The Apple Dumpling Gang...

These two are the reason that I flew down to Chapel Hill following a twelve year lapse in air travel.
These two make me smile and feel whole. We giggle, and play, and just hang out.
April understands that a drive-through is necessary for her mama to have her coffee fix. Emmy is a real hoot, and is going to have an outrageous sense of humor. She loves books, "snacks" (all from Trader Joe's and healthy), swinging at the park, anything pink, ruffly skirts and Dora. She yells for her Daddy when she sees a bug.
She begins every sentence with "Oh Mommy...". I really love that kid, and her mama.
North Carolina is entirely too far away from Indiana. Maybe the Army Corps of Engineers can do something about that...?

From my friend Karen, in Illinois...

You've heard about people who have been abducted and had their kidneys
removed by black-market organ thieves.

My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. I went to
sleep and woke up with someone else's thighs. It was just that quick. The
replacements had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Whose thighs were these
and what happened to mine? I spent the entire summer looking for my
thighs. Finally, hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in
jeans.
And then the thieves struck again.

My butt was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to
match my new rear-end to the thighs they had stuck me with earlier. But my
new butt was attached at least three inches lower than my original! I
realized
I'd have to give up my jeans in favor of long skirts.

Two years ago I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was
fixing my hair and was horrified to see the flesh of my upper arm swing to
and fro with the motion of the hairbrush. This was really getting scary - my
body was being replaced one section at a time. What could they do to me
next?

When my poor neck suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a turkey
neck, I decided to tell my story. Women of the world, wake up and smell the
coffee! Those "plastic" surgeons are using REAL replacement body
parts -stolen
from you and me! The next time someone you know has something
"lifted", look again - was it lifted from you?

THIS IS NOT A HOAX. This is happening to women everywhere every night.

WARN YOUR FRIENDS!

P.S. Last year I thought some one had stolen my Boobs. I was lying in bed
and they were gone! But when I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see
that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them
hidden in my waistband.

Leaving on a jet plane....

Hello, and Goodbye.
Around 530a.m., tomorrow, this Grammy will head out for the Indy airport and fly down to Durham, North Carolina. There, waiting for her cheesy broccoli soup at Panera Bread, will be little Emmy and her mama, April. We're having a girls lunch out, to chat each other up, and catch up. We haven't seen each other since they were in Indiana last Labor Day. We're overdue. I can't wait!
The hard part will be the trip down. This Grammy hates to fly and has not done so in twelve years. Pre-9/11. It will take longer to get to the airport in Indy then the non-stop flight to N.C. It's just a short visit since I'm a working girl now. A friend will drop me off and pick me up Sunday night. (She's a saint to do this.)
This is also the first time that Addie, our female corgi, will be without her mama. I've never left her before. In the past, she has made the roadtrip with me to NC. My MIL will come and stay with the doggies at night, and let them out during the day. She lives right across the alley from us, so thankfully, a familiar face, Addie will see.
Jim has been training another driver this week, so I'm praying he'll make it back to rub tummies, and play ball with the furkids. Their tummies, not mine.
( I sort of resent never getting my tummy rubbed.....but, that's a whole different story!) He hee!

Women...an explanation

Men just don't get us. Heck, most of the time, I don't get us either!
When we get quiet, introspective, and go into our turtle shell a bit; men automatically think we are being moody, cranky, and even bitchy! Well!
Many of us have admitted to being in a mood lately. Tired, out of sorts, and somewhat in a fog. My haze has lasted nearly three weeks now, and I'm convinced that Spring has something to do with it. Spring = Change. Change is not easy for the menopausal, post-menopausal, and yeah....even the pre-menopausal. Let's just throw in the whole female lot of us!

Rather than the term "bitchy"...I prefer adjectives such as, contemplative, solitariness and unrivaled. Being in an unrivaled state, I can mentally veg, and just be. Once the work bell rings 'quittin' time' my brain goes to mush mode. I hate it. Anybody with me here? Puttering in the yard, selecting annuals and a few new perennials, sipping an ambrosial mocha frappe', minus the whipped cream of course, gladdens my heart. Who knows what's causing this funk, and really, who cares? It's here, and we'll just ride the wave to shore. Are you with me girls? Find something that soothes you during these days of insulated nothingness.

The big black horse had her colt, and it's a clone of her. There are twin lambs in the field of the log cabin farm. A field of nearly one hundred sheep came up to the fence, about five feet away from the car, to see what the bouncing, yipping corgi was all about. Jake ducked his head in humiliation. Addie is SO strange!
These, are the things that make me smile, and keep me going. Conversation doesn't do it. Company doesn't either. Animals and country life, a good book, and quiet. It doesn't take much really; but it's enough. How do you cope when "the fog" hits?

Happy Birfday Boo Boo!

My baby girl is 34 today....in less than two weeks, we girls will all be eating cheesy broccoli soup at Panera Bread! Yahoo!

Backyard Follies...

Luckily, before a rainy weekend, I got my straw bale garden planted. Roma tomatoes, broccoli, green peppers, zucchini and marigolds (for bug control) were stuck in my conditioned bales.

Parsley and rosemary are planted in the old bucket. I gather rocks nearly everyday. Yeah, yeah, strange habits, but it's like a fever after a while! These rocks were collected today, and God is washing them for me. They'll be placed around the beds either in front or back, we'll see.


These peonies were taken from our old home place, the house that my folks built in 1960. We all have a rose of sharon bush, or iris, or an old rambler, from home to grace our yards, and remind us of our childhood home.



The St. Francis statue was given to me from my MIL. It went from home to home, beginning in Illinois, then Florida, then Virginia and Colorado. It went where she did. Now it lives in our yard, and I love it!









This is an awkward corner in back of the house. It holds the a/c and my clothesline. It's shady so it's great for ivy, but a wet corner, so I laid river rock to help keep water away from the a/c.


The Florida kids gave us the Grandpa/Grandma sign the last time they were in Indiana, in 2004. They're coming up again in July. We'll see if they remember the sign!

We'll be planting green bean seeds into an old tub on the deck. Carrots were planted in an old enamel wash pan. Pics on that later.

The backyard is full of birds, and with the windows open it's such a joy to hear all of the birdsong. The dove is still living in the planter above the mailbox on the front porch. Her young one is gone, but she remains, and looks me eye to eye, as we chat each day. It's so uncanny...maybe she's roosting on another egg already. Who knows. Only Jim is tall enough to check! Nature, rocks and gardens really trip my trigger and soothe...does it do that for you too?