Simple Joys

Telling a clean joke.

Taking a nature walk

Reading a favorite Psalm.

Playing a board game with your family.

Reading a good book. (I'm currently reading this and I love it! In a way it reminds me of the Mitford series because the town is such a big part of the book.)

Writing in a journal

Folding clothes warm from the dryer.

Watching old home movies.

Talking at the table after supper is over.

Dreaming of Spring

I can't wait for some sunshine and flowers! We've been flipping through the garden catalogs and trying to decide what we want to plant this year. I'm sure we'll have tomatoes and peppers like we did last year, and maybe we'll expand our garden area a little to make room for more variety. I would also love to plant another couple of rose bushes and maybe a grape vine. Our old house had two grape vines and we loved them, even though I made the mistake of spending hours (and lots of sugar) making jelly only to have it never jell. I think the grapes were too ripe...lesson learned.

I'm looking at these pictures from last year with freezing fog outside my windows...sigh. I have to remind myself that Spring is just around the corner!


"For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along! "
Song 2:11-13 (NASB)

Sometimes You Get What You Pay For

This has been the wettest and coldest winter that we've had in years and because I tend to buy whatever is cheapest I bought my umbrella at the dollar store. The slightest gust of wind turns it inside out, it's not very big and it's already coming apart. There's no point in having an umbrella if it doesn't keep the rain off.

So I guess I'm going to have to spend a little money to get something that really works. I'm thinking about this one because it looks like it would be easy to carry around and seems much more sturdy than what I have. I would love some recommendations from those of you who actually have to carry umbrellas on a regular basis. What do you look for in an umbrella?

My Poor Husband

As most of you know, or could probably guess, I love "I Love Lucy"! That sounds a little weird doesn't it? Maybe I should just say I Love Lucy? Anyway, you know what I mean.

Last night, after a long, cold, wet day I needed a laugh, so I started watching Lucy on Youtube. I got SO tickled that the kids had to come over and see what I was watching. Pretty soon we were all laughing. Then we decided Mike needed a laugh too, so we all plop down next to him and start showing him Lucy videos even though he's in the middle of some action packed, testosterone fest of a guy movie. Bless his heart, he turned down the volume and watched with us. Isn't that sweet?

And now that you're here, you want to watch Lucy with me too don't you?

It's Still Winter Isn't It?

Meatball stew in the crock-pot (notice the liner...I love them).

Trying to decide if I'm too old (and fat) to wear my jeans tucked into my boots.

Chicken and Noodles

I made The Pioneer Woman's homemade chicken and noodles Saturday night and they were delicious! Just the thing for a cold winter weekend spent mostly indoors.

I did have to venture out to buy groceries on Saturday with everybody else in town (I could hardly get my basket down the aisle), but other than that we had a nice weekend. How was your weekend?

Old Movies

We watched a wonderful movie last night called Mrs. Miniver. Alison at Brocante Home mentioned it a few weeks ago and it sounded like something we would enjoy. It won 6 Academy Awards in 1942 including best picture and best director. Mrs. Miniver is a British housewife who holds her family together during WWII which was of course still going on at the time this movie was filmed. It's definitely on my list of favorite movies of all time!


What are your favorite movies of all time?