My Friday Random Five

Is this not the most adorable kitten?  This one showed up (oh no, not again!) at our house and it is about half the size of its siblings.  We've been feeding it a milk supplement and kitten chow.  My daughter even made a little sweater for it to wear to watch the Royals lose play in the final game of the World Series.  KC will be going to a new home this afternoon.  Now, to get the other kittens tamed and find them homes.        

This little pumpkin is my lone fall decoration.  I usually have lots of fall touches here and there in the house and a display of pumpkins and mums by the front door. But, as much as I love fall, I haven't had much time or inclination to decorate.  The Project has been gotten all of my attention lately. 
 

This old house was shown in a post I did 4 years ago.  I had written about some mysterious happenings going on in our house and thought around Halloween would be a good time to share the stories.  Thankfully, we have not experienced any strange goings on lately.  If you are interested in reading the post about them, you can find it here.   The old house is no longer standing.  Someone set fire to it last year and it burned to the ground.  I wish whoever had done this dastardly deed had gotten caught!

We've had some gorgeous sunsets and nice weather this fall.  And now it sounds like we will soon be getting the frost that has eluded us thus far.  It is supposed to dip down into the 20's at night this weekend.  Brrrr!  It will be chilly this evening for the trick or treaters.  

And, finally, I must say that this next month will be extremely busy as we double down on the work at The Project.  We have so much to do and I know our daughter would like to be moved in by Christmas.  I'm not sure that will happen.  It's hard to find good help in this small town, so this is a real DIY project.  We're going to be working as hard as we can, so I may not be blogging much in the next month.  If you don't see me, picture this tired old woman helping (yes, I've done all this before...when I was younger!) with mudding drywall, sanding, cleaning, painting, and a hundred and one other things that need to be done.  BG is still working his normal job, but there are things I can do while he is at work.  As he said, we will be burning the midnight oil if we are to get enough done by Christmas so daughter can move in.  I won't forget to take photos!         
 
Linking to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 5

Happy Friday and Happy Halloween!
xo Cheryl

Good Fences

This dead tree behind the fence has caught my eye each time I've driven past it.  Anyone know what kind it is?  Yesterday, I stopped and snapped a shot out of it out of my car window.  Most of the trees in the countryside have turned brown and are fast dropping their leaves, but now and then you can still find a bit of color.

We haven't had frost yet, so the flowers still look pretty good.  I think that is a Burning Bush in the upper left corner.  I love those.  The grass is still very green since we've had plenty of rain this fall.  

Linking to Theresa's Good Fences  

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl

Autumn Memories

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

 fluttering from

 the autumn tree."

~Emily Bronte

The warmth and beauty of autumn makes it my favorite season.  The leaves are rapidly falling now but they leave behind many memories of past autumns. 

I remember...

...when as a youngster we gathered the biggest pile of leaves we could and then jumped into the middle while laughing in sheer delight.  

...the smells of autumn.  From burning leaves to the wood fires to loads of grain and corn and from walking into the house in time to catch the scent of apple or pumpkin pie as they were brought out of the oven.  

...walking home from school down the tree-lined lane and hearing the crunch of leaves under my feet.  

...riding my horse through the woods and watching squirrels scampering up the oak and walnut trees waiting for us to move on along so they could get back to the business of gathering acorns and nuts for the winter. 

...walking the rows of freshly harvested corn fields carrying gunny sacks and gathering ears of corn that had been left behind.  My dad would give me a few coins for each sack I filled. 

...going on hayrides on country roads.

...weiner roasts when my children were young.  We would drive to the back of our property where we had several walnut trees and help the kids gather walnuts for them to sell for spending money.  After a few hours of walnut gathering, we would pick up some dead limbs next to the creek and start a fire and roast hotdogs and marshmallows.  

...watching the parades on beautiful red and gold tree-lined streets during the homecoming festivities.

Do you have a favorite autumn memory?  I'd love to hear about it!

Happy Tuesday to you!
xo Cheryl

Friday Randoms

When Callie isn't sleeping, she's getting into everything.  I used to think she was my calm, easy-going kitty.  These days you might find her curled up in the bathroom sink as above or maybe stretched out on top of the refrigerator.  All the kitties have been acting up more than normal lately.  Do they know something we don't know?  I wonder!

BG and I had a romantic evening.  We got to hang out at Menards and Lowe's and look at.....are you ready?... toilets and vanities!!  How exciting is that???  lol!!  Well, they are necessary items for the New Project.  The bathroom is tiny, so a 30 inch vanity is needed.  The one already there is dilapidated.

We're still hard at work on The Project.  It's starting to look better.  BG and I are starting to look older!  We want to get as much done as we can before winter sets in.  It's supposed to be in the 70's this weekend, so you know where we will be! 




Speaking of winter, we've been hearing that 10 inches of snow may arrive by November 15.   I hope that prediction is very wrong.  I am sooo not looking forward to winter.  If I had my druthers, it would stay just like it is until spring!  Well, maybe just a wee bit of snow is nice around Christmas. 
  

I've just got to share a recipe with you because the fact is that it is one of my new favorite treats!  It is easy to make and oh! so
delicious.  Try it...you'll like it!

APPLE NUT BARS

6 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts, coarsely chopped (I always use pecans)
1 medium apple, peeled and coarsely grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Stir brown sugar into the melted butter.  When the mixture is cooled, beat eggs, one at a time, into the sugar mixture.

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and add to the
mixture, stirring until smooth.  Stir in pecans and apple.  Mix well.  It is best to grate the apple last so it won't turn brown before you are ready to add it.

Spread into a greased 9 inch square pan and bake at 350 degrees
for 25-30 minutes or until done.  Cool completely in pan, then cut into bars.  Serve with whipped topping or ice cream, if desired.  Yummy!


Linking to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 
 

Happy Friday to you!
xo Cheryl

Good Fences

When I was cruising around this river town looking for a garage sale last week, I happened to drive by one of their cemeteries noted for it's beautiful trees.  The first photo was edited in Photoscape using the watercolor pencil, which is one of my favorites.

This is the original photo.  The cemetery is surrounded by an old iron fence.  I wish I had taken time to get out and walk around, but as usual time was short so I just snapped this out of my car window.  

The trees in our area aren't quite as colorful or as vivid as last year, in my opinion.  It seems to me that they have been a little slow in turning color this year and we haven't yet had a hard frost.  Even so, there are still many beautiful trees to be found this fall.  Every autumn is beautiful to me! 

Linking to Theresa's Good Fences.   

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl 

Colors

Colors...so many colors.  We've been looking at paint samples for our new rental property even though we're still a few weeks from being ready to paint. Our daughter will choose what she wants as

she will be our first renter, but I'm also looking to paint a couple of rooms here once she gets moved.

I've often thought how nice it would be if we could just touch a button on our walls and have a whole different color scheme that would go with each season.  Such as warm, earth tones for autumn and cooler shades for summer.
  

 
Many paint their walls all white and I have had them myself.  I now have a soft, light beige in my living room, dining area, and hallway and I really like it even though it doesn't photograph well.  A friend of mine has pastels all over her house.  It works for her as she is what I call a pastel person.  She favors pale pinks and greens and soft yellows in her decor.

Visiting paint departments can be a daunting experience.  Paint colors, brands and types of paint abound.  Do I choose Benjamin Moore or Behr?  Valspar or Sherwin Williams?  Flat, satin, or eggshell?  Semi-gloss for the bathroom?  How about primer?  You can purchase a primer/paint all-in-one.  Do they really cover in one coat?  So many quesions that I'm guessing only experience can answer.  In other words, you have to live with your choice to know if you really love it or wish you'd chosen differently.

If you would care to share your favorite paint colors and types of paint, I'd love to hear about it!

Happy Tuesday to you!
xo Cheryl 

My Friday Random 5

We've had a couple of beautiful fall days.  Yesterday was such a busy day that I've not had time to visit many of my blog friends.  I'll get by as soon as I can!  First up was a doctor's appointment which thankfully turned out good.  I'll just say this...those pesky hiatal hernias can really play havoc with your system and your nerves, too.  I've had one for many years and it usually behaves itself.  

After the appointment and running a few errands, it was off to another garage sale in a nearby town.  It was a huge sale held in a building at the fairgrounds.  I found this Jim Shore angel for only 5 bucks and a couple of books.  My daughter took off work a little early and came over and she bought many useful items for her new home.  They haven't been unloaded so I didn't get photos. 

After the garage sale shopping, we stopped for supper and then I drove to the Lookout Point at the park that overlooks the Missouri River.  I thought there might be a nice sunset and I wasn't disappointed.  It was a beautiful evening.

 
Isn't there a TV show called Flip This House?  Well, we have decided to start our own series and call it Flip OFF This House!  lol!  Well, that is how we feel some days.  See the kitchen in our fixer upper?  That's a before shot.  It doesn't look so bad, but some of the other rooms need a lot of work yet.  I won't even show the bathroom until we have an After photo.  The gas range has already been removed and we'll replace it with an electric range.  BG still has to do some wiring for that.  We'll probably replace the kitchen sink and the painting has yet to be done.  Should we take out the ceiling fan and replace it with just a light fixture?

  
My son was talking to BG last night on the phone about the ballgame that the Cardinals ended up losing.  He asked my hubby what he had gotten for me yesterday.  BG said why would he get me something?  Son reminded him that it was Bosses Day!  lol!  Cute.  

Linking to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 5.

Happy Friday to you!
xo Cheryl

Good Fences

This photo was taken about a month ago across the highway in front of our house.  Can you see the fence in front?

This is a fence from our Branson trip last month that I forgot to include in last week's Good Fence post.  I loved the old wagon filled with flowers.
 

We had a very pretty day with sunshine yesterday and that made for a good day for baseball in my state.  Yay Royals!!!  They are going to the World Series!!  The Cardinals lost their game and will have to win the next 3 games to get to the Series.  Go Cards!!!


Linking with Theresa's Good Fences.

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl

Stormy Sez....

I heard my mom say that she was really weary of the rainy weather and said we've had more than enough for awhile.  It doesn't bother me because I can nap or eat or find something to get into like this box I found after they got back from a garage sale over the weekend.

They really scored big Saturday at that garage sale.  Mom said it was worth getting up at 5 am for that one.  They brought home 3 or 4 big boxes of stuff.  Those 2 lamps were really nice with shades that look new.  One box was full of dishes - a 32 pc set.  Another box had various glassware like that cup in the photo which was one of four.  A Home Interiors ceramic candle holder, new cloth napkins, a nice set of queen-sized sheets, a new leather billfold, a nice sweatshirt and a ceramic flower pot with greenery.  Oh, and a KitchenAid mixer, a picture and a new looking bed for furkids.  All for 2 twenties and 1 ten dollar bill!  These things are all for Kim's new place and Mom only bought a couple of things for herself - a Tupperware cake carrier and a ceramic Christmas do-dad that spells JOY.  She spent all of 3 dollars.  They were very happy with their purchases. I was happy they emptied at least one box for me to play in!

The above photo was taken by mom today out the window while it was lightly raining.  The trees are looking more fall-like now. 

Everyone is watching the Kansas City Royals play right now.  I think the St. Louis Cardinals lost their game.  It's about snack time so I hope they will throw a treat my way!

I hope your Wednesday is pawsitively purrfect!
xo Stormy

Friday Randoms

 

Hello everyone...it's Friday!   

I'm crowing this morning because it's great to wake up after a lot of rain has fallen and find you still have a DRY basement! Woohoo!!  

Getting up really early in the morning isn't easy for me and my hair is always standing on end when I wake up.  It's at times like this that I wish I had very long hair to just pull back into a pony tail.  But vanity insists that I do my hair and throw on some makeup so I will be ready to go out and about very early this a.m. to go to a few garage sales with my daughter.  She's looking for a few things to furnish her soon-to-be new home.  There were a few garage sales listed that sounded promising but, as you know, you have to get there very early to find the best stuff.  I expect the garage sales will be ending soon as it's Fall now.  
                                                                                     
Some good news that I will share is that my aunt and uncle's son has told me that I could have several things from his parents home.  That includes the refrigerator, stove, washer and dryer and a few other pieces.  He is being more than generous in thanking me for my help to them in their times of need.  Those items will really come in handy in furnishing the house and I'm very grateful to get them. 

Stormy loves to be with me when I'm in the kitchen working.  Of course she knows where the treats are stored and she doesn't mind begging until she gets her way!  I don't know where she'll recline when the kitchen island, which really belongs to my daughter, goes to it's new home.

 
I'm hoping that Branson and other dry areas has gotten some of the rain we've had lately.  You can see in the photo above that the water in the lake is low and rain was much needed at the time we visited last month.  We've had enough rain here for awhile, so now I'm looking for some sunshine and pretty fall days again!

Linking to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 5.

Happy Friday to you!
xo Cheryl 

Fencing and Other Stuff

Now there's a title that will surely make all the blog readers come running!  haha!  I'm going to have to stop this late night blog writing.  My silly self seems to kick in when I'm a little punch-drunk.  No, I didn't spike the punch.  I haven't had that kind of punch since I went to a wedding and they've now been divorced 13 years.  So it's been a while.  I'm talking about being silly because I'm tired.  Do you ever get the giggles over the silliest stuff when you are tired?  I do.  

Okay, moving on...

I've always loved the look of split rail fencing.  This section was seen last month in Branson at an 1880's theme park called Silver Dollar City.

We're getting some serious rain as I write this.  It was a beautiful day Wednesday, but the rain has now begun and it will be cooling down again.

We had around 7 inches of rain last week and so far we've had a dry basement.  Another big rain will really test the foundation work that we had done.  

Linking to Theresa's Good Fences at the Run*A*Round Ranch Report.

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl

Where Do I Start?

Hello Friends!  Here we are 5 days into my favorite month - October.  How I love this time of year!  I have much to share and I don't know quite where to start, but I think I'll begin with some of the happenings in September. 

Since we had so much happening, including just purchasing a fixer-upper, we decided to postpone our trip out west in favor of a week long resting vacation in Branson.  Except for the last row of photos, the above is a little glimpse of what we saw while there.  We didn't nap all the time!

We had a beautiful condo that we stayed in and many mornings we ate our breakfast (and other meals, too) on the deck overlooking the lake.  One evening, we watched the full moon rising.  We visited Silver Dollar City one day and listened to some great music and also saw a western show.  We also went out to a few places like Danna's BBQ where we ate like the 2 pigs shown above.  Also, a must stop for us is Texas Land & Cattle at the Landing for a yummy steak.  I saw the cutest sight at the Landing one day.  I'll show you the pics in a minute.

We had a relaxing time, but I was glad to see my little fur girls when we got home.  Another welcome sight were a few tomatoes still ripening in the garden along with a few zinnias still blooming, but the gardening is pretty much done until next year.     

My dear aunt and uncle - I blogged about them here - passed away within 2 days of each other and their visitation and funeral were held soon after we got back from vacation.  Another reason we were not meant to take a longer trip, I believe.    

One day while strolling down at the Landing in downtown Branson, I happened to see the cutest dog frolicking in the water fountain in the center of the Landing.  He was having a blast!  He would run from one side to another and jump up into the water spray.  He would do this repeatedly and once in a while he would get out of the water and run around the perimeter then jump back in.  He was really putting on a show for all the bystanders!

The work has begun in earnest on the property we bought last month.  Here are a couple of before and afters of some of the yard work.  The former long-time owner of this property apparently loved concrete as much of the yard is covered in it.  BG cut down many of the small trees and bushes left to grow up by the last owner.  Also the vines growing up on the north side of the house and barn were removed.  It's made a world of difference already, even if a lot of painting is still needed. 

There's BG on the roof replacing a few shingles that had been blown off and the side yard that previously looked like a jungle before our daughter cleaned it all out.  What was I doing while all this work was going on?  Picking up small limbs and sticks and sacking up trash in the barn and outbuildings and sweeping down cobwebs and floors.  

The mold removal was started yesterday and hopefully will be finished tomorrow.  The basement is pretty much being gutted.  The people doing the work are hauling all the debris away.  We won't be able to have the gas man come in to turn on the gas and inspect the furnace and pipes until after that job is finished.  Which means no hot water.  The main floor cleanup will begin when we have hot water!  I'm not willing to transport hot water to do that job.

  
Here's a before shot of one of the bedrooms.  The hardwood floors are in pretty good shape in this room.  Not so much in the living room.  I'm thinking carpet may have to be put down there.  We'll see.  The windows really need to be replaced, but that will be done later.  As will the replacing of drywall in the basement.  Our renter (daughter) is anxious to get moved in asap.  Once the cleaning of all the walls and ceilings, closets, etc. is done, we will be ready to paint.  

I have a question about paint.  Have any of you used the paint/primer all in one?  How did you like it and was one coat all that was needed?  I'm not sure whether to paint something like this in the photo with Kilz and then a good paint or if a paint/primer would do the job.  I'd love to know what you think!  

I'll be showing more befores and afters when we get some afters.  lol!  That may be a while yet.  So far, the sewer problem and the water leak was easily fixed.  We're hoping now that the furnace and central air unit are in good working condition.  Lots of little things yet to do, but we're making good progress in the short time we've had this.  

I've more news to share, but that will be another post.  This one is long enough already!

Happy Sunday to you!
xo Cheryl