Grandchildren Alert!

This house is pretty quiet when it's just Hubby and me kicking around. The Snowbirds are out in their apartment on the end of the house so we don't hear much out of them either. Now add two lively grand kids into the mix and it's a whole different story! What fun we are having!

Son and DIL are attending a business convention in Florida so T an D are staying with us. I had forgotten how much 'stuff' it takes to have little ones around! They came well packed with all of their clothes for school, playtime and of course plenty of soft jammies to sleep in. They love the fleece kind that Mimi and I make for them.

We hit the park yesterday after school along with K their cousin. It was really the first warm sunny day so the park was mobbed with little ankle biters running every which way. Before we got out of the car I said to them to stay where I could see them....yeah right.....they ran towards the playground with nary a thought of poor ole Grammie who was lugging all of her camera equipment in hopes of getting some good shots!

Hey! Wait a minute! Is that Patrick Dempsey on the swings???!! He IS from Maine you know so it could be...

Naw, guess it isn't. But it could be!

After dinner, baths, homework and story reading off to bed they went. T grinds her teeth and D talks in his sleep so it was an interesting night. They won't sleep in the guest rooms, they want to be in our room which is fine, I wouldn't want them to wake up scared. T hopped on the bus this morning after we did some swinging on the porch swing and then I took D to his preschool. They are going to the University Of Maine agricultural division today to see the newborn lambs! I should have sent my camera with them!!!

I get a lot of foolishness in forwards as you all probably do but this one cracked me up. It was NOT taken around here, although it wouldn't surprise me to see one at the state fair in the summertime. It's called a Redneck Tank Top and look closely and you can see what it is made out of.

My friend Ann and I went trail riding yesterday after giving the guys a good grooming. It was a glorious day with the sun shining and the temps in the 60's. That may not sound particularly warm to some of you but to us it is a heat wave! It seemed so nice to be out on Buddy and just walking along the river watching for bald eagles that frequent that area looking for fish to dive for. Just pure tranquility. We go again Saturday and Funsize will be able to go too as she won't be at work.

Speaking of work, I need to get going on a project I am working on. It's for two precious little girls and I am having fun doing girly stuff. I'm about 5 hours into it with probably 10 more to go so I guess I'd better call it quits for today on this computer and get to work! :o)

Weekend Thoughts

I must be getting spring fever. This graphic is making me crave roasting marshmallows out in the fire pit like we do in the summertime. I don't like them like a burnt offering, just browned all the way around nicely and warm inside. Of course D likes to burn them to a crisp and then have one of us eat them as he won't. It's all the fun of cooking them for him! :0)

Oh how I love the convenience of ordering things online. Even under-grundies, like my nephews call them. Now you all know about my Span*x debacle, we won't even go there again, once was quite enough, thankyouverymuch! That item will go back to the store next time Hubby has to go to Portland. Can't you see the poor guy walking into Chico's, the estrogen-less store in the Mall with this item in a little bag? Everyone in there is having a hot flash! Really! I feel so at home there, it must be why I like to shop there so much.

Speaking of Hubby. He hasn't had a very good weekend. He got out of bed Saturday morning and his knee had pain shoot through it like a needle jabbed into it. He had to go to the ER to see what was going on and the bottom line is that he will be needing a knee replacement some time soon. It's just worn out. He came home on crutches with several prescriptions and has been housebound all weekend. This ought to be interesting.............

Funsize and I went to the barn on Saturday and really gave all the guys a good going over. All but Nick, who had to have a blanket on all winter, is shedding like mad and looks horrible. I guess that's one reason I had to post those last summer pictures as I just needed to see what they really look like without all that winter hair!

Funzise rode Lil' Bud in the inside arena while I did some clipping and Buddy followed them around like a puppy. It was rainy and cold so they couldn't go outside but Buddy gets swollen ankles so needs to move around a bit each morning to get the edema down. I think he turned 28 this spring so he has a lot of the old age things going on. The oldest horse that is up there is a 33 year old Morgan gelding and he is still going strong. His owner still rides him a couple times a week bareback in the arena for 15 or 20 minutes each time.

I almost hate to post this picture but I want you to know just how serious the snow has been here this winter. This is in northern Maine where one of my nieces lives right on the Canadian border and these deer are trying to move around to get something to eat. Our deer population has taken a huge hit this winter to the point where there won't be as many hunting licenses given out next fall. I am so glad I was able to keep my 10-12 fat and happy with their grain each night. They still come here and will until the buds start coming out on the trees and the grass starts to grow. We're getting a bit of grass on the south side of the house that they can nibble on.


We are going to have our grandchildren this week as Son and DIL are going to a convention where it's nice and warm! We are looking forward to it and have some special things planned. It's not school vacation so we won't be able to stay up late watching movies and eating popcorn and they are going to Mimi and Bampy's for the weekend but maybe by then we will be ready for a rest! lol! They keep us hopping but we love it.

Have you seen the movie Enchanted? It's the Disney flick with Patrick Dempsey in it, WHO BTW COMES FROM MAINE, I may have told you that before.....drool..........ahem.......I digress...... It is an adorable movie and the kids love it. T has the Giselle gown that we jumped through hoops for at Christmas time along with SIL and dcrmom who tried to find it for me. I finally found one on EBay in a size 12 but then found an 8 in the Dis*ney Store after they assured me they wouldn't be getting any more but I've hashed this over already so why am I doing it again? So anywho if your kids or grandkids haven't seen this one it's a real pleasure to watch. BTW did I tell you that Patrick Dempsey comes from Maine?????

I have my St. Nick wall hanging about 95% finished. Just a couple of things that I want to redo, like take 5 buttons off and place them a bit differently. OCD much? A couple people asked me if it was for sale and yes it is at $50.00 plus shipping. Oh, I need to put Santa's blush on too but don't do that till it's ready to go. Santa has to have rosy red cheeks you know!

I finished the tractor wall hanging ordered by my blogging buddy Donna and sent it off to Missouri last week. Her Hubby Cliff is a real tractor buff so she wanted one with tractors and a barn on it. It arrived intact thankfully and they are happy with it which always makes me feel real good! I am so honored that it is going to be put in their new home which should arrive soon.

The next one I am doing is like the one I posted last week of the snowmen pulling a sled, trees, cottage etc.... I FINALLY found the book with the pattern in it. Does anyone else out there in Bloggsville hunt for things regularly? It seems like I am always hunting for at least two things all of the time. Now I am hunting for my regular horse clippers as I had to use my body clippers to trim around their legs yesterday and it's not easy with those big honking clippers!

A big congratulations to Tonya over at There is a Season on the birth of her new baby girl last week!!! She is a beauty with dark hair like her Mom! If you get a chance hop on over and take a peek and congratulate this lovely family!!!!

An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

I am glad so many of you got such a kick out of the Spa*nx story! If you had been here you would have been laughing your socks off! I wish I had the courage to post a picture of me in it but even I can't go that far! Did you read where Kathi Lee Gifford is going to be on tv again and said she is going to be wearing one of those things???? She probably is only a size 2 so why would she need to wear anything like that???? Obsessive or what? Beware though, you never know when I might just put that sucker on and take a picture...........nah........maybe.........NAH!



I've been going through my gynormous stack of pictures that I have saved on my Maxtor drive and came across these of some of my guys. I may have posted them before but I like them so humor me. I'm so looking forward to that green grass and being able to get out in the pasture and take some more pictures. I just can never have enough pictures of my guys! :o)

Funsize stopped by tonight with a nice surprise! A new car! She has been wanting to trade as her car had quite a few miles on it so found something that she really liked and bought it!! It's adorable and just the perfect size for her!!

I went in for my check up this afternoon. My eye was twitching all the way over there as I was thinking about the scales that they make you get on the very first thing.

Do you realize how hard it is to see to drive with your eye twitching? Why did I eat lunch? I shouldn't have even eaten breakfast.... Actually I hadn't gained as much as I had dreaded. (doing happy dance!) I asked the gal if everyone hated the dreaded scales and she said yes, even the little thin ones. I have to get off this weight obsession, right after I make another two loaves of that apple bread........if you haven't tried it yet, do it, trust me you won't be disappointed!

Mom and Dad flew in on Wednesday and had good flights and came in to a nice sunny day with fairly mild temps. Even Buffy their cat seemed glad to be home until she stepped a paw out side!

She wasn't impressed with the temperature can you tell? I think I will fix her up with Marv, okay Barngoddess?

Noodles doesn't allow Munchkin to sit on the top of the new cat condo if he is in the house. Right now he is outside pestering the birds so Munchie is enjoying a few minutes on it.

I think she is saying "get out of my face with that camera!!!!"

Well duty calls. I am working on a Christmas wall hanging and I picked up the red buttons and bells on my way home today. I still have a lot to do but I think it's going to be really cute. You shouldn't show a project till it's all finished but here I go anyway.

Doesn't it look like the lights are on in the little windows?

I still have to do the antlers on these two goofy guys.

This is old St. Nick with his bag of toys and he is almost finished. Now I need to put everything together and do the sashings, backing, binding and a little finish work.

I have been trying to contact The Cracker Jack Site for days and it won't let me leave any comments or anything. If you are reading this leave me a comment to let me know what's up.

To the sewing room I go not to be seen for several hours. I wonder if Pizza Hut would deliver?

Monday, Monday.....

I know you all have been just holding your breath waiting for the details of the Spa*nx saga. To say it was rather anticlimactic would be an understatment. Sunday morning I got up and was getting ready for church and thought this would be a great time for a test drive with the contraption. So I go into the bathroom, lock the door and get the thing out of the package. It looked rather big for something that is supposed to be tight and hold everything in.

I put it on without a problem and it certainly didn't hold in ANYTHING. I think I must have bought the wrong size as this thing was loose! Remember what your grandmother's old wrinkled winter stockings looked like around the ankles? Well that's what this thing looked like.

And hot! For the Queen of Hot Flashes this certainly isn't something I would want to be wearing under my clothes. It was suffocating, not because it was tight but because it was all this stretchy material all around my body from my thighs to my.... ahem....bosom! Sorry Spa*nx you're going back to the store to live out your life or maybe some other unsuspecting full figured gal will take you home!

The snow is dropping fast around here. Yippee! It's been rather warm and with some rain on the weekend the snow that we got on Friday didn't even last over night. Funsize, Ann, T and I went to the stable on Saturday morning to give all the guys a good grooming. T rode Kipper bareback with Funsize leading and with me walking beside her. Kip was frisky and knew everyone else was out in the pasture so wasn't interested in giving T a good ride. She didn't even have her bridal there so rode with the leadrope tied to the halter for 'reins'. She enjoyed it though and put him through his paces very well. I think she is going to be more confident in her riding this year. Maybe turning six is the majic number. :0)

If you look in the upper right hand of my sidebar you will see a new award designed by my friend Nap Warden at Nap Warden Designs. I wanted this award made to give to those of you that have horses and care for them the way it's supposed to be done. It has been brought to my attention way too many times lately of neglect of our equine friends. It breaks my heart to hear about these things as our horses depend on us for everything and are loyal companions asking only for the very basics.

Please take this award, post it on your sidebar and pass it along to others that you know are deserving! I know I have probably missed someone so please forgive me and add it despite my lagging memory!

Rising Rainbow

Barngoddess @ Ramblings From The Reservation

Donna @ Just-Me

Jen @ Copenhagen Kisses

Mikey @ Horse Shoeing Housewife

Kris @ kdhorses

Callie @ Midwest Horse

Toad Hill Minis

Tonya @ There Is A Season

Needled Mom (yes, donkeys count too!)

Janey @ Mustang N Cowboy

Just Another Day On the Prairie

Friday Night and it's SNOWING again!

The Family portrait, I'm the one holding the cat.

Yes, it's snowing. Again. It started out as rain mid day but by 5 o'clock had changed over to snow, the kind with the big fluffy flakes that you caught in your mouth when you were a kid. I still see the children doing that guess it's just a kid thing.

We lost our power about 2:15 this afternoon. I was 'resting my eyes' as my mother says, before T got off the bus here and all of a sudden the alarm system started buzzing so I was out of my chair in a flash to reset that. The generator kicked on within two minutes, it's loud but it sure beats not having any power.

I had a recipe I got from my SIL while in Boston last weekend so after a few games of Sorry with T I put it all together. It's very easy and sooooooooo yummy especially still warm from the oven. I'll put it in here in case anyone wants to gain a few pounds this weekend.

Apple Cake

Mix the following together in large bowl

3 cups unsifted flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

4 eggs unbeaten

1 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup orange juice

2 tsp. vanilla

Blend with mixer on low for 1 minute. Blend on medium for 4 minutes.

In separate bowl mix:

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Peel and slice 5 Macintosh apples. Add to sugar and cinnamon mixture and mix.

Grease two 10 " loaf pans. Layer batter, apples, batter, apples, batter. (don't use too much batter in the first and second layer or you won't have any left for the top)

Bake at 350* for 55 minutes. Depending on your oven it may need a few more minutes.

This is sooooooooo moist! Warm right from the oven with a nice ice cold glass of milk and you'll be in seventh heaven! Trust me.

Speaking of Boston, I am still thinking about all of the shopping that is right nearby where SIL lives. Now they are outside of the city in a more rural setting but there is an abundance of good shopping within a few miles of their home.

Now I am a speed shopper. I can get more done in a small amount of time in a store then most people. (I wonder if this is a good trait or maybe not) They dropped me off at Chico's one of my favorite stores as they had an errand to do so I figured I had a good 20 minutes, plenty of time. I knew what I was looking for, knew what size, and jumped in with both feet. Twenty minutes later I had two outfits, jewelry to match, a blouse and tank top to go under it PLUS something new on the market.

Now I follow my nieces blog, Musings Of A Housewife and she does a lot of great fashion posts. Now I know I am old enough to be her mother and the mother of all her thirtysomething readers but I try to stay hip to a point. Or is it my hips are getting pointed, well no matter, you get my drift. I read about this item on one of her posts.

Anywho, there is this new product out called 'Sp*anx, The High Powered Pan*ty.' The Perfect Foundation For Every Wardrobe. (Foundation, now doesn't that make you think of cement?) It goes on to say, Comfortably Smooths Waistline, Slims Tummy, Thighs and Rear. (this is sounding better all of the time.) No Binding. (yeah, I bet that's a joke) You wear these things under anything that you don't want pan*ty lines to show and you want to smooth out bulges, rolls or anything else that tends to appear after a certain age. These things are supposed to be tight. TIGHT. Now I haven't tried them on yet but I am expecting it to be a real experience so stayed tuned for a future update. :o) I bet you can hardly wait.......

D is growing up. He went for his orientation for Kindergarten this week! I don't want him to grow up so fast, it seems like he should still be creeping around on his hands and knees not getting on a bus and going to school in the fall! He was disappointed that they didn't go on the bus this time but they will do that near the end of this school year. He is a smart little cookie if I do say so myself, it's a grandmother's right you know to brag, he can do his numbers, letters, read some, and add and subtract. Things I didn't know till half way through my first year of school. Are kids smarter these days or what?!

Saturday

Well T is still in bed so thought I would jot off a few more lines before she gets up and we head to the barn. She came after school and decided she wanted to spend the night. She and Grampie played Le*gos last night and built a house. These are the Le*gos that Son had when he was her age. Those things are indestructible except for the occasional one that meets up with the vacuum.

Our snow didn't amount to much last night. (doing the happy dance!)

No, this isn't at my house but it could be as I have cats and deer and snow and a deck that exact color and sliding glass doors. Hummmm maybe it is my house......