Cucumbers and Church

Here is one of my cucumber plants in my hanging basket. This isn't my biggest plant, but I have 2 good sized cucumbers growing on it plus some smaller ones. Super neat! We have to water them once or twice a day depending on the heat of the day.

We still have 4 of these hanging on my backporch. We never lost any of them. I have started using Miracle Grow spray once a week now. It seems that they have start producing a little more since I started with that.

I am so anxious to eat the cucumbers!

I have now joined the Antioch Christian Church. They will make it official in a few weeks once Grace is back from Band Camp. My daughter and I both moved our previous memberships to this church. I haven't moved my membership since I was in high school. It's a great church, and I am happy to be a part of it. Another great perk is that they don't mind you wearing casual clothes so you can wear skirts, capris, jeans, or long shorts. All is welcome.

I am taking my banjo down there this Wednesday and am going to start working on incorporating banjo into their music for them. Woohoo! I am nervous and excited.

I am 14 weeks pregnant now. My belly is starting to show, and I am having to really spend more time picking out clothes now since I don't have many loose fitting clothes. There are a few of my bottoms that absolutely don't fit anymore. I am on a tomato kick and sometimes eat 4 a day. My daddy's home grown tomatoes are awesome.

Back in the Day

Becka sent me some old pics that she scanned in. This picture seems like a lifetime ago. It was around 4 1/2 years ago, I believe. My kids are now 15 and 11 (on the left). Becka's girls aren't so little anymore, 5 and 7.  Becka is probably the one taking the picture.

Fish Babies

Yesterday, I was adding some water to my fish tank and noticed something small moving on the side. I have 3 small babies. The only livebearer fish I have are Dalmation Mollies so I am sure it belongs to them. I was totally shocked. The big Dalmation Mollies are not pictured in this image.

You will have to click the picture and look at the full version. They are hard to see because they are transparent with just a little bit of black on the tail. You can only see 2 in this picture, and I had to make red arrows to point to them. Not the most detailed picture since this was taken with my iPhone. In this picture, you can see one of the clown loaches swimming toward the camera and part of another one. They are orange and black striped.

Club Dead

I am following suit from Elissa and Kasey and sharing what I am reading. I am a slow reader because I am a spastic hobbyist and work too much. I am reading Club Dead right now from Charlaine Harris. It is the third in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I had watched True Blood and saw that Elissa was reading this series. She has good taste and suggested to read it. Wallah! She is right. It is gripping.

You can get it cheap on Half.com.

Overton Tin Whistle

This guy from Brazil commented on one of my piano videos on Youtube. He said he played the song on his Tin Whistle. I thought of a little kid's tin whistle but was curious so went and looked. What he played in one video was testing out his new Low D Overton Tin Whistle. You have to listen because it is amazing. If you remember listening to the Sacred Spirits music a long time ago, that is what it sounds like.



Beautiful!!! After hearing this, I really want one. So, I went looking for one on the internet. It will have to be a splurge in the next few months because I am tapped out after my last old banjo buy and Danny's bday and father's day. :)

Here is where you can buy it in the UK. Overton Whistles I did some quick converting from Euros to Dollars and including VAT, it would be about $303 for the Low D, Tenor D Tin Whistle. Not really sure why I am fascinated about playing instruments outside and in the woods, but wouldn't this be awesome to go find a nice hiding spot in the middle of nowhere and just play.

Canoeing on Caddo River

Saturday, I was at the church by 8:30 in the morning so we could all go on a canoe trip on Caddo River in Glenwood, AR. I was a chaperone, and both of my kids went. We had 5 adults and 8 kids. We headed out after a bit and made it there around noon. We had to do some stopping and get signed in. There were a ton of people, over a hundred. Some people were just camped out on the grass in tents. We got all geared up and waited for our big shuttle bus. This was one of those old school buses that had been painted and no a/c. It was a definite adventure about to happen. We rode the several miles in the bus to our drop off point.

We had 5 canoes, several ice chests, food, sunscreen, and such. We took off and did a 5 1/2 hour canoe trip. It was around 8 miles long. The river was low so we had lots of rocks to avoid and a lot of paddling to do. We saw 2 snakes. This picture is from the place we used, Caddo River, Camping & Canoe Rental. It shows what the river looks like. There were parts that were super peaceful. Along the way were plenty of rockbed to stop on to eat a bit of food or just rest. There were also tree swings. I rode in a canoe with my daughter. It was a lot of work, and I don't think I knew just how much it would be but it was fun.

After we got back, we grilled out some food and found the community shower and bathrooms. Later in the day, we made our way to our bunkhouse. These rooms are really just a bunkhouse. Small one room with 3 bunkbeds in it and window unit for air conditioning. We had two of the rooms. No chair or anything else. There was a community bathroom and shower at this camp. There was a front porch to sit on and plenty of fire pits to use and such. We didn't do the paint ball. I carried my 100 year old openback banjo up there with me and sat on the front porch and played my banjo. Awesome!

We hung out and the kids roasted some marshmallows and threw those little popping things. We were so tired that we didn't want to do much but sit. I had a ton of snack food so we just sat around snacking. Later by lantern light, we got a game of Spades in. I hit the hay by 12, and we were up by 7 the next morning and gone by 7:45. We hightailed it back to Hooks and made it to both sessions of church.

We were so lucky that the high school class of '49 reunion had some food left over and it was at the church. They fed us. We ate really good. We looked and smelled funny, but we made it back.

I made chicken and dumplings yesterday and did a few loads of clothes. Danny took us to see UP 3D later in the evening. I passed out pretty early and got plenty of sleep. My body still aches, and I am still wore out. If I was asked to go back and do it all over again, I definitely would. We had a few water cameras, and I am not sure how great the pictures will be, but once I get them developed, I will upload them.

Angeline the Baker Video

I decided to make another banjo video. It was hot today and the sun was really shining on my front porch. I decided to wear a crazy cowboy hat because all old time banjo players wear crazy hats. I know, I must get a really funny hat. I plan to, but this old cowboy hat will have to do. And, of course, I am barefoot because it is Texas and hot. Funniest thing is that I am barefoot and pregnant. Tuning is ADADE.

Babies and Cucumbers

I went to my first doctor visit yesterday. That always seems a little tramatic because you are anxious about going and then they make you do so much stuff. Anyway, my due date is December 30, 2009. I am 10 weeks. I had a sonogram done, and I got to see the baby move around. Very cool.

Awhile back, my dad suggested for me to grow some trailing vegetables on my backporch in hanging baskets. What a great idea. I was a bit skeptical at first and figured that they would dry out too fast. I do have to water them daily, but they are making it pretty good.

Here is what one looks like up close. They are just now starting to put baby cucumbers on them. We have one that is starting to reach the top of the backporch.

Here is my baby cucumber. I hope they do good and get big. It is starting to get hot here in Texas and the noontime sun is really hot.

Here, you can see the whole thing. I have 4 hanging on my backporch. The best part about hanging baskets is that I never have to weed, EVER.

Back in the Gym

After a month of yuckiness, fatigue, and company, I was able to make it back to the gym yesterday. I started slow and only did 30 minutes since I haven't done it in awhile. It felt great. I was watching Dog the Bounty Hunter and doing my elliptical. I really was focusing on my heartrate yesterday because it is not supposed to get too high since I am pregnant. I do those machines and my heartrates get high in a hurry. So, everytime I would get close to 140, I would start stepping slower and would let it fall again.

Even though yesterday was Sonic's Customer Appreciation Day and they were giving away free Rootbeer Floats from 8-12, I didn't get one. yeah me! My kids got them with church. I ate a big salad.

So, finally I used Staples to recycle my ink cartridges. They give you $3 a cartridge when you recycle. I always have ink cartridges around.

I got the True Blood DVD series yesterday. I am so excited because I missed most of the shows due to their nature. I wasn't able to watch them with the kids around. I have the books and love them. I am on the third book. I wish the series was a little less nasty, but I can live with it. HBO always nasties up their movies for more viewers.

Pregnancy Update & Band Banquet

I am about 9 1/2 weeks pregnant now. I don't really look pregnant, but I feel it. It seems that eating is always on my mind. I am either starving or so full I feel sick. ha! I was having a bad spell of morning sickness or all day nausea, whatever you call it. This week, I have started eating all beef hotdogs for breakfast with a tall glass of milk. Man does it make me feel good, and I haven't had a problem with the sickness now. I really never used to eat pickles and now I am eating them up. It is very strange. I have a doctor's appointment Monday. It will be my first one.

My mean old mom finally wrote back after I told her I was pregnant. 3 weeks to squeeze out a note. No mention of love. She signed her letter with "Wishing you good health, Mom." Nice!!!! Not surprised but still dissapointed. She hasn't mentioned love in the few times she has contacted me in 3 years. Hmm!

My daughter, Grace, had a band banquet last night. She is a freshman. She had a late start with band and has only been playing now for 2 years. She plays in the jazz band and had a solo last night. We are really proud of her.



Last Sunday, I went to a great church called Antioch Christian Church. It is the first church I have been to in a long time that I felt like I could call a church home. Everybody was really friendly and they were so involved. The one thing I did love was that they paid a lot of attention to their youth and they weren't a very large church. I used to attend a Christian Church with my Bum Bum when I was a kid. It reminded of my childhood, and I always felt welcome at that church. I can't wait to go back because I realy enjoyed the women's group.