COFFEE IN THE MORNING!

Are you one of those people that can't function until you have your morning coffee?


I am not much of a coffee drinker. Usually, I will have a cup with Bob in the mornings but if he is not here, I don't even make coffee.


I like the international coffees that come in those little tin containers and taste more like hot chocolate than coffee.

Bob has to have at least two cups of coffee in the morning in order to get his day started.

I don't do well with caffeine either. A cup of coffee with caffeine will really wake me up. If I drink anything with caffeine during the day, I stay up all night.

I love coffee mugs and cups and pick them up anytime I see an unusual or different one.


I used to know people when I still worked that drank coffee all day.


Did you know that special studies conducted about the human body revealed it will usually absorb up to about 300 milligrams of caffeine at a given time. About 4 normal cups. Additional amounts are just cast off, providing no further stimulation. Also, the human body dissipates 20% of the caffeine in the system each hour.



Here's a little joke about coffee: A Grandmother was surprised by her 7-year old grandson one morning. He had made her coffee! She drank what was the worst cup of coffee in her life. When she got to the bottom, there were three of those little green army men in her cup. Puzzled, she asked, "Honey, what are the army men doing in my coffee?"
Her grandson answered, "Grandma, it says on TV, the best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup."




Here's how to tell if you are a caffeine addict.


You might be a caffeine addict if :


You think sleep is for the weak.


Your heart beats noticeably faster as a reaction to the smell of coffee.



Your child's name is Nescafe.


You go to sleep just to wake up and smell the coffee.


Your coffee pot is next to your bed and your alarm clock is in the kitchen.



You suck on a used coffee filter whenever the can runs out of coffee.

I love to serve coffee to my friends and family along with some kind of great dessert. You can find a great holiday coffee recipe on my recipe blog: Recipes From A Southern Country Cook.

A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.

Are you a coffee addict or do you not drink coffee?

TIED TO MOMMA'S APRON STRINGS

I have so many memories tied to momma's apron strings.

I received an e-mail the other day from my blogging friend at LUV2GOSUP about the history of aprons. This made me think about all the memories surrounding those pieces of fabric worn by women to protect the dress underneath.

Momma always had on her apron. She would get dressed in the morning and put the apron on over her dress and wear it all day. I don't ever remember seeing my mother in pants. She always wore what she called "house" dresses at home. Momma wore the pinafore type that went over her head and covered her entire front.

My mother-in-law wore the same type apron as my mother. My daughters and son grew up seeing both their grandmothers wear aprons except when there was company or they left the house to shop or go visiting.

We all have memories of Nannie (my mother) carrying eggs, wiping wet hands, and cooking big meals in her apron.

Grandmother, (my husband's mother) carried all sorts of vegetables from the garden, baked cookies, and wiped away tears with her aprons.


Aprons made great hiding places for shy children, were used to carry in wood for the stove, to gather apples that fell from the tree, and often were waved to men in the field so they knew dinner was on the table.



I even found some old Simplicity Patterns on e-bay to make your own aprons.




You could wipe a perspiring brow, use them as a potholder, and wrap them around your arms to keep warm.


Some children today probably don't even know what an apron is.



I think aprons are memory makers. I think they symbolize home, motherhood and family, good times and cookies and good food! Remember Leave it to Beaver and June Cleaver in her apron on the show?

What do you think about when you think of aprons?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEIGH HARPER AND ANNE PARKER!

On November 20th, my twin daughters will be thirty-one years old. It seems like only yesterday they were born a month premature. Anne weighed 3 lbs. and Leigh weighed 6 lbs. but promptly lost a pound. Leigh had to be taken to the University of Kentucky Medical Center because she was suffering from a condition where she had too much blood and a hole in her heart. Anne had to remain in the local hospital until she reached five pounds before she could be released to come home. I went home to the farm without either baby!

I had to travel back and forth to the local hospital to feed and visit with Anne each day. Their father, John, went to UK Hospital to visit Leigh. Since I had a cesarean section it was hard on me to do much traveling.

On the sixth day, John, went by the hospital to see Leigh and they told him she was being released. We had no idea she would be coming home and he had no idea what to do. He had no clothes, blankets, or anything. The nurses wrapped her in a big adult size hospital gown and a blanket, gave him some bottles with milk and he carried her out to his truck.

In order for anyone to fully appreciate this story, I have to tell you a little bit about their father. John was 32 and had never been married when we met. I was 30. John was a cowboy. He wore wrangler jeans, boots, a big cowboy hat, drove an old pickup truck, liked his beer and could ride a horse and rope a steer with the best of them. He loved to rodeo, rode the bulls, and was great at the calf roping events. He stood six feet tall, with red hair, freckles, and a mustache, carried a snuff can in his back pocket and kept a dip of snuff in his lip. His favorite past time was telling stories and he could entertain anyone for hours. He loved people and people loved him. He was smart, educated, and a fun person to be around but he had no earthly idea what to do with this baby girl in his pickup truck that only weighed 5 lbs.

Leigh was screaming like a banshee while her dad tried to find someway to keep her from rolling out of the truck seat. Looking in the bed of the truck, John comes up with one of those empty cardboard beer cartons that used to hold a case of beer. He stuffed Leigh into the carton on the seat beside him, put a bottle in her mouth and headed for home. The drive took about an hour and fifteen minutes.

I saw him pull into the driveway at the farm from the kitchen window. He was very carefully carrying this box with stuff hanging out all around the sides. There were no cell phones in those days and I had no idea Leigh was with him. John burst through the back door yelling, "you are not going to believe what I have in this box" to the top of his lungs. That was Leigh's homecoming.

Anne remained in the hospital for a month and came home on December 20, 1977. The nurses spoiled her to death and she was the hospital's little darling. She was our Christmas bundle of joy that year.

Finally, both our girls were home doing well.

Today, they are beautiful, young women that make me so proud to be their mother. They are successful in their careers and bought a farm where they live together with their dogs and horses.

John lost his battle with cancer several years ago but he is alive in their hearts and his spirit guides them in their lives each day.

Happy Birthday girls. I love you very, very much and you light up my life.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Johnny, Leigh, Anne

Bathtime on the farm.
Mom, Dad, Anne, Leigh

Waiting on the horses to come in.
Ready to ride.


Waiting on the school bus!

You can visit Anne and Leigh by clicking on the link:
Twin Crossroads

A SEA OF LEAVES!

I have millions and millions of leaves in my yard. They are everywhere and this is the time of year that I don't enjoy my trees. I love fall but this is the one part I don't like.

I bought one of those pieces of machinery that sucks them up and mulches them but it has to be dry to run the thing. It has rained here the past few days and we are way behind on mulching. I bet we have already done enough to fill a 100 bags at least.

They would be up to your knees by now if we had not been out there every pretty day with the machine. Every time I go outside, I carry in half a bushel on my feet!
They are even on the roof this time of the year. Sometimes, if the weather gets bad, I have to finish in the spring. We put a lot of the mulch around the pine trees and in the flower beds and bag the rest.

The weather is in the 50s here today but they are forcasting snow flurries tomorrow.

People who live here always say if you don't like Kentucky weather to just stick around for five minutes and it will change.

I did get all my hanging baskets, flower pots, and small tables put away for the winter.

Maybe, we will have another pretty day soon and we can finish for the year.

NATIONAL VETERANS AWARENESS WEEK

This Tuesday, November 11, 2008, we pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the men and women who in defense of our freedom have bravely worn the uniform of the United States. The president has declared November 9 through November 15, 2008, as National Veterans Awareness Week and encourages all Americans to recognize the bravery and sacrifice of our veterans through ceremonies and prayers.

Great Britain, France, and other countries celebrate November 11th as Armistice Day to commemorate the ending of World War I on November 11, 1918.

Canada celebrates Remembrance Day on this same date.

The history of the Veterans Day in the United States is as follows:

1919 - President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th as Armistice Day to remind Americans of the tragedies of war.
1938 - The day becomes a federal holiday.
1954 - Congress changes the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor all United States Veterans.

Today, in the United States, Veterans Day commemorates the courage and patriotism of all the men and women who have served in the United States military.

Veteran’s Day Tribute

by Joanna Fuchs

When America had an urgent need,

These brave ones raised a hand;

No hesitation held them back;

They were proud to take a stand.
They left their friends and family;

They gave up normal life;

To serve their country and their God,

They plowed into the strife.

They fought for freedom and for peace

On strange and foreign shores;

Some lost new friends;

Some lost their lives

In long and brutal wars.
Other veterans answered a call

To support the ones who fought;

Their country had requirements for

The essential skills they brought.
We salute each and every one of them,

The noble and the brave,

The ones still with us here today,

And those who rest in a grave.
So here’s to our country’s heroes;

They’re a cut above the rest;

Let’s give the honor that is due

To our country’s very best.

God bless America and our men and women in uniform and their families for all that they have sacrificed for us.

SPRING FORWARD, FALL BACK!

This past Saturday night we moved the clocks back an hour. Last night at 6:30 p.m. it had been dark for 30 minutes. I was half asleep at the computer and it was nowhere near bedtime.

I spent at least 30 minutes running all my clocks back. (I would have to love clocks)

There is at least one clock in every room including bathrooms, laundry room and the garage.

I had my dinner at 4:30 because I was starving!

Benjamin Franklin wrote the proverb: Early to bed, Early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. By the time I adjust to the time change, (going to bed at six and getting up at 3 a.m.), I should not have any aches or pains, I might win the lottery, and those senior moments will have disappeared into the night. Do you think the proverb only works on men?

My electric bill will go up because I have to burn the lights a longer period of time......

I will probably do more snacking in the middle of the night because I will wake up around 9 p.m. hungry since I ate at 4:30.

I'll miss all the prime time shows on t.v. !

I'll be commenting on blogs at 4 a.m. in the morning.

I just remembered I did not change the clock on the car!

Am I the only one that has a hard time adjusting to time changes???????

THOMAS WYATT GOES TRICK OR TREATING!

Just had to show everyone the pictures from Thomas Wyatts evening out trick or treating with his mother, Sarah, and friends.

Serious Lion.

Happy Lion.

Trick or Treat!

Checking Out The Loot.

Drooly Lion

High on Candy

Sleepy Lion

And a good evening was had by all!