I love this shot of 3 of our grandkids from my family reunion a few weeks ago.  So, I thought that I would share it with you. 

Frequently, I will catch one of the birds from the Duplex just sitting and looking out the hole of the birdhouse.  It's a cute sight to see.

I haven't spotted any cardinals lately in my yard.  Mostly because in the summer, I don't fill the bird feeders as much.

You all have a wonderful day today.

Judy  

My Aunt gave me this clipping.  It says it all, that's why I love aprons so much.

Some more aprons and a linen piece that I found a few weeks ago.

This piece of linen measures approximately 30 X 30.  Big enough to put on a small table.

Now for the vintage aprons I found.

I think my favorite apron is anyone that has chicken scratch on it.  For some reason they catch my eye.

I got an e-mail from Sharon who owns the Three Roses Bed and Breakfast.  When Jim and I were there last fall we talked about flaxseed with her.  In the e-mail was a recipe for Oatmeal Flaxseed Pancakes.  I was really excited, because I knew Jim would like this recipe.  Sharon submitted this recipe to Taste of Home's Cooking for 2 Magazine and it was accepted and published in the Fall 2008 issue.  I could share the recipe with you, but I won't.  You'll have to either subscribe to Taste of Home's Cooking for 2 on-line, or purchase the magazine yourself.  Sorry, I don't want to steal Sharon's thunder by giving her recipe away.  You don't have to grind your own flour like Jim does, but if you do the pancakes turn out great.

The grains that Jim used in the recipe. 

Rolling the oats and flaxseed. 

The grinder that grinds the grains. 

Here the grains are all ready to go. 

Mixing it all together with buttermilk. 

Hand whipping the egg whites. 

Folding the egg whites with the batter. 

They are cooking great. 

Yum!!!!

I hope I didn't make you too hungry.  White flour in our house is not used as much as it used to be.  Jim makes wheat bread or oatmeal bread, which I really like the best I think.  Pancakes don't come out of a box for him.  White flour and sugar affect him like a diabetic even though he's not one.  That's why he makes his own flour.

You all have a wonderful day today.

Judy

Yesterday I got busy and made a couple of pies.  I had some blueberries in the freezer that I got from my MIL.  I cut back on the sugar, but you can't even tell, the berries are pretty sweet just by themselves.

Jim went last night to golf.  It was the last night for the golf league he was in.  They have been having a tournament the last 3 weeks of the golf league.  Jim won the tournament and Matt B. who just moved here to our area about a year ago, won the league.  I was pretty excited for them both.  Jim just started golfing again.  He hasn't golfed for many, many years.  Probably since he was in grade school. 

Diane asked me if I have been sewing, and no I haven't been.  But, Lauren and I were just talking yesterday about how my sewing room is kind of in two places right now.  I started moving all my sewing things upstairs to one of the empty bedrooms when Phil moved out.  Then Phil moved back home until his wedding, now he's moved out again.  So, I now have to decide if I want to move back into my old sewing room, or finish moving the rest of my sewing things upstairs to the empty bedroom.  I think I'll move back to my old sewing room.  There is much less to move if I go back.  Lauren wants an apron and so does Erin.  Girls after my own heart :)))))

Office day today, so I better get moving.

You all have a wonderful beautiful day.

Judy

Meal In One Casserole

1 lb. ground beef

3 med. potatoes, unpeeled, sliced

1 med. onion, sliced and separated

1 c. frozen peas

1 1/2 c. mushrooms, sliced

3 T. butter, melted

Salt

Pepper

Brown meat until no longer pink; drain.  Grease a 2 quart baking dish.  Add sliced potatoes.  Top with beef and onions.  Place frozen peas in center.  Arrange sliced mushrooms around peas.  Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Cover. Bake in 375° oven for 50-60 minutes or until tender.

The recipe came from this cook book I bought when we were on our way to the U.P. this summer. 

I saw over at Dot's Blog that today is National Dog Day and I just had to join in the fun to honor this day :)

I'm sure I have posted these pictures before.  I just haven't taken any new ones lately.

I just can't seem to get enough of them this time of year.  No matter what color or size they are, I could just gaze at them.

I'd like you to meet the tenant of the Duplex.   We were sitting outside visiting in the backyard after Church a couple of Sundays ago.  This little guy was trying to get into the Duplex without us seeing him.  He was a bit nervous because we were sitting too close the the birdhouse for his comfort.

The other day I read in the paper that the local Air Show would not happen this year.  We were really disappointed with that.  I had just mentioned prior to reading about it in the paper, that I wondered if they were going to have it this year.  Nope, not this year.  Due to a few reasons they had listed.  For a small Airport they put on a really nice Air Show.  Maybe next year they'll have it.  Until then I will show you some photos from last years show.

I believe this last photo is called the Missing Man Formation.

Today is a new day.  The sun rose and the birds are singing.

You all have a wonderful day today.

Judy 

As we were driving yesterday we realized that we were very near some property that we used to have oh so long ago.  I can't for the life of me recall the year but I know the kids were pretty small.  I'm guessing maybe about 15 years ago.  We had 6 1/2 acres that we planned to build on but before we were going to build on it we planted over 3000 trees on the 6 1/2 acres.

Here are some before and after pictures of what our property looked like before the trees and what it looks like today with the trees.  Looking back at pictures we had taken when we had the property and pictures I took yesterday, they are almost from the same angles.

From the road facing north.

Here is the property with no weeds or anything.  When we bought the property it had soy beans growing on it.

This is a look of how the property now looks from the east side of it (Not the white fence I just had to go so far back to get all the trees and the house in the picture).  All the trees have grown that we had planted. 

This is looking at the property from the west side.  The new owners did plant some Blue Spruce trees and Poplar trees in the front but we planted all the White Pine, Nine Barks and Wild Plum trees.  Those trees we have in our yard now. 

This is from the top of the property looking south to the road.  

Jim walking around the property. 

When we planted all the trees we would be there all day.  So Jim made a picnic table and a fire pit.  The only thing missing was a bathroom and I would have to run to the gas station a few miles away for that.

Life sure doesn't always happen like we plan it.  We did not end up keeping this property even after all the work we put into planting all those trees.  Why?  It just didn't work out and so we sold it to a young couple who was from the area and were getting married.  A wedding present from the young mans dad if I remember right.  God had a plan for us and building a house on that property was not in his plans.  I always believe that what ever happens in life happens for a reason.

Today though we look back with fond memories and talk of what our plans were.  Not with a heavy heart or sadness of what wasn't to be.  We just knew God had something better for us.