Friday, July 30, 2010

Movie Stars in Tennessee


Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon are in Tennessee and North Georgia, shooting scenes for their new movie, Water for Elephants.  Shooting will be at a home owned by the Cross Family on West Cove Road in Chickamauga, Georgia and at the Tennessee Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the next few days.   If I had some time off, I might just take some time to tool around to these locations and watch the festivities.  One of the local news programs showed the Chickamauga, Georgia location today and at 5:30am people were already lining the streets.  Robert Pattinson shot a scene at the home this morning....poor baby, hope he does not melt in our humid Southern temps. 

Mike and I are celebrating our 35th Anniversary this weekend with a trip to Franklin, Tn.  Going antiquing!! 

All The Best,
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Discipline Issues Anyone !!?

I have often heard it said that most bloggers are just frustrated writers.  In my case, I must agree with that assessment.  I have always wanted to write...I have bits and pieces of stories that I have written that span about 35 years....none of them are finished and that is why I am not a writer.  I am the most undisciplined human being on the face of the earth today.  I have big, bold, wonderful ideas but rarely see them through to completion.  This is true in almost every aspect of my life and not just specific to writing.  As sad as it is to say that about myself, I'm also a very honest person and I believe in calling a spade a spade.   I'm not sadistic about not finishing things, it's just that my attention and interest moves on to something else...I like to think that I am so creative and full of ideas that my little ole brain just cannot contain and process them all.  (LOL, now I might be getting away from that honesty a bit.)




You might notice from some of my book titles that I have very varied tastes in books, including some specific to the writing art...actually, I just love all books.  Maybe I'm not undisciplined at all.  Maybe I am just not good at recognizing what I really like...perhaps I just love books in general and I just think that I want to write.  Maybe the fact that I want to write, and not that I need to write is the true answer here or maybe it is just that I get bored easily.  Hmmmmm. 

At this stage in my life, do I really even care to solve this mystery?  Absolutely not.  I kind of like being undisciplined and not always having a planned agenda of my life.  Perhaps one day, I will finish a book and it will be just for me.  In the meantime, I will continue to be just happy, undisciplined me.

I am always looking to be the best that I can be, so if you are also an undisciplined shmuck....I'll take any ideas you have on improving!! 

All The Best,
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Monday, July 26, 2010

Catching Up

I have been able to recover my laptop operating system and am working on reloading my programs.  I can now get to the Internet and back on my blog.  I'll be catching up on reading through the posts I've missed over the next few days.  As my husband mentioned this weekend, I have been lost without my computer and am so happy to be able to take my trips back into Cyberspace. 

Mike and I hit some yardsales on Saturday morning and scored some brand spanking new Southern Living Annual cookbooks.  I have the entire collection except for a few of the early 1980s ones.  When I find them now, I pick them up for my daughter Tiffany, who is working on building her collection.  I also picked up 9 plantation shutters for $1 each.  We had breakfast at Southern Restaurant in Red Bank and then stopped at TJ Maxx and a couple others shops.   On Saturday night, we had an outdoor movie party and viewed Night At The Museum 2. 





 

Of course, riding the four wheeler in the dark is a must.  We intentionally pick movies that we know the kiddies like, but they still get restless after the first half hour.  The popcorn and candy only works for a while before they have to jump up and move around.  Mike took care of that by pulling out the four wheeler and tooling around on some nocturnal tours.

 



There are not too many things more beautiful than a Southern summer night,when a big ole bright moon is peaking over the treetops and covering the landscape with a silvery glow.   



I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and you were able to enjoy your family and the beautiful outdoors.

All The Best,


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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Major Coniption Fit Going On Here

I cannot believe the bad luck that I am having with my computers lately.  You might remember that my desktop died a slow and painful death a few months ago and I purchased a laptop.  Wednesday, my laptop threw up the blue screen of death and then would not boot  back up.  My operating system is fried, meaning that I lost everything.....I'm trying not to cry and throw a major roll in the floor fit because on the bright side, I keep my files backed up on my portable hard drive and I only lost a couple months data.  But really, I've lost two months of my photos that I will never be able to recover or replace, including my July 4th party.  I know, stupid me.  I should back up at least weekly and probably daily but I didn't and now I am so miserable that I could just throw that major coniption fit that is boiling under the surface.  I'm trying to be thankful that it was not worse and I only lost a small group of photos but right now, I'm totally into a big pity party.  Please someone bring the chips and join me. 

OK, deep breaths.   I know that once I stop crying that I will survive this.  These are just material things...but they are my memories...stop it, stop it.  Stay positive, be thankful.  I think I'll chant this for awhile. 

I just got off the phone with the tech rep and ordered a recovery disk with 2 day shipping.  The rep assured me that this will fix my problem, although he has no idea why my system would have failed on a laptop that is less than a year old.  I won't be able to post or read anyone for a few days (hopefully, only a few days) and I am so sad that I was not able to participate in Marty's Cloche party.  I borrowed my daughters laptop to troubleshoot my problem and try to resolve it quickly...didn't work and Mr. Tech could not offer me anything that I could do to get the recovery disk tomorrow and unbelievably there was no option to download it tonight.  Thanks to my sweet Tiffany for helping out her Mom and I'll be returning her laptop tomorrow.  I will be MIA for a few days as I anxiously await the Fed Ex Dude with my disk and hope it fixes the problem.  Wish me luck.  


All The Best,
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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Pitchers and Sunflowers, Oh My!

I love the brightness of Sunflowers...I don't think you can look at something with such a rich sunshiney color and not be moved to smile.  As homemakers, it is so important to surround ourselves with beauty and with things we love.  This provides a peaceful background and helps create balance in our busy lives. 




I love ceramic pitchers in all colors, shapes and sizes but I especially love the simple pleasure of a white pitcher. I have filled my pitcher with gorgeous sunflowers and added a bright bumble bee canister. 


I used a farmhouse theme for my tabletop, with the large white ironstone pitcher, farm scene plates and a milk bottle, just in case the cow needs to be milked as she grazes on the table for the next week or so. 








I'm joining the wonderful Ms Marty at a Stroll Through Life for her weekly Tabletop Tuesday party.  Please visit Marty to view her beautiful site as well as enjoy some great tabletop vignettes from her party participants. 

All The Best,
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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Long Holiday Weekend Love

This is going to be a stupid statement, but I love long holiday weekends.  When I was growing up, we rarely celebrated the holidays, other than Christmas.  My Mom's favorite saying was "It's just another day."  She still has a tendancy to say this same thing today and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand-up.  I have always tried to make sure that I recognize special days, like birthdays and holidays for my family because I think it is important to have fun and enjoy each other, every chance we get.  Daily life can be mundane, and working every day is hard and tiresome....that means the weekends should be reserved for something special. 

We had our July 4th cookout and get together on Saturday this year and on Sunday, we had left-overs and enjoyed an outdoor movie after dark - we watched Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.  On Monday, Mike and I went to the movies to see The Last Airbender and had a late lunch at O'Charleys.  I loved the movie...I know the critics have basically trashed it but I enjoyed the story and the visual effects were beautiful...apparently, I'm not hard to please.  I guage a movie based upon it's entertainment factor and how joyful and relaxed I feel when it's over.  I don't worry about whether this was original or that was not possible...it's a movie...it's entertainment...it's not supposed to be realistic.  I can get realism every day of the week, thank you very much.  I don't need to have to think through every phrase for the underlying meaning...let me vegetate and just enjoy.  As a bonus, give me a little kung fu and action to go along with my movie and I'm good. 

You might remember that I planned to use the hay wagon as my serving table this year.  You can read about my idea here.  It worked out great and I'll definetly be using this idea again. 

The troopes were getting really hungry, so I had to snap pictures very quickly.  This is the best shot I got of the overall wagon surface. 



I used a small chest to start the food line with plates and utensils. 



Because of the heat, all cold items were set in an ice bath and this worked out great...the food stayed cold and I did not have to jump right up after everyone was served and rush the food back to the refrigerator.  I used bandanas for napkins and also to cover the food so that it was safe from flying insects.  A little yellow pitcher held extra BBQ sauce for the smoked ribs. 


One corner was dedicated to beverages...off to the left and not shown in the picture, is a Coca Cola cooler of sodas...I used mason jars for sweet tea.  I keep the jars in their original box for storage and after washing, I store them upside down in the box. 


Individual bags of chips were available for the kiddies. 



We played and worked hard to stay cool.



We enjoyed sparklers and fireworks.




I hope you had and opportunity to enjoy your weekend with family and friends.  I'm joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for her weekly Outdoor Wednesday party....I almost forgot that it was Wednesday!!  Thanks to Susan for hosting this fun get together each week...please stop by and visit with her and all the party participants. 

All The Best,
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