Memorial Day Post

"I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free!"

These are the beginning words from the famous song by Lee Greenwood - a song that gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.

I'm very patriotic and have a small flag hanging from my passenger visor in the car. I also have two small flags at the beinning of my driveway, which stay up all year long. My big flag got ripped over the winter and I haven't been able to replace it yet, but will in the near future. I love our flag and what it stands for and honor the men and women who fight or have fought to keep our freedom.

Seems like peoples from every country are struggling with horrible issues, us included, but I know the United States of America will always be a great country because of the people who are willing to serve and sacrifice for our ideals.

God bless them all. I thank them when I see somebody in uniform. Get some weird looks back sometimes, but I want them to know.

A Fairy Garden and A Frugal Tip

I wish I was clever enough to think of some words that begin with the letter F to begin this post...but my creativity lies in other areas. :)

I've been wanting to make a fairy garden with Alissa for a long time. Well a week or so ago, we finally got to make one. I already had this hose tub ($18 from WalMart) that I used to have a little water feature in. The seal wouldn't stay in place and the water kept draining out so I drilled holes in the bottom of it and turned it into a planter. I got several little plants the last day I was working at Big Bloomers (Gail's nursery) and Alissa and Laura just happened to be at the house when I got home, so we all three got to help create this cute garden. The little birdhouse was $1 from Michaels and I used the spray paint left over from Laura's glass bird feeder, which coordinated with the foxglove perfectly.




We made the fairies a little pond out of a sunken baby food jar; Alissa put the blue stone in it to make it show up a little better. I made the little arbour out of some twigs and placed it over the stone pathway. They even have a stone patio area!

We had fun making a little world for some lucky fairies. I haven't seen them but surely a couple have set up housekeeping. We're going to make some more later on. The patio is now a shady area perfect for some magical beings to live.

Now on to the frugal tip. I spend a lot of time cleaning...mostly the floors. Rarely do I miss a day of running the vacuum cleaner, especially in the kitchen. I used to "mop" the floor with an old towel on my hands and knees but that about killed my knees, so I broke down and bought a Clorox mop. I really like it - it's quick and easy to use, but I hate buying those boxes of "mops". I try to stay away from using disposable stuff, but sometimes you can't get away from them.

Well, I kept thinking about what I could use instead of the disposable things and came across these dishrags at WalMart. I think they were $5 for the package of four, so I kept two and gave the other two to Laura.


I want to tell you that these things work GREAT! They are thicker than the disposable things and they do a much better job of cleaning. Plus, you just toss them in the washer with your laundry and use them again and again!

Note the handy twist tie keeping the little squirter in place? I can jerry-rig about anything if necessary!

Well, I've ridden my bicycle for an hour this morning and mowed the field and two side areas of the property. The floors have been cleaned (toilets and sinks can wait) so now I'm headed to my sewing machine. I've started that special thank you wall hanging for my wonderful vet, plus I just had a super idea while mowing (heat does stranges things to me). I can't wait to get started on it.

I'll leave you with pictures of my Princess' neck. The first picture is when the bandage came off 10 days after her surgery. The second is today - all healed and waiting for her pretty white hair to grow back in. She's doing super!