Chicken Freebies

I have been thinking a lot about chickens lately. I think they are pretty magical birds. They give us feathers, eggs, and delicious food. They come in all sizes and colors. With funny headdresses. They eat crummy bugs and generally earn their keep. They might have to be put on a list of "must haves". Thought I would share some chicken prints with you. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Vintage Photograph - Woman Feeding Chickens

Southern or Dixie Fried Chicken with Cream Gravy

Here is the South, Sunday Supper is a big thing. It is a time to see family and get together and share a meal. People set aside this day to enjoy the little things. I spent many a Sunday with family, eating incredible food. This is one of my favorite meals. It definitely is one of those foods that conjure up memories. There is nothing better than fried chicken and gravy with home made biscuits and green beans. Yum!

Southern or Dixie Fried Chicken

1 [2 to 3 pound] broiler-fryer chicken, cut up

salt and pepper

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon red pepper

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

hot oil

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Combine the flour with the red pepper. Set aside.

Combine the egg and milk.

Dip the chicken in the milk and egg mixture.

Then dredge chicken in flour mixture, coating well.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a skillet. Place the chicken in the skillet.

Cover and cook over medium heat about 30 minutes or until chicken is golden brown.

Turn the chicken occasionally.

Drain on paper towels. Makes 4 servings.

Cream Gravy

4 tablespoons drippings

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 1/2 to 3 cups hot milk

salt and pepper

Pour off all but 4 tablespoons of drippings in which the chicken was fried. Place skillet over medium heat, add flour till browned. Gradually add hot ilk, cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sere hot. Makes about 2 cups of gravy.

The Guardian - Cemetery Tree

The Guardian

On the way back....a little history....

A beautiful statue in the graveyard. Just a hint of what I will post later this week.

A view of some headstones and an enormous oak tree.

Here the hand is up. Pointing to heaven I am assuming. I am not sure what the pointing hand means. If you know please let me in on it. I know that a sawed off tree means cut down in the prime of life. That a lamb or dove on the headstone is usually reserved for children. A pointing hand?

Hand down here. There were three sisters buried here. Each with similar headstones. One made it to 12, another to 16, and the last to 70. All of them had the hand down. I am not sure what that means. Is it just pointing to their names or what?

A photograph of the three sisters graves. The small headstone was for another child. How sad for their parents. Only the one daughter grew into adulthood. I hope she had a great life.

On the way home from my crochet class I happened upon this old cemetery in Florence Alabama. I thought I would pop in for a picture or two. I love the trees in cemeteries. Some of them are so old. I have great affection for cemeteries.

When I was in high school I dated a boy who lived next door to the cemetery where Anne Morrow - poet and wife of Charles Lindberg was buried. We would often hang out there. My young love taught me the history that can be found in these quiet places.

This particular cemetery was a confederate resting place. Many families here were affected by the Civil War. It was so interesting to read the headstones. Sitting on a large hill the cemetery had so much emotion to it. Here are just a few of the 300 plus photographs I took. All of these are from my iphone. I will share some more later in the week. The angels are particularly lovely.

Working on my Bucket List...

Learning the basic chain stitch.

Our classroom, yarn and free bags to keep our yarn in.


My feeble attempts! I need to practice,practice,practice!


This year part of my New Year Resolution was to work on my Bucket List. One of the things on my list is to learn to crochet. I received an email from Jo Ann's that they were starting classes. Plus the classe were 50% off. Who doesn't like a deal? I went to their web site and found a crochet class for beginners and found a store near where I am staying. Signed up and off I went this weekend.

The class was small just five of us. Lion yarns supplied all the yarn, hooks, and a nice bag to keep our supplies in. The teacher was so relaxed and patient. Showing us over and over till we got the basic stitches. A good time was had by all. I now know how to make a chain, single, double and triple crochet stitches. I am practicing, but do not see any afghans in my future yet. I think I will start small with a scarf. Not quite ready to scratch this one off my list, but I am learning to crochet!

Bird Print Freebies....

This morning my closest and best friend from high school and I were talking. She is in the midst of redecorating her master bedroom. She bought this beautiful bird duvet cover from Pottery Barn for her bed that I am coveting. It had just come in the mail and she was so excited. She asked me to keep my eye out for some bird prints for her as I antiqued. I have a huge collection of prints and am always on the look out. [Usually I am hunting just for me.] It will be nice to look for someone else. That inspired my freebies for today. Here is an assortment of a few of my bird prints.
p.s.this is my 1100 post!

Photographs using Textures

texture number one

iphone photograph


texture number four
one of my tree a day photos

Textures...

Thought I would share some textures with you. These are from old metal chairs I saw while out antiquing. I love the crackle rust one. The one with the squares I am going to use with some inchies. I hope you can find a use for these in your art work.

What a Difference a Day Can Make....

Yesterday I took my friends pups out for a little stroll and to get the mail. It was a beautiful day and the last of the snow was melting away. On these types of days even the smallest of task is enjoyable. I saw this beautiful dried Hydrangea blossom in her front yard. Of course I had to whip out my phone and take some pictures. This is the result from yesterday. And...

This is the result from today. It is damp and cloudy. I woke up to rain. I love how the moisture has turned the dried blossoms a rusty color. These bushes and their flowers are some of my favorites. I grew up with Hydrangea's and my fascination with them continues. Every one is different and everyone is beautiful in their own way. Young or old. Bright or faded...

Speaking of iPhone Camera Photos...

This is the original photo taken up in the mountains with my iPhone. There has been no adjustment at all done to this picture.

I took the photo and manipulated it with one of my iPhone camera apps. I like how it looks sort of frozen in ice.

Here I used another camera app on my iPhone to give it this old paper feel to it. This is my favorite one of the altered tree.

Here again is another camera iPhone app that I used on the original photo. I like this one alot.

Here is one last camera app on the same photo. I just upped the tones, polarized it, and added some rust. Amazing what you can do with some of these apps. I am hooked on these.

I am in Alabama

I left the beach last Saturday. Drove to Charlotte North Carolina to see a couple of my boys and have dinner with them. Then drove to Columbia South Carolina, onto Atlanta Georgia, then to Rome Georgia. Got up on Sunday and meandered over to Alabama to visit some old friends. I will be in Alabama enjoying the sights for the next month or so.

Of course when I got here the weather was turning cold. By Sunday evening the snow started. I woke up to 8 inches of white. It has been fun being snowed in - again. I finally have had some time to catch up on emails, my journal, and start gathering materials for a new journal. Today it has finally started to warm up. My camera and I are off to explore and shoot some photos. Hope everyone is having a great day and looking forward to the weekend.

p.s. the Alabama picture was taken with my iphone.

Cabinet Card Couple Freebies....

A young dapper looking couple.

This couple looks like they have worked very hard for everything they have.


They look very relaxed with each other and themselves. Love his mustache.

They look somewhat uptight. Maybe it is the clothes. Maybe it is that they do not know each other that well?

They look like they have known each other forever. I am always amazed when I see older couples like this. I wonder what stories they could tell me about all the things they have witnessed...


Thought you might appreciate a few freebies. With Valentine's day just around the corner I thought some cabinet cards of couples would be in order. I already see a few cards you could make with these for your sweeties.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies with White Chocolate

I found this recipe in a magazine. It sounded good so I copied it down and did not think a whole lot about it till over the holidays. I happen to love dried cranberries and had several packages on hand so I thought why not give it a try. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

{w/white chocolate chunks}

2/3 cup butter softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 6 ounce package of dried cranberries

2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips - optional

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat till fluffy.

Add the eggs, mix well.

Combine the oats, flour, salt, baking soda in a separate mixing bowl. Add all to the butter mixture in several stages. Mixing well,in between additions. Stir in dried cranberries and chocolate.

Drop a rounded teaspoonful of batter onto a ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Makes around 2 1/2 dozen cookies. Can be frozen if you make several batches. Enjoy!

The Cranberry Harvest

Thank goodness we do not have to do this. Showing gratitude today for grocery stores and their convenience.

Back to the Beach for a few Days....

After New Year's I slowly meandered my way from the mountains to the beach. Stopping along the way to take pictures and stop in any antique store or place that looked inviting. One thing I learned staying in the mountains and encountering a large snowstorm - recovering hips are not meant for snow and ice. My dream of a little cabin in the woods was melting just like the snow. This might be fun in the summer, but winter weather is not fun. In fact it could be right dangerous.

Back at the beach I knew I had just a week to take care of a few things, enjoy the sand an ocean, visit some friends. The house where I was staying the owner's adult child and family were coming back to live. It was time to move on. Consequently no real internet as the house was being updated with new flooring,etc. Hence it has taken me awhile to get some things posted to my blog. Please be patient with me. I now have great internet and so many things to share!

So today I am sharing some of my last North Carolina beach pictures with you. I am going to miss my beach walks and my friends there for the next month or so. Especially, because where I am off to has no beach to speak of. It does have other things though...

Word of Intent

Can you believe a New Year is already here? It seems like it was just a moment ago. I can remember when I was a child. The days seemed so long, time moved so slowly. I think about going to the hobby store on Saturday's. Looking through the glass cases at all these cool little toys wondering when I would be tall enough to look down on the stuff on the top shelf through the glass. All the cool stuff was on that shelf which was hard to see when you had to stand on your tippy toes. Then one day I could stand and look down at all the wonders. That is how I feel about the new year.

Several Yahoo Groups and blog sites are asking you to pick a word of intent for 2011. I did this last year. I actually picked two words -" breathe" and "change". One to keep me sane and the other to create a bit of insanity in my life. As it unfolded in 2010 I needed both words. I used the "breathe" to get me through my shattered hip and it's replacement, the long hours of physical therapy, and the days I just felt defeated. The word "change" summed up the end of the year. The "change" of my body, getting last chick off on his new journey, the sale of my home, and the "change" in my life.

This year I have picked just one word - "build". I need to build a new nest to call home, build my relationships with God, family and friends, build a new buisness, build up my retirement fund, build my art skills, and just generally build my life into something that makes me happy. Sounds like I have a lot of work cut out for me. I enjoy a challenge or two. Have you picked out a word of intent? Have you though about what you want to accomplish this year?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I wish I could have posted sooner, but I have had no internet or cell connection for days. That is one of the nice things I like about the Mountains. Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. Not having those types of connections makes you focus on what you are doing and who you are with. A nice way to spend a holiday in my humble opinion.