Awesome!

#966 Living with someone who doesn’t mind killing spiders...

 

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Pig Out

Well, the kids have gone home and we are left with a fridge of forbidden foods. It happens every summer, I buy up Blue Bell ice cream, chips and dip, Twinkies and Oreos, Cokes and Dr. Pepper, Pop-Tarts, bacon and hashbrowns. All of the things that rarely see the inside of our fridge or pantry are now on the shelves staring us in the eye. Everytime I open the freezer, the Berry Delight ice cream says...

"Hellooooo!"

The chips are on the carousel under the cabinet and they are going to go bad if we don't eat them up. What about the Oreos and Twinkies, wasted if we don't force ourselves to imbibe. What would Mom say??? I'll tell you what she'd say...

"WASTE NOT, WANT NOT!"

So, we will diligently work on getting all these vile, forbidden foods out of the house as soon as possible. It's not an easy job, but I think we are up for it!

Living Life

I saw a beautiful print last week at a gallery in Eureka Springs that I must have. The artist is Bonnie Mohr and the text below the beautiful sepia drawing speaks to my heart...

Life is not a race - but indeed a journey. Be Honest. Work Hard. Be Choosy. Say "thank you", and "great job" to someone each day. Go to church, take time for prayer. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Let your handshake mean more than pen and paper. Love your life and what you've been given, it is not accidental ~ search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you inspire to be. Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them Some of the best things really are free. Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself ~ Plan for longevity. Recognize the special people you've been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment. ~Bonnie Mohr

Not too Shabby!

Why is it that the older you get, the harder change becomes? Last week I kept getting the message from Cutest Blog on the Block that my background was going to be removed. I started searching for a new one the day before the ax was to come down, and like I suspected...I couldn't find one I liked. I'm not picky mind you, I like all kinds of design. I love the blogs with white backgrounds and Minima layout, all spiffy and clean like freshly washed laundry! I love the antiquey ones with tones of sepia and ivory, perfect for a blog about memories. I also love the ornate blogs with swirls and curlicues...my eyes see doodles with color!

I don't think of myself as drab and olive toned, but those are the ones that speak to me. The backgrounds with nature's colors, moss, or dirt, leaves or rust appeal to me. Also the ones with "catchy names" make me think twice...

So, I began my search at The Background Fairy, this one looks too much like the wallpaper in my Grandma's house. I'm not saying it's not pretty, it's just not my cup of tea!

Kinda like this one, fancy scroll work...diamond hatpin...nope, doesn't fit Granny Mountain.

If I wrote about romance a lot, this one would be perfect!


This one from Simply Chic Blogs is called Spring in Bloom, very cheery!

Love Sunflowers, this one's from Simply Blog It

Shabby Blogs had this one called Brooke...it's got the required trees and leaves that were on my "must have" list!

If you've been visiting me you may wonder what the heck in going on over here on GrannyMountain. Every few days I try out a new background. There are so many sites to choose from and literally hundreds of backgrounds. I fret about change so, I'm not going to promise I'm set on this one from Shabby Blogs....but it does have all the elements that I love.

1. Brown, like dirt.

2. Green, like grass.

3. Rust, well...like rust.

4. It's named Paradise and that's what GrannyMountain is to us!

So tell me if you like it!

Small Town America

Everyone in Rogers knows about Whitey’s Chicken. These barbeque chicken fundraisers are very popular and people from outside the city limits will come just to buy a chicken half...or ten! The barbeque fundraisers are for organizations such as the Rogers “Mounties” High School athletic program, Boy Scout troops, churches, non-profit groups, people with catastrophic or medical expenses, school-related functions such as Project Graduation, these are only a few of the groups who benefit from Whitey’s generosity.

It's a common sight in Rogers to drive by the downtown Susie Q Drive-In and see Whitey Smith across the street, sweating over the concrete pit, squinting in the sun as he turns his chickens over, the musky smell of the grilling sauce a permanent part of his clothes, the soot covering him from forehead to fingers. All of this, Whitey says, he does “for the kids.”

What stands out most about this man is his humility. Around the grill Whitey and his good friends from work cook tirelessly, and as a chicken breast leaves the sizzling grill, another one is placed down. They are a tightly knit group and can often be found enjoying each other’s company while cheering their Mounties on to victory. Parent volunteers spend countless hours wrapping the freshly cooked chicken in the tin foil sleeves and selling the chicken halves to customers that drive by. Kids make signs and run up and down the road bellowing chants for “Whitey’s chicken” at the top of their lungs, all the while dancing ridiculously next to cars while the drivers laugh at their antics. Whitey’s mantra has always been, “It’s for the kids. He wants to bring the good, hard working kids the help he can. “I enjoy kids. That’s my life,” he says.

Whitey and his wife Janice have two kids of their own, but they have adopted nearly the entire community into their family. It is estimated that Whitey Smith has given close to $1 million back to the community of Rogers. He wants no attention, but this soft-spoken, flannel-wearing man in an Ozark Fence Company hat deserves everything Rogers can give him!

Weekend too short?

Wouldn't it be great if we could have an extra day tagged on to our weekends? It seems like Saturday and Sunday just fly by, but Monday through Friday drags on forever. I think we ought to give ourselves permission sometimes to pretend that Monday is a weekend day! You know, that wonderful wear my pj's till 11, eat pancakes and then plan my day from there kind of day! What do you think???

Awesome!

Starting the lawnmower on the first pull...

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Get a little Silly!

The weekend is here and I want to encourage everyone to get a little silly. Do something you love, spend some time on getting back to the simple things that make you laugh and feel like a kid again! Ride in a golf cart, stick your toes in the lake and be sure some popsicles are in the fridge. Don't be worried about what the neighbors think if you have a red Kool-Aid smile...

they'll just be jealous!

Keepers

I was reading Leanna Walker's column yesterday in our Rogers Morning News. We are lucky to have her as editor of our local paper and once a week she writes a commentary that is always insightful. Her topic was "Just Throw It Away," not very environmentally friendly for an area that prides itself on being "green"...but it hit home with me. She was talking about having to go through her godmother's things after her death last month. She was lost deciding what to keep, what to throw and amazed at the things that her godmother had kept.

I felt that way too after Mom's hospital stay in 2005 resulted in her need to be closer to us. She had lived on her own at the farm as long as she could safely. It would have been a very hard thing to make her move, but her positive attitude helped me cope with the hard days that lay ahead of us.

As I cleaned and sorted through the lifetime of possessions, it was nearly impossible to decide what to bring and what to leave. Even harder was what to throw. Some things didn't need much thought though. Mom had saved shopping bags, twisty ties, rubber bands, wrapping paper, sugar packets. She was a saver alright, there were sacks of paid receipts going back to the 1970's. She never threw anything away that she thought she "might" need down the line. Mom and Dad never owned a shredder, they wouldn't have used it anyway. I'm not criticizing her record keeping, just the opposite...I was amazed at her ability to manage that farm and her savings. She had scrimped and saved despite her meager income. We could all learn something from her diligence with restraint, Americans have let that aspect get out of control in our lives. We never say no to a purchase it seems, regardless of whether we really need it or not.

But the daunting task of purging the excess of old cards, checking every envelope for something that might be accidentally thrown and going through what might be important papers was so hard. It took weeks and along the way I discovered treasures. Pictures from long ago, pictures of Mom as a child. I found a little blue silk baby book that held the precious clippings of her hair and handwritten memories of her childhood. Even tax receipts dating back to the late 1800's when her Father inherited the farm from his Dad. It seems she came from parents who also saved things.

Mom treasures a picture album that we made together after she moved to Rogers. We started with 1946, the year Mom and Dad married and it has over 300 pictures of our family through the years. Sometimes when I visit her at Jamestown we sit and look through the album. She can't always recall names now, but the memory remains in her heart just like it was yesterday.

Heat Wave

Well, we're back to 90's again and it's too hot to do anything during the day. Sometimes I feel like we are "cabin bound" even in the summer months. It's just too humid to do anything without sweating down to a big puddle!

So we hold off on going out on the lake until after supper. GRANDson Gavin is pretty darn patient...the water calls to him! Like his brother, he's part fish!

This summer he has the tube all to himself since Jackson had other plans...

I'm not saying he hasn't missed his brother, but he has had other things on his mind!

Like doing the "Chicken Dance"...

Up and down Prairie Creek Cove and Avoca Cove...

We just set and enjoy the cool breezes...

Until finally the sun sets and Gavin wears out!

Hope you are having a fun Summer too!

Plan B

We may be on Plan A right now, or maybe it's been Plan B for so long that I don't remember what Plan A was...our life has had lots of ups and down. There have been many times when things didn’t go as planned. Or at least as I had planned them! Many times our life was turned upside down with job transfers, unforeseen circumstances or just what most people know as LIFE. My plans, my visions, and my dreams came to a screeching halt as circumstances spun out of my control. At least I thought I was in control. As many lists as I made, as carefully as I planned...sometimes the day just unfolds differently. Sometimes it wasn't what I asked for or expected!

Our daughter and family are navigating the murky waters of a move right now and I hope that we can help. One thing for sure, there will be a lot of worry and stress along the way.

Life is messy, and unpredictable, and it's rarely a smooth ride. You just have to step out in faith knowing that somehow it will all work out just fine. Sometimes you just have to jump into the water, then pray and paddle as fast as you can!

Gnomes in the Woods?

We have had a very wet spring and summer, unusual for Arkansas. By this time of year the grass is beginning to show signs of dying, flowers bend over in the heat and trees begin to shed some of their leaves to save on water. But this year...everywhere you look, it's green. The trees are so full, it's like a jungle.

The Hostas and vines are going crazy this year...

Everywhere you look, there's moss growing!

The fields are chest high in wheat...

The trees on Granny Mountain are fuller than I've ever seen them.

I haven't seen the deer in awhile, but it's not because they've left...they are simply camoflaged.

When you look up you can barely see the sky!

It makes you feel like there might be Gnomes behind each tree, waiting for us to leave so that they can come out and play...

Hiding under toadstools....

You have to watch for them...there they are!

Grandpa used to say, "If you don't like the weather in Arkansas,wait a minute and it will change!"

Awesome!

When your guests do the dishes even after you told them not to...

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