Where are those Home and garden Channel people when you really need them?

So I drove to Decatur on the 30th to help Shelley and Christine paint the walls in the front room and part of the kitchen. The butter cream walls and wood tone window panes turned out very pretty, the room is all warm and cozy. The green wall....not so successful. It ended up looking like a jungle with gold trees in it. Actually by the next morning we decided it wasn't so bad, but I think Shelley is going to do a little butter cream natural sponging on top. That should make it look just right.....at least we hope so.......if not we will have to add monkeys......:-)

I took pictures, but left my camera at Shelleys, so I will have to post them later.

Darren and Mindy come to town

Now that sounds like a good movie title.......as Darren and Mindy have fun advetures around the exciting town of SALEM, IL.......:-) ......NOT!

We actually all met at McDonalds to have breakfast and ended up staying for over 3- 1/2 hours! Our family is quite chatty......We had quite the fun time and enjoyed their stories. It was so good to see Darren, he just doesn't get home often enough. After a nice long visit we went back to mom's house to take a few pictures.......

Struck gold, again!

Remember on July 11th, I posted about finding my gold ear ring in the chicken coop, after it was lost for 4 years? This is even weirder. Tonight I was walking Sally, going our usual route. I walk down the middle of the road when we get near our house, so I stopped by the creek where Sally likes to jump in, but she didn't want to go in there tonight. So, I start to take a step, and there in front of me was a solid gold ring, with 6 diamond chips in it, right at my feet. It was kind of stuck in the sticky road, but I pried it right out. When I got home Bill took the magnifying glass, and it said 10K on the inside. It is a nice thick ring too. It was slightly bent, not the round finger part, but the setting. I can still wear it though....it's even the right size! .....of course, I bought lottery tickets last time, and got nothin', so I'm not falling into that hole again .......

Hold on, we're going full throttle.........

It was EXTREMELY hot today, so humid and horrible outside, like all Illinois summers. Sooooo,
Bill and I decided to go for a ride on the scooter. Now, this scooter is only 80 cc's, and is a one man scooter. Bill told me to hop on, I asked him if it was safe, he said "We'll find out"...what does he mean, "We'll find out"????!!! So, like I had good sense I hopped on the back and we took off down the driveway. I swear it was groaning under the weight, it was making a grinding, pulling sound. We drove to the grocery and got a soda. We drove around town a bit, which is a 30 second tour, seriously. Bill decided to head out of town toward Farina. We drove a couple of miles, and he started going a little faster.....he yells at me (like I can't hear him, because of the speed). "Hold on, we're going full throttle now.......we're going 25 mph!!! Is he serious????

Well, obviously, we got back home safely. I think I'll just walk next time.

There's a mattress under my car.......

Shelley went to get a mattress for Garret, since he is ready for a big boy bed. First, she dropped Garret off at grandma Marsha's house, and while she was there, she decided to just take Marsha's truck to pick up the mattress. She buys the mattress and puts it in the back of the pick up truck and realizes she has no tie-downs. She had some in her van and car, but.....she had Marsha's truck. Shelley is driving 20 mph to Walmart, where she planned on buy tie-downs to finish the trip home with the mattress, of course, this did not take place at that time.... A gust of wind came along and blew the mattress out of the back of the truck, right onto the road in the direct path of an oncoming vehicle. That car ran over the mattress and springs and got stuck on top of it....Shelley had to call a wrecker to get it off, the driver of the other car was NOT happy, even though I think this is hilarious in hind-sight! So,anyway, the wrecker came, the police came, the car was pulled off of the mattress and springs, and Shelley got ticketed for "endangering a mattress" or something, and has to pay $75.00. She finally got home at 8:00 at night, and the mattress??? Well, it's a little low on one end, but after all of that she just put it on the floor for Garret to sleep on until they can get the bed frame.......I'm just envisioning what fiasco will be happening with the bed frame...:-)

This is a true story, it really happened, and it could only happen to Shelley, because that's just the kind of luck she has sometimes.

I'm still not a millionaire.....oh, well, it's just money

So, I bet since you read my last post you thought maybe I was out spending all of my earning from my lottery tickets......didn't happen. I'm still among the majority, meaning NOT a millionaire. Oh, well, I got my gold ear ring back, so I guess that's enough good fortune for a while.

Mom and I went out for lunch yesterday to Arby's, we brought home some cherry turnovers for our snack with our afternoon coffee.

We went to the second hand store looking for my southern belle type dresses to wear to a Red Hat event in September, but all we found was prom dresses for skinny teenage girls. We still have some time though. I think I will just buy a Halloween costume. I told Bill last night I would get the "southern Belle" dress and hat and wear it to the Red Hat event, and then I could wear it for Halloween and we could go as Mr. and Mrs. Abe Lincoln. I mean, all he needs is a top hat....one of my friends told me to not forget the mole...:-) ....

I made zucchini bread today with zucchini out of the garden. The Japanese Beetle traps are working great, I have caught thousands of them in those bags. At least they have not invaded the garden, just some of the blackberries.

Bill will be home soon, I have a roast baking with potatoes and carrots from our garden, it smells great in here. However, I will be having Mexican food, because tonight is our regular Red Hat meeting and we are going to the El Rancharida, or something like that....can't remember the name, but I know where it is.

So, that's all that's been happening here in Mayberry.

A strange thing happened on my way to the chicken coop

We built the chicken coop in 2004, it was a cold and rainy day, which I will never forget because it was a perfect day, plus we had a great time building it and had hot chocolate afterward.

So, anyway, let's back track a little. A few years before 2004 I was shopping with Shelley and mom in Decatur and I bought this great pair of solid gold ear rings. They were shaped like a crescent moon, and had a star on the end of the moon, the were made in a smoothe thick loop. I wore them everyday, they were my favorite ear rings. Then one day I noticed one was missing out of my ear. I kept the other one and the years went by. Every now and then I would run across that one gold ear ring in my jewelry box and would wish I had the other one, because I really like them so much.

Fastforward to today...July 11, 2008. I went out to feed the dog and chickens as usual. When I went into the chicken pen there was a black bird kind of walking around in there. One of his wings was damaged. I thought maybe he was looking for food, so after I let the chickens out of the coop, I went over on the south side of the coop and put a little feed out on the ground for him too. Of course, I scared him and he limped away, kind of half flying. At that point I turned around to leave the pen and there gleaming in the sunlight was my gold ear ring. It had been outside for 4 years! It was still in good condition and I had walked that very area hundreds of times and it wasn't there. So where did it come from and where had it been all of these years? I'll never know, the sun was just right where it hit the shiny gold, the black bird was just on that side of the coop and I happened to look down at the exact spot where it lay in the dirt.....I figure it was my lucky day, so I bought 5 lottery tickets....

My first cukes

I made refrigerator dill pickles today with my first cucumbers. I have to wait a week to see if they are any good or not.....:-P.......they sure look pretty though.

Red Neck Rockers in Montreal!..... Still Rockin' the Free World

That's my brother on the bass.....go Milo...
The crowd was small, but they were rowdy!!!

Abraham Lincoln and the Flea Market.....

Bill and I got up early and headed to Altamont, IL to the flea market that is open there all summer on the weekends. It has been open for the least 5 years or so. In fact, Bill worked there for the first few years it was open, running Wild Bill's Concessions and serving the customers corndogs, curly fries, and lemon shake ups, just to name a few. We have been to this flea market many times through the years, but it had been a while. It was a beautiful day, with 80 degree temps and no humidity. We had fun browsing through the many booths and bought a few useful items, like a marble based cheese slicer.....couldn't live without it! We also bought a cold pack canner and some kitchen utensils. For lunch they were serving chili dogs, so we had one and cupcakes for dessert. (Well, ok, I had mini-cupcakes, Bill had pineapple upside down cake, that we bought at a bake sale that was going on at the flea market too) We looked around some more then headed to Vandalia.

Vandalia is just down the road from Altamont, and is, in fact, only 30 minutes from my house. Vandalia is where the first capital building of Illinois is located. Abe Lincoln served there in 1839 when he first entered into his political career in the house of representatives. The building is very well preserved, although some of it had to be rebuilt due to a fire that destroyed some of the flooring. Many of the items were the original furnishings present during the time Abe Lincoln served there. We enjoyed each room, as it was furnished and decorated like Abe himself was to be there any minute. The curator showed us around and let us go into the roped off rooms and really looks at things, it was very interesting. We had quite a long chat with her and she was very knowledgeable about all things Abe Lincoln and the history of the building and the area. On the second floor were two large rooms at the top of the winding staircase. One room was where the senate would meet and the other one was where the representatives would meet. Each room had long wooden tables, with ink wells, quill pens and parchment papers laying on them. There were 6 Ben Franklin type wood stoves in these large rooms for the cold Illinois winters. Anyway, Bill and I had a little chuckle as we stood looking into the Senate meeting room......I told him it was just like watching C-span....the senate is in session, but no one was there....:-) Anyway, enough of the history......here is a link with a short description of the beautiful Capital building, and a little history.

Illinois State house

We left the state house and headed across the bridge behind it to the Fayette County museum. It was full of wonderful things from the past. We spent a very long time in there looking at everything and talking to the tour ladies. So, again, to save some time, here is a link to the museum and some pictures on the left side of the screen.

Fayette County Museum, Vandalia, IL

By now, we are hungry so we headed to Jay's Lounge and Restaurant, which is right next door to the Jay's Inn.....yes, the Jay's Inn......We had a fun little waitress and the food was some great down home cooking. Bill had shrimp and new potatoes, grilled with green peppers and onion, salad, hot rolls. I had marinated chicken breast, baked potatoe, salad and hot rolls. We had a few Miller light beers too and enjoyed the old building the restaurant was in. The walls were all old barn wood, and the tables and floors were large planked wood slabs. It was a fun place to eat, we had never been there before. So, that was our day, and it was great fun as always with Bill. Oh, and at 9:00 p.m. we went to the store for ice cream.....'cause, ya know, we were back in Mayberry where little kids are running around bare-footed in the grocery store at 9:00 at night buying candy, and the old folks were buying Klondike bars....

Great Horror Novels by John Everson

I met John on Myspace, and we have become good friends. He has written eight books of excellent and unique horror stories. I have read several and I really could not put them down. They are very creepy in a wonderful kind of way. He has been the winner of many awards in the horror genre, including the coveted Bram Stoker award. He is really just a regular guy, with a great sense of humor and wit, but something dark is going on inside his head, otherwise he wouldn't be such a great teller of the horror tales.

I just thought I would give him kudos here on my blog and maybe some of you will pick up a copy at Amazon.com or your local book store. Oh, and one more tidbit...he is a home boy, from the Chicago, IL area.

Click the "Covenant" book cover in the upper left hand corner of this blog and you will be directed to John's Myspace page where you can find out more about his work.

Donuts, coffee cake and a trip to the "junk" stores

Milo "Tex" Knight
Wanted for wearing stupid hats
Also goes by the name: Milo "fake foam cowboy hat" Knight.
Not armed or dangerous.....seriously....forget it, there's no reward!
Sisters-in-law.....or is it Sister-in-laws...
Mom and aunt Barbie....whatcha thinkin' about there, Aunt Barbie?
Mom, Barb and Milo
Mom, you are supposed to TELL us when you are going to take the picture!
There, that's better!
Chelsea wanted to do a little "dog" modeling for her port folio!! This is her best side.....not mine though!!
Side-ways rabbit ears on my bro!
A great treasure found at the junk store, Barb found this really cool.......................thing. Anyway, it's cool and has colored twinkle lights inside of the mesh.....we weren't sure what to do with it, but, again, it's cool! I found some great stuff too! We had a great day, as always.

Oh, and the donuts and coffee cake were yummy, so that's what we had for lunch!

My Little Garden