Pumpkin Pie, Anyone? Cinnamon Buns?

Yummmmm.....Smell that pumpkin pie?  Those cinnamon buns and the wonderful smells of Autumn?  I do!  I'm surrounding myself with homey, cozy, spicy scents from Good Neighbor Candles - You know - Becky at Hospitality Lane?   I have meaning to order some of her luscious soy candles for months  and I figured since it was Autumn  and those are my favorite smells, NOW was the time!   I received my candles a few days ago, and thought I should show you all what she sent, and then you can turn pea green with envy til you order some for yourselves!!!

Look at these yummy candles.  I ordered some Pumpkin Pie Spice, Cinnamon Buns and Autumn Spice candles.  Think I'll be using them exclusively this fall!  Thank you so much Becky!  They all got here in perfect shape and I started using them as soon as they arrived.  Can't decide which is my favorite yet...

Above, one candle burning on my pie safe next to my little homemade spice cabinet that old Uncle Claude built for his wife.  Uncle Claude built this little farmhouse, the pie safe, and this little cabinet.

On my farm table, this candle has three wicks so it gives off a great scent . My rooster likes it alot and thinks it really brings out his good side...  He sits there with my cornicopia. 

Anyway, Becky, thanks so much for such a wonderful product - I know you made these lovingly and with great pride and I really am enjoying the soy candles.  And thanks for all the little extra "goodies" you tucked in my box! 

Vote for Josh's Photo!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6981409/ns/travel-travel_photos/

If you click on this link, it will take you to MSNBC to their travel photos sent in by readers.  Josh took gobs of photos on his and Lindsey's honeymoon to Paris and Greece in May, and he sent this beautiful photo in of a hillside in Santorini.  Click on "ITS A SNAP" on the right hand side of the page.  His photo is # 15 right now - Santorini, Greece.  It doesn't have his name on it but if you get a chance to view it, VOTE please while you're there!  Lots of awesome photos!  Thanks!!!

What Should I Name This Post?

WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST TO BRING YOU THE FOLLOWING: 

(caution - not for the faint of heart or those prone to losing the contents of one's stomach... cover your children's eyes...)

If the guys on the movie "The Great Escape" had had a few of these guys, they would've made it out of the stalag with bells on.  This'un here is one of the biggest I've caught yet.  You could almost made a nice size coin purse out of him.... hmmmm....

SHOUT OUT to Kathy at Spot on Cedar Pond - Kathy, I've killed 4 gophers in the last two weeks.  When it rains (as it did a couple of weeks ago) the gophers have to do major renovations and excavations to their burrows.  It's been a long time since our last rain last spring.  It's been a long dry spell for gopher huntin'.

SOOOO,  check on my sidebar for my gopher count.  End of the year we'll tally up and see who wins our contest for this year!  No matter who wins I've got something up  my sleeve to send to Kathy!!!  Thanks Kathy, for joining in this fun game!

My daughter sent me a picture of her and her mutt.  Remi was a rescue from the Animal Shelter and he's been THE BEST DOG she could ask for.  He is so protective of her, he's sweet, and he stands guard over his owner without fail.  Half/Lab and half/birddog.  She lets him sleep on her bed, and I think I don't have to worry about somebody trying to slip in.  He uses his big dog bad bark when he hears something strange outside, but he's not a yapper.

Below is what's left of our pond.  Sad.  It was full up to the rim early this year.  If there were any fishies in it, they've been toast for awhile.  I don't know where all the turtles went.  There were tons of turtles in there.... All the brown you see are dead trees... It's a good thing we didn't have any livestock this year.  We'd be out looking for old bathtubs or stock tanks to pump water to them.

For comparison, here's a photo of what it normally looks like...

That's old Jake out there swimming... may he rest in peace.  My husband bought him a granite headstone to put over Jake's gravesite.  Wasn't that sweet?   He was a great dog...

What's going on in  YOUR neck ' o ' the woods?

If I Die Young...

You have to listen to this --- it was played at Kayla's funeral - the 17 yr old daughter of my friend, Helen. There's a female artist that sings this, too, but I SO love this version...

Ready...Aim... TRAP!!!

It's gopher season!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (rubs hands together with an evil grin...)

I'll be back with the results................

EDITED TO ADD:   Gopher count September 1 to date - 3

HEY - ANYBODY AROUND LONDON, KY???

KFC  (otherwise known as KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN) is having their KFC Festival in London, KY, today and this evening.  They are having a big street fair and flea market and lots of FRIED CHICKEN!!!  The main attraction is at 7:00 p.m. tonight!  LIVE MUSIC put on by Eric Lee Beddingfield Band  OF WHICH  MY SON, ADAM, PLAYS the guitar & SINGS.  Should be a rockin' n rollin' and greasy fried chicken and red dirt hootin 'n hollerin'  time this evening!  GO for ME - I can't go - it's a fer piece from Texas....   ;(

My son, Adam, is on the right.....  in case you were wondering.......

"Over Her Now" - New Song by Adam

http://www.balconytv.com/v/adam-fears


If you'd like to hear my son, Adam Fears, Nashville Country Music Singer and Songwriter, sing one of his new songs, feel free to click the link - it'll take you to Balcony TV.  He sings his new tune "Over Her Now" and does an interview above Nashville at the Hard Rock Cafe -  Hot off the press!  Check him out! See what you think!  Thanks!

http://www.adamfears.net/

California Trip Part 3

Hey all you wonderful friends out there! I'm back on the California road trip again to bring you some more loveliness from the West Coast! Sit back and get comfy while I show you around! It's so hard to edit the number of photos I put on here - we took about 500 on the trip.

Next stop up the Pacific Hwy 1 -  we stopped at Morro Bay.  It's a sleepy little fishing town, and its claim to fame is this huge rock, really a small mountain, that sticks right up out in the bay area and beach area.  It's so wierd looking.  Of course, Friar Antonio, being the geologist that he is, had to examine the rock up close and determine of what it was constructed and from whence it came - probably thrust up through the earth's crust - must be near the fault line... I put my widdle footsies in the ocean there and I kid you not --- IT WAS FREEZING!!!  Made my feet hurt in just a few seconds!  There were some surfers there, but they had on wet suits - I thought they were pretty crazy, if you ask me!

The grey clouds and fog were beginning to lift as we were about to leave...

Above - I thought a black/white pic was sorta cool...

Now, on to the Hearst Castle around the Cambria area I think.  We hadn't planned on this tour, but thought what the heck!  It turned out to be one of the most interesting things we did!  If you want more info, check  out this link -    http://www.hearstcastle.org/ 

George Hearst bought 40,000 acres in this area in 1819 and it later grew to about 250,000 acres. His son, William Randolph Scott along with his architect - a woman named Miss Morgan, then built a castle here which was completed in 1947.  It was filled with famous people for fun and games and revelry back in the day.  Now it's being managed by the California State Parks.  It is magnificent, and if one should ever go to California, it's a must-see!

                                         

Hearst had all the best products, centuries-old antiques, tapestries, ceilings and beams, tiles, statues, etc. brought in from all over the world.  Intricate carvings, paintings, doors...  I FELT like I was in Hollywood.  It had its own movie theatre where Hearst would show movies and also home-movies of all his fun parties and guests. The theatre was done in heavy red velvet drapes and gold statues. They showed us some of their movies while we were there. He had his own zoo, horseback riding trails, and inside Olympic sized pool all done in blue and gold tiles and the outdoor Zeus pool.  Three cottages - well, if you could call them a cottage, for they were just as elegant as the main castle.  Hunting, and later they got into the cattle business.  Hearst also had African game animals there, too, and there are still some there today. They also grew all their own food - there are still gardens there, and lots of citrus trees, olives, and avocado trees.

Above, one of the "cottages" for his guests...

The Dining Hall

Above - the indoor pool - looks like a mirror image - there is a diving platform at the top...

The Hearst Castle was the most beautiful and elegant and ritzy and fancy-shmancy place I've ever been to in my entire life!  When you walk around the place, you can just see some of Hollywood's old stars lounging at the pool or clowning around for the camera or having drinks in the salon.

 Thanks for staying with me.  I've got one more post on California - Napa Valley and San Francisco!  Be back soon!

Of NOTE

Last night we were so very blessed to receive around an inch of rain, PURE BLISS FROM HEAVEN ABOVE!!!  We knew a little something was brewing for awhile when it started rumbling and we could see some far-off lightening.  What a wonderful thing is RAIN!  Nowhere near our deficit for this year, but it felt so good to even get wet last night after leaving some friends' home and drive home slowly and carefully with the wet stuff  making it hard to see.  Thank you Lord!!!

In other news, Southern Farm is having a give-away - one of their super-duper three hole nest boxes. I'm entering, AGAIN, so I'm letting you all know about it, too!  They have the best-looking nest boxes and since I am officially getting hens in the spring, I think I deserve one, don't you???   ;)   I'm getting serious about wanting to win one of these dudes now.  I'm already making plans for what my coop will be like and what kinds of hens I want.  So, you are officially informed, and you can hop on over and say hi if you want! Their address is    http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com/  . 
Y'all have a good day - and keep your dress down!

California Trip Part 2

Can you take some more California pics?  Well, I can. Here's some pics from LA and points north on our cruise up Hwy 1.  I'll explain as I go...

Below, a couple of pics of the La Brea Tar Pits in LA.  In these ponds of yuck, there is oil and crud bubbling up STILL, and big goopy globs of asphalt rise to the surface.  Bleh...

Now we go inside to the Page Museum there at the location to view some of the fossils that have been extracted from the tar pits.  They were absolutely amazing.  I didn't know if I was going to like this exhibit, but Tony wanted to go see it, and I wound up really enjoying it!  This first one is a giant ground sloth and believe me, it was giant. 

Above is a huge ancient bison.

Below is a saber-toothed cat attacking the giant sloth...

Then we took a spin down Rodeo Drive...  

Finally, we get to the coast of California.  It was just spectacular...  My first look at the Pacific Ocean.  There were folks there relaxing for the Labor Day weekend.  We sat on the beach for a while before continuing on our journey.  Being seaside is just intoxicating for me.  There's something about water, particularly an ocean that just mesmerizes me.  We soaked up some sunshine and decided to go on down the coast to wherever our next destination might be.  We were vagabonds on this trip and just drove wherever our whims decided.  Such a fun way to travel!

Next up the coast we made a swing through Santa Barbara to see the mission there... It was getting late in the afternoon and they were about to close.  You know, it was actually chilly there!  You can't imagine how good it felt after leaving our 100+ temps behind in Texas!!!!

Before we left we ran across this fellow - Friar Antonio.  I decided that he could come with me on my trip...

Tune back next time for the next leg of our trip!  Thanks for looking!

California Trip Part 1

Thought I might share a few photos of our California trip that my husband and I took together last week. We flew into LA, rented a car, and toured all around up the Pacific Coast Hwy 1, and had a fabulous time together!  I know now why people love living in California - it's beautiful, the weather was practically perfect, not too hot, and there's SO much to see and do!

First thing we did was drive down to San Juan Capistrano. I've been wanting to see that mission forever!  I love old Mexican missions and the architecture.  So Tony indulged me and I took so many pictures there I have LOTS of painting material!  Let me show you just a few:

Below is a photo of the new sanctuary that was built a while back.  Part of the old mission was damaged (I believe in an earthquake) and the new building was built later.  It's beautiful inside and out!

The only thing I bought myself (besides food) was a nice coffee table cookbook from Mission San Juan Capistrano that was put together by the local ladies organization there.  I'll have to show you a  picture of it. It's got lots of paintings of Capistrano in it - it's the most painted and photographed mission of all the California missions from what I understand.  I'm anxious to try some of the recipes in it, too!

Our trip was so much fun - it was a great time to get away as the kids (in California) were back in school and there were no crowds anywhere we went.  I'll be back tomorrow and show you some of the La Brea Tar Pits and fossils in LA!  I know you can't wait!