In This Crazy Life...

I added a little fall to our house this weekend. I used the artificial stems and flowers that we used for our wedding.  For the dining room center piece I bought a couple of bags of mixed gourds and added a few stems. I stuck some flowers in the urns by the front door and added a few pumpkins and bought a few mums and some more pumpkins for out back by our bedroom door. We slept in Sunday. It was so nice not to have anything to do. Woke up Thursday morning to a snake in my living room! Perla brought it in. She is no longer allowed to come in and out while we are sleeping. I didn't even notice it in her mouth when I stumbled to open the door at 3:20 in the morning.  Kev helped me take apart three pallets Saturday. I'm going to use them to make a head board for the guest bedroom. I enjoyed our productive yet lazy weekend.

Fall in in the air! Saturday morning I woke up to a chill in the air. I went on a short run and then stopped by the grocery store. I came home and opened all the windows and made a huge pot of chili while I watched football. The razorbacks are actually winning some this year. GO HOGS! When Kev got home, he cut eh tree that fell a few weeks ago into smaller pieces while I gathered limbs and branches. A few friends came over and we made a huge bonfire. The embers were soaring high in the sky. It was beautiful! When you would throw another branch on, it looked as if it was a volcano erupting. We stayed up chatting until around 1:00am. Sunday we did absolutely nothing! I mean nada! I did get up around 7:00 and fed the animals and had some coffee, but was back in bed at 11:00 and slept til after 1:00. I laid around binge watching Revenge on Netflix. I'm addicted! Kev watched football and napped on the couch. The dogs went from the couch with him to the bedroom with me all day. I lo...

 I came home today after running/walking for what seemed like three miles, but I'm sure it wasn't, in very hot and humid weather, ready for a shower. Instead I found my well gushing water. I noticed water all the way down the drive. I thought to myself surely it didn't rain on just one side of the driveway, maybe we left the hose on and the water has been running all day. NOPE! Water was gushing from the well! I stopped the truck and ran over to turn the water off before inspecting things closer. I noticed a huge branch on the ground. The branch had fallen on the pipes and broke them off. I tried and tried to call Kev and he didn't answer. Of course I'm freaking out! I'm extremely sweaty and want a shower and I have no water. I called my dad and asked exactly when he is going to bring the well house up and explained to him what has happened. (Last winter we had a make shift well house and with all the rain this summer it finally collapsed. It's not been a bi...

One of my besties in Hot Springs invited me to go to Mosiac Madness with her and her mom Saturday. I'd never been but love mosiacing!! I mosaiced the top of a cabinet a few years back with limestone and old dishes. I was thinking I wanted to do a garden stone, but they didn't have one. I decided to make a cross for my mom. There were several different wood cutouts you could choose from.  Once you picked your cutout, you had to decide what materials you were going to use. They had everything imaginable!  I chose glass. I dug through two huge tubs and found lots or orange, my moms favorite color, and blue. Once all the glass was glued down, I let it dry. We crabbed lunch at Smokin' in Style while we waited. When we got back it was ready to grout and paint the edges of the wood. The finished product.  Th ey had some amazing pieces on display!   I really want to make one of the razorbacks or a window. Later that night, I stayed with a friend ...

A friend of mine introduced me to bacon jam. I know right. What the heck that? It's OH MY GOD delicious! I googled a couple of recipes and settled on this one . I want to try this one too. This is what you will need along with a pound of cooked bacon. I added red pepper flaked to give mine a little kick. Caramelize the onions and garlic and add the other ingredients. Bring to a boil and ten add the bacon. Let simmer for a few hours or until it thickens. I put mine a in couple of jars. It will keep for a month in the fridge. I grilled hamburgers and we slathered it on them. I will be making more! I put it on my breakfast sandwich this morning. YUM!

Its been unseasonably cool this summer! According to the news this is the second coolest July in History. I saw the date 1880 pop up the other night when they were talking about it. Hey I'm not complaining. We've not hit high 90's but a couple of days.   Sunday I drove to Hot Springs to pick blackberries. My parents have a few acres of land and they are growing wild ALL over it! My brother and dad went to help. We picked a little over two gallons. Spence ate more than he put in his bucket. I spent today freezing a few bags and making 14 jars of jam. I made Kev a cobbler too. Blackberry Cobbler is his favorite! I mention the other day that I purchased a canning funnel. Boy does it make getting the sticking hot liquid into the jars easier! Jam

I decided since I wasn't busy building a house or planning a wedding this summer, I would read!! I love Jennifer Weiner so I picked this book up. Once I saw it was about addiction, I had to read it. I've been reading Janet Evaonvich for years and even though they are getting redundant at book twenty. I still read.  I've had this book for years and I've never picked it up. I really liked it. It's about a lady and her husband tries to kill her by throwing her overboard during their cruise. She swims to safety and sets out to get revenge. At the same time she is falling for the guy who rescues her.  Very good young adult novel about a boy with a deformed face and the challenges he faces.  LOVE this book!! Can't wait to see the movie.  I went to church with Adam Brown. I never really knew him, but my mom was and his parents knew each other. I've been wanting to read this book and finally purchased it through my Kindle App. Adam Brown was a...