Hello, Anyone Out There?

Hello, anyone out there in blogland? It's been over a month since I last posted, so I thought I'd do a little update before you forget I'm here. You know the "out of sight, out of mind" theory. :-)

I have been enjoying summer by gallivanting here, there and everywhere. How has your summer been? It's hard to believe Fall is just around the corner.

The caravan of horse and buggies came down my gravel road again last week, so I thought I'd post a few pictures.
Here some of them come. There were 15 wagons, buggies and people on horseback altogether, and I'm just posting a few, of course. These folks are members of the Maynard, Arkansas saddle club, and go on these outings in the spring, summer and fall. In August is when they come down my road and I am glad they do. We need a little excitement around here, now and then.

And if the Good Lord be willing, we'll see them again next year.

Two Sundays ago, church friends Margaret and Jerry invited Eileen and me to a huge buffet fifty miles from home, as their guests. Our waitress was nice enough to take this picture, and I will just say, all the eating out I have been doing lately is plumping up my cheeks!

Well, I know I posted this on Facebook, but not here on my blog. This is the newest book I have a story in. Isn't it a beautiful little book? Actually, it's a collection on favorite childhood recipes and the stories that go along with the recipes. I am pleased to be included in this book.

Last, but not least, blogging buddy Brenda's sweet husband Bob made the nicest comment on my story in the latest Chicken Soup book on my last post, below. For a writer, whether it comes in an email, in a letter or as a comment in my blog, this is the kind of feedback that is worth it's weight in gold:

Uncle Bobby said...

Hi Renie. I am Bob Vornberg, Brenda's husband. Our granddaughter Maddie stayed with us overnight, and this morning as we played with her in the family room, I picked up the new "Chicken Soup" book and read your story on page 256 -- "Making the Best of the Worst of Times". As I looked down at our Maddie and pictured in my mind the scene you were painting, the example and lesson of your Grandfather made a very strong impression on me. I had a real sense of his spirit - not speaking to me in words - but as a role model, which he surely must have been for you.We have a young willow tree growing in our back yard, and whenever I look at it now, I will be reminded of your Grandfather - and it will remind me to try to be a role model to Maddie. I believe that God provides these "connections" for us if we are open to them. Please know that the spirit of your Grandfather is alive in our hearts. Thank you.

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Thank you, Bob, for your touching comment. Yes, my Grandfather was a wonderful role model, as was my Grandma, and I have tried to keep both of their spirits alive in my stories.

Well, I made this post long enough to make up for all the posts I have missed in the past month. Now, it's time to go and gallivant some more.

Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Blessings from the woods!

Guess Who Is Having a Birthday Today?

Guess who is having a birthday today? It's this sweet girl in the picture. Her name is Mckenzie, and she is my youngest granddaughter. Just two weeks ago, when she was here visiting me, she was a little girl of nine, and today she is a big girl of ten! My, how time trots on by, and before I'll know it, she'll be off to college, like her older cousin Nichole. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

We had a wonderful visit while she and her Mama and Dad (who is my older son) were here. And I am sharing a couple of pictures from our visit.


Here she is, showing me a ladybug she found crawling on that stick she is holding up. If you look very closely, you might even see that ladybug!


And here is Mckenzie with her favorite cat, Orio, sitting next to the porch doll she brought me from Branson. Isn't the doll cute? But not as cute as Mckenzie!

Of course, whenever she is here visiting, she loves to go riding on the 4-wheeler. Here she is with her Mama and Dad, in the field. They went on many longer rides, too, up the hilly country roads, where they saw horses and cows, and goats and were chased by dogs!

Of course, she helped with me with some chores, too, read some of my stories in the Chicken Soup books without even being asked to read them, and enjoyed seeing some deer, turkeys, and lots of birds. Her favorite birds were the woodpeckers.

Now, they are all back at home, and I know today they are celebrating big time.

Happy Birthday, Mckenzie. I love you, miss you, and will see you again soon. xoxoxoxo

And Uncle Greg said to tell you, "You're still "IT," Kiddo!"

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Thank you for visiting my little birthday tribute to Mckenzie. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Blessings from the woods!

Chasing Away the Winter Doldrums!

Well, besides still battling the last of this bug that has been plaguing me, I have been down with a major case of the winter doldrums. The Bah Humbugs! So I decided to post some of the pictures of Thanksgiving and birthday week, to remind me of the wonderful time my daughter and granddaughters, son Greg, and dear friend Eileen and I had together. Since I have several pictures here, I hope you won't be too bored with them.

My daughter took this picture of Eileen and me at the lovely restaurant where we all had lunch. And the waitresses even came and sang the Happy Birthday Song, to me! :-)

Here are my granddaughters Nichole and Hannah with Uncle Greg, in the woods. The girls think Uncle Greg is a cool and fun guy to hang out with!

City girls enjoy hiking around in Nana's woods!

And they also enjoy riding around on the 4-wheeler.

Since the weather was mild and beautiful the entire week they were here, we decided to go to the river, too. And as you can see, The Current River is beautiful even in November!

And here are the girls by our cabin on the river.

Alas, our visits are never long enough, and I always miss them when they leave for home. :(

I also had some good news in the mail this past week.

I received my copy of the Winter 2009 issue of "Pure Inspiration Magazine," with one of my stories in it. As a writer, I'm always happy to see my work in print.

I also received the new "Chicken Soup for the Soul, Loving Our Cats," book with my story in it.

And I have a story in "The Big Book of Christmas Joy: An Inspirational Treasury to Celebrate the Season," published by Howard Books.

I also have three awards I will acknowledge very soon, friends.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you are all doing well and ready for the holiday, unlike me.

Ah, and today is Chinese Buffet day. That should also help chase the winter doldrums. :-)

Blessings from the woods!

Ruby Tuesday

It's another Ruby Tuesday, and this weeks post has been fun for me! Just yesterday morning, as I was getting ready to go to town and meet Eileen for coffee and a snack and some shopping, I only had two pictures in mind for todays post. But as I walked into Mc'D's, there was Eileen, in all her red glory! LOL.

"Oh, you're wearing red this morning! Woo Hoo! Let me go and get my camera from the car," I said, jumping up and running out to get it.

"But I don't want my picture taken," Eileen protested.

"Don't you want to be famous on the Internet?"

"Oh, alright," she said, "But you will owe me for this!"

Just then, in walked our friend Pat. She was wearing red as well! This was my lucky morning.

"Oh, can I take your picture?" I asked her.

"She'll make you famous on the Internet," Eileen told her. And Pat, being a good sport, agreed, and I was all set for another Ruby Tuesday. Aren't my friends nice to put up with me?

Here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

This is my 11 year old granddaughter Hannah, posing with all the ribbons she won at a recent horse show. Isn't she cute? And please note that one of those ribbons is blue!

Here is Eileen, in her red shirt, toasting the picture taker! (Or maybe contemplating throwing the cup of coffee at her!)

And this is Pat. Her red shirt isn't quite as a showy red as Eileen's, but it is still nice for a ruby picture, don't you agree?

And Cody, the dog, wanted to get into the action as well. Here he is showing off his red sweater, smiling for the camera. Woof!


If you'd like to participate in Ruby Tuesday, visit the teach to find out more.

Happy Ruby Tuesday!

Pictures That Cheered This Nana Up!

I've been in a bit of a funk the last couple of days-sad and even depressed. So when my daughter sent me some pictures this morning, they cheered me up considerably. As it happens, my 11 year old granddaughter Hannah, who is in these pictures, was in a bit of a funk as well. Her big sister Nichole had left for college last week. This is the first time Nichole is no longer living at home, and Hannah misses her. So her Mom took her to the Farm Park, Wednesday, to help cheer her up.

It was a beautiful day with big, fluffy clouds, and cheerful looking sunflowers welcoming them to the Farm Park.

There are beautiful flower gardens at this Farm Park, and here is Hannah

wearing her Jonas Brothers (hope I spelled that right!) T-shirt, that she got at the live, Jonas Brothers concert she attended a couple of weeks ago. She is mighty proud of that T-shirt!

The beautiful flower gardens have paths through them, so one can get up close and personal with the beautiful flowers.

They also have a vegetable garden there, and it was potato digging time. Here is Hannah helping the farm ladies to gather the freshly dug potatoes. What a fun job that was!

Of course, there were lots of animals at the Farm Park, such as Llama's.

And calves. Here she is petting a little bull calf that is chowing down. Of course, many other animals reside at the Farm Park as well.



And here is Hannah with the draft horses that pulled the wagon she rode in. Nana is saving some of the other pictures for another time. But as you can see, Hannah enjoyed the Farm Park. It cheered her up considerably, as it did this Nana, who enjoyed the pictures.

All Nana's, also known as Grandma's, enjoy pictures of their grandchildren! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend, and a great week ahead, everyone.

Blessings from the woods!


I do have a couple of awards to acknowledge, and I will do that sometime next week.

GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Well, before I go into a bit of a rant here, I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend. I did, for the most part. The weather has been beautiful, the company pleasant, and all the animals that live here, have been well behaved. Even Oreo, who tends to enjoy terrorizing Gracie and Maya, occasionally, has been a perfectly sweet kitty. But, there is a GRRRR, in this story.


Friday, Eileen and I drove to the Purple Castle. Well, actually, it's only a purple house that sort of resembles a castle, and it's about 15 miles from where I live.

Have you ever been charmed by a house? I don't mean impressed by it's grandeur, but charmed by it's uniqueness? That is what I have been by this extraordinary purple house, with the purple picket fence, and purple mailbox!

So we drove to look at it again. I had my camera with me. In the past, I have never seen anyone by the house. So this time, as we sat in the car, in front of it, I contemplated if I should get out and try and take pictures of it.

"What if the people don't like strangers taking pictures?" said Eileen.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough," said I, getting out of the car, while Eileen stayed put. Just as I was aiming my camera at one side of it, for it's a large house, an older woman came out. I introduced myself and asked her if it was okay for me to snap a few pictures of the house. She not only agreed, but after chatting, she invited me inside, to take pictures of the interior. Eileen insisted on staying put again, when I walked back to the car and tried talking her into coming along.

"No, you go, if you want to, and if you don't come out of there within a short time, I am going to call the law. You don't even know these people. They may be strange or something. After all, they live in a purple house!"

Now, if my daughter reads this, she will more than likely think that Eileen was right, and her Mom, me, a bit too daring, as usual.

The woman, Sandra was perfectly gracious. She told me she and her husband designed the house themselves, and have been working on it together for 14 years! And it's still not nearly finished, which was quite obvious, with lumber and even furniture, still stacked up on the numerous porches of the house. And Sandra, who is now in her sixties, is an artist. Much of her art is also stacked up in the various unfinished rooms. Oh, but the few rooms that are finished, are something else! Beautiful, stone fireplaces, a huge mural of a white tailed buck, on one of the walls, which Sandra had painted, stained glass windows, beautiful detail work on the walls, etc.

If I continue with the praises of the uniqueness of this house, this post will turn into a book. The photo's would tell some of the story....would, if I could only upload them onto my pc! But no such luck!

I have tried uploading them since Friday evening, but no success. The message keeps telling me to connect the device, which is connected! GRRRR! I have put freshly charged batteries into the camera, I have taken the little card in and out several times, at my daughters suggestion, I have done everything possible to make it happen, but it's not happenning. GRRRR! So I can't show you the Purple Castle, just yet. Or maybe never. It's stuck in my stupid camera! I am pretty aggravated over this! Can you tell? LOL.

So, I will have to take my laptop and camera in to our PC Guru, Patrick, sometime soon, and see if he can figure it out. But this week will be pretty busy, being that the 4th of July weekend is coming up, and I am determined to enjoy it all, even with a GRRRR, that will be in the back of my mind all week.

Thank you for reading my rant. Hope you have a great week!

Shooting the Moon!

Last night, I braved the cold to try and shoot the moon! Well, I was trying to shoot pictures of the eclipse, of course! And I was braving the cold by standing at my open kitchen window. I wasn't brave enough to go outside and stand in my field though, to do it. The photos are not the best, but the best that I could muster, especially with the trees around here hampering my view, as you can plainly see. I was lucky to be able to shoot a few pictures before the clouds rolled in, bringing the sleet, snow and freezing rain with it, a little later. And if you watched the eclipse and took pictures of it, like my old friend Tina did, please let me know. Tina is an Astronomy Buff, and takes beautiful, professional looking pictures, unlike me. But I enjoyed shooting the moon!


I like the above picture because the moon looks like it's hung up on the tree branch!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

No Snow In My Neighborhood!

The weather predictions for Saturday were ominous, with freezing rain and snow in the forecast. Well, we had torrential rains all day, but by the time the temperatures dropped to freezing, late at night, most of the moisture was gone. Oh, we did get a dusting of snow, but that melted as soon as the sun came out this morning. So, no snow in my neighborhood, to take beautiful pictures of. (Thank goodness!) But it was a beautiful, sunny day, and I decided to take some pictures anyway.

The small pond is at the northern edge of the field. It isn't a fancy pond, it is a wildlife pond. Behind the pond are the woods. The pond, field and woods are a nice habitat for the wildlife that live around here. And the birds always find water to drink or bathe in.

The field is east of the house, and it is where the deer and wild turkeys like to congregate. Behind the field are some more woods.

The grass is brown nowadays, and some of the oaks which hang on to their leaves until spring, are somewhat drab, but I like my snow-less landscape. It has its own "rustic" charm.

Of course, it never fails. Whenever I'm outside, the deer appear. Here is a doe and her teen aged fawn, posing for me nicely.

And here comes another doe with her twin fawns. The fawns will hang out with "mom" even after she has new "kids," next spring, and even after they give birth to their own young. The bucks stay with "mom" for about a year, after that they join the "boys," who usually hang out together in the woods.

I hope you enjoyed my "snow-less" pictures.