" Sunday Sunrise "

Before I tell you about my BUSY week, I want you to browse this AWESOME Sunrise we had this morning!!!!!!!

Wasn't this just incredible ???

I have really been swamped this past week! I'm getting e-mails asking what's up? Where are you? Are you alright? I'm fine, just got several irons in the fire lately! One thing that got almost completed, was that I got my Peacock Bookends so I could finish out my shelves!

I am THRILLED over these bookends. They are gorgeous! Very heavy! I got them from Amazon for $ 8.41 plus shipping which brought them to $ 12.46 !! The Collector Set of plates I got did not have a plate of "Melanie" by herself ,which I want. I found one on Ebay and I'm waiting for it. I will take one of these down and replace it with " Melanie"! :)

The biggest project I have going? As most of you know, Hubby and I are still "newlyweds ".

We have been slowly trying to redo the rooms in this house to "suit" me for the past 2 years.

We still like both bathrooms and what's behind this door...........

Behind this door.........is a formal dining room that has NEVER once been used even though we often have guest over to eat! Why?? Because it is full of stuff besides the furniture!

When I moved in here all of Hubby's deceased wife's things had to go somewhere so I could put my dishes, pans, small appliances and such in the kitchen cabinets. We had gotten the storage shed for my extra stuff but it was in such disarray after the kids unloaded the stuff in it, there was no room to walk! So all that stuff that was in the kitchen, is piled on the dining table and floors to be packed up and go in the store room that is in the garage. So the project has been that besides our normal workload around here, we are trying to get the outside shed organized so the stuff in the garage store room can fit in there. Then we will pack up the dining room contents and put it in the garage store room to be saved for Hubby's granddaughter Anna. Did you get all that?? So we are just overwhelmed as we want to get the dining ready BEFORE THANKS GIVING !!!!

No one has even so much as eaten a cracker or had a glass of water in this room! Even before I came here. No decorating had been done except for putting dishes in the China Hutch. The furniture is brand new. so I'll be scarce around the blog world till we make some serious progress! I'll be back with pics soon! Have a great week everyone!!

Be sure and check out the Winner of Alex Stewart @ The Book House !

" Short Cut To Happiness "

We watched a delightful movie recently that I thought might interest you, especially the writers here. Do you dream of being a New York Times or Indie Bound Best Selling Author??
If the answer is yes and you haven't seen " Shortcut To Happiness " you should watch this movie!



WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO BE A BESTSELLING AUTHOR ???????????

Anthony Hopkins plays publishing mogul Daniel Webster. Alex Baldwin is writer Bez Stone.

Dan Ackroyd is a writer accused of plagiarism in his best seller.

Jennifer Love Hewitt ( our favorite Ghost Whisperer) is the " she devil herself " !

I really enjoyed this movie! Though it is supposed to be a comedy, there are parts which really cause you to reflect about what happiness is and what it's worth .

" A 200th Post Surprise "

This marks my 200th post on this blog which is almost 11 months old. When I started this blog I intended to talk about Books and Authors but it turned eclectic very fast. So Today I'm inviting you to visit The Book House where I will discuss ONLY THE WRITTEN WORD !!!
COME ON OVER YOU GUYS....click here>THE BOOK HOUSE Be sure and leave a comment as there's a GREAT BOOK up for grabs!!!!!!!!!!

" Miss Mary BoBo's "

On Main Street in the small town of Lynchburg,Tennessee you will find an old Hotel which is very famous for the food served there. Miss Mary BoBo's Boarding House ! Lynchburg is located off I-65 halfway between Nashville and Huntsville, Alabama. Miss Mary ran the boarding house from 1908 till 1984 when she passed away just shy of her 102 nd birthday.











This is a typical spread at Mary BoBo's where the dining is boarding house style. You can also purchase a wonderful cookbook (Miss Mary BoBo's Boarding House Cookbook) containing all her famous recipes such as her Jack Daniels Sweet Potatoes! Jack Daniel took his noon meal at this boarding house everyday until his death in 1911 at the age of 65.

Lynchburg draws a lot of tourist both for the food at Miss Mary's and those who wish to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery...........The Distillery now owns and operates Miss Mary's exactly the same way she did! I LOVE the Welcome Center!

I have toured the Distillery and it is a fascinating tour! Of humorous note is that Lynchburg is in a DRY county, No alcohol sold whatsoever !

You can also "sit a spell" and visit with Jack Daniel himself.............

Now here's what all you gals want..........The Recipe! They are actually called Sweet Potatoes & Pecans. I call them JD Sweet Potatoes! One of my favorite Thanksgiving Dishes!

4 large sweet potatoes

1/2 stick of real butter

3/4 cup sugar (I use brown)

1/8 teas. salt

1/4 cup of Jack Daniels Whiskey( any whiskey will do)

1/4 cup chopped pecans (and whole ones for decoration)

Mash baked sweet potatoes when cool enough to handle with the butter.Beat in sugar,salt and

Jack Daniels. Spread half the mixture in baking dish.Spread chopped pecans over the mixture.

Repeat with remaining mixture and top with more pecans, chopped or whole. Bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees or until hot and pecans are toasted.

Many of you also e-mailed for the Gumbo Recipe. I DO NOT use a recipe when making Gumbo.

You can find many Cajun Gumbo recipes on the web. I will give you some tips I go by. I use Shrimp that we get fresh and put up in the freezer. I buy Crab Claw meat, Oysters and Crayfish Tail meat. I boil my Shrimp an Crab Claws, remove and cool them. Then after we shell them, I put the shells and dug out Crab Claws back in the water to boil . Let this simmer for at least an hour, this is where your stock flavor comes from. I saute my red and green bell pepper,

purple onion, celery and garlic in Olive Oil, probably a half cup. When they are cooked down, I strain the veggies out of the oil . Then I make my roux which is just flour that is browned VERY dark in the oil. Instead of adding water like making gravy, I add the roux to my stock pot that had been strained of the shells and claws.I use a wire wisk to make sure I have no lumps.Then I add 1/4 cup of Zatarain's Cajun Seasoning. When this comes to a boil, I add my Oysters and their juice, the Crab meat, Shrimp, the Crayfish and their juice along with the veggies. You can then add salt and pepper to your taste. I turn it on low and let it simmer for several hours.

The Cobbler is a breeze with this Cobbler Mix! I added 2 cups of Blackberries from the freezer that I cooked down with a 1/4 cup of sugar. I hope you will make and enjoy all these dishes!

We had a pretty pastel Sunrise this morning............

And lots of mist over the pond.............

I wish my camera captured the intense color better............

My big surprise was when I walked out to take Sunrise pics the Moon was still high in the North/Western sky!

HAVE A GREAT DAY !!!!!!!!

NOVEMBER 2009

November........I love November, it has me thinking about Thanksgiving Dinner with family, Pumpkin Pie, Jack Daniels Sweet Potatoes, homemade Cranberry Sauce! UMMMMM !




Frosty Mornings on the farm. We had our first frost this morning!

Cable Knit socks..........

Christmas Trees all a glow............

Look at these darling ornaments! You Artist need to do these as gifts!

Look at this! I'd LOVE to have A Titans and A Saints for my tree...........The one shown is a USM Golden Eagles.

I had a dream come true on Friday when I got my set of GWTW Plates!

We got them put up on Saturday morning...........

I'm waiting on a pair of Peacock bookends to go where the angel is to hold my copies of GWTW,

Scarlet and the movie...........

The plates are fine china and came in their original boxes with certificates and pamphlets! I waited 20 years to own this set! :)

My sister, bIL and 3 nieces came down from Memphis this weekend to visit. Daddy and Jeanette joined us for dinner. I made a huge pot of Cajun Seafood Gumbo that was awesome!

And a Blackberry Cobbler with some of the BB's we put in the freezer.............

What a delightful time we had! (this isn't mine,I forgot to get a pic)

And......to start the month off right, Vince Young started as the QB for the Titans!!

Between Vince and the awesome running back Chris Johnson, the Titans WON their 1st game this year!

Spanked the Jaguars 30 -13 ! Now yesterday they LOOKED like MY TITANS !!! :)

The day ended with a beautiful Hunter's Moon coming up over the pond...........

Which later lit up the pond so beautifully...............

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!

" Spooks, Storms & A Tour of The Farm "

I love all the images of Halloween! I love Ghosts, Goblins & Haunted Houses & Cemeteries !!


The Paranormal fascinates me! I 'm sure it's because I've had several paranormal experiences in my life and believe that there is so much more to this than some believe..........

I lived in a haunted house for 3 days in Joelton, Tn (a few miles north of Nashville) in 1974.

It was NOT a friendly spirit either! I've seen a full body apparition on NOT one, but two different occasions!! So yes, I know it's real!

So as Halloween creeps up on us, so does stormy weather...........Just before dawn

The storm clouds were gathering...........

There is a 100 % chance of storms tonight..............

Some could be severe the weather mans says. I hope they don't include heavy lightning and high winds!

Or make our skies as scary as this ...................

Last night Hubby and I shelled Pecans while we watched the Travel Channels Spook Shows!

This morning I went on a tour of the farm.........This is the Turnip Patch!

This is a Tropical Hibiscus that has gotten huge.............I'm going to cut it back and mulch it good and see if it will come back. They don't usually come back unless you keep then in a greenhouse.

This Cigar Bush dies back to the ground in winter then returns in the spring.

Some of the Roses are still blooming............

As are some Marigolds............

Love this Mandavillia! It will have to be dug up and put in the greenhouse.

These Orange Cannas keep reaching for the sky!

The Joseph's Coat is blooming again!

This Hot Pink Hardy Hibiscus must be 9 feet tall! We will cut it back to the ground in a few weeks. It will get even taller next year!

There are a lot of plants in the greenhouse that could still be out for awhile longer but we are just going to leave them in till spring because it's just easier to water them there.

These are the 2 Pagoda Bushes I ordered. We won't plant them till Spring.

I got these 2 fig Trees in Lafayette, Louisiana . We will get them out soon.

My pride and joy is this White Canna ! It has really grown and has a new shoot!

Those 3 little sticks in the long planter are Red Hardy Hibiscus..........

Ahhhh......my girls! There are several that should start laying anytime but in the meantime,

Miss Trix gives us an egg a day!

And Ole Oscar keeps the girls in line...........I think! May be the other way around!

Now after we got through with the Entertainment Center Hubby says: "no projects for awhile, I've earned a fishing trip"! I say; " you go for it" ! What does he do? Gathers the scrap lumber up and builds Roxie a DOG HOUSE !! HA!

MEN! Will we ever figure them out?????

Of course all 5 had to investigate and smell it! Roxie has spent this last 2 nights outside in it and did great! No barking! Not a peep! She will come in tonight though because I don't want her out in bad weather.................

I hope everyone had a good week and will enjoy this All Hallow's Eve !!!!!