the rest of the story

                                           well here is how that cookie story turned out...

 

deliciously! Mary Grace made them for Ryan and his Pawpaw.

 

No, Daphne, you can't have one. Even though you look like chocolate, you can't eat it.

 

It is still high season for cicadas. Sorry I couldn't get the video to work. One girl I know loves when the cicadas are here. They show up on the back porch and are very loud. To get an idea how big they are, compare it's size to the brick below.

 

 

Look who swings into action and snaps them out of the air. She sits patiently until they unwittingly bungle into her air space and snap!

 

 

It will buzz in her mouth, vibrating her lips until she crunches. Then she eats it. Wow those poor bugs don't get a break. They stay in the ground as a larva for seven years only to emerge for a couple of days to mate. They don't even have a mouth to eat! I imagine this poor guy just thought "Dang, seven years for this!"

 

One more little bit on the "what were they thinking" subject

 

Just take this in. Yuck. Check out the look on that bunny's face. He is disgusted. Take this stupid hat off of me! We can only hope Valentine's Day does not inspire an egg...

 

 

 

chewy chocolate cookies

   Mary Grace texted me this morning with a request for a favorite cookie recipe. Lazy as I am I always just take a picture of the recipe and text it to her. Take a look at how well loved this recipe is.

These are so good. Try a batch if you are a chocolate lover. The main key is DON'T overcook. They turn quickly from chewy to crunchy. And if you can read those directions at all, don't worry about wax paper if you don't have it . A cooling rack or a hard plastic plate will do. They are just tender when still hot. Yum. Off to the pool to burn some calories. 

BABY

 Best news ever. Brody Alexander Merkoskey. Cary did great. No drugs at all. He is so cute. His Dad is pretty cute too!

 

Proud grandparents

 

Cary asked to be photographed at a later date!

puppies

    What is cuter than a puppy? How about 4 chihuahua puppies? Pebbles had her pups and now we know why she got so big.

They love to burrow in the corners.

 

look at that face!

 

Mom kept a close watch

 

My friend Bev and I took a day trip to Yazoo City. It is a very interesting little town. Here is the old library downtown.

 We ran out of time before we got to see the Witch of Yazoo's grave that was made famous by Willie Morris. But had a great lunch at Tom's on Main. Fried catfish , turnip greens etc.

 

 

luscious shellfish

   If you don't like oysters you may want to stop reading. I happen to love oysters as most of my family do. Every year at the beach we consume 2 whole gallons. Whitney brings them from Pensacola. Well as you know this cold has gone through the family. I felt guilty that I gave it to MG and she gave it to Ryan. He asked for some of that oyster soup from the beach. How could I not? Well Kroger had some great looking ones.

If you are an oyster lover, you will understand how great this is,if you aren't you will be disgusted. I forgot to take a pic of the finished stew. But trust me. It was creamy, buttery and had little cracker dumplings happily floating in it. It was so good I didn't even think of putting hot sauce in it.

 

 

This is the time of year when the light changes, sounds change and you begin to feel that fall is coming. It is still hot as all get out and crazy humid, but it feels different. Here is a little video with the cicadas singing.

 

The dogs thought I was nuts and came back inside immediately.





 

Redemption

....so Jan felt a little bad about the blog regarding fudge squares. While she was gone I checked on her cat, Sally Kate. When she returned Sally sent me a little thank you gift.

 

Hey, hey, two whole fudge squares!

 

Got to visit this sweet girl. The sheet is on the couch because she had been swimming in her backyard pool. Will attach video when I can.

 

Dupree was feeling a little out of sorts.

 

   And what could be better than sitting in your daughter's kitchen while she cooks dinner. She was making a broccoli casserole. They have Ryan's grandad over every Wednesday night. Whitney just imagine This scene with Karis in the picture. I know it sounds miles away, but it seems yesterday that she was Karis's age.





 

Labor Day

...well I tell you that stupid cold just keeps on moving through the ranks. Mary Grace got it after me and felt awful. The next day Ryan succombed. We had planned a cookout for our family on Monday afternoon. They wanted to come so much that they still made food and came. I am eating the last of the potato salad as I write this. Yes it is my breakfast. We are so lucky to have good cooks in the family. Ed and I made ribs, corn and homemade chocolate ice cream. Ryan made beans and potato salad. Sophie and Paul made broccoli slaw. Mary Grace made a couple of cocktails. One with St. Germain which I had never had. Very summery. And I must say that Ivy cleaned up all the nasty dishes! It was all fun except Ryan felt bad and couldn't enjoy himself. Believe it our not I didn't take a single food picture!! I guess I was enjoying the moment. I just love being surrounded by my babies. But that morning I took some sweet pics at the pool.

 

Here is Lucy, Keifer and Candy

 

 

We love it when Chelsea and Willa (Bill's little namesake) come to the pool. We get to play with Keifer and new mom gets to get out of the house and be outside. Willa is 7 weeks.

 

 

Aren't they precious? While cleaning the house yesterday Ed and I realized we didn't need a 6 person breakfast table. We folded the pub table where we had raised a family to seat 2. How is that?! A little sad when I was cleaning it and found evidence of all that had happened around that table. Meals, crafts, schoolwork, birthday parties. So many good times preserved in gunk between the seams. A kitchen table is the heart of the home , don't you think?

 



Maybe I'll put together a little montage of the life of the table. And just think if was over a hundred years old when it came to live with us!