Only two more chicken days to go...

yep, that's how I'm counting down the camp sessions now and it translates to two more weeks. Thursdays are "Chicken Days" which means we prepare a good ole down home country chicken dinner (that's lunch to you northerners). It is also my most dreaded day of camp. Don't get me wrong, I do love cooking for camp but the thought of frying all that chicken just wears me out!! But, it's all worth it when the little critters, I mean campers, come through the line.

Here is a small sampling of what we cooked during the last two sessions of camp. Keep in mind that these were two of our smaller groups. In fact, next weeks session will be larger the the last two combined!!! Do you see the little tear trickling down my face!! :-) Okay here goes:

Sausage......................564 patties
Bacon........................449 strips
Eggs..........................64 dozen
Made from scratch biscuits...347

Not included are all the pancakes, french toast, dry cereal, milk, juices, oatmeal, gravy and chocolate gravy...and that is only breakfast.

I have to say that I have had some great helpers who work hard and make my job fun.

Did I mention that my day starts around 5:30 am. I head to the kitchen by 6:15 and head back home around 8:30 pm where I do the laundry for the day.

After all that, I have to say that BYC or Bootheel Youth Camp is GREAT!!! I had hoped to share some pics of workday with you but I forgot my camera, duh!! I am planning to keep it close at hand next week so I can show you some of the great things that go on.

Till next time...

It's almost time...

for camp to begin. For those of you who may not already know, my husband and I live at Bootheel Youth Camp. That is our church camp and we are the caretakers. Well, Mike actually does most of the "caretaking". But, this is the time of year that I really get busy and have I been busy this week.

We have a workday scheduled for tomorrow and I have been workin' myself silly/sillier this week just getting ready for it. I have been sanding, scraping and painting till I'm sort of a medium terracotta in the face...that's the color I was painting the front of the main serving counter in the "Cafetorium". Oh, I also have a pair of tennis shoes that are accented with that "exact" color!!

We have lots of stuff to do tomorrow and I know it will be a great day filled fun, fellowship and work. I'll try to get some pics to share so all of you can join in.

A Little Late...

No big surprise, huh!! I wanted to get this posted
earlier but I have just been too busy enjoying having our 5 year old grandson with us for a few days.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. And, I especially hope that you were able to spend some time with your mother. I know a lot of you, like me, no longer have your mother's with you and this day was bittersweet for you. I hope that you, like me, had lots of family around you to make the day special.

There are still days that I go to the phone and sometimes even get the receiver to my ear before I realize that can't call my Mama. Now, I smile as I put the receiver back and thank God for giving me such a special Mama. He certainly broke the mold when he was finished creating her.

Following is another of my "Moccasin Holler Memoirs" that I want to share with you...just so you too can get to know my Mama just a little bit.

Ya'll have a special week and thanks for dropping by.

Mavis, our mama


Mama, always singin’. She hugged our hurts away and made us think chocolate gravy and biscuits for supper was a special treat just for us kids.

Mama, always barefoot. Even in the coldest of winters, when she would hang the clothes on the line to “freeze” dry. This is the same lady who would never let us kids go barefoot until the first day of May because the ground didn’t get warm enough till then.

Mama, always mama. Even to a newborn animal whose real mama refused to accept it. She said she didn’t like animals so I guess those were tears of joy when they were ready to be returned to the pasture or the wild. Let’s see, besides us kids, she raised numerous pigs, wild bunny rabbits and calves. She didn’t name them all but I remember a little chick named Susie that grew to be big enough to fly up to Mama’s shoulder and perch there while she did the dishes. There was Trixie, the squirrel…but, that’s another story. Then, there were our pets that she made sure were fed and watered. Naw, she didn’t like animals!!!

Mama, who thought all babies were beautiful but not as beautiful and her grand and great-grandbabies.

Mama, who hated a confrontation but would fight a pack of wolves to protect her family.

Mama…soft voice, tender heart, a truly gentle spirit. Always seeing the best in everything. Always there when she was needed. The definition of true beauty.

Mama, our Mama…proof that love lives forever.

(excerpt from "Moccasin Holler Memoirs" copyrighted)

A Fairy Tale...well, sort of...

Once upon a time long, long ago in a far away land called Moccasin Holler there lived a young girl who loved Christmas. (Okay, the girl is me and, yep, I mean "long, long ago" literally. I did grow up in Moccasin Holler!) Now, where was I? ...there lived a young girl who loved Christmas. She loved the sounds, smells and colors of Christmas. She loved the warmth that seemed to glow all around her. She loved going to town with her Daddy to pick out "the" tree. And, ooohhh, the decorations!! But, most of all she loved Santa.

Santa always came to school after Thanksgiving riding in a beautiful sleigh being pulled by those magnificent reindeer. (It didn't seem odd at all that they were all pulled by a Pepsi Cola truck.) What a wonderful day that was...all the kids lined up along the street in front of the school and as Santa passed by they would scramble to gather up the candy that he tossed out to them.

After that first Santa sighting, the girl began to count the days until Christmas. Every Christmas Eve, on the way home from Granny and Papa's, her eyes scanned the night sky in hopes of seeing a tiny red light. You know, the one on Rudolph's nose...that would be a sure sign Santa was indeed about his business of delivering all those toys.

Now, there is more to this story but you will have to wait till Christmas to hear it...

I do have a reason for sharing part of the story. I have a confession to make. For the past several weeks, I have been pretty much useless. I have hardly ever gone into my painting room and when I do, I mostly just sit and stare. Those creative juices just aren't there. I look at the things I have prepped for painting and just can't decide what to paint on them. Then I find myself looking at the cypress knees, gourds, clay and all those things that will eventually be santas and snowmen.

So, tonight (or this morning, whichever) I have made a decision. I am going back to what I really love. I am going to create "Christmas" stuff. After all, I wouldn't be painting at all if it weren't for Santa...but, that's another story.

I wanted to let you know so you wouldn't be surprised when you begin to see the changes on my blog, in my Etsy shops and in my new Artfire shop. Call me crazy, but I can't wait to start making those changes and I really do hope you all like them.

It's gettin' warmer...

Yippee!! I am so ready for warmer weather.

I always think of my growin' up years and one of my Mama's "Rules of Wisdom" when the dreary clouds of winter begin to be blown away by Spring's warming winds. It was about this time of year that my siblings and I figured it was high time to be able to go barefoot. Unfortunately, Mama had her rules...and this one was soooo hard on us!! It seems that, no matter what the temperature, it isn't warm enough to go barefoot until May 1st. Apparently, that's "the day" when the ground has finally warmed enough and is ready to make connection with the bare skin of the human foot. So, we had to wait until that day of miracles arrived to remove our shoes and be truly free. Ahhh, the feel of the new green grass on tender feet is indescribable.

Oh well, it's warm out today and I was thinkin' about takin' off my shoes and that made me think of Mama and her "rule" and I just thought I'd share. Gotta get back into the paintin' room...gonna paint some old windows.

Oh yeah...I still have my shoes on...after all, it's isn't May 1st and I wouldn't dream of breaking one of Mama's rules.

Okay, consider this fair warning!!!

It is 2:41 a.m. so I can pretty much guarantee that I am goin' to be ramblin' here!! I should be asleep, but I just had to face facts...I wasn't goin' to sleep, it's just as well I got out of bed. So, here I am. This is such a confusing time of day. What I think is today is actually yesterday, which is good because today (I mean yesterday) wasn't a good day. So, I guess I should be glad it is tomorrow, I mean today. Now, if you understood that we are on the same page which means you may want to wonder about yourself! LOL...just pullin' your leg.

Monday (today/yesterday?) was the
mailout date for our Old Farmhouse
Gathering Spring Swap goodies. I am
so proud...I got mine done and they
will be arriving at their destination soon.
I painted" a stitchery design
by Rhonda of "Primitive Stitches".
I was spending way too much time
at her website looking at all her
wonderful designs...I mean, I don't
do stitcheries...why was I there?
Hmmm, I had a thought...I'll just
buy me some patterns so I can
paint the designs!! This was actually
supposed to be stitched on a candle-
mat!!! You can see it is painted on an old plate but I think it would still make a neat candle-mat. I want to thank Rhonda for giving me permission to paint her designs my way.


I also included these neat hangtags done
by Deena of "Ewe 'N Me Printables".
She did all the real work...I just
grubbied 'n glittered them up. Pretty
neat though, huh? I sure hope my swap partner likes them!

Whew...I just checked the time again...it's 3:19 a.m. I have spent way too long tryin' to get the pics to show up where I wanted them in this post. Somehow, I keep making them disappear...I would really appreciate it if there is anyone out there who could help me out here!!

Okay, guess I'll give up on makin' this post look pretty... gonna try hittin' the sack...well, I'm not actually gonna hit a sack, that would be way too much like exercise and I can't have that!! I'm really going to just go back to bed and hopefully get some sleep. What amazes me is how much easier it is for me to sleep in the morning when I should be awake!! But, that's a whole 'nuther story!!!

Nitey, nite...or is it good morning? :-)

I know...I've been MIA...

and I don't really have an excuse. Surely it's not because I can't think of anything to talk about! :-) Ya'll know me better than that...once I start ramblin'....

Before I get going I wanted to share the links to a couple of Etsy treasuries I snagged...Bustin.Out.All.Over..OFGSC and Bunny Eggs...OFGSC Unfortunately, I couldn't list all 150+ items that are in the Old Farmhouse Spring and Easter Celebrations so to see the rest of them just click...OFGSC Spring & Easter Celebrations

I have been kinda busy...waited till the last minute to get my things done for the celebrations but I think they turned out pretty good anyhoo. Click on the Holly Ridge Creations button on the top left to see them.

And, believe it or not, my brain has kicked in creative mode and I have bunches of stuff I want to get done. Right now I am in the middle of doing a cypress knee bunny!! Yep, a bunny rabbit and no...he isn't wearing a santa suit!! I also have a cypress knee that has decided he wants to be a kitty cat instead of a santa so I have him waiting in line to be painted. I'll post some pics when I get them finished. Got some neat prim eggs just waitin' for some color, there are cabinet doors and old windows base-coated and staring at me. A box full of cones are just screaming my name!!

Hey...I gotta get off here and get in that paintin' room. If I don't show back up soon, please call someone...that kitty cat cypress knee is getting a little upset with me and I'm not sure what measures it might take to cut line in front of the bunny!!!