A flower memorial to mom and Barb

Good afternoon, friends! It's still cloudy and gray outside. Bill is at an auction and I am enjoying my day listening to some Celtic music and doing a little crafting. When mom passed away I dried some of the flowers from her funeral bouquets. I made a little shadow box today with some of them as a memorial to her and to my sweet sister in law, Barb Knight, who passed away just 6 weeks after mom. Barb always loved dragonflies and had them throughout her house... It was a bitter sweet project, but I've been meaning to do it for quite a while .Mind you, I am not great at arranging flowers of any sort, but it's the thought that counts. I had to use some silk leaves, because, if any of you have ever dried flowers, you know the leaves don't always make it to the end of the drying process. I hope you all have a good day, think it's time for some lunch.

Monthly lunch with the class of '67

I had lunch with my '67 classmates today, and a our special guest, 92 year old, Mr. Jamison.  He's still pretty spunky for an old guy.  I always love seeing my buddies, had a great time, as as always.

First time visit to the blogcabin coffee shop in Flora, IL

It was another pretty day, in the 50's and breezy. Enjoyed the afternoon with hubby exploring some junk shops in Olney, IL then drove to Flora and grabbed some lunch at Julian's and went to Charlie Brown park to sit by the lake and eat. We stopped by the blogcabincoffee shop and got some espresso.https://www.facebook.com/blgcbn/ . I had decaf, which kind of defeats the purpose of espresso, I know...lol...it was really good though. The wind came in this evening, bringing the front that will cool our weather back down to the 30's tomorrow...glad we took advantage of the milder temps. today. Hope you all have had a good one! If you are not on facebook, then here is another link to 
https://mkt.com/blog-cabin-coffee?square_lead=button

Alma sunset and one from Texas

A beautiful sunset on the way home from Salem tonight.

And then Shelley posted a sunset from her backyard in Texas a few minute later.

Cary and Garret flying their millennium falcon drone.

Just Monday...

Brats, mashed taters, steamed asparagus and mushrooms with lemon sauce, homemade kraut and fresh fruit salad with toasted walnuts...it's what's for dinner....It's a good day to spend time in the kitchen on this ugly gray day...hope you are all having a great Monday...

First time lunch at Smoked to The Bone

What a gorgeous day! Sunny and 67. We had our lunch at "Smoked to the Bone" in Iuka, Illinois.  The food was fabulous! It was so packed when we first got there, that there was only one empty table.It didn't take long for the place to empty though. The food is served on metal pie plates on big wooden picnic tables, as well as regular dining room tables. We loved the atmosphere and the food and plan on going back sometime soon. There are also homemade pies, and all of the many types of meats are smoked right there on the premises. After lunch we ran some errands for a few hours, and then drove through the park, where lots of kids were out on their bikes and skateboards and playing basketball. No one needed coats today...we stopped by the reservoir and sat on a bench to watch the sunset...then we went to DQ for ice cream.... and now, home with a cup of coffee and ready for some season 6 of Madmen...I hope you all had a great day...

New pictures of Darren, Mindy, Shelley and Cary

Good stuff....

An eagle and a crow were having lunch along side the road.

We were driving to Brownstown this morning and saw a bald eagle and a crow eating a dead deer, right next to the road....happened too fast to get a photo, but went back and there he sat in a tree...that's about all of the excitement we've had today..hope you are all having a good day!

Antique auction Sunday part 2

On the way home from the auction, we stopped by Denny's to have a late lunch. We ordered an omelet and "seasonal fruit", I was pleasantly surprised by this beautiful bowl of fresh fruit, instead of the usual canned pineapple thrown on the side there. :) Bill had been told there was an eagle's nest along interstate 57 so we drove home that way so I could see it, we couldn't tell if there was any activity going on there. You can see it clearly from interstate 57 around the 130 mile marker. I took this picture from the overpass on St. Peter rd. in Kinmundy...all I had was my phone, so it's about as good as it gets...anyway...glad we are home and warm this evening...

I also wanted this cool fur pillbox hat...

and this Aladdin lamp

and this granite ware...

and any of this awesome furniture...but...I had to keep reminding myself that we are "downsizing"....boo on that... :)

Antique auction Sunday

We had a good time today, even though it was 7 degrees when we left the house, barely made it to 20 degrees today. We didn't buy anything, because we were selling there today. It's hard to resist when there were so many interesting things to bid on..One thing that I found most interesting was this Airline television. I think it was sold by Montgomery Ward. This is a 1948 model, with a 7" screen..older than me...lol....and I tried to bid on this sweet little perfume bottle with the butterfly on top, but it went way too high. A nice crowd today, as always at the monthly auction. I hope you all enjoyed your day!

Halterman Family time

Our niece, Amanda Raper and three kids came to visit from Indiana today, so we had lunch at Applebee's with the Halterman's (and friends) .It was an early celebration of my mother-in-law's birthday, and mine too. So we got free dessert, woot! The kids couldn't get home for Christmas to see great grandma Dona, so we also had a belated Christmas present opening. It was a really fun day. . I also received a surprise gift from my daughter, Shelley Yandell, along with some new school pictures of the boys. She sent me some leggings and said that the boys picked them out! They did a good job, grandma Sheila has wild looking legs now..lol...hope you all have had a good Saturday!

Fermented cranberry relish

I had cranberries left from Christmas, so I made some cranberry/orange/pecan salad...and decided to ferment it, to add some probiotics. The recipe to leave it on the counter for no longer than 3 days or it will start to develop alcohol. I tasted it the first two days..nothing...this morning they were leaking, so I knew they had started to ferment...omg...it tastes like cranberry orange wine, only crunchy. It definitely has alcohol in it...wonder what proof it is??? Think I'll try some blackberries next!

Snow....

It's a beautiful snowy morning here. Huge flakes are falling by the window..AND....it's 16 degrees! B rrrr. I'm watching the birds on the feeder by my window as I'm having my morning Highland Grog. I'm thinking that birds are ingenious , as they kick and knock away the snow covering the feeding holes on their feeder. I was going to go outside and knock the snow off myself, but, like I said, it's 16 degrees, so they're on their own. lol.......hope you are all having a good morning, friends! (I can write a whole lot about absolutely nothing, can't I? :) )

Uncle Bob has a date for lunch

Just had to share this photo of my Uncle Bob Westman and his friend of many years, Imogene Denton, on New Year's Eve. Such a sweet photo of wonderful people. Prayers and hugs for both. Please read all of Jenny's post, it is the sweetest thing she did for her mom and for my uncle.

Jenny Holsapple

December 31, 2016 ·

 

Well I have to say, this was the most different New Years Eve I've ever spent. I picked Mom up from the nursing home this am. And we went to her apartment at the Manor. I did her hair and put on a little makeup, then she got to eat lunch with her friend Bob. She was so happy to be there. It is an encouragement for her to keep up her PT so she can come back to her "new home. She loves it at the Manor. She is still very weak and cannot stand or walk without someone helping her. Please just pray she can get stronger every day.