It's a ...it's a.....What the heck is it???

I LOVE this thing.

I don't know it's proper name,
but isn't it just so cute???

A piece of equipment used by grain farmers,
this is a hopper, a grain trailer....
there is an auger involved
and it is pulled into the field
where grain harvest is going on.

There -- the combine comes by and fills
it up and from there the
"spout" there on the side
shoots out the grain
into a truck that takes the grain
to the gin to be sold.

But------

don't you think it looks like a character
from Star Wars???

OR

Actually, when I spot these things out in fields
I always think of
giraffes !

All it would take is a can of brown spray paint
and a really, good dark night
and
voila ----

some lucky farmer could be pulling
a giraffe trailer to the gin.

Who's with me????

:)

Gwynie Pie

Sweet Tea Memories

I will preface my post today by telling you that
yesterday
Pioneer Woman's post was
all about the
Mason jar ---
just the humble beauty of something so common,
so utilitarian and at the same time
so beautiful.

I am NOT a copycat.
Not.
:)

Last week however, I wrote my thoughts
about -- what do you know?
a Mason jar.

Which just goes to show something I've suspected
all along .....

Me & Ree ?
Like carrots and pea(s)

Sheeeeesh -- on with the story-

To see me through my work day at the post office I always
pack a little lunch - leftovers or a sandwich - a yogurt for breakfast.
And I always grab a cold bottle of Dr. Pepper.
It's my little treat for the day.

Well, last Saturday we were out of DP --- WHAT ???!!!???

There was, however, a gallon of Red Diamond sweet tea
(THE best sweet tea known to mankind outside of McAllister's restaurant).

So, I grabbed a quart Mason jar, scooped up some ice,
poured it full of sweet tea, screwed on the lid and headed off to work.

I set the jar on my desk and set about opening up the post office.
Later, when I sat down I noticed the "sweat" running down
the side of the jar of tea.

And...............
I sat there mesmerized as a vivid memory from my childhood
came to the front.

I am a Farmer's daughter.
The farmer's only daughter.
An only child, in fact.

My mom always stayed at home and took care of her domain.
Taking good care of me and my Daddy was what she did.
That was her job.

A farmer's life is unlike that of any other profession.
First off -- it's all a gamble.
And dependent on so many outside forces.
It's dirty.
Hot.
Sweaty.

And at various times of the year --- it is relentless,
endless,
almost 24 hrs. a day.

I remember my Daddy beginning the day well before it was
first light. He'd be heading out the door going to his
"office" -- a green John Deere tractor -
to plow, disk, cultivate, plant and harvest.

A hearty breakfast before he left, then he'd be back
for a hearty lunch by 12 noon.
Lunch always consisted of something of substance -
a real stick-to-your-ribs meal --
roast or chicken or fried steak
with mashed potatoes and gravy,
vegetables out of the garden and always,
always there was a pot of pinto beans.
Oh and bread. I never saw my Daddy eat a meal
EVER
without bread and lots of it.
Good sweet iced tea to top everything off.

After lunch, my Dad would
rest for a few minutes. Then get up and go back to it.

During planting and harvesting when there is so
much field work to be done, my Dad would stay on the
tractor until dark or later.
So it would be long past suppertime when he would
get home --- starving!

So, about 4 in the afternoon my mother and I
would put together a little lunch to take to the field.

A sandwich or two would be put together --
vienna sausage smashed up with Miracle Whip and dill relish
was a favorite.

We'd wrap the sandwich up like a little present
in a sheet of wax paper
and put it in a paper sack
along with several, sometimes still warm,
cookies.

And then there was the iced tea.
Always sweet.
In a quart Mason jar.

Off we'd go to the field where he was working.
We'd watch for the plowed up evidence of where he had already
been and park at the end of the next row and wait.

Sometimes we would take books to read or
something to work on while we waited.

He would be there in a few minutes and
most times he would sit with us while he ate his lunch
and drank his tea.

Other times, exciting times,
the clouds would be gathering,
a front would be rolling in bringing the ever needed rain
and he would scramble back on the tractor,
tea and sandwich in hand
and just keep on plowing.

A race.

Farmer against weather.

Remembering this the other day
was such a sweet blessing to my soul.
And I just had to write it down.
And share it with you.

May your memories today be as sweet as the
tea in that simple Mason jar.

Gwynie Pie

Coffee Bag Lady, Part 2

Several months ago I purchased
50 !!!!
burlap coffee bags
from our
local importer.

Had not a clue what I would do with them
but they were
cute,
they had printing on them,
and
they were burlap.

I'd figure it out................

Soooo, today ------ I figured it out.

My husband volunteered to spray paint
the old grocery store doors.

The color is Blue Ocean Breeze
by Krylon.
and I am lovin' this color.
It's just cool and refreshing to me---
so much so I've been through
5 cans and have another 1 in reserve
just in case.

It seems like
the hotter it gets here
and
it has been sooooo HOT !
the more I NEED
this cool Ocean Breeze
color in my home.

Cool Raspberry
and
Pistachio
and
Sunny Yellow
have also
made
appearances
here.

I'm on a roll......

Somebody stop me.

I think they turned out
pretty cute (and cool).
They sit in the master bedroom
hiding a little used closet door.

We finished painting Bedroom #2
and I'll be showing you
those pictures soon.


Gwynie Pie

Baking Bread

Fellow bloggers are responsible
for the pictures you are about to see --

Here's how it went down ----
I was mindin' my own doggone business,
just browsing through some blogs I love
when what did I see???
Not once,
but TWICE on the very same day?

Gorgeous pictures of homemade bread.
So fresh and lovely.
I could almost smell it.
Twice it happened.

Once - I could've shaken it off and
thought how good it would taste and
*click*
been on my merry way.

But twice?
That was what pushed me over the edge.

THEN --

I'm flipping through a magazine
in Wal-mart yesterday and
there it was ---
a beautiful loaf of
French bread and
a super simple recipe.
Right there!

In My Face

I knew what I had to do, of course....
I whipped out a scrap of paper and pen
from my purse and
copied down that recipe,
marched myself over to the baking aisle
and came home and
made bread.

And yes! It tastes soooo good.

With a good amount of real butter.
And a big dollop of peach preserves.

Oh. Did you hear that?
I think I just heard angels singing............

Start to finish
was
3 hrs.
and most of that was "rise time".

So - here ya go........

2 packages yeast
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups very warm water

Place in a bowl, give it a stir.
Wait 5 minutes.
It will get kind of foamy and you know
your yeast is alive and working.

Then -
Add 2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon salt
and
gradually add
5 1/2 cups flour
until a soft dough forms

On a lightly floured surface
(to keep the dough from sticking)
knead the dough 5 mins.

Place in a clean oiled bowl,
set away from drafts,
and let it rise until double in size
or 45 minutes.

Spray a large jelly roll pan with oil
Sprinkle with cornmeal (just 3-4 Tablespoons)
and
place formed loaves on the pan.
I did 2 loaves, next time I'll try 4 smaller ones.

Put loaves on pan and set out of draft.
Let rise another 45 minutes
or until double in size.

IMPORTANT --
brush top with 2 egg whites
that have been slightly beaten
and cut slits on top of the bread
at intervals of every 3 inches.

Preheat oven to 400
Bake 20-25 minutes

Let cool
IF you can
Slice and ENJOY !!!

Go on now.
Try it!

You'll thank me!

Yum -

Gwynie Pie

My Colorful Crafting Corner

I am still making my way through
the house-

drawer by drawer,
closet by closet,
room by room

Craft room
paint color is Jalapeno.
I thought I'd be tired of it by now.
No.
Still lovin' it.

This cabinet
was borrowed
(stolen)
from my daughter.
She can have it back anytime she wants it.

But until she does, want it, it stores
fabrics.

And this wall is a great place to
display
Lily Kate's very colorful
creations -
the Jalapeno wall is the perfect
backdrop.

Just wanted to show you my progress.
Still cleaning and painting on
Bedroom #2.

Our goal to be completely finished by
Thursday.
Good thing.
Since company's comin'
on Friday, I'd say
that's a really good goal.

Gotta run...............

Gwynie Pie

WEEKEND FUN

Having a great time here in Ft. Worth with our kids.

Literally, we have 24 hours here with them

so we have to cram in lots of

visiting,

eating,

playing

into a very short few hours.

We ate ribs at Cousins BBQ for dinner

I intended to take a "before"......

uhhhhh

but we had made happy plates

before I even thought

about a picture

so

how about an "after"?

Not the same huh?

Then we went to the community pool for their subdivision
and had the best time
swimming and playing.

It was somewhere around 105 today
and the water felt great.

Lily Kate is quite the swimmer but
the most fun was going down the big slide.
I was amazed that she is so fearless.
Just 2 months ago, at the beginning
of summer, while taking
swim lessons,
she was NOT going to go off the
lowest diving board !!!
NO! NOT happening!

Now she is climbing the stairs
of this very high water chute
and coming down all by herself.
She looks so tiny.
Then she swims to the side,
climbs out,
does it all over again.

Over and over and over again.
Until................

They weren't very far into "Babe"
when she absolutely crashed.
Just worn out.

What a very, very fun day we have had.

Tomorrow we are visiting a church for early service

and then going to

Blue Mesa Grill for

brunch.

I'm certain I will have more to say about it all.

Hope your weekend is a time to just

breathe,

relax,

reflect

and

laugh.

Gwynie Pie

Bedroom #2 ReDo

Well, after living here
for the past 8 and 1/2 years we are
finally
finally
painting Bedroom #2.

Don't know what has taken so long.

I mean, some rooms in this house have
actually been painted 3 times already.

This was my Mother and Daddy's room.
Maybe there is some weird psychological
strangeness going on here.
?
?
?

He has been gone 9 years later this month.
In some ways it seems like forever.
And then again, sometimes it feels like
it was just last week.
Time is a funny thing, huh.

Anyway....
it is definitely time to give this room
a fresh coat of paint.

Uh, correction.....a FIRST coat of paint.

I'm painting the trim Milk Sugar white
like throughout the rest of the house.
And the walls are just the very
lightest, coolest hint of green.

Let me also say,
KILZ paint --
I love you !!!!

No, I do.
Really I do.

I so vividly remember the painting fiasco
of last year ---
the Vanilla Cream
over
the
Red Lobster ---
ai yi yi !!!

Then I discovered paint
made out of KILZ base
and really --
it could make painting kind of fun.

I'll be back with some pictures
next week of the finished room.

I have company coming next weekend
so I can't put this off.
Gotta do it.

Gwynie Pie

Hey, Hey, Hey....It's Friday !!!

And you KNOW what that means?

That's right !!!!

It's "clean out your purse"
and
"clean out your car"
Day

Huh?

Okay, it's also FRIDAY !!!!!!
There is that
(and not a moment too soon I say)

For real though
here is just a simple, quick tip to help you stay
organized and it will
quickly de-stress your life.
Well, it will de-stress at least one little part of your life.

I have done this for a long time now.
It's a habit.
Every Friday, I dump the contents of my purse
--pitch the trash
--remove the unnecessary
--keep and file or throw away
receipts
--gather loose change and
deposit in our change jar
You'd be surprised how much change can
accumulate before you know it.

I once heard a renowned money expert
say that she could tell you MUCH about a woman
and the state of her life
just by checking out two things --
her purse
and
her car.
Hmmmmm----now THAT'S something to
think about, huh?

I realized how true this was back then
and wanting to take charge of at least
one little piece of my life
AND
to get control over what I could control,
I began my Friday "habit".

Oh and this is muy importante --
take the folding money out of your wallet,
arrange it smallest to largest
and face it all the same direction.
That way, all the bills are
looking the same direction --
outward, watching for other money
and saying "hey, it's fun and very orderly
in here -- won't you come join us"

HA! Silly, I know.
But, I do believe
order attracts order
and money attracts money.
Try it and see what happens.
Couldn't hurt.

In the car, I just take that
empty Wal-mart sack....over there.....
stuck to the side of the Sonic cup....
yep, that one.
AndI load it up
with all the bits and pieces and scraps
and such that have accumulated
during the week.

Do it every Friday and
it is never a huge mess.

It really feels good to end the week
on a clean note.

Small steps.
It's just a purse and a car.
But keeping them in control
gives you GREAT POWER !!!

Now let's get out and sack up that trash.

Good Friday !

Gwynie Pie

One. Two. Three.

After we moved to this house,
the house where I grew up,
and in an effort to distinguish between
the three bedrooms
down the hall,
we referred to the rooms
by who lived there last.

There was
Mother and Daddy's room,
my old bedroom,
and
the sewing room.

You see the problem, I'm sure........
we had many visitors here who had
NO idea which room was which.

So, then we tried calling them by their
color.

But----if you know me AT ALL,
you know that didn't work for long either.
Lobster room
became
Boston Brown room
became
Jalapeno Green room.

Sooooo, after living here
for several years, we started referring
to the rooms by number.
That proved confusing too, since
"is the 1st room on the right #1 or is it #3?"

Well, NOW we have fixed it.
Just like a motel.

We just put up numbers.

Should you come to visit,
you'll be given your Room #
and sent down the hall to settle in.

Don't worry.
It's a very short hall.

Oh please!!

Do come visit.

We looooooove company !!

Gwynie Pie

MMM MMMM Good

Last night I whipped up this meal --

It was so quick and easy
but tasted
like an expensive
restaurant meal.

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

1 pkg. -12 oz. fettucini
1 jar Bertolli brand alfredo sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan
a little pepper

Cook fettucini in heavily salted water
according to package instructions.
Drain completely and while still hot
add sauce, cream, parmesan and
pepper.

Stir to coat the fettucini.

Serve with -----

a green salad with all the good stuff
and
a good crusty bread.

We are loving the Texas Toast brand
of Cheese Ciabatta.

It is fantastic!!
I sure hope you have it wherever you live -
soooooo goooooood

Notice the oh, so fine
white pasta serving bowl? It is from Celebrating Home collection.
My friend, Elaine, is a designer with Celebrating Home
and you can see more of their fun stuff over
at her blog.
Just look over to the left in my favorite blogs
and click on

Mamie's Hospitalitea Cottage
and give Elaine a visit.
You can view the catalog there.

I also used the new salad servers
I got at World Market a few months ago. Aren't they cute?

It's Wednesday.

Half way through another week -

I'm so amazed at how the individual days just creep by

but the weeks and months

are whipping past.

I'm still working along on those

cleaning/de-cluttering projects

around the house.

Gwynie Pie

Happy Monday to you all !
I'm still at it.
Such great progress has been made
-------
just over the past 7 days

The pictures of the "results" of some of the
outward cleaning is
oh, so much more FUN
than
pictures of
the
"clean-up efforts"

Lemony, layered centerpiece
on the dining table.

Does anyone else L-O-V-E buttons like I do?

Especially various shades of white.


I'll be back with my next
de-cluttering update
in just a couple......

Bedroom #2 has been checked off the list of "to-do"

even (especially) the closet is orderly
and functional again.

NEXT-------------------
I'm gathering up every
blanket,
quilt,
sheet,
and
pillowcase.......

dumping them in the floor of the living room ---

and

stay or go????
THAT
is the
question.....

Later,

Gwynie Pie