Show and Tell Saturdays - Spoons

Show and Tell Saturday. Kim over at Homesteader's Heart hosts this meme each Saturday. The theme this week is something you collect. If you have a collection to show off, post about it, then go over to her site and link up.

I collect spoons. Not just any spoons. The ones you find in souvenir shops. I have one for most of the places I've been. I missed a couple of states early on when I wasn't seriously collecting. But now I look for one whenever I visit someplace new. It's a very small and cheap souvenir and easy to collect.
















Check out the dieter's spoon in middle of this shot. It's from Monterey Bay, CA.
















My favorites are the ones with a map of the state on the bowl of the spoon, and something dangling from a hole in the top.
















I hope you enjoyed my collection. I also collect the state's quarters, but I figure everyone knows what they look like. If you don't have a collection go visit Kim and see what other's have linked up. It might inspire you to start one of your own.

Until next time...

Show and Tell Saturday - Pets

Well, since I picked the theme for this week I should post about it, shouldn't I? :) Seriously though, when Kim over at Homesteaders Heart asked me to pick the theme, I immediately thought of kids doing show and tell at school. I mean that's what I think of when I hear "show and tell". And what do they usually take, or try to take? Their pet, of course. Even if it's a pet rock. When I was a kid we didn't have show and tell. But I always read of other kids having it and knew what pet I would take if I could.

I had two pets as a kid and it was a toss-up as to which one I should post about. I'd really like to write about my dog, Poochie. She was black with a white mark on her chest. She was half black labrador retriever and half border collie, so she kept me pretty well rounded up. My mom has a picture of her pulling on my skirt tail when she was a puppy. I really, really wanted to scan that photo on here, but alas, my mom has it and she can't find it. (Don't ask).

So since I can't put her on here, I'll put the other one. This might qualify as the biggest pet. A horse. Wow! Isn't it every girl's dream to have a horse? I mean isn't it natural for every girl to go through some horse-crazy phase while growing up? Well, I lucked out and actually had that one fulfilled. Her name was Princess (original, huh?) and she was kind of stuck-up, too. She had a few foals while we had her and they were all pretty and nice. (Must have gotten it from the dad). She wasn't a bad horse, just kind of aloof. No matter how much time I spent with her, she never quite reached the "follow me everywhere" point. I'm not really sure if I'm making much sense. Maybe because we got her when she was already grown. Anyway, here's a pic of her and the first foal we had with her. This foal's name was Babynose (yes, I know, it's odd). Actually, I guess you could count Princess's granddaughter a pet of mine too. Babynose had a filly that I named Snow (one guess as to what color she was). I really like her too. I was working with her, and had even gotten her trained to lead, when my stepdad sold all of our horses. I was 15. 'Nough said on that.
Without farther ado, here is Princess:
(Please ignore the imperfections of the photo; it is over 20 years old and scanned at that).



Well, that's my pet(s) story. I look forward to reading about your pet. So go over to Kim's and link up your own story about those furry (or not so furry) friends of yesteryear.

A Dream Come True

Kim over at Homesteader's Heart hosts Show and Tell Saturdays. This week is about our favorite vacation.

Have you ever wanted to do something, but thought in the back of your mind that it would never happen? That's me. There are some places in the world I really want to visit and have wanted to visit for a long time...like almost my whole life. I think I was about 12 or 13 when I read about Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. And beignets (pronounced ben-yays if anyone doesn't know). Oh...yum. There are other places; Amish country in PA, Montana, the British Isles, Australia. And since I now got to visit the French Quarter in New Orleans, I have hope that I might actually get to see those other places too. Maybe. Someday.

Well, here I am, enjoying my favorite vacation (so far).

At the Cafe du Monde waiting for our beignets (and feeding the baby at the time). I didn't get a picture of me eating them. They get pretty messy. Powdered sugar.




















The girls enjoying their beignets...like I said, messy.


















The kids by Andrew Jackson's statue in Jackson Square. The kids in red are mine, the others belong to the friends we stayed with. And this was not all of them. We had 8 at the time, they had 6. The others are just not in the picture.
















One of the street artists. Yes, the guy is alive, spray painted silver, and holding a ferret.
















Some of the kids acting silly under one of their big trees down there.
















The tree from a distance. Notice how that one branch goes to the ground? I thought that was so neat. (I'm easily entertained and impressed).
















Well, there's lots more pictures, but I don't want to bore you. If you've never been to New Orleans you're missing out. If you go, you have to have the beignets. I mean, that's the whole point of going, right?

Just a note. We did go during Mardi Gras last year, but we are not the Mardi Gras type of people. My husband was working with a guy down there and that was why we went.

Oh and another thing to try is a King Cake. Yum, again. And if you know the history/tradition of the King Cake - my oldest son found the baby when our friends bought the first King Cake. :)

Show and Tell Saturday: Inspiring book

This week's show and tell is an inspiring book. Hmm...I've thought about it and narrowed it down to two and then had to pick between the two. They are both from the same people. A couple wrote one and then the wife wrote the other. I chose the one written by just the wife. It's called Created to be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl. Some of you may have heard of it, some of you may have even read it and/or own it. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. It will change your life. It's all about how wives were created especially to complete her man. Debi gives lots of stories from other women whose lives have been changed by following her advice. It has helped me see what my role in life is as a wife and mother. If you follow the principles she outlines in the book you will truly be the queen of your husband's heart and your home. You can purchase the book through their website. (Their button is also on my sidebar; the blue one with the child and NGJ on it). You can also find it on ebay through individual distributors.

Go over to Kim's site and find more inspiring books to read.

Until next time...

Show and Tell Saturdays - Kitchen Gadgets

This is hosted by Kim over at Homesteaders Heart. I've joined in this week to show you my favorite kitchen gadgets.

As I was reading Kim's post I was thinking, "Hey, I've got that...and that...and that!" But instead of writing about my own Vita-Mix, KitchenAid mixer, and George Foreman grill, I picked some other gadgets. (Also, like Kim, I couldn't decide on just one). So I picked our water filter pitchers, crock-pot, and scissors. Scissors? Yes, they are good for more than just cutting paper and your little sister's hair.

First, our water filters. Our water is city water and it tastes...well...that's why we have water filters. Plus, it gets rid of all the yucky stuff that's in the water.
















Next up, we have the wonderful, can't-do-without Crock-Pot. Seriously, folks, how many of us busy moms absolutely looove our Crock-Pot? There are even whole cookbooks devoted to Crock-Pot recipes. (Oh, and ignore any stains, puh-leeze).
















And last, but definitely not least, are our handy-dandy scissors. I tell ya, these babies are my favorite small, hand-held, kitchen gadget. They can cut open packages and cut up food. I hate trying to cut up my littles food with the side of the fork. Do you know how long that takes? It is sooo much faster and easier to grab these and snip, snip - all done.
















Ooh - ooh, and you know what? They are less than $1 at Wal-Mart! How cheap...uh cool is that?!

So, there you have it, folks. My favorite kitchen gadgets. Ok, I changed my mind, I'll leave you with one more picture. I just have to put my Kitchen-Aid on here. It's red! My kitchen has a Chili Peppers theme (can you believe that, Arlene? I still have my Chili Pepper theme that I started out with!) so if I can't get stuff in Chili Peppers, I try to get it in red. Oh, and my husband bought me this at Sam's Club, too. (see Kim's post).
















Until next time...