Random Musings

We woke up Saturday morning about 3am to the sound of swooshing wings right outside our window. I got up, and could only see one guinea. Seeing as they roost on Bobby's ramp (which is right outside our window), we debated whether or not they were attempting to fly up to the roof. Later the next day Bobby would discover two of the birds were gone. An owl perhaps?  Or did a raccoon pull them down while they slept and the swoosh was them trying to get back up? The birds themselves made no noise at all, which is incredible. They have to be the noisiest animals we've ever had. So I'm thinking if an animal pulled them down, we would have heard it. But we'll never know. We lost another two last night, but were both so dead tired we didn't hear anything. But all that to say, we woke up an hour before our alarm went off. Yes, that's correct. We got up at 4am on a Saturday morning so we could be at McDonald's by 6am for breakfast.  Yep, you read that right! We wante...

Somehow I've made it on the mailing list for Crate & Barrel. As far as I know, I've purchased one thing there, and it was a gift for someone else. Regardless, I like to flip through it before tossing it into the recycling container. But today something caught my eye.  Perhaps it's my tried and traditional self coming out, perhaps it's my southern country backwoods mindset, but I have never, ever seen anything like this nor could ever imagine myself using it. http://www.crateandbarrel.com/search.aspx?query=jm360 The picture in the magazine shows it with snow peas, though the description says it's for party foods, like olives or crackers. I just find it odd, and could never, ever imagine me using something like this. I can see me being at a modern person's house who has a dish like this and managing to mishandle the serving utensil in something shaped like this and making a mess on the tablecloth. So I'm curious. Would you use a narrow dish that...

Don't ask me what the title of this post means. I think we decided on good spices or good flavors, but seeing as I've never studied Spanish I'm just taking someone's word for it. Sunday night after church Bobby and I sauntered down the sidewalk to this little Mexican restaurant that has recently opened in the same building where our church meets. Dumbfounded would be a great description for our emotions (and maybe our faces?) when we walked in and discovered the entire menu was in Spanish. I knew the word for chicken, pork and taco (thanks to working at Taco Bell during college and having non-English speakers coming in for food), but that's about it. After a few minutes of discussing what we were seeing and neither one of us really having a clue, the lady holds up a folded piece of paper and says "We do have an English menu."  Instant relief! I'm guessing this is true, authentic Mexican food. It was very different from what you normal...

Last month when I pulled out all my stash so we could assemble Tommy B's quilt top, I had a hard time putting it back up. You see, several years ago I purchased these "panels" on clearance from a quilt store. Seeing as I had two whole strips of piecings (How does my math always wind up being so off?) leftover from Tommy's quilt top, it seemed a shame to let everything be folded and put away.  I mean, there was another quilt top screaming to be made. (Yes, I hear your voices shouting "One project at a time!" and "That's not on February's to-do-list" and "You can't be SERIOUS!") So I did what any scatter-brained project starter does best: I started another quilt top. :) It didn't quite turn out like I had envisioned it, but that's okay. So here it is, four minutes off the sewing machine: the side view (notice the long pieced strip near the side...that's the leftover) and an upside view (just pretend you...

Whether my life today is good or bad is really my choice. I can focus on the negative, or I can focus on the positive. The circumstances of today may be less than ideal, but my attitude will always determine whether or not people enjoy being in my presence and how I feel about the day. I was reminded of that while reading Mary Custis Lee's diary entry for the close of the Civil War. For those of you who like me (until recently) are unaware of many historical details, Mary Custis Lee, the wife of Robert E. Lee, was the great-granddaughter of George Washington. The plantation where she and her husband lived, property formerly owned by the Washingtons, was taken from them during the Civil War, and as a punishment, was turned into a Union graveyard. That site is now Arlington National Cemetery. I have always heard about the supposed "great faith" of Robert E.Lee, and I was impressed with his wife's last war diary entry. "...Tho' it has not pleased Almighty God...

One of the third things that really struck me by the diary entries of southern women during the Civil War was the disparity between places and lifestyles. By 1863, most of the South was woefully suffering. A young lady from Georgia, teaching on a southern plantation in Eufaula, Alabama recorded the measures they took to live. Berries from the dogwood tree were used to make quinine (a pain medicine) since the usual plants it was made from was unavailable. Blackberry roots were pulled up and stewed into a cordial for dysentery, though if people were fortunate enough to have a persimmon tree, very ripe persimmons were preferred. Since "bicarbonate of soda" used in the raising of bread was no longer available because of the blockades, women discovered the ashes from burned corncobs would work just as well.  (I don't even want to know how they found that out or if it changed the flavor of the bread any.) They learned to make their own yarn, knit, and take an ind...

Last night I FINALLY finished reading a book I started about this time last year. It's non-fiction, meaning it's one of those I pick up occasionally and read a page or two before putting it back on my dresser.  Called Heroines of Dixie, it's actually a compilation of arranged diary entries (thanks to Katharine M. Jones who researched, read, verified, and compiled it into a large volume!) from women who lived in the South during the time of the Civil War. It's quite interesting when you jump from a flighty, romantic 16-year-old writer to a mother whose husband and son is off at war and she's wrestling with reality on the home front. Yes, perspective is everything. But one of my favorite entries is from the famous (infamous?) female spies, Rose O'Neal Greenhow, who was 44 and the mother of 4 girls when the war started.  After the first battle, the Federal Secret Service placed her under surveillance, (she was a Maryland native but had many Washington connectio...

It starts tonight. And it has expanded space! The annual Wake County Library Book Sale (where they sell books that haven't been checked out in 2 years or more, have been donated, or best sellers that they bought multiple copies of due to demand but now no longer need) has come!  New location this year: THE FAIRGROUNDS!!! :) And all proceeds go to help purchase new books for the libraries. I may have to refrain from going. Goodness knows I have more books than I can read right now. I just hate passing up a bargain on something I enjoy so much! I might go tomorrow morning. I may brave the crowds and the picked over selection and go Saturday when prices are half off.  Maybe my husband will have a change of heart about shopping on Sunday and I can go when you get a whole box of books for $5! I might not go at all. Who knows? But, if you are interested, here's the info: http://www.wakegov.com/libraries/events/booksale/default.htm Happy book hunting!

While talking to my aunt on her birthday, she mentioned that they were going through albums trying to find photos of family members in their service uniforms. My cousin had been in a house where they took one wall and made it a wall of honor, with pictures and clippings of close family members who had been in various branches of service. Really liking what she saw, my cousin has decided to do her own version. My aunt has always been the family historian, and as we got to talking I realized I had a few things she didn't. In 2003, my cousin was sent to Iraq. Stationed at Camp LeJeune, he was not willing to leave his car and belongings in storage on base for six months, so Bobby's Uncle went with me to pick his car up and bring it here. (I can't drive a stick shift.) During the time he was gone, I saved every newspaper that mentioned the war, anything about his unit, or a unit that could possibly be his. So the last few days I've been scanning in articles and photos to c...

It has never failed. Every year, ever since I can remember, in honor of my sister's birthday, stores sell candy, teddy bears, fancy cards, and you get to have a party at school, even when she's not in your class. How cool is that? And now that she teaches first grade?  She has a party at work for her birthday, and all (or at least most) of her kids give her cards.  And we'll probably eat out tonight...after all, Naomi's Day only comes once a year. :) Yesterday afternoon we made our second venture to the Wicked Chicken Auction in Wilson's Mills. The first time we went, the first time they ever had it, we were home by about 4pm, which worked great. So I'm thinking it'll be about the same this time.  Ummm, no.  We get there, a little late, and they have built shelving since the first auction to hold all the birds and critters. By 4pm we realize they're not going to finish the auction before 4:30. You can't pick up what you buy until the auction is ove...

A Table in the Presence by Lt. Carey H. Cash Riveting...thought provoking...tear jerking... heart stopping....and definitely a motivational read. I remember the first gulf war. Sadly I remember all too clearly 9/11 and its aftermath. But I also remember the prayers. The heart-chilling 11:30pm phone call from my cousin, fearing I was about to hear the worst about his brother, only to have my own thoughts repeated to me "I can't sleep; Kev is on my mind." The next thirty minutes of prayer over the phone will be a night I remember forever. The following weeks it seemed every time I awoke I would be offering up a prayer for God's protection over my cousin and for His spirit to draw him back, for the WORD from his childhood to penetrate his mind, for a fellow Marine to be a believer and encourage him, for there to be a godly chaplain nearby. And then came the letters, about the worst fighting he had seen to date, and of being certain he was about to die, of fear.  And...

I love the sunshine! It has been so nice to have bright sun shining through the windows the last few days! It makes me feel warmer, even when I'm not! Plus, it's the morning after. A group of ladies from church came over last night for our monthly "Apples of Gold" meeting (we watch someone cook, have a study/devotional, eat & discuss the night's topic).  It was so nice to face a clean kitchen and living room this morning. I told Bobby the kitchen counters look naked. So I may spend a part of today cleaning the three rooms in the house that didn't get cleaned. Granted, within a week, it won't look like this, but for today I'm enjoying it very, very much. This week has certainly been a week of cleaning, and not just the house.  My soul/spirit, and tomorrow the chicken pen. (My favorite yard boys are coming over and we're taking the netting off the top and redoing it, as well as cleaning all the old mulch out.)  I doubt I tackle the vehicles thi...

I've come a long way in learning to tell people no, in not worrying about whether or not I please people. But I still find it very hard. Six years ago, if someone had made a request that seemed simple in the beginning but then turned into a monster task, I would have come home, griped to my husband, then worked myself insane the next five weeks trying to make it happen. Last night I actually told a person "That's impossible."  and then I felt bad about it all the way home. The person wasn't trying to be over-bearing; she simply had no idea in what was involved in the task. Once I explained the amount of time and expense involved, she immediately went into administrative/problem solving mode, which I respected and admired. And yet, here I am, the next morning, and I wonder if my attitude was too negative or harsh instead of moving on with my day. I'm trying to be less Martha and more Mary, to find the balance between quiet time and busy time. And yet so many ...

Two years ago I got an absolutely fabulous Christmas present...a kitchen aid mixer!  And I love it! It beats things so much thoroughly and faster, plus I don't have to stand over the bowl. I can toss stuff in it, turn it on, and move on to the next thing while it's mixing! That's just too cool. But there's only one drawback to this wonderful contraption.  When making icing, the powdered sugar jumps out. So last night I decided I could prevent that, and held a towel over the top of the bowl around the beater.  So 95% of the counter remained sugar free, but here's what did happen: maybe not so much on the counter, but certainly on the base of the mixer! and this will be a doozy to clean If anyone has a free-standing mixer, how do you keep this from happening? And yes, I have tried every speed.

For the first time ever, I've read a book and am still undecided what I think about its contents. In the Land of Believers by Gina Welch is interesting. She gets off to a slow start, but she's also laying groundwork and foundation for this "weird" culture of Evangelicals, specifically, Thomas Road Baptist Church, the home of Liberty University. If you haven't heard of this book, an atheist Yale grad begins to attend Thomas Road for the sole purpose of writing a book explaining what Evangelicals are truly about. She fakes a conversion experience, is baptized, and even goes on a mission trip whose sole purpose is evangelism. Like many non-southerners, her attitude toward the Bible belt is condescending and excessively arrogant. Unlike many, she does come to recognize that different doesn't necessarily mean inferior or uneducated, but I don't think she ever totally grasped southern culture. As for the religious culture, she did get a decent view of life wi...

There's always a phrase or two in every language that I consider "fill in the blank" phrases.  I suppose you could call them cause and effect clauses.  For example: For every....there is.... Either...or... But....And.... (kids learn this one early on!) And I got a new one last week. One that has really made me stop and think. A friend quoted it from the Bible in her blog last week. From Job 13:15: "though he slay me, yet will I hope in him."  That is such a powerful statement!  In today's language we'd probably say, "Even if he kills me, I'll still trust God." Normally I heard such an extreme statement, I'd chalk it up to someone just running their mouth. But given the circumstances of what Job was facing, I think he meant it. And the construction of that sentence has made me think about all the other fill in the blanks that could be used with it. Even if God makes me sick, I'll still trust Him. Even if God makes my Mom suf...

Sunday lunch and one night during the week we eat with Mrs. Bryan.  That means with there only being two of us, I only cook supper twice, maybe three times a week. (leftovers the other nights)  That doesn't leave a whole lot of room for trying out new recipes.  But lately I've been venturing out a bit, trying some new recipes, as well as learning to fix some of hubby's favorite foods.  Foods that are not normal to me, but for someone who grew up near the coast, are perfectly average.  Foods like oysters and shrimp. I love shrimp.  I'm not sure I ever had it until high school, and I've eaten it more since living in North Carolina than any other time.  Lately Food Lion has been having it on sale, a BOGO deal with the MVP card. And then I did something I almost never do. I looked at the small, "fresh" seafood section.  Oysters were on sale.  I'm not crazy about oysters.  I've tried them at restaurants every time Bobby has ordered them, an...

If I were rich and a Disney princess, I would: Redo the guest bathroom: white walls, red trim, black mickey mouse shower curtain, red rug..or perhaps a Snoopy shower curtain? Pay someone to repair the wallpaper in the dining room Pay someone to paint the study in the way I want it painted. :) Buy one of those monster frames and a quilting sewing machine to go with it Take four big trips a year (shoot, just one big trip would be nice, but since I'm daydreaming, why not make it four?) Have a professional install blinds and valance boxes in the living room Have Bobby's yellow chair from the 70's re-upholstered fly home to see my Mom once a month Have our own private jet that was wheelchair accessible...how cool would that be? Have a vacation home in the mountains have a time-share at the beach buy the farm across the road from us put cows, donkeys, and horses on that farm for Bobby and hire a foreman to take care of them :) {Hahaha...the British have butlers; sout...