A Concert, Peanut Butter and Jelly Burgers and Beer, and My Adorable Grandsons

Hello friends.

This week my youngest daughter turned 26.  I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she told me she wanted to go see Black Jacket Symphony's Eagles cover concert in Birmingham, AL and she wanted me to go with her.  It was an outdoor concert in the Alabama heat, but since that is all she asked for, I had to go.  Here we are a the concert.  

We got our tickets from StubHub and had problems with them. Two hours on hold at their site and they never did ansswer the phone.  The people at Ticket Master were so wonderful and took care of us. We will always get our tickets from Ticket Master in the future!  What great customer service.  Here is Allie right before going into the concert.  My daughter is way cooler than I ever thought of being!

Here is our view at the concert.  I love the Eagles and it was fun that Allie knew all the words to all the songs. 

The concert was at the Avondale Brewing Company Ampitheater  in downtown Birmingham.  We even tried their peach beer which was great but then we switched to soda water as we had a long drive home. 

Before the concert, we ate at John Brown's Beer and Burger Joint.  They have some unusual hamburgers there like a burger with peanut butter and jelly and peanut butter and jelly beer.  We didn't have these, but I am going to try them next time.  I had the Elvis Burger - peanut butter and bacon.  Allie had a burger with pepper jelly and jalapenos.  Their beef comes from a special ranch and very high quality - you can taste the quality! This picture and the one before are my ticket to Elizabeth's T is for Tuesday Linky Party.  

I couldn't resist sharing this adorable picture - the grandsons went to Peach Park and posed for a fun picture.  

 

Hope you have a good week and happy T-Day!

Hugz,

Nancy

Butterflies, a Movie Set, and Push Pins

I shared my pictures of the town of Spectre on my Tuesday post, but today I am sharing the pages I did in my Hometown Tourist Book using those same pictures (plus a few more).  I cased last week's Featured Stamper on Splitcoaststampers.com - Diane Malcor and THIS is her layout.  The **Art*Journal*Journey* theme Mia selected is butterflies so I added some on my pages. I added in a few extra ones in vellum to go with the ghost picture  - they say this area is haunted.  

I also have another card made with the new Push Pin image from DRS Designs.  This time I made a wreath out of it using the flowers from the Girly Swirly Birthday Cake image and a Friendly Note Greeting too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugz,

Nancy

Prattville, Poppies, Pizza, Peaches, and a Ghost?

I dare you to say my title fast three times - definitely a tongue twister.

My husband encouraged me to get out this weekend and not to do any work - it cost him big as I bought a new car - lol!  

Saturday, I went out with my Sister, Sharon, and our friend Michele.  We saw all kinds of cool things that tourists visit in our local area.  I will share those pictures in another post because I want to spend some time getting some details together on the sites so I can get my facts straight.

Sunday, my hubby drove me out to Jackson Lake. This is where the movie The Big Fish was filmed.  It is a gorgeous place built on an island in the middle of a private lake/offshoot of the Alabama River.  Here is the facbook site link if you are interested in reading more about it JACKSON LAKE.  The town set they built for the movie is still there and is a big attraction.  You can walk down the street and throw an old pair of shoes over the line just like they had in the movie.  A recent tornado took out several of the houses and did some damage, but they cleared it up really nicely and it is still very cool.  Some say the site/island is haunted and I agree - I will tell you my story in a minute. This is a pretty view of the island while going over the "bridge."

This is the famous entrance to the town from the movie. The twisted trees are made out of concrete and are very cool! This is from the directon of leaving town.

This is the view you have from the trees - the town sign.

Here is the latest shoe string picture.  While we were there several people came and threw their shoes on.  They must remove the shoes weekly because it would be overwhelming if they didn't. 

Here is the street scene - you can see where some of the buildings are missing now. 

This is the coolest house - you can see the deterioration.  Looks like they were just all made out of plywood. 

Another house.

The mayor's house. 

The old church.

I enjoyed visiting.  I loved that movie and can't believe I never knew this place existed and that you could visit the whole private area all day (including fishing and picnics) for only $5.  Beautiful walking area and tons of goats and beautiful sites.  

Now, they say the little island is haunted and you know I love a good ghost story.  I didn't see any ghosts or have any erie feelings except that hubby got too close to the edge of the road and that made me nervous.  When I got home to download my pictures, I had 269 pictures and I knew I had only taken about 20.  This is what 249 of the pictures looked like:

Wow.  I have no idea what this is, but you know they say ghosts manifest as orbs in pictures. Also why would there be 249 pictures of this?  Very strange and kind of cool.  

Since yesterday was Memorial Day in the U.S. I wanted to share what a local town did in honor of our fallen soldiers.  Each hear they do poppies in the spillway near the old mill (by the way it is haunted and has been on several of the paranormal TV shows).  The poppies are made by a local potter and all gorgeous.  I am going to her shop to buy some of them as they are truly gorgeous and such a site to see with so many of them in the fields around the mill.  

They put up the story too. 

The poppies are all up the hill too.  

Here is one of the rememberance flags of local fallen soldiers. They have these all over downtown and they are all hanging from these beautiful sign posts the town put up years ago.  This is the last one as you are leaving town.

I am linking up to Elizabeth's T is for Tuesday Linky party - one of the highlights of my week!  So of course, I must share one of my recent drinks.  This was from Saturday - Judge Roy Bean Stout from the Fairhope Brewing Company - on draft at a local pizza place.  YUM!

Here is our pizza choices.

Sorry for the direction of this picture - I am posting this fast so I can go get ready for work.  I had the bacon and brocolli, Michele had onion, extra cheese, pepperoni and bacon, and Sharon had pepperoni and Italian sausage.  We then drove 40 miles to have some of the first fresh fried peach pies at Peach Park in Clanton, Alabama (right of I65).  It is a tradition!

They are giant!  I ate the whole thing too - must have been 3,000 calories but I could not stop! The dough was perfect and the peaches were so flavorful.  The line was out the door and you would never have know there was any type of pandemic!  Everyone wanted peach pies, peach cobbler, peach bread, and homemade peach ice cream. It was fabulous and worth the drive.  

I know this is a different post for me - no cards or journal pages, so thanks for staying with me this long!

Hugz,

Nancy

Kitchen Gnomes, Sharks, Cake, and a Crown

Today is Wednesday but I am pretending it is Tuesday so I am can join in Elizabeth's T-Day Linky Party - those girls are so fun and I don't want to miss checking in with them and their drink related posts.  Two trips to the car dealership and the post office stold my blog time yesterday.....thankfully everything is fixed and mailed now.

Stressful week to say the least so I am starting with my drink!  Double shot of Crown Black - that tells you how stressed things have been because I don't do Crown much and rarely a double shot and I didn't even mix in Sprite.  Used hubby's deer glass as it makes it taste better - lol.

Did my last page for Elle's **ART*JOURNAL*JOURNEY* May theme of "Language."  It is also for Mike Deakin's Mission Inspiration May Mini-Theme on Facebook which is Haiku.  

It works for Language as Haikus are part of Language and I used cooking terms as well.  The design was also inspired by this week's Splitcoaststampers.com's Featured Stamper Aimslee - THIS is her card that inspired me.  

The base is DOX in Spiced Marmalade, then water splashes, and then sponged circles.  The gnomes and acrylic dots are from Close to My Heart, and my Aunt made me the kitchen accessories on her Cricut.  The Haiku is based on my crafting, cooking and blogging spot - my Kitchen Counter.  

Of course, I also made a few cards this week.  DRS Designs just came out with a fun Push-Pin Stamp and a note stamp to go with it.  I couldn't wait to play with that pin.  All the other stamps I used are DRS Designs as well.  My crafting  Aunt had a crop at her house this weekend and she gave me a new bottle of Silver Stickles.  Of course, I used it on both these cards - lol.  Thanks Aunt Joan!  Lots of laughs, lots of creations, and way too much good food (gained a pound). 

Hope your week has not be stressful, and hope this next week is better for us all. 

Hugz

Nancy

A Bear, Some Wine, a Bit Too Much Glitter

What is your spirit animal?  Mine is a bird of some type.  My family swears it is a Parrot because they never shut up. I am not sure about that, but I am sure that my hubby's Spirit Animal is a Bear.  So this card is dedicated to him!

I did this card for the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.com and I was inspired by THIS cool pin on Pinterest.  I didn't think it would come out well so I didn't even sketch him with a pencil first - probably should have so my distance on his mouth and nose would have come out better but mine came out a bit more cartoonish and I made some other changes as well (like a longer face, stubble, etc.).  Hubby loves him but disagrees he is a bear ....lol.

It is Tuesday so time to check in with the T is for Tuesday gang at Elizabeth's blog.  Here is my fun drink from this past week.

The wine and cheese were Mother's Day Gifts from my girls that I broke out this weekend.  The wine bottle is fun but the wine was too sweet for me (I drank this glass and will use the rest to cook with).  The cheese was really sweet too - would be great with some strawberries so I have them on this week's grocery list.  The girls gave me this glass years ago for my birthday and I have always loved it.   

Saw that the Try it on Tuesday challenge was Make it Feminine. I had some high hopes for this page but that background went in some crazy directions!

Here is a better view of the words:

I altered the Tim Holtz dolls by cutting them apart, giving them more shapely bodies, and giving them some flower filed skirts.  I used a hydrangea die to fill their skirts with tiny petals.  The die makes the flower on the right.  

For that crazy base, I used a song page which you can still see (not in the picture), covered it with a light layer of white gesso, then some expanding mouse through a stencil, then some gold glitter embossing powder.....too much but I was already committed so it remains.  So the end result is Feminine - we tend to to do a bit too much sparkle at time or is it true you can never have too much?

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday and a great week.

Hugz,

Nancy 

Tea, an "Old Love Letter", Etcetera...

 Happy T Day!

Linking to the T is for Tuesday party at Elizabeth's and I have two tickets!

I drink coffee every morning, but this morning I just couldn't do it.  I wanted Licorice Spice tea but it has no caffeine so I mixed it with Earl Grey.  The mixture is wonderful!  Having it in a Mom mug - a Mother's Day gift from several years ago.  I found this mug at my daughter's house the other day - many of my dishes end up there somehow.....

Also sharing a card with a fun wine in the background.  The card is super CAS - just playing with different combinations of this new silhouette fisherman image and other stamps.  The wine (on the right side along with some cookies) was gift from my daughters. 

I did some Art Journaling with weekend since I was all by myself most the time (hubby is with his brother out of town) and could do what I wanted.  

I wrote a pretend letter to Evan from Virginia. Evan went off to fight in the Spanish American War - thank God it was a short one because they had only been married 6 months, she was pregnant, and it was time for crop planting which she knew nothing about. I love writing with India Ink - so fun and seemingly romantic.  Linking this to **Art*Journal*Journey* where Elle chose language as our May theme.  Letters have lots of language and Virginia used a lot of of it in this love letter to Evan.  LOL.

Also did a page for the May Mission Impossible Theme on Facebook - the theme is about looking for the light in darkness (so much better said on the challenge).  I decided to do my page focusing on the movie Hidden Figures (one of my favorites).  I have a space theme since they worked at NASA, lots of numbers, some smart and pretty girls, and a quote to underscore their bravery and intelligence.  Those three girls and many like them were shining lights for so many people - chokes me up every time I think about it.  

Two more cards to share before I go.  I love this first one as I am a huge fan of wreaths.  Cutting out all those billiard balls wasn't easy, but I love how it looks!!!!

This is the Mother's Day card I made for my Sister-in-law.  She is going through some some tough times right now. 

The book page in the background is from Beauty in the Beast (old garage sale find).   

I did walk around downtown Prattville with my youngest daughter this weekend - surprisingly I actually took a few pictures.

A fun picture outside Uncle Mick's Cajun Restaurant.

My food selection - Tilapia and Crab Au Gratin.  

They have the prettiest garbage cans!

Off to see what everyone else has posted this week!  Hope you had a good week!

Hugz,

Nancy

Language Plays, Billiard Balls, and Some "Interesting" Wine

 I always look forward to the new **Art*Journal*Journey* Theme each month. The May theme was chosen by Elle and she chose Language as the theme. So many cool things you can do with that theme.  This weekend I chose to do the Language(s) of God in my Journaling Bible.  When I started, I was going to do Fasting as a way of speaking to God but after listening to a Sermon on Fasting, I realized that was more complicated and I would have to study it more first. So I switched gears midstream and just did some of ways that God speaks to us and vice versa.  There are many more, but I put the ones I could think of quickly here.  

The papers are from an old hymnal and Close to My Heart (CTMH).  The gnome is CTMH as well.  Now I have played with all the gnomes in the set,and I totally love them.

While looking for the hymnal paper, I ran across an old song book that I was saving.  It was damaged so I knew it would have to be recycled into something.  I think it is from the 30s or 40s.  My husband and I had a junk booth for several years, and I had a bunch of these old song books I had purchased at a garage sale.  I sold tons of them, but a few of the more distressed ones had to be saved for projects. 

Eyes speak their own language.  I looked it up and there is a ton of studies and information on what you can tell about a person by their eyes.  For instance:

Looking to Left

Looking to the left and down while talking signifies that the speaker is  recollecting facts. Looking at left and straight means the speaker is having a self-conversation before re-engaging in a debate or conversation.

There is so much more information like that - I book-marked a bunch of the information to go back and study later.  Here is my page with this fab song book page. 

She seemed so lonely, Iso I added in a Paper Doll from Tim.  This one has some very strange eyes. My daughter said he is looking cross-eyed.  So my story is that he hates posing for pictures and is a super fun guy so he looked cross-eyed for the picture.  They are incredibly happy together because that is my wish for everyone.  

I did another billiards card - these new DRS Designs billiards images are so fun!

It's Tuesday and I can't miss hanging out with Elizabeth and the very fun and interesting T is for Tuesday gang.  

Hubby and I had our anniversary this week.  Fourteen years.  When he was going to the grocery for potatoes and milk to make our anniversary dinner, I told him to get some really interesting wine.  He rolled his eyes as he hates wine and having to pick an "interesting" wine is probably pure torture. for him (seriously - you should have seen his panicked face - lol).   I figured I would either get no wine, the least interesting wine in the store, or something very strange.  He actually did get an interesting wine.  It was way too sweet for me, but I was proud of him for trying. I even pulled out one of my old wine glasses from back when I thought it was important to drink from very cool wine glasses (at least 20 years ago - now it is whatever glass I can find - lol).  

I had to add a bit of cheese to counteract the sweetness, but I raised a glass to 14 happy years and hoping for many more.  

Hope you are having a lovely T Day!  

Thanks for visiting!

Nancy