NATIONAL COFFEE DAY

 

Today is National Coffee Day for all the coffee drinkers out there. Here is a brew chart for you in case you did not know all these different kinds of brews.

Lots of ways to have your favorite brew. Do you have one?

Iced coffee is good in the hot weather. Do you have a favorite coffee brand?

This little coffee house is up the road from us. Not too far away.  I have been to the larger one which is a few miles away and in the winter, you can sit around a toasty warm fireplace. They have just about any coffee drink you would imagine. Is there a favorite coffeehouse where you like to go?  The smaller places are less crowded and therefore you can sit, relax and enjoy. 

Sunday Selections

 Joining a fun blog hop at Elephant's Child If you know Mimi you know she is always posting so much goodness at her blog. Thank you Mimi for sharing this Sunday Selection's. I appreciate you:

Yesterday was Fajita Saturday Night at this grandma and grandpa's house. Little girl came over with her daddy and big brother. I had to take a photo of her outfit. She was not terribly amused but she was still a good little sport. Her shirt says, After every storm there is a RainBow of hope. You know her big brother Alastor Avery passed away last summer and God sent this girl to comfort her mom, dad and big brother Harrison James. She is such a delightful baby girl. We do not have many girls in this big ole clan of kids and parents and grands.  So she was our hope. She still is. I Love her leggings. Rainbows and clouds. 

Big brother Harrison was in his artist at work mode. He said, Grandmother, we need to poaint together. Well this grandmother has ten thumbs with artwork. I may take the advice of sweet Amanda who homeschools her five kiddos in Western NY and buy a few paint by number kits. Look out Bob Ross, Picasso and Monet! I'm coming for you!

We worked on the unicorn ornament together. I painted the blue star and yellow hair on the bottom right side.  we still need to finish it. 

 

We were at Lulu's Farm Market today to get our green chilies. It is the cutest little market place and their chilies are perfection. 

This place smells amazing if you are a chili lover. I love those red chilies and they had the best selection of pumpkins reasonably priced.

Mollie was under the weather today. Poor girl. She is so tiny but she is recuperating nicely. She loves those big fluffy pillows my sister-in-law Lucy gave us for Christmas last ear. We think she nosed around into something not so nice outdoors. Some boiled chicken and bone brother perked her up enough to eat .

I will be visiting as the weekend got away from me. 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

                                         Please visit Sandee and everyone at Wordless Wednesday. 

KIDS

 

If you want to see what happiness truly looks like, well, here it is! This boy does not see me as much as I would love to see him, but this is how he reacts to me! Melts my heart, makes my heart flutter and gives me the biggest smile to my very soul! wouldn't the world be terrific if we had the "Logan" attitude? Someone who you can't imagine spent three months in the NICU cause he was born too soon, three months too soon. His attitude never shows that he has a long, rough road to travel during those first months of his life. 

What a wonderful world it is filled with boys! My life is full with all the handsome, beautiful boys I have in my life. God is good, He is very good. My mother always told me and I am sure glad I listened to her.

 I think Jesus enjoys humor. 

Tuesday With Tea

Tea is fantastic anytime or place. But Since I participate in Happy Tuesday and use to participate Tuesday and Show and Tails when Angela hosted, I thought Tuesday with Tea would give me a chance to share of my own tea cups and favorite teas.
Stephanie use to host the most wonderful tea cup and tea mug exchanges. I loved to participate in both the tea cup and mug exchange and the final year she hosted I received this mug:

The young lady who sent me this mug said it was so very hard to part with it and that made me smile because I realized she wanted it for herself and she gave it to me. Talk about a sacrifice. It is funny when you get involved with people from all walks of life in blog world you make such nice friendships.

The ladies here rosesandteacups.com sell some terrific products and many of them are from small business owners here in the USA. They have helped me on many occasions to find the right tea cup .As I get closer to my 11th year of blogging November 1, 2020 I am thinking of having a giveaway and a teacup or mug or even coffee items may be included.  I still plan to do a postcard exchange but I have that in the works as well. Once we get our solar approved by the city we can rest easy.

republicoftea.com has some yummy tea and I Have a been a customer there for quite some time. I love the tins the round tea bags come in. You can reorder and save on just the tea bags once you have your individual tins. They keep your tea nice and fresh.

If you prefer loose tea you need a strainer This little one has helped me through many times concocting the perfect cup of tea.

Nick was sick a few years back with a miserable flu like virus and cold. I bought this Celestial Seasoning mug for him. It is the original Sleepy Time bear who sits on the packaging. You can buy the tea in regular and mint. Avery and I drink it most every night before bedtime. Nevermind those thin Oreo mint cookies hahaha.....

I always give a shout out to Mo Siegel's company Celestial Seasoning in Boulder, Colorado. When people we arguing over the Gay rights amendment in California years ago Barbra Streisand attacked Mo and said boycott Colorado. He responded that more gays were employed by his company then she probably knew. Fact check Barbie, fact check!! Jack Nicholson had this to say, I have a place in Colorado and I like that people leave me alone there. So much for that boycott although today, with so many moving here, I wish they would boycott us instead. Go away.  We have too many people and do not need anymore.

My sweet friend Debbie from the Colorado mountains sent me the sweetest care package when we lost Alastor Avery last summer. It included this tea. Hmmm......my secret is out, everyone knows my Wild Child side I guess! tiestatea,com has many great tea flavors. 

Always enjoy a few minutes of quietude. Life is fast, slow down. 

Shakespeare was a smart guy.

TBT

-

It is not Thursday but I am doing the Throw Back Thursday with TBT. This is what happens when you cut your own bangs.  Boy was my mother mad! But to be fair to myself, her friend Zallee who cut our hair always gave us those "at your hairline bangs.:  I guess I was imitating her. HaHaHa! No wonder my sister became a hairdresser.

Humor: this is not my sister and this is not me. The bangs weren't my best work but still!
HAve a great weekend!

Loves the Only House

[Verse 1]
I was standing in the grocery store line
The one they marked express
When this woman came through with about 25 things
And I said don't you know that more is less
She said this world is moving so fast
I just get more behind with every day
And every morning when I make my coffee
I can't believe my life's turned out this way
All I could say was

[Chorus]
Love's the only house
Big enough for all the pain in the world
Love's the only house
Big enough for all the pain

[Verse 2]
He was walking by the other day and I said
Hey baby, how you've been
Yeah I got me a little girl now and she's 4 years old
And she's got her daddy's little grin
And you only wanted what you can't have
And baby you can't have me now
I gave my heart to another
Yeah I'm a mother and he's a father and we're a family and we got each other
And I found out the hard way that

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
You drive three miles from all this prosperity
Down across the river and you see a ghetto there
And we got children walking around with guns
And they got knives and drugs and pain to spare
And here I am in my clean white shirt
With a little money in my pocket and a nice warm home
And we got teenagers walking around in a culture of darkness
Living together alone, all I can say is

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
And I can't explain it and I can't understand
But I'll come down and get my hands dirty
And together we'll make a stand

[Verse 4]
Somewhere 'cross the parking lot some bands playing out of tune
City streets are going burn if we don't do something soon
And señorita can't quit crying
Baby's due now any day
Don Juan left got sick of trying
No one there to show him the way
She came down to the grocery store
And she said I want to buy a little carton of milk
But I don't have any money
I said hey I'll cover you honey
Because the pain's got to go somewhere
Yeah the pain's got to go someplace
So come on down to my house
Don't you know that

This song, Love's the Only House by Martina McBride is one of my most favorite songs. I am glad LOVE still exists.  

Fun With Kids and Thankfulness

 

This boy spent some time with me last Thursday. We played Rescue Heroes. We took all the farm animals, the Ark animals and the dinosaurs and we put them all around the yard. Then we had a command station and rescue heroes who we sent out to save this critters. Thankful for this child. He is a blessing to me. 

These are some of our rescues. We even rescued Noah from the Ark! Harrison put grass out for the dino's and other animals.  It was a fun game. I was thankful for the fun I had with Harrison. 

This guy came over Saturday with his brother. Brody is my gardener! Then Harrison came over too. They play so nicely together. Brody does not like my cat, he is fearful of him. Harrison is too sweet, he said, Brody, you need to come to my house . I have kittens. They are so soft and you can pet them so you won't be scared anymore. This guy is my official gardener. Harrison is our kindness ambassador along with Brody. They are incredibly kind children. Thankful for them. 

When I woke up this morning,t his is what I saw. It is still cold but the temps will rise. 56 tomorrow, 70 on Saturday and 80 on SONday. I am hoping this storm helped calm  the fires . Thankful for snow, even this early. 

Saturday morning the sun looked like a fireball. The air was thick and the skies hazy. Grateful we had some snow to wash away the smoke. Thankful we received some moisture. 

Our tomatoes did not fair well this summer. Two of our larger tomato plants were attacked by some bugs who destroyed them. We created a tent and cover for the others so we will check them tomorrow. My Uncle Louie worked for the railroad and he always said cardboard and newspaper will keep anything, including you warm. Thankful for the tomatoes and zucchini and squash we did grow. 

I am not sure who this image is credited to but it sure says a lot. I remember my big sis Pat telling us about a storm that ravaged a town in the South. Sitting on a small end table was the family bible, unscathed. That my friends, is a message from the Good Lord. Thankful when I hear stories of those saved from harms way. 

Enjoy a Thankful Thursday I am thankful for humor too. I like laughter. I guess that is why I Hang out with little ones. 

As I was putting final touches on my post here I received an email from a friend. Karl who lives in PA. lost his mom on Tuesday evening. He said he was with her when she passed. It has been rough for Karl and his brother. They lost their dad in 2016. His father served in the US Army as a Captain and the military did not give his mom a flag after his passing. But the guys were determined to get the US flag to their mom. Karl wrote to the local VFW and they sent them a flag. He purchased the display case for it and his brother and Karl learned how to fold the flag correctly. Through the years knowing Karl at his blog : Iggy was great. His blog name was great and he became good friends with many of us. He wrote beautifully and shared so many wonderful stories. You can go there and read some of those stories too. Karl had some health issues too and was gone from blogging. I know how hard the loss of parents can be. We lost my dad in 1985 and mom in 2001. But as far as the blog goes, I like to blog and use it as a journal too. I hope you will pray for Karl and his phamily and visit his blog too. I sent out some emails to folks who knew him to send cards and also to Pam at our encouragement group so she could add him there too. I enjoy sending cards when I can and I love to encourage others.  Thankful for blogging and good blog world friends too .

Praying for Karl and his phamily during this difficult time.

Please visit Brian at his blog: brianshomeblog.com and stop by my other blog too My Tata's Cottage. This new blogger business is stinky.

HAPPY LABOR DAY and MORE

 

Hoping you have had an enjoyable weekend and had thoughtful moments of what Labor Day truly means. 

My sister celebrates her birthday every year with this lady in mind. Today Grandma Moses would be 160 years old.  Many years ago my sister wrote a letter to her and told her how they shared September 7th as their birthdate. She wrote a letter back to my sister and it has been a very special rememerance for her since that time. 

Some of her artwork. She began painting at age 78 and painted American folk art. Her pieces are cheery and make me smile when I see then. This rainbow is particularly lovely.

She was a plain spoken lady with a talented hand. Happy Birthday to this American icon. 

Mother's Day 1979 with my sis Mary and first born Noelle. My sis was a hair stylist so she experimented on me many times.  Happy Birthday to my sister. 

We are just two different flowers in the garden of life and phamilies. 

Philippians 1:3 reminds me of my own sisters, one we lost in 2001 (Pat) and my birthday girl sister Mary. 

I have to be the one with glasses. But since my only sister Mary lives about two hours away from me, I would call her to come help me.  My sister Pat probably is sharing some laughter

 in heaven as she had the best laughter we knew.

For there is no friend like a sister,
In calm or stormy weather;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands.
~Christina Rossetti, "Goblin Market," 1862

You can stop by my original blog too: annesphamily.blogspot.com