A Hot Saturday

It has been quite a hot and humid day.  Woody, again, got up early and walked...today he walked four miles. Later in the morning he ran an errand and also made his weekly trip to the library.  I have had a "do a little of this and a little of that" kind of day.  I ran the vacuum downstairs in the living room and dining room...still have to hit the high spots in the family room.  Woody finished washing off the porch chairs and got them back on the front porch.  I ran the pillows around in the dryer and then wiped them off with a damp cloth and got them back on the rockers and glider.  I also came up with a pretty dirty rag after wiping off the two table tops and the things that were on the little tables.  The porch is once again welcoming to sit...that is if the temperatures aren't too high.  I just checked and it is 84 degrees right now but the feels-like temperature is 90...an indication of our high humidity.  I imagine that it felt close to 100 after it got into the 90's this afternoon.

The girls had some more tournament games today, but we didn't go...just too hot for me to sit out in the sun for any length of time.  The girls are playing against surrounding area softball teams...these teams are teams that play together all the time plus most of the girls on the other teams seem to be older than our girls.  Our girls are made up of all stars their age (6th-8th grades) from all the different softball teams in Tullahoma.  They have never even practiced together before they played last night.  Plus there are different rules in different areas which made for some confusing plays/calls last night.  And, the pitchers on the other teams really pitch fast compared to our teams.  The team we played last night pretty much ran away with the game and they were supposed to be the weakest team that our girls would play.  So they went into all the games pretty much expecting to be beaten and they were at all three games that they played.  But it was a good experience for all of them.  Nathan said that they did better in the last game this evening...so perhaps they were starting to get the feel of being a team?

Both cars finished getting washed this afternoon.  Esther enjoyed getting wet and thought that she would go to her game in her wet uniform so she could keep cool.  Woody and I watched Joy practice pitching to Nathan for a little while this afternoon.  Their team's coach told them to keep acclimated to the hot temperatures so it wouldn't seem so hot to them at their 5pm game.

Only Thought Ball Was Over!

Esther batting

Joy batting

We just "thought" that ball season was over!  The girls are playing in a softball tournament tonight and tomorrow.  I don't think that I ever posted any of the girls pictures this season (I didn't take very many pics this year at the ball games.).  So here are pictures from a game earlier in the season.  I'm posting early tonight since we have a game later in the evening.

Woody had a busy day.  He woke up early and once again walked six miles in a cooler part of the day.  He came in saying that it was really humid out there this morning.  He also did our weekly grocery shopping.  I put groceries away.  He did several chores that took him outside.  He started the job of washing the front porch chairs off and he also decided to change our air conditioner filters...one of which is a wash and use over and over.  He took out the one disposable one that is in the upstairs air exchange.  Graham came over just at the right time and after I vacuumed off the vent cover, Graham put the upstairs one back in...that one is harder to do as it is overhead...so we were glad for his help.  I also vacuumed off the downstairs vent cover and Woody just a few minutes ago brought the dry filter back inside and put it back in.  Nice clean air filters once again.

Graham was over because he was wanting my help in doing our side of the family tree.  So we spent over an hour pouring over the records of Woody's side of the family and mine.  I think that when he left we had traced six or seven generations back from Graham's generation. He's going to generate a family tree with his laptop.  After he gets the names plugged in we will go back and add dates, birthplaces, etc. Graham had come to me a few weeks ago and said that he wanted to do this.  We looked at it a little that night and said that we would delve deeper when we had more time...which turned out to be today!  We worked down in the guest bedroom...so now instead of fabric for sewing projects we have papers for genealogy stuff!  I have pattern pieces out of the pattern envelope and wound a bobbin with the thread I will use for my blouse.  The sewing machine cabinet is now all cleaned off of things from the last sewing projects...just notions, etc. that I use while sewing are there now...and those items are back in the place they belong.  I continue to look at both sides of the fabrics trying to decide just how I want to use them.  I was going to use the line drawing of the blouse and sketch in different ways to place the fabric...but I had already sketched on the line drawing for a blouse that I have already made from this pattern...so need to trace the outline off and got interrupted when I started doing that.

Melany called making plans for Father's Day.  It looks like they will be coming here on Sunday.  So she and Nathan were putting their heads together to plan the meal.  I got in on part of the planning too...talking to both Melany and Nathan.  They will be doing the meal this time...but I have some meat in the freezer that they are welcome to grill over at Nathan and Kathy's!  I will lay low on this meal and let the children treat their daddy!

Well, I had better go get my cameras together as it is almost time for us to head off to the girls' game.

Small Things!

When I decided what I would title tonight's blog, I thought about this picture of how small the colt looks when taken through the fence like this.

For me today has been about "small things."  I have been doing various small tasks throughout the day.  Its small things like this that get me ready to head on into my next sewing project.  I put away small things that I had used during my last sewing projects...sewing machine feet, spools of thread, scissors, rulers, cords, laces, pin cushions and pins and needles. I even did a small amount of dusting!

.  I reclaimed pins from the girls' pin cushions as for some reason "my" pins end up being used when they are using my cutting table and then get taken out of their project when they are sewing and put into their pin cushions.  I hardly had any of my flower head pins...which are my longest pins.  The pictured pin cushion usually just has my white glass head pins in it and sewing machine needles that still have some use in them.  So all the flower head and button head pins are now in the pin cushion on my cutting table, the glass head pins are in this pin cushion on the sewing machine and in the one that is on the ironing board.  I even divided the machine needles up on this one according to certain sizes and types.  Like I said...small things...things that aren't all that important, but things that I like to do once in a while...just to bring order back into my sewing life!  I also pulled out the storage bins that are under the bed in the guest room that contain leftovers of solid colored fabrics in one and stripes and plaids in the other one.  They had gotten quite messed up with the girls' and my last projects so I got them all refolded and sorted (sort of) according to color family.  Last but not least...I got out the fabric, pattern, thread, and buttons that I had hanging in the guest room closet to make myself a blouse.  I have now put that on the cutting table...am just looking at it from my recliner for a bit to make up my mind just how I am going to use it in the blouse.  It is an imported Italian striped shirting and it is pretty on both sides (dark on one side and light on the other)...trying to figure out where I will use one side as a contrast...whether I want the blouse to be mainly the dark side or the light side!  This is the last piece that I bought at a couture fabric store in AZ some years ago...VERY nice fabric.  The store is no longer in business...so I am a bit sad to use this last piece!  It was always fun to go to that store when visiting in AZ and splurge on some REALLY nice pieces of fabric.  Anyway...today has been a day of doing the "small things" that help me get ready to begin a new garment.  The ironing board is cleared off, the sewing cutting table is sort of cleared off (now it has the new fabric on it), and the sewing machine cabinet is "almost" cleared off (there are still a couple of spools of thread to put away and some pieces of stabilizer to relocate or throw away).  I also have a small machine embroidery project that I may do before getting underway with my blouse. The fabrics for that are on the cutting table also.  So...two sewing projects in my near future.

I paced myself on my small jobs...I would work for a while at rearranging things and then I would read a chapter and then back to a small job or two and then read another chapter.  I've been reading two different books off and on today...one e-book and one "real" book.

Woody got up earlier than I did this morning (and I was awake by 5am and read awhile before getting up to do small things!).  He was already gone on his walk when I woke up.  He said that he left around 4:30am.  He walked six miles in the cool of the day.  He has also worked quite a bit outside getting another flower bed ready for some new mulch.  I couldn't find him one time today when I needed to ask him something and finally found him in the garden that is next to the driveway...reason I couldn't find him = he was on the other side of the car hidden from my view from any of the windows in the house.  When it got a bit too hot to work outside he came in and read, worked crossword puzzles, watched TV, worked at the computer, etc...the "small things" that he does around here daily to fill in down time.

Zooming In

As I was choosing a photo for tonight's blog, I went back to the day of our last barn photo trip.  I came across these and decided that they were an example of how far away some of these barns are...but the zoom lens can make it look like they are much closer to the road.  These are both taken from the same spot.  I just let my lens do the "walking in closer" to the barn for me.

I woke up way too early this morning and ended up reading several hours before I felt like getting going.  I have been in "reading mode" the last few days.  I think I have read three books in four days.  Some times that is about all I feel like doing...especially if I find some good books.  I mentioned the other day that I had two e-books that I needed to read before they got taken back into cyberspace.  Well, I read those two and finished another e-book and am in the midst of a "real" book, too...and started another e-book.  I did manage to leave my reading long enough to finish up the upstairs bathrooms that I had started yesterday.  And, after lunch I went to the church library.  Donna and I didn't work as long as sometimes because there just wasn't a lot that had to be done today.  Donna entered several DVDs and I did the maintenance of checking books in and out and shelving the books that had been returned.  Because I had awakened so early this morning, I was ready to take a little nap after I returned from church.  So I rested by doing some more reading and then decided to watch a TV show on my iPad...unfortunately my nap occurred during the show and I don't know how it ended!  Oh, well...

Woody walked four miles this morning.  He worked out in the yard again today.  This afternoon while I was at the library some of the neighbor grandchildren came over looking for a "paying job."  Goosey (Woody) decided that getting our two cars washed would fall into that category.  They have told him that one of the cars is done...but the one who inspected their work (Goosey) says that they will have to do a bit more to have it pass the muster!  We'll see if they still want to work on the one some more and also work on the other one tomorrow!  I guess we will see how badly they want to earn some money!  Both cars were (are still) in need of a good washing. We will see if they and Goosey are in agreement as to what a good washing is!

Tuesday Travels

Woody was up early this morning, but didn't go for a walk because he had to leave early to take a friend to the doctor in McMinnville.  He was gone for a good portion of the morning.

This morning I spent time doing things around the house and reading.  I got some doll sewing patterns put away...patterns that Esther and I had used over the last few weeks.  My sewing cutting table is getting emptier and emptier!  I also started cleaning bathrooms, but didn't get them finished before leaving after lunch to get my hair cut.  I guess that means that the rest of that job will be awaiting me tomorrow...if I don't get up enough energy to finish at least one of the upstairs bathrooms this evening...so far I haven't been so inclined.  I took tonight's blog photo this afternoon when I was getting my hair cut.  The clouds were so pretty over Lake Tullahoma.  When I was heading to get my haircut, I thought that we might get some more rain, but the rain never happened...at least not where I was.  I made a new recipe for a side to go with our supper...another kidney friendly recipe.  It was for Mexican rice.  It was pretty good.  We each had a piece of lemon meringue pie for our dessert.

Woody walked to the prayer room late this afternoon.  He had a little of the rice concoction before he left, but waited to eat supper when he returned.  After he got back home, Joy and Esther came in with their awards from softball.  Their team tied for 2nd place.  Joy got an "All-Star award" and Esther got a "Sportsmanship award."  Good going, girls!

One of Esther's kitties is missing--Georgia.  They have been all over the neighborhood calling her and looking for her, but she hasn't been seen now for several days.  I'm hoping that she is one of those cats who disappears for a while and then shows back up.  Georgia is Esther's favorite of the kittens.  She is the one that Esther chose first and then asked that the sisters not be separated so also got Peaches.  Guess she is very glad that she got two since she still has one.  But she really misses Georgia!

A Rainy Pie Day!

We have both stayed pretty busy today.  Woody got up and walked four miles early this morning.  Later in the morning he went to the Life Care Center to have Bible study with Jeff and visit with several of the other residents.  While he was gone, I decided that it was a good day to complete the latest church library memorials.  I wrote letters to donors and families of the memorialized.  When Woody got home he stamped the letters and put them in our mailbox so our mailman would pick them up today. That's always a good job to have done...it means that the library memorials are once again caught up.

 After lunch, I decided that I would bake a pie that Woody had been waiting for me to make...a lemon meringue pie.  It was a good ending for our supper this evening.  Isaac came over while I was baking the pie.  He enjoyed scraping the pie filling pan.  I made the pie with some of the juice of the lemons that Woody had bought a while back.  I squeezed all the lemons and then portioned the juice to be stored in the refrigerator and freezer.  The same day that I squeezed all the lemons, I also zested their rind and froze it in ice cubes...so today all I had to do was thaw an ice cube of rind in a sieve let the water drain off.  I even added the water that drained off the zest into the lemon juice.  The filling reminds me of the lemon meringue pies that Mother used to make.  The main change that I made was to put it in a graham cracker crust because that is the kind of crust that Woody prefers for this type of pie.

Not long after Isaac went back home, I noticed that it was getting darker and darker.  Woody had gone to the pharmacy to pick up a couple of his prescriptions and got back before the bottom fell out.  He even got to do a little more mulching of the garden at the back of the house before the rain began.  He got back up on the front porch just as it began to rain. And, it rained quite hard for a while.  After supper, Woody went to the Furnace Room Prayer meeting at church.  I had come in here to blog and Nathan and Joseph came over to ask me something...that got me pulled away from the blog and then when Woody got home I sat down to watch something on TV for a few minutes...then I realized that I hadn't ever gotten started on the blog...so now I have completed that task for today!

Baseball, Awards, Juggling & Pizza +

Elijah pitching in the last inning

Congrats, A's, You're #2!

Spinning the ball down the line!

Abigail, Graham, Nathan, & Joy juggle LOTS of rings!

A VERY tall Elijah walks over his friends!

Everybody loved the pizza, chips, sundaes, and cake!