Saturday, March 31, 2012

Out like a...?

I was sitting on the front porch working on my iPad when a storm blew in. I didn't have my camera with me...but then realized that I really did have one with me...so took a picture of the rain with my iPad! I have had quite the time getting the picture to post. I "thought" that I could just post from the iPad tonight since I had the picture that I wanted to share actually on my iPad...but I couldn't get the blog site to accept a photo from the iPad...so sent the picture by email to my laptop and am now blogging from my laptop. More than one way to beat the system!

Woody didn't walk today since he mowed. He did go to the library as part of his Saturday routine. Along with mowing he did other things around the yard like cutting off a branch from our dogwood tree that I didn't want him to cut off! He is in trouble! No limb for the little birdies to sit on and pose for me...and, most of all now I don't have the good branch to hang a bird feeder from. He said that he didn't see a bird feeder...well, there wasn't one due to the bottom of ours having rusted out...and I hadn't gotten a new one yet. Other than the missing branch my other discovery today was that our kitchen sink has a leak...at least it hadn't made too much of a mess yet, thanks to a sponge and a rubber mat that is used to go under a dish drainer (glad that it had sides and a lip that just let water come towards the front). I discovered it because of a large wet place on the rug in front of the sink. So things are pulled out from one side of the cabinet...and for the moment a bucket has been placed under the pipe. Woody is now relaxing with March Madness on the TV. I have done a little of this and a little of that, but have accomplished very little. I have done some sewing and have about completed my spring project...so that is good. I spent too long today trying to figure out something on my iPad..the reason that I was sitting on the front porch. Erin called this afternoon and we had a nice conversation. She is looking forward to the end of her school year. I have been listening to A Room With a View. Some years ago I saw the movie so am familiar with the story. One thing that I am discovering about listening to a book...it is better if I am already familiar with it as I do tune out sometimes when my mind wanders...or sometimes I wander out of the room...or sometimes I start to concentrate on a project that I am doing...like cooking or sewing. If I know the story I don't have a problem knowing what is happening in the story when I tune back in! I'm still working my way through the reading of A Tale of Two Cities. I try to read a chapter or two each day. I have "finally" gotten into it and am enjoying it more. I still prefer turning paper pages to flicking computer pages! We both continue to work the USA Today crossword each day...me on my iPad and Woody with a pen on one that he downloads and prints from the computer. Woody has had his usual daily challenge by the computer to Scrabble games.

And, I guess in answer to the question in the title of tonight's blog..."like a lion" since there have been storms all around us today...though ours never got very bad. So, if I recall correctly...March came in like a lamb and is going out like a lion...proved the saying correct! The thing that I find hard to believe is March is all but over! Blink these days and another month is completed.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Just Hangin'

We've just been hangin' around today...sort of like this door that got hung for Nathan and Kathy's porch today! Nathan now has some work cut out for him in order to screen it in. We "think" that perhaps both households are finished with the work done by the roofing company that has been ongoing since our hail storm back in mid-October. Woody and I finally handed over the check from the insurance company today. That check was dated November 11...so it has been a while. I know that our roof went on Thanksgiving Day, but then the rest of the things that had to be done have been stretched out over the last few months. Glad that "things" are finally complete after our houses got walloped with that hail storm. Through Nathan and Kathy's porch, you can see the side of our house that had to have the siding replaced.

Woody got up early and went for a walk as he didn't think that he would get a chance to mow today as rain was predicted. Well...we did get some rain, but not very much. He did get to do a little mowing and also did some more mulching of gardens. He made our weekly trek to the grocery store this afternoon. I have had sort of a lazy day...just haven't felt like doing much. But I did get my sewing machine up and running and am working on a spring project. Late this afternoon I just couldn't keep my eyes open so I took a little nap. Now I am trying to get back to work on my sewing...not sure that it is happening!






Thursday, March 29, 2012

Remembering...

One of the things that my mother was known for was her chicken collection. This past Christmas my sister gave us these chickens to add to our gardens. She said that it was a reminder of Mother. I had been waiting till Spring to put them out and decided that today was a good day to place them in our yard. Mother died a year ago today...so she has been in my thoughts a lot today.

Woody once again got his exercise in the yard. He mowed and did some mulching and other odds and ends around the yard. It's good that he doesn't have the spring allergies that I have...I don't think that he would survive being outside as much as he has been. The pollen is just so very thick...you can hardly tell what color our cars are there is so much pollen on them.

I ran several errands this morning. Our church has a really special program--ESL (English as a Second Language). I had mentioned a while back to one of my friends who works in the program that I was getting ready to get rid of my Martha Stewart Living magazines. She mentioned that the ladies in the program would love to have them to look at. So today I loaded up the magazines and took them to church where the ESL program was in full swing. I hope that these magazines are enjoyed by the ladies. These magazines were another memory of my mother. She gave us the subscription for our anniversary for quite a few years. I then went on to WalMart to pick up an over-the-counter medication that I take and picked up some canned tomatoes to make a new recipe for Marinara Sauce. I found this recipe on a recipe app for my iPad. The neat thing about this app was that for each recipe you can click on it and it will give you a shopping list of everything that you will need for the recipe. This recipe turned out to be very good and it made a large amount so I have frozen some for when my sister is here. I browned ground beef and made it a meat sauce for our supper. We both gave this recipe a "thumbs up." So I have bookmarked this recipe in my iPad. This recipe took most of the afternoon so I haven't done a lot around the house today. But, I guess, on a day that I have had Mother so much on my mind, it was appropriate to spend a lot of time cooking...since she spent so much of her time in her kitchen making many yummy recipes that we all enjoyed so much over the years.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Double the Pleasure!



This iris decided to please our eyes at double the pleasure...as it bloomed with two blooms at the same time. Woody got his exercise working in the yard today...pruning, general flower garden cleaning up, and mowing. He was ready for his recliner by the time that he came in the house. I got up and started working in the house again. I'm just trying to get to some areas that seem to get forgotten so much of the time. Today I went through a stack of library papers that had landed in a pile. Since I am the library director some of the library work needs to be done here at the house and I really don't have a place for it so it seems to land in our bedroom. So I'm sifting through what has gathered there over the last months. While I did that I continued to listen to Heidi and I finished it today. Now I'm in the midst of choosing the next book that I will listen to. At the moment I am listening to a selection of Robert Frost poems. I am still trudging through Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. I have been trying to read some of it on the iPad each day. It's not exactly my favorite type of literature and I still prefer to read a real book. But I am trying to read and/or listen to some of the classics that were not required of me in my school days. There are lots of them in public domain that are available for free to download on the iPad...so I'm taking advantage of what's out there. Woody and I both worked the USA Today crossword today (he on paper and me on the iPad). He has played a game or two or...of Scrabble with the computer today (His goal is to beat the computer at least once each day!). This afternoon I went to the church library where three of us worked hard once again to stay on top of things in there. Today we started working on a book order as well as processing books. The work in a library is never done! The work that I have been doing both here and at the library is in preparation for filling library memorials.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Beautiful Home!


How would you like to be the bird who live in this nest at this time of the year? Doubt that "anyone" is living here at the moment, but it's a nice thought! And, at the moment TN homes are surrounded in spring beauty.

I'm trying something new...I posted the picture from my laptop and am now typing on my iPad. Woody has spent a lot of time in the gardens and ran an errand. This evening he walked to and from the prayer room at church. I have had a busy day working around the house and have managed to get in a little reading and did the USA Today crossword puzzle once again...as did Woody. I've about finished listening to Heidi (I'll have to decide what to listen to next!)He played the computer in Scrabble, too. This evening I was invited to go to a local quilt guild meeting. I saw some beautiful quilts!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Beautiful Spring Monday!

Here's a picture of a dogwood that gives one double pleasure...it has both white and pink blooms on the same tree.

It has been another beautiful Spring day. Woody went on a five-mile walk this morning. Then he has been in and out off and on during the day working outside in the yard at one thing or another or while inside challenging the computer to Scrabble or relaxing in his recliner reading. I have done a lot of things around the house...marking things off a "to-do" list that I have complied on my iPad (fun to have a new way to make lists...the newness of making such lists will probably wear off pretty quickly!)...several loads of wash done and put away and general picking up around the house. I have been listening to Heidi as I have done some of the items on my "to do" lists. Heidi is such a delightful story...brings back many childhood memories. It was one of my Mother's favorite childhood books also. My only complaint about listening to the book is that it takes much longer than it would to read it...guess I should savor the time that it is taking! The rest of the things on my "to-do" lists will have to wait till tomorrow as my energy level has gotten up and left! Woody made a pot of Cabbage Stew this morning...yummy! It is amazing that such simple ingredients can all blend together and make such a savory dish!


Sunday, March 25, 2012

Spring Sunday

It has been another beautiful Spring day...though a bit cooler than we got used to last week. Perhaps this is "Dogwood Winter?" The dogwoods are in full bloom...so perhaps! Everything just gets more beautiful each day...though that beauty brings more pollen to the air...and more sniffles to so many in the mid TN area. This area is known for its over abundance of allergy sufferers.

We got up this morning and headed to church. We both went to the early service and then on to Sunday School. Woody taught his 6-grade boys' class and I was the teacher for my class today, but deferred to another class who had a guest speaker. We came home and had lunch. I have whiled the afternoon away doing a little of this and a little of that...crossword puzzle, listening to Heidi, I lack two pages from finishing a "real book," etc. I would say that it has been a rather quiet afternoon...oh, and, I had a nap in my chair thrown in, too! Woody has watched some March Madness and he also went to visit a couple of church members...one of whom is going to have surgery in the morning. Then this evening he went to the evening church service. He has just come home and made a new popcorn concoction: Mexican Hot Cocoa Popcorn. He just brought me up a handful...rather tasty...sprinkled with cocoa powder, cinnamon, and ground flaxseed. I guess I had better end this "if" I am to get any more of this snack. Oh, almost forgot, Woody also made us a pan of brownies this afternoon, too.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

It's Apple Blossom Time!

Graham, Abigail, Joy, and Esther are so excited that there are apple blossoms on the apple tree that Aunt Melany gave Graham for his fifth birthday. Now, hopefully they will not get "nipped in the bud!"

It has been a cooler day...one that has brought a couple rounds of showers with a couple of claps of thunder. Woody went to the grocery store early this morning and then to the library and got in a four mile walk...all before rains came this afternoon. I got up all ready to get a lot done and I have managed to do some things...several loads of wash done and put away and just some general picking up around the house. While I was doing the straightening I listened to Pygmalian on my iPad...I had in the past read Pygmalian and I'm not sure how many times I have watched My Fair Lady...so rather familiar with it. The people who read this did a very good job. I am still working on today's USA Today crossword puzzle...just a few words to go. This afternoon I flopped on the bed as I am aching today due to the weather change and my Transverse Myelitis. While I rested for a while I started listening to Heidi (a childhood favorite) another classic that I have downloaded on my iPad. Yesterday I started reading The Tale of Two Cities...a download on my iPad. I still prefer reading a real book...but will give this a try. Woody has watched some March Madness on TV today. Graham, Abigail, Joy, and Esther came over for a while this afternoon. They gave me some more pointers on Angry Bird and another game!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Christmas in March!

What fun...Christmas in March!!!! I love extended holidays! Last night the doorbell rang and it was the UPS man with a package from my niece and family. So I didn't open the package till this afternoon when the neighbors could come over and help me. It's so much fun to watch little ones get into a package. They each got a book. Nathan and Kathy and Woody and I each got a book, too. They are very special books...a recipe scrapbook...100 Years of Recipes (my Mother's recipes)...complete with photos. Such a wonderful and appropriate remembrance of Mother! Thanks, Rachel! What a thoughtful present. We will treasure them! Now..........shhhhhhhhhhh don't tell Melany and Wade...they haven't gotten theirs yet. (We'll see if Melany is reading the blog!)

Woody spent time in the yard again. He's trying to get all the leaves out of the flower gardens. I got up and fixed my breakfast and went out on the front porch to read the paper via my iPad. It was a bit chillier than it has been and a rain blew in before I went inside. Elijah came over and joined us for a while. He was playing Angry Birds and flinging them backwards in the sling and laughing hilariously as the birds went backwards. When we went inside, I tried to download a preschool app...well.................was not the one to download as it froze my iPad. We had to go next door and have Nathan help restore it. We thought that it was going to be restored to its original state. I had to run home and get something and mentioned to Woody that I was going to lose all that I had downloaded since I got it...Woody said that it looked like I needed to back it up like we do our PC's. Woody saying that brought to mind that last night I had been reading in the iPad "how-to" download that you could back up the iPad using one of the "programs" that came on the iPad...and I had turned it on to do the back ups last night!!!!!! So nothing lost except for the app that I had downloaded for Elijah that had frozen it in the first place. So nothing lost! Perhaps lesson learned...not sure! After lunch Woody and I went on a short walk...just around the block. It is absolutely beautiful around here...everything is popping out in bloom. Before we went on the walk I actually finished on the iPad the crossword puzzle in USA Today (the puzzle that Woody does everyday). Woody did give me a few hints since he had already worked the puzzle. He has challenged the computer to several Scrabble games today.

So, I will end with a big Ho! Ho! Ho! Merrrrrrrrrrrrrry Christmas!!!!!!!!!





Thursday, March 22, 2012

43rd Anniversary!

Oh, my! Where has the time gone?!? In some ways it seems just like yesterday and in others it seems like a long time (and not in a bad way!). We have just gotten back from eating at Red Lobster...that's a treat as we don't eat out very often. Our server recognized Woody. Woody had him in his 8th grade Sunday School class some 22 years ago. We had an enjoyable meal...I love Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits...I think that I could eat my weight in them...but restrained myself and left room for the rest of my meal...but now I am pretty full!

Woody got up early and went for a twelve-mile walk. When I got up, I got my point-and-shoot camera ready to send back for a repair (I'll miss it!). Woody helped me get it all addressed and ready to send and then he walked to and from the Post Office to mail it (another 3 mile walk). So he has gotten in his exercise today! I had school as usual this morning. Woody worked in the yard some more. His tomato plants that he has grown from seed are looking great! They should be ready to put out once there is no more chance of a frost. Just as we were finishing lunch, I received a call that there was going to be a Wendy's delivery (did you know they delivered?) at our house. Our friends who gave us the Wendy's Frosty key fobs had eaten at Wendy's today and had gotten baby Frosties for us...and the neighbors! So we all had a special treat right after lunch...very appreciated by all! Good day for eats around here! We had rain this afternoon and it did drop the temperature to a little closer to normal. I took a nap this afternoon so I would be ready for our evening out on the town! Elijah also had his nap over here this afternoon. He woke up just as we were ready to go out. Everything is greening up and blooming...just beautiful out. I just hope that everything doesn't get "nipped in the bud!" I just can't imagine that all our cold weather is over. Time will tell!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

First Full Day of Spring 2012

Well, Spring has really sprung! The trees and flowers just get prettier each day. Tonight's photo shows dogwood blooms that have just opened...will get more white as they mature. The pollen is unbelievable. The cars are just covered...and I know that it is everywhere else if it is that thick on the cars. Not the best time of year for allergy sufferers. The children trailed in one after the other for their school times this morning. Woody worked quite a bit out in the yard this morning and afternoon. It has been a really nice day...low 80's and a bit of a breeze. I went to work in the church library this afternoon for a couple of hours. Once again we got quite a bit done. I took my iPad and we were excited to find out that the WiFi connection at the church works in the library. This will help when we are making book orders. Normally I choose books to order here at the house and then have to take the list back down to the library to see if we already have them and then come back home to finalize the order. This way we can fill in the online order at the library and check about duplication, etc. while filling out the order. Woody made vegetarian burritos for our supper tonight.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Ever Bite Off More Than You Can Chew?

This was our backyard classroom scene late this morning. Graham's experiment class came to a screeching halt so we could go watch this garter snake eat this toad. It took him around 40-45 minutes to finally get him down...but down the toad went!

Graham, Abigail, Joy, and Esther had art this morning. They made a spring picture to welcome Spring in. Then Graham got underway with his experiment class...but was called outside before we got very far. What an experience for all to get to see how this snake managed to eat this fairly large toad. Then I had a quick bite to eat and it was back to the school room...well, after a call from my sister and a call from Melany. Elijah came over and had an art lesson too. He always tells me that he wants to do art too...so today he did. I think that "art" is still "paint" to him, but today he did a little cutting and some gluing and made a pretty spring picture like his siblings. Esther came over that and she read to me and finished her paper where she was counting to 100 by 1's. Woody has been in and out a good portion of the day. He has enjoyed working in the gardens. Late this afternoon he walked to the prayer room. While he was away I made a pot of soup. It is almost getting too warm for soup! I can't believe how warm it was for the first day of Spring.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Blizzards & Angry Birds!

Well, this was a day of firsts...we introduced Abigail (Thanks, Abigail, for finding the library book!) to Blizzards at Dairy Queen (she chose a Banana Cream Pie Blizzard) and Abigail introduced me to Angry Birds! I have joined the "next generation" and now have an iPad...my birthday gift from Woody. Can you see the big smile coming through cyberspace? The grandchildren are very versed in using these...so they have been showing me "how!" I'm only slightly confused! We did have school today...Joy came over and did her reading workbook, then she showed me a bit about the iPad...she introduced me to the camera. I have a funny one of me trying to figure out what was going on...all the while a movie was being taken...no picture...but you can hear me "wondering" what certain "buttons" were for! After she gave me a lesson she headed in to the sewing room to work some more on sewing on buttons. Graham did a condensation experiment and we "played" with Google Earth (we went to the Grand Canyon and my sister's house and our neighborhood) and an interactive weather site. After lunch Elijah and Esther came over for their school times and then Abigail came over to review her science lesson with me...she is studying about Monarch butterflies. Then we headed off to get her "reward for finding the library book Blizzard." After we got home, she decided to stay with me while Goosey went on his walk. He walked his four-mile-route today. He also did some yardwork. Now...we are settling in to watch the start of Dancing with the Stars.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Spring Beauties

Woody went on an early morning walk. We both went to the early church service and then to Sunday School. We came home and I got "things" ready for five of the six neighbor grandchildren to come over and spend the afternoon. They headed off to church with Woody at five for their church organizations. Now we are next door (well, I put two to bed and came over to blog) getting children to bed. Woody is reading to the oldest three. That's our Sunday in a nutshell!

I took tonight's photo yesterday on our Tullahoma Greenway walk. There were just fields and fields of these pretty little wild flowers--Spring Beauties.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Wearing of the Green & Junior Fly Day!











We had little visitors pretty early this morning to check to see if we were wearing green. I had warned Woody...but he was the only one not wearing green...sooooooooooo he got several pinches! The next exciting event for Graham and Abigail was getting to go to the Tullahoma airport and go up in a two passenger plane (they are better than I...I could not have done it!). I was a bit neglectful. A friend had called us earlier in the week and left a message to alert us to this event at the Tullahoma Airport...and Grammy forgot to relay the message. Luckily I got a friendly reminder this morning...and I called next door and Nathan scooped up Graham and Abigail and headed to the airport. The requirements for this flying experience was that they be 8 thru 17 years old and that there be one adult family member there to give permission. They were so happy that they had gotten to fly in a small plane. They both told us about it when they saw us this afternoon. This was a free event...a wonderful experience for them! Graham told me that there was only room for two people...for the pilot and the co-pilot...and that today he had been the co-pilot!






Woody and I went to the library and then walked the Tullahoma Greenway. That is where I was able to take the belly of one of the planes as it flew over on its way back to the airport. Woody and I had a nice walk. I will say that this is probably the first time in a long time that I got my daily requirement of vitamin D...and all from the sunshine! I have been outside quite a bit today...a rarity for me! After we finished walking the Greenway, we headed to Lowes to buy Graham some cabbage plants. Yesterday he and Goosey (Woody) planted broccoli and Graham told him that he wanted to plant some cabbage too, so Woody had told him that he would get him some cabbage plants today. After getting the cabbage, we stopped at WalMart to pick up a couple of things that we needed. Then we headed home. Shortly after we got home, Nathan stopped in to ask if we would watch Isaac while the rest of them went on a family bike ride. So we did! What a sweet baby! He did get a bit upset at the end of his visit...but finally he dozed off to sleep. Woody thinks that he discovered a favorite song for Isaac...Old MacDonald...Woody got quite a few big smiles while he was singing that to him. We both saw a lot of sweet smiles today! After they got back from their bike ride, Woody headed over to help Graham plant the cabbage and then after that Abigail came over to our house. She helped me with things in the kitchen while I was preparing our St. Patrick's dinner of Corned Beef and Cabbage (and carrots, potatoes, and onions). Abigail headed back ho me after a quick thunder storm passed through. A bit later Woody and I had our annual St. Patty's Day supper. YUM! Woody is now watching basketball. Busy day! (Obviously I didn't get much more done around the house! But had a fun time!)






Oh, and Abigail is the winner! We had managed to lose a children's library book over at their house...Elijah had walked off with it, as it is one of his favorites and he managed to squirrel it away and it hadn't surfaced yet...it was to the point that it couldn't be renewed any more so Woody offered a free blizzard to whoever found it! Abigail found it on the bookself in their school room...so she is the winner. We will have to make a date with her for her to receive her prize. She thought that we had meant a Frosty (she is familiar with free ones of those) as she has never partaken of a Blizzard before...she's in for a treat! I get a free birthday Blizzard...so looks like Woody will be the only one paying!!!







Friday, March 16, 2012

Serious Business!

Well, I managed to capture one of Elijah's moments on their battery powered vehicle...pink wheels...but orange hard hat...definitely makes a statement! He does love maneuvering around the front and back yards on this vehicle. He has become quite adept at running it! Serious business for a two-year-old! We had another beautiful day...a bit cooler today...more spring-like than summer-like. I told myself that I was going to accomplish a lot today. I guess I have accomplished some...but not what I wanted to...just not as young as I used to be!!!! (That's my excuse...and I'm sticking to it!). I did manage to do several loads of clothes today. I meant to do more cleaning than I did...but at this point in the day...my get up and go has gotten up and gone! Woody did our weekly grocery shopping. I did put away the groceries. Then late this afternoon I put together a chicken casserole for our supper. Woody walked his four-mile route this morning. Woody continues to challenge the computer in Scrabble games. He is now watching basketball.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

A Thing of the Past!

The garden club program is a "thing of the past" now. This beautiful camellia along with two others was in attendance at the meeting also and I just had to snap a couple of pictures. Isn't it gorgeous! The weather is unbelievable warm for March...like a summer day. Graham did an experiment with a weather thermometer...in the sun it got to over 95f...in the shade it dropped down to 78f. Kathy and the children were in the mode of finding their summer clothes...and donning them! Good friends of ours gave Woody and me and Nathan and Kathy and family key fobs for free baby Frosties...for the whole year...when you make a purchase you can get free small Frosties...so this afternoon Nathan and a couple of the children made a run to Wendy's...bought a large order of French fries and got 10 baby Frosties! They told Nathan at the drive-thru window that they would have to see all 10 fobs and he said that it wasn't a problem that he had them to show them. He said that even the manager came to the window to check! Nathan explained that he had six children...they said that if they had known that he had 6 kids that they would have "given" him free Frosties...of course they did give him free Frosties since that was the deal! So he brought back 10...enough for Woody, me, Nathan, Kathy, Graham, Abigail, Joy, Esther, Elijah...and the 10th? well...the workman on their roof who was trying to fix a leak! Nathan had quite a climb up a ladder to deliver that one! Anyway, a nice afternoon treat! Woody, Kathy and the workman had vanilla and the rest of us had chocolate. Enjoyed by all!

I came home after that and went upstairs to continue to "wind down" after the program. I started to read and not too long after that I was asleep. Elijah came over to nap at our house so Nathan and Graham could go on a bike ride while all the girls and Isaac went to gymnastics. I remember hearing Nathan telling Elijah a story and then hearing Nathan leave...I think at that point I went to sleep...probably about the same time as Elijah! The next thing that I knew Elijah was standing next to me as he had awakened! We both had good naps!

When I got home from the garden club program, Woody was out in the back with the lawn mower. He had been mulching leaves. Earlier he and Elijah got the leaves out of one of the gardens in the back yard. He has read, played the computer in Scrabble, and is now watching basketball. Joy has spent some time with Goosey (Woody) today, too. And, Graham came over after Elijah went home to spend some time here. Now, for me to get the things put away that I took for the garden club program...wait a minute...guess I won't put everything away as I am planning to give the same program to my Sunday School class in a week and a half!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Daily Discoveries!

At this time of year there are daily discoveries. When I was walking to the car this afternoon I discovered this beauty on one side of the driveway...on the other was a beautiful yellow tulip. So snapped a couple of pictures using my point-and-shoot camera that I carry "most" times in my purse. I wished that I had it in my hand this morning when I walked next door to get one of the children for their school time. They were all outside enjoying the beautiful day and Elijah (2) was riding around in the backyard on their battery powered Barbie car...he was wearing a hard hat...such a cute picture...that I missed! Shortly after I finished with the children's school time we had workmen at the door. They were fixing the handrails that had gotten messed up when the roof was put on. That puts it down to "just" one more thing to do...the chimney cap...and the hail damage job will be done! This has been a long drawn out process...shingles were put on Thanksgiving Day...and here it is the middle of March and things are just getting wrapped up. Woody and I walked next door to warn the children not to use the handrails today as the paint needed to dry...what did I do when I come back to the house...touch the handrail!!!!!! Oops! Bad Grammy!!!!! Woody and I checked on Graham's peas that he planted...definitely a bit higher than the last time we checked and then came back over here to check on Woody's tomato plants...again...more growth since the last time that I looked at them. Woody has read, done an errand, watched some TV...checked out gardens, etc. I worked in the library for several hours and then came home to finalize things for tomorrow's garden club program.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Beautiful Tuesday!

It has really been a pretty day...a very warm spring-like day...it got up to almost 80...ummmmmmm are we going to skip Spring and go right to Summer? I'm sure that there are more chilly days ahead of us. Things are starting to grow. Woody has little tomato seedlings growing. Nathan and family have cantaloupe seedlings growing. Graham's green peas and also pea pods have sprouted. Looking good in the gardens and flats at the moment! Our creeping flox is blooming also in the front garden...such a pretty carpet of hot pink. Woody worked a bit outside. He is trying to reacclimate himself to pollen, etc. He also walked to the prayer room late this afternoon. I'm trying to get used to the time change...my internal clock still thinks that it is an hour earlier than is stated on the clocks. This morning we did a St. Patrick's art project with shamrocks...also learned a bit about St. Patrick. Then Graham had his experiment class. After lunch Elijah and Esther came over for their time. Ummmmmm Grammy had a bit of a problem keeping awake after lunch...had my sinking time! For most of the rest of the afternoon and evening I have been working on the garden club program...today working on the "script" (really a cheat sheet in case certain words leave me !) for the slide show.


Monday, March 12, 2012

Another Monday! Praise God!

Spring is just around the corner and it is beginning to look like spring here in Middle TN. Today Woody and I walked around the front and back yards to check out what was growing. The pansies that he and Graham planted in the Fall are still alive and have started blooming...nice big blooms. I will confess that the picture tonight is not the ones that I saw today...I did take some of the ones that are blooming, but I'm too lazy to upload them from the camera tonight. Woody has done some cooking today...he made us some brownies and then tonight he made us a concoction to make vegetarian burritos. Late this afternoon he made a trip to the pharmacy to pick up some prescriptions for the two of us. One of Woody's major accomplishments today was to make a phone call to unravel the details of his Plan D for prescriptions...he finally "thinks" that he has it figured out! WHY are these things so complicated?!? In my opinion...ridiculous! I have spent the day finalizing things for the garden club program that I will be presenting on Thursday. Today I have spent time making displays for the program...and blowing my nose and sneezing (but doing a lot less of both) and trying to ignore my sinus headache (or whatever kind of headache it is). I'm just hoping that I can breathe and speak...no coughing, sneezing, or having to blow my nose constantly by Thursday!


Sunday, March 11, 2012

To Believe or...not to Believe...That is the Question!

In the middle of the night when Woody and I couldn't sleep due to the time change...we kept wondering just what time it "really" was! I do not like this time change. Once again tonight I realized that I was late...and if it had been last night I would be right on time with my blogging...internal clocks can really get messed up! Anyway, back to the wee hours this morning...Woody asked me if I had gotten my phone message yesterday. I hadn't so he punched the button and I listened. And, here is the message...see what you think!

"Good morning! This is the Social Security Administration calling for Mrs. Dorrell. Since it is your birthday today, we wanted to offer you an extra benefit of $1 per month on your Social Security benefits, when you qualify. If you will spend all day today filling out the paper work at ssa.gov, you will qualify immediately and your extra bonus dollar will be applied to your benefits beginning in 2017. Thank you very kindly and happy birthday to you!"

Ok...well, when I heard the $1 amount I started laughing and missed part of the rest of the message...so then had to listen again...and again...and again and... I'm not sure how many times we listened to it trying to figure it out...finally we were listening just trying to figure out who was playing the joke on me! Woody kept saying that there was something about the voice that he thought he recognized. But the caller did a very good job of disguising her voice. We finally decided who the culprit was and I went in to email her in the wee hours of the morning to ask her if she had just "happened" to leave me a phone message yesterday. Well, when I got into our email, I found an email from this person/culprit asking if I had gotten a call from the Social Security Administration on my birthday! It definitely made for a good laugh. The big clue that it wasn't to be believed was when the SSA spokesperson said the I would need to spend the whole day filling out the paper work...SSA would never admit to their paper work taking that long! So in this case..."not to Believe!" But on the initial hearing of the message, she made it quite believable! Remember I was just hearing the words and not reading them...and it took a bit of time for my mind to process the message that our ears were hearing!

Today has been a pretty normal Sunday for us...other than starting the day out extremely early laughing our heads off over a phone message and now I'm ending the day sneezing my head off due to allergies. I am allergic to something in the sewing room and I think that I have discovered what it is causing my problem and am working as quickly as possible to get the items out of my sewing room. We went to the early church service this morning and then we both taught our respective Sunday School classes. We came home and had lunch. Woody went back to the church for a meeting. He watched basketball after he got back from his meeting. Then he went back to church for the evening service. And, I have been watching a DVD and trying to get this sneezy project out of the sewing room and sneezing and blowing my nose!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Getting Forgetful????

Well, add a number to my age and I start forgetting! I have already moved our clocks ahead so my head has already been messed with...that's my story and I'm sticking to it! It has been a nice birthday. I have pretty much done just what I want to do today...slept in late, went to the library with Woody, and have read a bit and also watched some DVDs in the sewing room while I sewed just a bit. Woody did our weekly grocery shopping this morning. Then this afternoon he made Steak Oriental Soup. He has read and watched basketball. That about sums up our day on my birthday. (Oops! Forgot to put in what I "almost" forgot to do...blog!)



Friday, March 9, 2012

Daffodilly Day!

It's been a very pretty day after yesterday's rain...sunshiny and chilly. We have both stayed in most of the day. Woody is still battling allergies...he's hoping that yesterday's rains helped to clean the air some...he did say that his symptoms had changed a bit...his nose isn't quite as runny...so perhaps working their way out of his system?!? I have done a little bit of sewing and worked on the Sunday School lesson for Sunday...I'm teaching...but wanted to have it all prepared before tomorrow...so it's done! Woody has read, played computer Scrabble, watched a bit of TV...pretty much had a restful day. Late this afternoon, he went to the Credit Union and then ran a couple of errands. When he got home he asked if I was ready to go get a prebirthday Blizzard treat. It didn't take much persuasion! So I had a dessert supper! Their flavor of the month, Mint Oreo, is pretty good! Woody had Strawberry Cheesequake. DQ's are having a special for this month...buy one Blizzard and get a second one the same size or smaller for 99 cents. Woody claims that the "99 center" was his! Hey...I'll eat the more expensive or the cheaper one...makes no different in taste (or size)! Well, tomorrow is the "BIG" day...I will once again be seven years older than my sister!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Saturation Point Reached!

Well, the clouds had all the water in them that they could hold...it's raining...it's pouring! Graham learned about the saturation point the other day using a sponge...today he is getting an actual cloud demonstration!

Woody claims that he didn't sleep very well last night...but during the times that I couldn't sleep, he seemed to be sleeping...so who to believe?! I went to bed earlier than usual and woke up several hours later after having a good nap and then couldn't get back to sleep so read for quite a while. I am feeling the effects of not the best night's sleep as I'm pretty sleepy at the moment. School took on different hours today as a trial. Joy and Abigail came over before lunch and Esther and Elijah came over after lunch. Then an hour or so after they went home, I went over there to stay with Graham and Elijah. The girls had gymnastics and Nathan needed to take their vehicle in for a minor repair. The repair took longer than expected so I was over there for longer than expected. Elijah napped through most of the time that I was there and Graham showed me different things about an iPad. We ended up playing Monopoly on it. Woody has once again taken it easy most of the day. I'm hoping that his allergies are getting better...but I'm not sure that they are.

I forgot to relay an endearing moment yesterday...there was a knock on the front door yesterday afternoon and it was Elijah with a bouquet of wild flowers in his little hand. He held them out and said, "These are for you." He handed them to me and then headed back off to play after I thanked him. Moments like those...priceless!!!!!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Cloud Study

Woody has pretty much stayed in today except when he went out and got the mail. He is still allergy snuffly/drippy. He has read, watched TV, played Scrabble on the computer and entertained a grandchild or two. We had school as usual for a Wednesday. Elijah had a good morning. He is really working hard on learning the sounds that the letters make...really showing a lot of interest in them now. He is also starting to understand about counting objects. We are excited! Esther is going great guns with her reading. Today she started reading the Super Books. These are eight page books that are just about totally phonetic. She read two of them along with a Bob Book...that had a lot of stories in it. She read, read, read! Then she went downstairs and read some verbs to Goosey (Woody) and then "acted" out the verbs. Joy read and then had sewing. She finished a present for Elijah...a little suit that he will wear next winter. She chose a machine embroidery design (a snowman) and the colors of embroidery thread that she wanted to use. Then we stitched the design out on my sewing machine. Today she finished it. Abigail completed bringing her sewing notebook up to date and then we rewarped the lap loom that they got for Christmas and she started weaving. She is going to use what she weaves to make a purse. After lunch I headed off to church to work in the library. Once again we got a lot accomplished. While I was away several of the grandchildren came over to play, be read to, etc. When I got home, I was greeted with a lot of building accomplishments that they had completed while they were over here. They had out a set of Lego-type blocks, all the spools that I have saved over the years and several other building sets and had made quite a few things. They cleaned them all up before heading back home. Before Graham left, he brought his temperature/barometric chart up to date and also checked out what types of clouds were floating through the sky today.

I forgot to mention in yesterday's blog that Woody received a call from Dr. Rosenberg's office at NIH that morning. Dr. Rosenberg is the head of the research that Woody's melanoma study/protocol falls under. We don't hear from his office very often. They were checking to see how Woody was doing since his stay in the hospital a month ago. Dr. Rosenberg was part of the team that checked in on Woody when he was having the kidney stone problem at NIH last month. We only saw Dr. Rosenberg periodically when Woody was in for his three-week stay back in 2010...we mainly saw the physician and the fellow and other underlings on the team who were assigned to Woody's protocol, but once in a while the "head honcho," Dr. Rosenberg, did appear with the team on early morning rounds.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Super Tuesday

Elijah and Esther didn't come over for their time of school this morning as they were off practicing juggling, etc. with their daddy, so school got underway at 10am with Graham, Abigail, Joy and Esther's art class. Today we followed some step-by-step instructions to draw different animals. They did quite well and enjoyed themselves. Then Graham took the girls downstairs and showed them the air pressure experiment that he did yesterday. He made an aluminum can crush (and, not by stomping it with his foot). Then the girls headed home and he and I got underway finishing up the lessons/work that I had planned for this week...he learned about air pressure, the water cycle, clouds and various and sundry other things. After lunch I headed out to vote and run an errand. Later in the afternoon, Woody ran an errand and then drove to the prayer room. He is having allergy problems so he is limiting his time outside at the moment (reason that he didn't walk to the prayer room tonight). The lamp that I ordered a few days ago arrived this afternoon so I spent some time putting it together. I like it...hope that Woody does! I collapsed the box and got it out to the curb for tomorrow's recycling pick-up. Now I need to go vacuum up all the little pieces of styrofoam that broke off the big pieces that were packed around the lamp. My clean living room is clean no longer with all those little white pieces all over...what a mess!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Duty's Done!

Woody spent the entire day over in Manchester on the Grand Jury hearing 169 cases! They found true bills on all but one. He came in the door just as I pulled the Eggplant Parmesan out of the oven...perfect timing! I had school with Elijah, Esther, Joy and Graham this morning and then this afternoon I cleaned and cooked.





Sunday, March 4, 2012

Sunday Study

Look who was posing so prettily in our garden when I got out of the car after church this morning. I guess that our across-the-street neighbor cat, Storm (aka Thunder to Elijah (to Elijah a storm is "thunder" so he calls the cat Thunder!)), was enjoying the sun on this sunny but chilly day. Storm just sat there and let me get quite a number of pictures for this cat photo study! A while after lunch Woody headed off to the monthly deacon's meeting at church. I ended up taking a nap as I kept falling asleep at the computer while I was trying to get Graham's experiment class lesson ready for tomorrow! After getting up I talked on the phone with my sister (making plans for her visit here next month!) and then got back to working on tomorrow's cloud lesson for Graham...this is taking quite a bit of study on my part to make sure that I am giving Graham accurate information. It's been a long time since I have studied some of this...and some of it I have never studied! So Grammy is having to do a bit of studying herself to be prepared! It's always good to keep learning things! We will be studying cloud formation and cloud types...so he can start making weather forecasts of his own by studying the clouds! He is also going to do a couple of air pressure experiments tomorrow...hope that they work. If you happen to hear an explosion...oops!!!!!!!! Woody returned from the evening service a while ago and is now watching a DVD movie that he got at the library yesterday. I guess I will go back to completing lesson plans for tomorrow! Then perhaps I will prepare some more for my garden club photo program that will take place next week. Woody has a big note written to himself so he won't forget to report for more grand jury duty in the morning. I predict that this is going to be a busy week (and, now, I ask myself...what week isn't!?!)! Now back to more Sunday study!



Saturday, March 3, 2012

A "This and That" Saturday

Woody seems to have had a very busy Saturday...me...well, I have just sort of taken it easy and done a little of this and a little of that. Woody's first task of the day was grocery shopping. Then he came home and put most of the groceries away, as I hadn't gotten underway with my day yet. Next he baked a cake and then went to the library. When he got home from the library he made one of his favorites...Martha's Vegetable Chili. It's one of those that tastes better the longer it simmers...also gets spicier the longer it simmers. I had a bowl for supper and it did a good job of helping me clear my sinuses! I don't think that it would quite take on the title of "five alarm chili," but it is rather spicy...but good. This evening Woody has gotten underway with helping me get the form filled out to send back to my insurance company trying to get them to reimburse us for my one prescription back in December when my new policy took over. I have mopped the kitchen floor, made some future sewing plans (that is about as far as I seem to get with sewing these days...just plans in my head!), read, and had a nap...oh, and did a bit of shopping (the easiest kind...on the internet!), and worked on the garden club photo program that I will present later this month. Woody has also read, done his daily crossword puzzle, played several games of Scrabble with the computer, and watched some TV. I would say that Woody has done a lot of "this and that" today...me not so much!



Friday, March 2, 2012

Little Buddy!

Here's Goosey (Woody) and his little buddy (Elijah) as they are returning from their walk to the fruit market and to the barber. Woody found out that Elijah is a "puddle jumper!" As soon as Elijah stepped into his house his jeans came off since they were wet! Along with his walk with Goosey, Elijah spent some time at the house. He was here at the house when the tornado warning siren went off. Woody told him to head into the bathroom (our safe room) and he did...he went potty and then I helped him wash his hands and by the time that we were finished with that the warning siren had stopped. So he was none the wiser as to exactly why we were in the bathroom...other than a routine trip to go potty! The next time that the siren went off I read him a book in the bathroom (he may be wondering about us!). We read about vultures. After the warning quit, he and I went upstairs and looked at the pictures that I have taken of vultures. After that, he and Goosey made an angel food cake from a mix and then left on their walk with me in charge of getting the cake out of the oven when the timer went off.

Graham came over and caught up his March weather chart...yesterday was rather out of routine...so when I got home I checked Woody's thermometer that gives the high and low temp of the day and also took a barometric pressure reading from Weather Bug so Graham would have those numbers to chart today. He came over and did that and also helped us get our tornado tracking paper out from under the drawer in the cabinet that the TV sits on. We had been looking for that for a while. This tornado tracking paper came from a TV station in Huntsville and it is very good for tracking tornadoes coming our direction as our tornadoes tend to originate in Alabama. I made a copy for Graham to take over to his house for their use. Abigail came over after Graham caught up his weather chart. She was a bit unhappy when she discovered that she wasn't having sewing yesterday. She told me today that "someone" had forgotten! I told her that I hadn't, that there just wasn't anyway for me to watch all of them including Isaac and be able to have our regular sewing day! Anyway, I think that all was forgiven since she got to continue to work on her sewing notebook today! Kathy seems to be doing quite well...just rather sore due to her incisions.

I'm not exactly sure what the weather holds in store for us this evening. Weather Bug just started chirping to alert us to another tornado warning for our county...the guess is where in the county...have to take a closer look at the radar to figure that out. Woody has stuck fairly close to the TV this afternoon and evening watching all the weather developments to the south of us in Alabama...watching to see if any are coming our way. Tornado talk: Tornado Watch = conditions are right for a tornado so be alert; Tornado Warning = there has been a tornado spotted on the ground or that radar indicates one on the ground. But, for the moment for us...no warning siren blaring.

And, now, I will close with a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister! For a week I am only six years older than she!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Day of Firsts!




First off...March came in like a lamb...now we will have to see if it goes out like a lion! The first of March brought several other firsts. Goosey (Woody) and I started out the day quite early heading over to Nathan and Kathy's to take care of all six children for the first time. It was the first time that they had left Isaac with us. And, the reason for him being left with us was that Kathy was having gall bladder surgery "first" thing this morning. The next first that we experienced is pictured above...Isaac's first time to drink from a bottle. He wasn't very sure about it at first, but his sister, Abigail, was the one who finally convinced him that he was going to have to! Isaac smiled at me for the first time today. Woody took Joy and Elijah on his four-mile route for the first time and Woody took Abigail to gymnastics for the first time. There are probably other firsts that happened today. Nathan and four of the six children went to Chattanooga for a gig this evening...so as the day wore on we had less and less children. Presently I need to head back as Woody and I are helping Kathy out till Nathan and crew return. Isaac was sleeping peacefully when I left...but no telling how long that will last. Woody is going to read Abigail some bedtime stories...she is rather tired as she had gymnastics for two hours for the first time.




Oh, and reps from TVA came this morning and spent three hours inspecting all that we have upgraded. I didn't think that Woody would ever get back over to the house due to the inspection! Kathy and Nathan were back from her surgery before Woody got back over. At least it is inspected and everything passed with one exception and our heat pump company came and corrected that so we are good to go and we are really seeing a big change between last year's and this year's usage...of course it helps that we have had a mild winter...every little way that we can save helps!




Now for a speedy recovery for Kathy. She seems to be doing quite well. I can relate to gall bladder surgery...I had it before Nathan turned 1, but I can't relate to the kind Kathy had as I had what I call "the big-bad-kind" with a scar that I call a zipper...not laproscopic surgery back then. I still think that gall bladder patients are dismissed a bit too early as it is still a serious surgery. Guess I am just old fashioned...I stayed in the hospital for about six days.