Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Bargain Hunting

GREETINGS!

What a day Mary and I had! We left home about 10 a.m. this morning and headed for the little town of Vian, which is about 18 miles from our place. It might be 400/500 people, but it has some great antique and 2nd hand stores! Mary was looking for a small square table to fit in a corner of her 5th Wheel to put her ice machine on. And I was just looking, but thought I'd like to have a small, movable island for my kitchen since my counter space is limited. As you can see, I found one! I'll give details later. The first place we stopped at was a normal retail store of mostly accessories for decorating, along with some furniture, etc. The great thing was that everything in the store was 50% off!! And wouldn't you know, out on the sidewalk as we got out of the car, there was the table Mary wanted! So she bought that before we even got inside the store! Inside was beyond words.........their stuff is so neat, you just want to buy it all! Mary found another little table to set beside her recliner, and I can't remember what else. I found some new, big flags for my flag stand outside and was in heaven. They were marked down to $12.50 and then I got 1/2 off that! So I bought 3 of them -- one with a black and white cow, one with a scarecrow, and one with a big red cardinal and fall leaves. The one I had on there was so tattered and torn it was beyond ugly! So, that was a great find and buy. We left there and went to 4 more stores. Mary bought something in every one of them....old cookbooks, book ends, eagle knick knack, etc. I just looked, not finding anything that really took my fancy.
Mary started giving me a bad time because I wasn't buying anything, but I was being a penny pincher! Then in the 6th store, which is really, really a junk store, I found my little island! It was buried under some stuff in a garage like room. The owner came out and told me it was $20. So I bought it! You can see how cute it is....2 side shelves fold up to make a bigger work space, there is a drawer and 3 nice wire baskets for onions, potatoes, etc. Now, it was very wobbly, but I knew my Ronnie could fix it for me. I had to go to the hardware store and buy 4 casters and some screws which cost me $10, so now my bargain wasn't such a bargain all of a sudden! But, I love it, and Ronnie fixed it up nice and sturdy.

After that, we headed back to Gore (towards home) so I could go to the hardware store for the casters and screws. Mary suggested we stop at the Garden Gate which is a wonderful consignment antique mall, and it has Emily's Tea Room, where she bought me lunch. We felt so dirty from rummaging through all the junk stores that the first thing we had to do was find the restroom and wash up! Then to the tea room and order a big tall iced tea and a sandwich. The tea really hit the spot, and the sandwich was very good. I brought half of mine home and Ronnie ate it! We looked around some in the store part and Mary found me a cute little round dish with a lid with a rooster on top to use for my sea salt. I wanted something to put salt in and just use my fingers to salt stuff like they do on the cooking shows. Don't ask me why, I just did!

So that was our day.........very productive we think; but I don't think our husbands think so! It was great fun, the only draw back being the 95 degree weather and going in and out of it. I think I spent a total of about $55 which wasn't tooooo bad! Can't wait to need something else so we can do it again! :)

Gotta go, take care and God Bless!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Happy Monday!

GREETINGS!

Here we go with a brand new week. The weekends pass so quickly I can't believe it. Even when you do nothing! Well, nothing important any way. My weekend was very laid back. Saturday I read a lot, then Tom and Mary took us out to supper at Soda Steve's up on Lake Tenkiller. It's one of our favorite places, as I've mentioned before. I had a great patty melt sandwich and cheese fries and iced tea. Had to bring half of my sandwich home, which was okay with me.

Sunday was Sunday School and church as usual. Except church was not "usual"! We had a live band and singers and contemporary music! It was so exhilarating; I love that type of worship. I just hope that it works out that the "band" stays and will lead worship every Sunday. You can bet that is in my prayers......... After church we came home and I had the rest of my patty melt for lunch!

Mary cooked the main course for supper.........some kind of German meat with a very rich, spicy sauce. She is 1/2 German - along with the 1/2 Italian - so that was the International cuisine for Sunday! I made mashed potatoes and fresh Kale to go with it. It was a good supper. The unique thing about Mary cooking, is that she doesn't know how! So she is trying to learn and has been making several different things. So far so good! :)

Do you recognize this? I'm tellin' you, every small town in Oklahoma has one of these Dollar General stores. I think anything with a population over 400 has one; some towns maybe have two! In Gore which is 16 miles from our place, and where we go to church and where the Vet is, this is the only store besides the grocery store, where you can buy this kind of stuff. You know, cheap clothes, food items, sundries, dishes, bedding, paper supplies, utensils, sheets and towels, laundry soap and stuff, etc. They are kind of a mainstay, so to speak. And if you can't find what you want there then you have to travel a distance to WalMart! Small town living is great! :)

With that little piece of Americana, I think I'll close for today. Doing all that laundry today tired me out! ha Have a great evening. Take care and God Bless.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Catch Up Again!

GREETINGS!

I am probably the worst person on the blog circuit for posting pictures after the fact! BUT, I just had to show you the panoramic picture of my favorite place - Creek Wood. If you remember, the other day I posted 4 separate pictures trying to give you an idea of what it looked like. Well, here is Mary's wonderful camera talent for you to see it. I wish it was bigger, but you can see what I mean about the beauty of the place.



And this........this is Caliber! Isn't he a cutie? He so reminds me of my grandson Cutter when he was that age.



And this is Momma and baby buffalo! Baby was getting a snack when we pulled up, but by the time Mary took the picture, he was done.



Now to catch you up on Lobo! I had him at the Vet's office at 7:30 this morning. I called at 10:00 a.m. to see how he was, and all was fine. When I picked him up at 3:30 p.m. he was very frisky! Which really surprised me. The doctor said she couldn't get every bit of the tumor, but did get most of it; and had to pull a tooth to get to part of it. She saved the tumor for me to see, and it was gross!! All black and red and white and about 2 inches long and maybe an inch around. He has stitches so I have to take him back in 10 days to see if there are any left in place and if he is healing right. He is still on antibiotics 2 x a day for a couple weeks. She said we would just have to keep tabs on him and see what happens. She is such a nice lady. Since I was going in, and Patch was due for a rabies booster and another shot, I took him in this afternoon too. He was very good about the shots and I think he was happy to see Lobo. I was also happy that the bill was manageable! That was a big relief.

Ronnie and Tom went in to Muskogee this afternoon to attend a Town Hall Meeting of one of the Oklahoma Republican Senators. It started at 5:30 p.m. so who knows when they will be home. Mary and I warned them not to cause trouble! :)

Well, the weekend is upon us again. The time is just flying by; before we know it, winter will be here. (and cool weather! yay!!) I hope you enjoy my catch up pictures and that you have a great weekend. Take care and God Bless.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Girl's Day Out

GREETINGS!

Today was a really enjoyable day. Mary (sister in-law) came over about 10 a.m. and wanted to know if she could borrow my van to go to the laundromat and WalMart. Their flatbed pickup wouldn't hold all the water jugs and clothes and then groceries! Tom is going to make her a box to put on the back for this stuff, but that's in the future don't ya know! Anyway, I had been thinking that I should go with her and show her how to get to the town of Stigler, since she had never been there. And I thought I could use a day out and away. So we took off about 10:30 a.m.

Our first stop was about a mile and a half away from home to pick a bunch of hedge apples off a tree we spied. What a stroke of luck! Then a little ways further we stopped at my favorite spot, Creek Wood, and Mary took some panoramic pictures for me. I'll be posting one soon as she gets it to me via email. Can't wait for that!

Just outside of Porum we stopped to take pictures of this herd of buffalo. There was a momma with her baby that was so cute. Unfortunately, I wasn't close enough to get any good pictures with my little camera, but you get the idea. It was neat to see them. I'm sure Mary will send me some of her pics and I'll post one of them later. She is quite the photographer, and takes excellent pictures, and has a GOOD camera!



And then when we got to Stigler we pulled in to a gas station/food mart and asked if there was a laundromat in town; and the clerk said "right across the street!" Duh. So, we pulled into this lovely place below.



They sure make money on these machines! $2.00 to wash a regular size load, and 25cents for like 10 minutes of drying time. But the fun part was the entertainment! There was a woman and a little boy - 2 yrs. old - in there and I of course had to start talking to the little boy. I'm sure he knows no strangers! We talked and he would grab my hand and say c'mon and away we would go walking around the laundromat and looking in all the dryers. He loves tractors, big trucks and motorcycles. And here is the best part........his name. It's the first time I've ever heard this one......it's Caliber, like of a gun. Come to find out, the woman was his grandma, and she didn't look near old enough to be one! What an interesting time we had.

Once the clothes were done we went to Sonic's and had lunch, then on to WalMart to get water and some groceries. All I needed was water, some more Niacin pills and a new toothbrush.........oh, and a loaf of French bread for supper. Mary needed a lot more stuff, and she is a shopper! After WalMart we stopped at Dollar General, looking for some small dish pans; no luck. Then home.

Mary made spaghetti sauce - a huge pot full - so we had a community supper again of spaghetti and French bread. I was still pretty full from Sonics, so it didn't take much to fill me up. Mary is 1/2 Italian , so the spaghetti was very good!

So, our day was full and fun. We got home about 4:00 p.m. and I still had last night's supper dishes to do! Got them done before tonight's supper - and now I have more to do. It's never ending!! I also called the Vet and Lobo is having his surgery in the morning. I have to have him there between 7:30 and 8:15 a.m. and then can pick him up at 4:00 p.m. I sure hope all goes well for the poor old guy! She is anxious to get the tumor out and I was very surprised at the schedule for tomorrow.

I think once in a while we all (us gals) need to have a day off and out. It helps to restore and refresh your being, and give you strength to keep up with the everyday things in life. I hope you all do it at some point...........I know some of you do it! Take care and God Bless.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Half Way and Cooler

GREETINGS!



I love this picture.........I think I posted it before because I wanted to show the changing color of the trees, but this time I wanted you to notice the "barns" or out buildings in the background. I remember the first time I went by those buildings on my way to this property, and how they reminded me of the "olden" days. They are what a homestead place should look like to me.

So, here it is Wednesday and the week is half gone! And it's much cooler today; this morning it was only 64 when I got up. The news said it was 87 in Tulsa, but with the heat index it felt like 84! Now that's a switch. We get another day of this and then it goes up a little, into the 90's, but NOT into the 100's. Praise the Lord.

I did some vacuuming today and baked some blackberry bread. I had gotten the recipe from a fellow blogger and had to give it a try. It's good, but I think I should have used more sugar as it is not sweet and is kind of blah. Next time I'll add more sugar. But I'm sure it will be great with my coffee in the mornings!

My brother cooked pork ribs for supper tonight on his little BBQ grill. He had a plate with ribs stacked sky high! They were very good, and he puts a rub on them rather than a BBQ sauce. Of course I had to make the potato salad to go with them and we had some spicy grillin' beans (that nobody liked) and red and green peppers sliced up. Was a good supper and nice to be sharing a meal together. Our place is the "supper" place as they don't have room in their 5th wheel for the 4 of us.

That's about it from Green Country. Hope you all are enjoying the last days of summer. Take care and God Bless.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A COLD FRONT?

GREETINGS!



I took this picture yesterday evening, in the hopes the few clouds would bring us some rain. But alas, it was not to be! However, there is a cold front that has come into
Green Country and we are supposed to have a low tonight of around 64. With a high tomorrow in the mid 80's. That will be such a wonderful relief! The 100+ days have about done me in. I know it sounds crazy to call the mid 80's the result of a cold front, but that's the way it is!




You might remember a few blogs back when I posted my abandoned houses, this being my favorite. Well, I made myself stop by it the other day and take a picture with all the greenery in place for the summer (as opposed to nothing in the winter). Isn't it an amazing difference? Doesn't look quite so harsh and foreboding. (see below)



I know I'm kind of skipping around here tonight, but bear with me. Saturday was a busy day. I took Lobo (my old dog) in to the Vet because of the horribly bad odor coming from him. It was getting so bad I couldn't stand to be in the same room with him. Dr. Cindy cleaned out the anal gland which is a common thing to do, but also called me into the room to show me something else. Inside Lobo's mouth, kind of on his upper right gumline, was a huge tumor! She said it was ulcerated and that's what was causing the smell. It looked just horrible. She said it could be removed, but she couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't grow back even bigger than it is now, or that it might be cancer, but she would not give him chemo due to his age. She put him on antibiotics 2x a day and told me to decide what I wanted to do. So far the smell has abated (the meds must be helping) and he seems to have a little more pep in his step, but nothing else has changed. I have decided to have the tumor removed and see what happens from there. I can't really afford to do any more than that. So, I need to make that appointment. I just feel so sad about the whole thing. He is the best dog I've ever had and I hate to see him in such misery.

Then when we got home, we find that the air conditioning in my brother's 5th wheel is out! We called the man who takes care of ours and he managed to work Tom in and came out to have a look. Luckily, he was able to fix it and that was a blessing, as hot as it was. We did have to re-wire the line out to his place with a heavier wire tho. Haven't had any trouble since. So when we all got settled down, we had some 3 layer jello w/mandarin oranges that Mary had made and it hit the spot. Later we had watermelon and I had baked a yellow cake w/chocolate frosting so we had that even later! I guess we were either drowning our sorrows or celebrating the fixes!!

Went to church and Sunday school as usual on Sunday. I had missed last week due to Ronnie being in Missouri and my car being at the Ford garage, so it was nice to see everyone. My friend Judy brought me a present that she picked up at either a junk store or antique store or 2nd hand store and I love it. (See below) The red looks great in my kitchen. She also gave Ronnie a quart jar of some BBQ sauce she likes. She is such a sweetheart, and so thoughtful. Now I'll think of something to give her back! Maybe a loaf of zucchini bread or blackberry bread.




Well, I'm having some difficulty getting this done and keeping it, so had better close for tonight. To my daughter who wondered where I was because I didn't post last night, I hope this fills you up! Love you. Take care and God Bless.

Friday, August 20, 2010

A Piece of Heaven On Earth









I wish one of two things: that I had a camera that took panoramic pictures or that I could somehow arrange these pictures in order, side by side, so you could see this property as a whole. As you look at them, it goes from right to left. In other words, the pond is on the right of the gate.

This place is about 1 1/2 miles as the crow flies from our place. I pass it when I go the long way to town. It is the most beautiful piece of land I've ever seen. Especially in the Spring, when everything is fresh and green, and maybe even damp. The name on the gate is Creek Wood. There is no house (that I can see) or animals on the land. It is just there, well taken care of and so inviting. It is the kind of place, that if I was the sort of person who wanted to scatter their ashes after cremation, this is where it/I would be.

It's amazing to me how I can become so attached to a piece of land that isn't even mine! I guess I only think of it as being God's. I dearly love it. I hope you all have a place like that, where you can just sit and look and dream and think and give thanks. Take care and God Bless.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Night Out

GREETINGS!

The two little munchkins belong to our pastor and his wife. We took him and his family out to supper tonight to show our appreciation for his help in unloading my piano the other day.


The little girl is Ms. Hayden, who is 5, and started her first day of school - Pre K- today. Or maybe she is 4...........not sure. But, I am sure of this........she is a talker and a ham! This picture is in front of the claw foot tub that is in the middle of the restaurant called Soda Steve's, and it is used to wash your hands before you eat if you so desire, or clean up afterwards! It's kind of a kookie place, but wonderful food. Salads and burgers and sandwiches, and cheese fries, home made rootbeer and floats, great, fresh ground coffee, etc.


This little guy is Deacon, and he just turned 1 this summer. Just learned to walk, and is a go getter! Takes off and climbs up steps and on chairs and all over. Also a ham..... loves having his picture taken.

It was a very enjoyable evening, with good food and wonderful fellowship. We are so blessed to have the beginnings of a great church family. It takes a while to build one, but Pastor Kerry and Cassie make it pretty easy and are a good foundation.

Oh! I got my van back today. Yay! The brakes work great, the check engine light is off, the brake light is off, and it's not telling me I'm low on brake fluid! They said it was ready yesterday and they called and left a message, but we didn't get it (the message or the car). Anyway, nice to have it back. Went to WalMart after picking it up and bought groceries and got medicine refills. So had a busy afternoon.

I have lots of things to be thankful for today, and will surely give thanks to the Lord. I hope your day was good. Take care and God Bless.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

A LAZY DOG SUMMER'S DAY

GREETINGS!

A lazy dog summer's day, or however that saying goes! Today was lazy! Even Patch, the lazy dog just laid on the floor and stayed cool.



My brother didn't come in yesterday as planned, but came in today about Noon. And up until that time I had done nothing but get dressed and play a few songs on the piano. Which seems REALLY loud in this much smaller space! But I still love it. After Tom and Mary came in and visited for awhile they went over to their place to unload the big truck and get comfy for a couple of weeks.

This evening my brother came over and he and I played a few games of Cribbage. Had been a long time since we played. Final score: Tom 4 - Teri 3. Oh well, there's always tomorrow! My oldest grand daughter left for Korea today. She will be teaching English as a second language over there for a year. I must call my daughter when I'm done here and comfort her, as I know she will be at a loss. Hopefully, will hear about my van tomorrow. It's 9 days tomorrow I've been without it!

So, I'm done. I hope you all have lazy days once in a while. Take care and God Bless.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

TA DA! MY PIANO IS IN PLACE

GREETINGS!


Well, this is how my piano came home. In the back of a Ford F-150 Pickup. Wrapped in moving blankets and a blue tarp and strapped down so it wouldn't move! There was no one here to help unload it last night - Ronnie got home about 6 p.m. - so it had to sit in the driveway overnight. I was so afraid it would rain, even though it was covered; But, the Lord took care of it and it was fine.

Ronnie was up bright and early this morning and went to town to buy some casters to make a piano dolly. He got it put together, took the hand rails off the stairs to the front porch and asked if I had muscles to help him! I knew I could not be of any help and I certainly didn't want him trying it alone, so I called our pastor's wife to see if Pastor Kerry could help. She called him at the church and bless his heart, he said he would help us. But, there was no one else he knew at home to come with him and help. Now Pastor Kerry had not been to our house before, and even though it is quite easy to find, he got lost! Thank goodness for cell phones; we finally got him on the right track and he found us. Ronnie was waiting for him at the bottom of our hill to show him how to go around and get here since he didn't have 4 wheel drive (which you need to come up our hill!). Anyway, the neighbor came home and he came to help also, so there were 3 of them and I wasn't needed after I shoved the dolly under the piano when they picked it up. But alas, the dolly wouldn't roll in the truck bed so they had to "muscle" it out off the truck onto the porch. Once on the porch it was pretty easy, but did produce a lot of sweat!


Isn't she a beauty? This is after I cleaned it up with Murphy's Soap Oil and a nice, soft, cotton rag. It sure takes up a lot of the room I made for it! Pastor Kerry had never seen a player piano "in person" and so he picked out a roll for me to play - a Frank Sinatra one. He says he and Cassie (his wife) and kids will be back to play more! He's such a young 'un. The picture below is of the rolls of songs that I have. Plus the bin below with Christmas songs in it. There are way over 100 rolls on these 2 shelves. Can't wait to play them all again!



So, all went well, I'm happy and so you just know everybody's happy! :) My van is still not fixed, the 2nd master cylinder they ordered is not the right one - again - so don't know when I'll get my car back. I'm so glad the Lord has taught me patience! Thankful is a better word than glad I think. My brother will be in tonight sometime for another couple of weeks. So it will be busy around here. That's it for now. Take care and God Bless.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Getting Ready

GREETINGS!

Happy Monday everyone! Hope your weekend was relaxing and/or productive. Mine was both of those things. Ronnie left about 5:45 a.m. Saturday and woke me up to say goodbye. He had a couple hours drive to somewhere in Arkansas to his SASS shoot. Then he called me about 6:30 p.m. and was in Troy, Missouri. So he made really good time after leaving Arkansas about 2:00 p.m. He said he was on his way to our friends house (where the piano was) and would spend the night with them and go to church on Sunday. He absolutely loves to rub it in to me that he gets to see our dear church family in Troy! I hear everyone was surprised, glad to see him, and do want to see me too. I had 3 Facebook posts stating so. Made me feel a little better. :)

Anyway, I spent the weekend cleaning and de-cluttering, getting a place ready for the piano. I washed windows and mirrors, vacuumed, re-arranged furniture, etc. It was somewhat difficult getting it just right. I had to take Ronnie's glider rocker out of the front room, and one end table. Now the computer room is over-crowded!

This is the wall where the piano is going - right in the middle of it I think. Will cover up some of those so 1970's looking mirrors! I'm sure our front room will look a little smaller, but it will do. Patch may have to quit playing ball in it tho!

b
I also baked some zucchini bread from the zucchini I had to buy at the store! This picture is mostly for my girls, as they used to just love my zucchini bread when they were young. If you would come visit girls, you could have some --- and a big, cold, glass of milk! :) Oh, I did laundry too. So you see, it was a busy weekend. I even found time to read and watch television. The hard part was going to bed at night. I guess at 65+ I'm still afraid of the dark! I have to leave a light on in the living room all night, and the TV on in the bedroom, and have both dogs sleeping on the floor by the bed. And my little pistol at the ready! Every time Ronnie goes away for a few days I tell him that will be his last trip...........never seems to work that way though. I don't know where that blue b came from and can't get rid of it! So ignore it. LOL

Ronnie called about 1/2 hour ago from Big Creek, OK which is about a 2+ hour drive from home. I'm so anxious for him to get here..........and wondering how we are going to get the piano off the truck and in the house. Will fill you in on that tomorrow!
And happy birthday to my grandson Tucker who is 6 today! In the meantime, take care and God Bless.

Friday, August 13, 2010

STRANDED!!

GREETINGS!



Happy Friday the 13th! It kind of held some bad news for me, but I'll get over it. See my van in the picture? It is NOT parked in the driveway today (like it is supposed to be). The Ford garage said it would be ready about 3:30 p.m. so around 2:15 p.m. Ronnie and I got in his truck and went to Gore to the bank (money for his trip) and then on to Sallisaw to pick up my van. I paid the bill ($182.63 - YAY!) and then they said the brake pedal was still going down to the floor and they would have to "bleed" the brakes some more before I could leave. OK. Well, around 5:15 p.m. they came in to the waiting room and said they couldn't get it to bleed and it was not safe to drive. They were waiting for some advice from the Ford corporation or something to find out what to do to fix it. Well, you know that never happened and so we had to leave the van there again, and no chance to pick it up until probably next Tuesday. With Ronnie leaving in the morning for Missouri, that means I am stuck here on top of the mountain without a car for 3 days.

Oh, the Jeep is here but it is not real reliable and/or safe either (it has master cylinder problems too), but will do in an emergency I guess. I just pray that the critters and I will be safe and everything will work out okay. I'll pray a lot! :)
Other than that, the day was good.

We are being totally bombarded by Hummers now..........at least 15 of them hanging out around the 2 feeders most all the time. And they drink over a quart of nectar a day! Amazing. Well, that's about it for this week. I hope you all have a good weekend, and find some enjoyable things to do. Take care and God Bless!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

August - A Prolific Month!

GREETINGS!



My American Heritage College dictionary states: pro-lif-ic adj. Producing offspring or fruit in great abundance; fertile. As you can see, I'm not talking about fruit! The picture is of my youngest grandson, Tucker. Who just happens to turn 6 this month!

I was looking at my calendar and see that I have 3 grandchildren having birthdays this month; Kris turning 19, Tucker 6 and Kayden turning 13. And, one son-in-law and 2 very good girl friends and another "adopted" grandson all having birthdays this month. Phew! Must have been cold Novembers............

Had a pretty laid back Thursday. Spent time trying to re-arrange my living room to make room for the piano come Monday. I think I've got it figured out so that I may only lose one end table. We'll see. Also made a fresh peach cobbler, and I hear it calling my name as I type. Had a dear friend from Missouri call this evening to tell me the Red Hat group was going to Branson on the 9th of Sept. and inviting me to come up and spend some time with them. It's a 4 hour drive from my house, and I told her I would think about it. Would be nice to see all my old friends, but I'm not crazy about driving that distance alone.

Well, Ronnie just brought me some cobbler and ice cream so I'd better go enjoy it. Hope your day was good. Take care and God Bless.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Wednesday Already!

GREETINGS!

Remember a few days ago when I was posting pictures of abandoned houses? Well, I finally got to stop and take a picture of the one below, that is one of my favorites! I would dearly love to go inside this one and check it out. I can see an American Indian family living there at some point in time; and who knows why they had to leave. This house has a barn and a couple other outbuildings with it, and white cows graze in the pastures just to the right of it. I don't know if whoever owns the cattle owns the house now too or what. Very interesting. I love it. Anyway, just wanted to share it with you now since I missed having it in the right blog!



I awoke about 4 or 4:30 this morning, and since I knew I had to leave home around 7 a.m. to take my van in, I could not get back to sleep! So it's been a long day. We got the van in to the Ford garage on time and waited for the diagnosis; which was I need a new master cylinder. They did not have one in stock so they filled it with brake fluid and said they would find one and call me. And perhaps could find one other than a Ford product which would be less expensive. So off we went to WalMart to pick up some water and a few things. Then to a newly remodeled restaurant to have breakfast and see if it was as good as it used to be (it was maybe even better). Then home.

The phone rang about 2:30 p.m. and it was the garage. They had found a master cylinder for about $100 less than the Ford brand, but needed to get a serial number or something off the old one to insure getting the right one. And if we could bring the van back and leave it they would have it fixed by Friday. Soooooo, back in the van and back to Sallisaw (which is a 30 mile one way drive) again, with Ronnie following to give me a ride back home. We told them we needed the van back by Friday as Ronnie was leaving for Missouri on Saturday morning, and they will try to meet that deadline. Don't have a total yet, but probably around $300, which is better than I had feared.

So, that was our day. Once again I have to thank the Lord for looking out for us! What a good feeling! Take care and God Bless.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

HELP! I'M CROAKING

GREETINGS!

Fan #1, can face either into the kitchen our out into the front room.
Fan #2 was moved into my bedroom along with Fan #3. Why, you ask? Well, yesterday afternoon our air conditioner broke! I'm telling you, with the temps hovering around 103 it didn't take long for our mobile home to become an oven. It was very hard for me to breathe, and thank God we had the fans. Ronnie called our repair man and they said they were booked up until today and would be here around 10 a.m. Well, that came and went and they didn't show up. It was so bad in here that I went out to the van and started it up and turned the A/C on in it. The dogs and I sat in the van, with a book and ice water for about 3 hours. Finally, about 2:30 p.m. they showed up.

I am so grateful that it only cost $89 to fix it. I had visions of a huge bill, which would not be good since tomorrow morning I have to take my van in to the Ford garage to be fixed. The brake light keeps coming on and it's telling me the brake fluid is low! We keep filling it up and it keeps leaking out............and I'm hoping against hope that will be a fairly easy, inexpensive fix too. What with Ronnie's trip to Missouri coming this weekend, we need some extra money. Why do things always seem to happen at the same time?????

The heat is becoming unbearable. The weather tonight said it was going up to 104 and there was no change in sight. Sometimes in times like these, it is hard to be grateful for the good things.......we kind of overlook them. So I'm going to try my best to keep a positive, grateful attitude! Take care and God Bless!

Monday, August 9, 2010

My Piano

GREETINGS!

 
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Let me tell you the story of my piano. That's it above, with me and Ronnie's grandson, Lake, playing! It's not a real good picture of it, but you get the idea.

In March, 1992, I pleaded with my husband (at the time) Cliff to go look at player pianos. I had always wished I knew how to play the piano, and this seemed the next best thing! He was not all for it, but since I was recovering from brain surgery caused by an aneurysm, and he was a sweetheart, he gave in; and away we went to see Mr. Kadwell. Mr. Kadwell used to work for Liberace in earlier days, taking care of his pianos, so he knew a few things about them. He started a business in a little Southwestern Washington town of refurbishing and refinishing player pianos. It was fascinating to see all the various stages of rebuilding and by the time Mr. Kadwell had explained the workings of the innards, Cliff was sold! Yay for me!! We bought this 1918 Story & Clark upright, player piano for $2795.00, completely rebuilt.

We also got a catalog of new player piano rolls, and proceeded to buy songs like crazy. We had Christmas songs, Patsy Cline, Kenny Rogers, Frank Sinatra, etc. etc. etc. And we had some of the best times playing and singing. And all the grandkids loved it! Well, then Cliff got lung cancer and died in 1996. In 1998 I met Ronnie and moved to Missouri and we got married. Alas, he did not have room for my piano in his little house. So, since my youngest daughter and her family bought my mobile home, I left the piano with her. She did not care for it and never played it. When I would go back to visit at first it played, but after a few years it did not function at all. The reason being because it wasn't played! of all things. The leather pouches had dried up or something. So in 2008 she sold the mobile and owed me $5000.00. But what to do with the piano? She didn't want it and couldn't sell it. So I said, "use that money you owe me and ship it to me".

So one day in August, 2008, are you ready for this?, a FedEx truck pulled into our yard to deliver my piano!! (We had moved to a bigger house.) The poor driver was alone, he had no idea what he had until he got to my house,the piano was wrapped in all kinds of packing material and crated, and he had no way of getting it off the tailgate of the big truck. And it was probably 100 degrees outside. Our landlord came to the rescue with this tractor with a forklift and took it off the truck and set it just inside the garage. It sat there for a couple weeks and then 4 big guys from church came over and they got it into the house. Hooray!! It cost $1000.00 to ship it FedEx.

Then, of course, it didn't work! Now to find someone to "repair" it and make it play again. I found one man not too far away, but he was busy for at least a year, and only did it in his leisure. I finally found a guy in Illinois, who came and did some work, but it was not complete nor satisfactory. Then I found another guy in St. Louis who came to the house (we lived about 60 miles north of St. Louis) and took it apart and showed me what needed to be done, and what the other guy did/didn't do. He took the part and replaced all the leather pads on the keyboard and I don't know what all. He said it needed new bellows, but in the meantime we could electrify it and get by. So that's what we did. Now I didn't have to pump it to play, just throw the switch! I would guess all in all getting it playable cost me another $2000.00. So now I have about a $6000 player piano. If I fix the bellows, that will be about another $500.00; but I'm happy for now.

In the meantime, I was going on EBay and bidding on old piano rolls and having a blast. It was great to be able to play my piano again. I have so many songs from the 20's, 30's, 40's and so on it's amazing. I have 4 plastic tubs full of rolls! HOWEVER, the next thing you know, we are moving to Oklahoma, with no house. Can't you just see the piano in our little 17 foot camp trailer? NOT. So my good friend in Troy, Missouri volunteered to keep the piano for me until such time as I would have a place for it. She loved playing it and said it was no problem. I'm glad of that, because it's now been at her house for almost a year and a half! BUT WAIT!! That's not the end of the story! Ronnie said that he would go to Missouri this weekend and get my piano!! I'm so excited. Now I have to re-arrange furniture and make room for it. That just puts JOY in my heart! When it gets here I'll post another picture for you.

Hope I didn't bore you with all the details. It just goes to show that if you are patient things always work out. I'm sure God has had a hand in all this. So you all remember to be patient, and see what happens. Take care and God bless.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Is It Summer, or Fall?

GREETINGS!

These pictures are the reason for the heading of this blog. It is the first of August, the 7th to be exact, and the trees and brush are showing us some brilliant colors. Colors you would normally see in late September, October, etc. All due to lack of moisture, a.k.a. rain!







After taking the pictures of the "colors" on my way home from the church yesterday I was elated to take this picture of the dark clouds! Behold!! We had a good 15 minutes of rain right after I got in the house. I mean it poured! Hopefully it was enough to give the trees a drink. Especially our little "orchard" that's struggling to take hold. Oh! You can see the tree colors in my cloud shot too........cool.

I missed a couple days of blogging due to not feeling too well. I am having a bout with carbuncles or boils. I took a couple Benedryl and was wiped out! Went to bed very early. But am doing better now. I worked at The Closet at church this morning from 9 to Noon. We are usually open the last Saturday of each month, but put in an extra day today for school shoppers. I cannot believe how many people and children we served today! It is such a wonderful thing to be able to have these children and parents come shop and not have to pay. And our supply of clothes never seems to diminish. The Lord is working at the Closet for sure!

This is just a small portion of The Closet and the clothes we have to offer. We had 55 families come and partake of the closet, and the number of items given away number in the 1000's!

Well, that's all for today. Need to go fix some supper. Hope you all had a great weekend. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Take care and God bless.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

PONDERISMS & STUFF

GREETINGS!

This is perhaps the biggest of all things to ponder! How did Ronnie and I and 2 cats and a dog live in this little trailer for 3+ months without killing each other or at the least, without destroying our marriage?! Oh yes, ours is the little trailer in between the big motor home and big trailer in case you were wondering. This is not where we were, but the place doesn't really matter; the square footage is the same!

If Jimmy Cracks Corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever come out?"

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement. Wonder why that is?

Getting old means you don't care where your spouse goes as long as you don't have to go along.

Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Did you know the state flower of Oklahoma is Mistletoe? You can actually see balls of it growing in trees. Amazing.

I notice in the obituaries in our little local paper that probably over 75% are 65 or younger - much younger. Kind of scarey. In Missouri they were mostly in their late 80's and 90's. Wonder what the deal is here?

Just some things to ponder.

This is a better picture of the candle-lier I was telling you about in yesterday's blog. Nice, huh?

Take care and God Bless.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Nature's Gifts

GREETINGS!


I'm sure some of my blog followers will know what these are, but I can guarantee that most, if not all, of my family on the West Coast doesn't have a clue! I first was introduced to Hedge Apples when I moved to Missouri. And now I've found them in Oklahoma! They are a kind of "green" bug repellent......they keep spiders and bugs away. So you put them in your closets or where ever you don't want bugs! Neat huh? The texture is kind of bumpy and they look kind of like a "brain".....and yes, they are that bright green. They grow on trees and you wonder how the branches hold up such big "fruit"........they are about the size of a grapefruit. You see them along side the roads, in fields, etc.





Around last Thanksgiving time, I decided I needed something in the house for Fall. So down the driveway I went looking. I found these "weeds" and thought they were really pretty cool. One has little white fluffy things on it and the other has white-ish spear like things. Kind of looks like a miniature bird of paradise flower. I put them in empty oil diffusion bottles and they have managed to stay intact even now, in August! Amazing what you can find and do with nature's things. One of my favorite things is to gather different kinds of weeds and make a big arrangement in the Fall, using an old crock or kettle or milk can or whatever you can find. And its been so hot, that now is a good time to start looking for the "spent" weeds. Cattails and even thistles are great if you can find them. The more different kinds you have the better! I did nothing to preserve these weeds, so feel pretty lucky that they lasted this long. They are not displayed where I took the pictures....they have better places in the living room!

This was my masterpiece a couple summers ago. A dear friend gave me an old electric chandelier that belonged to his mother. I took it and removed all the electric wiring and light bulb holders, added additional chain to hang it by, and bought 6 two inch in diameter and 3 inch high candles to put where each light bulb had been. Then we hung it up in a tree in the front yard of our cabin at the lake. I'm telling you, it was sooooo cool, sitting outside in the evening, the candle-lier burning, night falling, frogs croaking and crickets singing. Can't wait to get it up here when my back porch is finished. That was just embellishing Nature! I wish I could find my lighter pictures of it so you could see it better, but you get the idea.

Okay, I'm done for tonight. Did this twice as I messed up somehow and had to start over! Such is life. Happy weed hunting! Take care and God Bless.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Happy 60th, etc. !

GREETINGS!


On Saturday, July 31st, my husband, Ronnie, turned 60! It is nice to finally have him in the same "decade" as myself. I am over 5 years older than he, and so it does sound better to say he's 60 and I'm 65 rather than I'm 65 and he's 59! My cousin wanted to know if that made me a "cougar".............I don't think so. :) The pic of him was taken just before we left to go out for supper. That's one of the bright new shirts I got for him. I like it.

This sign marks the spot of our favorite restaurant in Muskogee -- The Rib Crib. They have absolutely the best wood smoked BBQ meats ever. Ronnie had the 3 meat combo platter with 2 sides of pulled pork and one of brisket, seasoned fries, cole slaw, toast, onion slices and iced tea. I had my favorite 2 meat combo platter of deep fried shrimp and pulled pork, with seasoned fries, cole slaw and those yummy dill pickles! Of course I couldn't eat it all, so Ronnie had even more pulled pork, which didn't hurt his feelings. Definitely not a diet meal, but soooooooo good. We had a great time and enjoyed a quiet celebration. Had fresh blackberry cobbler and ice cream at home instead of cake.

This flowering bush is part of the landscaping at The Rib Crib. It was so darned pretty I couldn't resist taking the picture. I'm not sure what it is, but I like it. My brother and his wife were supposed to go to supper with us, but just before time to leave he got a call from his work asking if he could take a load as one of the trucks broke down. Since it was (and is) so hot no work was getting done around here, they decided to take on the job. That meant they had to load the big truck with clothes and food, close down the 5th wheel, bathe the dogs and themselves, etc. And they had to be in Denver by 4:30 p.m. the next day. It was about 3:00 p.m. when they got the call, so there was not time to go to supper. They will go to Denver, then Portland, OR and then Toronto,Canada and then try for a load to Dallas or someplace close and come back here for another 2 weeks and finish up their vacation time off. Should be back in a couple weeks. The guys are hoping it will cool off enough to do some more work by then, but it really doesn't seem to be working out that way.

Today was 104 w/o heat index and the rest of the week is the same. I actually have a hard time breathing if I go out in this heat and humidity. I have a slight COPD problem from chronic bronchitis which doesn't help. We went for a ride in the Jeep on Sunday afternoon to get gas and I couldn't wait to get back home. Open air ride was not ideal in this weather!

I know the weather is very hot for a lot of you who read my blog, so I hope you are finding ways to "survive" and stay cool - er. Take care and God Bless.