Forecast: Sunshine!!

I'm so happy to report that the weatherman has forecast sunshine for our area for the next several days!  The jonquils are blooming, the grass is growing...spring has sprung!   I've begun thinking about what to buy to put in my planters this year.  Will I get the patio fixed the way I'd like to this year, or get involved in a different project?  Last year, we stripped wallpaper and painted in the kitchen and painted the living room and hallway.  It was a long, involved process.  With work and various other interferences, that project took much longer than we thought it would.  Did I mention that we are not so young and as fast as we used to be? Anyway, when it was completed, we were very pleased with the end result.  So now, what will we tackle this spring?  

I'd like to fix the back patio up a bit.  We have a large expanse of concrete about 24 feet out from the house and around 40 feet wide.  Not quite the length of the house, we have retaining walls on each end of the patio.  The concrete has developed quite a few cracks in it and I've been trying to think of a way to make it look better without breaking the bank.  Here's a charming picture of an outdoor room that I saved from a magazine (sorry, can't remember which one so I can't give credit here...hope that's not a no-no.)

I can't quite tell if that is grass or some kind of ground cover growing in this picture.  I'm thinking those are possibly flagstones because of the color and not concrete like mine is, but the idea I have is to do something like this.  What do you think? 

Here is a picture of part of my patio and if you look closely at the floor, you will see the cracks.

I also will be looking for better cushions for the chairs.  These were purchased last year when there wasn't much left to choose from and they are much too thin.  We have around 40 pots altogether that we put flowers in.  I have a bakers rack next to the house that I put several smaller pots on, and on stands around the patio and in large pots.  Of course, some go on the front side of the house.  Several pots need to be replaced or spray painted. 

Even though spring brings with it a lot of work, we are more than ready to see the sunshine and warmer weather so we can sit outside on the patio and enjoy watching the birds or the fish jumping in the pond and listen to the crickets and frogs croaking.  The sights and sounds of spring and summer will be most welcome.  

Until next time...

What a difference a day makes

24 little hours....ok, I'll quit now.  That was a good song.  Unlike today's weather here in mid-Missouri.  Not good.  We had beautiful weather Friday...around 70 degrees.  Today (Saturday, as I write this) is snowy and getting colder by the hour. 

We ventured out today and got our taxes done...well, almost done.   We need to get information on one more thing and call it in and then they can finish.  Also got my hair cut and frosted.  Hub got his haircut too, and then it was time for a bit of shopping.  I stopped in at a flea market and found some neat things that I could easily live without, but would like to have and think I'll go back and get them.  If they are still there, I'll just tell myself that it was meant to be!  

If the weather isn't too crazy tomorrow, I plan to make a trip to Columbia after lunch.  There's a shop that's having a sale this weekend only and I want to take advantage of that.  


Hope you are having a good weekend with better weather than here.


Until next time...

Monday, Monday...and a pizza

Remember the song Monday, Monday by The Mamas and the Papas?  Maybe you're not old enough? It came out in 1966 and although the group were not people I would exactly look up to, I did enjoy their blended voices.  People have different takes on just what the lyrics mean, I prefer to think of them as referring to that kind of yucky feeling you have when you know that the great weekend is over and having to start another work week. 


So much for my Monday, Monday.  I stayed home from work today with a nasty headache.  Will have to make up my time Thursday, no doubt.   I did manage to rally around and fix a pizza for supper.  We used to have these quite often when the kids were young and at home.  It's called Crazy Crust Pizza and if you haven't tried it before, I think you'll like it if you like pizza.   I meant to take a picture when I pulled the pan out of the oven, but forgot...here's a not very good pic of a remaining piece.   The recipe follows.  

Crazy Crust Pizza

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano 

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup milk

 Toppings of choice

Pizza sauce (or use an 8 oz can of tomato sauce with

a 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning mixed in)

Mozzarella cheese (1 cup or more)

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly grease a pizza pan or

baking sheet.

   

    2.  In a bowl, stir together first six ingredients and then mix in eggs

                  and milk, stirring well.  Pour batter into the prepared pan and tilt until 

                   evenly coated.  Arrange toppings of your choice (such as hamburger or

                        sausage already cooked and drained of grease, pepperoni slices, chopped

                    green bell pepper, chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, etc.) on top of the

batter. 

3.  Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until crust is set.

                        4.  Remove from oven and drizzle on 1 cup pizza sauce and sprinkle with 1 cup 

                   (or more) of mozzarella cheese.  Return to oven and bake until cheese

is melted, about 10 minutes.  

Yesterday was my birthday.  Hubster took me to Columbia where we browsed an antique mall, ate a nice midday meal, and shopped for a few necessities before heading home.  It was another cloudy, gloomy day here in Missouri but still a nice birthday outing.  

Looked like the sun was trying to come out late in the day.   I saw a lone duck on the pond today, it looked mostly white.  The blasted muskrats were also out frolicking in the water today.  Hub needs to get some traps or just get the rifle out and go hunting!  They can do quite a bit of damage to your pond.  I enjoy looking out my kitchen window, there's always something interesting to see down at the pond and you never know what kind of animal you'll see going through the pasture.  The birds at the feeders are entertaining too.  We've had a pair of squirrels eating the cracked corn out of one of the feeders. 

Hope your Monday has been a good one.  


Until next time...

A Little Store

One day late last fall, the Hubs and I took a drive in the countryside where I grew up.  We pulled off the blacktop and drove down a few yards on a gravel road that goes past an old abandoned, dilapidated and very small building that was once what I refer to now as our first convenience store.  In that farming community, that is.  We stopped and I got out and walked through the weeds to get this picture.  


You can tell by the door and windows that it was probably no more than 20 feet across and maybe 35 feet deep, if that.  And the couple who ran the store also lived in it!  The front part had the counter and shelves that held the assorted candy bars, chewing gum, bubble gum and a few canned goods, cigarettes and tobacco.  There was a cooler for the soda.  I don't remember much of what they sold, as I was just a youngster when it was open and, of course, all I was interested in was a soda pop and candy bar...those were real treats in those days!  My brothers and I usually could have one or the other, but not both unless we'd been really good.


There was a small pot belly stove in the corner that had a few wooden chairs sitting around for the folks to sit and visit a spell, as they used to say.  "Cap'n", as the man was called,  wore bib overalls and his missus, that I remember had gray hair always worn in a bun, was the one who waited on folks behind the counter.   I remember his spittoon sitting beside his wooden rocker that he regularly used.  Lots of gossip and talk about the crops and the price of livestock and whatnot took place in that small store.  


About midway of the building there was a curtained door that led back into the living quarters.  I always wanted to see back in there, being the curious sort that I am, but was never invited to.  I can't imagine how two people lived in such small quarters, but they did and for several years.  Wish I could remember just exactly how many years the store was open and more about the people, but they were older people and I'm sure poor health or maybe age made them give up the store and move away.


While thinking about the store, I realized that I never knew the actual name of it or even if it had one.  It was just always called  "Little's Store" which was very apropos, being as it was also the last name of the couple who lived there and it was definitely little!  

Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me.  I have more photos and stories to share.  We took some pictures that same day of a couple of one room schools like the one I attended for 6 years.  Will share those one day.


Until next time...

Thoughts

Some random thoughts that passed through the windmills of my mind this week: 

   ~I don't blog often enough...do I really want to keep doing this?  
   ~Think Stormy (our kitten) needs to see a shrink.
   ~People who pass on double yellow lines and in curves, up hills really tick me off.
   ~I would like to live somewhere else before I'm too old to pack and move.
   ~I wish I could turn back the clock 20 years and not have had the broken ankle which has hurt 
     a lot all this week.
   ~Am tired of pain.
   ~I love Branson, Missouri.
   ~I really do enjoy blogging whether I do it very often or not.
   ~Is it really March and spring is around the corner?
   ~What the heck am I going to wear this spring?  What did I wear last spring?  Why did I go off my
     diet???
   ~Why did they have to ask me to work extra hours this week?  I might as well have kept working
     full time. 
   ~My son was here for a brief visit...it was so good to see him. 
   ~I'm a lucky mom to have such wonderful, smart, healthy, good looking children.  And they are  
     so good hearted, too. 
   ~I wonder if we would like living in Branson after retirement?
   ~Yuk, I really don't want to make that appointment for the 5 year colonoscopy checkup.   
   ~I'm hungry for something, but I don't know what it is...probably whatever I don't have to cook 
     myself.  
   ~I love iced tea.  And Pepsi.  I need to drink more water.  
   ~Am so tired of hearing about how bad the economy is and how much worse it could get.  
   ~Why don't they leave the health care alone and concentrate on how to help the economy and 
     create jobs instead of creating more debt?  
   ~I need to get more sleep, I feel sleep deprived.
   ~I like Leno better than Letterman, and never liked Conan.  
   ~Why do I sweat when I clean house and it is cold outside?  
   ~I need a nap.
   ~Wish I could understand what Stormy is trying to say when she meows at me.  
  
And last, but not least....I think I think too much.  And the above is just a sampling.  :)


Until next time...