Home again

We got back from our Thanksgiving trip last night.  We left last Wednesday for our destination, and our daughter and son were there with us and enjoyed a nice mini-vacation from work.  We had a wonderful and relaxing time before the busyness begins on our bathroom remodel and Christmas preparations.  Bathroom remodel this time of year...what was I thinking??? 

Some folks have their Christmas trees up already, but I have a living room full of boxes of tile, a new stool, counter top, fixtures and various other stuff awaiting the carpenter to begin.  We have a few things of our own to get done this week before he starts, too.  Yikes!  I think I'll go back!! 

I've spent today unpacking and washing our trip clothes and just hanging out with Stormy.  She missed us and was wanting to be close and cuddly today...not her usual style...she hadn't been without at least one of us for five nights before.  We missed her, too!  We had a friend come in and check on her mornings and evenings so we knew she was okay.  

I'll be posting more later about where we went and one of our favorite places that we visited.  The 1929 Durant in the photo above was seen at this place.  Isn't it a beauty?

If I'm a little scarce here this week, it's because of the work that needs to get done.  Things like stripping off wallpaper, taking off the old tile, painting the wall above where the bead board will go and painting the bead board itself.  Wish me luck!

Until next time...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

" Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; 

his love endures forever."

Psalm 107:1

Thank you to my blogging friends for your wonderful posts and photos that I enjoy so much, for your nice comments here at my blog and for your friendship.

I am going to take a blogging break, at least from posting and commenting, but I'll try to get some reading (of blogs) done.  I'll see you after the holiday weekend.  I hope each of you has the most wonderful Thanksgiving ever!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Until next time...

A decorating dilemma

Internet Photo

A new window treatment is in order for my living room.  The window in this photo isn't a very good representation of my window but since I don't want to take a photo that shows my grody sheers that have been torn by kitty claws, we'll have to use our imaginations a bit.  Picture if you will a larger window, 10 1/2 feet wide by 72 inches tall.  There are 9 separate panes on the order of those in the photo only mine are wider in a rectangle shape.  I need something for privacy yet let light in.  Most blinds I've looked at have been eliminated for one reason or another (the furball).  Mostly because I can't hang them inside the frame or casing, it would have to be an outside mount.

If the window didn't face a busy street, this wouldn't be such a problem.  I'd love to have just sheers.  Have you looked at window treatments lately?  There are so many different colors and styles, it's mind-boggling!  If you have a suggestion for this type of window, I'm all ears!

Bathroom update:  Well, we haven't really started on this project yet.  After all, deer hunting is still going on and the carpenter is big into that. :D Then Thanksgiving is coming up, so it'll be after that.  But!  We have the tile and new counter top, etc, purchased and awaiting installation.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Until next time... 

An Interview

This is a very moving video.  It you haven't  

seen it yet, just click below.

The Interview

This old barn...

This old barn still has some usefulness.  The advertisement for Meramec Caverns is worn but the Caverns are still a tourist attraction along Route 66 near Stanton, Missouri.  This barn isn't near there, but is seen on Hwy 5 not far from Versailles.  Have you ever been in a cave?  I've been in  Bridal Cave at Camdenton, and Marvel Cave at Branson.  They are both impressive caves, if you like being underground.  As for me, I'm getting more claustrophobic as the years roll by so I'll not be visiting caves again.

Linking to Tricia's
Barn Charm

Until next time...

A Funny Deer Tale

 

(Warning:  This is a bit long, so if you don't want to or have the time to read all of this, I understand!)

 

Roping a deer - Read this before you go deer roping.

Actual letter from someone who farms, writes well and tried this:

I had this idea that I could rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up-- 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold.

 
The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it, it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope .., and then received an education. The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.

That deer EXPLODED. The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity. A deer-- no chance. That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined. The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.

A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison, I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope.

I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer, at that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual. Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in. I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set beforehand...kind of like a squeeze chute. I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.

Did you know that deer bite?

They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when ... I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist. Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head--almost like a pit bull. They bite HARD and it hurts. The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective.

It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds. I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now), tricked it. While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.

 
That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.

Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp. I learned a long time ago that, when an animal--like a horse--strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape. This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy. I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run. The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down. 

 
Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head. 

 
I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away. So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope to sort of even the odds. 

All these events are true so help me God.

An Educated Rancher

 Deer Image by The Graphics Fairy

Remembering our Veterans on 11-11-11

 

Freedom isn't free and today we remember

our military veterans and the sacrifices they have made.

  Thank you for your service to our country!

 

"This nation will remain the land of the free only 

so long as it is the home of the brave." 

~Elmer Davis

An oldie but goodie

 

I love old barns and old buildings.

This old, abandoned grain elevator near the Missouri River

caught my eye a couple of weeks ago and we

pulled off the main highway to go down a 

gravel road so I could get a closer look.

This old beauty sits along side what was once a railroad

track and is now a hiking and biking trail called the Katy Trail.

 Here's a closer shot from a different angle.  I wish I 

could tell you how long this structure has been standing

and when it was built, but I don't know.  I do know

that it survived the Flood of 1993.  However, it didn't

survive the spray painting of Chad and his friends.

I wonder what kind of tile this is?

Let's take a closer look.

Anyone know?

Until next time...

Lady in Red

I stopped and snapped this red barn on the

way to the Dutch Bakery Saturday.  Is that a quilt

block I see high above the doors?  We do have

quite a few "quilt barns" in this area.  

This is a newer barn but I think it's charming

all decked out in red and a bit of white.

 

Linking to Tricia's

Barn Charm

Until next time...

Saturday's day trip

My daughter and I took a little trip to the Dutch Bakery in Tipton, MO Saturday.  It was a fun afternoon drive.  We actually went about 15 miles past Tipton to Lehman's at Versailles for lunch.  Lehman's is a Mennonite cafe with food that is simple but freshly made and is Oh. So. Good.  They also have fresh homemade bread, cinnamon bread, pies, cookies and other treats for sale.  I left with a loaf of regular bread and a loaf of cinnamon bread.   We headed back to Tipton and to the Dutch Bakery where I bought more goodies.

I couldn't turn down the yummy Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Rolls or the iced Cinnamon Rolls or another loaf of bread!  The other loaves seen in the photo are from Lehman's.  I also bought a bag of oats, a jar of Green Tomato Relish, and some chicken base that I use in my chicken noodle soups and turkey gravy, some cheese and German bologna for sandwiches.  Because I was reasonably certain that after eating a big lunch, I wouldn't be cooking dinner and it would be a sandwich night!  I also bought a Dutch letter which is an almond paste filled pastry shaped in the letters L, O, V, E, S that they sell.  I'd never tried them before and they were very good.   You're probably wondering how we could possibly eat all this?  I will freeze some of these and hope they taste just as fresh later. 

Finally, I bought a bottle of V&V, an all natural herbal supplement.  While wheeling down the aisles, I spotted a woman about my age looking at a brochure and, nosy person that I am, stopped to see what was so interesting.  We started chatting and both of us admitted that we could both use a little vim and vigor at our age, and we both decided that the 14 herbs and spices in a bottle of vinegar were pretty harmless sounding and decided to each buy a bottle and give it a try!  After all the sweets I had just loaded in my cart, the fact that the brochure says, besides all the health benefits you get from drinking V&V, that you might lose weight was the clencher!  I'll let you know if it works.

We felt a little jolt here in mid-Missouri from the earthquake in Oklahoma Saturday night.  Anyone else here in MO or neighboring states feel it? 

Until next time...

In three weeks

 

Thanksgiving is only three weeks away!  Are you looking forward to the holiday?  It is my second favorite holiday, Christmas being at the top of the list.  When I was young, we always went to my maternal grandmother's house for dinner.  She was an excellent cook and a lot of the food she fixed came from her garden.  Later, when Grandmother couldn't do the cooking, I usually had the meal at my house as well as the Christmas dinner.   I've never felt like my food tasted nearly as good as hers did.  For one thing, I've always had trouble with getting the gravy to come out right.  I can make excellent gravy most of the time, but turkey gravy is another story.   Another dish that won't win any awards either is my dressing.  I don't stuff the turkey, so we call the dish dressing instead of stuffing and my dressing comes in a box!  Almost everything else turns out just fine.  

Do you do the cooking for the holidays?  What is your least favorite food to fix?  Your best food?  My favorite would be the turkey.  I've always had success with turkey even though I'll often wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about meal time arriving and I've not thawed out the turkey! 

Until next time... 

A question

Photo from the internet

This is not my bathroom, but we are planning to put beadboard on the walls much like this.  I also have a divider similar to this one between the vanity and the stool.  Our room is wider, but the tub with shower is on the right of the window much like this one shows.  

My question is about tile.  We plan on having ceramic tile put on the floor and I would like to also have ceramic tile on the wall around the tub.  I don't want the little 4X4 tiles, but the larger ones.  Some of the guys at the large stores like Lowes tell me that you can put the same tile on the wall as you put on the floor.  I am wondering if any of you have done this?  I'd like your input as to how you like it, if you have.  Or if you have done something different that works great for you, let me know what that might be.  All ideas are appreciated!  We need to get our stuff in the next week, we've been a bit slow in deciding on this part of the remodel.  I'm also wondering how well the tile will look with the beadboard next to it.  Oh, decision, decisions!  I think I know what I want, but I still welcome your input.  Thanks!

Until next time...

It's November!

 

 

The first day of November.  I always think of my oldest brother, Bill, on this day, it was his birthday.  He passed away 19 years ago at the age of 49.  I fully intended to talk about something else in this post, but I think I'll tell a little story about him.  

My older brother was one of a kind who was hard working but also loved to have fun.  His wit got me into trouble more than once during my youth.  He not only had a wonderful sense of humor but used facial expressions that could speak volumes and he could dead-pan with the best of them.

I remember one time that got me into such trouble was when Cousin P came one day to visit from Colorado.  He was a very, very large man.  We had just sat down to eat, which was called dinner on the farm because the noon meal was the largest.   My mother was an excellent cook and served several side dishes along with the usual meat, potatoes, and salad.  Cousin P took a huge helping of everything when each bowl or platter was passed to him.  So, of course, his plate was piled high...very high...by the time everything was passed around. 

I just happened to be sitting across from my older brother who was sitting on the same side of the table with Cousin P.  Of course, I just happened to be watching my brother's facial expressions every time Cousin P started piling food on his plate.  He had that sneaky way of quickly making a funny face then relaxing into that innocent "I didn't do anything" look and no one at the table saw him, but me.  Which was what he intended, of course.  The grownups were busy talking and didn't pay any attention to us.  Well, I kept looking each time a dish was passed to Cousin P for that raised eyebrow look of horror on my brother's face when Cousin started spooning food on his plate.  The looks on Bill's face was so comical that I started giggling and tried to pass it off as something I was thinking about, but soon I had the red face and giggles so bad, I had to excuse myself from the table.  I ran into the next room dissolving into peals of laughter that I'm sure everyone heard at the table.  When the meal was over, and Cousin P and my dad had gone into the living room to visit, I crept back into the kitchen to see if there was anything left to eat since I didn't finish my plate.  My mother gave me "the Look" and said under her breath, so no one else could hear, that she would talk to me about my behavior later.   I knew what that meant!   That was just one of many times where I got the giggles at an inopportune time when I was supposed to be quiet and behaving myself.   Thanks to my older brother.  He was quite a guy and I still miss him.

Linking to Barn Charm at 

 http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/

Until next time...