DISNEY INSPIRED EMBELLISHED DOLLAR TREE HAND MIRROR - LITTLE MERMAID

DOLLAR-TREE EMBELLISHED MIRROR - LITTLE MERMAID & PINK FLOWERS

BLACK, SILVER, & GOLD SPARKLY BANGLE BRACELET FROM AN EMPTY DUCT TAPE ROLL

Sparkly and fun!  The possibilities are endless...

RED AND WHITE EMBELLISHED LOOPY HAIR BOW

CLARK GRISWALD SPOTTED IN EAST TENNESSEE!

DOLLAR TREE CHRISTMAS FRAMES EMBELLISHED

    

DOLLAR TREE MICKEY & MINNIE MOUSE EMBELLISHED CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

EMBELLISHED DOLLAR TREE SNOWFLAKE USING GOLD

DOLLAR TREE SNOWFLAKE - EMBELLISHED BLUE THEME

DOLLAR TREE HALLOWEEN CRAZY EYEBALLS IN A JAR CRAFT

Dollar Tree had plastic eyeballs, earlier in the month, but when I went back to grab a couple of bags, they were all gone!  So, I found a pack of plastic ping-pong balls (also at Dollar Tree), and I bought a couple of packs of permanent markers, and made my own crazy eyeballs in a jar.  Easy peasy!

QUICKY & EASY DOLLAR-STORE HALLOWEEN BLING!

Quick and easy, whimsical and wacky, fun and budget-friendly... $1 mask for Dollar General, orange, black, & purple sequins, orange glitter ribbon, black gloves, orange boas, black garland with silver skulls... all from the Dollar Tree.  Wear with black clothing, and tie black tulle into a bow around your wrists, for added dramatic flair.  Hocus-Pocus fun, all for about $5!

MINNIE MOUSE EMBELLISHED DOLLAR-TREE SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENT

RED & GREEN EMBELLISHED DOLLAR-TREE SNOWFLAKES

EASY-PEASY!  All materials found at my local Dollar Tree...   The project took a total of about 1 hour, from start to finish.  Great projects for kids!

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, CALEB!

I hope you have a wonderful, fun-filled, and adventurous year!  I pray you live an especially long, healthy, happy, successful, prosperous life, and that God gives you wisdom and understanding as you begin your journey into adulthood.  I pray that you always feel loved, wherever you may go, and that you always remember that I will always be here for you, and that I will always love you.  Never forget that you will ALWAYS be an important part of our family.  I love you and miss you, Caleb!

2017 Labor Day Muscadine Wine & Balloon Festival at beautiful Tsali Vineyard in Sweetwater, Tennessee (Saturday & Sunday).  Admission $10 to benefit CASA Charity.  $10 for a lovely souvenir wine glass, and unlimited wine tasting from 21 participating wineries.  Live music, delicious food, children's inflatables, sand art, pony rides, and more.  The night ends with a spectacular balloon light show to the beat of fabulous musical playlist (not featured in the video, for obvious copyright reasons).  This is a great Labor-Day Weekend event to attend!

38-Second time lapse, from light to darkness, and back to light, from Athens, Tennessee:  TOTAL ECLIPSE AT THE PARK 2017.  The photo of totality was taken by my son-in-law (all photos copyrighted 8-21-17...posted with permission). It was a spectacular event!  The skies slowly started darkening, with a somewhat bluish haze, and it became considerably cooler.  The crickets started singing (loudly), street and security lights came on.  There was a lovely 360-degree sunset all around, then the moment of totality!  It was amazing and beautiful!  There was white light pouring out of the black disc of the moon, and multi-colored lights dancing inside the white light.  It was almost indescribable... very strange; almost as if time stood still and we were in another dimension - very Twilight.  Then, when the sun first emerged from the black circle, the "Diamond Ring" appeared, and it was truly awesome!  The event was amazing, and I am so thankful to have been able to witness such a beautiful event.  And this was just a small taste of what's to come.  I believe that when we die, we will see EVERYTHING in space... all the beauty and strangeness - things we cannot even imagine!

APPALACHIAN HARP MUSIC / OLD-TIME, SHAPED-NOTE SINGING SCHOOLS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF EAST TENNESSEE:

Some of my fondest childhood memories included the old-time "Singing Schools" that our community mountain churches held.  Many of the churches could not afford instruments, and some did not allow musical instruments (according to their interpretation of the New Testament Gospel).  In order to be able to learn new songs, the church would bring in a local Singing School "Teacher" to teach the congregation how to learn to "sing" Harp Music... or "shaped notes" as we called it.  Learning the shaped notes was much easier (and faster) than learning the lines and spaces.  This made it easier for the congregation, and their song leader, to learn new songs when they purchased new hymnals.  These hymnals were purchased every year, or two years, and they were almost always paperback, as the hardback hymnals were considerably more expensive.  With every singing school that the church held, the congregation got better and better at reading and "singing" the notes.  This simple, yet very effective techinique, allowed many people (including myself) to learn how to play instruments using this mountain music theory.  It was easier to transpose/change keys, and easier to learn the harmony (although most of my relatives had a natural "ear" for harmony).  Many of my relatives could not afford instruments, so they made their own:  banjos, dobos, fiddles, mandolins, guitars... and my grandmother and aunt could "play" the spoons, which was a thrill to watch!  As a very small child, I remember how easy it was to associate the sound with the shape.  It was a big thrill for a poor mountain girl, like me, to get to attend these singing schools.  My parents tried to take me to all of the surrounding churches when they held these events.  The church would "pass the hat" and take up a love offering for the teacher, on the last day of the school, and the singing teacher usually took turns spending the night with church members, as it was expensive to travel back then, and some of them actually did not own vehicles, and still rode horses to church.  We learned this theory from the "Rudiments of Music" booklet (I still have my grandfather's copy), and every night we began by reciting the definition of music (from this book).  We children especially loved learning this, because at the end of the week, if we could stand up in front of the congregation and recite this definition, the old singing school teacher would give us each a piece of hard candy, and that was the highlight of my week!  There are still Harp Music Conventions held, today. One such convention is held at Cade's Cove, near Townsend, Tennessee - just outside of Pigeon Forge.  This harp singing was featured in the movie, "Cold Mountain", and is one of the many rich elements of our Appalachian way of life.  Mountain life was hard, and our families were somewhat isolated from the rest of the world (some parts still are, today), so music was a favorite pastime for us, all. I can still hear the whole congregation joining in to sing the shaped notes, each person singing the notes for their particular part of music:  Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass.  It almost sounded like we were singing in a different language, and well... I suppose we were!  DO-RE-MI-FA-SO-LA-TI-DO

MUSIC IS THE SCIENCE OF SOUND, OR A RHYTHMICAL SUCCESSION, OR A COMBINATION OF PLEASING TONES.

Easy-Peasy Apple Pie... Not nearly as good as my daughter-in-law's and sister-in-law's, but a quick and easy, shortened version, to make in a short amount of time.  Recipe:

QUICK AND EASY, SHORTCUT VERSION OF A BAKED APPLE PIE.  RECIPE:

5-6 MEDIUM APPLES (FOR DEEP DISH) - I AM USING GRANNY SMITH
1 1/2 TSP APPLE-PIE SPICE
1/2 TSP CINNAMON - *OPTIONAL (I LIKE EXTRA CINNAMON)
1/4 CUP ORANGE JUICE - *OPTIONAL
1/2 CUP WHITE SUGAR
2/3 CUPS PACKED BROWN SUGAR (I USE LIGHT)
1 - 2 TBSP FLOUR (FOR THICKENING)
ABOUT 1/2 STICK BUTTER
READY-MADE PIE CRUST

PREHEAT OVEN TO 425 F DEGREES / WASH APPLES AND PEEL (SOME PEOPLE PREFER TO LEAVE THE SKIN ON) / SLICE AND/OR CHOP THE APPLE UP AND PUT INTO A BOWL / POUR THE ORANGE JUICE OVER THE APPLES AND SET ASIDE / SPRAY PIE DISH WITH COOKING SPRAY / LAY THE FIRST ROLL OF READY-MADE PIE CRUST INTO THE DISH AND SPREAD, MAKING SURE THERE ARE NO HOLES / ADD SUGARS TO THE APPLES AND ORANGE JUICE / ADD SPICES AND FLOUR AND MIX WELL / SPREAD SOFTENED BUTTER ONTO BOTTOM OF PIE CRUST / POUR APPLE FILLING INTO DISH AND SPREAD, EVENLY / ADD MORE PATS OF BUTTER / TAKE SECOND PIE CRUST AND LAY OVER TOP OF PIE / CREATE HOLE VENTS, USING A FORK, OR COOKIE CUTTER / CRIMP EDGES OF CRUST TOGETHER / PLACE ALUMINUM FOIL UNDER PIE PAN AND BRING UP OVER THE EDGE OF THE PIE / BAKE FOR 40 MINUTES (OVENS WILL VARY) / REMOVE FOIL FROM OUTER EDGES AND BAKE AN ADDITIONAL 6-10 MINUTES FOR EVEN BROWNING / REMOVE FROM OVEN AND LET THE PIE SIT FOR ABOUT AND HOUR BEFORE CUTTING / ADD APPLE PIE, OR WHIPPED TOPPING, IF DESIRED... AND ENJOY!

FESTIVE CHRISTMAS TUTU

FESTIVE CHRISTMAS TUTU FOR AMERICAN GIRL DOLL, 18" DOLL, 0-3 MONTHS BABY, OR BITTY BABY:

FAMILY & FRIENDS TRIP TO THE MAYAN RUINS - CHICHEN ITZA, YUCATAN, MEXICO... I WANT TO GO BACK!  AN AMAZING SIGHT!

HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY, CALEB!

Missing you,Caleb... Hope you have a wonderful and fun-filled 17th birthday!  We love you and miss you more and more, every day.  Hoping to be able to see you again, in one year, when you will be 18!