The Smoke House

-Day 119-

The old smoke house doorOur 'junk' building & home to alot of our 'outside' kitties.

Knitted dishcloths

-Day 118-

Just a quick snapshot of my latest knitting project. Mind you, I am just a beginning knitter...dish cloths are my specialty. ;-) They are quick & fun to do. I love sitting outside during the spring/summer months getting a jump on my dish cloth stash to have for Christmas gift-giving.

-Day 117- A picture of just SOME of the fish the boys caught over the weekend. They caught 93 yesterday down at Bugg's & 11, I believe on Friday when they went to Smith. We're going to wait to cook them til Thurs. evening....Chris will be coming up here Thurs. to get Jack to inspect his car & will stay for supper....so I figured he needed to join in when we had our fish fry. He finishes classes up Wed. & Thurs. is a 'Reading Day'...then Friday starts final exams. Not quite sure of his exam schedule, but he will be done sometime next week.

Great Read

I just finished this book yesterday afternoon. Really good book & I would definitely recomend it!! I just happened upon this book one day at the library & thought I'd give it a try...had never heard of the author before, but now I can't wait to get the second book in this series! This is the first book in The Gresham Chronicles series.
Then there's also the Victorian Serenade & Tales of London series.

Evening Walks

-Day 116-

Just a shot of the girls going up our drive tonight after our evening walk.-Day 115-
Our house....taken from the road in front of David's house.

That Little Booger!

Oh my goodness.....let me tell you what Jon did to me last night. Ashley & I were watching a movie & everyone else had gone on up to bed. So, when the movie was over we took our popcorn bowl & glasses to the kitchen. I remembered that I had beeped a thing of tea & needed to stir that up & put it in the frige.....well when I turned the water on, I let out the biggest scream! Ashley came a-running from the living room to see what was wrong & there I stood, dripping wet. That terd(Jon, that is) had gotten a wild hair & put a rubber band on the spray hose & made sure it was pointed out so that whenever someone turned the water on they would get soaked. I know now that he's watched a little too much AFV. LOL He meant it for Clay in the morning when he got up, but I got it instead. I must admit it was a good one. Clay was laying in bed laughing his butt off when I came up there to get a dry shirt. ;-P Life with BOYS....what can I say? They keep it interesting!!!

Field Trip

-Day 114-

Just thought my bunch of carrots in the colander was kind of pretty. I buy the big 2lb. bunch at Sams & then cut them up & store them in a plastic container in the frige. Very convenient for snacking & salads & what-not.-Day 113-

The girls & I took a walk after supper...well, Ashley & I walked & Alli rode her bike...as you can see from our shadows on the road....in between Skippy & Mason's house.
The girls & I had a fun 'Girly Day' today while the guys went to Smith Mt. Lake to watch the pros weigh-in at the Bass Master's Tournament. Ashley had been wanting to head back over toward Aunt Linda's house & poke around in all the little antique stores over that way. My pictures here are actually in backward order of the way our day went, but anyways....

I took this pic of the Hurricane Camille marker just up the road a bit from Aunt Linda's house. We want to come back another time & bring a picnic lunch & walk some of the trails over here.

This was actually our first stop of the day & our favorite...The Rockfish Country Store. I remember that we always had to make a trip over here whenever Aunt Vada come for a visit...so it brought back lots of memories for me. The girls LOVED the stairs in this old building....the picture above just doesn't do them justice. You walked up a few steps to the landing I was standing on, then up the steps where the girls were sitting & then turned again & went up about 3 more steps....Kind of like a loft in a big old barn. It was way cool!! A very fun AND educational field trip to boot. ;-)

Mushrooms & dirty socks

-Day 112-

Clay & the boys picked these Morel Mushrooms in our yard yesterday....over near the dog lot. They had picked several last year up on the mountain while turkey hunting & then shook them all around over near the dog lot. They actually forgot about it til they saw these growing over there this spring. Clay says they are some awfully good eating.....he can go to it......Blech!!

-Day 111-

Clay's dirty sock foot propped up on the arm of the couch.....don't even ask....I needed a picture & this is what I got. ;-P

Chicken Potpie

For supper tonight I tried a new recipe that I found in my new Country Living Magazine. It actually turned out really good.....and Clay liked it! (That's a plus!!)

1 (4-4 1/2 lb. chicken)

12 biscuits, uncooked

6 Tbs. unsalted butter

4 carrots, peeled & chopped

4 ribs of celery, chopped

8 ounces fresh button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/4 c. flour

1 (10 oz.)box frozen peas

1 Tbs. chopped fresh sage

pepper to taste

1 egg

2 Tbs. milk

Boil chicken until meat is thoroughly cooked...about 45 mins. Meanwhile prepare biscuits & set aside. Remove chicken from pot & reserve 5 c. cooking liquid. When chicken is cool enough, pull off the meat in large chunks. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter in large skillet over med-high heat & add carrots, celery & mushrooms. Saute, stirring frequently, about 10 mins. Add flour & cook, while stirring, until flour is light brown, 3-4 mins. Slowly whisk in reserved cooking liquid & bring to a low boil while whisking. Add peas & sage. Season with salt & pepper, reduce heat & simmer, stirring occassionally, until thick, 10-15 mins. Add chicken meat, remove from heat & transfer mixture to a 9x13 baking dish. Top with biscuits. Beat egg & milk together & lightly brush over biscuits. Bake potpie until biscuits are golden brown & mixture is bubbling around edges, 25-30 mins. Serve immediately.

Rainy Days & Mondays....

-Day 110-Ashley & I were downstairs scrapping & listening to CDs (her Barlow Girl cd to be exact) & realized that it was really quiet upstairs....the other 3 were up there actually playing nicely together. So, I grabbed my camera & went up there to check things out. This is what I found.....Michael was playing Grand Tourismo & Jon & Alli had built a blanket fort around the bunk beds. They also had Charlie up there with them. Notice Alli didn't want her picture taken...Jon pulled the blanket back just enough so I could get her elbow in the picture. And if you look closely, Charlie is under Michael's chair....he had been playing with a turkey feather. Sometimes rainy days can be nice. ;-)

Granny Square Afghan

-Day 109- I finished off my afghan yesterday evening...the first ever afghan that I've made for ME. I love it!! -Day 108-
Since it was such a beautiful day today...the kids decided to let Jonsie try out his outdoor cage & begin to get used to it. Usually he stays in their bedroom. They had fixed this up on the backside of the building to protect him from the sun...fixed him his food, water & even picked him a big ole pile of clover. I guess it will take some getting used to, because he really didn't enjoy his day outside at all. He was more than happy to get back in his cage & come in at the end of the day yesterday.

Layouts from Wed.

Finally the finished products from my scrappy day on Wed. 'Fluffy Tush' is the name that Jon came up with for Sanji...now honestly, have you ever seen a cuter tush than this??
Poor Sanji....we put him out after supper one night over Spring Break & that's the last we've seen of him.....it's like he just disappeared. Wanda had just sent me an envie full of embellies & in it was a little vintage page from a kid's story book & it was PERFECT for this LO. I used the book title as my page title...'Little Lost Kitten'...circle-punched the little kitty....& I even used the publishing info on the page...just thought that was neat to include, KWIM.

Bunny looks 'Disgruntled' here.....like he's saying, 'Don't mess with me!'

This was done for Ken's challenge at ASF last week...to step outside of our box, so to speak & try a technique we've never tried before.....so I tore a picture. This was Sarah & I on graduation night. She graduated from Kindergarten one night & I graduated from HS the next night...both from Timberlake Christian School in 1983.

Just a simple LO of Ashley's favorite spot during the winter months. She loves to sit in her yellow chair in the corner by the woodstove & read or scrap. I did this LO using only scraps...other than the background piece, of course. Added a few buttons & some hand-stitching & there ya have it!

'Mighty Hunter'

-Day 107-

My friend, Wanda, calls her husband 'Mighty Hunter'......well, this is my 14 yr. old 'Mighty Hunter'. Jon shot this 19.25 lb. turkey this morning on the mt. behind Paul's house. He was SO tickled!! And Michael was sitting with Clay manning the cam corder....he caught the whole thing on video. Guess we will be having turkey dinner one night this week. ;-)

Scrappy Day

-Day 105-

Yesterday was our Scrappy Day at Maw's house. We had Maw (of course) me, Ashley, Alli, Danielle & her kids, Sarah, Anna, Daniel, Shelly, Alley & Summer. We had such a fun time & celebrated Alley's 23rd BD too. Lots of yummy snacks, lots of scrapping & LOTS & LOTS of gabbing & laughing!! Oh & a couple of accidents too. Poor Ella...two out of her four kiddos went home with boo-boos. First Taylor fell off the bed & whomped the side of her head. Then a little later on, Jesse fell downstiars & busted his chin open. After some lovins & Doctoring by 'Dr. Maw' he was running around like a little wild man before we all left. So hopefully everyone will be good as new before too long! In all that commotion, I realized that I never pulled my camera out & took any pics. Shame, shame on my name! So, last night when we got home, I spread my stuff out on the table & took a pic of what I worked on yesterday. Didn't get any one layout totally done...I still need to do some titles & some journaling, but I'm happy that I got 4 put together at least!!
-Day 104-
My first attempt at Chicken Alfredo...we got the stuff from Pizza Hut on Valentine's Day & while it was ok, it was a tad strong on the garlic! So, I've been wanting to give it a try myself. The flavor in this was good, but it needs more sauce...it was a bit dry. Will have to tweak things a bit my next go round. Anyways...thought I'd share the recipe that I used in case any of y'all might want to try it.


2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts
4 Tbs. oil
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 c. heavy cream
salt & pepper
1 lb. fettucine


Heat oil in skillet. Cut chicken into strips. Salt/pepper & fry.

Melt butter in saucepan; add cream & cheese. Cook over low heat, stir constantly. DON'T boil!

Cook fettucine. Mix chicken & alfredo together. Put sauce & chicken over noodles.

This Little Piggy

-Day 103-As I was cleaning/organizing my scrap-crap yesterday...getting ready for our scrappy day at Maw's on Wed...I came across my list of photo ideas that I had copied from Creating Keepsakes back in Jan. I don't know why but this suggestion just stuck in my head....take a picture of your feet. So, when I was out grilling my BBQ wings for supper last night, I snapped this pic of my piggies. This is my standard look from now til fall...painted toes & flip-flops. Just doesn't get any better than that. ;-)

Happy Easter!

-Day 102-

What a gorgeous Easter Sunday! We had a super time at church...lots of visitors which is always awesome. Was especially nice that Chris came & joined us since there was no campus church this weekend. After church Chris took the boys with him back to his dorm to gather up his laundry & then we all met at Maw's house for our Easter dinner/birthday celebration for Jon. Lunch included baked ziti, salad, fat bread & for dessert...lots of yummies! Apple crisp, carrot cupcakes, brownies with ice cream, chocolate syrup & cool whip. Mmmm-Mmmm!
All the cousins...Jon, Chris, Michael holding Max, Ashley, Daniel, Alli & Anna

Just my kids...Jon, Chris, Michael, Ashley & Alli

And Sarah's kiddos...Daniel & Anna

Happy 14th

-Day 101- Happy 14th Birthday, Jon-Boy!

Clay had taken today off & he & the boys were supposed to go turkey hunting this morning as it was Opening Day of turkey season. But the weather was still kinda yucky early this morning. So...Jon ended up going with Clay to Bedford to take a concealed weapon's class. They both learned alot & Jon even got to shoot some & the guy was REALLY impressed with Jon's shooting & said he had been taught very well. ;-) While they were gone, I did laundry, mopped the floors, boiled some eggs & let the kids dye them, baked some cupcakes, made ziti for tomorrow's lunch at Maw's house & hemmed my dress. This evening we had tacos for supper & later did presents, cake & ice cream. The best surprise was when he saw Aunt Linda's cake on the table! He was tickled to death & said he had NO idea that we had done that for him, so it was a total surprise!! Sending big hugs to Aunt Linda for an awesome BD cake!!! Now, I'm off to do Easter treats.

Day 100

Whoo Hoo.....I've made it 100 days into 2009 ...& still haven't run out of ideas for pictures each day!Our lilac bush is beginning to bud....one of my favorites!

It was SO windy yesterday afternoon...I had a hard time getting a picture...but I love how it turned out....how you can just see the grass blowing in the foreground.

Peeps

-Day 99-

Yesterday was such a grogeous day!! The boys took off fishing for the first time this season...heading to Bugg's Island. So, the girls & I enjoyed a nice boy-free, girly-day at home. After lunch we sat outside for awhile just enjoying the sunshine. Alli came with the wheel barrow & was giving the cats rides....at one point she had about 3 riding with her. But of course by the time I got my camera, they had all hopped out. Here, Tuck was chasing after her, looking like he wanted back in again. It was too cute!Late afternoon, we drove over to Aunt Linda's to pick up the cake she made for Jon's BD. The ride over there was SO pretty!! Ashley is ready for another Girly Day of lunch at Vitos & plundering around all the little antique places & shops over that way. When we got home, we fixed a quick supper, watched Jon & Kate & then High School Musical 3. By the time that was over, the boys had gotten home.

-Day 98- Ashley saw the idea for these cute little cupcakes in a magazine...Country Living, I believe. So we made some to take out to our Library Ladies. They were so tickled with their treat!

Quilt

-Day 97-

What a nice surprise I got in the mail yesterday afternoon. Awhile back, Sandee & I had talked about swapping a hand-made quilt for a hand-crocheted afghan. Well, this lady was on the ball, I tell ya. Below is the beautiful quilt that I received from her yesterday....isn't it amazing?!
Perfection....right down to the little hand-made tag stitched onto the back corner. This is truely a treasure....something to keep & pass down through the generations! Thank you, thank you, thank you SO much, Sandee. Your afghan will be in the works VERY soon, I promise. ;-)

-Day 96- Was peeling potatoes at the sink last night, getting ready for supper. All was calm....the boys were outside messing around in the building, Ashley was reading & Alli was doing what she LOVES to do.....help me in the kitchen. She LOVES to batter the chicken when we have fried chicken. It was just one of those 'Aaaahhhh' kind of moments.....like all is well with the world.....buzzing around my kitchen with my girlie helping me get supper ready. And that's when I decided what my picture of the day would be. I told Alli just to ignore me & keep doing what she was doing. It just does something to my heart to see my 10 yr. old being able to prepare fried chicken for the family supper. And knowing that Ashley will be there when Alli's done to make the biscuits....that's HER specialty now. She LOVES to do the biscuits. Wonderful teamwork. This is homeschooling at it's best!!!

Daffodils & Chickens

-Day 95-

For years now I've LOVED seeing Pauline's daffodils each spring. So, today on our way home from church, we slowed down & snapped a few pics...they're just gorgeous!-Day 94-
Our new chickens.....Barred Rocks...7 chickens & 1 rooster

My Ashley-Girl

I did this LO today for Penny's challenge at ASF. We had to do our journaling in the form of an interview & I got the fun idea to do 'The Twilight Interview' yesterday while we were in Walmart & Ashley was doing one of these quizes in a magazine & asking me the questions too.So, today I went online & found some questions, wrote them down on strips of notebook paper & got Ashely to fill in the answers for me. (and a fun side note is that

both our hand-writing is documented here!) The Twilight title was traced/hand-drawn & then cut out & put on my LO. Really simple, but fun & a cool way to document the 'Twilight Phase' of our lives.....just like I have pages about 'Smallville' & 'High School Musical'......it's so neat to document these things because they are phases that will pass with time & I don't want to forget....it's neat to look back through the scrapbooks & remember when...

Ashley took these pics of herself back in December & I just thought they were FUN! Just so Ashley & the paper is the perfect match for these fun pics...love that cute funky little owl! Luv you, Ashley-Girl!

Shopping Day

-Day 93-

It's hard to believe that when we left the house this moring that it was absolutely POURING rain & this is what it looked like after lunch when we came out of Target...Beautiful! Found some good bargains for Ashley today. In Target she found two pairs of shorts for $3 each. Then we ran to Old Navy to see what we could find there. I got her a pair of jean shorts from ON & a pair of flip-flops for me & Alli. But the biggest deal was this cute winter coat I got for Ashley. She had seen it before & really liked it, but winter was almost over & she didn't NEED it right then, so we decided to wait & see if they would mark it down. It was a black ski jacket with a fur trimmed hood & when we looked at it, it was $20....which wasn't bad BUT we got it yesterday for $6.47!! Talk about doing a 'Happy Dance'! This coat had originally been $65. Just love it when we find deals like this!

Clay took off today because it was the Youth Turkey Hunt today & he had high hopes of Michael shooting his first turkey. But it was REALLY windy last night & this morning....NOT good for turkey hunting. So as not to have a totally disappointing day, they decided to go to Altavista for the big 'First Saturday' they have each year the first weekend in April. I've never been before, but Clay has gone several times to get chickens. It's been years, but we are now the proud owners of 7 chickens & 1 rooster. The guys are out there now making sure everyone is settled in for the night. They had a little patching up to do on the chicken house since it hadn't been used in years, but I think they are good to go for now. They will have to actually get into the pen part this coming up week & get that fixed up a little better, but for now they are cozy in the hen house. I took some pics this afternoon for my picture of the day....will have to resize them & get them on here tomorrow so you can see the latest additions to our family. ;-)

Insert clever title here....

-Day 91-

Charlie-Bug was curled up in one of the dining room chairs this morning & I just thought that was the perfect shot of a contented kitty-cat...all tucked & curled up...snoozing away! -Day 92-
Just a few cards that I made today. Had fun playing around with some of my new stamps & a new card magazine I had picked up.