everybody smile and say cheese!

happy october weekend!

smile, wink, nod.

late harvest!

digging potatoes!

literally.

i love digging them and i love eating them!

imagine my smile, when i pulled this charm out of the earth!

i am for sure certain, that God placed it there just for me to find!

i just couldn't let a huge, massive clump of fresh parsley go to waste.

so, i googled parsley pesto (say that 10 times real fast)!

and proceeded to process parsley pesto!

so extremely easy and fun to make!

i ended up freezing six snack size bags full.

on wednesday, my son and his fellow homeschool friends

picked a field of squash for an area farmer... who is donating them

to a detroit food bank.

total picked for that day: 15,000 pounds.

we were welcome to take as many as we'd like... and i scooped up

six baking pumpkins! on this brisk fall day, i'll teach myself how to process them for

pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie filling!

smile, wink, nod.

crissy and velvet dolls.

i just loved mine.

for the pre-1970's crowd...

it was this beautiful doll...

you pushed her belly button

and pulled out the top of her hair into a long

ponytail. then you could wind her hair up

with this little crank knob.

imagine what a big deal it was...

when i begged my mom for a bottle of this

shampoo... and she bought it for me!

the pink bottle of course.

david cassidy.

oh how hot he was!

poster of him and donny osmond

decorated the back of my bedroom door.

i was convinced i was going to probably

marry donny osmond.

so... you can imagine how excited i was...

when out thrifting recently...
i found this vintage barbie tee-shirt.

just like the doll my cousin and i
played with as kids of the 1960's.

i'm loving the tee shirt and am on the hunt for more.

smile, wink, nod.

my eyes scanned the cold, damp building.

the blue eyes stopped.

looked.

and continue scanning.

her eyes shot back.

back to the drab gold.

back to the tear-dropped shaped

imitation crystals.

and fake crystal plates.

then she walked towards it.

inching her way and hoping to reach it...

before another.

her black cowboy boots clicking.

and the smell of cheap onion rings in the air....

she asked the vendor... the vendor who

looked like he just tumbled in from a night at

a punky redneck bar.

he had a cigarette placed, strategically behind his right ear.

ready was he, to slip out for a smoke.

until i approached, that is.

five he said.

five bucks.

my hand.

it reached out and grabbed the base of it.

staking claim

and letting the whole world know

or just

in reality...

the lady who was thumbing through some

musty old

vintage books nearby.

this was mine.

all mine.

whipping out a ten.

no.

five singles.

i claimed ownership.

the sweet baby was mine.

made in italy.

probably had grapes dangling from

the scales at one time.

it's from the 1950's.

no, i mean the 1960's.

exhale.

and shudder.

busy, is what we've been these past few days....

dinner out with neighbors: caribbean cod. delicious!

homeschooling my babe.

and,

finally...

finally....

finally... i finished the dress lodger book.

it took forevvvvvverrrrrrrrr.

today, i started a new book, glass castles.

also reading, politically correct bedtime stories.

which is absurd and hilarious at the same time.

taught two classes at our homeschool co-op:

the cuban missile crisis

oh that krushchev and castro.... sure

didn't want to play nice.

and

also a class on

maybelle the cable car and the

history of cable cars in san francisco.

today, i set up at a craft show... 40 miles away.

it was a dud. just shoot me, already.

there were 110 vendors.

i think the customers were overwhelmed.

they just couldn't focus.

that and the fact that all seemed to be having

serious hot flashes. many were grumpy.

there again, maybe because of the hot flashes?

glad was i, when 4 pm came and i could boogie out

and not look back.

well, at least i was set-up next to

a lady who was giving free hand spa treatments.

oh sure...

you can bet, that i quickly made friends

with her... so i could get free hand treatments!

dreamy.

i smelled like a vanilla bean all day.

the car is still packed and i'll be at another market

tomorrow.

tacoes for dinner tonight.

managed to watch the old time movie...

the sting.

with paul newman and robert redford.

the picture above, i took when we visited uncle don,

the american farmer advocate.

time for me to shut the lid on the laptop and read

goldilocks and the three bears.... the politically correct version.

smile, wink, nod.

what's for dinner tonight?

4-ingredient crockpot recipe.

super easy.

hat tip, to my cousin connie.

she sent it to me.

2 cans of black beans (i drained and rinsed)

16 oz. jar salsa

1/2 cup to 1 cup brown rice

1 lb. chicken breasts (i put four in)

think leftovers.

place frozen chicken breasts in slow cooker.

pour:

beans

rice

and

salsa

over the chicken.

(i sprinkled a pinch of cumin over top, because

everything's better with cumin)!

cook low for 8-10 hours!

i'll be serving a garden fresh salad with it.

smile, wink, nod.

lights out, cozy blankets and buttery popcorn...

friday night found us snuggling in and watching the timeless movie,

"seven years in tibet."

i don't support tibetan buddism, i hold fast to the 2nd commandment.

but, i do agree with their kind and gentle beliefs.

one of the quotes that is occupying my mind is this:

"this is another great difference between our civilization and yours. You admire the man who pushes his way to the top, in any walk of life, while we admire the man who abandons his ego."

smile, wink, nod!

me and cousin don.

not really my cousin.

it's just his name.

i've seen him around our neck of the woods all summer.

i also heard he was the farmer's market director

to some of detroit's upscale communities.

when i spotted him... i knew i had to meet him.

observing him... i knew he must have one heck of a story.

i needed to know what it was.

the opportunity manifested itself on tuesday.

my son tommie, had a FFA (future farmers of america) project, due this week.

he had to interview an entrepreneur in the agricultural field and do a report on it.

i thought about cousin don.

we did a little investigating

on the world wide information highway...

and found links to his website. then, set out to make a phone call for a visit.

he was thrilled to help us out.

we made the trek to his 5th generation farm... located in the backwoods of our county.

while tommie was interviewing cousin don...

i enjoyed snapping pictures of some unusual farm scenes.

after the interview... we learned he was featured in

american farmer's: the heart of america book

and also interviewed on martha stewart.

yep, you read that right....

he was invited to appear on the martha stewart show.

after the show, he and five other guests, were invited to her

farm...for the afternoon.

he humbly, told about what a privilege it was.

and i would agree, totally.

wouldn't you?

cousin don, is one of the biggest advocates for

SUPPORTING MICHIGAN FARMERS and American Farmers.

he has a voice that is being heard. and loudly.

a christian man... who gives all credit to God.

an eccentric character.. yet simple.

with overflowing passion.

aside from his message of supporting farmers....

we gleaned... that in life, you need to make connections.

he was adamant about that.

connections.

his final message was... that we need to use the tools we

have. brain tools.

before we left... he went into his house... which says Jesus Saves, on the

roof, and asked me to read this book, The Last Farmer by Howard Kohn.

i couldn't put it down!

if you've read this far and would like to see more...

check out these links:

cousin don on martha stewart

(click on the side bar and scroll down to where it says.. american farmer's part one... excellent interview)

cousin don's website

american farmer: the heart of america book

cousin don was featured in this book!

*note: cousin don wears an orange shirt everyday.

each and every october... we have a trio of sandhill cranes that visit our field! today, i had the opportunity to see one of them dance! he burrowed his beak into the earth and with all of his might, jumped up a few feet... i understand they can jump 12 feet and flutter their wings. i also read that several do this at a time... wouldn't that be quite a sight?

in the first picture, look between my lipstick colored hollyhocks... and you can see one!

the honey bees are alive and well in our hives. they're enjoying our white heath asters.

we look forward to plenty of honey in the spring.

like the rest of the world... we're watching the incredible rescue of the chilean miners. such an amazing story.

just a little sneak peak of what's happening in my part of the world, today.

hope you're enjoying your day....

smile, wink, nod.

hay bale palace!

how fun would this be... to play in?

i found a really interesting, new blog... check out:

frosted petunias!

happy friday!

just doing a little late-night research,

for a homeschool class i'm teaching on friday...

this weeks theme...

hot air balloons.

i ran across this one... isn't it spectacular?

how about you?

would you or have you ever went up in one?

i haven't.

and never will.

i have a fear of heights.

can't even ride ferris wheels.

eeeeeeeks!

i shudder just thinking about it.

i haven't done a log book lately... i'm being a

copycat and using my pal lisa's....

here we go!

outside: sunny and crisp!

sounds: fox news. i'm a fox news junky.

home: tommie's reading (his required reading for homeschool), brad's fixing our garage door, the dog's sleeping under a blanket, and i'm in between making dinner and getting projects together for 4H tonight.

projects: fixing up a part of my basement as a craft and supply studio, making more pesto and wrapping green tomatoes in newspaper.

pondering: my class lessons i need to prepare for, for our homeschool co-op class. i'm teaching, two.

teaching: wild mustangs dvd and suggested activities like writing a paper using notes from the dvd, canning spaghetti sauce, king george and the revolutionary war, mechanical science, agricultural science, teaching textbooks math, and umm... does ice road truckers count?

gratitude: grateful for a big, bountiful garden!

recipes: still scouting out gluten-free trial and error recipes... and also made baked purple cauliflower. need to freeze peppers and ratatouille, freeze spinach, dry rosemary, basil and oregano.

duds: thin corduroys, loose top and maryjane's, hair in headband and wearing my new lip gloss. no, not bonne belle.

reads: shakespere's daughter (i found it in the teenager section of our library)

videos: nothing. not a thing. although, i did buy, "the talented mr. ripley," at a garage sale for .25 and would like to watch that with a big bowl of salty popcorn!

hopes: that i'm not getting a sore throat. and, that i can get my flu shot, tomorrow.

love: pesto chicken, pine nuts, deep sleep, entertainment tonight, my new headbands, garnier mousse.

plans: tommie's working at a local agricultural event tomorrow, i'll drink two cups of coffee and run a bazillion errands and hopefully clean closets, wednesday and thursday: farmer's markets, homeschool co-op on friday, helping my neighbor with his garage sale saturday and setting up at a local flea market on sunday.