"It's All About Being Cool"

I shamelessly interrupt this Pink Saturday for a commercial message:

I just had to share the secret of keeping my cool in our lazy hazy Alabama summer weather.



Neil and I found these cool-keepers while out for a day-on-the-town during our recent camping vacation. We thought they would help us stay a little cooler while out in the boat. And were we ever surprised at how they help! Here's the description from their website:

The Chilly Pad® provides an innovative way to cool down while enduring outdoor heat and/or high levels of physical activity. Perfect for anyone engaged in sports or work, the Chilly Pad is made from a hyper-evaporative material that retains water while remaining dry to the touch. When wet, the towel begins to evaporate and cool, providing cool, soft comfort to the user. When it stops cooling (about 1-4 hours, depending on conditions), you simply re-wet the towel in hot or cold water and wring it out. Within minutes, it's cool again. It's also machine washable, and comes in its own storage container for years of reliable use. Handy size: 27" x 17"

It even looks "cool" hanging on my clothes line. Of course, Neil's isn't as pretty as mine because he settled for the blue one. :)



It is very stiff when it is completely dry. I'm not talking like a sun-dried terrycloth towel here, I'm talking about it feeling like it will break if you bend it. I'm not sure if you're supposed to store it in its container a little damp, or leave it out to completely dry, but I'm so happy to have it always "standing" in the corner waiting to accompany me on a trip out to my garden or a fishing day on the lake.




I now return you to Beverly and the regularly-scheduled Pink Saturday list.

The Vacation that Just Keeps on Giving

Our recent camping vacation to beautiful Guntersville State Park is such a pleasure to recall in memories and pictures...

We spent a little time in our camper. Mostly just long enough to sleep and hide out from a few scattered thunderstorms.



We saw some wildlife roaming around the edges of the campground.



We caught a few fish...this was one of Neil's...



I got to photograph some scenery from our boat...



... and some of the beautiful sunsets over the lake.



We also got to attend a free outdoor concert sponsored by their local arts council while there. Three door prizes were given away during intermission and Neil and I won the special one! It's a free night's stay at a new resort. We decided to schedule our stay so that we could attend the summer production of their community theatre. We went to one of their productions in February and enjoyed it so much. I posted about it here.

So...we're going tomorrow! The play looks like another fun one, and I can't wait!




Guntersville is one of our favorite places to visit and it isn't very far from home for us. You can check it out here.

Spicing up My Life!

I have lived with this chaotic spice cabinet for years. I dreaded having to look for any spice while cooking, but I just couldn't come up with a good way to get it organized.



So, I decided to call in extra help. I left the cabinet doors open the other night while having supper with my three guys and told them I needed ideas on how to get my spices in some kind of order. The four of us brain-stormed all through the meal and came up with a plan.

First thing next morning I made a trip to the Dollar Tree with a list of the sizes and quantity of baskets I needed for the job. (Did I mention that my group of guys consist of an engineer, a carpenter, and a mathematician? Meaning, they gave me a very specific plan and very precise list.)





Then, I came home and pulled everything out of the cabinet and set it on this counter top...



...and this one...



...and this one. I know it looks like a mess, but I actually have them grouped together alphabetically.




Then my area of expertise came in. I made cutesy labels (I am the artsy one. :), and attached them to the basket fronts with contact paper. And, I am rewarded with an organized, and pretty-to-look-at spice cabinet!



I tested it's efficiency the very next night. Needing garlic powder, I went to the cabinet and threw open the doors expecting the normal scavenger hunt. Lo, and behold, organized perfection stared me in the face! I stood there and just smiled a few seconds before reaching into the D-L basket and pulling out the garlic powder!!! It works, it actually works!!! I plan on working my way around the whole kitchen this way. Sounds like we are in for some interesting suppers for the next few weeks, doesn't it?

THE UNVEILING!!!

I finished it!!! TA DA!!!

My paint-by-number project has given me M-A-N-Y hours of pleasure, but I must say that I am glad to be finished with it and am ready to move on to the next project...which should be finishing up my crocheted afghan. It's so hard for this slightly ADD girl to stay focused on one time-intensive project long enough to finish before moving on to another. I have so many new ideas running through my head for the next project...and the next...and the next...

Note: For those that wanted info about where to purchase your own paint-by-number kit like mine. I bought it at Hobby Lobby. It is a 20" x 16" print called "Japanese Garden." The kit includes everything you need to finish the project and sells for $14.99. Hobby Lobby normally has a 40% off online coupon making the set less than $10!

I have been asked to join a fun party next month. It's a canning party! If you are canning your garden produce this year, or making jelly, or apple butter, etc. you might want to check out this canning party. It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun!

Pink Saturday Progress Report

My Paint-by-Number project is getting there s-l-o-w-l-y, step-by-step...






...and I'm enjoying every step of the way!


This blog is a happy participant of Beverly's Pink Saturday.

Fruits of My Labor

I had another canning session yesterday. I have a bumper crop of tomatoes this year! There are plenty for us to eat, for me to can, and to ~ reluctantly ~ share with the chickens.



I am having to learn to pace myself with my work this year since all my helpers have grown up and are out-and-about with other things, but that's okay, because I've decided I can actually enjoy my own company. I'm not so bad to be around. :) I think I am actually becoming a little wiser in my current ~ not old ~ age. I have streamlined my tomato-canning steps and written them on a little card so that I can zip right through without having to think through each little step. Here's my own Smart-Canner's Step-by-Step guide:

1. Put jars in dishwasher and run through wash and sanitizing cycle.
2. De-stem and wash tomatoes while boiling a big saucepan of water.
3. Peel tomatoes. (Dip in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then dump in ice water and peels will almost float off.)
4. Quarter and core tomatoes and run through food processor. (We don't like stringy or clumpy tomatoes in our soups and chili.)
5. Put tomatoes in large soup pot and heat to boiling.
6. Ladle hot tomatoes into sterilized jars, adding:
Quarts: 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
Pints: 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
7. Wipe off jar rims with clean dishcloth.
8. Cap with sterilized lids.
9. Add to waterbath canner and process:
Quarts ~ 45 minutes
Pints ~ 40 minutes

And TA-DA! The fruits of my labor!



I left out the most important step from my list though. A step that I have to remind myself of while I'm in the midst of my busy-ness. Step 10: Be good to Sherry. Take a mid-morning break and have a little snack. Yogurt and fresh, sweet strawberries on this day. Yum!!!



And stop in time to cook up some lunch; fragrant, crisp bacon to add with lettuce and a fresh-from-the-garden tomato for a scrumptious BLT. Add a sweet, mouth-watering nectarine, a good-for-me Hershey's Nugget, and glass of cold, whole milk and I'm now refreshed and ready to get that canning finished up!

You're Welcome Here!

"I'm just a little black rain cloud...
Hovering under the honey tree."



Hi there you little black rain clouds. Remember me? I'm the one that recited a little poetry to you a couple of months ago. You remember the clever little poem that goes, "Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day. Little Sherry wants to play?" Well...um, it's another day...and you're welcome to stop by for a good long visit. :)

Wait...I hear thunder! Oh, yes! Here's the rain! I thank you and my rain-washed roses thank you.

Pink Saturday Birthday

You're so sweet to stop by on my birthday. Your visit makes it such a special day for me.


This blog is a happy participant of Pink Saturday.

We Have Chicken Thieves!

Well, it's actually thieving chickens we have. I guess I should have, "Gotten up with the chickens," and raced them to the garden! They beat me to the garden and merrily pecked their way through over half of our ripe tomato crop! So much for my brilliant idea for natural pest control. They just may be going back to their little chicken house for the rest of garden season. I was already mad at them for giving up on their daily egg production as soon as the weather warmed up a little bit, and now this...

Boring You with My Drawings

I'm having such a good time looking through my old drawings and artwork. Please forgive me for boring you with more pictures of my attempts, but I enjoy sharing them so, and they are stirring up my interests again.

Do you recognize this little fellow? I tried to make him look like the lovable little character from the children's book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.



Well, I've got to get out to the garden before the temps soar here today. Those juicy, red, ripe tomatoes are hanging in bunches there just waiting to be brought into my kitchen and put into jars. I sure miss my canning partner. My sweet little Heather girl stood by my side for many summers patiently peeling tomato after tomato for me to can. Now she's moved waaaaay up north to Indiana and we don't get to share our special mother-daughter canning time together this year. But I'll put up some extra jars of tomatoes for ya'll Heather!

For My Kind Friends that Asked...

...to see more of my old drawings, here are some watercolor pieces I did while going through my Beatrix Potter stage. I often borrowed children's books from the library and practiced copying different styles ~ purely for my own enjoyment and artistic growth. I seem to learn best this way.

What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

My new Paint-by-Number hobby has stirred up sleeping interests for me. I wonder, does everyone go through different phases with their hobbies and interests or do most people just choose something and stick with it forever? Maybe my ever-changing interests have something to do with the way my sweet husband spells my name: A-D-D/O-C-D. I tell him he doesn't know how to spell Sherry, but then again, maybe he does.

I have always loved drawing, painting, music, etc., but my perfectionism ties my hands. I usually think that if I don't have time to do something perfectly, then I won't even start. But, I'm trying to shake that mentality. And, with my newly awakened artsy interest, I have gone through some of my past drawings and thought I would share some with you. I'll start with my favorite one.

This is a picture I snapped of Maggie when she was sticking her head through the back door.



And this is my drawing from the picture.


I drew this about four years ago, and haven't done much drawing since then. But who knows what new~ or old~ interests I might stir up since I have retired from homeschooling and have a little extra time on my hands? There's no telling what I might be since I now have time to grow up!

Do you believe in coincidences...

...I don't. I believe everything happens for a reason. Thus, my awe of these two pictures. The first one is a little business card that has hung on my refrigerator since 1994. I know that, because of the calendar on the back. It was a business card from a local book store. I had no idea where the picture had been made, but I kept it and hung it on my frig because the beautiful scene and words spoke "peace" to my soul.

Fast forward twelve years...Neil and I took a trip to Mt. Airy, NC in 2006 to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. While staying there we took a day trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at Mabry Mill in Virginia. While there, I snapped a few pictures of the beautiful scenery. Upon returning home, I had my pictures developed and the second picture, above, was among those. I thought it was so lovely that I grouped it with four other pictures in a collage-type picture frame and hung it at the end of our hallway. I would often stop and gaze at this picture while walking down the hall.

The picture had been hanging there three or four years when one day, while drinking in the beauty of it once again, it struck a familiar cord in me. It couldn't be! I ran to the kitchen, grabbed my little card off the refrigerator and carried it back to compare it to my picture. I couldn't believe it! It gave me chills. To think, that I had unknowingly traveled to the very place that was on that little card, and snapped my own picture of that peaceful scene. How awesome was that?

So, no, I don't believe in coincidences. I believe that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me so much that He carried me to the very place that had spoken peace to my soul for many years, and let me see it for myself. By the way, that very special picture is now our computer screen background...so that I'll never forget.

What a Glorious Weekend!

I've never looked up the word glorious in the dictionary, but in the little dictionary I carry around in my head it means full of glory and wonder and that is the perfect description of my weekend.

Our precious daughter and son-in-law came home for a few days and they, along with my sweet hubby, me, and our two sons traveled to Huntsville to join with our extended family and friends for our niece's beautiful outdoor wedding.

But now with Heather and Matt on their way back to Indiana and Neil and my boys back at their jobs, I'm home and ready to delve back into my happy routines and hobbies. My work is all stacked up for me. :)



My afghan project continues to grow block-by-happy block.



Also awaiting my attention are my little paint pots...



They're so sweet, all holding hands while waiting for me.



They are such pretties that I couldn't stand to keep them stashed away in an ugly old shoe box, so I dug through my projects-in-waiting box and found this tissue box holder. I thought it made the most elegant of homes for my little paint pot friends. They seem to be very happy in their new home.



I have started on my newest paint-by-number picture. I'm loving it even more than my last project. The paints are going on so smoothly. It just smooths out the rough edges of life for me. I am finding painting to be the most glorious of hobbies.

Taking a Kitchen Break on this Pink Saturday

I'm posting pictures of my early birthday present while my apple butter is happily bubbling away in my kitchen. My birthday isn't until next Saturday but my sweet sister brought me an early present to our family get-together last weekend. I just had to share my excitement with my Pink Saturday friends! Look what beauty awaited me in the elegantly wrapped present I tore into last Saturday!













Thank you, Elaine! You know me so well and always give the perfect gifts! Love you!

This blog post is a happy participant in Pink Saturday. Please click on the little Pink Lady on my blog sidebar to visit Beverly and all the other Pink Saturday participants this week. Now I've got to get back to my kitchen, my apple butter needs my attention!

The Simplest Cheesecake in the World!

I made this cheesecake yesterday to round out our celebratory meal. My daughter and her sweet husband are here!!! We celebrated with chicken and dressing, and grilled corn on the cob and squash from our garden and cheesecake with blueberry sauce. Yum, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

The cheesecake is so simple to make but it tastes so good. I made the crust from the recipe on the graham cracker box.






Then I made the cheesecake filling by putting a softened 8 ounce block of cream cheese, a 15 ounce can of Sweetened Condensed Milk and 1/3 cup of lemon juice in a mixing bowl and beating until smooth. I then smoothed it into the crust. I popped it into the frig to chill while I ran out in the yard and....



...picked fresh blueberries from my front yard bushes...



...which I combined with a little sugar and a dash of cornstarch to make it into a blueberry sauce and WALAA! A smooth, rich, delicious dessert to share with my precious family!