HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIAN

Yesterday was my grandson, Kian's, 8th birthday. Due to unforseen circumstances I didn't get to spend time with him on his birthday like I wanted, or get pictures like I wanted either. We have plans to do this later on. So today I'm honoring this very special boy here on my blog.

On a cold, snowy, January day, Kian came into this world. He was born a month premature with lungs that weren't developed enough and immediately taken to another hospital and put in an intensive care unit. Here he was attached to every tube and wire imaginable and the only contact we had at first was just touching his little hand. A very scary and heart wrenching time. It was about a week before I got to hold him the first time and then it was with all those tubes and wires still attached. But God had plans for this baby boy and in his short 8 years, he has blessed so many people especially his Granny.

When he was still a baby and came over for a visit, he would reach for me as soon as he saw me. When I took him in my arms, the first thing he would do was lay his little head on my shoulder and pat me gently on the back. He was saying "I love you, Granny" even then, without words. As he got older I would tell him I loved him and he would say, "Lu you too!"

This kid is a nut:



He's right out of a cartoon and makes me laugh:



He's such a cool kid:



He loves being silly with his cousin Claire:



And adores his cousin Collin:



Last year he lost his first tooth, and unlike most kids, loved to show off the gaping space:



Now he's looking so grown up..but he's still Granny's little man:



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIAN! GRANNY LOVES YOU VERY MUCH!

Blessings..pay them forward..

Brandy and Jennifer both chose me for this award and I am honored. Thank you both for thinking of me. Here's the idea behind this award:

The idea…it’s a game of tag with a difference, rather than looking inwardly, we look outside ourselves and bless, praise and pray for 3 blog friends. By participating in this endeavour we not only make the recipient of the blessing feel valued and appreciated, but we are having some fun too. We’re going to see how far the bloggin’ blessings can travel around the world and how many people can be blessed! Recipients of a bloggin’ blessing may upload the above image to their sidebar if they choose to. If you receive a bloggin’ blessin’ please leave a comment on this thread here so that we can rejoice in just how many blessings have been sent around the world.Now, I am to pass this Award on to 3 ladies.

I want all my Bloggy Friends to know what a blessing each of you have been to me and each of you deserve this award. But I am only suppose to pick 3 people to bless. I thought about this for a while and I chose 3 ladies who have not always had it easy, or they are still going through some trying times. But in the midst of it all, they keep their chins up and do what they have to do. They have had sickness, financial problems, or just plain heartbreak and worry, but they just trust God for their needs and perservere. Grams, Karen and Brenda..I want you all to know that you've been a blessing and encouragement to me.

Thanks again, Brandy and Jennifer. I hope my little blog corner of the world will continue to be a blessing.

A New Award and an Old Town

First of all, I have received this award from Sandra at Nora Lee's Nook. Here's what she said about me: "Hope at Second Time Around where it is always fun to stop by and see what she is up to, and also for some laughs!" I am so glad that I can bring a smile to the ones who visit here. As I told Sandra, laughter is good medicine, and I'm a firm believer in laughter! If you haven't visited her at Nora Lee's Nook, you must run on over there and check it out. Sandra has many old items which she shares passed down through generations of her family. She's also a girl after my own heart who loves junkin' and she also shares many of her great finds!! Thanks you so much, Sandra, for this honor. When you drop in on her, tell her Hope sent you! :)

Next, an old town! This past summer DH fulfilled one of my dreams by taking me on a trip from VA to Maine. It was a long, tiring trip but we saw so many interesting places along the way, as you can imagine. There's no way I could get all this into one post so I'll break it down so that you don't get "picture overload"! As I mentioned in one of the meme's I did a while back, I love the movie Baby Boom with Diane Keaton, about a devoted career woman who "inherits" a baby and leaves her city life for the country. The name of the area in the movie was Hadleyville, Vermont, but in real life, it is a very small town called Peru, Vermont. This little town consists of a town center:



an old cemetary behind the towncenter:



a post office:



a beautiful, old church:



and my favorite place, the old general store:



In the movie, Keaton's character buys a farm, sight unseen, complete with a beautiful old farmhouse and an apple orchard. With so many apples laying around going to waste, she decides to make baby food apple sauce for her newly inherited baby.
Being a sharp business woman, she also decides to try and sell some of this baby food so she takes some to the local general store. Tourists drift through this small town from a much larger, neighboring town which is a resort area. (We actually stayed in the resort town for one night. Very expensive place but nice.) This little store is the actual one from the movie.



It took me back in time for a while. The lady who now owns the store was very friendly and told us all about the excitement that went on during the making of the movie. I was amazed at all the goodies sold in this one small place. Fresh muffins and coffee in the morning, cheeses, pizza and of course, Vermont Maple Syrup. It even had the old wood stove still used for heat where the old men use to sit around, swapping stores and spitting tobacco juice in the spittoon!



Notice the original old wood floor around the stove. The original wood counters are still in use too, along with the old cash register. (Oh yeah, they also sell night crawlers and worms!)





A sign is still displayed over a doorway showing the original owner.




When Keaton's character was driving to her new home in the film, this is the beautiful tree-lined road she was on:



The store owner told us that the house used in the film was just a few miles down the road but was too far back to be seen from the road. We left this town by way of the tree-lined road on to our next destination. I was amazed at all the dirt roads in this area which are main routes! We use to have a lot of these in our county that have now been paved.

I hope you've enjoyed your little tour today. I want to show more of the places we visited at a later date. I also hope my pictures aren't chopped up a lot. The only thing I could do was resize them but then when I loaded them to Flickr they were bigger. :( The only other way I could find to change my template and make it wider was with HTML and I know nothing about that! Oh well, maybe sooner or later a more computer literate person will be able to help me!

New/Old Treasures

I want to share a couple of Dave's new finds. First is this old wooden sled which we are told was used to haul supplies, etc. DH wanted me to tell you that he decorated it! :) Please disregard the ugly film on the mirror. This is what happens when you are a blogaholic!! That's my story (excuse) anyway and I'm stickin' to it!! I took one picture and realized that my scary reflection was in the mirror! I know I've already showed you some frightening pictures of me but this one was bad....bed-head and all!! So I took another picture and this time ducked down behind the greenery!! :) The mirror, by the way, was one we found in Vermont for 2 bucks!




Next is this cool, old wooden tray. It appears to be homemade but is really nice. It has black, wrought iron handles and the rooster and chicken picture is what appears to be a piece of border. You can also see part of my collection of crocks and crock bowls in this picture.



Every day is like Christmas here with Dave finding new treasures. The hard part is finding room for them all. I love finding new uses for old things, you know, the Second Time Around!

Edited to add:

Blogger keeps cutting off my picture on the right side. I have so much room on either side of the page but everything is crammed in the center. When I do my post and preview it everything looks good. Then I go to my blog page and it's all cut off! If anyone knows how to fix this I would appreciate any advice!

I always choose the medium sized pics to post here and now have done the small. There is a big difference in the size but it does show the whole picture! Maybe I just need to resize the pics beforehand!! Thanks to all who tried to help!

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This is a picture test:

Thankful...

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalms 136:1

(I've been asked about this picture. It was taken by Dave from the train he was on. He took it with his cell phone! This area is near Natural Tunnel, VA)

Another one....

I got another one!!!! I'm so excited. That's two of them just today. I didn't get as many as Grams got (pout!) but I'll be okay :( I'm just kidding!! Grams chose to give me this award and since she hasn't been doing too well lately, I'm so happy that I sent some cheer her way cause she's a very special lady in my book! And I Love Lucy, seriously! I'm certainly not the entertainer she was but I'm so happy to be her runner-up!! LOL Thank you so much, Grams. I'll proudly display this on my sidebar!

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Well it looks like Grams either felt sorry for me or got tired of looking at my pouty face because she gave me another award!! LOL Actually she had already given it to me, I just didn't see it before!! Thank you so much Grams!! I already have this one on my sidebar so I'll add your name with Lib's. I am honored that I am one of the people who make your day!

An Award!!

I received this award today from Rhonda at FarmHouse Style. Now most of you know me by now and you have to know there's a funny story here!! Let me explain:

I woke up (not really awake yet) this morning (well, almost afternoon) and made coffee, stumbled to my computer, still half asleep, and checked my email. There was a comment from Rhonda telling me that she had a little something for me at her blog and to stop by. So I go (stumbling) over there to see, still in my morning stupor and what's the first thing I see?? A big plate of food!! Meatloaf!! What I thought was, "Oh she has taken a picture of her wonderful meal and wanted to tempt me with it!" You may remember my post about my country supper and how I was craving me some meatloaf?? Well, she had found a new recipe that she shared and I have to try!

Then I read on down her post and realized she was giving me an award instead of meatloaf!! Ok, so finally I get it! I was thrilled to get this award. Then I started to wonder why Rhonda thought I had integrity! You know how sometimes when you stare at a word a long time it looks odd to you and you start to wonder if you really know what it means? Well, maybe YOU don't but I tend to be a little anal sometimes! I've always had a fairly good vocabulary even though I don't use these big words much, being a Hillbilly and all. Anyway I decided to look this word up and see exactly what the definition was.

The first definition was:
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values
Ok, I'm pretty firm about my morals...artistic..I'm not so sure.

Next was:
2 : an unimpaired condition
I'd say that definitely leaves me out! I am SO impaired, especially in the morning. (Now that I look at the word impaired I wonder exactly what it means! hummm)

Then:
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided
I'm not sure...depends on what time of day it is! :)

Finally:
synonyms see honesty
Now that I can relate to! Even though I have in the past told some whopping stories, I now try to always be honest. Besides, I was being honest when I confessed to you that I wasn't always honest!! See how much that word applies to me! And..see how strange that word honest looks after you look at it a long time? I have to stop this!! It's driving me nuts!

I want to thank you, Rhonda, for giving me this award and I'm so sorry for analizing it to death! (HONESTLY, I needed something to blog about today!) I really do appreciate it and am humbled that you think I have integrity! I so want to have it!!

If you haven't visited Rhonda, you must! She is a wonderful, good ole, country girl! I found her one day on somebody's blog (can't remember), and her blog name, FarmHouse Style, caught my eye. I found we had a lot in common, namely old farmhouses,children and now meatloaf!! She also drives a truck named Ole Bessie that makes me green with envy!! Go on over and say "Howdy". You'll be so happy you did!!

I know so many ladies in Blogland who have integrity and the more I get to know you all the more I see your good qualities. I had the pleasure last night of talking to Betty, from Betty's This and That, personally on the phone. We had a great conversation and got to know each other a little better. She is genuine, real! I like that. And such a sweet, soft voice too! A true southern lady! AND she has integrity!! I want to pass this award on to her! Please take time to visit Betty and get to know her and you'll see what I mean!

Tag..I'm IT

I have been tagged again by Brandy. This one is different. It is sets of 4 things I know you're just dying to know about me. I gave you a little intermission so you should be ready for another tag game by now after the hat fashion show. The only thing these tags prove to me is what a very boring person I am!! So here's another very boring list for you:

4 jobs I have had:
1. Hair dresser
2. Went to work for the government at age 19..FCC secretary
3. Typist for Geico..typed policies and endorsements
4. Sewing job with Buster Brown..not the little Dutch boy with the bobbed hair but the company! (Yuck and double Yuck!)

4 movies watched over and over:
1. Gone With the Wind
2. The Color Purple
3. John Q
4. Baby Boom

4 places I have lived:
1. Clinchport, VA (Big town of about 200 people)
2. Washington, DC
3. Rockville, MD
4. Back to VA (Another small town of less than 2500 people)

4 shows I watch:
1. Lifetime movies
2. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
3. Reba reruns
4. Golden Girls reruns

Are you yawning yet? If you're still awake, keep going!

4 places I have been:
1. Florida
2. Bahamas
3. Peru, Vermont (where Baby Boom was filmed)
3. Old Orchard Beach, Maine

4 people who email me regularly:
1. Betty.
2. Brandy
3. Jennifer
4. Lib

4 favorite things to eat: (Only 4??)
1. Soupbeans
2. Cornbread
3. Fried cabbage
4. Biscuits and Gravy

I know, I know...even the foods I love are boring to most people, but I get excited over soupbeans and cornbread!

4 places I would rather be:
1. There's no place like home...
2. But if I have to be away from home..Lancaster, PA
3. Home
4. Home

4 things I look forward to this year:
1. Finishing our stairway
2. Taking a very short vacation!
3. Spending time with the grandbabies and my family
4. Getting to know my Bloggy Friends better

4 people to tag:
1. Betty
2. Lib
3. Brenda
4. Peggy

Please humor me girls and play along! Betty, don't make me break out my "Magic Mirror"!!

Hats, hats, hats.....

Well, I was tagged again for another MeMe but I thought I'd give you all a break today and do that one tomorrow. I know you're probably tired of hearing about ME!! So today is a little fun post.

After eating at Cracker Barrel (Brenda's favorite place) the other night with Jenny and her family, Claire and I shopped! We found lots of hats so I tried one on. She laughed at me and wanted to take my picture because I looked so funny.



That one really helps to accent my double chin, don't you think?? How scary that is! Then I tried this one:



I don't think I'm going to join the red hat society for obvious reasons!! The fun continued with this hat:



This hat just wasn't right for Claire. She didn't like this little straw number with the pink foof! She's more of a glam girl preferring the glitz and glitter! (Say that sentence 3 times real fast! :)



Now that's a cowgirl!! When she was about 3 years old she told me she wanted to be a cowgirl when she grew up and showed me how she would twirl her lasso above her head. Then she said, "Granny, you can be a cowgirl when you grow up too!" How cute is that?? Don't laugh. I might just be a cowgirl when I grow up!!

What about this one? Too cute!!



Then we found this strange little hairpiece and had to get a picture of it too:



Claire and I really do have some silly, fun times together. Making memories! I told you before she will always play my silly games! Kian and Collin don't really get into this kind of fun much, even though I think they would have looked cute in these hats too! I hope Josie will like silly games when she gets older!!

I hope you enjoyed our little hat fashion show. Maybe next time we will model bikinis!!

National Pie Day 2008

In honor of January 23 being National Pie Day, a group of bloggers, inspired by Tammy at The Pink Magnolia, decided to share some pie recipes. I found this one over at Tina's place, Cherry Hill Cottage. I have made it twice now and it is always a big hit. It tastes so yummy and it's easy...and I'm all about easy!! Sorry I don't have a picture..maybe next time when I make it I'll post one.

Crescent Roll Apple Pie

Bake @ 350 - 45 minutes...
1 package Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1 granny smith apple
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup Mountain Dew
Spray 8x8 dish with Pam. Separate Crescent Rolls, stretch out to make larger. Peel, core and cut apple into 8 pieces. Divide apple into 8 pieces. Divide apple slices onto crescents, roll up into crescents. Shape and place in dish. Mix mixture of butter, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Spoon onto top of crescents. Pour Mountain Dew all around rolls. Do not pour directly on tops...Bake.

You'll find many more great recipes here.

Tagged...Again!

I have been tagged by my buddy Karen H. to do a MeMe of 15 reasons why it's great to be me! This MeMe began with Jan at Bold &Free because she didn't want to dwell on the negative things in her life that day, but to focus on the positive! A great lesson for us all! If you're tired of reading all about me by this time, feel free to click on the little x at the top right hand corner!! :) BUT, if you are truly my Bloggy Friends like it says on my list in the sidebar here, you'll suffer through this list and read them anyway!! :)


1. It's great to be me because I am married to a good man who is my best friend.

2. It's great to be me because I have 2 wonderful children who are grown and doing well for themselves.

3. It's great to be me because my 2 wonderful children have given me 4 wonderful grandchildren, 2 boys, 2 girls.

4. It's great to be me because all of the above 3 on this list love me, light up my life and keep me feeling young.

5. It's great to be me because Love lifted me.

6. It's great to be me because I finally have the old house I have wanted since I was very young.

7. It's great to be me because I am surrounded by beautiful mountains.

8. It's great to be me because I'm not working right now and I can be a "homebody"!

9. It's great to be me because I have found so many new friends here in Blogland.

10. It's great to be me because I know if I need someone to pray I can count on these friends.

11. It's great to be me because I live in a great country where I still have freedom! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

12. It's great to be me because I live in a small town where people know each other and speak when you pass them on the street.

13. It's great to be me because I have drawings on my refrigerator that were done by my grandchildren. I have a friend who has no children and really never wanted any. But she looks at my refrigerator which is loaded with photos and drawings and says that is one thing she feels she has missed by not having children!! I also have what I call my "treasure box" where I keep the older drawings, little notes from the kids, valentines and special cards. I am so blessed!

14. It's great to be me because I've always been surrounded by music.

15. It's great to be me because I have been blessed enough to list 15 reasons why it's great to be me!!

If you have read (suffered through) my list of 15 and would like to play along, consider yourself tagged!!

I've been tagged...several days ago....

Hello again!! I'm back, at least for a while. Hopefully things have settled down with me. I have missed all of you and have tried to visit each one briefly to catch up. Thank you for all the baby love, well wishes and prayers.

Several days ago, Lib tagged me for a meme of 7 random or weird things about me! Since you already know that 7 doesn't even begin to cover weirdness about me, maybe we'll do random!! LOL Anyway, here goes:

1. Playing tag was my favorite game as a child!! Thanks, Lib, for inviting me to play again!

2. I was born over 60 years ago at my aunt's house. I was the last of 6 children and my mother had the first 5 children at home. She was close to 40 when she was pregnant with me and her doctor insisted that she at least get closer to the hospital since she refused to go into the hospital! So she went to my aunt's house and gave birth to me there. My Aunt Claudie gave me my beautiful name, Hope.

3. My Uncle Jim fed me gravy when I was 2 days old!! Could that be why I have a weight problem today??

4. I have a brown birthmark on the inside of my arm near the elbow which looks like a sweet potato. My mother always said it was because she craved sweet potatoes the whole 9 months she was pregnant with me.

5. At the ripe old age of five, I fell in love with a man in his 20's. Obviously that didn't work out, but I never forgot him! :)

6. I grew up wanting to live in the city...anywhere but these mountains. Now I don't want to be anywhere else. They are my haven and security.

7. I have been a Child of the King for over 30 years. His Royal Blood flows through my veins and He loves me unconditionally!

I think now I'm suppose to tag 7 other people. Most of you have already been tagged for this meme so I have tried to pick some of the newer bloggers:

Jennifer at dust bunny hostage, Brandy at Mommy's Quiet Spot, Mary at Country Girl at the Beach, Rachel at A Romantic Porch , Denise at Denise Truesdale's Blog , Sandra at Nora Lee's Nook, and Karla at Ramblin' Roads.

Rules: Link back to the person who tagged you. List 7 weird or random things about yourself. Tag 7 people and link to them.

TAG, GIRLS, YOU'RE IT!!!

All my grandbabies...

Ok, I know you're probably glad by now that I don't have home movies to show you but I do have one more picture. Jenny (aka GranSissy) took this one for me. I've had company and haven't been over to see the baby again or take any more pictures. I just had to show you all my beautiful grandbabies together.



From left to right: Kian, Claire holding Baby Josie, and Collin, my teenager! They are all still my "grandbabies" to me no matter how old they get!!

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I have had company for several days so I just jump on here when I get a minute to say hello. I'll be back soon...my usual gabby self! I miss you all and will have so much catching up to do!!

Then there were four...

I am still not totally recouped from all the excitement!! I use to be such a night owl and had no problem staying up all night. Now it just seems to wipe me out. Besides that, it had been a long time since I had pulled an all-nighter!! I did manage to visit most of your blogs a little last night, then back to bed! I'm sure you will agree with me though that Josie was well worth the loss of sleep.

My daughter, Jenny, left a comment yesterday asking me to tell you that she is a proud GranSissy!! Kian gave her that name when he was little. Willie always called her Sis growing up so she wanted Kian to just call her Sissy instead of Aunt Jenny. He was always getting confused and would start to call her Granny, then would say Sissy right after so it became GranSissy!! It stuck and she loves the name. Here's GranSissy, my firstborn, holding her long awaited niece:



There is nothing more precious to a mother's eyes than seeing her own children holding their children. Here is my baby holding his baby:



I talked to Kian on the phone yesterday and he says his baby sister is so cute and he thinks she's a keeper!! Collin and Claire can't wait to meet their new cousin.

And so my legacy lives on! Two wonderful children that have made me so proud and now four very precious grandchildren. More pictures to come as soon as I get everybody together.

Introducing......

Miss Josie Elizabeth, born January 15 at 3:57 AM. She weighed 7 lbs. 10oz. Mommy, Daddy and baby are all doing well. Granny is very tired and going to bed now. See you all tomorrow sometime!

Ben

This is Ben......





He's the love of Tobi's life.







Ben is the reason she endures her grooming..the bath, haircut, toenail clipping and other unmentionable things that we won't go into here....and even the cutesy little bows that she sometimes allows the groomer to put on her ears, it's all for the love of Ben!







Unfortunately for Tobi, Ben is a "man about town" and usually won't give her the time of day. You know the type. He goes traipsing about town from one end to the other, usually looking straight ahead. Everybody in town knows Ben and knows his name and it's not so much that Ben is friendly with everybody, he is actually kind of aloof. If you call him by name he will stop and look at you for a minute, then go on his merry way without so much as a "howdy-do", leaving you with the impression that he doesn't have time for you or can't be bothered.


Poor Tobi. She gets so fiesty, in spite of her almost 14 years, when she see's Ben on the street. Even though Ben is not a bad looking speciman, he's no spring chicken either, so to speak. With every chance meeting Tobi starts prancing along and shaking her beautiful, long, blond, tail from side to side...looking at him longingly with those big brown eyes. The other day Tobi and I were taking our walk out the street and we met Ben walking down the other side. He just kept walking on, refusing to look in her direction. She started to run from me to get to Ben but I held tightly to her leash. She then began a whining sound almost like crying. I really think she had tears in her eyes. Then she started a low, woofing bark to try and get his attention, but Ben kept right on going down the street, completely ignoring her.



My heart breaks for Tobi when I have to watch her go through this humiliation. She received a little bit of encouragement a few days ago when DH took her for her walk. Ben's "daddy" drove by them with Ben perched in the passenger's seat. He stopped the car and said, "Ben says, 'Hello', and Ben goes, "Woof, Woof!!" Tobi was such a happy girl for a little while.


I just know that someday soon Ben will realize what a wonderful old girl Tobi is and it will be too late for him. She will become so weary with vying for his affections that she will decide she doesn't need him at all. Then when she sees him on the street again, she will turn that beautiful, blond tail in his direction and say, "Talk to the butt, Ben. Talk to the Butt!"

Isaiah 40:31, KJV

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

De-lurking Success!!

I just have to tell you what a huge success my de-lurking post was. It actually became a party with a big turn out!! I think it was partly due to the fact that some people got scared. It might have been because of my magic mirror! Here's the comment Betty made, and just keep in mind that she's a friend and a regular here:

After reading your post I'm afraid to not leave a comment on everyone's blog that I visit. They might track me down like you did these three people. Leaves me wondering how you know they've been lurking. I'm scared!!

Just imagine, if I scared Betty who already knew me, the lurkers must have really been shaking in their boots and constantly looking over their shoulders to see if I was there!!

Remember when I said that when I looked in my magic mirror I could see Mary and Kaycie? It wasn't really magic! I actually knew for a fact that they had been lurking and not commenting!! When they were visiting me at Christmas I told Mary that she had better start leaving a comment or she would see herself on my blog. If you'll look here you'll see that it wasn't an idle threat! You'll also notice that I referred to her as one of my "oldest" friends!! :) I hate to keep wording it that way but we do go waayyy back, and let's face it, we are getting older! We've been through the good times and the bad times together. We also had some great adventures too. Our "then" husbands called us Lucy and Ethel. I'm sure you know there are many, many stories behind those nicknames!

Knowing my old (there's that word again) friend like I do, I can tell you she always was one to do things in a bold way. Just step right out there and do it with a "devil may care" attitude even if you don't have a clue what you're doing. So, while she STILL hasn't figured out how to leave me a comment, she just jumped right out there and started her own blog yesterday!! You will find Mary at Country Girl at the Beach. Please take some time to visit her and make her feel welcome in Blogland. You'll be so glad you did. She has a way of growing on people, ya know? Oh, and don't forget to tell her Hopie sent you!

Also on de-lurking day I met some new friends. How exciting is that?? First there were 3 girls who followed each other to my blog. They had been friends when they were younger and were reunited after 20 years through blogging! Rachel at A Romantic Porch, who has only had a blog for a short time. She lives in an old house built in 1904 so I knew right away I was gonna like this girl!! Then came her friend Denise at Denise Truesdales Blog, another lovely young lady, then their other friend Karla at Ramblin' Roads, another sweet girl. I know you will enjoy visiting these girls when you get a chance and please leave them a comment.

Then came a comment from Sandra at Nora Lee's Nook, named for her grandmother, Nora Lee, a woman with much history! I felt an instant connection to Sandra when I visited her blog and enjoyed reading every word and looking at pictures of all her beautiful, vintage things. Drop in on her sometime and you'll see what I mean. And again, tell her Hope sent you!

Sandra Evertson stopped by with a comment too! When I visited her blog I found out she has contributed to Romantic Homes Magazine, has her own line of rubber stamps and is the author of several books among other things! How impressive is that? See for yourself when you visit her blog.

Next new commentor was Katherine at Yellow Rose Arbor. Katherine is a beautiful, genteel southern lady who was drawn to my country supper! There's just something about fried green tomatoes that seems to bring the southern gals right out of hiding!! Check out her lovely blog when you get a chance and tell her Hope......well, you know the drill by now! LOL

Last but not least, I had an anonymous comment from Another Hope, who came out to say "Hi", since we share the name Hope. So, Another Hope, I hope you will come back again and leave me a comment Please don't go back into the shadows and hide. And if you don't already have your own blog, maybe you will venture out just like Mary and start one. I can promise you won't be sorry you did.

Thank you to all my new friends for joining in the fun on De-lurking Week and to all my old friends (sorry for that word again, girls) who take the time each day to leave me a comment. I appreciate each and every one!

Country Supper

Not long ago Lib was talking about how she was going to cook up all sorts of good food and freeze it, then when she didn't have time to cook a big meal she could just take something out and thaw it for supper. Good idea, huh?

I have to point out here that in mine and Lib's neck of the wood, we have breakfast, dinner and supper. Up north they have breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I lived up north I always thought their dinner looked more like our lunch!! They ate a lot lighter than we do down here in the hills!!

One of the foods Lib was preparing to freeze was meatloaf. Then I kept hearing Karen talk about making her famous buttermilk cornbread and I would be drooling. Almost daily I visit Sandi over at the Whistlestop Cafe Cooking blog and what do I see staring me in the face every day when I go there? Check it out...fried green tomatoes...right there on her header!!

What's a hillbilly girl, with thoughts of all this good country cookin' dancing around in her head, going to do? As a general rule I don't like to cook, but sometimes there is only one place to get good foods like these girls made and that's to cook it yourself!!

Last night I could stand it no longer and had to have meatloaf so I made one and stuck it in the oven to bake. You know, don't you, that if you have meatloaf you have to have mashed potatoes (mashed taters) to go with that and I do make some pretty good mashed taters if I do say so myself! :)



It just so happened that this past summer we grew some tomatoes right here in our own back yard. We had to water them faithfully every day because we had no rain here but we had a good crop right up until cool weather was coming. I decided rather than let the frost get the green ones I would try putting some of them in the freezer. I had never tried this method before or any method for that matter but I remember my mother canning green tomatoes. She would open a can and fry them up when we had snow on the ground and it tasted like summertime heaven! Even though I knew the canning was a tried and true method I wasn't equipped for it so I put mine in the freezer.

What could possibly go any better with meatloaf and mashed potatoes than fried green tomatoes? So I took some out of the freezer and fried them up:



Not bad at all. Not exactly the same as fresh ones but close. If you know anything at all about country cookin' then you know that no meal is complete without a pone of cornbread. So I dragged out my cast iron skillet, greased it up and made some cornbread!



Up north they say the presentation of food is the most important thing. Down here in the country, we say it's the taste. Since you only have my bad photography to go by and I'm not big on presentation, you'll just have to take my word that it was good. Can't you just feel your arteries clogging as you look at the picture??

National Delurking Week

Pea passed the word along that Jan. 7-13 is National Delurking Week. I don't know about the rest of you but I was once a lurker( wasn't I Pea?? :) It doesn't make you a bad person or anything, just a person who is shy about commenting. It took me a while to come out of hiding and leave a comment but, do you know what I found out? These ladies were so nice and seemed so genuinly glad that I left them a comment! I don't know if I expected them to say, "You git off my land and don't you ever come back", or seek their dog on me or something! Well they didn't and they won't. Neither will I. So if you are visiting my little blog today please take the time to let me know you're here and at least say hello in a comment.

I have three lurkers that I know of and I'll take this opportunity to say hello to them: "Hello" to Jennifer in Florida and Mary and Kaycie in New Jersey!! Love you all and wish you would leave me a comment sometime!! I feel like the Romper Room lady, remember her? With her magic mirror in hand, "I see Mary in New Jersey, Jennifer in Florida...." lol

If you'll go over and see Pea, she has several of these little caption you can choose from to use on your blog.

Join the Club

Ok, so this is not exactly an award. Well I think it started out as an award and morphed into a club or group. It is the Blogaholics Anonymous Award given to me by Grams. Now I really don't know what gave Grams the idea that I needed this. I mean, just because I have to check my comments first thing in the morning before my coffee has dripped and I still have those night cobwebs in my brain, and just because my laundry is piled up and my house is a wreck, and there is no contact with friends or family unless they blog or read my blog...could this really mean I need help? Is there a 12-step program for this addiction?? Well, Grams, here is my statement: Hello, my name is Hope and I'm a BLOGAHOLIC!!

I know there are several if not all on my sidebar that need to join this club. The award originated from Melanie at Livin' With Me. She has a handy code to copy and paste on your blog. Then just leave her a comment and she will add your name to the Blogaholics Blogroll. I pass this to Lib, Karen H., Brenda, Brandy, Penny, Peggy and Pea.

Thank you, Grams for all the fun you pass along!

One more award!

Ok, one more time!! Grams has given me this other wonderful award. She says I inspire her!! I'm overwhelmed! Thank you so much Grams. You, my friend, are the inspiration!

I'm inspired by so many wonderful women on these blogs. You know who you are. I visit you every day to be uplifted in body and soul. You faithfully come here to comment and encourage me and you'll probably never know in this life what this has done for me. I thank you all for that.

Sometimes, though, you have one specific person on your heart that you feel might need uplifting. I would like to pass this award along to Karen H., my sweet weather girl. Karen is so kind and encouraging to all and is truly an inspiration.

Thanks again to Brandy, Lib and Grams for my awards. I treasure them all.