Opened up my blog again.

Just increased commenting to moderated. I was looking back through my blog and there are so many things that I sewed last year...wow....can't believe I did all of that. Must have been manic!! LOL
Welcome back. I have tightened security though. It can get kind of spooky out in cyberland!
G

Today's photo, another cute critter

I took this photo the other day and thought it really sweet. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not in love with squirrels. We have a million of them out back AND they can be very destructive. One of these little critters gnawed its way through our roof and vents and camped out in the attic a few years ago...that has been repaired, but their cute appearance melts my heart. I loved squirrels when I was a little girl. Watched them pick up nuts and bury them. I continue to be fascinated with their leaf nests in the trees. I'd love to see inside one of them. I watched one the other day try to chew a small branch and carry it up the tree. She kept dropping it and picking it up again. I knew it was a she by her very used and tender looking teats! Anyhoo...here it is:

Be sure to enlarge this photo by clicking on it.


Oh, and in other news. I have been out of town. Went to visit my hubby's mother. The visit went well, but we ended up driving back in a snow storm. Very scary, but we made it okay. The temperature has been in the 20's since the storm so we still have a thin crust of snow on the ground. We just aren't used to this "prolonged" period of cold here in Virginia....but I love it!! It invigorates me.

Hubby has been working from home alot too, which means...no rest or alone time for me to get on the computer...argh!! BUT, it is nice to have him home. I have been cooking large noon meals for the past few days, because the girls have been home too. I have made banana bread, zucchini/banana bread. Italian bread, Rosemary italian bread. Manicotti, salads, Chicken and roasted vegetable stoup just to name a few of the yummies. The girls go back to school today, so it is lunch making in about an hour...think I'll go and do it now and have it done with. It will be banana bread sandwiches with cream cheese for a change...usually a meat/cheese or peanut butter sandwich. They will have a nice surprise in their lunches today.

Sheesh, I'm just blabbering away today....crikee George, shut up!!!!

The Saga of Railey Hill

This old home is called Railey Hill. They have removed hundreds of trees that surrounded this old home. I have been in this house...went in when there was an estate sale a couple of years ago. it is fabulous...all wood interior, 6 foot high open fireplaces. I saw the window where the Union Lt. etched his name in the glass. It is the borded up window to the left in the photo of the old house. They have razed all of the outbuildings, filled in the old well and turned this into a flatland of waste. There is a strip center going in just to the left of the house. There is already a Walgreens and BP gas station to the right of the home and a strip shopping center there too. So sad....progress? I think not. I hear the site weeping everyday when I pass it. I'm thinking it is going to be a park, at least I hope so. They did put new vinyl siding on the home which looks just like the original clapboard siding. There were rumors that the home was going to be moved to a park, but the map of the new park takes up this area. I hope it is at least turned into a park. We DON'T need another strip mall here. Ok, rant for the day is over!

My dogs survived...

They are so brave. They made it through the night and are a bit more active this morning. The little one, Cujo, has taken up this little low pitched squeaky/whimper. He sounds like a squeeze toy that you squeeze only once. They have their little collars on. The hardest part for them is being separated. The bigger one, Loki, loves to lick, so he would have Cujo's incision licked open in a second if they were together, but they are only separated by a gate in the doorway. I'll try to get a photo in a few minutes and post it. Hubby is working from home today, so that means I'll be away from my computer alot. Later,
G

It's raining...finally here in VA we really need it.

The rain is falling gently and the house is quiet. I have stew in the pot and brownies in the oven for dinner tonight. The salad is made and chilling. All I have to do tonight is stir up some biscuits for dinner, but I might be able to talk the family into bread and butter! LOL Here is what is in my crock pot today. I'm browning stew beef, onions, garlic and rosemary to go into the crockpot with carrots, potatoes, vegetable stock and later a few peas. Well gotta go and cut the oranges. If I cut them in wedges, the family will eat them. Saves my fingernails too.

Oh, I've decided to commit to putting my dinner menus online. Check the left column and scroll down if you want to see what we are eating this week. I decided to get the best meat deals I could find which means short code dated meat...but if you use it right away or freeze it right away, there is not a thing wrong with it. I found: Filet mignon, shrimp, frozen chicken tender strips, ground pork and turkey all for way, way low in price. I asked today and Thursday Morning is meat markdown day, so I know what day I'll hit the meat market at the grocers!!! Since I am not working now...quit the fabric store, loved it but it was cutting into family time way too much... I think that my job will be to economize as much as possible, do as much as I can with as little as possible, become more aware of the grocery ads and markdowns, thrift shop for as much as I can for things only absolutely necessary stop using so many paper products and that way, I will feel like I am contributing something in a financial sense. This is something very important to me. Whenever I start menu planning, I find that we eat much better, healthier and we have a happy pappy in the house!

Love and much light to all of my friends,
G

Update on the stew: 1/10/08 10:17 pm. The stew was a delicious hit, even with my youngest picky eater. Very savory without being overly salty. Delicious!! The brownies were really good too, If all ya'll ever come to dinner, I'll fix ya'll up a tasty southern meal!! Off to bed now, very tired and the boys did great with their surgeries. The little guy (Cujo) is having a bit rougher time, but he was the first to wake up a bit. The bigger guy slept through the evening.

Talk to all ya'll tomorrow!!! I've got a splittin' headache!

Interesting photo I snapped this morning...

I know it is just a smudge on my car window, but it is kind of neat anyway...oh, and I just cleaned my windows, so there really isn't a smudge....:)

Be sure to enlarge this photo and tell me what you see.

Off to the SPCA this morning...

Taking my doggies to the neuter clinic this morning. Both will be neutered and I know much more comfortable in their skins. They aren't for breeding even though they are full blooded Tzus, with all of the crackdowns on puppymills, I look at my two and think, "I'm so glad they don't have that horrid life. We rescued them both from a puppy mill. They are sweeties. Their names are Cujo and Loki.

For snowed under friends!

What are Snowflakes?

Crystal prisms

Holding the key

To spring.

Just a little thought for this winter day!

G

Starry, starry night...

The Starry Night
Vincent Van Gogh. Painted in 1889, the year before his death, Starry Night demonstrates Van Gogh's use of single brushstrokes of pure color that is a hallmark of the Post-Impressionist style. The violent agitation evident--the flame-like trees and swirling stars--in the composition reflects the turbulence of the artist's mental state, that ended with his suicide the following year. In his use of paint to express emotional states, Van Gogh would influence the development of the subsequent Expressionist movement.


The song Starry Starry Night keeps going through my head tonight. I went outside on the back porch and looked up. There to my amazement was a velvet black sky and millions of icy diamonds twinkling. They looked close enough that I could reach out and pluck one off of a thread that held it to that velvet sky. The wind was blowing and I could hear the fallen tree rubbing against a tree holding it from a complete fall to the ground. The tree tops were shooshing back and forth and I realized it was the bare tips of the trees outstretched fingers dancing quickly across the sky that made the stars twinkle so brightly...what a wondrous sight tonight. I can't remember in my adult life when I have noticed a sky like this. I remember when I was a child gliding across a frozen pond, the wind in my face, hands chapped with cold and looking up at that big dark velvet sky with twinkling stars and feeling so at one with everything...so at home in the dark cold. Winter's kiss of snow and ice, Skates on my feet it feels so nice. Gliding swiftly, cold and dark. Wind in my face, at night in the park. That is what my memories of starry starry nights are filled with.

Thanks for stopping by,

What I did today.

I went outside to my special place in the woods and planted daffodils. It is a little late in the year, but it is so mild in the south this year, I thought I would try. I then had this overwhelming desire to lie down and feel the earth beneath me. The woods were so alive today. The sky was blue with puffy white clouds floating by. The wind picked up and I heard it caressing the tops of the trees. I laid there and watched the tree tops dancing and twirling. Birds were singing and then they became quiet, within a short time three hawks circled above were I was lying, then off to find other prey. When they were gone, the birds started singing again. Amazing experience. I feel grounded tonight and very calm.

New Beginnings

Today is the new moon of January. So New Year, New Moon, New Beginnings, New Look. No resolutions...I won't keep them. Just one foot in front of the other, step by step, day by day as it comes. My new attitude this year: stop the guilt, enjoy each day, no more grieving: Live, Love, Laugh.

Snagged this from Bonne....fun Quiz to take!!

You Are Easter

You are an optimistic, hopeful, and genuinely sweet person. Sensitive and affectionate, you are easily touched. You love nature, animals, and anything cute or cuddly. For you, every day is a new chance - no matter what happened yesterday. What makes you celebrate: Almost anything. You love most holidays and celebrations. At holiday get togethers, you do best as: The peacemaker. You can prevent any squabbles that might break out. On a holiday, you're the one most likely to: Remember to include everyone

What Holiday Are You?

January 7, 1936

That was the day my mother was born. Today she would have been 72. She died way too young. We had so much more to do together. We never took that trip alone together that we always said we would do. Always something got in the way like money, kids, husbands, illness, work. How I wish those things would not have come before us. I wish I could tell her I love you one more time. I wish I could hold her hand one more time. I wish I could just pick up the telephone and call her. I would say: Happy Birthday Mom...I love you and I miss you.

In Memory of my mother Bobbie June Dungan Phillips Born January 7th, 1936 Died April 12, 2007. Gone too soon from my arms, but forever in my heart.

Rock Band Dreams

My DH purchased a new game for his XBox 360. It is called Rock Band. Now I am not a video gamer, but, this has to be the best game ever!! It came with a guitar controller, a drum controller and a microphone and you get to live the fantasy of being in a rock band. We have been rockin' out all last night and today, and it is sooo cool to see them all, and to sing along with them!!

I'll sneak a photo of them as soon as I can. The second guitar comes in February, so we will have a four person band then! LOL I have no rhythm, so drums are out, my fingers don't work that well, so guitar is out, but I can ham it up on the mic...so I'm a singer...LOL...imagine that, I can't even carry a tune in a bucket! But I have always wanted to be a singer! Cool....HUH??? If you have been thinking of getting this video game...don't hesitate, it is slammin' great family fun!! The name of our group is: We Need More Cowbells!

Have a great night everyone!
Feeling very blessed tonight!!

G

A night time visitor!

This little visitor was at our house last night. Isn't she cute?

Wow...been a long time since my last post.

way, way too much going on. Had an old fashioned "nervous breakdown," after my mother's death and all of the events of last summer. I'm recovering, been diagnosed with reactive fibromyalgia...that explains alot!

Sorry that it has been so long. I feel like I dropped off of the face of the earth, and am clawing my way back now.

I have been very active with my sewing...lots of new things to share, but there are so many I have let down due to my "illness." I do apologize from the bottom of my heart, but I truly couldn't take one more step in my life until I got my head on straight. I do remember everything that I owe everyone...well, I think...and will try to get them out to all of you this month. Please don't hate me too much.

I just can't get involved with a huge board at the moment...I love all of you at MJ's, but I am centering and grounding and recovering. I knew when my mother passed, it would almost kill me, well it almost did. Just this week, I am finally feeling almost whole. The massive emptiness is not quite so painful. I'm actually typing this without crying, so I am making progress.

The fibromyalgia kept me in a massive pain syndrome, so bad that it even hurt to sew or use my scissors. I was walking with a cane for a while even. Well...enough about my little meltdown.

I do miss all of you my friends. Tasha, found you on myspace, sent you an invite.

Take care and thanks for blogging with me.

G

Oh, I posted some of my recent sewing projects...well, when the pain wasn't too bad.