Yay! It's Friday!

It's been a quick week here. Lot's of good stuff! 

Monday night it was book club and we discussed this book. 

 

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand 

by Helen Simonson

Loved it!  All the girls loved it too. Everyone gave it 2 Thumbs up.

Here's a quick "back-of-the-book" description:

Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired) leads a quiet life in the village of St. Mary, England, until his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But will their relationship survive in a society that considers Ali a foreigner?

I'm linking to Ricki Jill's Literary Friday.

~*~

Wednesday night we had dinner here. Amazing food! Amazing service! I had the Butternut Enchilada. YUM!

~*~

Of course there is work everyday and in between all the fun I have picked up my needles and hooks again. 

My newest enthusiasm... Granny Squares! 

I'm not sure what it is about them but I love them! 

Easy, portable... whatever! 

Love doing them!

Hubs says he thinks I'm racking up a body count! LOL .... 

I think he may be right. 

I was working on this little project but I had to set it aside. 

It's just to hot right now. 

I'm calling this The Yummy Summer Sunshine Afghan. 

It will go to Sweet Daughter later this fall.

 This one probably will to. 

I'm calling it The Stained Glass Afghan. It reminds me of the old 

stained glass windows that you used to see in big churches.

Anyway! 

That's the week in review. 

~*~

I LOVE the weekend! 

I'm linking this post to Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home. 

Sigh....

Good Evening Lovelies!

I can't believe it. Another weekend is coming to a close... 

I always find that kind of sad.

I picked some of my overgrown herbs afternoon and stuck them in my little jug. 

It smells wonderful. Plus, I can just snip some off if I need anything while 

I'm cooking. This is Rosemary, Thyme, and some Oregano that has gone 

to seed. One thing about herbs... they can get out of hand.  It's good to keep
them cut back and this is a good way to do it.

We got a lot done around here yesterday and today. Got all 6 of the palm trees 
trimmed, hubs washed his truck, I got all the laundry caught up. Also got 
the inside of the house cleaned and Hubs worked on cleaning and 
organizing the garage. 

So! Tomorrow it's back to work... 

Wait! What? Isn't that what we just spent the last 2 days doing?

Something's not right here?!

Can you relate? 

Anyway.... 

Have a wonderful Sunday evening!

Oh! Dare You Iz!

 I been yooking aaaall over for you!

I just fordot why....

A Little Breathing Room

Hi Peeps! 

I hope you are all well and wonderful. 

I took a little break from blogging as it has been a little busy here. But I missed you!

 Went up to the pines last weekend. 

Man! Was that terrific! It's been in the 110's here in Phoenix. But two and a half days of 80 degrees will sure clear your head and heart.  I would love to have a second place like this... 

Maybe someday. 

But for now, I'll just thank The Good Lord for friends that share. 

I'll leave you with some pretty memories. 

 

Don't feed the bears!

Happy Birthday!

Today is her 25th birthday. 

She is my favorite girl in the whole world! 

She is beautiful inside and out. Funny, Smart, Sweet and Ambitious. 

I'm proud to call her daughter and #1 best girlfriend.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl.

 I love you forever, no matter what and to the moon and back! 

What is Faith?

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Happy Saturday Morning! 

Just popping in to tell you about a wonderful movie that I saw last night... 

Classic chick flick (if your an old chick anyway) with all your favs from over the pond! 

Caution: mild nudity and adult themes... so not for the young chickies... 

So six of us saw it last night and 5 said that they LOVED it!!! Only one said that it was "ok". 

Shot in India the scenery and photography is beautiful.  The subject matter... well I guess you 

could say it it is not only current but relevant as well! 

1hr 58min‎‎ - Rated PG-13‎‎ - Comedy/Drama‎
Director: John Madden - Cast: Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Dev Patel

A group of British retirees decide to "outsource" their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. Enticed by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and bolstered with visions of a life of leisure, they arrive to find the palace a shell of its former self. Though the new environment is less luxurious than imagined, they are forever transformed by their shared experiences, discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past.

 

LOVED IT! 

Let me know if you did too. 

Lit-N-Latte Book Club Reads

I have picked up this book a number of times just because it is so lovely. For the month of May, we decided that because we all had so much going on that we would select a small, light easy read. 

One Thousand Gifts 

by Ann Voskamp 

....is anything but small, light or easy. 

Written about a journey to Joy by way of Gratitude, in journal format, this book is a heavy spiritual hitter. Reading it one time simply will not do. It really is a must read.  

Initially, on the first take, most of the girls, complained that it was slow and depressing.  However, by the end of the book everyone agreed that the message stood on it's own. We must learn the art of gratitude.  This could be a book that changes your life. 

If you let it.

 Whether you like a "journal" type of style or not, you end up reading beauty in the poetry of her writing.

I loved it so much that I shared it with a friend. 

I'm joining:

Shouldn't We Be Having Cake

This past weekend was the official celebration of the Diamond Jubilee. England's beloved 
Queen Elizabeth II commemorates 60 years as 
Her Royal Majesty. 
 

Laura at Decor to Adore did a fabulous post on The Royals.  You should check it out.  I'm not sure what it is that I love about the Pomp and Circumstance of our cousins across the pond.  I think it is because we all started there and I feel in a weird way like they are our distant family. I wanna know what they are doing. Not everyone feels this way. My Hubs thinks it almost treasonous.  We are Americans after all. 

What about you? 

Yay or Nay on The Royals?

Simple Saturday Spaghetti and More

 It was a really GREAT Saturday. 

Full of work and fun. 

I started out just lovin' on my store boughts.  I will get to enjoy these beauties all week. 

Thank you to everyone that joined in for Fresh-Cut- Friday.  I learned stuff. 

Did you know that if you cut your stems short your roses will fully bloom? 

Thanks Ricki Jill! 

 Then it was out to the yard. Yes, that is the same cup of coffee. I am really sticking to the new commitment. I won't totally give it up, but we drink a lot less coffee than we used to. Anyway, I helped Hubs move rock for about 21/2 hours. 

That is some hard work. 

But the yard is really starting to look good. 

Lord, thank you for a hard working man!

 Then I had to get cleaned up because I was meeting the Lit-n-Latte Girls at Lyncrest.  Lyncrest is a halfway house for women and is run by The Salvation Army.  The home is a gorgeous historical location in downtown Phoenix.

 They had invited us there to host a book club and discuss The Help.  It was fun and ladies really seemed to enjoy having us there. They all have very different back grounds and have varied views on life so the conversation was lively.

 There were probably 15 of us total. I can't share their photos, but I can show some of the highlights of the home.

 Flowers on the window sill....

 Then it was home to make dinner. I came up with my Healthy Simple Saturday Spaghetti recipe. 

It's not very original, but it is tasty and hearty.  I saute a 1/2 cup of chopped onion, chopped bell peppers and chopped mushrooms. While that is cooking I brown a pound and a have of ground turkey meat. I put all of that in a dutch oven.  Add a jar of your favorite sauce, a tablespoon of garlic.

 Add any of your favorite Italian seasoning at this point and just let it simmer while your spaghetti cooks and you set your table.... or in my case take pictures for a blog post.

 Now! If you keep your portions undercontrol, this is about 400 calories. I kept the pasta and cheese at a minimum and you'll notice there is no bread...

 It was really good. We were both perfectly satiated. 

So now ... I'm in for the evening reading a good book. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. 

I'm loving it! 

I'll be joining Marty for Tabletop Tuesday