Kanawah Valley Mud Bogging Saturday

Kanawah Valley in Dugspur, Virginia can make a country boy or girls heart go pitty-patty. It's a virtually an unknown sneak away tucked way down in a small valley between the mountains. What you're usually going to find is a God loving, family loving, slightly rowdy, mud loving crowd.

I guess it would be an understatement to say you're in truck country.

Oh naw..you ain't seeing it all...

So get your Sun-Drop and have a blast on a Saturday Night!

Life Wide Open

I must write a post...I must do something creative..

but...

I haven't been able to pull any of life's wonderful moments together to form a fitting post. So with I did think I would share some of pictures of what's been happening around here.

I think the first thing that has really thrown me into

Blogging Never Never Land

would be a job change. 

I still work at the same place but had taken on a different job meaning a different schedule to train for the new position. Now that I've completed training it has also meant still more schedule changing. That alone is enough to throw me into a tailspin.

Along about the same time, my daughter began some fairly intense dental work. The word dental should be enough to freak anybody out. Things went well but everything didn't go completely as planned so more trips more visits. 

Now that I've segwayed(I'm positive that word isn't spelled correctly..I couldn't spell check it either..hmm..I think it's a real word)  into talking about my daughter. 

It has been prom season for the kids in Patrick County. 

Some people hate the prom some people love it but if you have a daughter and she's going you can be there will be some serious errands and running.

So here's some pictures we took before she took off for the big night...

Maybe not glass slippers 

but 

Cinderella like just the same.

We also had a Wonderful Easter the week following the prom. I now there were missed recipe posts but many of the times I'm more consumed with living in the moment than capturing it all in a post.

I will assure your there was no shortage of food, family, egg hunting, and tree climbing.

Ugh..don't your climb trees on Easter??

and a lot of big conversation going on.

Oh my poor Mama's flowers didn't stand a chance.

Monkey see..Monkey do..

We're big on family around here..

May as well let the men

be men...

Now that the weather has surely broke I'm excited to get onto hikes, baseball, fresh blooms

and hopefully I muster up some creativity along the way.

I thank you if you've made your way over for a visit

 and 

I wish you Many Blessing.

As you can see my I've been drinking from my saucer.

Be Blessed!

Natural Spring Wreath

There's nothing like fresh blooms and warm sun to get me in a decorating mood.

My style is very un-fussy

and

 I like to have that just come along kind of style. 

Using what is in my natural surroundings makes me feel closer to nature.

It is also an inexpensive way to decorate.

Rag Wreath from Plastic Bags

Are you like me?

Ready to get Spring Started

& 

Ready for a Welcoming Spring DIY!

This is a Spring Wreath made from plastic shopping bags.

 I started my cutting myself a small ring from a piece of cardboard.

Then I pulled out all those plastic bags from their hiding spot. I especially wanted the lighter colored bags to offer up a Spring feeling. 

Then I just cute the handles off and also cut the bags in strips. I didn't try to be very careful at this point because I decided it would be best to trim everything down after the bags were tied onto my cardboard form.

After all the tying and trimming is done take your hand and just sort of rub and ruffle the edges.

Da-Da

I hope you find something you can DIY today.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit.

Be Blessed!

New Life for an Old Wreath

Welcome Spring!

I think this has been a long Winter for many folks and the first day of Spring, March Wind, and the bright sunshine makes us all feel renewed and looking for new life. 

It has initiated some Spring cleaning in myself and a want to breath some new life in some of the decor in my house.

I'm on an understated mission to redo our front room; I also have hopes of revealing the over all changes I want to accomplish but I guess I'm sharing these in little bits and pieces since that's how the transformation will take place.

This wreath has hung on the wall in our living room for quite a long time. It has become dried, cracked and well on it's way to falling apart. I have had it on my mind to just toss it out but you all know how that disturbs be so. 

You know the whole toss it out just goes against my grain. 

I don't think I've fell into the hoarder bracket but it is possibly a slippery slope.

With this almost forgot can of 

Rust-oleum Lacquer 

from out of the basement 

I'm going to clean the wreath off,

Give it a good solid coat,

and

find it a new home.

The spray version is such a good choice since the wreath is so dry and brittle that it might not hold 

up to a paint brush.

This area in the front room is odd. I can't honestly tell you why it was put here. It is a pain to clean and sound travel right into the room on the other side.

I had ideas putting  cork board over it to create message center and I also thought of putting picture over it. With old homes you either undo or cover up the things that you don't like or you except the quirks, embrace them and love them for being yours.

I suppose I'm embracing this quirk.

Placing a revamped wreath hung by a piece of brown ribbon and sort of dressing it up.

I hope you've found something to renew today;

if it is only renewing your spirit by soaking in the sun.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit

and 

most of all..

BE BLESSED!

Rag Wreath from Old Blue Jeans-DIY

I am ready to roll into lighter decorations and a little whimsy as well. 

This Rag Wreath from a pair of old pair of blue jeans was just the DIY project I was looking for.

This is one of those no brainer kind of projects. There's really no skill required and is super simple.

You could purchase a wreath form of some kind but I hate to buy things I can just reuse. Reusing something that otherwise would be tossed out is the name of my game.

"Making Something outta of Nothing"

This wreath is very tight and dry; I'm just going to remove any dangling pieces and anything that's sticking out.

I used the legs of these jean. I simply cut the thick edge off and the cut narrow strips out of both legs

and started tying them onto the wreath. I wanted another fabric just to break up all the blue and this scrap piece of pink gingham did the trip for me.

Just keep tying and turning your knots to suit the look you want.

Thanks so much for popping over for a visit. 

Be Blessed!

Soak It In

Soakin' in rays of sunshine,

Sippin' a cup o' coffee,

&

Kickin' your heels up..

&

 Knowing when to kick your heels up...

Is the essence of being Southern.

Feeling Blessed!

Re-upholstering the Desk Chair-DIY

A few weeks ago, I wrote about working on those projects I had been pushing to the back-burner. Well, today I finally can check off redoing our desk chair. With the Chuck Wagon Gang tuned in I made my chair over, strolled down memory lane and almost had a prayer meeting at the same time....

the Chuck Wagon Gang will do that for ya...

The chair is about 10 years old. I had purchased the chair at our local Lowe's Home Improvement Store. I liked the classic styling of the chair and I was happy to see it carried the Basset Furniture label, which is or maybe I should say was a company just over in the next county that many folks in this area worked for. speaking of Basset Furniture Company I would be a lie to say if they are even in operation in the U.S. at all.

With ten years of many rough and rowdy kids and just simply,a many a behinds spending ours sitting in it the poor chair looked worse than rough. It had reached the point of shame.

Do ya see??

I'm ashamed..I'm ashamed...

The chair is still very sturdy except the arms had a little waggle in them so I was surely going to tighten everything up while I was at it. I had almost given hope of finding an

 

allen wrench

 to fit but as luck would have it after a little digging through the junk draw, I was in business.

I removed the seat. I decided to give it a light sanding and put a coat of polyurethane with a little bit of stain on the chair as well. I might be the only one but I kind of liked the wear in the wood on the chair so I thought not to really cover it up. I just cleaned it up and gave it some protection.

Here you can see Roscoe trying to be my helper. 

Do you wonder what he's helping me do? 

He's eating some crumbs that flung out of the chair cushion.

All-in-all, I feel pleased with the end results.

I want to thank you for stopping by.

If you're feeling like you want to go to Prayer Meeting 

give a listen and most of all 

BE BLESSED!

                          

The Many Faces of Spring

It's beginning to look a lot like Spring. I always am consumed with these same feeling this time of the year. Those hintful signs of Spring start peaking their green little blades through browned grass and bright yellow and creamy white bulbs begin showing in the corners of the yard . I'm also grown very tired of the Winter weather and I start yearning for that smell of cut grass and newly turned dirt. My spirits get dashed with the call of bad weather no matter how temporary the weather really is. 

The truth is in this part of the South much of our most prominent winter weather can come in the month of March. So often the site of bulbs surrounded by a blanket of snow is the true sign of Winters final fling and the change to daylight savings time ushers in the true Spring Season.

"Patients" I have to tell myself; I tell my self things like, " Live in God's time and not my own."  I tell you the truth I'm ready though.

Ready to plant, ready to change the decor in the house from the snuggled in winter look to the open window of warming sun.

It's time to make plans and plots for the warming season. 

Well I am just going to keep looking toward the many 

Spring Blessings

& 

Live today in joyous expectations of what's to come.

Many Blessings to all!

Looking At The Long Range Forecast on the Last Day of February

Oh my, Here we are at the last day of February. That means it's time to take a look at 

the Long Range Forecast.

On February 2, the weather in Stuart had turned to clouds and drizzle with the temperatures topping out at 44 degrees. Around here we have had some interesting weather. We have had rain, sleet, snow, and very sunny but blustery days. There where days that we experienced some or even all of these in the same day. 

Let's take a look at what has been going on here:

• Out of 28 day 19 of them had no rain or precipitation. Doesn't that seem hard to believe? I went back and recounted what I had recorded and it's true!
• Three of the days of the month started out with a lot of rain and then cleared out to offer a bright sunshiny day.
• We only received snow/sleet on three days but one of those day more than a foot of snow and then grew into even more accumulation.
• Our average temperature stayed between 28- 46 degrees. A few days were extremely cold -10 degrees and some of the highs reached 74 degrees.

What do you think?

Do you feel there was accuracy?

I think February 2 was kinda a wishy-washy kind of day.

I also think the month was the same way.

I know many folks have experienced extremely turbulent weather 

feel free to share your experiences.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit.

BE BLESSED!  

January 2, 2014~the Long Range Forecast

Sweet and Sour Chicken Tortilla's with Coleslaw-A Must Try!

While visiting over at the

 Treasure Box Tuesday Blog Party

Yesterday, this recipe from Linda Nortje at

Creative and Delicious  jumped out at me.

I told her I knew what I wanted for supper and that's what we had. 

It was delicious!!

I had to tweak the recipe a little to suit what we just can't get in Stuart, Virginia...

thick soy sauce & avocado oil..

I used olive oil in place of the avocado oil and regular thin soy sauce and it was still extremely good. 

I would strongly suggest these 

Roasted Garlic & Black Bean Artisan Tostito Chips

to go along with this dish.

They are delicious as well!

I hope you enjoyed me sharing what was shared with me.

We were blessed by this meal; I hope you'll give it a try and get a blessing as well.

Monday Music Moves Me

Good Monday Morning!

I't's another Monday Music Moves Me

&

The theme is music that inspires us.

I hope the sun is shining on you;

the way it's shining on us here in Virginia.

                  

                  

Now that I've got you feeling all warm inside...go ahead and get on this train.
Be Blessed!

How's the World Treating You? Monday Music Moves Me

Good Monday Morning!

It's been a while since I've jumped in on the Monday Music Moves Me Party but I can't stay away forever. 

I'm so glad today's theme is a freebie. 

so....

How's the World Treating You....

      

 Glenn Campbell & Carl Jackson: Dueling Banjo's

                  

Who would have thunk?...

                  

     

Roses In The Snow

                             

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.

Be Blessed!

Winter Wonderland

Happy Valentines Day!

&

Fantastic Friday!

I suppose I should start off with apologizes for being absent for sometime but sometimes life is just life. No bells and whistles!

But 

Nature has been full of it's own excitement in the way of the weather. Does anybody need another post expressing how cold it is or how traumatized we all are...NO..Quite honestly, the kids in this house have been loving it even me the big kid. This is the first double digit snow fall that Stuart, Virginia has had since 1993. At least, that's what the radio has been proclaiming from several different folks that have been calling in. I'm not sure if I agree. I remember some pretty significant falls since I've lived in Stuart but it's very possible it was accumulating snow that I  am remembering.

Needless to say, we have made the best out of it. I think we have almost ate everything in this house, I've drank and extreme amount of coffee, we've played in the snow, I've laid out of work(so glad they finally decided to close the plant), watched movies, played cards, and been absolutely lazy.

Isn't it nice when GOD says, not your will but mine!

Would we ever stop, if it were our choice? I doubt it!

Here's a link to some of the food we've been chowing down on..

Peanut Butter Delights

&

Potato Dumpling Pie

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.

Be Blessed!

&

Be a Blessing!

Last Day of the Month and the Long Range Forecast

Wow! What a roller-coaster of a month!

The month of January has offered up some extremely low temperature and a bit of winter weather in the way of snow or ice 

but maybe not as often as here in Stuart, Virginia.

What stands out for me is that when precipitation fell it also hung around.

The past week has offered up extremely low's in the mornings. On more than a couple of mornings(7 am) in the morning, the temperature would be hovering around 0 degree's; every morning seemed to be single digits and even one reading of -3 degrees as I would be coming out of the plant.

Baby...that's the kind of cold that can chill you to the bone and stay there.

A couple of teaspoons of "Jack" in a stout cup 'o coffee has offered some gentle relief.

For the folks that have been keeping up with the Long Range Forecast,  I'm ready to share my info:

• January 1--Sunny skies the temperature on Rorrer Lane reached 48 degrees
• Precipitation for the month of January--22 days of clear skies, 8 days of precipitation(rain, snow, and sleet)
• Average High Temperature on Rorrer Lane--42 degrees
• Lowest Temperature here at our house--5 degrees. Lowest record in the Southwest Virginia area was -24 degrees.

It seems to me, the Long Range Forecast was relatively accurate for January.

Did anyone else keep up with the forecast?

If so give a shout out!

If not..

Well...just give a shout anyway!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are filled with warmth and blessings.

Be Blessed! 

http://southerndirection.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-long-range-forecast.html

Snow Day in the South~Wordless Wednesday