MAYAN RUINS / Chichen Itza - Progresso, Mexico 2011

What an awesome experience to stand among the great Mayan Ruins!  Although it was the hottest place I've EVER been, it was so fascinating to learn about this strange and mighty culture.  Spent the day there...could have spent the week!   (photos are copyrighted 2011)

HAPPY EASTER!

May goodness and peace reside in your heart, despite the ugliness that mars this beautiful world. God bless you, all.

Simple Southern-Comfort Food...

"Soup Beans" (pinto beans) and ham, fresh homemade slaw, cornbread, and buttery pound cake with cherry topping. . . A good meal for those days when I especially miss Mama!

Valentine's Day Sweetness...

Strawberry & Vanilla Bundt Cake...Love is in the air!

I didn't have a strawberry cake mix, nor strawberry icing, on hand...so I improvised, and used dry strawberry koolaid for the cake and icing flavoring. Yummy! Very tasty...Can't wait to try lemon and orange!

MAMA'S QUILTS...

Hand-cut, Hand-pieced, Hand-sewn, Hand-quilted... Star of Bethlehem & Wedding Ring:

GRANDMA'S CHRISTMAS FRUIT COCKTAIL CAKE...Moist, delicious, and EASY!

Grandma made this cake every year at Christmas. It is so easy! The recipe will be featured in our local community holiday magazine for 2011.

GRANDMA'S CHRISTMAS FRUIT COCKTAIL CAKE

Moist and delicious, and so easy!

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

dash of salt
1 1/3 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 can fruit cocktail (do not drain)

Mix all ingredients well, adding fruit cocktail, last. Bake at 350 degrees in a bundt pan, 9 x 11 inch pan (metal or glass), or 2 loaf pans. Bake time is 40-45 minutes. Set aside and cool.

ICING:

(Just as moist and delicious without icing...)

1 cup sugar (Grandma used white, but I like to use brown.)

1 12-oz can evaporated milk

3 egg yolks

1 stick margarine

Cook until thick, constantly stirring.

Remove from heat and add the following:

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp orange or lemon juice (optional)

1 cup coconut

1 cup nuts of your choice (I like to use walnuts.)

Spread over your cake, or if you have used a bundt pan, drizzle around the tops and sides. Garnish with RED cherries, or other garnishments. Other options that I sometimes add, are: 2 over-ripe mashed bananas, or cranraisins. ENJOY!

FALL FOLIAGE IN EAST TENNESSEE!

I have been enjoying my ride to work...taking in the colorful Fall trees, that seem to make everything around them appear blah, and boring. Beautiful, vivid, and breathtaking...God is the ultimate artist!

TIME FOR GHOST HUNTING!

This is one place that we rookie ghost hunters always try to visit around October. It is creepy, even during the day. The upstairs bedroom did have a noose in it, but last year when we returned, it was gone. We always get some strange pictures and hear some strange noises when we visit this place! BOO!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CALEB!!! SEPTEMBER 10, 2011

Well, your birthday came and went on September 10, 2011 (this past Saturday), and we didn't get to see you, again. We tried, but we got no response. But we celebrated your birthday, anyway, and posted a video for you on our Facebook pages... We think of you all the time, Caleb, but we especially missed you on your birthday! Birthday #12...growing up, so quickly! Still praying for you and can't wait for the day that we can welcome you home!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CALEB! LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!! -Aunt MeMe

BEAUTIFUL CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA!

BOONE PLANTATION...the Mighty Oaks!

FOLLY BEACH!

Southern charm, the beautiful ocean, lovely homes, rich history, shrimp & grits, benne wafers, and ROMANCE, to boot! Great southern city!

Beautiful old cemeteries, and super creepy! Love it.

No skyscrapers in Charleston! There is a city ordinance that no building can be built taller than the highest church steeple.

Special Avon Items...

I have always been fascinated by Avon items. Some of the older items were very beautiful, and actually well-made. I always wanted a collection of the Ruby Red glassware and plate settings, but as a young mother, I was never financailly able to buy more than a few pieces. My dear departed Mother-in-Law collected Avon Bottles and had a collection that numbered over 600 items. For special reasons, the two items above hold significant meaning to me. First, the green stocking bottle, with the red lid, was given to me by my mother-in-law when she was very sick, and very close to death (several years before she died.) She told me to save it for my son, and give it to him when he grew up (which I did). The second item, the Stetson-Hat smoker's candle, was a gift from me to my dad back in the early 80's. He hardly ever used the candle, but he displayed it on his side table for many years. He was a man of few words, so I knew that by keeping the candle beside his chair, it meant something to him, and THAT meant something to me. Funny how certain things can mean so much to one, and be so insignificant to others. I suppose the old addage of, "One man's trash, is another man's tresure," holds true. (Miss you and love you, Caleb.)

SNOW IN THE SOUTH!

The snow is beautiful, but treacherous, on these back roads in the South. Worse, have been the ice storms that have caused major problems for small southern towns. Local road crews were not prepared for snow storms of this capacity; nor, did they have the resources to deal with the dangerous conditions. I think we are ALL ready for Spring!

Hiwassee Railroad Adventure - Beautiful Fall Leaves!

3 1/2 hour, 50-mile train ride to the beautiful Hiwassee Gorge and Bald Mountain. . . Departure point: Quaint Little Etowah, Tennessee. The train is climate-controlled and very comfoftable. The train crew were so nice and lots of fun, and the leaves were beautiful!

http://www.tvrail.com/hiwassee/

My Halloween Costume 2010 - Scaring the nephews!

Oh, yes. . . this evil outfit scared the BA-JEE-BEES out of my nephews, especially the oldest, who is almost 18! LOL Toilet paper and Elmer's School glue for the "mask", and some plain old craft glue mixed with a little vaseline for the paint. Had a LOT OF FUN doing this, and then SCARING my nephews! LOL

GHOST HUNTING in Tennessee

Here are 2 pictures of a creepy old house just miles from where I live. . . We kept thinking we saw something move in the upper right window, but we're not sure if it was our imaginations, or not! LOL But, here's 2 pictures I took, on the same night. Nothing shows up in the second picture, but the first picture clearly shows SOMETHING! Also, this is the second year we have visited this place, and our pictures alway show an eerie blue light shining out of the bottom-left window. The walls of the room are not blue. They are a dingy white, and some of it is covered in newspaper. The pictures we took last year how the same blue light. Creepy. . .

My Daughter's Lily. . .

Bigger and better blooms, this year. . . : )

Easter Bunnies from my nephews. . . Easter Blessings!

Hope yours was wonderful, too. :)

More Felt Ornaments. . .

I'm not too pleased with this latest felt quartet. But I'm thinking I can put them on the back of the tree. . .

"There is no season such delight can bring,As summer, autumn, winter and the spring."- William Browne, Variety, 1630

I really have enjoyed all the wonderful snow we have experienced, but it's March. . . I never thought I would ever look forward to yardwork and mowing! It snowed, yesterday. I think that's enough, Mr. Old Man Winter!

Another Penny Rug for Caleb. . .

A Penny Rug to remember

Caleb's favorite stuffed animal,

Lambie. . . a soft little lamb:

A Penny Rug for Caleb . . .

Chicks don't really go with pumpkins, but the color fits, anyway. I think for Easter, I'll put a pretty candy dish in the center, filled with colorful jellybeans.

HALLOWEEN CRAFTS. . . felt ornaments. . . ONE

ORNAMENTS I made last year. . . more crafts to come!

Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton - Local Legend

R.I.P Popcorn. . . Offering sincere condolences and prayer to his family and friends. "THE LAST AUTHENTIC MOONSHINER!"

Marriage "Bond". . .

This is the marriage "bond" that my Great-Grandfather, William, had to post when he married my Great-Grandmother, Joanna "Josie". William had to post this $100-dollar bond before he could marry Josie. Josie's parents were killed in a horse and buggy accident, so her grandfather, one H. J. Anderson from Whitley County, KY, required that William put up the bond so her wouldn't back out on the deal. Apparently, that was common practice back then. . .

Josie was 16 years of age, and that was considered OLD-maid age at that time. William was 29 years old, and I guess my GGG-Grandfather, H. J., wasn't going to take a chance on William changing his mind! But William was more than happy to post the bond, and looked very happy in this wedding day photo of he and Josie. Josie, on the other hand, looks scared and bewildered. Sadly, they were only married for 2 1/2 years, before William reportedly "fell off of a bridge" and developed "scarfulous". (Our family has researched "scarfulous" and can't find anything remotely similar, so we assume he acquired gangrene in his leg.)

Now, just imagine if men were required to post bond, today. . . ! LOL

TVA has become a MONSTER!

And, just what do you feed this monster?

MONEY, of course. And LOTS of it! Here, in East Tennessee, we have experienced a 20% rate increase, AND an additional surcharge (which allowed our local electric companies to add on ANOTHER rate increase). And, to add insult to injury, our local electric company added 4 extra days onto the readings for the month of December. Never mind that is was Christmas, and that our community has experienced major job layoffs, and that people were struggling to provide a decent Christmas for their children! AND, just recently, the monster goofed and, through their own incompetency, caused an ash spill in Roane County that displaced families (right at the holidays) and created an unbelieve mess of nasty sludge, and God only knows what kind of toxins and harmful bacteria (the fish are dying and have lesions in their gils. . .)! OH, BUT THE MONSTER ISN'T WORRIED! TVA, aka "the monster, CEO, Tom Kilgore, just announced that the cost of cleaning up THEIR mess, and the cost of the lawsuits filed against them by the families who had to endure this major spill, will be PASSED ONTO THE CONSUMER IN THE FORM OF INCREASED ELECTRICAL RATES AND ADDITIONAL SURCHARGES! Mr. Kilgore still got his incentive bonus (for what? more revenue generated?). . . a mere $1 million!!! (Bringing his annual income for 2008 to $2.4 million!!!!!! The chief financial officer, Kimberly Green, had an annual income of 1.3 million, and William McCollum, chief operating officer, made a mere $1.8 million!!! (Not counting expense accounts and perks, folks!)

Now, I can remember my dear old grandfather talking about how they first got electricity in the mountains, where he and my grandmother (and 8 kids, and numerous amounts of grandchildren, and relatives) lived in a little country shack, cooking off an old wood stove, and carrying water in to wash and cook with, EVERYDAY. He would remember TVA bringing electricity to rural areas with much emotion. No doubt it brought much joy and relief to their hard way of life. TVA was a mere mortal, at that point. A good thing. But, greed took over, and the good became bad. We are all slaves of the monster, TVA! Each electric company under the authority of TVA, operate as monopolies, taking from people who are struggling to get by. I don't understand all these people who are scratching their heads and wondering why our economy has gotten so bad! GREED, people. Pure and simple. Businesses charge inflated prices just because they can. And, NOW, it has come to a head. What goes up, must come down.

I refuse to feed the monster any more than I have to. I put on extra clothes, turn the thermostat WAY down, unplug all appliances that are not in use, use flourescent bulbs, and oh, yes, I call my local electric company to find out what day my meter will be read (I have YET to see anyone read my meter), and I PHOTOGRAPH MY METER ON THAT DAY! Needless to say, my electric bills have remained relatively low, because they KNOW I am watching! (I live alone.) But the local news channels have ran reports of families who are paying more for their electricity, beginning with the month of December, 2008, than their MORTGAGES! Assistance isn't available for them because they "make too much", and the best they can get is a 1-week extension to pay, or face having their electricity shut off in temperatures down in the teens! (Never mind that they have children, who have NO dog in the race. . .) EVIL GREED!

It sickens me to think that these CEOs, as well as company managers, enjoy such lavish lifestyles, at the expense of hard-working families who live from paycheck to paycheck. As Miss Daisy would say: "That's vulgar!" I have one word to say to all of them: KARMA!