Memories of Chasing Cattle and More

Forty years ago--oh, my, yes, 40! -- DH and his parents and brothers were rounding up their cattle that had escaped from their fenced field that afternoon.

It wasn't the usual Friday evening on the farm. They had all intended to be at our wedding rehearsal.    260 miles away.    A 5-hour drive in "the good old days." (But nobody had clued the cattle in to those plans.)

It was quite an evening at the church. DH's sister (wife of our officiating pastor) got the phone call that they would all be "a bit late." Thankfully, they all still made it that evening, cleaned up and smelling good!

Another phone call came in that our musicians (cousin Gary and his friends) had had a minor car accident and wouldn't make it at all to rehearsal. Thankfully they weren't hurt!

The following day was the HOTTEST day of the year. An early morning rain made the afternoon and evening steamy. I got the scissors out to start some major alterations on my wedding gown -- thinking "this needs to be cooler!" That didn't happen. Mom grabbed and hid the scissors and locked the room to the sewing machine.

Our musicians and family and friends came from near and far and celebrated with us. Somehow everyone grinned and bore the horrible heat, drank a lot of punch, and used many fans. (In the good old days ... you know where I'm going with this ... we didn't have AC!) The cake started to lean a bit, but we all ate it as fast as possible.

The glitches of the day began after the ceremony and reception.

The groomsmen and a few other creative friends had decorated and hid our car along a creek bed to prevent any bad potato-in-the-exhaust pipe tricks or disconnected wires under the hood. With the 99.9% humidity that evening, they couldn't get the car back up the grassy hill--it was a true slip 'n' slide--not a great idea, guys!

So we agreed to take DH's parents' car for our first night away. Little did we think to fetch our luggage from OUR car's trunk. So we got to our destination 25 miles away where we enjoyed the room with AC -- but had to beg for toothbrushes and toothpaste at the front desk. We were so, so young (it's a wonder we could get a license!) and so, so naive!

The next morning we donned our going away outfits and called them "coming back" outfits, and drove back to retrieve our car so we could begin our honeymoon travels.

What memories!

This year we're enjoying a rehearsal evening at home with these treats from our  DD and SIL.

Tomorrow we'll be renewing our vows on the church lawn in the heat of the summer evening. To the music of cicadas.

Peachy Keen!

The peach tree is being VERY productive this hot & dry summer!

Naturally, not wanting to waste any fruit,

DH and I picked a bushel of peaches already

(and there are more yet to ripen).

Thank You, God, for these sweet surprises in Your creation.

Ahh, there's nothing like sweet, tree-ripened fruit!

After a trip to the store to get Sure-Gel (pectin),

5 lb bags of sugar, and 1/2 pint canning jars ...

We peeled, cut, and diced.

We heated and boiled.

We stirred and stirred.

It took 1/2 day to make 8 small jars of peach preserves.

We taste-tested by sampling our product

drizzled over butter pecan ice cream.

Perfect.

We're going to do it all over again

for at least four more days.

(That includes the taste testing.)

Lots of loving labor was contributed by DH himself.

He has ownership in these jars now.

DH: "What? You're going to give some to the neighbors?!"

Me: "Let's have a peach cobbler this weekend."

{Tree stamp by Verve

Ink from Close To My Heart}

                                      

You Rock

May is a month of many celebrations--

birthday cakes for DH and DD

and Mother's Day too!

I combined photos from our family events

and used the rich, colorful You Rock level 2 paper packet.

I inked the dimensional elements stars and circles

and did a little journaling on the shapes.

Here are two sets of Flip Flaps

that I added to the top of the Memory Protectors for the left page.

I love Ella's expression as Emily begins to blow out some candles

on the Pina Colada (very cool & refreshing) birthday cake.

Very slowly but surely, I'm getting caught up

and moving on to Father's Day soon!

Thanks for stopping to look and to leave some love for me.

Miracle Paper Projects

Today I played with the Close To My Heart clear acrylic scalloped card base and use the Miracle Kit papers to create a card for a friend

who recently retired after a long career as a teacher.

I love the see-through effect!

I used the "recipe" for the card that came in the Summer Keynotes.

When closed, the "Best Wishes" stamped sentiment paper strip

hides the inside sentiment I handwrote

on the inside using Cocoa ink.

For the two-page layout, I used the Celebrate recipe in the Miracle Kit.

The left page will hold a 5 x 7 inch photo

matted on the 8 x 8 inch crystal blue section.

The right page will hold two 4 x 6 inch vertical photos side by side

and journaling on the far right between the embellishments.

I plan to place photos of our daughter and son-in-law

from their recent wedding anniversary date into this layout.

Happy Anniversary, Emily & Christopher!

Zippidee Level 1 Layout

Today I spent all of 10 minutes at the most

putting this two-page layout together

from our early June fishing vacation.

That's all my eyes could handle.

Whether you have eye problems as I do,

or you just want to make fast and easy layouts,

Close To My Heart Level 1 paper packets

and Stickease embellishments are the BEST!

Zippidee is one of the new papers in the Summer Idea Book.

Check them all out. They're so pretty!

I added a few Flip Flaps to the photo sections

just so more vacation photos could be included in our album.

Just to add a little dimension, I popped the Stickease embellishments with pop dots and added two of the big brads.

Hope to get back to more fun scrapping as the days go by! Today I took my last prednisone tablet for this round of virus. And DH got a good report from his ultrasounds done on blood clots in each of his legs. Thank God. We definitely must do more exercising than sitting (that's easier said than done!). So we're motivating each other to mooooooove. He said we may need cattle prods, ha.

Be sure to visit my site to see ALL the CTMH products or to place an order.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving some love!

In the Garden

These are just a few of the flowers and tomatoes struggling to survive our Midwest summer heat.

This morning we got five minutes of light rain -- a "dry drizzle" as my mom describes it. The gardens and yards in St Louis desperately need the water from heaven. Despite the rivers being way out of their banks, we're in a drought.

And so are my eyes. My chronic dry eye syndrome has been compounded these past couple of weeks with a viral conjunctivitis. Seems it started with the sore throat and swollen glands during VBS week. During the holiday weekend, I had to get help at Urgent Care Center with both eyes swollen closed.

The prednisone causes me to be super wired. Every closet is cleaned! The counteracting Benadryl for the hot, itching rash causes me to be in a fog and sleep more than usual. So I take it only before bedtime. My friends and family don't want to be anywhere near me and I don't blame them! Yesterday the doctor declared me non-contagious. Now I hope to be on the upswing. I miss seeing the grandgirls!

My mind wants to accomplish so much. I miss paper crafting and being at the lake with the family.

But my eyes and rest of my body just need to heal. And so does DH's body. Yesterday he had to begin meds for phlebitis in his leg. Thankfully this new clot is superficial.

We may have ripe grape tomatoes in a week. They're coming along with these hot, sunny days. A friend started these plants from seeds. It's so fun to watch them grow and produce. I'm so glad we have the gardens to enjoy, and so thankful this kind of dumb stuff is temporary!