Mountain Top

Thane had the day off on Friday so we loaded up the 4 wheeler and went riding near Hillsboro, WV. I grabbed my camera at the last minute, and boy am I glad I did; look at these views!!

Happy Veterans Day

May God bless our Soldiers and Veterans for their service and sacrifice. Thank you for protecting and serving our great country!!

Hello November

This was this mornings coffee view. This is the beauty I get to look at from my front porch on a daily basis. It happened to be a crisp and frosty morning with the fog rising. Beautiful and so peaceful!

There is just something about November that I love. Come November my simple living and down to earth love goes into overdrive. I am baking, cooking, canning (deer season) my tush off. I have 4 great hunters in the family that provide us with plenty of fresh game throughout the hunting season.

I love wrapping a homemade quilt around my shoulders in the crisp morning air and drinking a cup of coffee on my porch swing while enjoying the view. In my mind and notebook I write down what needs to be done throughout the week. This makes my week run so much more smoothly; Business plans, paperwork, household chores, dinner menus, appointments- the basics. They are prioritized as to what needs to be done first second and so forth. I also have learned to block out a time of the day when I get to do the things I want to do. Some days it might be food storage, baking, visiting with friends, quilting, or knitting. I am currently crocheting a baby blanket ( no , not for me!) but for some dear friends that recently had a baby.

I try to get my more strenuous and the most hated tasks (hello paperwork and business calls) done first so all the rest fall into place and then I can relax if I get too tired or I can do the fun- me things. Even if the afternoon proves to be as hectic as the morning I make sure to find time in the evening to re-connect with me and my family. A very wise woman once told me that I tried to carry the world on my shoulders when in reality the only person you can control is yourself.

My point is this - sometimes we get so caught up in the day to day busyness that we truly do forget to smell the coffee! When I go outside in the mornings not only are the visual stimuli there to greet me, but the smells of fall are there too. Morning smoke from the wood-stove chimney, hickory and oak leaves, the birds getting their morning breakfast from the birdfeeders and of course- the smell of my French Vanilla coffee creamer Yum!

Now, as my friend Jim says "Let's go have a cup of coffee"

I'm Alive

This is a beautiful song. This not the original video version, but a video that features paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and Sargent with visual arts. Very inspiring video. Sometimes we need to just let the beauty of nature surround us and be at peace with our self. Take a walk though nature breath in the fragrance of the seasons, enjoy your surroundings, there is beauty all around us if we would just take a moment to quit with the hustle and bustle of life and just look around and breath. Now go and be alive today!

Knitted Washcloths/ Dishclothes

Knitting Needles and Handspun Wool Yarn at a Yorktown Reenactment, Virginia
I have been knitting my own dishcloths for sometime. I am a beginner knitter and am self taught over the internet. Once I got the hang of it, it was very easy.

In our never ending quest to simplify our lives I have found that knitting is a good skill as well as a wonderful method of relaxing in the evening time. I like to think that anything you can make for yourself at home is a wonderful alternative to store bought items. Not to mention that these cloths make wonderful Christmas presents.

Knitting is rather easy to do, there are lots of great tutorials and videos on the internet to help you get started.

Here are a few of my favorite knitted dishcloth knitted washcloth patterns.

PurlBee -Wedding Washclothes

Rainy K dishclothes

Homespun Living - Waffle knit dishcloth

Dishcloth Pattern Corner ( They update their site often with new free patterns)

Dish and Wash Cloth Mania

Rigid Ribbon Dishcloth- Down to Earth

Groovy Mom

Once you learn how to knit or crochet your own dish/wash cloths you will never go back to store bought again.

It's Halloween Baby!!

Today was the annual Halloween Parade in our town. This means at exactly 2pm business stops. Everyone stops to go watch the parade. It the event of the year- well the event of the month ok? Anyways everyone gets involved in the action. Police stop traffic, cars line up Babies, kids and adults dress up- and it's a party baby! Sorta like our own little mini mardi gras! Without the beads and liquor, but that's ok. We have witches, ghosts and goblins

A band of ninja drummers!

Look at this peanut-don't you just want to gobble him up! So cute!

See the boy in the Dickies shirt and dirty blue jeans? That is my spawn. He is a mechanic-see the dirty jeans, that proves it - I think he forgot to put his grease on his face, but we're cool like that.See the lady in black? That is batman's Nana, also my cousin. Doesn't she look brave in a sea of red and black with batman by her side?
Hello, I am batman.

I love this costume!
It is a costume, right? right? (crickets)
Of course the kids are the stars of the parade- Yea that's right little man! You are AWESOME!
Ah- Halloween- how I love you♥

Stand by Me

What an amazing video- each singer/instrument was filmed separately from around the world and then put together. AMAZING. On a side note - I am in love with Grandpa Elliot from New Orleans- the man that has the white beard. I just want to squeeze his cheeks, ruffle his beard and make him sing to me 24 hours a day!!