Enjoy Your Labor Day Weekend

I do hope everyone has an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend....have fun with your family and friends. God Bless!

Kathy

Giveaways And My Second Award

Tammy over at http://theoldehollowcrow.blogspot.com/ is having a giveaway. I just love the prairie doll and 3 little clothes pin dolls. Thanks Tammy!


Kindra http://3guysagirlandaprimplace.blogspot.com/ continues to celebrate her birthday...she is having a giveaway and it is something she has made:0). Thanks Kindra!



Once again I am soooo honored to recieve an award. Thanks Rondell http://rondell-tomatoecreekprims.blogspot.com/ for the Smile Award!
Rondell commented that I seem to be so calming and never in a hurry...you should see me in the morning when I am trying to post. Rondell, I am far from being calm when I am waiting for my pictures to upload ;0) Oh well I guess that is part of being human.

THE SMILE AWARD's rules are:

1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator (it's right on the award)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award (see below.)
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver. (s)

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human).
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from other.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids.

The 5 people I chose all make me smile

Leslie from http://sweets-mycountryhome.blogspot.com/ I chose Leslie because she was one of the first blog's I began reading back in February just after finishing my last Thyroid Cancer Treatment. It was such a joy to go check and see what she had been up to. Thanks Leslie for making me smile.

Lisa from http://blacksheepprims.blogspot.com/ I chose Lisa...just love visiting her site and seeing all the prim goodies she has made and the makeovers. Lisa also gave me my first award and that really made me smile. Thanks Lisa.

Kim from http://wespeakofhim.blogspot.com/ I chose Kim...she gives so many inspirational post and it always makes me smile and reminds me 'How Good God Really Is" Thanks for sharing scriptures.

Ann-Maire http://thissimplelifeofmine.blogspot.com/ I chose Ann-Maire because just the title "This Simple Life Of Mine" makes me smile...So often I get caught up in "stuff" and it is always good to just step back and keep life simple. Thanks Ann-Marie...also just love all the prim goods you create.

Jill http://thefruitofherhandstudio.blogspot.com/ I chose Jill ...again "The Fruit of her Hands" was another one of the first blogs I started reading. Thanks Jill just love all the tutorials. Your Boston Bull Dog makes me smile because it reminds me of our little Boston Sloan.

This was really a touch job chosing just 5 because all of the blogs in my Favorites and many that are not bring a smile to my face.

Thanks to everyone for brightening my day!

Blessings,

Kathy

Whatcha Working On Wednesday

The last couple of days have really been hectic.... yet I continue to thank God for blessing us with the fruit and veggie to harvest.

Last Saturday I froze peaches and there will be peach preserves made today.

These Damson plums were picked Monday and today they will become jam.

My brother shared some of his corn crop with us... my mother and I picked the corn...Tuesday evening I began working on it and woke up at 4:00 this morning, finished cooking and freezing the corn.

My mother-in-law shared these tomatoes with me ( my tomatoes have not ripen yet) and today they will become salsa. I have the water boiling now and soon I will start removing the peel. We use alot of salsa in Black Bean Soup, Chili, Dip, etc. Just love it!

As you can see I have a busy day ahead of me and today is my Mother's Birthday. I hope to read and comment on your post soon for some reason there has not been much time for me to
visit :0(

Have a Great Day!

Blessings,

Kathy

Rondell's 100th Post Giveaway And More...

Rondell's 100th post giveaway... if you would like to enter into the drawing visit her at http://rondell-tomatoecreekprims.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-100th-post-giveaway.html

I just love homemade crafts and candles. Thanks Rondell for an awesome giveaway.

Yesterday I had a wonderful time with Tiff, Mandy, Hampton (Mandy's little boy)and with new friends Sonya, Ida (a young Amish girl) and her little boy William. We had such a fun and relaxing day.

Sonya made a delicious lunch for us. She served fried chicken, peas, mash potatoes, gravy, biscuits, and white fluff cake.

Ida and I picked plums...going to attempt plum jelly.

I thank God for new and old friends!

Tomorrow is Whatcha Working on Wednesday...will share then what I have been up to.

Blessings,

Kathy

Sweethome Garden Tour

Good Monday Morning! Just thought I would share a few pictures of my late summer gardens. I just love hibiscus...there are several varieties in my gardens. Look close and you will see a bee taking pollen.

This is my favorite the sunlight seem to lighten the red...it is a darker shade. The flower is the size of a dessert plate.

My surprise lilies just pop up everywhere.

My DH made a water garden for me... there is just something about the sound of running water that is sooo calming.

An old fashion favorite are Holly Hocks...they remind me of my Grandmother.

I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Today I am having lunch with some friends and we plan on stopping by a wonderful flea market.
So I had better go.

Have a great day!

Blessings,

Kathy

I played Pay It Forward with Linda http://behindmyreddoor.blogspot.com/ and look what was waiting for me when I returned home.

A prim pumpkin and candy corn ornies...thanks so much Linda. The timing was perfect...this has gotten me in the mood to decorate for Fall.

Again thanks Linda!

I will be mailing my PIF's out Tuesday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Blessings,
Kathy

My Does Time Fly!

The rest of the week will be spent moving my DD out of state to college.
My DH, Mom, and I will be spending a few days in the Smokey Mtns.
This is my DD at 1 1/2 years old.

She was chosen princess for her kindergarden class.

Jessica in Venice, Italy when she was 12 years old.

Jessica on a mission trip to Jamaica.

I am sooo proud of her.

Will post in a few days...there is still packing to be done and we need to leave in a couple of hours.

Have a great day!

Blessing,

Kathy

My First Award & Angie's Giveaway

I can't believe it! I feel soooo honored. Lisa over at Black Sheep Prims http://blacksheepprims.blogspot.com/
presented me with my very first award. Thank You SO MUCH! As Lisa mentioned in her post yesterday - when she started blogging she wondered if anyone would read it. I was the very same way and blogging has been so much fun.

The rules of the award are:
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

Choosing 7 is really going to be tough. .... I'm nominating the following blogs for the "I Love Your Blog" Award ~

Dot's http://picketsplace.blogspot.com/
Debbie's http://ribbonwoodcottage.blogspot.com/
Rondell's http://rondell-tomatoecreekprims.blogspot.com/
Mary's http://gettysburghomestead.blogspot.com/
Lea's http://farmhouseblessings.blogspot.com/
Jill's http://thefruitofherhandstudio.blogspot.com/
Linda's http://behindmyreddoor.blogspot.com/

Thanks again Lisa! Such a nice start to an upcoming emotional week. Tomorrow we help move my daughter out-of-state to college.

There are alot of giveaways out in blog land and I just discovered another one. Angie over at Love My Sandles And Daisies is having a double giveaway. So you must go visit and decide which give away you would like to participate in. Thanks! Angie http://lovemysandalsanddaisies.blogspot.com/2008/08/double-giveaway-why-she-must-have-gone.html

Have a wonderful day!

Blessings,

Kathy

Cheryl is having a Halloween sign giveaway

Cheryl has opened a web site store http://www.yesterdayscountryandprimdecor.com/ . In honor of doing so she is having a Halloween sign giveaway.
Stop by and visit her store.

Two Great Fall Giveaways

Linda over at http://behindmyreddoor.blogspot.com/2008/08/its-give-away-time.html is having a wonderful " almost fall giveaway". Just go over and leave a comment.

Sue over at http://countrypleasures.blogspot.com/ is also having a fall themed giveaway. Just thought you might want to check it out, leave her a comment, and please tell her you found it out from me.

Thanks Ladies!

Have a great evening!

Blessings!

Kathy

Sunflowers

Just thought I would share a couple of pictures of Sunflowers in my garden. They happen to be one of my favorite summer and autumn flowers..

This variety has flower clusters all along the huge stem and it is approx. 8 ft. tall.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings, Kathy

Pay It Forward

Thank you ladies for all the Birthday wishes.

I received alot of B-day cards but this card from my DD meant soooo much. This has always been my main goal in life and just to see it on a card and know my daughter picked it especially for me was just soooo precious. The words written on the card brought tears to me eyes and inside it said "Thank you! Happy Birthday! I Love You, Jessica"

Thanks sweetie! "I love the web cam too!"



Linda from
http://behindmyreddoor.blogspot.com/ announced a "Pay It Forward" on her blog and I decided to play.
This is how the "Pay it Forward" works - I will send a small gift of my choice to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this "Pay it forward" exchange. You must make the same pledge on your blog. Please keep the item small so that it can be mailed in a mailing envelope or small box. So if you want a little goody from me and you are willing to do the same on your blog, leave me a comment and let me know. Therefore you must have a blog to play this one. So make sure I have a way to contact you initially -either by leaving a link to your blog or an email address. If you stopped by but you don't want to play, you can still leave me a comment - I love visitors! You will only be included in playing if you say you want to play and you are one of the first three.

Have a Great Day!

Blessings!

Kathy

Happy Birthday to Me! Whatcha Working on Wednesday

Wow! Time really flies....today is my Birthday...My plans for the day is to be pampered at the salon...as you can see from the picture there are green beans to can. Last night by DD and I broke beans while watching the Olympics...this morning will be processing time. As mentioned before I just love this time of year...harvesting all the veggies.

I really have no big plans for the rest of the day (that I know of) just plan on enjoying my Birthday.
Blessings,
Kathy

Yard Sale Treasures

Here are some of my yard sale treasures. I really didn't know what I was buying but it look old and unique.

After looking at it closer....it is a jar lifter that you use while canning...not sure of the proper name. I had never seen one like this before... it was $1.50
I always look for trash to treasure deals...here are a few things I bought. The wood box was $4 and the door crown, wood platter, small cheese box,the thing with a dowel rod and heart on it looks like a display of some sort were $1.00 each.

The sewing box was $2.00.

This wood bucket was $1.00. I also found a lot of small things to work with....Christmas candles (the battery and electric type) .10 each...will grubby them up, paper cutter, stylus, ironing board that will hang over my craft room door, and a lot of other small treasures.

Blessings,
Kathy

127 Yard Sale

As you can tell by the SUV that was stopped in front of us....everyone was ready to find treasures.

The weather was perfect lower 80's and low humidity... which is very unusual for this time of year. We saw three barns displaying quilt blocks.

I plan to start an album of the barn displays.....

This year the yard sales I went to and have gone to in the past did not seem to have as many treasures...in the past the route we normally take would be a two day trip...seemed as though a lot of out -of- state ventors did not travel as far away from home due to the gas prices.

In the past vehicles (ours included) would be sooooo packed with treasures they only had leg room...but this year I did not see one vehicle loaded to that capacity.

Today I work at a little general store for a friend so I must wait until tomorrow to show you what treasures I picked up..

Blessings,
Kathy

The Most Frightening Experience In All Of My Life

As most of you know yesterday my Mom and I went on the 127 Yardsale....all day long I had been watching people cross the road...being careful that know one stepped out in front of me.

When I was just approx. 8 miles from home there was this little boy on his bike that came off this embankment and rode right into the side of the van. I was driving slow...there was a stop sign right in front of me.

I just can't hardly find words to describe this.....I stop the van... looked back ..... jumped out of the van... there he was on the road. He jumped up and looked at me and said "I'm I bleeding and I looked him over and said "no honey your not bleeding" I proceeded to ask him where his mom was and he said she was not home and I ask "where is your house"....he pointed to a white house ... my mom stayed with him while I ran over to the house....not knowing what to expect or who would come out....this man (probably late 20's early 30's) came to the door and I said, "could you come outside and I explained the little boy seem to be okay and that he ran into the car". (how do you break the news that the little boy had been in a wreck)

I'm not sure if it was the little boy's father or not but the little boy was saying I couldn't stop my bike it doesn't have brakes....the man seemed more concerned if the van was hurt and if it was going to cost money....I said that was the last thing we were concerned about that he needed to look over the little boy....so my mom and I proceeded to point out he had a bruise on his head, scrap on his little arm and leg, and that his back looked bruised.

He said to the little boy we'll take care of it...we will go into the house and put a little alcohol on it.(not sure if he was joking with the little boy ) but my mom said OH know!

Needless to say...on the way home all I could think about was the what if's....if just a couple of seconds sooner I would have ran over him...I was so sick....I called my husband, he came home, and said we should have called the police. So we called them and the officer said they did not fill out police report unless there as a significant cost involved...my husband said we are not concerned about the vehicle ...we were wanting to make sure everything was handled correctly...he said he would log that it occurred. That just seems so strange to me how the police handles some things...I know the little boy ran into the side of the van and it wasn't my fault ...I just not know...I just think the police should have went to the house and made sure the little boy was ok.

Thank God the little boy was not hurt worse...

This has always been a fear of mine....things can happen sooooo quickly.

Lisa's Blog Giveaway

Lisa from Black Sheep Prims is having a Back to School Blog Give Away! http://blacksheepprims.blogspot.com/

A wonderful Laundry Gathering....

Thanks Lisa!

Blessings,
Kathy

Day Trip

Yesterday was a loooooong day...left home at 8:30a.m. and back at 12:30a.m. We saw 3 barns along the Interstate...DD took a picture of one ...not an easy shot when moving 70mph.
The college campus is beautiful...this is the dorm my daughter will be moving in...she is so thankful it will be a private room.
My DD(Jessica on the left) and her friend Haleigh on the right. Haleigh just moved into an apartment last week and was so glad to see us. I am also thankful DD already knows someone at school.

I have already shared with some of you that I homeschooled my DD from 3-12th grade and she has been commuting from home to college for the last 4 years.

Jessica and Haleigh had been attending University of Louisville studying in the Interpreter Training Program then all of a sudden the University dropped the program.

Jessica has made alot of difficult decisions since the Spring and dealt with a heart break when her boyfriend told her he couldn't wait another two years. So through much prayer has decided on this college in Maryville, TN. Jessica's degree will be in Sign Language Interpreting.

I am soooo proud of her.

Oh yes tomorrow is my big yard sale adventure.... will take lots of pictures and share Monday.
Have a wonderful and safe weekend.

God Bless,
Kathy

World's Longest Yard Sale

Copied this picture from a google search.
The annual 127 yard sale begins today and goes through Sunday. It is the World's Longest Yard Sale...over 600 miles... Mom and I have been going for several years and I am soooooooo looking forward to Saturday. I live appoximately 30 minutes from the 127 HWY and you see license plates from alot of different states. People are pulling U-Hauls, driving recreational vehicles, tying things on top of their cars, and inside of the vehicle is only leg room:O). We only travel approx. 25 miles of it, not stopping at all of them, and it takes a good 8 - 9 hours. I will take pics and show you Monday.

Mom, DD Jessica, and I are making a run to Tenn. today 3 1/2 hr drive so my DD can meet with her adviser and register for classes.
Have A Great Day!
Blessings,
Kathy

Whatcha Working On Wednesday

Last Saturday I went to three yard sales and all I bought was two graters . . . spend a total of 50 cents. Starting tomorrow is the 127 annual yard sale and if you have never heard of that I will explain it tomorrow.

Thanks for the many suggestions on how I should display the checkerboard and scoop.

Thanks to Carolyn, Lisa, and Linda...I have decided to leave the checkerboard alone and display it on the shelf above my window in the Living Room. (Standing on a chair to get this shot)
The old scoop I am still playing with...it may change with the season thanks to my fellow bloggers for giving me endless possiblities.
The grubby apples in the crock were red apple Christmas ornaments I had bought 12 at the GW for 50 cents so I just dipped them in wax and hand pressed cinnamon and cloves.
As I had mentioned before my friend Tiff draws her doddles and I attempt to bring some life to them and write up her painting patterns. I have completed 4 and have approx. 20 more to go.
Have a great evening!
Kathy

Recipe For Yellow Squash Pickles

Back by popular demand!!! Yellow Squash Pickles
4 qt. sliced squash (thinly sliced)
6 med. white onions (thinly sliced)
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 large green pepper (diced)
1 large red pepper (diced)
1 1/3 cup Pickling salt
Combine the above ingred. in a granite kettle and cover with ice.

Stir every hour for 3 hours....then rinse with cold water...drain.

Combine the following ingred. into a granite kettle
5 cups white sugar
3 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. tumic
1/2 tbsp. celery seed
1 tbsp. mustard seed
Bring these ingred. to a rolling boil....add the vegetables.


Bring to a rolling boil. Add 1/4 teaspoon of Alum into the empty hot jars then add the squash mixture and seal.
Process 10 min. in boiling water. This recipe makes approx. 6 pints. If any questions feel free to e-mail.
Blessings,
Kathy