Living Rural

Today is a day for lovers and friends, spouses, and all romantics to show their LOVE.

  Long stem red roses are always a good choice.

and small, beautifully wrapped boxes are a winner on the most romantic day of the year!  Of Course all women hope for “the proposal” on this specail day for all romantics!

What do you have planned for your love?

What do you hope is planned for you?

If you are not in the relationship of a lifetime, today is a day to share love… with friends, family, charities … giving of your time is always appreciated.

Sharing a few Valentine quotes, feels appropriate to do now. Enjoy!

This morning I checked my email accounts, as I do every morning, and this video was in one from a dear friend, who BTW has no children. This concept is totally new to me - I truly wish it has been available when my girls were small and constantly in or near our pool. It takes a deep breath and some constraint with a lot of will power to watch it through. I want you to know it is so very worth watching it with your family and passing it on to others.

If you are still raising small children, or have grandchildren in and around your pool… then please take the small amount of time it takes to watch. The video gives links to the home site, etc., if you’re interested in having the program come to your area. The program is infant rescue swimming (IRS.)

Swimming Then go to near the end page and watch the three videos there.

Remember… “Y’all come back, ya’ hear!”

Auld Lang Syne

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“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”

Edith Lovejoy Pierce quotes (Poet b.1904)

“We meet today
To thank Thee for the era done,
And Thee for the opening one”

John Greenleaf Whittier quotes (American Writer, 1807-1892)

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

William Arthur Ward quotes (American dedicated scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher)

Remember … “Y’all come back, ya’ hear!”

Here is an article from our Extension Service in Clemson,  South Carolina about Christmas trees:

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Holiday parties are in full swing and it is always nice to find a useful girt to take the hostess. Here are a few suggestions for a great “grab and go” gift:

• Drawer liners, $28 - matching box tied with satin ribbon, “look as nice as they smell” - www.sopaandpaperfactory.com

• Olive Set, $39 - last minute hors’d'oeuvre, untie the ribbon on Bella Cucina’s Piccolo Olive Bowl - jar of six Italian varieties and elegant serving spoon - www.bellacucina.com

• Breakfast in-a-Bag, $55 - L.L. Bean’s Deluxe Tote filled with pancake mix, syrup, jam, and coffee -
  www.llbean.com

• Herb Kit, $15.50 - potting mix and seeds, ready for planting in the Potting Shed Creations biodegradable Rice Hull Gardens Pot (lavender, lemon pbasil, oregano) - www.wishingfish.com

• Tea-light Holder, $24 - www.conranusa.com

• Preserves Set, $39 - handmade Branches Preserves by Katz & Co., wrapped individually inside a wrapped box, 10 flavors - www.katzandco.com

• Soaps, $19 - scents like Flower of Narcissus, housed in a pretty, reusable container - www.morcosmetics.com

After greeting the hostess, sharing the very special gift, have fun, but remember do not drink and then drive!

Remember… “Y’all come back, ya’ hear!”

Today the sun is shining, the temperature is close to normal, finally above freezing! Everyone is doing last minute shopping and making last minute preparations for the BIG meal tomorrow. People are smiling. The smells are fantastic! It is beginning to smell, feel, and look like CHRISTMAS.

Our family, all but Leslie and John, will gather here at Mill Run in the morning. We will hug and laugh and begin cooking! This year we will fry the turkey(2), a whole chicken and bake a ham. Of course, we will have herb stuffing, cranberry sauce(the jellied kind!), rice and butter beans, squash casserole, sweet potato souffle, biscuits, sweet ’southern’ tea, and pumpkin pie… yum!

We have decided to keep Christmas very simple this year. We chose to fore-go presents and share a small amount of money with each person. It eliminated the hassle of holiday shopping, the awful traffic, and was less expensive. Our present is our health, our happiness, and our family sharing the holiday. My prayer for you and your family - being together, safe, warm, and happy…

Merry Christmas! 

Remember… “Y’all come back, ya’ hear!”

Are you like me - finding it extremely hard to believe today is December 15? Only nine days until Christmas! For all my advice for getting organized for the holiday season … I haven’t. It is old time procrastination, plain and simple. Of course, having less money to spend has a little to do with it, too! I, like the entire economy, have tightened my spending habits - whether I want to or not, LOL!

I refuse to let it dampen my Christmas spirit! The presents are not important. The time with family and friends celebrating the wondrous birth of Jesus is the TRUE meaning of Christmas.

Here is my Christmas Angel to watch over you and your family during this beautiful holiday season. I hope you spend this Christmas with your loved ones sharing the love of our Heavenly Father.

Visit here for the Christmas Story.

Blessing from above to you and yours!

Remember … “Y’all come back, ya’ hear!”

and inside.  YUK!  If only it did look and feel  like my favorite photo at the right … but today is gloomy,  gray,  and chilly with that feeling it may rain any moment.  So far it has not rained, oops - just started. I hope tomorrow will be better!

Did anyone follow my suggestions on planning your holiday gathering, etc.? I hope so! It does help to have a list, for sure. Other “helpful hints” for this holiday season:

• Limit $ amount for gifts
• If large family, draw names
• Make a donation to the recipient’s favorite charity
• Adopt a family in need and make THEIR Christmas special
• If someone you know is alone for Christmas, include them in yours

Until then check out the links below:

Piper Classics

Creative Christmas Decorating

Country Christmas

Take a breath, tell someone you care, hug-a-lot, and enjoy the season … and pass it on to those in your circle.

Remember, “Y’all come back … ya’ hear!”

Beliefs?

What are they? Where are they … in our mind, our brain, right, or left … The drawing “maps” the areas and what is kept there. This was found while doing a research project on decision-making.
Can you see the areas given to “beliefs”? Can you count how many?
What are the other areas called? Evidence! The drawing truly puts in perspective the amount of our thought, judgment, and decision making processes are based on our BELIEFS.

Faith is what our country was built upon. It is what most people live by today. In this economic deflation, it is even more important for every decision to be based on beliefs built on Faith. This will help our country to return to basics and begin
to rebuild our economy for the good of all Americans.

For the holidays each person should search their beliefs and pass on
kindness, prayers, and blessings to those less fortunate. Sharing with
others will make each one appreciate what we have been given and oh the joy
that will fill the hearts of the giver and the receiver!

December is a special month. A time of endings and the thoughts of new beginnings. Take the time to relish each day this month. Do not let stress spoil this special time of year.

Remember, “Y’all come back, ya’ hear!”

Once again life overwhelmed me … I am better now. I am writing again. I am thankful for 451Press and LivngRural. They have remained a constant in my life when others have not. Today is THANKSGIVING. I am thankful for family, friends, home, health, and the possibility of new beginnings.

The weather is wonderful today - cool, crisp, colors, and sun shining. I hope your day is beautiful, too.

If you are the cook for the day, I hope everything is delicious. If you are enjoying the bounty prepared by someone else… we know it will be wonderful. Friends invited us to join them today and we are anxiously awaiting the treat. Being with people you love and care about is so much a part of Thanksgiving. It is what it is meant to be … sharing, enjoying, caring, and eating! Be careful, do not overdo it. Remember, you want to have fond memories of today.

Go over to

What a beautiful Thanksgiving! The day was perfect - food was fabulous - company was friendly … the world is in a good place today.  My prayer for you and yours is for many more days like today! How could anyone not believe after such a blessed gathering?

We were one of the ‘invited’ guests which means we only had to be there and enjoy the toils of someone Else’s labor. The variety of food was almost over whelming … the stand-bys, turkey, stuffing, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce (jellied, of course), ’sweet tea’, biscuits, and then the specialities … macaroni and cheese, rutabaga turnips, spinach egg rolls (homemade), ham, rolls, chocolate layer cake, cherry crisp, lime jello congealed salad, and pecan pie! Now, mind you, this is only what I saw with my own eyes! There were other choices still … a week of cooking for the hostess. The smiles on the faces of everyone there made the day more special.

The children running around enjoying cousins and friends in the bright, crisp sunshine …

The men chatting about the hunting season and looking at their watches to see how much longer to wait before heading to their favorite tree-stand to listen, watch, and see the perfect “buck”… Yep, it was a very good day!

Happy Thanksgiving … remember, “Y’all come back. Ya’ hear!”

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thankful for …

If you have tried to get here over the past few weeks, you probably had trouble. The reason for the delays,“experiencing high load” message, and “unable to load page” is a change of server, upgrading the system, and upgrading software, etc. The inconvenience to each of us should be worth it once it is complete. That is my story and I am sticking to it! Insider humor, bear with me it has been a long, hot week. Thank you for continuing to try, it is good to have you here!

In honor of the Fourth of July, here is a salute to our freedom and those who protect it and a little history lesson from my long distance carrier, AmericanFone …

INDEPENDENCE DAY!

We declared our independence, our right to be free as a nation, 232 years ago this month. If there is one lesson we have learned in that time, it is that freedom and independence are not solid and eternal. They are slippery and constantly changing. You cannot put them in an air-tight viewing box, like the Declaration of Independence itself. If you do not watch carefully, if you do not tend them and keep them alive, they die out. They go away.There may always be people with less-than-honorable intentions ready to chip away at your freedoms and usurp your independence if you let them. But thankfully, America is also full of people who are fiercely protective of what our forefathers’ and patriots throughout the generations since have fought to protect. Not only in wars, but by writing, speaking out, voting and battling injustice in the courts. A salute to the courageous patriots who Keep the flame alive!

A SHORT HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE DAY  “Taxation without representation is tyranny!” That was the rallying cry of the American colonists rebelling against British rule. The colonists were being forced to pay taxes to England with no representation in British Parliament. They had no say about how much tax they would pay no say as to how their tax money was to be spent. With rumors of rebellion, growing, British troops went in to keep the colonists in line. The colonists tried to broker a peaceful solution, but their attempts were repeatedly rebuffed. On June 11, 1776, the colonist’s Continental Congress met to declare officially, in writing, that they were no longer willing to live under British rule.Thomas Jefferson, known for his great eloquence and statesmanship, was given the job of creating the document. In addition, a difficult job it turned out to be! More than 86 alterations were made to the document before it was declared complete. On July 4, 1776, the final version of the Declaration of Independence was signed and copies were sent out among the colonists. The Fourth of July has been celebrated in the United States every year since, but it was not until 1870 that Congress officially declared it a National Holiday. In 1938, Congress re-affirmed Independence Day, making it a paid holiday for all federal employees. Today, people across the country celebrate and acknowledge their priceless gift of freedom they enjoy with parades, picnics and glorious fireworks displays.