If you could only pick...

one television station for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

I got to thinking about my post yesterday about potatoes being the food I would pick if forced and started thinking about other choices I might make.

That lead me to television stations. For me, it would have to be PBS with all of their shows made in the UK. I watch them ALL!! And LOVE everyone. 

Of course it all started with Downton Abbey! (Hey, did I tell you that I'm going to London in August with a few girlfriends for the Downton Abbey Tour)? Okay, another story for another time. Anyway, next year will be Downton's last. I'm very sad to see it go. But with all the other fabulous shows from the UK, I have no doubt there are better things to come.

Until then, I'll continue to watch the following:

Call the Midwife---this show makes me CRY. every. week. It is that moving! A show based on true events and babies. What's not to love? Babies y'all!

Mr. Selfridge---first off, I love Jeremy Pivens---ever since Entourage. He's just great. A show based on true events surrounding Selfridge's department store. What's not to love? It's shopping y'all!

Grantchester---I couldn't figure out if this is a new series, so I bought it. I took it to the farm last week and we "marathoned" through it. So good. What's not to love? It's a priest and a mystery y'all!

I have Wolf Hall taped and ready to watch. I don't really know anything about it. But what's not to love? It's another period piece y'all!:

Sandy sent me The Paradise which I haven't watched yet. Then there's Foyle's War.  Not to mention all the programs I've already seen:

Upstairs, Downstairs---ended far too soon in my opinion What's not to love? It's rich people, poor people and secrets, y'all!

Let's not forget the regular programming---concerts, documentaries, nature, The American Experience (Dust Bowl, Civil War, The Great Depression, The Roosevelts to name a few), Antiques Roadshow and Ancestry Roadshow.

Be still my heart. There's just so much value and depth to PBS

PBS---what's not to love? It's costumes, scenery, jewelry and hairstyles y'all!

I had to add the y'alls for all of y'all just to remind myself that I'm not British!!

What I Buy Wednesday

Since I was at the farm last week, I didn't really buy anything. Well, wait, I did purchase a couple of Kindle books---auto-delivered to my friend for her birthday.

It All Boils Down to Potatoes

I love potatoes. There, I've said it. They are probably my single-most favorite food. In fact when I play that little game about "if you could only have one food for the rest of your life...what would it be?"

It's potatoes---hands down! You've got boiled, mashed (or as some in the South say---creamed), scalloped, au gratin, potato salad, baked, French Fries, fried---and many others with fancy names. There's so much you can do with potatoes. Actually, potato chips are probably my least favorite. I only have those with a sandwich---I'm not a snack out of the bag kind of gal---unless you are talking DIP. Now that's a whole different ballgame!! Bring 'em on!

The reason potatoes are on the mind is because I haven't had any in about 6 or 7 weeks. I hadn't really noticed until today. For over a week now, I couldn't think of anything I've wanted to eat. Nothing really sounded all that good. I kept feeling like I've been having a craving for a burger when it wasn't the burger at all. It was about the French Fries. I don't eat French Fries very often, so they are a treat. Still, I haven't had them yet.

Instead, I put a roast in the crock pot today with potatoes, onions and carrots. That's when it hit me. It's been potatoes all along!!

Oh, and I wouldn't mind a "venti, iced-black tea, shaken with 3 Equals, please!" Really missing Starbucks!!

A Few Things

The Farm:
We had a great time as usual. I spent most of my time laying on the couch watching tv. You would think I've had enough of that already after the surgery, but I was feeling a little "iffy." I didn't get much scrapbooking done, but it was so much fun hanging with my "girls!" Plus, I just enjoyed the change of scenery.

The Garden:
When I got home, everything looked so pretty with flowers in bloom. I'm making it sound like I was gone a month! I was only gone 4 days, but there's a different perspective pulling back in the driveway than pulling out.

I've spent a lot of time on the front porch swing enjoying this gorgeous weather. When I talked to Butch from the farm, he said he had "pulled a Barbara." I already knew exactly what that meant. I ALWAYS underestimate how long something is going to take. Well, he said that he decided to take advantage of the nice weather and clean the front porch. He estimated it would take about an hour. Instead, it had taken him 3 1/2 and he hadn't even finished. I told him that I could have told him that it would take 3 hours---as I, too, underestimated the job. First, off, we have a rather large porch.

You wouldn't believe how dirty everything gets. We use soapy water, rags and the hose to clean it all. You can really see, but along the front of the house are 4 pairs of French doors besides the double wood front doors. There are the coach lights, furniture, columns, headboard ceiling, brass hardware and the brick. I've been doing the front porch myself every year. Butch does the entire back which is way larger than this. I felt like cleaning the front porch was the least I could do!

I asked Butch if he wiped up the water in the living room and dining room as they are not air tight. He said, "yes" that he had discovered that. You only have to learn that lesson one time. The first time I did it, I had water sopping in to my area rugs. Now I lay down beach towels before I begin. Butch ended up spending another 2 hours the next day to finish up. I told him that obviously, he did the job better than I did. He actually got out the ladder!! Anyway, it looks so fabulous---I loved spending my time right here this weekend. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he actually "jumped the gun." The pollen is just starting to drop. I don't usually do the cleaning until after---usually the first part to mid May. I'm considering it "done" for this year. I'm just so happy he did it. I'm not finished with my recuperation yet, so I have no idea if I would have been able to do it anyway.

The Books:
I read 2 books this week---both of which were excellent. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Septys is under $5.00 in the Kindle store. Do not confuse this book with the wildly popular, Shades of Grey series. Connie recommended this one to me. It's based on one Lithuanian family's stories of being imprisoned by the Russians in Siberia. I had no idea. That's all I'm sayin'.

Maude by Donna Foley Mabry. The Kindle edition is only $2.99. I have no idea where I got the lead on this one---probably just recommended by Amazon for me. I pretty much had learned my lesson with cheap books---the ones I read tended to be nothing more than "fluff"---no depth. Well, the reason  I decided to give this one a try was because it has 4 1/2 stars from nearly 6,500 reviewers. That means that thousands probably rated it a 5. It was soooo good too! Another book of non-fiction starting at the turn of the century.

The Food:
I'm pretty sick of everything we have in this house food related. I can't wait to start cooking again. I'm craving a good hamburger! But in the meantime, I've eaten a lot of cereal. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Add a half of a banana and you're all set!

The Family:
My sister, Janice and her friend, Kathy arrive on Thursday for a few days. They are going to Memphis to do the tourist "thing." I'll give them the Nashville tour here.

Mitchell has had a couple more college acceptances. He's still waiting to hear from his number #1. Either way, he has some great choices.

A couple weeks ago, Mindy couldn't resist posting this on Facebook: Spotted at Butch and Barbara house: a real life Rolodex. What's more is that my mom still uses this-- like actively keeps it up-to-date. This thing has to be worth some money, right? I can picture the eBay caption now: "the last current Rolodex IN THE WORLD!"

Doesn't everyone have a rolodex? I couldn't get along without mine.

The Organizing:

 I'm completely loving this system.

It is so easy to access and find just the thing you need! I ended up getting another one for all of my flatter things---journal cards and ephemera.

Ever since I developed my Making the Most of My Memories workshop 6 or 7 years ago, I'm always preaching about keeping up with organizing your photos. I practice what I preach. I spent about an hour today and managed to weed out 1200 from iPhoto. I love having my photos perfectly organized. That's how I find them quickly. And I do not over-organize. That's a problem with many of the programs out there---too complicated.

The Scrapbooking:
I only completed a couple of pages while "laid up." My stamina just wasn't there. Plus, I needed to keep my foot up which made it awkward to work.

I did get this layout done for Mitchell. It's about how nice his house is and then, there's his room! 

I was able to do a few pages at the farm. I'll have to share them later.

The Hives:

Are back. We'll leave it at that.

Mitchell's Spring Break

Talk about a good spring break---Mitchell started his trip in the Bahamas. Sandy, Greg, Victoria and Elizabeth were there too, but the boys stayed on their own.

They left Charlotte on Friday and returned on Wednesday. On Thursday, Mitchell drove to a beach in South Carolina to meet up with his girlfriend and her family. Alyssa sent Sandy this text and pictures. I haven't met her yet, but she sounds like a sweetheart

 I'd say he's a lucky boy!!

The Truth About Pain

Whenever you have pain, it can be deceiving. For example, you might ache all over after doing something you hadn't done in awhile. But the truth is, you mostly only feel what hurts the most. I had heard this for a long time, but didn't really get it. Now I do.

When I got the boot, I asked if I had to sleep in it. The doc said, "no, but be sure to let your foot hang outside of the covers so you don't get all tangled up in them. In my mind, I was thinking, "that's crazy. I won't get tangled up." I usually do sleep with one foot hanging out---more to keep myself cool. But it's the other foot---not the one I had surgery on.

Anyway, it happened! I was awakened with a sharp pain in my toe. My first thought was, "oh no, I did just what he told me not to do!" Then I realized it was the other foot. Yes, the toe that didn't bother me all that much is now killing me! Seems that since I had the most painful one taken care of, I didn't realize how much the other one hurt.

That's okay, this was such a breeze---except for the being laid up part, that I think I'll get the other one taken care of in September or October. I can't wait to be done with this.

I wonder what will hurt next that I'm not even aware of???

Happy Easter!

I hope the weather is as good everywhere as it is here! All the spring flowers are in bloom. The late freeze earlier this week didn't seem to affect them. Yay for that!!

I've been out a few times since getting the boot. We're going to the club for Easter brunch. We'll be sitting outside too. Love that!

When Sandy and Elizabeth were here last week, E had these cute little chocolate Russell Stover bunnies. You can see how tiny they are compared to the puzzle piece. Makes the puzzle look big and it's only about 3/4 of an inch. Gives new meaning to saying "I ate 10 chocolate bunnies!"

We had such a good time with the puzzle last week that I got out another. It wasn't so much fun by myself. Plus, this was a cheap one where the pieces didn't match up exactly right.

Butch said he was "in" for another puzzle, so we got out a better one. Yeah, my impatience with puzzle making has returned. This one is a snow scene with mostly white. You are seeing the only colored parts. After that, it's snow covered mountains and white sky. Not lovin' it.

I've read many books the past month. The latest I finished yesterday---recommended by my cousin, Chrissy. Very good---When I Found You  by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It's a calm, quiet and peaceful book. A very touching account of relationships and unconditional love and support.

The afghan is coming along, but by deciding to make it big enough for a 6'4" lad, it's taking much longer than expected.

I have just about accomplished most of the things on my "to do while laid up" list---not everything, but most of it. I was never bored. In fact, this past week I was getting that feeling like time is running out and I'll never get everything done. Crazy, I know. But that's just how I am!

On Monday, I'm heading out with my friends for a little scrapbooking at the farm. I had already pre-planned my layouts and pre-packed. I've kept my food simple. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with my friends. It's been too long.

It will be interesting to see if this week feels like a vacation or just an extension of the time off I've already been having.