From The Mud Puddle

Saturday, January 31, 2009


Maxine Clark started a blog this month. She is the CEB or Chief Executive Bear of Build a Bear Workshop-one of the most fun places to go in the whole mall, world even!
Be sure to check out her posts!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

For TIMHT I offer this piece of Fine Art

Sometime in grade school, I molded this little dog out of clay and painted it. Like the scratches I added to the ear for effect? Like that it is blue? Yeah, me too!

My mom dug this out of the attic a few years ago and I have it sitting here in my bedroom. Overlook the dust on it's back and paws(yes those ARE paws!)...that is it's "protective coating"....uh huh! I love this little dog as I always have loved messing in clay. There is a story there...more to it for another day....

For more TIMHT fun, skip over to MSM's Blog ! You won't regret it!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Last Tuesday, we got some snow here in my part of NC. While it wasnt much, it was still a big deal because we just do not see that much snow here. Anytime it falls, it is picture and mention worthy. Only problem was that I did not feel that wonderful that day, so did not enjoy it quite as much as I usually do. (feeling much better now-thank you very much) My son took these pictures for me that day. Thank you Christopher.
Here are a couple of views...it was less than an inch...but still....we had SNOW!
Praise God for the Snow :)





Thursday, January 22, 2009

From Rick of Andyland (thanks Rick for the chuckle)

Emboldened by their success in declaring Pluto not a planet, the
International Astronomical Union determined this week by a close vote that
February is too short to be considered a true month. It has, however, been
granted the newly-created status of “dwarf month.” It shares this dubious
distinction with several other calendar time spans, including Labor Day Weekend,
Christmas Vacation, and the Time Between When You Were Supposed to Get Your Oil
Changed and When You Actually Did. “It only seems fair,” said IAU President Ron
Eckers. “February reaches a peak size of 29 days, averaging only 28 days for 75
percent of the time. Recent research has shown that other periods, such as the
Time Between When You Were Supposed to Get Your Oil Changed and When You
Actually Did, often exceed this meager time frame. In fact, this erratic
behavior only strengthens our case that February does not belong in the same
classification as the eleven 'true' months.” Eckers also warned that the crop of
30-day “so-called” months should be careful to maintain their number of days.
“They're already cutting it pretty close in my book.”

This week's TIMHT features my empty Starbuck's Hot Chocolate Cup. This is all that is left of the warm hot chocolate goodness with extra whip.
I love that one of the Starbucks we go to still has these seasonal Christmas cups that look like sweaters.
The warm milk is one of the few things I've found this week to coat my throat-easing it's irritation from the cold I've had.
For more TIMHT-visit MSM's blog !

Monday, January 19, 2009

The cold...As the temperatures in my part of the world dropped last week due to the cold, my daughter started coughing, sneezing and being feverish due to the cold...of a different kind. One by one, the rest of us have fallen to the cold.
And now-unusual as it is for my part of the world, the cold....the weather kind...has brought us some flurries. While my hope is that we'd get snowed in by the 1-2" they are calling for (especially since both kids have the day off from work)....reality is there are things to do and places to go if any of us feel good enough to get out the door.


In 1992 my daughter(seen left) started mothers morning out. It lasted three months. I was not impressed with their efforts to make sure they got fresh air each day when it meant letting them go outside to play in the rain. We ditched mother's morning out and never looked back except to comment, "That was interesting". LOL
In 2009, my daughter (seen right) started at the local community college. She is taking two classes and things seem good so far for her. These two pictures pretty much sum up the "going to school elsewhere" scene as opposed to ones we took her first day of kindergarten (in our homeschool) sitting at the kitchen table with scissors in hand ready to take on the world one piece of construction paper at a time.


Friday, January 16, 2009

Welcome to TIMHT-Friday Style!
Thanks to some crud that my daughter passed along to me and the fact that when an hour or so ago when I wanted to post this my Internet was doing odd things....I am posting this in the wee hours of Friday.
(that and well, I procrastinated as usual)
This week's submission is of one of the things my daughter stuffed in my Christmas Stocking this year. It is a playmobil puppet stage. I have named the little girl Alexis after Jon and Kate plus 8's adorable little girl...since she is holding an "Aldigator"
My daughter, Hannah bought this at the same time she got the now famous
Playmobil Nativity Scene .
This little puppet stage sits here on my desk, making me smile when I look over at her each day.
For more TIMHT fun, roll on over to MSM's blog !

Wednesday, January 14, 2009




My daughter Hannah is delighted to find Daddy and Scotty Dog under the spare bed in her room in 1991

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Last Week MSM posted about the lovely heating pad cover her daughter, Jessica made for her for Christmas.
This inspired my TIMHT post for this week. This below is my heating pad and cover. It was made by Dearfoam many many years ago. It was a gift from a good friend. It is microwavable and came with a terry cloth cover that the pad slips inside of. I have tried to find exact replicas, but have not been able to find the EXACT same thing.
I mainly use this pad in the winter. I will pop it in the microwave right before bedtime and tuck it in the covers to get things nice and warm when we first go to sleep. It holds it's heat well...and is really nice to warm things up.

For more TIMHT, go to MSM's blog. I am cutting it right at the last minute on Thursday...but hey...at least I am actually posting on Thursday this week

(unlike some other weeks)

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Wii: Skiing-Without the Cold, Bumps and Bruises

Monday, January 05, 2009

I live in an area where if I drive less than a mile down the road I am deep into the countryside. If I drive a mile in the other direction, I find myself in our little country town. Driving about five more minutes in that same direction I am in the suburbs and have close to every store I could want within my reach. It's really sort of odd to be right here in the countryside, yet right here so close to convenience. I'd say I have the best of both worlds. Cows, horses, pigs and chickens to my left and town to my right.

Driving home on Sunday, my daughter and I took a detour through some of the backroads to cut through the area quicker. As we came upon this one area we are well familiar with, chickens greeted us from the middle of the road. There was no getting around making a joke about 'why did the chicken cross the road' since they were right there. . We determined they crossed the road to find food.

Finally, that riddle is solved

We drove slowly through this area, not really wanting to hit one of the chickens. Highly amused, we drove on the short distance home and grabbed the camera so that we could return to capture the chickens photograph.

This one was more than happy to oblige, and preened and posed as she or he strutted there stuff...with the sun setting in the background...


Most of the rest of the chickens had safely made it across the road and now were pecking in the gravel of their owner's house. Perhaps they were "graveling" for food?


The horses across the street looked on too, amused at the entertainment of the chickens, and then the humans that found the chickens and goats (no picture) and lastly the horses so engaging.

As we turned around, the owner of the animals was walking down the driveway with a feed bucket in hand. We waved as we drove by.

Thursday, January 01, 2009



In my ever growing desire to top the TIMHT where I posted about my Mayonaise Packet , I bring to you this week's submission:
My brand new trash can!
Ta Da!
This was on my Christmas list for this year. I know at first it may seem dull...unexciting...borderline weird...but for me, it was the perfect fit beside of my computer desk. It matches my computer perfectly. The black accents bring out the black in my desk and the personal fan I keep nearby.
Not only that, but no longer do we have to make sure to place my trash can on top of some piece of furniture when we leave so Bayley the dog does not get inside of it...decomposing each and every piece of trash as he spreads it throughout the house!


The flip top lid is opperated by a quick push on this button at the bottom(usually done by my toes!). It is not only a very useful trashcan, but a fun one at that. Throwing trash away is fun again...I am so proud!

For more TIMHT check out MSM's Blog !