Confused? Who Me?

Okay, I admit that in a mere two days I have a new appreciation for my mother. She took care of three...her mother, my father, and herself (plus two cats and a poodle). I only have to take care of my grandmother and myself. John, bless his beautiful heart, takes real good care of all of us. So I am the fortunate one.

Still, I confess to feeling confused from time to time. Living with the confused can do that to a person. ;> No one, however, is as confused as this crazy Christmas cactus of my mother's. It is living with me now, too, and is hanging out on the corner of the deck where Claudi/Emmy used to be. Have you ever seen a Christmas cactus bud in July?!



Oh, and just in case you thought the only newcomers were my grandmother and the cactus, wait until you hear about Sarah.

Have a pleasant weekend, Dear Ones!

Meeting HappyOne

She arrived with a comment on my blog on November 20, 2007 saying that she was going to try the mashed potato recipe and added this: I don't save my good china for special days anymore. Sometimes just an ordinary day is special. And that kind of thinking is what makes HappyOne such a delight. She takes joy in the simple things.

Back then she was writing a blog called Captain's Log. Today she writes Life is Good. Her husband Ken said that he was surprised, at first, by the popularity of a blog that is about the "ordinary" and went on to say that perhaps blogging is a way for us to know that we are all in this together. He's right, of course, and so we had some nice philosophical discussions about blogging, which I wished could've gone on longer. We even talked about many of you!

Despite Ken's assessment, I daresay that few of us walk six or seven miles every day or take pictures of fox, deer, geese or whatever wildlife happens to show up along the way; HappyOne does. And I love that I knew just what to take for her snack because she is dependable. Give the gal a dish of chocolate chip ice cream and a chocolate chip cookie and she's...you guessed it...happy! And she must know me pretty well also because she made me these yellow dishcloths. Thanks, HappyOne!

There they are!

We met at the Freedom House Cafe in Naples.

Yes, we ate, but forgot to take pictures. With all due apologies to the foodies out there, we decided to share our empty glasses.



Once we pinned Happyone down, we were able to play the Hokey Pokey.


How convenient that a dairy bar was right next door to the restaurant. Happyone couldn't have planned it better herself!
To quote the sign hanging above the mantel...We may have met as strangers, but such no longer be.

Happy Trails, Happyone and Ken. It was a blessing to meet you both. Enjoy a great time in Vacationland!
photos used by permission

Homecoming Day

It's homecoming day for my grandmother. Wish that I had remembered to bake a cake. And I also wish that those red hot rockers sitting on that porch were mine. Maybe I'll have some extra time to post now that I'm not running every day to visit. Maybe. That's a definite maybe; we'll see how it goes. My motto remains: One day at a time.

I know that some have expressed curiosity and interest in our visit with Happyone and her beloved. Just waiting for final approval on photo selection. (That was my idea...final approval on photo selection that is. 8 } )

Create a Happy Day!

A Haven's Food Mosaic

Dear heavens this was labor intensive. My techie skills, even with vast amounts of help from Big Huge Labs, etc., are quite poor. After hours of fooling around, I finally have something that I like — food and lots of it.

There's a gal...when I find her again, I'll pop in her name...who always shares what each item in her collage is. I like that. I'm going to copy her. It's the sincerest form of flattery after all.
(She may be Olivia.)

First row left to right

1. Brown rice salad with day lily garnish

2. Big bowl of Cortlands

3. Blueberry clafouti

4. Basic Tollhouse cookies

5. Brin's skillet cookies

Second row left to right

1. Rhubarb bread

2. Valentine Tea

3. Homemade Pizza

4. An Italian

5. Rustic bread

Third row left to right

1. 4th of July breakfast

2. Bananas

3. Skillet Cinnamon Rolls

4. Crumble Top Apple Pie

5. Pastel M&Ms

You can find many of these recipes right in my recipe box on the sidebar. It's a two-step process, but it may prove worthwhile. You'll find the recipes highlighted in fun colors linked to their blogs of origin.

I think that I'll be baking something for my dear blogging friend Happyone because she's not going to be able to do a lot of baking while touring about in my corner. Surely she'll miss her favorite evening snack and this way I can help her out. I'm so excited to be meeting her and her husband Ken this week and, yes, of course, I'll tell you all about it!

Just click on the title of this post to be whisked away to Mary's Mosaic Monday. Enjoy your week...