Thanksgiving With the Polands

We were blessed with a wonderful Thanksgiving and lots of good food again this year. Mom did most of the cooking, with Carryl and me helping. I took lots of pictures for Michael since he couldn't be with us this year while serving in Afganistan. The food pictures came out too blurry to post but I did include some of us enjoying the meal. We have much for which to be thankful and we are. This is mine and Steve's first Thanksgiving to actually be living back in Zavalla and it was great to be able to share the meal, go home and rest and them come right back to eat again, and again. Steve seems to look for any opportunity to go over to mom's house these days. I think right now he is actually gone over to build her fire, but really I think he goes to raid the fridge and pantry! He really enjoys the perks of living near our moms!

Mom's Back Porch

Everyone likes going to Nanny's. It is such a relaxing place to just hang out as you can see. Although this weekend we were working back there, not relaxing. We had a huge garage sale in Nanny's carport and actually had customers dropping by all day long. It was fun to visit with all the neighbors through out the day. The bonus was when we could actually get them to buy something. One really smart customer brought his FFA sales brochure and Nanny and I ended up buying a ham and fruit from the Zavalla FFA club. I think he made more money than we did that day. We did have plenty of stuff left over but we are NOT having another sale in the near future. We are hauling all the leftovers to the thrift shop so you will have to go there to get any more of our junk. Don't worry, we are professionals at accumulating so we will probably need to have another one with all new junk eventually. I like to think of myself as an "Acquisition Specialist". I seem to remember trying to sell many things that I had "acquired" in the past just knowing that I would use or be able to fix-up and resale. At the end of the day, even though we didn't make tons of money, the lessons learned were priceless. 1) Stop buying stuff and bringing it home 2) When no one else wants your old stuff, you end up not wanting it either!

Antiques in Warrington

LOADS OF ANTIQUES

FRIENDS, NOT ANTIQUES


AND FAMILY

Last weekend we loaded up Theta's truck and drove across Texas to Warrington, Tx for the semi-annual antiques market. We had a great time visiting and shopping. Jana had just finished a long shift at the hospital and was able to meet us for breakfast in Huntsville. The weather was perfect and we walked and shopped all day. I think I spent less than $10 on stuff (not counting food) and the others kept to a safe limit as well. There was a lot of rusty old barn stuff and I have plenty of that already so I wasn't even tempted. I did get a few good ideas, I just have to be able to remember them now. My favorite thing was the embellished clothing in the Junk Chic store. They had lots of t-shirts and jeans with the saying, "Don't Worry, Be Hippy"! I think I have that covered!! Oh yea, and there was that barbed wire, license plate covered, red neck guitar that I liked. I wonder who should get that for Christmas??

Something Stinks!

Imagine my dismay when mom called to say she was on her way over to show me her newly bloomed cactus flower. I thought it would be pretty; not! And it stinks really bad. Smells like something dead. Sure enough, we "googled it" (looked up cactus flower that stinks) and this is how it is suppose to look and smell. She tried to give it to me but I made her take it back home! I think she should stick to her roses. They are prettier and smell way better that this!

OOOOOHHH, Look What She Did!

If you remember the post a few weeks ago, I showed you Nanny working on her "chain" stitch. Very quickly she mastered that and moved on to this baby blanket. Isn't it lovely? It is for Kelton, her newest great grandson. He lives where it gets quite cold so this should come in handy soon. She mailed it off to him last week, so he can begin using before he gets too big. I hope he realizes what a special little boy he is. So far he has the first and only blanket crocheted by Nanny. I hope there are many more to follow. Better get your orders in!

We Forgot the Yellow Ribbon!

Michael got to come home for short visit from Afghanistan and we were so happy to see him. He is doing well and looks great. We went to mom's for chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. We had such a good time talking and just looking at him. He has gotten a lot more "buff" too. Great for those aunt and nanny hugs! We wish him safety and good health as he finishes his tour there and we told him to come home soon! Don't' forget to write him a quick note any time you get a chance.

The Original Nanny's Place

This spring we took a road trip to visit our grandmother's sister-in-law. This is Wesley and Carryl and in the background the home where our Nanny lived when I knew her. It was amazing how little has changed since I have been there which is at least 35+ years. The house looks the same and the area around the creek is still undeveloped. I think on that day we had a century of decades represented. Aunts, Uncles, cousins from all ages were there for Aunt Nadine's birthday. Even Aunt Nadine's place looked the same. She still has cats and that is what I remember the most. Well, cats and chicken houses. The chicken houses were gone and that was sad, but the early spring weather and the break in the rain allowed for a sunny afternoon and we walked and reminisced about the past. Funny how we all had different memories of the same thing. Good to know nothing has changed in that regard!