Saturday, September 29, 2018

Make-Up Ball Games

Woody worked in the garden mulching and weeding in the cool of this morning.  The day started out with a nip in the air, but by ball game time it was warmed back up.  Isaac's game started thirty minutes before Elijah's.  I stayed at Isaac's till it was over and then made my way over to Elijah's.  Woody stayed at Isaac's until Elijah's game started.  Both boys had good games.  Isaac got a base hit and a run batted in.  One time Isaac swung so hard that he fell down...his mommy captured that on her phone.  Isaac's team came from behind and only lost by two runs...good game...more exciting than most coach pitch games!  Elijah's team won handily.  I'm not sure the ending score as not long after we got over there to watch his game after Isaac's whoever had been keeping score quit and the rest of the game we weren't sure of anything except that we were ahead.  I think that Elijah's team ended up with 13 and the other team 2 or 3.  On the way down from the bleachers (bleachers that I don't like because the seating/steps are deep and high), I managed to pull a real graceful move and fell.  And, by God's grace (no comparison to my grace, thank goodness), I didn't break anything!  I imagine that I will know more about the fall tomorrow!

After the game, Woody and I stopped at the library to return his books and look around to see if we could find any others to check out.  I checked out three and came home to find out that I had already read two of them!  I couldn't decided if the story line sounded familiar or not and I knew that the book cover didn't look familiar.  But I read a lot of this author's books as e-books and e-books don't have covers for me to remember!

I spent most of the rest of the day reading or dozing. Woody  watched a movie that he checked out from the library, watched a St. Louis Cardinal game on TV, baked some mini muffins for his Sunday School department and did some reading.   Oh, and I did go next door to get Abigail's cheesecake out of the oven when the timer rang.  They went to a fund raiser at Arrowhead Boy's Ranch this afternoon.

Friday, September 28, 2018

A Rainless Fall Day!

To my knowledge it did not rain today unless it was sometime during the night and I'm pretty sure that it didn't rain then either as I didn't have the most restful night last night...awake more than I slept.  But I did get the PDF file finished that I was working on last night.  Woody proofed it this morning and I made the few corrections and then sent it on to the sewing club leader for her approval.  I haven't heard back from her yet.  She is teaching at a sewing/quilting expo so may not have time to look at it till she gets back to her home.  At least it is done except for posting it.  So with that one I am caught up...BUT...she hasn't posted September's two videos yet since she has been away so much.  She plans to get then filmed this coming week when she gets home.  So my being caught up will be very short lived!

Woody's exercise for today was going to the various grocery stores for our weekly shopping and then taking his friend to do his shopping.  Woody worked in the garden weeding and mulching taking advantage of hopefully softer ground so weed pulling was easier.  I got back to work on Esther's blouse.  I have the pattern pieces altered that had to be changed from a dress to a blouse.  That got a bit confusing as I don't think that the instructions were correct so I had to alter the alterations!  But have two new pattern pieces traced...now to get them pinned onto the fabric and then cut out!  Maybe it will be finished before cold weather sets in!  Next week is predicted to be very summer like once again.  It's going to be a bit big so it should fit her even better in the Spring and Summer next year.  During part of my waking hours in the middle of the night, I managed to finish the book that I was working on finishing yesterday.  It is now in the stack of books for Woody to take back to the library tomorrow.

I spent time on the internet looking at kidney-friendly recipes.  And, many of those recipes, even though supposedly kidney friendly are not okay for Woody to eat.  It's like a black hole in my mind when I try to figure out what I can cook that will be okay.  Tonight I cooked eggplant slices...only dipped them in egg and then browned them in a small amount of olive oil.  I did put some Italian herbs in the egg wash, but I'm not sure that they added to the taste...maybe?

Tomorrow will be a different Saturday for us.  Both Elijah and Isaac have make-up ball games in the morning.   I think that Woody will be able to get his library visit in before the games.  And, if not, then he will go later than usual! Tonight we are settled in for our usual quiet (some would say boring...but I try not to use that word)...and truly I don't find them boring nor do I think Woody does.  We can usually find something to occupy our time even when it comes to doing nothing.  Books can always fill in the slot that might lead to boredom!


Thursday, September 27, 2018

Rainy Fall...So Far

I woke up in the early hours of the morning and it was raining once again.  I fell back to sleep and then almost overslept for school time...but didn't.  We had a good morning of school.  This is the day that the little boys look forward to.  They get to have some extra time playing Osmo.  Joseph calls it his "Osmo Day."  He was very glad the other day when I was sick that it wasn't "Osmo Day!"  At some point when one of the children came in to read, Peaches followed them in and came in to take a bath and dry off.  She slept for most of the rest morning in one chair or another and then came in and plopped on the guest bed when Isaac was sewing during his long time.  Esther came and got Peaches when it was time for her lunch.  By that time it was raining again...not sure, but I think that Peaches would have rather had a place to stay dry and nap or lunch!

Woody missed out on his time to walk due to the rain and both baseball games were cancelled this evening due to the wet fields.  I had a pretty lazy afternoon while it rained once again.  I read a good portion of the afternoon...that is if I wasn't dozing!  I'm trying to finish a book that is due on Saturday so Woody can take it back to the library when he makes his weekly trip to the library.

Woody went out to check the rain gauge twice to see how much rain we got since the last time when it registered 4 inches.  This time not quite as much...only 3/4"...but still quite a bit over the last 48 hours...almost 5 inches!  The ground is rather soggy!

Woody spent most of the day watching "the hearing."  I watched a very little, heard a little, and read a little about it.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

It's Fall Y'all!

It's beginning to look like Fall around our house...at least on several tables.  Amongst these pumpkins there are some real ones...ones that we grew.  Isaac was not happy with the way I displayed one of the real pumpkins.  The yellowish one at the back...he said that the way I had it made it look like it was moldy!  There are some green bumps on it...I just thought that it added character but not in his six-year-old eyes!  So that one has been turned around so it shows the smooth side!  My newest pumpkin is the glass one in the middle.  Cheryl, my sister, gave that to us.  Today I had an interesting experience with attempting to order her a Fall gift.  I got a funny message after I "pushed" the place order button and I didn't know if it got ordered or not.  I ended up "live chatting" with one of the employees at the online catalog.  She ended up calling me and we ended getting it straightened out...at least I think that it is.  I've told Cheryl to be on the look out for a package...it contains her fall gift and my niece's birthday present.  The way that I found out that the order had gone through was that our Credit Union account showed the order in the list of outgoing funds!  So I think that it will be winging its way towards Arizona!

Today has been a VERY rainy day!  Woody checked the rain gauge a little while ago...it has stopped raining at least for the moment...and we had gotten FOUR inches!  It actually poured from the very early hours of the morning on through the rest of the morning.  I decided that we could have a day off from the library.  In the end it wasn't actually raining when it would have been time to go to the library, but I enjoyed the day off. I ended up doing a little cooking.  I tried to replicate a dish that I had as a child...Chicken and Noodles...not a soup, but chicken and noodles in a thicker "sauce."  I was successful in making a tasty dish, though not exactly the taste that I remember...but it was good...so that is what counts.  Woody even had a little and I think that he had a bite or two of chicken.  It was mostly noodles, carrots, celery (thanks to the "store" next door), onion, red, yellow, and orange peppers, and garlic in a sauce made from chicken broth with a little shredded chicken added.  Explanation about the "store" next door: when the neighbors (Nathan and Kathy) or us need something that is lacking in a recipe we go shopping at each others house to see if either of us might have the needed ingredient/s...this time celery.  Convenient when we aren't heading off to the grocery store.

Woody cooked one of our pumpkins today. We had one going bad so he cut it up, peeled it, boiled it and then pureed it in the food processor.  Now it is all ready to freeze and be ready for him to make pumpkin pudding or for me to make pumpkin pies.  And, Thanksgiving isn't all that far away. I realized what was happening to the year when I made a hair appointment yesterday.  I get my hair cut every five weeks...the next appointment is October 30th and the next is December 4th (say it isn't so!).  The year is just disappearing!  I'm trying to figure out why time seems to be flying...surely it isn't because I am getting old!?!


Tuesday, September 25, 2018

And, The Rains Came Down

Woody woke up early this morning and walked to the prayer room at church.  He knew about the predictions of rain for later in the day.  And, he was so right, as about the time he would have normally headed out for the prayer room, the heavens had opened up.  We are predicted to get quite a bit of rain over the next day or so.

About the time that Woody was heading out the door to walk to church this morning, I was realizing that I didn't feel very well...well, I had known for a while but "it" hit me shortly after he left.  So my day has been sort of a "do nothing" kind of day.  I finally rested really well late this afternoon and just woke up from a "nap" just a little while ago.  The only thing that I accomplished today was later in the day I did feel well enough to head out to get a hair cut...my only "outing" of the day.  I'm not sure exactly what got me, but I am just glad that it wasn't very long lasting! I think that things tomorrow will run along "as usually scheduled!"

Last evening I did start doing something that I had put off way too long this year...I started sorting the pictures that I have taken so far this year!  I got January's sorted and part of February's.  I didn't want to end up at the very end of the year having to do all the pictures that I have taken for the whole year.  At least I am underway with that "little" job.  I don't know why I sometimes wait so long.  I store them according to day taken so at least I know when they were taken and can tell if it was someone's birthday, etc!  It's just that I have to go through four cameras worth of photos that I have taken over the months...sometimes that is a lot and then sometimes not.  I think that I have taken less photos this year, but may change my mind about that as I get into the year!  I usually take less in the early months of the year because it is cold and we are out and about less.  


Monday, September 24, 2018

Rainy Day Monday!

We have had rain off and on for most of the day.  No walk for Woody because it was always threatening to rain.  He headed off to go to the Life Care Center before I got underway with school and was gone for a couple of hours.  He did return while I was reading with one of the children.  It really started pouring when Joy had her long time with me, but had pretty much let up when it was time for her to head home.  She continued to work on the color bean bags and bag to store them in for her Aunt Melany.  The bag is now almost done...one more sewing session and it should be time for us to get them to Melany so she can use them with her kindergarten classes.

Woody made Apple Zucchini Bread today.  I made eggplant for our supper.  I have continued on my "cleaning jag."  I finished the dining room and decorated for Fall in there.  I also continued my vacuuming this morning before school...I did the stairs and the upstairs hall and the school room and upstairs hall bathroom. I'm trying to decide if I am going to do any more shampooing...no more cleaning at least for today!  I'm done in with cleaning for today!  I also worked on getting ready to write the next PDF file.  I watched the video again and took notes.  So the next step is to write the PDF.  I'll also save that for another day!  I have been in communication with the head of our club.  She is getting ready to do a give-away to the club--supplies and notions that go with the videos that have been donated by a fabric store that is near her in South Carolina.  A lot of us order online from this store so we are always hopeful that our name/number will be drawn!  We had to make a couple of changes to the member list that I made a few weeks ago.

Woody is at the Monday Night Furnace Room prayer meeting.  I continue to hear rain drips on the roof.  Once it quits, it should make for easier weeding for Woody!  Woody is home.  I guess we are now ready to settle in for a quiet Monday evening.  I'm going to go read and wait for the sewing club drawing! I'm sure that Woody will click on the TV and settle into his recliner with a book and do a little multitasking!

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Saying Good-Bye to Summer

I think that Fall begins sometime today and that tomorrow is the first full day of Fall.  Still doesn't feel like Fall...but I know that it will eventually!  I have noticed that it is getting darker earlier lately.

Woody has worked in the yard today--mowing, weeding and mulching.  He also went to the library this morning.

After I got up this morning,  I vacuumed the part of the dining room that I had shampooed yesterday and then scooted the dining table over so I could do the part under the table that I couldn't do yesterday.  I got that small portion finished.  After I blog, I plan to go vacuum that part and get the table moved back.  Where the table is at the moment is an accident waiting to happen!  It is in our usual path to walk through the dining room.  Now that it is dark out you can't see it if you walk into the room without turning the light on and I am sure that one of us will walk right into it!  I have left the light on till I get the vacuuming done and the table moved back to its normal place.

Abigail came over a little after supper and she and I worked on a zipper bag made with vinyl.  It turned out really cute.  Vinyl isn't as forgiving as fabric is...can't take out miss sewn seams, etc.  And, it is rather hard to turn inside out, but she managed with very little help from me.

Woody is reading and watching TV.  I am going to go vacuum the area I shampooed this morning and then I think that I will be ready to sit down and read one of the three books that I have going at the moment.  So that pretty well sums up another quiet Saturday evening in this Dorrell household.

Friday, September 21, 2018

Rainy Friday Morn

It sounded so good to hear rain on the roof this morning.  Woody didn't walk early because of the rain.  He got his exercise grocery shopping!  He did our weekly grocery shopping and then after he dropped ours off so I could put them away, he headed off to run errands with his friend who doesn't have transportation. He also took advantage of the rain after it stopped and did some weeding and mulching.  He has also made our Italian cauliflower recipe--one of the few of our tried and true recipes that he can still eat with no changes to the recipe.

I was a bit lazy today.  A rainy morning just brought out the lazy in me! I think that all the activity of the last few days caught up with me.  But I did manage to get the dining room floor vacuumed and shampooed--a good job for the day.  I spent time reading...once again two e-books that I had requested became available just a day apart and Woody found me a good book at the library last week.  So at the moment I am reading on all three of them!  I read a little on one and my next break read on one of the others, and so on.  They are different enough that it isn't hard to keep the story lines separated in my head!

Abigail came over this afternoon to get ready to make a birthday gift.  She watched the how-to video and then looked at some trim to use.  She hopes to come over tomorrow to make it.  It is a zipper bag, but this time she will use clear vinyl, a zipper, and some trim to make one.  It is one of the lessons from my sewing club.  When Woody proof read the PDF file for sewing on vinyl, he said that he thought that Abigail should try to make a bag with vinyl.  So I suggested it to her and she liked the idea.  It is a bit quicker than the way she usually makes her zipper bags.  This may end up being her new favorite way to make zipper bags!  

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Night of Firsts!


It was Woody's and my first time for a double header.  Elijah's game started at 5pm and Isaac's started at 6:30pm.  We started out with a beautiful blue sky with puffy clouds and ended the evening with a beautiful gibbous moon.  This was the first time that I got to see at least part of Elijah's game. I left around 6pm to walk Isaac over for his practice time prior to his game.  Elijah had a great game.  I saw him do a super job of fielding the ball when he was playing right field.  He also got to play 2nd base and he was the relief pitcher.  He pitched to the last batter and struck him out only having to pitch four balls.  That was his first time pitching this Fall Ball season. I also got to see him hit the ball and ended up scoring.  I believe that it was his first time to slide into home plate...and made it safely! Elijah's team won their game.

Isaac's game seemed to go a little bit faster than Elijah's.  There is a little less hitting in their coach pitch.  But tonight the boys on his team were hitting pretty well.  The boys on the other team out hit them and in the end the other team won. Isaac did hit the ball, but was thrown out at first...though Nathan got it on video and really the first baseman dropped the ball so Isaac should have been out.  There are no umpires in Coach Pitch. Isaac also did a pretty good job of stopping a ball that came to him in the outfield and threw it in rather than holding like so many do.  All in all a very good night for a double header.  It was pretty warm at the start, but as the evening progressed it got to be quite pleasant with a light breeze.

Woody beat the heat today by getting up early and walking six miles.  He helped me lug furniture around so I could finish shampooing the carpet in the family room.  The job of shampooing about wore me out!  But it does look better, so I guess it was worth the effort. I also continued in relocating patterns which freed up some space in my sewing cabinet and I rearranged three shelves in that cabinet.  I also decided that I could go through some more of the files that I have.  Over the years besides recipes I have clipped decorating ideas and put them in files.  I decided that as a sign of the times that I now save decorating ideas in Pinterest so I am doing away with a lot more files in the file cabinet.  So all in all it has been a pretty active day for these two Dorrells.  And, it was a pretty busy, long one for the neighbor Dorrells as well.  They drove all the way back from Texas today.  Nathan said that he got up at 3am and they were home a little after 2pm.  Long drive.  I'll bet they will be glad to see their own beds after sleeping in their camper for quite a few days.


Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Fall Is How Many Days Away?

This is what the car said that the outside temperature was when I was heading home from working in the library and running a quick errand.  Surely it isn't almost Fall!  Summer must just be starting up good!
It was so hot today that Woody decided that he wouldn't walk.  He drove to the local Farmer's Market.  Today he came home with green beans and corn--two things that are on his list of okay foods. He washed and cut off the ends of the beans and I cooked them when I got home from the library. And, I could actually use one of the recipes in one of our cookbooks.  I only had to make one change--butter to olive oil--a change that I usually do when making this recipe.  This recipe has quite a lot of garlic in it--another food item that is okay for him to eat.

This morning I woke up again way too early...especially on a day that I don't have school!  I decided that I would continue to index my sewing notebook and managed to get that done.  That empty file cabinet drawer kept calling my name and I decided that I would put some patterns in that drawer.  I had a group of patterns that I keep in my sewing cabinet on a shelf, but any time that I go to get one, the others tend to slide off.  I think that this drawer will tame them!

Woody did do some work outside.  But when it grew too hot he came inside.  He spent more time on the laptop getting a worksheet ready for his 6th through 8th grade Sunday School boys.  After lunch, I headed off to the library.  Donna, Fran and I all worked on processing some new books.  We got several ready for the new book shelf and several others just in the beginning stages of being processed.  Library work is ongoing!.  I ran a quick errand after I finished at the library. By the time I got home it was about time to start dinner.  Woody was working on the beans and I did the cooking after he finished.  They really tasted pretty good.  It's good to have really fresh green beans.

Woody had brought the vacuum downstairs and plopped it in the family room.  I told him that if he would pick up his things around his recliner and then vacuum, that I would run the shampooer.  There were several places in the room that really needed shampooing and the rest of the room probably enjoyed having the carpet refreshed a bit.  The shampooing has done me in for this day.  The recliner is calling my name so I can rest my back!

I doubt that I get anything done on Esther's blouse tonight. But I thought that I would show you what I have so far.  One side cut out, the back cut out, and the other side with the pattern pinned on and ready to be cut out.  Then it will be time to spread out the rest of the fabric and see if I can figure out what they are talking about for altering it to be a blouse instead of a dress! The fronts are the pieces more heavily embroidered.  The back has just a little embroidery on it just above the waist.



Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Sign of the Times

Tonight's photo is my old way of having new recipes at hand...clipped from magazines and filed according to categories.  Then when I wanted to find a new recipe bread, as an example, I would get out the file folder with the bread recipes in it and look through them.  There is no telling how many hours it took me to go through many, many magazines (Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living, Family Circle, etc.) and then get them all filed.  I guess it kept me out of trouble at that time.  But these days I find myself never going to the files as I can just search on line for a type recipe that I am looking for.  So today I cleared out this drawer and put all those pages out by the side of the road to be recycled...at least there is recycling these days...probably back in the day when I was tearing them out of magazines...the rest of the magazine just went into the regular trash can.  I can say that I have almost an empty file cabinet drawer.  I saved only a few items that were in it.  Even the two notebooks at the back of the files, I emptied and threw away all the recipes in them.  Recipes that I had used from these files and we liked are now in our "tried and true" cookbook/notebook...so not all is lost!  But I guess I will make way for something else to be stored in that drawer and do my recipe searching via internet.  We now have a few more file folders as I just turned them inside out if they were still in good shape and we will recycle those ourselves!

Woody has spent a lot of time on the computer today researching information for his Sunday School lesson. I have heard quite a lot about Noah and the flood coming through the wall that is common to the bedroom and the sewing room (where the laptop is). He spent some time, but not a lot of time, outside due to it being very warm/hot today.   He did decide that it was okay to walk to the prayer room this evening.  He hasn't returned yet...it should be quite a bit cooler for his walk back since the sun will have gone down.

My big accomplishment besides emptying out the file cabinet drawer was getting to post the last PDF file for last year's sewing club.  So Club 1 is behind me for writing...just Club 2 is ahead for writing instructions...that is a good feeling!  I have also worked at getting ready to be able to cut out the rest of Esther's blouse.  I am shifting things around on the sewing table so I can cut out.  I still have to alter the pattern as the pattern is for a dress and I will have to follow some instructions that don't make a lot of sense, at least at this point.  Usually things like this become clear when I am in the midst of doing them.  I'm hoping that is the case for these instructions!

Monday, September 17, 2018

Fall Break

Woody headed off fairly early to have Bible study and visit at Life Care Center.  He spent a good part of the morning there.  I started my day off a bit differently as I am on Fall Break from school.  On a day that I didn't have to set an alarm or get up early, I woke up exceptionally early.  I started off the day reading for a while and then did some more embroidery on Esther's blouse.  I also worked on a PDF file for the embroidery club. Woody proofed it for me.  I am just waiting for the club leader to approve it so I can post it.  When I post that one, I will have completed all the PDF files for Club 1...so a major goal met.  Now I can just concentrate on the present club.  At the moment I am only shy one PDF file for the videos that she has posted so far this club year.  And, that one she hasn't sent me any photos yet so I am current at least for the moment.  She did tell me the other day that she had begun choosing photos to send me for the next file.  And, I think that she has done another video today so there will be that one to do once it is posted and she has sent me the photos.  I am determined to not get behind.  I didn't have the job of writing the PDFs for last year's club till quite late in the year and she hadn't had time to write them as she went along.  We are hoping to stay caught up this year!
Since we aren't having school, I decided that it was a good day to get the school room and the kid's sewing room straightened up a bit. Just moments ago I completed the embroidery on Esther's blouse...a major accomplishment.  Now to get to constructing it...but first I still have most of it to cut out.

Woody has done crossword puzzles, studied his Sunday School lesson, read, watched TV, done some things on the computer, and a multitude of other things during the day that he's doing while I'm doing my thing!.  Right now he is at the Furnace Room prayer meeting.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Saturday Saunterings

Woody spent some time early this morning out in the yard working on weeding and mulching the front garden.  Later in the morning, he headed to the library for his weekly visit.  Before he left, I finished a book so he could take it back.  It was due during this coming week before Saturday and I knew that if it didn't get back that we would probably forget and not get it back till the usual Saturday library trip and by then it would be overdue.  While he was away I got ready  for our "adventure" of the day.  We met our friends the Hastys for lunch at Granny Fishes and then went over to their house.  We hadn't seen it since it was finished and they were settled in.  When we got to the restaurant we were surprised to see their son, his wife and their younger son. We enjoyed visiting with all of them.  When we got to their house, Woody and Doyle toured and Linda and I toured.  I will say that Linda's and my tour lasted longer...I guess we were a bit more thorough!  We found the men watching TV in a couple of different places as we toured through.  It was wonderful to get to see the house with them getting all settled into it. And, I was glad to get to give them their "house warming" gift that I made for them--microwave bowl cozies.  And, of course, it is always good to get to visit. We always pick up right where we left off in our conversations and then chase lots more rabbits!   We had a very nice afternoon.  We are back home settling in for the evening.  I am still working on the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. Woody is reading and watching TV downstairs.  

Friday, September 14, 2018

Finally Friday


Sometimes what your eyes tell you are seeing is deceiving.  When I took my friend's field of sunflowers, last year in July, I thought that I was getting a mass of yellow sunflowers.  When I zoomed in I realized that I was only getting the back of them due to the time of day.  They were almost all turned toward the sun.  Still pretty, though!

Woody got up and walked four miles this morning.  I was awake when he left.  I was reading and studying the lesson material for Sunday's Sunday School lesson.  I've at least gotten a good start on it.  Woody headed off to the grocery store fairly early.  When he returned he plopped our bags of groceries on the kitchen table and turned and headed off to run errands with his friend who has no transportation--and now he has no means of communication unless he borrows someone else's phone.  He had a free one that the government doles out, but it has run out of minutes and there is no way to get another according to him.  It's sad to be in such a situation.  I stuck around the house all day and have done a little of this and a little of that.  I did one more row of embroidery on Esther's dress...just two more rows to go.  I also washed a couple of loads of clothes and have put them away.  I made a new recipe for lunch.  Woody even ate a little of it.  He has made a cauliflower recipe that we both really like (one of the few of our tried-and-true recipes that he can still eat.  Of the thousands of recipes that I have tried there are now very few of those that he can eat.  I made Chicken Fricassee...partly as a memory of what mother used to make, though this one wasn't all that much like Mother's.  The one good thing about it is that it has a thickened sauce that is only made from chicken broth (an okay item on his diet) and no milk (milk products are no-no's for his diet).  It had quite a few approved veggies in it.  And, I didn't put a ton of chicken in it so he could easily get around those pieces or eat a few small pieces.  This time I topped it with refrigerator biscuits (not approved) so he could skip those.  The next time I can make my own biscuits and then it would be okay for Woody to have at least part of one of those.  This time I was trying to use up items that we had in our refrigerator.  Anyway, it tasted pretty good...again, not like Mother's, but still reminded me of hers. Most of the rest of things that I did today were read, do a little straightening up around the house, and probably sat around too much...but I did enjoy my day off!  Part of the washing included some fabric for my next project--a doll dress that we got the pattern for from our sewing club.  I think that I have gathered up all the supplies.  But will work on Esther's before starting on one for the doll!  Woody has read, done crossword puzzles, watched TV, and helped me clean up the kitchen. Now we are settling in for another hopefully quiet evening.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Thoroughly Thursday!

This day has been quite a day and it isn't over yet.  I'm blogging early because we have two ball games this evening.  Isaac's at 6:30 and Elijah's at 7:00.

Woody started out the day quite early as he had an early appointment at his dermatologist's.  He had several precancerous places on his face that had to be frozen.

While he was still gone, I got underway with school.  We had a fairly normal Thursday, though a couple of them missed their reading times.  Thursday is "Osmo Day" for Joseph.  He gets to play the educational games on my iPad after he does his reading lesson and a math lesson.  Isaac joined him half-way through so they could play together.  Isaac had his long time.  Today I taught him how to seam two pieces of cloth together.  He came up with the idea that they could be turned into a pocket and I told him that they could become a small pillow.  He decided that he wanted a project to stuff so chose the pillow.  It is quite small as you can see in the photo.  I didn't realize that it was going to become a project when I cut the narrow strip for him to sew a seam in! Since it became a pillow, we can call it his first completed sewing project!  Probably one of many!

The phone rang just as he was finishing up with turning it inside out.  I heard the message and it was a friend who was going to drop by with some fresh veggies.  She came just a few minutes later and we sat on the front porch and visited for a while.  Woody had been gone to get the oil changed in the Fusion and also made a grocery stop at Aldis.  He got home and joined us on the front porch.  We had a nice visit. During her visit Goosey (Woody) discovered a toad on a tree that Isaac was leaning against.  The toad was entertainment for a while for the children and Peaches, Esther's cat!  As my friend was leaving our good friends the Hasty's drove up.  They were dropping off some tickets for "the neighbors" (Nathan, Kathy and family). Again, we visited for a few minutes and made some plans to get together later in the week.  All during these visits Isaac was checking to see if it was time for him to stuff his pillow. We did get the pillow stuffed and I got a picture before he had to leave for juggling practice. Can you tell he likes blue?  The pillow and his shirt are a very close match!  This afternoon I talked with Cheryl, my sister, for quite a while.  We hadn't talked in a while so had quite a bit to catch up on!  To sum up my day = a visiting day!  Woody continues to weed and mulch in spare moments.  Now we're off to the ball games!

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Wednesday Is Winding Down

Woody headed off to walk to the local Farmer's Market before school started for me.  I think that he got corn and zucchini...two of his staples these days!

School started out like normal with Joseph coming over.  He has really matured over the summer and he is finally a willing student and we really have a good time for the 45 minutes to an hour that he spends with me.  Isaac read with me and then Joy showed up instead of Elijah.  Elijah and Esther had gone on an errand with their dad.  When they got back Esther came over to read and then Elijah read and he just stayed for his long time.  He asked Esther to join him for his long time today as they had hatched up a plan to try to build a robot with K'nex.  I pretty much let them work on that since it was their idea and they worked together really well for the whole of Elijah's time. I put together a potato salad for me since it isn't on  Woody's list of okay things to eat.  I am also considering limiting some of what I eat because I do have Chronic Kidney Disease (probably due to medication)...just not to the point of Woody's. Woody is in stage 4 and I am in stage 3.  It was suggested at Woody's counseling session that it would help me if I ate like Woody.  I will to a point, but am just not ready to be as strict as Woody is being.  I'm just not ready to give up all milk products, meat, etc.  My potassium level is not too high so I decided that it was okay for me to have some potatoes! I'll talk it over with my doctor when next I see her!

Woody has been in and out today as he continues to weed and mulch in the large flower garden that we share with "the neighbors" (Nathan, Kathy, & family). He weeds for a while and then comes in to rest.
After lunch I headed off to the library.  I ended up working by myself again today.  I made a new display of a couple of new author's for our library and put away the books that had been on display.  I processed three books that went in the display.  I also checked books in and out and shelved the books that had been returned.  After accomplishing that I left and ran a couple of errands on my way home.  I needed a piece of lace for the doll dress that we are making in our Facebook sewing club. (The leader of the club and I did manage to get the instructions proofed and corrected and they have been posted in the club...big accomplishment Monday evening.) I had been gathering items that I would need to make the dress and when I got the final supply list (I got it first of the club members...a perk of doing the proofing!) I realized that I didn't have enough of the proper sized lace to go around the neck of the doll dress.  I think that I now have everything I need to be able to make it "one of these days" when I find the time!  I do need to make Esther's blouse first, though.  I did work some more on the embroidery for that last night and I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel...I can probably get the embroidery done this evening.  After finding the lace, I headed off to Office Max to buy a notebook for this year's sewing club and also some more sheet protectors.  Between the children's sewing notebooks and cookbooks for Woody and me, I really go through a lot of sheet protectors. Got those and a special pencil sharpener for Esther's colored pencils and then headed home.

After I got home, Woody peeled an eggplant and washed a green pepper, while I sat down to rest for a few moments.  Then I went down and completed an eggplant recipe for us to nibble on for tonight's supper. Woody's diet not only limits items that he can eat, it also limits quantity.  One serving of this eggplant was only 1/2 cup.  So we both ate a serving and there are still several more servings for another meal or two!

Woody is unwinding in front of the TV probably with a book in hand.  I think that I may go watch a show on my iPad and do some more embroidery on Esther's blouse.

Tonight's blog photo is of a Great Blue Heron that I took some time back.  I just happened upon it and decided that I would post it tonight.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Truly Tuesday

The things that make me know that it is truly Tuesday are: 1) who had long time with me during school time--Esther; 2) Woody walked to and from the prayer room at church; 3) Woody has taken the garbage can to the road for pick up tomorrow!  Those are things that are a part of the Tuesday routine in our household.  We are pretty much creatures of habit!

Woody has also weeded and mulched today.  I cooked some chicken breasts and made broth.  Esther came over again after lunch to finish up a painting that she left midstream when her hour was over.  She learned to paint different shapes of trees and learned about mixing different shades of green.  She also painted a picture of a whale diving down into the water...just the tail is sticking out of the water and the sky looks like a sunset. She continues to enjoy painting with water colors during her long time.  Joy brought her Birthday/Christmas list over today and made sure that we realized that her birthday is a month from tomorrow!  I guess Esther's paints have intrigued Joy, as one of the items on her birthday/Christmas list was water colors.  I have worked some more on the embroidery on Esther's blouse.  Maybe I will get that done soon so I can start constructing the blouse so she will have it while it is still short-sleeve weather. Woody has done cross word puzzles, read and watched TV when he wasn't outside working in the garden. I attempted to read a little this afternoon, but my eyes kept trying to shut.  I did get a little more read in my book.

Monday, September 10, 2018

Meanderings on Monday

Woody started off his meanderings on a four-mile walk.  He came back saying that he had had to get his sweatshirt as it was chilly and a bit rainy.  He has taken advantage of the rain that we got yesterday and today and has gotten back to weeding out some of the flower beds so he can get back to mulching.  A little before I headed off, Woody left to go to Life Care to have Bible study and visit with some of the residents.

Not long after he left for Life Care, I headed out to meet friends for breakfast.  We had an enjoyable morning visiting with each other.  Food was good but the friendship of so many years was better!

I came home to collapse for a little while.  Oh, I guess I should explain why I could play hooky this morning and go out for breakfast!  I had the day off from school as this was a traveling back home day for Nathan, Kathy, and family.  They had done programs in a church in Arkansas over the weekend.  They were back home when I got home from breakfast and Elijah came over to see if I could help him adapt a bag that he carries a game system in.  He needed me to add another pocket so he could put his games in it.  I managed to meet his approval and got that little project done.

This evening I am in communication with the head of our sewing club.  She is going to post a doll dress pattern for the club to make and I have been proofing it and checking things for her.  We started calling each other back and forth yesterday so I could give her changes.  It's sort of fun being on this side of the sewing industry!  Right now I am attempting to print out the pattern to full size for her to see if it is scaled properly.

Woody is at the Furnace Room Prayer meeting this evening.  Once he gets home, I believe that our meanderings for this Monday will be over!  I'm "off " to do the checking of the pattern for the club.  My last meandering of the day...at least I don't have to leave home!


Saturday, September 8, 2018

Celebrating 90 today

This afternoon Woody and I went to a 90th birthday party for a lady in our church.  Two weeks ago celebrated 100 and today 90. I asked Woody where that put us!  He wasn't sure!

Woody walked four miles this morning.  Later in the morning he went to the library and stopped at the hospital to visit a church member.

I spent most of the morning working on tomorrow's Sunday School lesson.  I also did a couple of loads of wash today.  They are all put away and I even ironed a couple of things.  I finished the lesson just a little before supper.

We are both all settled in for the evening.  I think that I will read.  Woody is reading and watching TV.


Friday, September 7, 2018

Interesting Day!

Woody headed off to the grocery store fairly early this morning, as he had an appointment a little around 9am.  He went to one store.  I quickly put the groceries away and then we headed off to a new medical destination--the dialysis center here in Tullahoma.  His nephrologist had arranged for the appointment.  His kidney function numbers are getting to the point that dialysis in the future is probably a foregone conclusion...just when will be determined by the doctor.  But I guess they want to counsel with the patient-to-be prior to the actual time when dialysis has to start.  We were pretty much just given several options for Woody to mull over and decide the direction that he would want to go when the time comes.  The lady we talked today says that she will be our advocate...oh, boy!  He is to go on doing what he is doing...walking, staying on a strict kidney diet, etc. As far as being able to predict when, there isn't an answer.  She said that it could be soon or it could still be some time away.  I guess he is treading water, but at least his head is still above the water!  At the moment we will just keep on keeping on!  I guess this is the next saga in Woody's medical story!  I'd rather write about drivel!

Woody came home and almost immediately headed off to run errands with his friend who has no transportation and to finish our grocery shopping.  He also made a stop at the hospital to pray with a friend prior to his surgery.  I worked on getting the PDF file ready for my sewing club.  I completed writing it and then let Woody proof it and then sent it to the head of the club for her approval.  When I get her okay, I will post it for the club members.  So that was a good job done for the moment.  It is the first file for this year's new club that started in August.  I have done a little sewing and had fun looking through an order that came today from a fabric store in South Carolina.  I got some pretty things and also some new notions.  It's always fun to get a sewing package.

We are all settled in doing one thing or another this evening.  I am "pretty sure" that it will be another quiet Friday evening in this Dorrell household.


Thursday, September 6, 2018

Back to the Ball Park Times 2



 Tonight both Elijah and Isaac had games at the same time.  I ended up staying at Isaac's game the whole time and Woody went to Elijah's except for a short stop at Isaac's field when he went back to the car to get an umbrella.  Drizzling rain is the main reason that I decided to stick to the one field tonight...I knew if I got up I would lose my dry space on the bleacher. For part of the game Abigail and Joy sat under my umbrella with me.  Isaac played the pitcher position tonight.  He is in coach pitch, but there has to be a player on or near the pitcher's mound to do the fielding.  He hit the ball again and managed to get to first base thanks to not the quickest fielding on the opposing team's part.  In the end Isaac managed to get around the bases and scored thanks to a couple of the better hitters on his team.  He was sooooooo happy when he realized that he had scored.  His team pulled off another win.  As did Elijah's team.  Elijah's team rather ran away with their game.  Elijah got an RBI and caught two fly balls out in the outfield.  So both boys had a good ball night!  The bottom picture shows Isaac's fan club in the background...from left to right...Abigail, Joy, Kathy, Esther (she was looking at Elijah's field), and Nathan.  They stand over there so they can see both fields.  Last time we were the home field and we all sat over there.  Tonight that wasn't the side for Isaac's team's fans...but I think that they remembered to cheer on the correct team!  One thing nice about the little guys' baseball games...everyone cheers on both sides trying to encourage each player.

Woody walked four-miles this morning.  Later he met another of his goals...he finished up sweeping up the debris on our street in front of our house.  Joseph told me that Goosey (Woody) was outside sweeping the street.  And, sure enough he was!

I had school today.  It was a bit different because the kids were interested in the work that was happening at their house.  They had workmen there today installing a new front door and side light panels.  Joseph came over and did a little school but requested that he have his Osmo time back at their house...so went over with a couple of the games and my iPad and he got extra help from his siblings!  The rest came over to the house to read.  I think at that point they saw that this job wasn't going to be done as quickly as the carpet had been a couple of days ago.  Isaac came over for his long time with me.  He sewed an oval and then sewed stitches across it since it looked like an Easter Egg to him.  He also played a few minutes with one of the Osmo games.

After school, I set to work cooking.  Our Sunday School class took a meal this evening to a member who had been in the hospital.  I made a couple of really easy things...as in they were all prepared, I just had to cook them and do a little stirring.  It still took me quite a while to get my part of the meal complete...or so it seemed to me.  I cooked a couple of things that we had on hand that Woody can no longer eat...helped me to get a couple of things out of the freezer and off a shelf. While I waited for the food to be picked up, I worked on putting the pillows back on the chairs and glider on the front porch.  I vacuumed them really well before putting them back.  We have a fairly clean place to "set-a-spell" now!  About the time that my food got picked up by the teacher of our class, it was time to head to the ball park...which leads us to this moment...when we are back home and I am blogging!


Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Couple Goals Checked Off!


 Nathan, Graham, Kathy and even Elijah did some power washing today and completed going around our house.  They did this side and the front porch and Elijah started working on the front walkway.  It looks so good!  Now I no longer have an excuse not to wash the windows.  I kept telling everyone that I was waiting till they were finished with washing the siding!  Maybe I can find the energy! One of my friends did all the windows in her whole house in one day.  There is absolutely no way that I can do that...I would be out of commission for who knows how long! They had been working on the house for quite a while...had all the sides done except for this one and the front porch.  It was on Nathan's "Sonny-Do-List!" He can now check that one off!!!

Woody's goal had been to finish the garlic garden (3rd picture).  He has been working on weeding it, planting it and today completed mulching it.  Garlic garden complete and checked off Woody's to-do list! Woody walked four miles today and before school started he headed off in the car for the local farmer's market hoping to find some corn...and he did!  In the afternoon he made his veggie pasta recipe.  He returned a little while ago from the Wednesday night Bible study.

I had school this morning.  Elijah had his long time today.  He is still working on K'nex builds with gears.  Today he made a phonograph/record player.  I have the Fisher Price record player that was my niece's so I got it out and Elijah listened to the Chipmunks record while he built a K'nex model.  This is the second thing that he has made with crown gears.  After school, I ate lunch and then headed off to work in the library.  Today I worked by myself.  I did what was needed doing to get ready for the next work day and headed out to run errands.  Even making two stops I was home a bit before I usually am when we work in the library on "normal" library work days.  I picked up a cucumber, the missing ingredient for my recipe that I had tried to make a couple of days ago.  This evening I put together Tuna Garden Salad, one of my mother's recipes.  This didn't happen often, but this was a recipe of Mother's that Woody didn't care for and now since he can't eat it, I am making it for myself to enjoy!  I just did the last step and it is in the refrigerator chilling so it will be ready to enjoy tomorrow.





Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Tuesday

I had a day off from school because the neighbors were getting new carpet and they were all involved in moving furniture out, watching the process, and then moving things back in.  Esther did come for her long time.  Today she water colored a robin and an evergreen tree with snow on it.  She's having fun learning about different techniques and which brushes to use for what technique.

Woody has spent a lot of the day outside planting garlic...anyway, any time that I needed to find him he was outside in that back garden.  He got a phone call from his dermatologist's office that the one mole-type that they had removed was just pigmented skin...or some such...nothing to worry about...he wasn't worried to start with.  He does have to go back next week as one of the places that they tested on his forehead was precancerous so they are going to freeze that place. Woody got back a little while ago from his walk of the day...two and from the prayer room at church.  Before he left he sliced up a whole lot of green and red peppers and onions.  I cooked them while he was gone.  He's eating them in a pita bread sandwich along with a very lean, thin piece of beef...about the first meat of any kind he has had in weeks.

Monday, September 3, 2018

"Grammy, There's a Horse in our Front Yard!"




This afternoon, Elijah popped over to our house to announce that there was a horse in their front yard! Not something that happens real often in their yard!  The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and most chose to at least sit on the horse, if not to walk around in a circle in the yard on the horse.  I think that Joy was the happiest.  She was the only one who rode who could mount the horse by herself.  Graham and Abigail were the only ones who chose not to ride. Abigail encouraged me to give it a try.  I said, "No, thank you!"  I almost said that if she would, then I would.  But I bit my tongue and didn't say it as she might very well have given it a try just to see me give it a try!  I was never much on riding horses.  When I went to stay with a girlfriend in northern AZ we rode and when I went to Girl Scout Camp.  But I really only rode because I had to!  I didn't get over in time to get Joseph riding.  He was getting off the horse when I came out to snap a few pictures.  Isaac chose to pat the horse on its nose and then to sit in the saddle for a very short time.You just never know what will be happening next door from one moment to the next.  Life is lively most of the time over there!

This morning Woody got up early and walked six miles.  Before school started he headed off to the Life Care Center to have Bible study with Jeff and then visit with several of the residents.  He was gone most of the morning.  He also got stitches out of his leg.  He had a place removed last week when he was at the dermatologist and they had to take stitches and he was to get them out ten days later...Labor Day not the best day to find someplace to take them out, but he found one of the urgent care places in town able to do the task for him. He has also done a little weeding in the yard.  Pretty dry at the moment.  We did get a little rain on Saturday, but very little!  We need rain as can be seen by the grass in these pictures.

I had school this morning with the children even though it was Labor Day!  But tomorrow I won't have school as they have a conflict. So I'll rest from my labor a day late!  A good part of the afternoon I spent writing another PDF file.  This time it is for the club that started in August.  We're hoping to keep up with the files this time!  I just have one more to write for last year's club that ended in July.  So that is a good feeling that we are about caught up for those twelve months.  She just posted August's two videos the last day of August, so I'm really not behind on those.  I have the pictures for one of the videos so I have begun the initial stages of getting ready to write the file. This afternoon I watched the video again and took notes on the video.  Thumbnail photos are all printed out so the next step is to put pictures with information and steps on my hand written sheets.  So the process is well underway for writing the first file for the first video for this club's year.




Saturday, September 1, 2018

Hello, September!

I turned up the pages of two calendars today...and, now, just like that (a snap of the fingers), the first day of September is almost behind us.  Woody walked to the library this morning for his daily walk.  He also did a little yard work.  I have done as little as possible...or so it seems!  I went to make a recipe and realized that I didn't have one of the ingredients so put all the ingredients back that I had gotten out.  I did begin the embroidery on the second half of the front bodice for Esther's dress.  I also did some work today for the Facebook sewing club that I belong to.  The new year is just kicking off and new things were posted and I found a couple of glitches that I attempted to work through. Figured out one of them, but there is still a puzzle with another one.  I guess it keeps me thinking!

Since Woody and I separated for the ball games, I was unaware that he took a misstep when he was climbing up into the bleachers (these bleachers have very wide seat area and are hard to maneuver...reason that I sit on the bottom row).  He hit his shin on one leg and hit his arm on the same side.  Today he has had a heating pad on his arm.  Main problem is that is the arm that has all the metal in it...ouch! (He probably didn't want me to tell on him!)