Sunday, September 20, 2009

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.

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

Saturday, September 12, 2009

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!


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A Blue Collar Labor Day Weekend with "Classy" People!

The best way to start a Labor Day weekend is with a Nebraska Cornhusker Football game! My brother in law Oudious took my 17 yr. old son Zach and their son Malcolm, 10. Oudious played for Nebraska in the 70's. Malcolm is wearing the actual jersey that Oudious wore in the day. Don't they look thrilled!? I asked O about the shirt color and he said something about, "I HAD to wear red, now, this is what I'm wearing". Sheesh. Be a sport.


They had a great time! Apparently with Oudious' former player status and the U's desire to suck up to alumni, they had PRIMO seats! Below is Malcolm wearing his new Husker gear that they got at the game. Oh yeah, Malcolm is pretending to pick his nose, typical 10 yr. old boy! By the way, Oudious is 6'2" and Zach is 6'....Malcolm is only 10 and look how tall he is!

There were many redneck aspects to our weekend. First of all, we camped in our own back yard. My sister (Oudious' wife) and their kids slept in the tent on the left. O slept in his "perfectly good bed" at their home. So, guess our "classy" college professor bro in law still had his standards. Our tent was the one on the right.
Nate kept our firepit going. We spent many hours around it.


We grilled out for every meal. There was lots of play with the dogs....as usual.

Zoe slept in our tent...of course...

My sister's family dog whined til he could come in too. His Name is Bo and he's a beagle/basset mix.


My poor husband, squinting at the really bright red eye reduction light.
Oudious came later on Sunday night, eating his hamburger with an audience.
Isn't that a pretty picture....warmed by the fire? Wait until you see the next post regarding the MOST redneck thing that we did.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Autumn is around the Corner and some Estate Sale stuff.

My camera turned up missing! My house is tidy and I know where stuff is! We've determined that it was a visiting interloper (oh, suppose those 2 words don't go together)...friend of my 17 yr. old son. Can't prove it but, we're pretty sure...
So, I have a new camera...much to the chagrin of many around me. I like it. Nothing special, a Sony Cybershot 10.1 mega pixels and 10x zoom. But, sooooo much better than the abducted camera. Also, that kid can't even use the one he jacked (although I assume he's pawning it anyhow) as I have the charger cable.

Nate started a fire in our pit tonight. Doesn't that smell like autumn to you!? Oh, I love it.

Zoe just isn't so sure about it. (my wayward camera would've shown pure black with this shot)

I went to an estate sale and got this stack of booklets for $1. Whoever put them together was smart and put the one on the right on top and banded it together.

This was the 1st page...oh, booklet put out by some "Rice Council". I came skipping in the door with it to show St. Jim...he grinned.


Another fun thing about estate sales are the regional things that you'll see. (I live in Omaha).

Oh, I love the old ones...not just for the graphics but, for the recipes that I remember from my childhood and then can replicate.

Actually, thinking of mounting this in a frame to use as holiday decor.

This is on the inside cover. The booklet was put out by our Natural Gas company...Peoples. Yes, it was Peoples Natural Gas! My husband could not believe that when we met in 1999!


This booklet was in the stack. I was thrilled as I'd bought a box of 18 canning jars with lots of vintage lids at the same sale for $4 and didn't even know that this was with the booklets! Someone used it for a coaster OR to set canning jars on. I've canned 3x this year! I haven't done that since 1991...I think that things are turning around for me as I'm becoming who I was...which is who I think that I am.
Well, Cheerio! Love you guys....a lot. Cindy