Happy Birthday Mom

This was taken just three short years ago at Mom's 70th birthday. It's amazing what life can throw at you in three years and how much things can change
and some things don't
Fall will always remind me of Mom. She loved to look at the colors of the leaves changing. She loved the cooler temperatures that inspired more baking. She loved Halloween and dressing up. I think she even loved to tell her grand kids about what rotten teenagers their parents were and what Halloween trouble we had gotten ourselves in.
I had wanted to create a random act of kindness day as a way to remember her birthday so that people would get out and do something nice for others and may be take  their minds off missing her so much, but each time I went to "Create an Event" the words just wouldn't come. Sometimes the tears would, but words escaped me.
So life just went on, and there are a lot of birthdays in October. I bought one for Casey, then Chris, and Beth and I was on my third "Happy Birthday Mom" card before I realized what I was doing and put it back. I got my shit together and braced myself for today. I didn't really need facebook to remind me that it was her birthday, but I enjoyed seeing pictures of her- especially ones that showed her laughing and smiling. And just like always, watching her smile makes me smile.

Patsy Cline - " Crazy" I'll be damn

I have a strange love for Willie Nelson. It's not that he's a looker or even my favorite singer, but I enjoy his songs. I enjoy them, but I don't go belting them out as I clean house or drive down the road unless you count "All of me" . I'll sing along to "It's all going to Pot, Highway men, Blue Eyes crying in the rain" , and even" Whiskey River". I just don't attempt them solo. Imagine my surprise to find out that he wrote on of my all time favorites. I'm so glad he offered "Crazy" to Patsy Cline. I don't think anyone could sing it better.
Still can't believe he wrote it. Butter my butt and call me biscuit.

For dog owners

He is your friend, your partner
your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, til the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.... author unknown

There's a story behind it

There's a rumor I may have visitors this holiday season, so I'm trying to rearrange/organize the house. I'm starting in the kitchen because that's where people usually enter. My kitchen theme is antique versus country so there's no reason a manatee should be on my wall.
But there's a story behind my manatee. I can't remember if my mom or Aunt Mary gave it to me, but they were both there for my story with the manatee. My kids, my mom, and I were with Aunt Mary and she was taking us places we might get to see manatee. Manatee have no set schedules and are not creatures of habit so they're unpredictable and were endangered at the time so sightings could be slim. We stopped at a river and thought we saw one. I immediately became too excited to think rationally and swam out in the water-you can swim with them but not towards them. We had seen a manatee and in a mater of minutes she came very close to me and I rubbed her belly. She indicated she liked the rubbing by waving her flippers and came back for more. Then she dove down and rubbed her back on my feet. Then back up to the top for a belly rub and back down to my feet. The kids swam out to me and she went out to them too. Then, she just disappeared. We treaded water for a couple of minutes and talked about what a remarkable experience that had been and while my kids and I were talking she swam back to us with her baby. She not only came back, but brought her little one.
That plastic manatee reminds me that dreams come true when you least expect them to. Sometimes, after a rough day, I drag my butt through the kitchen and that plastic mammal makes me smile no matter how tired I am.
There are three barstools at the bar and they have their story too. They are over 30 years old. They have paint on them and are of different heights. But  a long time ago, Dwight worked as a carpenter and helped make chairs and stools. I think this was his first paying job that didn't involve babysitting or yard work.  His boss was a wonderful man named Charles Christian. Some of Charles' chairs have sat in the white house. I'd like to think that they're still there.
There are cake pans on my walls. Some came from Dwight's mom and some came from my own mom. They both made extra money selling cakes and loved to make them for family. I didn't get to see any of Betty's cakes, but I remember the doll cakes my mom made for me and how much I loved them. I always felt sorry for kids with store bought cakes because mom's tasted better.
So my organizing not going as planned and if you should see something a little out of place, I'm sure there's a story behind it.

Treasures

The  24, 25, and 26 of September are the dates for the annual Junkfest. It runs along Hwy 65 starting in Leslie and going as far North as Western Grove. Let's be honest, there is a lot of junk but one man's junk is another man's (or woman's) treasure. I'm sure today was a little slow, being the first day and being a day that a lot of people have to work. I still managed to find a few treasures and spent a whopping ten dollars and fifty cents.

I found some china cups (for a future Pinterest project), a skirt, a container, a ceramic eagle with no chips whatsoever, an antique salt and pepper shaker, and a princess costume for Dixie.

Recipe Nine Texas Caviar

This recipe has nothing to do with Caviar and it's not really spicy, so I have no idea as to how it got it's name "Texas Caviar," but it's really easy to make, It's tasty. I made it for a food day at work and it went really quickly so here it is.

Texas Caviar
2 cans of drained corn
1 can of diced tomatoes with chilies-drained
1 14 ounce can of green chilies drained
1 jalapeno with seeds taken out and diced
1 diced red bell pepper-again no seeds
3 small green onions-thinly sliced
3/4 cup of sour cream
3/4 cup of mayo
1 to 2 tsp of garlic salt
Blend all together and serve with chips

Heavy Heart

It is with a heavy heart that I read that the wild fires in California continue. As of four minutes ago, the "Rough Fire" has consumed 129, 877 acres. I had hoped that maybe the rain we had last week would give them some relief or that fire fighters might catch a break and defeat these monsters.
I had a lump in my throat as we visited The Sequoia National Park. We watched helicopters and planes carry water to areas. Several roads were closed to visitors as safety precautions. The smoke was heavy as we visited and I wondered how long they will be there.