Where did Samantha find the time?

Good Golly Miss Molly....

Do you remember how cool Samantha Stephens was....

Man.....that girl could cook,

clean,

organize,

re-arrange furniture,

garden,

drive,

care for Tabitha,

and handle

that crazy husband of her's, Darin,

all with a twitch of her nose....

GIRL!

that is what I want to be able to do!

Conjure up a fabulous

house,

dinner,

outfit,

well....

life!

With just a twitch.....

And then I too

would have the time to play

"Solitaire"....

Yeah right!

Nope not me...

if I could do all that...

Darin would have been history...

and the Fab Four,

the Monkees,

AND

the Beach Boys

would be living

at my house.

Who needs a twitch?

All I need is my imagination.

smiles.

This is what I am so grateful for....

My sweet son...

No.....

 this is not a current photo.

This little boy is now 21 yrs old.

He is visiting a hospital bound uncle today.

So... I do not get the pleasure of feeding him way too much food.

But

I am blessed.

He is a good man.

He is actually one of the most caring

and interesting people I know.

(of course my opinion only matters to me)

I am fortunate to have been

assisted in raising him

by his wonderful dad,

my patient parents,

and

dozens of fabulous teachers

who have over the years

encouraged him

and

me.

While...

his dad and I are not married now,

and haven't been for over 16 years,

we have tried to bring him up

without seeing our disagreements.

(his father is actually better at this than me, my guess)

We have been blessed in return

by having a son that is

better than either of us

deserve or could wish for...

I know that this may sound like

I believe I played a major role.

not true.

I know that

the most I can take credit for is

having made dinner,

cleaned clothes,

had a few parties,

and

basically tried to act like an adult.

(sometimes worked, and others....well)

This is what I am grateful for today.

How about you?

What are you grateful for?

I would love to hear from you...

smiles.

Happy Day.

Tastes from the past....

enjoyed today....

This morning brought a breakfast flooded with memories..

It all started with a visit.

Several days ago,

a sweet lady named Anne

came to see me...

she had a photographic need..

that I am in the process of filling.

But what she brought for me

is pertinent here.

She brought eggs.

Eggs from her farm,

her chickens,

her effort,

her loving care.

These eggs were purposely saved for Sunday morning.

As they are special.

And

when I took my first bite....

I remembered....

being a child,

waking up to the smell of bacon...

toast,

grits,

fried green tomatoes,

biscuits,

honey,

oh my!

These were REAL eggs.

I had forgotten what a real egg

tastes like.

How sad....

I didn't even know,

really...

that I had fallen into the same trap

 that we all have fallen into,

at one time or another.

The trap of convenience.

The neighborhood chain store,

that brings us everything we need.....

or does it?

Maybe not.

As these eggs reminded me,

Eggs have a taste.

They are not bland.

Not real eggs.

I think I will ask for the photographic bill

to be paid in eggs...

smiles.

Brilliant.....

Fall colors...

Don't they simply blow your mind?

Maybe they are trying to keep us warm even as the weather

turns cool...

Maybe it's their last "hurah"...

Maybe it is the glow of trees' spirits...

Or

maybe it is just

 the way the light

reflects off the old

 worn out leaves....

I don't think so...

smiles...

Happy Friday!

I heart me some...

magazines.....

I always have...

ever since my mother,

in an effort to have

 one minute of peace in her life....

handed me a magazine

 and some "kiddie scissors"..

and said I could cut out

 all the pictures I wanted to...

Well....

that way just the beginning.

I have an obsession...

Yes, I think that word is not too strong to describe

the feelings toward periodicals....

I currently receive 4,

maybe 5 different ones each month...

but that is only because I am trying to be

economically responsible,

ecologically sound,

and

less mentally un-balanced....

(smiles)

But you should see my closet....

Here,

let me take you there,

(pretend we are walking to my bedroom)

now in here (closet)

I keep my stash...

Looky here

(shelves)

I have Martha's rag dating back to the 90's...

House Beautiful...ah... she gets her own spot too..

and Architectural Digest, he's such a snob...I put him off on his own to

think about just how important is a "label"...

Now...sadly

there are those that tug at my heart strings...

Met Home, Cottage Living,

and of course,

Domino

(sniff)

well, what can I say?

I actually get an endorphin rush

when my husband (sweetie) comes in from the

mailbox and announces that there are several magazines for me.....

Is that so wrong?

Well, I am trying to

bring a new light to this problem.

Really.

I want to be healthy in my attitudes...

So,

I have been making regular attempts to

give

Lonny Magazine

a legitimate

chance

Here is the thing.

They produce a fabulous display.

great images...

very good info...

current trends....

interesting articles...

all good.

But

in reality...

they just don't

"crinkle"

or

fold back on themselves,

or sit on the floor next to my bed,

or

wait for me on my favorite chair....

or allow me to get out the

"kiddie scissors"....

smiles.

A Loud and Raucous Crowd....

my mind was filled with details from a long morning's work...

I could tell that any further accomplishments would be

"if-y"

So, being the responsible person that I am...

I decided to take a break...

My office is located in an upstairs bedroom...

across that hallway from the master bdrm.

There is a small balcony off of it,

that gets way too little attention.

Ah....the perfect place.

So, I get a magazine...

my reading glasses...

a cup o' joe...

my slippers...

and off to the late afternoon sunshine

I go...

There...

quiet...

warm....

comfortable...

and just about the

time I opened the magazine...

it started.

First it was the neighborhood

family of crows...

Caw...Caw...Caw...

oh yeah,

and

CAW!

Then just about the time I thought I should go inside...

quiet....

Then the family of squirrels woke up...

awrip....awrip...awrip...

(always ending on a high note)

they had to add their 2 cents to the

cacophony

(how often do you use that word?)

This went on for another few minutes,

and when it sounded like they were getting

just a bit tired.....

You guessed it..

Chickadees....two of them,

give'n it all they got, Cap'n!

Have you ever heard these little loud mouths?

They gave the crows a run for their money...

I gave up,

came in

and got a

'nother

cup

o'

joe....

smiles

A walk in the woods...

sometimes turns into something else....

sometimes...

it can alter your perception...

sometimes...

it can rock your world...

sometimes...

it simply makes you grateful....

this day did all that

for me.

I am in awe of live oaks.....

centuries...they live.

They see hundreds of us...

and are unfazed..

we are so small.

Grateful.