MY 100th BLOG POST!

Today's post marks 100 entries I have made on this site! It is amazing how fast they add up. My first post was in April 2008. I have enjoyed blogging so much and have made so many friends out there in blog land from Scotland to Australia to the United Kingdom, India, Canada, and right here in the United States.

I appreciate each and every blogging friend and all the great comments you leave here. This has been a place to laugh, cry, vent, play, and express love for friends and family and get to know some wonderful people far and wide.

I thought for this post, I would show you my blogging place where I spend a lot of time reading your comments, writing comments on your blogs and just generally hang out when I am on the computer. We post pictures of flowers, trips, birds, and a zillion other things but this is where I am actually coming from! It is just a small room in my home that I use for my computer and my monster.

I hate the computer desk but it does the job for now. I plan to replace it in the future. I have all my cookbooks, recipes, and files in this room.

My "monster" is my pilates that looks like some kind of torture machine but actually works very well if I use it often. It keeps my arthritis from acting up and keeps me limber.

I have a small t.v. mounted up in one corner of the room so that I can keep up with my shows and be on the computer at the same time.

The shelves hold my cookbooks and family pictures.

These black and white framed pictures of my grandson, Thomas Wyatt, on the wall are some of my favorites.

Bob made me this little cherry table and I love it!

The picture below is a collage my son did for me. The girl is me when I was in grade school.

Now, you have some idea or thought in your head of where I am coming from when I write or comment.

I challenge all my blogging friends out there to do a post on their blog site! This has been fun to do and a great year for me just getting to know you all. Thanks again and hugs to you from me. I tried to make these pictures so they would blow up if you clicked on them but for some reason it would not let me do it this time. Does anyone else have problems with pictures on blogger?

THANK YOU FRIENDS, BOOKCASES, AND A BOOTH AT THE PEDDLER'S MALL

First of all, I want to say thank you to all my wonderful friends in the blogging world for your kind comments, prayers and thoughts while I took this time off. My niece was a very special person and will be truly missed by her family and friends.

Next, I want to tell you about Bob's booth at the Peddler's Mall. He decided he wanted to try making small tables, birdhouses, bird feeders and whatever else he could put together from the scraps of wood in his workshop. Since retiring from mechanical engineering, he has built custom book case units such as the one in the photo he made for my niece on the left and the one he made for me on the right.

So, we gathered up everything we wanted to get rid of or had planned to take to the Goodwill Store and put it in there until he can get some items made. We took the whole first week of April to put stuff in and he and his brother built the booth itself. We still need more shelves and peg board, etc. but we are just getting started. The monthly rent is $120 and we took in $217 in three weeks! I could not believe what people will buy. Some of the things we have sold are magazines, clothing, books, and toys that I thought no one would care about. I had two huge containers of junk left over from a yard sale a couple years ago. It was stored in my outside building. I put it all in there since I never planned on using it again. It did not sell in the yard sale but it is selling in the booth. This mall gets quite a bit of traffic so I guess that helps. What really blows my mind is that it is selling for more than what it was priced in the yard sale!

Once we get it completely stocked with his handmade items we will know what to expect. We are going to give it two or three months and just see what it does. It is more a hobby than anything else. Bob likes to stay busy and I enjoy going to yard sales, etc. I picked up three framed pictures, and two angel statues at a yard sale a couple weeks ago for $6. We sold two of the pictures for $10 in two days.

Here is a picture of the booth as it is today and not yet totally stocked with the handmade stuff he wants to make. He has bought a book on birdhouses and he likes to make tables and has made some really nice tables in the past.

One good thing is that the Goodwill store is across the street and if we decide to give it up, we can just take it all over there very easily and they keep a big dumpster out back of this place, too.

Right now, we are having fun playing with it and seeing what sells or don't sell and what funny things people will buy!

I AM LIBRA!

I was born on September 27 and my astrological sign is Libra, the Scales.


You may or may not know anything about astrology and horoscopes but for years I read mine faithfully and thought if I missed reading my horoscope each morning the whole day would be lost.



I would go into work, turn on the computer and read my horoscope. If it said I was going to have a bad day, I usually had a bad day. If it said I was going to have a good day. I had a good day! I am sure I let this influence my day to be either good or bad.



According to astrology, some of Libra's good points are: You are neat and have a desire for peace. Attractive surroundings are necessary for peace of mind. Libra is very fair and just and tries to maintain a proper balance. Libra is artistic, musical, level headed, sympathetic, perceptive and generous. Manners and other niceties are important to Libra. You have a strong need to share with others. The negative aspects are that I can be critical and very moody.



Most of these things are true about me. Usually, I am either way up or way down. There is not much in the middle and I am more up than down if that makes any sense. I try to see the glass as half full and always taught my children to enjoy life, be kind to others, work hard, believe in God, and learn all they could about many different subjects.



Astrology is not a religion but the study of planetary motion and the correlation of those to our life here on earth. So, I do not believe in astrology but I find that many times my horoscope
has told me something that turns out to be true.



What is your sign? How do you feel about astrology? Do you read your horoscope every day?

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?

THE WORLD'S LONGEST YARD SALE

The U.S. Highway 127 Yard Sales started on 8/7/08 and end tomorrow on 8/10/08. This is the world's longest yard sale and covers 654 miles!

It is headquartered in Jamestown, Tennessee but goes from West Unity, Ohio to Gadsden, Alabama.



Each year, hundreds of thousands of people travel Highway 127 looking for bargains from homeowners, professional dealers and vendors.


















It is practically impossible to cover the entire route in 4 days.

I live one mile off Highway 127 in Frankfort, Kentucky and believe me you would not know there is a gas shortage if you traveled this road this past week near me.

Several vendors started setting up tents, campers, tables, etc. as far back as Monday this past week.




















I have been out several days looking over sale items but I usually hit the yard sales in the neighborhoods bordering Highway 127. I have found in years past that I find the best bargains are from homeowners in the vicinity. A lot of the stuff along the highway is junk as far as I am concerned and nothing I would be interested in buying.



I ventured across 127 this past Thursday and found that several homeowners in one large subdivision was getting ahead of the crowd and was open for business. I found some nice items at bargain prices.

I collect Bybee Pottery and found two pieces in perfect shape for $6.50 total cost of the two.


















Then I found a diet book by Dr. Oz. He is on the Oprah show quite often and has written several books. I have his book on aging but did not have the one on dieting. I got the book for $2.00.


I think the best buy I made on my trek through all the sales, garages, yards, and booths was a big red Radio Flyer wagon for my grandson, Thomas Wyatt. The lady said they had used it one time at the state fair to haul their granddaughter around the fairgrounds. It cost me $10.00.








I also found Thomas Wyatt some great new toys. He has grown tired of the ones he plays with at Nanna Juju's house and was in dire need of a few new and more challenging play things!



I took his old toys and put them in bags in the closet and replaced them with the new ones in the little wash stand where his toys reside at my house. He will be so surprised when he visits and sees all the new ones replacing his old toys. He is only 13 months and I can only imagine the look on his face.

The weather here has been in the high 70s and low 80s and just a wonderful weekend to have this yearly event. Cars have been lined up along the highway for miles on both sides today.
If you like yard sales and flea markets this is one event you should not miss. I am fortunate that I can run up the road and be on Highway 127 and spend an entire day looking within a 15 mile span of highway.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock, I Love A Clock!!!!!!

I have a thing about clocks! I don't know why. I guess we all like some things better than others and collect stuff we like.

My clocks are not old or collectors items. I just like clocks.

If I go into Big Lots, I will look at the clocks. If I go to a flea market or antique shop, the clocks are one of the first things I look for in the store. If I find one I really like, I will come home and take down one I already have and either give it away, throw it away, or try to move it somewhere.

I, now, have one in every room including the laundry room and the garage and I don't want more than one to a room so I have to take one down when I get a new one. I have not put one in the storage building yet but that is a thought!

Some of my clocks are electric but most are battery operated. I hate having to reset them every time the electric goes off like the ones on the stove and microwave.

Every time the batteries start getting low the clocks seem to start ticking louder. I kind of like hearing them tick because it reminds me of the old wind-up clocks we used to have at home when I was a child. You could hear those old things all over the house ticking, ticking, ticking.

Is there anyone else out there that has a passion for clocks? Is there something else that you collect or that you especially like a lot?

Leave me a comment and tell me about your favorite collectible.

Butterflies Are Free

Butterflies are such brightly colored, beautiful additions to your garden and give it a sense of happiness and peace. I love watching them flit from one plant to another sampling the necture of each flower bloom like it was a buffet laid out on nature's table.




Adult butterflies are attracted to red, yellow, orange, pink, or purple blossoms and flat-topped or clustered flowers. They love zennias, marigolds, cone flowers, daisies, verbenas, garlic chives, lilacs, bee balm, and many mint plants to name a few.



Butterfly adults feed mostly in the sun so your plants should receive full sun mid-morning to mid-afternoon.




There are at least 700 species of butterflies in North America and most insecticides are lethal to them.




In a previous blog I talked about toad abodes so wondered if there was such a thing as a butterfly house and found out there are such things for the garden. You can make your own or order them from various places.




The following link will give you plans for building a butterfly house for your garden and various other butterfly related items: http://butterflywebsite.com/articles/house/plans.htm






I, also, learned that butterflies love over-ripe fruit such as bananas, strawberries, orange slices, and leftover melon ends.






A ceramic or glass pie plate, plastic or terra cotta plant saucer, or a dish with a sloping rim can all be used to make easy butterfly feeders. Suspend the plate with flower pot hangers or fashion a macrame style holder from household twine. You could wind the stems of silk or plastic flowers around the twine holder to decorate the butterfly feeder and make it visually appealing to butterflies.Simply hang the feeder from the bough of a shady tree, in a spot where you can easily view visitors to the feeder. Try to place it a little higher than your highest flowers. Add slices of over-ripe fruit. You can sprinkle a little fruit juice or water over the fruit slices if they dry out too much - remember it's the mushy, rotting, very over-ripe fruit that butterflies like best. Replace the fruit if it dries out or becomes moldy.




This is a cute poem or song I found about butterflies:

The Fuzzy Caterpillar (Tune: Itsy Bitsy Spider)

The fuzzy caterpillar curled up on a leaf,

Spun her little chrysalis

And then fell fast asleep.

While she was sleeping,

She dreamed that she could fly,

And later when she wokeup

She was a butterfly!

Rainy Day Wednesday and Thursday, Etc., Etc.

Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day!

I think it has rained the whole month of May.

Bob is coming over today and we will pass the time playing gin rummy or eating! It seems we spend a lot of time eating when the weather is bad. We both like to read and always have a book somewhere nearby.

Yesterday, I worked in the yard but it was still muddy from the weekend rain. The tree limbs on the tall oak trees in my yard are all drooping from the weight of the water and it has poured all morning. The weatherman says more rain for here tomorrow. Everything is so green it hurts your eyes.

I am going to make some frog houses for my flower beds. I found some pictures and ideas on the internet this morning.

Concerning frog houses: Create a toad abode to shelter toads in a cool, shady part of your garden.

Dense leafy foliage close to the ground will provide cover for amphibians during the spring and summer months.

During the winter, piles of leaves provide cover for some frogs, toads and salamanders.

Let frogs and toads colonize your backyard naturally. Do not purchase frogs or toads to stock your new habitat, or move adults or even tadpoles from other wetlands to your backyard. When you have provided all that a frog or toad could want, just be patient and they will come to you.

You can use your imagination and paint coffee cans. You can also use flower pots but there must be water nearby, even if you just put some water in a container near the frog house.

You can spray paint the entire container and then paint on cute sayings like: "Toad Abode",

"Kermit's Place", "Frog Hideout", or whatever makes your house original.

A good rainy day project!

A Thursday Road Trip

Bob was feeling much better on Thursday and drove over from Lexington to visit. We decided to get out for a bit. The weather was beautiful except for the wind was blowing pretty hard but the sun was shining and it was in the 70's. I live about two miles off Highway 127, so we left my house and filled up with some very expensive gas, bought a lottery ticket at the little market for Saturday night since it is somewhere around one hundred, eighty million! (I could pass several hours just thinking about what I would do with that money.)



The first place we stopped was The Bread Basket. It is a very small store run by the Amish and they sell all kinds of fresh bread made daily. I bought a loaf of sourdough wheat bread to have for dinner from the young Amish girl in her white bonnet that waited on us. I could have bought one of each but I would have come home and "pigged out" since bread is one of my favorite foods.



Next, we stopped at another market just down the road about a mile and looked at all the flowers, bulk foods, and cheeses. I bought a nice tomato here and we both got a huge cone of soft serve ice cream. Their cones are $1.49 each and you make them yourself from the machine.
Bob says I really know how to pile that ice cream on the cone. He opted for chocolate but I love just plain, old vanilla.

Further on down the road, we passed a World War II army tank that is on display as you enter Harrodsburg. Everytime, I see this tank it reminds me of my son when he was a young boy. He used to beg to stop and look at it and read the names of the men from Mercer County that served during the war.



Harrodsburg is a small town but full of history. It was first explored by James and Samuel Harrod in 1767 and Fort Harrod was established in 1774 as one of the largest forts in Kentucky.

It is called the "Gateway to the West". I first visited Fort Harrod on a school trip when I was in the fifth grade. The outdoor drama, "The Legend of Daniel Boone" is performed each summer and worth your time to go see it. Another event, my son used to love when he was small. He loved seeing all the Indians and pioneer people.



We passed through Harrodsburg and stopped at a new Flea Market and Antique Mall that has opened on the outskirts of town. I love these places and can spend hours looking at all the items for sale. Bob gave out on me and went to find a place to rest. I looked at all the booths and ended up buying a book by Kentucky born writer, Robert Penn Warren. I especially love to read books by Kentucky authors. It is called "A Place to Come To" and is the story of Jed Tewksbury, born on a rundown farm in Dugton, Alabama at the end of the First World War.


Robert Penn Warren also wrote "All the Kings Men" that was made into a movie starring Sean Penn. It is a great movie. I am an avid reader and so are all my children. I think reading adds so much to one's life.


This is as far as we made it on our trip. By the time I finished looking in the flea market, Bob was tired and hungry. We stopped in Harrodsburg at McDonalds for a burger and headed back home. It was a good day! The sourdough bread was wonderful with dinner.