An oldie but goodie

 

I love old barns and old buildings.

This old, abandoned grain elevator near the Missouri River

caught my eye a couple of weeks ago and we

pulled off the main highway to go down a 

gravel road so I could get a closer look.

This old beauty sits along side what was once a railroad

track and is now a hiking and biking trail called the Katy Trail.

 Here's a closer shot from a different angle.  I wish I 

could tell you how long this structure has been standing

and when it was built, but I don't know.  I do know

that it survived the Flood of 1993.  However, it didn't

survive the spray painting of Chad and his friends.

I wonder what kind of tile this is?

Let's take a closer look.

Anyone know?

Until next time...

Lady in Red

I stopped and snapped this red barn on the

way to the Dutch Bakery Saturday.  Is that a quilt

block I see high above the doors?  We do have

quite a few "quilt barns" in this area.  

This is a newer barn but I think it's charming

all decked out in red and a bit of white.

 

Linking to Tricia's

Barn Charm

Until next time...

Saturday's day trip

My daughter and I took a little trip to the Dutch Bakery in Tipton, MO Saturday.  It was a fun afternoon drive.  We actually went about 15 miles past Tipton to Lehman's at Versailles for lunch.  Lehman's is a Mennonite cafe with food that is simple but freshly made and is Oh. So. Good.  They also have fresh homemade bread, cinnamon bread, pies, cookies and other treats for sale.  I left with a loaf of regular bread and a loaf of cinnamon bread.   We headed back to Tipton and to the Dutch Bakery where I bought more goodies.

I couldn't turn down the yummy Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Rolls or the iced Cinnamon Rolls or another loaf of bread!  The other loaves seen in the photo are from Lehman's.  I also bought a bag of oats, a jar of Green Tomato Relish, and some chicken base that I use in my chicken noodle soups and turkey gravy, some cheese and German bologna for sandwiches.  Because I was reasonably certain that after eating a big lunch, I wouldn't be cooking dinner and it would be a sandwich night!  I also bought a Dutch letter which is an almond paste filled pastry shaped in the letters L, O, V, E, S that they sell.  I'd never tried them before and they were very good.   You're probably wondering how we could possibly eat all this?  I will freeze some of these and hope they taste just as fresh later. 

Finally, I bought a bottle of V&V, an all natural herbal supplement.  While wheeling down the aisles, I spotted a woman about my age looking at a brochure and, nosy person that I am, stopped to see what was so interesting.  We started chatting and both of us admitted that we could both use a little vim and vigor at our age, and we both decided that the 14 herbs and spices in a bottle of vinegar were pretty harmless sounding and decided to each buy a bottle and give it a try!  After all the sweets I had just loaded in my cart, the fact that the brochure says, besides all the health benefits you get from drinking V&V, that you might lose weight was the clencher!  I'll let you know if it works.

We felt a little jolt here in mid-Missouri from the earthquake in Oklahoma Saturday night.  Anyone else here in MO or neighboring states feel it? 

Until next time...

In three weeks

 

Thanksgiving is only three weeks away!  Are you looking forward to the holiday?  It is my second favorite holiday, Christmas being at the top of the list.  When I was young, we always went to my maternal grandmother's house for dinner.  She was an excellent cook and a lot of the food she fixed came from her garden.  Later, when Grandmother couldn't do the cooking, I usually had the meal at my house as well as the Christmas dinner.   I've never felt like my food tasted nearly as good as hers did.  For one thing, I've always had trouble with getting the gravy to come out right.  I can make excellent gravy most of the time, but turkey gravy is another story.   Another dish that won't win any awards either is my dressing.  I don't stuff the turkey, so we call the dish dressing instead of stuffing and my dressing comes in a box!  Almost everything else turns out just fine.  

Do you do the cooking for the holidays?  What is your least favorite food to fix?  Your best food?  My favorite would be the turkey.  I've always had success with turkey even though I'll often wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about meal time arriving and I've not thawed out the turkey! 

Until next time... 

A question

Photo from the internet

This is not my bathroom, but we are planning to put beadboard on the walls much like this.  I also have a divider similar to this one between the vanity and the stool.  Our room is wider, but the tub with shower is on the right of the window much like this one shows.  

My question is about tile.  We plan on having ceramic tile put on the floor and I would like to also have ceramic tile on the wall around the tub.  I don't want the little 4X4 tiles, but the larger ones.  Some of the guys at the large stores like Lowes tell me that you can put the same tile on the wall as you put on the floor.  I am wondering if any of you have done this?  I'd like your input as to how you like it, if you have.  Or if you have done something different that works great for you, let me know what that might be.  All ideas are appreciated!  We need to get our stuff in the next week, we've been a bit slow in deciding on this part of the remodel.  I'm also wondering how well the tile will look with the beadboard next to it.  Oh, decision, decisions!  I think I know what I want, but I still welcome your input.  Thanks!

Until next time...

It's November!

 

 

The first day of November.  I always think of my oldest brother, Bill, on this day, it was his birthday.  He passed away 19 years ago at the age of 49.  I fully intended to talk about something else in this post, but I think I'll tell a little story about him.  

My older brother was one of a kind who was hard working but also loved to have fun.  His wit got me into trouble more than once during my youth.  He not only had a wonderful sense of humor but used facial expressions that could speak volumes and he could dead-pan with the best of them.

I remember one time that got me into such trouble was when Cousin P came one day to visit from Colorado.  He was a very, very large man.  We had just sat down to eat, which was called dinner on the farm because the noon meal was the largest.   My mother was an excellent cook and served several side dishes along with the usual meat, potatoes, and salad.  Cousin P took a huge helping of everything when each bowl or platter was passed to him.  So, of course, his plate was piled high...very high...by the time everything was passed around. 

I just happened to be sitting across from my older brother who was sitting on the same side of the table with Cousin P.  Of course, I just happened to be watching my brother's facial expressions every time Cousin P started piling food on his plate.  He had that sneaky way of quickly making a funny face then relaxing into that innocent "I didn't do anything" look and no one at the table saw him, but me.  Which was what he intended, of course.  The grownups were busy talking and didn't pay any attention to us.  Well, I kept looking each time a dish was passed to Cousin P for that raised eyebrow look of horror on my brother's face when Cousin started spooning food on his plate.  The looks on Bill's face was so comical that I started giggling and tried to pass it off as something I was thinking about, but soon I had the red face and giggles so bad, I had to excuse myself from the table.  I ran into the next room dissolving into peals of laughter that I'm sure everyone heard at the table.  When the meal was over, and Cousin P and my dad had gone into the living room to visit, I crept back into the kitchen to see if there was anything left to eat since I didn't finish my plate.  My mother gave me "the Look" and said under her breath, so no one else could hear, that she would talk to me about my behavior later.   I knew what that meant!   That was just one of many times where I got the giggles at an inopportune time when I was supposed to be quiet and behaving myself.   Thanks to my older brother.  He was quite a guy and I still miss him.

Linking to Barn Charm at 

 http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/

Until next time...

Falling leaves

 

Our leaves are really falling now.  There's not much color left. 

This maple in our yard still has several leaves.  But

the ground below looks to be covered in gold.

 These are our neighbor's trees north of our house.  They

are the hard maples that have beautiful reddish leaves 

that fall quickly.  At the very top, I see what looks

like squirrel's nests.  They are rather large for birds.

I'll be keeping a closer eye on the nests to see if I

can spot a squirrel coming or going.

  Here's one of the little scamps now.  I see them in

our yard nearly every day.  It's hard to get a 

clear shot because they are never still!

They've been doing a lot of this.  Burying their food

for the winter, I presume.  I've seen one carrying 

what looks like a walnut although the walnut trees

aren't very close to the house.

October is nearly over.  Halloween will be a fun night 

for many tonight.   May each of you have a fun 

night if you have plans and a great week ahead!    

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals!!!!

Until next time...

Great game

Internet image

What a game!  The St. Louis Cardinals won 10-9 in 11 innings!  Game 7 will be played against the Texas Rangers tomorrow night at 6:30 in St. Louis.  It was one of those kinds of games that I started watching, then couldn't watch for a while, then went back to watch.  I was thinking at one point that it was all over for them, but they pulled through!  Very exciting to see.  I'm hoping they can win the Series, but the Rangers have played very well, too.   So, may the best team win!!   Go Cards!!

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Thanks for all your well wishes.  I do feel a bit better and the coughing seems to have slacked off a bit today.   We have finally gotten the carpenter who is remodeling our bathroom to set a date.  He'll start after deer season.  I'm hoping it will be done by Christmas.  And what does a bathroom remodel have to do with coughing?  I think it might partly be the mold.  We have uncovered quite a bit of mold growing behind the stuff around our tub/shower.  It may not be the culprit, but it can't be helping either.  So, very soon that job will be done.   I'll be a happy camper.

Until next time...

Thursday's this and that

                              Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.
                                         ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This photo doesn't have one thing to do with what I'm going to say next.  Just thought I'd show you what I was gazing at evening before last as I was pondering a few things.  Such as:

What do you do when you run out of blogging ideas?  Well, I've not exactly run out of ideas yet, there's still a few floating around in my cough-addled brain.  I'm just curious where you find new ideas.

Yes, I'm still battling the cold/virus from you-know-where.  So, okay, I should have asked this question way before now.  But better late than never they say.  What do you take for a bad cold?  Do you have a tried-and-true home remedy?  I am better, but the cough with a few headaches doesn't want to go away. 

In order to keep this post short...just one more thing.  I read recently where shorter posts are best.  Do you agree?
 
Maybe two things...I also want to say that I've had a few problems lately with publishing comments.  It's very frustrating to write a comment and then hit publish only to find see 'Error Has Occurred' and know your comment has disappeared!  That makes me give up.  Anyone else having this problem again?  

And, last but not least. even though it doesn't look too promising, 
Go Cardinals!!
  
Until next time... 

A Barn Charm

This old red barn is on the same property as the old house I showed in a few posts ago titled "Again" that was a rerun of a post I did last year about the strange happenings in our house.  This photo was taken in September of last year.  I thought it interesting that the owners have painted the old barn, but are letting that once fabulous old house run down.   Do you see the tower in the background behind the red barn?  They are an increasingly familiar sight in the country these days....sigh!  I think this old red barn is charming even with a tower behind it.  I love old barns and especially red ones!!

 

I'm linking to Tricia's Bluff Area Daily, she hosts Barn Charm every Tuesday.  Be sure to check out the many interesting barns there!

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Also. I'd like to mention a giveaway taking place at Camp and Cottage Living.  Kimberly is celebrating 100 followers with a very nice giveaway.  Be sure to visit, if you haven't been there before now.

Until next time...