Looky, Looky!

Back in 2007, I signed a guest book on a web site that had family pictures of a family who had the same last name as my maiden name. A few months went by. I never thought any more about it. In fact, I had forgotten that I signed the guest book. Then about this time last year, I received an email from someone who was unfamiliar to me. This woman explained that she saw my signature on her guest book a few months before but she had been very busy and hadn't had time to respond. She told me that her mother had the same maiden name as my maiden name. She referred me to a genealogy web site. After I filled in all of my family information, we found out that we are 5th cousins (I think it's once removed---In genealogy, they don't count cousins as I was always taught...you know...1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc...). Anyway, we have been corresponding for close to a year. Even though I have never met her in person, I feel like I have known her all of my life. She's taught me so much about the Internet and different computer functions. She's actually the person who introduced me to the world of blogging.

She's a great seamstress and quilter. How do I know? Because I have seen some of her creations on her blog. She stays really busy with all of her projects. I really don't know how she gets all of them done. Not only does she sew and quilt, she plants beautiful plants and flowers out in her yard. See, I told you she stays busy! Since it's summer, she spends a lot of time outside. Does she run in and out of the house for things that she needs? NO! She just whips up an apron to carry her phone and supplies that she needs to carry from the house to the yard. Isn't that smart? I told her that I usually keep running from room to room to get the office supplies that I need to do my book work. So, guess what? Yesterday, I received a very pretty package in the mail. Not only was the package pretty, but the item inside the package was gorgeous. Yep! Now I have my very own "cousin-made" apron. She calls it a cobbler's apron. But I think a "cousin's apron" sounds more fitting, don't you? This is what it looks like:

And this is what it looks like on me:

Yes, I have a head, shoulders, more legs and feet...but I wanted to show the apron...isn't it very pretty and very modern looking? I think most aprons look old ladyish...but I think this one has a younger look to it, don't you? Chatty fell in love with it. I may have to share with her. What I love about it is the pockets are really deep. It looks like there is only one pocket...but it is divided into 4 sections, making 4 pockets. The two middle pockets are smaller than the two outside pockets. The little brown patch on the front is actually a pocket, too! It's great for putting a pen, pencil, or ear phones in. I am so proud of it! It's more special to me because she took time away from her other projects to make it for me!!!

Thanks, Eileen! I will be looking for a vintage "Thank You" surprise for you!

 

The World through Chatty's Eyes

I know this is my 2nd post for today, but I'm on a roll!!! Being that it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, I hope you'll forgive me for being piggish and gabby today.

If you've read any of my posts, you know that Chatty is my (almost 20 year old) daughter. I LOVE teasing her. I tell her it builds strong character. But in all reality, it's just plain fun for me. hehehehe!

Anyway, Chatty is the photographer for most of my blogs. I always tease her and tell her she is fired when she misses opportunities to take pictures of the main points of interest for my posts. But when she is photographing for her own personal pleasure, she takes some pretty amazing pictures. She points her camera at the things that most people take pictures of... but her eyes and hands will slowly gravitate away to something else that grabs her attention. Her focal point is usually slightly to the left or to the right of what most people would shoot. When she tells me what she wants to take a picture of...I always roll my eyes....but when I see the results, I am amazed. I guess I have no imagination.

I mentioned in the previous post that we went to our friends' house for a barbecue for 4th of July. Well, I would like to show you what Chatty saw as she took a stroll through their yard.

Pretty amazing, huh?

A Late Holiday Post

I didn't get a chance to wish all of you a Happy 4th. So I will say it a day late. I hope everyone had a fun, safe 4th of July. In the midst of all of the celebrating, I hope we all remembered to say a prayer of thanks for our freedom and a prayer for those who are fighting to make sure that we keep our freedom. I say a prayer for our military people and their families every day. But this year, the words and the meaning of what I pray were put into reality. Just a couple of weeks ago, our home town streets were lined with flags and hundreds of people as they waited for a hearse to bring one of our boys back from Afghanistan. So as I look at our country's flag, I not only feel pride and honor, I also shed a few tears. Because to me, the flag represents more than a piece of cloth with stars and stripes. It symbolizes a couple of hundred years of human sacrifice and the many citizens who worked hard to make this the country what our fore fathers envisioned. It also symbolizes a great land that up until recently, ALL Americans wanted to be "one nation under God".
We went to friends' house for a barbecue and a quick swim in their pool. Well, actually for Chatty, her friend, and me it wasn't quite swimming. They floated and I stood. This has been a tradition for me for years. The girls just started doing this since they have been old enough to wear makeup. My friend swims. She has a perm that she just fluffs up and she wears no makeup, so for her it's not a problem. I bet you're wondering why it's such a problem for me, aren't you? Well, right after the swim, we always go to the public fireworks display in town. You still don't get it, do you? Well let me put it in terms you will understand. My hair is not the care free kind of hair. It requires a curling brush and some maneuvering. And let's just put it this way, if I went straight to town right out of the pool....I would look like a raccoon from all of the mascara running down my face. Get the picture? So I don't swim. I just stand and do my favorite thing....TALK.

Even though our kids are grown and Mr. Chat's hair is thinning and some of his blond hair is being replaced by silver, he still has a lot of kid left in him. He disappeared while most of us were still eating. I knew where he went. And it was confirmed when I heard the big bang go off in the yard. He does love 4th of July and he still likes playing with fire.

And what better way to end the evening than to be with friends sitting in a safe country!

So I hope all of you were able to celebrate in a way that brought you peace and joy! May God bless you all!

Night Time Stories

When I was a little girl it was always a thrill to go to my southern grandparents' house to spend the night. I loved everything about it! Every thing, except one thing. Usually at night, someone would start telling ghost stories. Then as we would head for bed, my grandpa would tell us kids to be good and stay in bed, or RawHead & Bloody Bones would grab us and pull us under the bed. Before you get the wrong idea about my grandpa, I want to make it very clear that he loved us all and he was very protective of everyone in the family. That being said, I don't know how to explain why this was one of his favorite things to say to us at night. As I got older, I figured it was one of two things...either he didn't have enough entertainment throughout the day and this was his way of getting a chuckle. OR he wanted to make sure none of us kids wandered outside after everyone was in bed. But one thing I know for sure, it worked! We always made sure we made a stop at the bathroom before we went to bed. Because there was no way after the lights went out that any of us would get up...Not even for a trip to the bathroom...Not even if we had to go so bad that our eyes were floating. One time as I lay in bed thinking about this thing that was under my bed, I started daring myself to put one foot on the floor for just one second. I wanted to see what would happen. I uncovered my foot. Then I eased it to the side of the bed. Just as I was about to swing it over the side of the bed, someone in the next room started snoring. Not only did my foot go back under the covers..but my head and the rest of my body did, too.

Now I'm older and my grandpa is gone. My mom, my brother, uncles, aunts and cousins still talk about grandpa's ghost stories and his way of keeping us in bed. Now it's not so scary. Inevitably, someone will mention it at family gatherings. There is always a lot of loud laughing when we re-tell his stories. When someone even mentions RawHead & Bloody Bones, 2 of the 4 generations that are there will all break out in a smile. My uncle came to visit me the other day. He has an eight year old daughter. She said, "Dad, tell her what we read about RawHead & Bloody Bones the other day." It seems like RawHead & Bloody Bones is a real Missouri folklore. We always thought grandpa had made it up. According to what I've found on the internet, there are 2 versions of the story. One from the south and one from Ireland. Neither of them are like grandpa's version. But I'm guessing that southern kids and Irish kids all possess strong bladders, too!


"Good night! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" That was another one of grandpa's favorite nightly sayings that freaked me out. Not only was I busy making sure that my foot did not fall over the side of the bed, I also had to keep an eye on the sheets to make sure there wasn't anything crawling on them. I guess that's why when I came home, my mom always let me sleep late the next morning-----She knew that I had a few hours of sleep to catch up on.

It's getting late. I'm heading to bed. That is...after a quick stop at the bathroom.....I wouldn't want to have to get up in the middle of the night, you know!

On the Road Again!

Another weekend and we hit the road! This time I had the whole family---my immediate family, my parents, my brother's family and spouses & my great niece----in tow. We loaded up and headed for a town that's about 2 and a half hours northwest from here.

My aunt had a family get-together for everyone who has birthdays and anniversaries in June. Believe me when I say that June is a very popular month for my dad's side of the family. His mother (my grandma) had 3 children. They are each 8 years apart and each born in June. Talk about family planning! She was precise, wasn't she? I would say she could teach the modern day girl a thing or two, wouldn't you? Not only are their birthdays in June, but there were 2 other birthdays and 3 anniversaries. So there was a lot of celebrating to do. Mr. Chat was back from Texas in time to go with us. He gathered the younger people together for a lively game of volleyball. I'm not sure who won. But they all had fun. We played the White Elephant game but that sort of fizzled out. It seems as if everyone on that side of the family is too polite to steal from each other. My niece and I were the only ones bold enough to swipe what we wanted from someone else. I wonder what that says about our character?

Well, I've finally decided I'm going to break down and buy new batteries for my camera and fire Chatty from her photography duties. My aunt has a beautiful yard. Her roses, plants, and yard foliage looks like it came ordered straight from a catalog. But I'm afraid that there are NO pictures of it. From what I can tell, Chatty was more intrigued with getting pictures of trees from different angles. Since I can't show you any of my aunt's creative yard talents, I will share a couple of Chatty's tree shots with you. It's amazing how the younger perspective of nature differs from someone who is 30 years older. I guess, maybe when I was younger, odd looking trees would have caught my attention more than a yard that someone had carefully planned, planted and cultivated, too.

It's been a very busy weekend. Yesterday, we had another birthday to celebrate. One of our dear friends celebrated his 60th birthday. We had a day of barbeque and plenty of sun. Now it's back to the work week. I'm going to try to catch my breath because this weekend there will be 2 more birthdays. At the end of the month, my step-son will be celebrating his 27th birthday. Oh! I forgot. We have to squeeze Father's Day in there, too. I'm thinking that I really need to get a third part-time job.....especially through June.

A Relaxing Sunday with Nature

It was time for another girls' day out. Today we were lucky enough to have another girl join us...my mom. My dad retired 7 years ago. Before then, my mom went on all of our adventures with us. We were always the 3 Musketeers. But now, my mom likes to stay pretty close to my dad---which is pretty amazing considering tomorrow they will be celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary. Anyway, Mr. Chat wasn't home today, so I threw some ham sandwiches & chips into the cooler...grabbed my two girls and we hit the road. My mom can never go any where empty handed. When she climbed into the front seat, she tossed a few sodas and some home made cinnamon rolls into the cooler. And off we went. Destination: A natural spring.

And we had some company on our stroll around the springs.

The weather was great. The park wasn't overly crowded. It was one of those days that was just right.

A Quick Walk Through Our Yard

I know this post is going to leave you wondering why I'm making such a big deal out of my yard. I know a lot of you have A LOT more things going on in your yard. But if you are new to my blog, I will catch you up. For the past 16 years, Mr. Chat has done a lot of landscaping on our property. His efforts paid off, because it was always so beautiful. People would stop and make comments about how pretty our yard was. Mr. Chat even got offers to do landscaping on other properties. He would love to do landscaping for a living, but he has a full time job and just doesn't have as much extra time to devote to it as he would like.

I never get attached to a particular land scheme he has created from year to year, because he gets bored with it. The man moves plants, bushes, & trees around in the yard like a woman moves furniture in her living room. I was accustomed to the look and the personality of the yard constantly changing from year to year...but two years ago..I was SHOCKED and a little embarrassed. The ditch beside our property started to create a flooding hazard. Mr. Chat stripped our yard. He hauled in a lot of dirt so that he could build the yard up. It never failed, every time I saw a little green twig of grass peeking through, he would get on his mower and rake it down. Then he would have more dirt hauled in. I'm sure our neighbors weren't happy with us. First of all, our yard was hideous looking. But also, he created a lot of dust every time he ran his machine across the dirt. I guess doing all of that put him in a pretty destructive mood because he took down some of our Willow trees along that ditch. Of course they had been killed from the ice storm that we had 2 winters before. Then he had the nerve to go to the front yard and take some of our trees down there. We had two trees that he had planted side by side when they were saplings. He twisted them together. They grew and formed together and looked like a spiraling tree. I loved that tree! But he said the roots were going to break up our driveway. He promised that he would replace them with a tree that's roots grow straight down. But after 16 years, I'm use to seeing full grown trees, not little shrimpy looking things. This is going to take some getting use to. Anyway, I will show you how a few of our plants are developing. Remember, everything out there is a work in progress, so I'm only going to show you a few things.

Smoke Tree

Dwarf Chinese Red Maple

Various plants in the front garden

Hibiscus Tree

That's all for now. Mr. Chat has planted some new bushes along the sidewalk, but they are teeny-tiny so I won't show them. I was going to show some of the plants in the back yard, but the neighbor man was out in his yard. He's new to the neighborhood and I didn't want him to think he has a stalker. I'll let him live here for awhile before I let him know just how weird the neighbor lady is.