Last Day of October

Does it seem possible that it is Halloween? This month has gone by so fast...well...really the whole year has gone by very quickly. Woody and I both got up early this morning. He waited to head out for a walk till the sun was up and had taken a little of the chill off. I got busy and started cleaning up more of the sewing mess...but got into several projects as I was doing that. The reason that it is so hard to get my sewing straightened up...one thing leads to another. I started planning Christmas sewing for my great-niece and then decided while I was thinking about that sewing project I would sew out a few more machine embroidered ornaments. I have two finished and one in the works. So I worked on Christmas on Halloween. Woody worked on the green peppers. He diced them and then flash froze them and then I helped him get them into the freezer bags. So we now have some frozen green pepper to use in several of our recipes. Woody also made Peasant Salad (aka Soggy Bread Salad) and has read and watched a bit of television and, of course, did his cross word puzzle of the day. He is now at the Monday night prayer meeting at church. I am answering the door for trick-or-treaters till he gets home. We never have very many...so far the door bell has rung three times and we have had a total of six children. I'm off to watch Dancing With the Stars!

First Full Fall Freeze

Woody passed the bank sign that has the temperature recorded, when he took his six-mile walk early this morning. It read 27F. Pretty brrrrrrrrrrrrrrry and everything had frost on it...roofs, grass, etc. When we left a little after 8 this morning you could still see frost on a roof here and there and some signs of frost on grass. Tonight's picture is an old maple that is on the "Back 40" (Nathan and Kathy's lot that is behind our house). It is one of the pictures that we took on our walk yesterday.

Woody and I both went to the early service this morning and then went to Sunday School. We both taught our respective classes. We came home and had lunch and then I don't know what happened to the rest of the afternoon...but it is gone! I do know that I was attempting to clean up the sewing room after my last sewing project and at a point got really sleepy and finally gave in and took a Sunday afternoon nap. It ended up being more than a power nap. So I am still facing cleaning up the sewing mess! I need to get it cleaned up so I can mess it up with the next sewing mess--Christmas sewing. Woody watched football this afternoon and read and did his crossword puzzle for the day.

Double the Fun!

A shower for two...double the fun! I had such a good time at the shower this morning...lots of renewing of acquaintances from over the years. But the best was getting to ride to the party with a former co-worker at Ray's Montessori School. It was so good to see her again! We got to do a bit more visiting since I rode to and from the party with her. After getting home I thought of lots more that I wanted to ask her! The shower was for the daughter of the owner of Ray's Montessori where I worked for 27 years. As a matter of fact the reason that I got a job there was due to the mother-to-be. She started going to the school with her mom when she was 18 months old and there were times during certain lessons that her mom wanted me to take care of her (like walk her around outside and keep her occupied)...but...alas...she wanted to have nothing to do with me since her mother was so close...so...I ended up teaching the children who would have something to do with me! And, to think that she will shortly become a mother for the first time...a mother of two, no less! My first year at the school was Melany's kindergarten year there and Nathan was also attending as a three-year-old. Ahhhhhhhh memories of loooooooong ago. Quite a few of the mommies of the children that I taught were at the party today. So I was able to catch up with what some of my former students are doing. Ummmmmmmmmm makes one feel a bit old!

Woody went to the grocery store very early this morning. Then he came home and got started on making French Market Soup. After his soup was finished simmering, he walked to the library and back home again, while I was at the party. Then after I got home we both went on a walk so I could get some pictures of the Fall colors. It was a nice afternoon for a walk...it got to almost 60F but was a bit breezy so a bit nippy. Late afternoon, Woody took Nathan's vehicle to be looked at by an insurance adjuster due to hail damage. State Farm has a tent set up in Lowe's parking lot and they have lines of cars pulling through to be assessed for hail damage. They have been doing this for over a week now. That hail storm really did a number on cars and roofs and siding, etc. in the area. While Woody was doing that for Nathan and Kathy I worked a bit more on tomorrow's Sunday School lesson and also talked to a good friend and blog reader. She called to let me know a way to freeze our green peppers...dice them and spread them on a cookie sheet and slide them into the freezer till they are frozen and then transfer them to a container or freezer bag and put them back in the freezer till they are needed. I'm planning on giving it a try. I do this with canned jalapenos...as I never use the amount that is a can...that way I have the jalapenos when we need them...like today for Woody's pot of French Market Soup and also for our Mexican Corn Bread. When I went downstairs we had a lot more green peppers on the counter than I remembered...wonder if Woody went scrounging through our gardens again as I didn't think that we still had that many...so looks like I will be dicing and flash freezing some of these to use at a later time in some of our soups, etc.

Well, baseball is over for the year and the St. Louis Cardinals made Woody very happy last night! Tonight Woody is watching a DVD that he got at the library today...well, I say he is watching...when I just went down to check about his walk to the library, he was dozing with the movie playing!

Boredom = Good Day for Grammy!

We woke up to rain this morning. The rain started sometime after midnight and continued most of the morning. We got over a half an inch of rain...a nice steady rain. The rain kept Woody from his morning walk, but he did run errands (in the car) and stopped at the community center to spin on the stationary bike for a while. He also stopped at the Credit Union and then went to WalMart. He has covered some of our plants as there is a freeze warning out for the wee hours of the morning. The high today was only 48F. I have stayed in all day...but have still felt the chill that is settling on us once again.

Now...for the explanation for tonight's title. I think that I had better explain since at another time I mentioned that "bored" or "boredom" aren't words that I allow in my vocabulary...or in my children's when they were small or in my grandchildren's when they are here with me. But today when my cell phone rang and I saw that it was our oldest granddaughter calling I was glad to hear that she was bored...that resulted in a nice phone call from her! She was through with classes for the day and nothing else was happening so she decided to call her grammy...made my day! Late this afternoon I made homemade chicken noodle soup...really hit the spot on this chilly day. At the moment the 7th game of the World Series is on TV and that is occupying Woody. His team pulled it out in the 9th last night to make tonight's 7th game happen. Time will tell if Woody is a happy camper at the end of this last game of "The 2011 Series!"

Thoroughly Thursday

It has been another busy day. Busy days seem to be the norm these days. That is a good kind of norm...especially since it doesn't involve doctor appointments. Woody got up early this morning and walked six miles. Later in the morning he walked to the community center and spun on a stationary bike for twenty-five minutes and then walked home. I left before he left to spin. I ran a few errands. Then came home and put the finishing touches on my "twin gifts." I also worked some more on library memorials. Then headed downstairs to mess up the kitchen after Woody had gotten it all cleaned up. We must be on a New Orleans kick...first it was Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and tonight I fixed Shrimp Creole. We're trying to make recipes that use green peppers as we picked quite a few before the frost a few days back. I'm also trying to use some things that have accumulated in the freezerso that bag of shrimp freed up some space and thus the freezer drawer closes a bit easier tonight. We have had a front pass through today...it has drizzled off and on...not a lot of rain...but at the moment I can hear it on the roof. It is supposed to get cold once again. We have had several days of really nice temperatures.

Wednesday Wanderings

It has been a busy day. Woody started out his day by walking his four-mile route. A bit later, but still fairly early, he took in one of our cars to have the tires rotated. A bit later he walked downtown to buy some new shoes. On the way home he stopped at the library and read the Tullahoma News. Then he walked across the street from the library to one of Tullahoma's community centers and spun on a stationary bike for fifteen minutes and then he walked home. He has also worked some in the yard. I did a bit of sewing and then started working on filling church library memorials. After lunch, I headed to the church for our Wednesday work time in the church library...two other workers and I processed books, checked in books and shelved them. It looked like progress is being made on the next phase of the library renovations...at least things had been moved around and we were told that work on one of the cabinets was underway. I came home and we have had supper...still enjoying the chicken and sausage gumbo. I'm ready to put my feet up. My wanderings have worn me out...I don't know about Woody's!

Tuesday...all day!

Woody got up early as usual. He has read and worked in the yard. A little while ago he walked to the prayer room. I have spent the day in the sewing room. I'm back to sewing for babies...this time for real babies rather than dolls...and instead of one baby I'm sewing for two...for twins (no, Nathan and Kathy aren't having twins!). I'm going to a shower on Saturday and I'm getting a gift ready for these two sweet little babes-to-be!

Hard Work = FUN!

Woody walked his four-mile route this morning. Then after lunch he walked to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I had school with Elijah and Esther this morning. But no school with Grammy for Abigail and Joy as they went with their mommy to her OB appointment to hear their baby's heart beat and then after the appointment went to be fitted for their cheerleader outfits. They are going to be cheerleaders for Upward's Basketball. Graham came over and we had a sewing lesson. He decided that he wanted to make a placemat to replace the one that he and I made many years ago. He is going with a Compost Boy theme for his. This afternoon, I had my six-month appointment with my neurologist...status quo with my Transverse Myelitis. When I got back home, Woody and Graham were out front working on changing out bicycle tires and inner tubes on Graham's new-to-him ten-speed bicycle. It was his mother's bicycle back in her youth. After he, Goosey, and his daddy got the tires back on he took a little spin. And, the fun just began for him as he discovered that the new family who is moving into the neighborhood was at their house and that the children were playing outside. They also have five children and home school...perfect match...the girls have girls to play with and the boy had boys to play with. They all trouped down there (minus Elijah who was napping) with their daddy to welcome them and to play for a little while. So the hard work of putting tires and inner tubes on and then pumping up the tires turned into lots of fun. I enjoyed watching them put the tires on and then sat on the front porch for a while with Woody after the work got done. I didn't go in and do what I had planned...make chicken and sausage gumbo. Oops! Well, I started the first step this morning before school. But got underway with the rest of it a bit late...so we ended up having a bowl after Woody got home from Monday night prayer meeting...rather late supper for us. Right now I am watching Dancing With the Stars...then I am sure that the channel will get turned over to the fifth World Series Game.

Sign Of The Times!

This morning our sweet Abigail (8) signed one of the songs that the choir sang. She did such a good job. We are really proud of her. She had worked really hard to learn this song using signs and was so excited about doing it. I really like the top picture as a good portion of the choir and the praise team are watching her.

Woody got up early (as usual) and walked his four-mile route...a bit chillier these mornings! Woody and I went to the early church service. Then we both taught our respective Sunday School classes. After Sunday School, we both slipped into the balcony to see Abigail. I, of course, took pictures! After she signed with the choir, Woody and I slipped out of the balcony and headed home. We came home and had lunch. Woody turned on a football game and I came upstairs to work on some machine embroidery designs. A little later, Nathan came over and asked if we could watch Elijah for the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening. He was really congested and they had a gig in Lebanon, TN and thought that it would be good for him to stay home from this performance. Woody went over to their house till Elijah finished his nap and then he and Elijah came over to our house. The three of us had supper. Then it was time for Woody to head to church. Then Elijah and I got busy playing...we played with two different farms and blocks and cars and a circus and...well, you get the picture. I tried to go blog when Woody got home from church, but Elijah decided to come up and help me (guess we had bonded at that point...because when Woody left for church he really didn't want Goosey to leave!) and we ended up playing things like..."rock-a-bye baby" and "this is the way the lady (gentleman, farmer) rides" sitting here in my office chair...so I got distracted from getting the blog done (then when I got back home the internet connection wasn't working). Elijah also wanted to see the bird picture on the computer...I thought that he meant the one that I posted the other night that he had seen in the back yard, but I think that he really meant the little sparrow that is the background on my laptop screen. He did play tea party out in the hallway for a few minutes while I worked on deciding which pictures to use tonight. After we played around upstairs for a while, I decided that he was tired so Goosey and I headed over to his house to get him ready for bed. He got into his jammies and Goosey read him some stories. Before I got out the door to come home, the rest of the family arrived home...so I stood around and talked for a while. I didn't even know when Woody slipped out to come back to watch the 4th game of the World Series. That's what he is doing right now while I blog. Last night's game went the way he wanted it...time will tell about tonight's game! I think that I will go join him downstairs...I'll take my book so I can read while I keep up with what is going on with the game.

Monster Truck Day!

Woody walked 12 miles on this frosty morning. A bit later he went to the grocery store. When he got home, I helped put the groceries away. Then came the "fun" part to my day...stewing two chickens. Such a messy cooking job! I got them cooked and let them cool a bit before I took the meat off the bones. I put the bones back into the pot to make chicken broth/stock. Abigail and Esther helped me get the veggies ready to put into the stock. They (especially Esther) were a bit confused as to why I was putting bones into my soup! I did give them an explanation and assured them that when I used this that there would be no bones in it! We got the stock simmering and then left it to simmer for about four hours. I just got finished straining it and putting it into the refrigerator to cool so I can skim the fat off the top. Not long after Woody got home from the grocery store it was time for a trip to Lowe's for our young builders! Joy joined the group today. So Woody got Graham, Abigail and Joy all buckled into the back seat and headed off to Lowe's to build "monster trucks." Tonight's picture shows the end results of endeavors! They are pretty pleased with their monster trucks and Elijah couldn't wait to get his hands on one or more of them! After lunch Woody went to the library. He got several books for me along with some for himself and for the children. Abigail read at least one of the ones he got. Before lunch Joy went upstairs and was looking through our children's books and found The Little Red Hen. I asked her if she could read it and she said, "Yes, all except for some of the words." So I helped her with those words that she needed help with. She is really enjoying the challenges of reading...or, at least, seems to be. The girls filtered in and out today while their parents and Graham worked on raking and blowing the leaves in their yard to the edge of their yard...all ready for the leaf truck to make its first appearance of the "leaf season." These leaves were just a bit heavier than usual (unless the dry leaves are wet) because they were not all dried up...these were mostly leaves that got knocked down during the hail storm earlier this week. The storm knocked down (too many to count) small branches that still had ten or more leaves on each of these small branches. Our yards and gardens literally looked like they were carpeted with these leaves/branches. Definitely the hail storm is a much talked about event in our town at the moment. Yesterday I saw the tent that is set up in the parking lot of Lowe's...folks are taking their hail damaged vehicles there to be inspected and to file claims. At 4:30 yesterday afternoon the cars were still lined up in three or four lines and probably 10 or more cars in each line. I know of several people who had their cars totaled due to the hail. We do see some hail dents in our red car...but our car is so old that those little dents don't bother us very much! Now...the hole in the new siding on our house...that we will probably get fixed.

Well, Woody is downstairs cheering on "his" team in the third game of the World Series. I enjoy watching baseball...but I'm afraid that I will talk at an inappropriate moment so I'm going to go finish a book and hope that I don't fall asleep before I'm finished! I haven't done much resting today and my back is ready to flop on the bed. (Well, I changed my mind and decided that I will go downstairs with my book and try to be real quiet...but at least will know what is going on without having to check on the internet from time to time!)

Going in Two Directions!

It was a bit chilly this morning...but we did not have a freeze as predicted (one is predicted for tonight). Woody walked a bit later due to the cold temp early. He walked his 4-mile route. I got ready to head out late morning...several friends and I went gallivanting. I bought another Christmas present. We went out to lunch. We came back late afternoon. When I got home, Woody had left. He had an appointment with our primary care physician. He was having his blood pressure checked at the NIH doctor's suggestion. When I got home, I found our yard all clear of leaves...what a huge pile of leaves at the curb...partially thanks to the hail storm. Thanks to Nathan and Kathy and our grandchildren!!! Also Graham and Kathy continued to work on the K'nex. Graham came over after supper and finished boxing and bagging all of them up. Guess we're ready for our Christmas tree! We saw lots of beautifully decorated Christmas trees at one of the stores we went to today...must be getting close to 'tis the season!

Tonight's picture I took out the car window on our way home from Maryland. I always think that this outcropping of rocks is interesting and finally caught a picture of the rocks with this old barn in the fog.

One Less Squirrel!

This morning as I was finishing with Joy's school time, Woody told me to grab my camera. Nathan had spotted this bird of prey in the "Back 40" (what we call the lot that Nathan and Kathy own behind our house). So I headed out the back door and spotted it pretty quickly. I was able to get several pictures before it flew away. It was having a late morning snack on one of our neighborhood squirrels...one less of those rascally pests!

Woody waited a bit to go on his walk due to it getting colder. He walked his four-mile route. We have a freeze warning out for the early hours in the morning so Woody harvested the sweet potatoes that he was growing in a barrel. He also harvested the rest of our green peppers and our oregano and thyme. I had school with Elijah, Esther and Joy and had sewing lessons with Abigail. Abigail completed her placemat today so she is half-way through making placemats for her family. This afternoon I went to get my hair cut and while there I made my next two appointments...the last two of this year. I made them today as they fall close to the holidays...which could be mean busy, hard to get appointment times. I can't believe that it is at the point in the year that I am making appointments around the holiday times! This year has gone by so quickly. I stopped at the Credit Union on the way home. When I got home, I called Abigail to have her come over to read to Goosey (Woody). It wasn't long after she came over that Kathy, Graham, Joy, and Esther showed up. They came over to work on disassembling K'nex structures that had been built over the last few months...it had gotten to the point that Graham could hardly fit back in the K'nex area to be able to build! Kathy knew that it wouldn't be long till all K'nex boxes will have to be put away for Christmas decorating (so the Christmas tree will have a place!) so she decided to get the children motivated (with a lot of help from her) to get structures taken apart and pieces sorted back into the proper places in the proper boxes. While they did that I got to working on supper for tonight. We had sauteed beef, green pepper, and onion pita sandwiches. Woody also cooked some asparagus to go with them. Woody is now watching the second game of The World Series. He was pleased with last night's outcome...we will see what tonight holds for his team.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Definitely a cold front has passed through. Yesterday the temperatures dropped dramatically as the front came through. Today it has been drizzly and down right chilly. It didn't even make it to 50F today. Quite a difference from the upper 80's of the day before yesterday (I'm not sure what the high was yesterday...but quite warm before all the hail and rain.).

We have had quite a busy day today. We both got up early. We had an appointment with one of the businesses that TVA approves to have do the energy saving items they recommended last week. It looks we will be getting our energy upgrades done in about three weeks. Fall/birthday break is over for school. So we got back underway with that this morning also. Elijah came over first. He has quite a boo-boo on his forehead...he decided to fly like super man off the swing and he landed pretty hard on his forehead on an acorn cap...ouch!!!! He did this over the weekend and it still looks pretty ouchy! Esther came over and took up right where she left off two weeks ago. Then Joy came over and did her homeschool reading plus some extra reading. Then it was time for Abigail's sewing lesson. She got her placemat sewn together and turned right side out today. Tomorrow she will stitch around the edges and also quilt in the middle of the placemat. As soon as school was over, I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to the church library. Three of us worked for about three hours...progress is being made! Just before I left to go to the church library I started getting a package ready to send to AZ for Corbin and Julianna's birthdays. Woody finished addressing it and then walked to the Post Office (about four miles there and back) and mailed it for me. He has read and watched some TV today and started raking up some of the leaves and branches that came down in yesterday's hail storm...what a mess!!! Right now he is watching the first game of the World Series. I'm ready to put my feet up...it has been a tiring day for me.

Hail!

We left the house dark and early and headed Murfreesboro, TN way to pick up Erin. Then we continued on to East TN State University (Johnson City, TN). We arrived there at 1pm Eastern time. We stopped and ate lunch and then dropped Erin off at her dorm. We did help her take her things in, met her roommate and then got back on the road. When we were on the western outskirts of Knoxville, Nathan called to say that they had just had a really bad hail storm in Tullahoma. The second picture shows some of the hail that the grandchildren saved in their freezer. The top picture was a pile of hail that was still on our walkway when we got home quite a few hours after Nathan called. Nathan reported that they could see a hole in the siding on the side of our house. We haven't gotten to check it out since another storm was rolling in when we got home just at dusk...so it is now dark and we can't see the damage. There are leaves down everywhere...especially green leaves. We crunched down the street in the car getting to our house...guess leaves, branches and probably still some hail hiding under all the debris. We did come through a bit of pretty heavy rain and it did hail on us for just a moment on our way home...but considering the strong front that was coming through, I think that we fared very well in our travels. God saw us through! Due to the storms Woody is driving to the prayer room this evening rather taking his usual walk. We drove roughly 600 miles today...that would have almost have gotten us to Bethesda, MD...and we never left the state of TN! We saw some beautiful leaves today. I attempted to get some pictures of the leaves...but I decided that the hail pictures...the last pictures taken today...needed to be tonight's picture. Good to be home!

Abigail's Day!

Today is Abigail's big day. She is eight! Goosey (Woody) and I joined Abigail and family for their traditional birthday breakfast...waffles and ice cream!!!!! Yum! Great tradition! Joy shared the special breakfast day as she and Abigail shared the birthday cake and ice cream day last week on Joy's birthday. After breakfast Abigail opened presents. The picture of her holding her baby doll shows part of the present we gave her...new clothes for her baby! Each of the girls have a doll similar to this. Goosey and I gave the dolls to them either on their second birthday or for Christmas closest to their second birthday. Abigail got hers the Christmas after Joy was born. Today's party was great fun. Each of the children was so excited to give the special present that they had chosen for the birthday girl.

Woody got up early and walked his eight-mile route to Kroger (no shopping involved) and back. I also got up early and headed into the sewing room. The outfit for Julianna's baby doll is finished...now to get her brother's present from Corbin's cousin Nathan (Nathan and family sell some neat items and I think that they have one that would be good for Corbin's present this year.) and then get these items in the mail. This afternoon I spent in one of my least favorite places...the dentist. Today I had to have a couple of teeth worked on...one on the top and one on the bottom...so that meant numb on top and bottom on one side of my mouth. It is now almost five hours since I was numbed and the numbness has "almost" gone away. At least my dentist visits are over for a while! I came home and flopped on the bed and read for a while and also must have dozed as I was awakened by my cell phone...it was our granddaughter Erin calling to set things up for tomorrow. She is home for Fall break and goes back to college tomorrow. Goosey and I are taking her home...so for us it will be "up and at 'em" dark and early in the morning. We will go to Murfreesboro to pick her up and then head on to Johnson City, TN. And, once we have her safely ensconced in her dorm, we will head back home. I realized the other day...the round-trip to Johnson City and back is about the same distance as one-way from Tullahoma to Bethesda, MD...we do have a loooooooong state (and we live in the middle of it). I will blog after we return. At least for this trip there isn't any real packing...just my cameras! Woody has gone to Monday night prayer meeting. I'm getting ready to go downstairs to have a bowl of tomato soup. I'm not supposed to chew on the one side tonight...I figure that there isn't much to chew in cream of tomato soup...so in case I forget it won't be a problem! Woody woke up to good news this morning..."his" team is going to the World Series!

Butterfly Sunday

Woody got up early and went on a walk. We both went to the early service at church and then we went to Sunday School. Woody taught his sixth grade boys. We came home and had lunch. Then I cut out a little pair of overalls for Julianna's doll. Woody watched football. After I got the overalls cut out, we went on a walk...the first time that I had been on a walk in a while. I think that my foot is finally healed of its stress fracture (or whatever). We walked to the pond where we often see birds. But the birds were keeping cool in the branches of the trees as we saw only a few flying around in the distance...not close enough for a picture. But in our garden the butterflies were definitely fluttering around enjoying the sun and the nectar from the flowers. It was quite warm...in the 80's. We came back and Woody watched some more football and later a library DVD. I went back to my sewing and have the overalls made except for sewing on two buttons. Then I will need to cut out a shirt and make that and then get these in the mail to AZ along with a birthday present for Corbin (my sister's grandson). He has a birthday this month also! Birthdays! Birthdays! Woody is at the evening church service.

Mid-October Saturday Doin's

I'm still touring you through the Shenandoah National Park via the Blue Ridge Parkway. I haven't taken many pictures these last couple of days. I guess I'm waiting for the next birthday party and for our leaves to get really pretty. Speaking of birthday parties, I'm ready for Abigail's birthday waffle and ice cream breakfast party on Monday. This afternoon, I finished the sewing I was doing for her birthday present. I am now getting underway with some sewing for my great niece's (my sister's granddaughter) birthday. October is packed with birthdays!

Woody got up early and walked six miles. Not long after he got back from his walk he headed off to finish up our weekly grocery shopping. Later in the morning he went to the library and then stopped at the pharmacy to pick up two prescriptions for me. He ran another errand after lunch. I have mainly sewed today and did start a book that Woody got me at the library. Woody has read, watched football and rested the latter part of the afternoon and this evening.

I am having trouble coming to grips with the fact that it is the middle of October already. We will probably only turn around and it will be Thanksgiving!

Mid-October Friday

Tonight's picture shows a bee enjoying the fact that some of our flowers are having a fall blooming spell. Woody got up early and walked his four-mile route. I slept in late and really got my day mixed up. Woody went to the Credit Union and did part of our grocery shopping. I have done a little sewing on Abigail's birthday present. I mostly spent the afternoon cooking. I made enchiladas and chile relleno for our supper. Woody watched a library dvd this afternoon. It has been a pretty ho-hum day in the Dorrell household. Now on the other hand, some of the neighbors have had quite an interesting day...Graham and Abigail have been attempting to pick up the acorns in their backyard...they have gathered hundreds and put them in large containers...I think that they have counted them and weighed them. The sad thing is...that you can't tell that they have picked up any! This is really a bumper crop year for acorns! They wanted to know what Goosey (Woody) might pay them for picking acorns up. Goosey told them that they needed to talk to the squirrels! Oh, and, a report on the circus that they went to see last night...Joy (6) was very enthusiastic about the clown acts, Abigail (8) talked about acrobats, Graham (9 1/2) told about the motorcycle dare devils...and the best part of the circus for Elijah (2)...that the elephant pooped!!!! On that note...I will go back to sewing Abigail's birthday present!

Thoroughly Thursday

As you can see from tonight's picture, Fall color is starting to pop out. There was definitely more color on our return trip from Bethesda than on the trip going. The color on the interstate median just sort of popped out when the sun burned through the fog a bit. You can still see the fog off in the distance. Last Friday we would think that we were out of the fog and then around the next bend there would be more fog. The leaves here in Tullahoma are just starting to get pretty.

We have had rain off and of today. Woody checked the radar before heading off on his walk this morning. He could tell that it was on its way and that he had better get going if he was going to beat it. He said that he had gone about 4/5ths of his walking route when the skies did open up and pour down. He did take an umbrella with him just in case. He said that he still got wet, but not as wet as he got a week or so ago with out an umbrella! I worked in the church library with two other library workers for about three hours this morning. We are slowly getting our heads above water. We just need the renovations to be completed. We were told today that work would get back underway next week...time will tell if that comes true or not. After finishing at the library I made a quick stop at WalMart to pick up a couple of things that I needed. After I got home, Woody watched a VHS tape that I brought home from the church library. I cooked a pot roast in the crock pot this afternoon and then made gravy. Those items are tucked away in the refrigerator...the first steps in making enchiladas...a job for tomorrow. Woody ran an errand, has read and watched a bit of TV and rested on this rainy, drizzly day.

Happy "Joy Day!"

This has been quite the day! We have, in our family, officially changed the name of the real "Columbus Day" (October 12) to "Joy Day!" Our sweet Joy turned six today! Abigail will turn eight in five days. So today was their "cake and ice cream day." Goosey and I were invited over for homemade pizza and ice cream and cake. The cake was a unicycle designed by their daddy...their mommy made the cake (a fresh strawberry cake...very yummy). There was a six candle on one part of the cake and an eight candle on another part. They both made their wishes and blew out their candle. After cake and ice cream Joy opened her presents. The sewing that I had been doing for Joy was a new outfit for her baby doll.

Woody got up early and walked five miles. Later in the morning we had a TVA "EnergyRight" evaluation of our house and now have a list of suggested "fixes" that would make our home more energy efficient. I did some more sewing on a birthday present for Abigail. Then we had the party next door. After the party I did a bit more sewing. Woody put in a library DVD and pretty promptly fell asleep. It wasn't long till I felt the need for a power nap and gave into that need. When I woke up I read a little more of my book. Woody has read, "watched" a DVD, and watched a bit of a playoff baseball game. We both walked around in the yard late this afternoon. We checked out Graham and Joy's gardens and saw that they both have garlic up. Woody showed me his garlic and onion bed.

Rainy Tuesday

Today we got some much needed rain. It was nice and steady for quite a few hours. It was a good day for me to sew and that is pretty much what I did most of the day. I got Joy's present done and started working on Abigail's. Joy's birthday is tomorrow and Abigail's is this coming Monday. They are both so excited. We will have cake and ice cream with them tomorrow afternoon. Abigail came over this morning with Elijah. Abigail read her reading book to Goosey (Woody) and Elijah played. Woody has walked to the prayer room this evening...the rain having stopped. I just got home from taking care of Elijah for a little while. Kathy and the girls were at gymnastics and Nathan and Graham had a meeting so I took care of Elijah till Kathy and the girls got home. He loves to play with little cars and trucks. And, there's no telling just how many he has! But he lined up a lot of them and parked them and then we played with some cars on his play mat quilt that I made him. We also read a couple of stories. Two is such a cute age! Really each and every age is great as it is fun to see the stages that they go through. I'm going to work a bit more on Abigail's present and then I'm going to go downstairs with my book and watch Dancing With the Stars. Woody discovered today that he can go online and print off the daily crossword puzzle from USA Today...that made him happy! He said that those puzzles are the kind that he likes...not too easy and not too hard!

How can anyone be bored?!

As my grandchildren (especially our oldest two grandchildren) know..."bored" is a word that doesn't exist around my house. If one says they are bored...then I tell them that I will find them something to do! My problem is that I have too many things to accomplish in the time that I have! Today I wanted to sew and cook...which I have done. I'm making something for Joy for her birthday (Wed.) and I also made one of our favorite soups, J. Hatheway's Italian Sausage Soup. I cut out the pattern this morning and then after lunch I made the soup...which took quite a while and then I rested in a rocking chair for a while and then got the machines ready and got busy sewing. My problem is that I like to do too many things! I also am reading a good book...so I sort of want to sit down and read rather than do the things that I planned for the day! I just like to do too many things...that definitely keeps boredom to a minimum around here.

Woody got up really early and went for a six-mile walk. He has also worked on mowing the lawn. He ran an errand this afternoon and has read and even watched a bit of a baseball play-off game. Unfortunately he can't watch his team play tonight as we don't get the station that broadcasts it. The computer will have to give him the results of that game. Woody is at Monday Night Prayer meeting as I type this. Well, back to sewing till it is time for Dancing With the Stars. I will sit downstairs with my book on my lap and read during the commercials...one way to get a little time to read! I also plan to sort out some sewing notions that need to be put back in their proper places.

Sunday Musings

Woody got up early and went on an eight-mile walk. We both went to the early church service and then we both taught our respective Sunday School classes. I made Sweet and Sour Pork for our lunch. Then I guess I was tired as I went upstairs to work on the computer and got so sleepy that I flopped down on the bed for a "little" nap...the next thing that I knew Woody was saying "good bye" as he left for the evening church service! Oh, well, I guess I was tired...so much for the soup making and sewing that I had planned to do this afternoon!

Tonight's picture was taken at dusk in the Shenandoah National Park. One really had to watch for deer as they seemed to have no fear of people...or cars!

Settling in...AGAIN!

This is one of the first sights that we saw at the first overlook in the Shenandoah National Park. Woody at first thought that it might be an eagle...but no..."just" an ol' Turkey Vulture/Buzzard. At first it was just sitting at the top of the branch preening its feathers and you couldn't see its head...but once I saw its skinny red head emerge I knew that it was a vulture...and then it spread out its wings like this and stayed this way for the longest time. I had lots of time to keep trying to get a picture of him. While it was doing this two more turkey vultures landed in the same tree and did the same thing. I googled why the birds were doing this. It is called the "horalitic pose" and this stance may serve several purposes: 1)warming the body, 2)drying the wings, or 3)baking off bacterial growth. Take your pick! The wing span is around 6 feet...a very imposing bird sitting up on the top of that dead branch in the tree! Another interesting fact about turkey vultures...they have no voice box so only utter hisses and grunts. There...you have your lesson of the day on turkey vultures. I learned something...hope that you found it interesting too!

We have spent the day doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Woody got up early and went for a four-mile walk. A bit later he went to the Credit Union and to WalMart and Kroger. I put the groceries away as he needed to gather up Graham and Abigail and head to Lowes for the building class. Today they built a "monster machine." Joy came over while they were gone. She ended up selling me some of her green peppers. After Woody got home I headed off to pick up a couple of my prescriptions at the pharmacy and then picked up my sewing machine at Janie's. While I was gone, Woody went to the library. Woody made us tuna salad for lunch. This afternoon he has read, napped a bit and watched some sports on TV. I spent the afternoon preparing the Sunday School lesson for my ladies' class. I have also started going through the pictures that I took on our latest trip. Woody made us green salads for supper. Guess he has been the designated cook for the day! Woody got some yummy ingredients for some of our soups...so looks like I will be back in the kitchen shortly!

Home...AGAIN!

We are home once again. We didn't get home till around 7pm central time after leaving this morning at 5am central time. We had a good visit with Erin at East TN State University. We took her out for lunch and then did a WalMart run with her...she needed shampoo and conditioner...but we did add several other items to the buggy for her also. We went back to campus and got to see her room. We visited with her a little while longer and then collected a hug or two and headed on our way home. It was another pretty day for travel...except for pretty heavy fog for quite a few miles this morning in VA. It's good to be home! Graham and Nathan just stopped in to let us know that Graham had passed the test for his hunting safety class. Way to go Graham! Tonight's picture is one of the MANY (hundreds) that I took yesterday in the Shenandoah State Park. The sunset last night was absolutely gorgeous.

Good News...AGAIN!!!!!

Got good news and got it in record time! We got to NIH a little after 9am and turned in our travel voucher request form. Then we headed to the car and left our suitcases. We sat and read till it was time to pick up the travel voucher. Then I had some Bon Pane beef and vegetable stew. Then it was time to go up and sign in for Woody's 1pm appointment. There were quite a few people in the waiting room so I figured that it would be a long afternoon...but I was VERY wrong! We had hardly sat down and they called Woody back to get weighed and get his blood pressure taken and they immediately took us back to a room. And we had hardly sat down and Woody's female Fellow came in. She had good news. The tumors that they continue to measure had gotten a bit smaller. She asked him questions and we asked her a couple of questions. She poked around on him a bit and told us that we don't have to come back for four months! Then the head doctor of the team (for today) came in and she told Woody that he was one of the "lucky" ones that the protocol that he had been given was working! That was it and we were out of there and it wasn't even time for our appointment. It took longer to get the next appointments made than it did to see the doctors today. I stayed to get the appointment made and Woody went to pick up his prescriptions at the pharmacy. Woody was finished before I was and we were out of the parking lot just a little after 1pm. We were out so early that Woody decided to head down the Blueridge Parkway through the Shenandoah National Park...takes a long time to head down that winding road with its 35 mph speed limit...PLUS he stopped at lots of overviews so I could take pictures! We have stopped for the night in Staunton (pronounced Stanton), VA. Sometime tomorrow...the good Lord willin'...we will be meeting up with our oldest granddaughter and let her show us around her college campus in Johnson City, TN. After we have visited with her for a while, we will head on down the road...and, the good Lord willin' I will be blogging from Tullahoma tomorrow night. Woody turned on the playoff baseball game on TV...but...guess since it isn't his team it hasn't captured his attention as he is dozing.

Bloggin' while I can!

I am in the lobby of the hotel on Pooks Hill waiting for our room to be made feather free...somehow my request didn't get to the actual hotel...oh, well...hopefully I won't be wheezing before the night's over! We left the hotel in Fairfax a little after 5am and sailed right in. We decided since we were so early to go to one of the other gates that lets people in at off hours...well, of course, we chose the wrong gate and had to wait behind all who didn't have ID's! Oh, well, we had plenty of time to get Woody's labs done. Woody's test was done very quickly...so more time to kill!!! We went to two grocery stores to get the whole wheat pastas that we like that we can't get at home. Then we walked around a couple of little speciality malls and then went to eat lunch at Geppetto's. We had eaten there one time before...very good Italian food. Woody had Vegetable Lasagna and I had my favorite, Eggplant Parmesan. Then we walked back to where we had parked the car...well, we did make one stop first...Woody got a butter pecan ice cream cone...I was too full! But Woody had been fasting since last night. Then we headed to the car and headed back to NIH and spent the rest of the afternoon reading...waiting till we could check into our hotel. The parking lot where we usually park was full so we used valet parking and then later when the parking garage had places we got our car and parked it. We got the things that we needed at the hotel and headed to the front of building 10 at NIH to catch the 3:40 shuttle...we got there at 3:39! And, the shuttle driver announced the shuttle for Hotel North...the direction where our hotel is...and we hopped on the shuttle. And, now, hopefully the room is feather free! If I still have internet connection when I get back to the room, I'll see if I can add a photo...if not...photo-free tonight! Tomorrow we meet with Woody's research team and then will get back on the road. So I'll be blogging from somewhere between Bethesda and Tullahoma...the good Lord willin'!

Well, as you can see, I did get back on and uploaded a couple of pictures that I took this morning on the Capital Beltway. I like the second one...we hit a bump...or...I couldn't hold the camera still since my heart was beating so hard...rather nerve wracking for me...doesn't seem to bother Woody.

Woody is watching his team in their play-off game.

Sunrise--Sunset

We have had a nice travel day from start to finish. We started off at 4:45am central time and stopped for the night in Fairfax, VA at 4:45pm eastern time. We are about 25 miles away from NIH and have been advised to give ourselves 1 1/2 hours to get there in the morning due to rush hour traffic. So I guess we will be heading out at 5:30 in the morning as we would like to be at NIH shortly after 7am. We have settled in for the night. Woody is reading and watching a baseball playoff game and I'm "hoping" that I will be able to watch Dancing With the Stars. Woody "only" has a CAT scan tomorrow so we will probably have the afternoon to do a bit of shopping before we check into the hotel. Tomorrow night, the good Lord willin', I'll be blogging from our hotel on Pooks Hill.

Packin' Monday

Because of the chill in the air Woody went on his walk a bit later than he usually does. I'm not sure how far he walked as I had just started school with Elijah and didn't ask him and now he has gone to Monday night prayer meeting. I had school in the morning on a usual Monday schedule...Elijah, Esther, and Joy over here and then changed up the schedule a bit as I had Graham and Abigail together for sewing since I will be away the rest of the week. They had fun finding out a little bit more about their sewing machine...about some of the special presser feet and also about some of the special stitches. After their sewing lesson, I came home and had lunch and then got back to packing. I can say that all is in the suitcase except for the toiletry items. Next packing that I will work on is gathering up all the electronics that we take...cords, chargers, etc. and all the camera equipment and get them in the computer case and the camera case. I plan to get those tucked away and make decisions about which lenses to take while I watch dancing with the stars. Then a bit later I will put the computer in its case. Woody has mowed and read and helped keep on top of the dishes in the kitchen. I took my sewing machine in to be worked on while we are away late this afternoon (after I hemmed a pair of pants for Nathan). Then I came home and fixed a crab salad for our supper. Woody left a bit early to run an errand before he went to Monday prayer meeting. I will say that I am tired...guess I'll probably be sleeping some in the car tomorrow. Well, off to check a few more items off my list of "to-do's" before the trip! Tomorrow, the good Lord willin', I'll be blogging from our hotel 25 or so miles west of Bethesda.

Suitcase Sunday

Woody got up early and went for a six-mile walk. We both went to the early church service and then went to Sunday School. Woody taught his sixth grade boys class. We came home and had lunch. Woody watched football and read till it was time to go to the Deacon's meeting at church. I have been getting things ready to pack. The suitcase is on the guest bed and I have even put some things into it. Woody did a load of wash and I guess I am going to put in a load when I go downstairs. I altered two pairs of pants for me and changed the buttons on a knit top. I have started a list of things to take (in other words...things not to forget). We have some snack items for the car lined up in the dining room...so I guess you can say that we are underway in getting ready to leave dark and early on Tuesday. I have stayed cold all day. This change in seasons...going from hot/warm to cold/cool temperatures is hard on my Transverse Myelitis and also my arthritis. My hands just won't do what I want them to do today...I can't count how many times I unthreaded my needle while sewing the buttons on my sweater top...and I keep typing the wrong letters. Weather Bug has just given a frost advisory alert for our area for in the morning. See...it really is cold/chilly! Fall is in the air...and, perhaps frost will be on the pumpkin in the morning.

Day of Negotiations

Woody got up early and walked six miles. I fixed us a mushroom omelet for breakfast. Woody ran a few errands this morning including WalMart and the Library. He brought home some pansies to plant in the garden. Not long after lunch, Graham came to the door. He was interested in earning some money so he and Goosey went into negotiations about what Graham could earn planting the pansies and also some shallots. An agreement was finally reached and Graham and he headed out to plant. After he finished that, he decided to do a bit of negotiating with me over a job. Again, an agreement was reached and I now have vacuumed stairs and a shelf in my sewing closet a bit neater. Graham left later with coins jingling in his pocket (there was a bill in there too...but you couldn't hear that!). Joy joined him at a point and they happily entertained themselves building with K'nex and also drawing. I machine embroidered two more Christmas ornaments. Woody has read, watched a DVD and also some football. It has been a rather chilly day for the first day of October. It only got to 61F today and was breezy. I would say that this is the first time in a very long time that I have felt chilly inside the house. It is supposed to dip down into the upper 30's before dawn tomorrow. Brrrrrrrrrr!