Happy Homemaker Monday - August 20, 2018

Good morning, Dear Friends! Happy Monday! 💗

After a very rainy Sunday the showers have tapered off and, although still dark and cloudy, the chances of rain today remain low. Regardless, the cloudy, cooler weather will make for a great posting, cleaning, and laundry day!

How goes things in your neck of the woods?

The past week and weekend were good here. I celebrated my 57th birthday on Monday and my oldest daughter and her children took Papa and I out of town for the day on a surprise birthday adventure (you can read about that here). I wrote last week's HHM post on Sunday and saved the weekly home blessing that I normally do on Monday for Tuesday.

Sunday evening (the night before my birthday) my husband, my cousin, Dave, and I went out to the park and watched the Perseid's meteor shower. That is always a thrill for me! I arrived with the Perseid's back in 1961 and they've always been special to me. It's an event that I look forward to annually. 🌠🌟🌠

Two granddaughter's celebrated birthdays this past week, as well. They both share the same birth-date and, beings as how I had to work on the actual day of, we celebrated a bit early. On Thursday, Elizabeth and I went out for lunch and ended up getting that Dairy Queen, birthday banana split after all! That's something that we both enjoy!

In the evening, 11-year-old, Gianna, and I went out and shared supper and an ice cream together, too. (NOT another banana split though! LOL!) 😆

On the way home we came back through the park and, there, we discovered a brand new, late-born, baby bison! Most of the calves at the park are born in late-April into May, but we have this one cow that consistently has her babies late.

Newborn Baby Bison at Prairie State Park

Most of the other calves are old enough to have lost their pumpkin-orange, newborn coloring and have turned brown like the adults (this normally happens at about three-months of age), but this little guy was just as fresh and pumpkin-y as any newborn bison calf I've ever seen. My guess is that it had been born within the previous 24 to 48 hours or so. So cute!!! 💗

My boss took this picture of the newborn calf nursing on Saturday and, with his permission, I am sharing it here.

Newborn Calf @ Prairie State Park - Born August 2018

That's enough about last week. Let's move on into this week's post, shall we? And, since you're here, won't you join me in visiting Sandra and the other lovely ladies for Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom? It's a real blessing! 

Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and
all of the wonderful ladies of Happy Homemaker Monday!

Right now I am...

... finishing up my breakfast and enjoying a cup of tea while I work on this post. I am also enjoying the cool morning breeze that flows through my office window this morning as the birds twitter and sing nearby.

Am thinking...

... about all the things that I hope to accomplish this week. I have a HUGE to-do list (this includes both have-to's and want-to's), but we'll see how far I get in reality. 😏 AND I'm thinking about an upcoming give-away that I'm going to be doing soon, so be watching for that! 😉

On the breakfast plate...

... buckwheat pancakes (made from the organic mix that we got at War Eagle Mill on my birthday) served with Smart Balance and sugar-free syrup and a piping hot cup of Twining's Irish Breakfast tea (actually, I'm on my second cup now)

Buckwheat Pancakes

The weather...

A cool 73 degrees under partly cloudy skies with a slight breeze blowing. It's really very nice! The next few days promise to be in the low 80's for daytime highs with nights in the upper 50's to low 60's. I can handle it! 💗

On my reading pile...

In addition to daily scripture reading, I am still reading The Name of Jesus by Kenneth E. Hagin and Discover Nature at Sundown by Elizabeth P. Lawlor.

On the menu this week...

Monday - taco soup

Tuesday - burgers on the grill with zucchini fries
Wednesday - stuffed peppers with black beans and corn on the cob
Thursday - out
Friday - broiled salmon on a bed of sauteed zucchini with steamed broccoli
Saturday - leftovers
Sunday - leftovers

On my 'to do' list...

- Monday - Plan the week ahead, do my weekly "home blessing", do laundry, take a food inventory, start a list of home repairs that need to be made, and a list of jobs that need done before winter
- Tuesday - Work on the blog and deep clean our bedroom
- Wednesday - Work on the blog, deep clean the bathroom
- Thursday - Have lunch with and say good-bye to a friend that is moving away, attend program at Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site - Order No. 11 - 155 Years Ago 
-Friday - Work
- Saturday - Work (Sunflowers a la Petit Prairie program...I'm really excited about presenting this one!!! 🌻🎨🌟)
- Sunday - Church, work in the afternoon

In the craft basket...

Am working on paper beads for a table about Native
American trade beads at Prairie Jubilee this year.

The beads will be put into kits that
children can turn into a necklace.

Looking forward to this week...

Having several days off in a row with nothing pressing on any on front. Am hoping to get a lot of extra work done at home. Am also looking forward to the Order No. 11 program at Battle of Island Mound.

Something interesting I watched...

I wanted to share a video of a bear playing in water that my husband sent me on Facebook, but I can't find it on Youtube. Here is the link to it if anyone is interested:

https://www.facebook.com/coy.lindsey.5/videos/673589526334908/

From the camera...

My husband and I decided to go for a walk in the rain yesterday at the Lester R. Davis Memorial Forest near our home. A variety of lichens and fungi were quite showy with all the dampness. Here are a few of the things that we experienced while there..

John and I on the Forest Trail

Tall pines towered above us along the trail. Mr. Davis
planted over 100,000 trees and shrubs (over 300 species) over
a 15-year time period before turning the property over to the
Missouri Department of Conservation in 1968.
(How many times did I use the word "over" in that once sentence??? 😲)

I'm not sure what kind of shrub this is, but it was sure pretty!

This was cool! This leaf appeared to be suspended in mid-air, but
was actually held there by invisible strands of spider webbing.

This shelf fungus was so pretty! Look at the variety of colors in it!

Loved this bright orange fungus!

The leaf-strewn path seemed to foreshadow
the coming autumn. Made me happy! <3

Lichens (part algae; part fungus) are a great indicator of air quality. The air quality here is
obviously very good because lichens of every kind and color grow here unabated. 

Scripture passage...

Well, Ladies, that's it for this week! I pray that each and every one of you have a blessed and beautiful week ahead! And I'll see you next week! 

Until Next Time...
~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Summer - Post #25 - A Rainy Summer Sunday

30 Days of Summer - Post #24 - Childhood Summer Memories

30 Days of Summer - Post #23 - Summer Birthdays

Happy Homemaker Monday - August 13, 2018

Be sure to visit our 30 Days of Summer blog series. To find out more check out this post on Jean's site and this one on mine. Jean and I hope you'll join us in our summertime adventure! 🌞

30 Days of Summer - Post #25 - A Rainy Summer Sunday

It's late Sunday morning and the deluge has arrived. It's humid, but the temperatures aren't bad, so we've opened the house up and are enjoying the rain. 

In fact, I'm doing something that I've never done before. I've moved my laptop to the bistro set on the back porch and am writing this post from there. The rain is gently falling and each drop makes music as it hits the tin roof overhead. A fast-moving train makes it's way down the track, and through town, as it heads east towards Lamar. In the distance, a dog barks and thunders rolls unabated across the tall-grass prairie to our west. 

Outside the windows of this glassed-in structure, to the east, I can see rain drip-dropping from the eaves as it rolls off the metal roof above. Just outside the door, on one side of the exterior porch, basil grows in a pot and, on the other, the last of this year's giant, copper-colored sunflowers sway and dance in the breeze as the wind increases. 

Basil, Giant Copper-colored Sunflowers, and Cacti to the East

Just beyond that, my mother's cactus stands proud and tall in the middle of the backyard, while my dad's prickly pear crouches nearby, low to the ground, alert, and ready to jab its spiny thorns into any unsuspecting creature that might happen by.

I stepped out into the rain to capture this sunflower's face.

The rain intensifies and the storm that, just moments ago, was rumbling over the prairie to the west, is now upon us. Thunder crashes overhead and the rain intensifies. 

Next to where I sit, just outside the Plexiglas on the south side of the porch, the last of this year's yellow sunflowers lay in a tangled heap. A few still stand, but most of them, their heads heavy with seed, bend low to the ground and are entwined one around another. Some, despite their heavy burden, turn their tiny yellow faces upwards, drinking in the rain as they search for sun-rays beyond the darkened clouds; others turn their faces toward the ground, shielding themselves from the storm's onslaught. 

Looking at Sunflowers Through the Plexiglas on the South

This little one bravely faces the rain and searches
 for sun-rays beyond the darkened clouds

These little ones shield their faces from the rain, by
keeping their heads bent low to the ground.

I stepped out in the rain to capture this sunflower's face.

Lighting flashes overhead now and the storm is bearing down upon us. According to the weatherman, this system is a big one and the rain will continue throughout the day, into the evening, and overnight, into the wee hours of tomorrow morning. I welcome it. We've been dry for far too long.

That's how I'm spending this late rainy Sunday morning here in southwest Missouri. How are you spending the day where you live?

Until next time...
~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Summer - Post #24 - Childhood Summer Memories

30 Days of Summer - Post #23 - Summer Birthdays

Happy Homemaker Monday - August 13, 2018

30 Days of Summer - Post #24 - Childhood Summer Memories

I've never felt "old" and, most of the time, I don't even feel like I'm as old as I am or even getting old-er. (In fact, most of the time I don't feel a day over 18!) I mean, I know that I AM getting older. Like everyone else, obviously, I'm getting older than I was with every passing second! And I've always been extremely sentimental. But, this morning, something was different. I'm thinking that I'm turning into a sentimental, old fool or something.

I ran out earlier to check the fluids in my car before leaving to go pick my granddaughter up for her 13th birthday outing, and, I'm not sure WHY exactly but, when I lifted the hood on my car, I started having flashbacks to summer days spent at my grandparents house in the country at Bates City, Missouri. 🏡

When my cousin came to mow last night, I had moved my car from where it was parked in the driveway to an area that he had already mowed, and I failed to move it back to its usual place immediately, like I normally do. (Usually it is parked in the driveway or in front of the house.) This time I had moved the car over to the edge of the property and parked it under the trees that grow along the fence row and that's where it still was this morning. 🌳

My grandpa, George, used to park his car in the shade of a tree when he went to do any kind of work under the hood. Perhaps it was a combination of what I was doing (lifting the hood and checking the fluids), where I was doing it (I'm used to being inside a building or out in full sun on a tallgrass prairie...the shade of trees is not something that I experience very often at home), and the sights, sounds, smells, and other sensations that accompanied it...cicadas buzzing loudly in the trees overhead, the greasy smell of motor oil mixed with that of freshly-mown grass, the dewy dampness of the grass that tickled the bare spots on my sandal-clad feet. Somehow it all went together to produce a memory from something long ago and far away. In that moment I missed my grandpa and grandma so much that I almost cried. 👴👵😭

I tried to push the memory away, but, as I did, more memories came. I decided then and there, that when I got home, I was going to look through the old photo albums and see if I could find some summer memories.

I didn't find any summer pics of Grandpa or Grandma or their place at Bates City, but I did find a few summer photos of my growing up years in Grain Valley. 

Here is what I found...

Me on the fender of Grandpa George's old truck that, eventually, my mom and dad
had, then my Uncle Don, and, I THINK, that my Aunt Geneva or one of her children
still have to this day. What a great old truck it was, has been, and maybe still is! 😊

The place where I grew up on Old 40 Highway (AA) in Grain Valley, Missouri...the
house that my dad built with his own two hands and the shop where he worked
hard, made a living, and provided for his family. By the world's standards, my parents
didn't have a lot, but what they did have was theirs and I was proud of them.

My dad and I in the corner of that property where the flower garden was.

My mom and I in the front yard.

Me on my 13th birthday. The gift on top of that pile? From my husband's mom
and dad! (My husband now. He wasn't my husband THEN! 😆 But we have
known each other since I was 5-years-old and our dads were best friends.) 💗

These are a few of my childhood summer memories. What summer childhood memories do you hold dear?

Until next time...
~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

30 Days of Summer - Post #23 - Summer Birthdays

Happy Homemaker Monday - August 13, 2018

30 Days of Summer - Post # 22 - My Summer Friend

30 Days of Summer - Post #23 - Summer Birthdays

Summer is the season for birthdays in our family! Half of our grandchildren (nine of them) celebrate birthdays in summer, as do two of our sons, a son-in-law, and myself. 

In addition to birthdays, three of our children and their spouses celebrate anniversaries in summer, as did my parents. In fact, my parents celebrated their anniversary on my mother-in-law's birthday! The majority of these family celebrations fall within the month of August.

Considering how large our family has grown over the past decade and a half or so, my husband and I don't go crazy with birthdays or holidays. In fact, we keep everything pretty simple. 

For the grandchildren, we give cards with the number of $$$ equal to their age enclosed, plus, once they're old enough, I try to spend special time with each grandchild by taking them out for a one-on-one birthday lunch or supper to the restaurant of their choice. We spend that time chatting and just getting to know one another. It's a good time to catch up with what's happening in their world and find out what their interests are at the time. They seem to look forward to it each year and I do, too. In fact, tomorrow I get to take two grandgirls out...one for lunch and one for supper! (Both of their birthdays are actually on Friday, but I have to work that day, so we're going to celebrate on Thursday instead. 😊) In addition to that, we attend any birthday celebrations that we are invited to by their parents. 🎂🎉🍨🎈🍰

Only once (that I know of anyway) have I forgotten to take one of our grandchildren out for their annual birthday meal with Nana and that was last year with our next-to-the-oldest grandson. His birthday is in early January, and follows so close after Christmas, that I didn't even think about it! We were invited to his birthday celebration by his parents and everything and I still didn't think of it! Not until July or August, that is! It was then that I said, "Silas, I don't remember taking you out for lunch for you birthday back in January. Did I?"

He grinned real big and said, "No, Nana, but it's okay." 

I said, "No, it's not okay. You should have said something!"

He said, "I knew you'd remember sooner or later." Goofy guy! 🤡

Needless to say, Silas got a very belated birthday outing with Nana, BUT...it still ended up happening! 😊

My birthday was Monday, August 13th. Over the course of the week I've received many wonderful birthday greetings, some lovely cards, and these beautiful birthday flowers from our youngest daughter...

Birthday Flowers

Our oldest daughter, along with her children, took Papa and I on a surprise birthday outing for the day. I had no idea where we were going until we got there. We started with a visit to the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, Arkansas, and ended up at the War Eagle Mill near Rogers. We hiked a nature trail, visited the chapel, went through the mill, had a picnic lunch, played in War Eagle Creek, and drove through an Arkansas state park. It was a lot of fun and made for a great birthday!

The Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, Arkansas

Walking the Nature Trail at the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel

War Eagle Mill 

This is the outside of the mill. This places has held special
meaning for our family for four generations now. 👴👩👧👶

The inside of the mill. The day we were there they were
grinding corn into cornmeal.

(For a history of the mill click HERE.)

After a picnic lunch we enjoyed playing in War Eagle Creek. The grandchildren
and I enjoyed collecting rocks and tiny clam shells together.

We ended our trip with a selfie in front of the mill. Papa was so busy making sure
that the grandchildren were looking at camera that he barely made it into
the picture himself! 😆 We had a great day and it was a lot of fun! 

I ended my day with a banana split. I'm not sure how the tradition got started (it seems like it was, either my grandfather or my two aunts that started it all to begin with), but, either way, ever since I was a child, I have always celebrated my birthday with a once-a-year, birthday, banana split. Usually, I get one at Dairy Queen, but this year, I made my own. I started with homemade chocolate ice cream, then I added a banana, chocolate syrup, and whipped topping with a maraschino cherry on top! It was so yummy! 😋

Birthday Banana Split. 

Well, that pretty much sums up summer birthdays around here! How do you celebrate summer birthdays in your family?

Until next time...
~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

Happy Homemaker Monday - August 13, 2018

30 Days of Summer - Post # 22 - My Summer Friend

30 Days of Summer - Post #21 - Summer Picture and a Summer Poem of My Own