I've Got a Secret~

 Honey came in beaming yesterday morning... 

and announcing that HE had a secret . 

When I prodded a little ... Then he told me HE'S  gonna be a Honey (Grampa) again! 

(and that I wasn't...hmph!) 

Well of course not Honey!  

An Oma can never be a Grampa... 

He wouldn't tell me who... He made me guess. 

It's our oldest Son and DIL... 

~BIG GRIN~ 

I guessed right. 

He can't keep secrets- 

NON-SEQUITUR PHOTO TO FOLLOW... 

God Bless you and Thanks for Reading! 

Sundays:

Psalm 96-
O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
²Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.
³Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
⁴For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
⁵For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
⁶Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
⁷Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
⁸Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
⁹O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
¹⁰Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
¹¹Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
¹²Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
¹³Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.



God bless you and Thank you for reading! 

"Pharaoh, Let My People Go."

…OR  
The Perils of Gardening    (in LIVE WRITER)
What would my blog be if I didn't show both sides of the proverbial coin? 
You've seen the pictures.
The luscious greenness of my broccoli and potato beds.
 

The juicy red tomatoes perched so delicately in my kitchen window.  

You've seen the 'experimental mound' (ie: hugelbeet) smack dabbed in the middle of my Potager (puh-teh-jay).

You've read how everything was growing so wonderfully. 
 
But these are the dog- days of SUMMER- where the rubber meets the road, …when gardening gets tough!

I might have mentioned the grasshoppers before. This is what they did…
  First they ate the corn.  That was before the dry hot winds blew.
Then they started eating the lettuce…then it bolted and looks like this.  I had let it flower and harvested the seeds.  The grasshoppers didn’t care. They munched, munched, munched on all of it.

Now they’re eating my tomatoes!  No surprise there. 
We’ve also had CRAZY STONG WINDS…..BLOWING ACROSS THE PASTURE.
The trees have dried out. The grass has dried out.
Did I mention the grasshoppers?  Since the fields are cut short and dried out… they’ve no place to go except the garden—at least it gets watered every other day.

This Squash plant  has been whipped to death by the winds and because everything is so dry—we’ve got severe drought conditions and A Burn Ban is in effect. NO OUTDOOR BURNING.  (yes, I know it’s blurry—it’s windy outside)
No FIRECRACKERS this year on the 4th of July too.

I’d like to end on a high note—yesterday we woke up to cooler temps than we’ve seen in a while.  It was about 70° – on the official first day Summer. 

We had an early morning shower – heavy enough to leave puddles in the yard!

This is a lone tomato. It is all that is left in the front bed; where broccoli, lettuce and beets once thrived- before this…

…it’s  a plague I’m sure!

This is the last of the okra too.  But they’re being over come with ants! 
Oh and did you see my Elephant Garlic?  Hanging next to the outside thermometer?  YES!  That grows whether I do anything to it or not.  I’ve got more hanging across the porch, too. It’s great for cooking.  Use it just like regular garlic.
This has been a fun garden to grow.  We’ve learned a lot.  I’m so looking forward to growing again next year.  One thing I’ve learned is—gardening isn’t over just because you have a few set backs. 
The growing season continues all year long.  When you’re not planting – there is still dirt to be turned,  compost to be filled and gathered, mulch to be added, and plants to be grown that otherwise might not grow during other months. Whatever month it is—there is something to do in the garden; even if it is a little research.Before next season I’ll be learning more about
  
…Pests in the GARDEN and  DE (or Diatomaceous Earth)
I added some.  But it just didn’t do it for us. Need more research!
God bless you and Thanks for reading.

 Posting Late here:
and HERE

***PS-- this was done with LIVE WRITER,  what'd you think?
I know some of my pictures were  blurry, but that isn't because of LW...it's because I'm not a photographer-- Y'all know that!  But as for the photos-- they don't have the little blogger frame, and they look like they are just laying on the page, and they are all over.  Can they be moved?  Is it better to hit publish?  Or is it better to do a draft first?

Any tips?  I know Gail from My REpurposed Life uses it... tell me what you think, Gail!

Kitchen Favorites- MCS Link Party

Sarah at Modern Country Style is having a party-- 
I thought I'd throw this post together and 'party-along'. 





We're invited to show our favorite spot in our kitchens. 
This is mine. You may have noticed it in my header...  it's my stove area. 


























I own a 1956 Chambers Range.(you can read more on Chambers by clicking that link)   It is functional and completely operational.  (Right now I've got a couple of pilots that need adjusting...but otherwise it works great!) 


I'm not any type of super chef or great cook even; in fact I don't really like cooking all that much.  But when I do-- this is how I cook.  With all the 'modern' conveniences of 1956!  

 The other thing I like about this area is the Kitchen Mantle over my range.  Honey and I built it. 
This is a quick peek at BEFORE... 

and AFTER! 

I saw something similar on the cover of a magazine                                

...and We did it cheaper!  You can read it HERE  and HERE. 

I have another spot in my kitchen where I spend a lot of time (also in my header) --Sometimes it is a favorite of mine but not always.  I love it ... but because it has a nice view!  My kitchen sink.

Don't forget to go to the party check out some great kitchens. Visit around and leave some nice comments. 





If you are here from the party and have never visited before---WELCOME! 
and as always~  to all of my guests I like to say ~ 


God Bless you and Thanks for reading! 

Summer Time Arrangement~

Sunday I showed you the Perpetual Project-- today I'm sharing with you, the most recent 'look' to the room. One I'm even more fond of than before! (I actually did this on Saturday, before Father's day... but the other post was waiting to be posted; so I had to get it out first) 

We have a Winter time arrangement of furniture and a Summer time arrangement of furniture. 

One is to accommodate for the wood burning stove-- the other for the window A/C. 

Last year I covered my couches for the summer with white blankets-- I'd purchased for really cheap. 

Well, this year the kids did the re-arranging for me before coming home from the hospital. But they aren't used to seeing the blankets on the furniture so they didn't put them on there.  Not to worry-- I did it this morning!   I like the look it gives. 

 I covered the couch and love seat with white cotton coverlets.  I'm not going for a beachy look-- just a more crisp-- summery feel.  It lightens up our dark living room too. This is the look that has lumped me into the  Flea Market Style Personality.  YES! I SAID IT... I have PERSONALITY! 

I've been buying these thin blankets every so often at Bargain land when I see them. They are usually only $1. 

I used 4 of them for this couch and loveseat. 

 Simple pillow slips. 

 This one came from my MIL's things. It has grass and flowers painted on it in tan. With a brown and white crocheted edging. 

 I like the furniture arranged this way in the summer-- it seems cooler.  There are more seats under the ceiling fan and this allows for the window A/C to cool the room better. 

 The green STINKY- rug. Well, it isn't stinky anymore. But it was!  

 I'm thinking of changing out the curtain on the front door-- it is too yellow for the rest of the room. But for now has a room darkening affect-- keeping us cooler on the inside. 

 This window has been covered for almost 2 years-- last year we didn't even turn the A/C on... crazzy hot, too! Anyway-- after uncovering this window and opening up the blinds and the curtains ...and after taking this picture--- I see that we never painted the panels along the side of the A/C.   
I'll probably do that this week.  We have NO APPOINTMENTS!  YAY! 

The view from my front door, looking straight into the kitchen.   


After taking these pictures-- I see things that still need tweaking just a bit.  Some colors that need to be eliminated and some that could be added in-- to unify the space better.  I think this is definitely one of those PERPETUAL PROJECTS!  if there is such a thing-- ( I actually just thought of that phrase off the top of my head) Either way... that isn't what I started out wanting it to be. Quite frankly-- I'm tired of it ...like 3 months ago. 


So for now I'm calling this project done! 


God Bless you and thanks so much for hanging on, waiting, and READING! 




* White Wednesday #106 here.

Ordinary is Good~

I was reading around today-- catching up on some weekend blog hop, parties, etc.  

I was inspired by one blog post in particular-- speaking in terms of doing the mundane and it got me thinking about the significance of mundanity (ie: the ordinary) . Yeah, I had to look that one up; I actually typed in mundanacity!  But NO. That  IS NOT a word. 

Anyway-- it got me thinking of all the different things that I do around my home on a day to day basis. 

The cooking, the cleaning, the washing, the yard and gardening--- all of those things important;  

 But because of repetition -sometimes boring and often rebelled against on any NORMAL day! 

Isn't it interesting how one traumatic and unexpected event puts everything into perspective for you?  

I never thought about being in this situation. EVER. 

We've been home 2 weeks now.  We're still having doctor appointments, labs and X-rays.  On any given day, I spend hours on the phone talking with the V.A., social workers and Community Care folks about medical bills, transportation and assistance. 

It makes the ordinary-- so much more special for me.  

Today  I hung laundry and enjoyed the breeze while outside. I actually enjoyed walking around the property picking up odd and ends that have blown across the yard.  The wind has been blowing the last few days about 25-30  miles an hour-- tossing things from their places over to the fence line. 


I was glad to wash all the griminess from the door and door knobs that had been leftover from the Father's Day Cook out. 


It was nice to get the trash taken out and the counters washed down. 


...and fluff the pillows. 


I'm grateful to God for the ordinary.  


I'm sure He uses these things to keep me sane. 






God Bless you and Thanks for reading. 


For accountability sake you can read the article that inspired me (my inspiration) here. 

Perpetual Projects: Doesn't Everybody Have One?

Warning this post is rated: O.K. (for OVER-KILL) 

I'm posting pictures today of my living room AGAIN! 

I didn't know I was such a procrastinator...really. 

...AND! it doesn't help when life gets in the way either. 

I've made changes.  Most are subtle... like the entertainment center-- Remember when the TV was on top?

I've acquired some *new furniture-- like my Grandmother's Glass Hutch. 

I re-arranged wall art and accessories...

I searched for inspiration regarding Billy Bass

I struggled with Lighting... and came to terms with it.

Guest came to stay and the spare bedroom HAD TO BE CLEANED...

... No more procrastinating!

I finally figured out a way to arrange everything with style all my own ...or so I thought!


*************** so Without further Ado ... hem-hawing around... Here's my before and afters.
BEFORE:

AFTER

BEFORE: 

AFTER: 

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

BEFORE: 

AFTER: 

Thanks to everyone who initially commented ...oh i dunno, about 6 months ago, and contributed insight and comments and much needed encouragement! 

May God Bless all of you!