Shop With Me

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Two - Going for Three

Webfetti.com



Well, it was two years ago I started this blog, I never dreamed I would have as many loyal readers who would stick with me through thick and thin and continue to read my posts every time I write. I would like to say Thank You to each and every one of you for putting up with my shenanigans. May each of you have a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

After 299 posts over the past two years this is my first photo and one of my favorites.




In turning over a new leaf this year I have joined the NaBloPoMo(National Blog Posting Month)and promised to blog every day. That means 31 blogs in 31 days for January. So hang onto your hats and we will see how far my pea brain will get me. If you like what you read please let me know -- and if you have a subject you think I should write about please let me know. I welcome all comments 'cause I love to get mail.

That's it for today!!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Where in the world is Jenny J???

Well, according to the emails and comments I have recieved I have been listed among the missing. A faithful reader even checked in at the post office to find out where I was.
Here's the scoop--- I wasn't really missing - I knew where I was all the time...well, at least most of it anyway.
I have a thousand excuses for not posting but I will only use one of them - a streak of laziness. It is hard once you get out of the groove to get back in it. They say it takes 21 days to break a habit. Well, I just got out of the habit of sitting down and writing every day and I find it harder to get used to it again.
There has been lots of news since I last posted-
There was Thanksgiving -

My trip to Tennessee on December 9. Meeting friends in Nashville for dinner - thanks again Lisa!! And Sam!! and my new friend Martha!!
The snowstorm of 2009 that literally shut down all of Johnson County and surrounding area - there are still some people without power since before Christmas.
Christmas was a really busy time with four (count 'em) Christmas Dinners. After all that food I managed to maintain my weight loss. Thanks to Ellie and Dortha for the inspiration!! I did really good except for those little cherry chocolate candies I seem to be addicted to. Ya' can't eat just one!
Have been doing lots of walking at the park --1-3 miles a day. Gotta walk off those biscuits and gravy I eat every day at Hardee's.
Weather here is bitter cold one day and 50 plus degrees the next-- Darn weatherman just can't make up his mind.
Visiting with friends and family, meeting new friends, renewing old acquaintances and comfort food (soupbeans, cornbread, fried cabbage and potatoes, and half runners) are just a few more of the highlights of my visit.
Hog jowls and blackeyed peas are on the menu for New Years Day. It will be a great way to start the New Year. If they keep feeding me like this --I will just have to stay!!!
Here are a few of the many photos I have taken in the past few weeks. As always, in case you forgot -- to view photo in larger size just double click on it.
Snyder's Mill


Ralph Stout Park



I take a walk - Ducks go for a swim


Two of my favorite people Jean and her grandson Josh


Snowed In

Snow Storm

Barn


No more Barbecues til spring!


Edmond, Pam, Sydney and Samantha


My 91 year old Aunt Bonnie!!

My sisters and I with my Aunt Bonnie

The Feast


My Brothers in Law



That's it for today.







































































Friday, November 13, 2009

Too Early For Snow

Well, the weatherman has predicted the first snowflakes of the season for Noon today. Snow is to start falling and not quit until we have about four inches. How they know that and can figure out to the minute and the inches is way beyond my comprehension. What I do know is --it is coming. Snoqualmie Pass has already been closed eastbound because of multiple collisions. Here's a photo of Snoqualmie Pass today.



And just to refresh your memory here is a few photos from the archives of all that snow we had last winter. I just don't know if I can handle it if it snows that much again.

Even the birds go south in the winter because they can't find their birdbath.
Piles of snow everywhere

Even on the tree branches

I would much prefer this kind of scenery.



That's it for today.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thank You For The Service

In Honor
Pvt Roy M. Holloway
U.S. Army
World War II
1941-1945
and all veterans who have served or serving
in our Armed Forces.
God Bless and keep you safe
and
God Bless the USA

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Happy Birthday Girls!


Lauralei and Kimberlei,

Thank you for all the memories in the past fourteen years. You both make me very happy and I am so very proud of both of you and your accomplishments. I love you both very much. Have a wonderful birthday!!!

That's it for today!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Sightings From A Tree Stand

Well, it has been awhile since I posted -- I haven't really had anything to write about --kinda hard to write when all you write about is the weather-or so it seems.

I don't know what I do with my time but it seems to slip away from me...I have found Facebook and the games and it is very addicting. One of the great things about Facebook is being able to keep up with all your friends and at an instant's notice!! Facebook is faster than email!! Keeping in touch is fun.

Saturday was opening day of muzzleloader season in Johnson County. One of my friends was sitting in his tree stand and sent me photos from his phone on opening day. Called himself a "High Tech Redneck". Way to go Josh!!

Johnson County Sunrise from a Tree Stand

Dawning of a New Day


Beautiful
Just Beautiful
And the results !!


Isn't Technology Wonderful!!!!

That's it for today!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Steptoe WA

Well, not much going on today so I thought I would share some photos I had of eastern Washington. Steptoe Washington is in the middle of the Palouse about 55 miles south of Spokane.

Steptoe Butte State Park is a 150-acre, 3,612-foot-tall natural monument. Thimble-shaped, the quartzite butte looms in bald grandeur over the prevailing flat lands. The park is famous for its stark, dramatic beauty and the panoramic view it provides of surrounding farmlands, the Blue Mountains, and other neighboring ranges and peaks. From the top of the butte, the eye can see 200 miles.

The butte is constructed of quartzite and looms over the surrounding terrain. Hawthorne brush abounds in the park, and was widely used by local Indians for the making of medicines, baskets and other essentials.

Native Americans called the butte "the power mountain." It was believed that a journey to the butte bestowed a gift of power from the mountain's guardian spirit.

The butte's present name honors Colonel Edward Steptoe, who gave years of service maintaining peace in the region. His men were killed in a conflict, which he tried to prevent, with Native Americans.


Enjoy the photos!
















And that's it for today.




Saturday, October 31, 2009

Head Cold



Well, I have decided that all this hype on TV about colds and the flue has given me a nasty old head cold. You know the one your head feels like mush and your nose is stuffy and then its runny and the more medicine you take the worse you feel. Well that's what I have got. Now I just teed to get rid of it and fast!!

My grandmother believed in a lot of herbs and medicines and had a cure for everything - even the common cold. She used Mullein tea for bronchitis, a mustard plaster for congestion, or a clove or two of garlic crushed and stirred into some warm milk. Now that may not cure your cold but it will sure scare the heck out of one.

To cure the sore throat you had to gargle with salt water and she always told me "drink a little bit, it'll help". A tall glass of liniment was always in order too. That'll stop your cough. We had this couple who used to come around about once a month selling Raleigh products . There was always a bottle of this liniment in the cupboard. Any time you got sick you were made to drink this vile tasting stuff. It must have worked because it is still on the market today.

Camphorated salve was another cure, my grandmother would grease my chest, the bottoms of my feet, dress me in my flannel nightgown and into bed underneath the big featherbed I would go. I dont know if it was the salve, the flannel or the heat but it always cured me.


Since my grandmother isn't here to take care of me I will load up on on all these newfangled drugs and go back to bed and hope I feel better by morning.

A man went to see his doctor because he was suffering from a miserable cold. His doctor prescribed some pills, but they didn't help.On his next visit the doctor gave him a shot, but that didn't do any good.On his third visit the doctor told the man to go home and take a hot bath. As soon as he was finished bathing he was to throw open all the windows and stands in the draft."But doc," protested the patient, "if I do that, I'll get pneumonia.""I know," said his physician. "I can cure pneumonia."

That's it for today.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Halloween Memories

Well, tomorrow is Halloween and time for the little trick or treaters to be out and about. It seems adults and kids both get in the act anymore. There are probably more adult Halloween parties than kid's. At the workplace, employees and bosses alike get in on the act. It wasn't that way when we were growing up.

When we were growing up we lived out in the country, there was no money for costumes. Heck, I don't even remember there being costumes. There may have been a few face masks but we never had any. However, we did have a lot of fun trick or treating.

We would find us some old "garb" to wear. We never had to buy anything - all our clothes were old. Maybe we would take a pair of my Dad's overalls and be a hillbilly (not that we weren't already) or tie a shirt around a stick or something and be a hobo. Sometimes we would find the biggest dress we could find (usually one of my aunt's hand me downs) and stuff it with pillows and be an old fat lady. We would unravel a couple piece of rope for hair..we never had wigs. A big fancy hat with flowers on it was a must with this outfit. We didn't have pumpkins or fancy sacks to carry our loot. We would take an old pillowcase and that was our trick or treat sack.

My favorite memory was the year all five of us decided to dress alike. We took some soot from the stovepipe on the kitchen stove and mixed it with some of my mother's cold cream. We then painted our faces and anything else that showed with the black "goop". My dad had several pair of old brown work gloves so we borrowed those. Dressed in our"garb" and our pillowcases for the loot we were off through the neighborhood.

There was this one neighbor lady who didn't have any kids but she made the most scrumptious popcorn balls. We always loved going there because she had lots of treats for us. We all go up to the door and knock on it. She opened it and then shut it real fast, then opened it again. She yelled to her husband, "OH!! Ben, you have to see this....Look at all the cute little "darkies". She made us come inside and parade around for him and then she gave us our treats.

We continued on our way and all the neighbors thought our costumes were great but they must have thought we were pretty poor because we ended up with more candy than usual.

By the time we got home our pillowcases were stuffed but we really had a chore ahead of us before bedtime. By this time the mixture of the soot and cold cream had hardened into a cement like finish and it had to be washed off before bedtime.

Washing it off with cold water didn't work. The more you washed the more it smeared. You would get one portion of your face clean and then wash another and it would smear the clean part. This really upset my mother. Now she had to build a fire in the cookstove and go to the creek in the dark to get water and and heat it and all five of us had to have a bath and our hair washed. What a chore!! It was midnight before we ever got to bed.

You can bet that the next Halloween we did not get to dress like that. The soot never came out of her towels and washcloths and my mother never let us forget it either.

And that, my friends, is my Halloween story for today. I have another but it will have to wait until the grandkids are a little older.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Yard and Beyond

Well, the weather has not been very cooperative lately. There has not been much chance for good photo opportunities, however, I thought if I were going to get some fall pics it had better be before the snow flies. Note: There will be no beautiful scenery pics as in my Tennessee Photos.
A splash of yellow also known as Grandma's favorite flower
"The Dandy Flower"

The last Rose of summer

Would you believe this pile of leaves

All came from this little tree


Green is always good and this is "Ever Green"

Who decides when holly chnges color?


Construction in the back yard



Just over the fence


When the snow flies you will never see this mess. Who will clean up next spring?





The city fathers or who ever is in charge has decided to build a new Rite Aid Drugstore just over the fence --you would think that the superintendent or "whomever" is in charge would clean as they go --in this case - evidently not. Construction is to be completed in January. The mess will frozen and covered by snow by then. Who will clean up the unsightly mess??

That's it for today!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

A Wonderful Day

Well, It was a typical fall day warm and sunny. The temperature was moderate. A drive through the mountains and the backroads of Johnson County seemed a terrific way to spend such a gorgeous fall day.

Click on any photo for larger size



The mountains were splendid. From the bright yellow leaves of the birch, yellow poplar and hickory to the mountain ash, sumac, oaks, and maples that vary in shades from orange to brilliant red to brown and even purple it was a rainbow of colors.


A variety of wildflowers, Black-eyed Susans, goldenrod and asters, small shrubs, bright trees and a few cows dotted the roadsides.




An old barn full of drying tobacco caught my eye
Around every corner the beauty and splendor of the day could hardly be matched.




Watauga Lake was breathtakingly beautiful.




The top of the mountain awaits.



From the top of the mountain the scenery seemed to go on forever. I felt like I was On Top Of The World.




Beautiful days like this are like the last bite of your favorite candy ---something to be savored.

That's it for today.