Fun Times

Last week our oldest granddaughter spent a couple of days with us and boy did we have fun.  Shopping was first on our agenda and we did plenty of that.  This girl loves to shop.  She must have inherited that gene from me.  Her cousin, our oldest grandson, came over to our house and spent one afternoon with her. They are one year apart in age and get along and play well with each other.  One morning I volunteered to work at our church answering the phone while the church secretary was on vacation and our granddaughter went with me.  She found this cute hat and, of course, I had to take a picture.  I always enjoy these little visits with just the two of us. I hope she has great memories of these days.

Christine

A Dog's Life on a Ranch

Recently my husband and I bought this children's book for our three year old grandson. Charlie the Ranch Dog, by Ree Drummond is one of the cutest children's books I've read.  The story is about Charlie and Susie, two of the dogs on her ranch in Oklahoma.  The text centers around how these two dogs spend their day on a ranch. The illustrations are adorable.  It's a must read book with our grandson.

The pictures above are the real Charlie and Susie that are in her cookbook. I bought the cookbook last year and it includes recipes with how to pictures and  pictures of her children, husband and animals. If you haven't seen the cookbook you are missing out on some home grown Oklahoma recipes.  Our grandson loves the cookbook because of all the pictures of her dogs, horses and cows. It's one of his favorite books.  He was familar with Charlie and Susie, and when she wrote a book about them we just had to buy it for him.

If you have young children or grandchildren I highly recommend this book. I also recommend The Pioneer Woman Cooks for a great cookbook.

Happy reading and cooking,

Christine

The Fruits of My Labor - Part 2

These are pictures of our front yard. I've really enjoyed designing and planting flowers in the front and on the sides of the house. Each season of the year I have flowers blooming except, of course, winter.  Our home looks so drab in the winter and once spring comes I go crazy planting flowers.  The only drawback into having alot of plants and flowers is that it pretty much keeps us homebound during the summer months because it demands so much watering. Our summers are usually very hot and dry and two days away from home will cause major damage to all the foilage.  In the fall of the year the heat subsides and we are able to leave and go on vacation.  I know that I've inherited my love of flowers from my parents.  Growing up we had the prettiest landscaped home on the block. In fact, my dad worked in his garden until a few months before he passed away. 

Happy gardening,
Christine

I've Heard of Everything Now

Saw this on the back of a parent magazine. Now you can get a degree in this?

Smiles,
Christine

Oh No He Didn't!

A week before Mother's Day I asked my husband what he was getting me for Mother's Day. His answer didn't really surprise me when he said, "I wasn't planning on getting you anything, you're not my mother."  (He should have known that was the wrong answer.) I was hoping he would say, "What would you like?"  So, I dropped the subject and never mentioned it again.

On Mother's Day I got up and went into the kitchen to make coffee. I saw this from a distance propped up by the coffee pot. I'm thinking iPad, Nook, Kindle, etc.?

I'm thinking too, what a sweet husband I have and that I'm going to have to reward him some way. Unzipping the case this is what it turned out to be.

                                    Oh no, he didn't!!!!! TOOLS????

In a nice way I asked him later, why tools.  His answer, "I got tired of you using mine and misplacing them."  (Another wrong answer.)  What do you think I got him for Father's Day?

Smiles,
Christine

Blessed Chaos

I follow a blog entitled, Blessed Chaos. This morning I understand completely the meaning of the phrase.  Thursday night our oldest grandson spent the night with us and then last night the youngest grandson spent the night with us. They rarely stay at the same time. They are seven and three. Both love coming over and staying with us because Nana plays and entertains them the whole time they are here. That in itself leaves me exhausted. 

 Our son, daughter-in-law and oldest grandson came this morning to pick up the youngest grandson and all chaos broke loose.  They are all talking at the same time, gathering up belongings and trying to find things they just walked in with. The dogs are excited and playing underfoot. It's chaos.  By the time they are out the door it's like a loud, swirling tornado has swept through the house and the aftermath leaves a much shaken old couple in it's wake. With shaken nerves I collaspe in my chair with two Tylenol. 

                                                    grandchildren

Yes, I'm tired and yes, I enjoy the peace and quiet that as an empty nester I have earned. But, I know too, that I'm blessed beyond my wildest dreams. I have four beautiful grandchildren who have rocked my world and given me much joy. So, I thank God for the blessed chaos in my life.  But...I can only take it in small doses.

Christine

Rocky's Antics

Mama, can I tell them the news?

I can?

I have a new look. My mom told the beauty shop lady that I needed a new doo. Something that would be cooler for the hot summer months. She told the lady that she still wanted my hair a little longer around my face. So, I got a haircut called the Western Highland Terrier cut. Now, I ask you, do I look like a terrier from the Western Highlands? Duh!  I look like a sissy with a skirt on. News flash...I'm a boy. And to make it worse, Rowdy is laughing his head off. He'll never let me live this down.

Something Sinister This Way Comes

A few days ago I was sitting out on our screened-in deck reading when something caught my eye.  A large black spider was crawling along stalking something.

Looking around more closely I saw the object of it's interest.

An unsuspecting brown moth was the spider's target.

Eventually, the moth realized it was in danger and fluttered away to another part of the screen.  The spider doubled back and slowly worked it's way to the moth once more. 

The spider was an experienced hunter because it was slowly sneaking up on the moth. Then when it was close enough to the moth, it quickly made it's move and attacked the moth.  Before the moth knew it, it was in the jaws of the spider.

The moth put up a good fight but was out-matched by this persistent adversary.  Looking more closely I realized what kind of spider it was.  A black widow was holding on to it's prey and wasn't letting go. I was thrilled to catch mother nature at work on camera.  A once in a lifetime event!

Christine

Rowdy Says

I never let my guard down.

The Fruits Of My Labor - Part 1

For those of you who do not like gardening or working in the yard, you might want to pass on this post.  I am a lover of flowers and all things that involve digging in the dirt.  When spring comes my house indoors goes to pot for you will find me outside for the next four months.  I find yardwork relaxing and a great stress releaser. (I have never felt that way about housework.)  I have finally finished my flowerbeds and garden and now I plan to relax and take in the view.  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of all the work I've done.

                                            The Backyard

The weather has been so hot that I've had to water my potted plants every day and the garden every other day.  Flowerbeds get watered twice a week when it's this hot.  This pretty much keeps me busy most of the summer.  Even though it's alot of work keeping everything green I still enjoy growing flowers and veggies. In a few days I'll show off our front yard.  I would enjoy seeing what others have done to their yards. Please share.

Christine

WELCOME to my Garden

A few weeks ago I posted about the new garden we put together on the east side of our home. Grass wouldn't grow there and I had seen an idea from a magazine on how to make a shade garden that I thought would work.  When we finished it I knew I had to have a bench at the end of the stone path. My husband found one last week and bought it for me for our wedding anniversary.

Over time I'd like to add outdoor yard ornaments but they have to be something that really catches my eye. I do have some different kinds of rocks that I have collected from different states we've visited scattered around and there is a wooden butterfly on the left side that was given to me many years ago from friends. What do you think of an arbor at the entrance. Too much? For now this is the extent of the project. I'm happy with it. 

Christine

Rocky's Antics

I guess I'm in trouble now, even though it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Rowdy Says

What?

Antique Auction

My husband and I decided to head over to Haskell, Okla. to the Haskell Antique Auction on Saturday morning.  We've talked about going to the auctions for years but just never made it over. With nothing else to do we decided this weekend was the time. They are held every two weeks during the summer months and then once a month during the rest of the year.  We had seen auctions on HGTV and wanted to just sit and see how it works in person. We've been to estate auctions at homes before but never an auction house.  We went an hour early to view all the items that were going to be put up for auction. There were over 6,000 items to be auctioned off on view. From antique and modern furniture to cars, guns, tools, fishing and camping equipment to housewares and dishes.  Everything you could imagine was there for auction.  We stayed four hours and it was still going strong when we left.

I had to try a few times bidding on different things just to get my feet wet, so to speak. This cake stand with lid is my only purchase of the day. It is glass with scalloped edges and has three small legs it stands on. Paid $7.00 for it. My husband bought our oldest son some camping cots and camping fold out tables. I think a days' outing for less than a hundred dollars is pretty good entertainment.

In two weeks there will be another auction at the same place and this time they are auctioning off items from an antique store that is going out of business. Instead of having a garage sale this summer we have decided to clean out our garage and take all our stuff over to be auctioned also. So, in two weeks I'll have another blog on how we did.

Christine

Red Door

The picture above is of our front door last summer. As you know a few weeks ago I ask all my blogger friends to recommend a new color for it.  Most everyone suggested red. Exactly the color I was thinking. I took the plunge and painted our front door red. We love it!

The color is Red Garnet by Glidden. We put a new foot plate at the bottom and eventually we'd like to get a new door handle.  This color really makes our front door pop.

From Memorial Day til after July 4th I decorate the front porch with red, white and blue. 

In the last week temperatures have been in the low to middle 90's and very humid here in northeastern Oklahoma. I hope this isn't a foretaste of what's to come for the rest of the summer. I hope it's cool where you are and you have a great weekend.

Christine

Anonymous????

What is up with blogdom?  I've been trying to post comments on different blogs and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When it does work it will post comments from anonymous. Is anyone else having problems posting comments?

On another note, yesterday was a special day. My husband and I have been married 38 years. Guess who forgot?  Hint, not I. And this is after I reminded him last week. He wasn't in too much trouble though because I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten. Especially when I was still teaching. Everything was so hectic at the end of the school year that there were years I didn't remember and he would. He did make up for the slip with taking me out to dinner at Red Lobster and buying me a bench to go in my new garden. I guess I'll keep him a few more years.

Christine