This little clip reminds me of my husband. He is an incorrigible flirt! LOL  I so want to dress up as Gomez and Morticia for Halloween!!!

I adore the Addams Family!  If you love them as much as I do, then you’ll want to get The Addams Family – The Complete Series
asap!  *hint*This would make a great Christmas present!

Toothpaste for Dinner by Drew

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/081611/

If you do much baking at all, you probably use quite a bit of vanilla extract.  And, if you’re like most of us, you can’t afford the real stuff, so you use that imitation kind.  It’s ok, but the real stuff is soooo much better!  And it’s also soooo expensive.  LOL

The thing is, it’s super easy to make.  Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers has a post telling us how to make it, and also where she likes to get her vanilla beans and other items she uses to make/store it.  It’s pretty much the vanilla beans and vodka, but I don’t want to copy her “recipe”, so just head on over to her site and view the whole post.  She has pictures, and everything!  LOL  There are even downloadable recipe cards!

I recently learned about Cake Pops on Bakerella’s website, and had to try them myself!!! They are so adorable!!! I can’t wait to get her book (Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats
), and try some different designs!!  Here are a couple photos of the ones Sammy and I did for a family reunion that was a couple days before the 4th of July.

This picture really doesn’t do them justice.  They are quite an impressive site all set out together…. especially when there are 100 of them!  LOL  Not bad for our first time, huh? 

The cuteness is just killing me!!!!  LOL

The really cool thing about them is they are soooo easy to make!  They are nothing but cake, icing, and those melting “chocolates” that they make molded lollipops out of.  They are a bit time consuming, but you definitely get that “WOW!!!” factor.    And when they are made to look like tiny cupcakes, panda bears, or frogs, people just get way impressed.  LOL  For now, though, I’m happy with my little balls of cake. 

Have you ever made Cake Pops?  If so, leave a link to your photos, and tell us about them!

Happy Independence Day!!!!

Gorgeous Violets, originally uploaded by wvclaylady.

Gorgeous Violets

Very Pink Bluet, originally uploaded by wvclaylady.

Very Pink Bluet

Blanket of white, originally uploaded by wvclaylady.

Blanket of white

Domestic abuse is a big problem in this country.

It has been a problem in my life, since I was a little girl.

My father was abusive towards my mom when I was little.  I remember being scared a lot, and having tummy aches often.  I remember my father drinking and my mom, older sister, and I running to a neighbor’s house when he got a gun out.  But I really don’t remember a whole lot from my childhood, because I must have blacked out a lot of bad memories.  I’ve just realized as an adult that I was probably suicidal as a child.  I remember being afraid that I would open the car door and jump out, while it was moving.  I didn’t WANT to do it, but I was afraid I would.  I didn’t.

I married the first guy that paid much attention to me.  Little did I know that he was abusive, like my father.  Looking back, I see a sad person, with low self esteem.  But I thought I married a 6’1″ guy with a  lot of charisma.  What I really did was marry a guy who was a pro at manipulating people.  Around most other people, he was a great guy.  Fun to be around.  With me, he lost his charm.  He egged me on until I couldn’t take it anymore, and when I tried to make him stop, he’d start hitting me.

The worst time was probably when I was about 2 or 3 months pregnant with my second child.  He beat me really bad, including kicking me in the head and stomach.  That was the time I almost killed him in his sleep.  He was drunk, as usual, and fell asleep, so I thought it was my chance.   I stood over him with a wrought iron skillet over his head, but I didn’t hit him, because I was afraid I wouldn’t do it hard enough, and he’d come after me and kill me.  So, I left, and called the police.  To make a long story short, his mom bailed him out of jail, just like she’d done all his life, and I ended up in a women’s shelter.

But, as many women do, I took him back.  I believed his lies of not doing it again.  He was sorry.  Oh yes.  He was ALWAYS sorry.  He was sorry when he beat K.M., the girl he dated before me, and H., the girl he dated after me.  I don’t know how many women he has been with, but I’d bet he’s been sorry to about 80% of them.  Even though, IT WASN’T HIS FAULT.

Yeah, that’s the problem with most abusers.  It’s never their fault.  Apparently, there is some supernatural force that takes control over their body and forces them to beat up women.  It’s a sad state of affairs, I tell you.  These poor, unsuspecting men meet women who know exactly which buttons to push, and they have no choice but to bash their faces in.  Someone really should stop these evil women.

Yeah.  Right.

But, you see, it’s not just the wives and girlfriends that bare the brunt of the problem.  In most cases, children are born during these unions, and they also suffer at the hands of their fathers.  Sometimes they actually see their father beating on their mother, which is damaging enough, but a lot of the time, the father ends up being a DEAD BEAT DAD.

Yes, you heard me right.  DEAD BEAT DAD.

Can you imagine a man who fathers a child (children), then after a separation, completely neglects to join in on the care of that child?  Can you imagine a man who NEVER willingly pays one red cent towards his child’s support???  I know such a man.  If you can call him that.  Personally, I don’t consider him a man at all.  The only time he’s paid his child support is when the state took it out of his paycheck, which was several years after he should have started paying.  He also never made any effort to see his children.  No birthday cards.  No Christmas presents.  NOTHING.

That’s exactly what he is to me now.  Nothing.  As my present husband would say, he’s not worth the  power of lead to blow him up.

But you know what good has come out of all this???  I SURVIVED!!!

I never thought of myself as a strong person.  And I still have trouble telling myself that I have the strength to get through some things.  But I got through my ex-husband.  And if I can get through that, I can get through anything.

I am a survivor.

If you are being abused, and need help, call the domestic abuse hotline… 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233).

http://www.thehotline.org/

I’ve been working on some more mushrooms to put on Etsy.  Morels this time!  Gonna have them posted shortly!

Well, my friends, it’s that time again.  It’s time for another fascinating installment of  PIGS IN SPACE!

No, wait, that’s another show!  LOL  It’s time for a garden update!  Wahoo!!!

If we keep going like this, in a couple years, we won’t have to mow at all!

The potatoes are pretty sad looking, after our battle with potato bugs and some other kind of beetle.  The taters are good though.  And mine are bigger than Greg’s!  Mwahahaha!!! 

Here is our first little zucchini!

After the peas were finished, we put in lima beans.  They are pole beans, so Greg made a teepee shaped thing for them to grow up.  When they get a little bigger, I’ll tie some strings at the top and let them hang down for the beans to grow up, too.

Doesn’t this make you think “Feed me Seymour”???  Well, it did ME!  LOL

Here is the whole little patch of limas.  We should get a few messes from it!

If you look closely, you’ll see the green beans starting to grow up the corn.  Alton would be proud of our multi-tasking corn, by golly!!

Here you can see the cucumbers and tomatoes.  Well, some of the tomatoes.  There are cherry tomatoes in a couple buckets, too!

That’s pretty much it.  I didn’t want to bog down the whole interwebs with my photos.  LOL  If you have any questions or comments, leave them below or catch me on Facebook!

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.  Psalm 119:105

I happened across these on YouTube, and had to share them with  you!  I just love June Carter.  She is just plain SPUNKY!

One morning, a husband returns the family boat to their lakeside cottage after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, puts her feet up, and begins to read her book. The peace and solitude are magnificent.

Along comes a Fish and Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, “Good morning, Ma’am. What are you doing?”

“Reading a book,” she replies, (thinking, “Isn’t that obvious?”).

“You’re in a Restricted Fishing Area,” he informs her.

“I’m sorry, officer, but I’m not fishing. I’m reading.”

“Yes, but I see you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I’ll have to take you in and write you up.”

“If you do that, I’ll have to charge you with sexual assault,” says the woman.

“But I haven’t even touched you,” says the Game Warden.

“That’s true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment.”

“Have a nice day ma’am,” and he left.

MORAL:

Never argue with a woman who reads. It’s likely she can also think.

This is a little guy I made years ago.  He never made it to a doll, but I’m glad, because he keeps me company while I work on other things!

I’m sorry it’s been a little while since I updated you on how the gardening is going.  You know how it is.  Life gets busy, or sometimes my back doesn’t let my motivation out to play.  LOL  Anyhoo, here is what our garden is up to.

This is Greg’s patch of potatoes. He used topsoil, which looks like sandy clay. They are growing, but not as well as mine are. We’re a little worried if they will form right, since the dirt gets pretty solid.

Here are my potatoes. They were planted at the same time, but see how much fuller they are? And they have a nicer color, too. I can’t wait to see how the potatoes do in the Mel’s Mix!

The peas are looking good, too! So far, the deer “fence” we put up has worked. We’ll probably do something similar to this with the tomatoes, when they get a little bigger. Right now, we’re covering them up at night with buckets.

The deer walked right through our little corn patch, and made a bee line to the peas. But I fooled them! *Mwa hahahaha*

I wanted to show you this little flower. Most people would call it a weed, but it’s a wild flower called Daisy Fleabane. I think they are pretty!

This is a photo of our grapes. Usually, you can see a pretty pink edge around the smaller leaves. It’s not showing up very well in this pic, but you can just barely make it out. Click the pic to go see a bigger version.  I’ll have to put deer net around them when the grapes start getting ripe, because last year they got all eaten up before I got to them.

Tonight for dinner, I made pizza.  And when I say, “I made pizza”, I really mean I MADE pizza!  Well, really, I should say WE, because my hubby did help by making the crust.  He is the official bread making type person in this house!  Also, I made the sauce from scratch.  Not so much because I was feeling like being all domestic or anything, but I just didn’t have any spaghetti sauce, which is what I normally use.  So, I made due with what I had.  And what I had was a couple cases of tomato juice that we canned last year.

So, with the pepperoni and cheese I had in the fridge, we had a very yummy pizza!  Of course, we didn’t eat all junk food (a misnomer, in my humble opinion), because we had a lovely romaine and spinach salad to go with it!  I love spinach in salad, and romaine lettuce is actually good for you, as opposed to iceberg, which is mainly water.

I forgot to take a pic of our pizza while it was still hot, so here is a pic of some of whats left.  And I’ll post the recipes for you below.

Pizza Crust Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in the water.  Add the rest of the ingredients in, and mix.  Dump onto a floured surface.  Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so).  Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan.  Add some pizza sauce and your toppings.  Bake at 450 degrees F for around 12 – 15 minutes untill the crust looks crispy and lightly browned.

Shannon’s Homemade Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

2 quarts tomato juice (mine was some of  our homemade stuff, but you could use store bought, or use tomato sauce or puree)

1 tbsp dried oregano

3 small (or 2 large) bay leaves

1 tbsp dried basil

1 heaping tbsp garlic, minced

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dried onion flakes

1/2 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

dash hot sauce

dash paprika

dash chili powder

1 tbsp sugar (near end of cooking time, so sauce will be less likely to scorch)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Throw everything but the sugar in a sauce pan, and simmer until it’s your preferred consistancy.  When it’s getting close to that, add the sugar.  You can add it directly to your pizza, or store it for later.  The flavors and spices get stronger as it sits.

I almost forgot to mention the movie part of Dinner and a Movie.  LOL  After dinner, I watched Penelope, with Christina Ricci, for the first time!  I really liked it!  Like Mommy always said, Pretty is as Pretty Does.  And she sure knew what she was talking about!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a separate note, I also started a small batch of “fodder beans” for Greg for tomorrow.  You have to soak them overnight.

To tell the truth, I just don’t get fodder beans.  It seems like a terrible thing to do to a green bean.  I suppose, though, that it was a necessary way to preserve beans for some people.  But drying a green bean makes it dry (go figure), mangled, and moldy looking.  Totally unappetizing, in my humble opinion.  But Greg’s Granny used to make them, his Mom still does, and he really likes them, so I’m cooking them for him.

Here’s what they look like right after they went into the water to soak.

I cooked them in fresh water, with a little ham and salt and pepper.  They simmered for several hours.  Here’s what they looked like when they were done.

I know… Not much difference, huh?  LOL

But don’t fear, Sammy and I didn’t starve on Sunday (the day the beans were cooked).  I made a nice roast on the stove, in my wrought iron skillet, no less!  I LOVE cooking with my wrought iron cookware!  I also put some cabbage in the pan with it, and it turned out pretty darn yummy, if I do say so!

Plus, we had mashed potatoes and gravy. I love mashed potatoes! Boiled potatoes. Baked potatoes….. scalloped, au gratin, fried…. oh my!!! LOL Sorry, I digressed. We also had hot, homemade hot rolls, thank you very much Greg!!!

Have I ever mentioned that Greg, yes my hubby, my hard workin’, truck drivin’ man is one heck of a baker???? I kid you not!! And he out did himself today! Not only did he make hot rolls for dinner (plus helping with other parts of dinner making), he also made pepperoni rolls…

And, two loaves of banana bread!!!

And they were all excellent!!!

Well folks, that’s all for now.  Two days of dinner blogging is enough to bore you to tears, so I won’t torment you any longer.  LOL  Thanks for stopping by!  Don’t forget to leave me a comment, so I’ll know someone has actually been here.  LOL

Last year, I decided I wanted to try Square Foot Gardening.  I like the idea of it for several reasons.  First, except for the initial investment of wood and supplies for the soil mix, it’s a really economical way to grow veggies.  You don’t have to buy the soil supplies again, just use compost to top off the boxes each year.  And, I made my own compost from yard clippings, kitchen scraps, and old newspapers and such.  Second, you can grow the same amount of veggies in a regular garden, but in a lot smaller space.  Third, you don’t need to use fertilizers, so you can grow organically.

Today, we planted 10 lbs of red seed potatoes!  We’ve never grown potatoes before, so we are very excited to see how they do.  I’ve taken some photos for you to see how it went.  Enjoy!

The box closest to us is the main potato box. I also put some in a few of the squares in the box right beside it. For the main box, we will be adding to it, as the potatoes grow. It’s kinda hard to explain, but I’ll show you more photos as time progresses. It is pretty neat!

Greg and Sammy got some of my homemade compost from up on the hill. Thank goodness I have helpers for this, or I’d be working on it till midnight. LOL They are both very good to help me with anything.

Is this some good looking compost, or what??

You can’t really see them here, but there are about 27 generations of earth worms living in this compost. Yes, I counted! LOL (not really)

I had some seeds left after planting in the big box, so I decided to plant the rest in one of my other boxes. That’s catnip on the corner, in case you’re wondering.

Greg filled the box up, so that the soil was level with the top again.

We work so well together! He does the hard work, and I take pictures!

Max even helped by killing the stick I found in the soil! Aren’t I lucky to have so much help??

Hey…. who the heck took this photo??? Max…. what has Mommy told you about playing with the camera???

When you get to play with the hose and make rainbows while watering the garden, helping is a lot more fun!

If you’d like to try Square Foot Gardening, too, you can get the book below!

Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space with Less Work

[amazon-product]B001CT8762[/amazon-product]

I just watched a movie called Red .  It was really good, in my humble opinion.  It was about a man whose dog is murdered by some kids, right in front of him.  Really, the main point of the story is about taking responsibility for your actions.  I won’t ruin any parts of it, by telling you more, but if you haven’t seen it, I suggest you do.  And, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for older kids to see it, too.

That’s what I really wanted to talk about today, or rather, tonight…. this morning.  Ok, now that all my bases are covered.  LOL

Is it just me, or is there a whole heck of a lot more violence than there used to be???  Not only adults either.  Kids are killing people.  It’s a sad state of affairs, if you ask me.  But, it makes me wonder, why is this happening?

I’ve thought on this some, and I think it has to do with a few things.  One thing is, people aren’t brought up in God fearing homes, like they used to be.  Children are not brought up learning God’s law, and therefore, don’t have a strong moral background.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is the case for everyone, but a lot of people. It seems like children aren’t even being taught good manners or common courtesy.

I think this lack of strong religious beliefs is partly to blame for the deterioration of Family.  People go into a marriage with the thought that if it doesn’t work out, they can just get a divorce.  Men aren’t supporting their families, neither monetarily or emotionally.  Women have to leave the home to work, and aren’t there for their children as much as they used to be.  It just seems like the problem has snowballed over the last few decades.  Again, I know this is not about everyone, and there are other factors that I’m not seeing.  This is just what my mind has come up with.

I just don’t know what our country is coming to when people have to be afraid of children.  Because children are becoming killers.  I know, I’m getting all upset over a movie, but it’s not just a movie.  This sort of thing is actually happening out there in our world.  In our country.  In our neighborhood.  How long before it’s in our backyard?

This post is part of a MckLinky Blog Hop.  Each week the theme is different.  This weeks theme is Fantabulous Foto Free For All!  So, without further adieu, here are my photos!

I have a friend on Facebook that was talking about ladybugs, and it made me think of this.  Ok, I know these aren’t ladybugs, but they’re sorta like bugs.  Ok, I KNOW they don’t even have legs, but they DO have the ick! factor.  Ok??  LOL

This is my youngest when she was little.  Brenda, she was starting to get over the ladybug incident.  LOL  But it shows how little it takes to have some fun!  And what’s more fun than snail races?? 

Hi there!  Thank you so much for stopping by!  This is a brand new site for me, so it’s pretty empty, but I will be filling it up as time goes by.

I’m a wife, mom, and artist, just to name a few things.  LOL  I will be sharing news on projects I’m working on, links where you can buy them, and tidbits about what’s going on at home.  I’ll also be talking about online friends, sites I like, and things I find interesting.  I hope you’ll find all this interesting, as well!

As for my art, I make things with polymer clay.  Usually it’s Art Dolls, but sometimes I make jewelry or small sculptures.  I really LOVE Art Dolls!  Not just my own, but lots of others made by some really wonderful artists!  I follow lots of blogs by doll artists, other artists, not to mention moms and other great folks.  What can I say, I love reading blogs!

As you might have guessed, I live in West Virginia.  I was born here, and I figure I’ll die here.  To me, it’s a beautiful place and the people are known to be some of the friendliest around!  Wild, Wonderful West Virginia is our motto, and it really describes this state very well.  It seems like Country Roads by John Denver is our unofficial state song, because most of our inhabitants feel the same as the lyrics.  “Country roads take me home to the place I belong, West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home country roads.”

And now that you have that song stuck in your head, I’ll leave you, and talk to you again soon!

Shannon

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