Happy Halloween

I'll be working on Halloween, so won't have time to post, so I'm saying Happy Halloween early! My work encourages us to dress up for Halloween, but it's hard to be a nurse while wearing a costume. Plus, I guess I'm too self conscious to wear a costume. I did, however, buy myself a new scrub top with pumpkins all over it, that I plan to wear tomorrow. This photo was sent to me in an email saying, "You've been mooned." I was supposed to send it to everyone I know before they could send it to me. I thought I would share with you all, as it was so funny! So, I guess you've been mooned!

First Frost!

Good morning! brrrrr! It's chilly in the house this morning. We had our first frost in central NC last night, so the fireplace was lit this morning. It felt so yummy sitting next to it while drinking coffee in warm pajamas this morning! The dogs didn't know quite what to think of the fire and barked for a little while before settling down. Winter is on its way!

Baby photo

For lack of having anything to post today, I decided to post my baby picture. This is one of the few that my mom had taken of me and I recently submitted it for a contest at work during nurse's week. Our director had the nurses bring her their baby pictures and she put them all on a bulletin board to see how many people could identify them. I must still look like this because my picture was not a mystery to anyone. It was a lot of fun to see my coworkers' baby pictures and to try to guess who everyone was. Does anyone else want to share their baby picture with us?

What's your view?

I don't wash a lot of dishes by hand anymore, but I still spend a lot of time at the kitchen sink. This is my view... can you tell it's been raining? The japanese maple right in front of my window grows rapidly and has to be trimmed back often, because I'm short and it blocks my view. I've lived in two houses without a window over the sink and I could not stand not having one there. Do you have a kitchen sink? What's your view?

Waste not...

These bananas usually would have been thrown into the garbage at my house. But yesterday I thought "hmmmm, what can I do with those bananas?" So I went to the internet to search for a recipe using bananas and buttermilk, as I had buttermilk that needed to be used also.
Immediately, I found this yummy sounding recipe. I didn't have walnuts, but I did have pecans in the freezer!
In just a few minutes, I had preheated my oven and mixed up my batter! It sure smelled yummy. I had blueberries that my mom grew, picked, and sent to me this summer!
In just a little over an hour, I had a loaf of delicious smelling banana blueberry bread cooling on my stove top.
And this is what I had last night after supper. (which was also a "use what you have" meal) My family was very pleased and the loaf was gone before everyone left for work and school this morning. The ultimate compliment came from my son when he said "you can make one of these EVERYDAY." :0)

What consumes your time?

I've seen a lot of posts lately and have been having a lot of thoughts on the subject of "time" and the importance of how one spends their time. It is true that each day is a gift from God and it is our choice in how to use it. Do we make the most of our gift? Lately, my time seems to be consumed by work and all things dog related. I never knew that puppies could take up so much time. If I'm not feeding, bathing, or walking them, then I seem to be cleaning up their messes or shampooing carpet to "cover" their messes! Everyone (including the vet) tells me that I am doing this to myself and that I need to start crating them more. They both have their very own spacious crates that are usually very empty. Their water bottles hang on them and they frequently visit their crates for water. Otherwise, they are usually in my lap or at my feet. So, I wonder why I have a difficult time getting things done. When I woke up this morning to the sweet little dog kisses, I decided that today is the day! They will have to spend time in their crates. (it is now 10:25 am and the little one is sleeping behind my back in the computer chair and the bigger one is at my feet) I need all the encouragement I can get... how do you all manage your dogs so that you can still have a life? ********** (don't laugh at me, mama!)**********

A "Girls" Weekend

I spent my weekend with these three very fun girls! The tall one is my daughter and the other two beautiful girls belong to my brothers. The shortest one is the oldest of all and my daughter is the youngest... go figure! Anyway, the two nieces drove up Friday afternoon (a three hour drive for them!) for their first ever visit with us in our current location. All the "cousins" went out on Friday night, leaving me home alone with the puppies, which was wonderful. I bought take out Chinese (Sesame Chicken) and spent the evening watching t.v. and looking through new magazines.

On Saturday these three girls and I spent the day shopping! We had the best time as you can see! They all tried on cute hats, but nobody bought one. People look so cute in hats; I don't know why they don't wear them more. My son and my future daughter in law met us for lunch and we all laughed and had a great seafood lunch. Of course, there was lots of new gossip and those girls kept me laughing! I almost felt young again. hee hee However, I remembered how old I am today after church. I cooked a big lunch for the family and future son in law.... then I hit the couch. I napped for almost three hours. Nope, not that young anymore.... but it was a wonderful weekend! I hope yours was good too!

Child's garden

This is NOT my garden, but I wish it was! I saved this picture from another site a long time ago, hoping to "copy" the idea one day. I love the little girls in the garden and the children's toys. Isn't it adorable?

Cute!

There is nothing "autumn" about this chair, but I wanted to share this picture from a Williamsburg shop with you. I think the colorful way the chair is painted is so cute!

Summer's gifts continue

I went out to my fallen, sad looking tomato vines this morning just to check for signs of life and look what I found.... three beautiful red tomatoes! These may be the last for this year, so we must truly enjoy every bite of these! ~Simple pleasures~

Quilt Shop

This was another fun shop we visited while in Williamsburg last week. I am not a very experienced quilter, so I often feel lost in quilt shops, but I still love to go inside to browse. I have found that most all quilters are nice people and are very friendly and helpful to those of us who really don't know what we are doing!

Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday Everybody! I have to work every other Saturday, so it's such a treat to get every other one off! I long for the day that I can have every weekend off again, to know that I can attend church every Sunday and Wednesday night, and never have to miss a special service again. I know that day is coming!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Saturday. I got up first thing and did my grocery shopping. (stocked up on sale items from Food Lion and was early enough to get some pretty cuts of marked down meats!) I've basically worked on laundry all day and played "mama" to the puppies. I stopped at a local yardsale on my way home from the grocery store and spent 30 cents! I bought a really pretty decorative plate for my kitchen plate rack, a cute summer hat with orange and white flowers on it, and an adorable drawstring bag that I mainly wanted to use as a pattern. I've got my fingernails painted and pretty for tomorrow and am now thinking about cooking supper. D.D.'s boyfriend is coming for supper, so I have cherry pie cooked for him. (Mrs. Smith's) He loves cherry desserts.... hates chocolate... which is our usual favorite! I've enjoyed watching cooking shows today while letting the puppies sleep in my lap. ~~It's been a great lazy Saturday.~~

I'm going to work on my embroidery project some tonight. I am so NEAR being finished. I bought some pink and black "Aunt Grace" border fabric from a quilt shop in Williamsburg while we were there. I am looking forward to bringing the sewing machine out again and completing this project!

How was your Saturday? I hope it was as relaxing and enjoyable as mine has been!

Back from Williamsburg

My husband and I took a couple days and visited historic Williamsburg, Va. Everything was very pretty, and of course, one of my favorite places to visit was the HUGE Yankee Candle Store. Inside were lots of pretty smaller shops, as well as plenty of Yankee candles! There was even a little restaurant inside. See below for more pictures. (I have yet to figure out how to post more than one picture per post!) We had a nice time together, but as always, I was so glad to get back home!

Beautiful fall!

This was one of several fall displays in front of the shops. It was gorgeous inside and you can just imagine how good it smelled with all the Yankee Candles!

Christmas Room

Moving along to Christmas.... there were plenty of Christmas decorations here too. This picture doesn't do this room justice. It was so very pretty, with all the twinkling lights!

How many days???

This is also part of the Yankee Candle Shop. This was taken yesterday. How many days left until Christmas????

Good-bye Summer!

"Good-bye Summer, " says the scarecrow. Well, I think it's still pretty warm to say it's fall weather, but we are getting closer, for sure. It was cloudy and cool here this morning and it really felt like a fall day. However, the sun came out and warmed us up again, so I guess Summer must have laughed at the scarecrow for trying to wave good-bye.

Simple Things

The simple things remind us of all we have to be thankful for. This little cup and saucer set is one that I bought a couple years ago, but it reminds me of something old and a much simpler time... these might be cups like our grandma's would have used to serve their coffee to friends and family. I rarely think to use them, but when I do, my coffee seems a little more special to me. Fall seems to be the time of year when I start thinking "simple, simple, simple." Generations before us did not have nearly the "things" that we have now, but I truly believe they were much happier with their simple lifestyles and slower pace of life. Joy comes from God and when we experience that kind of joy, we can really start to appreciate the simple things in life.