Generations

I love that my sister, niece and great-nieces thought to take a photo of their hands, along with my Mom's hand.

Our hands tell our stories. We work with them and love with them. They begin so sweet and tender and, as time goes by, they become to us, as owners of our hands, wrinkly and ugly. But to those who know and love us, they are dearer to us, each passing year.

Love your hands. Appreciate what they have done and can do for you. And take care of them. Like your feet, your quality of life depends on them.

Penne Pasta Salad

I am pretty particular about both Jell-o Salads and Pasta Salads. I guess I have just done too many church potlucks! There are so many mediocre salads out there! (Sorry--but not wrong!) This is one that I had in Texas, many years ago. I did not know the person who made it, and was just not nearly as precocious in my 20's as I am nowadays! LOL...

So, I played around with it for awhile, until I came up with this recipe. I love it enough that I make it at least once a summer and just keep it in the fridge, having it for lunches until it is gone.

Penne Pasta Salad

1 box Penne Pasta, cook for 10 minutes in salted, boiling water. Then drain and run under cold water. Set aside.

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green onion, chopped

1 can sliced olives, drained

4+ sweet pickles, chopped

1 cup cheddar cheese, cubed into 1/2" pieces

Mix vegetables well and then add penne pasta. Then mix ranch dressing with a little sweet pickle juice to your taste. Pour over the pasta ingredients, adding more as it soaks in, Yumm...

Little Coin Purses

The Bitterroot Valley has a 50 mile Yard Sale every year. We just finished this year's frenzied weekend of treasure hunting. This year, my girls from Tri-Cities joined me, as well as my niece and her three littles. What a great weekend it was! So many great finds and amazing deals to experience!

It reminded me of years ago, when my grandbabies would come to visit in the summer. Their favorite weekend activity was to go garage sale-ing with Grandpa and Nani. To that purpose, I got them these little zippered coin purses that I would load with single dollar bills and quarters. This was a great way for them to learn the value of different monies and how to make decisions on what they really wanted vs just grabbing something because it was there. Admittedly, once the first $5 was gone, I would sneak another few dollars into the coin purses. Still, it was a great way to entertain and learn at the same time!