Pleasant Monday

We have had such a nice day...both weather-wise and visiting-wise. Abigail came over and helped us around the house this morning while her parents and sisters and brothers went to some appointments. Abigail chose to stay with us even when we told her that we had lots of work for her to do! We decided that we would have lunch with our friends on our front porch since it was such a nice day. We enjoyed visiting and eating. Then we walked around the yard together checking things out...our friends are real gardeners while we just dabble at it and try to be gardeners. They helped us identify several mystery plants around here. We ended the afternoon on Nathan and Kathy's screened-in porch visiting with part of their family. A very nice relaxing afternoon! They brought us several plants from their gardens and Woody has been planting some of those this evening. They brought Nathan and family some maple sapplings...one of those got planted by the neighbors on the Back 40 (Nathan & Kathy's lot behind our house). So a fun enjoyable and productive day! Now off to make my sister suffer through Dancing with the Stars!

What A Sunday!

We have had a very busy day. Woody went to the early church service and then taught Sunday school. We headed to the Tullahoma Greenway shortly after he got home. It was a beautiful day for a walk. I could tell that I hadn't done much walking lately, but made the roun-trip as did Cheryl. We came home and had lunch and then we spent time sitting on our front porch. The neighbor grandchildren came over and spent time with us doing various and sundry things...especially blowing bubbles. Woody went to church this evening. I have been doing some cooking as we are having friends over for lunch tomorrow. Nathan put our bird houses up yesterday and today we have seen birds checking out all three...guess there is a shortage of bird housing!

Family Saturday

We have had quite a day...planting, eating, visiting...Cheryl and I got out the gardening tools, etc.this morning in anticipation of much needed help in the form of Melany, Wade, and Alex. Woody walked to the library this morning and stopped by the pharmacy on the way back to pick up one of my prescriptions. Cheryl and I started weeding before Melany and family got here. By the time they arrived we had it ready enough for plant placement. Wade helped decide where was best to put the different types of plants. Then he and Melany started digging holes to put them in. Graham got his gardening bag and helped too. Alex headed over to Nathan and Kathy's and helped them to paint their swing set. They were painting with a barn red...and it looked like we had many walking wounded! For lunch Woody and I took over the corned beef touchdowns, potato chips, and corn to Nathan and Kathy's and we all ate on their screened in porch...nice to be rid of flies, bees, and mosquitos. After we ate, Melany treated us to an art exhibit of many of her art and photography projects from her classes this semester. Then we big folk visited while the children played with K'nex. Then Melany, Wade and Alex headed back home and our Dorrell neighbors drifted one-by-one back to their house. After we had a light supper, Graham, Abigail, and Joy joined us for a walk around the block. We took carrots tonight hoping to get to feed the horses that we pass, but they weren't near the fence tonight...so the children ate the carrots! After our walk, Cheryl and I made a Walmart run.

Busy Friday

We have had quite the day! Woody of course got up first. When Cheryl and I got up, we had sweet potato waffles that Woody had made and frozen so we could have them while Cheryl was here. Then we headed off to Bennett's nursery near Huntsville, Alabama. We saw LOTS of pretties and came home with some new plants for our gardens. We have plans to put Melany and perhaps Wade along with the neighbor Dorrell's to work tomorrow planting everything along with doing some weeding! Woody went to the grocery store this afternoon. Cheryl and I watered to get the ground ready for tomorrow's work day. Now we are getting ready to make some yummy sandwiches for tomorrow...corned beef touchdowns...a recipe dating back to my college days...

Welcome to Tennessee!

IF I get a picture to post this evening you will understand why tonight's blog title is a bit funny. I took this picture out the car window as we passed through the next town over as we were heading to get on the interstate to head to Nashville to go to the airport. Woody walked his four-mile walk early this morning. I got up and did some last minute things. Then we headed off to the airport...good thing that we started plenty early because the parking had changed and we had quite the time finding the short-term parking...round and round and...(you get the picture)! Finally we did find the right sign to follow! Cheryl's plane was on the ground when we got into the baggage claim place. And, she was one of the first off the plane so it wasn't long till we saw her smiling face coming down the escalator. We got her suitcase and we were off to head back to Tullahoma. The neighbor children were watching anxiously for their Auntie Cheryl. They had a welcome sign on our door. As soon as we ate vegetable burritos...a light late lunch, we headed next door to eat the treats that the girls and I made yesterday...oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars. Yum! The girls are GOOD cooks! We got shown lots of things in their yard and then we went on a "tour" of our yard...Graham named most of the plants for us. Cheryl and I sat on the front porch for a while and had our afternoon coffee (Cheryl) and tea (me). We walked around our block and then we came in to make a late supper... Eggplant Parmesan...sort of vegetarian fare today. Cheryl is unpacking and I'm attempting to once again blog...no changes tonight even if I discover a big mistake...don't want it to disPpeR again. Woody is playing Scrabble with the computer! Now to post the funny welcome to Tennessee photo...hopefully it will be here eventually!

I give up!

This may be the undoing of my blogging! I blogged tonight and then remembered that I had forgotten to say that Woody got his stitches out today. And when I went to add that tonight's blog disappeared. So now I will let this news be tonight's blog I do not like change...especially the way they have changed the blog site...oh,well! We will be picking up Cheryl at the airport tomorrow.

One step forward...two or three or...back!

I give up...the blog has been changed...my browser on the laptop isn't recognized and to use the new form doesn't work with my laptop. And I can't figure out how to upload a picture that is on the laptop to the iPad...so...tonight no picture as I have spent enough time that I don't have today! Woody has worked clearing leaves out of the flower gardens and has swept off the porch. I had school, had my six-month neurologist appointment, ran a couple of errands...then got a surprise call from Erin...she's counting the days till the end of the semester. After talking to her I got invited next door to taste a casserole and then got a surprise Frosty. Woody walked to the prayer room...no boo boos this week! His fall was a week ago tonight...about time to get the stitches out. Well, out of here...perhaps I can post this from here had add a picture from the other computer!? I'll give it a try...you will know I was successful if you see a photo!

Blustery & Cold April Day

Brrrrrrrrrrrr...downright chilly here in Middle TN...especially when the windchill was factored in! But the wind is calming down now...which means that there is a chance of frost tonight...plants are once again covered up. Woody spent some time out in the gardens...probably mostly covering up things and also wrestling leaves out from under bushes and plants in our gardens. I had school with Elijah, Esther, Joy and Graham this morning. This afternoon I have been dusting. I have quite a few shelves that have picture frames on them...these don't get dusted very often since so much has to be moved. So my sister should feel honored! Ha! Ha! Really they needed it and I just needed a "good" reason to do them! Guess she is a good a reason as any! I have also been working on church library book orders. So I have been doing a little of this and a little of that. Now I'm heading down to watch Dancing With the Stars and plan to dust in the family room while I watch! (Hope that my sister isn't planning to bring her white gloves! Our house won't pass that test!)

Conga Line Forms Here!

Just join in behind Woody! Woody read Joy and Esther a story that had a conga line in it so after they read the story, they came "dancing" through the kitchen to show me! Woody and I went to the early service and then to Sunday School. He taught his 6th grade class. We came home and had lunch. After lunch I went next door to take a couple of pictures. I have a set of pictures on the guest room wall and I realized that I'm not up to date...no Isaac yet. I have a mirror on the side wall on one side I have Melany and Wade's children and then on the other side I have Nathan and Kathy's. Well two frames vs. six frames doesn't exactly balance! So for Nathan and Kathy's kids I have taken a picture of the girls and a picture of the boys. So I needed a picture with three boys rather than two boys! Now to print it and get it in the frame. I must get Isaac represented in all the pictures that I have around here...can't be a neglectful grammy!

When I went next door, Nathan and Kathy had realized that if they were going to get to see a local play that they needed to go today. They took Graham, Abigail and Isaac with them and the other three stayed with us. Elijah helped Woody cover plants (once again a possibility of frost). The girls started out doing art work. When Elijah came in, I started reading stories to him prior to his nap. When Woody came in, he took over. Then I went downstairs and the girls wanted me to read some of the stories that they heard us reading to Elijah! I read one book to them and then got so sleepy that I had to go find Woody to take over the reading! Once I was able to get up and move around, I sort of woke up and continued to work on stewing a chicken and deboning it and making chicken broth. I fixed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for them and their brother and sister so they would be ready to head off to church almost as soon as the play goers returned. They headed out after they ate their sandwiches. Woody left a while after that to go to the evening service at church. I ended up remopping the kitchen floor (I did that task after I blogged last night). Well, not long after Woody came home from the special service at church last night, he dropped the ladle from the soup on the floor...not too big of a mess. But this afternoon while the children were eating their PB&J's, Woody spilled some sticky pickle juice on the floor. (Possible for a clean kitchen floor? Beginning to be doubtful!). I knew when I mopped it that it was a bit soon...but I had the mop over here for the sunroom and laundry room so figured that it was the time to mop the floor. (We share a steam mop between Nathan and Kathy's and our house. And, it resides most of the time next door...they supposedly have more messes than we do...not sure about that after the last two days here!) I'm about done in for the day!

Why?

Why does it take me so long to accomplish tasks around the house? Today I have spent most of the afternoon and evening working on cleaning up our sunroom and laundry room. "Sunroom" is sort of a glorified name for what would probably be considered a mud room by most. It has windows that go almost from ceiling to floor and the door has glass panes in it too...so it is quite bright and sunshiny (when the sun is shining...which it wasn't today!). The laundry room is next to this. I had been waiting till Woody had all his seedlings planted and with no chance of them coming back in. The seedling flats have been residing along the wall in this room until it was time to plant them. The last of the baby plants left the room several days ago. So it was time to sweep up the dirt that had accumulated during their sprouting season. I have vacuumed and then mopped the floor in both of these rooms, cleaned off the washer and drier and also cleaned off a set of shelves that are in the laundry room (things get so linty in the laundry room!), and washed the panes in the back door inside and out. Then I decided to open up the window in the laundry room and wipe the dirt that had accumulated between the screen and the outside. Well, in the process I for some reason opened out the window sash as you would to wash it...and there was so much pollen on it that I felt that I should wash at least that window. And, now...that I have windows that are easy to clean...no good excuse not to wash them! So got that window cleaned and decided that while I was cleaning out the sunroom that I would wash the three windows in that room. So I have washed windows today (these windows are really tall...but still quite easy to wash...do love my new windows! These windows are the easiest windows in the house to wash (even though they are the largest) as they don't have curtains...so no curtains to take down and put back up.). Since this is such a narrow room, I cleaned the laundry room and one end of the sunroom and then slid the plant table and other items to the other end after the floor dried. So there was a lot of moving and shifting of various and sundry things that I have in that room. But it is all done now except for hanging the suncatchers back in the windows and dusting off the table. I even rolled the sewing cutting table back into its storage spot in the sunroom. The plants took up the cutting table's space so I had had the cutting table up in the living room since the seeds/baby plants took up residence in the sunroom. So taking the cutting table back out there meant that I had to put away some of the sewing items that were on it. Seems that one job always leads to another. Now...I will tell you how my windows look when the sun shines on them. There has been no sign of the sun today and it has been quite chilly...staying in the 50's most of the day. It drizzled for a while this morning and then was just damp, chilly and breezy the rest of the day. Woody did do a little work in the yard. He made his weekly trip to the library and stopped at the fruit market for tomatoes on his way home (he drove). Tonight he is at a special service at church.

Busy/Tiring Friday

At least it has been a tiring day for me. I joined Woody on his weekly shopping excursion...the Credit Union, Lowes, WalMart, Kroger, and a stop for gas for the car. We came home and Nathan came over and found out what kind of pipe we needed for under our kitchen sink. He fixed that for us later in the afternoon. Woody did some yard work again today. After I rested for a bit, I used up the last of our Easter ham making Ham Barley Soup...lots of veggie cutting...so a bit time consuming...the soup just finished cooking a little while ago. I have had a test sample bowl...pretty good! While I was cooking we heard a rapping at our front door. It was Joy and she told us that the car wash was open if we wanted to drive our car over to their house! So we have a much cleaner car!

Celebrate!

Today we got invited to a celebration...Esther (4 1/2) has stopped sucking her thumb and sleeping with her lovey pillow. Now her lovey is my fault... I first made her rectangular cloths made out of really soft fabric called minky...well, she was instantly in love with them the moment that I handed her the first one...she had them in several colors. Then when they decided that she should graduate to just using them at nap time, I made her a pillow out of lovey fabric. I have also made her a dress out of lovey fabric! (Bad Grammy! See it really is all my fault that she became dependant on them!) Anyway after this last trip when she held onto her pillow for most of the long trip AND sucked her thumb too...well, it was decided that lovey pillow needed to be retired too. They told Esther that when she had slept three nights without her lovey pillow that they would have a celebration. AND that celebration happened today with yummy banana splits. Goosey (Woody) and I got to join in the celebration too! Always love a GOOD celebration!

Woody has worked in the yard a good part of the day. He mowed and raked the front yard. He also planted some more tomato plants. We had a normal school day. Abigail spent a little more time over here this afternoon since her time got broken into with the celebration. Then Graham came over for a while in the late afternoon. I will have to admit that I played out at a point and had a snooze while Graham was over here. Before I fell asleep, I did manage to fix a quilt that I had made for Joy...someone (we think that she is pictured above) cut a triangular piece from the edge of Joy's Three Bears Quilt. Well, I was able to fix it...but did not have any of the fabric left for the border...but I substituted something that came pretty close (a fabric from Esther's quilt...figured that was appropriate...as a memory of the incident!). I took the quilt back to Joy this afternoon before she and her sisters headed off to gymnastics. She seemed quite happy to have it back! Before my "sleepy attack" I worked on getting some fabrics sorted that have been "adorning" the guest bed. The bed is starting to look like it can accommodate a guest...good thing since my sister will be here a week from today.

Update on the wounded...his eye is pretty swollen. And, now, I am off to change the dressing on his stitched cut.

Seven Stitches!

And, those seven stitches were not ones that I made while sewing! Last night shortly after I posted the blog, I got a phone call from Woody. He needed me to come pick him up. He had fallen and was bleeding! When I picked him up, he wanted to go home to assess the damages. But upon looking in the mirror after getting home, he pretty quickly decided that he needed to go to the ER. We left the ER an hour-and-a-half later (pretty short time for an ER visit...and they were so pleasant!) and he came away with seven stitches on his forehead! He has got to quit beating himself up!!!! I have a picture of him before the ER personnel got hold of him...but I am catering to those with queasy stomachs and posting a picture of flowers instead!

Today he has taken it easy. But still did some yard work...mainly raking leaves and other debris out of some of the gardens. I had a usual Wednesday day of school, Elijah (sounds and counting), Esther (reading), Joy (reading and sewing), and Abigail (weaving). I headed off to the church library (and to stop and buy some tape that hopefully Woody won't be allergic to for his wound dressing). We got a book order finalized. Then when I got home I worked some more on library memorial paperwork...trying to get my part finished so I can pass the work along to another library worker. Now it is time to go change the dressing on Woody's wound...ummmmmmm I think that I have mentioned this many times before...I am not a nurse! For some reason Woody seems to think that he needs to get himself into these predicaments that make me put my nurse hat on! (For better or worse...in sickness and health...) Well, off to wash my hands!

Thoroughly Tuesday

We woke up to a drizzly morning. This morning I was the one who got up super early...several hours before Woody...that doesn't happen very often. Since I was awake, I decided that I would go on and finish the pillow for one of the front porch rockers. So that project is now behind me and the pillow is on the chair. Woody spent most of the day inside since it drizzled off and on. I had school...Elijah first, then Esther and Joy came over for their kitchen fraction lessons, and then the crew came for art. We learned to draw a house so it looks dimensional. After art, Graham had his experiment class. Today we focused on creatures who live deep in the sea. This study has grown out of our study of air and water pressure (one thing leads to another). When I was hunting lesson ideas, I found this site that has just lots of information about The Deep Abyss. He already can spout lots of facts about the creatures...today we learned a few more facts. The rest of the afternoon I have spent between times of resting and times of cleaning. I have been vacuuming in the sewing room...a major feat...lots of moving things out of the way so I can vacuum under them. Lots of threads on the floor. It does look better! Woody walked to the prayer room a while ago. That is his exercise for most Tuesdays. I've got one more area to move a few things so I can vacuum in that area and then I will be through with vacuuming for tonight. The countdown is on for my sister's arrival. She'll be here ten days from now.

Creative Monday?

I've been back in the sewing mode today...trying to make another pillow for the front porch rockers. I need to make one more so that all four seating spots will have one. I was going to make it really easy and then got an idea...which is taking quite a bit more time than I meant for it to...oh, well, hopefully it will be worth it. Before I got going on my sewing I found a sewing app for the iPad...so I had to play around with it and I also transferred some sewing PDF files to the iPad today. So sewing took the place of getting much cleaning done today.

Woody woke up super early and went on a six-mile walk. He ran a couple of errands this morning in the rain. We were glad to see the rain, but it was one of those rains that came hard and heavy for only a short time and most of it ran off rather than soaking into the ground. It was no easier to pull weeds today than it was yesterday. He has mulched and mowed today. He is now gone to church for Monday night visitation. I'm heading back to my sewing. Just realized that it is Monday and that I'm missing Dancing With the Stars! Oops...my creating made me forget! Well, I can watch it tomorrow on my iPad...but may go down and watch since I have remembered!

Mid-month Sunday

Can you believe that it is already the middle of April?! How time does fly (when one is having fun...and even when one is not)! Woody and I headed off to church this morning per usual...we went to the 8:30am service and then Sunday School. Woody taught his sixth-grade boys class. When Sunday School was over, he and I parted ways. I stayed at church to get ready for our Sunday School salad luncheon and Woody walked home to get in his exercise for the day. We had a really good group with LOTS of good food. Have I mentioned before that we are really good cooks?! After we ate, I shared the photo program that I had put together and presented to the garden club in March. I think that my photos were enjoyed...and I hope that I inspired some to pick up their digital cameras and take some pictures and then "do something" with them rather than just leaving them in their cameras!

After Woody walked home, I guess he was hungry because he proceeded to spend a good portion of the time that I was gone cooking! He made tuna salad and then after he ate some of that he made Spicy Beef and Vegetable soup. I just had a bowl of the soup for supper and it is very good. Woody is now at church for the evening service. Something happened during an hour or so of my afternoon...but I can't tell you what since I dozed off and had a Sunday afternoon nap!

Spring Saturday

It has been a beautiful Spring day here in Middle TN. Woody has spent a good part of it outside working on the yard...again...mowing, raking, trimming, etc. The yard is his Golden Gate Bridge project...Once the Golden Gate Bridge gets painted it is time to start on the opposite end and begin painting once again...as it is with our yard...by the time that Woody has gotten through it is time to start it again. He can only do so much at a time...so slowly but surely it gets done...and then redone! It is good that he enjoys being outside. This morning I took my mug of tea, cameras and iPad out to sit on the front porch. I sipped my tea, worked the crossword puzzle on my iPad and kept a watch out for birdies. Melany called while I was out there and we talked for a while with me sitting on the porch...that is till I started getting choked up and started coughing. I finally decided that I had best get inside and sure enough not long after I got in my tickly throat and cough left. So something is in the air that doesn't agree with me! It has been quite breezy and there was definitely a dusting of something on my iPad and my camera...I'm sure that it was pollen. Woody said that Sycamore pollen has joined some of the other tree pollen. While I was talking to Melany, Woody left for his Saturday errands...the library and the grocery stores. I helped him put away the groceries when he returned. I managed to complete the week's wash today when I changed our bed. It is good that I have finished the week's washing since it is the last day of the week! I even pressed the couple of things that needed pressing and all my clothes are put away ready to be worn once again. This afternoon I made a potato salad to take to church tomorrow. Our Sunday School class is having a salad luncheon after the 11am service tomorrow. I am going to share my photos that I shared with the garden club last month. So the next task of the evening after I blog, will be to look through the slide show to refresh my memory of the order that they come in, etc. Woody did take time out of his yard work to come in and watch a baseball game on TV. This evening he is relaxing in his recliner with a book, the TV and perhaps resting his eyes a bit. I managed to take a short nap this afternoon...I flopped on the bed after I put the sheets back on the bed and was waiting for the blanket to dry and the next thing I knew I was waking up!

Tennessee Car Wash!

There are lots of jokes running around "out there" about folk from TN...or being "red-necks," not wearing shoes, etc. Well, last night when the city opened up the fire hydrants on our street to clean them out, relieve pressure (or whatever reason they had in opening them up full force), Nathan ran over to our driveway and got in one of our cars and drove it down the street and through the spray...both coming and going. More than one way to wash a car! This was the first time that I had ever seen the city open up the fire hydrants in our subdivision. They opened this one and also the one that was on the street that parallels this one.

Today Woody has worked really hard outside...he has raked, swept, mulched, and mowed. I stayed inside most of the day, except for a couple of walks around the yard to see what was blooming today. I kept the washer and drier busy today and then made quite a few trips up and down the stairs putting the wash away. I wanted to get more done today, but I wore out sooner than I had wanted to! I'm a big achy today...I think due to the weather that is to the west of us. It's one of those days that I would just as soon that my body not be a barometer!

Projects Day!

Busy day between the two Dorrell households! Woody's project of the day was to set up the upside-down garden that Melany, Wade, Erin, and Alex gave him for Christmas. He had two good helpers--Graham and Elijah. When Woody read the directions he found out that he needed sand to put in the bottom of the garden platform. So he, Graham, and Elijah headed off to Lowes...but not before checking in with Nathan to see if he needed something else for the screened-in porch that he was in the process of finishing up. Nathan did need something so Woody added it to the list and headed off with the boys. While they were gone, Esther, Joy and Abigail had their turns of school with me. Esther read to me. Joy read and did some math and then sewed a button onto a pair of Woody's corduroy pants. Then Abigail worked on her science with me and did a bit on her weaving project. After they got home, Woody added sand to the base of the garden stand. I helped hold the stand steady while he made attempts to get the sand into the hole...not an easy task since the sand was damp. After he got that done, he planted two of his tomato plants (upside-down) and then realized that he is supposed to plant some other plants on top of the dirt that holds the tomato plant roots. So Joy, he and I headed off once again and bought some rosemary and some dill. He planted those after he got back, and then could say that his upside-down garden project was completed.

Nathan has had quite a project this week...screening in their back porch. This afternoon he even had Kathy and Graham go up on the porch roof to help hold the screen tight while he got it attached on one of the sides. By the end of the day he had all the screening in. I think that all that is left to do is to add some trim on the outside. They ate a "picnic" supper on the porch this evening...a bit chilly! They are all enjoying spending time minus bugs on their porch as the days warm up!

My projects of the day that got completed: two lightbulbs put into overhead fixtures (Woody and Nathan accomplished that task for me!) and buying two filters for our air returns (Woody did the buying and even replaced one of them for me.). So the projects that I get to mark off my to-do list were done for me!

I will report as we go into the growing season as to how our upside-down garden does. (Now I hope that this posts...this is the second time that I have written the blog this evening!)

Wednesday...all day!

School was in session today. Elijah came over first, then Esther, then Joy and finally Abigail. We had a good day...doing everything from learning sounds that letters make to reading, from learning to make graphs to working with fractions...lots going on!

Woody has once again spent a lot of time out in the yard...mowing and raking. This afternoon I spent some time at the church library. This evening we ate supper over at Nathan and Kathy's.

Last night we seemed to escape the frost and freeze...at least at our house. There are more warnings out tonight...things are once again covered with buckets, pots, wastebaskets, etc.

Freeze Watch and Frost Advisory

Woody and Joy covered up plants this afternoon that might get hurt if we have a freeze and/or frost tonight. We had quite the time at school today...painting, experiments, etc. Busy but fun day. Nathan and Kathy have been working hard at getting their screened-in back porch finished. They had lots of help this afternoon when it came time to paint some of the boards..several little children as well as some adults have a bit of paint on their hands, arms, legs, noses, hair, etc. While Kathy took Elijah to his gymnastics class, Abigail brought Isaac over here so she could babysit him (with my help). I had fun taking his picture as it is his three-month birthday today. Woody did a little painting on the porch next door and just sat and supervised for part of the time. I walked around the yard taking pictures with my point-and-shoot camera. It is good to have my little camera back home and all fixed. It arrived by UPS this afternoon. Woody walked to and from the prayer room at church this evening. I guess we are in for a cold night...wonder if it will really get to freezing. We got spoiled by all the warm weather that we have been having!

Always Be Prepared!

Well, we attempted to get back into routine today...back to school after two weeks off. Elijah came over for his preschool time. Then Esther came over to practice her reading and then learn about the continents. After that it was Joy's turn. She started out working with me in her reading workbook. She finished that and started working on her math. It was time for Graham's experiment time so she finished her math time with Goosey (Woody) and then read him the story from her reading book. Graham came over and did an experiment from a new set of physics experiments that I found last night on the internet...it's a PDF file so I downloaded it and it is now residing on my "bookshelf" on my iPad and we can read it like a book right on the iPad. Today he did an experiment that shows that air takes up space. Then we started reading another PDF file that I had downloaded about the Dark Abyss (the ocean). He learned several neat facts about the ocean and the amount of area that it takes up compared to the amount of land that there is on our earth. After he finished with his time, it was lunch time and we invited him to have yesterday's leftovers with us. He enjoyed that! Then he went on a four-mile walk with Goosey. And, that is where the title of tonight's blog comes in...as they were getting ready to leave, Graham shoved some plastic Easter eggs into his pockets. Goosey questioned as to why he would need those on the walk, but Graham wanted to take them. Well...it is a good thing he took them as they found tadpoles on their walk and Graham was able to scoop one tadpole up into one of his eggs and get it home safely. Now we will see if he can raise this to become a frog or toad...time will tell! At the moment it is residing in a glass jar in our kitchen! Woody has mowed this afternoon. About the only task that I completed this afternoon was to get the sheets back on the bed that Alex slept in. Then I flopped on our bed and rested. Thanks to Alex I found Pandora internet radio and have been plugging in favorite artists and favorite songs. Pretty neat! At the moment I am listening to Original Broadway and Movie Soundtracks to some of my favorite movies. It's nice to be able to choose the type of music that you can listen to...I still tend to want to listen to "songs and artists from the past (ones that I am already familiar with)." Well, it's almost time for Dancing With the Stars!

Resurrection Day 2012

Alex, Woody and I started out our day by going to the sunrise service at our church. We saw the sun peek through the clouds on our way to church, but during the service it was quite overcast and chilly. They had a continental breakfast that we partook of and then we came home to get ready for our next celebration...our daughter Melany's birthday. I put the ham in the oven and then prepared an asparagus and barley dish. I had fixed everything else except for the baked potatoes the day before. After the ham came out the potatoes went in (they wouldn't fit in at the same time...when we have our large roasting pan only one rack can be in the oven and it takes up all the space on the rack). After lunch Woody washed the dishes and Melany dried and I put them away. Then I prepared our dessert...Blueberry Dump Cake. Just as it came out of the oven, Nathan, Kathy and family arrived home from a gig in Chattanooga. We all sang to Melany (tonight's photo) and then Woody and I served up the warm dump cake with vanilla ice cream. Yum. This was made with blueberries that Woody picked last year and that we had in the freezer. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon visiting, walking around our yards, and watching the children have an egg hunt. A very nice day! Happy Birthday, Melany! I can't believe that Woody and I are old enough to have you become the age that you just became!!!!!

To the Rescue!

Alex rescued Goosey (Woody) from some of his mowing. They both worked for a while in the backyard. Alex got awakened by five very excited children. He told them that he would be over at their house after he got dressed and ate breakfast. So he did just that. He spent a good part of the morning with them. Woody went to the library while Alex was with the neighbors. Woody also made a rescue visit to the grocery store to get something that I forgot to put on the grocery list. When Alex came back to the house, he told us that he and Nathan had taken the five oldest to an egg hunt at a church up the street. This is an egg hunt that must be much anticipated by the community as there are always tons of cars parked all over the neighborhoods close to the church during the festivities. Alex brought Elijah and Joy back home a bit earlier than Nathan brought the rest of the crew. When Nathan and his crew got home, several of the children came running over to our house all excited. Alex had won one of the door prizes. He won a $25 dollar gift card to a local sports store. After I got through fixing a couple of recipes for tomorrow's feast celebrating Melany's birthday, I took him to the store and he spent his gift card. He has a nice new basketball. He seems quite pleased. Alex and Goosey have been playing Scrabble this evening. I have pretty much spent the day getting ready for tomorrow. I also made a rescue trip to the grocery store...I about decided that our gelatin salad that Melany had requested was doomed...first a trip for cool whip and then a trip for the right kind of jello...red got brought home from the grocery store Thursday, but the wrong flavor red! And, I didn't catch it when I put it away...and somehow it just didn't seem right to make a strawberry salad with cherry jello! I will admit that I can hardly keep my eyes open at the moment (none of tonight's blog may make sense!). I'm just afraid that a power nap could turn into a longer than needed nap! I still have a couple of things that I want to prepare tonight to make tomorrow's cooking tasks easier. My foot is better, but as I have gotten farther into the day it has started to bother me again. I was very careful all day today and tried to rest in between tasks.

Good Friday 2012

It is Good Friday and it has been a good Friday! We have had a fun day with grandchildren in and out. Abigail and Nathan went to Nashville for Abigail's six-month check-up for her ear and she and her ear got a good report. Yeah!!! As Alex was finishing eating supper, Graham came over and invited him to come over and dye Easter eggs with them. Fun times! So in the above picture you see (sort of) all but one of our grandchildren. I made a favorite supper of Alex's...chicken fingers and fried potatoes. Now...I don't fry food...this is as close as I come to frying. I shake the chicken and the potatoes in a mixture of flour and Parmesan cheese and a couple of spices and then in a very thin layer of olive oil I fry them till crisp on all sides. Well, this is a time consuming meal...and Grammy is beat...plus I have a hurt foot so that doesn't help. But supper is over and I have sort of cleaned up the mess...at least the dishes that can go in the dishwasher are in and I'm counting on Woody to wash the pans that can't go in the dishwasher! I really don't know what we have done today... Woody made us sweet potato waffles for breakfast. And at some point he did a little yard work. He got Alex to help him with one yard job and Alex husked our corn on the cob. Alex has helped watch and play with the little ones. All the grands except for Isaac have enjoyed the iPad. The smaller ones enjoyed a time with PBS this afternoon. Graham and Joy and Esther played a while with K'nex. It's been a busy day...and I can hardly move! Guess my age is catching up with me!!!!!! I certainly won't deny the latter! Alex helped me some with today's crossword puzzle. As far as the chores that I had written down to do today...well...............................another day! Alex and Woody are watching TV and are perhaps going to play a game of Scrabble. Last night when I went downstairs to play a board game with them they were both snoozing in their chairs!

Gobble Victory!

We took a trip over the river and through the woods this afternoon and I was very glad that I managed to capture this wild turkey. We saw three, but I only was victorious in capturing one! There weren't many creatures out this afternoon as it was raining. We were on our way to pick up our 14 year old grandson, Alex. He is going to spend the long weekend with us. After we got home I set to work on our supper...and with that I had another victory...another gobble victory as it so happens. Alex actually ate what I made for supper and had seconds. Alex is the pickiest eater of our grandchildren...hard to find things that appeal to him other than peanut butter and jelly! Tonight I made a new recipe for Better for You Alfredo Sauce and served it over linguine. It was very good...definitely a keeper. It is one of the recipes that I have found on my recipe app on my iPad.

Woody did some yard work today and also did our weekly grocery shopping and helped clean up the kitchen. I worked around the house getting ready for Alex...really just doing things that needed to be done. Then we took off mid afternoon to go pick up Alex so we could get him when he got home from school. He will stay with us till Sunday when Melany and Wade will come to pick him up. At that time we will celebrate Easter and Melany's birthday (on the same day this year). I got a phone call before we left telling me that my point-and-shoot camera had been shipped back to me and that it should be here on Monday...good news (hope that it is fixed)! Off to play a board game or a card game at Alex's request!

Sneaky Snake Strikes Again!

Woody came across our friend, Sneaky Snake, while mowing today. He was about to feast once again on a toad...but got disturbed. All the children including Nathan had to come out to check out the situation. Graham wanted him captured and Nathan took on the job armed with two pairs of barbecue tongs. Sneaky was put into the deep yard bucket ( deep wheelbarrow) along with the toad. Sneaky was too mad with the situation to enjoy a meal at that moment. We left him so he could calm down...but when Woody went back he was gone...as well as the toad. Never know what adventures/entertainment yard work will produce! Ummmmmmmmm I'm guessing that Sneaky is a nearby resident since this is the second time that we have come across him...once in Nathan and Kathy's backyard and now on Nathan and Kathy's lot behind our property.

Woody woke up super early and went on a six-mile walk. He has once again worked in the yard...not sure about how much mowing he did after Sneaky was discovered as I had to go to the church library to work for several hours. This morning I continued to work around the house...I was still on "spring break" break from school. School will start back up for me on Monday. I didn't get around to working the crossword puzzle this morning...I was out enjoying the children's antics. They finished school early and they were enjoying checking out how their gardens were growing. I headed over with camera in hand to capture children and vegetation. So I have been working on the puzzle this evening. Woody said that it was a rough one and it has taken me quite a while and still have several blanks. Woody is relaxing in his recliner with the TV on and perhaps a book in hand after his busy day that started out so early...probably resting his eyes!

Spring Is Everywhere!

Here is a picture of a baby tulip poplar leaf. Usually they are too high to get a picture of the leaves coming out. But I took this of a leaf on our new baby tulip poplar tree...the one that the roofers had to replace after they backed over our first baby tulip poplar. This one has a bit more growth on it than our first one...much more sturdy...and, it seems to be doing well. Lots of new little leaves popping out on it. The tulip poplar is TN state tree.

Woody got up early as usual. I think that he wanted to get going out in the yard right away, but the grass was too wet. He has mainly raked and mowed today. Then in the late afternoon he walked to and from the prayer room. When he got home I had a meatloaf and mashed potatoes awaiting him. I tried a new recipe for a rolled stuffed meat loaf...very good! I found the recipe on a recipe app on the iPad. We had all the ingredients so I decided to try it. In the morning while Woody cleaned up yards, I cleaned up floors in the house. I mopped the kitchen floor and vacuumed several rooms in the house. Right after lunch I headed off to get my hair cut. Then this afternoon I continued to do more things around the house. Mid afternoon we had a knocking on the door and one by one we had five children find us upstairs. They were just getting home from a trip they had made all the way to Colorado and back. They had been gone over a week...they had gigs in MO, KS and CO. They also had a day or two to relax and do a little playing...like go to the St. Louis Zoo and the Planetarium and a hands-on science museum in St. Louis too. I know that at least one of the nights they got to swim in a swimming pool at their motel. They saw friends and relatives along the way to and from, too. It's good to have them back in the neighborhood! I headed over and got a few pictures of Isaac. This is his 12 week birthday...doesn't seem possible! Graham is spending a little time with us this evening while the rest of his family goes to a church service at our church. He wasn't feeling the greatest tonight so he has stayed with us. He is enjoying my iPad at the moment...he enjoys Google Earth (me too!) and of course he has enjoyed a couple of games that I have downloaded (especially Angry Birds!).

Singing Praises for a Beautiful Day!

This robin was having a grand time singing from the tree tops this afternoon. I was sitting on the front porch and managed to focus on him through the dogwood blooms.

Woody has spent most of the day out in the yard...mowing, weeding, trimming, etc. He is definitely enjoying the nice weather. Today it got into the upper 80's. I know that it felt rather warm while I was sitting on the front porch listening to Sherlock Holmes and taking birdie pictures while sipping on a cup of green tea! I have kept quite busy today marking things off my "to-do" lists. Woody walked to the Post Office for me to mail a package (one of my tasks of the day was to get it ready to mail!). He also helped me get all the Christmas wrap back into the Christmas closet...always the last of the Christmas to get put away and it has been housed in the guest room (out of my sight) awaiting my sorting through it. That task is done and now out of sight and put away till Christmas decorating time. I have also been sorting through fabric that had been stored on the guest bed (some never cut into yardage and some pieces that I have used and that need to be put into their proper storage spot)... these efforts in the guest room are leading to my sister's visit...trying to have a place for her to rest her head when she is here for her visit towards the end of the month. I still have a bit more to do with the fabric, but I am through for the day with that task...at least a good start has been made! Woody left a little while ago to go to the church for Monday night visitation. I'm heading downstairs to run a load of wash and to watch Dancing With the Stars.

No Foolin'!

Now I'm really laughing. I just titled the blog and hit a key to (I thought) add tonight's photo and somehow I posted a blank blog. I thought about leaving it due to the day...but since I titled it "No Foolin'!" I guess that I had better post something!

Woody got up early and walked four miles. I on the other hand had trouble getting in gear this morning and slept in later than I should have. So in the end we went to church in two cars as Woody needed to go to the deacon's prayer time prior to the church service. Woody went to church and then taught his 6th-grade-boys Sunday School class. I only made it to Sunday School today. This afternoon I spent making a new soup: Black Forest Vegetable Soup. It is a rather interesting soup...onions, carrots, celery, turnip, and potatoes...and sauerkraut and dill seed. It has stew beef in it that has been cooked till it falls apart. I am reminded of eating a reuben sandwich when I eat it. One definitely knows that there is sauerkraut in it and the dill seed...as to the other ingredients they just sort of blend in. It's not a soup that I want to eat day in and day out. Plus it took a lot of effort for not a lot of soup...so it probably won't go to the top of our top ten list! But it is rather good and definitely different. After, making the soup that did take just about the entire afternoon, I ended up not being able to keep my eyes open sooooooooo I ended up taking a nap probably too late in the day. I was listening to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (must not have been too exciting!). I will say that another problem with some of the recorded books...VERY poor readers! One of these days I will hopefully get my days and nights straightened out! Woody had a deacon's meeting at church this afternoon and then went to the church service this evening.

That about sums up our "no foolin'!" April Fool's Day 2012! (Sorry to those who might have opened up an empty post! I really didn't mean to do that! No foolin'!). It has been a beautiful April 1st here in Middle Tennessee...highs in the 80's...good sitting on the porch for a nice cell phone conversation with my sister (making plans for her visit later this month!)...now hope that the time outside won't bother my allergies!