BLOGGER AWARDS

Kelly of AMERICA AS SEEN BY KELLY has given me an award. Kelly has been a faithful reader of my blog and a great blogging friend. I have watched her blog site grow daily with interesting posts and new readers. Please visit Kelly and check out her blog. Thank you very much Kelly for this award. I am to pass this on to five bloggers and keep the award going. This was a very hard decision. Below are listed the five blogs I have chosen for an award.

First award goes to Clara over at Clara's Corner . Please visit Clara and check out all her photos and what she is up to in her daily life. She has been a great inspiration to me not only with her blogging but in my life. She is a very strong person and a great blogging friend. Thanks Clara for all your great comments on my blog.

Second I would like to give an award to Kate in Scotland and . . . . . . . . . SHAMBLES MANOR . . Kate and I have so much in common we think we might be long lost sisters! Kate has a wonderful sense of humor writes about her life, her grandchildren, and many other interesting subjects about her home. Please check out her blog and take a look at the grandchildren all dressed up in their kilts among other great pictures of her homeland. Thank you Kate for being my friend from afar.

Third award goes to Beth at Blue Ridge Blue Collar Girl . Please take a trip over to the Appalachian Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and visit with Beth and her family. Beth is a great writer and a fantastic photographer. Her nature pictures are just awesome. She is the "queen of puns" and her way with words will amaze you. Thank you Beth for allowing me to accompany you on your many walks and for your comments on my blog.

My fourth award goes to Teresa at Homemaker Under Construction. Teresa is a Kentucky girl like me. She lives in a house in the country that she and her husband built from the ground up by themselves. She has many interesting posts about this project and pictures of their house from start to finish. I have never met Teresa in person but actually knew her parents years ago.

Take a trip over to her blog and check out her life and times. Thank you Teresa for your many comments and for being another blogging friend.

And last but not least to Patsy at my life and times. Patsy is the "chicken lady". She has more chickens than anyone I ever heard of! She also likes to post the news and talk about politics.

She has great pictures of her garden and flowers. She has a Kentucky heritage and has traced her roots back to my home state. Go over and have a look at all the baby chicks. Thanks Patsy for all your comments on my blog.

I can only give out five awards but there are so many more on my list. I must make mention of a couple great blogs to visit such as Ginny at CHICKOWASCO Chatter and June at 70 Plus and Still Kicking. Both Ginny and June are writers. Ginny writes about her memories of days gone by and has published several books. June lives in Australia and has a writing blog besides the one mentioned above. Her short stories are wonderful. They are both just getting started as bloggers so please give them a visit!

My list of blogging friends is long and I wish I could mention all of them but any one you pick from my sidebar would be a great place to visit and make a new friend.

Please post the award on your blog and keep it going. Thanks again Kelly for thinking of me with this award and thanks to each and every one of you that are part of my blogging world. You are all like friends to me and I appreciate your comments and visits.

QUE SERA SERA - WHAT EVER WILL BE, WILL BE

Years ago, Doris Day, had a song out called Que Sera Sera. Here is one verse of that song:

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.

That kind of sums up my life. Sometimes I think it should be a song that was sung by country artist Pam Tillis called, Mi Vida Loca, which means my crazy life. There has been many ups and downs in my life, many hurts and many wonderful experiences and I would not change one thing if I had to go back and do it all over. I have a wonderful family, my health as far as I know, friends, stability, a great partner, and I try to enjoy every moment that I have left on this good earth.

My girlfriend is always saying, "if I could only live my life over and know what I know now". I can't go along with that because I think I would make bigger mistakes than the ones I made before.

There are so many quotes and sayings by famous people about life. For instance: Everything happens for a reason or if it was meant to be, it will be. I have used these expressions to rationalize many things.

I always liked this one: Every ending is a new beginning! That makes good sense to me.
Have you heard this one? Life is what you make it. Here's another. It was God's plan or when God closes a door, He opens a window. Also, every cloud has a silver lining.

Grandma Moses said: Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be. Martin Fischer said Life is a ticket to the greatest show on earth.

I think this one pertaining to love is probably true: If you love something set it free. If it was meant to be it will come back to you.

It appears we want to believe that the things we have happen in our life have meaning and that good things come out of the bad that happens. I believe life's happenings help us to become better people and stronger people so that ultimately we discover who we were meant to be.

I like this one: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!

My philosophy is kind of measured by a poem I have loved ever since the first time I heard it many years ago. It was written by James Henry Leigh. You can read my favorite poem below.

ABOU BEN ADHEM

Abou ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight of his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

an angel, writing in a book of of gold.

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,

And to the Prescence in the room he said: "What writest thou?"

The vision raised its head,

And, with a look made of all sweet accord,

Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord.

" "And is mine one?"said Abou,

"Nay, not so," Replied the angel.

Abou spoke more low,

But cheerily still, and said, "I pray thee, then,

Write me as one who loves his fellow men."

The angel wrote, and vanished.

The next night It came again, with a great awakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blest,

And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.

Do you have a favorite quote or a favorite poem about life or just an opinion. If so, leave me a comment.

DUNCAN HINES, A MAN AND A CAKE MIX

Have you ever made a cake using Duncan Hines cake mix? I have. My favorite dessert, (other than blackberry cobbler), is cake. I bake at least once a week or more. Many of my cakes are made from scratch but I use cake mix a lot, too. Sometimes, I use a mix as a base for some cake and add other ingredients to make it better.

My father loved sweets and I guess I inherited his love for pastries, cakes, and cookies.

Now, I will give you one guess as to where Duncan Hines, the man behind the cake mix was born. If you are a reader of my blog, you probably have figured out the answer is Kentucky!!!

Duncan Hines was the youngest of six children born on March 26, 1880 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Hines' mother died when he was four and after her death, he spent summers on his grandparent's farm. This is where he learned about good cooking from his grandmother.

When Hines was younger, he worked for 33 years as a traveling salesman eating in restaurants all over the country. He compiled a list of good restaurants that he sent to all his friends instead of Christmas cards. People began requesting this list. Finally, when he was 52 years old, he published a book called, "Adventures in Good Eating", which led to the book, "Adventures in Good Cooking".

In 1947, Roy Park, an entrpreneur, put Hines' name on kitchen products and their company, Hines-Park, made them millionaires. In 1953, Duncan Hines sold the right to his name to Nebraska Consolidated Mills which developed Duncan Hines cake mix. They later sold out to Proctor and Gamble.

A portion of Highway 31W in Bowling Green, Kentucky is named for him and called Duncan Hines Highway.

Duncan Hines was married three times, had no children, and was a chain smoker. His motto was: "Have what you want, but want what you have".

He died on March 15, 1959 at the age of 78. Duncan Hines is buried in Fairview Cemetary in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Today, Duncan Hines is the second largest baking mix company in the nation.

Here is a recipe for an easy Duncan Hines dessert:

DUNCAN HINES PINEAPPLE CAKE

1 box pineapple cake mix

1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple

TOPPING:

1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding, using only 1 c. milk

1 sm. container Cool Whip

Walnuts or coconut

Bake cake as directed. Prick cake with fork while still hot and spread can of pineapple on top. Do not drain pineapple. When cake is cool add topping.

Topping: 1 package instant vanilla pudding, using only 1 cup of milk. Fold into pudding 1 small container Cool Whip. Sprinkle top with coconut or broken walnuts. Keep cake refrigerated. Enjoy!

A "SPRUCE-UP" FOR THE HOUSE AND YARD

The definition of "spruce-up" is to make smart and trim. Bob and I have been doing some stuff to my house and yard to spruce it up a bit.

First of all, I have so many tall, tall trees in my yard (somewhere around twenty-five) and the limbs are so high up from the ground that I have no place to hang anything like a bird house or flower baskets. These trees are pin oak trees and most of them are from eighty to one hundred feet tall. That is why I run to the bathroom whenever we have a storm or high winds because I am afraid one of them will blow over on my house.

They keep the house so cool in summer that I don't run the air conditioning very often unless it gets up near a hundred outside. I love the shade, too, but it can get scary during a storm.

We bought a landscaping post from Lowes, set it in concrete, got a birdhouse from Walmart and put it on the top, and added a couple wrought iron hangers for my baskets.


My sister had this little bench in the garbage in front of her house and I picked it up, brought it home and Bob replaced the boards, took the rust off the legs and painted it for my grandson, Thomas Wyatt.


He is going to just love it when he comes to visit.!




The bench is pictured before and after.





Next, some new paint on the storage shed that was beginning to show some rust spots, a few stones across the front and some pots with flowers added a whole new look to that part of the yard.



I saw some outside lights on sale when I was in Lowes the other day and bought a couple to go on each side of the patio doors. They are motion lights and replaced the old motion lights that were very unattractive. These really did make a difference in the back side of the house and "Hootie" likes them because they are off at night until something comes prowling around in the back yard. "Hootie" has been keeping the bird poop off my patio furniture for a couple years now. They think he is a real owl with his head that swivels and follows them around the yard.









It's amazing what a difference just a few updates can make in the looks of something.

I am adding a few more pictures I took of the trees and house so you will know where I am coming from when you read these blog posts.




I hope you enjoyed your visit, come back anytime.

Click on pictures to make them larger.

Annual Trip To Amish Country

On Saturday, Anne and Leigh, Anne's boyfriend, Josh, and I made our annual trip to Liberty, Kentucky in Casey County to visit Amish Country. We have been doing this for years. The girls were two or three years old when we started going and they are now thirty.

We left from my house after having coffee and blueberry muffins to hold us until lunch. Anne drove with Josh as her co-pilot while Leigh and I sat in the back seat. I was good and did very little back seat driving!

Our first stop was the Dutchmon's Market where I bought a pint of blackberry jam and we looked at all the hand tools, Amish hats, canned foods and bakery items. It started to pour rain just as we were leaving and one of the older Amish men asked Leigh, "Afraid to go into the rain, are ye?" and laughed like he had made some big joke!

Next, we traveled down South Fork Creek Road past the furniture store to Nolt's Bulk Food Store. The girls bought some cheese and spices, and I bought apples, a pint of sorghum, cumin, celery seeds, bay leaves, and candy. Then, we went to the produce market! I go crazy in these places with all the fresh fruit and veggies. I bought fresh green beans, new potatoes, tomatoes, green onions, peaches, a cantaloupe, and a quart of fresh blackberries for a cobbler. The girls loaded up on produce, also, so they would not have to go to the grocery when they got home. The back of Anne's car was loaded with goodies.




We headed for the Bread of Life Cafe because we were all starving by now. They have a great salad bar there and always have about three meats on the buffet.




Saturday, they had fried fish and chicken and some kind of steak with green beans, potatoes, corn, pinto beans, mac and cheese, cornbread, biscuits, and the best yeast rolls with cinnamon butter you ever ate. The dessert bar had pineapple cake, chocolate cake, bread pudding and soft serve ice cream. Josh cannot eat gluten so we were worried there would not be anything he could eat but I think he made out fine with the salad bar.

They also have a gift shop here and sell candy, bread, candles, jellies, and goodies of all sorts and kinds.

Feeling like four little pigs, we posed for pictures outside on the porch of the cafe.




Don't you think Anne and Josh make a cute couple? This is me in the middle with Anne on the left and Leigh on my right. Can you tell they are twins?



Last stop was the Antique Flea Market in Harrodsburg on our way home to buy used books in their "book nook" that has hundreds of books.

Leigh is enjoying a rest and doing a little reading while the rest of us are looking at all the books and trying to make our choices to bring home.

My son, Rob, his wife, Sarah, and TW were supposed to go with us but Rob got called into work. We missed them this year!

We arrived back at my house tired from a full day of activities but it was a "good" tired.

It was another wonderful day. I am glad that Josh could join us this year. This one will be added to the great memories along with all the rest.

Note: Click on each picture to view larger version.

ARE YOU A SOUTHPAW????

The picture to your left is, "The Left Hand" by french sculptor, Auguste Rodin.

I am left handed. My mother was left handed, also. The definition of left handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities.

Did you know that being left handed is more common in males than females and approximately thirteen percent of the world population is left handed.

Some believe that it is inherited and some believe that it comes from your environment. It does run in families but not one of my three children is left handed.

In the Middle Ages the devil was considered a southpaw and left-handed people lived in danger of being accused of practicing witchcraft.

I bet you did not know that August 13th is National Left-Handers' Day!

Some fascinating facts about left handed people:

Most left-handers draw figures facing to the right.

There is a high tendency in twins for one to be left-handed.

Stuttering and dyslexia occur more often in left-handed people particularly if they are made to try and change to their right hand.

Left-handers adjust more readily to seeing underwater.

Left-handers excel particularly in tennis, baseball, swimming and fencing.

Left-handers usually reach puberty 4 to 5 months after right-handers.

Four of the five original designers of the Macintosh computer were left-handed.

One in four Apollo astronauts were left-handed - 250% more than the normal level.

Years ago, when my mother attended school, they tied her left hand behind her and tried to make her write with her right hand.

I write and eat with my left hand but most other things are done with my right hand. I have always had trouble with scissors, butter knives, and the hand can openers.


Here is a funny story about Burger King and The Left-Handed Whopper:

Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.). However, the left-handed whopper had "all condiments rotated 180 degrees, thereby redistributing the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of the condiments will skew to the left, thereby reducing the amount of lettuce and other toppings from spilling out the right side of the burger."
Jim Watkins, senior vice president for marketing at Burger King, was quoted as saying that the new sandwich was the "ultimate 'HAVE IT YOUR WAY' for our left-handed customers." The advertisement then noted that the left-handed Whopper would initially only be available in the United States, but that the company was "considering plans to roll it out to other countries with large left-handed populations." The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version!!!!!!


Some presidents of the United States that were left handed include:

James A. Garfield

Herbert Hoover

Harry S. Truman

Gerald Ford

Ronald Reagan

George H.W. Bush

Bill Clinton

The presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are both left handed.

Are you left handed, or do you have left handed friends and family?

Are You Smarter Than A Chinese Second Grader?

A second grade test in China. Have fun! Click here: Frog Leap Test http://funstufftosee.com/frogleaptest.html Good luck!

The solution to this is posted below.

Counting from left to right. Green frog 1, 2, 3 ---Brown Frog 1, 2, 3

Frog Move

B1 Left

G3 Right

G2 Right

B1 Left

B2 Left

B3 Left

G1 Right

G2 Right

G1 Right

B1 Left

B2 Left

B3 Left

G2 Right

G1 Right

B3 Left

The answers somehow got removed from the sidebar. Good luck!

Kentucky and Her Veterans

I thought this was appropriate since we just celebrated the Fourth of July.







The picture at the left is of the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Frankfort.







There are 1,100 names of Kentuckians on the memorial including 23 missing in action.



The design is of a large sundial that cast its shadow on the name of each man on the anniversary of his death. Thus, each fallen veteran has a personal Memorial Day.



The memorial is located in Frankfort, the capital city of Kentucky. Here is a link to the website where you can read more about this amazing place: http://www.kyvietnammemorial.net/index.html



Now, I want to tell you about PFC Franklin R. Sousley, born in 1925 in Hilltop, Kentucky. He answered his country's call and became a United States Marine and fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima.







Franklin Sousley's father died when he was nine years of age. Franklin helped his mother survive the Great Depression and left Kentucky to work in a factory in Dayton, Ohio. He joined the Marines in January 1944 and landed on Iwo Jima on 2/19/45. On 2/23/45, Franklin Sousley, of Fleming County, Kentucky was immortalized in one of the most beloved images of the twentieth century, the flag raising on Mt Suribachi. Franklin is second from left in the picture.


Franklin did not survive the battle, but was killed in action on March 21st by a sniper's bullet two days before the end of the battle.



To most Americans Franklin Sousley was and remains an anonymous hero. He was the youngest of the five men in the picture and is buried in the Elizaville Cemetary in Elizaville, Kentucky. Franklin Sousley was only 19 years old.