Sunday, August 30, 2009

Weekends are too short

The weekend went by so fast I can't even remember what I did yesterday other than alittle house work, and laundry of course!! But today I got in the garden pulled some weeds, cut back some plants that are done for the season and started to make mental notes on changes for next year.

Mike convinced me to leave the house and I took the opportunity to include my shopping in the day too. He wanted to replace his chair for tailgating(his list) -- so after two stores and alot of testing we found one that he could easily get in and out of and had the stability he required along with portability. Then we headed over to AC Moore (my list) and I got two new boxes for my scraproom-- on sale! They didn't have the black ones I wanted but the blue and green are mighty cute.

After a trip to the Ace Hardware store and the grocery store we finally made it home..


Then it was all about cooking-- we had green peppers from the garden that were begging to be used for something so we cooked a batch of stuffed green peppers and froze them to eat at a later date. And bonus !!the recipe called for tomato's and oregano.. both of which I have plenty growing out side... can't wait to eat these in the fall!



While I moved on to make some broccoli salad Mike set his sights on smoking some pork tenderloin and some ribs... we are set for the week! Then it was time to sit and enjoy-- I looked at Mike and he was glaring at something in the garden.. when questioned he responded with a "what kind of bug is that?" Pretty normal question at our house because we do have some unusual creatures... but then at closer look we decided that the bee looking creature could actually be a baby hummingbird!! Totally amazing.. we love to watch the hummingbirds in our yard but have never seen one this small-- I tried to get pictures.. but before I could get a zoom lens on the camera he was gone... maybe later this week he'll be back... and trust me I will be ready!



And while we were investigating flying things these two were pretending to be friends!

Speaking of animals now I remember yesterday... Maizy had a friend over to play... Foster came to play ball and grill with Uncle Mike... Maizy found yet another friend who likes to swim in my pond.. accidentally of course!!

Friday, August 28, 2009

One year ago

Amazing how so much can change in just one year... One year ago in August Mike was doing the happy dance when Amandas Dean list certificate came in the mail...

Furbie still lived with us and Maizy just really wanted her to play...
And Amanda and I took on NY City for the day and both realized how cool it was to go to the library!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

more? you want more right?


Because I know you wanted to see more Nascar!! hmmm?? Rumor has it that my car the JAck Daniels 07 might be pulling the car and sending my driver out to pasture???? Waiting for Christopher to provide me more updates on that...


In the above picture you will notice no wrecks... my car must be on the other side of the track!

Fireworks at the end of an evening surely make you feel better about having to wait an hour to leave the parking lot.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Bristol TN=Nascar

This past weekend we went down--way down to Bristol TN. The saying "God's country" must have been talking about TN. Couldn't have been more beautiful. We stayed at Watuga Lake... The water was so clear it looked like the carribean. While driving to and from the track was a challenge to say the least-- during daylight hours it was hard to keep your eyes on the winding roads. I finally understand the word "hollow". The deep valleys nestled in the greenest mountains-- I loved seeing the little bridges that crossed the streams that allowed people into their driveways... And houses made out of wood--not necessarily pressure treated.. just sticks and logs---but we weren't there for sightseeing-- we were there for THUNDER IN THE VALLEY-- Nascar!!
And Bristol really knows how to put on a show! They had Pulled Pork BBQ contests in the trailer area as well as a few good bands playing. Inside the racetrack they celebrated Mark Martins 1000th start-- And like they do at all races they paid tribute to the armed forces--but this time they had a great speaker and a video that made you stand up to cheer!! They intersperced the video with shots of serviceman down on the track and each time the crowd roared with appreciation. Say what you want about the rednecks that go to races but where else in America do they still pray before the event? and show patriotism in such a grand scale?

I attempted to have Christopher take a picture of me but he doesn't know the rules of only taking flattering shots from the shoulders up-- ahh he will learn---

The funniest part of the race was that even though Kyle Busch won and Mark Martin came in second the crowd cheered wildly at the end for Mark!! Gotta love it!!

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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Maizy


Not everyone wants to get out of bed early!

Monday, August 17, 2009



So I am totally in love with this
And this makes me really smile too:
They come from Angelohome and I love just about all the pieces.
Wouldn't that one of those chairs be perfect for my Scraproom??? hmm I just need to add another foot to the room to make it fit!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

oh yes she did


Got to play in my scraproom yesterday-- and this past week as part of the organizational challenge over at 2Peas we were organizing ribbons and fiber-- I haven't used any fiber on a layout in a long long time... but yesterday not only did I pull out a page kit from about 4 years ago-- I also used some fibers... no scanning just a quick picture.. It looks better in person (I hope)
And while I was playing I Also got a few more travel pages done--leftover pictures from last years trip to Vegas...

Early morning cooking

Today first thing on the list was making home made tomato sauce. The tomatoes are coming in fast and furious and we really can't eat them fast enough. So today we are trying our hand at making some fresh home made tomato sauce. Looks alittle pink to me--but hey its still got 4 hours of simmering to do sooo maybe it will darken up alittle?
The nice thing is all those ugly tomatoes -- once you de-skin them look lovely on the inside... just another case of inner beauty being more important than outer!
Now I just need to find something to do with ALL those cherry tomatoes!
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Monday, August 10, 2009

Exhausted

Another great thing about visiting Amanda and Corey is that Maizy comes home totally exhausted. I wish I had thought to take more pictures-- She and Cooper run non stop the entire time they are together. And when they aren't running they are playing tug or chewing on a bone (together!)-- Maizy ltotally loves her visits with Madison and Cooper. They are two friends that she can be her puppy self with-- they share all of their bones and balls and wear her out!! Cooper has finally learned not eat out of anyones bowl but his own so the three of them even got to eat together which was amusing because both Madison and Maizy spit out the color of food they don't like on the floor!! And Coop waited paitently before sliding over to clean up after them.
I got a good laugh at seeing the dogs go up on this fort/swingset, sliding board thing on the side yard - while they don't have kids to play on it the dogs all go up to the top deck so that they can see over the fence!! None have willing gone down the slide... but we keep hoping!

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Paint and pizza

Got to go see my Jersey Girls this weekend!! I brought my bathing suit so we could go to the "shore" but Amanda had other plans for us since the weather was overcast and calling for rain. Her house had some serious paint issues... As she put it the pink paint in her bedroom made her wake up angry every morning-- and if you saw it in person you would understand. So after a trip to the pond store that Mike and I saw on our way down we all headed over to the home depot --never a good idea for Mike and Corey to go to a Home Depot together!--as they put things in the cart Amanda and I took them out! But in the end we got a few gallons of paint and transformed her Angry Bedroom into a soothing restful spot.. She picked the nicest shade of blue-- almost a stormy, misty blue.. When all was said and done it was beautiful!!
We had alot of fun, got alot done and ate way too much... After a night of painting we ordered pizza--no easy feat as the kids have been on a search for "their pizza place" apparently they have been ordering from different places since they moved in looking for the perfect pizza... well Amanda hit gold this time... the pizza was PERFECT-- thin crusted cooked just right, alittle greasy, great sauce... and they even make Penne Vodka Pizza which if you ask me is probably the pizza they serve in Heaven because it is sooooo good. Yep the pizza was soo good the kids were high fiving over their find-- and now they have their "pizza place"... must be a jersey thing??