Friday, October 29, 2010

Homestead Work

GREETINGS!

Yesterday was quite a day around here; they came to put in the septic and sewer line for my brother's place. They were here literally almost all day. These few pictures show the nice meadow that was torn up, the solid rock that had to be broken up that was a foot and a half thick, the trenches dug, pipe laid and finally the septic tank put in place. Who would ever guess it took so much work just to be able to go to the bathroom, take a shower, do dishes or wash clothes, etc.? The price we pay!

I know my brother is very excited about this getting done, as it really marks the beginning of making his "homestead" a reality. They only have 44 days and a wake up call before they retire and start working on the rest of their place. I sent Mary about 26 pictures and I'm sure she will post some of them on her blog, if you are following it.

That's all for today. Take care and God Bless.













Thursday, October 28, 2010

It's Birthday Time....Again

GREETINGS!



OOPS! That's what Jax is saying about the condition of my tulips!

Today is another birthday............my favorite middle daughter is 45 today! And can you believe I do not have a picture of her to post? Guess that says something about our picture taking abilities........or lack thereof. Anyway, today Ms. Karen Irene has caught up to her older sister, and they will be the same age for 30 days.

I was a little busy back in the 60's!

I wish you a Blessed day and many more days like today to celebrate. I love you very much.

Take care and God Bless.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Taking Care of the Critters

GREETINGS!

Today was our weekly trip to WalMart for food and the necessities of life! :) After getting home and putting stuff away, I sat down to rest and grabbed the receipt. Out of curiosity I added up the amount we spent on the "critters" -- just for fun. ha

This is Jax. I know the picture looks askew, but he was laying on the bathroom floor in front of the heat vent and I had to take the picture this way to get him all in! He is a BIG Tiger cat, with no claws whatsoever - front or back. And he loves to eat. He can hear me go into the kitchen no matter where he might be, and comes a runnin' to beg. We spent about $17 on him today.



This is little Miss Salli, the newest addition to our "critter" family. She was a freebie in the WalMart parking lot a month ago or so. She is about 3 months old now. She follows Patch everywhere and "talks" back to us every time we say something to her. Doesn't matter if its scolding or loving, she talks back to you. Her share today was about $13.



This is Patch, our Border Collie, cow herder, bird chaser, creek wader and general guard dog. He is about 16 months old now, and a very good dog. Very smart too; Ronnie house trained him in 3 days. His share today was about $13.




We also bought a new bird feeder, a sack of wild bird seed and a suet block to start feeding the birds for the winter. Their share was about $11. And the grand total was: $54.00. Isn't it amazing what we do for our pets?

And this darling picture is of my Lobo, taken about 3 years ago. The kitten was found on our porch one day when we came home from being at the Lake for a week. I don't know if someone dropped her off, or where she came from. Her eyes were glued shut with gunk and she was a mess. We cleaned her up as best we could and she grew into a nice looking kitten. The thing was, she must have thought Lobo was her Mom because she would not leave his side, literally. She walked this close to him at all times when he was outside. We called her Little Bit. I'm so glad I found this picture, and had a good walk down memory lane!



I hope all this wasn't too redundant for you. I just had to share my "kids".

Take care and God Bless.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Fall Decoration

GREETINGS!



Remember several days ago I posted this wagon and said it wasn't finished? Well, we went by this farm on Friday and this is the finished product! I love it.









Fall is truly a beautiful Season. I hope you all enjoy it.

Take care and God Bless.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Perfect Ending

GREETINGS!




The perfect ending to my special day was dinner (supper) out; and we went to The Olive Garden in Fort Smith, Arkansas! It is really a treat to go to an Olive Garden as the closest one is this one, which is about 50+ miles away. The next closest one is in Tulsa which is 80+ miles away.



And you can see our waiter was greeting us at the door! (Just so happened he escorted some patrons leaving as we were entering.)
I had my FAVORITE thing -- Calamari, along with all you can eat soup, salad and bread sticks. Now who could ask for anything better? Even Ronnie, who is not an Italian food lover, enjoyed his meal. He had stuffed mushrooms as his appetizer while I ate my Calamari. All in all, it was very relaxing, a nice atmosphere, and wonderful food. Even the drive was nice. Can't wait for next year! :)

Take care and God Bless.

Friday, October 22, 2010

My Special Day

GREETINGS!

Today is my special day, also know as my birthday! I have been blessed by Our Father to be 66 years old.

And the lovely woman in the picture below is the person God chose to be my Mother, and bring me into this world. I am so very grateful to have been blessed with His choice.



This picture was taken about 4 or 5 months before my Mom was taken back.
She was 91 1/2 in this picture, and left 1 month after she turned 92. I think she looked pretty darned good for that age; hope I can follow suit! My brother says I look very much like her now. Don't know if that's good or bad, considering I've a few years to go to 92!

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to my Mom for having me and loving me. Can't wait to see you again, Mom. I love you.

You all take care and God bless you with His grace.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Oh Nuts!

GREETINGS!

Gosh, here it is 3:00 p.m. and I'm trying to make a new habit; get my blogging done at this time everyday. I was doing it around 7 p.m. each evening, but Ronnie decided to come in the computer room after supper every night - about 6 p.m. - and play games and read SASS stuff and whatever. Anyway, it made my blogging time run later than I like, so I decided to change it!


Now, on to the nuts! This tall tree is a nut tree........I thought it was a Pecan tree, but after looking at the pods and nuts, I don't think so. The stuff on the ground looks exactly like the black walnuts.
















The tallest little tree in this bunch is a black walnut tree. I know for certain it is because I looked up the nuts and leaves on-line and it all matches. AND, you cannot crack them! Hard as granite.







This is what the nuts look like on the ground. If any of you are nut experts, let me know what you think they are. All I know is the squirrels are busy running back and forth and they should have a good supply stored up for the winter.


I was so excited when I first saw the nuts and trees, because when I bake I almost always add nuts to whatever -- cookies, brownies, zucchini bread, on top of cakes, etc. Well, burst that bubble! Does anyone have a fool-proof way of cracking black walnuts? If so let me know!

On a completely different subject, I have been wanting to tell you about the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians in Oklahoma. We visited their museum in Muskogee and it was very interesting. They are the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee and Seminoles. The reason they are called the civilized tribes is because they were not nomadic or fighting warriors. They were hunters and farmers and very domestic, with schools, courts, laws, etc. They also never lived on reservations, but have areas known as their Nations here in Oklahoma. They worked the boundaries out between themselves............now isn't that something! Some other people ought to get a clue about doing that - peacefully! The museum has wonderful history exhibits and art work and a great gift shop. I bought a beautiful black T-shirt done by a Cherokee female artist, which has a wispy horse and rider on it. The museum has a website - www.fivetribes.org - if you care to find out more. The picture below is of the front of my T-shirt and the caption is "To Parts Unknown" by Dana Tiger.



Oklahoma is very rich in Indian history. Our license plates say "Native American", or....if you are a member of one of the tribes you can get that license plate, i.e. "Cherokee Nation", "Choctaw Nation", etc. Lots to learn and see and do.

Take care and God Bless you with His grace.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

In Memory

GREETINGS!

This has been a hard day for me; we had to put Lobo down. The tumor was getting the best of him, and interfering with his eating and swallowing, etc., not to mention the stench associated with it.

I know that if there is a better place where animals go, Lobo is there! It is absolutely true that a dog (pet) offers you unconditional love, and you become very attached to them. He was my buddy, always sleeping on the floor beside my bed, watching me get dressed to see if I was going somewhere, and if I picked up my purse you'd better believe he beat me to the door. He loved to GO. And he knew the ritual without having to be told; Go potty BEFORE getting into the car! Get into back seat and look out the window. If you go into a store that requires a cookie when you get back in the car. And if you go into a restaurant, that requires you bring a bite of something out with you.

So you see, he was an integral part of my life, and I will miss him greatly. I wanted to post a couple pictures of him, but the image upload factor is down for maintenance this evening........maybe tomorrow.

Take care and God bless you with His grace.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Is This The Way The Current Generation Lives?

GREETINGS!

These are pictures of my "crybabies". Missy is standing in the corner because she threw a fit because she couldn't have the following outfit for work:



Black slacks.............$78
Print blouse.............$225
Belt.....................$38
Shoes....................$188
Earrings.................$38
Bracelet.................$17
Total....................$584

And for a day off outfit with no pants included: $1031 for a sweater, top, necklace, tote and boots. And just for "fun": Jeans .. $180 and Wedge shoes ....$265. No shirt included; total $445.

These quotes are out of the latest issue of Redbook. I forgot and burned the magazine before I took pics of the outfits..... darn! I'm wondering if this is how the younger people REALLY spend their money. If so, no wonder they have to move back home with Mom and Dad.


And Little Ronnie is standing in the corner because he went hunting and got too many "animals". But he was dressed in his best camouflage!



These are really inferior pictures tonight. There is something wrong with my camera and I have no idea what it is. Last night it wouldn't even take a picture and tonight they are blurry. Hurry home Mary........I need help!

We had a pretty big thunder and lightening storm in the middle of the night. And got some much needed rain. It wasn't really a gully washer, but at least the dust has all been settled. There is more due tonight I hear. My 4 legged kids don't like it at all. Speaking of them, I think Lobo is not long for this world. He hasn't eaten today and has been out on the porch for several hours without barking to be let in. That is extremely unlike him, on both counts. He just lays under the bench and that's it. It's a very sad situation. But I take comfort in knowing that we did rescue him from an abusive existence and he's had about 4 years of being spoiled and loved.

I hope all of you are spoiled and loved too. Take care and God bless you with His Grace.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Walking Sticks

GREETINGS!

Another week is on its way! The weekend was good; Ronnie went SASS shooting at a new group club in Fort Smith, Arkansas and really enjoyed it. He said there were 30 or 40 shooters and 12 stages, so it was more like he was used to when we lived in Missouri. That's a good thing. I used the alone time Saturday to do up laundry and read and then about 3 p.m. decided to head to Sallisaw (WalMart) to do my shopping.

It was nice going by myself.........I could take my time and really "window" shop, if you know what I mean. I spent quite a bit of time in the "drugstore" part looking at wrinkle creams and hair dye :) among other things. I did buy some color for my hair and some heavy duty facial moisturizer for my face. Lubricate those wrinkles!! Then it was off to the clothing section. I really need some slacks for winter and so I did some trying on and found a pair of black slacks and a really cute top. I have a hard time finding slacks that fit well because I seem to have lost my butt! It all moved around to the front I guess; anyway it makes pants be very baggy and not look good.


And the good part is the outfit was less than $30.00. Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about some outfits in Redbook! Anyhoo, my rationalization was that I was buying myself a birthday present.......works for me. (I'll be 66 this Friday.)


Now about the walking sticks. This first picture is one that was on one of our front room windows the other day. Pretty good sized guy I'd say. They are fascinating to me. Didn't have those in Washington state - at least that I ever saw.


The other walking sticks in the milk can are the ones I use to walk around these here acres! I thought it was neat to show both kinds! Doesn't take much to entertain me you see...

We went for a "last" ride in the Jeep this afternoon. Took Patch and Salli, which maybe wasn't such a good idea, and went to Gore. The shower head in my bathroom blew off Saturday so we needed a new one, and I needed some contact paper to reline my trunk. Got those things and then took the long way home. It was in the 80's today and I was actually HOT by the time we got home. We don't use the Jeep in the winter time, and it's getting close to time to tarp it for the winter, hence the "last" ride, which may or may not be the last..........depends on the weather!

I'm posting this early today so I can watch Dancing With The Stars in total tonight. It's almost 5:00 p.m. and time to fix supper so had better sign off. Take care and God Bless you with His Grace!

Friday, October 15, 2010

This and That 2

GREETINGS!

I think I'm a little early with this picture because I don't think the lady of the farm is through decorating the wagon! Last year this wagon was so decked out for Fall and Halloween it was unbelievable. I didn't get a picture last year, so was really anxious to get one this year; and I waited with baited breath for Christmas to come around and see what she did. You know what? She didn't do anything!! :( But it's good to see she is doing Fall again.



And I have this to say about these white cows, which you don't see many of on the Pacific Northwest coast, but are in great abundance here: Are they white because they stay cooler that way in the extreme Oklahoma heat of Summer? As opposed to Jerseys, Guernseys, Holsteins, (cows of color) ???



Weekend is here, hope you have a great one. Take care and God bless you with His Grace.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

A Typical Day

GREETINGS!

My morning started fairly early as we had to be at the doctor's office by 8:30 a.m. to get our flu shots. So it was up and in the shower before 7 a.m., feed the dogs and cat, and get Ronnie rousted out! We were home a little after 9 a.m. to we still had most of the day to do things.......like bake the rest of the chocolate chip cookies!

Before noon it was still a little below 60 degrees, and I was freezing! Had to put on my old corderoy(sp)big shirt and try to get warmed up. So I went out on the back porch and sat in the sun and cat napped. Got nice and warm too!


Ronnie finally hauled my little fireplace chimney over and set it up for me! I've been hinting for months now. After supper I went out and built a small fire in it just to see if it still worked, and it did. Can't wait until brother and wife get here and we can sit outside around the fire and visit. We'll need a fire in December when they get here! :) And by then the grass will have come back up through the dirt Ronnie spread around trying to level the yard some more. Talk about making for filthy, dusty dogs! Ronnie also was mowing the fields today, hopefully for the last time until Spring.

I found out last night that my youngest daughter has started posting to her blog again. It took me a while to catch up with her posts, but it's nice to have her back at it. Helps me keep up with her and the grandkids, as mine does for them. She is not too good about calling or staying in touch, so this takes the edge off that. It's not very personal, but at least I know what's going on! Sort of.

And that my friends was my day. I hope your's was productive. I thank God for this day. Take care and God Bless you with His grace.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Falling Down

GREETINGS!

I have no idea why this blog page is so messed up! Short of dumping the whole thing and starting over, I guess you'll just have to read it like it is. Not very nice looking, but the words are all there! :)


It is with heavy heart I post my blog tonight........Remember the pictures I posted of abandoned houses in the area? And this one being my favorite?



Well, I went by a while ago and after a heavy wind this past Summer, this is what is happening.




It just breaks my heart. Another piece of Oklahoma/American history going by the wayside.






I need to quit getting so attached to "things"! I guess it is inevitable that old houses will crumble, things will change, people will die, etc. In the meantime, I thank the Lord for so grace-fully preparing me a place that will not change! Amen.

Take care and God Bless you with His Grace.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

One of My Favorite Finds

GREETINGS!

Today I want to share one of my favorite finds with you. I used to deliver Meals on Wheels for the Senior Center in Troy, Missouri, and one of my clients was Maime ?. I can't for the life of me remember her last name, darn it. Anyway, she was in her 90's and lived by herself; she had a little dog and not much else. I always gave her a big hug when I took her her meal, and we became friends. Then they put Maime in a nursing home, and not long afterwards, she passed away. And not long after that, they had an auction at her house, and towards the end, in the basement, I found this trunk.


The trunk is metal with wood bands. I carefully washed and dried it and cleaned it up as best I could. I did not want to "paint" it or do anything else to cover its patina and beauty. It had been sitting in water at some point when the basement flooded a little, but wasn't too bad.



The inside of the trunk still has some of the original paper used to line it when it was new. A lot of it has been torn off or simply fallen off due to dryness and age. I have chosen to leave the paper on the inside of the lid, and it doesn't look bad. Ronnie had to put a new "false" bottom in it due to rust and termites, but it looks fine and is functional. I line the insides and tray with old fashioned looking contact paper. I use the trunk to store my seasonal clothes.


This is one of the metal "rosettes" that decorate the wood slats on the trunk.












And this is another of the metal decorations on the slats. In the middle of this design is an "X" type of mark, and on it is imprinted "patmark" and the date of 1880.
So this trunk is 130 years old!



Now, do you know what I paid for it???? A total of $5.00! Wasn't that a bargain?!
But guess what else? There was another trunk there also, and Ronnie bought it for another $5.00! It wasn't quite as cool as mine, but still it was nice. (He sold his to my girlfriend for $5.00 because she wanted it.) Inside the trunks we found an old harmonica and some other old things, but nothing much, really. I'm just thrilled to have the trunk and remember Maime. And contemplate where that trunk has been, and how it was used, and by whom! Isn't life grand?

Thank you Lord for bringing such treasures to me. Take care and God bless you with His grace.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Oklahoma Wild Flowers

GREETINGS!

Saturday afternoon I decided to take a drive all by myself; I wanted to go to Vian, a little town about 18 miles down the road, to see if there was still an outdoor rocking chair I'd seen at one of the antique/second hand stores. It would make a great chair for the back porch, and I should have bought it a few weeks ago when I saw it! But alas! It was gone............however, I got to see some of God's gifts to us on the way, and was able to stop and take pictures. They lose some of their beauty in the pictures, but wild flowers are one of the reasons I have come to love Oklahoma. There is such an abundance of them, and these are just a few.


These are little, tiny white daisy type flowers and bigger yellow ones. I don't know the scientific names, but daisies works for me!









I call this Goldenrod, and I don't know if that's the real name or not. But is every where this time of the year. Very pretty.









The sun was shining so brightly that this picture is all washed out, but it is a field with tons of "Goldenrod" throughout. Very pretty in real life.










These are little lavender daisy type flowers. They were everywhere along side the road. Beautiful.




I know these pictures are not very colorful, and probably not very interesting to you all. But when I see them I can't help reflect on all the beautiful things God gives us. Perhaps if I had a really expensive camera it would be better, but hey! I enjoy just clicking away!

Until tomorrow, take care and God bless you with His Grace.

Friday, October 8, 2010

TGIF - For Some

GREETINGS!

Well here is the first "daily picture"...........kind of a no brainer I think. This morning was quite busy for me as I did up last night's supper dishes, vacuumed and made this pumpkin pie - all before 10:00 a.m.! I had bought the pumpkin a couple weeks ago, and then found I didn't have any evaporated milk, so I bought 3 cans the other day, just to have some on hand.

My title for today is for those who still have to work for a living. I know I sure used to look forward to Friday and the weekend.......doesn't matter anymore though! After we watched All My Children :) we went to Checotah to Shelton's market to buy a couple weeks worth of meat. That seems to be the best priced place around, and they have the best selection and the taste is good. Used to buy meat at WalMart, but I think they raised their prices too much, and the meat is all pre-packaged. Shelton's still has the on sight butcher! Of course we also had to make a quick WalMart stop for 2 new door knobs since neither of us had a key for the back door, and we are using it now that the porch is done. This way the front and back doors use the same key to unlock, which is nice. Oh, I also had to buy another package of under panties! I bought some the other day and they are like 3 sizes too big! Don't know what happened, but at least I got the right size today. Guess the others will get donated to the Closet at church.

I was reading/looking at a Redbook magazine the other day and it had a page with different outfits; some for dress, casual, and some for work. Let me tell you, I never in all my life spent what they quoted on a work outfit when I was working. Those must surely be for people in NYC or very rich people! Amazing. We're talking anywhere from $200 to $400+ for one outfit for work. I know prices have increased, but really! And, did you hear Tony Curtis passed away? I assume most of you know who he is/was. When I was a teenager - late 50's, early 60's - he was the heart throb so to speak. And my girlfriend in high school went with a boy, whom she later married, who was the spitting image of Tony Curtis. I will never forget that, and of course he came to mind when I heard the news. I don't know what his life status is, but I wish him well........

And somewhere in here I must thank the Lord for all he has given me. The beautiful, sunny day, family, friends, creatures and most of all, life. I am grateful.

Well, I think I've rattled on enough for one day. Enjoy the weekend, take care and God Bless you with His grace.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Where Has The Week Gone??

GREETINGS!

I can't believe it's Thursday already. Seems like the week just began; I guess that's what happens when you have something to do each day! And there's been a couple of BIG things accomplished around here this week! :)


This picture has nothing to do with the week passing so quickly. But I couldn't resist taking it the other day. The pastures and fields around here are full of these flowers. I don't know what they are, but it cracks me up to look at them. If you have ever bought a "bunch" of plastic flowers at WalMart (or someplace similar) you will know what I mean. There is one stem and a whole bunch of blooms at the top. I swear to you, they look like you bought a plastic flower and stuck it in the ground!! I hope you enlarge the picture and see what I mean. Tooooo funny!

So, back to today. Went to Sallisaw this morning, our weekly trip to WalMart. Had to pick up my meds and get a few groceries. After we were finished we had lunch at Braums, then headed home. We finally got to unload the groceries using the back porch entry; much nicer! I made myself a commitment today too; I am going to try to take at least one picture a day to use on my blog. Besides making it a little more interesting, it makes my brain do some work thinking of subjects! So who knows what you'll be seeing! ha

Oh, been forgetting to tell you about my Lobo. I took him to the Vet Tuesday to see if his tumor had grown back, because he had a terrible odor again. And sure enough, it has. The Vet said it has only been 2 months since she removed the other one and she would not do it again so soon (if at all). She said the best thing we could do is to keep him on antibiotics 2x a day (it curbs the smell by fighting the infection). So I came home with a sack full of pills and a bottle of doggy mouthwash. It has not affected his appetite or eating, and he seems fine otherwise, so we just wait and let nature take its course. I notice he really has trouble getting up lately, and you really have to yell at him for him to hear you. Other than that, he's a sweetheart.

Church was great Sunday; the worship team is going great guns and I think attendance is even growing; and after church the whole congregation was invited to the fellowship hall for dinner for one of our members who was celebrating her 85th birthday. It was really a nice gathering and meal; there was brisket and pulled pork and baked beans and dressing and corn and various other side dishes, and a cake of course. Very nice. Things like that make me wonder how people who do not believe in the Lord, and have a church family, make it from day to day.

Well, you know what Thursday night is--------------Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice!! Gotta go. Take care and God bless you with His grace.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Another Project Completed

GREETINGS!


Well, here is the finished product! I took 3 days to complete the painting. No sense rushing myself or making these old bones hurt more than needed. I was very pleased with how well the curtains went with the wall color.



This is my "dresser", which is my pride and joy. I bought it from an antique store in Troy, Missouri several years ago. I think they called them a "chiffobrobe" back in the 20's. Ronnie put shelves in the "hanging" side for me, which works out quite well.


Here you can see how the color scheme of the bedcover goes with the wall color. Not bad really. I think about getting a new spread, but my Mom bought me this several years ago for my birthday.......... (also looks like my lens is spotted!)




This is my 1800's Alabama antebellum window that I made into a mirror; and an old oak dresser that belonged to one of my son-in-law's grandmothers. And of course my favorite sign that is waiting to be rehung!

I hope I haven't bored you too much. I know that I am very tired tonight after finishing the bedroom, and will save my other "news" for tomorrow. Take care and God Bless you with His Grace.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

HALLELUJAH! The Back Porch Is Done

GREETINGS!



Can you believe it?! The porch is done! In these photos there is still stuff on the porch that has since been removed.........like the exercise bike,and the blue tarp with 2 bags of hard cement in it. Looks much nicer. Of course there are dog dishes and bed, garbage can, BBQ, etc. But hey! That's what porches are for, right??


This shot is of the ramp at one end. I guess Ronnie was planning for our really old age! But it was a good idea........I think. It will be handy when I start parking the Van back by it and carry groceries and stuff into the house. Will save us steps as we will be able to go directly into the kitchen instead of traipsing through the front yard and up the stairs, onto the front porch and through the living room to the kitchen! Oh yeah, the 4 too short boards will be replaced with the right length! :)



This shot is from the opposite end, where you can see the openness of the porch. We decided not to put a railing around it, but leave as is. Kind of reminds me of an old West porch. I got busy and hung up all my wind chimes and welcome sign and another sign I had. Looks more "homey" now. I love it. What will I gripe about now? :)

Something happened to our Modem Friday afternoon, and that left us with no internet access until late this afternoon. So that's why there's been no blogging for a couple days. It's nice to be back on line. And Lorilee........I made a typo on the gas price; it's $2.55 a gallon. I'm glad someone called me on that (my cousin in Olympia).........although it would be nice if it was $1.55!

That's all I know for today. Take care and God bless you with His Grace.