Noblesse Oblige Award

I am so honored to be included in this group! I have received this award from Sara. Thank you so very much!

The award is presented to bloggers who display consistency in any one or a combinations:

1.The blogger manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervades amongst different cultures and beliefs.

2.The blog contents inspire; strives to encourage and offers solutions.

3.There is a clear purpose at the blog; one that fosters a better understanding on Social, Political, Economics, the Arts, Culture and Sciences and Beliefs.

4.The blog is refreshing and creative.

5.The blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking.

The blogger who receives this award will need to perform the following steps:

1.Create a post with a mention and a link to the person who presented the Noblesse Oblige Award.

2.The award conditions must be displayed at the post.

3.Write a short article about what the blog has thus far acheived - preferably citing one or more older posts to support.

4.The blogger must present the Noblesse Oblige Award in concurrence with the award conditions.

5.The blogger must display the award at any location on the blog.

I will first say, "Right back at you, Sara!" Her Breathing Post is a wonderful blog, delightful to read. I will pass this on as required.

Two Greyhound Town

The Retirement Chronicles

Cen's Loft

Ghunibee Scraps

Words to the Wise

The Frugal Housewife

When I began this blog, it was to be simply a place to share pictures I was scrapbooking with my family. I told my daughter in law, Carol, that my blog was getting out of hand!! I honestly was not even going to make it public. After a while, I thought - oh, why not? Now, I have received awards, I have followers - there are those I follow. This from someone who thought only a few years ago that a mouse was something you caught in a trap! When I almost gave up blogging, Glynis encouraged me and I listened, so here I still am, pounding away at these keys like I actually know what I am doing. Be sweet.

Lemonade Award (And Ice Storm)

I am just so honored!! I was very surprised and very happy to open a message from Two Greyhound Town with a message that she had given me The Lemonade Award and it was waiting for me at Quick And Easy Cooking! I am very humbled by all these awards.
The Lemonade Award is for sites that show gratitude and a wonderful attitude! How great to be included. Thank you so much.
The rules of this award are as follows:

1.Put the logo on your blog or post.
2.Nominate at least 10 blogs that show attitude and/or gratitude.
3.Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4.Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on a post.
5.Nominate your favorites and link to this blog.

I am almost sure some of you have already received this award, but a second one will be even nicer, so my nominations are:

Ghunibee Scraps
RandomWAHMThoughts
The Breathing Post
The Retirement Chronicles
Berry Blog
Stories and Scribbles
Loribeth's Artistic Romance

I have many more I think are deserving of this award, so many I would still be putting nominees on this list a week from now. I appreciate all of you and love reading what you write. If you have not been to Two Greyhound Town, pay a visit. It has some great pictures and she describes the greyhounds as 45 mph couch potatoes!

We have been in the big ice storm. Some families will not have power again for days. It is the worst it has ever been. I have been in a panic because a couple of cell phone towers have fallen due to heavy ice and I have been unable to use the phone to call Keith and Carol, or my brothers to check on them. We have not had a land line in a few years---use cell phones for everything and are lost without them. Me, who grew up not knowing what a phone was! Have internet service today, so will try to email them. The house directly across from us still has no power and finally went to a shelter. My daughter made coffee for them. They have had no power for days. I swear, it is like a war zone, so many limbs and trees, etc. are down. Lots of streets and roads are impassable to to being blocked by trees. Two of my boys had to go out to Debye,s and try to remove enough tree limbs for her to get out of her driveway, but some are so big they will have to be cut with a chainsaw or pulled with a wench. She finally made it out by driving through her yard. Her car was under the carport of she would not have a car left. Two limbs are lying on our car in the driveway. I will try to get pictures. Later! Be sweet.

Mama's Dishes

As a child growing up in the forties, living in a rural area, everyone I knew used empty peanut butter jars, jelly jars and sometimes a pint mason jar. as drinking glasses. Our mamas would soak off the labels most of the time and scrub them till they sparkled like crystal. I thought nothing of it and neither did anyone else. It's how things were. Many a table was set with mismatched and chipped dishes and the empty jars set beside our plates to drink from. Those were some of the best meals I ever ate!
Mom never had a set of matching dishes in her life. I was grown and married before I learned there was such a thing. Sooo, one Christmas Dad planned to surprise Mom with a complete set of dishes. He let me in on the secret and, though I really wanted to, I never told a soul. We had a small town around twenty miles away with a hardware store that sold open stock dishes, which is where Dad decided to go. He said there were so many to choose from.
Well, when Mom opened the big box there they were!! A plate with a gold rim, one with blue flowers, a cup with a green vine and -----you get the idea. No two dishes were alike! I know my poor dad must have spent quite some time making sure of it. Mom was as pleased as punch. My eyes were big as saucers when I saw what else was in the box----six plastic glasses!! They were all different colors, but, oh,my! Real glasses! I thought about being a little uppity with my friends, but knew that Mom would not approve. She let me help her wash them and put them all away. I put the pretty new glasses in front of the assorted jars.
It was just not in me to wait till the holiday dinner was served to use our new glasses. I looked around to be sure no one watched, got the pink one down and took it outside to pump ice cold water straight into it. Oh, Lord that was good water! I raised my glass in the chilly air and right then I knew that, for whatever reason, I would always remember this day and Mama's dishes.

Quotes, Words of Wisdom

Some of us have runways already built for us. If you have one, take off. But if you don't have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you. - Amelia Earhart

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down but an encouraging word makes it glad. - Proverbs 12:25

The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been, - Alan Ashley-Pitt

It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently. - Warren Buffett

There's no place on earth that's not been rained on. - Author Unknown

Yes, I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world. - Oscar Wilde

If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place. - Nora Roberts

Henry Ford could get anything out of men because he just talked and would tell them stories. He'd never say, "I want this done!" He'd say, "I wonder if we can do it." - George Brown

Wish I'd said that! Be sweet.

Thought I Didn't Want a Thing Until........

Well, what do you know?!

I have been given The Birthday Wish Award by Kaye of RandomWAHMThoughts and it isn't even my birthday! Remember how my mom almost named me Nina Mae and thank goodness she didn't.

Of course, there are rules to go along with the award which are:

1. Post the image of this award.

2. Make a list of what you want on your birthday.

3. The list should be 15 numbers.

4. Give it to 10 friends of yours.

You always think it would be easy to come up with a list of things we wish for, but I find it is not as easy as it might seem. I really don't wish for a lot of things, but if I could have anything I might want and have fifteen wishes, this is what I would wish for.

1. I wish I could sit in the front pew of the church when my great granddaughters are brides.

2. I wish I could be present at the birth of my first great-great grandchild.

3. I want Abigail, Anna and Carlee always to remember me and how much I love them.

4. I wish I could finish the family scrapbooks I started for my children.

5. I wish for a professional organizer to get my bedroom and kitchen in some kind of order.

6. I wish I had a stove with a solid cooktop.

(Boy, this wishing is getting easier and easier! Thanks, Kaye)

7. I wish Glynis would send pictures of the village where she lives in Cyprus.

8. I wish to visit both my brothers at least two weeks.

9. I wish Spring would last six months and Autumn the other six.

10. I wish I had every kitchen appliance known to man, with a room to put them in.

(If you are going to wish, you might as well wish big.)

11. I wish I was not such a procrastinator.

12. I wish for a vegetable garden in my back yard in the spring.

13. I wish all my relatives and friends lived in the same city as me.

14. I wish our old family Bible was restored.

15. I wish I had fifteen more wishes.

Now that my wishes have been made I would like to pass this award on to the following people:

My dear friend, Glynis of New Scribbles, sweet Faith of Scripture2Prayer, Sara of The Breathing Post, dear sweet Lizzie of Words To The Wise, Loribeth of Artistic Romance, Darlene of Darlene Designs. Those are the friends I will pass this on to for now. Maybe we will all have a little angel waiting to make all our dreams and fifteen wishes come true. Don't be such a skeptic. You never know! Spring is sure to be here any day now and there are empty houses everywhere just waiting for my aunts, brothers, and the rest to move into. A new service has just begun in our area---free services offered via the web and I just know soon a professional organizer will be listed who is dying to offer her/his services to anyone who needs them. How exciting! All those papers, pens, notes, bills and assorted clutter could soon be sorted, neatly arranged and out of sight!! Thank you so much, Kaye, for my birthday wishes, for all of you know I believe in angels!!! Be sweet and good.

For Mitch, Love Never Ends

This is a difficult post to write.  This is Mitch, the child I hold in my heart.  The sweet memories are a priceless treasure.  I am grateful for the time God saw fit to give us.  I am so thankful, too, that He saw fit to give me other children to love.

When a child dies, a piece of who we are is gone but, this I know for sure---a part of Mitch lives on in all my children.  Though each child is a unique and special gift, with different talents, personalities, goals and ambitions, their lives all came from my life.  We are intertwined.  We are separate, yet we are one. 

Mitch had a knack for putting people at ease.  He was witty, had many friends and gave pleasure to those around him.  I talk to him often and sometimes end with, "Sweetheart, save the last dance for me!"

Cooking Freebies

Two more recipes already on cards and yours for downloading.  If you use cardstock in your printer, you just have to cut them out and add to your recipe box.  I have recipes scattered everywhere.  If I said I was going to organize them and get them all in one place, my nose would immediately begin to grow!  I have so many cookbooks that a lot of them are in storage tubs in the garage.  I can tell you about each and every one though, where I got it, how long I've had it and what kind of recipes are in it!  I know if one is missing too.  My daughters can attest to that! I really don't understand my fascination with cookbooks as I usually don't bother to measure ingredients.  I just add a pinch or two of this and a handful of that and most usually it is edible.  I have come a long way from the young bride with a flame being lit under her biscuit by a husband who could not so much as take a bite out of the biscuit!  I swear to you, in those days I have cooked food that our dog refused to eat!!   I can sit with a cookbook and read it the way other people read novels.  If I have to wait very long anywhere, I am receiving what I have come to call THE LOOK.  It isn't everyone who can pull a cookbook out of her purse while sitting in the waiting room at a doctor's office.  I recently gave my oldest granddaughter a cookbook written in 1887.  I feel every young girl should know how to pluck a chicken and the proper way to render fat when a hog is killed.

Now on to the freebies!  Download link for Biscuits Recipe Card is here 

Link for Peanut Butter Cups is here.                                               Be sweet!

My Chat With Charlie

You just have to read Charlie Berry's blog!  It is too good to miss.  He has written a post for me explaining his love for recipes.  I tell you, I laughed and laughed.  Especially when he was learning to cook and got carried away with the spices until everything tasted like alum.  He is exactly like me, with a truckload of cookbooks and probably every spice and herb known to man.  I know you will love his humor and style as much as I do.  Pay a visit to Berry Blog and you will stay for the entertainment and visit often.  I was reminded of the mismatched set of dishes my dad proudly gave Mom for Christmas one year.  I will surely have to tell you all about that little episode soon. Like always, be sweet and good and smile.

You've Been Tagged Award

Sara, from The Breathing Post has bestowed upon me the You've Been Tagged Award.  Sara is awesome and her Breathing Post is a blast.  You will have loads of fun at this site.  Thank you, Sara.  I have discovered some responsibility comes with this Tag Award!  I have to say 7 random and/or weird things---now that will be quite easy as everything that comes out of my mouth is random and/or weird!  I also must give the award to other deserving people for writing such amazing blogs.  No need to put this off so we'll get on with it beginning with the 7 things.

1. I found out today that Sara had lost a goldfish named Lady Gwen that she had for a year---     well, I once had 2 goldfish named Floyd and Leroy who thrived in their bowl until  both died a sudden death.  I have often wondered if it was the names that killed them!

2. I am terrified to open a can of biscuits, because one exploded in my hand several years ago.  My kids used to chase me around the house with a can of biscuits. To this day, someone has to open them for me and I put both hands over my ears and move away.

3. When I remarked to my dad that I had grown up with my kids, he said simply, "The only thing is, they grew up and you never did."

4. My birthday is the ninth of May and my sweet little mama almost named me Nina Mae, so I would always remember my birthday. (So glad you didn't, Mama.  I don't even look like a Nina Mae.)

5. My husband has said the happiest time of his life was when I had laryngitis.

6. I told one of my grandsons I was going to seduce Hank Hill and take him away from Peggy.  Not only would he have a new grandpa, but we could sure put Hank's red truck to use and he would have such fun with Bobby.  He said I was senile------he'll think senile when I drive up in that red truck.  Look at what we could save on propane!

7.If we had computers back in the day, I would have been a geek by age 16.

All right, Sweeties, now for the fun part.  I give the You've Been Tagged Award to the following:

1.Glynis @ New Scribbles

2.Lizzie @Words To The Wise

3.Charlie @ Berry Blog

4.Wayne @ wize old phart

5.Jennifer @ The Frugal Housewife

Well, Little Darlins', that's it for this go around.  I'll be back later with more goodies---a tall tale to tell or maybe something good to eat or, how about some money saving tips?  Whatever it is, we'll grab a cup of hot coffee, prop our feet up and just ENJOY!   Guess there won't be a Cole Slaw Debate this year as everyone seemed to agree that the Colonel's was best!   Be sweet!!

 

 

Copycat KFC Coleslaw on Recipe Card (Yum!)

One more thing before I leave you----I have a yummilicious (is that a word?) Copycat KFC Cole Slaw recipe for you. I even put it on a recipe card so all you have to do is download it and think of me when you make it!! KFC has the BEST cole slaw> If you know of one better and have the recipe, bring it on and we will have the Great Cole Slaw Debate of 2009!!!

Download that little jewel right here and, as always, happy cooking
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

If any man seeks for greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both. - Horace Mann,

Can You Believe It? Two Awards!! Sisterhood From Glynis And Tagged From Sara

After a couple of days away from my computer, I am truly humbled!! Today when I looked at my e-mail and found I had waiting for me, not one, but two awards, I was almost in tears. I had spent the last few days deciding if I should continue writing my blog, then out of nowhere here is my answer!!! Thank you so much. Now let's get down to business!! The Sisterhood Award was passed to me by Glynis Smy of New Scribbles. Glynis is an exceptional lady, so caring, so truly concerned for the welfare of others. Now it is my turn to pass it on to others.

The rules for recipients are as follows:
1.Put the logo on your blog or post.
2.Nominate 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude
(If you don't have 10, it doesn't really matter.)
3.Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4.Let them know they have received this award by commenting
on their blog.
5.Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom
whom you received your award.

So here goes (I would give it back to Glynis, but don't think I'm allowed!)
I pass this award to these new and dear friends.

Sara at The Breathing Post

Angi at Scripture2Prayer

Carol at Balsam Pond Designs

Kay at RandomWAHMThoughts

Darlene at Darlene Designs

Marie at Flashgraphics Creations

Okay, Sweeties, there you are!! So many amazing and inspiring blogs it is so hard,
especially since I am so new to all of this. I love each and every one of you and, guess what is in store for you tomorrow??? The You've Been Tagged Award that I received from Sara. I know I should do it now, but after all this I am just brain dead!!

I do have one little thing to tell you-------my precious, darling daughter sent me an email that had in the subject line "Mom, this is for you" The message read-------------

Did you hear about the 80 year old woman
who talked herself out of a speeding ticket
by telling the young officer that she had to get there
before she forgot where she was going?


Makes perfect sense to me!!! Remember to be sweet and good!

Never Fail Homemade Biscuits

I will tell you the easiest and best way to make never-fail biscuits today.  It works everytime.  I have used this method since the time I spent all afternoon preparing what I expected to be a delicious evening meal for my husband.  I had made all the old favorites, the comfort foods.  The chicken was golden brown and crunchy with creamy mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade biscuits.  As we sat making small talk about our day, my dear husband placed one of my biscuits on the edge of the table, calmly pulled a cigarette lighter out of his pocket and lit it, holding the flame under the biscuit.  I wondered aloud what in the heck was he doing.  To which he replied, "I'm trying to see if that damn thing will crawl!"

It goes without saying that it was a long, long time before I attempted biscuits again.   Now I will tell you the easiest method I know that will always ensure a good flaky biscuit.  This is the way I firmly believe all biscuits should be made----first, while shopping for groceries, go to the refrigerated section and place a couple of the packages of  canned biscuits in your cart.  Next pay for them along along with the contents of your cart.  When you reach home and begin putting away the food, put the biscuits behind a big head of lettuce or gallon of milk.  Then when you are ready to show the culinary skills you have learned from years of cooking from scratch for a bunch of hungry kids and a hard working husband, take out the package of biscuits from behind the lettuce, tear it open with the strips and pop it against the corner of your counter.  Place them in appropriate pan, bake about 10 minutes at maybe 400 degrees.  That's all there is to it! I'm telling you, this is a fool proof method!!  The only problem I ever had was once when I was talking on the phone too long, they almost burned!!  If you are careful, you can prevent this from ever happening.  Feel free to share this with whomever you please.  Happy cooking!  

Be sweet!  Polly

You May or May Not Believe in Angels,But This is a Message For Everyone

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Debye's Children, Brittany and Logan

This is our sweet, sweet Logan. He was Debye,s only son and the youngest. The hummingbird on his shoulder is there for a reason.
We never see hummingbirds, yet one came to Debye and hovered beside her in the air as she sat outside longing for her little granddaughter, Abigail, who had moved far away to North Dakota. Strange though it may seem, the tiny hummingbird had come with a message for her---love travels great distances and everything will be all right. Abigail feels the love you have for her.
When Logan was called to be a special angel, a part of my daughter died with him. She grieved so, my heart bled for her, then as she sat, in tears, on the patio---lo and behold, the hummingbird came to her again, hovering silently beside her, its little wings moving quietly in the soft air.
Mysterious though it may seem, the hummingbird was back with a special message once more meant only for her. Someday I will (if she agrees) let you read the special poem she wrote for her sweet little tiny bird. She calls Logan her little hummingbird.



Another grandaughter! This is my Brittany, as a baby and today. A horse is nuzzling her cheek. She has always loved animals. Brittany is Debye,s only daughter and Abigail's mom.

Scrapbook Freebies

This morning I downloaded a beautiful scrapbook quickpage to use with a special picture of one of my granddaughters. It is so feminine, with a large pink bow, pink frame and tiny hearts on the paper. Marie at Flashgraphics is a wonderful designer and also gives lots of freebies on her site. I do love my scrapbooking!! I am so proud and happy when I complete a page. If you do not have a hobby, this is a wonderful craft for you. Anyone can scrapbook, as there is no right or wrong way. All that matters is that it pleases you. If, for some reason it doesn't, it is very simple to rearrange elements on the page until it does! I am, as I said in the beginning, trying to make scrapbooks for all my children. When they are finished I'll make one for my grandchildren and my little great granddaughters. It is important that they know their heritage. Till this afternoon---be good! Polly

Quote by Ben Franklin & The Puzzle

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." ~ Benjamin Franklin

I love this quote by Benjamin Franklin.  It is on Darlene Designs today right at the top.  If you like to preserve your memories in a scrapbook, stop by and see Darlene.  Her blog has lots of pretty designs and she gives a lot of freebies.  I download her designs a lot and use the kits, etc. in my scrapbooking.  She would love to have you visit and leave a comment.  I would about give anything if I could design!!  I am so glad there are designers who share their work with those of us not so talented.  

I have a "funny" to tell you today (anyway I sure thought it was funny).  My mother-in-law delighted in finishing a crossword puzzle.  She was happiest when she had , pen held ready in hand, a crossword puzzle spread before her on the big kitchen table!  She waited all week for the Sunday newspaper, for there was always a good puzzle inside waiting, it seemed, just for her to complete!!  One warm spring day, she sat proudly in her spot with her puzzle.  She looked deep in thought for a minute or so, then erased something on her puzzle, the lines in her forehead wrinkled, up came her head and she asked 

anyone within hearing distance, "How do you spell 'baseball glove', with one mitt or two?!"  Everyone burst out laughing as we knew at once that her beloved Sunday puzzle obviously wanted a four letter word for baseball glove and she, face slowly becoming a deep shade of pink, realized what she had said!

Oh, the wonder of a good memory!  How it nourishes both soul and body!  

Be sweet and be good!   Later!

 

From the Olden Days to 2009

Everyone knows I am not a "bah! humbug!" sort of person, but I am so glad the holidays are over and life settles into normal again. I admit, when November rolls around, I will be the first to start searching through storage tubs and boxes in the garage for lights and ornaments. They have to be ready to go at a moment's notice! I will want the Santa my daughter painted to be in a prominent place as it always is. I absolutely do love the season, all the hub-bub and the rushing here and there. I am just so worn out by the time New Year's Day rolls around that I am ready to relax and do my part to make it the best year yet. I make no resolutions, because I know I won't keep them. I once thought resolutions on New Year's Day was a must and always felt bad when I failed to keep them. I am a lot older and a little wiser now, so I am thankful just to see another year begin! How lucky we are---- 2009, can you imagine?!
When my children were little, they thought I lived "back in the olden" days. Mitch asked me once, "Mom, how did people wash their clothes in the olden days? Did you have to take them to a stream and beat them on a rock?" He was so serious. I let that little man know right quick that by the time I was a teenager we had electricity and a wringer washing machine, with two galvanized wash tubs for rinsing sitting on the back porch!!

Free E Book For You Today

This is a really wonderful book full of good recipes, over 500 pages. It is in Adobe format so you will need Adobe Reader to open it and read it. Most already have one installed, but if you do not, Adobe Reader 9 is newest and best. You can download it free from the Adobe website or just "google" it if you need to install. Happy cooking!

Download here

Be sweet. Love you all. Polly

The Angel in my Garden

Brrrr!!  Old man Winter is outside the door knocking like crazy trying to get in!  I sit here, smiling and warm as toast.  I have said that if it takes every dime I have I will stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  I can remember, as a child, having to break ice in a washpan to get ready for school and running fast as I could to the wood stove in our living room and standing as close as I possibly could.  Didn't think a thing of it and nobody else did either.  That's how it was then.  It was the accepted way of life, the only way of life.

  

How everything changes with time!  The old cliche', "time heals all" is almost true.  Time doesn't actually "heal",  but it changes everything, including us, how we think, how we feel.  We become accustomed to how things are, it begins to happen so slowly we don't even realize it's happening.  It just does.  One day we wake up with a start and maybe it has been days since we have thought of a pain so great that at the time it happened, we thought we would never smile again and surely we would die for it hurt too much to stay alive.  This is what happens to most of us who have lost a child.  The pain never leaves, you are never the same, a part of us is missing.   You can't ask questions because you get in real emotional trouble when you begin to ask questions that have no answer.  After a few years, you know you must have been in shock to have survived, but you made it.  God sees us through.  We can't know it then, but a great strength is gained.  If  one can go through this, there will be nothing we can't do, because nothing can compare.  Everything else pales.  No pain could be this great.  We survived and we are smiling and breathing and doing all the normal things.  We look forward to Christmas again and springtime.  We are not "healed",  for I don't believe we can ever cope, but we manage so well that most people would never even know. 

Be sweet and be good!!  Till tomorrow, on a brighter note---Polly   (Smile)