Blue Monday and We are off on An Adventure

 

 

Blue Monday, Oh Blue Monday….Thanks to Sally for hosting is first day of the week for Blue Stuff.  Visit her at Smiling Sally’s and get your fix of blue stuff……

We are off to Dallas and beyond……

 

 

Today is our  dental checkup in Dallas.  So I decided we needed to make it a fun trip.(Notice the blue hat on the toy on the right side of the picture.)

Tonight the Rangers (baseball team) have a game and we got some great tickets at about 1/2 price.  I have never been the new Stadium, but according to Roy it is something to behold.  I like baseball so this is a double treat.

 

  We will spend the night and then drive to Waco on the way home for Roy to weigh  in.

Roy is on a strict diet and lost 9 lbs the first week, I am so proud of him.  This will be his second week.

 

 

So for you Non-Texans this is a 328  mile trip, but just a hop-skip-and-a jump for Texans.  I drive 60 miles one way to shop at least once a week. Yes, there are times when it does get old, but that is Texas and we love it,

See you all Wednesday with a new blog design.

HAPPY TRAILS.

Barbara

Praying for God’s Will and the Strength to Accept It/ Amy

This morning, I am trying to remember to pray for the right things and not be angry with God.

This young beautiful girl has suffered so much and is still suffering. Debbie and Richard are stressed and strained beyond words as is  extended family, especially Sherrie and Heidi.

So as I sit here with tears and a broken heart, I do not want to question God (although is it hard to understand).  My dear friends, I am struggling with questions and looking for answers.

Amy’s condition had gone from bad to worse and she needs a tracheotomy  and a Peg tube. There will be no quality of life for her with things to sustain her life.  So, I ask myself what do I pray for….

What do I pray for.

Barbara

Thanks to Charlotte and Ginger for hosting this Most Holy of Days. Visit the Enchanting Cottage for list of others Giving thanks to God.

Your Little Pinky/ Pink Saturday

 

Many, many thanks to Beverly for hosting Pink Saturday.  Drop in on How Sweet the Sound and you will get a large dose of PINK! 

Have you ever given much thought to your little finger, sometimes called your PINKY, well I didn’t either until I needed something pink.

There are a lot of traditions and different meanings associated with this finger.

In the USA a pinky swear or pinky promise is made when a person wraps one of their pinky fingers around the other person’s pinky and makes a promise.  Traditionally, it’s considered binding, and the idea was originally that the person who breaks the promise must cut off their pinky finger.

Chapman University students hold up one pinky as a sign of professionalism.

MOST IMPORTANT…..IN TEXAS SPORTS

This hand gesture is associated with fans of the Texas Longhorns ---George W.  Bush has frequently used the “Hook ‘m Horns” hand gesture.

 

 

 

In sign language I Love You is made using a combination of the letters 'I', 'L', and 'Y' . It is made by extending the thumb, index finger, and little finger while the middle and ring finger touch the palm.
However... you should be aware: this hand gesture is the symbol used to curse someone in Italian .

In Japan, among the members of the Japanese gangsters, the penalty for various offenses is removal of parts of the little finger.

In Turkey and in Colombia, it’s tradition to link little fingers when two people are making a bet.

In  Russia, when two people are French-kissing, it is customary to often link little fingers together.

Hope you enjoyed this post concerning YOUR PINKY.

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY!

 

PLEASE PRAY FOR DEBBIE AND AMY!!!!

BARBARA

There must be something wrong with me…I am worried!

 

I was so excited to post my first White Wednesday today and my second Crock Pot Wednesday…….but I can’t find where you sign up for either one.  Last week several people said my Link to CPW wasn’t working and today they are all hiding from me…that’s  life.  I enjoyed writing the post.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY IS YOU HAPPEN TO COME BY!

Barbara

white wednesday/ bed linens

 

Thanks go to Kathleen at Faded Charm for hosting this beautiful day…White Wednesday.

I just love soft white bed linens and this company is a little pricey, but they have beautiful linens.

 

this is my  favorite…..

 

Enjoy and check out other white linens!

Barbara

Crock Pot Wednesday/raisin bread pudding

 

Many thinks to Debbie for hosting this  day filled with thousands of wonderful calories.

Visit her and see the list of recipes.

 

 

raisin bread pudding

Cook Time: 4 to 5 Hours

8 slices bread, cubed

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 

Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place bread cubes in a greased slow cooker.  In a bowl, beat eggs and milk; stir in sugar, butter, raisins and cinnamon.  Pour over bread; stir.

Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low; cook for 3-4 hours or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees.  Just before serving, melt butter in a saucepan.  Stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add water, sugar and vanilla.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Serve with the warm bread pudding.

Serves 6

Happy Crock Pot Wednesday.

Barbara

NO SURGERY FOR AMY!

 

 

IT IS WITH A BREAKING HEART THAT I WRITE THIS POST,  IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TO SHERRIE’S BLOG… THIS IS THE LATEST NEWS….DEBBIE CALL ME ABOUT 2:OO O’CLOCK .   THE SURGEON CAME OUT AND TOLD THEM  HE COULD NOT REMOVE THE MASS, IS GOES FROM HER TONGUE TO HER SPINAL CHORD.  THEY WILL KEEP HER AND TRY TO CONTROL THE PAIN AND THEN DEBBIE SAID SHE COULD EITHER COME HOME OR GO TO HOSPICE.

HOW HOPELESS DEBBIE SOUNDED AS WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND. I HEARD THE ANGUISH IN HER VOICE.

   PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR AMY,DEBBIE, AND THE FAMILY. 

BARBARA

Triple Post Today/ Most Important Happy Birthday to Roy!

Today is my Dear Husband’s Birthday.  He is at work, so there will be no party, cake or favorite dinner.

He is the love of my life and I could not have found a better man to spend the rest of my life with.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROY. I LOVE YOU.

MOSAIC MONDAY/ I DID IT!

 

 

DROP IN ON MARY AT LITTLE RED HOUSE TO SEE THE LIST OF EVERYONE POSTING MOSAICS.  THANKS MARY.

I have been trying for several weeks to make a mosaic and I finally sat down yesterday and said “I Can Do This”, and I did.

I wasn’t concerned this time with the content, but with the process, I see that I must learn to remove the frame.

Happy Mosaic Monday.

Blue Monday/ WOW!

 

 

Bet you can’t guess who our hostess is for Blue Monday….in case you are new, it is the famous Sally at Smiling Sally.  There you will find all the Blue Mondays you could possibly want. 

 

  I started wondering about how many shades of blue there were and boy are there a lot.  So here are some of the ones I found listed  in Wikipedia. You can see the color chart below.

Shades of blue

Air Force blue
Alice blue
Azure
Baby blue
Blue
Brandeis blue
Cambridge Blue
Carolina blue
Cerulean
Cobalt blue

Columbia blue
Cornflower blue
Cyan
Dark blue
Denim
Dodger blue
Duke blue
Egyptian blue
Electric blue
Han blue

Indigo
International Klein blue
Light blue
Majorelle blue
Maya blue
Midnight blue
Navy blue
Periwinkle
Persian blue
Powder blue

Prussian blue
Royal blue
Sapphire
Sky blue
Steel blue
Teal
Ultramarine
Yale Blue

 

 

I decided I would look up a few of these blues.  The first one was  Brandeis Blue,   I knew there was a Brandeis University and sure enough it is associated with the University.

Next I looked up Majorelle Blue.

Majorelle Garden, Marrakech

Majorelle Garden, Marrakech

In 1924 the French artist Jacques Majorelle constructed his largest art work, the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech, Morocco, and painted the garden walls, fountains, features and villa this very intense shade of blue, for which he trademarked the name Majorelle Blue.

Hope you enjoyed a little lesson in the color blue.  I thought it was quite interesting and may look up and post about some other colors later.

HAPPY BLUE MONDAY!

BARBARA

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

 

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men"

St.Francis of Assisi

Trip to Round Top, Texas/ OUTDOORS WEDNESDAY

OUR SWEET SUSAN IS THE GRACIOUS HOST OF THIS DAY AND YOU CAN VISIT HER AND SEE ALL PARTICIPANTS.

THANKS SUSAN!

Round Top is home to the James Dick Foundation for the Performing Arts and its sole project, The International Festival-Institute at Round Top, were founded in 1971 by world-renowned concert pianist James Dick. Begun with a handful of gifted young pianists in rented space on the town square, the project is now an internationally acclaimed European-styled music institute for aspiring young musicians and distinguished faculty.
Over a thirty eight year period and with the help of its patrons and friends, The James Dick Foundation for the Performing Arts has developed superb year round education and performance programs. It has created also an unique 210-acre campus - Festival Hill - containing major performance facilities, historic houses, extensive gardens, parks and nature preserves. Through its singular collection of rare books, manuscripts, archival material, music and historic recordings, photographs and objects, the Festival-Institute is also known as an important center for research and scholarly study.

AND THE FAMOUS ANTIQUE WEEKENDS HELD TWICE A YEAR, ONE IN THE SPRING AND ONE IN THE FALL.

The crowds are tremendous and people come from all over the US and even foreign countries.  I have never been.

They have some permanent shops and a restaurant called Royer’s that has been written up in tons of magazines.

So off Roy and I went for lunch and some sight-seeing.  When we arrived, we put our name on the waiting list for lunch, I got a glass of wine and Roy a beer and off we went to the shop next door. click to enlarge…this is Royer’s

This is Lizzie Lou’s and to my surprise, I recognized one of the ladies.  She is the owner and was from Beaumont and had a shop there at the same time I did. Small world, but wait…a lady in there visiting was from Lake Limestone and was neighbors with one of my friends.  We have a house on the lake also.

We returned to Royer’s in time to here our name called and first had stuffed and fried jalapenos. The were stuffed with broccoli and cheese.

Then for entrees, I had a stuffed quail with mashed potatoes and balsamic vinegar  veggies and Roy had snapper with a wine sauce  with  veggies.

Dessert for me was a creamy key lime pie and Roy had cinnamon bread pudding to go.

Wow…yes you are right.

We then decided we needed to walk around the square and so while I went in shops, Roy took pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a shop called Crazy Emma’s.  I think…

 

 

This is a private home and it is much prettier than the picture shows.

 

 

 

 

 

The above 3 pictures are all of the home and its  surroundings.

 

Another private home.

 

 

 

Old tub and bottle tree behind one of the stores.

 

 

Area in center of shops.

The remaining pictures are shops.

 

 

 

 

 

We left hot, tired and very fluffy, but enjoyed our day.  It is about 130 miles one way, but in Texas that is just considered a hop, skip and a jump away.  Did I buy something, yes, but it is a gift for a friend and she will see it.  Nothing just breath-taking.

Hope you enjoyed your trip to Round Top, Texas.

Crock Pot Wednesday

 

Thanks to Debbie@Dining with Debbie, we have a new day to celebrate. So hurry over and join in or wish Debbie luck.  We all know this is a lot of work.

 

 

I love my crock pot, especially in the winter and more so when Roy is home. I made this recipe several years ago.   I always intend to make it again but never seem to get around to it.

HAM AND CHEDDAR BRUNCH STRATA

serves 6-8

prep time 10 minutes

cook time  low 3 1/2 hours

8 ounces French bread, torn into small pieces

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

1 1/2 cups diced ham

1/2 cup finely chopped green onion (white and green parts divided)

4 large eggs

1 cup half and half or whole milk

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

 

1. Coat pot with non stick cooking spray. Cut parchment paper to fit bottom of pot and press into place.  Spray paper lightly with spray.

2. Layer in following order: bread, 1 1/2 cups cheese, ham and all but 2 tablespoons green onions.

3.  Whisk eggs, half and half, Worcestershire sauce and red pepper and pour evenly over layered ingredients.  Cover and cook on LOW 3 1/2 hours or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Turn off heat and sprinkle the rest of the cheese and green onions.  Let stand, covered, 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

To serve,run a knife or rubber spatula around edges, lifting bottom slightly .  Invert onto plate and peel off paper, then invert again onto serving patter.

Served with fruit and /or tiny muffins, makes a great brunch.

Hope you enjoy.  It is a pretty dish, here is a picture out of the cookbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy……Crock Pot Wednesday!

Barbara

LAWS OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK/ BLUE MONDAY

 

Happy Blue Monday …thanks Sally, visit Smiling Sally to see bloggers with loads of blue thingies……

 

 

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport.
We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out
of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other
car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head
around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was
really friendly.
So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined
your car and sent us to the hospital!'
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the
Garbage Truck.'

 

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around
full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of
disappointment.
As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes
they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.
Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their
garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the
streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks
take over their day.
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
so ... Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

Purple Hugs,

Barbara

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMY!

METAMORPHOSIS MONDAY

Wow I have something to show today.

Thanks to Susan@Between Naps on the Porch for hosting this very popular day.

Last week when I met The Texas Woman for lunch, I purchased these items.

 

Following Spencer’s instructions, this is how they look today. Thanks Spencer for the know-how.  I loved making these and will probably make more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t have any crystals to hang on them, but I think I will dress up the one with just the green ribbon.

Also that day I showed this picture but didn’t say what I was doing.

 

Well I was putting together this trim for a lamp in our den, which is manly.

 

There are two different trims here.  The feathers were one trim and the ropey trim I glued on top is another.

 

I am not very crafty, but I can follow instructions..sometimes.  Hey, it is hard being a blogger with some of extremely talented ladies.  But, everyone has a different set of talents and I am still looking for mine.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Barbara