Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Kittens Own Me

I wish I was not allergic to cats....kittens are so ding dang cute!!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Grackles and Squirrels

My sweet Mom gave me an early Christmas present! She is so awesome...I got a ZOOM lens for my camera.....I had fun testing it out today! I can't explain how far away I was taking these pics because I have absolutely no concept of distance. I am sure the birds were about a million yards away.....pretty sure about that.....
So the Grackles were hanging out...

Not happy about this shot...had it on the wrong setting, but still can't believe how great the zoom lens works...these guys were over a half building away...YEAH! Gotta work on settings...


Then we have the squirrels....they have just gone nuts (no pun intended) around here. I watched 6 of them chasing each other in my neighbors tree. I love them...super cute! I was able to get pics of 2 of them in my tree! They are playing frozen....can't see us if we don't move....whatever...silly squirrels!

My poor little one on the right has a nubbin tail....probably a damn cat got her...she is of wee tail...bless it!


Look at the little baby ears....so super cute!! Thanks again Mom for the ZOOM!!! Never could have gotten this shot without it!

You can't see us if we are really still!

Little ears and big eyes!!

Gingerbread House

In the little village where I work they are raising money for a library. This woman, I think named Amy, built this Gingerbread house to raffle off for the library.....she has mad skills!






Thursday, November 26, 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

I don't know what you guys are up to.....

So I am putting on my makeup and walk back into my room and find this....


Trust me...it was like I interrupted a secret conversation...they just stopped and Daisy May turned around....I know there is plotting going on...evil schnauzers!

BAD Lunch with Grandma!

Okay....not bad because bad to be with Mom, Aunt Melissa and Grandma, BUT bad because of the food....food not bad, but sooooooo bad for you....never eat fried food but let loose on this day AND paid for it for 2 days....tummy not used to this amount of fried...BUT it was good!

We met in Dadeville at a restaurant Oskar's. It is a hometown cafe that does seafood and bbq. Very good food and a fun place....

Had so much fun with Grandma and Melissa!

Here is Grandma arriving in Melissa's bad ass car.....sadly it was too cold to have the top down, but she is still happy and waving!


Me about to get Grandma out of the car...she is giving the Suzy Sincere smile (that is an inside thing):


Here is my aunt Melissa...she is nothing but trouble...I have stories....they will never be told here!! She's my fave!!


Here is the food....sooooo bad but so good and that is why it will only be done once maybe twice a year.....too much fried:

Ever Alert!!

Monday, November 16, 2009

LulaBelle Sandwich

That's my girl....loving sleeping between the cushions....not on top....NERD!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Finally.....The Grits Story

So this is what started our journey....


Mom saw this 90th Anniversary Kitchen Aid Mixer on QVC....shocker! Everyone knows Mom loves some QVC and she does it well!!! She decided she wanted it and wanted to learn how to bake bread and other goodies. It is so pretty! It has all these cool attachments including the bread kneader? Don't know what they are all called, but it does bread!

While waiting for the mixer to arrive, Mom did some searches for baking cookbooks. In that search she came across a totally different cookbook....Glorious Grits...yum! That was ordered and the search for the perfect grit commenced!


Turns out that the author of the cookbook wrote it for her brother. He owns his own gristmill and churns out organic pure grits here in ALABAMA! AND right down the road from us. Anyone outside the south may not know what the grit is, but it is a pure delicious heavenly corn dish. I can't think how else to describe it. In its pure form....lots of butter and salt is awesome...but THEN..you add cheese or shrimp...the options are endless with a good grit!

So we took a Saturday to seek out the perfect grit and the Grit Master! The one in the cookbook. His grits are sold in a store in Wilsonville, AL. It is down the road a piece from us, but not far.....the drive was great! If you see the earlier post about the old house, that was on the way to Wilsonville....which is right outside of Harpersville. We have a lot of 'villes here! The sky was cool on the way...


Wilsonville is small and I think they may have one stop light. We got to our destination and heard all sorts of sirens and here comes a HUGE motorcycle charity ride...I am guessing...I got pics...they weren't very nice bikers...they didn't wave or anything....you can see the stoplight..I couldn't get all the bikes in one shot...they just kept coming...



So anyway...we arrived at our destination!!!


I was so stupid and did not take a pic of the sign that said we could buy a laying hen for $10....I tried to convince Mom on that but she was having none of it... :oP

We walked in and went to the right and AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH....GRITS AND CORN MEAL AND GRITS!



Didn't get a picture of the blue cornmeal....so pretty...from the yellow and blue I made the marbled cornbread....all explained in previous post...it looks more purple than blue when cooked, but still cool...


Anyway....we were admiring all the grits and turned around and at the desk behind us was Mr. McEwen....the brother of the sister that wrote the cookbook about and for him!! Mr. Grits Master himself! He is going through all the orders for grits since the cookbook came out! He could not have been nicer....he gave us a free bag of grits AND autographed the cookbook...which we brought with us, just in case! Didn't actually expect to meet him! Such a cutie-patootie!



Then I started looking around the store. I wish I had a farm...I could get anything I needed there including Dogopoly and giraffes:


All sizes of saddles:


And hats....I actually wanted one of these, but I couldn't figure out how I could pull one off....I would look like an idiot....


Then there were tons of seeds....wish I had a garden:



And fencing...is that the right term? Maybe could put these together in the side yard to wrangle the dogs?


AND of course the dusty old skillet...which of course I bought to make the marbled cornbread and whatever else....it actually had a dead fly caught in a dust web...cleaned up nice though...


I didn't take pictures of all the plumbing supplies and all the dog supplies and there was so much more...awesome place and will be going back next weekend for more supplies.

Thank you Mr. McEwen for being so kind and thank you for your grits!!!

TMI?????? Probably....

Okay...this is probably too much, but I couldn't help share the excitement of a great deal! I would like to thank Mom for an early Christmas present and I would like to thank Lane Bryant and Cacique! $300 worth of bras for $100! And yes....I did get a leopard....what the heck is up with that????!!!

I wrestled with posting this, but you know what???....girls wear bras and it is what it is and if anyone is looking for awesome bras.....because shopping for them and trying them on SUCK!....here is a great resource!! You guys don't have to worry about this obviously but when underwires snap and you are constantly uncomfortable and tugging on these boogers all day....it is HEAVEN when you find comfort and pretty all in one package AND a great sale!!! WOOT!!! I ain't ashamed!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veterans' Day

Just wanted to say, "Thanks Daddy! You did good! Wish you were still here to celebrate......love you and miss you! Hoorah!"

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

No Wonder We Have to Vacuum So Much

Cannot quit with the vacuum.....see the previous post and now see our front yard and walk.....







A couple of night leaves....