Blustery Days, Bad Modems, Burlap...and a Thank You

   

It sure is hard to keep your hair in place these last few blustery and rainy days.  We've now had plenty of rain and are getting too much.  Marble-sized hail fell last night, but at least we didn't have tornado warnings like some folks did.  So far.  The storms are still coming in from the west as I write this.  

"Did someone just say my hair feathers looked windblown?"    

 I missed out on the Note Card party yesterday.   My modem has been acting up and it finally just quit Tuesday afternoon.  A new one has been installed and I'm good to go now.  I really went through withdrawal symptoms without my computer!  Of course, the first thing I did was look at blogs when I got back online.  

The first thing I saw, on a blog I like to read, was how to make a burlap bow.  I don't know about you, but I'm ignoring the burlap fad.  It's just not my thing.  And to be honest, I think it stinks.  Yes, the fabric smells!  Do you like burlap and have you made anything with it?  

      ~My hubby, the lineman~

The U.S. Senate just recently passed a resolution designating April 18 as National Lineman Appreciation Day.   

Thank You to my hubby and all the linemen everywhere for their hard work and dedication.  They often work in dangerous conditions to keep the power on and sometimes it is a job that is taken for granted, I think.  It's nice to see them recognized this way.  

Until next time...

Barn Charm

I found this barn alongside the highway around the last of March on one of our country drives and got a couple of drive-by shots.   You can probably tell I was facing the sun on the first shot.  As I drove a little further and looked back for the second shot it looks like a different barn.  It's not pretty, but interesting and I like the faded red barn wood. 

Check out Barn Charm at Tricia's Bluff Area Daily to see some interesting and beautiful barns.

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time...

Monday Musings

There is so much to do this time of year and when the weather is warm and nice, it's just impossible to stay inside.  If I'm not doing something outside, then I want to hop in the car and head down a country road and take in the beauty of spring unfolding all around me in the greening of the grass and the flowering trees.  

New calves are seen on country drives.  This little guy needs his mama to teach him the proper way to dine.

  

New bird nests are being made in trees that will be sporting new leaves soon.

At home, the yard work continues.  We were quite busy cutting down evergreen trees that didn't survive the summer drought.  Well, to be honest some of us were much busier than others.  I'll let you wonder who the slacker was.  It might have been someone who would rather bake cookies for the hungry workers and make iced tea and take photos.

The next item on our to-do list is mowing the grass.  You can see how Truman thinks he's hiding from, in the grass that is growing fast now, the birds he is busily watching.  Cats have the life don't they?  Eat, sleep and play.  Oh, wait!  That pretty much describes me some days!  Ha ha.  

How was your weekend?  This is a busy time of year and I may be (or not) away from the computer more.  When the really hot weather arrives, which will here before we know it, there will be more time for inside work and computer time.  

Have a wonderful Monday!

Until next time...

Wordless Wednesday

 Photo from my archives - taken from the Missouri River bridge in Boonville MO

Barn Charm

I snapped this old barn about a week ago when I was on my bald eagle hunt.   It was far off the road so I zoomed in for the first photo and then zoomed even closer for the second to get a better look.  I liked the play of shadows across the front.  There is one more barn to show from that day.

Linking to Barn Charm   


Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time... 

My Weekend

How was your weekend?  The weather here was wonderful.  I started out by trying to finish getting some frames painted.  I take them outside to spray on a clear sealer when the paint is dry.  You can see I had a lot of help.  This little cross-stitched flea market find was only a couple of bucks, but I didn't like the gold frame.  It is very old and I was afraid to try to take it apart, hence the blue tape to keep the paint off the glass.

A lot of outside chores were done.  Some flowers beds were cleaned and fresh mulch put down.  I enjoyed sitting out on the cleaned patio at the end of the day snapping photos.  Before long, the trees will be full of leaves.  Another week and we'll be mowing the lawn.  It's really growing fast now.

It's fun to zoom in on the planes streaking across the skies high overhead.  I always wonder where the passengers have been or where they are headed.  A few times, I've wondered if my son was on one of them as he travels quite a bit for his job.  However, this weekend he was home for an overnight visit.  We grilled outside and had a good visit. 

I saw this little nest dangling from a nearby redbud tree, so I brought it down and saved it.  Maybe I'll think of something to do with it after it is debugged.  

The birds are busy with their parenting chores or maybe they're still sitting on the eggs.  I've seen several of the beautiful bluebirds around our bird houses lately.  

At the end of the day, there was a bit of laundry to do.  Truman decided the door left open on the dryer was an invitation to look inside.  Or maybe he was just looking for a spot to escape from the thunder the storm blew in last night.  We had quite a round of lightning, wind and rain.   

Note:  In answer to a question about my brown outfit in Friday's post.  Yes, that was good old double-knit polyester!  You couldn't wear that stuff out.  I did like that it didn't wrinkle, though.   I think my mother made that outfit.  She was, as well as my grandmother and aunt, quite a good seamtress. 

Until next time... 

A Friday Favorite

I was looking through my archives for a favorite from my past for my Friday Favorite and I was quite sure I didn't have anything scanned and ready to go.  Then, I stumbled upon this faded photo taken nearly 41 years ago.  It is a four generation photo, showing my grandmother holding my daughter and my mother and I standing behind the chair.   Three of my favorite (female) people in the whole wide world.  I dearly loved my grandmother, who was such a blessing to me in the years following my mother's death nearly 5 years after this photo was taken.  Of course, it goes without saying that I dearly loved my mother, too.  

Back to the photo....I wanted to point out the wicker chair my grandmother is sitting in.  She gave me that chair when she had to give up her home, many years after that photo was taken.  The story behind the chair is that it sat in a hospital waiting area for many years.  My grandmother worked in that hospital and when it came time for the hospital to move to a new building, she got the chair!  She kept it painted in that hospital green they favored back in those days.  

When I became the new owner, I took off the covering on the back that she had kept on it and recovered the seat cushion and spray painted the wicker antique white.  After many years of use, it finally got a few wicker pieces broken and I have been meaning to get it repaired.  But, I don't know who does that kind of work in this area.  If any of my Missouri friends are reading this and know someone in the mid-MO area who can repair wicker, please let me know.  It is one of my favorite chairs and I'd love to be able to use it again.  

So, do you have a favorite item from one of your grandparents?  The chair isn't the only treasure I have from my grandmother, but it is one of my favorites.  I love the history of it, where it had been and knowing it is quite old, but so very sturdy.  I have another favorite from her that I'll show another day.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful Friday and weekend, too!!
Until next time...               

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Enjoy the little things in life,

for one day you will look back and

  realize they were the big things.

                                              ~Robert Brault                 

Barn Charm

This barn was found along the highway just the other day while I was actually looking for bald eagles.  I didn't find any bald eagles on this run, but I was glad to see a few barns.  This oldie is just basically a shell now, and doesn't it kind of look like it's awaiting demolition?

Speaking of bald eagles, my husband was just telling me that he saw one flying overhead today (it's Monday as I write this) carrying a squirrel.  I'd love to know where the nest is!   

Linking to  Barn Charm  at Bluff Area Daily.

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time...

A Beautiful Day

The sun was shining...

The birds were singing...

 

 The flowers are coming up...

 

New visitors are seen swimming at the pond...

Even two of the kitties, Truman and Sissy, enjoyed getting outside...

It was such a beautiful, warm day.  The sun felt good and we decided to do a little yard clean up in the afternoon.  There were limbs that had fallen during the snow storm that needed dragging off to the Back 6, hence the lawn tractor sitting out.  Because, while the grass is getting greener, it isn't time to mow yet!    

I hope your Easter weekend was beautiful, too.  Did you boil eggs or have ham?  Maybe a lot little bit of chocolate? 

Until next time...