Shortly before I took this photograph, the moon appeared to be resting on the roof of our neighbor's house, and I could reach out and grab it. Our back door faces east, so when the moon comes out, I often stand at the back door and gaze at the celestial lights. Since we live in a small town there is little light pollution, so it's easy to pick out the constellations from in town. I readily spot Orion's belt every cloudless night.
This chrysanthemum was a table decoration at My Darling Husband's and my wedding reception. It's now in our front yard. Jack Frost sprinkled the flowers overnight.
This cartoon says it all. The Occupy... crowd is composed of whiners and spoiled rotten adult-size children. Parisienne Farmgirl's husband had a great Occupier costume the other day.
Happy Anniversary, Mr. H. I love you times three! Since My Darling Husband is a pilot and our wedding reception was held at an airport facility, we were able to fly away from the reception three years ago. This photo is of us with our heads in the clouds and off to new adventures.
Even in Our Small Town, food prices have doubled or tripled in the past year. One loaf of healthy, whole-grain bread such as what Pepperidge Farm or Earthgrains makes costs about $4.00 here. The closest discount bakery is a two hour drive and I don't want to eat nutrient-depleted fairy bread that costs only one dollar, so I am finally in bread-making mode.
The cool weather that has recently rescued us from the summer heat is another impetus. Oven usage is to be avoided in 100+ degree heat if possible (although I plan to keep baking our own bread even in summer), but using the oven in cool weather not only provides food, it also creates heat!
When I was growing up my family experienced homeade bread. I have fond memories of my mom and grandmother baking bread, and eating such bread with real butter and homemade strawberry jam while the bread was still warm.
Then there were wax-paper-wrapped bologna sandwiches on grandma's bread when we went picnicking at Cheney Lake with her and grandpa, and PB&J on mom's bread when my siblings and I took our lunches to school. 
Alicia's Version of Oatmeal Bread was my recipe of choice for this foray. I planned to start baking our own bread last year, but I kept procrastinating because it seemed an overwhelming process of mixing and kneading until my arm's about to fall off. I don't own a handy-dandy Kitchen-Aid mixer that mixes and kneads the dough for you. Alicia's recipe, however, is relatively quick, and my arm is still attached.
Another item to cross off my mental to-do list. Two more pieces of fabric used! I bought the fabric when a friend and I were at a quilt shop in Humboldt, Kansas last October. My friend liked these fabrics very much but she doesn't sew. I decided to purchase it to make a tablerunner for her. The ladies at the shop had cut the fabric to size already for an easy tablerunner tutorial they created. My friend left the shop to take care of business elsewhere, so I was able to purchase it on the sly. It was meant to be a Christmas present; it became a Christmas in July present.
There are so many entries that the contest gets its own section for the day. The children are very creative.
Sometimes you want to ask yourself "What was this child drawing...the family dog?"
Then in other pictures you see that he really was drawing his mother.
It's especially funny when you know the mother and what she looks like in real life!
"Yes, I know I'm a handsome fella. Mrs. H, I'll miss this pile when it's gone."
