The making of "The Snow Chicken"

We awoke to a beautiful snowy morning. It is Saturday and so we just worked around the house for a while. I just had to go take some pictures though.


If you look carefully you can see little eyeballs looking at me from the inside the birdhouse.

Bill caught Brad and Melissa making huge snowballs behind our vehicles and at the end of the drive, it was completed blockaded. They were laughing and running around the yard. Bill came in and said that they wanted me to come out to help them build a "snow chicken". We had so much fun, Melissa and I made the tail out of branches, Brad and Bill made the head, but of course, I had to help them as it looked like it had been hit in the head with something flat!


After the making of the snow chicken we had a snowball fight out in the road. Here is Bill getting hit in the head by huge snowballs thrown by Brad.

After the snowball fight we all came in for hot chocolate and to look at the pictures we had just taken. Then Dona called and invited us over for crockpot pizza. It was a really fun day with the kids.

Thunder Chicken

I spent the day with mom today...what a great time we had. First, I had to have my eyes checked, because I thought my vision was getting worse, guess I was wrong, the doc told me I didn't need to get new glasses that my eyes hadn't changed that much...guess I have just been this blind all along and didn't realize it...lol!

First we had lunch at Mt. Vernon at the Pasta House...mom and I have always loved that special house salad they make with artichoke hearts and parmesean cheese..yummy....of course we had to have dessert....I had death by chocolate cake, mom and taramasue (sp?)...we couldn't figure out what was in it,...it's a mystery, but it was good anyway...!

While we were that we went to Dobbs where we bought some more styrafoam wreaths to make our fabric wreath crafts. I bought two cups and saucers to sit on the dining room table.

There has been a winery in Mt. Vernon for many years and I have never gone to see it. Mom and I went to the Genkota winery. It was a very nice building with a wrap around porch with tables for drinking wine. There were alot of gifts all having to do with wine lining the walls. Mom and I decided to do a little wine tasting...so many delicious wines. One of them was called "Three Dog White"...the owner said it is made with three different kinds of grapes (I only thought there was three kinds anyway, red, purple and white, but what do I know?)..anyway, the wind is made with three kinds of white grapes...and when they were making this special wine they owned 3 white dogs, and were listening to "Three Dog Night" on the stereo!...very interesting. We liked most of the sweet wines, but I just had to buy their apple wine (made with local apples)..called Thunder Chicken..mostly for the fun and interesting bottle, but the wine was good too!


We came back home and I stopped at mom's for a few minutes and then came home. It was such a fun day.....I am getting spoiled now.....soon I will have to go back to work and I will really miss these relaxing enjoyable days.

Adventures with Bill

We went to Kentucky today so that Bill could get more tobacco products!!...On our way back home we stopped in Metropolis, Illinois....home of Superman.

We had lunch at Willy Jak's....the home of Seriously Fun Food...famous for their peel and eat shrimp! We didn' t have shrimp, but had a 1/2 lb slaw burger ( ground chuck with slaw on a bun.) It was delicious!...also had fries. The restaurant was actually a really old bar which was still preserved like it had been in the 1950's. It has a very nice atmosphere and great food.

References to Superman are everywhere.......like in front of the court house.

A museum dedicated to all that is Superman....

The local newspaper is even called the daily Planet just like in the tv series and in comic books.

At the edge of town is the Fort Massac State park...the first place designated as a state park in Illinois. The fort has a long history. Here is a short list of those who used the fort through the years. Sidebar: The fort was originally named after a French officer named Massiac..but the british had trouble pronouncing it ...so they took out the "i" and that is why it is Ft. Massac today.



The fort has been burned , destroyed and rebuilt many times. This is as it looks today when it was rebuilt at George Washington's request.


We took a side trip to Crab Orchard lake, wildlife preserve, Marion, Ill. Thousands of geese were gathered on the bank and on the water, as always is the case this time of year, as this is where the stay the winter.

We also saw lots of deer and other wildlife.

We got home about 6:30. Everyday is an adventure with Bill!

Adventures with Larry the Cable guy

It's
Saturday and Bill and I drove to St. Louis to the Fox Theatre to see
Larry the Cable Guy, famous for his Blue Collar comedy tour and tv
show. It was very cold, but we found a parking place about a
block away. We went to the early 5:00 show. Larry was
absolutely hilarious...there were a few rowdy rednecks in front of us
that kept yelling Larry's favorite phrase: Git-R-Done!...sheesh!

Anyway............when we left the theatre it was about 7:30, it was
just a beautiful night in the city of St. Louis. It was
snowing huge flakes and the wind was blowing, still it was gorgeous in
the city lights.

We went back to Fairview Heights and ate at Casa Gallardo....ate WAY
too much and had fried ice cream for dessert! After that we
headed for home. All in all it was a perfect night!

Here is Larry singing his signature "christmas carols".

Goodabye Danie......

Danie left about 12:30
today. It was sad to see her leave. We had such a good time
and I am so glad she made it home safe from Iraq. She seems very
happy and looks great too. Danie you are welcome to come back
anytime!...We love ya bunches!...(Bear too)

This picture was from yesterday, but thought it was so funny, Cary was
threatening to throw Shelley in the fountain....I guess the honeymoon's over!

A day with the Amish, again......not

Bill,
mom, Danielle and I met Shelley and Cary at Tuscula at the Amish Buffet
and craft mall. We had a wonderful meal and looked at their
wedding picture...that were fantastic!...we ordered some of them.
After lunch we ran around the mall looking at all of the beautiful dust
collectors...lol.

Shelley and Cary look so happy. I made them sit on a really small bench for this picture!


So many pretty things here, including these two lovely ladies!

One of the shops in the mall is a Christmas shop and is open all year. There was a gorgeous Christmas tree decorated in victorian decorations.

Danie bought a marshmallow blowing gun, works kind of like a pea shooter. Her and Shelley were shooting each other and then Danie trie to see how far she could shoot it and almost hit some innocent bystanders...we were all laughing so hard, I am surprised they didn't throw us out!


Just for fun all of we girls had our picture taken sitting on the fountain!

A welcome visit from Danielle

Danielle
came to visit today. It was so wonderful to see her again.
She had just bought a picture for her new home..a Thomas Kincaid
original painting....so beautiful I had to take a picture of it.

We had a great supper (which I
cooked...lol).. Taco casserole, salad and cocoanut pie. We
watched American Idol 4, it was in it's beginning stages and the
"unbelievably terrible" singers were on, they were hilarious and REALLY
bad! It was wonderful to hear her cute little giggle again.
We went to bed early because we are going to Tuscola tomorrow to meet
Shelley and Cary at the Amish Buffet and craft mall. Danie
brought BEAR with her, undoubtedly the cutest dog in the universe.

Linda, you didn't miss my birthday!!!

My day started with a Birthday call from mom!...Love ya, mom!

Went to St. Louis to the Gallaria today with Teresa, well, she had something to reture...go figure!...but before we left town we had to go to the coffee shoppe and get a kaluah latte, decafe, skim....I know, I know...why bother....might as well drink the straight stuff!.

FINALLY we made it to St. Louis and did some serious shopping and and had lunch as the California Pizza co, where we had wonderful salads and keylime pie for dessert!

After the Gallaria we stopped by the mall at Fairview heights, more things for Teresa to return.....!!!...I think she is cronic!

We got home about 8:00, it was a fun way to spend my birthday!..Shelley called while we were at the mall to wish me Happy Birthday. After I got home, brother Kim called and we talking for an hour, talked to Sylvia too!

I am 56 today...wait...am I 56?....yeah, ok...had a brain hic cup there for a minute.

Thanks to everyone that wished me happy birthday on line....
The Clayboard, Virtual tourist, and personal emails! You are all my extended family.

Linda, my buddy....thanks for being concerned that you missed it.
Love ya.

Help me....it's snowing....

I got up early today, had a hair appointment in Salem. It was still raining. I ran out to get in my car (it's still warm around 50 degrees), and there are large branches blown down every where and our plum tree was completely uprooted and on top of the concession trailer......this is not good.
(I took this picture today Jan. 14th, yes I am behind, so that is why there is snow)


I had to leave, so I ran in and informed Bill and went into Salem. I got my hair colored and cut (still raining). I went to mom's and we headed to Applebees for lunch (why? you ask? because it was an early birthday dinner. We had grilled shrimp, rice pilaf and steamed vegetables...it was yummy. It is now getting colder by the minute. After lunch we went to Walmart where mom bought me a new printer/scanner. Thanks, mom!!

Then we went back to mom's house. It is now starting to snow and still getting colder. We had chai tea and twizzlers and watched tv, while we had a nice visit. It was a really nice day...

Oh, I almost forgot I bought a really cool long blond wig from Jenny at the beauty shop...Bill just loves it.

About 4:30 I thought I had better leave and come home as it was now snowing like crazy and I wanted to get home before dark.

We had supper at Dona's..she fixed crock pot pizza...it was so good!. She had the wreath (that mom and I made for her birthday) hanging on the wall and the pillow in the chair below it, it look really nice and matched the room perfectly.

When we came home I put the printer together and attached it to the lap top, at first I couldn't get it to work, then it gave me a message that it needed a driver. So I opened the cd that came with it and it had a huge scratch all across it and it was damaged and couldn't be read, so I got on line and downloaded the driver and now it works great!..I love it.

Ok, that's all I got.


I don't know why this print is SO BIG, but it won't let me edit it!...

Stormy weather....who sang that?.. Lena Horn?..Etta James?...

Today was a warm spring day...wait a minute...it's JANUARY..oopsy mother nature must be on Prozac..cause it was 69 degrees today (the recored is 70). People were running all over town like it was summer time, the sun (yes I said the sun) was shining and it was just a day that made you happy............until later!

The weather channel kept reporting all day about storms. It was humid and warm and a cold front was coming, but then the weather people have lied before, so we didn't pay much attention.

So anyway (anyway)..I went to bed about 10:30 and was sound asleep when the sound of the wind work me up out of a dead sleep. Bill was still awake and I ran into the front room. The wind sounded like a train (un-oh)...then the power went out. We got the flash lights and got under a big cover on the couch....I said " What....are we going to tell ghost stories?"..

The storm went on forever.....it finally subsided but the power stayed off until about 5:00. still it kept raining. Seriously, I have started on the ark...

Somebody help me...who sang "Stormy Weather"????

A sad day at Haltermanville

We stayed up late last night, so we slept in. No work place to go to, crappy weather..a great day to sleep in....or so we thought!....

We got up at the same time and I go to the sink to make coffee...no water...
about that same time Bill was looking out of the back foor and saw Sally (dog) eating what looked like one of our chickens. Bill ran outside and, sure enough, two of them were gone and there were feathers everywhere.. :-(. There is no way she could have gotten to them unless they flew into her pen during the night! We both yelled at her and then went to fix the well.

The well was not a big problem (thank goodness), just the pipe had come lose from the top of the pump. So that took an hour or so.

Then we decided we have to put a top on the chicken pen...not a small undertaking, believe me!
Bill ran into Salem and got chicken wire (how appropriate). When he got back home we went to work, it started raining (again)...oh, joy! ....

Injuries incurred: Bill conked head on boards on top of chicken fence
Bill slammed thumb with hammer and uttered profanities
Sheila got hair caught in chicken wire strung across boards
Sheila got glove hung up in wire while trying to tie it down

So, it is now 5:00, getting darker and foggier by the minute and I happend to look towards the back of our trailer because something caught my eye...and low and behold.................

CHICKEN UPDATE......there was one of the chickens that we thought had been eaten, just sitting there in the cold muddy yard looking at us, wanting back in the coop where it was safe!
Well, this made us feel a LITTLE better, knowing that one escaped. Must have flown out, which was why we put the top on the chicken coop. Anyhoo, I chased the chicken back into the pen...it looked like the roadrunner, it 's little legs were really going crazy...lol.

And that concluded my report.....
Oh, one more thing........we had to call our moms and give them an updated chicken report..........I know.......we are nuts!....

Anyway, not even a fox (and we did see one passing by today), nor a coon nor dark of night..no wait, that's the postman.....anyway, chicken coop could survive a nuclear war....

Happy Birthday to us

Jeannie and Debbie decided to have a meal at Donas today. Don't really understand why we didn't do our "go out to dinner" thing like we have done for years. We had soups and chili and dessert. I gave Dona the wreath and pillow that mom and I made and she loved it. Everyone left early. We asked little Brad and Melissa to go to the movies with us. We had to dig out our car, but finally made it out of the drive. We went to Mt. Vernon and Saw : National Treasure with Nicholas Cage. It was excellent! We had a fun time with the kids! We got home about 11pm. Mom couldn't come..we missed you mom!

I snapped a few pictures of the snow covered yard because tomorrow it is supposed to be 45 degrees and it will start to melt and turn to slush...slushy is yucky!

The Rain turns to snow...Oh, Joy

Didn't do much today. It was ugly and rainy once again, then at night it turned to snow..The flakes were so huge I snapped a quick picture. The large flakes were NOT close to the camera lens, they were as big as quarters. How exciting is my life???

Meet the Flockers

It has been raining for 4 days!..The entire area is a flood...I have a creek beside my house......and it wasn't there yesterday!. My poor chickens....today I went out to feed them and they were building an arc...lol....Seriously, I thought it was time to post a picture of our new babies...


Danie called today. She just got home from Iraq. She sounded so happy to be home. She was met at the plane by her mom, step-dad, brother and family, so she had a nice home coming. She is coming to visit us on Jan. 19th and 20th. I will be very happy to see her.

President Bush was in Collinsville, Illinois today. He went there to speak about putting a cap on the amount of money that can be sued for, when suing someone in the medical profession. He gave a very nice speech. The insurance companies are the real problem though, but I can't solve that problem here.

George W. appointed his father, George and President Clinton to tour around and convince people to send money to organizations helping the disaster stricken islands of the south asian countries struck by the tsunami 10 days ago. Good move. Due to the scope of the disaster, with so many deaths...there are those whoe are blaming it on God, on America for bombing Iraq, on sunspots....When daddy George was asked what he thought about all of these possible reasons for the tsunami, he said he blamed Elvis...Good answer.

That's all I got!

Craft Day at mom's

Went to mom's today. We had delicious chicken salad for lunch. We decided to make a birthday preston for Dona, since it is her birthday celebration this Sat. Mom learned to make these fabric wreaths at home extension and we made a throw pillow to match too.


Later we had coffee, fruit salad and macadamia nut cookies, while we watched the dvd's we received from our friend Doris that we met up with in California. Another fun day with my mom....love you, mom!

Day one

It is the first day of 2005, still so much terrible news is being broadcast about the tsunami devistation. 150,000 are officially dead, and they expect it to be even more. 2.1 Billion dollars has been donated to the disaster by other countries in the world (350 million from the U.S.. The news media is trying to focus on the survival stories and some of them are truly amazing, still I am haunted by it all. However, relief has been arriving in the starving devistated areas, there were some areas that just today were reached by helicopter, bringing food and water. There is fear of much disease from the water: collorah, dysentary and typhoid. There is no end to this horror story, I just need to write about it here, somehow it helps.

We went to Xenia today to the Halterman/Phillips annual soup dinner. There was wonderful food and was nice to visit with the other side of the family that we don't see very often. I had taco soup, it was yummy. There was lots of other things to eat. I had keylime pie for dessert, even though I took brownies! By 5:30 it was over and we came home. Bill Olden came over to visit for a while and now it is 11:00 pm, and I am heading to bed.

Here is a quick snapshop from the dinner.