Lots more burlap....

We are hooked on Reading Coffee Roaster's Ethiopian Coffee. Since moving we have tried hard to find a replacement for this nectar but to date have not had success.

Our vacation included a side trip to our dentist (whole other story). That brought us so close, oh, so close to our favorite coffee that we just HAD to make a side trip. When we arrived, the Ethiopian was just being roasted. YES! So we waited the 20 minutes, I in the car with the radio and my husband chatting with the friendly owner. I saw him beckoning me to come in. It was worth it! There was an entire pallet of burlap coffee bean bags that he had no use for. My heart skipped a beat. I mean, I had just created burlap pillows, bows and bulletin boards before our trip! I wanted the entire pallet load- why?, I am not sure but the price was right! Joe reminded me that we were driving a mid-sized compact car that was filled to the windows hillbilly style on our trip to the beach. Although there may have been room at that moment, all of that stuff we packed in the car at home had to be repacked so I settled for this pile.

And now it sits...in my garage...waiting for those creative juices that were flowing back on that delicious coffee roasting day to hit me again. So far they have not.....got any ideas?

I would love to hear them. Anyone else inspired to create something from a coffee bean bag?

By the way, I called my friend Cindi who owns the child care center right next door to this heavenly roasting site to suggest she stop by for the rest of the pile. Great for sack races this summer! As for the coffee...we left with 10 pounds of beans and hope they will see us through until our July visit. Think I will have a cup right now!

Wait, I hear the grinder. Joe must have heard me writing...he is brewing a pot!! I love it when he comes home for lunch!

Morning Treats....

My morning treat! Can you believe these came from Aldi and are all grown in the USA? I usually purchase direct from local farmers but could not resist when I saw them. (Now my friend Ken, who has an aversion to anything ending in "erry" may not agree that these are a treat!)

Barb at Grits and Glamour is hosting a challenge at the end of the month to see meals created with items purchased at the Dollar Store. I will have to go and check out our Dollar Tree to see if there is anything I can use to come up with a meal- never have bought food there before.

It gets scarier!

ABC news is actually going to turn over their news to the White House to push government run healthcare! Am I still living in the USA or have I been transported back to communist Russia????? Guess which channel I will no longer watch! Pretty soon we can eliminate the cable bill- I will not be watching anything!

Some strange things are going on...

So what do you think of Letterman's apology? I think he looks rather pathetic- fighting for his job as even sponsors have dropped advertising. He barely makes eye contact. I find it hard to believe that he did not know the governor did not have a daughter at the game- if there was no daughter at the game the joke would never have even been written.

What do you think about ice and hail deep enough to shovel, in NJ, in June? Kind of makes those fighting global warming look silly. All those green causes costing green dollars...hmmm...maybe we should rethink some of them.

And CBS, of Letterman fame, is producing a new "reality" show where they have blocked 8 neighbors behind a tall wall and will soon start filming. Who will be watching and WHY?

This morning I can't even bring myself to think about the really scary stuff around us like N Korea, Iran, our very own government. So instead I am pondering these absurdities and wondering what have we become? A recent report confirms what I have known for some time. American families are spending less time together and this report is saying the internet is to blame. I am not surprised.

I do hold out some hope that I am not alone. A recent Gallup Poll
reveals that 40% of Americans consider themselves to be conservatives and 35% moderate. So WHY are Americans accepting this radical agenda our president has set forth???? Only 16% consider themselves to be liberal and 5% very liberal. 4% had no opinion (but they can still vote!).

I say instead of having our taxes withheld from our paychecks, Americans should be forced to write a check to the government for their portion of taxes. Then we would have change and fast! People are complacent and just accept what is taken from them whether it be money, freedom or this country as we know it.

Revelations

It is amazing what 2 weeks away will do to you! I forgot the combination to my locker at the pool. I mean I really forgot it! Clever me wrote it on the edge of my towels in case I forgot in the pool and could get dressed but guess where those towels are. Yep, IN the locker!

Looks like I will be toting my stuff to the pool and tucking a pair of bolt cutters into my bag (now won't that look sweet!) as I pray for a revelation of that combination on the ride there.



I was amazed by the revelations this gardener received (from my Cape May stroll). He/she managed to turn junk into garden art. I am not quite sure why there needs to be a mosquito quite this big but here it is!



I rather liked the fan blade flowers.

Some Thoughts I Have On Flag Day

I am amazed by some Americans. Our country has so many things happening that will make changes to America as we know it. Unfortunately these changes, in my humble opinion, are for the worse.

There is no longer a moral backbone because we would hate to offend anyone. The result is a country being led astray and people doing things because they "feel good"! Too much energy, time and money is being spent on "green causes" because they asuage American guilt. What are we to feel guilty about? America is the most generous country in the world.

Bad behavior is tolerated because again we don't want to make anyone feel badly and because who are we to differentiate between right and wrong? We have a leader who condemns the rich while they are the economic backbone, the employers, the investors. Those of us who have a work ethic are expected to support those who choose not to work even though they have the ability to work.

Jobs have gone oversees because Americans are unwilling to work at low paying jobs. I say a low paying job is better than no job. We have unions that have taken control and worked to create products that can't compete in the world market.

Our government is now talking about taking over our healthcare. Why? Where has personal responsibility gone?

Last week I sat at a table next to two other couples. One guy said to the other, "Looks like our government is going to start taking over healthcare when Europe is trying to get their government out of the healthcare business." The other guy says, "Why, I heard on the news that having the government take over healthcare is a good thing. I mean I am on Medicare and it is fine. I don't have to pay and they take care of me." The conversation then shifted to what they would eat for dinner. I wanted to go and shake the guy by the shoulders!!!!

What is wrong with so many Americans, depending on the news for information. Blindly accepting what our government suggests without any thought to long term consequences. Thinking that Medicare and other government programs are free?!! Who is the government? Who is working to make the money for the government programs? How efficient are those programs? Why would we want MORE goverment involvement in our lives? Why, because we may be receiving Medicare is it all right? It is easy to ignore others' needs and the fact that they are and will continue to work to pay for this and other government programming as long as we feel our needs are being met.

What a selfish attitude- what about our children and grandchildren who are left with the burdens we are creating. If we are willing to work to "save" our planet and its animals why are we not concerned about how our actions will impact future generations of Americans?

I also want to say to these same folks, if we take a lesson from those countries where nationalized healthcare is in place, the older you get, the less care you receive. You are no longer a contributing member of society and therefore dispensable. How does that sound? Guess if it is okay to abort babies it is now okay to terminate our elders.

Too many Americans have become lazy, spoiled and complacent. They latch onto feel good policies when in fact they are ruining this country.

I take refuge in my God. It is such a good feeling to know that we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. No matter what this human experience may bring, I know Who is ultimately in control and where I will spend eternity- no matter what policies and practices our government chooses to make.

Psalm 90

Lord, Thou has been our dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were born, or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world.

Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.

Thou dost turn man back into dust,

And thou dost say, "Return, O children of men."

For a thousand years in Thy sight

Are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.

Thou has swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;

In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.

In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;

Toward evening it fades, and withers away.

For we have been consumed by Thine anger.

And by Thy wrath we have been dismayed.

Thou has placed our inequities before Thee,

Our secret sins in the light of Thy presence.

For all our days have declined in Thy fury;

We have finished our years like a sigh.

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,

Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow.

For soon it is gone and we will fly away.

Who understands the power of Thine anger,

And Thy fury, according to the fear that is due Thee?

So teach us to number our days,

That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.

Do return, O Lord; how long will it be?
And be sorry for Thy servants.

O satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness,

That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad according to the days

Thou hast afflicted us,

And the years we have seen evil.

Let Thy work appear to Thy servants,

And Thy majesty to their children,

And let the favor if the Lord our God be upon us;

And do confirm for us the work of our hands;

Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

At the zoo

We spent a day at the Cape May County Zoo. It is actually quite a lovely park. But as is typical, I did not remember to take any pictures while in the zoo. Hannah is very lucky that her daddy is not at all like me. He loves to take pictures. Unfortunately my guys did not have that many photos taken of them (sorry guys!). Well there was one picture I did take on the way out. People were probably wondering why anyone would be taking a picture of the bathrooms but not me. I stood there laughing. It reminded me so much of the green farce of a house (costing a mere $900,000) that I blogged about here.

You would probably be more impressed by a picture of their tiger. He was very beautiful. So here you go...oh, but I did not take this picture. I cut and pasted it from the zoo website!

My intention was to not even think about politics during the past two weeks but I did. David Letterman's crude and inexcusable comments concerning Sarah Palin and her daughter have angered me greatly. This reaches far beyond the political and certainly is not a joke. I actually broke my promise to not write any letters while away and sent CBS a note about my anger and vow to never watch Letterman again. What is happening to our country that we can laugh at jokes such as his? I am so saddened.

A short stroll through Cape May

In all of the years I have visited Cape May, I can't recall walking through the town to take pictures. I am not one of those folks who carries a camera. I have to remind myself over and over again to take the camera and then never remember to use it. I will share pictures I took until my battery ran out. Since I waited until the last day of our visit to bring the camera on a walk, I did not return for more shots. It is lovely to walk through the town and see the flowers in bloom but I must admit that I especially enjoy the walk on a crisp winter evening with Christmas decorations adorning this adorable town. There are also fewer people then! Once the summer season picks up I find it too darn crowded to enjoy, hence our early June visit!
Isn't this an inviting path?

This shop has all sorts of gifts for animal lovers.

This house has a name that appeals to the bunny lover in me!

See if you can see what I picked out in these places...

Has it become clear that I LOVE to see our flag flying proudly?


I wanted to jump the fence and sit on the bench over there...but Joe thought it was not my brightest idea so I just stood drooling over the fence imagining what it would be like to sit on the bench-everyday!

I love these signs


I wanted to knock on the door of this place to see if I could peek out of this window but again Joe said, "no go!"

Some more cute spots. I wanted to sit on this bench but was AGAIN advised that it would not be a good thing to do!





This one was not so cute but I need to find out what the Girls Friendly Society is and why they have a Holiday House and what they do there..... (edited to add that I did find out and you can too by following the link above for info on the group or the link here to find out about this house- you can rent it- it is a retreat center BUT I warn you, it looked very tired on the outside)

This is a photographer's shop

This is my kind of a fire escape- think I would find an excuse to use it everyday if I lived there!



When I spotted this I was immediately tempted to book another stay in Cape May!

But when I saw this black door I knew I needed to head home to my own black door!

Even though I found the place that is ME, through and through....aaah...to sit on this porch with a book all afternoon would be such a delight! But again, Joe reminded me it would not be a delight for him to get me at the Cape May Police Station when the homeowners found me deeply engrossed in my book on their porch.

All I can say is, "Cape May, leave a light on for me because I will be back!" And I know that Aunt Nellie will be waiting!

Back Home Again!

We had a marvelous, relaxing 2 weeks in Cape May, NJ but it does feel good to be home! (It will feel even better to crawl into our own bed!) The ride home was long. Funny we used to make it to Cape May in 3 hours but for some reason it now takes us 11 hours! (Could it be that we have moved from PA to NC since our last visit?) Just when we felt like we could not make the last hour of our drive we spotted a DQ and decided to get a cone. What a treat to see this gathering - only in the South! They were actually much better sounding in person but I thought I would share my stealth video clip taken by the world's worst photographer-ME!

Tomorrow I will post pictures that I took on our stroll through Cape May but for now I leave you with Miss Hannah at the beach.

And my favorite beach bum....

We keep reminding ourselves that soon, very soon it will be 3, THREE! grandchildren! So.much.fun!!!

Aunt Nellie's

Cape May, NJ has been a favorite spot of mine for the past 35 years. Three years ago we gave up camping and found this great house to rent. We are close to the beach and town center. The house is very comfortable and looks as perfect now as it did 3 years ago as the owners set really high standards of maintenance. We are settling in and unwinding. I promise to post pictures of some great Cape May houses during our visit. The better pics will have to wait for download from my camera once I get home- for now cell phone pics are all I can post.