Wedding Planning

It's been a few years since we planned a wedding. In fact, ours was the last one...7 years ago. By the time Pretty Princess and Romeo say "I do" it will have been 8 years. So...I am having a BLAST helping Pretty Princess plan. I've been researching all things wedding. Particularly in her chosen colors: Black, White & Red. Oh my stars, it is going to be beautiful!

Here is a card holder...picture it with red instead of fuchsia. Isn't it darling?Check out these ideas for invitations...

(with red accents, of course)


Now, on to the bridesmaid dresses. What do you think?


Gone with the Wind?


Santa?

No? Not so much? Keep looking? Okay.

There's More than Veggies growing around here!

It's amazing how fast little "supergirl" is growing! We're already about 25 weeks along and she is one very active little baby already!

Silly Baby!

We can't wait to meet you little one!

Canning Spaghetti Sauce

Hello me beauties!

Step 1: You throw these gorgeous tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes

Step 2: Plunge said tomatoes into a bowl of ice cold water

Step 3: Peel off the skin and cut off the stem, etc. (put that stuff in a bucket for your chickens)

Step 4: Blend baby blend

Step 5: Mix tomato puree with some sugar and spice and everything nice

Step 6: Bring to a boil, then decrease heat and simmer for 25 minutes

Step 7: Put sauce into hot mason jars, let out bubbles, then cap them

Step 8: Put mason jars into a "water bath" - (that just means a big pot of boiling water) for 40 minutes

Step 9: Take the mason jars out of the water bath and check to make sure they have a good seal

Step 10: Label them (this is very important...relish, salsa and spaghetti sauce basically look the same)

All in a days work!

King Size Bed...

I love you.

Why didn't we do this earlier? This would have been really handy when we had tiny babies who needed to be fed at all hours of the night. This would have been grand when I was pregnant and took up 3/4 of our queen size bed. All you king size bed owners have been holding out on me. It is heavenly. Oh my stars.
We finally made the switch because Pop and Grammy had this bed in their guest bedroom in SC. They moved it here and I stole it....and I'm not giving it back.

I love this new bed so much that I went out and bought her a whole new outfit...doesn't she look pretty!

Come to think of it...it's bed time now...I'm outta here. Another fantastic nights sleep in my big comfy king size bed. Goodnight.

Daisy the Dunder Dog

First, a vocabulary lesson. The word "dunder" is actually a noun meaning "the thick lees from boiled sugar-cane juice used in the distillation of rum." It's origin: 1785–95; carries an alternate meaning "to overflow." However, according to UrbanDictionary.com it can be used with the noun "heed" as such: "dunder heed: scottish slang to describe some one who's intelligence is below average."

Hence, the title of this post, "Daisy the Dunder Dog."

Pop says he has never met two dogs of less intelligence than Daisy and Huck...well, that isn't exactly the way Pop says it...but anyway...

Among other annoying habits that intelligent dogs would not be a party to, Daisy has developed an attraction of sorts to chickens...specifically the chickens across the road at our neighbors' farm. She hasn't been found to harm the chickens but she has a record now of transporting the chickens (via her mouth) from the Spice Family Farm to Four Sisters Farm. No one is happy about this chicken thing Daisy has...the Spice Family is not happy, the residents at Four Sisters Farm are not happy; and I can tell you for certain that the chickens are NOT happy!

Now...why is Grammy blogging about this...well, let me tell you the story...

One stormy morning just recently, Farm Chick and the Cowboys were gone for breakfast with friends, Pop and EJ were at work and I was here working on the seemingly endless task of settling in after our move when I heard Daisy barking and a commotion that seemed to warrant some attention. I found some of the Spice Family members at the end of the drive with Daisy and went to see what was going on...you guessed...Daisy had been caught red-handed with one of the neighbor's chickens...again. After a conversation assuring Mrs. Spice that EJ and Farm Chick are working on a solution to prevent chicken-napping, I returned Daisy to her tethered leash and noticed that the storm that had just blown through had broken some lawn furniture and moved other things. I began cleaning up and hosing off leaves, etc. from the house and furniture when another wave of the storm came through and caught me in the backyard...of course with the back door locked since I had exited from the front...all this to say that I was so much less than pleased with the commotion Daisy the Dunder Dog had created that put me out in the weather.


A wet, bedraggled, and irritated Grammy says, "Daisy! You are a 'dunder heed!' Leave the chickens alone!"

Dear Lou Lou

Thank you for turning 8 and having a party at the farm with tasty cupcakes with purple frosting.

Sincerely,
Trigger the Kitty Cat

P.S. Huckleberry thanks you too.

The Harvest

This photo represents but a tiny portion of the harvest from our "Super Garden." I am not going to lie. I am completely overwhelmed. No one in their right mind would plan to do this kind of garden along with renovating a basement and moving in their family. Of course, none of us knew we would be so busy when the garden was planned! :)

I am not a country girl by birth. I am growing into this role. I have no idea what I am doing. What I don't know I attempt to learn via the internet or other experienced country people. Canning is hard work. Doctor's Wife, Pretty Princess, Lou Lou and I learned that last year.

So far I have "put up" the following...
Potatoes in the root cellar
Onions in the root cellar
Garlic in the root cellar
Green Onions in the freezer
Carrots in the freezer
Snap Peas in the freezer
Zucchini in the freezer
9 pints of salsa
38 pints of bread and butter pickles
6 quarts of bread and butter pickles
12 pints of dill pickles
12 pints of sweet relish

I'm looking forward to canning more salsa and some pasta sauce with our tasty tomatoes. I wish I knew what else to do with all those stinkin' cucumbers. By the way, when a cucumber is bitter...you can tell. It is NASTY! DW and the kiddos came today to help me can salsa and pickles. I made DW taste the cucumbers. She was a good sport.

The Adventures of Superman and Captain PJ Pants

The End.

If you don't have something nice to say...

So, I was telling Grammy that I read about Pioneer Woman's children's attempt at a cake. They forgot to grease the pan and had a crumbly cake that they chose to frost anyway. I thought it was pretty funny.

Here's what you get for laughing at someone else's baking failure...I have never had my tasty chocolate chip zucchini bread do this before.

Puttin' Up the Carrots

EJ and Wubba worked hard to get these beauties out of the ground.

A job well done!

Now it's momma's turn to get these carrots ready for the freezer.

Here is the finished product.

The whole time I worked (and it took a LONG time) Carrot man kept me company. Kind of looks like he has a top hat on. I think he needs a cane too.

Moving Day

After a 3 day delay, the moving truck arrived! Grammy and Pop are officially moved in! Here are some pics from that day...Bubba aka Spiderman preferred to stay inside during all the chaos.Wubba was happy to be with Romeo.So happy he gave him a big smooch-a-roo! Romeo and Pretty Princess show off their wicked cheer leading moves.

How often do you hear this from a moving crew, "Where do you want your deer?"

Thelma & Louise (aka Annie Oakley & Grammy)

So our road trip from South Carolina to Kansas was memorable. We had Pop's little pickup STUFFED with stuff...lots of stuff...we barely had room for our luggage...in fact, at one point early into the trip we had to move some luggage from the bed of the pickup to behind the seats. All I can say is that it's a good thing that Oakley and I have short legs...and that's all I have to say about that.

We stayed the first night in Charleston's Riverview Holiday Inn...of course it was so late by the time we got there we couldn't see the river view...but we went to the scenic restaurant for breakfast and the view was stunning. Oakley and I don't quite get the attraction of "marsh living" but it was pretty (and you can't smell it) from the restaurant. Oakley took some pictures from there and we stopped to photograph a group of ladies with their cameras so they could all be in the pictures. They were grateful. Then we toured Charleston just a bit so I could show Oakley some of my favorite sites - like the Battery and the Market Place and Waterfront Park.

It was time to head toward Kansas after that and we chose to drive through the Great Smoky Mountains. Stunning scenery and well worth the mountain driving...partly on two lane road...in the rain...fabulous.

Our destination was Nashville, TN and we almost made it there...but we got too tired and made a call to PhoJo and Rock Star so they could get online and make some room arrangements for us in Cookeville, TN which was a nice place to stay and I think it was less expensive and less crowded than Nashville would have been. Oakley ran into a friend at Ernest Tubb's Record Shop so I took their picture.

We sang at Music City USA but don't want to brag...Oakley has a picture just like mine below but we only have so much space. Like I said, we don't want to brag.

Our next night's stay was in Springfield, MO and PhoJo made arrangements again...this hotel was beautiful with a fountain inside and glass elevators...I decided that I should always have PhoJo make my accommodation arrangements from now on. One of the highlights of the Springfield, MO stay was that I finally got to eat a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut the next morning with a great cup of coffee before Oakley and I stopped at the mall...we decided that no good girlfriend trip was complete without a little shopping. :-) At one point, Oakley was waiting on me and decided to try out one of those massage chairs...I found her there fighting the chair and when she could get out of it she invited me to try it...OUCH! We just are not tough enough for that kind of rough treatment!

Our last day of driving was our shortest day on the road but the excitement kept building as we got closer to Kansas...we were a bit shocked and dismayed and began to wonder about our navigation skills when we spotted a sign that said, "Charleston 13 miles" and I wondered aloud if we had been driving in circles! We discovered that there is a Charleston, MO and all was well - we were still on track. We also managed to see a sign for "Goose Creek" which is about 4 miles from our Charleston house!

But our "homing" abilities are strong and the closer we got to home the more sky opened up and easier my breathing became...we were getting closer to Kansas...closer to home...closer to Pop and to Oakley's hubby...closer to family and long-time friends. By the way, Oakley and I both missed our wedding anniversaries because of the timing of this trip (Pop and I 33 years, Oakley and Big Dog 27 years) so when we all met up we celebrated with dinner out at Outback complete with the world's best cheesecake.

Here's to Kansas, to family, to great friends. There's no place like home.

Thanks for making the trip with me, Oakley..thanks for the memories, the meals, the prayers, the company, and the long overdue time together. I love you and thank God for you and for all our family and friends who have been waiting, watching, helping, and praying for our return to Kansas.

Oakley says "Thanks to Grammy for our many years of friendship, both long and short distance, through difficult times as well as happy ones. It's very special to me that I got to make this trip with you and develop these many new memories. I know we'll create many more in the years to come since you are now 'home'."