Friday Funny. . .

Seen on a truck a couple of years ago. . .

They had the truck backed up to a curb facing a busy road, so they could advertise. . . Worked for me!

It makes me laugh everytime I see it.

Happy weekend!

J

Trees. . .

I wish I could know the history of these trees. They're amazing. The oak(I think) on the top of my blog is about 15 miles away from Fox Hollow and it's my absolute favorite. I've named her Gretchen. The one below is an old one that I've seen the turkey vultures sit in to air their wings after a rain storm. In itself, that's a pretty awesome sight. Never thought I'd say that, but it is.

I should have taken another picture when I took this one a month or so ago, so I could incorporate the full field it sits in. It's in an odd spot and you get the best view just driving by. I'd have to pull into a ditch to get the shot from the road and I'd rather not have to explain that to The Dad, lol. In the fall, the grass is processed into hay and it's another lovely site. Seeing this old, what looks to be mostly dead, tree surrounded by bales of hay or straw with mountains in the background. Naturally, I haven't had the camera when the birds are "line drying". I'll try to do better.

Soon,

J

A Girl and Her Brother's Cat. . .

If caught in the right mood (read: asleep) Hobbes does well with the sling.

By the time we get to this last shot, Hobbes is saying, "Enough already!"

J

Boy-O, The Energy!

Is anyone else out there amazed at the energy level a 3 year-old boy possesses? I'm looking so forward to 4, providing he makes it, because I know it has to be so much easier than 3. I mean, I'm sure he'll slow down, talk less and not want to climb anymore. Surely, he's already done as much as he can in 3/4 of his third year. What else can he do in 3 months? Please. Wait. That was just plain stupid on my part. That's like asking, What else could go wrong?". . .

Tsk, tsk, tsk. . .

O.k., I realize I'm dreaming that it will get easier, and I've had many people tell me these are the "easy" years. If I only knew how to recite the Hail Mary or do the Rosary like my grandparents did. I know this is a wonderful time, it's just so blasted exhausting. I was just looking at him yesterday, wondering how he's already gotten so tall. Must be my genes, lol. I could go in so many directions with that. . .

Anywho, back from that tangent. When I was younger, I remember hearing my elders tell me how time flies and I hardly believed them. It felt like the days oozed by and I'd never drive, go to college, etc. What did they know?

Turns out, they knew what the heck was going on! That's what. I often find myself wondering how many people that have gone before me have wondered these same thoughts. Did my ancestors wonder and worry about the same things? Certainly not the technological things, but the bare bones of life. How interested were the older generations? Were they mainly trying to get through day to day, or did they take time to wonder these thoughts?

Seems I'm rambling again. See how my mind works? It just goes in so many directions at once, it's hard to keep track of. So many thoughts. . .

Oh, look, my little fella is already six feet tall!

I shouldn't make fun, it will seem like he is soon enough (unless he stops at 4 feet 11 inches).

Hope you made it through without getting confused. :)

Jenny

Best question (so far) today. . .

Kids are in the bathroom, making noise that I haven't really heard before. . .

I say, "What are you guys doing?"

7 Year-old daughter says, "What do you mean?"

What do I mean?!? Honestly, could I say it ANY more clearly??

Oy!

Soon, folks,

J

Update, Julie: Kid1 says,"Um, nothing." That's never good.

Turns out, Kid1 was giving a bath to the head of a Barbie with some bubble bath. Yes, you read that correctly, a head from a Barbie, actually a Barbie wannabe. She found her old bubble bath in the bathroom closet and decided to see how soapy/bubbly it would be while Kid2 was probably itching to get in on it. :)

Jody and Julie, this is for you!

Julie, somehowI doubt you'll be more impressed by our yard after seeing this, but I thought I'd show you our re-do last June 1st.

And Jody, here's the back yard since you were last able to see it. Has it really been that long? Zoinks!

Here we are starting at the back left of the house. I tried to pan all the way across to give you an idea of what was cleared. We opened up (read: cleared out the greenbrier and other brushy stuff) the back yard and left a few trees so the kiddos would have a place to play in our yard, so we wouldn't have to travel 20+ miles to play at a park. I'm really thrilled with it and I look forward to adding a few plants here and there to throw in some color. Speaking of color, the red line indicates the old yard and the new. I'll let you decide which is which. :)

Sorry about the blankets on the line. Oh, and the satellite dish was left in our woods by a precious previous owner. Why take it to the dump or give it away when you can toss it into the woods with some empty pallets and other miscellaneous things (bottles, buckets, string/rope, metal bars)? Quite a joy to remove the broken glass and rotten pallets.

Satellite dish now exposed for the world to see. Thinking about throwing in some pampas or zebra grass to help camoflage. Then again, the grass would be really tall there, and folks would wonder why we don't mow there, and probably assume we have a septic leak or other lovely scenario.

A view of the wheelbarrow still collecting misc. yard stuff that has since been removed and cleaned up. A joyful-looking deer target for my husband's extra-curricular activites. Hey, it could be worse. The "barn" as it's referred to is also going to get a facelift with some planting this year. Hopefully.

See the white thingy in the background? That is actually a little marker I have in to show me where I planted a wineberry bush I dug up from the woods near a friend's house. I believe wineberries are related to raspberries, but prettier and not as seedy. They are SO plentiful in the early to mid summer and are divine (with a big D) in a cobbler with blackberries.

And here we have our firewood pile that hasn't been stacked yet. :)

Talk with you soon!

XOJ

Where Do You Live!?!

Let me know where in the world you're from! I'm curious to see where you are!

Jenny

Do You Need a New Title?

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Venerable Lady Jenny the Sophisticated of St Winifred by Winchelsea Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I also came up with Marchioness Jenny the Lackadaisical of Happy Bottomshire.

Lovely, eh?

Happy Day, all,

Jenny

Our family's newest archer!

Evan (3) received his first longbow in the mail today while Daddy was at a bow shoot. Daddy came in first with something like a 254 out of 300. Woo-Hoo! E didn't even let him sit down when he came home. They immediately went to the back yard and started learning to shoot. A friend of Daddy's made the bow after getting E's measurements.

B has had her bow for a year or two. Getting better all the time. The posts you see in the picture are not the target. Promise. Those are the remnants of an old hanging target that haven't been removed yet since they have a base in the ground of cement.

Here are all three of them shooting at one of the two deer targets. Thankfully, everyone will have their own target if they choose to shoot at the same time, lol.

I hope to post more later,

Jenny

Lola's bath. . .

This is old news here, but I love her story and the pictures. Who would've thought a little Westie could have such a charmed life? We chose to give her a bath in soak wash. http://soakwash.com/ I was asked to try it by Mark Lipinski from Quilter's Home magazine http://www.quiltershomemag.com/ . I figure if it's good enough for quilts, it's good enough for our little Lola. Turns out, I loved the stuff and need to get more! Mark's magazine is a riot too!

Anywho. . .

Lola's not feeling so pretty and fresh, and she's being quite bashful due to her less-than-dainty appearance.

Let's just say she was really feeling the moment. Her first spa treatment.

Gasp! She has eyes!

Getting towel-dried off. Already looking like her old self.

Look out lads, here I come! Va-va-voom!

Try out the soak and Mark's mag! You'll love them both!

Stay warm and dry today!

Jenny

A few pictures from our past few days. . .

Lovey

Poor, poor Lovey. . .

B was enjoying dressing up her kitty, Lovey, who really prefers not to be dressed up. If you're wondering where the clothes are from, B has a stuff dog Lola who she buys regular dog clothes for. Odd yes, but it keeps the dog clothes clean. :) I wouldn't dare put them on our Jack Russell since I know they would be ruined in under five minutes. No offense, Penny.

Here's Hobbes, dressed on the same day Lovey was. . . totally oblivious.

Lola will get her shot at stardom in the next post. :)

How was your weekend?

Jenny

Howdy Folks!

Lemme know what you think of the new background. Does it make the font too hard to read? It seems to make the font a little thin/fine to me. ???

I'll also try to think of something exciting to mention here. Hmmm. . .

Still tweaking,

Jenny

This afternoon. . .

Bad weather headed this way this afternoon. Everyone be safe and stay well.

Jenny

P.S. And we ended up with about 16 raindrops. So much for that forcast. :) I have to say I'll take that over hail, winds and tornadoes any day. xoj

Picture of the day. . .

I don' have time to write much, but I wanted to post this picture from this morning. I have entitled it Dedication. . .

The poor boy couldn't miss his few minutes of computer time to even break for the potty.

Time to get folks ready for bed,

Sweet Dreams,

Jenny

Latest Project. . .

Here's what I need to work on next. He is to go in our kitchen and welcome all three or six people that visit our home over the course of a year. Pretty exciting, eh? He needs quilted now. I'll try to show him to you when he's hanging.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Jenny

Gretchen the tree. . .

I apologize about putting a pic of Gretchen, my favorite tree, in the recipes below, but it seems when I insert a picture, I have more lee-way and control over the spacing in my document. Was that a run-on sentence, or what?!?

Anywho, enjoy and let me know if there are any questions or problems.

XOJ

Meat loaf and potatoes. . .

These could both be a meal in themselves to me, but I imagine that's not how they were intended. :)

First we have the meat loaf. I'm not sure where this recipe came from, but it is yummy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Easy-Peasy Meatloaf. . . (termed so by moi)

2 lbs. lean ground beef

1 pkg. (6.25 oz.) Stove Top stuffing mix (I like Savory Herb)

1 c. water

1/2 c. ketchup, divided in half

2 eggs, beaten

MIX all ingredients except for 1/4 c. of the ketchup

SHAPE meat mixture into oval in 12x8 baking dish; top with remaining 1/4 c. ketchup

BAKE at 375° F for 1 hour or until center is no longer pink. Makes 6 servings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the same Fix-It and Forget-It cookbook mentioned below, we have Cheese and Potato Bake on page 231. I'm not kidding here folks. If I didn't have children toset an example for, I would weigh 500 pounds and eat this as a meal. It's that good. Here we go:

2-lb. bag frozen hash browns

10 3/4 oz. can cheddar cheese soup

10 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken soup

1 c. milk

2.8 oz. can French-fried onion rings

1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese

1. Combine hash browns, soups and milk in slow cooker. Mix well.

2. Top with half can of onion rings.

3. Cover. Cook on Low 6-8 hours. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and remaining opnion rings about 1 hour before serving.

and thou shalt hear their loins rejoice and sing your praises..... until the next day.

Enjoy!

Jenny