Lots Going On!

Tonight's photo is an advertisement on the way out. Around here many barn roofs or sides are advertisements. This barn that is about to tumble down now barely advertises abouot seeing Beautiful Rock City (Rock City is a TN tourist attraction in the Chattanooga area.). This barn was in North Carolina. There are many barns in our area advertising both Rock City and Ruby Falls. I will admit that I have never been to either...just have seen the barns advertising them and enjoy capturing photos of them. Today started out with me working some more on Sunday's lesson. Then I had some pre library work to do before working in the library this afternoon. I also had to get some more invitations ready to take to the church to be put in Sunday School folders to be given out on Sunday. By the time that I got those things done, it was time to eat some lunch and get ready to head to church to work in the library. Donna and I worked on a new book order...always fun to work with new books! We got the first steps done and the books await another work day to do more to get them ready to be checked out. We enjoyed out time together we got a lot done and got to visit, too. After getting home, I got the garbage taken to the curb and now I am ready to settle in for the evening...planning to sit and relax and do a few more stitches on my sampler. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! And, now I bid September farewell!

September is Fading Away

Marie and I had a good time going to the play in Cannon County yesterday afternoon. Tonight's photo shows that we even saw a few barns on the way there and our return trip. The play was very well done and stuck very closely to the Agatha Christie short story that I had read prior to going. The story that I had read was titled, Three Blind Mice. When it became a play the name was changed to Mousetrap, as there was conflict with another play being named Three Blind Mice. I enjoyed seeing it and knowing "who done it" because that way I could concentrate on other details and not have to figure out the plot, etc., too. We both thought that it was well done. It was full of red herrings...so lots of twists and turns to confuse one as to who exactly was the murderer! This play holds a record in England of runnning continuallly since 1952 except for Covid stopping it...it picked right back up as soon as allowed after Covid. In England the audience is asked to not reveal the outcome to others after they have seen it, in order to keep the ending a surprise. We were not asked ot keep the ending a secret. Anyway...good play...if you like a good mystery...a classic by the queen of mysteries...Agatha Christie. I have stayed around the house today doing one thing or another. I gathered all the Christmas ornaments together and have them on my cutting board awaiting the next step which will take them to the ironing board. There are a total of 25 ornaments for me to finish. I started working on this coming Sunday's Sunday school lesson as I am going to teach. I put away the straglers that I'm not going to use of the Fall decorations. I also found a place for my new suitcase...which means that I am finally totally unpacked and back to pretrip conditions around the house...no signs now of having taken a trip recently. I have to get going on my part in a party towards the end of the month. Marie's children are throwing her a birthday at our church and I am one of the go-betweens since they don't live here in town. A few of us need to get to working on a few more details since October is in plain sight now! Days are flying by! When I sat down this afternoon I did a little more stitching just to relax. I guess I relaxed too much as I took a couple of naps that weren't intended, but did get a little more done on the sampler that I am working on. I am still working on the same one...haven't picked up the other one that I have underway, also. This one is so easy and relaxing since it is done all in one color and the fact that after a short time working on a border, I have it memorized so not much looking at the chart. But it is big and it will be a loooooong time till I finish it so I need to move to another one that has a better chance of getting finished sooner than later! This evening I went to prayer meeting so now it is time to settle in for a relaxing evening. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Sunday Favorites from Today

Busy Last Saturday in September

I hit the ground running this morning...well, not quite running, but got busy right away. I had designated this morning for making enchiladas. It took a while despite having the enchilada sauce all made. And, it took longer than it should have as my freezer bag with the enchilada sauce ended up leaking in the refrigerator after it thawed out. I had a bit of a mess to cleqn up...but the refrigerator is cleaner than it was! I had enchiladas, refried beans, and a sheedded lettuce salad for lunch...worth the cooking effort! The kitchen is cleaned up except for a couple things that need to be handwashed. This afternoon I spent doing laundry. Two loads are completely done and put away. I have even ironed a blouse. The last load is still drying. i will get those put away as soon as they are ready. As, October fast approaches, I have some tasks that have to be done. I am leading the Cottey book club meeting in October and I have invited the author of Paperboy to meet with us. Today I wrote an email to him to find out how he wants it done. So that step towards the bookclub meeting has been done...now I will wait to hear back from him and his wife. Lots of things happening in October. It is stacking up to be a very busy month. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Marie and I are going to Agatha Christie's play, Mousetrap, tomorrow afternoon. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Friday Doings

This morning was pretty much taken up with making the grocery list, shopping for groceries, and putting away the groceries. It was a bit challenging to get into the grocery store today...the lane in the parking lot front of Kroger was being paved...so it was even hard to get to the parking spaces and once parked to walk into the store was challenging, too. I had to walk across the hot asphalt right after it had been rolled down. The store was quite crowded despite the difficulty getting into it! It was like old home week in the store. Around every turn and down most every aisle I ran into friends. When I see so many I know makes me think back to living in California. I don't think that I ever ran into anyone I knew in the grocery store in the two years that we lived there. I like our small town living here in Tullahoma. I made the decision to make enchiladas tomorrow so I got ingredients that I had frozen a while back out of the freezer to thaw so they will be ready to go when I get around to cooking tomorrow. I have done some stitching. I finished a heart in the border design that I am stitching to finish this section. I have six hearts to go...have stitched 29 hearts so far and I just have six hearts to go. Now these hearts are made up of about 50 Xs...so 300 Xs to go. I pretty much have the pattern for these hearts memorized...the only problem is to stitch them right side up, upside down and side ways in mirror image. So it does take a little concentration. But I am closing in on finishing this part of this border. When I finish these six hearts, I will have two sections of sixteen sections that make up this sampler...lots more to go! I may set it aside when I get finished with this heart border and work on another piece...one that has more hope of seeing a finish in the not to distant future...if...I stitch on it. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

No Rain Today…That I'm Aware Of

Today, I stayed home and puttered around the house. I worked on getting things put away and straightening things up downstairs. It still had signs of me being away. I usually attempt to leave the house straightened up before leaving on a trip...one of the last things I do after getting packed and all ready to go. Well, this time since I fell not long after I closed up my suitcase, I didn't feel like doing as much as I usually would have done...only did the essentials. Plus when I get home I have things to put away...like camera bags, etc. that I hadn't put away, yet. So I worked on those things today. I also did some cooking. I had bought chiabatta rolls so decided that I wanted a sloppy Joe-type recipe called Souper Burgers. I had a sandwich for a late lunch. I have the dishwasher all loaded, but now have some dishes to wash by hand. Once I get those done, I will settle in for the evening and do some more stitching. I am working away on the last row in the section of the sampler that I am working on. It is more stitch intensive than the rows of alphabets. I am back on border designs. I am through with the ABCs in this section. This row that I am working on is half into the next section...so I am finishing one section and putting in the first part of the row in the next section. At this point in a sampler this size any stitch is a stitch closer to the last stitch...that last stitch is very far in the future!!! On breaks today, I have done some reading on the book that I am currently reading. I finished another book...of sorts...probably considered a short story...I listened to that story via an audio book. It was nice to see the sun shine today. I did walk out and empty the rain gauge. I estimate that the rain water that I poured out had accumulated over a 72 hour period and it measured 3 1/2 inches. I finished putting my Fall decorations outside this afternoon. The rain helped me be able to push a couple of them into the ground. My garden plants are pretty happy after all the rain. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Rainy Wednesday…Do You See a Pattern?

I'm just home from Bible study...and, I can say it ISN'T raining now...but has rained off and on most of the day. I know that the rain gauge was above the three inch mark when I glanced out the window this afternoon. I did run an errand to the church today to drop some things off. Since I was at the church, I did maintenance in the library...checked books in and out and shelved the books that I checked in. This afternoon, I caught up on the Bible study that I missed last week when Marie and I were gone. The Bible studies are recorded each week so it is nice to be able to watch and/or listen to the ones that I miss. I was right up with the group for tonight's lesson. I snuck in a little nap...unintentionally...the doorbell startled me awake and I managed to knock over my cup of tea (eye roll!). It was Nathan, I had some scraps for his pigs that he came to collect. I have stitched more on the Bristol redwork sampler. I am almost finished with another section/page of the graph of 16 pages...this will be the second section to complete. I do have some work done in other sections...but only the first section completed and now almost for the second one. I haven't given an update of Joy for a while. She went back to the Tennessee Titan's neurologist/psycologist today. He does see improvement and I saw improvement tonight. She seemed more relaxed and was interacting with a friend more than I had seen her interact for a while. Kathy said that Joy is doing better with her PT, also. She still hasn't gotten underway with her speech therapy due to a backlog at the speech therapy place...only one in town now and they have a waiting list. The doctor was going to try to get her going there and if not there then some place else. Though, we really want her to have speech here as the therapist is one she had as a child and already knows her, which would be better for Joy since she is so shy. Time will tell. But she does seem to be improving...still slowly, but we're thankful for the progress we see! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Rainy Tuesday

What a rainy day! We had rain yesterday, overnight, and then quite a rainy morning and more rain this afternoon. From the window it looks like we have had around three inches over that time. I managed to find a dry time early afternoon and went to WalMart to buy some cardstock. I am printing invitations today for a friend's birthday party that will happen at the end of October. I am just about finished with that task. I will turn them over to the next person for their part of the task tomorrow. I did do a little more unpacking...I seem to unpack when I need something that I took on my trip. The suitcase is taking longer as I have left it downstairs since it was rather heavy and I figured that I didn't need to take any chances by lugging it up the stairs! So unless I need something or am going upstairs I have just left things in the suitcase. Donna and I decided not to work in the library today and we were glad that we made that decision when it was raining at the time we would have been heading to the library. I hope to do a little more with the invitations and then maybe finish the Roman numerals. I have finished I through VIII. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Monday Arrived…Again!

I always find it hard to come back to reality after a time away...maybe it is just that I'm not quite ready to be back into a routine! Today I got busy in the morning and worked on getting ready for a party that is coming up in October...working on the preliminaries. I also decided that it was time to do a little cooking, since I pretty much cleaned out the fridge before I left on my trip so time to get busy cooking. I made a rice/seafood salad that has been a favorite of our family for years. This afternoon, I guess, I had met my capacity to do something, as I ended up taking two naps. I have a feeling that it was my "come down" after the trip...adrenaline stopped flowing! We had a couple of storms blow through this afternoon. One was pretty strong with lots of lightning and thunder that stayed around for a while. We did have a really heavy downpour with the second storm. I haven't checked the rain gauge, yet. I did empty it just before the first storm. I got sprinkled on when I went out to empty it. I have just gotten home from prayer meeting and plan to sit and relax for the rest of the evening. I am going to stitch on my redwork Bristol sampler...time to stitch some Roman numerals. Looks like one of the sisters forgot to put in the 5 = V...there is an IV and then a VI but no V by itself in between those. I am enjoying being back to stitching on this sampler. I have enjoyed going through the pictures that I took on the trip. I will be sharing them over the next days/weeks. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Sunday Favorites

Heading Towards Routine

I'm trying to come back to reality and get back into a routine, once again. I've done a lot of phone talking today, but still managed to get a few things done. I finished cleaning off the porch rockers and glider and put the new Fall pillows on them. I still have a few Fall decorations to put out there...another day! The bride, aka Esther, and one of her bridesmaids, aka Abigail, came over this eveninng for a first fitting for the weddding dress. I'm not sure if I have shared here that Esther and Patrick have decided to get married right after Christmas...so the hustle is on to make sure that everything can get done in next three months! I am still mulling over what needs to be done to the bride's dress...it is quite a bit longer than necessary!!!! We will see what we will see. I have an idea, but am going to examine the inards of the dress before I tackle it! Tonight's photo is from the barn trip that we took while away this week. We saw lots of barns...plenty of fodder for the blog for a while! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Home Again! Home Again!

All good things must come to an end! We had such a good time over the last parts of four days. We had such a good time visiting together and poking around in Georgia and North Carolina. We stayed in Georgia, but it wasn't a very long drive and we were in North Carolina and it didn't take very long today to be back in Tennessee. We were located along the place that TN and NC come together and just over those borders in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia...very pretty area. Six of the thirteen "attendees" met for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We were the last hangers on. The others left either earlier this morning or yesterday. We said our good byes and checked and got on our way back to Tullahoma. The weather the whole trip was excellent. We saw about ten raindrops on the whole trip. Nothing last year when we got there at the beginning of Hurricane Helene. We enjoyed time at the hotel, time poking around in the surrounding towns, and getting in a little photography. Three of us are fairly avid photographers so we enjoyed that part of the trip. I took a few pictures on the way home. We stopped at a cute little gift/craft shop that was connected to the craft/gift shop that we visited yesterday. Then we were on our way home. We pulled into my driveway around 3:30pm. I have done a little unpacking and a little dozing in my recliner...it was very welcoming! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! be cautious!

Time Flies When Having Fun!

Boy have the last three days flown by...all too quickly. Today, Marie and I went of on a small shopping excursion...two stores and an old fashioned soda fountain in the third. Marie had an ice cream cone and I had a chocolate malt. We both came away happy after the old fashioned soda fountain experience! The third place we went is a handmade crafts store associated with the John C. Campbell Folk School. I might have had a few things follow me home from that store...nothing very major, but will be fun to remember the trip with. We stopped on the way back to make reservations for 10 at an Italian Restaurant just down the road. Our number of 13 had dwindled to 10 after three of our group headed home earlier in the day. We got home in time to rest for a few minutes before heading off to eat. We all enjoyed our Italian dishes. I had baked ziti because I wanted to compare it with what I call "baked ziti" that I make! Mine has a few more layers, but basically the same. I did enjoy the meal...but most of all the fellowship! We came back to the hotel and one of the ladies had a game planned. We played that and then talked around the table. After a while folks started drifting back to their rooms. One friend and I sat downstairs a little longer and looked at photos of our families...and, then talked for a while longer. Now I am in my room facing repacking! This time no decisions to be made...just have to get it all back in! We will have breakfast in the morning and then get checked out and head off to Tullahoma. If all goes as planned, I will be blogging from home tomorrow night! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Barn Trip Within Our GA Mountains Trip

Our group of 13 all had breakfast at the hotel and then sort of parted ways some going one way and others another. Some walked the trails on the resort property, some went off to shop, some went off to see more of the area, some stayed at the hotel. Marie and I decided that we would go on a barn trip and we invited the other serious photographer in our group to go along with us. We found barns in both Georgia and also North Carolina. Tonight's photo is fairly easy to peg as a North Carolona barn...the sign on the barn say it is so! We had a really good time and saw lots of pretty territory...new for me and for Joe B., but it is home territory for Marie. We drove to the areea where her relatives lived when she was growing up and some still live there today. She would drive past a home and say that Aunt somebody lived there and Uncle somebody lived in that house and back down that road..! We are back at the hotel resting for a bit before we go out for supper at a restaurant down the road. We are having a great time visiting...so fun to be back together...remember back when we all lived in or near Tullahoma and when we all went to First Baptist Church Tullahoma...and finding out about their families now. Lots of picture sharing, lots of chatter. We most of the time divide and conquer...men seem to visit together or gather to one end of the table and the women at the other. When we got back to the hotel, the men were gathered in the lobby and the women were outside on the deck. I will say that my wrist is much better today. I was able to use my heavier camera...so I was happy that I hadn't left any cameras at home! My eye is a little blacker but not too bad. I am grateful that my fall hasn't slowed me down for our trip or taken away any of the enjoyment! Having a great time. And, as all good post cards seem to end...Wish you were here!!! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

We Have Arrived!

Going to skip a photo tonight. We had a safe trip to the mountains of northern Georgia. Sitting here in the lobby with a group of great long time friends! Lots to talk about when you haven't seen a friend for 25 years! It's like we have never been apart. I did take a few pictures...I only used my small camera...will post some tomorrow...maybe! I'm am not too much the worse for wear after yesterday's fall! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

We’ll See How This Goes!

We just never know from one moment to the next..! Well, a couple of hours ago I took a tumble in the kitchen into the dining room...I think swiping my glasses up against my head near my eye as I passed by the door frame...then landed catching myself with my right hand. This picture shows me icing my boo boos! I'm sure that I will get a black eye...hopefully not as bad as my fall a couple of years ago. I will look lovely--for my trip--oh, well. I was able to get up easily. I called Nathan and he, Kathy, and Joseph came to check me out. My wrist hurts a little...but I am able to type normally and hardly can tell that it is hurt. We have decided that it is only a sprain since I can move all fingers and my hand around. I'm not sure that I will be able to take pictures with my largest camera...but at least I do have a small one that takes very good pictures. I am so glad that I had everything packed except for the last minute small things. The suitcase is downstairs along with other bags that I am taking. Since I have the cameras packed, I am going to go on and take the three that I planned to take. I could leave them, but there are some other items packed in the camera bag and I don't feel like going through them and repacking. As soon as I blog, I am giong to go upstairs and gather the last of the toiletry items and get them into their bag and bring it downstairs. I ended up not going to prayer meeting since my fall happened just a little before I was to go. I have been icing both my wrist and my eye. I just wish that my glasses hadn't been on my nose and my eye might have been spared the cut next to it. My head didn't come in contact with the door frame...just my glasses that then forcefully hit that bone next to my eye...a little lower than my cut on my fall two years ago. I plan to be able to blog, at least a short one, while I am gone. But if I miss just realize that I am away...and the internet might not be friendly...but I think it will be...it was last year...even during the rains of Hurricane Helene. Well, off to finish my packing task. I will be extra careful not to fall. I'm not sure what caused this one...I had picked up something to throw away off the rolling island and turned around...maybe my shoe sole stuck to the floor a bit and threw me off balance...just can't be sure...just know for sure that I fell! I did get up quite easily which was surprising since I don't get up off the floor easily these days! Well, off to finish packing. Hopefully will be reporting in from Georgia tomorrow night. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautiouis! I'm going to add a pretty picture of a sunset that Elijah took at their farm last night. FYI my glasses didn't break. Nathan did check me for a concussion...those who have been following will understand that is because of Joy's concussion.

A Sunday Favorite

Stitching Freedom!

This morning I completed stitching the "last" Christmas ornament for this year. That freed me up to be able to stitch whatever I feel like stitching. So I picked up my redwork Bristol sampler. I circled in blue what I stitched this afternoon...a very relaxing stitching time. I have spent time today making plans as to what to take on my trip...making lists of things to do before we leave and lists of things that I need to be sure to take. I've got my cameras and lenses out to make decisions as to which to take. I'm trying to figure out how to best pack. etc., etc. Decisions! Decisions. I've always enjoyed the preliminary planning for a trip. Getting the stitching done sort of freed me up to start getting ready, since I had it in mind that I wanted all the ornaments stitched before I left. Also the trip being just a few days away, I an set clothes aside and not wear them between now and when I go. To be continued. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Fruitful Friday

At last I have a new feature on my camera figured out. It's an extension of a zoom lens with out compromising the photo quality too much...the top photo is the lowest point of the zoom lens, the middle is what iis supposed to be the highest point of the zoom lens, the bottom photo is with the new zoom crop feature which extends the zoom three times. This photo is of the USS Constitution model that my grandfather made close to 70 years ago for me. I am sitting all the way across the room from it and I took all three photos from the same spot (my recliner). It took a while, but I finally found what "button" to push to make this happen. It will be nice to have the capability to zoom in even closer than my lenses are supposed to. So far this feature has worked on any zoom lens that I have tried...from my oldest to newest zoom lenses. I was determined to figure this out! Success...by chance...I finally figured out what "button" I was moving when it happened. Now to figure out what lenses I want to take on my trip. I have continued to work towards getting ready for my trip to the Georgia mountains that happens in just a few days from now. I went to Kroger this morning and got a few snack items to take (always a part of any trip that I have taken during my lifetime!). I have washed clothes and am setting aside clothing items that I plan to take. I made some breakfast cookies (a high protein, not too sweet cookie that has cheese, bacon, wheat germ, oats, etc. in them). I made these for Esther a few weeks ago to take back to her apartment. Speaking of Esther, this is the first weekend that she hasn't come home since going off to college several weeks back. She had to take part in a day of dog washing...part of her vet tech duties. I can say that I am quite a bit farther along on the "last" Christmas ornament...the end is in sight. My goal is to have it finished before I head off on my trip. Then when I geet back I can start making them into ornaments...still quite a bit to do before they will be ready to hang on anyone's Christmas tree! I still have to load the cookie making dishes into the dishwasher. I guess I will go do that! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Remembering

We have certainly had a lot to remember these last few days...just like September 11, some of these happenings will be remembered for a long time to come. I searched in my photos for a picture with a flag and chose this one because it appears to be at half mast...as flags are currently. This has been a pretty busy day for me. The house got pressure washed and looks great. I will put in a photo here.

He did a great job. I told him that it changed color! After he finished, I got busy on more cleaning. I had put off washing windows till after the house was pressure washed. I decided that today would be a good day to take an initial step...while the gunk that gathers on the window sill between the screen and the window was still damp, I should wipe them off. Oh, my...I managed to do ten of the eleven downstairs window sills, but ran out of steam before I could do the upstairs. I imagine that the gunk will be dry and not as easy to clean when I get to the upstairs windows. The only downstairs window that I didn't do was one that I can't open due to leverage...the one over the kitchen sink. After I did those window sills, I went out and hosed off the front porch chairs and side tables. I did discover that there are wasps building a next under the bottom of one of the chairs...glad that no one had sat on that one and got the back of their knee stung! I was going to go out and spray the nest with wasp spray (if I found some) after it was dusk...but that didn't happen. I probably neglected that task subconsciously on purpose! Lots more work to go if I really do get to washing windows. I think that there are a total of 17 windows in the house and there is one upstairs that I can't get to without lots of maneuvering...so there may "only" be 15 that I wash...again, if that happens! We'll see how my energy holds up. I also don't want to get too overtired prior to my trip next week...so windows will probably be put off till after I return. That job may be like the Golden Gate Bridge...once they finally get finished painting it, it's time to start back at the beginning again. I imagine that my next few days will be spent getting ready for the trip that Marie and I are taking. Do you think that we will find some barns? To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Wednesday

This has been sort of a lazy day...mainly planning in my mind for my upcoming trip and more playing with my camera. Also I'm getting ready to have the house pressure washed. Yesterday, I removed all the things from the front porch that I could move and put them in the garage. This evening after Bible study, Nathan and Elijah came over and moved the rockers, glider, and side tables off the porch. Looks like I am ready to have a party in my front yard! I will wash them off before I have Nathan and whoevere put them back. Tomorrow iss the day for the power washing to happen. I think that everything is done that I needed to get done prior to him coming in the morning. So now I am home from church and the porch has been emptied and I can now settle in for the evening...hoping to stitch some tonight. Last night stitching didn't happen as I fell asleep before I picked my needlework up! Hoping that I advance at least a little on the ornament tonight! At this rate, the last one will never get done! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautiouis!

A Good Tuesday!

I always say that it is a good day, when I get my haircut. I headed off fairly this morning to Jody's to get my hair cut. It is always good to get to visit with her. But I do wish that Joy were better enough from her concussion that she could have cut it. It will be the best of days when she can once again cut hair. I came home and got busy in the kitchen. I cooked a pork roast today. I had a couple of slices for lunch...pretty good! I also made gravy. I may have a hot pork sandwich uusing some of the gravy, but most of it will be for enchiladas. This afternoon I had an appointment to have someone come and check out my siding and see if he would consider pressure washing the house. He said that he will and is working up the cost for doing the job. If all goes well, he plans to pressusre wash it on Thursday. I have talked to my sister, read a little and done some stitching on the last Christmas ornament...getting closer to a finish. I also continue to work with settings on my camera...trying to get the camera all set up before Marie and I take off on our trip next week. The trip is more and more in my thoughts as it nears. Next week if all goes as planned we will be at our destination visiting with friends of old from First Baptist Chruch Tullahoma...only Marie and I are still members, most now live quite a ways away from Tullahoma. I still have to finish cleaning up the kitchen before I can get back to my stitching. No church library today as Donna and I were both engaged in other activities! I did get a book order for the church library today...so maybe that counts for library work...I picked up the box of books and brough them inside to be worked on more another day! To be continued! Be well! Be safe! Be cautious!

A Fun Monday

I finished decorating for Fall last night and got up this morning and put away the things that the decorations are stored in...wanting to clear away "stuff" that was interfering with me enjoying the decorations. Linda H. and I had made plans to have lunch together today. We ended up changing the latest plans that we had made and decided to go to the Motlow Baptist Collegiate Ministry center for their first Monday lunch of this current semester. For those who don't know my son, Nathan, is the director of the BCM. Churches in the area take turns providing a lunch every Monday. The nominal charge for the meal is one of the ways that the BCM raises money for mission projects. Ever since Covid the attendance had dropped waaaaay down. Nathan told the ladies to plan for 50 and they brought food for 60 but over 70 came today...an exciting day to see the attendance pick up to even more than they had had prior to Covid. Linda and I enjoyed the meal and visiting with Nathan and Kathy and Joy and before we left Elijah and Isaac came out to see us. They had been studying in another room. I didn't get a glipse of Joseph till they were leaving...guess he was the most studious of the three boys. Joy came over to eat after her class so she joined us. Linda and I stopped at Ollies to try to find a bargain...but the bargain desired was not there! Linda brought me back home and we visited for a short time more before she headed back to Shelbyville. I went to prayer meeting tonight and am now home settling in for the evening. I think I will pick up needle and thread and get back to work on this last ornament that I sat aside over the weekend so I could clean and decorate. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Sunday Favorite

When Life Gives You Lemons!

What a day with the internet! It has gone off and on all day from early this morning till just a few minutes ago. It's back on for the moment so I decided that I would go on and blog "while the blogging is good!" It has taken me quite a few tries to just get the photos added. These photos show what Nathan brought me last night a dozen plus a couple lemons. I ended up getting 2 2/3 cups of lemon juice which filled two ice cube trays. The ice cube trays are in the freezer. When they freeze I will pop them out of the trays and put them in a freezer bag and I will have cubes equal to two tablespoons to use when recicpes call for lemon juice. This mroning I have continued to decorate for Fall which means I have done quite a bit of cleaning, too...working on the kitchen counters now. I am going to end this now before I get disconnected, again. Nathan did check for me and Spectrum is having a connectivity problem in Tullahoma...so I know that it isn't a problem on my end. This happens so rarely that I can't complain. To be continued (if I have internet!)! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

It’s a Start!

Now, whether the fall decorations seen in tonight's photo stay as they are now all depends on if I decide they are needed elsewhere...when I move on to other places in the house. I think I am through decorating for today. I have made enough trips up and down the stairs for one day! I did make a run to Kroger this morning. My shopping made me decide to switch menus...I had planned to make spaghetti sauce, but decided I wanted chili instead. I got all my groceries put away and then made chili. It has been a bit warmer today, but I guess we have a cold front approaching. So tomorrow the temperatures are going back down. We are under a severe storm watch. Melany says that she can hear thunder in Murfreesboro. But at this point I haven't heard any thunder in Tullahoma. I still have to finish cleaning in the kitchen, then I will do some more on this last Christmas ornament. I was ahead of schedule on blogging tonight...but since starting, Melany has called, Nathan has called, and Nathan has come over. And, now the blog says that it isn't updating...which means that only part of what I have written will get posted. I guess I had better stop writing and see if I can get this posted! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

The Final Ornament Underway!

Lots going on around here today. The biggest accomplishment was finishing another ornament and getting underway with another...hopefully the final Christmas ornament for me to stitch for gifts for this year. I have been gathering up all the patriotic items that I have had scattered around the house. I also got out the fall decor and have all those on the guest bed. I will do some dusting and vacuuming before I bring them downstairs to place here and there to give me the feeling of Fall around me. Tonight's photo I took from my front porch across the street. Seeing what I could capture of the sunflowers from my side of the street. I see that I have more than sunflowers in the photo...looks like zinnias and a crape myrtle. I haven't had time to work with my cameras today...too much else going on. I'm working on a grocery list. I don't need much but do have several items that I need...and, then there are always the sales of the week. I had planned to make my spaghetti meat sauce today, but all that has happened towards that effort is gathering some of the items needed all in one place on the counter...for tomorrow! Some things that I had planned to do today didn't happen as I got tired while stitching this afternoon and a nap slipped into the days "activities!" It's been a good day...sunny and a bit warmer, but still quite nice...of course, I am saying this from what I observed from inside, as I just realized that I never went outdoors today, not even to get the mail. I have informed mail email and I knew that the add that had been placed in the mailbox wasn't worth the walk outside! I plan to get more done on the last ornament this evening before closing my eyes for the night. I'll see how far I progress on it...but each stitch puts me closer to being finished with ornaments for 2025 Christmas giving. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

How Many Blooms Do You See?

Tonight's photos are of a crape myrtle in one of my flower beds. I guess this one would be considered a crape myrtle bush instead of a tree. It has very long spindly "stems" and at the ends of many of those stems are very pretty blooms...some of them large. But it is not easy to photograph...it sort of gets lost in the background "things." And, I couldn't get all the blooms in the photo...so what you count is not all of them. The close-up shows the size of some of the blooms. I was standing quite a ways away from the bush as I was "playing" with camera settings with the lens I was using, when I took this. It added to the zoom length supposedly without diminishing photo quality. I woke up early and got back to work on stitching the next to the last Christmas ornament. I am coming along with it. I plan to stitch more on it this evening. When I took a break from stitching, I tried to figure out some of the features on my camera. This camera has so many features and I have only touched the surface of what is offered. I still haven't been brave enough to reset it to factory settings. I did take pictures with my phone of all the menu pages of the settings the way I have them currently. I have read some in the camera manuel today and watched some YouTube videos. But a lot of the technology is way above my head! I am satisfied to just get good photos, but I would like to take advantage of some more of what this camera can do. I did figure out how to do one thing today that I hadn't been able to figure out before. Maybe if I just keep reading and watching some more will sink in! I went to Bible study at church tonight. I am home and settling in for the evening and hopefully will get quite a bit farther on the ornament in the next couple of hours. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

And, What Day Is It?

Monday holidays always leave me confused as to what day it is. I have done all my usual things so far this week...church on Sunday, prayer meeting on Monday, church library on Tuesday...but it still leaves me confused! At least, so far that I know of, I haven't forotten to do anything that I was/am supposed to do! I'm moving right along with stitching the Christmas ornaments. I finished the one yesterday and then got started on the next one. I mainly stitched this morning. Donna and I worked in the church library after lunch. We mainly did maintenance, worked on a book suggestion list for a friend, and added a couple more books to a book order. I have been working with my camera some...getting ready to take it on a trip and trying to have settings at an optimum. I just went outside and took tonight's photo...these gerber daisies are putting on a late summer show. There are several in bloom right now. I'm debating with myself as to whether to set all the camera's settings back to its manufacturer's settings. If I do, I need to first go through ALL the menus, (and,there are multiple menus), and note the settings that I know that I want to put back as they are now. It is quite a job...not sure that I want to go through all that, but I figure that I have some things set that I don't need. I often try out settings that are suggested in things that I read about the camera or that I see on YouTube. And, a good portion of the time I don't reset. It might be good to start out with a clean slate and be selective with the settings. Still thinking about doing it! I'll think bout it and stitch while thinking! After the ornament that I am stitching there is only one left to stitch...a motivating factor to stitch at the moment! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Labor Day 2025

It has been a very pleasant Labor Day...a bit cooler than most I remember from the past. We even had some rain. I hadn't realized that it was supposed to rain...I hadn't paid much attention to the weather, I have concentrated on my stitching since quite early this morning. And...I can report that just before I came in to blog, I finished another ornament. If my count is correct, there are "just" two more to stitch! I plan to get underway with the next one as soon as I publish the blog. Nathan and Kathy invited me to join them for lunch, which I did. So I had my "Labor Day" grilled hamburger. Tasted very good! It was a bit quiter than usual in their household...only four grandkids and Kathy and Nathan. They said that it had been much quieter last week with Esther away at college. Today Esther was kayaking prior to going back to college so she didn't join us for lunch. After lunch, I mentioned to Nathan and Graham that I had never been able to update the firmware on my camera that is now about a year old. Not being able to kept me from using the latest app for this camera. The two of them got online and saw how to do it and they had the means to put a memory card into their laptop and voila the update happened! I called them my two tech guys! Tonight's bird photo I took this morning when I went out on the front porch and noticed the huge sunflowers blooming acrosss the street. I snapped a couple of sunflower pictures and then noticed this little blue bird flitting around in our yard. I put on the "animal detect" setting to eye detect and managed to get a couple of photos of him...this was prior to the update. Supposedly there is an improvement with something about the focus among other things with the update. I'm guessing that most of the changes will be undetected by me...but hopefully on the whole it will result in better pictures...not that I am disappointed with the photo quality prior to the update. I'm glad to have the more up to date app to use with my photos. I want to add some good news before I end this tonight. I saw a marked improvement with Joy today. She's still not totally back with us but she is ever so much better. After lunch, she brought out an assignment that she had finished for one of her classes. It looked great...so glad that she had been able to concentrate and work in lots of details...it involved sort of a timeline that she had illustrated...her "old" creativity is surfacing! She did a lot more smiling and laughed a couple of times. I asked her how many classes she was taking and she answered me...her answers are still often shrugs or yes or no shakes of her head. Our Joy is slowly but surely coming back to us! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!