AUTUMN HAS ARRIVED IN EAST TEXAS!

Fall is HERE!  Usually, autumn comes to our area softly and quietly, just kinda sneaks in.  Well, this weekend, autumn came slamming through here with solid rain for two days and North winds 15-25 mph.  It's 62 degrees outside at 8:27 pm.  We haven't seen these temps since probably March or April at the latest.  Last week, we had highs in the 90s, and sure, it'll warm up into the upper 80's this week, but WOW!  It's been nice!  Even Bug (the chihuahua) at 13 years of age has been tearing around here like a mad nanny goat enjoying the cooler air.  She's been so frisky!

Only thing was, this morning at 6:00 am while we still in bed, the power went off.  Bleh.  The only reason I would know is that my box fan went silent all of a sudden.  I guess the wind and rain shut something down. It also shut down the pump or generators at the water supply out here.  So we had no electric, and just a tiny trickle of water - I guess whatever was left in the lines - at least we could use the toilet - took forever to fill back up but at least we didn't have to go outside and find a tree.

We did alot of nothing today.  Some napping, reading, snacking - couldn't cook anything. At 5:00 pm, we wound up going to my folks' house to shower and do my hair for work tomorrow.  Then, after doing that, we got a call from friends that the electric was back on.  I knew that would happen.  Didn't get to church today because there was no water or electricity to get ready!  It's amazing how much we depend on it.  AND I had baked a beautiful, moist, rich homemade chocolate cake with fudge-y icing Saturday to take to our lunch fellowship today!  Shoot!  Oh well......................

Oops - looks like we've already made a good dent in this cake.  Actually, I did carry my daddy several pieces.  He loves his desserts!

I'm getting quite a few eggs now and have been taking 2-3 dozen to work with me each week to sell... Helps pay for feed...  I now have 10 hens.  I got me a white leghorn last week.  I didn't have a white chicken.  It's all about color - plus I decided I needed another white egg-layer.  Tony just shook his head...and rolled his eyes.

Also, I forgot to announce that I entered my plum jelly in the East Texas State Fair and I got a BLUE RIBBON!  YEA ME!  Thank you Mammaw!  She would be so proud!

See that 'un there in the middle with the blue ribbon?  It says Vickie on it.  That's my plum 

jelly!  I'm sorry I'm tootin' my own horn but hey... I'm very excited!  I will hang my ribbon proudly on my pie safe where all my jellies are stored!

Just one  more pic of my little garden shed... The garden's been long gone.  I'm just SO glad we made the decision 4 years ago NOT to tear it down.  It was falling over sideways, but between hubby and his friend they got that sucker jacked up and straightened and repaired and saved this rustic little shed.  I absolutely love it!

Well, that's about all today, my friends --- I am still alive and kickin' - just been SO busy around here. I've been hoppin' around readin' in blogland  - just not commenting much.  Take care - I'll be back soon!!!

Vee's Note Card Party

Hey there!  I'm hooking up with Vee's note card party this month, and since it's soon to be officially autumn, think I'll do some fall decor cards with images from last year.  So hang on to your butts seats and let me search back through my blog....

My front porch October 2009

Below are some photos I took at a farmer's market in Franklin TN when we went up to Nashville to see my oldest son Adam.  This was such a neat place and really screamed  AUTUMN!!!  Tony had to drag me away. I could have stood there and looked at all day long!

Franklin, TN October 2009

October 2009

October 2009

Hope you enjoyed my cards!  Now I'm off to see the rest of yours!

If you'd care to join in the fun, here's your link ----

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! 

Walk in the Woods...

Like to take a little walk with me?  I  usually walk around the farm through the woods for exercise most days when the weather is nice.  The trees are just about peak right now in color altho the leaves are falling fast and the wind is blowing.  Just grab a little jacket and come along with me on my walk...

Not sure what kind of tree this is along the fence line but it always turns this brilliant orange color. Let's turn along the woodline now. Okay?

I love how the leaves are strewn across our path...Look at the colors...  I wonder what's just around that bend in the path up there???

Up a little hill we must go.  Are you out of breath yet?  Let's keep going!

Oh lookie here!  Here's the turtle pond!  The pond is down - it's been so hot and dry this summer and we haven't caught up on our rainfall this year yet... Keep an eye out along the bank for snakes!

There's some kind of marker there on that tree - this must be the way!  Thank goodness!  I sure don't wanna get lost in the woods!

Deer antlers on this tree!  Wow.  Do you think maybe the Indians that used to inhabit this area put them there for some kind of marker???  Maybe!

The woods smell dark and dank and earthy and moist.  Let's keep going...

Oooo - I don't guess these are edible at all but they're kind of interesting-looking, aren't they?

Don't go through this way! There's an old gulch and creek down there over that little ridge.  Might be dangerous, might be snakes!  Sometimes the water's runnin' high!

But it looks like today it's running dry but you can see the water line on the trees.  There are lots of animal tracks in that sand there.

Here's a hickory nut tree that we moved from the deeps woods to this area.  I sure hope it makes it.  It was being swallowed up by all the trees and couldn't get any sun at all.

Looks like we're getting to end of our walk and we gotta kinda go around this big ole sweetgum tree.  It has a big hole in the front here that's sometimes full of water.

Look at this gorgeous, huge Hickory Nut Tree!  We've got several and they turn the most beautiful golden color in the fall!



Who's that there lurking in the woods with his chainsaw!  Hope there's not gonna be any funny business going on with that saw!

And here we are back at the farm house and the barn.  Thanks for going on my walk with me! Come back any time!!!

Fall on the Farm

Last hay cut for the season at Sand Flat Farm.  The hay is already all sold and that's good. When we get our own livestock, I'm sure we'll be keeping some of that.  Below the sycamore tree is turning golden - I think these are my favorite tree - I love the graceful way the branches grow and the white bark with the different colors of grey and green and brown sheets of bark that peel off.  They kinda remind me of aspens on steroids. I love 'em!

We're starting to see color around here.  I spotted this beautiful red maple on the way to work last week. They don't last long, but they're gorgeous while they last!

There is a new cat hanging around - I have named him Jasper (just for you Aunt Amelia). He is a complete and utter nuisance.  He's a big cry-baby, meowing all the time and he's LOUD, and gets all underfoot.  He sits at the front or back door and yowls and cries for someone to come outside and feed him at all hours, AND he's finicky!  He won't eat the canned catfood that comes in little chunks - he only wants the solid stuff and Meow Mix crunchy food. He'll turn his nose up at anything else.

I'm sure Miss Alice is  attracting boyfriends right now, but she goes to the vet Monday for her spay. I cannot make this Jasper leave.  I'm about ready to haul him off and drop him in somebody else's neighborhood.  You can tell that he's been around people.  I figger somebody dropped him at our farmhouse, too.  If he'd quit waking us up and caterwauling at all hours of the day and night I wouldn't mind him staying - 'specially since Mr. Sam disappeared  :(   I did tell Jasper, however, that he would be making a trip to the vet for an anatomy alteration, too, should he decide to stay...

He's a nice big tomcat with beautiful markings, looks like he's been drinking chocolate milk, AND he's got pretty blue-green eyes.

Alice doesn't like him. She's been either under the porch OR on the roof.  Jasper is very put out that I'm feeding him at the garden shed, and I'm letting Alice in to eat.  He eats all her food, and she's not getting anything. Here she's hiding from him under my wagon full of mums. Very cute!

Now I'll leave with you these beautiful autumn sunsets.  The golden glow of autumn sunsets - it's magical and beautiful to me to see the palette of God streaming across the sky. Enjoy!!!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month & Other Palaverin'...

I'm sure most of you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - GO GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS and do your self-exams!!!  Do everything you can for yourself and your beloved family and friends to stay on top of technology and ways that we can help beat this disease. 

Seen this bumper sticker?  I've been seein' it around my hometown quite a bit lately.  A little chauvinistic, but you get the message.  I happen to love it!  A serious issue to be sure, but hey, whatever gets the message across! You know men can relate to this bumper sticker alot more than one that has the word "breast" on it - they can hardly even say the word!  much less warn the female members of their families.

On a more serious note, a good friend of mine here just had a double mastectomy last Friday, October 1.  She has breast cancer in her family, and they found a very small spot on one of her breasts.  She decided to make the ultimate sacrifice of losing both breasts in order to forestall any recurrence later on (Lord willing). What a tough choice to have to make - I know she was thinking of her husband and 4 kids as she made this decision.  Please keep my friend, Wanda, in your prayers...  thank you.

Now, on to other Palaverin'.....

My son's kitty, Lucy, loves to watch TV.  She prefers FOX news and Family Guy (which I detest - it's so crass) but she does this quite often.  Isn't she pretty?  My chihuahua, Bug, is staying at my son's house while we get the house re-vamped a little.  Bug has always hated other dogs, but she loves Lucy.  They play together, they eat together, they sleep together.  It's amazing.  They run and jump and mock-fight. Of course, Lucy has sharp toenails and sometimes we hear a yelp from Bug when the action gets a little too rough.  But it hasn't stopped Bug from snuggling up with Lucy on a blanket on the couch. 

You know how on a slick coated dog, if they get a little tuft of hair sticking up from the rest - if you pull on it, it comes out and usually has a little bitty scab attached?  Well, sometimes we find those on Bug - results from these two scuffling, I'm sure.  (was that gross? was it? I wasn't trying to be - just seein' if ya'll noticed stuff like that...)

Here's a few random Autumn scenes - paintings I have done in the past. The first one is a watercolor (under glass) of an old red barn in our area.  This is actually how it looked in Autumn.  I took some pictures of it several years ago, painted it a few years later, drove by the area a few months ago, and couldn't find it at all.  Don't know if it's been torn down or things just grew up around it.  It's sad to me to see the old things just fade away never to be seen or remembered again...

Below is a terrible photo of a plein-air 8x10 piece I did whilst in the company of some of my art friends.  We went out on a 40 degree day with the wind whipping around and we had very pink cheeks and noses, gloves on which made it very hard to paint, the oil paints were not moving around very well, and my eyes and nose were watering so badly, I just gave up and let 'em run.  But I got my painting done. Another old barn with a squeeze chute.  I love old barns...and other old structures out in the country...  sorry for the picture quality...

 

I also love back lighting from the sun or other light source. See below.  Late afternoon looking not quite into the sun and the trees were just starting to get some good color.  I love painting outside.  Sometimes I bring my 8x10 studies into the studio and then do a large painting of them.  I have 4 wonderful friends that I paint with.  We are all so different in the way we paint, the way we were brought up, the ways we believe, etc.  But one thing holds us together and makes us good friends - painting is our muse.  We "understand" each other.  We respect each other and our differences, and we love each other in spite of everything else. Painting/Art - seeing it, smelling it, touching it, breathing it in, absorbing ourselves in it.  We have to do it ---   or die.

I can't wait til 2-3 more weeks.  I've been working here for the last 8 years. I'm so ready to get back outside on a more regular basis and paint with my buddies.  I've hired another lady to work part-time.  (that's why I have been MIA here lately - along with all the other stuff going on in my life right now.) We are extending our business hours from 8-5 Mon-Sat. I will work Mon-Wed. and she is working Thurs - Sat.  My art gang is chomping at the bit for us all to get out and paint together, ALL of us, again like it used to be. They've missed me - it's good to be missed.  I've done a little painting these last 8 years, but not like I was before.  I'm hitting the road again, the hiways and byways, the parks, the countryside, wherever my muse stirs my soul.  I hope to start a painting blog when I get rolling again.  Wish me luck!

Enjoy this short Autumn season! and as always - Keep your dress down!

This 'N That

Howdy-doody, peeps! Hope your Autumn week is going well. Mine's been awful busy. I've not been posting as often as I'd like, but I'm still here, still kickin' and checking in on you all when I can.

Well, this week we've been having a touch of cooler temps. 'Spose to be back up in the mid 80's, but the nights are cooler and it's been such a relief.  I hear out in California and the desert they are having over 100's. Bless ya'll's hearts.  I'm sorry for ya'll, really I am.  I know how it feels. 

We're still busy cleaning out, throwing away, and trying to decide whether to save any of the junk we've accumulated for the past 20 years at our house OR if it's worth trying to have another garage sale OR just donate to Good Will or something (I'm giving it serious consideration)  I hate to just give ALL of it away. I know there will be some things that we'll donate, but I could sure use the extra $$ a sale might bring in. It's just such a headache and a hassle to put one on and get everything priced.  But I probably will...

My little Sam never showed back up, so I guess something happened to him. I'm gonna get another cat, tho, as poor little stand-offish Alice has become so sweet since she's by herself now.  She won't leave us alone and she hates when we leave.  Tries to come out to the car with us...

A few Autumn vignettes for your viewing pleasure.  Random shots from last year, cuz we don't have much, if any, fall color yet.  But I gotta keep up with all you guys!  You're showing off such beautiful Autumn colors!

(above)  My front porch... still gotta get the porch painted!

From the Franklin, TN, Farmer's Market last fall while visiting Adam...I was going to save some corn stalks from my garden this year for Fall decorating, but they got plowed under before I could rescue them.  Plus, Tony said he really didn't want to find a place to store them for a couple of months until they were needed...

(above)  Beautiful Sycamore tree down the road from us...

(above)  Another shot from the Franklin Farmer's Market - They had more different kinds of pumpkins than I believe I've ever seen!

In other news, we'll have all the kids home this weekend.  I love when they come home. Adam doesn't come this way from Nashville very often.  With his music writing and performing every weekend and some weeknights AND his real estate business starting up he's SO busy.  But he's actually coming home twice this month for "have-to" things!  Her Royal Highness Princess Hayley is also coming home. It'll be good to see her again, too!  I miss 'em when they're gone, but we're sure busy when they're home! Busy is good!

I just LOVE Autumn! Please make Christmas wait!  I wanna soak up all the colors, the coolness, the warm sun on my chilly face, the snuggly clothes, the pink cheeks, the hot soups and breads, the pumpkin pies, the bonfires, the cookouts, the blankets at the football games & hot chocolate, the leaves crunching under my feet,  the togetherness with family & friends, & the Friskiness of FALL!