July 4th ...

July 4th Johnny and I headed down to the Chesapeake Bay

to spend 5 wonderful days with family and friends

My brother-in-law Tommy and sister-in-law Joanne own a gorgeous home on the bay complete with the most awesome swimming pool....dock and boats. So it's a great place to spend

just relaxing! later that weekend some wonderful friends

came down too!

Joanne and I both became fascinated by the Richmond eagles that I posted about before and now we started watching some osprey in Canada. Well right out by their dock is an osprey nest and Joanne felt sure there were babies but we couldn't tell. I used my zoom lens (not a good one) and zoomed in as much as I could and then enlarged even more on the computer. And look a there, a little baby head sticking up.



So we decided to take a boat ride out in the bay along all of the creeks to see other osprey nest. And wow, there are just lots and lots and they all had babies.....all different sizes. One nest we were able to get pretty close to so when we rode back by it, I had my camera ready. And look at this.....momma sure wasn't happy we were getting close to her babies!

in the picture below you can see she's starting to get her wings up and

then she came toward us......but not close. She was just protecting

her babies.......so we left! haha.......

They really are so interesting to watch!

later.......

Zucchini ...

You know in the summer there is always an

over abundance of zucchini

they even have a holiday for this summer veggie

it's on August 8th and it is called....

"Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbors Porch Day"

But check out this recipe and you'll no longer have

to be sneaking your zucchini anywhere!!

Zucchini boats.....

there are so many versions out on the internet

and the great thing about this is you can just mix

it up so many different ways.

I took a large zucchini and cut it in half length wise

Then with a large spoon, I hollowed out most of the zucchini. then take the "boats" and drop them in near boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes...enough to soften them a little. Set them in a baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam or brushed with olive oil

then chop up the zucchini that you scraped out

Then mix that up with whatever sounds good to you!

I mixed mine with yellow and red tomatoes, panko bread crumbs, grated parmasean cheese, and Italian seasoning. Take your mixture and load up your boats. I then drizzled a very small amount of butter along the top

Put in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

right before they were done, I topped with some

mozzarella cheese.

these are so easy, so quick and so good!!

other versions are mix with sausage, cheese and marinara sauce. You can also add things like mushrooms, onions, green peppers, fresh herbs ... the possibilites

are endless!!

later......

Church window ...

I saw on FB where my sister posted a link to an online auction

I've never done one of those before so thought I would check it out

so as I'm scrolling through all of the items up for auction, I see

3 church windows and 1 church pew from

Fort Lee Baptist Church!

wow....that is the church where I grew up, was baptized

and was married! (baptized & married in the new building)

When we started going there I guess I was 5 or 6 and it was a little bitty

white church with no air conditioning. On Sundays in the summer...it

was so hot!! But we had the church fans on a stick...remember those?

We had beautiful windows with stained glass and I used to stare at them

during church and for awhile I believed they were made of candy.

Once I realized they weren't then I just imagined they were! haha

We didn't have a big ole sunday school building back then so the

few rooms in the back of the church served as our classrooms

we had vacation bible school in the church but we were

mostly outside. I just had so many wonderful memories there

that when we raised enough money to build the new church

I just couldn't believe it would ever feel the same as

our little white church in the country.

But it was and continued to bring so many great memories to me.

All of those memories came flooding back when I saw those windows.

I really wanted one but only one was still in one piece with

no broken glass. The bids on that one went up real fast

so I settled on another that had 2 missing panes.

But someone else was set on outbidding me on that one too!

My sister was also bidding on a window and one of the old

church pews. So she said if I didn't get mine, she would sell me hers

for whatever she got it for. Aren't sisters wonderful

My sister brought my window over today and I love it

it has a piece of the stained glass missing which I thought maybe I

would check on replacing but the more I look at it, the more

I love it the way it is. I need to find the perfect spot in the house

for my church window. I'm thinking the kitchen but not sure yet

isn't she beautiful.....

later....



Pippa Lou ...

oh hi....

I'm just laying here

missing my mom

later...

Canning ...

It's that time of the year......time to can some

yummy tomatoes.

I love having my pantry full of tomatoes for the upcoming

winter. Taste so yummy in soups and chili

And now with Johnny on a low sodium diet, it's so much

healthier than the canned tomatoes in the store

So we bought a bushel and mom came over to help me

I know it's a lot of work and it takes most of the day

but I just love canning.

I sterlize my jars in the dishwasher....so much easier

than dipping them in boiling water!!

Toss the tomatoes in hot water until the skin starts to split

then plunges in ice cold water....this makes it so easy to peel

then quarter them to cook

I use the hot jar method......after the tomatoes cook

I have my jars sitting in hot water on the burner

and I ladle the tomatoes into the jars

Next Mom would add the 1 tsp salt, wipe the rims

and put the lids on



Out of the bushel, we ended up with 22 1/2 quarts and

out of those, only 1 jar did not seal

So that was pretty good

Saturday we will can one more bushel so that should

be plenty of us and Mom and Dad for the winter!!

later......

Fiestaware ....

I've been looking at buying some Fiestaware for awhile now

I want all different colors

But it's pretty expensive

a 5 place setting is $50

you can catch it on sale for $40 and sometimes $35

On Sunday as I looked through the Kohls sale paper

I saw the Fiestaware on sale ...

4 for $99

WOO HOO!!!!

I had a 20% off coupon and $30 in Kohls cash

So I ended up getting 8 - 5 place settings for $142!!!

Best deal I've gotten in a long time

I just love the names of the colors.....

I got Shamrock, Scarlet, Sunflower, Peacock, Tangerine

Cobalt, Paparika and Marigold....love them!!!

I would like to add the purple and lime...not sure what

they are called



later....

Goals ...

I like to write my goals down.....always have

I've done this since I was in my early 20's...before I got married

I keep a little list with a few short term goals and then

a few long term goals

I keep it tucked in my wallet and I pull it out at least once per day

to read...you have to do this. It keeps it fresh, it keeps it in your face

and it keeps you focused.

and here's the great part, I hit those goals and then as I scratch

off the last one, I get to write a new list! That is such a great feeling. Some

goals have to carry over to the new list....the long term ones.

Believe me my new kitchen has been carried over for 10 years now!

I truly believe that the reason I reach these goals is because of

that little piece of paper that I read every day. And here's why, if you read

your goals every day then you will make decisions all day long

that are really based on those goals. You will make the right decisions to

lead you where you need to be. Of course sometimes for the fun of it I

like to put down something impossible....like win the HGTV dream home

haha......but hey, you can dream with those goals too!!

I've always tried to convince my kids to do this but none of them would. Then one day Jake tried it and it worked....he found himself making those things happen.

But then he quit doing it.....

I really wish they would all try it for one year and see....

So do you make goals....and if so, do you track them in some way?

later......

Games ...

As a kid I loved playing games

Monopoly was probably my most favorite because

it could go on and on and on.....

and in the summer time, we did have games that went on a day or so

until someone would get mad and quit!

and outdoors we played hide & seek, freeze tag, TV tag, tether ball

kickball, softball, croquet, badminton.....we just had so much fun outside.

Now I love to play corn hole

and I really love card games

Rummy, 99, LRC and POKER!!!

I love to play dealers choice poker.....

whats some of your favorite games?

later....



July 4th ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA



Jobs ....

I have had 4 jobs over my lifetime...

My very first job was working at First & Merchants Bank

I was fresh out of high school and made $100 per week....and felt

like I was rich! We lived in the suburbs so going into the city each

day, all dressed up felt exciting to me. But I soon learned it wasn't a very

glamarous job at all. I came to hate it! So I quit after only 6 months

But I had enough money saved up to cover me so all was good

Then I landed my job at the airport working for Hertz. I started

out working the counter renting cars then moved down to the office

working car control. I tracked all of our cars, their mileage and maintenance.

And I loved this job. When we had too many of our cars land in other

cities, we would work on the weekends picking them all. A bunch of us

would pile into cars, you know back then cars were big!

and then we would pick up the cars and bring them back to Richmond

It was not unusual to make a couple of trips to DC in one day.

Then the next day a couple of trips to Charlottesville.

we always had fun and we made really good money doing it!

After working there for 4 1/2 years I left to go work for

Va Tool and Equipment. Another office job but in the purchasing department. I worked with some of the best people ever. One person I have remained

friends with for 34 years! When I left there it was to have our first child.

then I started the hardest job ever....stay at home mom!!

But I loved it and did it for 14 years.

Now I work at Capital One as an administrative assistant (fancy for secretary)

I work in the Marketing and Analysis department and love it

and again work with some of the nicest people on earth!!

So there....that's my working career!

how many jobs have you had?

later....

15 Minutes of fame ...

My 15 minutes of fame occurred in 1977

I was working at the Richmond airport at Hertz rental cars

It was one of my favorite jobs because the airport

just has the best people watching ever! You saw so many interesting

people....celebrities, crazy people...all kinds.

They were filming a movie in Richmond ... "Rollercoaster"

It was about a young terrorist who was blackmailing companies

for ransom....and blowing up roller coasters. It starred George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Susan Strasburg and Henry Fonda.

The terrorist would be renting a car from us. So Hertz agreed we could be in

the movie but they wouldn't allow the production company to change our

uniforms...you know Hertz wanted to keep their "brand".

Then they came in and gave us a lot of direction on what we were

supposed to do. I wasn't the one renting the car to Timothy Bottoms (the terrorist)  but I was to just keep busy doing work along side the girl who was.

So the day of filming comes......we get to meet Timothy Bottoms, who was super

nice and cute! They start filming over and over and over.....good grief.

and then that was that...all done.

When the movie came out, we were all excited to see ourselves on

the big screen. My 15 minutes of fame....my back was to the camera!!!

haha.....should call it my 15 seconds of fame!!

later...

Good and bad hair days ...

Right now, I probably have my most favorite haircut ever

I always loved my long hair....and really loved wearing it up

but once I went shorter, the ease in getting ready was so

worth giving up my long hair.

But that's not to say I have a good hair day every day

Some days if I leave it up in the towel too long

after my shower, it really turns out bad.

But it's always guaranteed that once the weekend comes and if

I have no where planned to go, I'll have the best hair day ever!!

Am I the only one like that?

and I really do not know how to take a self portrait.....haha!!

oh well....here's to the good and the bad hair days!!

later....