Back in the Saddle

Hey it's good to be back home again -

This old farm feels like a long lost friend..

hey, it's good - to be back home again.

John Denver

Did you know I was a John Denver freak when I was 13?

I do mean freak.

I remember my sister and her boyfriend at the time bought me tickets to see John Denver in concert.

She came in the bathroom whilst I was bathing to tell me.

I can still see me in that tub bawling like a baby.

This post will be a bit random - like the photographs.

I'll add captions where necessary - but most of these photos are from my Missouri trip.

It was such a good trip!

I feel like I've come back to the land of the living.

I've felt so 'quiet' for the last several months - I'm sure it had/has something to do with the weight loss.

71 lbs down since February - 111 down total.

Isn't that ridiculous?

This photo was taken for the sole reason that I thought my thighs looked thinnish.

Do you know I dream of eating cake almost every night?

'Tis true, 'tis true.

Sometimes when it's in my mouth, I'm upset - and surprised - like 'how did this get in my mouth!? I don't want this!' - and other nights it's like 'oh ya, I'm eating cake'.

Last night I also dreamt that I peed in a garbage can at Pier One Imports.

What is that all about?

My best buddy - Jimmy.

I start working at Pier One Imports next week!

I'm sure it had something to do with that.

I'll just be there a couple of days a month for the holidays.

I used to work there before, as an Asst. Manager.

a blurry photo of our Oktoberfest

 I also dreamt that I was looking for murder victims remains in a filing cabinet.

The other night I dreamt I was at a children's death camp in India preparing children for burial.

Is there even such a thing?

The children were very happy as I wrapped them in brightly colored linen robes.

Law.

I like my cake dreams so much better.

Me and the G Force

 The following are a few of my cousin Jim's paintings.

My photos truly don't do justice to them.

What's that you say?

Yes!  I know!

Good looks and talent run in the family.

I was beginning to worry that I no longer had anything to say, and needed to stop blogging.

I thank each and everyone of you for sticking around during my 'dry phase'.

This is just a warning that it might not be completely over.

I hope to be funny again soon.

In a weird way, I feel like getting thinner was losing a part of me.

I wasn't sure 'who I was' anymore.

If I'm not the chubby gal baking muffins daily - who am I?

I realized yesterday - I'm the slim gal who bakes muffins occasionally.

And that's OK.

I do believe I'm the new and improved Jayme.

Yesterday the AT & T repair man stopped by cause we've had a horrible buzzing noise on our line.

I answered the door in my apron with a mop in my hand, the smell of fresh apple muffins in the air.

I offered him a warm muffin, as I went out to hang sheets on the line.

That's who I am baby.

And I like it.

And now - for something weird.

Who wants some size 12 pants?

I have a couple of pair of Tommy Hilfiger size 12 jeans that are too big.

They seem too good to cut up for rugs.

And I hate to just donate them to strangers...I'd much rather give them to one of you's guys!

Is that weird?

If you'd like my pants - I ask you do the following....

Follow me.

Tweet about it.

Facebook about it.

Blog about it.

If you don't have a blog, you'll need to start one, so you can blog about it.

Take an ad out in your local paper talking about me giving away my pants.

Rent a local billboard, preferably on a busy Interstate, advertising my pants giveaway.

Call ten friends and tell them about this.

Please let me know when you do the above....

OR

Just send me an email.  : -)

First come, first served!

(As of 8:30am the jeans are gone - don't despair - there'll be plenty more!)

Squirrel, Foxes, and Hens

Finally.

Finally I have rested me olde bones long enough to sit and do a blog post.

I'm in Missouri now, and getting ready to go to the apple orchard and on a very rugged hiking trail.

My cousin, a body builder - worked me out so hard yesterday, I fear I may need to be carried everywhere today.

Why did he think I could bench press 60lbs?

Why??

Where to begin?

My solo Flying Squirrel mission went off without a hitch - well, thankfully it WAS hitched, and remained hitched the entire way there and back.  I did have visions of pulling into Turkey Run State Park and realizing the Squirrel wasn't with me.

I was able to set the Squirrel up single-handed, and sister - I gotta tell you - it makes me feel empowered and free!

Imagine the places I can go now!

It was SO good to see Janie again.

I feel a bit disappointed to tell you that we didn't do too much tomfoolery, and there wasn't an abundance of shenanigans.

Although, we did end up in the slammer temporarily -

The charges?

Being boring!

We were so dadgumed relaxed and laid back the entire time.

One meal bled into another -

the food I packed for camping - nary a smore in sight

We slept late, ate late, did dishes in slow motion -

I even showered once, which is unheard of when I camp.

I don't mind being cold -

or naked -

or wet -

I can even tolerate two at the same time - but I refuse to experience all three simultaneously!

Janie found out first hand how 'active' I am at night.

I have no recollection of patting her head and kissing her on the forehead.

I suppose she should consider herself lucky that's all I did!

Two nights ago Glen said I stood up out of the bed, grabbed the cat and started shaking it, asking in desperation 'What is this??' -

We thought we'd take 'Senior Pictures' since we are almost seniors.

I find Janie absolutely adorable.
She's also generous and one of the most sincere people I've met.

She's also a little inexperienced in camping - she showered everyday and wore too much bling...

We talked and walked and walked and talked.

Turkey Run State Park is a sight to behold.

I need to recant my 'I hate camping' statement, made in July of 2010.

I heart camping.

I do.

In October.

And you know what else I love?

My blog readers.

Seriously, you are some of the greatest people - eva!

Meet Kim (to the left of me), and Lisa (to the right).

Kim just came to protect Lisa, and knew nothing of me -

Lisa - knew all about me.

Uh oh.



These gals were SO much fun.

Do you know they both left their day jobs early to take me and Ms. Fox out to lunch and gave us a tour of the area?

I mean - who does that?

I felt like a celebrity!

Strangers, that you meet on the Internet.

Genuine sweethearts, these too.

Thank you so much Lisa and Kim!

So great meeting the both of you!

All in all, that few days away meant so much to me.

I was relaxed so much it was ridiculous.

I was empowered by pulling and setting up the Squirrel solo.

My friendship with Janie deepened, and I met two new friends.

I ate clean and came home 2lbs lighter.

Seriously - my list of blessings is getting so long, I've lost count.

The Amazing Janie Fox Pt. 2

Do you know what I think of someone who would put a door like this on the interior of their home - probably taking a perfectly good door off to do it....?

I think that person is spectacular.

See?

I know these things.

Someone that would do this is an old soul.

I count myself most fortunate to have croseed this lady's path.

Once I arrived at her home - I felt...well...home.

I really have never seen such a place.

The pictures won't do it a bit of justice - but I'll try.

To die for.

This spot tore me up.

It was so perfect, it was tinged with grief.

She had plenty of bed rooms, but I wanted to stay here - I longed for a rainy day and a good book - and that spot.

I'll be back.

We had such a great time - staying in our pajamas more than anything, with endless cups of tea, talking and talking - crying laughing, crying crying -

She be a soul mate.

She be a kindred spirit.

She be my friend.

I got to meet her entire family - and I do believe they may have been shocked at my shyness.

I met Ollie.  Oh yes, I did!

I met her niece Ellen (hi Ellen!)

I met her husband Stu.

His kindness actually made me cry.

He was the utmost gentleman - making calls - tracking down a tire for me.

When I was leaving - I guess he called Janie, and said to run by the barn - he wanted to hug me bye.

You can't do that kind of stuff to a perimenopausal woman.

You just can't.

Do yourself a favor and go meet Janie.

But don't even think about taking that window spot.

The Fox Hunt - Pt. 1

I'm back in my own coop, with no idea how to begin to tell you what a fantastic time I had whilst at the Fox House.

House is the wrong word.

Home.

With a capital 'H'.

I found out in the lick of time that I was actually going to Illinois, not Indiana.

Funny how completely unprepared I am for road trips, with not a care in the world.

The wind here on Sunday was indescribable.

I've read that pioneer women have gone insane living out on the prairie, listening to the howling wind.

I'm wishing I had that excuse for my insanity.

Alas - I do not.

With Shirley Bassey blasting, and a full supply of water bottles, I set out on the open road to meet a gal that I've only known via the Interweb.

It was a ridiculous 81 degrees out with a wind so strong blowing in from the Gulf, I swore I smelled crawdads.

Right in the middle of a rousing rendition of Goldfinger - whilst talking to Janie on the phone letting her know my ETA - I had a blow out.

No...not that kind.

My tire exploded.

Mmmhmm.

As I'm posting this now, I wish I had a picture of the tire to show you - but it's really the last thing I thought of when I was on the side of I-57 with a flat.  The wind was so strong I could barely open the Heep door.  When I did step outside, the wind almost blew my glasses off, and my shirt went over my head...

Shirtless - and yet - no one came to my aid.

I got in the car and started to cry.

I'm embarrassed to tell you that - but I did.

And then - I sucked it up - and thought about how I'd just told Glenco that I wanted to learn how to work on cars - and that I wanted to take our 1964 Chevy down to the frame and restore it - and learn how to do body work and fix things in the engine.

So then - I put on some lip gloss - and dabbed my Clinique Happy cologne on and set out to fix the flat.  If there's one life truth that I know for sure it's this:

Lip gloss is empowering.

I've never changed a tire before.

Got the lug nuts off - jacked up the car as far as I could - got the flat tire off, got the spare out - but couldn't get the Heep jacked up enough to slip the spare on.

All the while - I have on no glasses - (I'm blind) and my shirt is over my head.

I tried in vain to get the car jacked up higher. 

Luckily, I was close enough to Janie's house that she dispatched her son-in-laws to my aid.

I'm determined to learn how to do it myself, and perhaps I'll have Glen start timing me.

I liked getting my hands dirty - and I'm really looking forward to learning how to do body work.

Glenco says I'm invading his man space.

I can't imagine what Janie thought when I showed up - dirty, sweaty and a windblown mess.

I think I have a pretty good feel for people - and I'm so happy to say - I was right.

She's a gem.

In fact - I'm moving to Southern Illinois and I'm going to be her full time gardener and confidante.

We are negotiating my salary as I type this.

Glen will drive a grain truck for her husband.

And I'll sleeve a cow yet - by golly.

Shanghai'd in Indiana

This morning I woke Glen up and told him he needed to be ready to leave by 9:30 in the am.

He had no idea why, and I wasn't about to tell him.

I'd made plans for the whole day, unbeknownst to him.

In true Glenco fashion he said 'I'll try not to ruin your day.'

For those of you that don't know us in 'real life' - Glen is pretty much my polar opposite.  I'm hyper - he's mellow.  I get excited over everything, it takes a lot to impress him - I'm talky, he's quiet.

I had spontaneous fits of clapping and giddyness as I packed our lunch.

It may or may not have been the 'Bacon Lover's' Dietz and Watson turkey lunchmeat.

I got a bit gussied up.

I put on the necklace.

I only put on the necklace when I'm going somewhere - like a funeral, a wedding - or to see blogging friends.

It's not a fancy necklace, it's just somewhat fashionable - and that word is usually not used in the same sentence as my name.

We went to church y'all.

Glenco was quite surprised. 

In a long drawn out story that I shant share here, I haven't gone to church in about seven years.

photo from indianalaw.com

After church, we parked at the Square and had our lunch.

I'm cheap like that - and I like my food better than most restaraunts.

I find no pleasure in spending $25 on a mediocre lunch.

None -  in like zero.

Did I mention the Bacon Lover's Turkey?

Did I mention the Peanut Butter Banana Bread??

photo by Cooking Light

Law - this stuff was good.

It's from Cooking Light - so it's semi-healthy.

There's even flaxseed meal in there.

Our next stop was the Barker Mansion in Michigan City, Indiana.

It's a mansion built in 1857 by a local millionaire industrialist.

One thing Glenco and I share is a love of old homes.

38 rooms of opulence.

Unfortunately we were unable to go in all of them.

And - unbeknownst to me - we weren't allowed to take photos either.

                            I got two before a post-menopausal woman stopped me dead in my tracks.

My first thought was that she needed moisturizer.*

After two minutes with the woman, I realized that she needed more than that - yea, her very soul needed moisturizer.

This was the butler's kitchen, and the spot I was busted.

I was so determined to show you photos of the interior that I kept taking pictures, with my camera hanging down....

Great shot huh?  Nice sleeve.

After a couple of gas station coffee's and a quick stop at a thrift store (Glenco likes thrifting too - he's just not really aware of it yet) - we were on the way to the next stop.

I really wanted to see 'True Grit' today - but don't you know - Glenco wasn't feelin' it.

And afterall, it was 'Glenco's Day' - so I didn't push the issue - although now I'm reallllly wishing we'd have gone.

Can I just say how happy I am that Jeff Bridges is enjoying a comeback?

I've loved him since 'Jagged Edge'.

So here I sit in this drafty old house, wrapped up in afghans, snuggling with a little banty chicken and typing away to you.  Glen has 'The Lawrence Welk Show' on, and I know it's just to get a rise out of me.

Dear Lord, I hope it's for that reason, and not that we've crossed that invisible line of oldness where we'd rather be in the house with chickens and blankets and Lawrence Welk than out among the English watching a movie.

* Tomorrow I will be speaking at the Lowell Garden Club - held at the Lowell Library - on Natural Skin Care - or 'Skin Care from the Kitchen' - at 6:30pm.

Would be great to meet some local blog readers!

Chickens in the Bedroom

I loved reading all of your comments yesterday.

The cold still hasn't taken a full hold of me - and I did spend most of the day cleaning and organizing...

I have much to say about it - but today's post is about the Great Chicken Show of Columbus, Ohio and related shenanigans.

I met Lynda through blogging and we got to know each other a bit through Facebook.

Kindred spirits.

She has bees, chickens, geese, guineas, a big garden and she likes words as much as I do.

What's not to love?

Girlfriend had a long drive from Alabama to Indiana.

She talks about it a little bit here.

Not knowing her driving history, and given my history of being a road warrior - I thought it would be funny to pretend she was a lost traveler in my driveway -

Oh my goodness - I realize now how not funny that is for someone that has driven over 500 miles to stay with a virtual stranger - to arrive and be pranked.

I'm so sorry I made you cry Lynda!

I'm sure at this point she had no idea what she was in for.

I have a bit of a big personality.

You may or may not know that about me.

I've been told I enter a room mouth first.

Nice.

I run over people sometimes.

I try to control myself, I do - but sometimes it's impossible - and I frighten people.

And here she was - stuck with me for five nights.

Long story short - Lynda befriended my childhood friend Peggy via Facebook.

Really - where else but the Internet?  Wonderful things happen on the Internet.

On Thursday, Peggy came to pay us both a visit.

I'd not seen Peggy in about 25 years.

It was a day to remember.

I heart Peggy.

I heart her hard.

She brought me this:

I feel the need to apologize to everyone that I own this and you don't. 

Yes - it's that fabulous.



Photo by Lynda Swink



We spent the late morning and early afternoon jawboning over a pot of odd tasting Stuffed Pepper Soup and Dutch oven bread.  Flourless Chocolate Cake and Cherry Pie.

Reliving old memories, and making new ones.

I felt like the richest girl in town.

Mid-afternoon we drove to town to the thrift and antique stores.

Peggy departed.

Lynda was all mine again.  Bwaa ha ha!

Friday morning we headed out to Columbus, Ohio.

I promised her I'd let her stop to go potty, etc.

It was a five hour drive.

And stop we did - Crawfordsville, Indiana and Richmond...I think it was Richmond.  Wonderful antique stores in Crawfordsville! A few more potty stops along the way.  I really wasn't in a rush.

I've already told you all about the Poultry Show.

Here's the last video I wanted to share with you.

It's a call duck.

Again, I'd never seen anything like it - with it's short little bill.

It's not short on attitude!

I know you can't believe I didn't bring anything home.  I can't believe it either.

Truth be told - I didn't think they'd be selling birds - I thought it was just a show.

I wasn't prepared!

By the time I got through the show I was losing my mind, I needed to hold a bird.

I NEEDED it.

I found a lady holding a lovely rooster and I got to play with it's waddles a bit.

I almost bought a bird just to carry around for a little while.  That thought actually crossed my mind.

"I'll just play with it, and give it back."

I just wanted to rub VO5 on it.

I wanted to kiss it and hug it and play with it's feet.



The most beautifulest rooster I ever did see.  Amen.



 I finally got up the nerve just to ask someone if I could hold one of their birds.

Oh sweet mother.  It was the cutest thing ever.  A little banty hen.

I immediately felt satisfied.

That's when I saw the look in Lynda's eye. 

She was bringing some birds home!

I got to pick them out for her.

A rooster and a hen.

An arranged marriage.

I did come home with a few 'traysures'

This sign:

And a few decals for the car declaring my adoration of all things poultry.

Sunday, we spent a lazy morning here at the house listening to her new rooster crowing in the bedroom.

Yes, the bedroom!

You didn't think we would keep the chickens outside did you?

My sister and Aaron met up with us early in the afternoon and we took a trip to the Buckley Homestead and the Indiana Dunes.

I always bring guests to the Dunes.

It's just something you wouldn't think you'd see in Indiana.

Aaron and Lynda chatted up a storm about photography and cameras.

These photos taken by Aaron

We also took Lynda on a little side trip through Gary, Indiana.

Scary Gary as my pal Shannan likes to call it.

It was actually then that her little Calvin called me and made my day.

Calvin - wanted to talk to me.

Does it get better?

I think not.

Dusk was descending, so we didn't really take her on much of a tour, but at least she can say she visited the Murder Capital of the World - birthplace of Michael Jackson.  Hee hoo!  *grab crotch*

                             It was hard to believe that Lynda's trip was about to come to an end.

I may or may not have traumatized her on Sunday.

When Aaron and I are together - it's mayhem.

Utter mayhem.

I can't wait to read her take of me in the kitchen trying to do the splits before supper.

If the ladybug and box elder bug infestation from unseasonably warm weather didn't do her in, my behavior on Sunday may have.

Speaking of supper - I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoyed Lynda at my supper table.  Sunday night was extra special since Aaron and my sis were with us as well.

There aren't many things that make me as happy as a table full of friends and family breaking bread, sharing memories, laughing and enjoying each other's company.

It's a sacred time to me.

I'm so thankful to have met Lynda and know her now on a personal level.

She's an inspiration to me.

Her quest for knowledge, her intrepid spirit.

She's kind, funny, tender hearted, intelligent and insightful.

She'd make a mighty fine neighbor.

As I'm sitting here now - typing this to all of you - friends I know - friends I've met through blogging - family - 'virtual' friends that I email back and forth - friends that call me at 4:30am (Nancy - you know I just HAD to rib you about that one - please forgive yourself!) - and the friends I have yet to meet - it just seems so fitting that it's nearly Thanksgiving.

My heart is so full.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Thank you all so, so very much for reading my drivel - for leaving comments - for emailing me - for making me feel normal at times when I don't think I am - for challenging me to change - for laughing with me, and crying with me.

Thank you.

xo