Caroline County

Happy Friday y'all!  Enjoy one of my favorite tunes while I am busy with some home improvement projects.  I know this isn't really a home improvement blog, but I'll show you what I've been doing when I'm done.

I absolutely love this up and coming band, Caroline County. Julia Sheer has an amazing voice. She has a few songs of her own.  Even though this is a Thompson Square song, I like her rendition better.

  (be sure to turn down my music player at the bottom)

Brad, the Main Course

Remember how I told you I deleted my Brad Paisley tickets? 

Thankfully the Idaho Center was able to reissue them otherwise, 

these sweet ladies would have gone all loco on me... 

Just kidding they probably would have forgiven me. 

(Left to right:  Ladybug, ME, J-Thurbs, and Mama Thurbs)

Daddy and Daughter 

And Brad himself....Like less than 10 feet away. 

I think he was looking at me ;)

 There was this crazy 42 year old woman climbing over chairs to try to get closer. 

 Oh the Shame!!!

 (That may or may not have been me...)

 

Musical Hors d'oevers

 Brad Paisley concert had an incredible opener,
the hors d'oeuvers, if you will...

I truly Heart The Band Perry Right now, 

like A LOT Here is a concert pic,

And here is a song I really dig...Be sure to turn down my music player

WOW

Country Roads and Sunsets

WOW

Wednesday's Open Window

Country Roads 

WOW

Wednesday's Open Window

During the warm summer evenings, there is no mistaking the stank coming from the feed lot three miles away when the winds are just right.  Holy Crap!  What's that smell?  For all my complaining that I don't live close enough to the country, I think this one seals the deal...

WOW

Here is my first installment into WOW or Wednesday's Open Window...

You might live in Idaho if you get caught in a "tractor jam" on the way to Wally World.

Need I say more?

KT is growing a goatee for me.  Nice!

A Day in the Country

If I won the lottery, this is where I would live.  We have some good friends who have property in Idaho City.  This is where I would have my big porch and listen to the elk bugle at night.  This is where I would 4 wheel down the dirt road to ride their horses.  Or, maybe I would just get my own.  This is where I would breathe in clean mountain air and swat at the thousands of annoying flies.

Ladybug was a natural.  If only she was tall enough to reach the stirrups.

It's officially fall.  Check out the boots.  I'm putting them to practical use.

My Porch

This is my porch that I wrote about in a previous post. It is here that I go to seek my moments of solace...

Sitting on my Porch

(This is not my house...)

As I sit here on my porch in the warmth of a summer afternoon, I am whisked away to a different place by the sounds and smells. Closing my eyes, I hear the steady stream of water from the country fountain on my porch. The whiskey barrel and old fashioned hand pump fountain remind me of simpler times. I hear the summer breeze blowing through the curly willow in my front yard. The leaves making music to my ears. I pick up the tinkling of the wind chimes I have collected, softly moving with the breeze. The damp earth and fresh cut grass fill my head with their intoxicating smells mixed with just the faintest scent of horses romping in the fields down the road. With my eyes closed, I might think I am sitting on the porch of an old country farm house breathing in the freshness of country living. A place where you dream, breathe and just be. The sound of a car passing by brings me out of the revelry of my own thoughts. Reluctantly I rise from my creaky, rattan chair returning to the house and the incessant sound of the blaring television.

The Fair

Yesterday I went to the fair. It is such a "cultural" experience. I should have worn my hat and boots for the occasion, but it was too hot. Rodney Adkins was playing the fair, but we didn't get off of work in time to make the concert. So we enjoyed the sites, sounds and smells. Corn dogs and cokes, cows, sheep, the worlds largest pig, the worlds smallest horse. Ribbons and prizes and pitch-men galore. Yet, it was a relaxing evening away from the kids, and I am just a little bit poorer.

A Small Town Girl

Deep down in my heart I long to live in a small town. I've mentioned before that I am a country girl, but I'm a small town girl, too. It seems an oxymoron considering that I was born in Cali, raised in Denver and KT is from Chicago....Can't get any more LARGE town than that! My soul longs for the laziness of a small town where the big event is the Friday night football game. Where you sit on the porch and know all your neighbors names....Where you listen to the crickets and take time to smell the fresh cut grass. Maybe in my second life....Do you think heaven is a small town?

"Sometimes it feels like this world is spinning faster Than it did in the old days So naturally, we have more natural disasters From the strain of a fast pace Sunday was a day of rest Now, it's one more day for progress And we can't slow down 'cause more is best It's all an endless process. Well I miss Mayberry Sitting on the porch drinking ice-cold cherry coke Where everything is black and white Picking on a six string Where people pass by and you call them by their first name Watching the clouds roll by..." ~Rascal Flatts~

Wild Life 2

We have a couple of huge trees in our yard which have become home to various flocks of birds at times. They come and go, leaving their presence known by the loud chirping and the little gifts that get left behind. This is a picture I caught with my zoom. I really love the details in the feathers. And a cute birdhouse that my cub scouts destroyed in my backyard. Gotta love those scouts!

Rascal Flatts - Bob that Head

The concert totally rocked! I have to say that it was the best concert I have ever been to. It surpassed George Michael 2nd row at 18 years old in Hawaii. (yeah he was gay).

IT WAS THAT GOOD!

Anyway, it is fun to get out and let loose and just have an incredible time. It is hard not to start moving and dancing when that music is thumping and the lights are flashing. I felt sorry for the people around me having to pound the beer in order to have fun. "Please don't puke on me!" "Sit down you get up to pee too much." "Maybe if you didn't drink like a horse...."

Here are a couple of pictures of me embracing my alternate persona. You'll have to check out an old post if you want to see the boots...(My kids are grateful I only wear the hat a couple of times a year. I'm such an embarrassment to them!)

I was going to stow away in one of their vans, but there were too many people around. Besides, KT wouldn't let me. He's such a party pooper!

I am seriously considering hoping a plane to somewhere like Denver to catch their show this weekend. I wish I had taken my kids. The boys despise my country music, but I really think they would have loved the show.

I am so bummed that I didn't get very good pictures of the concert. I really wanted to bring my camera, but the tickets said "No camera's", and because we follow the rules and I didn't want it confiscated, I left the camera at home. Besides, we have camera cell phones. Needless to say, most everyone had camera's. They announced "No flash photography" while we were there. Hello? I could have brought my camera and just turned off the flash. The pictures would have turned out a whole lot better than the cell phone ones. At least I have the memories and the ringing in my ears...

NEXT TIME I'M BREAKING THE RULES AND SMUGGLING A GOOD CAMERA!!!

Here is a little cell phone clip...The sound is totally distorted, but it will give you an idea of how huge the stage was and what a large scale production they put on... (You'll have to pause the music player)

Kicking back and awaiting my Valentine's Magic...

I have been married to a man who does not LOVE valentines day. He says, "Every day is like Valentines Day when you live with me." See what I have to put up with? Needless to say, we've never made a huge deal. But this year he blew me away! Two tickets to Rascal Flatts on February 25th...(It's not even his kind of music, oh the sacrifices he makes).

Who needs to win them when I receive them as a gift. The surprise of the thoughtfulness is by far more gratifying than winning the tickets, though it would have been WAY cheaper. Now this necessitated some new boots, of course...(I have a fettish for boots).