Birthday Wish - Pictures -- Rain

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August isn't over with and neither are the birthdays. Today is Frank's sister's birthday.

Happy Birthday Nette! Love You!

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The other day when I was taking pictures for the Friday Shoot Out (see previous day's post) I took a few more pictures that didn't turn out too badly.

Mama gave me part of her Angel Trumpet plant a few years back. It doesn't grow in our yard as well as it does in her yard. It has had a lot of blossoms this year though. It is most fragrant in the early morning and in the late evening.

This little bee was on the Speedwell (Veronica spicata) blossom. I think it is a honey bee, but I have called some critters bees before and they turn out to be a bee imitator, so I will stick with little bee. :-)

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I awakened this morning just before five to the patter of rain upon the roof. It has to be raining pretty hard for me to hear the rain over the window air conditioner. Soon the rain was pouring and it poured for a least an hour with the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning. We need the rain, but it would be nice for it not to all come down at once. More rain is expected later today.

So it will be a day of piddling in the house. Perhaps I will catch up on that pile of paperwork that is on my table. Perhaps I will read the book that I bought months ago or do both.... decisions... decisions :-)

Rain - Shopping

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Much needed rain came this afternoon by way of thunder storms. Our electricity went out for an hour or so. It has blinked off and on since. I hope it stays on. It would be hard getting to sleep with it so warm. How did I ever make it through most of my childhood without air conditioning! I am a spoiled child :-)

I did go with Frank to Wal* Mart this morning. The shopping was not bad. The buggy only squeaked a little. It was not pleasant standing in the checkout line. We were in the 20 items or less lane and of course it was slower than a hound dog in August. While waiting someone did announce that another register was opening up... I think it was #21. We are at register #3. Just not worth the walk over there and be the same number in line. I think it was about 8 am that we were checking out.

The trap was tolerated better today. I made it until 5:30 pm :-) No I will not talk about anything and everything in my blog... just some things :-)

Tomorrow will be laundry day and I'll see how much of it or any of it I can do. I did fold some laundry one-handed the other day. Some things I know I won't be able to fold.

One day I'll do something exciting again... so hang in there with me.

Easter Crafts - Rain

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I was thumbing through the online version of Good Housekeeping and came across these cute decorating ideas.

They have printable templates and directions at the article: Easter Paper Crafts .


There was also this video on how to make Tissue Paper Daffodils. They show them being used as a napkin holder. I think they would look lovely as the finishing touch on a gift package.

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It is raining buckets here right now. That means more flash flooding in some of our area. Our home is on high ground. Many of our county and city streets / roads will have water across them. People will go around the barricades that block these areas and get stuck in the waters. In the 500 Year Flood we had back in 1994 a man decided to disregard signs and barricades and he and his family perished in the waters. Four lives unnecessarily lost. I pray that people will listen to the warnings. It only takes six inches of rushing water to sweep a car away. Tomorrow they say will be severe weather again in our area. So more flash flooding.

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I'm off to have my endoscopy in a bit. I may be a bit loopy when I get home. Frank was that way for about 4 days after his endoscopy last year. It was funny... every day he asked me what the doctor said. On the third day I gave him the summary sheet the doctor gave me, so maybe I wouldn't get asked again... but the fourth day I was still asked. This was very unusual for Frank. He is usually back to normal by the afternoon. When he sorta had his colonoscopy a few months later he talked to the anesthetist and told her what happened last time, so she didn't give him as much of "the good stuff" that time.

Between being loopy and thunderstorms I may not be online for a couple of days... we'll see :-)

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Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life. -- John Updike

After the Rain - Ramblings - White Flowers

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We had a stormy day yesterday. Five inches of rain fell at our home. Surrounding communities had as much as nine inches of rain. I think the Florida panhandle,the SE corner of Alabama and extreme SW corner of Georgia got even more. We had so many alerts for severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. There was a lot of flash flooding.

The rain has only left a few blooms upon the dogwoods and azaleas in our yard. New growth is happening... Tree leaves are appearing; Canna Lilies are rising up and so are the mexican petunias and the angel's trumpet. In a few weeks they will bloom. The seeds I scattered in a pot are popping up. I found some seeds I harvested a couple of years ago. I know coleus is one and I think the other is probably zinnia. The pot grew vinca (periwinkle) last year and usually they reseed themselves.

I want to go sometime this week and look for flowers for my flower pot garden and for the flower beds.

From Mama's yard; Sweet Mock Orange.
My sister-in-law calls it English Dogwood.

This morning we did a little shopping at Wal*Mart. Frank drove; his first time driving since his surgery. We went in the big truck, a diesel Chevy Silverado. Frank said he felt comfortable driving it.

Yesterday I fixed slum goodie, my version of chili. I simmered it for about four hours. You can simmer for just 30 minutes if you want, but it is best if it is cooked slow for a few hours. Frank said it was the best I had ever made. I agreed... but I have no idea what I could have done differently than I usually do. There was cornbread left from the day before and that really went well with the slum goodie. Today was left overs and I don't know how the slum goodie got even better, but it did. There is still a bowl full left and I wish I could share it with y'all, but Frank has laid claim to it :-)

I'm not sure what is for dinner tomorrow. We eat our big meal at midday, so I call it dinner instead of lunch. Lunch is suppose to be light, just like our suppers are suppose to be. I read somewhere that breakfast should be our biggest meal of the day and then our midday meal lighter and eat even a lighter meal in the evening or nothing at all. I just can't bring myself to eat a big breakfast.

I do plan on slow cooking a chuck roast tomorrow, but we will eat it Tuesday and Wednesday... the days I won't be able to cook because of doctor appointments. Oh.. I forgot to tell y'all. The gastroenterologist's nurse called us Thursday and she said the doctor didn't want me to wait until the end of April for the endoscopy. So now I have it on the schedule for this coming Wednesday.

Frank is at his parent's home doing their taxes today. So I dusted and vacuumed and got very tired. I took a break and called Mama. Her right leg is still swollen. I'm hoping she will make an appointment with the doctor. We had a nice talk. Then I mopped the floors.

Oh last Friday we called Sonja for her birthday. She was doing okay... as she says "hanging in there". Brian was fixing her tacos for her birthday supper. She said she had a good day. Thank y'all for all the birthday wishes for her.

From Mama's yard; Spirea (I think)

I have had a couple of comments on my Makes Three Coconut Pies recipe recently; which is a simple and great tasting recipe. One comment was from Linda C of Seasons of Life who has a blog that I love visiting. Nazarina A of Giddy Gastronome also left a comment. Nazarina's recipes look absolutely scrumptious. Her presentations and photographs are superb. I hope you will pay her a visit.

From Mama's yard; Oxeye Daisy

Garden Magic
This is the garden's magic,
That through the sunny hours
The gardener who tends it, Himself outgrows his flowers.

He grows by gift of patience,
Since he who sows must know
That only in the Lord's good time
Does any seedling grow.

He learns from buds unfolding,
From each tight leaf unfurled,
That his own heart, expanding,
Is one with all the world.

He bares his head to sunshine,
His bending back a sign
Of grace, and ev'ry shower becomes
His sacramental wine.

And when at last his labors
Bring forth the very stuff
And substance of all beauty
This is reward enough.
-- MARIE NETTLETON CARROLL

Frog - Rainy Day Memories

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So far we have had about an inch and a half of much needed rain. It has been the good kind of rain for the most part... the kind that has time to soak in. My chives look like they have grown six inches. The potato leaves have popped up in the garden pretty good. The carrot leaves are looking a lot like my hair :-D

The rain made me think of tree frogs. I think this one is a squirrel tree frog. It was sitting on one of the elephant ear plant leaves last year. I blew the focus on this one, so I tried to turn it into art :-D For a larger view right click on the picture and open in a new window or tab.



Rainy days bring back childhood memories. On rainy days we played card games. We played Smut, Gin Rummy, Spades, Spoons and War. There was a game we played with two decks of cards, but the name is not to be found in my brain today :-D We sometimes played Match-Game with the cards too.

We played a lot of Monopoly. I don't think we ever played by the rules. We played checkers and on the flip side was Backgammon, but I never got the hang of that game. Do you remember Chinese Checkers? That one was fun too. There were more board games... Clue and Casino Royale and a few I can't remember the name of.

When my sister and I were younger in age we would sometimes play bowling on the front porch... plastic milk bottle pins and plastic bowling balls. As we bowled and heard thunder in the distance we would recall the story of Rip Van Winkle and say that it was Rip Van Winkle up there bowling.

We did sometimes play in our rooms with our dolls and tea set. My sister and I also played jacks. My three brothers played with their soldiers and cowboy and indians in their room... yep five children divided amongst two very small bedrooms. My brothers were in really close quarters. The only times we were allowed to play in our rooms were when it was raining. Everything was put away before time to get ready for bed.

We also did jigsaw puzzles and crossword puzzles together. Sometimes we looked up crossword clues in our Funk & Wagnall encyclopedia set that we collected from the A&P grocery store. We also had a huge Webster dictionary... real thick and probably weighed in at 5 lbs. I think the pages of it were collected from one of the grocery stores too.

Now didn't me and my siblings have a great time on rainy days...



If you hold a four-leaf shamrock in your left hand at dawn on St. Patrick's Day you get what you want very much but haven't wished for. -- Patricia Lynch

Three Weeks After Surgery

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I'm doing great! I saw my surgeon yesterday. My bandages are off and the wounds are healing. I still have to behave myself and not do bending and twisting. Frank still has KP duty :-) I will start helping him as I can. I took my shower yesterday without the use of the shower stool. Frank says it is staying in there with me a while longer... just in case. I am doing well with my walking. I do one long walk a day and two or three small walks around the yard. The long walk is down the street and is over a half mile, but less than a mile.. one day I need to measure it. More good news... my stomach is doing a little bit better.

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The weekend was rainy, but nice. The rain was much needed. It also helped me catch up on my sleep. Today I think the high temperature was 53°. The sun is shining and there is still a breeze, but not as much as yesterday.

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Our daughter called today and still no job. She has an interview tomorrow. Her boyfriend is still without a job. Please pray with me that they and others soon find a job.

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I tried to start my embroidery project again, but I can't seem to focus on it yet. I'll try again tomorrow.

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Last night we watch Celtic Women on PBS. I love listening to them.

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I need to catch up on my reading of blogs and looking at pictures. I'll do that tomorrow.

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Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. -- Larry Wilde

Rainy Day In Georgia

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It is a rainy day today. Which is great, we haven't had much rain this month. The rain is light and soothing. The only bad things about the rain is that our joints hurt and it makes it a bit difficult to go for a walk. I had made it to three good walks a day by Wednesday... then yesterday I got only one in. My three good walks probably add up to a mile. Today I may only get in about 5o laps up and down our hallway.

Our son and daughter-in-law came to eat with us yesterday. Frank did a great job with the meal... everything was delicious. I tried not to eat too much in order to help my stomach not to be irritated. I did well with the meal that was served at about 1 pm, but the evening snack of pies is what my stomach didn't like.

Frank asked me what I wanted to eat today. He was hoping for brunswick stew made with the leftover pulled pork. I told him just some rice and maybe a little meat and a veggie that doesn't have much seasoning. Rice seems to calm the burning of my stomach.

Enough of decrepitness :-)

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Most of the time when our daughter-in-law visits she winds up taking a nap on our couch. She says our couch just pulls her in. Yesterday, although both of us were sleepy, we talked together a lot and naps were forgotten.

In one of the conversations with Tish she mentioned that she had some containers that cat litter comes in and was going to paint them and use them for storage for her craft projects. A light bulb went off... I have some old craft books she might like. I showed her the box of books. Her eyes lit up. She took about half the books. Yeah! I got rid of stuff that I no longer use. My son was mumbling about finding places for more crap as she took the books to the car :-)

I always give my son books I've read so he can take them to a book exchange store. He would only take two of the books this time. He said that John Grisham is so popular that the store has too many copies of his books. One of the books he did take was a John Grisham book that he hadn't read, The Innocent Man. The other was Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Someone had recommended the book to me and it is a good book, but had more curse words in i t than I'm used to. I need to find more reading material... but just might try more of Mark Twain short stories. Mark Twain's short stories are hard for me to read.... much different than his Tom Sawyer book. The short stories contain a lot of politics and I don't enjoy politics :-)

Here our elections aren't over yet. We have a senate run off and a couple of judge run offs. The senate campaigns are nasty and I don't really like either candidate. Frank all ready did early voting and got me an absentee ballot... so one thing for me to do today.

After dinner my Mama and brother came by and so did Frank's parent's. So for a while a lot of people in the house. Well... for our small house. It was a great day and we were both exhausted by the end of the day.

All y'all make it a great day!

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Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. -- Anthony J. D'Angelo

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Show & Tell Friday and Rain!

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Today for Show & Tell Friday I decided to show y'all that I do sometimes do a bit of work with a needle... not just the camera :-)

This first one is a crewel embroidery that I did so many years back that I don't remember when. For some reason I haven't tried crewel embroidery again. (A bit of flash glare hitting the lower part of the picture & frame.)

Click on picture for a larger view.

This next one is a counted cross stitch. I like it because it is how my DH and I feel about each other :-)

Click on picture for a larger view.

I have a dresser scarf that I started cross stitching on a few years back... can't exactly remember why I put it down... maybe it was when I injured my shoulder or wrist. LOL... I just keep falling apart. I'm going to get the scarf out and see if I can finish it.

It started raining last evening and rained all night long.. a nice steady rain most of the time. It has continued through the day and by 4 o'clock this afternoon we had about 4 inches of rain. We haven't had rain like this in a long time. It is very much appreciated rain.

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Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet. -- Roger Miller
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