Merry Christmas from Nebraska

Here's a shot of our 1970's lights at the end of our driveway.  I put colored bulbs in there for the holidays.  Look at all of the ice on the pine needles....it's been raining all day!  What a mess.  Less than 2 weeks ago was one of them there blizzards so, the snow is left from that.  We have a large locust tree in our front lawn, see the effect of all the ice on it's branches at the top left part of the photo?  I think this is so pretty.

This little crab tree has berries for birds, I thought since they hadn't eaten them yet that it might be a mild winter, HA!

Our living room tree, looking in from the outside.

Our front stoop...see the wetness?  Rain all day......look out for ice tonight!  27 degrees overnight and possibly 10 inches of snow tomorrow, or more.  To the left is my $1 auction cement lion.  An old barn door leaning there (from my first husband...does he know me or what!? He gave that to me last yr. and we've been apart for 15 yrs.)  Great '70's double doors.  And, real wreath's on the orange

wooden doors....

Looking in our Dining Room windows, I have a tree decorated in all vintage stuff in there.

Sure wish this could really show the gorgeousity of the snow right now.  We had that foot of snow with the blizzard several weeks ago, but it's rained all day so, looks like an icing everywhere.

Our white pine has at least 100 pretty places on it with the ice.

Merry Christmas.  Most likely, we'll be snowed in for our first Christmas in my memory.  I'm 51 so, that's sayin' somethin'.  Pray for my OTR husband's journey home tomorrow.  Pray for my son's and their demons.  Most of all, pray for me....I need it.

Who Does This?

Who does something like this?  Not the average person who's getting fit and trying to simplify their lives!  Sometimes I get an idea and go to the extreme with it.  I've always picked up vintage candy and nut jars, I can find them for .25-$1 when I'm junking.  So, this is actually  a reflection of the craziness.  Yes, it's true.  The more anxiety/drama/trauma that I have going on...the more I escape through decorating or attempting to have my environment "perfect".  Ha!  Not so perfect for my weight loss.  But, it sure is pretty!

Has anyone tried Hershey's Mint Truffle Kisses or the Cherry Cordial Kiss?  They're really good.

I love the old jars.

The old canning jars with zinc lids are just as pretty to me.

I have noticed something unexpected though.  With so many choices of sweets, I notice that I'm barely indulging, thank goodness. 

Back from Sabbatical

Hello Darlin's!  I'm back, been on Sabbatical.

I still have a lot on my plate, but I will survive.  My wonderful husband (St. Jim) and I went on a cruise before and during Thanksgiving.  I knew it was a good sign when we saw Phyllis Smith from The Office in the Atlanta Airport.  I was SO excited.  Not only is she one of my favorite characters/actresses, The Office is the best television show of all time!  I kept edging away (didn't want to be rude and take a lot of her time) but, she kept engaging me in conversation!  We laughed and hugged (sometimes initiated by her) and conversed for at least 15 minutes!  She was with her mother and a gentleman friend and they were gong on a cruise themselves (Norwegian Cruiseline I think).  They had never cruised before so, had a lot of questions for me.  Her mother was very sweet (maybe nearly 80yrs. old?)....and I chatted with her for a bit too.  We talked about the plot line of The Office and both of us weren't real happy with Stanley having an affair.  And then she said, "And he even brought her to the wedding", referring to the wedding between the characters Pam and Jim. 

Well, I'm tired and thinking of how I can get back in the blog routine.  I've missed you guys and will be back more regularly asap.  I want to tell you about our cruise and holidays!  Hugs, Cindy

Cindy and Joanie's Great Junk Adventure Part one

Almost 2 weeks ago my friend Joanie and I went on the '09 Nebraska Junk Jaunt. That 300mile garage sale in the center of our state. We started at the southern point and went north.
One of the first farms we stopped at was in the process of remodeling to become an entertainment venue/steakhouse too I think. Photo op. for us.

In their barn was this WONDERFUL sink. Thank goodness St. Jim wasn't there....I probably would've bought it but, didn't have the nerve being without my man. He's so analytical...if it's possible to use...he'd let me know right away.
Click on the picture and I think it'll get bigger so that you can read. Several of the pictures are worth doing that with!

In this part of our state you could drive 10 miles between towns. In between were rolling hills, meadows, fields and waterways. Many spots had markers where there once was a town or church or something. So, we saw this marker (I stop at ALL hysterical markers), and then found the graveyard associated with it.

Eye candy for me, really...love this old stuff. This is part of that former church's graveyard.

This was a really large monument. Look at the countryside and cornfield next to it.

We went on to Burwell where a friend of ours has a cabin for weekend use. Debbie took us to Calamus Reservoir...we ate pizza on the beach.... wildflowers and prarie grass on the sand.

Joanie with the blanket that we sat on for dinner. We each had a beer! Wild women, I know. ONE beer, hahaha!

Isn't Debbie pretty? She's that pretty on the inside! She and her neighbor were up there for the Junk Jaunt too! We had 3 other friends out there among the thousands but, never connected!

Here we are at Calumus after our pizza! The sunset was so pretty. And we were so tired after a day of junking.

Earlier in the day we saw some interesting places in small towns....if you look closely, you'll see brightly spray painted christmas deer by this house. They're trying to keep up with the Joneses display in the next picture.

Something that we don't have in eastern Nebraska (where most people in our state live), mobile homes amongst houses in town. Around here, mobile homes can only be in a Trailer Park.

The vistas are breathtaking. Nebraska is a beautiful state if you can get off of I80!

Sumac was changing there 2 weeks ago already...it's just starting to change here, by Omaha.

This was typical of a lot of the farms or ranches that we stopped by. Stuff for sale leaning against barns and sheds.

It was so much fun seeing the stuff...thank goodness I already have so much, I was only on the lookout for real treasures.

I liked these chairs. But, only bought the leftmost brown one, which was the roughest. For the $5 pricetag...I can sand the heck out of it and spraypaint. As you see, most of the sales are at farms or extremely rural places. We bought a box of vintage Christmas and since it had several breakables, I was working on the tailgate picking out those to wrap. Joanie came up to me and at the same time we saw a mouse IN the box and SCREAMED! Not even thinking of the 30 or 40 people by the barn selling and buying! Lots of laughter on their part. Just some of the free entertainment on the Junk Jaunt. Then the poor little mouse hide in front of our front tire. It was not easy getting him away and towards the ditch.

Believe it or not, I'd packed work gloves just in case we had something really heavy or rough to pack. Couldn't find them so, it took some time but, we got him away from the truck!

I'll post a couple more times about our adventure. I was exhausted when I got home several days later....but SO glad we did it!

Junk Jaunt Nebraska, 300 Miles of JUNK

My dear husband, dog Zoe and I went on this Junk Jaunt last year. Lot's of people had their dogs with them. Above is Zoe in our Hotel Room....too much time on my hands...
This year Jim is going to hold the fort down and I'm going on the Junk Jaunt with my girlfriend Joanie. We're meeting friends along the way. Fun fun!
http://www.junkjaunt.com/


Just in case you don't know...Nebraska has a lot of farms and ranches...especially in this part of the state. Jim is observing Zoe seeing cows for the first time.


This place was great! Awesome stuff all for sale and leaning against their barn!

This was a little place in Cairo, NE...my favorite town. They are actually named after Cairo, Egypt! There are Camels on their town sign. I bring my camera along when I like things and then I can copy.

My two favorite chairs of all time. Bought them at some farm for $10 each. There were aqua ones too and another white one. I wish that I bought several more. They are SO comfortable!

I bought these $5 each. Heavy...beveled..leaded.

Very memorable. Bought hybrid pumpkins here and a delicious watermelon. This was near St. Libory, NE....they're known for Melons.

http://junkjaunt.com/locations/locations_st_libory.php

This is some of my junk at home...Oh, I love my junk.

Oh! The Hisorical (hysterical) markers. Don't you just love them?

I paid $5 for this old park grill. Jim cleaned it up and it's down by our firepit. We could only imagine that it was stolen from somewhere...but, assumed they came by it legit!

I'd never normally get to these small towns. Priceless architecture and or names of buisnesses! I think that this was in Dannebrog.

Home of Roger Welch

http://www.agriculture.com/ag/files/welsch/roger/index.html

The REAL Blue Collar Labor Day

Oh Ha-ay! We went floating on the Elkhorn River on Labor Day! So Blue Collar for a "classy" bunch of folks. Below is your charming hostess Cindy. I have the best tube (we're buying more of these this winter) and towing the floating cooler. In the cooler was bottled water, Dr. Pepper, Ziplocs holding cell phones and car keys.

If you've never done this...just try it once. It is SO relaxing.....mindless.

Then there's my saint of a husband Jim....MENSA.Uh huh...he's fully dressed AND wearing shoes. Hahahaha!

There's a RR Bridge a mile down from where we put in. That is my eldest son Nate clear up on side of the bridge. Nate says it's 30 ft. I thinks it's closer to 80 ft. Nate is 6'4"....National Honor Society type....and DARING.

Yeppers, that splash is him hitting the water in the next picture. I was praying to the GOD OF MY UNDERSTANDING right before that.

The next picture is the husband of my dear friend Arlene...he's also a Jim. Lexus salesman...but, not just any salesman....TOP salesman in the midwest....like 8 states. The owner of their dealership died several months ago and that man was like a father to Jim. He's been grieving hard. I heard him say at least 20 times..."I could've been doing this all summer....it's FREE." ....told you...it's SO relaxing!

I'm going to frame this next picture and hang it as it's in my top 5. And...give a copy to Arlene and Jim. One of the best parts of this picture is Malcolm with his joyous smile behind Jim. His mom (my sister) didn't go with them us this time (she was the day before though)...she thinks he REALLY enjoyed himself the second day. Actually, he enjoyed himself both days....and a lot. Malcolm too, is gifted. (remember the theme here...Blue Collar and "classy" people)

There's Nate and TJ...Jim's (Lexus) 16 yr. old son. TJ found an architectural piece on the river bank...that's a whole other death defying story. TJ is in all AP classes and is an accomplished dancer and HUGE Husker fan. If you look close, they had a blue football floating that was thrown back and forth for an hour and a half. And folks....remember, it's a big river with billions of gallons of water....because the next picture might freak you out.

Uh huh. DEAD animal. Beaver maybe? I was screaming! One of our tubes was loose and floated near it and stayed there. River currents are funny.

No matter.....we're going back again and again. Maybe not this year as it's becoming cooler. Have a great day!