"Oh To Live By The Sea" - an exhibit of hooked rugs

The local museum recently had an exhibit of beautiful hooked rugs.  The description of the exhibit drew me in - "This traveling exhibit features hook rugs by various artists, all with an ocean theme. Inspired by the last line of the poem “Sea Joy” by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, “Oh—To live by the sea is my only wish,” these works range from traditional representations of lobster shacks, fishing boats, sea gulls and beach vacations to more abstract representations of sea, sky, shells and sand." 

We weren't disappointed.

Can you hear the waves?

Loved this one.

Himself's favorite.

How cool!  A mixed media hooked rug.

In this one, the even the stones and shells are made of fabric.

Wow.

Seriously? Chicken "Paws"?

Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Definition of PAW

1. the foot of a quadruped (such as a lion or dog) that has claws.

OK.... since when has a chicken become a four legged beast?  

Maybe it is a rare breed and that is why it costs so much.  (Around here bone-in chicken breast cost $1.99 a pound.  Bony meatless chicken feet cost $1.64 a pound??)

Really?

"Lessons from The Quilt" by Bev Blackard... and illustrated by ME!

I can finally talk about a project that I worked on at the beginning of the year.  My friend Bev (aka Mama Nick) has published a Christian inspirational book and she asked me to do the photography for it.  "Lessons from The Quilt" is a delightful book that would be enjoyed so much by quilters, as well as those who like gentle inspirational stories.

The publishing company used a tight close up of her quilt for the cover.

A little bit about the book and Bev...

I think it is a lovely idea for a priceless heirloom.

Bev shares her thoughts as she went through the creative process of designing her heirloom.

And also her thoughts about the Lord and how He is so like a quilter as He shapes and designs our lives.

Not only did I do the photography of Bev's items, many of my personal photos are used to illustrate the text.  SO cool to see them in a book!

It can be ordered through Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, or you can do a Google search to make an order.

Travel Trinket: A Winning Necklace

In 2002 Mom and I did a trip down the Natchez Trace.  We left on my birthday... which is in JULY.  Oh it was hot!  (Note to self:  next time do a Southern road trip in the Spring or Autumn.)

In spite of the heat...and the humidity...and the bugs we had a fantastic time.

Our first 'rule' was if either of us wanted to stop, we stopped.  There was no schedule.  When we were tired for the day, we found the nearest hotel and left when we felt like it the next morning.

Once we made it to Natchez we found the best hotel deal was at the Isle of Capri casino hotel.  We got 3 nights cheaply, free breakfasts, tons of coupons for Natchez attractions, and each a $20 voucher to spend at the casino.

Well alrighty then!

We had a blast.  Toured all around Natchez in the day, headed across the road to the casino in the evening for a cheap casino supper, and put our voucher to work.  I put my tokens in one cup and headed over to the .50c slots.  All winnings went into my second cup.

By the end of our time in Natchez I had my $20 back and enough 'coin' to buy myself a trinket I had admired at a shop earlier in our visit...

I smile every time I wear it, remembering a great Mother/Daughter trip.

Ham and Potato Hotdish

HAM & POTATO BAKE

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 T. butter or margarine

1 T. Flour

1/2 t. salt

2/3 cup milk

1 cup Velveeta cheese, shredded

2 t. yellow mustard

1 ½ cups chopped ham (or 4-5 hotdogs)

5 med. potatoes, cooked and sliced thickly

In small saucepan, cook onion in butter until tender but not brown.  Blend in flour and salt.  Add milk all at once, cook & stir over medium heat til thickened and bubbly.  Add shredded cheese, stirring to melt.  Stir in mustard.  Fold in hot dogs and potatoes.  Turn into a 1 qt casserole.  Cover and bake in 350 oven about 35 minutes or til heated thru.

Notes:

I usually skip the oven part.  It's plenty hot coming off the stove!  However, the browning from being baked is very tasty.

Also, this is a recipe of proportions.  There's nothing 'set in stone' so if you need more just increase it.  Want it cheesier?  Add more cheese.  This is a stick to the ribs comfort food - and is great for feeding teenage boys!

An InLinkz Link-up

To 'Run as One'

On Saturday I walked 2.2 miles for a very special reason.  

I walked "as one" as a member of Team Red, White, and Blue (http://www.teamrwb.org/our-approach/mission), which in turn was walking with Team Rubicon (http://www.teamrubiconusa.org/story-of-team-rubicon/) and The Mission Continues (https://www.missioncontinues.org/about/history/ ).

People were running and walking all over the US, probably all over the world.

We went past 22 of these signs.

It is said that every day approximately twenty two veterans commit suicide.  Pretty much think of it this way; every time you hear a clock chime the hour (actually about every 65 miutes) a veteran dies by his/her own hand.

We were walking in memory of Marine Clay Hunt and many others.  We were walking in honor of nameless Vets who are struggling with PTS, depression, and injuries of war.

Some were out there who are in the struggle.

We walked to remember and to raise funds for programs to try to help our vets.

We gathered and prayed.

And then we ran and walked.

The trail was suitable for runners (some who did the route several times) and for walkers; including those who brought their families and dogs.

It was a beautiful day.

B's Cheesecakes... Oh My!

Clarksville people... you have a dessert jewel in your midst!

The other day we were running errands when I saw a storefront sign that said 'CHEESECAKE'.  Of course we had to stop.

What a lovely sight to behold!

That day's menu selections.

Seriously... how do you pick just one?

It was a tough job but we got it done...

Himself:  Beachaven Blackberry

(Beachaven is a local winery.  The blackberries used for this one are cooked down in Beachaven Blackberry wine.)

Teri:  Caramel Pecan Praline

There are a few tables in the cute little shop, so we enjoyed there.  All the other customers who came in while we were there (and it was a good number) took their cheesecakes as takeaway.

Himself is in agreement with this statement.

The sign that turned us around!

For you Clarksvillians... this is where it is located.

Everyone else... here's the address.

I highly recommend a visit.

Gone With The Wind

With the coming of Spring we have been experiencing some fairly heavy storms with blustery winds.  But the other evening the wind went past blustery into down-right scary.

Next morning we saw the results...

So happy my bamboo didn't get smashed!

This snag finally came down... saves us from cutting it down.

This was our surprise... didn't even know it was going bad.

It took out a healthy tree on the way down.

Hmmmm...  I need to get out there and harvest some bark for basket weavings!

We had a lot of smaller branches to add to our brush pile.  Irritating because just the week before we had picked up a lot of limbs/sticks for our first mowing of the year.  Yep, mowing starts in late March in Tennessee.

(Our yard man will put the forks on his tractor and move it near our fire pit.)

I hope this is the last of the blowy storms...tho I doubt it.

Rice Box Restaurant in Clarksville

We don't often get over to the SW side of Clarksville so we don't really know the restaurants over there.  The other day we had some business to do on that side of town and we were hungry.  So we decided to try a new Asian restaurant.

It is located in a strip mall and frankly didn't look that promising from the outside.

We were quite surprised when we came inside.

Very nice!

There was a small sushi bar too.

We ordered off the menu.

Our meals came with a choice of soup.  Himself had wonton and I picked hot & sour.  Both were good, tho mine could have had a bit more heat.

I had Orange Chicken.  It came with rice (fried or white) and a spring roll.  Very tasty but again there could have been more heat (it is marked at one of their 'spicy' dishes).

Himself ordered Triple Delight with brown sauce.

Both dishes were very tasty.

And as you can see from their menu, the prices are quite reasonable.  Portion sizes were just right.