Mosaic Monday - A visit from Mr. E. T. Swallowtail

I had so much fun last week linking up with Mary at the Little Red House for Mosaic Monday I decided I just had to do it again. This week is about a showy little fellow. Mr. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Although native to Nebraska, he isn't really a regular visit in the western part of the state. However I have been lucky enough to have several visitors every year. I think they migrate through like the little Hummingbird does, but not really sure. He sure was a pretty little thing and my little grandson enjoyed his visit also.

His bright yellow body with with black stripes gained him the name of a tiger, the pretty little blue spots on his tail sure add color to his little body.

This guy is good to look at sitting upright or spread eagle.

And he didn't seem to mind that Jaxon touched him, he actually flitted around his hand and at one point lit on top of his head for a second. He knows something sweet when he sees it.

Mr. E.T. Swallowtail stayed around all afternoon and entertained my Jaxon with his antics.

Please be sure to stop by Mary's and see all the wonderful posts.

For Teresa, may flowers bloom all year long in her heart!

Today I am joining in Fertilizer Friday in honor of my friend Teresa. She is the daughter of my dearest and oldest friend Twila. Twila and I have been together through thick and thin and just recently Twila's daughter Teresa was diagnosed with colon/rectal cancer. Teresa is a fellow gardener and like so many lovers of flowers has this special green thumb. So I was thinking gosh wouldn't she just love Tootsie's blog and all of her followers who love to garden. It would give her that little kick to her soul that all of us who love gardening gets when we see a new seed catalog, or someone's special bed or a new plant is introduced. So here's to you my friend Teresa. Enjoy browsing through all of these wonderful fellow plant lover's blog and know that God's work is at hand.

I hope you are not too tired of seeing my bleeding hearts but with Valentine's coming up I thought what better flower than this to represent the month of February and our little Teresa who has such a BIG heart.

Oh sweet Valentine!

I have been looking for a few simple yet creative ideas for Valentine's day this year and I found some great ideas...with instructions at Michaels.

What a simple yet clever little gift to make. All you need is just a few supplies, most of which we scrapbookers have laying around the house.

Or some frosted jars - like I said instructions are on the Michaels website and aren't these just so dainty and Valentinish?

Then a simple bag with a few pretties and WA LA - a gift for a special friend, teacher, classmate or just a special Valentine

Inspiration - Yes, I CAN!!

Pottery Barn has this lovely sunflower pillow that I have been in love with every since I saw it. Now -- I am going to try to re-produce it this weekend. I think I can...I think I can... I think I can.. says ME!

Wouldn't it look cute in my kitchen now decorated in sunflowers. I have a green decorator's chair sitting in storage and an empy corner in the kitchen. So I am thinking a nice linen or maybe even burlap, some paint (I will add some red) and this pillow for inspiration and I can make it work!!

Mosaic Monday - Ringing in the new year!

I've always wanted to do this so I am joining the Little Red House (click on her picture to the right of this post) and Mosaic Monday. For all of you photo lovers you must stop by her blog to see all of her beautiful photos and those of her blogging buddies.

My little grandson Cash just makes me laugh every time I look at his happy little face.

When one can't sleep, one must play!

Ever have one of those nights, you bounce, you turn, you fluff the pillows, you count sheep....but all to no avail. You just can't settle down and sleep, no matter what you do, sleep just won't come. That is what most of my nights are like. I'm exhausted, go to bed and find that no matter how tired I am my mind just won't stop for a little shut eye.

My therapy.........to play with my photos. I wish it were to catch up on my scrapbooking but nope, I play with picutres until I have them so mixed around I don't even know which was is up. Thankfully my Mac takes care of me and all that I do can be undone.

So I play and play until my hubby yells at me to get to bed. However I know if I give it a few minutes he is back in la la land and I can play some more.

My poor little bleeding hearts, they don't know if they are pink or red or squished or squashed but no matter what, they are still pretty.

So tell me........what do you do on those restless nights?

If anyone has some secret knowledge on how to sleep, please share. Going to bed and getting up at the same time; drinking a warm glass of milk before bedtime; having your room a special haven with NO interruptions; having dark out curtains; playing soft music; running a fan; taking herbal pills; taking sleeping pills - but still here I sit defiling my photos. I'm open for any suggestions................

Oh Sweet Valentine!

Adrianne and I are already getting excited about Valentine's Day. It just seems to be such a beautiful day, roses, hearts, dreams, love...........all of those wonderful things mixed up into one. We are looking for some wonderful Valentine projects to appease or happy hearts!!

I tag Angie

Tag...I'm it!!!!

I have been tagged! Here are seven things about me you may not know...

1. On my first date (which was to prom) I had to go bare foot because he was so much shorter than me. He also put my coursage in the freezer to keep it cold and had to thaw it out before he came to pick me up, which made him late. I thought I was stood up. And my flowers turned black by the end of the night.
2. Jeff was NOT my first love.
3. I hated to wear a bra so I would sneak out to the grain bin and take it off until I had to go back into the house. My mom would have killed me had she known, decent girls wore bras.
4. I once rode a motorcyle around the block with no shirt on.
5. My first crush was Herman of Herman and the Hermits.
6. I broke the door off my first car that I wasn't suppose to drive until it was licensed and I couldn't help myself, I started the car up and was just going to back it up in the driveway, didn't shut the door and it got caught on a tree. My buddies at the time Jeff, Chuck and Randy took it to school and fixed it and brought it back before my dad found out.
7. My best friend in highschool Kathy and I were going to be truck drivers when we grew up. Big aspirations I know but at the time it sounded fun. We were going to be cigar smoking truck drivers.

I tag Angie if she hasn't been tagged before!

ALVINNN - EMMAAAAAAA!

Never sure where I get my big ideas but after watching Emma (my 3 year old granddaughter) pack around a chipmunk from McDonalds, one of the girl chipmunks (her favorite), I thought "why not take her to the new chipmunk movie, I had wanted to see it too". That was what I thought anyway. I asked papa to go with us but he mumbled something about crazy, tired, can't... so to make it more fun for her I decided to take a couple more grannies. I gathered up my 4 year old granddaughter Adrianne and her 9 year old brother Austin and off we went to the movies. I should mention that ALWAYS ask about the potty before you go - and I did ask before we left but it is 28 miles to the show, that's a long way for a couple young ladies, what I forgot is to ask AGAIN before we went into the show. That was my first mistake, the 2nd to buy popcorn, drinks and candy too! Strike 3 - Drinks what WAS I thinking? (again forgetting the potty thing). After one spilled popcorn; 2 spilled drinks, one bag of candy rolling 3 seats down; one lost chipmunk (remember the loved one from above?) one lost jacket and two trips to the potty we really didn't miss to much of the show. Did I tell you that Emma ran up the stairs from a potty break faster than grannie could? She stood in front of the big screen yelling "grandma, grandma Debbie, grandma DEBBIE?" I tried to get her attention from the side but she couldn't hear, finally I knew that I had to sneak up there and get her, which I did. Now my silhouette isn't the best on a good day but my how BIG my butt looks when it blocks out the light on the screen. The laughter, did I mention that? Well the laughter - let's just say I was glad it was dark cuz my very red face was pretty bright! We now had made it through at least half of the show and I was sure that not much more could go wrong. Not so... the place was packed and two children decided they needed to squeeze past us to get to their parents sitting on the other side. Emma, AKA Miss Manners, says in a not so quiet 3 year old voice - "They didn't shay shorry grandma. Grandma they didn't shay shorry - they should shay shorry grandma." That brought on another round of laughter, not from the kid's parents (of course). She also mentioned to a young man that he should shit in his sheat and not in the aisle. Laughter again! Did I tell you that Emma has this little lisp thing going on where all her s' have a sh sound to them? When I got home and was laying in bed recapping my night I could only laugh. Maybe next time, grandpa WILL go!
'

My Everyday Heros

Jeremy awarding his father a plaque for 20 yeaers of service.

On Saturday night I had a date - and yes it was with my husband. He invited me to the CVFD Boss's night. I just have to brag about that, after 35 years of marriage he finally acknowledged that I WAS the boss.........but not really. I only try to boss him when I want things to go MY way, which believe it or not, doesn't happen a lot, maybe the secret to our successful marriage. But the main reason Jeff invited me was he was to be honored for 20 years of service to the community.
20 years of missed meals, & family functions, of sleepless nights, lost income, and on call 24/7. Do I begrudge that - NO. For all of those times he hasn't come home on time or was pulled out of bed to transport someone to the hospital, or fought fire for days on end, I know that he is dedicated to that life. He was there with my father when he took his last breath; he was first on call when my son was involved in an almost head on car accident, he picked up my cousin who lost his life in a train accident and was there for the little lady down the street when she fell and was unable to get up. These things make up for all the times he was absent.
Jeff joined the volunteer dept. 20 years ago and is a certified EMT and Fire Fighter. At present he is First Asst. Fire Chief. On Saturday it was with great honor that he received a 20 plaque for his years of dedication. And what made it extra special was that our son Jeremy, was the person to award him the plaque.
Jeremy is our eldest and has followed in his dad's footsteps dedicating much of his time to the Fire Department also. Jeremy is 2nd. Asst. Chief, is also a certified EMT and Fire Fighter. Both he and his father are real every day heros. It is with great pride to me when someone stops me on the street to tell me that "they sure were comforted when they saw one of them show up".







Gotta be ready to go in a minure - that includes having your pants inserted into your boots. I could only imagine me trying to get in the boots without falling over and then needing help to get up. The trucks would have left the station while I was still floundering around. LOL



When Jeff first joined the fire department he didn't always hear the scanner trip but the rest of us did, so five pair of feet hit the floor running to make sure he was up and out the door. Not so anymore, of course the kids are gone so we have no one to take care of us. :(



Bubba - Jeff's nickname that he received some 20 years ago from his fellow fire fighters.

Tribute to a Fallen Comrade

Recently the Crawford Volunteer Fire Department lost one of its members. Fire Chief Emil Daughtery was a 20 year member of the Fire Department and the leader of the Crew. He was named Fire Chief several years previous and held that title until his death. Emil was an honorable man and not only his family but the community will miss him greatly. Emil's family was on hand Sat. night to receive, in his honor, a plaque commemorating his 20 years of service. Our hat's off to you Emil. May you rest in peace.



Emil's son Chad, the newly elected Fire Chief Brain Prosser, 1st. Asst. Fire Chief Jeff Kennedy and 2nd. Asst. Fire Chief Jeremy Kennedy along with another fire fighter ride with honor to Emil's final resting place.

YIPPEE!! A place to GO!

Materials for crafts...........where to go? - Hobby Lobby!!

Supplies for Christmas projects --- where to go? Hobby Lobby!

Rooster prints - where to go? -- Hobby Lobby!!

Florals, candles & poster prints - where to go? -- Hobby Lobby!!

And where in the world do you go for chicken lights? -- Hobby Lobby

(yes that really is a chicken, should have a shot without it lit, but I don't)

You probably already know this but I didn't until just the other day until a friend told me. You can now shop Hobby Lobby on line. That is great news for those of us who live over 100 miles to the nearest store. Here is their website: http://shop.hobbylobby.com/

Prayers are answered for Teresa!

Yahoo for Teresa!

The cancer has not spread -- off to AZ on Tuesday for healing!

Dreaming!

So far I have received about half a dozen seed catalogs, so I have been flipping through the pages dreaming about my garden. My fingers just get itchy wanting to get out and dig in the Earth and what the heck.........it is suppose to -35 degrees on Thursday. January always seems to be such a long month so I am thinking I need a project or two to do around the house. Anyone have any ideas?????