No Reservations!

I was wondering what all the noise was outside, i could hear kids screaming, laughing, water splashing and genie was going nuts at the window.
I peeked outside and here's my answer! They opened the hydrants to clear em out.



Genie stood watch as she usually does, trying to take control of everyone. She just couldnt bear to jump in and have some fun. She tried though, after some encouragement from me. She managed to just get the tips of her paws wet.
The streets filled up pretty quick, sure looks inviting dosnt it? Sometimes you just want to be a kid all over again. No reservations at all, just jump on in and enjoy the moment.

Have a great holiday weekend!

No picture today....but a few thoughts. Personally, i went thru something that was very painful for me. NOT for me personally, but for me to watch, because I dont like seeing people hurt and be sad. I saw my sister be very sad yesterday, and she has a tough road ahead of her and so I'm just out of sorts for her. My heart is so heavy for her...she will be on my mind for awhile. The can of our childhood was reopened for me yesterday....and it just hurts.

I'm off for a weekend of camping, the last hurrah. I know many of you are also...stay safe, have fun, relax, smile alot and remember what its all about.....our families! See ya on Sunday or Monday! Oh, and if your coming by and enjoying all the hard work....a big Thank you to Karla for doing this, she redesigned my blog and I love it! It was great working with her and I hope to get to know her better. Thank you so much!

Can it be......Fall already?

Look who snuck into my home this morning! This is the first of my official Fall decorating. Its a waffle weave hand towel that is hanging over the stove. For each holiday or season I hang a dish towel on the stove. It isnt suppossed to be used for anything other than to welcome in the holiday, but try telling that to Baldyman. I want to pull out all my Fall decor but I'm fighting the urge until next week. For now,,,,I'll just have to enjoy this little hint of Autumn.

Prime Rib

Prime Rib! Baldyman and I cant get enough of this! Lucky for us it went on sale this week and for the two of us it was under 15.00. The picture dosnt do it justice, I think it rocked. I've learned the key to successful Prime Rib is in the Rock Salt. I'm not a user of Salt at all, I never use it to season my food and I almost always omit it from recipes. With Prime Rib, it draws out the flavor enhances the meat. You just cant NOT use it.

My recipe for Prime Rib goes like this!

Turn your oven to 350. Season the meat fatty side and some of the meat part--with Rock Salt. Dont be skimpy! I also then have about 1/2 in water in the pan and pour in some beef broth.

Let the meat cook depending on its size--for a roast small enough for 2 say about 20-30 minutes. Turn oven off and let sit for a few hours. Before eating--turn oven back on and cook about another 20 minutes.

Take out of oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before carving.

If your cooking a large Prime Rib you will have to initially cook it about an hour. When you turn it back on I would cook it another 45 minutes. Its also best when cooking a large roast to let it sit in the oven while its off for a good 6 hours.

Enjoy! By the way, if anyone knows of a good recipe for Creamy Horseradish Sauce--I need one!

Check em out!

Here is the old model, she definitely shows signs of use and abuse. I didnt even bother to clean her up to put her away. I figure one of these days when I have nothing to do, I'll go clean her up for the next time she needs to work.

Here is the new model! Its a Maytag and as you can see it tells me how many minutes I have left in the wash cycle. For me, thats really cool because in my old machine, I had NOTHING...absolutely NOTHING! I was lucky if it even finished rinsing for me..sometimes it got tired of working!

Here is the new dryer! This is a Maytag also. I have cool features on this to. I have a Wrinkle Free cycle so it will keep going if I cant empty it right away. It also has a rack I can use if I need to dry items I dont want flopping around such as tennis shoes or pillows. I do hope these are the last appliances I buy in my lifetime...at 50--I doubt it. But dont they say Maytags last forever?

I already started using them tonight-and the smells permeating thruout my house are actually making me enjoy doing laundry again. The entire house smells fresh and clean! If only that were so!

Wash Day!

Monday and I should have been doing laundry.....BUT...it takes nearly 3 times to dry a load of clothes with my dryer. The washer dosnt wring the clothes out enough and they come out sometimes dripping.

I decided it was time for a new washer and dryer. On my lunch break today, I ran into our local store to check out their appliances. I figured they would be outrageous in price and not good selection. Well, I am glad they dont have to big a choice and the prices were very comparable to the bigger stores.

I made my choice in less than 10 minutes for both a washer and a dryer, set up delivery and left.

I took pictures of my old washer this morning--and will take one of the new one that comes tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow night i can post them. I have never had this nice of a washer in all my 50 years. I told baldyman isnt it funny how when our 5 kids lived at home I made do with the cheapest of machines. One time for nearly 10 years we lived with a used Maytag. We paid $100.00 for it and it went tons of abuse. Wasnt pretty to look at, but it was a work horse. This new machine is pretty to look at and comes with plenty of choices. My dryer even has a rack to place shoes or things you dont want bouncing as they dry. I cant believe I'm actually excited about doing laundry tomorrow night. I'm even gonna spoil myself and get a Brand name detergent with Fabric Softener. How cool is that?

Finally...Friday

I think this will be my Friday title every Friday...I'm sure any of us who hold outside jobs feel this way on Fridays.....Whewwwww,,,Its Finally Friday!

For me, sometimes it means heading to our trailer. Other times--baldyman and I will go meet up with our favorite Bartender and enjoy a good Bloody Mary, play a few games, enjoy a few laughs and be home by 6.

Today, its gonna be a meet up with Peter, our bartender. He mixes a great Bloody, sometimes even adds his own homemade garden veggies. He's an Irish man, a local school teacher who does this on occasional Fridays just to get out and mingle. If you have looked at my blog--you will notice his garden pictures. He's an avid gardener, in fact we may be having our daughters wedding in it next Spring.

Whatever you do today and on the weekend, do it safe and relaxing. The key to the weekend-is to rejuvienate ourselves for another week of life! See yas Monday!

Tranquility

This is a photo of the front of my house and the little garden area. Its not much but its a really nice place to sit and have a drink and relax. I have a green wicker love seat on the porch and a little bistro table so you can even enjoy lunch or dinner. Theres a fountain which my dog thinks is her drinking bowl and the birds use it as well.

Come fall which is not to far away--we pull all the flowers out and the yard decor and it becomes a haunted patch. On breezy days the wind chimes give off a very soothing sound. My whole life is consumed with finding ways to make my home inside and out, a tranquil place to be. Its a never ending quest....I'm sure most of you know that.

Who Spongepainted the Sky?

Sitting outside this evening was so beautiful. Then, as if the perfect temps werent enough AND the light breeze, I notice this. It looks as if someone took a sponge and painted the sky.

Isnt it beautiful? This is one of the most perfect nights, its low 70's, no humidity, no bugs, and a very light wind. Even the birds are out enjoying it,,you can see them flying and enjoying the light breezes. If only, every day could be like this....

Racine Wisconsin Beachfront

Isnt this beautiful? Now do you understand why I feel the need to live by water?

We were here this past Sunday for baldymans family picnic. Now its not my favorite past time by any means BUT for going I get to enjoy this beautiful beach!

The food was good this year, it actually was an alright time. I just wish I could have packed up this beach right along with the leftovers and brought it home. Sadly, I'll have to come back and view this picture from time to time...

Anti-Aging

Thats gonna be my focus for abit here. I will post some pictures of the products I'm trying right now. I'm on a mission to fight aging....I wont go down without a fight. I see way to many women that look like they've given up. I know its NOT easy to stay on top of it--but hey..its a fight worth fighting.

My suggestions to all women who want to look their best as they venture into Middle Age!

1. Get a new hairstyle, its a must, no excuses. YES, YES, YES, try a new haircolor--be brave!

2. Keep current on new makeup trends, applications of it and make those changes..DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use the same make up style you did at 18 or 20! It will age you faster than God does.

3. Wear nice clothes--invest in them...dont listen to those who say if your older you cant wear this or that...Bulldookey--WEAR it!

4. Stay in life...get out there, be visible, be proud of who you are and what you look like, dont let the young ones get all the attention--demand yours!

5. Dont ever forget your dreams and goals, no matter how old we get, we still have things we dreamed of as young girls, dreams and goals keep us young and alive...our spirits need a zest for life.

Annies Cat

Guess whose visiting Grandma and Granpa? It sure dosnt look like grandchildren to me...NOPE...its a CAT! And not my favorite kind either, I prefer them stuffed OR framed.

Annie is on a vacation for the week and so Butterscotch has taken over my bedroom window.

This has become her lookout window. Of course since she's been here I havent slept well at all.

Seems she likes to terrorize our house at night...she runs all round, jumps on the bed, meows

loudly and all the while the bells on her little collar make enough noise to wake the dead.

I have a feeling by the time she has to go home, she will have taken over our household. Its amazing how fast they get ya to become their little slaves. For the first hour or so she would run from us scared....then right after that...it was her nuzzling against our legs. begging for food, and

then DEMANDING food. She also will sit by the door of anything she wants to get into and attack it...the house has become HERS!

This picture

Well folks, can you figure it out? This picture is in my living room and one of my favorites.

Baldyman snapped it and got it in such a way I was able to add it to the top of my blog without

it looking like it was a picture. Pretty cool huh? So, thats the secret to the top of my blog.

Now that I let the cat out of the bag,,,,I hope your Tuesday is a good one. And since I can see

by my site meter that I actually do have a few visitors trekking on thru, please comment on

one of my posts and let me know what your thinking! Where you from, what is your life about, do you have a blog....whatever!

Monday, Monday

Happy Monday Everyone! I have a new

picture that i want to post but the Baldyman

was using the new camera this weekend and for some reason I can no longer download the

photos. I was thinking, maybe I should get my OWN computer, my OWN camera and then

when I'm ready to use them--they will WORK! Seems, whenever someone uses your things

they no longer work properly when you go to use them. Hmmm,,,maybe if he read the in-

structions---could that possibly work???

Anyhow, i didnt forget about my new picture at the top--thats the picture I wanted to retake

and show you...I will get to it--as soon as I figure out what he did to the new camera.

This picture was taken in Utah..where there is nothing--and i mean nothing..absolutely

NOTHING! Walking amongst the rocks we found this one tiny little flower...my grand-

daughter and me. I asked her to take the picture and it turned out great didnt it?

I found it awesome that in the midst of bare lands, rocks, and dessert one tiny little

beautiful flower was able to find a way to grow.

Have a great day and I hope to post later also!

All by myself!

Isnt she gorgeous? She's the only sunflower

I have this year and she's standing proud!

I planted many more but for some odd

reason the seeds never grew...(could some

critters have dug em up?).

I went out this morning and took this

picture with my new camera in the macro

mode..super macro mode. Obviously, I

still have alot to learn but every day I figure

more out. I also took it in the photo shop and

brightened her up a bit. I think she's beautiful.

Why is she a she???? Well I dont know...I just assume because she's so tall and proud, she

is a she!

Oh and take note of the new picture on the top of my blog.....there is a secret to that picture

that I will talk about later. I find it amazing and amusing that I can enjoy such a beautiful

beach scene from some simple a place.

Its Friday folks, whatever you do, make sure its fun and relaxing!

My tiny garden at night!

Well folks this is it in all its glory! HUGE huh? Its almost embarassing to admit that this is our actual garden. I have gotten 2 meals of green beans, 2 jalepenos so far and once the tomatos

ripen I'll have enough to even give away!

The green beans were awesome, DELISH!

This picture was taken with our new camera at

night and I think for not knowing how to use

it yet it turned out pretty dern good!

Next year I promise my garden will truly

be huge....we plan on digging out the whole side of the house and really planting a plot

of vegetables. We've done it this way for the last 5 years and I actually miss going out

at harvest time and wandering thru the vegetables and carrying a basket in the house full

of goodies. Right now all i gotta do is have a small plate to carry my harvest! I hope

you enjoyed this garden shot, sorry folks its all I got!

Look at the Picture and you'll know why....

I needed to go shopping for a new camera. This picture stinks.,and for some time now I've been

thinking I need to invest in a new camera.

Last night me and the baldman went out camera

shopping. OHHHH you dont ever want to take him shopping...he is worse than 10 women together who ADORE shopping. The man LOVES to shop. I tell ya, we were in WallyWorld

for hours--I got so sore from standing around

asking questions--listening to him and his MORE

questions....I actually had sore hips.

Once he thought he had it figured out--he would

go back and say...well wait a minute let me see this one again. After over 2 hours...he finally made his decision and so Welcome Home Fugi Camera! Its not top of the line by any means but

its far better than what i had. Look how blurry this picture is...I hope to never see that again.

Once i download the software and figure out how to use it, it will become my best friend. I hope

to have much better quality pictures here on my blog and everywhere else I use pictures.

Hopefully this will be the last blurry picture on this blog!

Homegrown Green Beans

This is it folks! This is what i've gotten so far from our green bean plants. Count em...I did

and I think I've got about 16 of em.

Thats enough for me and the baldman to each

have 8!!!!

Growing these beans was a last minute decison

mainly because technically I have no garden plot

and no place to grow them. I took 6 seeds and

placed them next to my 3 tomato plants.

These all grow on the side of the house, literally

next to the house. I also 1, thats right, 1 Jalepeno plant. Not much of a garden to speak of

and yet each day we find ourselves out there checking out our goods. The tomatos are doing

great and we should have a great supply of those. As for the pepper plant-we will have enough

to whip up a few batches of homemade salsa. Now that I think about it, I need to take a picture

of our teeny garden plot.

As for these 16 green beans, tonight they will boiled, and soaked in hot butter and salt &

pepper and enjoyed by their garderners!

Rock Party....Literally!

Welcome to Peters Garden. For months now

I've been saving rocks sent to me from

various friends on the internet for this

annual tradition our favorite bartender has.

To enter his garden you must bring a rock,

dosnt matter the size or kind. He places them

around a circle by the fireplace which is at

the end of the garden. You are entering the

beginning of the garden here.

Next stop would be his wishing well that he built

for the Rock party. Each stone was laid by hand

with no pattern being used.

as you continue walking thru various paths, you

will find vegetable patches, fruit patches and

flowers. Candles hang from trees, perched

along side fences. On the hand laid stone paths

you will see garden sayings, pretty stones

and various other garden ornaments.

Here is the end of the garden, where the circle

of rocks is located. You can see the river in

the distance. His garden was an absolute joy

to be in and it definitely gave me inspiration

for next Springs gardening season. For anyone

looking for a place to soothe your soul and find

peace and serenity,,,find a beautiful garden to

walk thru...there's nothing like it!

This is my closet AFTER I cleaned it up.

Pretty scary huh? I'm wondering should I stop buying clothes OR do ya think I should keep going? I mean us ladies need new things to keep us feeling pretty and special don't ya agree?

I almost feel bad--but not quite. With Fall approaching I'm wondering if I perhaps should buy a few crates and once the warm weather ends,,pack all this away and begin adding warmer clothes! I might just do a poll on that.