It's Time for Barn Charm!

I always love running across a quilt barn.  Hope you enjoy them, too!

This old building is just to the right of the red quilt barn.  I liked the stack of firewood next to it, even though it's definitely not needed right now!   These photos were taken the first week of July before the grass turned completely brown.  We are still needing rain desperately in most areas in Missouri.  

I will get by to see your barns when I can.  I'll be packing and leaving

today for a little getaway.  Thank you all for your sweet comments on my 

post yesterday!  

 To see some wonderful barns around the country, be sure to visit

Tricia's Barn Charm.

Until next time...

Good morning!  We have another day of sunshine in store and the forecast is for many hot days ahead.   How was your weekend?  Before I get to the main topic in today's post, I want to welcome my newest followers.  Also, I wanted to answer a question about the flower in last Thursday's post.  The white flower is a zinnia which has lost many of it's petals.  I love zinnias.  They are a hardy flower and very easy to grow. 

Now, on to the good stuff!!

 

 

 I was nominated for 3 awards last week!!  

 

For the first two, I want to say a big Thank You to Cranky Puppy Farm for nominating me for One Lovely Blog Award and the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Cranky Puppy is a fellow Missourian who hopes to move to their 40 acre farm some day.  She has a great blog along with wonderful photos.  Be sure to drop by for a visit!  

 Next, I want to thank Dianna at These Days of Mine for choosing me as one of the nominees for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award.  Isn't that a great name for an award?  Among the blogging world is a wonderful group of women who have so much in common and who are blogging sisters/friends.  I am so glad to be part of this sisterhood!  Be sure to visit Dianna's lovely blog if you don't already know her.

Now, in order to accept these awards I must choose 15 other bloggers for the first two and 5 bloggers for the third to pass along these awards to.  You probably see my dilemma, so I'm going to take the easy way out and invite anyone who would like to have any or all of these awards to choose them and let me know if you do.  There are many who choose not to participate in awards now and part of that reason is to avoid hurt feelings.  I don't wish to leave anyone out because all of the blogs I read are deserving of awards, so I hope those who nominated me will allow me to give my awards to whoever would like to have them!

  

Lastly, I am to tell 7 things about myself that you don't already know, so here in no particular order are my 7 things:

 

1 -  I miss having a piano in the house.  We sold my square grand  because we didn't have enough room for it in this house.  I have a electronic keyboard, but its not the same.  I'm really not that great a pianist, but I still love to play.  It's relaxing.

2 - I used to love to dance, well I still do, but Mr Twinkle Toes doesn't so I dance to music in my kitchen all by myself.

3 - I love music, but can't carry a tune.  I wish I could sing like Barbra Streisand.

4 -This makes me a bad wife, I guess, but I hate making my hubby's lunch every day!  In all fairness, he probably hates eating them.

5 - I love magazines and have many including a stack at least 4 foot high.  I've always intended to go through them and clip what I want to keep.  Maybe someday.

6 - I've always been told that I look much younger than I am, which aggravated me to be treated like I was still a kid when I wasn't.  But now, I like it, even though I'm not exactly treated like I'm a kid any longer.  Ha!

7 - I'm having sleep issues, not getting enough sleep, so I know that it will only be a matter of time that I can cross out # 6!

Until next time...

Marley

Happiness is a warm puppy.  ~Charles M. Schulz

Marley will be going to live in a new home this weekend.

She's been a joy to know and we will miss her.

Until next time...

Thursday's this and that

Your cat will never threaten your popularity by barking at three in the morning.  He won't attack the mailman or eat the drapes, although he may climb the drapes to see how the room looks from the ceiling.  ~Helen Powers

   

Life continues to be interesting with two kitties in the

house.  I have the spray bottle in reach at all times.  For such

a moment as the quote above describes.  Actually, Stormy has

outgrown such shenanigans, but the kitten we call Peanut

is just getting warmed up.  

 

There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast.  ~Author Unknown

Stormy and Peanut get along really well, much to my

surprise.  They love to wrestle and play together.  This is

good exercise for Stormy who, prior to Peanut coming to

live with us, was getting fat and lazy.  The outside kitties have

been trying to cope with the heat and we keep fresh water out 

every day which they like.  Truman, who is in the first photo

with Peanut and Stormy, is coming around and will now

let us touch him.  I hope he will get tame enough for us to

find a home for him and his sister.

I have one bit of exciting news to share.  We got our new

 shingles on today.  We went with black and it looks great.  

The color isn't stark black and, with the sun shining on it, it 

really looks more like a dark gray.  I didn't think they would

 do this until cooler weather, but they called this week and 

said they would go ahead and get the work done.  It feels 

so good to get one item crossed off the list!  Up next, 

the bathroom project, when the weather is much cooler, that is.

We're hoping for a little rain this week and a cooling of

temperatures.  I'll be ready to dance in the rain, if it happens.

Until next time...

A white barn with a quilt block is this week's offering.  The

block is a 9 Patch and was the pattern of the first quilt the

wife made when she first began quilting.  

This photo was taken the second day of July and you can see how brown

the grass was then.  We're on day 17 of 100 degrees or more temperatures

for this year.  The tv weatherperson said tonight that in 1936 there were 

44 days of 100 or more degrees for this area.  Can you

 imagine living through that with no air conditioning?  

To see some really great barns around the country,

head on over to Tricia's Barn Charm.

Until next time...

Gone But Not Forgotten

We learned last Friday that Dad's tree had been cut down by

the State Department.  I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the

news.  So, we hopped in the car and headed down the highway

to see if the news was indeed true.  Yes, it was true.  For those of

you who may be new or fairly new readers, I told the story in a 

past post how my elderly dad (now deceased) would always be 

sure to say, each time we drove down the highway and passed by this tree, 

how it was almost a perfect shape and how much he admired it.  We began

 to refer to this particular tree as "Dad's tree".  It dawned on me one

day that he was making sure that he wasn't forgotten.  That I would

think of him each time I saw the tree.  Now, the tree is gone, cut 

down for whatever reason.   I thought it would stand forever.  It

wasn't hollow as we could see the stump where the cut was

made.  Another tree was cut down not far from this one.  It was

easy to see that the tree had been hollow and it made sense that it

was cut down.  But why Dad's tree?  Why was it taken down?

* * * * * * * * * *

Just a few days ago, a senseless tragedy struck in Aurora, Co.

Many lives were lost and many more were wounded by a gunman

who opened fire in a movie theater.  This tragedy has changed

so many lives forever.  It has an effect on all of us.  We wonder

how safe any of us are when we go out in public or even in our own homes.  

This kind of tragedy makes us acutely aware of the 

fact that our lives can be changed in an instant.  It's said that nothing stays 

the same forever.  But there is One who is the same yesterday, today and forever.  

Know that He is always with us, even in the midst of tragedy.  

He will never leave us.  

 My thoughts and prayers are for the families of the victims of this shooting,

 for the wounded and for the family of the shooter.

Until next time... 

It's Friday

My zinnias are now blooming in the garden in spite of the heat 
and drought and because I water almost daily.  I'm beginning
 to get weary of dragging water hoses around and wonder 
if it's all worth it.  The water bill will be enormous.  How 
about those of you in the dry areas of the country.  Are you
 still watering or giving it up?

 
This big turtle stopped by the house this week to get a drink of water before moseying on down to the pond.  This summer has been so hot and dry that I feel sorry for

all the animals.  We did get a few tenths of an inch of rain Wednesday night.  I didn't mind being woken up in the wee hours by the sound of thunder.  It sounded good!

I've been watering the veggie garden as well as the

flowers.  We have gathered a few tomatoes although they

are small this year.  The cherry tomatoes are doing well.

How does your garden grow?  

The squash and zucchini are still blooming, but I've only picked a couple.  They weren't very good and the lone cucumber I've picked was bitter.  Like me.  Yes, I have to confess that I've been a bit out of sorts with this crummy weather.  Sorry.  I can't say that every day is a smiley-face day.  Well, okay, most days are good.  My aunt and I braved the heat yesterday and went to our Big City and ate at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  Then we stopped at our favorite resale shop.  We had a great visit.  It was a good day and it looks like it will be a nice weekend.  What are your plans for the weekend?  I hope whatever you plan, it will put a big smile on your face!

Until next time...

It's Notecard Party Time

I'm sharing some of my bird photos for this month's

Notecard Party at Vee's.

I love all my little feathered friends.

The Bluebird is my favorite of all.

 

Many others, including the Goldfinch, come in a close

second to the Bluebird.  

 I have several more photos of other birds that I like

on the other computer, but I'll have to follow the

rules and stop with 4.  Are you a bird-watcher, too?

To see more Notecards, visit A Haven for Vee.

 Until next time...

Tuesday's Barn Charm

As you can see, this is a fairly new barn.  I think the 

owner only has 1 horse and that is all that it's used

for at this point in time, as far as I can tell.

Pretty fancy digs for that lucky horse!

The barn has siding to match the house.  It's a pretty

little farm and I've driven by it several times.

This was taken a couple of weeks ago and I wish I could get a 

better angle on the barn, but there isn't anywhere to

stop unless I pull in the driveway.  I just may do

that one of these days!

To see some great barns around the country,

check out Tricia's Barn Charm.

Until next time...

Monday's This and That

I've just devoured a whole bag of Orville 

Redenyouknowwho's gourmet popping corn as I 

pondered what to write in this post tonight.  Yes, it's

 Sunday night as I write this and I will schedule 

it to post after midnight. 

A sip of iced tea and I'm ready to roll... 

I read that today (Sunday) was National Ice Cream Day.  

Wish I'd read that before I ate the whole bag of popcorn because

 I would have eaten a low-calorie ice cream bar instead 

to celebrate.  Did you have your favorite ice cream today?

  Harrison Ford has turned 70 since I last was here.

If that doesn't make you feel older, then I don't know what

will.  I have to confess to having had a little bitty crush on

 Han Solo and Indiana Jones.  Did you know that Harrison

was just 34 when he first played Han Solo?  Heh, I must have

been a baby!  I enjoyed many of his movies like Witness,

Patriot Games, Air Force One, Sabrina, to name a few.

Do you have a favorite Harrison Ford movie?

Our weekend was pretty uneventful.  We did go to an Open 

House in a larger nearby town.  We toured a beautiful home

that is for sale.  It was all I could do to not shout "We'll take it"!

But it would be smart to get our home sold before we buy

anything else.  And there's much to do yet to get it ready.  The

shingles will be put on in cooler weather and the bathroom

will be finished in cooler weather.  Who knows when that

will be?  Temps will be back in the 100's this week.  It was

fun to see a house in another town and ponder the possibilities,

though.  We have to decide where we want to live after

Hub's retirement.  It's not an easy decision.

The above photo is my son's.  He is having more fun this

weekend than we are.  This was sent from sunny Florida

where he is enjoying a long weekend.  Nice of him to

think of us.  :)  How was your weekend?  Did you get

to go somewhere interesting?  

Until next time...

Masked Bandits and Door Bells

Last weekend, we had a pair of masked visitors

in our front yard.  

You never know who will show up at our

house.  

 At least these unexpected visitors weren't going to

be invited in, so I didn't care that the house 

hadn't been cleaned yet.

Isn't he cute?  When my kids were young we took

in an abandoned baby raccoon and kept him

for a while.  We gave him a really original name,

"Bandit".  He didn't get to stay long as he was

too much work and wasn't the friendliest of pets. 

 

Speaking of visitors...how do you feel about people

that just show up at your door without warning?   

  An older friend of ours, who

has been gone now for several years, used to 

drop in just to say hello and see how we were.  We

loved that friend and he is missed.  

Most friends will call before coming by, but 

occasionally we'll get the unexpected visit or one

that doesn't give us much advance notice.

Ideally the house will be clean enough not to be

embarrassed.  But!

There are those days when it is not really 

presentable and I just might not answer the doorbell!

Those that have indoor pets may know what I mean.

How about you?  Do you always answer when the

doorbell rings?

Until next time...

Wednesday's Agenda

I'm going to brave the heat and go to the city

today.  I'm looking for window treatments.

Again.

This has been on my to-do list longer 

than I care to say.  Just call me a

procrastinator.

It's a must for downstairs.  I took the old curtains

down because of fading and cat hair/scratches

and the sun really beams in the window in the

 morning without a covering and it heats

up the room too much.

I'd really like to just buy an old-fashioned roller shade.

Remember those?

A heavy vinyl one that comes in a wide size.

Something I can replace often when if the cats tear it.

But, I don't think they make them anymore.

At least in the size I need.  

The size is awkward for shades or blinds, so I will

 look again for room darkening panels.

I wish I'd had my camera close by tonight.

Peanut, the newest kitten, decided to shinny up

my drapes in the living room.  It was a 

funny sight and I had to laugh.  I must

be mellowing in my old middle age.   She

had such a look on her fuzzy face after she

climbed so high.  It was a "how do I get down

without falling or making a fool out of myself" look.

I am also in the market for new drapes as you

might imagine.  But, I've decided the smart 

thing to do is to wait until (a) we find a home for

Peanut or (b) she outgrows climbing drapes!

What's on your agenda today?  And, if you are a cat

owner, what kind of window treatments do you

have that are kitty-proof?  I'd love to know!

Until next time...

Monday's Musings and a Barn

Thanks to all who suggested names for our

newest kitten...the foundling.  We haven't

decided on a permanent name as yet.

We have been calling her Peanut since her

arrival.

Did having a holiday in the middle of the

week throw anyone else besides me off

the last several days?  Things have been a bit

off-kilter for me, I can't seem to keep track

of the days or time.  Maybe the heat

is getting to me.  How that happened when
I'm staying inside as much as possible with the 
a/c running full blast, I don't know!  :)

Some clouds moved in and teased us with the possibility of  

 rain.  We got only a few drops.  It has cooled off from

105 degrees to the low 90's.  I'm happy for those who

did get the rain, it is very much needed right now. 

My barn for this week's Barn Charm is standing in a 
corn field and was taken late in the day last week.
  
For viewing some fantastic barns around
the country, be sure to visit Tricia's Barn Charm.

 

 Until next time...

 

Happy Fourth of July!!

Happy Birthday, America!!

Freedom's natal day is here.
Fire the guns and shout for freedom,
See the flag above unfurled!
Hail the stars and stripes forever,
Dearest flag in all the world.
~Florence A. Jones

Comments closed...have a wonderful day! 

Barn Charm in Missouri

I love to see barns that are being taken

care of and used.  This barn is in Cooper

County in mid-Missouri.

 To see other beautiful barns across the country,

check out Tricia's Barn Charm.

Until next time...

Name the kitty

She doesn't look too concerned about the matter, 

I know, but this little kitten needs a name.

For those who may be first time readers here,

this big kitty is Stormy. 

The little kitten and Stormy have similar stories

as to how they came to live with us.

The new kitten's 

story can be found here.

 

This photo is not the best, but you can

see that she is a little cutie.  She's

very sweet and playful and, much to our

surprise, gets along pretty well with 

Stormy...who doesn't like just anyone.

  Can you think of a fitting name for

this fiesty little female bundle of fur?  

Until next time...