Hello and welcome to more new followers! :)

I would like to say hello and welcome to a few new followers today!  And I would like to thank you all as I am now up to 74 followers - you guys are the best!

First I also wanted to update on a previous follower.  At first I couldn't find any info on chrischronicles, but Kim let me know that she is a very talented mixed media artist and that her blog can be found at http://viewsbychris.blogspot.com/

Our first new follower is My Realitty who is from California.  Her about me section says "Just can't seem to keep up with the housework!" so I already know that we agree on at least one thing!  Her blog can be found at http://myrealitty.blogspot.com/.  Her blog says that she never met a dollhouse that she didn't like and that she has over 20 of them!

Second is KLC.  I don't see a profile or a blog for this person yet, but if you have one please share!

Third is Lisette who is from the Netherlands.  Her profile says she has loved dollhouses since she was 3.  Her blogs can be found at http://lisettesminiaturen.blogspot.com/ and http://leeroefenen.blogspot.com/.  Through her blog I learned about "The Worldwide Miniclub."  You can find out more info at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/worldwideminiclub/

Fourth is BeautifulDees who is from Utah.  Her profile says that she has 5 children whose names all begin with the letter "D" and that is how she came up with the name "BeatifulDees" - I love it!  She loves crafting and blogging.  Her blogs can be found at http://beautifuldees.blogspot.com/ and http://wheatheredrose.blogspot.com/.

Fifth is Sara Carlson.  I don't see a profile or blog for this person either, but again if you have one please share :)

Sixth is Mar who is also from the Netherlands.  Her blogs can be found at http://mars-smallworld.blogspot.com/ and http://mars-art.blogspot.com/.  Mar is also part of another blog that I will be participating as a co-author on, which can be found at http://travelwithceleste.blogspot.com/.  If you remember Emma you'll know that I love travel dolls so I can't wait to help on this new blog!

And seventh is Natascha who is also from the Netherlands.  Her blog is also about minis and can be found at http://aworldofminiatures.blogspot.com/.

And the last newcomer I almost couldn't find at first.  For some reason if you don't have a profile picture blogger likes to hide you at the end of the list.  Anyway, this user's name is nschaaf.  I don't see a profile or blog as of yet, but I'd love to share with everyone if you start one!

Tiny Tuesday :)

If I had done this post yesterday I would have called it "Messy Minis Monday."  Even though I don't have any money to spend on minis right now I really shouldn't let that stop me from working on what I already have.  And as you can see from the above picture what I have right now is a mess!

As I've collected new things I've just sort of been putting them into the unfinished saloon until I figure out what to do with them.  I'm sure Kitty would be upset if she knew there was a horse on the second floor!  (Kitty is still dewigged so she thought the straw hat was appropriate for the picture)

So anyway, my goal for this "Tiny Tuesday" is to put my saloon back into order.  I actually want to work on my entire craft corner to be more specific.  Getting everything straightened back out will probably motivate me to get back to my mini projects.  Anyway, wish me luck!

Family Photo Friday :)

I've been trying something new with my blog this week.  Since I don't really have any money to spend on minis right now I've been trying out a new topic each day.  So far I'm really having fun with it :)

Today I'd like to share some old family photos.  I may have mentioned it before, but my Mother has me scanning all of her old black and white pictures.  Once we're done I'll burn them all to a cd and make copies for other family members.  These are so much fun!  Some of the people I recognize and some I have to get my Mom to tell me who they are.  The ones I want to share today are of my Mamaw Dorothy Gentry - my maternal grandmother.  You should be able to click the pictures to make them bigger.

L - R:  Mary, James, Martha, Rachel, and George Short

L - R:  My Mamaw, her father, mother, sister, and brother

I think this is such a lovely family photo!  I just wish I knew the year it was taken and where.  As you can see the picture has been through quite alot.  It is yellow and faded and has also been torn at some point and then someone tried to repair it.  The paper itself is not glossy like a modern photo and it's very thick as well - more so than cardstock.  I never met James or Martha, but I was lucky enough to have my Mamaw around until 1995 when I was 15 years old.  I was also fortunate enough to met Rachel and George many times as well.

Mary Dorothy Lee Short Gentry

Here's a close-up of my Mamaw.  Isn't she beautiful!  For years I have admired the hat that she is wearing in this photo.  It would please me to no end to have one like it.  I've googled around looking for it, but since I don't know the exact year of the photo it's hard to find out what kind of hats would have been fashionable at the time.  By the way, my Mamaw and I share the same middle name - Lee.

Mary Dorothy Lee Gentry Short

This is another photo of my Mamaw, but I believe she was a bit younger in this one.  I love everything about this photo!  I love her hair, I love her face and her sly little smile :)  I love the belted floral print dress and I love the collar!  I wish I knew what color the dress was.  I definitely love the shoes - I wonder if they are Mary Janes - weren't those popular for many years?  Probably my favorite part of this picture is that she's standing with one hand flat and one hand on her hip - just like the way celebrities pose!!!

Since the first time I saw this photo I've told everyone that when my grandmother was younger she looked just like Claire Danes.  If you remember Claire Danes she starred in the tv show "My So-Called Life" and the movie "Romeo + Juliet" back in the mid-90's.

Another hobby of mine is working on my family tree.  I use a website called myheritage that I really like. You can sign-up for free and if you end up needing additional space you can pay to upgrade.  They have many great features and one of my favorites is called Celebrity Collage.  You upload a head shot and they tell you what celebrities you look like.

So am I good or what?!  76% look-alike is Claire Danes!  I also think that it's cute that 63% is Judy Garland.  I have another photo of my Mamaw that does remind me a bit of her as well. 

I hope you enjoyed my family photos and I hope you have a great Friday!

Healthy Thinking Thursday!

Hello and welcome to another Healthy Thinking Thursday!  First the beautiful picture that I'm sharing today is a view from atop a hill here in Bristol, Tennessee.  Those mountains you see far in the background are in North Carolina.  Gorgeous sky, huh?

So I finally got my lab results back this past Tuesday and it seems that I do have a virus in my liver.  Good news is that it's a very common virus - according to what I read 95% of all people have had the virus by the time they are 40 years old.  I can't think of the name of it now that I'm trying to tell you guys about it, but I know it's related to the virus that causes mono.  One of the first things that the nurse asked me was if I had ever had mono, which I haven't to mine or my Mother's knowledge.  From what the nurse explained to me it was sort of like chicken pox - even though you only get sick with it once it remains in your system forever.  Most people never even have any symptoms.  The bad thing is that right now the virus is doing what I guess you would call flaring up and it's doing a number on my liver.  They want to do more blood tests in about a month to see if the level of enzymes in my liver is back down.  I know mono causes fatigue and that is definitely something that I have been battling for quite a while.  I also felt feverish today, so my body could be working to fight off some kind of infection, but of course that could be something different altogether.

So on to the healthy thoughts!  I guess I'm just going to have to be that much more dedicated to taking care of myself.  After all I'm the only one that can be held accountable, right?  I just get so stressed (especially lately) about other things - like money, work, home issues, etc. that it seems I'm always putting "me" on the back burner.  No more, right?

What are you healthy thoughts for today?

P.S.  Don't forget to check out Kim's healthy thoughts as well.

Happy Thursday!

What I wish Wednesday...

Melly Kay over at LAMC does these adorable posts she calls "What I Wish I Wore Today."  I really enjoy reading her blog so I thought I'd do my own version.  Before I get started though, I want to let everyone know that Melly is having an awesome giveaway and you can enter here.

So do you want to guess what it is that I'm wishing for today?  No clue yet?  Okay, let me show you my inspiration first.  And btw, these really cute bubble frames came from a program called ArtEdges.  If you google it you'll find a free version that you can download.

This week I've decided to try something new with my spring cleaning.  It took five years for this place to get as messy as it is so it's not going to get clean overnight.  So I've decided to concentrate on one area at a time.  I'll clean it from top to bottom and then move on to the next section.  My starting point is going to be the counter where my microwave sits and the cabinet above it. 

As you can see the cabinet stores all of my barware.  Unfortunately the cabinet has no top (I have no idea why?) so the glasses tend to get very dusty.  The top shelf has my wine glasses.  The middle shelf is for my margarita and martini glasses along with my cocktail shaker and seltzer bottle.  The bottom shelf is for my collection of shot glasses, all of the stirrers and spoons, bottle openers and corkscrews, and also my ever expanding collection of koozies :)

So anyway, am I wishing that I could snap my fingers and all of this cleaning could magically be complete?  Not exactly.

Here's a few pieces of my favorite barware to help clue you in...

(These are my absolute favorite stirrers!  I love olives and I've had these sturdy little guys for years!)

(Layering spoon - essential item)

(I love the little guy taking a siesta on these margarita glasses!)

(My favorite flask - and yes, I have more than one.  This one says "In Case Of Emergency Unscrew Cap."  It also says Lucifer, but that's a completely different story altogether)

So now do you know what I'm wishing for?   As the song says, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere..." - I'm just wishing that "somewhere" was here and now!  Oh well, maybe after work ;)

Cheers everyone and have a happy Wednesday!

Turtle Tuesday!

*** I wanted to do a quick update to this post - these pics are still from when the turtles were smaller - I have yet to show you pictures of how big they are now!  JM 04/13/10 11:56 AM ***

A while back I promised that I would share more pictures of my turtles - and finally I'm getting around to it :)  If you do a search for Red Eared Sliders you'll find my earlier post.  The first pictures were of Herman only, when he was just a little baby turtle.  The ones I want to share today show Cecil as well. 

To give you a little background info the girl that gave Herman to me had kept him in the tiny bowl that they give you at the pet store and he wasn't the friendliest little guy to begin with.  Also RES grow in accordance with their environment - so basically the bigger the tank you put them in the bigger they will grow.  He really hadn't had any chance to grow at all.  When I first got Herman he was about the size of a quarter and when I adopted Cecil (who is about a year or more younger) he was about the size of a nickel.

In these pictures you'll see that Herman was just starting to grow, but he and Cecil look almost the same size even though they are about a year apart in age.

This first little guy is my Cecil :)  He was all wiggling and not really wanting to have his picture taken.  When I first adopted him it was back when AIM was pretty popular.  I actually polled my friends and let them pick his name. 

Next is a pic of Herman.  Overlook the fact that it's a bit blurry - it's hard to hold a wiggly turtle with one hand and a camera with the other!

(And I just noticed that both of these pics show my cool spinny ring - I wish I knew what ever happened to that thing!)

Next are some pics of the first tank that I had.  You can imagine how quickly they grew out of it.  The glass columns are filled with those glass jewels that you can buy at any craft store.  They were then sealed with tank silicone so no water could get into them.  They were positioned underneath a sheet of plexiglass that was also siliconed onto the sides of the tank.  I used more silicone to glue down tank gravel - it had to be glued down because at this point the turtles were big enough to where they would try to eat it.  You have to make sure that any decorations in the tank are as big as the turtle's head - anything smaller will get eaten - trust me!  One top of the tank gravel was a large flat piece of slate.  Hanging directly over top of that was a special tank lap with a heating bulb.  The bulb would heat the stone and the turtles would swim up and sun bathe for hours!

In this next shot you can see some of the tubing from the tank filter in the back.  You have to have a really good filter for turtles.  They are about a million times messier than fish.  You also have to be willing to constantly clean the tank.  This is one of the main reasons that I never recommend giving a turtle as a pet to a child.  Just like how the miniatures that most of my blog friend enjoy are actually intended for adults and not children - this is the same sort of thing.  You need to be willing to spend a lot of time and be very patient with turtles.  Also there is a chance of getting salmonella from a turtle so another good reason that children shouldn't be playing with them.  Always thoroughly wash your hands after handling any reptiles.

In this next one you can see the stacks of rocks that the turtles liked to climb on in the corner of the tank.  The little terracotta pot in the middle is what I would plant anachris in for them to eat.  After they had eaten the entire plant they liked to push the pot around and play with it.

Here you see them both swimming around - I think they wanted me to feed them.  They would eat all day if I would let them get away with it.  In the background you can see the tank heater.  RES prefer to stay very warm, both in and out of the water.

Here is one of the little guys resting on the bottom - did you know they sleep underwater?  I also see some little pieces of tank gravel that have broken off in this pic - oops.

In this last one you can see a bit of the slate rock that is above the water.  If I can find any pics of them sunbathing I'll post those as well because they are the cutest thing!  The top glass of the tank is hard to keep clean - turtles like to splash alot!

I hope you enjoyed my turtle pics - have a great Tuesday!

Mini Monday :)

I enjoy the fact that my blog goes in a direction other than minis on occasion.  I like the freedom to express myself in other ways.  Minis were one of the main reasons that I started this blog though, and since it's been a while since I've posted about them, I thought for today I'd get back on point.

I've been sick as of late and haven't really even been in the mood to work on my saloon.  But I did receive this beautiful horse that I wanted to share with you.  My family was in town visiting for the race back in March and my Aunt from New York brought me this lovely little guy - or girl?  She spotted it and thought of me - how sweet!

I think I'm going to call him/her Brownie :)  The brown fur is very soft and the shiny black hair is very silky.  I like the little red blanket on its back as well.  The saddle and the bridle are plastic, but I don't think they look too bad.  The horse itself is very close to scale, which is a plus.  I wanted to stand Kitty next to it to show you, but at present she is dewigged and refused to stand for a picture.  I even offered her a hat, but she still declined.  Anyway, I think the horse will look cute tied up out in front of the saloon.

That is as soon as I get back to work on the saloon!

As you know I'm an Oz fan...

I was so sorry to hear today that Meinhardt Raabe had passed away.  He was one of the last living actors who played a Munchkin from the famous Wizard of Oz.

He played the Munchkinland Coroner and his famous line from the movie was, "As coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her. And she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead."

Check out the article that the above picture came from here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2010/04/10/2010-04-10_wizard_of_oz_munchkin_coronor_meinhardt_raabe_dies_had_famed_line_really_most_si.html

And another great article where Raabe and an actual coroner from Kansas discussed the Wicked Witch of the East's death certificate.

http://cjonline.com/news/local/2010-04-10/oz_coroner_most_sincerely_dead

Healthy Thinking Thursday

Welcome to another Healthy Thinking Thursday!  Spring has been beautiful so far here in Tennessee.  I've spent most of this week not feeling well and today is my first day back at work so I'm hoping for a good day.  Also don't forget to check out Kim over at Flowers and Art for her healthy thoughts.

I got a letter from the nurse at the gastroenterologist's office asking me to come in to the lab for a blood test to check my hepatic or liver function.  So I went by there Monday, missed a call from the office on Tuesday, and finally got back in touch with them yesterday.  The regular nurse was out to lunch so the nurse who answered the call read from her notes.  She basically said that an enzyme in my liver came back way out of range, that I could have an infection in my liver, and that I needed to go to the emergency room immediately.

So needless to say I F-R-E-A-K-E-D out!!!  I asked if she would please explain to me one more time exactly what the need for concern was.  Basically two enzymes in my liver were flagged because they were out of range.  SGOT reference range is 13 - 39 and mine was 179.  SGPT reference range is 7 - 52 and mine was 359.  When I had my labs done back in January/February with my yearly physical my SGPT came back high, but nowhere near what it was on Monday.  According to what I read online both of these enzymes are present when there has been damage done to your liver or heart.

So anyway, back to the nurse - she basically said that she was putting in the order for more labs and that I was to come back to the office that day or go to the ER to have them done.  Needless to say I took a shower, got dressed, jumped in the car and drove on over.  I'm hoping to hear something today since they were so quick to call me back to begin with.  So now I guess it's time to reevaluate (sp?) some things health-wise, but in the meantime I'm going to try to remain positive.

What are your healthy thoughts for the day?

Fifty-two thousand eight hundred pounds of potatoes!

I've been sick (again) and out of work for the past couple of days.  But while I've been stuck at home my boy has been busy shoveling potatoes.  52,800 pounds of potatoes to be exact.  I didn't believe it myself until I saw the 18 wheeler truck - it was filled from top to bottom from one end to the other with the biggest brownest yummiest looking potatoes ever!  I wish I had remembered my camera that day!

My b/f David has a friend whose grandfather is a truck driver.  He does runs for a local company called Snack Alliance.  Evidently when a truck comes in they take a sample by taking 5 pound buckets of potatoes and cutting the tubers in half.  They count the number of spots on the inside of the potatoes and if it's above a certain percentage then the potatoes can't be used because they'll leave dark spots on the chips.  There is nothing wrong with the potatoes - they just can't be made into chips.

So what do you do with nearly 53 thousand pounds of potatoes?   You put a sign at the end of the driveway and you sell them!  Once again I didn't have my camera, but the boys put up a sign that said, "25 cents for a grocery bag, 50 cents for a feed sack, and $5 for a truckload."  It didn't take long for people to start pulling in.  By the second day the boys were giving the potatoes away and oddly enough they made a lot more money in tips that way!

David said that on the second day a vehicle from the local jail showed up.  The officer/foreman asked David and his friend if they would like to take a break for a while.  The temperature has been in the 80's the last couple of days in Tennessee so of course the boys said yes.  So the officer put the inmates up in the truck to shovel their share of potatoes.

Can you believe how big these things are?!  I can't wait to make baked potatoes!  I like to rub the skins with butter and then sprinkle them with salt and then put them straight into the oven.  My Mom like to wrap hers in aluminum foil before she puts them in the oven, but I think that is technically steaming and not baking.

I like them uncooked as well.  I wash and peel them and then cut them into slices and sprinkle salt on top.

Here's something that's a little different, but still mostly on topic.  How many of you out there have heard of a potato nail?  I don't see them as much anymore, but maybe your Mother or Grandmother used them?

I found these on Amazon, but they are not in stock atm.  I guess you could use a metal skewer the same way, but most of the ones I've seen are too long for a potato.  Anyway, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday - ttyl blogland :)

Healthy Thinking Thusday Part Two - pics from Steele Creek Park

Just some fun pics to share from Tuesday's walk in the park.

Beautiful blooming trees and a beautiful sky!

Stacy Grayson Memorial at Steele Creek Park Bristol, Tennessee.

The Family Fit trail where I started my walking journey.

It looks flat here, but I'm actually on top of a hill.  Beautiful day!  There is a much harder trail that runs along the ridge of the hill that you see in the background.  It's been a while since I've done that one!

View down the hill at Steele Creek Lake.  It looks pretty, but it's not clean enough to swim in - it's sort of been taken over by the ducks over the years.  When I was little they had a roped off area where you could swim though.

A family by the ampitheater feeding the ducks.

A view of the creek.

After walking for a while I caught back up with boys who were playing frisbee golf.

One of the frisbee golf baskets.

Another pic of the beautiful blooming trees.

Back on the trail again.

And finally this was back at the parking lot.  Tempted as I was I didn't stay around long enough to count all of the rings.

Healthy Thinking Thursday Part One:

This week I sort of had my healthy thinking Thurday a little early - I had it on Tuesday actually!  It was a beautiful sunny day here in Tennessee and on a whim I decided to take the day off from work.  David and I met up with some friends at a local park and while the boys played frisbee golf I had a wondefully relaxing walk around the park.  I took my camera so I have some nice pictures to share with everyone, but I won't be able to upload them until tonight because I have no access to them here at work.  I told David that we should start treating ourselves to a fun day outside every week!  Remember being little (before we all had to grow up and get jobs?) and being able to play outside every single day?  No wonder I was such a skinny kid back then!!

Anyway, the rest of this week has been pretty good as well.  I've gotten to bed at a decent time every single night and you wouldn't believe what a difference it makes the next day!  Also I started doing arm workouts out of an exercise book that I bought a while back.  I've got to start out slowly because I am soooo sore right now!

Check back later for some great pics from Tuesday's walk at the park and don't forget to check out Kim over at http://flowerkim.blogspot.com/ to see what her healthy thoughts for the day are as well.