Puh-leez....

me, with my oldest son, John, and of course, the m&m's

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba

Happy Together, sung by The Turtles: circa 1967

Miss Daisy's Tea Room and more...

This has become an annual summer event for me, for the last three summers when peaches are at their peak, I show you this peeler in the Daily Dish and tell all of you what an amazing little gadget this is. We all know how difficult it is to peel peaches, if you use a knife you peel a lot of the peach flesh away, a regular peeler won't work, but this little beauty does the job fabulously, it's great for peeling tomatoes, also.

So many of you have written to tell me that you've bought this, and how much you enjoy it, and since we have a whole new family of readers this summer, I thought it was worth still another repeat.

Here's the CLICK to buy it on Amazon, it's cheap, too, only $5.99. It's worth every penny!!!

And since we're talking about peaches, I posted our family favorite Peach Cobbler in Jan Can Cook. Lindsay made it yesterday, the guys absolutely drooled. I've been making this recipe since the 80's. It's from Miss Daisy's Tea Room, which was a Franklin, Tennesee hotspot in it's day. Miss Daisy had wonderful food, and great cookbooks. I have several of them, and her in her Tennessee Homecoming Cookbook she published an award winning recipe for Peach Cobbler. The difference in this cobbler is that you make the dough, roll it out, cut it into strips, take half the strips, cut into small pieces and push it down into the peach juice for dumplings, and then you make a lattice top, dust it with sugar and bake it. The result is an amazing cobbler, girlfriends, all of us, especially John, has loved this for years.

You can check it out by clicking HERE, or going to Jan Can Cook from the sidebar. Enjoy... ~ jan

You HAVE to watch this....

Okay, we all skim thru these blogs, often just not taking the time to watch videos. Trust me, you have to watch this, preferably with your speakers on. I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face, this one is too good to miss, girlfriends. OMG, will this ever tug at your heartstrings...

Please, take the time to read the text and watch the video, it will make your day, I promise.

~ jan

In 1969, two friends, John Rendall and Ace Berg, purchased a lion. At the time, Christian the lion was a 35-pound cub. He had been born in a zoo. The friends raised Christian in their London home. All three hung out in a friend’s furniture shop on the weekends.

Within a year, Christian had grown to 185 lbs. Rendall and Berg realized they couldn’t keep him much longer. But they didn’t know what to do with him. A chance encounter changed that. Two actors from the film Born Free walked into the furniture store.

The actors recommended a conservationist, George Adamson, living in Kenya. Christian was soon in Africa. There he was rehabilitated and released into the wild.

In 1974, Rendall and Berg decided to visit Christian one last time. He was now a wild animal. Adamson told them it was doubtful that Christian could be found. No one had seen him in nine months.

The two flew to Kenya, anyway. On the day they landed, Christian appeared outside Adamson’s camp. Somehow, he knew. He waited outside the camp until Rendall and Berg arrived.

This video was taken during their reunion with Christian. What a story! What a video!

Oh, to be young again, and beautiful....

Lindsay and I went to Starbucks this afternoon, she for a skinny iced vanilla latte, me for an iced mocha latte. She was all decked out, pretty dress, stilettoes, had her "eyes" on, her long hair cascading down her back.

We got our drinks, sat down, and it wasn't anytime until the little guy from behind the counter came trotting over with little complimentary cups of french pressed Sumatra coffee and little toffee almond bars for us to try.

Boy, that never happens when I go there with my "older" friends. Hmmmm, I'm thinking I may have to take Dilly there again!!!! Free coffee and sweet treats, works for me!!!

If those bars sound good to you, here's a copycat recipe for you...

It was a great day...

What a fun 4th, my family was home, the guys took John's new smoker for a spin, we picnicked riverside, hubby joined us from work to watch the fireworks. Dogs are so sweet, Dilly is so adorable, the guys are so funny, Ahhhhh, families are the best....

I am blessed...

Hope your day is filled with sparklers and fireworks...

I've discovered...

That I don't really care for flavored yogurt, but I adore unflavored. I always bought yogurt in all the designer flavors, but I've been feeding the M&M's Stonybrook Organic Unflavored Low Fat Yogurt. Yeah, it's more expensive, but they're worth it.

Anyhoo, I've been spooning it on fresh fruit every morning, and I'm loving it. I actually crave the stuff, and sneak spoonfuls when I'm dishing it out for my fur kidz. While I always "liked" yogurt, I never "loved" it 'til now. So, goodbye Dannon Lite 'n Fit, hello Stonybrook Organic...

Strange, discovering this later in life, huh...

And as long a I'm talking about food, which I always am, I had a hold on a new cookbook at the library, picked it up yesterday, and I have to tell you, this southern girl knows her cookbooks, and this one is the best I've found in years. It's called Screen doors and sweet tea : recipes and tales from a Southern cook / Martha Hall Foose.

If you're a foodie like me, you have to check out this book. It's wonderful southern cooking, not the samo samo recipes, there are really different things in this book. As I was thumbing thru it I was thinking, "why didn't I think of that."

Of course, I'm eating healthy this month so everything looks fantastic, but no, really, this book is special. I'm trying her watermelon salsa soon. It sounds really good... And she makes homemade banana pudding and puts it in half pint Ball Mason jars for individual servings, unbelievably cute, and banana pudding is one of my guy's favorite things. This book is filled with great ideas.

Here's the Amazon link if you want to check it out. Just CLICK here.

later 'gators ~ jan

Update: I just found a link to several of her recipes in the book, including sweet potato biscuits, three day slaw and that great banana pudding. It's from ABC News, apparently the author, Ms. Foose, who by the way is a senior chef for Viking Cooking Schools, was on GMA. So click here, there are several pages of recipes - enjoy.... My little Wednesday gift to you.

Your daily dose of cuteness....

I guarantee you won't see anything cuter than this today, and surprise, it isn't my dogs.... This is my kind of guy!!!!!

Men Schmen!!! They're the same, worldwide....

I watched this clip three times, the more I watched the funnier it got...

WHY WOMEN NEED CATALOGS

The "Car" Love of my Life.... She was a TR6

The year was 1974, John was a toddler, and hubby bought me a yellow TR6 convertible. I still, to this day, remember how it felt to run thru the gears, the feel of the steering wheel, the smell of the leather, and the smooth feel of the gearshift knob. I just adored this car...

Little John and I would zip around town with the top down, he undoubtedly holding tight to his favorite red ball that accompanied him everywhere, me in sunglasses with my long hair streaming in the wind. When hubby was along, John sat on a little shelf in the back between the seats. After Ryan was born, sadly the car had to go, and it was replaced with a more family friendly station wagon, that lasted only a few months. I absolutely hated it!

There have been many cars in my life, hubby was always a car nut, I've driven Corvettes, Jeeps, Cadillacs, Chevy's, Fords, mini-vans, trucks, even vintage cars thru the years, but nothing ever compared to this little convertible. She was the car of my dreams. I still drool, even now, when I occasionally see one streaking down the road.

Ahhhhh, those were the days....

Another goodie from Carlene, enjoy.....

Groovin' . . . on a Sunday afternoon

Well, not exactly groovin', more like snoozin'...

The M&M's are sandwiched together in their little wooly bed on my computer desk, sleeping their afternoon away. Mags is tucked into the back, you have to look closely to even see her. Mollie has greasy ears, despite her bath, just some meds for her ears making them that way, she's not dirty, just medicated....

They're good friends, already. Maggie was never jealous of Mollie, she accepted her immediately. they sleep together, play together, eat together. Yeah, they're sisters, now.

Pretty cute, huh....

We lost a great lady, Tasha Tudor...

Veronica introduced me to Tasha Tudor back in the 80's. The woman intrigued me with her country life, her dogs, her dedication to nature and her strength of character. Veronica was intrigued with her artistic ability, she was an amazing illustrator, but for me it was the way she lived, in her farmhouse, walking barefoot thru her gardens with her dogs, growing her own food, I thought she was one of the most interesting women I had ever read about. Later, I saw a special about her life on PBS, Take Joy: The Magical World of Tasha Tudor, it was a mesmerizing glimpse into her world.

She actually reminded me a lot of my own grandmother, and she died a couple of weeks ago, at the grand old age of 92. Ms. Tudor lived an admirable life, and she was an amazing woman. We could all learn from her.

Your local library will have a video recording of her PBS special, as well as her many books, including her biography, The Private World of Tasha Tudor. If you have some lazy days this summer, and if you still has a VCR, you're in luck, pick up the video and watch it, read her biography, it will be time worth spent...

The following is taken from the New York Times:

Tasha Tudor, a children’s illustrator whose pastel watercolors and delicately penciled lines depicted an idyllic, old-fashioned vision of the 19th-century way of life she famously pursued — including weaving, spinning, gathering eggs and milking goats — died on Wednesday at her home in Marlboro, Vt.

She was 92, if one counts only the life that began on Aug. 28, 1915. Ms. Tudor frequently said that she was the reincarnation of a sea captain’s wife who lived from 1800 to 1840 or 1842, and that it was this earlier life she was replicating by living so ardently in the past.

But it was her uncompromising immersion in another, less comfortable century that most fascinated people. She wore kerchiefs, hand-knitted sweaters, fitted bodices and flowing skirts, and often went barefoot. She reared her four children in a home without electricity or running water until her youngest turned 5. She raised her own farm animals; turned flax she had grown into clothing; and lived by homespun wisdom: sow root crops on a waning moon, above-ground plants on a waxing one.

Read the obituary in it's entirety by clicking here. It's too lengthy to post, but it's well worth reading.

Small mind???? Moi????

I was reading my friend, Revka's blog this morning and she said "it doesn't take much to amuse a small mind."

Ouch... Maybe that's why I'm always little Miss Merry Sunshine and why I blog sometimes
"several times a day" as another friend, Robin talked to me about in an email a couple of days ago. She doesn't understand how I have the time.

It's pretty simple, I get up, do what has to be done around the house, and I sit here, playing on the computer, often amusing my small mind by incoherently babbling on this site.

I'll never forget, back in the day, four years ago now when youngest son Ryan said I would never blog on a long term basis. Ha, baby boy, I gotcha on this one, thousands and thousands of blog entries later, I'm still loving it. I struggle with content, as I'm sure you all can tell, but there is usually something in this "small mind" of mine that I can think to talk about.

I babble, I ramble, I sit in the sunshine, play with my dogs, and I'm usually happy. I really do live that simple life I talk about often... Works for me...

This is so funny...... thanks for the giggle, Carlene....

Remember when there were good movies!!!!

Hubby isn't working tomorrow, we're going to eat with V and Rich, so I checked the movie listings, hoping for a flick that we would enjoy. There wasn't one movie that interested me, not one. This is pretty much the norm, if you aren't a young, testosterone driven male you might as well hang it up. Hollywood is missing the boat, baby boomers love movies, we flock to see something that interests us.

There used to be great movies. Remember movies like Bonnie and Clyde, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Oh Redford and Newman were simply awesome. I loved it when they jumped off the cliff and went, Ohhhhhhhh shit!! We thought that was really racy at the time.

Katherine Ross was so beautiful in that film. I remember thinking how I would love to look just like her.

No chance of that, but I did think she was just spectacular.

I remember going to see Dr. Zhivago and I was just mesmerized by the cinematography. The scenes in the snow with Julie Christie in the fur hooded cape were breathtaking, and Omar Shariff was so handsome.

The youth of today won't be able to look back at the movies of their generation like we can, to when films were really good.

I was eighteen when I went to see The Graduate. Oh was it scandalous, that older women seducing that younger man.

I think I actually enjoyed the soundtrack more than I did the movie, though. It just didn't ring my chimes.

But it did create quite a stir, of course today it would be PG rated, and not a big deal.

And then there was Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Another shocker that people wouldn't think twice about today.

I have always adored Katharine Hepburn, and saw all of her movies. This one was as special as the rest of them.

See what I mean about good movies? I've listed five movies from the 60's that were absolutely wonderful. Can you do the same now? I think not.

I guess if I had to name recent favorites it would be Something's Gotta Give with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, of course I did enjoy Sex and the City, and I thought the first National Treasure was kind of special, as well as Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo in the Thomas Crown Affair, but that was in 1999!!!!

See what I mean, just nothing good out there this summer... Sad, isn't it...

Summertime, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

One of my all time favorites. Close your eyes and just drift away.... this is pure magic..

Thought you could use a smile this mornng, courtesy of Hooterville...

Three Italian nuns die and go to heaven.

At the Pearly Gates, they are met by St. Peter.. He says, 'Sisters, you all
led such exemplary lives that the Lord is granting you six months to go
back to earth and be anyone you wish to be

The first nun says, 'I want to be Sophia Loren;'

And *poof* she's gone.

The second says, 'I want to be Madonna and *poof* she's gone.

The third says, 'I want to be Sara Pipalini..'

St. Peter looks perplexed. 'Who?' he ask

'Sara Pipalini,' replies the nun.

St. Peter shakes his head and says, 'I'm sorry, but that name just doesn't
ring a bell.'

The nun then takes a newspaper out of her habit and hands it to St. Peter .

St. Peter reads the paper and starts laughing. He hands it back to her and
says.

'No sister, the paper says it was the ' Sahara Pipeline' that was laid by
1,400 men in 6 months.'

If you laugh, you're going straight to hell!

She's just a little bit redneck...

This was taken in front of the Gardendale, Alabama, Walmart while she was going to the Flea market.

Thanks Carlene for the giggle of the morning....

Livin' the good life, playing in the field...

Just what we all need, a healthy cookie...

Nisha told me today about Kashi TLC Cookies, 120 calories for the Oatmeal Raisin Flax, 130 calories for the Trail Mix ones and 130 calories for the Oatmeal Dark Chocolate. I found them at Target. They are amazing, ladies. It's a nice size cookie, Nish has one for breakfast with hot tea. Each cookie is 2 WW points...

The following is from their website:

With decadent flavors and textures, our new TLC™ Tasty Little Cookies show that snacking can be tasty, indulgent, and have nutrition you can feel great about. Our cookies combine our signature Seven Whole Grain blend with hearty, natural ingredients such as peanuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, cranberries, walnuts, shredded coconut, flax seeds, and dark chocolate. The result is a delicious chewy cookie that has a home-baked taste.

They are chocked full of healthy grains, nuts, seeds, they're soft, they're chewy, yeah bet you can't eat just one....

Thought you would all like a heads up on these. They're a good thing...

Oh my....

It was "tweetie time" around here a few minutes ago. Thanks to Hooterville for turning me onto that silly phrase. Every time she gives Albie a treat she says, "It's Tweetie Time." So now I do the same, and it sounds really strange to people who don't know how dingy I am... But all I have to do is say "It's Tweetie Time" and Mags comes running. Mollie is catching on fast, her little ears perk right up already when I say it.

Anyway, I peeled an apple for the M&M's, they were munching away and I had a flashback to when I was a little girl at Grandma Short's house.

She scraped apples for her grandchildren. She always wore a housedress, her hair was never cut, it was wound on top of her head and secured with tortoise combs, she wore wire rimmed glasses and she always had on those flesh colored cotton opaque stockings and old lady shoes, and she always had on an apron, always. Grandma had twelve children, but she was a small woman, with little bird bones and as I've blogged about before, she fed everybody that came to her house, especially the children.

She would cut paper dolls and snowflakes for us from old newspapers, and then she would bring out the apples, carrying them to the "front room" in her apron. She would cut an apple in half, and using a knife take out the core, then she would take a spoon and scrape the inside of the apple, leaving the outer peeling intact like a little cup. She had eighteen grandchildren, so there was usually more than one of us around, and she would sit us in a row, and using a small spoon, scrape the flesh away from the apple and feed it to us. We would open our mouths like little birds, and the combination of the taste of Grandma's finger, the feel of the cold spoon and the nectar of the apple scrapings was pure ambrosia.

Funny I should remember that as I was giving my dogs their afternoon treat. Hmmmmm, wonder if they would like a scraped apple? Oh my, I need a grandchild really bad....

How i remember summer....

It's all about the food, of course, with me it always is. Most specifically summer was about the "treats." Fudgesicles were right up there on my list of favorites, and chocolate covered ice milk bars. That's what they called it in the old days, "ice milk."

And of course, Drumsticks. Oh my, weren't they wonderful. All those great peanuts, and that big dollop of chocolate in the bottom of the cone. Eating them, giggling and letting the sticky ice cream run down your arm.

I was always a huge fan of Dreamsicles. They were probably my favorite of all. Mother also made a great homemade Dreamsicle Sherbet in the crank ice cream freezer. It was so easy, and so good, you could do it this summer, except now you can make it in an electric freezer.

Here's how it's made. We always used Nehi Orange Soda, today you would use Sunkist Orange to make it. No diet soda, please, use the sugar version for this. All you do is stir together a can of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk (condensed, not evaporated) a large can of crushed pineapple, including the juice (crushed pineapple canned in syrup, not it's own juice if you can find it), pour these into your quart ice cream freezer bowl and finish filling the bowl with Orange Soda. That's it, turn on the freezer, and in twenty minutes you have sherbet. It couldn't be easier and it is wonderfully refreshing. If you age it for an hour or so in the freezer it firms up really well. It would be a great July 4th dessert for you to make this year. This recipe is fifty years old, and it's still the best. I made it a couple of years ago, we loved it.

We also had the local Dairy Queen, and the Queens Grill, which served cheeseburger baskets, my very fave, and in the 50's you could actually go to the Dairy Queen without having to take out a bank loan, unlike today, when a couple of banana split costs $10. I adored banana splits, but I was a huge fan of English Toffee Sundaes. You can't buy them anymore, but they were just amazing. Warm, gooey caramel toffee and ice cream, they were just the best! Hooterville loved the Hot Caramel Sundaes, she still talks about how good they were, and she liked the Jack and Jill Sundae with hot fudge sauce and marshmallows. On Saturday night the Dairy Queen was the place to be, you could barely park your car in the lot and had to wait in line, but oh, it was so worth it...

We had a local Dog 'n Suds, we would go there on the weekend for those great coney dogs and mugs of frosty root beer. You would tip the carhop a dime, she was happy, you were happy. Can you imagine doing that now?

They also had a great burger, it was called a Texas Burger, and it was made using two burger patties, 1 1/2 buns (One top, one middle, and one bottom), a slice of cheese on the top burger, lettuce and the Dog N Suds secret sauce on the middle bun, and coney sauce on the bottom bun. .We would sit in the car, under the canopy, honking at our friends, watching the boys peel out onto the highway and squeal their tires, and we thought we were so grown-up.

Wouldn't it be fun to go back, just for a Saturday night...

Veronica's memories in Michigan were of Burger Chef. She worked there, wore the little uniform, had a very short career running the register, she could tell you all about that. Burger Chef still tugs at her heartstrings, and she still tries to find Burger Chef memorabilia on eBay...

Nice thoughts to fill your head on a lazy summer afternoon. I'm thinking I should head down to Wally World, after stopping at the gas station and paying $4.09 a gallon for gas, and pick up boxes of sugar free Dreamsicles and sugar free Fudgesicles. Come to think of it, I believe they even have sugar free Drumsticks...

Nothing stays the same, does it, including our weight!!! Oh those were the days...

And if reading this is making you nostalgic, Hooterville sent me a great link for 60's music this morning. You can access it by CLICKING HERE.

~ jan

This is just stunning...

My friend, Carlene sent me a link to a video of our great 50 states. Just click on the outline of the US and it will begin. Turn speakers on low, sit back, drink your coffee and enjoy. It's a stunning visual presentation. Thanks Carlene!

Click here to watch it, it's amazing!

Fresh from their bath....

I just had to dress them up and take their pictures. My family says I'm really obsessing about my dogs. Me, obsess?

Hey, I'm fifty-eight years old, and if I want to spoil them rotten, I'm gonna. You have to admit, they are absolutely, positively girly, adorable, and just bursting with doggie cuteness.....

Sometimes you have to just maximize what you have....

And for me this morning it was yet another poached egg. Hubby had gone to Wally World, called and asked if I needed anything, I was out of Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning, which I use on practically everything, so he picked it up for me, I also asked for Tony's More Spice, which they didn't have but they did have Spice 'n Herb, which I've never tried.

So I toasted my wheat toast, topped it with the egg, fresh ground pepper, the Spice 'n Herbs, then I put on some freshly snipped chives from the garden and just a few leaves of fresh thyme. I was off to the patio with coffee and breakfast, the birds were singing, the dogs were scampering at my feet. It was pure bliss, ladies...

Just had to share.... If you haven't tried the Spice 'n Herbs, look for it next time you at at the grocers. That Tony, he makes amazing seasonings, and his rice blends are awesome, too...

Those brain cells are dying by the minute....

I'm sitting here this morning, going thru my little morning routine on the computer, the M&M's are fed, Maggie is sleeping on the computer desk, Mollie is in my lap.

I've got the smooth jazz on, I've been doing all kinds of stuff online, looked outside, not understanding how it could be so dark with the sun shining.

Duh, I've got on my sunglass readers. Oh yeah, yours truly picked up some reading glasses, sunglass style a few weeks ago when Hooterville was visiting. We love to go to Dollar Tree, I bought several pairs, yeah, yeah, I know they were just a buck and you can't buy anything for a dollar, but I got caught up in the moment, and hey, actually they work great.

But I had never really worn them, I mean why would you need reader sunglasses anyway, unless you were reading outside. I just stuck them in my little cubbie at the kitchen desk and forgot about them. Well, until this morning and I couldn'd find any glasses, saw these and put them on my face, not realizing what they were.

So here I sit, Ditzy Dora, working on computer stuff in the dark, and yes I still have them on. I couldn't see to type this without them.

Oh, if I only had a brain, what would I do, what would I do??????

Just in time for summer...

This was in my mailbox from HungryGirl this morning. And since I'm such a fan of Celestial Seasonings, I'll be at the grocery store today trying this out... Tropical Fruit Herbal and Lemon Ice sounds good to me...

Celestial Seasonings Cool Brew Iced Teas - Perfect for summer, and perfect for on-the-go, since no hot water is needed, these new-and-improved tea bags brew up FANTASTIC calorie-free iced tea in minutes... no hot water needed! Check 'em out in Blueberry Green Tea, Raspberry Black Tea, Peach Black Tea, Lemon Ice and caffeine-free Tropical Fruit Herbal...

The fur kidz have a new page...

I'll get over this doggie obsession soon, I promise. I did scrap a page for them, I don't have it indexed on millyscraps.com yet, but you can access it HERE.

We have progressed from Mollie just sitting on my lap to her chasing Maggie around the living room. They were running laps and barking this evening.

Girlfriends, you just can't imagine how cute they are!!!!!!!

Your daily dose of cuteness...

Trish's special day...

Trish's son, Andy, is a cameraman for FOX 7 News. They were having a mystery writers seminar in Owensboro, Ky. today, and since Trish's favorite author is Mary Higgins Clark and her favorite actor is Gene Hackman, AND because they were both going to be at the seminar and Andy was filiming it, he arranged for Trish to be in the VIP area to meet them. It was his birthday gift to her, and of course she was beyond thrilled. WOW, Trish, lucky you!!!!!! Great pictures and autographed books, too.... What a fun day she had!!!

This is beyond cute...

Meet Mollie Mae....

Click Mollie's Picture to See Her Up Close...

Such exciting news today, ladies. We're welcoming a new fur child to our household, a 5 lb., six year old Yorkie we're naming Miss Mollie Mae...

Maggie Moo came from AnnStefs, the same breeder that Trish got London from. Anna and Stefanie are two ladies from Bowling Green, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee that breed and show amazing Yorkies. Stef emailed me a couple of weeks ago and asked me if I would be interested in taking this dog. Mollie had three litters of pups, it was time for her to retire, she lived in the house with Stef, but she was running out of room. Sometimes breeders have to part with their fur kids due to overcrowding. It was really hard for her to give her up but she knew she would have such a good home with us, I understand why it would be hard to part with her, she's a little love.

Hubby and I both enjoyed having two dogs, Munchie and Maggie were always so cute together, so this seemed like the perfect fit for us. We picked her up yesterday, Mags is adjusting well, after all she was an only child for just a few months, she's used to being around other dogs. She looks so much like Maggie, she has the same smushy little face, she's just a little larger version of Mags, who weighs 3.5 lbs. Hubby already can't tell them apart. I kept telling him this morning that Mollie was the one with the red scrungie. Men Schmen...

This little dogs name was Tok'n, but I wanted to carry on the tradition of the M&M's, so we renamed her. Actually Hooterville named he, she immediately said "Good Gollie Miss Mollie." I'm sure with lots of smooches and treats, she'll catch on to her new name really fast. So thanks Stef for raising such a loving little dog, we'll spoil her rotten.

And since you all know how I like to attach nicknames to my dogs, friends and family, I'm christening Miss Mollie Mae, "Mo" after the very talented designer whose doodads I use over and over again in my pages, MoJackson. Mags and Mo.... works for me!!!

Hugs from Heavensville, Jan and the M&M's...

Heads up, townies...

Japanese Beetles have arrived in Heavensville. Hubby is out spraying the fleurs right now because those little suckers can do major damage in a few hours.

We struggle with this every June. Just wanted to warn others that they need to be checking out their gardens, like NOW.....

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.....

Ain't she sweet? See her walking down the street.
Now I ask you very confidentially, ain't she sweet?

It's now 8pm, and after a trip back to the groomers, who took one look at her and whisked her up on the table Maggie is in much better shape. It's still not a good cut because her underneath wasn't trimmed correctly, but if you think this isn't a great cut you should have seen her before. Nothing like a little doggie drama on a Thursday night.

Poor Trish, she had worked all day and was so tired, but she was a trooper, she kept telling the groomer what else needed to be trimmed on Maggie. After a quick trip thru the Dairy Queen for some much needed sustenance in the form of a Buster Bar Parfait for her, a fudgie diet bar for me, we are home and ready for bath and bed.

Click on her picture, check our her scrungie. TO-DIE-FOR - it's a green daisy covered flip flop, courtesty of the Dollar Tree - I got four, two purple, two green for a buck. And if her eyes look a little strange, its my fault, she had red eye from the camera, I edited it out in Photoshop, and didn't do such a hot job... It's late, I'm tired, but...

Life is much better than it was a couple of hours ago. I was in a such a tiz...

I'm having a HELLUVA day.....

I took the Mewster Brewster to be groomed, took the picture, took the typed instructions, oh no problem, they will make her look great. WRONG!!!!

I picked her up, they didn't trim her back and flanks close enough, they didn't clip her tail, the cut is all choppy on the back. I didn't say anything when I picked her up, I guess I was in denial, I thought it would be okay. WRONG AGAIN.

I got home, the longer I thought about it the madder I got. I hustled her over to Trish's, we looked at London, Maggie's cut looks WORSE than something I would do.

So I call up the groomer, told her Maggie looks just awful, and so Trish, London and I are headed back over there for her to work on her.

Let's hope I have a happier post later this evening. Right now I'm having a hissy.....

I just thought you wold all enjoy seeing how crazy I really am...

Note: This is a picture of London that I took to the groomer.

You all know that I have no problem poking fun at myself, so I'm posting the following letter. It's to the groomer, Maggie is going today, and it's to someone she's never been to before. I know from past experience that if you just "tell" them what you want, by the time they do the groom, they have forgotten half of it you end up with a dog and a cut you didn't want. Heck, we end up with cuts that we don't want ourselves, and we are able to tell people what we want. I'm also enclosing a picture of London, Trish's dog's cut, as they did a great job on her.

I just read the letter to hubby, he said I was totally bat shit crazy and they probably wouldn't groom her after they read this. So here goes, the letter that will be accompanying Mags to the beauty par-lor...

Maggie Moo's New Doo...

Little Miss Maggie had bladder surgery to remove a stone ten days ago. She went to the vet yesterday, Dr. Laura Wagner, a great vet, by the way, and she said Maggie is healing well and it's fine to take her to the groomer, just be careful of her little tummy, it's pretty tender. She still has some glue on her abdomen from the surgery, don't try and get it off, it will come off by itself.

She's up to date with all her shots, including kennel cough.

She's a sweet little soul, she's always good with the groomer.

And now to the cut...

I'm enclosing a picture of London, you did such a great job on her for Trish . I would like for Mags to have the same cut, EXCEPT for the head.

I don't want the clippers used on her face. I don't like buzzed noses or hair clipped around the eyes. I don't want bangs (visor) - I want to keep her head intact. The top of her pony could be trimmed a bit.

I would like to have 1/3 of her ears tipped, the rest of the ear can be shaped as you see fit, but I do like a few wispies left in front to soften her face.

I want her moustache to be the same length as her beard, as it is now. I do think the bottom of the beard could be trimmed and shaped a bit though.

I also like the underbelly clipped, it seems to mat if the groomers don't trim it. Of course the vet trimmed her tummy when she did the surgery, but the breastbone area needs to be clipped.

I don't know if you put your dogs in a blow box, if you do, please be aware of that sensitive stomach and watch her carefully.

Yeah, I'm a worrier. A bit dingy, too but I'm a nice lady, I'm not normally bossy, I'm just crazy about this little dog.

I'm sure you will do a great job, I thought London looked precious.

Oh, one other thing, Maggie has nappy hair, we struggle with it constantly, you will probably want to slather on the conditioner. I try and get her snarls out daily, occasionally we get in trouble, hopefully you won't find too many mats.

She has one area on the under side of her tummy, I trimmed it a bit (can't you tell???) I think they must have gotten glue on her during the surgery, so just kind of work around it, it's okay to shake your head when you see the way I botched clipping it. You will also see evidence of my taking some mats out of her fur. Sorry, I'm a real amateur, I'm thinking I need to invest in a mat cutter. She's dirtier than normal, because I couldn't bathe her because of her surgery. She normally gets a bath weekly.

Enjoy her, she's a love!!!

Jan

La da da da da........

Trish and I are famous for breaking into song on our evening rides on Milly. It's a cool evening in Heavensville, and as we came down the hill by the creek next to our condos she was suddenly chilled. I said I thought it was cooler because we were in the valley. And we were off, riding along singing at the top of our lungs..

Down in the valley, valley so low,
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow dear, hear the wind blow,
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow...

We were talking about how kids don't sing like we used to. They are too busy with their noses in the computer or their ear to the cellphone. It's a wonderful thing, to sing, it's good for the soul, and we don't really give a rat's hiney about how silly we look...

One of the joys of getting older. It's those simple things, again ladies....

How about his, a store with integrity....

THE Puppy Store on Melrose Avenue in LA deserves an ASPCA award. Over the weekend, spies said, Paris Hilton was on her way to a photo shoot and "wanted a puppy in the picture with her so it would look cuter." Hilton waltzed in and tried to buy a Yorkie but was rebuffed by an employee who said it was clearly "an impulse buy." Hilton, who has a menagerie of neglected animals, went "ballistic," we're told. "She started screaming, 'I love my puppies! I want my baby!'" - but to no avail. The store had no comment.

Source: NYT's Page Six

Southerners, you gotta love them, they're so polite, bless their hearts...

Atlanta ATC: 'Tower to Saudi Air 511 -- You are cleared to land eastbound on runway 9R

Saudi Air: 'Thank you Atlanta ATC. Acknowledge cleared to land on infidel's runway 9R - Allah be Praised.'

Atlanta ATC: 'Tower to Iran Air 711 --You are cleared to land westbound on runway 9R.'

Iran Air: 'Thank you Atlanta ATC. We are cleared to land on infidel's runway 9R - Allah is Great.'

Brief pause...

Saudi Air: 'ATLANTA ATC! - ATLANTA ATC!'

Atlanta ATC: 'Go ahead Saudi Air 511.'

Saudi Air: 'YOU HAVE CLEARED BOTH OUR AIRCRAFTS FOR THE SAME RUNWAY GOING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE. INSTRUCTIONS , PLEASE.'

Atlanta ATC: 'Well bless your hearts. And praise Jesus. Y'all be careful now and tell Allah 'hey' for us --

The fleurs are thriving...

I watered my plants by the front door this morning, they look so fresh and summery, so I snapped a picture for you.

Check out the cutey standing in the door, bottom left corner... And that's Jacques standing in the right corner, I pretend he's a francais coq (french rooster). Yeah, yeah, I know he's just Jack, an old concrete country rooster, but he's a goodie....

Oh my....

I was reading another blog this morning, Amy at Inspireco, and she was talking about wrap-around skirts. Now that's a blast from the past!!! I hadn't thought of them in years. I remember Mother making me one in high school, it was madras plaid, and I was so excited I couldn't wait until she finished it.

I looked like CRAP in that skirt!!! What a disappointment. I never had the body for a wrap-around skirt, of course I couldn't understand why, but now I realize it was because I never had a little waist. I never had that tiny little waist that it took to wear a wrap, so of course I looked like a cow in my skirt and I'm sure the plaid didn't help either. But, come to think about it, I don't remember any of my friends looking particularly attractive in theirs, either.

I was, however a total knockout in a mui mui, and I was made for long peasant dresses...

We made mui mui's (I don't know if I'm spelling that right, but you all know what I'm talking about, those wild Hawaiian print cotton gathered yolk dresses that were so voluminous they hid all of your body flaws) in home ec class one year, and my friend, Karen had hers finished, and she was chatting with me while she cut away the stray threads and trimmed the seam of her yolk. She wasn't paying attention to what she was doing and she cut a big old slice out of the front her mui mui that she had been sewing all semester. She held it up, saw that gaping hole in the yolk and was so upset she about peed her pants... I remember just howling with laughter, which no doubt upset the teacher to no end. She was a great teacher, I remember her writing in my yearbook that I was the "Magpie" of the freshman class.

I just looked up Magpie, and the web defines a magpie as a chatterer: an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker.

Well, that wasn't very nice of that teacher to write that in my book!!!!! How dare she!!!

But I haven't changed much over the years, I still chatter, I'm still foolish and I can be obnoxious, just ask Hooterville, she'll tell you how obnoxious I am. Loquacious, I don't know what that means, and I'm certainly not going to look it up, I'm depressed enough as it is reading the definition of a Magpie. I always thought it was just a cute little bird that talked a lot. Hah!!! So much for my memories of that teacher!!!

Want to see a politician choke on national TV?..... watch this

Talk about an embarrassing moment...

Now why didn't I take a picture....

Last week I bought an electric Wolfgang Puck Pressure Cooker from HSN, after Hooterville alerted me about it, and naturally Ryan couldn't wait to try it out, so we made stuffed peppers yesterday.

We had a "bit" of trouble getting it going, and finally realized the seal wasn't popped all the way down. Once it came to pressure, it took twenty minutes and the results were too amazing for words. OMG, they were so moist, so tender, so perfectly cooked, sez Jan, gushing...

And... Lindsay made her father-in-law a banana spice cake using her grandmother's recipe. It was soooo good....

Seriously, it was an awesome meal, comfort food at it's finest. Stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes, corn, and frosty glasses of iced tea topped off with Dilly's cake. Ryan was growling he was enjoying it so much.

So, I'm looking forward to taking this puppy for many spins in the garage. The garage???? Yeah, I admit, we cooked them in the garage just in "case" it exploded. A mishap we have only seen once, when the boys were small and Mother's pressure cooker exploded and made a hideous mess.

But not to fear, all went well, I'm going to cook pinto beans in it today, nothing like a new kitchen garage toy to get me excited...

Do you remember???

Miracle Whip Cake... it was one of those World War II recipes when food was rationed. No eggs, no shortening, it's just flour, sugar, water, miracle whip and cocoa. It's amazing, and I hadn't made one in years. Hubby loves them, he took one bite last night and knew instantly what it was. Nisha makes them, she gave me the idea to make it again, when I was trying to do something for dinner last night as Ryan and Lindsay came home for the weekend. Did I mention that it's the easiest cake ever. Goes together really fast, it's foolproof. And if you can not eat it until the next day, it's so much better. Yeah, I know, it's hard to leave it set and not eat it. Good luck with that....

I frosted it with Nisha's recipe for caramel frosting, it was wonderful.

I know, you want the recipe.... Okay, go over to my Jan CAN Cook site, i'll post it there....

Twinkies and Root Beer...

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?

"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

~author unknown~

Thinking back...

As I prepared to go to the grocery store today, I was remembering how it used to be. Grocery stores were very small, personal stores, you knew the clerks, the floors were wooden planks and the produce sparse, but always locally grown in the summer. There was always a distinctive smell to a grocery store, and it was comforting. You knew what to expect when you went in... They weren't always air-conditioned, but they had big cooling fans, and a squeaky screen door, often with a push plate on it that advertised Sunbeam Bread featuring a picture of Little Miss Sunbeam.

There would be a big wooden butcher block in the meat department, You would place your order with the butcher and if he didn't have what you wanted in his case, he would go into the locker and bring out the meat or chicken, cut it on the butcher block and wrap it in white waxed paper that he tore off of a big role and tie it with twine from a hanger that hung from the ceiling. Then he would take a black marker that was perched behind his ear and write the price in big letters on the waxed paper packaging it.

The milk was in glass bottles that rattled when the milkman wheeled the cases into the store, the potato chips were either Chesty or Lays and "pop" was pretty much limited to Coke, Pepsi, and my very favorite, Nehi, which came from a local bottling plant. Nehi came in flavors, orange, grape and strawberry and it made the absolute BEST floats in the world...

There wasn't a big selection of frozen food, I remember having my first bag of frozen corn as a teenager, and I thought it was a wonderful thing. I've blogged before about my very favorite thing, Blue Bell Bologna, a really intense, garlicky flavored bologna that the butcher sliced, and charged fifty-nine cents a pound for. Mother would buy it in the summer when it was too hot to cook, along with a loaf of Bunny Bread, we would go home and she would make sandwiches, slathering on Miracle Whip, thick slices of tomatoes fresh from the garden and paper thin slices of red onion. Oh my, it was ambrosia... She always had potato chips and cold Showboat Pork 'n Beans with it, and a container of cottage cheese. Hubby and I still love that meal, I wonder if our boys do? They ate it often enough as children, I bet they would enjoy it again...

Today's supermarkets are so big, so impersonal, I don't like buying my meat that is vacuum sealed with some mysterious gas that keeps it fresh. We have a small market near where we live, locally owned, they still carry your groceries to the car. It's not the same as when I was a child, but it's a great store. They welcome Maggie, they say dogs come in all the time. I usually tuck her in my purse, hang my bag on my shoulder, and her little head is poking out of the top of my purse while I walk around the store gathering my groceries. The clerks all smile at her while I'm checking out and they talk to you about their daily lives. They cut their own meat, and they have lousy produce, just like in the old days. Some things are pricey, but their weekly specials are reasonable and it's a nice friendly place to stop....

They also have a senior citizens discount on Tuesdays, but so far I just can't make myself use it. I'm just not quite ready. Know what I mean, Vern???

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

Ryan and Lindsay have been married four years today...

He's taking her to dinner and to see Sex and The City tonight. He's such a smart husband...

Happy Anniversary, Dear Hearts, your journey together so far has been a delight, and you've only just begun...

Where are you all coming from????

My statistics for the viewship of my blog are up sharply. I'm getting a lot of hits from AOL, the entry page being The Boogie Woogie Done Right.

I'm glad to see all the new people, would some of you send me an email and tell me how you found me? My site must have been posted somewhere to get this sudden huge influx of people. Site owners are always fascinated by who actually reads their blogs.

Those of you who are new, I'm sure figured out pretty quickly that I'm a crazy woman. Most of the time I have a sense of humor about everything, including myself! I've been off my game a bit lately, worrying about Maggie and her surgery. But that's behind us now...

Laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll).

~ jan

Maggie...

Maggie is starting to perk up. She's alert now, her tail is wagging, she's eating her dog food, and she was extremely interested in my lunch, as usual. I grated her some fresh apple, and she wolfed it down. Life is getting better....

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole ~ Roger Caras ~

My favorite line in SATC movie........

Okay guys, if you know me personally, you know my only claim to fame is that I'm a wham bam, world class typist, I rock in the typing department, ladies, I really do . Soooooooo...

Yesterday, when V and I were at Sex and The City, Carrie was interviewing prospective assistants, and she was interviewing this girl at Starbucks, and the girl was slightly tipsy, sloshing her drink around. Carrie looks at her and says, "Are you drunk?" And she replies, "A lil' bit, I didn't go home last night, but I can type like a Mother F*cker." Naturally, I was just howling with laughter, cause I can totally relate to the typing.

I would love to put that on my little It's Me, Jan Blurb. Can't you just picture it???

Claim to Fame: I type like a Mother F*cker

Nah, my blog is PG rated, can't do that, but I would like to!!!! It's that little devil that sits on my shoulder sometimes.

I'm perkier tonight. Can ya tell? Miss Maggie is totally stoned, she's feelin' no pain. She's just laying on hubby's lap staring with her little tongue hanging out. I'm going to give her another round of the pain meds in a bit, hopefully she will sleep all night.... I keep humming this in my mind...

Well they’ll stone you when you try to be so good
They’ll stone you just like they said they would
They’ll stone you when you’re trying to go home
Then they’ll stone you when you live all alone
But I would not feel so all alone everybody must get stoned

~ Bob Dylan, 1966

Surgery is over....

Dr. Wagner called me to tell me that Maggie handled her bladder surgery like a champ. Just thought you would all like to know that it's over and she is waking up from the anesethetic.

And, the plus of having a woman vet, they had to remove some of Maggie's baby teeth, and her face was wet, so Dr. Wagner's assistant was blowing her moustache dry. A guy vet would never do that!

Women are just the BEST!!!!!!!!!!

Sex and the City....

Veronica and I saw Sex and the City today. It's wonderful, it's too marvelous for words, girlfriends. If you haven't seen it yet, grab a friend and GO!!!!!

The girls look great, Miranda has the BEST makeup ev-er, Carrie wears clothes better than any actress in tinseltown, and is still a skinny be-otch. What does that woman eat, anyway??? Charlotte is still syrupy sweet, even though she does go for the jugular with Big over Carrie. And Samantha, oh my, Kim Cattrell will be fifty-two in August, and she looks absolutely fantastic!

The clothes were great, the hair and makeup was wonderful, the dogs adorable, it wasn't cheezy, it was amazing, sez Jan, gushing.....

staring at the blinking cursor...

i can usually think of a topic to blog about, today i'm just sitting here staring at the stupid cursor blinking on and off....

okay, let's jump in here, my garden is thriving, despite my windowbox, whose flowers on one side are profuse, flowers on the other side are spindly, all wave petunias, dunno whazzup with 'em. i have little tomatoes on the vines, my pepper plants are turning yellow, too much water i think, everything else is doing great.

it's hot, i'm housebound, don't want to face the heat and humidity today, maggie is snoozing in her bed on my computer desk. i think i'm just waiting out this surgery thing with her, which happens tuesday...

i'll be back later today, the nonsense will come, it always does....