Coming of Age

Yesterday was the beginning of the celebration for Aisling's 21st birthday. She will turn 21 on Thursday June 3rd. However, we won't be together then, so we're celebrating now. See the beautiful cake I spent hours making....... well someone at Costco did.
After the traditional rendition of "Happy Birthday". Aisling proceeded to blow out her candles. See the little puff of smoke by her hair on her left side?
That smoke was the precursor to the flames that immediately followed. Yes her hair did indeed catch on fire. She ended up having to cut off about 1" of her singed hair and then the equal amount on the other side.

That sort of put a damper on things......LOL (she didn't think it was LOL).

She opened her birthday presents today. It was fun to have treats and open them with Aunt Alice and Uncle Ron along with grandma, Laurence and I.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AISLING!!

It's Spring!!!!!

Aisling met us in Lovell!! She wishes this was her car. Instead she just got to pose by it in Cody.

Got the flowerbeds planted and mulched. I love the Cocoa Shell Mulch!! Smells like a chocolate candy bar mmmmmmmmmm..

OH MY LIFE....... (as Aisling would say)

THE GIRL IN A WHIRL

by 'Dr. Sue' ( a.k. A.. Vickie Gunther)

Look at me, look at me, look at me now!

You could do what I do if you only knew how.

I study the scriptures one hour each day;

I bake, I upholster, I scrub, and I pray.

I always keep all the commandments completely;

I speak to my little ones gently and sweetly.

I help in their classrooms! I sew all they wear!

I drive them to practice! I cut all their hair!

I memorize names of the General Authorities;

I focus on things to be done by priorities.

I play the piano! I bless with my talents!

My toilets all sparkle! My checkbooks all balance!

Each week every child gets a one-on-one date;

I attend all my meetings (on time! Never late!)

I'm taking a class on the teachings of Paul,

But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all,

I track my bad habits 'til each is abolished;

Our t-shirts are ironed! My toenails are polished!

Our family home evenings are always delightful;

The lessons I give are both fun and insightful.

I do genealogy faithfully, too. It’s easy to do all the things that I do!

I rise each day early, refreshed and awake;

I know all the names of each youth in my stake!

I read to my children! I help all my neighbors!

I bless the community, too, with my labors.

I exercise and I cook menus gourmet;

My visiting teaching is done the first day!

(I also go do it for someone who missed hers.

It's the least I can do for my cherished ward sisters.)

I chart resolutions and check off each goal;

I seek each "lost lamb" on my Primary roll.

I can home-grown produce each summer and fall.

But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all,

I write in my journal! I sing in the choir!

Each day, I write "thank you's" to those I admire.

My sons were all Eagles when they were fourteen!

My kids get straight A's! And their bedrooms are clean!

I have a home business to help make some money;

I always look beautifully groomed for my honey.

I go to the temple at least once a week;

I change the car's tires! I fix the sink's leak!

I grind my own wheat and I bake all our bread;

I have all our meals planned out six months ahead.

I make sure I rotate our two-years' supply;

My shopping for Christmas is done by July!

These things are not hard; 'tis good if you do them;

You can if you try! Just set goals and pursue them!

It's easy to do all the things that I do!

If you plan and work smart, you can do them all, too!

It's easy!" she said and then she dropped dead.

J (The only thing that applies to me is the feeling of being overwhelmed:) Y

My Kind of Saturday! Castle Rock

Today has been a wonderful day! The weather has been the practically perfect work in the yard day! AND to top it off, Laurence and I were here to take advantage of it! After several hours of building fence, mowing lawn, planting flowers... well you get the picture. We were tired so went for a drive out past the Rosebud Mine. I love southeastern Montana in the spring. We drove past Castle Rock. Castle Rock is a landmark around here. It is about 8-9 miles out of town. When we first moved here the teenagers would go rapelling out there. However they can't do that now, because it is on mine property and they have mined around it. It looked really odd when they were mining around it, and it was there in middle of things. Now they are in the process of doing the reclammation work around it and returning the old buildings that were there. The blue flax is so pretty when it blooms.

This Western Kingbird was sitting atop a telephone pole. Laurence did a great job getting the shot!

We tried to get some mountain bluebirds, but they were not very cooperative!!

A Great Day in Billings!

Yesterday was a totally delightful day! I had the opportunity to go to the Billings Montana Temple with my good friend Kit. It was not a trip that we had planned for a long time, in fact it just sort of happened. So glad it did!
After attending the temple we shared a luncheon in the cafeteria that was prepared by our stake relief society for the sisters in our stake. It was delicious! Thanks Sister Jones!!
I am so glad that Kit let me be a part of this day with her, it was wonderful! Thank You Kit!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME!!!

For Mother's Day Laurence got me a hanging basket. They are my favorite!! I love having them on my deck each summer. We picked it out in Billings last week, but left it there for a week. That worked out so well!! I didn't have to mess with it during the cold weather, it just continued to grow in the greenhouse.
Yesterday we brought it home. It is so beautiful!! I LOVE it!
Thank you sweetheart!

Cherry Blossoms in Montana

A WONDERFUL SURPRISE!

I got a delightful surprise in the mail today!! My sister-in-law Glenda sent this wonderful tote bag that she personalized for me. Don't you LOVE the font she used? Glenda and her husband Glenn live in Georgia. In her spare time (when she has any), Glenda does awesome machine embroidery. Check out some of her other work on her blog: http://memawgg.xanga.com/ I feel so very lucky! Thanks so much Glenda! I'm so fortunate to be in such a great family!!

Have you hugged your Nauga?

The small chameleon-like animals known as Naugas have long been known as the source of beautiful and durable fabrics that look like fine, soft leather. And since Naugas shed their hydes without harm to themselves, the fabrics they help make came to be known as Naugahyde, The Cruelty Free Fabric.
Despite the popularity of these little animals and their hydes, little is known of their origins and how they first came to America. Post war America was deeply in love with vinyl coated fabrics. With rampantly expanding industry, the need for flexible, versatile industrial materials and the plastic industry’s willingness and desperation to provide just this, Naugahyde (sometimes abbreviated to Nauga) is a brand of artificial leather ("pleather"). Naugahyde is a composite of a knit fabric backing and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic coating. A marketing campaign of the 1960s and 1970s asserted humorously that Naugahyde was obtained from the skin of an animal called a "Nauga". The claim became an urban myth. The campaign emphasized that, unlike other animals, which must typically be slaughtered to obtain their hides, Naugas can shed their skin without harm to themselves. The Nauga doll, a squat, horned monster with a wide toothy grin, became popular in the 1960s and is still sold today.Laurence and I went to Billings yesterday. One of the things we did was go garage saling (one of my favorite passtimes). During the day we found these two chairs. Both of us LOVED them. They are so comfortable. Laurence has a really hard time with chairs because of his back so this is a huge accomplishment. These chairs are upholstered in naugahyde. So, it's a pretty good guess that they were probably manufactured sometime in the '60's. The great thing about naugahyde is that it is really pretty easy to get clean so I am much more comfortable with that part. The downside is the naugahyde...... it's gastly. So, here's the question: will I learn to accept them or figure out a way to fix it? I'm not an upholsterer.... I do like the battenburg lace chair cover, but I only have one of those. Hmmmmmmm Ah well, regardless we will really enjoy these chairs!
Life is good!

Just a Little Struttin'

We always have lots of red-wing blackbirds here (too many actually), but only the very rarely do we see Yellow-Headed Blackbirds. When we do see them it is usually one yellow-headed blackbird in a whole flock of red-wing blackbirds. They always look sort of like one black sheep in a flock of white sheep. I decided this year I was for sure going to get a picture if one should appear. Doesn't he look proud!
Not only did he appear..... but he brought friends! They've been here for two days now. They are really skittish, all I have to do is move in my office chair and they are gone. My goal is to get a picture that is not through my office window, but so far they haven't been up to posing when I open the door......

YEAH ME!!

"Cast iron pieces are made in a sand MOLD and that mold is made by packing special casting sand around a PATTERN. Each piece of iron has to have its own mold as the mold is a one-time-use thing which is destroyed in order to remove the piece cast in it. In order to make enough molds a foundry might have to have several or more patterns for popular, high production pieces."
Last week I went to North Dakota with Laurence. While we were there we went to a pawn shop and picked up this little gem. Note the name.... it was obviously meant to be mine! People just think it stands for Sidney, Ohio
Trust me it was definately a diamond in the rough..... more like COAL! (My only regret is that I didn't take a picture of it when I first bought it.)
I could not believe how gungy and icky the pan was. I scraped and boiled it, then I boiled and scraped it, then scraped and boiled..... then I took the wire brush on Laurence's drill to it. Did I mention the steel wool time I put in?
I reseasoned it and it is ready to go!!
Anyway I am so tickled with the way it turned out! It is the exact size of cast iron skillet that I needed!! Yeah me!! I'm feeling pretty lucky!

My Favorite Season is Here!!

Last week the young women from our church had a garage sale. This was my TREASURE!! Yes indeed it truly is a Griswold #8 cast iron Dutch oven. I was so delighted! It cost me $5.00!

It did not come with a lid, so if anyone out there runs into a lid for a #8 Tite-top Griswold Dutch Oven please let me know.

And to think Garage Sale Season is just beginning!

I'm anxious to see what the season will bring next!!