A white Christmas

Look what was outside my door on Christmas morning!  We had a

lovely white Christmas, filled with fun, food and great gifts. 

"This one has my name on it!"

"Look what I got.  It said on the tag 'one size fits all'!

Do you think I fit?"

"Unwrapping presents is exhausting work!"

This scene greeted me outside my kitchen window this morning.

 Another scene just to the left of the one above.  Cold, but beautiful!

The sun came out in the afternoon and the heavy frost soon melted 

away.  It was beautiful while it lasted.  

Thankfully the highways in the area remained clear for holiday travels.

Hope your Christmas was wonderful, too.  See you in a few days!

Until next time...

Christmas present and Christmases past

How's the Christmas preparations coming along at your house?  I've done all the decorating I'm going to do.  Above are a few little Christmas touches around the house.  The two pics on the left and the one in the middle of the glass jug are more of my Never the Same purchases.  I couldn't resist the old sled, makes me think of winter's past when I was young and would go sailing down the snowy hill.  Those were the days when we seemed to have more snow than we do now.   The star ornament is from Silver Dollar City in Branson and is supposed to be wood from an olive tree in Bethlehem.  In the upper right are what we call our Silver Dollar City trees...a mini version of the real thing you see all over the park at SDC.  And finally, the nativity is a special treasure given to me by my younger brother many years ago.

Christmases Past

My children many, many years ago.  They have always made Christmas fun and as you can see from their expressions...they always had fun!  There are so many memories of Christmases past that it would fill a book.

Here are two guys I really miss at Christmas.  My two brothers...they were always a lot of fun to be around at Christmas, too.  The younger brother on the left gave me the Nativity set.  This photo was taken many years ago, but fond memories still remain. 

I have a lot of wonderful memories of Christmases past and other photos I'll have to share another Christmas.  One of my favorite memories was of the time when my little brother went to the door leading to the room where the tree was and where Santa would be leaving his gifts.  He was only 4 or 5 at the time and he opened the door just enough to peek in the room and went running back to the table to tell everyone that he saw Santa!  I don't know who he saw...but he certainly believed he saw Santa!

Christmas is a fun, magical time for children and for grownups, too.  But, we remember the real reason for the season and that is the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.  May the joy of this special season fill your hearts with love, peace and happiness this Christmas and throughout the New Year.

Edited to add:  Click here Mary at Little Red House for more mosaics.

Until next time...

Cookies coming soon...

My kitchen survived my efforts to set fire to the oven...just kidding!  If you read my last post, you know what happened when I set the self-cleaning cycle on my stove.  I'm happy to say that I did get it cleaned and it is now awaiting those cookies and breads I've yet to bake.  Some of that will be done this weekend.  Here's a cookie recipe that we all loved and was given to us at a Christmas Open House a few years ago.  It is very quick and simple to make, you don't want to ice these.  I'll share the recipe for the iced sugar cookies next week. 

Carolyn's Home Tour Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup Crisco

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup powered sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Mix the shortenings and sugars together and add the egg and vanilla.

  Stir in the flour and baking soda.  

Roll into 1 inch balls and press down with a fork.

Sprinkle with colored sugar.
Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet

 in a 350 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Happy Holidays and happy baking! 

Until next time...

Old Scrooge

 

Do you know one?  An old Scrooge?  You know...Bah! Humbug!  I confess to feeling a bit like the ole guy today.  Just about everything I touched today turned into a disaster.  I'll just tell about a few.

First of all, I started watering my plants.  Reaching up high atop my Hoosier cabinet in the kitchen where I have plants and Christmas decor, I grabbed a plant and didn't realize that a smaller plant that I'm starting in a vase of water was caught on the larger one.  It came spilling over the top onto some things I'd rather not have wet.

Next, after the cleanup and getting the rest of the plants watered, I decided to turn on the self-cleaning feature on my oven.  I checked the oven and decided (wrongly) that it didn't need any pre-cleaning, as it didn't look too bad to me.  Well, about 10 minutes after it started heating up, I happened to still be in the kitchen and looked at the oven and saw flames all over the oven.  I've done this before and this was the first time I ever saw flames!  So, off goes the oven and it's still awaiting cleaning.  I was too aggravated by then to tackle the job.

And besides all the mishaps, my computer didn't have internet connection all day.  After calling my internet provider, it was determined that I had a bad modem, so a trip to WalMart in the next town was called for.  Then it was on to the setting up of this modem where the real fun began.  After talking to 3 people, who I could barely understand, I'll just say that I finally have internet connection.  But my good temper hasn't quite been restored yet! 

I hope to get my oven cleaned tomorrow, and the Christmas cards done.  It's still bitterly cold here and we have a little snow on the ground which makes it look a lot like Christmas!  Cheer up, Scrooge....talking to myself here.  Tomorrow is another day!  Hope it's a good one wherever you are.

Until next time...

Let it snow!

 

Oh the weather outside is frightful.......let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

It's snowing and so very cold and windy tonight (it's still Sat. night to me)!  I've finished wrapping gifts tonight, except for a couple of things I still need to get.  The decorating is done and next on my to-do list is addressing Christmas cards.  If I'm not careful, I just might be ahead of schedule this year...that would be a change! 

I can't decide whether to do a Christmas letter this year or not.  It is a time saver when you have several people you like to write a little note to and usually end up writing the same thing in each one.  Do you do a Christmas letter to go with your cards? 

Also, to do is the baking of cookies and some breads.  I've gotten a couple of new recipes that I want to try out.  One is a Cranberry Cake recipe that I saw over at Jackie's blog that looks very yummy.  She got the recipe at Taste of Home and I know their recipes are always good.  Do you have a favorite tried and true recipe that you have to make every Christmas?  I'll share my recipe for my sugar cookies that my family always look forward to another day, I didn't realize how late it's getting.

Have a wonderful Sunday and stay warm! 

Until next time...

A Christmas meme

I saw this meme over at Vee's yesterday and thought it might be fun to do.  Join in the fun, too!  Just copy and paste the questions and put in your own answers...easy!

1. Hot Chocolate or Apple Cider?
        Hot chocolate

2. Turkey or Ham?
        Turkey.  And ham if there will be several for dinner.

3. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree?
        We have a slimline fake that doesn't take up so much space in the living room.  We have a tree downstairs, and it is usually fake, and several small ones scattered around the house.  I use fresh greenery for a centerpiece that I cut from our trees and to decorate with outside.

4. Decorations on the outside of your house?
        Cedar cuttings from our own woods shaped into swags for the lights and also to put in pots with red berries or bows.  Usually lights, but not yet this year...we may skip them. 

5. Snowball fights or sleddin’?
        Sleddin'!

6. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping?
        On a rare occasion.

7. Favorite Christmas song?
        O Holy Night

8. How do you feel about Christmas movies
        We usually watch Christmas Vacation every year for the laughs.
 
9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?
        It's never too early, I love Christmas music!

10. Stockings before or after presents?
        We don't do stockings anymore.

11. Go to someone else’s house or they come to you?
         My house.  In years past, when there was more family, we went to several houses.

12. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when?
         Usually, no specific time. 

13. What do you do after presents and dinner?
         We play games and eat the dessert we were too full to have at dinner.
 
14. What is your favorite holiday smell?
         Fresh cut cedar and the smells of baking.

15. Ice skating or walking around the mall?
         Ice skating was something I did as a youngin' and would love to be able to do again if I still had those young ankles.

16. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day?
         It is a tradition at my house to have pizza then open gifts on Christmas Eve with just my immediate family, then the big dinner on Christmas Day with whoever can come to join us.
 
17. Favorite Christmas memory?
         Probably the year we made a large Barbie Doll house for our daughter and it turned out so well and she was just so surprised!  Her first words were "Oh, I'm so happy!"  My son got a Dallas Cowboy uniform and didn't want to ever take it off.

18. Favorite Part about winter?
         When I know all my traveling family is safe at home or in a hotel when the highways are icy or snow-covered.

19. Ever been kissed under mistletoe?
          Yep

Have a good Wednesday everyone!

Until next time...

The Magic Tree

 

How would you like to decorate this beautiful tree?  It's

  covered with a total of 37,000 lights.

  It's called The Magic Tree and can be seen in Columbia MO.

  The Magic Tree was previously in the yard of the man who decorates

 it but was moved this year to The Village of Cherry Hill. 

 The traffic became unmanageable after a few years on

his street so a new home was found this year on a

  cherry tree that will grow larger.  The former Magic Tree was a

 mature crab apple and had twice the lights as this year's tree.

I was in Columbia after dark the other night and driving down

West Broadway I saw a very similar tree to the Magic

Tree by a church and also a tree covered in all white lights

in a yard a few blocks down the street.  All very beautiful!

Until next time...

A late start...

Hi Ho, hi ho, it's off to work shopping I go.........Yep, I'm afraid to say that shopping is not the most fun I've ever had!  I don't mind when I know what I'm looking for, but this Christmas I don't have but a couple of ideas!  Help!!

And yes, I'm just now getting ready to leave and it's past noon.  I just couldn't tear myself away from the blogs today.  I am going by Michaels to pick up some craft glue after reading about this wonderful craft over at Vee's blog.  Thanks, Vee, you may have helped to get me in the Christmas shopping spirit.  At least for craft items!

Isn't this cute?  It's one of the items I purchased at Never the Same, a little shop in one of our nearby towns.  It's made from an old wine bottle...they drilled a hole in the back to stuff some lights in, painted, and voila!  I also bought a larger bottle and other goodies I'll show another day.

This was our tree from last year.  I haven't gotten it put up yet this year because I just know Princess Chunk Stormy will be climbing it like last year and I fear for it's life!   The tree, that is, and just maybe Stormy (just kidding!) if she breaks some of my treasured ornaments.  I buy one or two each year and have ornaments from several years and while they are not expensive they are special to me.   I do remember that I lost some red balls off the tree last year, hence the bare spots you see....hmmm, wonder how that happened? 

Until next time.....

Thursday again?

How can it be that it's already a week past Thanksgiving?  Didn't we just sit down to turkey a couple of days ago?  I'd better get out and do some Christmas shopping!  Have you finished or are you just getting started?

 I saw four deer late in the evening yesterday.  I grabbed my camera and

went out to the patio to get a photo.  This one was a little 

braver than the other three.  You can just see the white tails running

away from me below.  

Did you see in the news recently about the 44 lb. (yes, that big) cat that died at age 10 of congestive heart

failure?  Prince Chunk had appeared on a couple of tv shows.  He looked a lot like our own Princess Chunk 

Stomy who is being put on a diet after reading about PC.  She is getting a bit chunky herself and I just can't imagine 44 lbs leaping upon my chest while I'm sleeping!  Can 44 lb cats even leap?  I

don't want to find out. 

She likes to sleep on her back.  Maybe that is because she's getting such a

big belly? 

Okay, no more dry food plus canned food, or ice cream whenever she can mooch some.  She loves her ice cream...how can you say no to an ice cream lover?  I'll just keep a picture of Prince Chunk in mind.

I'm off to run a few errands, one of which is to pick up some cracked corn for my feathered friends.  I've not seen as many birds this winter as I usually do.  How is the population in your neighborhood?

Until next time...

Home again....

We're back from our wonderful trip to Branson.  The photo above is from Thursday which saw falling temperatures and snow!  You might see the snowflakes if you look close enough.  We had dinner in our condo and a fire in the fireplace was really cozy on Thanksgiving Day.  

Same view above as the first photo, but what a difference a day makes!  Sunny skies were seen Friday and throughout the remainder of our stay.  

We went to Silver Dollar City Friday and had a great time.  The City was decorated beautifully with more than 4 million Christmas lights, it's always an amazing sight.  The rest of our stay we just relaxed by the fire, playing card games and watching movies and napping.  This trip was more for relaxing.  It was definitely in order after the past 3 busy months we've had.  

It's really hard to catch the beauty of all the lights, at least with our cameras.  

If you've never been to SDC, it's a magical 

place to see and children of all ages just love it, too.   There is so much to see and do, food to eat.   We just kind of grazed around the park.  One thing I just had to have was their apple dumpling with cinnamon ice cream!  It was very yummy.

We had soup in a bread bowl at one stop.  I bought some delicious divinity and fudge at the Candy Shop.  

You don't have to worry too much about calories at this park as it is quite a big place and you walk up and down a lot of hills! 

I saw lots of wonderful things in the shops, but I only bought a couple of new ornaments for my tree at home and a candle.   Oh, and a sack of kettle corn.   I was quite proud of my restraint!   And I didn't want to have to carry a bunch of stuff, either.  :)

We had a wonderful mini vacation and it was over too soon.  Aren't they always?  We had good weather to drive home in and our little Stormy was so glad to see us!  We had a friend check on her several times while we were gone.  She's barely left my side after since we've been home.   

Speaking of Stormy, did you notice her peeking between the branches of the tree in my header?   About the header...it is not quite what I wanted, but I just couldn't get Picasa to cooperate this time and made it in Picnik.  I'll probably change it to something else when I have time.  Do you have good luck with Picasa?  I'm sure it's just me....:D

I can't wait to get around to visiting all of the blogs and catch up on what everyone has been doing.  Hope you had a wonderful holiday, too!

Until next time...

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for so many things it is impossible to list them all.  I am very thankful for the wonderful people of blogland.  You make my days brighter.  Thank you!  I wish all of you a very blessed Thanksgiving! 
I will return to blogging next week.  
                                                                       Picture Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

My door is always open...

 

No, this is not my new fixer-upper!  :)  This is an old shed on my FIL's farm that my son was deer hunting by last weekend.  I thought it made an interesting photo with the sunlight coming in the door.  Son did get a deer, so we will now have deer meat in the freezer.

Here's the outside shot of the shed.  Son took these with his Blackberry in the Sepia tone.  The old shed and the deer hunting there will be a memory soon as the farm is being sold. 

Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving?  We will be in Branson again this year, I can't wait!  Am hoping that the weather is good as I refuse to travel on bad roads.  The forecast doesn't look bad at all. 

Where has the year gone?  Time is flying by and it'll be Christmas soon.  I've already seen some early birds with their trees lit up as I've driven by at night.  We've gotten out our collection of snowmen and santas.  The tree will go up after Thanksgiving...that's soon enough for me.  This year, we're worried about our furbaby toppling it over if she decides to climb it like last year, as she's much heavier than last year when she was a kitten.  Last year's picture of her peeking through the branches in the tree will be this year's Christmas card.

Thanks to all who commented on my last post!  I'll say again that I love blogging and have no intention of stopping.  Although I may have to go on a short hiatus for one reason or another from time to time.  As the photos show above, my door is always open, I'm thankful for good blogging friends and your comments are always appreciated and welcomed.  Stop by any time! 

Until next time...

Of Blogging...

This has been a very busy few weeks around our household.  And with the holidays approaching, it will undoubtedly get busier.  At such times blogging has to be put aside for awhile.  That is why I love the button that says "Blogging Without Obligation".  I love to read blogs and I love blogging.  But there are days when there is simply no time for it.   Other bloggers make time for posting everyday or nearly everyday.   If they have the time and want to do that, great!  For those of us who can't, don't or won't blog everyday...that should be fine, too.  As far as I'm concerned, there is no set rule for how often one should blog.  Unless, of course, you are blogging to get lots of hits for whatever reason...such as making money or page ranks. 

One of the great things about blogging is that we can say what we want...within the guidelines set forth by Blogger, of course, and even design the look we want!  In other words, we can write our own script, design the stage, and play any part we choose.  How fun is that?

We can pretend that everything is hunky dory when we are hurting or worried and no one will ever know.  We can pretend the house is immaculate and we have a gourmet meal on the dinner table (a beautifully decorated one, of course) and we're getting ready to fly to New York for the weekend and no one would be the wiser.  However, one of the things I have found to be true, is that most bloggers are simply down-to-earth people.   They share the ups and downs of their lives; the good, the bad and the ugly.  Because that is Real Life.

There are those who blog like I do without worry whether they have X number of comments or followers.  Others may worry if they are not receiving what they think is a fair number of comments. I think that depends on why you started blogging to begin with.  My blog is a sort of online diary with some photos...a place to muse about what's going on in my world or to share memories of days gone by.  I'm aware that my thoughts might not invite a beaucoup of comments.  :)

I have some questions about blogging.  Why do you visit a particular blog?  Is it the writer you feel you've become friends with or is it the content of their blog?  How do you keep blogging fresh?  Do you ever get where you think blogging is too much trouble and think of quitting?

Do you have a counter like Site Meter and check it often?  I have Site Meter, but I don't check it very often.  I do wonder why it says I'm from a different city that's about 200 miles away from where I actually live.   Not only the location of a blogger may not be accurate, but the length of time it shows may not be the amount of time spent reading a blog.  Many times I've gotten on a blog and am called away from my computer for one reason or another and a lot of time may pass before I get back and it will probably show I've spent an hour or more at a blog!

Blogging is many things...fun, entertaining, and even therapeutic.   There are so many wonderful writers out there whose work I enjoy, wonderful photos of beautiful places that I haven't seen yet, great recipes that I plan to try, and decorating photos that I enjoy seeing.   Blogging friends are great people.  I hope you are still enjoying blogging.  It's a wonderful world and I hope it stays around for a long time to come!  Happy Blogging!

Edited to add:  Just wanted to say that I have no intention of giving up blogging even tho I may not be able to post as much as I'd like some months.  I thought some may think that is the direction I was headed in reading a comment or two.

Until next time...

Veteran's Day

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."     -Elmer Davis 

Thank you to all the brave men and women who have served or are now serving our country.  

Thank you to my dear hubby who is a Vietnam War veteran and my late FIL who served in World War II.  

There are many other friends and relatives who have served but I won't list them all.  I hope they know how much their service to our country is appreciated.   God bless you and God bless America!

Until next time... 

Of trees and waiting....

 

I've had plenty of time today to walk around outside and take pix.  I've been waiting and waiting for a service man to show up.  They said he would be here sometime between 8 and 5.   Finally, he has showed up at 2 pm!!  I should have known it would be closer to 5 than 8!  Guess, I'm not very good at waiting.  

The trees are just about bare around here.  It's been so very windy lately that I feel that I'm in Kansas!  The above tree is one of the maples in my yard.  The following pictures are of my neighbors trees.  They have a different maple than ours, I guess.  

Next is the big oak in our back 40 6 that was just beautiful last week with deep red leaves.  I love the big, majestic oaks and also you'll see to the left of the photo is a sycamore tree.  I really like the white bark on these trees.  We didn't get very far from home this fall, so I don't know what the fall foliage in other parts of the state looked like.  We've spent every weekend at the farm working.   And, I haven't looked at the Farmer's Almanac to see the winter forecast, yet.   I can't say that I want it to be too snowy or cold.  Snow is beautiful to look at and covers up some of the barren landscape of winter, but I don't like for my loved ones to have to drive in it.  Too many people don't know how to drive in good weather!

It's going to be a busy week here with something going on nearly every day.   I'll probably be making a big pot of chili this weekend.  I have a recipe for chili from a former co-worker that she had brought in to work for our group to share that was very good.  I'm thinking of trying it out on my family. 

Darcy's Chili

1  1/2 pounds ground sirloin, cooked and drained

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon oregano

1 can pearl onions (or use onion powder..I use dried onion flakes)

1 Tablespoon chili powder (add more later if desired)

1-15 ounce can of pinto beans

1-15 ounce can of  black beans

1-15 ounce can of red kidney beans

2-15 ounce cans of diced tomatoes

1-15 ounce can of corn, drained

1 small can of button mushrooms 

Place in pot and cook until done.  If the consistency needs thinning, add

1 small can of tomato sauce.  

 Salt and Pepper to taste

Note:  I did try it out and it turned out delicious!

Until next time....

Be sure to vote today....

There's an old saying you've probably heard and that is "elections have consequences".   I think we have found that to be too true, especially in recent years.   This may be one of the most important elections ever.  The future of the United States of America as we know it is at stake.  Please, exercise your right to vote today!   

Until next time...

Aren't they cute?

Any one remember this from years gone by?  I scanned this note card that I found while looking for something else a few weeks ago.  I was quite surprised to find a larger framed version at the farm house while we sorting through things last weekend.  I hadn't remembered they had one hanging up anywhere.  You've got to admit, even if you're not into country note cards, these little guys are adorable.

Since I was country when country wasn't cool, as the song goes, here's my own little farmer boy photo, along with a little girl.  Hmmm, wonder who she could be?

Yep, that's me at age 3.  The little boy on the left is my age and we were attending the birthday party of the little boy on the right who had turned the ripe old age of 4.   All this information was written on the back of this old photo, or I might not have known the ages or the occasion.  Aren't those boys just the cutest in their little overalls?   (they were cute when they got older, too!)  As for me, I always loved being around the boys!

Until next time...

Of work and winning and stormy weather

This past weekend was a busy one at the farm.  We all gathered for another weekend of painting, window washing and other fun (?) stuff.  One of the cousins who does carpentry stopped by to look at the siding and gave an estimate on a small repair...he told us that we were wasting our time painting before the sale!  Hmmm. 

Since we haven't gotten to go to Branson this month, I'll have to be content to grab a few minutes to enjoy the views at the farm whenever I take a break from working.  It is really quiet and peaceful.  Once in a while when we're working, my brother-in-law likes to kid around with "you know this is a lot more fun than being in Branson".  I don't think so!   

Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post about the mysterious happenings at my house.  I'm glad to know that we're not the only ones experiencing such.   Here's another photo of the abandoned house that I used in my last post.  Doesn't it look like it was a great house at one time!  Too bad that it wasn't kept up and still livable.  Frankly, I think this is what my house will look like soon, if we don't get time to give it some attention!  :) 

My son was home over the weekend.  He spent most of his time Saturday in Columbia at Faurot Field where the game between the Missouri Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners was played.  The Tigers won 36-27!  Yay, Tigers!  It was the University of Missouri's homecoming, too.  My son said it was one of the best games he'd ever seen.   There was over 71,000 in attendance at the game so he was very late getting home.   We got home early enough Saturday night to see part of the game on television.  

We've been under a severe thunderstorm warning this night.  Also, we're under a tornado watch until 6 am.  It was very warm out today and windy.  The kind of warm weather that you just know will probably brew up a storm.  I don't sleep easily when the weather might turn nasty.   I'm hoping the trees won't lose all their leaves yet...I want to take a drive soon to see if I can capture some fall color before it's gone.

Until next time...

Mysterious happenings....

What is a strange happenings post without a photo of a haunted house?  Well, to be honest, I'm not sure that this old vacant house that I took photos of the other day is haunted...but it makes a good prop!  Cue the scary music!  Woooooo!!!

Since Halloween is right around the corner and even tho I'm really not all that into Halloween, I still thought this might be a good time to share the story of some unexplained happenings here in my own house.  This may turn out to be rather long.  Hope you stick with me and let me know what you think!   I saved the strangest story for the end.

In recent years, we've been experiencing some strange sounds and happenings.  One night while I was at work and my daughter and husband were downstairs....she was at her computer desk and he was watching television.  They both heard what sounded like someone stepping down off of a chair, then scooted the chair across the upstairs bathroom floor.  Then after that they heard a door shut.  Both of them ran up the stairs to see what was going on, but saw nothing out of place.

Another time, while they were downstairs, they heard what sounded like someone walking down the hall.  Thinking I might have gotten home early, they came up the stairs to see me...but it wasn't me!  I was still at work.

Yet another time, my daughter was sitting in her computer chair at the desk and a cool breeze went by behind her and she caught a whiff of a floral perfume.

Both my children have heard music in the house, when there wasn't a tv on or music playing.  My son even walked around the house trying to determine where it was coming from....didn't find anything.  The neighbors were quiet, so it wasn't them...and their houses aren't real close to ours.

I've heard loud sounds in the bedroom.  Sometimes it sounds like a chain or something is sliding down the wall.  That is about the only way I know to describe it.

One night there was a loud crash, and the cat took off running.  Another time, she got spooked and her fur stood on end with her tail getting big.  There was nothing to be seen.

I think the strangest happening of all is the day I was getting ready for work.  I had showered and had opened my bottle of foundation preparing to put on my makeup.  Nature was calling, so I sat down the bottle of foundation and went around the corner...there is a half wall between the vanity and toilet...when I finished and went back to the sink to wash my hands, I noticed that there were drops of makeup on the floor.   Looking closer, I noticed that these drops were about the size of a nickel and were almost perfectly spaced in a row leading back to the wall between two closet doors opposite the vanity.  I had a plant stand with a plant next to the wall between the two doors...our bathroom is rather large...and there were some drops on the leaves, too.  Well, I had to go to work so in my haste I cleaned up the mess and finished getting ready and didn't think to take photos.   I was certainly very puzzled as to how that happened.   But when I got home and told my family, I showed them the drops still on the plant and a few had ended up veering off in another direction on the floor that I had overlooked while cleaning up the mess,  so they did believe me!  I am wondering to this day how that happened.  My hubby said I must have shaken the bottle.  No, I didn't and even if I had I would have had to have thrown the stuff over my shoulder, because the drops were directly behind where I was standing.  And how would they have ended up so perfectly matched in size and evenly spaced?  I didn't count the drops, but there were quite a few!  I can't think of an explanation for this.  I didn't shake the bottle, the bottle was unopened and just where I left it.   Strange!!! 

Okay, you probably think I've really lost it!  But all of these things have really happened.  I don't really believe in ghosts, but I have no explanation for any of the many strange sounds and happenings we've experienced.

How about you?  Have any strange goings on in your house?  If so, please share!  I wish someone could tell me how my foundation ended up in perfect drops on the floor!!  Very, very strange.....

Have a good weekend, everyone!
Cheryl

Thursday's random thoughts...

Looking up at jets going in opposite directions.  Since we live in the middle of Missouri, I imagined the one on the right going to Kansas City and the one on the left is heading for St. Louis.  I often wonder who is on board and where they've been or where they're going.  Or, hmmm, is my frequent-traveler son on one perhaps?  Notice the leaves on the trees are not cooperating this year with nice fall colors.

I wish I could be this lazy!  

October 2010 - Thomas Kinkade calendar on my wall

I love Kinkade's paintings and wish I could just crawl inside this one and live there!  Doesn't it look so pretty and serene?  You just know the inside would be just as immaculate and carefully decorated as the outside.   

Speaking of decorations, here's one of the few fall things I've been able to find.  I have a large tote of fall stuff that I put out each fall and this year when I opened the tote, I found I was missing several things including one of my favorites that I bought just last year!  This is just one of the mysterious happenings that has occurred that I'll be posting about soon.  And, yes, I've looked high and low for these items and can't find them.  Hmm.

 

Here is a barrel head that I painted several years ago when I was into crafting. 

There is a delightful store in Boonville, MO I just discovered called Never the Same that has a lot of items that have been painted with pumpkins and such for fall and already some Christmas stuff is appearing.   They use old items that most of us throw away and paint them.  They had some really neat wine bottles painted with a snowman or Santa with mini lights inside. 

Here's a closer look at the mouse on the pumpkin in the photo above.  That's as close to a mouse as I want to get!   Btw, my wall is really a nice shade of beige, not blue as that photo above this one makes it look.   The light in here is horrible for picture taking.  

That's all, folks, for this Thursday's random thoughts and photos.  

 

Until next time....

A little fall color...

This is the first Monday that I haven't had to think about going to work, unless it was a holiday, in quite some time!  I must say that it is rather nice and my furbaby is very glad, too!  She has been spoiled rotten by my hubby and daughter while I've worked nights.  They have let her get away with way too much!  For example, the photo below shows her laying on the island in the kitchen.  She thinks that is her spot from which to survey all the goings on in the kitchen.  Do you think I'll ever be able to undo all the bad habits she's been allowed to develop?

We worked at the farm all this weekend in the house, the garage, the machine shed and sorted, washed and boxed up stuff in preparation of the sale.  We've gotten a lot done the last few weekends, but there is much more to do and then we will try to paint the inside of the house.  I took a couple of outside photos today in an effort to show the fall colors even tho the colors haven't reached their peak yet.  When they do, I don't think the colors will be as pretty as in other years.  I hope I'm wrong.  Here's today's photo looking south from the farm house.

One more...

I hope to have a little more time for blogging now.  At least when the work at the farm slows down and I get caught up on things here at my house.  I still have a post about blogging in mind to do as I mentioned several weeks ago.  I haven't forgotten, it's just been put on the back burner for a while.  I also am working on a post about strange happenings here in my own home...more about that soon.  

Until next time...

Of October leaves....

"O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away."

~Robert Frost, October

Since I haven't really been anywhere to take photos this fall season yet, I will share two from last year.  The top pic is a larger version of the one above in my four seasons header.  The other is from the same park.

Our leaves are changing rapidly now and I hope to get to take at least one day to drive somewhere to enjoy the colors in the next week when they will probably be at their peak.  I don't know that the fall colors will be at their best this year here in my neck of the woods since the daytime temperature has mostly stayed very warm for this time of year. 

Edited to add:  These photos were taken at Rothwell Park in Moberly, Mo. 
 

Until next time...