Snakes & Snails & Puppy Dog Tales....

...and little boys ~ My little boy is coming to see me today!!! He'll be flying in from Baton Rouge @ 5:30 this afternoon! I'm soooo excited! He'll be here for a whole week! He's never been to the mountains before, and boy is he going to love it! Especially right now with all of the gorgeous fall colors ~ it's beautiful out there today! Of course, I have to make all of his favorite dishes while he's here ~ his most favorite of ALL being "hamburger packages"! This has been his favorite thing as long as I can remember. You should try it for your kids ~ they'll love it too! Plus, there's no pots and pans to wash! How easy is that! Here's what you do:

Pre-heat oven to 400
Make a hamburger patty ~ you can season it some if you want, I usually don't.
Cut up some potatoes in wedges {like steak fries}
Cut up some carrots in strips, or you can use the peeled baby carrots.
Slice an onion in thin circles.
Take a piece of aluminum foil ~ about 12x12 or so
Put the hamburger patty on the bottom & then top it with a few onion slices
Pile on the carrots & potato wedges
Season to your liking ~ I just use sea salt & cracked black pepper
wrap it up good, so the juices & steam don't escape
put the package right on the oven rack and bake for about 30/45 minutes ~ depending on how thick you made your hamburger patty & how many carrots & potatoes you put in each. You can also check it after 30 minutes to see if it's done enough.
Then ~ enjoy!!!!Several years ago ~ for Mother's day, Broc gave me a "White's Tree Frog". I named him "Skippy" and he lived for about 5 years. When he died, we buried him in a cigar box in the back yard and put this little angel statue on his grave. The statue is a little boy angel, sitting on top of a huge frog {I'll have to post a picture later of the whole statue}. It's really cute! Now I have it sitting in my yard ~ a reminder of little boys and frogs ~ two of my most favorite things ~ besides puppy dogs! Speaking of which, Ozzy got his latest check-up Tuesday and he has lost a total of 21 lbs. on his thyroid meds! He's like a little puppy again ~ running and playing with Lita. His fur is all fluffed out & he looks like a little bear cub ~So the winner of these awesome earrings was lucky #1 ~ Anita!! Congratulations!! I hope you enjoy them ~ check back soon for another awesome "freebie" ~ thanks for reading, everybody! Gotta run for now and pick up a little bit, before I head out to the airport. Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"How beautifully everything is arranged by nature: as soon as a child enters the world, it finds a mother ready to take care of it." ~ Jules Michelet

Learning Curves...

Hey everybody!!! I've been busy learning new things ~ but I've missed ya'll so much!!! Wayne bought me a new camera and I've been reading, reading, reading. There is so much to learn about photography, if you've never done anything but "point and shoot". Plus, I've been playing around with PhotoShop and Topaz Software, to create things, like "a painting of our road" {picture above} ~ but, I've made a few new things for the shop:"Gathering Berries" ~ gorgeous pearls & copper painted brass branches."Little Hoot" ~ a precious little owl pendant & faceted red agate stones - hand-knotted.
"Homoptera" ~ a gorgeous butterfly pendant & Fancy Jasper Stones - hand-knotted.

And, since you've patiently awaited my post, how 'bout a pair of these for the next giveaway ~ all you have to do is comment on this post! The winner will be picked by Lita Wednesday!

I'm off to make some new things & take some more pictures! Have a wonderful day, everybody!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"There is four hundred times as much learning in the world as there is wisdom." ~ Josh Billings

Come Grow Old With Me....

...the best is yet to be! And you know what they say about an "ounce of prevention" ~ it's "worth a pound of cure." So Wayne and I both got our flu shots this week and will probably get the "H1N1" vaccine when it's available. You know, I've been getting the flu shot for years now and I think it even helps me not have as many colds, as well. So if you haven't yet already, get your flu shot!!! Stay well & stay happy :)

So today Wayne went in for his very first "colonoscopy" ~ it was just a preventative procedure, one his Doctor recommended for someone his age. And am I ever so glad he went! They did find a couple of polyps, one that the Doctor said was "pre-cancerous", but he was able to remove all of it. The Dr. said if Wayne would have waited a couple more years, he would have probably required surgery and, by then, the polyp could have been cancer, which would have been so much worse. So Yay!!!!!! Here's to preventative health! And just look how happy Wayne looks in his little purple gown:and it even came with matching socks:And the gown had a little hole in it, so you could insert a hose for heat! Can you believe that!What a day! So now we're back home ~ Wayne is resting and I'm getting ready for my show tomorrow in Cashiers. If you live close by, please come see me!!!!

Be sure to check back Monday, when I'll have something awesome to give away!!!
Have a great weekend everybody!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example, I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt." -- Author Unknown

Happy October & A 31% Discount!!!

Happy October everybody!!! October is my most favorite month of the whole year! Not only is it always the prettiest, coolest, best weather month, it's also the month of my favorite holiday ~ Halloween! I love Halloween! Maybe that's one of the reasons I ended up living in "Transylvania County" ~ This picture was taken yesterday, on our hike to "Bridal Veil Falls" in "Dupont Forest". I just love the way the trees & sun reflected in the nature made pool of water that the leaves were floating in ~ gorgeous!And since October 31st is my most favorite day of the year {besides my birthday}, I'm having a "Happy October ~ 31% Off Sale" all weekend long {from right now until midnight Sunday, October 4th} in both my Etsy shop & my ArtFire Shop. All you have to do is type in "Happy Fall" in the comments to seller section @ your time of purchase. And on "ArtFire", just type in "Happy Fall" in the coupon code section and the discount will be automatically taken. This is my biggest sale ever! A great time to jump start your holiday shopping! You can either wait for me to send you an updated PayPal invoice, reflecting the discounted total, or you can pay at checkout and then the discount will be promptly refunded to you through PayPal. That's it! Let me know if you have any questions.

Once again~ Thank you to all of you that read by blog, buy my jewelery, look at my pictures and love me still! Ya'll are the best!!! Happy October!!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Dear Father, hear and bless thy beasts and signing birds, and guard with tenderness small things that have no words." ~ anonymous