Jeans-The Struggle

I spent the past weekend looking for a new pair of jeans. Oh the struggle! After trying on about twenty pair, I managed to find one pair. Just hope they don't shrink!

I don't know about the guys when It comes to buying jeans, but us women got a lot of options.
[view from my dressing room. "blog post!"]

Supposedly, we can find a jean that will transform us into any shape we desire.Yea right. At least that's what the designers and sellers want you to think.
Unfortunately many young girls and women are looking for this and believe in it.

Here is a jean to make your butt look better.
They just come right out and ask ya.

Hmmm, just a year ago, I was looking for one to make it look smaller. Yes they have those too. 

Need a lift? Got that too. 

Can I not just find a blue jean that's simple? One made of cotton denim and not spandex? Well, there is Levi. My all time favorite but they leave no perk in my assets. 

And you will pay more for the holey jeans.

 

I guess that's pays the scissor guy at the end of the assembly line.

The struggle is real guys. Sadly society is always looking for a solution to every shape and size.

Be happy with yourself. Do not buy into these sales pitches, believe me, that one pair didn't "lift" anything! And unless you get maternity pants, your tummy has no where to tuck. 

Chicken Get Away

This picture makes me laugh. One of my facebook friends "Jackie" had posted it a while back. I saved it.

She took this photo of an empty chicken truck speeding down the highway. I found it hilarious as to why or how these guys got left behind in this position. 

Were they coming or going?

Are they giving new meaning to "takeout chicken?" 

What would be your caption to this photo?

Sweet n Salty

I don't know about you but when I eat something sweet, I have to follow with something salty, then back to sweet again. This can keep going until I gulp some water or brush my teeth.

I remember Mom used to make these cheesy Ritz snacks that consist of sharp cheese on a Ritz cracker, topped with a marshallow then toasted. It became a family favorite. I even got my husband and daughter hooked on these things. I've never known anyone to try these and not like them. 

Here is a list of other sweet and salty snacks that remarkably go well together.

• Chocolate covered pretzels.
• Maple syrup on country ham.
• Peanut butter and marshmallow cream on toast.
• Cheese puffs dipped in marshmallow cream.
• Salt on apples.
• Chocolate covered bacon.
• Bacon sprinkles on cupcakes.
• Pretzels dipped in peanut butter.
• Candy corn and peanuts. 

What are some other odd combinations you found that go great together? Is it sweet n salty you like? Hot and sour? Let me know. This could be interesting.

Memories- Fishin

Some of the days I miss the most are when I was young and dad took us fishing. There were four of us. When we all went, mom would come along too but most of the time he'd take only one or two of us.

First he told us to go dig for worms. This was fun too. We would walk down to the edge of the forest and rake back the dead leaves that blanketed the rich black dirt. There were several squirmy worms and in no time we would fill a container up with fifty or so worms. This was in the days when you could fish without a license as long as you used live bait. 

We'd grab our bamboo poles and bobbers as he would shuffle through the storage room for his reel and rod and tackle kit. He would often take us about three miles away to small waters around the foot of Cramer Mountain where there were flat river banks and fresh water. 

Poor Dad. I do not think he got any fishing done because we were always hanging our line in brush or feeding the crappies the bait faster than he could put it on the hook. I think we could have caught crappies with no bait at all. We even caught daddy's shirt and fingers several times. We kept him busy and made him grumpy. It was fun though. I later learned to bait my own hook and even take the fish off the hook myself. 

Then there was fishing with Grandma. That was special. She would only take one of us at a time. I remember getting to sleep over at her house so we could get out to the lake before sunrise. She liked to fish in the man made ponds that you would pay a small  price and fish all day. All day it was.
With shrimp or worms as bait, I would help her catch catfish. They were never as big as her stories, but that was our secret. 

She would bait her hook and with a cigarette in one hand and coffee in the other, she would sit with four or five rods on stands waiting on the lines to sneer. She was a good fisherman. I spent most of the day reeling in and out and often running from bees. This is were I learned to eat potted meat sandwiches and beenie winnies from the can. I also learned how to potty behind trees.

Those were the days.

Egg Chips

You haven't seen as many food post from me lately have ya? Well that's because its just to darn hot to use the oven. Things will change come Fall. You can bet on that.

Last night I sacrificed the cool house and cranked up the oven.
I made something really weird and unusual.

Egg Chips.

Yep you heard me right.
There is no rule that chips have to be made from a vegetable.
  

They were actually pretty good but not worth the trouble. Unless you add more cheese (which mine needed). Cheese is always worth the trouble. I like something this simple to be a quicker fix.
But thats just me. Try it for yourself.

Egg Chips

1/4 cup of egg beater egg whites. (or 4 whites from regular eggs)

1/4 cup of water.

Mix enough to blend but not froth.

Pour into greased or nonstick muffin pans. Just enough to thinly cover the bottom.

Salt and Pepper.(or other seasoning of choice)

Add cheese on top.

Bake 400 degree for 15 minutes. ( flip half way, but not necessary)

They become crunchy egg chips.

On half of these, I added some old bay seasoning to spice things up and they were delicious. You can experiment by adding other seasonings or dipping in ranch dressing.

These will work perfect for a morning snack or trick your kids into eating something healthy.
Enjoy.

ZERO CARBS

My recipe was inspired by this one

The fedora

During my recent beach vacation, we spent every sunlight hour on the beach under the umberalla or walking.

There are several hotels between our camground and another campground in which my brother-in-law lives. Its a mile stretch. We always walk down to say hey.

On the way back from the visit I wanted to check out the outdoor pool bar at the Hilton Hotel. My husband, daughter and I stepped off the beach wearing our bathing suits and coverups. I was sporting a fedora hat. Its my favorite head covering at the beach because we all  some of us know that vacation hair dont care.

The bar and pool was nice. But we didn't have any money with us to purchase a cool fruity, umbrella drink so we just observed.

While I was standing there waiting on Nick to check out the menu, a little old man approached me. He was dressed in blue jeans and plaid shirt. His leathered hands trembled as he gave me a sweet little smile and said "I like your hat, where did you get it?" I really don't remember but I gave him a grin and said "why thank you, I think I got it at Walmart." 

My daughter and husband were heading back to the sand so I had to run and didn't have time for chat. "Good bye. Have a great day" I said as I ran off.

Later that evening we visited the local outlet mall to walk off the dinner we just had at Hamburger Joe's. 
Low and behold there he was! My pool bar friend.

He was dressed in a long sleeve blue shirt, jeans and....had his own fedora hat! He didn't speak but I think he recognize me because he made a point to walk over to where I was taking a rest to get a soda from the machine as he kept sight of me from the corner of his eye.

He wanted me to see his hat. Ha!, 
And I thought it was some sort of pick up line, but no, he really liked my hat. He went out and bought him one and was walking proud.

Nick and I had a good giggle and went on our way. 

I wish I would have approached the man to tell him I like his hat too. 

That moment will never come again. 

Scoop It Right

Believe it or not, I'm not a real big ice cream fan, but when I go to the beach, I love walking around while eating a cone of butter pecan.

"Ill take a single scoop in a cone please". The person behind the freezer will take the ice cream scooper out of a bowl of (who knows how clean) water and proceeds to dip a large scoop of ice cream into a cake cone. A small cake cone that is.

They will plop it right on top, if your lucky they will use the back of the scoop and smash it down a little. After many incidents, I'm aware of what will happen once I do a good hard lick to the sweet stuff. It will roll off and hit the floor.

(Source)

If your really lucky, they will scoop it right.

When scooping ice cream, yes, wet the scooper for an easier dip. THEN, with small amounts at a time, fill up the cone. THEN add your adequate scoop on top. This helps hold it on the cone and gives you ice cream all the way to the last bite and we all know the last bite is the best!

So next tome you go to an ice cream parlor, watch and see if they scoop it right. If not, you may be getting a cheated fragile scoop of ice cream where the 3 second rule does not apply.

Not So Bad

So Im back from vacation [boohoo]. The guys at work ended up doing a great job keeping me from getting to far behind. I still had some issuse that kept me busy all day but all and all it was not so bad.

Im all caught up there.

Now about that pile of laundry waiting on me.

My husband helped with that. One more load and im caught up there too.

He was also able to get the overgrown grass cut today.

Man! I mean, did it rain all week here or something? 

My plants are even gaining momentum. Look! I have an egg plant hatching. Finally! 

Now Im ready to sit back and watch some TV and get back to my afternoon walks.

I can also catch up on some blog readings and do a little crocheting. I have a couple orders to complete. 

All the worry and fret was for nothing.

Isnt that usually how it goes?

Vacation yes Relaxing no

Vacation is supose to be relaxing. Well I would think so but for me, its everything but.

I love being at the beach. I want to live here one day. Maybe because thats when Ill be able to relax. 

Like this guy.....

Vacation starts with my Husband spending approximately an hour setting things up like hooking up the camper, leveling it up, rolling out the outdoor carpet. 

Im making the beds, hanging the clothes line. Sometimes the party lights. When thats all done, we will walk up to the store to get ice for the cooler (The refrigerator can take twenty four hours to get cold). And more snacks.

Then I sit back to rest a moment. "Ok whats on the agenda?" My husband will ask. Then its off to Walmart to get food for grilling out and groceries to last a couple days. 

Each morning im up at seven making coffee and straightening up inside the camper. Work is texting me questions on how to do things at the office. Between texting work, we will rush out to get a spot on the sand and drill holes for the umbrellas. By ten after eight, the beach is full. 

Back at the camper I sit down to eat a bite of breakfast then its off for our morning walk. Work is still texting. We will walk three to five miles. Come in, pack up the beach bags and head out to the sand. "Ahhh" relax! Nope, now its lunch time and one of the managers is calling me. Not long after that, its time to hit the showers then prep for dinner. 

With a drink in one hand and a snack in the other, I found time to blog a little but the wifi is weak.

Im not complaining about vacation itself. I love it at the beach and some time away from work, but when Its over, im tired. Ill have laundry to do and Monday morning a pile of work will be waiting on me at the office. 

Im in the need of a vacation from a vacation.

Jelly Fish

Me and my daughter took a dip in the ocean and we were fine...until we saw a jelly fish! We came running out of the water like we were in a Jaws movie!

People were still swimming despite the warnings.

Speaking of Jaws. As we were standing at the edge of the water, my daughter jumped back and said "Mom, I just saw a big fish! No kidding! It must have been about 3 foot long" (as she did her hand measure). Another couple aproached us and said, "Did yall see the shark too?" Yes there was a shark lerking in the knee deep waters. My concern was still on the tiny jelly fish. 

Yesterday a couple people were stung by jelly fish.. A kid was stung ...twice. OK im trying to come to grips with why if your stung once would you go back in to get stung again?

Kids!

The life guards have put up their warnings and are not allowing anyone past knee deep. 

Ill stick to paddleing around in the tide pools for now....until something touches my foot!

Ah the drama of the ocean.

I Think I Figured It Out

If you have read back a few post you may remember me complaining of inner ear problems.

Its fixed now.....

It started in both ears, lots of ringing and buzzing in them. It would literally make it hard for me to sleep. Then it progressed to dizziness and that full and stopped up feeling like you experience when going up elevations such as a ride through the mountains. I eventually lost most of my hearing in my left ear temporarily. The doctor suggested it was allergies. I suffered for Three weeks.

Being an allergy sufferer all my life, I knew this was more than an allergies. What could it be? 

I'm in my late 40's and believe it or not, The only drugs in my body is Allegra for allergies and Tylenol if I ever get a headache, cramps or achy knees. Ive always taken those and know they have no side effects. The only "new thing" I started taking was multivitamins. 

The doctors told me I lacked vitamin D. I was given high doses of Vitamin D for two months then once I was out of the woods, I began taking a multivitamin with vitamin D. That's when the problem started.

So I stopped them.

The ears started clearing up.

I thought "hmm"

So I took them again just to see and my ear started acting up again.

So I stopped the vitamins and my ears are now fine.

Why?
Lack of Magnesium.

Vitamin D requires magnesium to work in the bloodstream. This process requires and even uses up magnesium in the process, creating sudden signs of a magnesium deficiency I didn't even know I had. This will effect the inner ear and cause the symptoms I was having.

I'm happy to know this because I'm loving how the multivitamins make my nails and hair so healthy.

Now I can just change my formula. 

And eat more nuts and broccoli. 

I'm not a doctor. My sources came from google and this is my own diagnosis for my ear problem. If you are suffering any unexplained illness, please see a doctor.

Pokemon Go Craze

If you know any teens (and many adults too), then you've heard bout the new craze thats hit the game world.

"Pokemon Go".

I refuse to play but thinks its a genius way to keep the cellphone companies in business. They say its a good way to get people out walking around. But what good is that if they have their nose stuck in a phone. As if texting wasnt bad enough.

source

They even play here at work. I've actually seen the managers jump in their car and ride up the road because their phone gave them a signal that there is a pokemon monster or something down the road, over the bridge and through the field. So off they Go. There was one in my office the other day but I had to be playing the game to see it. Oh well. I wish they reacted like that when there is a spider in my office.

As we were riding through downtown the other day, the place was crawling with people looking down at their cell phones chasing virtual animation. It was a crazy sight. I called them "phone zombies".  It looked like scene from the walking dead. Check out one of the scenes here from the "PlowingThroughLife" Blog. Shes seeing the same thing in her state.

Anyway. I decided to jump into the action my way by crocheting a few of these poke'ball pet hats. I've seen some human hats just like this selling, so I figured I add the pets in on the fun. 

My shop is closed for a few days due to vacation. These cute little hats will be ready to order once I reopen this weekend. Say hello to my model "Tucker". He belongs to one of my customers and is my favorite model for my crochet pet hats. Isn't he adorable?

Meanwhile, I'll sit here on the beach and make fun of the boys watching their phones instead of watching the girls. 

Half Way

By the time you are reading this, Ill already be at my vacation destination. The beach.

Its a 200 mile trip to the coast and We have our favorite pit stop half way there. Its a produce store that sits on the side of the hwy surrounded by farm land that you can see as far as your sight will let you. Its never ending rows of peach trees, strawberries and other fresh crop.

Source

McLeod Farms road side market has some of the best veggies, fruits, jellies, pickles and ciders. You can get hot boiled peanuts and coffee. In the fall, they have a large pumpkin patch and corn maze.  

The peaches and strawberries are so fresh.

They serve ice cream, cakes and cobblers as well. They also have clean restrooms and an inclosed eat in porch as well as an outdoor picnic area.

We always grab a few tomatos so we can enjoy some fresh mater sandwiches for lunch. We will also purchase some other goodies for snacks.

We may even pick up some sweet potato or strawberry bread for the road. 

Next to the produce store, is a museum. Inside you will see vintage cars and antuiqes. The outside has a display of vintage tractors.

I like to walk over there and check them out before getting back on the road.

We will stop here on the way back too and enjoy a picnic lunch. 

All I Got

Looks like this is all im gonna get from the pepper plants I planted at the beginning of summer.

I planted six. New leaves continue to grow but something eats them during the night.  

As soon as the flowers fall off and the peppers shine through, They just get snipped off during the night! Wonder whats doing it? Birds? Squirrels? Bugs? 

As far as the egg plants?

This is all I got. The purple flowers bloom and fade... Hello? Is there any eggplant home? Never.

However, the eggplants are covered with fire ants! I got stung by one. 

I have been ant bit before and thought it was a fire ant until now. There IS a difference. The fire ant stung like a bee! Left a wlep too. Im glad I got my hand away before they swarmed me. 

Oh dear, im just not a gardener.  

DIY Sea Salt Spray

If you know me, you know I'm a lover of the beach. I also love all the things that come with it. The hot kisses from the sun, the sounds of the waves, the glow of the moon over the ocean and the salty mist in the air.

Do you ever wish you could get your hair to have that sea salt texture it gets from a day on the beach?
Well I'm here to show you how to make your own sea salt spray for your hair. I apply this fun spray on my hair often.

It gives your hair texture that makes it easy to manage the tousled or scrunched style. It does not weigh your hair down. My hair is short so I just get the messy look but if your hair is long, you ll have those loose wavy beach locks that are soft and bouncy. It cuts my styling time in half. 

You can now buy sea salt spray in the stores but its more fun and cheaper to make your own.
Heres how.

Sea Salt Spray 

• 12 oz spray bottle
• 4 tablespoon sea salt 
• 1/4 cup of warm water and let the salt dissolve.   
• Add 4 oz of your favorite smell good conditioner.
• Fill the rest with water.

Shake well before each use. 

Apply to clean towel dried hair working it in with your fingers or comb.

Dry and style as usual or Scrunch and go.

Guys, this will work for you as well.

Works great after swimming to tame and tousle your hair for the perfect beach look. Just spray on damp hair, run your fingers through it and let it dry by the air and sun. 

I'll be useing it alot during next weeks beach trip.   

Where The Wild Things Live

"Who?"

That's what my husband sent me on a text the other morning while he was out walking. With that text was a photo.

He noticed Mr. Owl asleep in the tree. He slowly focused his iphone camera in to get a shot. Sucess. Then as he stepped backed, his foot hit a limb. The limb cracked and Mr. Owl woke up and gave him the ole stink eye look. Nick continued his walk.

I sent this picture to two of my neighbors who both in return said they had seen him around too. Hes big an beautiful. Its exciting to see wild life living in my neck of the woods since we have very little woods at all. 

We live in a neighborhood within the city limits. We are aproximately three miles from center town.

We have seen some animals that seem out of place here.

There used to be a fox that played in my back yard every day sun up or sun down. Not sure what happend to him. We have seen many snakes as well. 

My neighbor spotted a wild turkey on the hood of her car one day and I seen a family of deer walking in the yard across the street.  Its amazing what you can see when your always peering out of the windows. 

Any who, Ill end with this video. I mean really, Who wouldnt want to see an owl ride a pony?