Bucket Garden

My Bucket Garden
July 2008

This was my little garden last summer.
"Eat your heart out Martha Stewart!"
Yes, it was strange a bit unorthodox and perhaps(Shh! I'm whispering) "a little bit tacky,"but nonetheless it was my experiment and given daily doses of water from
ye old water hose, it in return gave
me these. . .

Beautiful, vine ripe, red tomatoes,
which looked like this.
Half of my yield looked like this.
Darn birds!
They were consistent, sneaking into my
Bucket domain and literally "enjoying
the fruit of my labor". Not to be
outdone I tied streamers to the fence
so they would blow in the wind and
frighten the feathery bandits away.
The streamers blew,
but the pesky birds continued
their heist.

Not to be outdone I dug deep into
my Fall storage and brought out a
Halloween Scarecrow and placed
it in the middle of the group of
buckets. . .But the birds persevered
as the Scarecrow looked on.
Then. . .One evening as I peered from my window,
this is what I saw -

I had been
out-witted, out-played, and out-lasted
by a "wascally wabbit"!
                          

* * * * * * * * * * *

Update:  Let the record show I did not plant a
garden of any type this year.
The rabbits won.
I'll be buying my produce from the
Farmers Market.
Wonder how the Farmers keep the
rabbits out of their Garden?????

I rock!

Please don't hate me 'cause "I Rock"!

They tell me this is how the elite lived

way back when.

I think I could get used to this.

Me, along with 6 of my GF's

took a day trip to

Natchitoches, (Louisiana)

today to see this old

Plantation home,

"Cherokee Plantation"

which dates back to 1830.

Sweet Mr. Charles demonstrating

the Punka Fan.

(the forerunner of today's ceiling fan)

Interesting.

There was so much to see,

so much I wanted to show you

but alas,

my camera died.

Where was this guy when I needed him?!
LOL

~ This blog post has been brought to you by the letter
"H"; for HOT.

When you take 7 menopausal women
out in the sunshine of a 95 degree day
you get a lot of  "HOT" mama's.

Beautiful home.
Beautiful furniture.
Beautiful day.

"little something"

"It was the best of times

it was the worst of times. . ."

Today I was thinking. . .
( REALLY, I was)

Sometimes it is the smallest of things
that make us happy.

No one in my family likes Orange Sherbert

except for me.

I have my own container

that I microwave till the top is

soft & creamy,

just the way I like it.

*This makes me happy.*

I also have my own jar of peanut butter.

This is my fav.o.rite.

(Husband has his Crunchy;

Princess has her Creamy.)

I prefer the reduced Fat type.

Because it's totally mine I can

stick my finger into the jar

and get a big blob of  PB

sans a utensil.
I can also "double dip"!

*This makes me happy.*

What "little something"makes you happy?

Simple Pleasure

72 degrees,

a good book,

and a park bench in the shade.

*Simple Pleasure*

What was your pleasure today?

*  * * * * * * * * * * *

Many of you visited my daughter's Blog

the other day to cheer her up.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!

Happy Birthday Gracie!!

OPA!

We went to the local Greek Festival this weekend. . .
Greek people love to dance
and wave white handkerchef's
in the air. . .

Music.  Dancing.

Beautiful costumes.

Greek wine and Bahklava!

Be still my heart.

After the wine everyone loves to dance.

(Yep.  That's me wearing blue and

standing in front of the pastry sign.)

My favorite Guy

buying a Gyro.

Have you ever eaten a Gyro?

This was my first.

Think "funny soft taco with a dollop

of sour cream seasoned w/Dill".

There was a bit of paper thin sliced beef

in the mix of lettuce & tomatoes.

I was surprised at how good it was.

The back of the Greek Orthodox Church.

I'm part Greek, but don't go to this type of church.

Greeks & non-Greeks can attend the church.

The Priest explained the church beliefs

and symbolism.

Very interesting.

He also said their Sunday service

lasted 3 hours and that everyone

stood during the entire service.

Princess wants me to note

that the Greek guys (background) working

the food stands were "cute".

So noted.

It was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

"OPA!"

Opportunity to "Pay it Forward"

Here's an opportunity to "pay it forward"

by sharing some encouragement

with a friend of mine

who's got a bad case of the blues today. 

(yes, it's my daughter!) 

Please drop by her blog HERE

and share a few words of encouragement

with her.

Words are powerful

and this can be your

"Good Deed" of the day.

(plus you can see a photo of

my youngest Granddoll!)

Thank you for doing this!!

May you be blessed for your kindness!

EEEWWWWW!!

Look closely.
Do you see the SNAKE?

I hate spiders, wasps, and mice,

but I don't scream and go crazy

if I see one.

Can't say the same about this snake I saw slithering across our patio.

Still, I had to get a photo before my

shaking in his Flip Flops brave husband took a shovel to him.

I faced my fear

and with camera in hand

I took this photo for YOU.

Then I screamed and did a little dance

as I ran back into the house.

"#&%!" 

In my hurry I hit my knee

HARD

on the patio bench.

GIANORMOUS.BRUISE.

A Blogger's gotta do

what a Blogger's gotta do.

Laughing Ovaries

This would make my ovaries LOL
(if I still had any).
Doncha love it???!!

a little giggle

Excuse me?

Lest you think I've completely lost my sense of humor (along with my mind),
I had to share this sign I saw yesterday in a store.  LOL
It got my attention.

* * * * * * * * *

Difficult Times call for GREAT friends,
the kind you can confide in and know it goes no farther.
The kind of friend who likes you even when you're not "fun".
The kind that listen when it's "all about you".
The kind that doesn't judge but instead offers help.
I had lunch today with one of my GREAT friends.

Great Friend + Sweet Tea = Therapy
"Thank you God for online & offline Great Friends"

Random Dozen

Mid-week fun is always provided by
Linda at Second Cup of Coffee.
Check her out HERE.

1. Have you ever been so lost that you were really afraid?

   Only in my dreams.  Really.

   I have a re-occuring dream that I am lost

   and cannot find my way back home.

   There are always different people in the

   dreams, and the locations and circumstances

   are different, but the theme stays the same.

   Guess that gives new meaning to the term

    "Insecure".

2. Have you ever been to an island?
    Hawaii (Oahe)
    Nassau (is that an island?)
    Padre Island


3. Are you more of a thinker or feeler?
    I'll have to think about that and get back to you.


4. Do you tend to see issues or situations in life as black and white or shades of gray?
    When I was a young Mom I saw things
     in black and white.  The older I get
     the grayer things become -

(and I'm not

     just talking about my hair!).

5. If you were stuck on an island, what book would you hope to have with you (Let's pretend the Bible is already there, so you can't say that.)
    I rarely read   
   so forget the book,

    I'm taking my best friend, Purell.

       

6. What are you most afraid of?
     Needles. (shots, injections)


7. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?
    I'm keeping my old memories.
    The answer to this question probably depends
     on your current age.



8. Pretend I'm looking at a scrapbook page about you. There are three spaces for you to drop in individual pictures. What are those pictures of, and why did you select them?

Me; fresh-faced

Me; 15 min. after giving birth
(still in position and obviously my milk has come in)

Me; struttin' my stuff

9. If you were re-doing your wedding, what would you do differently? (If you're single, tell me one thing you would do if you were planning a wedding OR huge party.)

    ELOPE!

10. Tell me one thing you know/believe about forgiveness.
       We love to GET it, but hate to GIVE it.


11. You're waiting in a doctor's office. What is your favorite way to pass that time?
      No good way to wait for the doctor.


12. If there were a clone of you in a parallel universe what is one way you hope she/he would be the same as you and one way you hope she/he would be better?
      She'd have my same beautiful feet
      but a singing voice like Trisha Yearwood!!

Homeschooling. What say ye?

I am thinking about homeschooling my 15 yr old
daughter next yr., 10th grade.
I'm afraid.
(because I don't feel qualified)
I'm pissed.
(because I don't want to give up "my" time)
I'm sad.
(Goodbye shopping days with my Gf's.
Goodbye lunch out.)
I'm nervous.
(Goodbye clean house.  UGH!
I hate messy.)

I don't want to get too personal, but Princess

is having serious problems at school so my

husband and I feel there is no other choice.

I am not a "I-know-I-can-do-this-better

type of mom.  Honestly, I feel this is a

major sacrifice on my part.  Please don't

throw stones at me.  I love my child and will

do what is necessary, but right now I am

experiencing a bit of a "bad attitude".

I'd really like to know your

thoughts/experiences

with homeschooling.
Do you Homeschool?
Do you know others who do?

I'd also like to know what you

think are the good & bad of

schooling at home - Honestly.

"Please be gentle."

I.Love.You.
Thanks for riding out the hills & valleys

of my life with me.

Academy of Country Music Awards

I watched the Academy of Country Music Awards last night.
I.Loved.It. 

Reba MeEntyre was the host.  I swear she looked even more beautiful this year than she did last year.  The beaded dress she wore at the start of the show fit her beautifully and showed of her beautiful back
(no back fat on Reba.  For sure.) and her slim, toned arms which IMO look every bit as good as Michelle Obama's arms. WOW!

I have an announcement I'd like to make.
I sure hope Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, and Kristian Bush are listening.
"you can take off the BIG cowboy hat, the funny ball cap, the doo rag,
and the woolen hat. . .Dudes, we know you're bald and we love you anyway.
Get over it!"

The opening song was sang by Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, and they were joined by a variety of guitar and fiddle players.  Carrie,  did you try on that dress/shirt before you wore it?  It was so short I was sure I'd be seeing your Va-ja-ja at any moment. My husband thanks you for your "barely there" little black dress.

I must admit that I am biased to anything which has to do with Blake Shelton. 

You see  I.Love.Blake.Shelton.

So glad he sang his "Hillbilly Bone" song.

He did a great job and just gets darn cuter everytime I see him.

Brooks & Dunn.

Who doesn't like them?  Is there anyone?

Kix Brooks is the party guy of the Duo.

When Kix is around you can be sure there will be a good time.

Bad hair day!!  Blech!

Ronnie Dunn, on the other hand, is the more serious of the two.  He has the beautiful tenor voice that can sing anything.  Have you ever noticed that he won't wear a Cowboy hat?  He doesn't want to cover his hair, which he is so proud of.  Tonight he SHOULD have worn a hat.  He gets the "Scruffy Hair Award" for the evening.

Miranda Lambert!!Top Female Vocalist of the Year
So happy for her.
She has performed in the shadow
of Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwoodfor sooooo long. 
Now it's her turn to shine!!

It seems Lady Antebellumjust couldn't do anything wrong.
They kept winning all sorts of
awards last night...I think I read
the lead singer had tried out for
AI twice and been rejected.
You missed on that one, Simon
Cowell.  Oops!  She could barely
walk in that red dress which was
too long - another fashion faux pas.

Rascal FlattsLast night you made my ears bleed.
Waaay off key.
I have all your CD's and am
a big fan.  But last night,
not.so.good.

Brad Paisley
Did you really need to take
a dip in the water?
Didn't float, IMO.

Luke Bryan"Top New Artist of the Year"How cute is this guy??!!
And, he can "sang".
Neon white teeth that
glowed from the stage - Blinding.
Congratulations Luke!

Do you "get it"?

"Daddy and I are so thankful for the family that God has given us.  We are blessed...We feel our family should stay just as it is, soooooooo, Daddy is gonna have a little surgery so we can be sure our family stays just the size it is.  Everything will be fine.  Daddy will just be lying around taking it easy this weekend after his surgery.  Everything will be fine."

The three daughters, aged 11, 9, and 6, stared blankly at their Mom (our oldest daughter) as she explained her husband (their Dads) upcoming vasectomy...Everyone seemed fine with the simple explanation.  The 11 yr old, sort of "got it", the 6 yr old couldn't have cared less, but the 9 yr old began to think about the situation...Later that day she approached her Mom,

"I don't get it.

Since YOU have the babies,

why is Daddy having the surgery"?

Mom looked deep into those innocent blue

eyes and replied, "Well, it takes a MaMa and

a Daddy to have babies."

"Oh", said curious child,

"OK...but I still don't get it".

Then she went merrily on her way.

She'll be back, doncha think?

How old were you when you
discovered how babies were made
and where they came from?

Who told you?