Marilyn's Tomatoes

My buddy Marilyn has a ton of tomatoes in her garden. Several different varieties. She gave me some green tomatoes for my special green tomato casserole a few weeks ago. Then she had me over for supper and we ate tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad and steamed asparagus. Delish!! I took this photo of some of her crop that she and her daughter-in-law made into canned salsa. Maybe she'll have me over for a Mexican feast? Hint, hint.

Yesterday I went back over to Marilyn's place and she loaded me up with a mess of tomatoes. I'm going to roast some of them and then freeze them. It'll be my first attempt, so I'll let you know how they turn out. I had a luscious tomato and cheese on whole wheat sandwich last night, then topped it off with grape tomatoes I purchased at the vegetable stand my friend Fern Yoder owns. I'm really overdosing on tomatoes (which I used to get hives from!). But when they are fresh and sweet like they are now, and right off the vine, I have no self control!! Maybe I'll go on an all tomato diet. Patrick is back in Phoenix so I can eat weirdly now. ;<)

Hope everyone is having a great week. love,Cassie

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter Q

Don't you think Freddie looked way cuter with the mustache?? Queen (band) (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) Queen were an English rock band. Formed in London in 1970 following the demise of the band Smile, Queen consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. The band became popular with audiences via their hit songs, live performances, originality and showmanship.[2] Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in an industry poll.[3] Queen enjoyed success in the UK in the early 1970s with the albums Queen and Queen II, but it was with the release of Sheer Heart Attack in 1974 and A Night at the Opera the following year that the band gained international success. They have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums and numerous compilation albums. Since Mercury's death and Deacon's retirement, May and Taylor have performed infrequently together at special events and programmes as members of other ensembles. Between 2004 to 2009 the duo collaborated with Paul Rodgers, under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers. Okay, I must admit We Will Rock You was one of my faves when I was a youngster. If you want to check it out, just click HERE! (Oh my now I'm thinking of H.S. & when I was a cheer leader! We used to cheer to the beginning beat even though Queen wasn't even a band yet!!) Happy Monday. Go see Jen. love,Cassie

Never Forget

I don’t have words to express the pain I feel today for the thousands of people whose lives were changed because of the terrorist acts of radical Muslims on September 11th ,2001.

If you get the chance to, please visit http://www.foundingbloggers.com/ and view the video titled The Falling Man.

God bless America.

A - Z Monday ~ The Letter R

Our Welsh Terrier Hootie & his friend Agatha the Fox Terrier assisting at the local Rodeo...

Rodeo...One of the "funnest" sports around!

Now let's see what Jen is doing for the letter R. Happy Labor Day friends! love, Cassie

Z to A Mondays - The Letter S

Schweitzer Mountain and Sandpoint, Idaho Two of my favorite places in the U.S.A.!! We spent many lovely summers on top of Schweitzer before buying our property in Bonners Ferry.

Go visit Jen’s blog to see all the other A to Z Monday bloggers.

Oh, and my apologies for making this a Tuesday post. Patrick arrived home with a rental truck and we had to get it unloaded! I’ll try to be better next Monday.;<)

love, Cassie

Z to A Monday ~ The Letter T

Television

Yes, even in farrr North Idaho we have televisions! Patrick and I don't have cable or dish, just a little antenna that helps to get in 3 of the 4 "big" networks and 5 public stations sometimes. Never the less, I still like to watch "the boob tube" on occasion and often have it keeping me company in the background while I'm reading at night. Well, a few weeks ago my (almost) new TV died. It's a sweet little Sharp flat screen that Patrick got with his 35 year award at his company in February. We didn't even open the box 'til we got up here in May, so I was shocked that it didn't even bleep when I turned it on one morning to check the weather. I plugged it in to different outlets and ... nothing. So I called Sharp and they said they would send me an email with instructions and a label to send it back to them. It cost $24.00 have it boxed and shipped to them in Illinois and I was a little miffed. I was anticipating a long drawn out affair. Much to my surprise within a week they overnight FedExed me a new TV!! I was ecstatic because the old one never seemed loud enough and the new one has great sound. Sharp has definitely won me over as a return customer. So, my word for today is TELEVISION...a Sharp one!!

For more A to Z's go visit Jen. Have a good week.

love,

Cassie

Z to A Monday ~ The Letter U

Upright: honorable

These pictures were taken at Meadowlark Log Homes and Farm to Market Store outside of Libby, Montana. Meadowlark is owned and operated by an Amish family with the surname Miller (my maiden name!). Our dealings with the Amish have been undeniably wonderful. Brothers Elvie, Joas and Lloyd and sister Leona are at the heart of the operations. CBS Construction, who raised our cabin for us, is owned by Amish brothers Corneal, Benjamin, Stephen & Marcus Girod and we love them too! We are utterly pleased with our log cabin that they made and feel like we made friends for life. These folks are some of the most honest, upright people that we have ever done business with. Also, Patrick and I are in unison with their support of Israel and admire that they are unashamed to show it. So today I am pleased to introduce you to the upright folks of Meadowlark Log Homes and CBS Construction.

For more Z back to A Monday bloggers, just go to Jen’s blog and check out her sidebar.

Z back to A Monday ~ The Letter V

VISION.

Spelling correction: anomaly...sorry about that folks. No spell check on Picasa!

OH yeah, and for more Z to A / A to Z bloggers go to Jen's blog.

Odds 'n Ends...

Seemingly innocent little angels, right? Pictures #2 & #3 are of a once whole, and quite whimsical fish. I made the mistake of leaving the pooches at home alone the other day and came home to find my fish (which was ON the table) laying on the floor in the chewed up state you see him in. I wish I had a before photo, 'cause he was really adorable. I kept candies in him on the table. Oddly, the candies were still in tact scattered on the table. Do you suppose some ghost dogs came in and did that damage? I can't imagine that my little darlings would do such a thing. Hmmmmm.

The "flower pot" with the geranium in it was once a sugar bowl. My buddy Maria sent me the sugar bowl and it had the sweetest lid. An acorn was the handle. Well, I dropped the lid about a month ago and was heart broken. Pat drilled a hole in the bottom of the bowl for me and now I have a nice little planter. He's going to figure out a way to resurrect the acorn for me too. Clever man.

Okay, I gotta go now, but not before I put out a special prayer request to my friends out there. Tomorrow night at 7pm Ricky Skaggs will be performing a free concert in Bonners Ferry...it's a gift to the community from Mtn. Springs Church, a new church here. (I'm going to help at the information booth.) Anyway, the weather report calls for rain & the concert is outdoors. Could you all pray that it is clear for the concert?? Thanks in advance.

love, Cassie

ps-As of 245pm Friday no stormy weather!! A few gray clouds. Keep on prayin'!!

Z Back to A Monday ~ The Letter W

Wow, too many W words to name them all!

Walking Sticks - My father always used to use a walking stick when he would survey his land. The stick pictured on the left is made of sassafras wood and was a stick I purchased for Daddy a few years before he died. After he was gone my mother thoughtfully gave it to me. I love it. The stick on the right, which I just bought for Patrick a few weeks ago, is probably pine. It was made by Nathanial, a young man whose father makes his living building log furniture. (His dad built our loft bathroom cabinet.)

Wanderlust - This is what my pooches get every once in awhile, just when I begin to trust the little stinkers to stay around the cabin. Yes, those adorable dogs will run off and totally ignore my calling them. Maybe they’ll even turn around and glance at me before heading into the woods like 2 whippets. This causes me to get very upset as you might guess. We are going to have to invest in an underground fence I’m afraid. :>(

Way Up North - One of my favorite blogs! Rev. Paul writes this one and I wish I could get over there to read it more often. He has a really diverse bunch of posts ranging from the weather reports in Anchorage to updates on volcanic activity of Mt. Redoubt to patriotic themes and jokes!

Woven Broom - The very looooong broom laying on our hearth is from the North Woven Broom, a shop in Crawford Bay, B.C. Canada. It’s for getting cobwebs in high places! I’ll do a post devoted to this very cool shop at a later date. (They made the Harry Potter brooms!!)

Whitefish, Montana - One of my favorite places. Years ago we used to spend our summers up on the Big Mountain at Whitefish. That is when we cultivated our love for the farrr north country in the Pacific Northwest.

Wonderful Guy - Yup, that's my Patrick! His big ole Patrick head is plastered on the side of the United Blood Services of AZ bus, 'cause he's a hero. Now his head really does need its own weather system. hehehe.

Wave - Bye bye for now! Please check out Jen’s blog for more Z to A players.

love, Cassie aka: Waskle Wabbit