Zumba in blacklight, how fun!

Nick's Pizza ...a blast from the past

To all of you who grew up in Salem, IL in the 60's....do you remember the one and only place you could get a pizza back then??? Yes, that's right, Nick's Pizza on Shelby St. It was a tiny building that made huge pizzas, and boy were they good. You had to order at the window then come back in about 20 minutes or so....thanks to my friend William Milam, here is a picture from way back when...thanks Bill, brings back lots of memories...

This is what Michigan does to babies!

Keep Manhatten and give me that country life.

You know you're a redneck when you're at the Rural King on free hotdog and donut day and you're having a "picnic" on the lawn furniture display inside the building... :-) . We aren't moochers, so we bought some things we needed anyway. Then we went mushroom hunting at Forbes State park, found enough for a meal. We came back home and cooked steaks and taters on the fire pit. As the sun was sitting we ended the day with some hot coffee...the end to a perfect day..(Bill did not know I was taking this picture, but he looks pretty relaxed, doesn't he?

March tornadic storms

There were storms all over southern Illinois today.  Bill and I went on a little adventure chasing the storm.  There were some ominous clouds, rain and hail, but nothing much happened here in Illinois.  A woman was killed near Mt. Vernon, IL, at Opdyke, IL.  Her mobile home was picked up by the tornado and she died of head trauma...poor woman.  I took a few pictures of the skies, but I like the photo the best, you can see the up draft and the rain/hail shaft, so beautiful and so deadly.

Riding the space shuttle boosters

What the hail is happening today, black stormy sky, rain, wind, hail, and now the sun is shining like nothing happened....oh, yeah, right, I live in Illinois, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised! Have a safe day everyone!

George Melies, you were a genius

Good morning all! I was just reading about Georges Méliès on who's life story the movie "Hugo" was based. The Hugo character in the movie is fictitious , but Méliès was a real person and was one of the first people to invent moving pictures with special effects back in the 1800's, fascinating! If you have ever seen the silent movie 'A Trip to the Moon', that was one of his hundreds of films.Many were destroyed during WW1, they were melted down to make shoe heels, how sad! If you are bored and have nothing else to do, you can go read here 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_M%C3%A9li%C3%A8s 

Copperhead bread

Hello friends, it's another beautiful day here in Illinois. I made some tomato basil soup, yogurt, and copperhead bread. I'm going out for a walk but wanted to say hello to all of you. Have a great day!

 

The moon, Jupiter and Venus all in one frame

Made some blackberry jam today. My mother in law had some berries in her freezer that she didn't want. Also made a half gallon of greek style yogurt. I had some blackberries left over so made blackberry slump. I thought about you Mona McGuire Decker when I was making this today. The recipe said to serve with cream to take the tartness out of the berries. Remember when you came to visit me last summer, you said your grandma (?) always used cream on her cobbler, so I guess that's why. BTW it was yummy! Looks like some bad weather is coming our way the last few days, so I hope you all enjoyed your Sunday.

Herb and garden show at Mt. Vernon, IL Times Square Mall

 went to the Herb and Garden show at Mt. Vernon today. It was really a nice show, lots of things having to do with gardening. There were also free classes. I went to one on how to use herbs for healing, very interesting! Had lunch at Fazoli's, stopped by mom's on the way home I had something for her that I found at the garden show and now relaxing here at home. I hope you all enjoyed your day too.

Foggy morning in February

Good morning all! Very, very foggy this morning. I took this picture at 9 a.m. while I was walking the dog. STILL the traffic on the road was zipping along like it was a bright sunny day...people...they be crazy! Anyway, it's gone now, the sun burned it off pretty quickly and it's another gorgeous day! Have a wonderful Thursday everyone!

First Time for Egg Nog fudge

Had a very nice day today. First of all, my sis in law, Barb, who went to the ER with what was thought to be a heart attack, was not. Her heart is fine. They are doing some tests for other things. I talked to her and she sounded like her old self. Did some painting out in my little "studio" that Bill has fixed up for me. Then made some eggnog fudge. My son, Preston, gave me his recipe. It is really good, I put nutmeg on top, yummy. Bill spent some quality time with his mom and now we are having some coffee. I hope you all had a good day too.

Earthquake cupcakes

Good afternoon friends. It's been a cold and dreary day today. The trees are full of ice crystals and it's only getting colder. I made a half gallon of yogurt today and it turned out great. Also made Earthquake cupcakes. They are very ugly, but extremely delicious, there is coconut, pecans on the bottom and the frosting is in the middle...yum. Thanks to Janet Hanks for making me hungry when she posted a photo of her cake the other day. I took half of them to the guys at one of the gas stations downtown. Bill and I had one with some coffee, ah retirement is good! I hope you are all enjoying your day.

Had a really great day today. Ate a tasty lunch at Java Joe's: 3 cheese sandwich with cucumber dressing, cucumbers, lettuce, onion on thick wheat berry bread, pickle, chips and black currant iced tea. Then surprised my brother, Milo and sis in law, Barb with a visit. Had some dark chocolate brownies with cream cheese frosting and coffee. Had such a fun time. Mom bought me this coffee mug with a chicken on it, I love it. Thanks mom! I hope you all enjoyed your day.

Icy morning in Kinmundy, IL

Still extremely icy out, we have been in the house all day, enjoying some coffee and watching the birds on the feeder outside the window and the many bright red cardinals against the winter gray outside. I hope you are all enjoying your Saturday.

Birthday dinner for me and Dona

Ate at Ponderosa in Vandalia with MIL, FIL and Bill. Drove through town and looked at all of the victorian houses, the old Capital building, where Abe Lincoln served as a state representative. Stopped by the new Amish Grocery store in St. Peter, bought a few items i.e. SunButter (sunflower butter), honey, wheat germ, oranges and bacon and cheddar cheese. Saw hundreds of snow geese, and Canadian geese in the winter corn fields, just beautiful! It was a great day, now home in the warm house waiting for the sleet, ice or whatever is coming our way. Hope you all are enjoying your day.