Lake on Ft. Bragg

This looks almost as pretty as the day I snapped the pic.    Always thought it would look good featured in a calendar.  

Taco Ring....anyone?

Putting the finishing touches on the Taco Ring.    Oh My, that sounds good about now... YUMMY.   I was demonstrating the many uses of the 15"- round baking stone.   This was a party I did for my in-laws and their family.   The year was 1999-2000.   If my memory serves me correctly.  For dessert they requested the Chocolate Caramel Turtle Cake.    I've gained about 5 pounds just thinking about the cake alone!     I enjoyed doing this as a part time job.   

Some individuals thought I was part of the Merry Maids.   I could hardly believe the messes they would leave for me to clean up.  And that was before I started to cook and share my presentation.   The nerve!    

OK..... Sweet Dreams.      ~Mary~

There are times

You know there are times you may want to do this.  I'm just kiddin' around.   We were just kiddin' around with the camera.    With the lights out, we did some silly poses as the camera flashed.    This was 1985, we'd only been married for a year.    Who knows maybe I did feel like doing this!
LOL

This brings back memories…

good times my family had in Walt Disney World.   We drove down in December of 1974 and spent New Years there as well.
The temperature was zero degrees here in Indiana, but by the time we rolled into Florida it was a toasty 99 degrees.   

I have more post cards, however these are my favorites… The Haunted Mansion… Hovering over a riverbank, in “deathly splendor”, is the mysterious Haunted Mansion … an active retirement home for 999 happy ghosts, ghouls, an goblins “dying” to meet visitors.  

The Strolling Topiary Lane and Monorail:  Dumbo meets a “topiary cousin”, one of many shrubs grown into the shapes of Disney characters.   Nearby,  sleek monorail trains glide by on the “highway in the sky”, taking guests on a scenic journey to the Magic Kingdom.  

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea…. Mysterious sunken worlds and strange deep sea creatures lie ahead for guests joining Captain Nemo aboard the submarine Nautilus, for a voyage.

“The Vacation Kingdom of the World”   Guests play and often stay in Walt Disney World.   Exciting theme resorts are located along the shores of beautiful Bay Lake and the picturesque Seven Seas Lagoon…gateway to the Magic Kingdom.

My fondest memory has to be the Haunted Mansion and the ride on the Monorail.   Back then, there wasn’t as many attractions as there is today.   In fact,  Space Mountain wasn’t even built yet…. it was just in its beginning stages.    As my dad and I were waiting in line…. he looked at me and said “I wonder what that will be?”  pointing to the mess of construction.    I couldn’t imagine.    

I used to have a book on the beginnings of Walt Disney World.   It was kept buried in a desk drawer at home.    I’m sure its been thrown out.   I can’t imagine something like that still being around at my parents house.    Parents: Don’t give a kid of 11 the responsibility of saving a keepsake.  It could’ve been worth something…. possibly.    

The Book may be gone forever…..but the BAG lives on!   Here’s an original just for old times sake.     Complete with an old smell of “dusty books”.      But its there.   Tucked away among the photographs of yesteryear. 
I hope you have enjoyed this memorable occasion.     As I turn off the light and crawl into bed…visions of Disney World will be in my head.    Good Night. 

Overhead

We were living in Japan for awhile where we had the fun of living in these 9 story apartments.     We lived on the 3rd floor.   The view out of our windows was perfect...   the majesty of Mt. Fuji set the scene.   Although it was 50 miles away, on a good day we could see the snow blowing across the top, with the aid of binoculars.  It was beautiful.     After a month of hot, sticky, hazy weather... we would finally see some relief in the form of a typhoon.   We couldn't wait as temperatures had climbed to 102!    We bought the necessary groceries to see us through the long night and into the following days ahead. And enough batteries in case the lights went off.       For the most part, our 2-bedroom apartment had plenty of room inside as well as outside.   The biggest balcony just off the side of our living room area could hold about 10 to 15 people (standing) or less if adding chairs.    This was mostly used to work on bicycles, as it was a hobby of my husband.     That evening, the horrific wind and rain of the typhoon came through.   We slept well into the night, occasionally waking to see if there were any trees blown over.    The next morning we opened the sliding doors to feel the cool fresh breeze on our faces.   We noticed we could now see all of the mountains clearly.   And we noticed something else too,... it looked as if someone had lost their shaving cream can as it bounced off the railings it left a trail of white puffy foam!  After further investigation we saw the empty dented can lying in the grass below.    But wait, there was something else  on the railing... as we walked closer we could see it resembled potato salad?!?  Or.... was it.... no it couldn't be.... we just thought...  don't touch it maybe the wind will blow it off.   About dinner time, there was a loud knock at the door.   Upon opening the door, a middle-aged woman stood with a disgusted look..."Oh, I'm here to tell you that I live on the 7th floor... and the people on the 8th floor decided to have a Typhoon Party last night, did you hear them?!?!"  "Well I DID!!!  Someone BARFED all over my balcony!!!, and I'm so disgusted!!!"   She left our place in a HUFF!    It was clear to us what that mess was all over the railing.... how utterly GROSS.   Just the thought of someone being so rude made me want to toss my cookies too.   Well, we weren't going to touch it, that stuff would either have to blow off or whatever!!     Just a few minutes after the lady left, another knock at the door.   This time there was a bald-headed man standing with a nasty bucket of water in his hand with a scrub brush in the other.  "Uhh...um... I'm here to clean the mess off of your balcony."   "Oh really!!" my husband responded.   "Don't worry about it, I'll get it." my husband said.    What was that man thinking??!!  There was no way he was going to use that nasty water to clean off our balcony railing!! 

The moral of the story~ always be considerate of the neighbors.

Happy July 4th Greetings

Hello, I've been so busy with the new addition to our family.  We had never adopted a pet (that was already grown) so, we had to get used to having an adult doggie.  And any habits that she may have picked up from previous owners.  The only one being that she loves to jump up to greet us.  And she loves to dig holes in the yard...we're not sure if this is from boredom or just a new hobby.   Our goal is to keep her active and busy.   To achieve this we go on walks at least 3 times a week.  Mornings are best.  This activity is very good for me as well.  I'd been wanting to walk...but its not a lot of fun going alone.   Dolena does very well to walk beside me, as if she had been trained to do this all along.  The only draw back is if a bunny pops out from behind a bush or walkway.  Dolena will point... tail straight out... watching & waiting to see if I will allow her to chase down the furry prey.   Of course, this is out of the question... I like rabbits too much to see a dog or hunter kill it either out of fun or to (ugh) eat.  I'm sure someone would point out that it "tastes" just like chicken.  But I'd rather not discuss this point any further.  ;)
Now back to the original point of the story... When she does stop suddenly... I'm having to tug her away from the spot she is standing.  This can be difficult... we are talking about a 44 lb dog, now feeling like 100 lbs of dead weight!   Thank God for extend leashes!!   Who came up with this wonderful gadget?   The last time we had a dog, was back in the early 90's... he was a collie...beautiful white and camel brown coat.  His name was Buff.  Raised him from a pup.  No matter how hard we tried we could not seem to get this dog interested in walking on a leash.  My husband used to "walk" him by allowing him to run out away from our house...into a wooded area.  They both seemed to enjoy this.  I, on the other hand did not join in this romp.  I preferred to tie the poochie out on the cable.  This worked great.  Not only did it provide the dog some kind of exercise but it also kept people traffic down.   We lived in a townhouse an end unit and no fence.  And it was on an Air Force base to boot.  I remember it well.  The kitchen window faced out to the open side of the unit.  One evening kinda late, I had the pull-down shade drawn to about an inch opening to let in the cool summer air... I had just finished up the dishes, and the dog was napping on the floor.  Turned off the kitchen light when I heard sounds of foot steps... like someone had just completed their run or jog.  Then I heard what sounded like heavy breaths.  I started to freak, as I crouched down to listen.   It was if the person was standing within inches of the window... as if they were trying to look in.... by this time I got on my hands and knees...hoping and praying whoever was out there lurking in the darkness would just leave.  Before I could catch my next heart-throbbing breath... the dog woke up with a loud bark as if to warn the stranger-- Keep Away--!!   I crawled my way to the kitchen drawer to get a flash light.  When Buff stopped barking, I knew it must be safe to get up and see if I could see anything.... I pointed the light on the tall pine trees surrounding our unit, then to the small bush...feeling relieved and satisfied that the stranger had moved on... I relaxed on the couch to watch the tv.  I was grateful to the watchful eye of our dog back then.... as I am now.   Only this time we live near a busy road.  Our backyard is fully fenced.  So we don't usually have any problems with unwanted visitors.   But out front is a different story.  Not only do we have car traffic, we see bikers, people walking, kids, teenagers hanging around at the end of the street, and the occasional unwanted solicitor.    Now, I feel secure knowing I can leave my storm door locked, and if I happen to be busy in the next room my dog will let me know by barking when a stranger comes to the door.  Solicitors beware! 


Switching topics what are your plans for the 4th?  Considering that I haven't made an entry on this blog for a long time, I doubt that anyone will actually comment.... but I will still ask.  We plan to have a cookout if the weather is fitting.  And we plan to have some family over.  I think hamburgers, chicken and hotdogs will be on the menu.  Along with side dishes of baked beans and potatoes I haven't decided how I will fix the potatoes.   I still need to contact everyone to see what they would like to bring.   I hope that the night is clear for fireworks.  Last year, we weren't too sure where they would be doing the firework display so we ended up driving in all directions.  This year, we will consult the newspaper to see just where and when!    Hopefully the dog won't go nuts hearing the booms and bangs from local fireworks.  

Happy 4th!!

     

Dolena

                                                        This is Dolena our rescue dog from APL.

She's been doing really well fitting into our lifestyle.  I never noticed the white cross on her chest until we got home with her.   Dolena is a very loving, cuddly dog... she must think she is small enough just to be in my lap!    ♥    Don't let her sweet little face fool you, she is a hunter.   Rabbits don't stand a chance with Dollie on their trail.   We have to really be careful so she doesn't try to escape our fenced in yard.   So just like a new mom I constantly watch the yard to make sure she is okay.    

Our kitty, Mudpie has exiled himself to the enclosed back porch.  He doesn't really like the dog all that well.    We've tried at different times to introduce them.     Not to worry, Mudpie has food and water and his litter pan.   We take turns going out to be with him.  ♥

We love our animals.    

If you are a animal lover please make sure your dog and kitty have plenty of fresh cool water to drink during very hot days, also make sure they have a shady place in which to retreat.   If its too hot for your animals to be outside let them out long enough to do their business, and let them back in to the cool house. ♥   Your pets will thank you! ♥

 

Ahh Spring!

Since my thoughts on Spring seem to be all over the place, I’ll just start with the fact that I probably bought too many flowers.  Is it possible to do something like buy too many?   One pot was overflowing with violas, petunias, begonias, impatients, it was really pretty but too full to the point that hanging the pot caused the shepherds hook to nearly fall over…  I couldn’t have that so my new mission was to take out all the flowers and place in other areas.   Which by the way looks better!   I spent almost the entire day (today) working on planting more flowers and more veggies.   If all the onions planted come up… we’ll have more than we know what to do with!    Beans, beans and more beans…. we’ve got plenty planted now we wait.  Lettuce is coming up.  And so are the zinnias, can’t eat zinnias but they’ll sure be pretty standing tall in the garden.    I noticed too that some plants died off over the winter months.  I guess I would have died too if I had to some how keep my roots warm throughout the blizzard-y days and nights.

Did I mention that we may be rescuing a dog from the shelter?   Well my hubby and I are still discussing it… we are trying to decide which kind would be best for our household.   Our cat won’t appreciate it.    Kitty is rather funny in so many odd ways, like he doesn’t like to be picked up and held.  He loves to chase me around the house or pick a fight with me.   I’m getting tired of his antics.  I’ve been ready for a doggie.   I need an animal that likes me!