New Toy

I have a new toy.....

And it PETRIFIES me!!!! 

Seriously, I am quite intimidated.  My wonderful husband gave me this gorgeous new camera for our 40th anniversary (see earlier post).  I appreciate it so very much BUT I am TERRIFIED I won't figure out how it works.  I mean, I tend to have trouble with a point and shoot.  I have read the manual but still feel clueless.  Who writes these books anyway????  Whoever does (or should that be whomever?) sure doesn't know how to write them for novice photographers like me! 

I think I've made a HUGE error....I tried playing around with the various buttons, etc. and I think I may have pushed something that shouldn't have been pushed.  It just doesn't "sound" right when I take a picture.  Sometimes I have to press really hard to get it to shoot; also about 10-12 seconds after I shoot a picture it sounds like it takes a picture again but doesn't.  If any of you know what I've done wrong, PLEASE feel free to tell me.  In the meantime I guess I'll keep trying to understand this darned informative manual!  I do want to thank that wonderful husband of mine for being so sweet and giving me something he hopes knows will eventually bring me lots of pleasure.  Thanks, Honey!

P.S.  Have you visited Brown Paper Packages Crafts blog?  It has some neat ideas.  They are also having a giveaway.  Here's the address, go visit: 
http://brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com/

Happy Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 40th Wedding Anniversary!  So please allow me this post to say a few things about the wonderful man I had the good sense to marry........

*He is not only my husband but also my soulmate, my best friend, my mentor, my "other half."
*He is a wonderful father, grandfather, and friend.
*He is strong, sure, positive, fearless, young-at-heart, fun-loving, trustworthy....and so many other things.
*He loves me in spite of all my flaws.
*He at least tries to understand my moods!
*He is a good provider and never questions how or why I spend our money, trusting me to know when to spend and when not to.
*He doesn't share the remote very much, but would if I asked :)
*Everyday (usually more than once) he tells me he loves me.
*He always kisses me good-night.
*He always compliments me on how I look or the meal I prepared or something I have accomplished.
*He snuggles really good!
*He goes shopping with me and never complains about how long I keep him waiting.
*He's a Christian man who attends Sunday School and church with me almost every Sunday.
*He's funny and laughs often.
*He's still sexy at 61...and has these beautiful blue eyes.
*He helps with chores around the house and yard...definitely not lazy.
*He is generous to anyone and everyone...would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you really needed it.
*He is tender-hearted about many things but tough as nails about others.
*He is EVERYTHING I could ever ask for in a husband.
So....to the man I married "thank you" for EVERYTHING; thank you for loving me, marrying me, and growing old with me.   I  LOVE  YOU and appreciate you and I hope we have many more years together:

"If you live to be a hundred,

I want to live to be

a hundred minus one day,

so I never have to live without you."

 Winnie the Pooh

Farmer's Wife

Every summer I spend a little time playing FARMER'S WIFE.  My husband grew up on a farm and still has dirt running in his veins.  He often tells stories of the many days he spent helping his grandmother with all the chores that farm wives are expected to do....so to make him happy I put on Grandmama's apron and start to work.  No, I do NOT milk cows or churn butter but I am rather adept at getting veggies ready for the freezer. 

I do cheat....I buy them already shelled!  (Grandmama would never have done that.) 

Between 3:30pm and 7:30pm I put up 5 bushels of peas of various varieties and butterbeans.  Aren't they pretty?

DH usually helps but he was out of town so I was on my own.  I did something different this year, however.  I decided to "blanch" them in the microwave....and I will definitely do it again. 

I've read that blanching vegetables this way gives them better color, better taste, and more nutrition. 

It was definitely less messy and not nearly as hot as doing it on the stovetop.  Although it's a lot of work and probably more expensive than buying them already processed at the grocery store, there's just nothing like a pot of "fresh" peas or butterbeans with a pot roast...or southern fried chicken....or vension cubed steak....OK, I'm getting really hungry!

But the best part of all is knowing that I have made that FARMER-WANTA-BE that I'm married to one happy guy. He also thinks I look cute in that apron!

STORMY SUNDAY

 

We had a small storm in our neck of the woods late yesterday afternoon.  We had just returned from our yearly family reunion where we had eaten very little

with full stomachs when what we thought would be a small rain shower came up.  In fact I went to sit on the front porch and enjoy that sweet smell of rain when it falls on a parched earth.  A little thunder began to roll, which I tend to like.  There's something peaceful and enjoyable (to me) in an occasional thunderstorm.

I sat listening to the raindrops falling on the roof and thought I almost heard the flowers and plants saying "ahhh" as they drank in every drop. 

Mr. Chatter came to join me and we were enjoying a quiet moment.....

when all of a sudden there was the BIGGEST, LOUDEST clap of thunder I think I have ever heard.

You have never seen two semi-old folks move that fast!

This was followed by watching a somewhat large limb fall from one of our pecan trees and having the electricity go out.  In fact it was out until 12:30 a.m. and by that time we were getting downright warm hot!  We don't really appreciate air conditioning until we don't have it!  Of course, that meant no TV or computer either so we tried to find enough to talk about to while away the rest of the night until dear hubby fell asleep in his recliner.  I played Solitaire on my laptop until the battery died.  What in the world did people do before electricity???  (Went to bed EARLY!)

This morning the world is back to normal and I'm sure it will be another HOT day in the south.  I'm planning on having the grandkids and me get out the golf cart and pick up fallen sticks and branches in the neighborhood. 

Isn't it nice to know the rains will come (hopefully) to quinch the earth's thirst followed by the sun to warm us and remind us of God's love?  That's the way it is with life, too....the storms come, the storms go, and life goes on and we can go on refreshed knowing that we came through once again.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my HONEY

I wanted to take this opportunity to say

HAPPY  FATHER'S  DAY

to my wonderful husband.  I am so thankful that

YOU

were the one God chose to be the father of my children, both

the awesome son that we've raised and the beautiful daughter that's waiting for us in Heaven. You were and are a

GREAT  DADDY!

It's Like Christmas in June

I'm one of those people who almost never wins ANYTHING.  But that has recently changed!  I'M  A  WINNER!  Kim at The Twice Remembered Cottage hosted her 4th annual Cottage Charm Giveaway

and 68 wonderful blogger friends participated by giving away some mighty pretty things.  I was the fortunate winner of gifts from Donna at

and here are the BEAUTIFUL things she sent me:

Everything was wrapped up so girlie-like in

Pink & White....

Look at all these sweet things!

Would you believe I love old photographs...even when I don't know the people in them.  DH tells me though I need to write on the back "these are not our family"!

That lovely fan will come in handy for our recent 110 degree weather....and the lovely vintage linens will add to my collection.

The little teapot is actually a kitchen timer and the grandkids have already tried it out.

Thank you SO MUCH, Donna! 

I will treasure your generosity.

Now here's the thing.....

I won something else!  Have a look-see...

These pretty things came from Francie at

The Scented Cottage Studio.

She has a monthly giveaway for followers of her blog and I guess I got "lucky" 'cause I won!

The picture has the cutest quote from Dr. Seuss:

Be who you are and say what you feel

because those who mind don't matter

and those that matter don't mind.

(I tried to teach my son to be HIMSELF and not always follow the crowd...I'm trying to teach my grandkids the same thing.)

Francie also included a lovely little envelope filled with the sweetest smelling potpourri.  Thank you, Francie!

I've still got something else to show you!

I recently participated in a fun event sponsored by

Cindy (the nicest TX gal) at

Rick-Rack & Gingham

Cindy had a KITCHEN SWAP...and it was so much FUN!

I was the lucky recipient of these wonderful gifts from

JANELLE at

Sweet  Bee  Cottage!

You can tell Janelle was really thinking of me with all the cherry treasures!  Don't you love the plate?  I do!  And evidently she is also very creative.  She covered a miniature clipboard with scrapbook paper and then topped off the note pads with matching paper.  As if that wasn't enough, she also covered the clothespins to match!  Just TOO cute!

And I can't wait to try some of those awesome recipes.  Janelle, thank you SO much...and Cindy, too!

It's been like having Christmas in June...but guess what!  I also won something else in Kim's Cottage Charm Giveaway!!!  I just haven't received it yet so I'll save that for another post.

I've been one lucky gal lately!

Either that or the Good Lord knew I needed a little pick-me-up!  Thank you, Lord, for those little events that happen in life to perk us up when we need it!

A BUSY WEEK

It's been a B*U*S*Y two weeks....and next week doesn't look any slower!  On Saturday the little princess (Granddaughter M) starred in her first dance recital.  I know I'm prejudiced but she was absolutely precious!

This week she had CHEER  CAMP  and  SWIMMING LESSONS.  The little thing can now swim like a fish!

I've kept Grandson R every a.m. this week and he's worn me out playing game after game after game.......

He now loves SORRY  REVENGE  and  GO  FISH!

Last week we tried another recipe:

OOBLECK

Recipe:

2 cups cornstarch       1 cup water       2-4 drops food coloring

I really liked this one!  It does some cool stuff!

Another activity they invented themselves....

water play with turkey basters!

FUNNY  PUTTY  was also revisited!

Believe it or not, I DO have a life outside of grandchildren!

We were fortunate to have found a wonderful sitter who is helping out this summer, so hopefully I'll have some time to recuperate!  However, Sunday begins BIBLE SCHOOL

and, of course, I am teaching.  So my "time off" will have to wait!    Besides, the heat here is almost unbearable and whatever I find time to do will probably be inside in the AC!  The heat index today is approximately 110!

I also changed the look of my BLOG somewhat!

Hope you like it!

Around the Yard

Thanks to the gardening skills of my husband with a little help from me,  we have a yard we are proud of.  Here are just a few things around our place:

Remember this?  This is BEFORE....

This is AFTER!

These HONEYCOMB  BUTTERFLY  BUSHes were planted this year and they've grown like crazy!

This is a part of a small garden we call MANDY'S  GARDEN.

The hostas are doing well here even though they get lots of sun.

I love the little FAIRY reading her book.

My  HERB  pot is doing well.

Recently added this coleus pot.  My grandmother loved these and could grow them from just a leaf cutting.  I did NOT inherit her green thumb!

This cute little guy was bought several years ago after traveling

around the

North GA mountains.  He's a fountain that is so peaceful to listen to.

I love, love, love this little girl.  Isn't she sweet?

One of my many rabbits shares a little yard space with her.

This cute little bunny greets people at our back door.

It's gotten so hot in our neck of the woods that we don't spend as much time outside as we'd like.  But I do love to sit on my porch swing or out on the deck in the early morning or early evening and enjoy our little piece of God's creation.

A Day with Funny Putty

I'm keeping the grandkids this week and today was a busy day.  Grandson R. has a short attention span and trying to keep him entertained and away from the TV takes a lot of creativity and ingenuity on my part.  So....today we made.....

              FUNNY  PUTTY. 

I told him it was our science experiment and that aroused his curiosity.  Here's how we did it.

First you need these:

2 Tbsp. Elmer's white glue

food coloring

a little less than 1 Tbsp. liquid starch

plastic or throw-away bowl, spoons

Put 2 Tbsp. glue in bowl. 

Add NO MORE than

2 drops of food coloring (any color). 

Stir very well.

S-l-o-w-l-y add the starch.  (The recipe called for 1 Tbsp. but we found that less is better.)

Then you stir, stir, stir, stir...you'll quickly see a chemical reaction taking place.

Here we added  TOO MUCH blue food coloring...and we had blue hands the rest of the day!

The next part is the hardest....

Wait  5  minutes!

Next...remove from bowl and knead, squish, knead, squish...the more, the better.

This was our RED batch...used a little too much starch and so it was very squishy.

Now for the best part....

Play with it, experiment with it...

see what all it will do!

We finally made a batch of green (no pictures) and it was the best of all.  He played with it ALL DAY...and he thought

I was a really cool grandma for thinking of this!  But....

Granddaughter M wasn't too keen on it.  She didn't like the "yucky" feel.

Note:  be sure to store it in a plastic

baggie when finished playing and play only on a smooth surface...no carpet, no clothes, no hair!

*************

PS:  I haven't yet figured out how to get my words spaced correctly...they look fine on the preview, but then look differently when I publish...so please forgive the crazy way this post looks!  Any advice will be appreciated!