Oh. My. Goodness. I was with a handful of bloggers waiting to cover the President’s arrival at Walt Disney World! Can you believe it? And only moments ago, I was driving a stolen tractor.

I assumed they were lining up a day early to get a good spot…and that I would miss the actual arrival. But what do you know? A large thick, orange jet appears in the sky outside the windows and lands in front of us. HE’s here! It’s President Obama and his family…and I get to witness it all! I’m so incredibly excited!!

The first family disembarks the jet (in their jammies), and lucky me…I have camera in hand. I snap and snap, I snap away. I fiddle for my phone for a tweet. I accidentally grab the phone from the woman next to me and shamefully return it, half amused at my awkwardness. Me. She was not amused an iota.

The Obamas dash by quickly waving and smiling but there are entertainers of the circus parade variety following them and I try to get photos of it all. None of my pictures are turning out very good of course. But I keep trying.

After the hubbub has past, I notice a table of goodies set out before us. Several varieties of yummy cookies and cakes…but I can’t have any. Wretched gluten, you know. Still I look…and I inhale deeply to get a taste.

A fellow blogger makes a snide comment about having to show forever gratitude or risk never being invited again. So as I’m walking out, I thank everyone. I don’t really know who’s in charge, so I have to cover my bases. And I am grateful.

No one seems very fond of me, but then a shorter, thicker woman says, “That’s a nice look for you.” I smile and thank her. Until I notice that my skirt is in a bunch and unbuttoned. My pubic line is showing and I scramble to cover myself properly. I look back at the woman and see that she’s pulled off her wig. She’s actually a grumpy little man. It’s Disney.

I continue to walk and now I’m in a mall. But I can’t remember where I parked. I’m walking in circles trying to recall and realize I’m actually at school. Problem though…I cannot for the life of me remember my class schedule. I let myself off the hook because it’s a brand new semester, but I’m really puzzled as to why I don’t know where I’m supposed to be. I turn the corner and I’m in a hospital, then a Disney building and I’m back in the mall.

A group of Japanese entertainers, dressed as Chinese clowns are in front of me. The woman in charge of their group notices my dismay and decides to cheer me up…but I nearly fall in a giant fake egg roll. When a dog comes up behind me and starts to hump me…well I’ve had too much. It’s time to go.

I wake myself and I wonder, “Crap! Did I oversleep? Are the kids late for school?” But all is well, though my heart is really racing. Where in the world did this come from? YIKES! And except for the stupid rude dog…it was kind of fun.

…gathered in my dad’s backyard to show-off our costumes.

…to roast wieners and marshmallows.

Plenty to eat and lots of treats.

There were games and a craft…

…and tattoos for the kids.

We could not have asked for nicer weather.

My wonderful salsa bed has been the biggest disappointment of all. The plants look lovely and lush…but the tomatoes have not been ripening. My eggplant turned out to be the tiny white-fruited variety. They were tasty but few.

I still have hope for my carrot crop and the rutabagas are looking good too. I am so not ready for winter…but it’s coming regardless.

I walked around with my camera last week to see what’s on display in my back yard and found a few interesting things to share. It’s not winter yet!

For more Wordless Wednesday photos, visit 5 Minutes for Mom and the Wordless Wednesday hub.

For more Wordless Wednesday photos, visit 5 Minutes for Mom and the Wordless Wednesday hub.

For more Wordless Wednesday photos, visit 5 Minutes for Mom and the Wordless Wednesday hub.

While watching my flower video just now, I noticed my header flowers in it. I grew and photographed those asters back in 2009, then cut them to make a nice floral arrangement to take to my mother’s grave. She passed away in late 2008.

I photographed those specific flowers through the entire process and they eventually ended up on my blog. I love having them up there. Although they’re not really here anymore, they’re often in my mind. Like Mom.

Every now and then, I consider getting a blog facelift, but those flowers will have to stay right there at the top. They make me think each time I see them and I love that.

Anyhow…just sharing…a Mom thought.

And by the way…the Talking Heads get all the credit for the music in my video. I sincerely hope you’ll bother to click and watch it.

The flower photos were taken by me. I grew a lot of them and my Dad did too. A few were captured during walks with the kids and on vacations with my family. For some reason, I wanted to watch it this morning…which led me to thoughts…that drove me to the keyboard…which led me to this post.

Enjoy your day!

I’m very pleased to be joining the Thursday Recipe Swap Meet this week. It’s a nifty blog hop hosted by Lorie from The Shewbridge’s of Central Florida and Marie at Xmas Dolly.

I hope you’ll hop over and look through the recipe contributions listed in the linky at either blog. Just click on the sweet little She Chef button to your left. You might discover your new favorite treat there!

The first time I tasted a bacon-wrapped mushroom, I was immediately in love. A great flavor combination, while completely simple to put together…had never occurred to me before that day.

So as I prepared bacon mushrooms earlier this week, it crossed my mind that there might be others out there that would really appreciate this simple dish, but just hadn’t thought of doing so yet. That’s why I decided to share the recipe here today.

Grilled Bacon Mushrooms

-8 oz fresh clean mushrooms
-16 oz bacon
-garlic powder
-lemon pepper
-bamboo skewers

Soak wooden skewers in water shortly before you make up the mushrooms. This will help keep the sticks from catching fire.

Wrap individual mushrooms with a slice of bacon and pierce with skewer. You can use an entire slice or just a half slice.

Be sure to poke the skewer through the loose end of the bacon to secure it onto the mushroom.

Load each skewer with 4 to 5 wrapped mushrooms. Season to taste.

Grill over a medium heat until cooked through…when bacon is done and mushroom has become tender and juicy.

If you use an outdoor grill be ready for bursts of fire as the bacon fat hits the hot coals or burner! Keep a close watch on them.

DON’T THEY LOOK DELICIOUS!?!

Now don’t forget to visit the other recipe entries at the blog hop. To get there…just click on the She Chef button at the top of my post. She’ll escort you safely over. Enjoy!

For more Wordless Wednesday photos, visit 5 Minutes for Mom and the Wordless Wednesday hub.

My original plan for yesterday’s harvest, was to cook up a mess for dinner…to accompany our barbecued butterfly pork chops. But while I was nipping, I changed my mind and started packing the clean beans into glass pint Mason jars.

I ended up with seven all together. They’re so pretty. I love canning.