Tuesday, September 30, 2014

"Hey! What's That Digger Doing?"

Isaac came outside today to see a digger undoing all the work that he and Goosey (Woody)  had done yesterday!  I'm not sure whether Isaac and Goosey were a day early or if "the city" was a day late in their endeavors!  As Woody said later, this way it was done right and they leveled off the areas.  Later this afternoon "the city" put straw on top of the newly leveled and seeded areas in our yards.  And, another good thing about their work being undone...Isaac enjoyed watching the machinery working!

We had our usual day of school for Tuesday.  Today is a day that I don't have any long times with the children...just Isaac and Elijah's school times and then reading with the others.  While I was reading with Abigial, we started smelling something good...when Abigail's time was over and Graham came in, we went to investigate.  We found out that Goosey was making cornbread.  After lunch Isaac came over to see if I was ready to go get him some new fast running shoes.  So Kathy, Isaac and I headed off after that leaving Goosey in charge of the older children and Joseph because Nathan was off running errands.
Isaac is pretty happy with his new blue, fast running shoes! He said that they were awesome! I came home and rested for a few minutes and then headed downstairs to tackle our supper.  I had planned to make chicken noodle soup, but decided that chili would be a better "go with" for the cornbread. After supper, Woody walked to the prayer room at church.  He has just returned and we are both settling in for a quiet rest of the evening for this last day in September.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Usin' Those Muscles!


This morning Woody got up early and went on a six-mile walk.  He had been postponing his walks due to the pollen count, but he "said" that today that the pollen count was down so he went early.  I notice, though, that he did have to come and get an allergy pill...so perhaps later in the day is better?

This morning the children and I had a normal Monday school day.  Not long after Isaac came and had gotten to work, Goosey (Woody) stuck his head in the school room door and told Isaac that he had a job for him when he finished his school time.  Well, it was hard to keep him the whole time after that because he was so curious as to what Goosey wanted him to do!  Isaac arrived this morning telling me all about his "muscle shirt."  Little did he know that Goosey was going to test out those muscles for the job he had for him!  Goosey and Isaac went for a drive to gather pine straw...so he helped Goosey fill up lots of Kroger and Walmart bags with pine straw and then they came back and Isaac carried those bags to the places that Goosey had seeded with grass seed. Then, I think, that Goosey took over and spread the pine straw.  Take note of who is doing all of the work of lugging those bags.  I love the picture of his daddy and all of his sibblings except  baby Joseph and his mommy following him...nary a one carrying a bag!  I think that Isaac slept well for his afternoon nap! I will say that Nathan had come over to get a picture of Isaac and that several of the others were outside practicing their unicycles, Elijah had just finished school with me and Esther was on her way over to read with me...and I had her turn back so she could be in the picture. Abigail worked some more on the dress that she is making for herself...hopefully it will get finished before the end of long-sleeved weather! Graham read to me and Elijah had his long Grammy time after lunch.  I rested for a while and then headed downstairs to fix a dish for our supper... something that he hadn't had in a long time...a hash brown casserole...yummy!  My change to this recipe was to use my homemade cream of chicken soup...so it took a bit longer than the recipe used to take. Over the weekend I stewed a chicken and also made some more liquid gold/chicken stock.  Tomorrow I will make chicken noodle soup.  I told Woody that perhaps that was what he needed for his allergy ailment...good ol' chicken soup...a cure-all-of all cure-alls!?!

Saturday, September 27, 2014

First of the "Series"

This morning I got up and headed into the sewing room.  I was determined to finish the blocks to the point that I had fabric for so I could go back to the quilt store today to get fabric for the next step.  I finished the twelve blocks fairly quickly.  Then I got to thinking about the quilts that I had already made for Nathan and Kathy's children. So looked at pictures of each of them and have decided to share them here on the blog.  My first quilt was for Abigail...a crib size quilt.  I made this for her when she was still a baby (2004). It is a Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  I had gotten Sunbonnet machine embroidery designs and wanted to use them on something and came up with this idea that let me use most of the redwork designs plus a few more that I had to finish off the little blocks and the corner blocks. My Aunt Lois instilled in me a love for the sunbonnet characters. If you click on it you can see the designs better.  Here's a close-up of one corner of the quilt:

Woody headed off for his usual Saturday errands around town...grocery stores and library.  Later in the day he did some mowing and also planted grass seed...as we have given up on the city reseeding the part of our yard that they dug up earlier in the year to work on sewer lines.  I went to the quilt store after lunch.  Then came home and popped the fabric into the washer and then drier so it will be ready when I have time to do the next step--the sashing around the blocks I have made. This evening I have been putting the final touches on tomorrow's Sunday School lesson for my ladies' class.  Woody has been reading, working cross word puzzles, watching baseball and football.  

Friday, September 26, 2014

The Ten-Hour Test

This morning Elijah came over to see us.  He asked Goosey (Woody) for some juice.  Well, at some point he spilled some when he was drinking it and Goosey handed him a paper towel.  Elijah placed it on top of the spill and said, "now leave it for ten hours and it will be gone!"  We're still waiting as the ten hour time limit hasn't occurred yet!  I'm hoping that this trick works and that all the stickiness is gone too.  Time will tell!

Woody went on his four-mile walk again late in the afternoon.  I asked him when he got home if he had gotten wet.  He said that he had gotten a bit wet.  He told me that not long after he left he thought to himself that I needed to be on the walk with my camera as the clouds were really interesting...some really dark and some really white.  I don't think that he expected a shower to pop up!  He was about a half-hour+ into his walk when it started raining here...the sun was out, but it was pouring.  All I could think was: "There's a rainbow somewhere." and "Woody is probably getting wet."  It didn't rain long.

I talked for quite a long time (perhaps a record) with my sister this afternoon.  It seems like lately we haven't gotten to talk much...so I guess we were making up for lost time.  We chased a lot of rabbits! I have also gotten more done on Isaac's quilt.  The animal squares all have the strip added to the bottom of them and they have been trimmed to the proper size, so now I am making  "triangle squares" for the corner of the block.  They are sewn together and now I am doing the trimming.  So the main squares are coming right along.  Someone invented a nifty "ruler" to create these triangle squares. I'm glad that this measuring tool was invented as it has taken the math work out of this step...thank goodness!

I forgot to mention in yesterday's blog that Woody took care of the grandchildren for a while yesterday afternoon.  Nathan came over and made arrangements with Woody, while I was reading with Graham so I didn't know anything about it till Woody told my "good bye" and where he was going.  Kathy and Nathan were in search of a birthday present for Abigail and perhaps one for Joy.  October is right on September's heels so that means that their birthdays will be here before we know it.  We have Joy's present, but so far haven't come up with what we will give Abigail.  Yesterday I asked Abigail for some suggestions.  So she went home and made a list...she said that it would be a list for her birthday and Christmas so we could choose from it and she would still be surprised!  Very thoughtful!  Kathy hand delivered the list to us...and made another suggestion that Abigail hadn't thought about.  Now for us to make a decision and find what we want (not always easy in little Tullahoma)!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Thursday

We went back to a normal day of school today.  Isaac came over first, then Elijah.  Elijah has a new way of joining me for his time...he comes in and then all is silent and stays silent till Isaac and I come downstairs and find him.  He is the best hider...he can stay so quiet and he finds a different hiding place each day.  I never know what nook or cranny he will be hiding in!  He is doing great on reading Dick and Jane books.  Today we started a new part of the big Dick and Jane book that we have been reading...a new part in this book is another Dick and Jane books and the way the books work is that the stories are very short at the beginning and then build on the words that have been introduced as you go through them.  Well, the stories had gotten quite long.  So today when we were back on short ones Elijah breezed through two stories not realizing he had read two.  When I told him, he didn't quite believe me so he checked and then decided that since they were so short that he would read another one.  So he read three stories today when he usually only reads one.  I was glad that he wanted to read more than the usual one story.  Esther is coming right along on her reader.  I brought home several books from the church library for Joy to choose from and she chose Heidi.  She didn't read today as today was her day to sew with me.  She is nearing completion on the purse that she is sewing...one that she came up with the idea for and then has designed it as she has gone along. She has learned quite a bit about both their machine and my machine and has become well accomplished at threading both machines.  Abigail is reading a Little House on the Prairie book...one that another author has written to fill in the missing years of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books.  Graham is reading a biography of C.S. Lewis.  So we are into quite varied types of reading.  And, all are enjoying what they are reading...including me. At the end of their reading time (except for Graham...he wants to spend the whole time on the book that we are reading), I read a story or two to them.  Lately we have been reading fairy tales.  Today's was several versions of Little Red Riding Hood...I read one version to Elijah (I had read another version to him yesterday) and two versions to Esther and the same two versions to Abigail.  I about have those memorized if I didn't have them memorized from when I read them over and over to Melany and Nathan (as one of the versions belonged them) and also to Erin (my mother gave Erin the set of books that the other version came from) and Alex. I wonder how many books/stories Woody and I have read to our children and now our grandchildren...(and, add in for me to my Montessori students).

Woody went for his four-mile walk while I cooked our supper.  I made a modified version of our Pasta with Spinach Sauce recipe.  It turned out to be quite good and more moist than the original recipe.  We have had supper and have now settled in for the evening.  I have been reading a new book.  Woody is probably dividing  his time between the TV, reading and cross word puzzles

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Sense of Order?

Joy's
Mine

Here is evidence that the sense of order is different from one person to another.  Dr. Maria Montessori wrote about a child's sense of order and I see this in Joy's arrangement of the apples in the bowl versus my arrangement.  When I place them in the bowl I like to have them look like they have just been poured into the bowl and fell "wherever."  But, if,  I arrange them "my way" I will inevitably find them in a day or so arranged Joy's way...with the red apples in the center and the others circling the red ones.  I had dusted the apples and bowl that sit on our kitchen table last week and wondered how long it would take for Joy to change the arrangement...and sure enough it only took a day or two for Joy to notice and arrange them "her way."  It is fun to watch children, as most do have a very definite sense of order.  I see this daily as I work with them with the Montessori equipment that we have.  When I have had the children put out various decorative items around the house, I notice that they tend to line things up...and I tend to want them haphazard (at least to them, I am sure that my arrangements seem haphazard...to me there is a plan and a reason for trying to make them not look lined up)!  I guess my sense of order has been lost...or perhaps it has just reached a different level!

We didn't have school today as Nathan and Kathy and children had a funeral to attend.  So I got up and got back to work on Isaac's quilt top.  I have managed to cut some strips and attach them to the bottom of four of the zoo animal squares.  I am pleased...so far...with the way the pieces are going together.  After lunch Woody went to do his weekly Krogering and I went to work in the church library.  When I got home I had to rest for a while...my back wasn't happy.  Woody went for a four mile walk while I rested.  After resting I went back to piecing Isaac's quilt top. I think that I have done enough of whatever for today.  I think that the rest of the day will be sitting for me.  I hear the TV going downstairs...so probably Woody is multitasking between watching TV and reading a book and settling in for the evening.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

It's Fall, Y'all!

Fall has arrived...so looking forward to the cooler temperatures and also the glorious Fall colors.  Fall came in like a lamb...beautiful day...cool temperatures..low humidity.  I know that the temperatures will go back and forth for a bit but at least we know that more cooler times are ahead of us than warm ones!  Though, truthfully, our summer hasn't been all that bad this year.

We had a normal Tuesday school day.  Isaac and Elijah had their school time with me and then the others came over for a time to read out loud with me.  Woody has just returned from his Tuesday evening walk to and from the prayer room at church.  The harvest pumpkin pictured above arrived in the mail from my sister today (Thanks, Cheryl!) along with some birthday presents for a couple of girls next door who will have their birthdays in October.  The new pumpkin is incentive to pull out some of my other Fall decorations...maybe tomorrow!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Who'll Be Next?!?

Kathy called me yesterday afternoon and asked me to grab a camera and come out as they had  something to show me.  And, what should my eyes behold once outside...but Elijah riding around in their front yard on a brand new bike.  The Dazzling Dorrell's did a performance at a church yesterday afternoon and the church had one grand prize to give away...and guess whose ticket got pulled...Elijah's.  So this is the second new bike that someone in their family won this year.  Isaac won one at an Easter Egg hunt earlier in the year and now Elijah.  Pretty nice.  The biggest thrill for Elijah was that it was a "kick stand bike."  His other bikes up to this point hadn't had kick stands.  He still has a ways to grow for this bike to be the perfect size, but he has mastered it whether it is a bit large or not.  He is whirring around the yard like he has been riding it forever. I wonder who will be the next to win a bike in their family!

Today has been a "get back in routine" day.  We followed the regular schedule for school on Monday.  Woody got a bit of a slow start on his day as he has allergy problems and he took some medicine that made him very sleepy so he lolled around for quite a while this morning.  He waited to go on his four-mile walk till this afternoon.  The temperature for this last day of summer has been quite cool...definitely it felt fall-like all day today.  Good bye, Summer!

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Fun and Games!






We have had quite an evening!  We took care of six of Nathan and Kathy's seven and added in Kathy's niece so we had seven...just not all our grandchildren!  Kathy had a special event at church tonight and Nathan and Graham were servers at the dinner at that event.  We ate over at Nathan and Kathy's and then came back over here for "fun and games!"

Woody walked four miles this morning.  Then he proceeded on to the library andthen on to do our weekly Saturday grocery shopping.  I got up and headed down to start the process of making my mother's recipe for Boston Baked Beans.  That process just ended a little while ago when I took them out of the oven after they baked for around seven hours.  And, now it is time for Woody and me to settle in and relax for the rest of the evening.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Friday Already

Looks like the internet is back on.  For a little while I thought that I wasn't going to be able to blog tonight.  Woody got up this morning and walked four miles and later in the day he did some mowing--his exercise for the day.  I worked some more on getting the animal squares ready to piece some fabric strips to them and also did some work around the house--mopping the kitchen floor being my major cleaning project for the day. After lunch six of our seven neighbor grands came over here while Kathy went to the grocery store to replenish their larders.  They have been away all this week.  They looked like they had grown while away...especially Joseph.  He is a mover these days.  He can get places pretty fast scooting the way he does.  Nothing is safe anymore...including Joseph!  Isaac is finding out what it is like to have a little brother always interested in what he is doing.  I was asked more than once by Isaac to come pick Joseph up so he wouldn't bother what Isaac was trying to do. Woody played a game of Sorry with Joy, Esther and Elijah.  Elijah came out and announced happily that he had won.  

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Thursday

Woody walked six miles this morning.  It has been another beautiful "preview of Fall" kind of day.  I finished the last animal square for Isaac's zoo animal quilt this morning.  So this afternoon I went to the local quilt shop and began my choice of fabrics.  I got the next two fabrics that I will need and then will go back and see what looks best after these squares are completed.  Today I made my first soup for this part of the year.  I did make chili last week...but today is the first "soup" that I have made.  I made one of our favorites...Stuffed Spud Soup.  Pretty good if I do say so myself.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Wednesday Wanderings

I'm just glad that today's wanderings didn't put us back into any rush hour traffic as they did yesterday.  We have had a fairly typical Wednesday.  Woody walked four miles this morning and made a stop at the pharmacy to pick up one of my prescriptions.  After lunch I headed off to get my hair cut and Woody to do our Wednesday Krogering.  After I got my hair cut, I made a stop at the church to work in the library for a couple of hours.  Then I came home and collapsed.  I was very glad that we still had chili to heat up for tonight's supper.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jog

We left the house a little before 8am and the only stops we made were to take this picture out the car window, and at stop lights, stop signs, and to park the car at Vandy, then on the way home a stop to eat and then finally when we pulled into our driveway around 6:30pm.  A long day!  Everything went well and Woody has had his last (4th) Yervoy (ipilimumab) infusion.  Now it is just wait and see when he has scans as to whether it has been working as hoped. A PET scan is scheduled for three weeks from today.

Now I wonder how many of you caught my blunder last night!  I guess I was wanting the time to go faster than it already is, since I announced that the first day of Fall was today...oops!  I realized when I was talking to Woody in the car this morning that Fall doesn't arrive until next Tuesday...and, I knew that but got mixed up with the dates when I was talking to Elijah about Fall last week.  Well, it is one of my favorite seasons I guess I just wanted it to be a week longer.  So probably yesterday's rain wasn't the last summer shower of this year...or perhaps I have become a weather predictor.  Now time will tell if I was right or not,  Oh, well...isn't the first mistake that I have ever made nor will it be the last!  

Monday, September 15, 2014

Farewell to Summer

Summer slipped in one last shower this afternoon before it bids us good bye and we welcome Fall.  The morning dawned fairly chilly...chilly enough for Woody to head out on his walk with a sweatshirt on...but upon arrival back at the house after walking four miles the sweatshirt had been shed.  I ran an errand this morning and I noticed that the humidity was back up...perhaps a foreboding of the rain to come.  I bought the thread that I needed to get back to work on the squares for Isaac's quilt and had a tweak done on my machine.  When I got home I ate lunch and was going to get back to sewing when the rain arrived.  I wasn't sure if any lightning was going to accompany the rain so I put off sewing till after supper (as in right now my machine is sewing away as I type this). Woody managed to get some mowing in before the rain.  I made chili for our supper.  Woody helped by opening all the cans and draining and rinsing the beans.  We have eaten and now I am back upstairs sewing and blogging away.  I got my "going to Vanderbilt bag" out so I could check the time of Woody's first appointment.  Now I can fill the bag with what I will need to occupy my time while waiting for lots of hours.  I'm sure that Woody will get up and print out as many crossword puzzles as he has access to at that hour(something like 9 that he does most days). I'm sure that a good part of our day will be taken up with either the trip to and from  Nashville and the time in labs, various waiting rooms, doctor's exam room, and infusion room while at Vandy.  Well, my machine is beeping that it has run out of bobbin thread (nice to have a machine that talks to you) so I'll go put a new bobbin and and get the embroidering back underway.  I just have two more designs left after this one...over the weekend I sewed out a hippo, a giraffe, a brown bear, and now working on a lion...just have an elephant and a koala left to complete the animals for Isaac's Zoo Window Quilt.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Fall-like Saturday

What a beautiful day! Summer is fast dwindling away.  According to our thermometer and Weatherbug it never left the 60's today (hi of 66).  Definitely a change is in the air!  Woody got up and walked early.  He said that it was chilly.  Later in the morning he headed off to do our Saturday grocery shopping and his weekly trip to the library. I worked a bit around the house this morning...mainly dusting and straightening things up a bit.  Graham and Elijah came over and put all the K'nex back in the "K'nex area."  So, if you should drop by for a visit, once again I can invite you to sit down in the living room...though there is still a large K'nex roller coaster front and center...a conversation piece!  I finished reading a book after lunch.  And, a little while ago finished the next animal square for Isaac's quilt...the hippo. I have now finished seven and have five to go...moving right along.  I can't embroider many more animals until I purchase some more embroidery bobbin thread (it is much thinner than regular thread) so once that happens I will have to wait to get some when the stores open on Monday. Woody and I continue to observe "blue laws" of old (nothing open on Sunday) and try not to shop or eat out on Sunday.  The only reason that we go to a store on Sunday is "if the ox is in the ditch!"  So I will get done what I can and then make preparations on the quilt...like pick out embroidery thread colors for the rest of the designs or cut the rest of the background squares.  So there is plenty I can do on the quilt without making someone work on Sunday for me to be able purchase thread (definitely not an "ox in the ditch!").  The Sunday "no shopping, etc." rule that we follow is a principle that we continue to believe in...no matter what present society has done to change the laws, folks thinking, etc.  We continue to observe Sunday as God's day...a day set aside for worship and rest. If I really followed the "no work on Sunday" as much as my ancestors, I wouldn't even be sewing...but to me sewing is restful (most of the time).

Friday, September 12, 2014

A Little of This and a Little of That

Tonight's title describes what Woody and I have done around here today.  I have gotten back to work on Isaac's quilt and have another animal head (alligator) machine embroidered on a large square.  I have the thread chosen and the fabric square ready to do the next one (hippo).  Woody started out the day with a four-mile walk. After he got back he did some weeding in one of the gardens.  I started doing some wash and got it to a point before noon and will finish drying the two loads when the magic 8pm hour arrives.  I also did a little (very little) cleaning. Graham came over to try to figure out how to get his RC helicopter to work with the transmitter Graham already has. He and Goosey (Woody) are researching it. We both cooked part of the supper tonight--Woody the veggies and I the meat.  I came upstairs to rest for a few minutes after we finished eating supper and I gave Woody the job of emptying the dishwasher.  When I go back downstairs after I blog, I will load the dishwasher and then get the drier going again.  I did take a little nap when I sat down to rest after supper.  So maybe I'll feel like doing another square for Isaac's quilt tonight...but then again...after I fold clothes and put them away I may not feel like it.  I am still coughing, but continue to "think" that it is going away...slowly but surely (hopefully). The temperatures have been much more pleasant today.  I hadn't gone outside today till I went to cut some fresh herbs for the chicken recipe that I was making and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it was cooler and much less humid...a sign that Fall is close upon us.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Remembering 9/11/01

We had a fairly "normal" Thursday.  School went according to the schedule.  Abigail finished her Little Women book today.  Graham began reading a biography of C.S. Lewis.  Woody did some mowing today for his exercise.  It has been hot and muggy...made even muggier (if that was possible) with a couple of afternoon showers.  Woody joined the neighbors around their fire pit a little while ago.  I could hear their singing from inside.  I didn't need to be around the fire with my respiratory problems.  Part of the day I would have said that I was much better and then others I wasn't so sure as I was coughing my head off...but the latter times seem to be less often..so hopefully....

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Long Wednesday!


The day seems pretty long when it starts a little before 3am.  I had slept for about four hours when I woke up so it was like a long nap and I just couldn't get back to sleep!  Woody got up not long after I did and he ended up going on an eight-mile walk...I was not so energetic...as I kept hoping to go back to sleep.  Sometime between 7 and 8am I did doze off for what I will call a power nap as I was awakened by my second alarm (the one that I have set in case I oversleep or don't hear the first one...the alarm that makes sure that I am up in time to call Isaac to come over for school).  The usual Wednesday school schedule was followed this morning.  Esther finished her first cross stitch project...a bookmark during her Grammy sewing time.  I think that she did a great job and she was very pleased (the important part!). Goosey (Woody) had his hour time with Graham.  After lunch Woody headed off to do our weekly Krogering and I headed off to work in the church library.  Once again Donna and I got a lot done.  After I left the church I had several errands to run...probably not the wisest after my day starting so early but I needed to go a couple of places and since I was already out and about I figured that I might as well run those errands.  I got home in time for supper.  Woody had popped a pizza in the oven.  It tasted really good and the spiciness was a good thing for my throat/cough.  I am still coughing quite a bit...thought last night that it was getting better...but now not so sure about whether it is subsiding or not.  We got a phone call from Vanderbilt a little while ago...a reminder about Woody's appointments next week.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Typical Tuesday

I had school with all six grandstudents this morning...Isaac and Elijah for their school times and Esther, Joy, Abigail and Graham for their reading times.  Joy finished her Little Women book and Graham his Moby Dick book.  Abigail is getting close to finishing Little Women...the book that she was reading from only had the first part so we are picking up the second part in Joy's book.  Woody did a little mowing this afternoon...all the rain is making even our grass grow. I made a spinach sauce to serve over linguine for our supper tonight.  Shortly after supper Woody headed off to walk to the prayer room at church. My cough has definitely improved from yesterday, but hasn't disappeared all together (wishful thinking!). Oh, and, I did manage to get my shirt completed over the weekend...now on to another sewing project.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Short and Sweet

As tonight's title suggest...I plan to be short and sweet.  I'm not feeling the greatest.  I am having allergy problems or something.  And, unfortunately I ran out of one of my allergy meds over the weekend and things went downhill from there.  I finally got my doctor to phone in the prescription refill late this afternoon (the pharmacy thought that they had gotten the ball rolling on Friday...but to no avail.).  Woody picked up my prescription a little while ago and I have taken it and I "think" that I am doing a bit better.  I am once again also stocked up on cough drops and cough medicine so maybe I can get whatever this is stopped before it gets much worse.

Woody walked six miles early this morning.  We had our normal Monday school day. That's our day in a nutshell!

Saturday, September 6, 2014

"The Song That Never Ends"

Saturday began as usual...Woody walked four miles and then later in the morning he did his Saturday errands...library and Walmart.  I got up and began working on finalizing the Sunday School lesson that I will be teaching to my ladies' class in the morning.  We have new literature...well, same literature just been changed quite a bit in format.  So it has taken me a good part of the week to decide just how to do the lesson.  Well, things are blocked in and now I will leave it to tomorrow to see the outcome!  A little before noon, Joseph joined us over at our house while his family went on a family bike ride.  Goosey (Woody) had to get out the old stand-by...our Old MacDonald book.  From tonight's picture it looks like Joseph really got into it!  He really liked it when Goosey mooed!  I got to feed him pears...he liked those...guess I'm glad that Kathy didn't send one of the green veggies that he isn't too fond of yet.  After he ate he sat up for a while and then started rolling and scooting across the floor.  They are in trouble next door...all little things will need to be kept out of his reach since he is getting more and more mobile.  He "threw" his pacie across the floor and he kept eyeing it and eventually got to it and got it back into his mouth.  Now for the reason for tonight's title...any of you singing it in your head since seeing the title.  Graham started singing it and kept singing it while he was over here this afternoon...hard to get it out of ones head once one hears it!  "This is the song that never ends, and it goes on and on my friend.  Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because...This is the song that never ends..."  You get the picture even if you had never heard it before!  Kathy came over with Graham and Esther and they worked on sorting K'nex...what a job.  But they are pretty much sorted now.  I asked that they leave them out from their area at the far side of the living room so I could vacuum and despiderweb since I don't get in there very much since it means taking your life in your hands not to trip...and I would probably vacuum up some valuable piece if they weren't all picked up and whisked away for at least a short time. Joy and Elijah came over while all the sorting was going on.  While they were here Esther, Joy and Graham serenaded us with songs from Frozen...and with The Song That Never Ends.  It rained some while they were here.  We also heard a few thunder rumbles.  It has been a rather wet September so far.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Friday the Fifth

Woody walked four miles this morning. I spent a good part of the day either sewing or dozing...it was that kind of day...we had more rain this afternoon...I was surprised to hear it on the roof. I had to set my sewing aside for a while as I was needing to use the sewing machine and I don't use it when it is storming...and there were some thunder rumbles around...so I decided that it was a good time for a little siesta!  I woke up really early this morning...as around 4 am and couldn't get back to sleep...so the siesta was welcome.  My shirt is almost completed just buttonholes and buttons left. Woody has read, done crossword puzzles, watched some of the U.S. Open, and also did a bit of cooking...Italian Cauliflower...and cleaned up his cooking mess.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

First Thursday in September

A very usual Thursday.  Woody went for his walk before I got school underway.  He walked four miles.  Isaac and Elijah had their school time with me.  Then Esther and Abigail read to me.  Thursday is Joy's day to sew with me.  We ended up sewing on my machine as their machine just wasn't cooperating with twin needle sewing.  I think that she liked my machine!  Uh-oh!  After lunch Graham came over and read some more in Moby Dick with me.  Then after that I haven't been able to accomplish much of anything...except rest and doze.  I did work some more on the Sunday School lesson that I'm teaching on Sunday. I think that both Woody and I can say that it has been a lazy afternoon and now evening!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Rainy Wednesday Afternoon

Woody got his four-mile walk in early...before the heat set in and also before what ended up being a rather wet afternoon.  We had school this morning...typical Wednesday...Isaac came over first, then Elijah for his lessons (he's going great guns with reading our Dick and Jane books), then I listened individually to Joy and Abigail read.  Then it was time for Esther's sewing lesson with me and Graham's chemestry lesson with Woody.  Esther finished up with the cross stitch and started in on preparations to make it into a bookmark.  After lunch Woody headed off to do his weekly Wednesday Krogering and I headed of to work in the library.  Before I got to the library it had started to sprinkle and was starting to come down a bit harder by the time that I got out of the car.  It let up for a while and when we left the library a couple of hours later it wasn't raining.  I decided that I would run an errand while I was out.  When I came out of the store, the sky was getting really dark towards where I was heading (home).  I pulled back into our driveway just as it started to pour.  I tried to wait out the rain...but after 20 min. with no signs of it letting up...I decided that I wouldn't melt and headed on inside and got drenched.  I was right...I didn't melt!  I was glad that I came on in as it continued to rain quite hard for some time after I got inside. Woody is doing crossword puzzles and watching TV and I have been reading and fiddling around on my iPad...just another quiet evening in the Dorrell household.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

2000th Post!!!!!

A night to celebrate?!?  Just think since January 7, 2009 I have posted 2000 times on this blog.  And, I know that there are some who have read every word I have written...more power to you!  I have been told that I am verbose, etc...but I am just having an "enjoyable time" keeping friends and some we have never met up to date with the status of Woody's melanoma. I enjoy coming in nightly (except Sunday...my day off from blogging) to "talk" with all of you. I have attempted to keep the posts at least a bit interesting...especially when they are just about our daily drivel.  I am happy that I continue to keep everyone up to date on Woody since when I started this blog, I never dreamed that I would still be at it since Woody was given such a short time to live.  Here I sit 69 months later still typing away about our daily doings..praising God for all this "extra" time that He has given us with Woody (since he was given less than a year to live in December 2008).  When I  first started blogging, I just wrote a post when it was pertinent to something that was happening with Woody...surgeries, treatments, etc.  But at Woody's suggestion I started blogging daily...that way you, my readers, didn't have to guess when I would post.  There have been times when things were rather tense with "things" that were going on with Woody so those days I blogged several times in a day to keep you up to date on what was happening.  It helped me to be able to share some of those tense times and ask for prayer as I sat sometimes rather overwhelmed at Woody's hospital bedside. The blog posts are like diary posts and I refer back to them at times to get time frames in mind or remember something pertinent to tell the docs...one excuse about why I go into so much detail sometimes. Anyway...thanks to all who have stuck with me through thick and thin.  I hope that some of you that I don't know have gleaned something about Melanoma treatments that you might be facing or that a loved one might be facing. Thanks for listening to/reading my words for all these days/months/years.  2000 posts certainly equal a lot of words. Wonder if I will be posting 2000 posts from now!  Time will tell!

Today we got back into routine after yesterday's Labor Day celebration.  I had school this morning with Isaac and Elijah and then listened individually to Esther, Joy, Abigail, and Graham read.  Then this afternoon I took it easy.  We have enjoyed Labor Day leftovers...so no cooking. Abigail is happy as the shoes that were ordered for her came in so we took her to pick them up.  Woody walked to the prayer room this evening and has just returned.  He said that he hasn't experienced any more fatigue like he did yesterday morning...so that is good.

Monday, September 1, 2014

U.S. Open

Elijah was pretty excited when Goosey (Woody) offered to teach him how to play tennis.  They found the junior tennis racket that we bought Melany when she was Elijah's age.  Then they headed off to find a tennis court.  They played for a while and then came home about the time that Melany, Wade, and Alex arrived.  We had our family Labor Day cookout for the supper meal this year.  Erin didn't join us as she is visiting with Wade's parents.  The children had fun playing together and roped Aunt Melany and their daddy into playing several games...Melany played Sorry with several of them and Nathan played a game of baseball with several...until he had to start up his duties of cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs. Alex taught Graham a new card game.  We ate at Nathan and Kathy's.  I think that a fun time was had by all!  Happy Labor Day 2014!

(I will add just so I can remember...Woody did admit that he got awfully tired today when he had hardly done anything...just gone out and emptied the kitchen wastebasket and the compost bucket.  He came back in and sank into his chair.  He said that he guessed he couldn't tell Dr. Sosman at his next appointment that he hadn't had any fatigue.)