Random June

Random bits of June...

We were so glad that Sarah and Charlie took the time to stop by on their travels.  It was a pleasure to get to meet Charlie!

Hannah, Sarah, and Charlie

Marvin and I encountered a big storm coming home from Columbia earlier this month.  It was pretty ominous looking as we were driving north.  Then suddenly we were hit with a wall of wind that almost knocked us off the road!  By the time we got to our house, though, it had cleared off and we realized we hadn't even gotten much rain out at Willis Creek Ranch.  Too bad... we are in great need of rain here.

those are huge raindrops on the windshield

This was quite a day!  Mama was able to get back out on the lawnmower!  I know this did her heart good!!!  And I was so happy to see it that I had to stop and take her picture.  :)

Daddy sent this beautiful photo to me when he went to Sedalia for a commission meeting.  It is summer so you know my heart and my mind are already preparing for time at this very special place - evenings spent gazing at the lights of the Swine Barn!  ;)

Photo taken from campsite at state fair campground - looking across at the Swine Barn.

I have mentioned before that we basically run a home for aged horses out here at Willis Creek Ranch.  (How did all the horses get so old when we haven't?!?!)  Poor Bob has a condition that causes him to not be able to sweat.  So he spends a good part of his hot weather time swimming in the pond.  It looks pretty funny at first glance, but he sure enjoys playing around in the water.  And it definitely keeps him cool.

Bob swimming in the pond.

This tree in our yard died during the last year so it was time to cut it down.  Daddy came and did the honors for us.

There is a lot of fencing work that needs to be done around the place this summer.  Marvin and Jonathan are working on this section currently.  As you can see from the clouds, they got chased inside shortly after this photo by a brief rain shower.  We definitely need the rain so no one was complaining.

What a day!  So, I never win anything.  I have entered contests and signed up for drawings for years but NEVER win ANYTHING.  So you can imagine my surprise when I received a phone call a couple weeks ago telling me that I had WON the drawing at Christopher & Banks for a brand new outfit from their Activewear Relaxed Restyled collection!  What??  :)  I arranged a time to go down to the store at the mall in Columbia to pick out my new outfit and was sure glad when Shonda signed on to go with me.  We couldn't leave until mid-day and made the fateful decision to go to the mall first and THEN go get lunch.  We then got smoothies on the way out of town that were filled with caffeine (a green tea tango with a shot of coffee).  Yes, hindsight is 20/20...

Anyway, by the time we got to the mall we were all caffeined up and ready to pick out some clothes.  It was a slightly cooler, muggy day and that meant the air conditioning in the mall wasn't going full force.  I put myself in the little airless dressing room and started trying on clothes, including winter weather clothes.  (hindsight again...)  Between the over-caffeination, the heat, and my regular hormonal surges you can imagine what happened.  My body rebelled!  ha!  After trying on those wintry type clothes, I finally chose this summery outfit from the Relaxed Restyled collection (that is a nice jacket slung over my arm).  I was ready to get out of there, but the store wanted a photo of me in the outfit.  Great.  The nice saleslady asked me to put my arm on my hip and pop my foot out.  Oh my... you all know I am NOT hip - and especially not when I am so self conscious.  (Shonda took this photo at the same time from the other angle.  It makes me laugh out loud.)  I had been a bit worried about the store taking my photo anyway, but my dear sister had assured me not to worry - that they wouldn't end up using the photo.  ;)  Boy, I am confident she was right!!!

But hey, I got a new outfit valued at over $100!  And then we went to McAlisters Deli and got our mojo back.  :)  (even Shonda was shaky from the caffeine while at the clothing store!)  And I am always thankful to spend time with my dear friend.

Tomato Avocado Salad

Tomato Avocado Salad

This is a super simple recipe that tastes so good.  It is similar to one of our all time favorites, Deb's Tomato Mozzarella Salad.

Basically, fill a bowl with tomatoes and chunked up avocado.  You can make one serving size or a large bowl to feed a crowd.  You can use any kind of tomato.  I have gotten in the habit of using cherry tomatoes sliced in half because it is quick and easy and I keep cherry tomatoes on hand so much of the year.  Then chunk up an avocado - again, use as much as you like.  (I like a lot of avocado!)  :)  Finally, add equal parts of balsamic vinegar and lime juice.  (I use ReaLime and it works just fine, but you can absolutely use fresh lime juice.)  Add some freshly ground sea salt and black pepper then stir it all up and serve.  So good!

Note - I pour the ReaLime directly on the cut up avocado to help keep it from browning.  So, tomatoes in the bowl first, then avocado, then balsamic, then lime juice concentrating it on the avocado on top.  Then season with salt and pepper and stir.  Depending on how soft your avocado is, you will get some mashing/coloring of the salad.  I don't care, personally, but if you want it to look pretty, use your avocados at peak time so they stay together better.

Celebrating Father's Day

We had a lovely Father's Day celebrating Daddy and Marvin.  Our day began at church with the special treat of Hannah singing special music.  She was accompanied by Marcy and Nancy and it was so hauntingly lovely all around.




We gathered in the evening for our family meal - enjoying carryout from Kings on Mama and Daddy's back porch for our dinner.  :)

Julie, Anna, Matthew, Mama, Daddy, Laura, Marvin, Jackson, Brianna, Hannah

Marvin, Jackson, Brianna, Hannah, Jonathan, Julie, Anna, Matthew, Mama

Daddy got yummy sugar free candy.  :) 

I wrote a blog post that day honoring Daddy and Marvin.  If you missed it the first time, you can see it here.

Pool Party

This was definitely the right summer to get a pool!  We have spent most of the last month well into the 90's and I have truly enjoyed having the pool to exercise, swim, and just cool off.  One Saturday I invited a few ladies over for a pool party.  It was hot and sunny and they all brought snacks.  A great time was had by all!  :)

Dear Shonda brought me some 'pool decor'.  :)  Can you see the big blue flower to the left of the steps?  And also the two little pink flamingos next to the bottom step?  I think the pool is truly complete now.  :)

Great fun with these ladies!  Kara, Lora, Laura, Shonda, Kris, and Kristi

we are serious about our snacks!  :) 

Shonda, Kris, Kara, Lora, Kristi, Laura

Birthday with Grace Girls

What a birthday week I had!  After a family birthday celebration on Sunday, I enjoyed lunch with some wonderful ladies on Monday then had dinner Monday night with the B family (forgot to take photos of that one!).  Finally, on Wednesday I was whisked away by Grace Girls for a big evening out.  We headed to Macon for dinner and a play and had an absolutely marvelous time!  Thank you so very much to ALL who made my big birthday so special!

heading down to pick up Sheryl

Laura, Susie, Karen, Chris, Sheryl, Brenda, Deb

Yes, I am wearing the 2nd tiara of the week... whew.  World record!!  ;)  This tiara says '21' and the banner says 'Finally 21' (courtesy of Chris).  :)  Ummm.... I'm a slow bloomer??  hahaha!

Sheryl, Karen, Susie, Laura, Chris, Deb
(Brenda took this picture)

I asked a guy in the parking lot to take our whole group photo.  :)
Sheryl, Deb, Chris, Laura, Karen, Brenda, Susie

Not only had I not known we were going to eat at AJ's Restaurant (so yummy!!), but I had no idea that dear Donna was also driving over to meet us!  What a wonderful surprise when she walked into the room at AJ's.  :)

The whole crew at AJ's.  Chris, Susie, Karen, Sheryl, Deb, Donna, Brenda, Laura

I hadn't seen Mike in about 30 years.  It was great to see him and we definitely enjoyed our dinner at his restaurant!

Laura and Mike

Their onion rings are still the best anywhere...

I had the special of the evening and it was amazing!  Tortellini with shrimp in a white wine cream sauce with asparagus and red peppers.  Wow!

:)  Birthday treat.  

Here is our funny mystery of the evening... I had chosen to actually wear jewelry on this evening, something I haven't made a habit of for many years.  (I have decided that at 50 I should start again.)  :)  Anyway, I ordered a new necklace and earrings and they came that very day.  So I pulled them out of their new package and put them on, then went out for the evening.  Somewhere between dinner and dessert I realized I no longer had my left earring.  It had somehow fallen out.  Brenda and I had just been to the restroom so we retraced our steps looking for the earring.  (Thanks to the 'other' Brenda we saw in the bathroom who also helped us!)  But no luck.  We returned to our little private room where we were seated and everyone looked thoroughly.  Deb even sent a waiter to 'frisk Mike' to see if it had fallen into his pocket when we took our photo.  (Haven't seen him in 30 years and I cause him to be frisked...)  :D  hahaha!  We couldn't find that crazy earring anywhere!  So I simply removed the other earring and we went on with the evening.  When I got home that night I walked to my jewelry box to put the necklace and 1 earring away.  When I opened the box I was momentarily confused.  I was holding my necklace in my hand, yet I was looking at that necklace in the jewelry box.  What?  Finally I remembered that I had ALREADY ordered that necklace/earring set a few months ago and so this new set that had arrived that day was a duplicate!  ha!  Soooo... the good news is that I have 2 necklaces and 3 earrings. The bad news is that I am losing my mind!  :D

Following our yummy meal we headed over to Maples Repertory Theater to see 'Mamma Mia!'.  It was a fantastic show!  I think they said they included 28 songs in the play.  We all left the theater with Abba songs on our minds!

So glad Donna drove over!

Susie, Sheryl, Laura, Donna

Susie, Sheryl, Laura, Donna
Chris, Deb, Brenda, Karen

Sheryl's family was able to come down for the play, too!

We had the dessert ticket for a treat during intermission.

Susie, Deb, Brenda, Karen

Laura, Sheryl, Donna, Chris

After we saw Donna off, Deb took one last picture in the parking lot.
Sheryl, Laura, Karen, Brenda, Susie, Chris

Birthday luncheon

The day after my birthday I kept the celebration going with a luncheon with dear friends.  I always enjoy my time with these ladies and they certainly made me feel very special for my birthday.  This was the first of TWO times that I would wear a tiara that week.  ha!  (definitely not the norm for me!) :D  Alicia provided a tiara with a big '50', just so we could remember.  :D  ha!!!

Kady and Laura

Kady, Laura, Susan, Deb, Alicia

Laura and Susan

I had an extra special birthday surprise!  Dear Kelly called to join in for a few minutes.  Boy, do we miss Kelly!!  Thanks to all for arranging that treat.

Kelly sent us a picture of her.

Susan gave me a ton of salad stuff (she IS the queen of salads!!!!)

What a pretty ice cream cake! 

Blurry, but I love this group of ladies...
Kady, Deb, Laura, Alicia, Susan

showing off my other gifts  :)