Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Outdoor Wednesday/Wednesday Hodgepodge

I am joining Susan for:
Outdoor Wednesday #116

At our home in Memphis, we had an arbor over the front entrance where Carolina Jasmine grew....When we were getting ready to move here, Honey Bear dug up a few sprigs and potted them....they grew in the pot until the next Spring when he built this fake fence outside our bedroom window....It was to block the view of our neighbor's drive and to give us a place to put the Jasmine....He planted it there and that was two years ago..This is the first year it has really looked this good in bloom....I took the first few photos at the beginning of March and the last two on Thursday of last week.




It is covered in clusters of blooms like this.

Joining Joyce for:
Wednesday Hodgepodge foolishness
volume 20
1. April rolls in at the end of this week and in celebration of that infamous date (April 1) answer this question-what is something foolish you've done? 
trusted the wrong person
2. With April comes Easter and that classic edible treat known as Peeps...so tell me...what's your favorite way to eat/fix chicken? That's wasn't what you were expecting was it? I 'fooled' you. teehee 
Chicken Tenders
3. What's the best museum you've ever visited? Or your favorite? Or the one you'd most like to visit? 
I once went to a Teapot exhibit at Brooks Museum in Memphis which I enjoyed.
4. You know what they say about April showers....what's your preference-a bath or a shower? 
Shower
5. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"-fact or fiction? Why? ]
If it is a short absence, I'm not sure it makes the heart grow fonder exactly but it certainly makes the homecoming sweeter...
6. What's your favorite product made/grown in your home state/province? 
Peaches
7. What is going on in the world today that affects you the most? 
The war since my son is serving in harm's way..
8. Insert your own random thought here.
Time for lunch

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A Simple Woman's Daybook

For today....
Outside my window...Its 42 °F, (6 °C) and cloudy with a 20% chance of thunderstorms...the grass is now way too high but with the rain we've been having, hasn't had its first cut of the year....Its quiet out there right now, no bird activity...I can see one of the new fruit trees and the Butterfly Bush and both are leafed out.
Hearing...peaceful silence this morning
I am thinking...about the TIS stitchery that I trimmed too short and wondering if I can fix it...just about a quarter inch on one side..I might piece it and make the seam with the patchwork right there and make it work....most of the group were putting the patchwork on the block before doing the stitching and now I can see the advantage to that.
Feeling thankful for...Honey Bear's love and the friendship we share....my faith that helps me through the valleys of life
I am remembering...our vacation in Charleston last week
Creating this..a new cross stitch project...and the other projects mentioned in previous weeks
I am currently reading..."Daring to Dream" by Nora Roberts on my Kindle
One year ago today...the forecast was for temperatures in the 70s...I was going to Bible Study(miss those)...reading: "Show No Fear"...taking it easy on crafts since my wrist had tendonitis...thinking about Spring yard and porch work.
I am hoping...to get over this sinus infection and Bronchitis soon
On my mind...the heartache of a marriage ending
Noticing that...life is constantly changing and time moves swiftly now
Pondering these words...While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.
Francis of Assisi
From the kitchen...nothing good except for the leftover taco salad makings I mentioned in yesterdays post and some scalloped potatoes....also, it could use some tidying
Around the house...I don't even want to think about all that needs attention since I don't feel like doing it....
I am praying for...Abbey(she has made great progress but still has a long road to recovery)... my children and grandchildren...Honey Bear...myself...others
A few plans for the week...my club is creating fruit platters tomorrow for Thursday's District meeting hosted in our county....I hope I'm well enough to attend both...Friday is book club....a trip to the bank to take care of some business.....
One of my favorite things...Watching for the birds that return after winter is over...I need to get a Hummingbird feeder up soon.
From my picture file...for the next several weeks, I'm going to share some photos of benches I saw in Charleston...my friend, Paulie got me started spotting benches and photographing them...she has a blog dedicated to the subject here.
 3 for 1
Very ornate..goes well with the pots
As always, we want to give credit to Peggy who started the daybook blogging.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Meet Me On Monday



Welcome to the 40th edition of 
"Meet Me On Monday!"
Java says:
Question #2 (Do you scrapbook) compliments of Helen at
A Crafty kind of Truffle   Thanks Helen!!!

If you have a question suggestion please email me at: nevergrowingold@hotmail.com and if I use your question I will give you a shout out!  

 Here are her questions for this week along with my answers:

1.  Crunchy or soft tacos? 
Actually, I like both...Honey Bear prefers Taco Salad so that is what we have....just Friday night, this was on the menu and there are leftovers, yum!
2.  Do you scrapbook? 
Yes, I do....for years, I bought supplies and never made a page...making genealogy scrapbooks for my "grands" was on my to-do list every January...then one day, my Daughter saw me buying supplies and said maybe I could work on her children's scrapbooks...she gave me all the supplies she had, along with her pictures and the few pages she had done...since she worked full time, she found it hard to find time to do it...So it began....I've not caught up on their story yet, but this past year, I made the genealogy scrapbooks for my siblings, myself and both of my children....I love gathering the elements, the photos and sitting down to create.
3.  Do you take any daily medications? 
This is kind of personal but I don't mind answering....I have had hypertension since age 25 and currently, I take two tablets for it in the morning...I have Meinere's Disease which is an inner ear disorder effecting balance, and I take a tablet at bedtime for this.....In addition, I take lots of vitamins: multi, C, D3, and a Baby Aspirin.....I also have Asthma and use a maintenance inhaler daily.
4.  What is your favorite sound? 
I love the sound of wind chimes and water...that is why there are so many chimes outside the doors of our home and why there is a small fountain/pond in front and a larger one in back.
5.  Where were you born?
I was born in Bremen, Georgia, in a clinic which the doctor had in the basement of his home.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

What's On Your Nightstand?

Hello
We returned from vacation yesterday. I am behind on blogging and don't promise to catch up but I wanted to do my monthly book post linked to 5 Minutes for Books.


Now that I have my Kindle, I usually am reading one book on it and one in regular form. The Kindle makes it much easier to carry a book with me and read whenever I have a few minutes to wait between errands or appointments...

Currently, reading two books and just about at the end of both...the first, A Single Thread is a page turner and although it is about a quilt shop and circle of quilters, the story is about so much more....the bond women form when sharing common interests...the changes and heartache each life can hold and how we grow through them...I'm not sure this could be called Christian fiction but it is certainly a good read which does not exploit language or relationships...I really hate to see it end  and highly recommend it.


The second book that I am finishing is Her Mother's Hope, which was recommended by on one the blogs I follow...I enjoyed the history of this book...it begins at the start of the 1900s in Switzerland, travels through both World Wars and ends in California....It follows Marta throughout her life from the age of 12, the people she meets along the way and her family and their experiences....I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Her Daughter's Dream.


I may have mentioned this Fannie Flagg book last month...it is my book club's May selection. Here is a portion of  Pat Conroy's review from Amazon.com: 
Maggie Fortenberry, a woman with a brand-new plan to change her life but who keeps getting interrupted by phone calls from friends and responsibilities to the troubled real-estate company where she works. A former Miss Alabama who represented her state in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, Maggie is a worthy descendant of those four fabulous women who were the main protagonists in Fried Green Tomatoes.
I will most likely read this book sometime in the next month. I do not like to read a book too many weeks before the club meeting...I like it to still be fresh on my mind.

I have this book by Charles Martin on my bookshelf...I have enjoyed all of the books by him that I have read and look forward to this one...It will most likely be the one I read next.
Here is an excerpt from the review on Amazon.com:
On a stormy winter night, two strangers wait for a flight at the Salt Lake City airport.  Ashley Knox is an attractive, successful writer, who is flying East for her much anticipated wedding.  Dr. Ben Payne has just wrapped up a medical conference and is also eager to get back East for a slate of surgeries he has scheduled for the following day.   When the last outgoing flight is cancelled due to a broken de-icer and a forthcoming storm, Ben finds a charter plane that can take him around the storm and drop him in Denver to catch a connection.   And when the pilot says the single engine prop plane can fit one more, if barely, Ben offers the seat to Ashley knowing that she needs to get back just as urgently.   And then the unthinkable happens.  The pilot has a heart attack mid-flight and the plane crashes into the High Uintas Wilderness-- one of the largest stretches of harsh and remote land in the United States. 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Outdoor Wednesday/Wednesday Hodgepodge


Today I'm joining Joyce at "From This Side of the Pond" and Susan at  "A Southern Daydreamer


It's Your Lucky Day-Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 18



1. What would you do if you found a pot of gold? Let's pretend that pot of gold is worth exactly $1500 (which would actually be more like a cup of gold at current values). Anyway, let's also pretend you have to spend it as opposed to making a donation somewhere.Now, tell me what you would do with that cup pot of gold?
I would replace the carpet or buy a new computer
2. Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day in any way, shape, or form? 
Well, I always decorate for it and wear the colors...last year Honey Bear and I went out to an Irish Pub, wearing our beads and hats to have an Irish dinner and a glass of Irish beer...we thought we'd make it a tradition but this year he'll be out of town...
3. Have you been bitten by the Spring Cleaning bug? What spring cleaning job most needs doing at your house? What spring cleaning job are you most dreading?  
I did reorganize my plastic wear cabinet and the linen closet...getting the front entry planters planted
4. lime-shamrock-sage-forest....your favorite shade of green? 
Green is my least favorite color......Does Teal count? That is about as close to Green as I can stand....although I like seeing Green in nature, I don't care to wear it or have it in my home
5. Thomas Jefferson once said, "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." So... do you believe in luck or do you believe we make our own luck?
What I believe is that God has a plan for my life but gives me choices....
6. Monday (3/14) was Pi Day. Get it? 3/14 is Pi Day. Those math types are so clever, aren't they? Since I'm not one of them tell me what's your favorite piE (the edible kind)? 
Chocolate
7. That same date (3/14) was also the birth date of the late physicist, Albert Einstein. I bet he knew the value of pi. What do you think is more important and/or valuable in life...intelligence or common sense? Well, all the intelligence in the world isn't much use without common sense
8. Insert your own random thought here...I was hoping to get this blog post done by 9:00 AM
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A Simple Woman's Daybook

From Mama Bear's Journal...
Outside my window...the porch is wet from last nights rain...the grass is green and growing taller and thicker every day....the Red Bellied Sapsucker is on the feeder...its 47 °F, (8 °C)...today its supposed to reach 56 degrees, a little cooler than yesterday at 72...cloudy with a chance of showers
Hearing...the fan on the furnace and a clock ticking...Smokey talking to the Birds
I am thinking...I am not a fan of changing our clocks...why can't we just set them half an hour one way or the other and leave them alone
Feeling thankful for...a coffee pot with a timer so I can pour that first cup when I first get up in the morning
I am remembering...a friend from early in my marriage...we got together once a week at my house or hers and made lunch for each other..our children were similar ages..haven't heard from her in years
Creating this...remember this from last week...I've almost finished the 3 required stitcheries for March plus 1 extra....these are the fabrics I've chosen for the patchwork....I'm doing the quilt in blue and some of the other projects in reds/pinks

I am currently reading...Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers on my Kindle...I need to download the sequel
One year ago today...I was writing from Memphis, Tennessee....reading Learning to Breathe by Karen White...the sun was shinning,it was about 50 degrees...I was planning to visit my favorite antique mall(I miss that place)....
I am hoping...to catch up on my journaling 
On my mind...my time at home this morning and how best to use it
Noticing that...the sun is shinning here now...there is a Red-winged Blackbird on the ground under the feeder with a Mourning Dove and a Mockingbird on the feeder
Pondering these words... “In the bulb, there is a flower; in the seed an apple tree; in cocoons, a hidden promise – butterflies will soon be free!  In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see."
From the kitchen...I've been enjoying leftovers from the weekend...I usually send those with Honey Bear but he flew to  Houston on Monday...Valerie made me hungry last week for ribs, baked beans, potato salad, and slaw so I made that on Saturday...Sunday I made a tomato-beef-noodle bake.
Around the house...I need to vacuum..go through the mail...start laundry...get son's package ready to mail
I am praying for...a friend's son...Eddie and Denise....Abbey and her family...Jill's father in law...Elizabeth's Mother in law...Ashley....and many others...
A few plans for the week...lunch today with my friend, Rene....a visit to the craft store and bank....pedicure tomorrow...hair appointment on Thursday...packing for our trip....
One of my favorite things...spending a few days in historic Charleston, South Carolina
From my picture file...

Monday, March 14, 2011

Meet Me On Monday


Welcome to the 38th edition of 
"Meet Me On Monday!"
Each week, I join Java in answering questions
hoping that we all might get to know one another 
better.

Questions:

1.  Do you have a fireplace in your home? 
Yes, we have one in the living room which has gas logs in it but is actually a wood burning fireplace. I would like to take the logs out and install a gas starter so we could burn logs. The pilot light makes so much noise that I keep it shut off so we never use it the way it is now.
2.  Can you drive a stick shift? 
Yes, although it has been many years since I have driven one....our first car was a Volkswagen....later we had a Vega with 4 in the floor. I've also driven a 5 gear truck.
3.  How many computers are in your home? 
Five laptops, a Blackberry and an iphone.
4.  Are your taxes done yet?  Do you do them yourself?
No, Honey Bear always does our taxes and he'll put it off until the weekend before they have to be done....
5.  What is your favorite meal of the day? 
I don't really have a favorite.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Outdoor Wednesday/Wednesday Hodgepodge

It’s time for Outdoor Wednesday # 113

Signs of Spring are everywhere.






Hailed as the first sign of Spring in some places, the Robin is here year round...we just see more of them this time of year.
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Wednesday Hodgepodge Mardi Gras Style- Vol 17

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge and our own little Mardi Gras..
where Joyce posts a series of questions and we all get to read each other's answers

1. The season of Lent begins on March 9 this year.....do you participate and if so, in what way?
No, I didn't even know about the religious aspects of this event until I was an adult and asked a friend who was Catholic to explain it to me
2. Traditionally pancakes are eaten on the day known as Shrove Tuesday which is the last day before Lent (March 8th this year) So....butter and syrup? Blueberry? Chocolate chip? Ewwww, no thanks!! What's your pleasure when it comes to eating pancakes?
Butter and Maple Syrup
3. Spring is coming. (It is oming. (It is coming, right?) What's your favorite springtime flower and do you suffer from seasonal allergies? That's two questions I know but they're lightweights. 
My favorite springtime flower is Iris although it doesn't bloom until May...I guess the second one would be Tulip.....And yes, definitely have seasonal allergies....my season used to be Fall but now its Spring and mostly the Bradford Pears..I'll get better once those blooms are gone.
4. "Our opinion of people depends less upon what we see in them than upon what they make us see in ourselves." Author unknown. Agree or disagree? Why? 
Disagree.....can't explain.
5. Since it's "March" and also the season of Mardi Gras...have you ever been in a parade? What's the best parade you've ever seen?
 I'm trying to remember....I think I've always been a spectator...and the best one was at Disney World.
6. You would jump up and down and shout for joy right now if someone told you_________? 
I'd lost 10 pounds in my sleep.
7. How clean is your car on the outside? Inside? Is there junk in your trunk?
I had my car cleaned two weeks ago and although it rained on it Saturday night, it is still fairly clean because I had rain-ex put on so water would sheet off.....I drive a van so have no trunk..the only thing in the back is a map and my reusable bags..in the middle is a blanket and the shades for the windshield. In the front in a bag with cds, a pen and bottle of water.
8. Insert your own random thought here. I renewed my virus protection this weekend and it slows down the computer...seems these things are always downloading updates when I am trying to post.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A Simple Woman's Daybook

From Mama Bear's journal...
Outside my window...a different window this morning as I decided to record the scene outside our bedroom window on the East side...I see the faux fence Honey Bear put up the first Spring we lived here to block our view of the neighbor's drive...we had brought some small pieces of our Jasmine in a pot from the other house( and planted it there...this year it is blooming, covers about half of the top of the fence(all this from two small sprigs)...I can also see the top of cedar in my neighbor's yard....its 49 °F, (9 °C) with some wind and a predicted high for today of 65 F....rain is moving in for the afternoon and evening....Smokey is sitting in the window beside me.
Hearing...the wind, a automobile motor, a dog barking and the fan on the laptop
I am thinking...the Bradford Pear blooms are playing havoc with my respiratory system once again..just when the weather becomes nice enough for outdoor walking...
Feeling thankful for...Honey Bear's job(saw a segment on 60 minutes Sunday night about families that have lost their jobs and homes)
I am remembering...how good it was to be with extended family on Saturday night..50+members of my Mother's branch of the family met at a restaurant...I saw my siblings for the first time in several months...gave them the scrapbooks which got passed around and viewed by many there.
Creating this...
The shawl and bear I mentioned last week
stitchery for Tis The Season Stitch-A-long
And planning to begin quilting this....remember it....my class quilt from several years ago.

Finished this one.

I am currently reading...
Just finishing up this Book Club selection for March although we've already discussed it...Franklin is 
in his 2nd term as President where I'm reading
I'm a little over half way through this one on my Kindle
I want to finish these as I'm ready to move on to something else
One year ago today...my wrist was giving me fits(ended up with it in a brace for about a month)...Spring was putting on a colorful show...I was reading Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky..I was planning a trip to Memphis 
I am hoping...to get back to tracking my food intake....I strayed the week of retreat and haven't been able to get my act together since...I was so hoping to have lost more by now....at least I haven't gained it all back...but I'll feel better once I lose at least 7 more pounds.
On my mind...a family in crisis...how things change....believing all things work for good for those who know the Lord...hard to see that when one is in a valley......getting busy with my to-do list
Noticing that...Smokey loves to be in the room with me wherever I am...when I began this, he was in the window, now he is asleep on the bed.
Pondering these words..."Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face." Victor Hugo
From the kitchen...there's some ground sirloin that needs browning for the freezer...dishwasher needs to be unloaded...no cooking going on
Around the house...finish up laundry then work in studio...I vacuumed yesterday
I am praying for...Abbey(car accident), her parents and grandmother: Margaret.....Denise&Eddie, Tammi, a silent request from a friend...the family in crisis...others I've read about since last week.
A few plans for the week...I had planned to attend a meeting in Guntersville tomorrow but looking at the weather, I'm not sure I want to be out driving....fellowship dinner at church tomorrow night...club meeting Thursday night
One of my favorite things...spending time with family
From my picture file...



Benches seen on my walk.

Brought to you by Peggy.