likes red…of course…he’s an Aries and don’t laugh because I have never quilted and it’s all done by hand. This is the front. Just pieces cut this way and that and sewn together any which way! No pattern or method to my madness really. God I hate this font. Hold on…..I’m back!… and let’s see if this font is not so crowded as the last one…so far not so good i guess. This Lap Blanket is much longer. I was going for 5 feet but got carried away. Bobbie is at least 5’9” and he is hidden behind there! Oh well…he doesn’t mind. Here is another shot……

Another font change! Sorry. That black piece in the upper right is suede. I ran out of material big enough and thought he would like the feel of it. The back side of that is very furry and warm. See his white sneakers below? I am glad I did not see his face behind there because i made him stand there for a bit…my camera was screwing up! Alice tells me it looks like the colors from the family crest. Bobbie is Scottish. Why do you think I call him Bobbie McGeek?? He’s also Irish and French and I forget what else? Alice would know! She is a master genealogist!

That’s the front. It’s wrinkled, needs to be pressed, and stitches need tightening up. Now I will purchase a coordinating piece of soft fabric to sew onto the back as well as a satin blanket border. With Alice and Woody’s, I stenciled the first letter of each of their names onto a piece of fabric and sewed it on with a blanket stitch using embroidery thread. That is Woody’s, above, and here is Alice’s… Bobbie’s will get a big B and that would stand for his nickname Bobbie or for his last name Bean! How about that? So….that’s what I have been doing while watching movies, and watching my husband play Modern Warfare on the Xbox! The computer business has picked up as well. This is historically a very slow time of year for us. Can you guess why? Yup…..THE HEAT is keeping folks inside more…..but I can’t complain about that now can I?? Not one bit. What are you all doing to stay cool??

I’m Sick Of It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-27T16:01:00.001-04:00

I don’t know about any of you all, but I am really tired of this heat! I cannot WAIT until fall. I know I should be grateful that the weather in Maine is so great this year but dam it’s hot! I really want a break from it. It’s all I can do to just get outside and water my Garganchuan garden. Is that really a word? Maybe it’s an urban thing? Yup…just found it in the urban dictionary. That garden’s huge! Another thing I should be grateful for? Is anyone else sick of it? I guess I could make a gratitude list? Nah…………it’s too damned hot for that. I did, however, find this cool rock that was hand painted with gratitude on it.

Kind of cool huh? Oh……cool?…..that’s what I need. I guess I’ll go back to playing this…….

on my Xbox 360, with the fan blowing the cool air from the air conditioner on me while I try to get that illusive black pearl. I HAVE gotten TWO of them but am still struggling to get the three at once. Can you tell I’ve been inside WAY too much??? This isn’t looking too bad. At least it’s cool?

Wicked Whoopies…….

2010-07-23T13:00:00.001-04:00

My sister in law Amy lives in Nashville. She recently came home for a visit. Her nickname in Nashville is the Whoopie pie lady. She got this nickname from a singer song writer friend of she and my brothers, that some of you may know. His name is John Hiatt. Amy introduced him to our Maine Whoopie pies. Now, it is a Maine thing for us, but I am sure many people around the country and the world make them and eat them too! I love them. My favorite is the one above….the chocolate chip/yellow cake whoopie…..oh it’s to die for…trust me. When I showed up to spend some time with Amy and her mom, I brought 3 whoopies with me….a peanut butter/chocolate, a vanilla cake with coconut cream filling, and a red velvet. There was one suspiciously missing….the chocolate chip…..not sure what happened to it?? I am amazed at the different flavors that are popping up lately. Here are a few I need to try when I am cheating on my diet….

NEW! Peanut Butter Whoop-de-Doo

Springtime Special Lemon & Strawberry Minis

NEW! Black Forest

NEW! Orange Creamsicle

NEW! Lip Lick'n Lemon

Those are all from Wicked Whoopie. What’s your favorite? Amy was not here this last year when John Hiatt performed in Portland so she sent my little brother with a big bag of Whoopies for John. My brother Steve delivered them before the concert. John apparently made comments about them constantly….in between sets! I guess it was pretty funny.

Oh my gosh…..I just found out there was a Whoopie pie festival in Maine in June and I missed it! Look at this!…. Whoopie Pie Festival Oh well….maybe next year!

Here’s one for the fall……

WHOOPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY NO-MANURE GARDEN!!!

2010-07-17T09:37:00.001-04:00

For some reason I thought my garden would not grow well this year because I did not have the usual 6 yards of manure brought in. I was WRONG! As many of you know, we are experiencing an unusually hot and humid July here in Maine. Not a lot of rain but plenty of sunshine and heat. I opted this year to not get manure tilled in to save money. Gardens can get expensive and money was tight. My garden is all organic….no chemicals are used. I hand pick bugs off the plants and use solutions like vinegar and water or garlic and water. I put little bits of deodorant soap on my tomato cages to ward off deer but that’s it. The weeds were getting away from me a while back and I made a big effort to stay out there until I got them under raps. They are creeping back but not as bad as they were. The photo below was taken on June 30th.

Here is the garden about 18 days later…..

Giant pumpkin, corn (popcorn), roma tomatoes above.

Slightly to the left of the photo above is butternut squash, gourds, more tomatoes.

The weeds are taking over on the other side of the snow pea fence. Those will be gone today. To the left of that is regular corn.

Looking in from the other side of the corn. More weeds to get to today.

The Roma tomatoes are starting to fruit. You know what is next right? Those ugly tomato horn worms I get every year! That’s why for the first time ever, I scattered my tomato plants throughout the garden to confuse them! Maybe I won’t get them?

The gourds tend to be like 2 year olds….they are all over the place! To try and contain them a bit, I put tomato cages on some when they were small. Here’s one above….you can barely see the cage. This should be an interesting adventure.

Gourds and Sweet Dumpling squash. More weeds! Boy will I be busy today out there in the heat. It is supposed to be 90 degrees today but not as humid. Not as humid huh? Ninety IS humid as far as I am concerned! While taking these photos, Obie and Baby were following me through the garden and were ready to go inside. Baby’s personal space was invaded by Obie and she hissed at him! It’s rare for her to do that but it has happened twice this summer. She’s getting old and it’s been one hell of a hot summer so far. Here’s a picture of her HISSING at him!

Can you see her hissing? WATCH OUT OBIE!!

AHHHH…..I’M SAFE UP HERE! HURRY UP MOM!

Playing with collages….

2010-07-13T09:32:00.001-04:00

Hubby found this collage program for me and I am having fun with it. I created three collages to see what they would look like. I have templates for holidays and every other occasion you can think of! Here are the three of them…. I am hoping it can be clicked on and opened! The above one is my room upstairs. Here’s another collage…………………… These are items from my garden 2 years ago. And the third one has garden goodies and a photo of my daughter sitting back to… after we had harvested the garden for the year. Can you tell that fall is my favorite time of year? I love these mosaic/collages!!! What do you think? Some of you already make these! I know Sheila does. Very cool….but there are so many choices…it’s hard to choose from so many great backgrounds and styles! I’m loving this!

My sister in law is home from Nashville and I am going to visit her today. Her mother’s name is Amy also and her father’s name was Joe. Guess what they named my sister in law? Yup…..Amy-Jo…..isn’t that cute? I am so glad she is home and with family that love and miss her. They have certainly been through a lot since that flood. Their home was gutted and is being rebuilt. That can get stressful to say the least. Can’t wait to see her in 2 hours!

My garden is going crazy!! I will get photos this week to share. It has tripled in size in 2 weeks with all of this humid heat we have had in Maine. At least 2 weeks of constant humid temperatures between 80 and 100 degrees here on the plains. I absolutely HATE it. I am NOT a hot weather person. I will hide inside in the air conditioning. We need rain desperately and I think today and tomorrow we are getting a little. I see very little blueberries on my property but if I walk down my street, they are plentiful on the side of the road.

I finally got my new orthotics! For about 3 days they were working well. I was feeling the plantar fasciitis but was not as crippled as I have been and then it happened…..my feet began to itch! I am allergic to something in the orthotics….my worst nightmare. They are very costly @ 350.00 a pair and the insurance does NOT cover them! Thank God I have a nice man named Eric who is going to work with me no matter what to get me back to normal…whatever that is? Hubby took my orthotics back to him yesterday. They are made of manmade cork. He then put a thin leather upper on top with a glue called Cargo Cement. I think that’s the culprit….the glue. So….Eric will take that leather and glue off and we will try that….one step at a time. I am allergic to three things that I know of right now.

1. Neoprene

2. Nickel

3. Cobalt

Usually, neoprene is the problem. Did you know it was the number one new allergen in the country last year? It was the allergen of the year for 2009! Check this out….Neoprene Allergy

So…we will try again. We are bound to get lucky eventually. Meanwhile, I have to remember to be grateful for what I DO have in my life, and that is many, many, blessings. Don’t forget to stop over at Good Old Beans and encourage them to “keep on bloggin!”…..it’s a fun blog that I miss.

Stay cool and be happy.

Been A Busy Girl….

2010-07-08T18:32:00.002-04:00

We had a great time on the 4th celebrating Alice & Woody’s 58th wedding anniversary! There happened to be an ice cream cake…. that was to die for. Joe had prepared all of the fixings for shrimp and chicken fajitas, and I made a rotisserie chicken/vegetable/romaine/ salad. We also snacked on Joe’s homemade salsa and hummus dip and crackers. The hummus was loaded with garlic! No pictures though? I am getting bad at that!

My father in law built a bird feeding station out of PVC some time ago. He calls it the GoodOldBeanFeedingStation. He and my mother in law Alice get so much enjoyment out of watching all the creatures that come to this station. I made him a sign for it just last year. You can see it on this you tube blog entry he made a while back.

His blog is called Good old Beans……find it on my sidebar..… and he has not blogged in a while! I am trying to get him back into it! For their anniversary, I made them a newer and bigger sign to hang on the feeding station. I am in hopes that he shows it through his blog….hint..hint…..but just in case he doesn’t, here is a sideways look at it in a photo I took of the two of them!! You can barely see it to the left of Woody leaning up against the wall. But meanwhile, isn’t that the sweetest photo of them?? Here’s another…. and another… …they are so nice and tanned!! They sit outside on the deck quite often having a nice cuppa coffee! If you go far enough back in Woody’s blog, you will see many videos of the creatures that come to the station. Alice also has a blog called GeeGee’s Graffiti….. please check her out too on my sidebar. She stopped writing in March of 2009. I think it is time for her to come back too. She is the one that painted this for me….. in 2008 and I still have not found a frame for it! Shame on me! This was just a frame that didn’t fit I wanted to try. Isn’t the painting beautiful? Aren’t I lucky? She also did a mixed media mural on her living room wall. The mixed media is pencil drawings, oil painting, decoupage, and crochet. I think that’s it. Here is some of it unfinished and I am in hopes she will share the finished product in her blog. I will just show photos and let her explain what you are seeing. These are just a few. There are many more shots of this and many more wild animals. She just finished the most beautiful deer! It is so cool to see this in person! So….if you would like to see these two creative bloggers come back, go to their blogs and tell them! That’ll do it! I’m hoping to see a lot of comments….ha ha!

Happy 4th To All You In Blogland!!

2010-07-03T12:55:00.001-04:00

It’s my mother and father

in law’s 58th Wedding

anniversary!! It’ll be a fun

day for all of us! I’ll get

pictures!! Happy 4th to you

all…..Have fun and be safe!

Chore Time……

2010-06-30T12:18:00.001-04:00

My foot is finally starting to feel better just in time to get that over due garden taken care of. It’s been calling to me every day but I just couldn’t get there. This last weekend I spent some time out there weeding!! I prayed first. I asked God to help me get through it. I asked for three things. 1. Please no bugs dive bombing me…I hate bugs! 2. It was a fairly cool, cloudy day, and I asked if it could stay that way for a while. 3. Please keep the pain at bay until I am done. What happened, was nothing short of a miracle…… I have tons of these yellowish gold beetles that love to land on me, constantly, when I am outside. They are really dumb bugs too. They fly right into your hair or eyes or mouth if you let them! Although they flew all around me, only two landed on me. I am telling you….that’s a miracle. My foot did not hurt once and I had been in pain every day up until then. I did ice it the night before. The sun stayed behind the clouds until I picked the last weed!!!!! When I said in my head, “I am done,” I felt the sun on my back!! Wow….thank you God.

Here are some after photos….

Tomatoes…..

Gourds coming along……

He spins with the wind and keeps birds on their toes.

Beets need more weeding and thinning….

Rainbow carrots…..the same….

Obie decided to see what was in the bushes. Can you see him in there?

I smell something!!

What was that???

Awe…..it’s gone….that darned chipmunk!!

I did manage to get to a few yard sales for the first time this summer last weekend. I came home with some nice treasures. Two lovely photo frames @ 50 cents each…..

The pine cone one is by a mid west artist.

And I just loved the look of the other silver one.

I also found an old box of playing cards for 10 cents!! They are called Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards and they are so neat!

I guess they have been making these since the early 1900’s. Very interesting. Sometime this summer I am going to have a giveaway and these will be part of it, unless my friend Joyce at Octoberfarm would like them?? Do you have a set of these Joyce? Let me know! I also came across these two bowls made by Nantucket. I just loved the color of them….and the price too! It was a dollar for the two of them! How could I resist?

Aren’t they pretty? I love that shade of faded blue. I have another project I have been working on for someone. It will spoil the surprise if I show you now. After the 4th I will post about it. It’s been fun to make. What have you all been up to?

Oh I found my bug this morning. The one that is eating my geranium leaves and my alyssum plants and the one that likes to land in your hair and eyes! Here’s a photo….

They are called Rose Chafers. Here’s a link with more info about them. Rose Chafer Bugs They are such pests!! I collected these awful bugs in cups of soapy water, probably 50 to 100 at a time, almost daily. I destroyed probably 3 to 5 hundred of them this way. I also tried white vinegar and water in a cup. That was much quicker. I simply knocked them off the plants and into the cup. Here are some more images…..

Rose Chafer Images

I hope they are gone for the summer. They like sandy soil and I have plenty of that! They also like strawberries and the farmers on my road grow acres and acres of them. Maybe that is why they came here to begin with? I wonder what’s next!

Are you having any bug problems???

Oh The Pain….

2010-06-23T12:10:00.001-04:00

It’s been really hard to do much of anything lately because of my plantar fasciitis. It is terribly painful. I saw an orthotic guy recently and he is making me a pair of orthotics. They took molds of my feet. They called this morning with the bill…..350.00! Ouch! Boy….nothing is cheap these days! Insurance does not cover these. They will be ready soon and I am in hopes that it will start to alleviate my foot pain and I my life will be back to normal. Meanwhile, standing, sitting, lying down are all painful. I do have an almost pain free day here and there and I cherish them! Yesterday and today are not one of those days. So….I am neglecting many things….

1. Weeding my garden

2. Housework

3. Painting some patio furniture

4. Taking a daily walk for my heart

5. Going to yard sales

6. Redoing my blog

7. Visiting a lot of you

I sit here at the computer as long as I can. My foot is killing me right now so it is time to go. Be back when I am feeling better, but in the meanwhile, I do enjoy coming by your blog for a peek or to linger for a while and enjoy what you have written! It cheers me up so thanks!!

See you soon….

Happy Fathers Day….

2010-06-20T11:57:00.001-04:00

To all of the wonderful fathers out there…this is your day. A fathers day poem….'

What Makes a Dad
God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,
He called it ... Dad

Enjoy your day dad!!!!

Calendar Girls….

2010-06-13T07:46:00.001-04:00

No…not that type of calendar girl! The movie that was named Calendar Girls. Have you ever seen it? I just got done watching it and i loved it!…just loved it!!

It took me 7 years to find it!! If you haven’t seen it you must! Go on out and rent it or order it up from Netflix….it’s hilarious, inspiring, thought provoking and just plain fun. It’s also a true story. A brief bio…..

Calendar Girls Biography

Chris and Annie are the best of friends – very different, but very close. Living in a small village in the Yorkshire Dales, their peaceful lives are shattered when Annie's husband dies of leukaemia. An active member of the local Women's Institute, Chris enlists the support of her fellow members in a fund-raising initiative for the local hospital. Her seemingly traditional idea is to produce a calendar, with a different woman photographed for each month. Each one will be engaged in a classic WI task, such as jam making, flower pressing and knitting. Sounds traditional enough, but her idea has a radical twist - the women will be in the nude. Before they know it, the women are hitting the headlines at home and abroad. Whisked whirlwind publicity tour, they take their turn on the talk shows and in magazine photo-shoots. Amidst the hype and glamour, the friendship between Chris and Annie is put to the test.

Here’s a trailer from the movie…..

I found this page with some of the original photos of them….really brave of them all….

Calendar girls reunite

What a bunch of cool gals huh?

Sorry….I couldn’t resist! :)

Happy Birthday Carissa Dee…..

2010-06-12T15:41:00.001-04:00

There she is at Christmas time a few years ago teasing her brother and wearing most of the bows that came off her presents. From the time she was little, she ripped stickers off things and saved them or wore them. Chiquita banana stickers were her favorite, and she usually would stick them on her face. My little girl is 28 years old today and she is away doing what she loves…camping! Every year for the past several years it has been a trip to Bar Harbor but this year she went to Crocker Pond Campground in Bethel, Me. She loves to hike, fish, swim, canoe, sit around a fire and eat marshmallows, play guitar, drink beer and raise heck. She is there with her close friends both male and female. I talked with her this morning and she was napping in her tent after having breakfast cooked on the fire…scrambled eggs with cheese, and banana and strawberries. The weather is kind of crappy but they will make due. She’s always been a little hippie. These 2 photos above are from a big music festival my family and I put on in memory of my folks a few years ago.

She loves her brother. She’s even patient at times with her mother when she wants to be! The one above was taken several years ago. I was singing a song with her. She loves her uncles… ….and she loves to play a little on the wild side…………..

but the absolute LOVE of her life, without a shadow of doubt is PIPER…her beloved dog!!

That’s probably the only grand child I will ever get and if that’s the case…that’s alright. Piper gets away with everything! So….to my crazy, lovable, artistic, beautiful, amazing daughter……HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY….hope you have many, many, more…..

Love you…. Your mother.

Busy Plains People….

2010-06-11T18:21:00.001-04:00

Despite having been diagnosed with the painful Plantar Fasciitis recently, I had a pretty good foot day today. Hubby has been walking three times a week and increased just recently from 1 mile to 1 1/2 miles. It’s really bothered my that I couldn’t go walking with him. Today I had a good day and went. I let him go ahead of me and I took my time. The wildflowers along the way were so pretty that I picked a bouquet! I picked some buttercups and daisies and Joe Pye Weed and Wild Flax and ferns of all types and more flowers I could not identify. I cheated and grabbed the above picture from Google, but take away the sunflowers and my bouquet is not far off! It really brightened my dining room! I am sore but it was worth it.

My garden is coming along well. Not much to look at right now so I will hold off on the pictures until there is something significant to see. Hmmmm….am I getting picture taking lazy or what? Oh well. Speaking of gardens, one of the bloggers I stumbled upon recently has the coolest and I mean COOLEST scarecrow I have ever seen! Check it out at her blog….Penny's Art Room Blog …..don’t forget to check out the butterfly one before that! Awesome!

Now wasn’t that cool? Don’t ya want to make one!?? I know!

I smell roast chicken and rice pilaf coming from the other room…..and I am really hungry. Hubby is outside mowing the back 40 and it is just about dinner time. Obie is having a good week! He came out to my garden with me today and helped weed. Russell’s love to weed! I just say “Ok Obie dig…dig…dig a dig dig and he does. It’s their nature. They love to burrow in the ground and stick their noses right in there and get all dirty. Well here….I found one on the internet and this is what he does!…..

Yup…..that’s it….it’s really fun to watch as long as you don’t mind what he’s digging.

Roast chicken is calling….be back soon with some pictures I hope!

Garden Delight Mode……

2010-06-03T18:44:00.001-04:00

I finally got around to planting my garden! Above is a photo of last years garden…one of my favorite veggies to grow………pickling cukes. No pictures of my garden yet you say? You would be correct! The batteries are always dead in the camera when I want to use it………every darn time. Most of my seeds came from Pine Tree Garden Seeds in New Gloucester, Maine………probably only 5 miles or so from my home, a modest seed company, set back away from the road and looking more like an old New England farm. With the exception of probably 30 cars in the driveway, you’d never know it was a place of business. Almost all women work there.Pine Tree Garden Seeds usually has just about anything you are looking for in gardening.

I have planted all of the above from last years harvest once again. The baby pumpkin, butternut squash, and gourd assortment. I am also excited to once again plant my favorite new veggie….Rainbow Carrots!! If you haven’t tried them yet, you just have to!! They are wonderful to look at and so, so, sweet! They are so popular that Pine Tree was out so I had to go in search of them elsewhere. I found them at a local nursery. They are becoming quite popular. Along with the rainbow carrots, I am adding the Atomic Red Carrot….can’t wait to see those. Another new one to me this year is the Sweet Dumpling Squash.

Here is a photo above of this squash. It is used for fall decoration and it is also supposed to be a great squash to cook too.

I am planting two butternuts….an Early and a Watham. I planted Snow peas by the name of Carouby de Maussane once again. I grew them a couple of years ago. Not only are they plentiful, they are also extremely sweet. I love them and when we get Chinese, we ask for extra snow peas, onion, and garlic EVERY TIME! They know us very well now by our special order!

Along with the baby small sugar pumpkin, I am growing a larger variety called Connecticut Field Pumpkins. They grow up to 15 pounds. A recommended Incredible Yellow corn is in the garden this year but I was intrigued by a Mini Colored Popcorn that Pine Tree offered.

The seeds look just like the photo above. They are of all different colors….very cool. You can dry the ears and actually pop them, or use it for ornamental decorating in the fall. Many of the reds and burgundies have colored husks as well. The stalks are six feet tall and they bear 5 to 8, five inch ears, 3/4 of an inch in diameter. They pop slightly smaller kernels of popcorn. I have a space master cucumber, that grows on a 3 foot vine, and a smaller pickle type, of course. Detroit Beets, a lovely Sunflower mix, Marconi Red and Sweet Banana Peppers, Roma tomatoes ~~~~~~ six of them, and I think that’s it! I can’t wait to watch everything grow!!!!!!!!! I just love watching the garden and can’t wait to see photos of what you are trying this year? Will check back in soon.

This is from a couple of years ago. Some of the cucumbers had the funniest shapes. The carrots were actually x-rated!

Fun @ The Fund Raiser…….

2010-05-27T11:07:00.002-04:00

Fun was had by all at our fund raiser held for my brother and his wife on May 22nd!! Above are a couple of photos of the grounds below one of the decks at Toddy Brook Golf course, where it took place. But!!…Before we even got there, we had a nice little adventure on the road I live on! Five baby foxes were running around playing with each other in the middle of the road! I snapped a few photos of them….so darned cute! They look like kitties or puppies playing with each other. Maybe the mom got killed or they are old enough to be on their own….who knows? See the insulation they tore up trying to find food to eat? The fenced in area is an old site on my road that used to be a chemical plant and is now vacant and fenced up. These guys are about the size of a small cat. It was fun watching them! We got there early enough to watch the band setting up. They were awesome!!! The songs they played were ALL dance numbers and the dance floor was NEVER empty! They played ZZ-Top, The Stones, Aretha, Beatles, on and on! It was a blast! The room above is a new addition to my nieces club and is just gorgeous. There’s my brother Denny doing the live auction! Trying to get people to pay attention and bid! We raised about 3000.00 between checks mailed in, the auction, and tickets at the door and more!! As we got the money, we sent it to my brother and sister in law. Local businesses were so kind and generous…such wonderful people. One lady said to me…”I think people should help other people.” Yes, I absolutely agree with that! Bobbie and I bid on some things too and I won a lovely tree of life necklace with yellow pearls….I love it! An old friend of the family showed up named Paul. He is 89 years old and had more energy than all of us! Here he is dancing with my daughter Carissa on the left and my niece Karen (who owns Toddy Brook) on the right.

He was in his glory with a woman on either side of him!

This cool granite chess table was on the deck. Too bad it had a nasty old plastic ashtray on it! One of the auction items, was this print from an artist in Freeport, Maine. Did I mention dancing??? Oh can that Karen dance…..Oh My God!! We were dancing to the song Brick House and boy can that get you going! Well….take a listen…..it’s by the Commodores……

Are you dancing in your seat yet?? Oh yeah baby…..that’s one of my favorite songs EVER!

Even my son was having fun talking to my niece above. It was a lot of work but we pulled it off and were able to help my brother and his family.

Update on hubby……he is doing much better finally! After having a dye injection in his femoral artery, to check for heart blockages, he had complications. Blood backed up into his thigh and he had severe swelling and bleeding. It was a large area on his upper thigh filled with blood! He had to rest and NO work for a week. Now, there is a lot of bruising left but he is ok, thank God. It was quite an ordeal and he was in pain for a while. That blood that backed up from the artery made the leg burn and ache constantly! He rested and took Tylenol for the pain and swelling and is on the mend. The even better news from all of that is no major blockages. He had one on the back side of his heart that is 40% and they are not worried about that. No heart attacks for hubby…..thank Goodness!

Obie is up and down. Today is a good day and that is the way life is going to be for us with him for now. We are putting him in his crate when we leave and that seems to work. We will do the best we can by him until the end. He is our boy and we love him.

I will be focusing most of my efforts now on getting my garden in. I am so excited about that!! I will take photos and share with you all. If I have not gotten to your blog lately, please forgive me! Life has been engulfing me! I may be going to Clapboard Island tomorrow to work. That will be a story to tell! See you all soon…….

Updates On The Plains….

2010-05-17T09:38:00.001-04:00

Things are moving along at a good clip, over here on Blueberry Plains. Enough so, that I thought I ought to update you all! Some good….some not so good I am afraid.

1. Hubby had a Nuclear Stress Test and the results were inconclusive. Next, they set him up with a Dye Test and that finally showed us what we needed to know. He has a 40 percent blockage in the back ride side of his heart. That’s really not a problem they said. The rest of his heart was good! So…what’s causing the pressure in the center of his chest when exercising? They don’t really know for sure. It could be small blood vessels, reacting to the body, not being used to exercise. What we do know, is that it is NOT his heart and that’s good news. He came home from having the test that night, and while sitting in a rocking chair, he felt something strange in his groin/thigh area. What happened, was that a blood clot let go through the insertion site. It filled up an area in his thigh with blood and then began some swelling….quite a bit actually….of blood and swelling both. Back to the hospital we went per order of the cardiologist the next day. They performed a sonogram on the swollen area. They wanted to make sure the entry site where they administered the dye injection was sealed, and it was. Back home we went, and he is to rest with no lifting or strenuous activity for a few days. The swelling is now coming down and he’s doing much better! Phew!

2. Obie had a series of days where he was doing much better. We have him on new pills and for a few days he seemed to be doing great. He is up and down. He still seems to get confused and ends up peeing in front of the door or elsewhere every 3 or 4 days even if we are here! When we leave we have to crate him. Honestly I don’t know what we are going to do. My cousin makes doggie diapers out of cloth. Do I want to go that route? I honestly don’t know. The vet wants us to write everything down that’s happening this week and call him with the results. I am doing that. At what point do you cut bait and call it quits with this kind of thing? It’s a really hard decision to make. On the one hand, he is ruining rugs and I am constantly cleaning up after him and disinfecting floors. On the other hand, he does not appear REALLY sick! I will continue to pray and will have to make a decision soon. Yesterday, I was really tired so I took a cat nap. Hubby was resting in the recliner playing an xbox game. I could hear Obie pacing in the kitchen somewhat. I hollered to hubby to alert him. In the past he would bark to go out. Hubby got out there and there was a huge puddle on the floor….no barking to alert us. That’s the kind of thing we are dealing with…..even if we take him out many, many times a day. Pray for Obie.

3. The plans for the fund raiser are coming along so well!! We have close to 20 items that have been donated for the auction so far! People have been very generous. An Italian bakery in Portland sent 500.00 cash to my younger brother just yesterday!! Can you believe it? We have many restaurant gift certificates, car detailing, bird feeders, drill set, a glass art necklace, rounds of golf from 2 courses, and many area checks that were sent directly to my brother in Nashville and to the rest of us for him. This has all been quite overwhelming for my brother and his wife. They don’t know how to feel about people giving them so much. They are extremely grateful though. It has been quite a spiritual experience for them. The folks in Nashville have been amazing. There are leagues of people going out and helping one another there. The stories are endless and ones you won’t hear about on the news. Kids emptying their piggy banks and going door to door offering to help. People that survived Katrina and ended up moving to Nashville going house to house with van loads of food. Ministers and their parishioners helping people rebuild for free….the real deal….not some fly by night group trying to make money off you, because there are plenty of those types there too!

It has been extremely emotional for them. I was on the phone with my brother the other day when he pulled into his driveway. I heard him say… “Oh my God” and I asked what was wrong? “Oh Debbie…it’s just so unbelievable to see this place like this. It’s such a mess.” They lost a lot but they have their lives.

Here are a few pictures of the rebuilding and gutting of the inside of the house.

It’s a lot of work gutting a house from the inside and starting over. I think this is the kitchen above but am not really sure. Each room starts to look the same. The stress is starting to get to them both, despite the wonderful help they are getting there. They are staying with my nephew Adam and his wife Carey until they can find a house to lease short term while rebuilding. To make matters worse, my sister in law Amy lost her job one month before this happened! Ugggg….not good timing at all! Please keep them in your prayers my friends….thanks.:)