Irma Gets In On The Countdown (4)

Here's the current WeatherBug radar for Irma.  Tullahoma is located where the red pin is. The red triangle in the upper right corner of the WeatherBug screen is an alert for a Wind Advisory...the wind advisory is in effect from 4pm today to 7am tomorrow.  It started raining lightly sometime between 3 & 4pm and has steadily increased.  Woody just came in from Monday night prayer meeting at church and said that it was a real rain now (meaning no longer light) and that the wind was starting to pick up.  I'm hoping that the winds don't get such that we will have power outages.  Huntsville was saying that the wind speeds could be such that there were possibilities of outages.

The countdown till Cheryl continues...and the number seems to be decreasing rapidly!  Today the count is just four more days.  I don't mind the days before her arrival going by quickly, but wish that they would slow down their pace while she is here!  But probably time will probably fly by even faster than normal!  Woody is having allergy problems so chose not to walk this morning.  He planted garlic instead.  He is counting on this rain settling some of whatever he is allergic to.Woody went to the Life Care Center today and had Bible study with Jeff and then visited with church members.  I continued to do "this and that" around the house.  Yesterday evening I did decide to sit in the sewing room and dust all the pictures on the top of the bookcases that takes up one side of the sewing room.  Just a job that doesn't get done very often and having company is an incentive to do it...though we will probably spend next to no time in the sewing room!  I also ended up making the small wall hanging that I had been planning for sometime to make to hang in our bathroom. So I mixed a little sewing into the countdown. This morning I decided to do several cleaning jobs in the kitchen...started on the stove side of the kitchen and did some extra cleaning which included the stove top.  Of course, I am now asking myself just exactly why I did that as I decided to do some cooking this evening and of course have messed up the stove...but hopefully it will be a quick clean up. The recipe that I made is hopefully going to be one of our meals while Cheryl is here.  I have never frozen it before so not exactly sure how it will freeze...guess time will tell...and Cheryl will be the guinea pig to see if it works!  I spent quite a while in the kitchen as the recipe started out with deboned chicken thighs...Woody skinned the chicken thighs and I deboned them and then decided to go ahead and make the recipe.

I guess we are battening down the hatches and settling in for a rainy & windy night.  I'll let you know tomorrow how we have or are faring Irma...unless we don't have power!

Saturday...Six More Days

The countdown continues...Cheryl and I will have spent most of the day together at this point next Saturday.  Woody got up and walked early again today.  When the library opened he and I both went.  After a brief time at the library we went to Lowes to buy some pansies.  I planted them in a pot to put on the front porch and the ones left over I planted in what we refer to as our mail box garden. I also did a little weeding and clipped back a rosebush that had a couple of stems growing toward the sky. I am waiting to wipe down things on the front porch till a day or so before Cheryl arrives.  I'll wait till after Irma passes us by...we will probably get some wind and quite a bit of rain.  The last place that I worked on cleaning was the laundry room and the sunroom/porch.  Last night I did start my sewing project and am going to work some more on it this evening along with putting the finishing touches on the Sunday School lesson that I will be teaching tomorrow in my ladies' Sunday School class. Woody has mowed some more and done a couple of other things outside that I asked him to do for me.  He also is putting finishing touches on his Sunday School lesson for his 6,7, and 8th grade boys' class tomorrow.  He has been watching football off and on this afternoon and reading.  The neighbors (Nathan and Kathy and family) are putting new rocks in their gardens...I must go grab a camera and get a picture of them all working on the rock pile! Cheryl texted me earlier that next week she would be sitting on the porch drinking a cup of coffee...reminded me that I needed to "reserve" the coffee pot next door for her visit!  She is the only coffee drinker in the group...the neighbors have a coffee pot because Kathy's parents drink coffee and they have it for when they visit.  And, I borrow it when we have coffee drinkers stay at our house. Well, off to take a picture of the "rock gang!"

Countdown is "7" on the 8th!

Today we hit the one-week mark on the countdown.  We will be in Murfreesboro this time next week visiting with the Proctor's at their house as we wait for Cheryl's arrival time late in the evening.  We have to go up earlier than necessary since I am planning to drop off my sewing machine and serger at a sewing machine dealer in Murfreesboro for their "spa treatment" (cleaning and maintenance).  I figure that it is a good time to leave them as I won't be doing any sewing while Cheryl is here...at least don't plan to do any!

Woody got up early and walked in the chill of the morning once again.  Later in the morning he headed off to do our weekly grocery shopping.  While he was shopping, I did some more getting ready...today I packed up all the girls' sewing projects and put them into my sewing room.  I put the groceries away when Woody got home.  Then I stewed another chicken as he found one at a better price than last week.  So now we have chicken pieces for a chicken salad and for something else.  I continued to work in the guest room making it more guest friendly.  I even tackled the table with ALL the framed family photos on it...it is all dusted...glass in the frames windexed and even moved and dusted the books that are on the bottom shelf of that table.  Good job done...that one won't get done again for some time! There are still some K'nex in the guest room that will need to be moved to another location so Cheryl won't stub her toe on them!  As I look around I wonder if I will dust off the tops of the bookshelves in the sewing room and clean all those picture frames' glass!  Maybe...maybe not!  Cheryl had best not do the white glove test!  Abigail still has a little sewing to do on her blue jean shorts that she is making...so I haven't totally put away all the sewing things for her yet...but close!  Woody has spent time in and out today.  He spent quite a bit of time picking up sticks and mowing.  I even went out and did an outdoor job...I swept off the back patio where the herbs are growing.  Leaves had piled up and the herbs are looking so good at the moment, I didn't want the dried up leaves spoiling the effect.  Neat thing about sweeping close to the herbs...the wonderful fragrance when the broom happens to brush up against some of the herbs that are hanging over the containers...the thyme and rosemary smelled particularly good!  I left several piles of leaves and debris for Woody as he said that he would take care of that for me...at least all it is several small piles that can be dumped on the compost pile.  I walked around in the backyard with Woody and he showed me the nice sized pumpkin that is growing along with several butternut squash and a few cucumbers.  The cooler temps and the abundance of rain of late are making the plants happy.  At the moment the gardens are looking pretty good.  I sat on the front porch and ate my lunch today and read.  I've got to get some more bird food so Cheryl and I can enjoy the comings and goings of our little bird friends while we visit on the front porch. I think that I am finished with my countdown cleaning for today and think that I may work on a sewing project that I would like to have finished before Cheryl comes.  

Full Moon Countdown (8)

Blogging a bit late tonight as we had a late night at the ball park for Elijah's game.  Kathy had to remind us about the game...haven't gotten back in the swing of games yet.  Ended up being good that we forgot as when they reminded us they were already at the ball field and were cold so asked us to bring some blankets...a bit of a chilly night.  This is a full moon that I took at another time, but tonight's looked about like this as we had to look at it through the trees on the other side of the ball park. Elijah's team won so the evening ended happily for them...and us!

Woody got up and walked early in the chill of the morning.  I had school on a normal Thursday schedule.  Elijah didn't blow up anything during his science experiments today!  I spent the afternoon getting Abigail's shorts to the next step so she can get them finished before short season is totally over!  I didn't do a lot around the house on this 8th day before my sister arrives!  Got to get down to business starting tomorrow since she arrives a week from tomorrow!  Kathy and several of the children helped this morning and got all the toys picked up and organized the toy closet...guess Cheryl can play with the toys while she is here!  Or perhaps it is that she just won't trip over the toys!  Last night I mended a volleyball net!  Abigail must think that her Grammy can sew anything!  I ended up sewing the part that had come unstitched by hand using thick thread, a big needle, and pliers!  Got the job done and at least it worked tonight for her volleyball practice!

Woody did some lawn mowing today.  It has been such a pretty day...nice to have the cooler temperatures especially when work needs to be done outside.

Countdown Continues Regardless (9)

So the countdown countdown continues...whether I do "anything" towards my sister's arrival or not! Nine days to go till she arrives! Today has been a busy day...not much time to do things around the house to get ready for "company!".  Woody got up early and walked in the very cool temperatures.  We have definitely have had cooler temperatures today.  Tonight's picture was supposed to be a leaf that I took some time back in another year...another Fall...but for some reason the picture just sits and won't upload onto the blog...so I guess you will just have to use your imagination tonight...a single golden leaf on the sidewalk! I woke up early...not sure why as I went to bed late.  But in waking up early, I realized that I would have time to finish up the work on the latest church library memorials...writing the letters to the donors and the families of the one memorialized.  I got those written just a little before time for school to start.  I handed the addressed envelopes to Woody and asked him to put stamps on them and take them out to the mailbox...so that job is done for the time being.  I had a full morning of school.  Esther got the rest of her apron cut out and we started doing a little sewing on it.  I ate a quick lunch and headed out the door to work in the church library. Donna and I worked on getting some of the new books processed...so there will be new books for the interested on Sunday morning.  I came home and decided that it was time for a rest which turned into a nap.  Woody headed off around 5 to go to church.  Tonight is "The Great Hunt" for the youth...a scavenger hunt done in cars using phone cameras to prove that they find the things on the list.  Abigail recruited Goosey (Woody) to be the driver for a car for her and her friends!  That should prove to be an interesting time!  I stayed behind (very willingly!) and have been working on figuring out what Elijah will do for science experiments tomorrow...wonder if we will blow up anything tomorrow!  I think that one thing he will learn about tomorrow is hurricanes...rather a timely lesson?!?  Woody just came home...Abigail and her crew came in 7th (out of 8 vehicles)...hey...better that than last!!! Especially when he told me who was 8th...Abigail's daddy's vehicle and Joy's crew of friends...so at least Abigail beat out her younger sister's team (and Woody triumphed over his son!) (I have a feeling that it was more important to Abigail to win over Joy than Woody over Nathan!)!  I'm sure that fun was had by all...win or lose!  And, there is already anticipation for next year's Great Hunt! Well, I'm going to publish this and then see if I can add a photo afterward...ahhh! It worked!  So how was your imagination at visualizing this picture?

The Countdown Is On! (10)

Well, it is 10 days till my sister will be here.  Now I "need" to get going on getting a bit more ready.  Today I did some more in the guest room.  I cleared everything off the dresser and end table and hand washed the dresser scarves that I have on them and then dusted the bric-a-brac that is on them and replaced everything.  Now I will only have to give it a quick dusting just before she comes.  Of course the guest room is the girls' sewing room...so projects abound on the bed at the moment.  Next Wednesday after Esther's sewing lesson all the sewing projects can be swept away till after Cheryl heads back to Arizona.  I also cleaned out a couple of drawers for Cheryl to use and worked some more on the closet.  I still have one major item to dust...a table that is in there that has lots of framed photos on it...that table doesn't get dusted very often as it is hard to get the pictures back in place...time will tell how much I dust that table top...whether I take everything off or if I just carefully dust a section at a time.  Over the weekend I did a couple of things in the kitchen that I told myself that I would do before Cheryl gets here.  We'll see how many more of those jobs really get done that I tell myself that I should do! Time will run out eventually!  And, I know that I will never be done until she gets here...then cleaning stops for the time that she is here...well, guess we have to do a little...but only the necessities!

Woody got up early and decided that he would walk to the prayer room at church early today rather than wait till this evening.  He made a wise decision as the weather hasn't been the best this afternoon and early evening.  The last I looked we had gotten a little more than a 1/2 inch of rain today.  This rain came in with our first cold front for this Fall season...a bit early this year.  For the next ten days we aren't supposed to get out of the 70's and some days won't get out of the 60's.  I'm not sure if I am ready for this quick change in temperatures!  I forget till it is that time of the year again that my Transverse Myelitis doesn't like seasonal change...and especially doesn't like moving from warmer to colder temperatures very much.  I could feel this front coming.

The children and I had school today.  We were on a regular Tuesday schedule.  Joy had her sewing time and completed another paper pieced quilt block.  The only school that I did yesterday was Abigail's sewing and we did that after our Labor Day meal.  Woody and I worked on getting the food ready yesterday morning.  We provided the food and they hosted and Nathan grilled the hamburgers.  We had a good time...as yesterday's pictures hopefully protrayed.  This afternoon I  watched the latest video from my sewing club while I did some of my dusting in the guest room.  I will rewatch it when I can pay closer attention!  This lesson is piped Peter Pan collars...thought that I had that down pretty well after all the little girls' dresses that I have made over the years...but I was introduced to several new methods of how to make them...I find that I am always learning something new with my sewing!  Hopefully that kind learning is good for my brain...trying to keep it "awake" for as long as possible!

Labor Day 2017

Food Line!

Nice enough to eat ourside!

How far can you spit a watermelon seed?

Watermelon swingers

Cooling off in the turtle pool! 

Whee!

Wet slide = Slick slide!