Liam, Annabelle & Bronte.....

Three of my 26 grandchildren!
You can view Bronte playing the flute and Annabelle playing the piano in the post below.....

My Granddaughters's Flute & Piano Recitals..........

Bronte is 15 and her parents drive her 45 miles to Mankato, Minnesota to her flute instructor, who is a professor at Mankato State University....She has outgrown her first instructor...
Just click on Andalouse & Ashokan Farewell...to view Bronte playing!!!

...Andalouse by Emile Pessard:
..and..

...Ashokan Farewell:
I am so proud of Bronte...
Annabelle is 8 and just started piano lessons this year...This is her first Recital.
Just click on Twilight Bells..to view Annabelle playing!!!

...Twilight Bells
Annabelle is an up & coming artist.....

Some Of My Patterns!!!

Cinco de Mayo..May 5TH !!!!

The 5th of May is not Mexican Independence Day, but it should be.
And Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday, but it should be.
Mexico declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810. And it took 11 years before the first Spanish soldiers were told and forced to leave Mexico.
So, why Cinco de Mayo?
And why should Americans savor this day as well?
Because 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862.
To help you celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I have posted 2 recipes in "This Week's Recipe"..
One is "Chicken Enchilada Soup" and the other is...
"Short-cut Chilaquiles"...
Yummy Good!!!!

Why We Cook!

I believe that why we cook is as important as how and what we cook...We cook for the richness it brings to our lives and to why we cook is bigger than enjoying good food...Cooking, layered on day after day, builds a happiness for ourselves and the people around us that would not happen any other way...Some of our fondest memories involve cooking...and our families...So the winners of the wooden spoon must post their fondest memories involving cooking with their families...



The Wooden Spoon is awarded to:
Deanna of Nany Goat Primitives
Renee of Birch Berry Farm

Congratulations girls...an pass the spoon to two more friends!!!!!

Time goes by fast!!!!!!!!!!!

The older you get, faster time seems to fly by…It seems like only yesterday I posted about Renee tagging me and here it is a week later…..
Been a busy little bee listing my patterns in new sites….I now have some E-Patterns listed in Pattern Mart, so be sure to peek at them….
I have been so busy, my poor dogs, Kasha (springer spaniel) & Dakota (black lab) wonder why I haven’t been outside playing with them….The weather has finally gotten nicer here, NO Snow!!!!...thank goodness for that…..
It has been a hard long winter here in Minnesota….Now people are getting their gas turned off, because they cannot afford to pay their bill for the long winter….In Minnesota, the utility company cannot turn off your means of heat during the winter, but come April it is pay up or it gets shut off….
Times are so hard now for so many people and even those that had it good 8 years ago…..Lets hope we can get back to those times again!!!!

Well a week ago my dear sweet friend Reene from Birch Berry Farms went and tagged me--thank you for the honor Renee---

Now I get to pass this honor on to 5 unsuspecting peeps in my circle and they are as follows:

Angie of Lovetheprimitivelook
Karen of Prairie River Primitives
Beatrice of Beas Buzzin
Carla of Country Road Primitives
Deanna of Nanny Goat Primitives

That Renee done Went An Tagged Me and so here goes!!!!

the tagging part is that now I need to tell you 5 things about me that you may not know:
1. My very first job I ever had, was in 1951 (long time ago) driving the elevator at J C Penny's in Waco, TX....Yes!.. you use to have someone drive the elevator for you and people would always say "I bet you have had your Ups and Downs today"...It paid a whole 50¢ a hour.....
2. I had 8 single birth children in 10 years...Yep!! the oldest had just turned 10 in December when my 8th child, Cearle was born the 25th of March...My God how did I do it???... That was the question I always got......and now I also wonder....
3. I worked with a psychologist researching what phenobarbital did to the Developmentally Disabled for 10 years....The study was published in many different languages!
4. That I am a UNION member and proud of it..
5. That my brother Coach Wilkins is referred to as "GOD" in the book "Friday Night Lights"!!...

Saw this ad on TV and it said "Have a Happy Period", sooooooooooo!!!!

Thought of this letter....Thought you would get a chuckle from it.......
Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best webmail-award-winning letter.

Dear Mr. Thatcher,

I have been a loyal user of your 'Always' maxi pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? Ever suffered from the curse'? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.' Isn't the human body amazing?

As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers' monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying, jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women. In fact, only last week, my friend Jennifer fought the violent urge to shove her boyfriend's testicles into a George Foreman Grill just because he told her he thought Grey's Anatomy was written by drunken chimps. Crazy!

The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: 'Have a Happy Period.'

Are you freaking kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak girl, there will never be anything 'happy' about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.

For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong', or are you just picking on us?

Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending bull sh*t. And that's a promise I will keep. Always.

Best,
Wendi
Austin , TX

HELLO my NAME is SUE!! WELCOME to my BLOG!!!!

Well I am new at this, as you can probably tell,
but at the young age of 72 who cares!!
I am really young at heart and always willing to try new things...
Have eight children, 26 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren..
I am a Primitive Artist from the Land of 10,000 Lakes..
Was born and raised in Waco, Texas.
My brother and family live in Odessa, Texas...
so I still have family ties there...
I am the "Time Worn Treasure From The Past" in the picture of my Mother and Me, when I was six weeks old....
I want to thank Sara, (Graphic Pretties)for my awesome BLOG....
Renee (BirchBerryFarm) for my music...
and Carla (County*Road*Rrimitives) for the encouragement given me!

This piece of Poetry is so ME

Mirror. Well, for one, that has to be a lie.
That girl staring back at me is Not Me.
How can she be?
Ginger highlights, dancing in spirals in the overhead lamp,
Stars flashing through those auburn eyes.
Mischievous smile tugging at one corner of the full, reddened lips.
Clear complexion, smooth enough to sleep on,
She blinks and it's all gone.
Looking back, desperate for that other side,
Back into those mud stained irises,
limp brown hair,
freckled face, flared nose,
peeling lips.
Do I really look like....this?
Blink. There she is again.
Smiling for her magical reappearance,
that leaves me stunned.
Which one am I?
Does it change when I look through the different eye?
Strong, feisty and bold.
She won't stop until she wants to.
Loved, but feared.
She knows how to get exactly what she wants.
She knows she'll get it too,
Showing the world that you can, you can get through.
Smile.
Back again, timid, scared.
Tears rippling down blemished cheeks.
The fire burned out in her fifteenth year.
She stands, having to cope with fighting the world:
As well as herself:

by "AWayWithWords"

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW

Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, "I'm going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that's tough. I am going to snow anyway

"Maya Angelou"

How true here in Minnesota, where it never ends...Woke up this morning to a blanket of fresh snow..The birds must wonder what is going on!