My Jungle Safari by Reminisce!

Below are two items created with Reminisce product line My Jungle Safari.

First a single page 12X12 page.

Giraffe


Altered 12X12 album cover that's "kid friendly"!
"Its Your Day" Let's Go To the Zoo"

Monkey Business by Reminisce

Below is a 12X12 double layout designed with Reminisce product line Monkey Business!

Monkey See

French Kitchen by Reminisce

Below are my 12X12 double layouts created with the French Kitchen paper line from Reminisce!



Hen Scratch Farms







Berry Sweet







Wine Tasting

Friday Fill In!

1. There is no need worry.
2. Where in the heck did the time go?
3. I wanted to exercise 3 times this week, 3 is all I managed to do.
4. Prospects for my fundraiser for the Clearlake Family are full of effort and I hope it helps them.
5.Keep trying is the message.
6. Simplicity and tranquility are results of a hard days work and a gift not to be taken for granted.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to will someone else please fix supper, tomorrow my plans include a 12 hour crop at my LSS, and Sunday, I want to veg, but I'll be doing the laundry if I don't do it today!

So! I'm not giving my atta girl blinkies for working out at water aerobics! When does the extra energy kick in? Woman, the water is so warm that I don't feel refreshed after a workout at the "Y"! I did it I worked out again, so far twice this week! Gotta go tomorrow so I can reach my goal of 3/week! The computer can suck the energy out of you! I love my water aerobics classes!

It's Been a Long Day!

I've been round and about soliciting online contributions for Kris and family! Tomorrow I will post more SJ kits while waiting for other non scrapbook related items to be donated! I can't imagine that I am more tired than Kris and Nick! I talked to her this afternoon and they are packing their belongings for storage! This is a long process posting auctions, but waiting for that insurance check to come in should be about 4 months, according to my conversation with Kris!

For tonight, it's lights out and lots of goodies to add to the Auction blog tomorrow! Remember to mark the page in your favorites and to check back often!

Auction Site Up and Running!

Yesterday was an overwhelming day for me as I wanted to do all I could as quickly as possible to get the Auction site for the Stratos family up and running! Gleaning pictures of my personal scrapjammies kits, then posting each item with a number for auction. Other's are slowly finding out about this site! Offers of donations for auction are coming in. Suzanne, and Jodi were not affected too badly, though they are busy clearing debris and clearing tree limbs all without air conditioning! They're running generators to keep their freezers going. Jodi said due to the lack of gasoline they're only running their generator two hours at a time. I know, having been through 3 hurricanes in 2004 Charlie, Frances, and Jeannne, one every two weeks, that living without air conditioning, waiting in ice lines, and trying to sleep while fighting mosquitos isn't a fun camping trip at home. Not my idea of a Staycation!

I've put my efforts for the design team at Reminisce on the back burner but still hope to complete some more projects to show before the call ends September 30.

As of now, the tropics are quiet! Let's pray they stay that way as hurricane season doesn't end until November 1st!

Many people across this nation have experienced flooding, power outage, and tornado's. I wish I could help them all.

Kris and Nick, along with their son Trey are near and dear to my heart! Kris and our little group try to get together at least once a year. This year we chose Manitou Springs, CO! It was a wonderful happy time. I'm sure that we will have more in the future!

Kris and Nick's home is condemned!

Last evening I was able to talk to Kris on the cell phone. She and I broke into tears as she told me of the devistation that had gone on at their home. Along with Kris I cried too feeling at a loss of how can I help her? What do they need now? What will they need in the long run? Here is a snapshot of the water in her townhouse. And another of the devistation to her downstairs living room.
Even a picture of the drawer full of water under their oven!



They'd moved most of their electronics and all of Kris's scrapbook supplies and albums up there! Thank God the roof did not blow off! Here's a shot of Trey's bike and his room piled full of possessions Nick and Kris put upstairs.


Here are some shots of Nick boarding up their home and the innocence of a child, Trey oblivious to the upcoming events that would be soon to come!



Kris said they finally allowed Trey to go back to their home to see the damage. She found Trey crying in his room.

Following are various pictures of the devistation around their townhome complex. The complex is on the water. Although many of the boat's owners do not live in the complex, there were many in the parking lot! You know, the one for cars!



Look carefully at this picture, can you see the man taking pictures in water higher than his waist?






































There was even a little bit of humor to lighten the heavy load on the shoulders of the residents of Clearlake!



There were even news crews setting up to tell the story.


Not wanting to delay the website that I am setting up with auctions on it I'll sign off for now! Look for a link to this auction website coming soon! Place a bid and let's help raise some money for this family whose home has now been condemned!

Kris is OK!

Kris wrote" We r alive but its bad bad bad got water in bottom floor 18 inches b4 Nick had to get out. Just pray it stopped there no power Just pray will b in touchc, Kris! via text message.

Last night I got a phone call from Kris, we lost signal but she said that her downstairs is flooded 18". She hopes her new stove is okay as she thinks that the working parts were not affected! She sounded calm, stating that Trey had slept through most of the night in his "safe place"! I think that Kris is still in shock or denial on the damage clean up that she faces! She's thankful that she and hers are safe! Stated that Nick was awakened by their dog Merry about 3:00 AM as he had fallen asleep on the sofa! When he stood up the water was "knee deep". Nick took Merry and stayed on the phone with Kris while driving to Kris's parents home where they are staying! Kris said that she had to help him know where to turn as the wind and water were so bad! Nick got to the parent's home safely! I guess Kris and Nick went back to their home! She doesn't know yet but thinks their town home will be condemned! Her upstairs where her albums and scrapbook supplies along with the electronics were stored are okay! I told her I just want to know what she needs NOW and in the future! She just didn't have any answers! I'm still praying for all of our Houston friends as they finish riding out the wind and rain! It looks like Suzanne near the AK boarder in LA is getting hammered now! Jodi's phone just didn't go through, no message to leave, just a busy signal after about 20 rings! Will update as I find more about what's going on with the Texas Trio! No word about Chrissie or Wendy! I expect they are evacuated and out of touch. I do not know their phone numbers! It will be a long haul to restore Houston to normalcy!

Free Personal signatures - cool!

TEXTAREA_ID

Josh Sings with the Smokey Mountains

Again, you are going to have to turn off my music to appreciate this youtube clip. It's one of my favorite songs and places, it reminds me of my father and mother who took my sister and I as kids to camp with the bears! We go back as often as possible!

Be Still My Soul

You're going to have to turn off my music player by hitting the pause button to enjoy this peaceful music! I'm thinking and praying for all those affected by Ike, especially 3/5 of my Chi 5 Sisters, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Scissors!
God Bless You!

Tiffany! She's got a rockin' PIF!

Tiffany has a portable Epson Printer that she's giving away! WOW! Do I ever ever cross my fingers that I will win! Won't it be awesome to have that to take on my cropping trips! I have wanted a portable printer for ssssooooooooooooooooooo long! This Epson really rocks!

Friday Fill In!

1. I enjoy scrapbooking.
2. How my mother ticks is something I wonder about often lately.
3. In your heart, you knew I should have never married my ex, even at the time.
4. Take bleach, add a little ammonia and you end up with a chemical cloud of deadly fumes in your bathroom.
5. Life has gifted me with a comfortable lifestyle.
6. A weekend alone with my husband and no house work to do is an instant vacation.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to my husband coming home after a week away, tomorrow my plans include slipping in sideways a little scrapbook time and Sunday, I want to wear my KC Chiefs football shirt and go watch the game at The Blue Lagoon!

Long time no blog!

While watching Ike I've been hard at work on a design team submits. I'm waiting for my product to arrive from the company as I've had difficulty obtaining the needed product locally! I thought the deadline was Monday the 15th of September! Today an email arrived reminding me that the deadline is September 30! Can you here me sigh that big sigh of relief? I expect the product that I ordered to arrive today, meanwhile, I've rummaged through my kits from SJ's and absolutely tore them up remaking them into my own designs! Cross your fingers for me! This is a good one! They pay in good old American dollars! Check back as I am going to post my entries here on Cracker Scraps!

The SITS Recipe Site

Now listed on my side bar is the link to the SITS recipe site! I did not make an entry for the Cricut but have added it to my side bar so you can go straight on over and see if you can win yourself a brand new Cricut!

Sara Evan's Fans?

Click on the title of this entry and enter to win dinner with Sara Evans!

I Love my ipod/MP3 Player

Sanyo Katana DLX

I've got a lot of "stuff" on my MP3 player on my cell phone! I listen to it every night while winding down to sleep!

Do you have an MP3 player? Do you like it?

SITS Recipe!

E. Taste test by wrapping 1-3 pieces first.1. Cut the lumpia into 3 pieces.2. Fry and taste. (You can deep fry but I usually just shallow fry.)3. Adjust mixture, if necessary.4. Proceed to wrap the rest of the meat mixture.F. Fry the lumpia. Remember, for every 1 lumpia, you can cut them into 3 pieces. Typically, if eaten with rice and the sweet and sour sauce, I can eat 10 pieces.G. Freeze the raw lumpia. You can then just thaw, cut and fry later.1. Store the lumpia in separate freezer bags so that you can use just what you need at a time.2. You can thaw the raw lumpia before frying. Or you can dunk it in straight (but be careful of oil splatters!)3. Cut the raw lumpia into 3 or your desired size.That's it! Have fun making the lumpia.For me, I usually eat the lumpia with rice, cucumber and the sweet and sour sauce. Yummy!!!I would love to know how yours went, so let me know!

Grits!

What Is Grits? Nobody knows. Some folks believe grits are grown on bushes and are harvested by midgets by shaking the bushes after spreading sheets around them.

Many people feel that grits are made from ground up bits of white corn. These are obviously lies spread by Communists and terrorists. Nothing as good as a Grits can be made from corn.

The most recent research suggests that the mysterious Manna that God rained down upon the Israelites during their time in the Sinai Desert was most likely Grits. Critics disagree, stating that there is no record of biscuits, butter, salt, and red eye gravy raining down from the sky, and that God would not punish his people by forcing them to eat Grits without these key ingredients.

How Grits are Formed. Grits are formed deep underground under intense heat and pressure. It takes over 1000 years to form a single Grit. Most of the world's grit mines are in South Carolina, and are guarded day and night by armed guards and pit bull dogs. Harvesting the Grit is a dangerous occupation, and many Grit miners lose their lives each year so that Grits can continue to be served morning after morning forbreakfast (not that having Grits for lunch and dinner is out of the question).

Yankees have attempted to create a synthetic Grits. They call them Cream of Wheat. As far as we can tell the key ingredients of Cream of Wheat are Elmer's Glue and shredded styrofoam. These synthetic grits have also been shown to cause nausea, and may leave you unable to have children.

Historical Grits As we mentioned earlier, the first known mention of the Grits was by the Ancient Israelites in the Sinai Desert. After that, the Grits was not heard from for another 1000 years. Experts feel that the Grits was used during this time only during secret religious ceremonies, and was kept from the public due to it's rarity. The next mention of the Grits was found amidst the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii in a woman's personal diary. The woman's name was Herculaneum Jemimaneus (Aunt Jemima to her friends.) The 10 Commandments of Grits

I. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits

II. Thou shalt not eat thy Grits with a spoon or knife

III. Thou shalt not eat Cream of Wheat and call it Grits, for this is blasphemy

IV. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors Grits

V. Thou shalt use only Salt, Butter, and red eye gravy as toppings for thy Grits

VI. Thou shalt not eat Instant Grits

VII. Thou shalt not put ketchup on thy Grits

VIII. Thou shalt not put margarine on thy Grits.

IX. Thou shalt not eat toast with thy Grits, only biscuits made from scratch .

X. Thou shalt eat grits on the Sabbath for this is manna from heaven.

How to Cook Grits For one serving of Grits: Boil 1.5 cups of water with salt and a little butter. Add 5 TBsp of Grits. Reduce to a simmer and allow the Grits to soak up all the water. When a pencil stuck into the grits stands alone, it is done. That's all there is to cooking grits.

How to make red eye gravy Fry salt cured country ham in cast iron pan. Remove the ham when done and add coffee to the gravy and simmer for several minutes. Great on grits and biscuits.

How to Eat Grits Immediately after removing your grits from the stove top, add a generous portion of butter or red eye gravy. (WARNING: Do NOT use low-fat butter.) The butter should cause the Grits to turn a wondrous shade of yellow. (Hold a banana or a yellow rain slicker next to your Grits; if the colors match, you have the correct amount of butter.) In lieu of butter, pour a generous helping of red eye gravy on your grits. Be sure to pour enough to have some left for sopping up with your biscuits. Never, ever substitute canned or store bought biscuits for the real thing because they caused cancer, rotten teeth and impotence.

Next, add salt. (NOTICE: The correct ration of Grit to Salt is 10:1 Therefore for every 10 grits, you should have 1 grain of salt.) Now begin eating your grits. Always use a fork, never a spoon, to eat Grits. Your grits should be thick enough so they do not run through the tines of the fork.

The correct beverage to serve with Grits is black coffee. DO NOT use cream or, heaven forbid, Skim Milk.) Your grits should never be eaten in a bowl because Yankees will think its Cream of Wheat.

Ways to Eat Leftover Grits: (Leftover grits are extremely rare) Spread them in the bottom of a casserole dish, Cover and place them in the refrigerator overnight. The Grits will congeal into a gelatinous mass.

Next morning, slice the Grits into squares and fry them in 1/2' of cooking oil and butter until they turn a golden brown. Many people are tempted to pour syrup onto Grits served this way. This is, of course, unacceptable.

IRISH BLESSING BEFORE EATING GRITS" May the lord bless these grits, May no Yankee ever get the recipe, May the lord bless these grits, May no Yankee ever get the recipe, May I eat grits every day while living, And may I die while eating grits. AMEN

Check this out!

Friday's Fill In's

Those of you with multiple blogs or private blogs...if you could add a link to your blog when you comment, that would be GREAT!

This week I'm going to use rather obscure song lyrics; you can fill them in with the correct words if you know 'em...but wouldn't it be more fun to do it a bit differently?

And...here we go!

1. If I was to walk into your life, today?

2. Catch a bright star and place it where you lay.

3. And you can send me anywhere.

4. Yet you cheated without a care, but I'm dealing with a memory that never forgets.

5. I'm the innocent bystander / Somehow I got stuck with another man who never asks to be forgiven.

6. What's keeping us apart isn't selfishness, it's the broken trust.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to once again being with you, tomorrow my plans include a cleaning spree, along with a load of laundry or two and Sunday, I want to just be with you.

Yikes! Look out for Ike!

Hanna is bring to us breezy weather with light rain. The air is much cooler and skys cloudy. She's headed up to the Southern Coast of North Carolina where some of my roots began.

My paternal grandmother lived right on the sound on a peanut plantation. Her mother died at an early age so Daisy was left to raise the young 'uns! She worked hard all of her life and died of Alzheimer's many years ago. She could make biscuits without a recipe. She made them every meal! She taught us how to eat lots of vegetables and to respect black people, even before the civil rights movement. Each summer my sister and I would be escorted to Raleigh by my great aunt Diana and then we would spend a couple of weeks being doted on by grandmother. She had an ice crusher and always had ginger ale for us to drink! She worked for Trailways, which was a bus company like Greyhound, so often our trip with Aunt Diana would be on the bus.

Once we took the train and ate Rice Krispies with sugar and real cream! Wow was that ever good.

Oh, this was supposed to be about Ike! Since we're still dealing with Hanna, I'll write about Ike when I know more.

Daisy Belle Atkinson

Tropical Triraid!

It's that time of year when we watch the tropics! We got TS Fay straight on and dodged the Hanna bullet (hope posting this before she passes us won't jix us)!

Hanna expected to skirt the state and make landfall in NC
Ike now a Cat. 4 145 mph winds moving at 17 mph
Josephine too, soon to tell!