Mary, Mary quite contrary...how does your garden grow?

Its that time of year when the gardens start to take off...

mine has proven to do just that~

taking off and producing veggies like crazy...Of course the weeds aren't far behind, if 

not just ahead of the growing produce in the garden. 

 The corn and zucchini plants have gotten so big with the 3 days of rain that we got last week~

 We've gotten a few tomatoes here and there. I planted a few different varieties this year

hoping to get some earlier pickings. The ones that are on right now are the "Lemon Boys" which I 

decided I wasn't very fond of. SO...they won't be getting a growing spot in my garden next year!

 We have 2 "plum-less" plum trees in the back yard, which have decided that they aren't plum-less this

year...needless to say the rough wind we had last week knocked most of them off

the tree, leaving them on the ground for ant food...

and the rest the birds have chowed down on.

Crazy how it seems like just yesterday I planted my cute little garden, now its 

gone and grown into a jungle...guess this "monkey" will go grazing for the goods tomorrow!

All in a days work~

I have a bird feeder in my back yard, full of scrumptious sunflower seeds, aimed to feed the hungry little birdies that fly around looking for food. Just about every day we hear a LOUD BANG after one of them flies directly into our back window. Most times the birds snap out of it and fly away, but the other day I heard a LOUDER bang than usual so I went out to make sure that the bird was okay. Just below our window we have a fountain...and thats where I found the poor, helpless bird. He had pretty much been knocked silly...shaking his head and looking a bit dazed...maybe even a little "drunk". I fished him up out of the water and held him until I could tell that he was getting his senses back.

He just sat and stared at me, never making a peep....

But it wasn't long before he snapped out of it so I set him

gently on the feeder where he could eat...

much to my dismay he flew off the feeder, running into the window again!!

This time he just clutched to the edge of  it until I could catch him. 

SO...Once again, I put him back on the feeder~

 I figured he might want to eat...after all, food brings me comfort and makes

 me feel better when I'm hurt, why wouldn't it do the same for him?! 

Evidently birds aren't the same as people (ha ha ha)...food is meant for nourishment, not

for casual partaking and comforting of the body and soul...the little guy sat there for a bit, never ate a bite and then then he took off like he was as good as new! 

Gosh...makes me feel a little like Doctor Dolittle....

magically made the little birdie all better and sent him back to his home in the sky~

One's person's junk is another's treasures~

Several years back when my grandmother died, my grandpa found a box of old photo's and a few sentimental things of hers. He was moving and asked if I wanted them...I was thrilled, of course I wanted them. He brought the box over, I went through it and decided to set it aside and wait for "another day" to take on the task of sorting, reading and trying to figure everything out...so the box was set in a corner of a storage room and there it sat...THAT WAS many YEARS ago. A few weeks back I was de-junking and came across the infamous box of "stuff" so I decided to sit down and take things out one by one and decide

what to do with it. There were pictures galore,

(my mom when she was a tiny little girl)

some adorable pictures of my mom when she was just little, many of the places they went

on vacation, some of my aunt and many, many, many of people I didn't know (reminder to myself

as to the importance of writing on the back of printed pictures...names and places) there was also a couple of old journals from MY GREAT-GRANDMA and GRANDPA and some birthday cards that my grandmother had saved. I was thrilled when I ran across an envelope which had a lock of hair

that belonged to my mom when she was a little girl...I also found a tiny little box marked "Jolene's first walking shoes", so I opened it up to find the oldest shoes I had ever seen. 

 Grandma had taken the time to stuff each shoe with a bit of tissue paper to insure that they

held their shape. They were so adorable and sweet that I decided to put them on display in my living room. Now every time I walk by them, I am reminded of my dear grandmother. I was very close to her and had many opportunities both as a child, as well as an adult, to spend HOURS visiting with her. She had so many stories about life, what she had gone through and what got her to where she was then, the stories of her life intrigued me and I cherish them dearly...

 as I will,  these special little blue laced shoes.

SeW Fun!

After the FLOP with my bread...I needed a little "MORAL BOOSTER"...

so I sat down the other afternoon and whipped

out a skirt (well, not really whipped out, it took awhile)...

I have to say, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Its a lace over lay onto polyester fabric with a wide elastic waistband...

VERY FUN and FEMININE and even a little VINTAGE,

which is right up my alley. 

I loved this little cream number so much so I whipped up a grey/black one and a tan one too..

NOW I have a few new skirts to wear, WOO HOO!

Guess its better than a dumb ol' piece of HOT bread anyway (NOT)!

A FLOP!

I was UP EARLY (2:30am) on Thursday Morning so I thought I would make some bread.... when I get up early and can't sleep, I bake. I did the whole thing with the dough, "let it raise once, punch it down, let it raise again, punch it down, then put it in the pans to let it raise again"...I put 6 loaves of bread in the oven (yes, I had preheated it) and waited the 27 minutes for the timer to go off...anxiously awaiting a piece of hot bread at 7:00am. The timer rang and I ran to get the bread out, opened the oven door to see that my bread was not baked. The top was a little crusty but the it wasn't cooked at all. I looked at the temperature to see that for some ODD reason it was set at 320 degrees instead of 350 (its digital)...figured I must have bumped it and didn't get it set right. Turned it off and then back on, only to wait ONE ENTIRE HOUR for it to heat back up to 245 degrees. WELL...to make a long story short, the bread was ruined, my oven was broken and I was a very sad girl!! SO MUCH for hot homemade bread!!!! 

BRAVE...

Okay...so I bit the bullet and bought some colored jeans...(a few pair)...I have to say, 

I'm "kind of" liking them!! MAYBE I will just wear them for summer...who knows~

They are so comfy...a little edgy, AND a WHOLE LOT of fun!

You know, one day I will be wearing pastel flowered moo-moo's, house slippers 

and toddling around the kitchen with my hair standing on end 

(okay, it already does that...but this will be an "UGLY" stand on end look)

wondering where my youth went...SO I decided, what the heck I'm going to have a little 

fun before I get to that point!

Might be a little "BRAVE" and a bit of a statement piece for the wardrobe but

its me, it's not hurting anyone, I'm liking it, so I'm going to do it. 

Smokey the Bear said....ONLY YOU can PREVENT Forest Fires

After our relatively dry winter and spring...you would have to say that the ground in our state is "fairly" dry (yes, "that" being an understatement)...we knew it was only a matter of time before fires started to break out and the world begin to burn up.We have had many fires in our state, but only a few weeks ago did we get our first big one here. It was just up the mountain from our sweet little town. It was a scary sight to look up the canyon and see thick smoke billowing down toward our home. We could smell the smoke, see the smoke and even often TASTE the smoke! One evening several days after the fire broke out, we took a ride up the canyon to get a better look. 

 We saw ALOT of smoke, alot of black, dead and sad looking brush and trees.  

 The fire was much closer to the road that I had imagined....close enough that in some places we could see the orange flame.

I t was hard to see all the pretty lush greenery burnt to a pile of ash.

 Many cabins were lost and property damaged, but no injures or lives were lost...which is a blessing. .

 As of today, the "Church Canyon Fire" (which is what they named it) is 100% contained...we have had hoards and hoards of fire fighters camping out at the fair grounds, getting little OR no sleep and fighting to keep this fire from coming farther down the mountain where it would threaten oil rigs, homes and peoples lives. We can never repay these wonderful men and women who fought, and continue to fight, so hard to protect us.

 Fires are a wicked, wicked thing. They destroy everything in their path and are no respecter of  person or property. We appreciate all that's been done and is continuing to be done to keep our little area safe! Thank you...to you wonderful, selfless, kind hearted firefighters that are JUST DOING YOUR JOB, but do it for my benefit!

 Although the fires are an ugly, harsh, and terrible thing...the smoke they leave floating behind

can make for a very cool sunset!

BUT I have to say, I'm glad we are NOW smokeless and "orange sunset" free....!