Creating Memories.......

What a wonderful day yesterday was. All the favorite dishes for the birthday younguns was made. Michael complimented me on the dish that he asked for. I had never had it before and I thought it to be very tasty. The gumbo and fried chicken has become two of my dishes that is requested on a pretty regular basis. We even had a gumbo carry out request for a friend. I hope Melody remembered to take it with her. I always over cook for these get togethers. I had everyone divvy up the left overs and there was still enough left overs to take care of lunch and dinner for us today. After years of cooking extra in case someone came in while we were eating (which was more often than not), I have struggled to learn how to cook for just the two of us instead of for the two of us plus a few neighbors. You should pretty well figure that when I cook enough to serve 11 people that it will wind up being enough to feed a platoon of soldiers.

I think it would be wonderful if someday we could get all of the Yankee and Rebel children and grandchildren rounded up together at the same time. Can you imagine how much food I would cook up for a group that size?

This was the first time Paddy had met these relatives and I am happy to say that she fell in love with all of them. She managed to disappear on me when I had her outside and she had everyone outside searching for her. She had found an opening that was large enough for her to get under the deck. Everyone had their turn at loving on Paddy too and she loved it. When everyone was getting ready to leave, Michael was running after Paddy to get her to come back to the house. Every time he had her moving this way Seth would run too and herd her back toward Michael. We all had a full day. A day that ended with a feeling of peaceful happy contentment. Paddy was totally wore out. When everyone was gone she jumped up on the back of the couch and pretty much stayed there and slept until it was bedtime.

I am hoping that your week will be blessed with warmth and happiness.

A Little Of This..... A Pinch Of That.....

Tomorrow is a big day here on the Ridge. I think you have probably noticed the pattern by now, if you have been reading my posts for any length of time. When a birthday rolls around, I cook a birthday dinner. We have two birthdays in January that we always have to put on delay, because without fail we will have enough ice, snow or a combination of both on and off all month long. As it goes, the only people that is going to be able to reach the house on J.D.'s mountain are the ones with four wheel drive and that doesn't always guarantee success. Long story short (ha... right), tomorrow we will be celebrating Brittany, Michael and Melody's Birthdays. I cooked gumbo yesterday and put it in the fridge for the ingredients to mingle and give it that 'it is always better the second time heated up' wonderful taste. That was Brittany's dinner request. Tonight I made potato salad and fried chicken to put in the fridge and reheat tomorrow. That was Melody's dinner request. Last but not least tomorrow I will make Michael's dinner choice, Cavatini. Then since I am the cook I will also throw in a nice green salad because that is my choice....... :o)

Melody decorates cakes and does a wonderful job of it. Last year for my birthday, Chris went to Kroger and bought my cake. I want you to know that I have been relentless when it comes to giving her a hard time about it. I have even told people that my ex-daughter-in-law made my cake last year. Melody volunteered to make the cake for tomorrow. Hmmmm do you think I should be concerned about that? We'll see..... lol

As promised, I have added some more pictures of Paddy. We are still working on the housebreaking part of adjusting to each other. There are times when I can take her out with out her leash and she is good to come back to me when I call her, but then there are times when I call her and she just keeps on trucking. I tried taking her out on her leash and we walked and walked all over the yard with no potty business being taken care of at all. The minute we come back in the house and I turn my back she decides this would be a good time to take care of business. So we are going to give crate training a shot and see if that will work for her and us.

She took up to both of us real quick, but she has trust issues to a certain extent. When she sees either of us, that little tail whips back and forth like windshield wipers in a heavy down pour. As you start walking toward her and reach your hand out to pet her, the tail stops wagging and she tucks it between her legs and cowers. Bless her heart, my heart aches for her. It is more than obvious that someone has mistreated her in the past. She wants to be a part of our little family so bad, but she has that fear that someone is going to hurt her. We will get past that eventually with lots of love and patience. Buddy didn't trust men when he first came to live with us and it took nearly a year for him to get past it, but he did. In fact before he died he considered J.D. his favorite playmate. He loved the games they played together.

I am just about finished with my cooking, so I am going to go ahead and publish this post. I have a mess across the room calling my name..... "Jo come wash us, give us a rinse off Jo and then we want you to dry us and put us away!!" "Jo! Jo! Jo! why are you ignoring us Jo!"

Hope the rest of your weekend is blessed with beautiful warm weather and sunny skies.

Everything's Coming Up Springtime

(Click on collage to enlarge)

There is no mistake that spring is making an appearance around here. The trees and flowers are starting to bloom and stretching their limbs out toward the sun after a long winters sleep. We seem to be doing the same after a long winter of being pretty much confined to the house on the mountain. We have been as busy as the birds building their nests, going to Britt's band concerts, Britt's high school musical, Taryn's 5th grade musical program honoring our heroes and Riley's musical program with songs about a tropical retreat to Hawaii. There was even a little guy in Riley's Program that was sporting a Mohawk like Buddy's. Oop's softball games will be starting soon and Riley will be playing tee-ball this year so the entertainment spills over into the summer months. Oop told me the other night that this year she is raising a cow and a lamb for 4-H. So we will have the judging to look forward to in July. Taryn has been taking piano lessons and she will have a recital coming up soon as well. I love watching these children perform. All of them put their whole heart into what they are doing. Of course Seth isn't into any organised activities yet, but when he is old enough to be involved G'ma and G'pa will be there to cheer him on too.

(Click collage to enlarge )

Britt and Michael have birthdays in January and that just is not a good month for trying to gather everyone together for a birthday celebration. It seems as though the weather never wants to work with us on that. So we did a group birthday dinner for Britt, Michael and Melody in March. Melody got her fried chicken, Britt got her chicken noodles and Michael got his mac and cheese. Melody's grandmother turned 91 this year and Melody's mother packed a bag for her, put her in the car and brought her to Ohio from Kentucky to share her birthday with her grandchildren. She told us she didn't know where Jo (Yes, Melody's mom is a Jo too! You can never have too many) was taking her, but it took a long time to get there. Melody has been a part of our life since 1996 and this was the first opportunity I have had to meet her grandma. When you think of the perfect grandma that is wonderful and sweet and everything good that a grandma should be, then you are thinking of Melody's grandma.



I posted not long ago that April brought my big "60" birthday....... My dinner was held at Chris and Melody's. Melody served up lasagna and a big chef's salad complete with cake. I got a big laugh out of Seth. He was so excited about my birthday. He took me straight to the dining room to see all of the pretty plates and the gifts. Everything was just perfect. Seth is all about those birthday cakes. I was talking to Melody on the phone just the other night and could hear Seth in the background singing, "Happy Birthday Mommaw, Happy Birthday Mommaw". My thanks to my children, grandchildren and husband for all they do for me. I am a very fortunate woman and thank God every day for the blessing of my family.

Irish Blessings

May those who love us, love us

And those who don't love us,

May God turn their hearts

And if he can't turn their hearts,

May he turn their ankles

So we will know them by their limping!

Not long ago I posted a prayer request for a friend's son that has been missing since December. I have since put together a blog page with his picture and other information. Marty's mother, Patty has been in bad health for years, but has recently started spitting up blood and bleeding rectally. Please keep Patty and Marty in your prayers and take a look at the blog page: "Marty Is Missing" . If you could please direct others to Marty's blog page it would be greatly appreciated by his family. Even if someone has seen his car, that would give the family something to hold on to and perhaps give them some hope.

How about that AIG......... I guess when they received that stimulus money from Washington DC they must have thought that they had found the legendary Pot Of Gold at the end of the rainbow. They asked for that money on the basis that their business was failing. Then they turn right around and give "HUGE" bonuses to their top executives. Evidently if their business was failing, the bonuses weren't for going above and beyond as far as raking in the profits for the year. Or were they???? Do you think maybe they considered the stimulus check a profit? I am just glad to see that the government is monitoring these companies and will hold them accountable for not using that money as they were supposed to. There may be a bright light at the end of the tunnel after all.

Spring is right around the corner. It has been giving us previews for the past week and I have enjoyed every hour of the warm weather. I have been gathering records to get our taxes done. Mission accomplished on that job...... Uncle Sam gave us a very small refund and we get to send 75% of it to the state for the taxes we owe them. With Spring we will also be doing Melody's birthday dinner Sunday. I will be serving her favorite dish, my fried chicken. She will be sharing her birthday dinner with Britt, since we went to Louisiana right after her birthday and didn't do her birthday dinner. We will be adding Britt's favorite, chicken and noodles to the menu. Ohhh wait..... We aren't finished yet. Tersie has been seeing a special someone for a little while now and Michael's birthday was in January too. So we are just going to celebrate them all. I am waiting for Michael's favorite dish request. Meanwhile I have a cornbeef brisket cooking for supper and will be adding some cooked cabbage and cornbread to our supper menu. Can you say..... mmmmmmmmmmmmm? I'll be saying that when it starts sending out it's wonderful aroma through the house.

Go mbeannai Dia duit

(May God Bless You)

Happy Birthday Alley Oop

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLEY OOP!

Over the weekend we celebrated Alley Oops 14th birthday. With every birthday celebration I find myself forced to look at the fact that these grandchildren are growing in leaps and bounds. At the same time I find myself asking where are the years going? Oops theme for her party was a fiesta, complete with a Pinata, which worked for me, I love Mexican food. Melody made the cake and 'Chef-Boy-Ar-Chris' chipped in and added his touch to the main meal. We discovered that a Pinata can serve two purposes, Not only as a party game filled with lots of goodies, but also as a party hat for a goofy Dad and little brother.

This was the last picture of our B.R.A.T.s taken three years ago.

B.ritt~ R.iley~A.lley oop~T.bear

B.ritt~R.iley~A.lley oop~T.bear~S.eth

We seized the opportunity to catch this group together and get an updated photo of the B.R.A.T.S. As you can see none of them seemed to be really into having this picture taken.

As a final note, I just read Connie's newest post. The good news is that her mother is home, but in a fragile state. Please drop by 'Over Good Ground' and offer Connie some words of encouragement and hope.

Wishing you a blessed day.