Good Mornin' Glory.......




Our house is situated on a sloped street which gives us a upper and lower entry. I really like it because the upper entry, with this patio, is at the end of the hall near our master bedroom.


The flower containers are filling out really well. Hubby added some sand to the soil when we planted these, it helps to keep the soil from getting hard since this patio has full sun.

This photo was taken the day that I transplanted the Morning glory seedlings outside.

This was taken this morning, about 6 weeks later, and they are coming along nicely. I've had 2 or 3 random blooms so far. Pretty soon they will really take off!
" He who is born with a silver spoon in his mouth is generally considered a fortunate person, but his good fortune is small compared to that of the happy mortal who enters this world with a passion for flowers in his soul." - Celia ThaxterPosted by Picasa

A Great Find...




First let me say that I 'm in no way connected to the company that makes this, but I just had to tell you about one of the best purchases I ever made! It's a little kitchen appliance called the "GT XPress 101 ".
I first saw this on an infomercial for $30.00 plus shipping. I was impressed with what I was seeing, but I asked myself "Does this thing really work???" Well soon after that we started selling them at Target, and again it caught my eye, but we were always sold out before I could get one. About a year later, I was in Linens and Things and I saw one on their reduced counter for $13.00! It was reduced because it was the display model ( never used) and didn't have the box...who cares about the box??...so I bought it.

There are so many things you can make with this gadget, from meats to desserts, but most of all, I like to use it to make my lunch with leftovers. It literally only takes a few tablespoons of this and that, wrapped in a flour tortilla and seal it with some cheese to make a wrap. You know, those leftovers that are not enough for a full serving but are just too tasty to throw away. It doesn't heat up the kitchen and it's portable. This is truly one of those small kitchen appliances that has earned valuable counter space!!!


For more great "Show and Tell" click over to Kelli's blog.

" Hubby planned our long weekend away around a hamburger "

This past weekend, we planned to take some much-needed vacation days. When we were deciding where to go, Hubby said "Why don't we visit Webster N.Y ?”
The village of Webster (they're all called villages in western New York) is a suburb of Rochester and we lived there for 4 years.

In Webster, there's a hamburger joint called "Charlie's" and every once in a while we get a hankerin' for one of those burgers! It's a huge burger on a soft poppy seed bun with tomato, onion, shredded lettuce, mayo and a red sauce with some tang to it. I have no idea what's in the sauce, maybe some horseradish?...don't know but it makes the burger. You can help yourself to all the sweet or dill pickle slices you want and the fries are always hot and crispy.
They had a new platter that we had never seen before, and it was selling like hotcakes! It was a serving of fries, a serving of macaroni salad with one LARGE hamburger laid on top of it all and the whole thing was topped with the red sauce. I was too chicken to give it a try.
I've been there at lunchtime when the customers were three deep at the counter. The kids take your order, nothing is written down, and they know exactly who ordered what... it's amazing!


It was well worth the trip, in fact...just talkin' about it makes my mouth water!

"The Spiral Staircase" ~ 1945

Starring......Ethel Barrymore

Dorothy McGuire

George Brent

Is there something from your childhood that you can remember in great detail? Now I'm not talking about a traumatic event, but just some crazy thing that stays with you for some reason. I remember watching this movie as a kid, I had to be about 7 years old and I was scared out my wits! It was complete with scary organ music, a thunder and lightning rainstorm and lots of dark night scenes.

I used to share a bed with my older sister, Mary. After watching this horror flick, I remember lying awake for it seemed like hours in a cold sweat. I had Mary pushed as close to the wall as she could get ...I was trying to get as far away from the bedroom door as I could in case the murder decided to come after me!

As I flipped thru the channels the other night, I came across ...da da da dah... "THE MOVIE" that haunted me all these years and decided to face my fears and give it a try....

What a hoot!!!
When was the scary part coming?
Why wasn't I scared when I saw that spooky eyeball looking through the peephole at Helen?
How did I know who the killer was in the first 10 minutes?
I guess it's never too late to go back and face your fears even if it takes 50 years!

Happy Father's Day.....



Alex loves to help Pappy Build.
A few months ago, he helped with some pantry shelves in the laundry room. Pappy let him push the button on the drill and use a screwdriver. He was so proud of his work!!!




......here they are, making a new flowerbed for the back yard!! I love to see them making memories that will have a lasting impression.

Alex is so fortunate to have loving parents that put him first in their lives. And he enjoys lots of time with both sets of Grandparents, 2 Great Grandmothers, and his buddy, Frank.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*

Dear Dad,
$chool i$ really great. I am making lot$ of friend$ and$tudying very hard. With all my $tuff, I $imply can'tthink of anything I need, $o if you would like, you canju$t $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you.
Love, Your $on

The Reply:
Dear Son,
I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmics, and oceaNOgraphyare eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student busy. DoNOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NObletask, and you can never study eNOugh.
Love, Dad ~ by Tony Summers

Wordless Wednesday

Antique car show in Windsor, Canada ~ 2006







Hope you're having a great week !



Show and Tell...

I have always loved cookbooks. I've collected many over the years and for quite a while now Hubby has been a vendor for a book company as a side job. This doesn't help my addiction!



This is a photo of my first recipe book that my Mom bought me back in 1955. Over the last 52 years it has really become dogeared and tattered but I love the old look of the illustrations. Kinda reminds me of the Dick and Jane readers from grade school!





When we moved last fall, I didn't have a spot in my kitchen to store cookbooks, so I decided to use the shelf in the coat closet near the dining room. It's handy to the kitchen and it's almost eye level, so I can easily pull out the one I want!
For more show and tell , visit Kelli's house.....

Incrediable Men.....

Have you noticed?

Some people will just not be stopped. They have accomplished much despite adversity. They refuse to listen to their fears. Nothing anyone says or does holds them back.

As Ted Engstrom insightfully writes in his book Pursuit of Excellence:

"Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott.

Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan.

Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington.

Raise him in abject poverty and you have an Abraham Lincoln.

Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes Franklin Roosevelt.

Burn him so severely that the doctors say he'll never walk again, and you have a Glenn Cunningham -- who set the world's one-mile record in 1934.

Deafen him and you have a Ludwig Von Beethoven.

Have him born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have a Booker T. Washington, or George Washington Carver.

Call him a slow learner, "retarded," and write him off as ineducable, and you have an Albert Einstein."

HELPPPPP.....

Dear Friends,
Can anyone help me?
I cannot get my page element tab on new blogger to work. I've had this problem since I started my blog. It will maybe work once out of 15 times and that's it. I have tried blogger help ( and they're NO help) and I've read help forum entry after entry and it looks like no one else has this problem.If you have any ideas, let me know!!!
Thanks,
Suzy

Mexican Fare....



Here are some "South of the Border" recipes that are fast and easy.

~Simple Black Bean Corn Salsa~

2 cans hunt's diced tomatoes (drained)
2 cans black beans (drained)
1 can yellow corn
1 large Bermuda (purple) onion diced
1 bunch cilantro chopped (not stems)
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno sliced thin
dash kosher salt
I small can tomato sauce
2 T. sugar

Drain beans, corn, tomatoes. Combine all ingredients,chill
over night.

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Taco Casserole

1lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
16 oz tomato sauce
16 oz whole kernel corn
2 cups shredded Cheddar
2 cups Original Bisquick®
1 cup milk
2 eggs
Sour cream, chopped tomato and shredded lettuce, if desired

Heat oven to 325ºF. Grease rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Cook
ground beef
and onion in 10-inch skillet, stirring frequently, until beef is
brown; drain. Stir in dry seasoning mix, tomato sauce and corn.
Spoon into pan; sprinkle with cheese. Mix Bisquick, milk and eggs
until smooth. Pour over beef mixture. Bake about 35 minutes or until
knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before
cutting. Serve with remaining ingredients and salsa on the side!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.-- Buddy Hackett
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I'm in shape ... round's a shape isn't it?-- Author Unknown

The Stranger......

Author Unknown
A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. Mom taught me to love the Word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries, and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spellbound for hours each evening. He was like a friend to the whole family.

He took Dad, Bill, and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars.

The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind, but sometimes Mom would quietly get up - while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places - go to her room, read her Bible, and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave.

You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house-not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted.

My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home - not even for cooking. But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely ( too much, too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man/woman relationship were influenced by the stranger.

As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave.

More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. But if I were to walk into my parents' den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?.....We always just called him...TV.

Mornin' Glory !!!


Morning Glories are my favorite flower. They are so delicate and come in a range of colors.


Last year, I planted morning glories at the mailbox, which really look pretty when they were in full bloom. Since we moved, we no longer have a mailbox near the street, but one attached to the house. So I started my seeds in the house to get an early start and figured out a way to display them on the patio...


I transplanted them in a large pot, and added a short rod iron pole with a garden sign. Then I found a grapevine swag in my craft closet and attached it with wire to the pole at different heights.Now the morning glories will be able to climb the grapevine and fill in nicely !

**** Here's a good project for those of you with little ones to try:

Mix about 5 drops of food coloring into 1/4 cup of water and pour into a tall glass or vase. Pick Queen Anne's Lace and place it in the container.The flowers will absorb the color !

Read more about "show and Tell Friday" over at Kelli's house.