Happy Monday, Happy Halloween, Happy last day of October, if you can even believe that. Where did October go? It’s one of my favorite months and it just when whooshing by.

So do you celebrate Halloween. I think it is a little fun holiday. You don’t have to get too deep into all the hoopla. I dressed up as Raggedy Ann I’ve had this costume for several years. This is the first time I have worn this one in several years. We had a lot of school kids visiting at work today so it was really fun.

My weekend was fairly busy. My Saturday morning plans with my niece sort of fell through at the last minute so I had some extra time in Saturday morning. I had an extra cup of coffee and enjoyed the mild temperature outside. I did a little cleaning and a grocery pickup.

On Saturday afternoon I met my brother and sister to go to our elementary school reunion. Union Grove School. The reunion was being held in nearby Athens. The school that my older brothers and sisters attended was closed after I finished fourth grade. We had to then commute to another school. This small school held classes for first grade through eighth grade. And we found out Saturday night that in the very early days of the school being open it included ninth through twelfth grades. The school was open from 1919 to 1973. It was only about 5,000 square feet. As the community grew so did the number of students and with the age of the building it couldn’t be kept open.

I loved this old school. I think everyone was sad to see it be torn down. My younger brother and I then had to be bussed to a school about thirty minutes from us. But the bus ride was even longer.

I didn’t know if many of the people I had gone to school with would be there but there were a few and it was so good to see them. I even got phone numbers from a few. A girl who I had always thought was a mortal enemy, lol, was there and we talked and got reacquainted and exchanged numbers to keep in touch. She was just lovely and it just proves that many times what you think of people while growing up is not always the person they grow into. It seemed like there were many more people from my older brother and sister’s classes attending than mine but it was still a lot of fun and the food was great.

Lots of old pictures. None I could find of my class or my younger brothers’. I guess because we were the last class there.

Me my brother and sister. We had so much fun!!!

Sunday was a quieter day that I spent at home. Mark had to work so it was just me and the kitties. I decided to make lotion bars. Well it didn’t start out that way. I had planned to chill, maybe watch a movie, read my book, nap. You know the usual Sunday things. But Sunday after lunch I started cleaning out my food pantry. Ok let me just stop right here and say that it is terrible how much food is wasted at my house. I sometimes don’t even know what all I have in this closet. I threw a ton of stuff away with a pledge to myself, and all of mankind to stop wasting. But back to the lotion bars. They are all natural made with shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax. I also use the Essential Oils to scent them. I made about thirty, this one below is the largest it is 4oz. and the flower below that is only 2oz. I just enlarged it for detail. I put them in small tins and give them as gifts and sell them locally. I got a big order last night for Christmas. I love making them and my kitchen smells so good.

While cleaning the pantry I discovered a whole jar of coconut oil. I wanted to use it so that is where the lotion bars came in.

I then returned to the task of cleaning out the pantry and reorganizing all my food. And vowing my grocery bill would be half as much this week as it usually is. Guys it looks so good. I know where everything is and how much I have. If only I did this every couple of weeks. I will I will!!!!

I also made peanut butter balls to take to work for our little Halloween goody table. They were a big hit.

I have to leave you with this sweet picture of Gus and Kitty Kitty having a very serious conversation in the window and a last picture of a beautiful red bush. The color is still hanging on. It is always one of the last to leave for the season.

So how was your weekend?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Hello friends and happy Monday. I can’t believe we are in the last full week of October. It seems as though this year has flown by. The leaves are falling fast but the trees still hold a beauty that somehow is more noticeable in the fall. Well to me anyway. Leaves are everywhere. I took a short walk through the woods yesterday and just enjoyed the sunshine and the colors, they are magical.

How was your weekend? I had a busy day on Saturday . We had a family reunion. We’re big on those in the south although our extended family with aunts, uncles, and cousins haven’t been together in years. It was so good to see everyone and catch up. It was a fun time. As we were putting the food out on the tables I couldn’t help but think back to years ago when it was my mama, my grandmother, and my aunts getting all the food prepared. I remember we had a big reunion once a year and it was usually around my grandmother’s birthday so it was in August. It was always hot as blue blazes and humid. My mama would cook for days getting ready for it just as I assume all the other aunts did too. We prayed for good weather and as best as I can remember it always was. Although we usually had a terrible thunder storm late in the day.

We would usually arrive around noon or a little before and unload all the food from the car. My daddy would immediately head over to his brothers and brothers in law and talk and talk. Mama would be with all of my aunts getting the food ready. Me and my brothers and sisters usually chatted with our cousins. A few babies were added every year and we would spend time getting to know them. We had cousins that we sometimes only saw once a year. So we were always a little shy at first noticing the changes in them, oh my goodness look how much he/she has grown. It was such a good time. The best part, when you’re a kid anyway, of course was the food. If you have ever been to one of these get togethers in the south then you know what good eating is all about. The food was amazing but the desserts were to die for. I think every cook tried her hand at something new, or her tried and true recipe, to make sure that her bowl, cake pan or pie plate, had the most missing at the end of the meal.

Saturday as my cousins and I helped put all the food together I couldn’t help but smile and could almost hear my mama and my aunts saying, ” no don’t put that there put it here, that looks so good I have to get the recipe, well I didn’t know she was bringing that or I wouldn’t have made mine, I always bake mine a little longer than that”. Such wonderful memories were stirred up. But at the same time new memories were made.

After lunch my nephew and his wife and I took a long walk around the park. There is a cemetery next to the park with some very old tombstones. Some of them date back to the seventeen hundreds. It was a good and much needed walk after all the food.

Sunday was a much quieter day. I worked on the temperature blanket, read, made some muffins and took another walk in the woods. It was a nice weekend.

Have a wonderful week.

Always remember,

Love your day your way!!!!!

Hello friends how was your weekend? I had big plans for my weekend big plans I tell you. But in typical “me” fashion when I plan too much I get totally overwhelmed and wind up not doing much at all. But oh well isn’t that what weekends and days off are for.

Let me just tell you the weather here has been pretty much perfect. Cool mornings warming up to toasty, but not too hot, sunny afternoons. The leaves are falling. When I am driving down the road I have to stop and get a picture of all the beautiful colors. Sometimes I get caught in a swirl of falling leaves and I just have to stop and watch them. Luckily, I live on a road with not much traffic.

On Friday night the moon was almost full and Mark and I went out to try and get some moon shots. He was using his big camera with a tripod so his shots looked better than mine. I just didn’t want to drag everything out and I used my cell phone. I wasn’t really after a detailed shot. But I didn’t think my little cell phone did too bad.

Saturday was a beautiful day. The kitties were playing by the lake. They love the cooler temperatures with the warm sunshine. They are so active during the day. They roam everywhere. We always bring them in at night because of the bastardly coyotes.

I spent some time out on the deck reading and maybe taking a short nap. It was so nice. There was a slight breeze just enough so that the sun didn’t get too warm.

I worked on the temperature blanket. I am getting a little behind on it. I have heard some people say once they get so far behind they don’t feel like they can catch up so they just stop working on it. Remember it is one row per day so if you get a month or so behind you have a lot of catching up to do. I am not that far behind. Yet. Lol.

I also worked on my Halloween hats cross stitch. I probably spent more time on this than anything. The going is really slow on this. I’ll be lucky to have it finished in time to put it out for Halloween.

Sunday afternoon my nephew and his wife brought over this large bench. This bench has been in our family for a lot of years. My sister first had it in her house for many years. She then gave it to my nephew and his wife, and they had it for several years. They decided to get rid of it and I hated for it to be out of the family I said I would take it. So, they brought it over and we put it in our upstairs hallway. I think it fits there just perfectly. I have always loved this bench. I was really glad to get it. I have a thing for benches. The only problem is they take up a lot of room.

So that is about it for my weekend. Grocery shopping and laundry and the usual also. A lot of down time and that was just fine. So how was your weekend?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!