Answers….

Asked by many blogging friends: “What is behind the stone fence at the Port of Ashland?”

There is a boat dock behind there.  If you noticed the bridge in the distance, it is the bridge that connects the state of Kentucky with the state of Ohio.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Port-of-Ashland/155255737817988  I imagine that Keith in Kentucky could explain it better than me.  Definitely my WV sister could as it is not far from her house.

The nice lady that I met yesterday at the Crap 4 Sale is not on Blogger or Wordpress.  She has her own independent blogging address.  I gave her my blog address and I hope if she is reading this she will get in touch with me.  I didn’t buy anything at the sale because it was mostly baby and children’s things.

******************************************

Do any of you ever feel sorry for yourself and envy those around you who may have more material possessions than you?  I have to confess that on more than one occasion I have indulged in a bit of self pity.  I had a lesson yesterday in humility.  I met a lovely lady at a garage sale yesterday and we chatted for awhile.  For me that is one of the fun things about garage sales, meeting and talking to new people.  I commented on what a lot of stuff that she had and she told me that a lot of it was donated by friends.  She said that within the past year she had 3 brain surgeries and owed over $100,000 in hospital bills. She then proceeded to tell me about it.  I listened because I know personally how much it means for someone to stop and take the time to listen to you.  I told her that I had fought a battle last year too and thank God we were both here to talk about it.

*************************************************

Have a peaceful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Crap 4 Sale….

Now how in the world could anyone resist a garage sale that was advertised like that.  My daughter  and I followed the ‘Crap’ signs to the sale where I met a very nice lady who is a fellow blogger.  Unfortunately as I was taking a picture of the sign (by permission) the wind blew on part of the sign.

I also went to garage sales yesterday.  I do love garage sales.

I met these two ‘gentlemen’ that welcomed folks to their garage sale. 

And this guy said ‘Welcome’ too!  The gentleman having this sale was a wonderful old guy that looked to be at least 90. 

I found more books today and some other good stuff.  I finally was tired though and had to come home as it was getting very warm and humid and it was beginning to affect me.

I hope you all have a great weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

 

Garage sale finds….

I stopped by the garage sale again this morning on my way to the store.  I bought a few more books and talked to some of the ladies there that were running the sale.  I am very interested in going back there on a day that they are open to have a tour.  I   have always wanted to trace my dad’s roots and I think I can get some help from the county Genealogical & Historical Society.  One woman that I was talking to said that her roots had been traced to Germany with their help.

My garage sale finds.  I haven’t had time to organize them yet.

I also found this darling little teapot yesterday at a sale for 75 cents.  The light in the kitchen was not conducive to good picture taking this morning.

I also found a few other things that I needed (wanted).

It is already hot and humid this morning so I am staying in for the rest of the day.

Stay safe and be happy!

Beth

Garage sale morning…

A beautiful morning for garage sales after much rain since last Sunday.

Not a cloud in the sky!  Awesome!!  Temperature mid 70s.

I found several books and a few other things I thought I couldn’t live without.  I don’t buy knickknacks anymore as I don’t have room for that kind of stuff.  There were lots of things like that at the sales today.  Still waiting for the Genealogical sale which should be soon.  That is where there are so many books to choose from.

The rain has been good for my flowers that I planted around the lamp pole at the end of my driveway.

Have a lovely peaceful weekend!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Just beat the rain…

while out visiting some garage sales today.  I found more books, a lovely casserole dish complete with lid, DVD kid’s movie for my daughter for her kids at church, etc.  It was a fun morning.  I came home and washed 2 loads of clothes and now I am exhausted.  It was very cold here this morning, upper 30s and I wore a winter coat and hat to the garage sales.  I am so ready for spring to decide to come back.    Another month and it will be summer and it will be hot and the temps will soar.  Just Illinois weather.

Lots of sales in the nice part of the city today.

These beautiful flowers (many shrubs) were all along the driveway leading to the house.  The lady having the sale said she was moving to California.

********************************************************************

And speaking of Illinois, it is said to be the most hated state in the USA.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/04/30/half-the-people-in-illinois-hate-living-in-illinois/

I don’t hate Illinois. so I must be in the 50% that doesn’t hate our state.    It was a pretty good state before a few of our governors, most notably Ryan and Blagojevich got their greedy hands in the political pot.  I was brought to Illinois from Missouri as a small child so I have virtually lived here all of my life.  There are two parts to Illinois, Chicago and downstate.  I have always lived in the downstate half and I have never thought the division of state monies was distributed evenly.  Chicago getting 3/4 and the rest of the state 1/4.  Just my way of thinking.

That is enough political meandering for today.  It is pouring down rain again and I am tired so I am going to rest for awhile.  I will catch you all later.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

 

Nice Drizzly Morning…

We have had drizzles the last few nights, not enough to amount to much, about .03 of an inch.  We need a lot more than that.  I am hoping it doesn’t come this winter in the form of ice and snow.  I hate cleaning the car off.

My daughter was kind enough to take me to a few garage sales this morning.  I have missed most of the garage sales this summer.  After we went to the garage sales we went to Bergner’s where I got a pair of slacks, a pair of shorts, a pair of sandals and 2 packages of fluorescent footies all for $29.41 for a savings of almost $83.  When I took some books to Goodwill this week I was given a whole handful of coupons to be used at Bergner’s.  The coupons worked on everything.  So much fun.  I think I will go back again before the promotion ends on October 5th as I have a lot of coupons left.

I have cleaned the bathroom and run the sweeper this week.  Tomorrow I have some laundry to do and mopping the kitchen floor and dusting.  I should have done these things today but I had more fun out at garage sales and shopping.

Tomorrow begins my 7th week of recovery.  I am keeping track of the weeks that I have been allowed to live and thanking God for the privilege. I have 3 doctor appointments this next week, the 23rd, 24th, and the 27th.  My birthday along with my twin falls in the middle of the week on the 25th.  I can’t believe how old I am getting.  Don’t ask, because I will never tell. 

Have a great weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!

Beth

The first one of the season..

You can tell spring is here when the garage/church sales start popping up.  Friday was a very good garage sales day.  The weather was overcast and windy.  I had on winter coat, hat and gloves so I stayed fairly warm,  We saw lots of spring color.  There was a lovely tree all bloomed out at one garage sale.  I asked the gentleman in charge if I could take a picture and he said yes.  His wife came outside and wasn’t happy for some reason.  She did allow me to take the picture although I think she jinxed it because it didn’t turn out well.  The husband said as we were leaving that the wife said if they ever divorced that she was taking the tree.  lol

Then we saw this lovely whatever it is as we were driving by a house.  Picture below.

I have never seen anything like it before.

Then when I dropped my daughter off I started admiring her neighbors flowers.  I snuck a few pics since I knew they wouldn’t mind.

I was trying to hone in on the tulips here but I didn’t want to be so obvious.  If you will click on the pictures you will see Fred and Jeanie’s tulips.

I did get several books at a church sale and a few other things.  It was fun!!  I love garage sales!

Have a wonderful day!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Another rainy day…

however I did get out to check the garage sales which turned out to be a total waste of time.  I think the garage sales are done now until next spring.



A garage sale in the rain!

Then to food depot where I got the large boxes of Kleenex for 88 cents and Rays Chili for 88 cents.  They are having an 88 cents sale on a lot of things for 4 days, Thursday through Saturday.  I stocked up!

The Cardinals won last night 8 –3.  It was a very exciting game.  I think though that these night games are a bit too much for me.  lol  I get so wound up in hollering for my team that I have to unwind before I go to bed.  The next game is tonight at 7PM CDT.

It is still drizzling outside and the temp is 48 degree so I am in for the rest of the day.
Have a wonderful weekend.  Stay safe and  be happy!!

Beth

Friday…

is my garage sale day. I love garage sales.  I am very picky about what I buy.  Today was not a good garage sale day.

I finished off the morning by going to Schnucks.  I have now been to all of the major grocery stores in town this week to get their bargains.  I wanted some tomatoes from Illinois but they were hard as a brickbat.  I really enjoyed the homegrown ones I was given a couple weeks ago.  The peaches looked good though so I got enough to make something with. 

Yesterday the high temp was 95 degrees and 100 a little bit to the south of us.  Today is going to be another scorcher but there is the tiny hope for some rain on Sunday.  I really am longing for fall!!

I am really tired this morning after a sleepless night.  I will be by to visit you all after lunch.

Have a great weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

1.85 inches…

of glorious rain fell here yesterday.  We had rain all day long until late afternoon when the sun came out.  There were two different hailstorms, the first early in the morning and the second towards noon.  It is blissfully cool here right now at noon at 67 degrees.  Thank you God!!

And it finally rained!!!

I have been to garage sales this morning.  I found LOTS of books!  I won’t have to purchase anything for my Nook all winter.  ILOVE garage sales.

Tomorrow one of the large churches here is having a church sale.  I will go to that in the morning if the good Lord’s willing and the creeks don’t rise.  Now why does  that saying make me think of my dad??  Maybe because it was one of his favorite sayings.

I hope you all have a great weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Still looking…

 

at old pictures.

I think this picture has a lot of character.  this is my Aunt Ruth, the sister of my grandfather on my mother’s side of the family.  Just look at all of the different things you see in the picture, clothes hanging on the line, a tiny head of a child in the front of the picture, etc.

******

I have been to garage sales this morning.  I t was fun.  I picked up some nice Christmas doo dads to put around my door at Christmas, a Gooseberry Patch Christmas Cookbook, and a couple of books to read.

It is a lovely cool day at 77 degrees right now with a northeasterly breeze at 15 MPH.

I hope you  all have a peaceful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain…

YES!!  It is raining here in central Illinois. A nice steady rain for the last couple of hours with hardly any lightning,  God is good!!

    

From my front door and from the back door where you can also see the ‘tree’ that I take a picture of each month with the cemetery in the background.  Click to make pictures bigger. 

Yesterday was a good day for hitting the garage sales.  Hot but humid reaching the mid 90s.  The mid 90s are nothing after the week of 100 – 105 temps we had all last week.

At a garage sale yesterday a boy about 8 with a slightly older sister were manning their garage sale.  (I was praying that the mother was close by keeping a watchful eye on them)  There was a big table of coloring books and young children’s story books, most of them brand new.  I asked the boy how much these books were as I have a 3 year old great great niece here in town (yes, I meant to say great, great) and my daughter is in charge of the nursery at her church.  This boy told me that the more you buy, the better the deal.  He was so serious, I just started smiling.  He really made my day.  We settled on $1.25 for 11 books.  I feel that kid is destined to go far, probably in politics! 

I also got a few hardbacks, some DVDs,  and 3 cookbooks.  And a huge new Christmas tin that will be perfect for holding my homemade fruit cake while I have it soaking in the rum.  Less than $10 total spent.  Then my daughter and I ate at Bob Evans.  It was a very nice morning although very tiring. 

The rain has stopped now but I am thankful for each drop we got.  I hope you all have a pleasant weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!1

Beth

Heavenly Orange Fluff Recipe…

Heavenly Orange Fluff

"Our Daily Bread" cookbook with recipes from the ladies of the First United Methodist Church, Champaign IL. 1982

• 2  small packages orange Jell-O
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup juice from pineapple and mandarin oranges, heated to boiling
• 1 small can frozen orange juice
• 1 20 oz.  can crushed pineapple
• 2 cans mandarin oranges

Use 13X9 pan.

 

In large bowl, mix Jell-O, boiling water and juice from pineapple and mandarin oranges that you have heated to boiling. Add pineapple, mandarin oranges and the frozen undiluted orange juice. Put in the 13X9 pan. Chill until thick, then add topping.

Topping:

1 small package lemon instant pudding mixed with 1 cup of cold milk. Fold in 2 cups of Cool Whip. Spread on top of Jell-O salad.

********************************************************************************

I am sharing another recipe from my recipe site as it its so hot here my brain isn’t functioning properly.

I did go out for just a little while this morning and went to 3 yard sales where I found a few books and another old cook booklet,

Have a wonderful weekend, be cool and stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Fantabulous Friday…

fan·tab·u·lous/fanˈtabyələs/

Adjective:

Excellent; wonderful.

Another day of being worn out but it was a lot of fun.  My daughter went with me to garage sales.  One thing nice about a larger city is there are so many garage sales.  I have stated before that I love garage sales.  I love meeting the people having them and I enjoy taking the the time to chat with them.  I am very particular about what I buy at a garage sale because I surely don’t need any more knickknacks  or things of that nature.  This morning at the Genealogical garage sale there were literally hundreds of books.  Now that is what I like to find at a sale.  I bought 2 boxes of books, all in mint condition.  At another sale I found 4 Nicolas Sparks hardbacks for 50 cents each.  I had just purchased 3 spools of thread for $2.39 each for my new sewing venture.  Today I found a whole ziplock bag of spools of thread for 50 cents. FUN!!

No eating out today though,  I fixed a sandwich here at home.  Tomorrow I am cooking chicken and fixing noodles with it.

It is very warm here today and starting to get humid.  No rain in sight though and we really do need some.  The tomatoes on my plants are bigger than marbles now, more the size of small plums.  I was talking to my neighbor across the driveway from me and two of her neighbors have planted tomato plants too.  I am hoping we have enough tomatoes for us all.

Have a peaceful weekend. Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Fantastic Friday…

Oh my, the garage sales, so many and I was worn out long before we found them all.  North Pekin alone was having a community sale of 40 or more homes.  My daughter and I went to several in town and then to quite a few in the community sale.  I got several books including 2 cookbooks put together by different groups.  I love that kind of cookbook.  It is my kind of cooking.  Lots of really nice Christmas trays and tins.  I do a lot of goodie giving at Christmas and I never ask for the container to be returned (unless it is one of my kids.)   Then we stopped for a bite to eat and then home.

Not a good picture taken from the inside of my car.

It was in the low 40s when we started out this morning.  It has climbed all of the way  up to58 degrees now.  Can you imagine garage saling on the first day of June wearing, jeans, sweatshirt and a winter coat?  Yep, that was me.  My daughter wasn’t dressed quite so winter like but then she is 20 years younger than me and healthier. 

Three men ages 24, 23, and 19 were arrested for vandalizing my cemetery.  Just as I suspected they were not juveniles but adult drunks. 

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x639970681/Alcohol-fueled-cemetery-vandalism-police-say    

My furnace wasn’t working this morning when I got up.  Maintenance came and fixed it while I was gone.  That is one good thing about renting.

I hope you all have a peaceful weekend.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

better late..

than never.  I just can’t seem to get going with my blog like I was doing.  I have posted without missing a day since Dec 1, 2011 so I am trying to not miss a day.  It seems to be getting harder to do that. 

I have been garage saling this morning.  I found some books and that was all.  Not very good sales this week.

My glasses came in this morning and after wearing them for a few hours I can see they need some adjusting.  I will get that done on Monday.

Next week I will be getting some flowers for my planter and to put around the lamp post and a tomato plant for my pot.  That is the extent of my gardening for this year.

It is sunny and super gorgeous out again today.  The temperature is 74 degrees.  Just a perfect day.

I hope you all have a great weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Hi Ho Hi Ho…

it was off to the garage sales I went.  I didn’t use the map, but I found 4 garage sales and a church sale.  It was lots of fun, even going by myself.  I found like new paperbacks, tins to pack goodies in and miscellaneous.  There were 2 neighborhood sales but they were in parts of the city that I had never heard of.  Two years ago when I first moved here I got lost and I didn’t want to repeat that so I stuck to the streets I am familiar with.  Have I told you all before that I love garage sales.

Jim and I used to leave on Saturday morning about 7 AM, arrive back home about 2 PM and hit all of the neighboring towns garage sales.  Champaign/Urbana was our favorite place to go.  There were always lots of sales there because of the University.  I also loved to have a garage sale.  Getting the stuff ready wasn’t much fun but I loved talking to the people.  That is one of the things I miss most here is the interaction with people.  I did try to volunteer at the Senior Center but they didn’t need volunteers at that time.; and then my health started going down hill.   But I haven’t given up hope!

I am looking for some get up and go so that I can do a little cleaning.  I also have laundry to do but I just may read a book instead.  I hope you are all having a peaceful day.  The sun is shining brightly and it is supposed to reach the 80s again today.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

I am…

getting later each day.  I even thought about not posting today and then I remembered I am on a streak here,  I think this will be 143 posts in a row.  I will have to check the math on that.

The reason I am late today is because I did something utterly ridiculous like doing some cleaning in the kitchen.  Now I don’t like to clean period but I like a nice tidy house and so I do such mundane things every now and then.   This morning was a ‘then.’

I turned on the iPod hooked up to the Bose speakers and I guess my alphabetically programmed list has worked its way down to I as about half a dozen versions of I’ll  Be Home for Christmas played in a row.  I love Christmas music anytime so I didn’t mind singing along with the music.  My bro from Boston said he was surprised to hear The Rolling Stones playing on my site.  I like them and I love their version of Drift Away.  In fact I like just about anybody’s version of Drift Away.

It was too cold to even hunt garage sales today as it was low 30s with a heavy frost when I got up this morning. It has warmed up to 51 degrees as I am typing this.   The sun is shining brightly though and that is a big plus.

I hurried and did 2 loads of laundry starting at 7AM so I could get that over with.  That combined with my temporary spurt of energy in the kitchen is all I have accomplished  today.  And I do believe that is enough!

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Dreary…

rainy morning.  It rained all night, is still raining and I think from all reports the rain is here to stay for a couple of more days.

Definitely not a day for cleaning so that nipped that passing thought in the bud.  I have to be motivated to clean and I am not motivated at all today.  I think I will hunt a good book and read.  I have over 100 books on my Nook and two shelves full so surely I can find something to read. 

Yesterday I did cook a little bit of roast and a couple of potatoes.  I will think about something to cook for today and tomorrow.  Something that will pass the time and keep me busy since I won’t venture out in the rain unless it is urgent.  That will be the first thing on my agenda after I get off the computer.  Check the freezer.

I found a nice little table at a garage sale yesterday and a cookbook and that is the extent of my purchases. 

Next week will be a busy one for me, 2 appointments back to back.

I have the container and in a couple of weeks I will get a bag of topsoil and a tomato plant and I will be in the business of growing tomatoes.  Oh I do so miss my garden at home.  I spent many an hour in the garden.  My favorite thing was picking the pole green lima beans then shelling and freezing them.   Next was the tomato plants.  We always had at least 15 tomato plants and there was only the two of us.  Plenty to share with the neighbors.

 

In these pictures you can see the green lima beans growing on the fence.  Click to make larger.

Off to see the wizard and find out what is hiding in my freezer.  You all stay safe and be happy!

Beth

P.S.  a note for Boston Boy.  Thank you!  You are as nice a brother as my real brother is.  Bless you!

Busy, busy, busy…

and I do mean busy.  I hit a bonanza at garage sales yesterday.  I have enough books now to last me all winter.  I take the books to Goodwill as soon as I read them.  Below are my purchases.

 

If you click on the pictures you can see the titles.  Awesome buys.  This one garage sale had over 400 hardbacks for $1 each.  Buy 4, get one free.  I was able to find 6 by John Sandford that I hadn’t read.  

And then I have been in the kitchen again. My son will be here tomorrow and I will be so happy to see him.  I really do miss him.  I am too far away now to see him as often as I did before.  I made his favorite lemon cream cheese bars yesterday.  Today I fixed potato salad and Mandarin orange salad (recipe in my recipe blog) plus chocolate frosted brownies.  We will have KF chicken with that and baked beans.  My daughter and son in law will be over after church to eat with us.

 

My son at age 8.  I found this picture in an old album that I haven’t looked in for many years.  I LOVE this picture.

I have to go now.  For some reason the highlighter won’t quit.  LOL  

  Beth