Surprises and Bread

Good Morning all,

Whew,did alot of "going thru"boxes yesterday.My MIL passed away about 3 years ago and we moved my FIL in with us.And with him came there home. We packed everything in boxes and stored them in a huge storage room in our basement.We have gone thru it here and there but nothing major.And I have finally decided that enough is enough.And I am going thru everything and having a yard sale.Some stuff i am putting on ebay.

Well anyhoo, you first need to understand my MIL kept everything!! There was boxes of stuff packed away in her storage room that we didn't even know what was in them.As i was going thru the boxes I found alot of surprises! I found these old canning jars....

Some are Ball some are Atlas and I found 1 that says Presto. I also found a 1/2 gallon Ball that had a 2 piece lid and the writing was different on it. I looked it up and believe it is from the late 1800's.

I also found a box that says "Blue Lamp" and I found these 3 pieces in it. I don't believe that all the pieces are here so I am going to keep on digging.As I was going thru all these boxes (not even 1/2 half of them yet) i think of how it is so sad that her life is in these boxes and she probably never thought that one day her daughter-in-law would be going thru them.And how all of her life is being sold in a yard sale or auctioned off on ebay.She was an incredible woman and I loved her and respected dearly.But then there are the things that I have of hers that I will cherish dearly,her handmade quilts,afghans,family albums and so on.

On another note,over the weekend I found a wonderful site of a woman named Kelli and seen the most wonderful recipe for Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread. Of course I had to whip it up

and bake it. And here is the finished product....

It was absolutely wonderful!! I encourage everyone to go over to her site and look at all the fun stuff she has going onhttp://kellishouse.blogspot.com/ Thanks to Debbie @ ribbonwood cottage for the referral!!I hope everyone has a blessed day.

For Today...

Outside my Window...The sun is shining and I can see the leaves on my 3 Dogwood trees are changing.

I am thinking... That I need to go down in the storage room and start going thru all the boxes for my yard sale next week.

I am thankful for...The sun, rain,the birds that sing outside of my bedroom window in the mornings,My freedom,My family& my church family

From the kitchen...nothing is going on in there right now, I am going to do something with chicken tonight.

I am wearing...Capri's(that I do my housework in) and one of my DH t-shirts

I am reading... I & II Kings from the Bible

I am creating... a mess in my basement.trying to get ready for yard sale.

I am hearing... the clock ticking

Around the house... all beds are bare..this is bed cleaning day!

One of my favorite things...Is my new picture that I received of my parents when they was teenagers.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...Finishing up for yard sale,finishing up decorations in front yard,going to Goodwill to see what I can get.

Have a blessed day!!!

Potatoe Soup and Cornbread

Good Morning all,
I wanted to share these 2 recipes with my friends,because I appreciate you and even though I just "started out" and have not been able to share a craft "yet",I can always give back to you with my recipes. I received these 2 recipes from a dear precious woman from my church. And you know how them Southern church ladies cook..Thanks Mrs. Catherine Cantrell-So here ya go....

Potato Soup

Approximately 2 1/2 lbs potatoes
1 T Nature's Seasoning
2 cans chicken broth 10 1/2 oz.
1 lg can evaporated milk
1 med. onion
1 celery stalk
4 or 5 strips of bacon
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 stick of margarine
1 small package of mushrooms
grated cheese
1/4-1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste

Dice potatoes and cook with 1 T seasoning. When done,drain and add chicken broth.
In separate pan,cook bacon and save grease. Remove bacon to cool. Saute chopped
onion,celery,and sliced mushrooms in bacon drippings. to potato mixture, add
margarine,mushroom soup,sauteed vegetables. In a small container,mix flour with
enough evaporated milk to get smooth consistency. Add the flour mixture and
the rest of the milk to the potatoes. Let simmer for a few minutes. Before serving,stir in crumbled bacon and serve with cheddar cheese.
Last year I fixed a big pot because I wanted to freeze it and it worked out great!

Cornbread

Combine:
2 cups of self rising cornmeal
3/4 cup self rising flour
1 stick of margarine,melted
2 eggs
1cup of sour cream
1 small can cream corn
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 pinch sugar
Buttermilk to make a good consistency

Bake at 400 approximately 25 minutes or so in an oblong baking dish (9x13)

ENJOY!!

My daughter-in-law

I wanted to let you everyone know that my daughter-in-law Nikki is now addicted to the blog scene.I have tried to tell her to start up her own but,maybe in time.I am so proud to have a daughter like Nikki.Having 3 boys I always wanted them to marry someone that loved them for being them and not wanting to change who they were.And Robbie Jr. (our oldest son) found that someone.Nikki has had to face some hard trials in her life since she has been married to Robbie. First of all being an airforce wife and picking up and leaving her family.Thats hard enough but she lost her mother to cancer about 6 months after her and Robbie was married. That will be another blog post at a later day.Her name was Gail and she was a very special lady.Anywho, Nikki always put her trust in the Lord.When she listens to her husband talk you can see the love she has for him in her eyes.She is a Godly wife and mother and I appreciate her.This is a picture of their family on Anna Rae's 1st Christmas.

Well, I wanted to show all of you a pic of a mason jar that she did for Anna Rae's room. I thought she did a wonderful job on it.She has some ribbon

that she is going to put around the band.She also got bit by the $ store bug and ran out and did a little fall decorating. Here are some pics of those.

And last but not least she let Anna Rae "My Rae"paint her own mason jar and here was the final product.

Good job girls!! I love you both!And give Samuel smooches from MiMi.

I hope everyone has a blessed day!

Found some Giveaways!!

O.k everyone found a few giveaways that I think everyone would enjoy. First is from Terri at Thistle House Primitives she has a lovely pumpkin candle mat that is just adorable!! Go by and checkout her blog and sign up for this giveaway!http://thistlehouseprimitives.blogspot.com/2008/09/october-give-away.html


Another one is from frugal mommy of 2 girls. She is giving away a truly mom planner. I know this planner sure would help me out. Go by and check her blog out and sign up for this fabulous giveaway. http://frugalmommyof2girls.blogspot.com/2008/09/truly-mom.html
You can also sign up here for a free apron on her blog also
http://frugalmommyof2girls.blogspot.com/2008/09/carolyns-kitchen.html
Good luck everyone!!

Watcha Workin On Wednesday & giveaway

Good Mornin all!!

It is a crisp cool morning here in the mountain /lake area of South Carolina. I got up this morning from a call from my preachers wife "Mary" checking up on me. I have been having some ear problems for a couple of weeks now,with water in my ears. You see,about a month ago my DH and I had gotten certified in scuba diving. And I have not seemed to have gotten the water out of my ear(my left one-my right one has cleared up) I have went to the doctor and have received an antibiotic and had to go off of it and now she has put me on something else.Anywho I just appreciate Mary and love her so much.And also I am so proud that me and my husband have went and accomplished scuba diving.

But onto watcha workin on wednesday. I told you Monday that I was headed out in the yard to do some sprucing up. Well... I kept on seeing things and had to get hold of some bushes and one thing led to another and I stayed on the front and backyard Monday,Tuesday and today I will be finishing up.But, I'm glad I went for it and have gotten so much out of the way. After I finish today, I will be ready to decorate my yard this weekend.Here are a few pics of my piles.

I also need to tend to my herbs today. I love pesto and so I am going to freezing some.This year was my first attempt of dealing with herbs. And I love it!!

And last but not least I wanted to share with all my special friends this picture of my "Rae"

She has a shirt on from Dollywood that we bought her that says "Mimi's Princess". Mimi is what my grandchildren are going to call me and this is the first place we have seen anything with Mimi on it. Of course they only had it in pink and I don't think Samuel would have appreciated me getting him one in pink. So I am just going to keep looking for him. Well, hope everyone has a blessed day!! I almost forgot go to stop and smell the chocolates blog.Lisa is having an awesome giveaway!1 As a matter of fact it is several giveaways!http://stopnsmellthechocolates.blogspot.com/2008/09/pumpkin-potpourri-week-begins.html

Little Things

Hello everyone. Today is the first day of Fall and I can smell it in the air.
I wanted to share with you guys a few "little things" that I have done here around the house.


This is a picture in my dining room of a little fall decoration that I did.I went to the Dollar store and retrieved a few of these pumpkins. And I also bought the berries from there.(By the way can anyone tell me if I can buy "Sweet annie" and "bittersweet" from around here?)












And this is a pic of a few canning projects that I completed. There is peach halves,peach preserves,canned tomatoes,hot pepper jelly,blackberry syrup,pickled green tomatoes,salsa,peach butter and I also froze some green beans and corn. I am getting ready to go into my "apple mode" I enjoy doing these because they will be Christmas gifts for all my loved ones.

For the rest of the day I will be going out into my yard and do some sprucing up.And hopefully by this weekend I will be ready for my yard decorations.I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate getting on here each day and reading a little bit of something from each one of you.Hope you all have a blessed day!!

Sorry!!

Hello to all my friends and I am so sorry for not being on here since Wednesday. I have missed you all.Our plans with the grandchildren changed from Monday (because of the rain) to Thursday and Friday and all weekend.We went to Gaitlinburg Tn. thursday and met up with the kids. We stayed the night and went to Dollywood Friday.Came home late Friday and spent the rest of the weekend with them.We had such a wonderful time.It was our first trip to Gatlinburg and Dollywood.We are an amusement park family and never had no desire to go to Dollywood.But, everyone we knew kept on telling us that we was missing out.So we decided to go. I have to honestly say that this is the only place I will go to from now on.We usually go to Six Flags in Atlanta or Carowinds in Charlotte N.c. and lately everytime we go we experience alot of cussing in line,teenagers and young adults who have no respect for themselves let alone anyone else.And also we have experienced people smoking marijuana in the lines and daring anyone to say anything.Well, here we experienced none of that.Everyone was so helpful,nice and very respectful.And the rides were really good. We thought that the rides wouldn't be but the roller coasters were so much fun. I would tell anyone to go here and take your family.Well,this was supposed to be short and sweet and I just wanted to let everyone know that I will start back tomorrow on schedule. Have a blessed day!!

Watcha Working On Wednesdays!

Good Morning All! I hope that this day has brought everyone well. Today I am so excited because I am working on the mason jar luminaries that Char told us about. Here is a sneak peek of it-

It is not finished yet. As soon as I have a finished product I will post it.

O.K gals here is my finished product!! I am very satisfied and will be making a few more of these.Next is the fabric cinni buns. Stay Tuned...

In the meantime I have a problem that I wanted to bring to my special friends... I have about 6-7 peach baskets that I want to do something with but cannot think of anything. I do have wooden beams in my dining room ceilings and thought of hanging them there,but I think it will be too much of the same basket.So, I thought I could come to you guys and see if you have any ideas. Here is a pic of the type of basket.

Does anyone have any ideas? Just remember I have 6or7 of them. I also wanted to Thank-You all for the inspirational decorating and crafting ideas.You all have been such a blessing to me. I can't wait until the Christmas ideas start rolling in! I hope everyone has a blessed day!!

Thrift store finds

Hello everyone! I had a very busy weekend. I got to enjoy being with my grandchildren from Charleston S.C. and also my brother came in from a little town in Virginia named "Hillsville". We had a wonderful time. Our church had their 40th anniversary this year and we celebrated it.Had alot of good preaching good singing and good food. I thank the Lord for blessings that he bestowed on us.He is so good!!!! Well. I went to the thrift store Thursday and found some little trinkets.Here are a couple of pics that I took so you all could see my little goodies.

I found just a few things. I was really excited about the wooden ironing board.And also the cheese domes. I can't wait to do some table settings with them (thanks Susie from Bienvenue!)

On another note I will be trying to attempt my first craft.It will be Char's (the Pickled Pepper Patch) Primitive Luminaries and also her fabric cinnamon buns. I'm so excited!!! As soon as I finish them I will show you guys. Well I hope everyone has a blessed day and I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!!

Giveaway

Jacquelynne over at The Noble Wife is having a wonderful Giveaway. Go over and sign up and check her blog out while your at it.

Giveaway Update

Also Dianne over at Majestic mountains rolling hills is celebrating her 100th post and is having a giveaway.Her sight is a blessing and you need to go and visit her.

http://majesticmountainsrollinghills.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-100th-post-giveaway.html



Also http://redcinnamonprims.blogspot.com/ is having a blind giveaway. She will be leaving clues on each of her post. So exciting!!!

Giveaway!!

Go to Joannes blog and look at the wonderful giveaway!! whoo hoo I love giveaways!!
http://jo-anne-thecarterclan.blogspot.com/

It's Friday!!

Good Morning all. I am so glad that today is Friday. My grandchildren will be in tonight. And for those of you who have them, there's nothing like them. God has surely blessed us and hopefully will bless us with an abundance of them. I remember when I first had my children and I would hear grandparents say"You wait until you have grandchildren,you never know how much love you have until you have grandchildren" And I would always think to myself-No way!!! I love my 3 boys so much and there was no way I could love grandchildren more.My boys was my life ,my heart and my soul (and still is).But, I have to say they was right but,it's a different kind of Love. It's just so hard to explain it.Here are a few pictures of my pride and joys.

This is my Anna Rae. We call her "Rae" most of the time. She is the first girl in this family and the boys (or should I say men) are very protective of her.

And this is our little man Samuel. Isn't he adorable! He reminds me alot of his father.He is 4 months old now and is getting at that age where you can just play with him and give him sugars all day long.

Well, before I go there are a few things I would like to share with you. First, I went to the thrift store and found some really good deals. It is going to have to wait until Tuesday before I can show you what I got because of my company coming in and I will be with the g-children all day Monday on a road trip and will be back Tuesday. But before I go. I would like to share a little recipe that a lady from my church handed down to me and everyone loves it!! especially my youngest son Beau!! i believe he could have it every day. So here it is and enjoy. I will be writing it the way she gave it to me.You know, alot of these women do not measure so......

Chicken Casserole

1 stick of margarine
1 small pkg of pepperidge farm herb season stuffing mix
1 can cream chicken soup
1 8 oz. sour cream
4 or 5 stewed (boiled as I would say) boneless chicken breast
cut into pieces
1 can chicken broth

Melt margarine,mix with stuffing.
Line bottom and sides of casserole dish with half of mixture.
mix chicken, soup,sour cream and chicken broth together.
make it creamy-do not make it soupy!!
Spread mixture on top of stuffing.
Put rest of stuffing mix on top of chicken mixture and spread.
bake about 30 minutes on 350 degrees.

This is such a simple recipe and I hope everyone enjoys it!! Have a blessed weekend and be safe!!

Take A Moment and Pray-another giveaway

Today is Sept. 11th and I would like everyone to take a moment and remember all the men,women,children,and servicemen and their families who was in the tragic accident of 9/11.
Our nation came together that day and that is a day in history that will never be forgotten.May God be with you all.Please take a moment and pray for for these families who lost a loved one,and also pray for our servicemen and women who are serving our great nation,and our leaders also.

On another note Kimba over at A Soft Place To land is having a giveaway. Go over and check her out at Bling for Your Blog and a Giveaway!! I,m sure she would appreciate it. I will be gone for the rest of the day. Gotta run some errands. Hope everyone has a blessed day!!

Watcha Doing Wednesday

Well, today I am going to try and catch up on my housework. Mary from Gettysburg Homestead left me a wonderful comment and warned me about getting addicted to blogging. Well..........

I am. So, I need to get up from here and get busy. But, before I go I will show you guys a little bit of fall decorations I have put up this morning (he! he! see I told you I'm addicted!)

I hung up my berry wreath on my front door. I found this at Peebles in the spring for $5 and scarfed it up!!

This is just a little something I put on my dining room table. I went to Dollar Tree as so many of you recommended and found alot of my decorations.I love my crow!!

This picture didn't turn out so good. But I have gourds apples indian corn and a crow in my dough bowl sitting on my buffet.I have gotten so many ideas from you guys and appreciate it. I still have so much more to do and I am so excited to start on them. I hope everyone is having a blessed day!!

Other Giveaways

Here is some more giveaways-Hurry before I win them!!!http://charsethman.blogspot.com/2008/09/fall-is-in-air-giveaway.html

giveaway

I almost forgot - go to lisa's blog and sign up for a wonderful giveaway-and wish her a Happy Birthday while your at it.http://blacksheepprims.blogspot.com/2008/09/lets-celebrate-my-birthday.html

My first decorating attempt

Hey everyone!! Today has turned into being a rainy day. But I'm not complaining-Thank you Lord-we are in a serious drought here so I do appreciate the blessing!! My husband and I have purchased our home about 3 years ago and just started attempting to do some major decorating. Our first decorating project was our guest room. I really wish I had taken some before pics to show you what it looked like, but I was so excited about this project that I was just ready to start. I had gotten the wrought iron bed from a Goodwill store a couple of months ago in Charleston S.C. Our son lives there with our 2 g-babys so we go quite often. Anywho, they was having a special that day there that if you filled out a questionnare you recieved 50%off your purchase. So, I seen this bed for $50 and knew I had to have it for our new project. Especially when I was getting it for 50% off to $25. I have recently just started getting into the antiquing and prim decorating so I have been going and looking for alot of items at different places The 3 mirrors I recieved for 70% off at Peebles (they ended up being $3 a piece) Also at one of our little antique stores here on Main Street I found 4 american homestead pictures for $1 apiece w/o frames. So I attempted my first time of making some distressed frames. I recieved ideas on how to do this from a blogger and really appreciated it!! I went to Walmart and bought 4 $3 wooden picture frames and tada here they are. I am so proud of the way the room has turned out. I know it doesn't compare to alot of you guys decorating but hey, for my first time I am pretty proud. We still have a little bit more to do in it. My husband is in the middle of building me a shelf that I seen last month in Country Home that I can put my mother-in-laws antique cup and saucers on.Well I dont't know how these pics will turn out because my husband has my camera with him. If they turn out blurry I will repost them. Hope everyone has a blessed day!!

Yay!! My first blog entry!!

I am new to the blogging scene,but I am so excited to finally become "one of you". I have had nothing but joy searching over and reading alot of different bloggers passions,decorating ideas or just day to day life.I am really looking forward to this and hope that I can become an inspiration like so many of you have become for me. I will be offering different things on my blog from day to day. I have recently became a SAHM and am enjoying every minute of it. I also have begun enjoying prims and going to thrift stores,yard sales and antiquing. So who knows what tomorrow will bring. In the meantime may God bless each and every one of you. I'll see ya tomorrow!!!