Getting ready for company

We will have lots of house guests during the next weeks as family members come to town for the wedding. I was off work Friday morning so I baked a batch of Betty Crocker oatmeal squares, Everyday Living's Black Bottom coconut squares, a double batch of shortbread from a recipe from my friend Joanne at http://joyfulblessings.blogspot.com/. I also made 4 batches of what we called "salad crackers" My grandmother started making these more than 25 years ago, they are just soup crackers moistened with oil and sprinkled with a combination of dill, onion salt, garlic powder and dry ranch dressing mix.

But I did not and will not be eating any of these treats. I started a low carb and low fat diet about 3 weeks ago.

Country Cookout

My stepson Clint and his wife Amanda hosted a party last weekend. It was celebrating Amanda's birthday and a good excuse a cook alot of meat. They smoked brisket, ribs, porkloin and chicken. On a grill, they cooked burgers, hot links and brats. My favorite was the salmon.
Clint and Jeff and a really big smoker.
. :)
Amanda setting up the buffet. Clint and Amanda live in the house in the background. It used to belong to my husbands grandparents and we lived in it for 2 years.
Clint and Amanda's really cute calves.

In pictures, country living looks so wonderful. But I lived in the country for 11 years and I really tried to like it, but I never did. I can tell you 50 bad things about living in the country but here are just a few---bugs, mud, dust, critters, bad neighbors who don't have follow any ordinances , never knowing if your mailbox would be standing up, etc. Sorry, that is enough complaining for now.

Couples shower

The Bride, Nina.

Don't you just love her sundress? We found it the night before on the JCPenneys clearance rack for $12
The Groom, John and The Bride, Nina

The shower was hosted by parents of 2 boys John grew up with. This home is just lovely and the pictures do not do it justice.

Lots of presents
2 leaf blowers! apparently Lowes does not do a good job of marking down purchases made from gift registries.
Kristina, the Maid of Honor - really, she usually looks happier than this and Jimmy the brother of the bride with his "friend" Clare.

White towels

I am a big fan of white bath towels. I am a little germ-phobic so I like white towels that can be washed in hot water and Clorox that kills all those germs and they look better than new afterwards. Over the last few years, I have switched out all the old assorted colored bath linens for white ones and I love how nice they look hanging in the bathrooms and folded on the shelves.
But this pretty new stack of towels is not to add to our home but will be a birthday gift for son Jimmy. I laundered them and cut off all the tags and he will be happy that they are ready to use.

The Butler and the Laundry

This is Nina's laundry ( and just a little bit of her fiance's) Her wash machine is broke so I offered to do her laundry and help her get caught up. I just read what I wrote and I do sound like a hick--yes, I call that appliance a wash machine, not its correct name of washing machine.

The litte butler was a birthday gift to me from my kids several years ago. He is great at holding at your keys, a cell phone, Theo's leash....if only he could the laundry too!

Easy sewing projects

I made all of these projects over the last 4 days, all are easy to make and pretty much goof-proof. Sack holder for the kitchen, I got this really nice cherry fabric at a thrift store for 75 cents. The pieces are big and odd shapes but completely usable for craft projects.
Tissue and wet wipe holders, just to make them a little prettier in your purse. I think wetwipes are essential when I thrift shop and go to garage sales for cleaning my hands afterwards.
Headbands made from a free printable pattern from http://www.heatherbaileydesign.com/Headband.html
Criss cross coasters and potholders for my brother's August birthday made with a free pattern from http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2006/11/crisscross_coas.html

I changed mine just a bit and used bigger squares for the coasters 5 inches and for the potholders, 9 inches.
A big handbag for me, it is beige toile with brown rickrack, brown and pink dotted ribbon and brown and white calico lining.

Thrift store finds

I have not been thrifting in weeks so I really wanted to go this morning. Jeff went with me and we did not buy many things but I am happy with everything I found.

new Nine West flip flops, $1 and they are soooo comfortable. I had to take them off my feet to put them in this picture

1 yard gingham checks .25

new packages of eyelets .25

May 2007 Country Home magazine .10

50's Pyrex divided dish $2 I already have one but it is such a useful dish. Having 2 will be nice.

New-fangled dog wash

Our town had a new car wash open recently and it also has 3 bays for do-it-yourself pet washing. Just put in your $2 and select your shampoo choices-doggy, puppy, oatmeal or flea and tick. Then wash your pet, add conditioner and rinse. The black hose to the top left is for vacuum drying.

This is hubby Jeff washing our dog Theo. They were both enjoying it more than the pictures look like though. And I really like that there is no messy bathroom to clean afterwards.

Fabulosa is fabulous!

Have you tried this lavender scented cleaner called Fabulosa? I bought it a few weeks ago and used a coupon, I think it sells for $1.75 at Wal-mart and I had a 50 cent coupon. It cleans the floors just fine and has the nicest lavender scent that stays around for a couple days or so.

Breakfast Biscuits

Jeff works 10 hours shifts and takes a lunch box full of snacks and his noon meal every day. One of his favorites things is sausage biscuits. Whenever we have leftovers on the weekend, I make the extras into sandwiches and freeze them. We have not had biscuits for breakfast lately so I made up a double batch of sandwiches "from scratch like Sandra Lee" this morning. I used 2 cans of Grands biscuits and 2 pounds of sausage. The sausage was cut into 16 pieces and made into flat patties. I baked the biscuits and cooked the sausage.
Then I made them into 16 breakfast sandwiches. I love it when everything comes out even too.
Each sandwich was put into a Ziploc sandwich bag and put in the freezer, just 15 of them made it to the freezer though. I had one for my breakfast and it was pretty yummy.
Saving the Box Tops for Education for my grand-nieces in Arkansas.