Friday!

We are having a beautiful day! It was 48 degrees this morning, so all the windows have been open wide. It is warming up this afternoon, so I've closed up the house and turned on the air to get rid of some of the humidity. I'm looking forward to the days ahead when I won't be turning the air conditioning on at all.


This is a picture of a Great Blue Heron that likes to hang out on the creek at the beginning of our road. We've been trying to get a good picture of one of them for a while. Hubby's effort last week is the best so far, as they are very camera shy.


Have a great weekend,



R~Mary

Wednesday!

Everyone head over to Stitchinbythelake and check out Marlene's giveaway! If you haven't visited over there before, you're gonna love her blog~!

My friend Bebe has given me the Blogging Friends Forever award~thank you Bebe!!




There are rules for this award ~
1. There are only five people allowed.
2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be a new follower of your blog, or live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to the one that gave you this award.
These are so difficult to choose because I love so many of your blogs!! But, rules are rules, so here are my picks
Well, the rules say only 5 people~but I want all of you to have it. I have met so many wonderful, sweet people here in blog land and I just can't choose!

R~Mary

Fall Baking

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Swirl Bars

1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda

Combine pumpkin, 1 1/3 cup sugar, oil, & eggs, mixing well. Combine dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and blend well. Pour into 9x13 inch, greased baking pan.

Cream Cheese Swirl

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar

Beat Cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar until creamy. Spoon 1 tbsp. at a time to top of pumpkin mixture, using all of it. Swirl cream cheese with a knife throughout cake for marbled effect. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen

I had a picture to go with this post, but I guess Mr. Blogger doesn't like it, as I cannot get it to upload.


R~Mary

September Days

"By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer’s best of weather

And autumn’s best of cheer."- Helen Hunt Jackson, September, 1830-1885

My windows were open all day so we could enjoy the lovely breeze. I can't believe that September is over half over! Time flies by so fast! Hope you've all had a beautiful day.

R~Mary

Tagged!

My friend Marlene, at Stitchinbythelake, has tagged me to tell 6 random things about myself. So, here goes:

1. When home alone, I prefer my house to be totally silent--no radio, television, or music.

2. I love to read mysteries. My favorite authors are Agatha Christie, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Anne Perry.

3. Although from the South, I prefer my ice tea unsweetened.

4. I like garlic salt on my popcorn.

5. I like to write romance and mysteries.

6. My two favorite pies are pecan and buttermilk.

I am supposed to tag six more people, but I've seen this tag on several of your blogs--so, if you haven't been tagged-----you're it!

R~Mary

Organizing

Living in a very small house, I spend a lot of time organizing. . .and reorganizing. That's not to say that I am what you might call, 'organized', LOL! I just work at it a lot.


One thing that has bugged me for a long time is the stack of mail that is always on one of my kitchen counter spaces. It's not that everybody just chunks it there instead of putting it up. That's really the only place for it. But I still don't like to look at it.



So I am happy that my solution to this problem involves something that I've always wanted. Which, if you know me very well, you will guess is something old. I spotted it right away the last time I was at the flea market.

This old bread box, with it's rusty patches and fruit motif is the perfect solution for my stack of mail. At least for now. I'd love to have a real desk area for our bills and mail, but that will involve a little more creativity at some point in the future.

For now, my counter looks a little less messy. Do any of you have some tips for organizing small areas?

R~Mary

Sunday Evening

"Pray often; for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan." John Bunyan

I keep this framed quote hanging in my kitchen. Many times it has been a special reminder to me!

Blessing to all of you this Sunday,

R~Mary

Friday!!!

Our day is starting off nice and sunny! I hope it stays that way, as Ike is going to send us buckets of rain and lots of wind by tomorrow night. I've got the oil lamps set out, just in case! We lost electricity for a few hours when Gustav's remnants came through and knocked over a few trees onto power lines just up the road.

This is the tin punch sign that I am going to hang on my family 'picture' wall. I punched it last week, but it is not quite finished, as it still needs to be 'antiqued' to get the shine off.

I copied the letters from a free font sight on the Internet and the round design I put on the ends is from a punching book that I have. It's been a while since I did any punching, and I'd forgotten how much fun it is to see the finished product!

Hubby hasn't started on the frame just yet, but I'm hoping we might get to it this weekend, as we'll pretty much be trapped at home by the rain, if we get as much as they are saying. The little low water bridge at the beginning of our lane has water just below the top, so it won't take much to get it running over.

Everyone have a great weekend.


R~Mary

Fall Decorating. . .

I'm still working on getting out some of my fall things. I'd like to get out some sweaters, take a walk through the falling leaves and maybe sit around a campfire~but it's a little early in the season for that. Still, my hubby did mention that the hickory trees were starting to turn yellow back in the mountains behind us!

I found this wreath at the flea market last week. I really like the way it looks on my front door. This is the first time I've ever put up a fall wreath.

I found this material when I made a stop at Wal Mart. I like the patchwork look it has and think it might make a nice shade for the window on my kitchen door. My daughter says the patterns in the squares remind her of something that Charles Wysocki would have painted on a quilt. It's not truly a 'fall' pattern, but I think the colors in it will do nicely. I should have enough left over to make a table runner.

The little ceramic pumpkins in the bowl were on a shelf at the flea market and I just couldn't resist adding them to the small collection that I already have.

I hope all of you are having a nice day. It rained all night and is quite soggy outside this morning. I'm wondering if we'll end up getting any rain from Ike, once he has made landfall. Seems we've just had too much rain this year. We had too little for several years, so I'll just be thankful that we're not too dry anymore.

Happy fall,

R~Mary

Goodbye Gustav!

Gustav has bid his final farewell to us! I will say that I am glad to see him go. It did rain some during the night last night, but today was sunny and warm~and a little too humid.
This morning, my daughters and I headed north a few miles and did a little bit of flea-marketing. After all the rain we've been having, I just couldn't resist this cute little folk art style Noah's ark. It was only $3! I also made a few other purchases that I don't have any pictures of yet~including a few fall decorations to put around the house that I'll share with you sometime next week.


Everyone have a great weekend!


R~Mary

An Award!!!

My friend, Marlene, a fellow 'Arkie' blogger, has recommended my blog for this award! If you don't know Marlene, please go on over and take a look at her blog. Not only does she make beautiful quilts, she will literally keep you in 'stitches' with her fun and clever posts. She never fails to bring a smile to my face~unless it is a tear to my eye when she reminds us of the complexities of life and our duty to love and care and support each other in all that we are going through. Please check out her blog, if you aren't a regular visitor over there!

Here are the rules:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

I always find it hard to pick blogs to pass an award to. You are all so special and I enjoy 'visiting' on all of your blogs! Please consider this award passed on to you, if you stop by here!

R~Mary

Rain

Gustav is too late to spend the holiday weekend with us, but he managed to show up early this morning. We will get about 6-10 inches before it is over~a little more than we need, so there will be some flooding in low areas. We'll also get some cooler temps while he is here, so I won't complain too much.

I do pray that all of you in his path weathered the storm okay. I know there is a lot of damage and water left behind.

I've got housework this morning, but I think I'll spend the afternoon curled up with a good book and a cup of tea.

R~Mary