Southern Fiction "My Drowning"

Dysfunctional southern family saga at its best! Absolutely enjoying this quick read!
Complete with an alcoholic husband/father, illiteracy, dirt-poor families struggling with too many pregnancies and children barely able to scrape together enough food for one meal a day.
Check out this book on Goodreads: My Drowning http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220752.My_Drowning

Michal ~ Biblical Fiction

Biblical fiction is my favorite genre and this story of King David, Michal and her father King Saul, does not disappoint.
My favorite time to read is during the pre-dawn hours of the day before our home wakes up. 😆
Here is a review by Barbara: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/558906234

Rag Quilt Baby Shower Gift

Creating a cozy rag baby quilt this week to give as a gift to one of my daughter's best friends who's expecting her first child this summer. Such an exciting and very special time in her life...the arrival of a sweet daughter; a precious baby girl. ♥
~ 72 squares (fleece, flannel & cotton fabric) each 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"
~ 36 squares (cotton batting) each 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"
Out of these cut squares I'll make 36 individual quilt sandwiches and sew 2 diagonal lines, corner to corner, resulting in an 'X' on each sandwich square.
Each square will then be sewn together creating the pattern I designed for this project.
Pictures will be posted as soon as I complete this sweet baby quilt. :-)
Thanks bunches for dropping in here and spending a few moments looking at this rag quilt ♥

Doggie Love and Health Benefits

I'm sitting here at my computer with my Chihuahua, Toy Poodle & Brussells Griffon sitting right next to me. Actually, the Brussells is my daughter's fur-baby but he's been at our house a good bit so when he's here I claim him as mine....Mr Personality, that's for sure! When he looks at us we can tell that he's 'talking' to us but we just can't hear him. I've read articles saying how a Brussells appears to have human qualities....I do have to agree! Nugget, short for Chicken Nugget, was 13 years old last month. She's our little old lady and definitely owns my heart; she's such a precious, mellow Chihuahua and always has been. Nugget never has had the typical nervous personality of a Chihuahua. I can tell that she hasn't been feeling very well lately, it just started turning cooler outside and Nugget is not a fan of the cold weather...not one single bit. She's been taking heart meds for over 2 years and has done very well. Bella is our apricot toy poodle; she's 5 years old which is the same age as Wilson, the Brussells Griffon. She is a cuddley little love bug...such a sweetheart and so precious, so pretty. My husband and I thoroughly enjoy all three of these bundles of love and are so glad they are in our family.

I was searching online for interesting pet info to read and found a list of ways a pet improves a pet owner's health; I really wanted to share it here on my blog. I do know one thing for sure, and that is how our pets sure make my husband and I feel better, calmer & make us laugh...and we all know that laughter is the best medicine of all. We end up spending more time outdoors getting fresh air as well as play 'Catch me if you can.'....which I have to consider a bit a cardio. I also think that our loeable fur-babies fill the void after our children grew up and moved on into their own young adult lives.

Here is that list I wanted to share with you along with a link to Dog Time where I found this interesting info:

Benefits of having dogs for pets

1. Lower blood pressure
2. Reduce stress
3. Lower your risk for heart attacks
4. Lower your risk for strokes
5. Prevent and cure depression
6. Help keep you physically fit
7. Develop fewer allergies
8. Strengthen your immunity to allergies
9. Improve mental health
10. Build stronger bones

Thanks for dropping in....Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts and seeing the pix of our little darlings, that is if I can get the pictures downloaded (my computer is having some issues...grrrrr).

 ~*~ Barbara

Mother & Daughters Weekend ~ Christmas Candlelight Tour at the Biltmore

My daughters and I decided to visit the Biltmore in Asheville, NC this past weekend. Since I'm retired and my daughters work a full hectic day at the hospital, I did the online shopping for the best deal I could find....I quickly found out that the most economical way to visit the Biltmore to see their breathtaking evening Christmas Candlelight Tour and tour the winery (& wine tasting event) was to call the Biltmore directly. We had a fabulous time...It was a wonderful, gorgeous way for us to kick off the holiday season...laughing, walking, touring, snapping pictures....and of course...wine tasting! The Biltmore wines were delicious! We tasted so many wines that our heads were spinning. Tee hee hee.... The best part of the weekend, in my opinion, was the time I spent with my twin daughters, so glad we arranged a 'girls weekend'. They have grown into such wonderful young woman, my husband and I are so very proud of them. Our visit to the Biltmore was such a nice mini vacation that us gals are planning to make it an annual 'girls weekend' event since there is so much to enjoy in Asheville, NC; a full day or two at the Biltmore would definitely be a treat. The mountains are beautiful with the colorful fall foliage and the smell of fall in the air is so restful...so refreshing. Truly wonderful. Thanks for dropping in.... ~*~ Enjoy life ~ Enjoy the journey ~ Notice the blessings in life. Here are a few pictures I'm sharing to show this amazing destination and the smiles our 'girls weekend' put on our faces.

Delicious Chili Weather Ahead!

Three Bean and Beef Chili Recipe : Ellie Krieger : Recipes : Food Network

Bermuda Carnival Cruise Vacation..........

In September we went on a cruise to Bermuda; it was a Carnival Cruise on the Fantasy ship embarking from Charleston, SC........embarking from our home town was fabulous! On previous cruises my husband and I would drive 8+ hours to Florida's cruise terminal which meant that would also have to drive that same distance back home after sailing the beautiful carribbean. We are so happy that some of the cruises now leave from Charleston. :)

Here are a few pictures from our vacation....Bermuda was lovely but I have to admit that it's not my favorite destination because it's very very low key with not very much 'going on' other than gorgeous torquoise blue water and interesting architecture. Maybe I feel this way because I live in Charleston, and Charleston is a beautiful place with palmetto trees, historic architecture and plenty of beaches...although....we don't have the torquoise blue water. Anyway, we had a wonderful time on vacation; the weather was perfect and all of the friends and family that went with us were fun to be with.

Thanks for stopping in....thanks for any comments you left to this post.... Have a magnificent day!
Big hugs....Much love & peace....