relax...

Got out the patio umbrella, a good book, a small knitting project and I'm all set for the big relax. Oh maybe I better go water those plants first? Gosh, where did all these dirty dishes come from? Just a quick load of wash, won't take long...boy! just looked at the calendar, it's bill day, thought I made this bed already! Have to get meat out of freezer for supper, I bet some green beans in the crock pot would be perfect with ham steak. If I iron this white blouse for work tomorrow I won't have to do it in the morning. Maybe just a quick e-mail to kids wouldn't take long, oh look at this cute blog! Hmmm, 10 minutes on my stationary bike would feel good...b

seashore

Clarabelle loves the water and going to the seashore!

She doesn't care about swim suit sizes or tan lines.

She enjoys the feel of sand under her feet

and the fact that it's good for the callous' on her feet.

What's in her little cooler you ask?

Well of course it's her own famous chocolate chip cookies and diet coke!

She knows she should lay off the cookies for awhile but also that

life is just too short to give up cookies and the seashore! b

reflections

I'm thinking about this hobby farm we visited while in North Dakota. Actually we went out to steal some of this bachelor's rhubarb. Why do I always have to be on a diet when it's rhubarb season, I love the stuff! Oh well, the jelly is always good later. I have never seen bigger rhubarb plants than he had.


This man had a wonderful little farm. His large garden's were as neat as any I've admired with flowers down the middle. He had electric fence all the around to protect them from his animals.

I think we interrupted this hen party!

...and woke this little chick up from his nap?

I admired that he had clothes hanging on the lines, but laughed when I didn't see any clothespins. I loved this farm and have always dreamed of living on one, who hasn't right? But I would have to have a few goats and sheep...b

sun and fun

I had way too much sun and fun yesterday as I came home a bit red. But that's what they made solarcaine with lidocaine for right? It works great!

We had a fun time with 'the family' in Yankton. The Lewis and Clark recreational area with it's campgrounds and beaches is beautiful (when it's not hailing that is).

We waited out a thunder and hail storm in the camper and cars. One clap of thunder had all of our eyes bugging out. I'm happy to report no damage.

After waiting for the gran-girlie's to get up from their much needed naps, we were glad to hit the beach in the 95 degree weather. Even the two grannies and one gramps got in! The girls love the water. They just weren't real sure about all that sand between their toes.

And no, the sailboat in the picture wasn't ours but if it were I would be the woman in the red bikini, ha...b

missing you

Friday here and we are looking forward to seeing the gran-girlies tomorrow. It's been almost a month! Longer than we've ever gone without a visit. I'm afraid they won't remember their grandpa and grandma b. Two-year-olds have short attention spans and I suppose that includes us. Pearl, Teddy and Bunny just keep waiting at the front door hoping they'll soon come for a visit...

I thought of them when I saw this material and just had to have a yard of each for dollie clothes or aprons.

Yup, I'll be getting ol'grandpa up bright and early tomorrow to head east. Better get some cookies made tonight and then get to bed early...b

Roses

Arose can say I love you and want you to be mine,

A rose can say I thank you for being so very kind,

A rose can say congratulations, whatever the occasion may be,

A rose can say I miss you and wish you were here with me,

A rose can say I'm sorry if I've hurt you in any way,

A rose can say get well soon, May God bless you today,

A rose can say I wish you happiness, and the best for you each day,

A rose can say farewell when someone goes away,

A rose can say hello, I'm thinking of you today,

There's just so many wonderful things that a rose can say,

A rose can say goodbye when a love one is laid to rest,

No matter what there is to say, a rose can say it best.

Thanks for stopping by here today to smell my roses...b

weekend pics

We had a great time up north! Was fun seeing the daughter and her finance officer's house mostly all done on the inside. I compared it with Pier I and I love that look.

Aren't all white motel beds just so inviting? Why did we ever get away from white sheets and towels?

One of the places we managed to get in to eat. Their homemade buns and butter were to die for. I could have quit with them. I should have quit with them.

We drove up to the border and I was thrilled to just see the border patrol. Those Canadian Rockies were sure watching me take pictures! I can't wait to go back, hopefully this fall, with our passports and go into Canada.

The main reason for the trip was to attend a conference for NTCA retirees and begin thinking about Ken's retirement and how to best manage his pension money. There were a lot of pre-retirees there and I just couldn't get over how old they all looked? ha ha b

north to north

Ahhh, 4 hours of work (or pretending to work) then it's heading north. Now's there a direction we never really planned on?

Always exciting to see the daughter and her finance officer, ha. (starting trying to spell fiancie, fiancei, who came up with these stupid words anyway?)

And while we're away this is what our other two household residents will be doing. They better keep the house picked up and the dishes done,words from my famous mother, or is it famous words from my mother?

My blogging before 8 in the morning is blurry to say the least. I'll be back Wednesday with some great photos I hope...b

popeye

Serving up a big bowl of Popeye! I made creamed spinach for supper last night. Who knew green stuff could taste so good? Certainly not my daughter all her growing up years. We would try to sneak green vegetables in casseroles, soups, etc., and she would always find it and pick it out. I'm happy to report she now eats green.

And as usual, by the time I got done adding creamed cheese, cream and Parmesan cheese to this spinach I am pretty sure it wasn't so healthy after all...b

sunshine on my shoulders

I'm singing John Denver's 'Sunshine on my Shoulders' this morning. Wonder if I have that cd? (pause to find it). I know I have it on cassette. Oh look, didn't know I had this, Disney's Greatest Pop Hits, A Decade of Radio Singles. Who can resist jumping around to 'Hakuna Matata'? Boy it's time for a Disney trip for me!

But where was I? Oh, the sun is shining and thinking a little bit of sun on these legs just might be called for. After I run to Chamberlain to get new lens put in my glasses, I've been looking through this nasty scratch long enough. Hope they don't adjust my frames, it took me and the gran-girlie's bumping them to get them right where I like them, a little down on my nose where a grandma should be wearing them right?

Don't you think these spools of crochet thread are like flowers in a box? My sister handed them over to me from an estate sale knowing how I like to crochet around flannel for baby blankets. I'm thinking she may wish she would have kept them as she has started crocheting and is also selling vintage items in her etsy shop. La T Da Vintage. These are definitely vintage as they are priced at 37c. I like the word -vintage. Forget about old fashioned, out-moded and antiques, now it's vintage.

Hope you all 'Remember The Magic' today...b

1953

1953 was a very good year! And look what women and toddlers were wearing.

I love this dress but think you would have to have a very small waist to pull the look off. And everything was made out of cotton to be ironed. Women were so feminine back then. Picture Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor or Lana Turner. I bet they never wore sweat suits!

I remember my mother even looked glamorous during my growing up years. And all the years I went to school we never were allowed to wear slacks to school.

I love looking through the old newspapers at work especially the 100 year old books. It's definitely a perk of my job.

But no, I'll never give up the comfort of my t-shirts and capris... b

and the culprit is?

Would the real culprit please stand up?

I think there can only be two pranksters that may have sent me this (but I suppose there have been moments when I drive my daughter-in-law crazy?).

Oh, don't worry I'll find out, I'm having the envelope tested for finger prints today. And I'll be looking for the movie "Son-in-law"...b

beading

I received the BeadforLife beads I ordered. I was tempted by one of their beaded bracelets in the Avon catalog after reading this information on them...

BeadforLife eradicates extreme poverty by creating bridges of understanding between impoverished Africans and concerned world citizens. Ugandan women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful bead jewelry, and people who care open their hearts, homes and communities to buy and sell the beads. The beads become income, food, medicine, school fees and hope.

The BeadforLife members are primarily women who are hard-working and creative. The members come from every tribe in Uganda and represent many faiths. They are young and old, educated and illiterate. The one thing they have in common is that they have suffered from extreme poverty and have lived on about $1 a day...

When I found all this information on the internet I decided to cut out the middleman (Avon) and ordered directly.

I love that they are made out of recycled paper. My daughter has been beading jewelry since her high school days and has made some beautiful things. So I'll ship these up north and hope she can send back some beaded bracelets...b

ahhh, saturday

More rain last night, over an inch again. It's not coming in the basement so no complaints from me. The grass, flowering bushes and my posies are flourishing. Honestly I'm thinking about going to the state border to see if this is still dry old South Dakota? Don't worry, it will be by the end of the month.

Mr. B is working so the weekend is all mine! First up a cup of hazelnut coffee and reading blogs. Amazing what women are doing out there. I love seeing what other crafters are doing especially the knitting, quilts and bags.

I'm inspired to get the binding on this table runner for hand sewing later. Then I'm going to cut out a bag and dig out the hundreds of little quilt pieces I started long ago.

And guess who will be helping me all day. Pearl follows me around until she just can't take it anymore and finds a quiet place to nap. She likes to lay beside my sewing machine when I sew. (Notice the lint roller I have to keep on hand?) She likes the rrrr of my machine, all the pins, little threads and getting her ears scratched once in awhile.

It's good to be a cat...b

Land of Oz

Wow, what a storm last night. Outside it was the wind, rain, lightning and thunder. Inside it was flickering electricity and phone call after phone call for Mr. B from his telephone switches.

I thought we might wake up in Oz this morning! Guess we were lucky that all that happened was the downing of the bird tree in our front yard. Don't know where all our little critters will live once we get it cleaned up and hauled away, but they're still hanging around this morning.

Our neighbor has a totally dead tree hanging over our big shed. This guy is pretty strange and we're both afraid to approach him about it. I did check with the insurance agent in town who told us he is insured. But who wants to clean up the mess and repair a roof? b

"ribbit!"

This froggy was ready to jump off my knitting needles into the nearest pond and and on to a lily pad. I think he's a little goofy looking and hope all the other pond frogs don't poke fun at him. Frogs can be so fickle about their looks don't you think? Like a prince waiting to be kissed...b

pink bloomers

Thought I would share my pink bloomers with you today. I have the light pink rose bush on the south side of house and deep pink rose in our patio area. They just bloom and bloom all season long. I love roses but not the care they require. These mini bushes don't seem to mind my neglect and bloom anyway. Now my other fussy roses! They would like all my attention - lots of water, rose dust, fertilizer and after all that only reward me with a bloom once every several weeks. Oh...but they are beautiful and smell wonderful and in the end always worth a little extra work and lots of patience.

I remember my grandpa always telling us how he loved the name rose and wanted to name one of his three daughters Rose. This story has always stayed with me, I felt sorry that he hadn't. I think it's a much prettier name than Evelyn, Janet or Lila. b

dish towels or rags?

I just finished embroidering these dish towels. They are fun to do and nice to look at but...really, does anyone like to dry dishes? And you know husbands have no respect for dish towels! They will use them for wiping their greasy hands, mopping up the floor or cleaning windows. I just spent a lot of time embroidering rags.

Now on the other hand embroidered pillow cases are heirlooms to be cherished and passed down to the next generation. The worst thing a man can do to these is drool on them or like my dad did, leave grecian formula 44 all over them. Do they even sell that stuff anymore?

Well, I just can't stand to see my hand work abused so I will gift them away with one of my knitted dishrags...I mean dishcloth? b

fabric frenzy

What do you think? This fabric took me a long time to pick out for twirly skirts for our gran-girlie's. I'm sure the store clerk and hubby (waiting in the car) thought I was going crazy. (Can the police charge you with leaving a husband in a hot car?)

I sure could have used a second opinion here. I went around the aisles so many times I was getting dizzy. Like everything else in this world there was too much to pick from.

When I walked out of the fabric warehouse I was only so-so about the choice I had made, but the finished skirt is very cute.

When I get the second skirt finished I will post them, can't wait...b

exciting news...

Well we definitely had exciting news this weekend. Our daughter's boyfriend proposed and their getting married! We couldn't be happier to have Charlie in our family, they make a great couple.
So, let the wedding plans begin. Tara is set on a beach wedding, something simple with the ocean as a backdrop. Sounds romantic to me and I love the ocean. I hope we can pull this off between all of us with no 'zillas, ha. b

Elaeagnus angustifolia

Known to us as the Russian olive tree, this is what is making my world very fragrant. Step outside and smell! Ahhh, isn't it wonderful? I can never wait until June when the trees are blooming.

And here's a couple more good things about Russian olives... They are drought resistant, and this is why we have so many in South Dakota. And they are excellent for wildlife, over 50 species use it for food and cover.

The largest tree is in North Dakota and is 43 feet tall with a canopy spread of 63 feet.

I have noticed their fragrance lasts longer if the weather stays cool and hail and wind doesn't knock off their creamy yellow flowers.

I can never believe the many people that don't notice the smell or know where it is coming from?

I like good smells and wish they would make this into a candle to enjoy year round. After all they make a grass candle.

So please...stop and smell the Russian olives today. b

summertime eating

Just too good! Cajun shrimp on the barbie and salad...

Isn't it just great the way out-of-season tomatoes are getting better and better? A hot house for growing tomatoes in all year long would be perfect for me. But then why limit it to tomatoes? Why not throw in peppers, cucumbers, green beans...

Fridays must be for dreaming? b

bon appetit

Bon Appetit everyone! I got these wall words for Christmas from my son and daughter-in-law, aren't they fun? And yes, I know, it has taken me this long to put up, but trust me I have older things waiting for a designated place on my walls. And if it means parting with something dearly loved I just can't do it. But...also don't want to be the old lady with macrame owls and mushrooms on her walls either! Such dilemma's, huh? b

green wednesday

I think I'm having a green day?

It started out with this green froggie knitting project...

then I planted a few green peppers and cucumbers...

then I put on a green facial mask...

while I drank a cup of green tea...

next up, a lettuce salad for lunch...

all the while I'm thinking that green grass out there really needs mowing! b

fence scenes

My wiegela bush is in full bloom, so pretty i just had to share...

It's so wonderful the way Mother Nature spreads out the beauty of her blooms over the three seasons. The lilacs are just about finished up and now it's my wiegela and up next is the mock orange shrub next to it.

I am impatiently waiting to smell the flowers of the olive trees and that first cut of the farmer's alfalfa fields. b