BOO!

Due to the day/night that it is, Donna and I worked in the church library this morning rather than in the afternoon.  We had a few laughs once again...and came out scratching our heads as to how a couple of things had happened...like three of the same books all with the same accession numbers.  During this inventory we seem to be finding multiples of the same book rather than books that are missing! Let's see...is this a situation of "more is less" or "less is more" or..?!?  Guess we'll figure out the answer to that deep question another time when working in the library.

Woody found a chicken recipe that he thought that we had all the ingredients for that he thought that we should try.  But in the end we didn't have quite enough of one item and none of another.  So while I was working at the library, he walked to Kroger and had all the ingredients lined up on the counter when I got home.  So I put the recipe together and we ate a bit of a late lunch.  That works out well so I can snack on candy this evening!  I think that Woody has been better about resisting the temptation than I!  He is in charge of answering the knocks of the little hobgoblins.  We seem to be having more knocking at our door than other years...and, most have been very polite...remembering their thank yous.

Another Breezy Day!

Woody headed out before lunch for a walk to the library.  I left shortly after lunch to get my hair cut.  This is the view out the window where I get my hair cut...beautiful!  The clouds were so interesting just over the tree line.  Woody just left to walk to church for his time in the prayer room.  I am blogging early this evening as I am about to head out the door to go out to eat with my Sunday School class.

Breezy Monday

Woody waited till this afternoon for his daily walk.  He left shortly after I left for my six-month check-up with my neurologist.  Everything is status quo with my Transverse Myelitis...just go with what I have been doing medication-wise.  I left the house at 1:20pm for a 1:30pm appt. and was traveling home before 2pm.  I like quick doctor appointments!  On the way home I realized that the ginkgo tree was a bit yellower than it was four days ago. Also the little Japanese maple had lost more leaves (small tree with red leaves in the right corner).  I decided that I had better snap another picture or two before all the leaves blow off!  It is really breezy today and only got into the low 50's...so wind chill factor made it seem even cooler.  There is a wind advisory out for our area until tomorrow evening. I guess the wind is the effect we are feeling from Hurricane Sandy.  I'll take the wind over what those folk are experiencing on the East Coast! The smaller photo was taken four days ago and the larger photo was taken today...the Ginkgo is just about at its peek of golden color.  The next amazing thing about this tree is that once it reaches its peek then it only holds its leaves a bit longer and then just about drops them all in one day.  We wish that all the trees in our yard dropped all theirs at once...but, no, ours hang on to some of theirs till new leaves appear in the spring.

Oops!

Oops just about forgot to blog.  I waited for Woody to get home from the evening service to see if he had walked this morning and then when I got my answer (he didn't) I never came in here! We both went to the early service this morning and then went to Sunday School.  Woody taught his 6th grade boys.  We came home and pretty much took it easy the rest of the afternoon. I finished another book last night so started a new one this afternoon. Woody has read and watched sports on TV.  That's about it!

A Chilly Chili Day!

Boy did the temperatures around here change...almost 80 one day and the next it didn't get out of the 40's.  My body prefers the higher temps...Transverse Myelitis doesn't like extremes (and, if given the choice over the extremes...prefers higher).  I was much better a day ago!  Today lots of aches and pains plus can't seem to get warm...even when wrapped up in a warm fleece throw.  Woody put off his walk till later in the day due to the cooler temps.  He walked to and from the library.  I got up and headed into the sewing room.  I am "repurposing" one of my jumpers.  I decided that I would like the jumper to become a skirt.  So I picked  the skirt off of the bodice.  That was a bit of a time consuming job.  I cross stitched this saying many years ago: "You Never Know What You Can Do Till You Try To Undo What You Did!"  So true...it took quite a bit of time getting it taken apart.  By the time that I got it apart, Woody was home from the grocery store and I needed to go down and put groceries away.  Then it was time to make a new chili recipe: Pork and Hominy Chili.  That took quite a while so we had a late lunch.  It is quite tasty and rather spicy...a good variant on our typical chili recipes.  Chili really hit the spot on this chilly day. I also stewed some chicken breasts and made chicken stock. After I got through with making the chili, stock, cutting the chicken up...and cleaning up the kitchen, I was done-in so headed upstairs to my favorite place these days...the recliner in our bedroom.  I rested, read, and listened to some music (using Pandora on my iPad). I listened to music while I cooked, too.  You can choose the type of music and/or artist that is played on this app...I chose music that reminded me of my high school and college days.  Later I went even farther back...Perry Como which lead into some songs from the Big Band Era.  Sort of fun... The funniest thing that I listened to was "Will You Still Love Me When I'm Sixty-Four?"  I guess that I hadn't heard that song in many years...and, it was a little strange listening to that song and realizing that I am now 64!  Sort of like the Christmas Song that says "for kids from 1 to 93"...once Mother was 94, I can remember telling her that I guessed that she was no longer a kid! I haven't had enough energy to get back to my sewing...so "repurposing" will have to wait for another day unless I get an unexpected spurt of energy in the next hour of so! This afternoon and evening Woody has read, watched football, and perhaps a DVD.

Fabulous Fall Friday!

The leaves are falling fast and furiously around here.  It doesn't take long for an area that has been raked or blown to be leaf covered again.  Woody headed out on his walk this morning a little after seven and didn't get back till almost noon.  He walked all the way to Motlow College and back.  He picked up a lot of cans on this walk.  Later in the afternoon he walked to the library as they had called to say that they had a book for him.  He is a bit disappointed...he started reading the book and realized that he had already read it!  He thought that he had checked his book list...but either didn't or missed the fact that it was on his list (on my list too).  As soon as I got up I went to work on preparing letters to go out from the church library for overdue books.  I left them to be folded,stamped and licked by Woody when he got back from his walk. He got that done before the mail carrier came today.  I needed an address that Kathy had so I called over there at about the time that I usually call for Elijah to come over for school.  While I was still talking with her on the phone, he showed up!  He's "trained" for the phone to ring around 9am for him to come over here for his school time (even on days we don't have school)!  He played for about an hour over here, while I worked on cleaning the dining room.  I hadn't done much cleaning since I had been sick so decided it was time to do a bit of vacuuming and dusting around here!  The dining room got a pretty good cleaning including getting a big spider web out from between the screen and the window pane.  I even washed the lower pane inside and out of that window.  I didn't do the top section as it would mean taking the curtains down and I just wasn't  quite up to that much cleaning today!  I do like being able to get to both sides of the windows with these new windows. I vacuumed all the floors downstairs (except for the living room as that was where Elijah was playing).  And, that about did me in!  Elijah came over after lunch and asked me to come over to see the leaf house that Graham had raked for him.  After I looked at it, I raked him a garage for his little car and bike...that's the most leaves that I have raked in a long time...what we won't do for our grandchildren!  After I got his "garage" raked, I helped Kathy and children find leaves for an art project that they were going to do.  They were going to get to paint.  I'm sure that they were all excited...especially Elijah to hear that they got to paint! This afternoon Woody and I got a treat...getting to look at the photo scrapbook of Kathy and Nathan and family's "Yellowstone" trip.  They had such a great trip. I have read and rested this afternoon and don't have much more than that planned for the rest of the evening.  I did buy a Christmas present today...guess realizing that yesterday was just two months from Christmas made me realize that I had better start getting ready! Woody got some DVD's and a couple of books when he walked to the library this afternoon.  So he has been reading and watching DVD's. We've had another beautiful Fall day...once again quite warm for this time of year.  That is supposed to all change as a front comes through sometime over night and temps are supposed to drop...may not even make it to 60 tomorrow.

Ginkgo Glory!

Woody got up super early this morning and walked twelve miles.  Elijah came over for school, followed by Esther, Joy and Graham.  After I finished with my little school charges, Woody and I headed off to vote.  Woody wanted me to see the Ginkgo tree...though not at its full golden splendor.  I did take a few pictures.  We also stopped at the church as I wanted to get a picture of the steeple with the maples in their glory.  We came home and had lunch.  Then I headed up to read...having all these books is a draw to my recliner and a restful afternoon.  Joy joined me for a while.  She said that she wanted some peace and quiet...she wanted to work some on her cross stitch project.  Esther arrived a little after Joy got underway with her cross stitching. After a while, they both went into the school room and did some art projects while I continued to read.  After a while, Elijah joined them and did a little art too...though he did want to paint...I convinced him that today it was just markers, crayons and pencils!  I guess I "need" to break the paints out for him before too long...as "art" to him is "paint!"  I have almost finished one of the books that Woody picked up at the library yesterday...it's a book of short stories by an author that I enjoy.  Short stories aren't my favorite reading material...but some of these were pretty good...and, others...well, not so great!  Woody just came back from a short time of "kid sitting" next door.  I guess we are settled in for a quiet evening.  Can you believe what two months is from today???!!!  Oh, my...I've hardly thought about Christmas yet this year.

Beautiful Day For a Bike Ride!

Here are Kathy and Elijah off on a bike ride.  Elijah has just started riding this little two-wheeler with training wheels.  It really takes a lot of effort from his little 3-year-old legs!  And, it takes a lot of effort on his mama's part to try to go slow enough to stay right with him...she has to do lots of circling! They were heading off on this ride as I came home from working in the church library this afternoon.  Again, today it got up to around 80 degrees so another pretty day...and, as you can see, the trees are in their autumnal splendor.  Early this morning we got two calls from the public library.  They had books that Woody had requested (for me) and they had a book that I had placed a hold on.  Since some were held in my name and some in Woody's, it usually means two trips or that we go together since the library is reluctant to let anyone, even a spouse, check out for someone else.  I mentioned to the librarian who called that Woody was planning to walk to the library to pick up the books that they had on reserve for him and was there any way for him to be able to get my book.  She did say that they would make an exception if he had my card.  So I quickly got my library card and gave it to Woody.  And, it worked...he came home with a nice pile of books for me!  And, I'm glad to have these books as I have been going through books at a pretty rapid rate lately.  I was down to just one from the ones that he had checked out for me this past Friday.  Woody's walk that included the library came to a total of about six miles today.  While he walked to and from the library.  I had school with Elijah, Esther, Joy and Abigail.  After school, we had lunch and then I headed off to the church library where I worked for a couple of hours. Woody worked in the yard...raking and blowing leaves.  The leaves have started to fall at a rapid rate once again...lots down...but even more still to fall!  I came home and made Eggplant Parmesan using an eggplant that we grew.  Now I'm ready to collapse for a while.

Another Beautiful Day!

Another day that got up into the upper 70's with bright blue sun-shiny skies...definitely Fall in Middle TN.  I had school with Abigail, Graham and Joy in the morning and then in the afternoon with Elijah and Esther.  By then I was ready to head to my recliner.  But this time didn't take a nap...was at an exciting part in my book! Woody headed off in the late morning on a 12-mile walk.  Then late this afternoon he walked to the prayer room at church and just returned a little while ago.

Beautiful Monday!

It has been quite a pleasant mild Fall day...it got to around 80 degrees with a light breeze.  Woody headed out for a six-mile walk just before Elijah came over for school.  Usually he sticks around and then reads to Elijah and lets him play (and, of course, have a snack) after he and I have school.  But last week the five oldest neighbor grandchildren and their parents had the flu mist vaccine and they are supposed to steer clear of Goosey (Woody) for five days to a week...so no cuddling up for stories with Goosey for a couple more days.  Only Elijah and Joy had their school times today as Esther wasn't feeling up to par so she opted out for today.  After Joy did her spelling lesson, she and I cross stitched (her hand sewing lesson).  I haven't cross stitched in a while, but when I was getting things together for her hand sewing kit, I came across a piece that I hadn't completed and decided that it would be good to "hand stitch" a bit too.  After Joy's school time was finished...I felt finished too.  I ate a quick lunch and then headed upstairs to my trusty recliner.  I read for a while and then couldn't keep my eyes open so had a nap.  After the nap I headed downstairs to start working on supper.  Abigail came over shortly after I got started cooking and we headed up to the sewing room to prepare her fabric for washing and then put it in the washer...first step for the apron she is going to make.  Then I got back to work with Woody's help on a new recipe for supper...Pork Cassoulet (a French pork stew). After it got to simmering, I made garlic croutons to go on top of each serving.  It turned out very good...definitely a keeper. There's lots ahead for the evening...dancing (with the stars), baseball, and a debate...and rest for me.  My first day back to a regular routine has just about worn me out!  Woody is downstairs watching/listening to the evening news and cleaning up the kitchen.  I'm off to rest and read till time for dancing!

Sunday: A New Week Begins

It wasn't quite as cold early this morning as it had been so Woody headed off on a seven-mile walk.  He went to the early service at church and then taught his sixth grade boys' Sunday School class.  I "sat out" one more week.  I just didn't think that I was up to being away from the house for close to three hours.  I stayed home and studied my Sunday School lesson during Sunday School time and then listened to a taped message about the passage that we were studying today.  I have managed to load up the dishwasher and also transferred photos from my iPad to the laptop and got those sorted.  And, I finished another library book.  Mid afternoon I sat down in the recliner and leaned back into the sunshine that was coming in the window planning to read...well...I ended up taking a nap instead.  I am now through with my antibiotics so am hoping that I start feeling better quickly...it's in my plans for this week! And, I do think that I feel some stronger today...so surely! Woody watched football and read this afternoon.  He is at the evening church service now.

Simply Saturday

It has been another day of doing next to nothing for me.  I thought for sure that by today that I would be feeling better...but not really.  So I have had another day of rest...reading mostly...finished a book that I started yesterday and have started another.  Woody did our weekly grocery shopping and I did put most of the groceries away...then headed back to my recliner to rest.  Woody's walk for the day was to and from the public library.  Later this afternoon I did put together one of our simplest soup recipes. And, then I headed back to my recliner.  Do you see a pattern here?  I'm guessing that it is taking a bit longer to bounce back since I haven't felt the greatest for a good part of the last three weeks...first the allergy problem that lead to lots of coughing and then the infection that lead to me having a tooth pulled.  I have lost sleep due to many factors.  Plus I am on an antibiotic and I don't think that you ever feel great when on an antibiotic.  Tomorrow I will finish the antibiotic.  Planning on starting to feel better quickly once that gets out of my system!  I'm ready to feel good again! Woody has read and watched a library DVD or two this afternoon and evening.  And, now...I'm heading back to my recliner!

Fantastic Fall Friday!

Woody chose to wait for the day to warm up a bit before he took his walk today.  He ended up doing errands for me on his four-mile walk.  He went to the library as I was fresh out of books.  I got online and checked to see if a couple of books that I wanted were in at our public library.  So gave him a list to take with him.  On his way back he stopped at the drugstore and picked up my prescriptions.  I slept great last night...the only problem that I had with my sleep was that I had to wake up to take my antibiotic.  I am to take it every six hours round the clock.  But I pretty much went right back to sleep and slept in a bit late...so making up a bit for some lost sleep earlier in the week.  After lunch, Woody decided that I needed some fresh air and sunshine.  So we took a walk...the goal was to take a picture of the above beautiful maple trees.  Saw a lot other beautiful trees on our way to these.  So I snapped a few pictures.  After our walk, Woody got out the leaf blower and blew some leaves.  I guess that the leaf pick-up truck will be back on routes through Tullahoma neighborhoods soon (if they have already started...I haven't seen them yet).  This evening I am planning on reading and Woody is watching another BIG baseball game. Once they got far enough ahead last night, that Woody was no longer nervous, I joined him to watch the last few innings!  Time will tell if I will be joining him downstairs this evening!  I keep up with the score on the computer so know what is going on with the game.

I Survived!

The tooth is out and I am still around to tell about it!  The dentist had trouble getting my mouth numb...Woody was told that sometimes when someone is nervous it is harder for the anesthetic to work...you think?!?  Two hours to get numb and probably two minutes to get the tooth out.  I will say that I stayed numb for hours after!  Today I have just taken it easy...still a little wobbly and sleepy. I have only eaten soft things so far...Jello (Thanks to my sweet neighbors putting a surprise for Grammy in our fridge yesterday!), yogurt, ice cream and a scrambled egg.  Woody went to the store for yogurt, cottage cheese, and ice cream.  I will say that I have had little to no pain.  And, I had a very good night's sleep last night...didn't even hear the storm that blew through. I did finish reading a book...my accomplishment for the day.

Woody ran errands (mainly for me) and he has walked seven miles.  This evening he is ensconced in front of the TV watching THE baseball game.

At Last!!!!!!!

At last, according to Abigail, her birthday finally arrived.  Goosey (Woody) and I headed next door at 8am to join Abigail and her family for their traditional birthday breakfast--waffles and ice cream.  Abigail was one of the first to finish.  She wasn't interested in seconds and wished that everyone else wouldn't have seconds either as she was anxious to go on to the next tradition--presents!!!! She was so happy with each and every gift she got.  She was really excited and surprised when she opened a camera from her mommy and daddy.  In the lower photo she is taking her first picture--a picture of her mommy taking a picture of Abigail!  They plan a trip to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville to round off her day.  She plans to take her camera.  I told her that I wanted to see her pictures when they get home.  Woody and I gave her a "kit" to make an apron (fabric, thread and various notions that she might need).  She and I will start that project the next time that she has school with me.

Woody just returned from an eight-mile walk.  He was supposed to be home in time for me to go to the dentist.  I'm making him go with me.  I know how I feel sometimes when I leave the dentist and I just don't know that I will feel like driving home after having this tooth pulled.  I am blogging early as I don't know if I will feel like blogging this evening.  Plus, I really haven't slept much the last few nights so I'm guessing once my "dentist ordeal" is over, I will be ready for a good nap/night's sleep.  Have I ever mentioned that I really DISLIKE dentists?  Guess you can tell.  Fear of dentists started when I was a child when I had to have teeth pulled preparing for braces...and that fear has never left me...probably the fear has just increased...and, here I am going back to have a tooth pulled!  I am NOT a happy camper!

I will end with a great BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our sweet Abigail! Enjoy being nine!

Guess What Tomorrow Is!

Finally Abigail was able to say that tomorrow is her birthday!  She is very excited.  I had school with five of the little neighbor grands today.  The two after lunch had their school times cut a bit short as Grammy needed to head off to finalize birthday shopping for Abigail.  I got that done and came home to fix our supper.  While I was cooking, Woody headed off for his walk to the prayer room.  He has just returned.  I'm heading downstairs now to get Abigail's present ready for tomorrow's birthday breakfast bash!  I'll do that while I watch Dancing With the Stars then the debate.

Monday...again!

Monday has rolled around again...and in not many hours will become Tuesday.  Abigail told me a little while ago that tomorrow (Tuesday) she will be able to say that her birthday is tomorrow (Wednesday).  She was a bit concerned when she asked about her present today and I told her that I didn't have it all.  She wanted to know if I had ordered it and was waiting on it to come in the mail.  Nope!  I just need to find a time tomorrow to go shopping for the rest of it!  I think that she might be a bit worried!  Woody walked five miles this morning...to and from the garage that worked on our car last week.  They had suggested that we drive it this weekend to be sure that it was fixed and then to come in today to pay them if it seemed fixed (only in a small town would a business not demand payment when the car was picked up!).  Elijah, Esther, and Joy came over for school today.  Joy used the present that we gave her for her birthday (Joy's Hand Sewing Kit).  She started cross stitching some hearts.  She is so sweet...as soon as she started stitching today, she started thinking about using it as a gift.  I finished sorting the photos today.  Yeah!  I am also on the last chapter of Vanity Fair.  Double Yeah!  The last chapter takes almost an hour to be read...just 33 min. to go as I type this.  I paid a visit to the dentist today...not happily.  I have an infection in my gum around a back lower molar...a first for me...AND the dentist suggested that it needed to be pulled.  I am really unhappy about that news.  Trying not to think about it.  Will take my antibiotics for the moment and face the next dental appointment another day!  I'm hoping that perhaps the antibiotics will help my congestion that is causing my cough.  Woody is ensconced in front of the TV...watching baseball.  Last night was a good night for his team.  Nathan messaged me last night when the game was over he typed "Win!  Phew!"  Woody came upstairs to tell me of the win and he also said "Phew!"  A bit too close for comfort for them!  I'm hoping that in the next half-hour I will be able to say that I have been exposed to all 67 chapters of Vanity Fair.  Then I am going to go back to reading a book that I started Saturday evening. It's one of those books that you start and get into immediately and just hate to put  down.  Anyone who likes John Gresham books should really enjoy Randy Singer books, also. They are very good "legal suspense-filled thrillers.".  I am reading By Reason of Insanity.  We have seven of his books in the church library and there are plans to add more to the library's collection.  Woody has read all seven that the library has.  I am a bit farther behind since I had been reading on another series.

Sunday

Woody and I both woke up very early this morning.  I woke up coughing.  Woody woke up and decided that he would go on a walk.  He walked seven miles.  I couldn't get back to sleep as I continued to cough for some time.  I decided that I would be an annoyance at church so stayed home.  Shortly after Woody left I fell back to sleep and didn't know anything till he came in the door after church and Sunday School.  So I guess in the end I got a complete "night's" sleep. We ate lunch.  After lunch, I came upstairs and worked on the laptop...first printing off some grammar worksheets for Abigail's English...then I went back to work on sorting photos and continued to do that the rest of the afternoon and on into the evening.  I am making good headway on them.  While doing that I listened to Vanity Fair and have made good headway on that too.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for that book as well as for the photo shorting!  Woody has watched a library DVD, some sports, and read.  He went to the evening worship service.

Two happy little birthday girls came over mid afternoon to show us what they had gotten at their joint birthday party that they had this afternoon.  They are both very happy little girls.  Now Abigail is counting the days till her birthday on Wednesday.

A Crazy Tie Day!

Here is Elijah...dressed for a gig...just like his dad in a blue shirt and crazy tie!  He came running over to show us this morning.  He so wants to grow bigger and be "like a dad" so I know that this made him feel very big and "almost like a dad" since this is a tiny version of what his dad wears in their programs.  Elijah and the rest of his family did a program at a church in a nearby town this afternoon.

Woody waited for me to finish a library book before he headed off on his Saturday walk to the library this morning.  He has also done some mowing today.  It has been a very pretty day today.  After I finished my book I decided to do some sewing.  I had been wanting to make something for a while and just hadn't found the time or inclination to do it...but today found both!  I also sorted some more pictures this afternoon while listening to Vanity Fair...eventually I will be finished with it...on chapter 46...still 21 chapters to go!

The World Has a New Seven-Year-Old!

What a big day for our Joy!  She and all her family had a great time celebrating her birthday.  Waffles and ice cream for lunch!  Yum! Yum!  And, then, add presents in...what could make up a better day?!

Woody got up and went for a five mile walk in the rain.  He came back pretty wet even though he did have an umbrella.  I slept in a little later today, but hit the floor running when I got up.  I headed straight into the sewing room and sat down in front of the laptop and started getting overdue letters ready.  I emailed as many as I could and have already gotten a lot of replies.  I still have to print off the ones that I will have to mail. But it took all morning till party time and then I came back home after the party and finished them up.  Graham came over about the time that I was finishing and we mended a hole in a pocket on his shirt and then just messed around in the sewing room for a while.  Then we went downstairs and I got busy with supper and a pot of chicken noodle soup while he played a "game" on my iPad.  Woody headed out right after the party to run some errands.  Then he came home for a while and then headed off to do our weekly shopping.  I had the pot of soup ready and waiting for the ingredients that we lacked that he bought at the store.  We ate our supper and then I got busy finishing up the soup.  The timer just rang a few minutes ago and the soup is finished...ready to be eaten this weekend!  I don't plan to cook tomorrow.  Woody has settled in for the evening with a library DVD and probably a book. I plan to go collapse in the upstairs recliner.  Celebrating birthdays is hard work...and I'm tired! Got to get rested up for the next celebration in five days!

And, I will end by wishing Joy a great BIG Happy Birthday! She got a really neat pink plaid bike...very unique...just like she is!

Last Day to be SIX!

I had walked next door to show Kathy and Nathan something on my iPad and as I was leaving I sought out Joy to look at her one more time as a six-year-old!  She then asked me to take her picture with her doll on her last day to be six.  I didn't have my camera with me...but did have my iPad so snapped this.  The next picture that I will take of her she will be seven!  Time does fly.  It seems just like yesterday when Woody and I got the call pretty early in the morning that Kathy and Nathan were on the way to the hospital to have Joy.  We hopped in the car and headed Atlanta way.  A friend of the family took care of Graham and Abigail till we got there.  Easier to get to their house these days!

Elijah, Esther, Joy and Abigail had school with me this morning.  Elijah is making great progress on learning all the sounds that the letters make and is also getting a good concept of number recognition and counting.  Esther wasn't feeling the greatest this morning as her allergies are acting up. I went over to her house and she read me another story out of the Dick and Jane book.  Then Joy came over to our house and she did her math workbook pages.  After she finished her assignment, she and I went down to the kitchen and she helped me stem parsley.  I harvested it last night as it was supposed to frost this morning (though it didn't).  Then we washed it in the salad spinner and got it as dry as possible in the salad spinner (That spinner is a good lesson on centrifugal force!) .  Then we spread it out on a cookie sheet that was covered with paper towels for it to dry.  Abigail came over and read for a while.  Then she helped stem and wash the rest of the parsley.  I had two really good helpers for that job. When it is dry in a week or so I will have them come back and help me grind it  up in the food processor.  Joy also helped me cut some stems from my coleus plants to root.

This afternoon Woody and I headed down to the church to have our pictures taken for the church directory. The camera still seemed to be working after our photo session was completed. After that we stopped at the car repair garage.  They were getting ready to take it for a road test so we came on home.  A little while after we got home, Woody headed back to the garage on foot to pick it up.  They still aren't sure that it is fixed.  We are to drive it this weekend to see if the problem seems to be fixed.  I guess time will tell!

Well, guess I had better get a good night sleep so I will be ready for tomorrow to celebrate Joy's birthday.  We're invited for waffles and ice cream for lunch tomorrow! Yum! Presents are lined up next to our front door!

Day Is Done!

And, I'm so glad that it is this end of the day...I am tired!  The clouds were so pretty this afternoon and this was the sunset as I came out of Walmart this evening.  Woody has walked a total of about seven miles today at a couple of different times.  He also drove over to see our personal care physician this morning.  The NIH docs indicated that he probably needed a change in his blood pressure medication so he went to see what our doctor suggested.  He will now try another medication added to the one that he has been taking and taking the one that he has been taking a bit differently.  I had three of the neighbors for school today...Elijah, Esther, and Graham.  Joy went to Nashville with Nathan and Abigail.  It was time for Abigail to have her ears checked.  The report about her ears was very good.  She now has very close to normal hearing.  Praise God!  Graham finished up the place card holders for the girls' birthday party.  He also sewed buttons on one of his shirts and also a button on a pair of Woody's trousers.  After lunch, I headed off to the church library where we began the next "nightmare" job...inventory!  One Dewey Decimal division got completed...many more to go.  Donna and Fran checked the self list with the shelves and I ran off self lists of other divisions...pages and pages and pages and...(you get the idea)!  So many books in that room...many more than the casual observer would guess!  At least we can say that inventory is underway!  We worked for about three hours.  After I left church, I headed to Walmart to get some cough medicine (hopefully it will help!) and also to pick up a couple of things for Joy's family birthday party on Friday.  While I was gone, Woody made another trek to the car fixin' place (part of his total walking distance for today).  He found out that they have worked on the car, but can't get it to do what "it has been doing" while they run a diagnostics test...hopefully it will cooperate shortly so we can get our car back...and hopefully when we do get it back it will be fixed.  I'm still having a lot of problems with my allergy to down/feathers.  That all started a week ago this afternoon...I'm ready for it to go away!

Full Fall Tuesday

Our children always enjoyed hidden picture puzzles, as do our grandchildren.  Tonight's photo has a hidden object in it.  Can you find the squirrel?  Hint...look on the fence post on the right hand side at the bottom of the photo.  This picture wasn't taken this year, but almost on this date another year.  When I drove through town today, I noticed that more and more color is creeping into the trees.

I had school with Abigail, Graham, and Joy this morning.  Joy did her English and then finished her present for Abigail so she was happy.  Graham made some more place card holders for the girls' party, sewed a button on his shirt, and then watched a math video.  Abigail worked really hard on a pretty long English lesson and was very pleased to get it done.  Then after lunch Elijah came over for his school time.  Esther went to the doctor with her mom for Isaac's 9 month check-up so Esther didn't come for her school time today.  After I finished Elijah's school time, I headed off to do some birthday shopping...sort of down to the wire for Joy's.  Her birthday is Friday.  Next I will work on getting Abigail's present.  I have a little longer for hers as hers isn't till next week!  Such a busy birthday time!  Graham and Abigail came over for a short time and made a couple more place card holders.  Joy and Elijah came back over to play for a while after they had supper.

Woody walked a total of six miles today.  He took our green car in to be worked on today and it is still in the shop.  One of his walks was back from taking the car.  Then his next walk was back to the car shop to check to see if it was ready.  Since it wasn't, he walked on to the church for his time in the prayer room and then walked back home.

Pumpkin Pickin' Day!

Here are four of our five pumpkin pickers! Graham had already taken his over to his house as one of his sisters had picked the one that he had chosen! Everything was fine, though, he got his and Joy picked another (same shade of orange...but bigger than Graham's!). I had already washed his off and he had taken his home and then the rest went out to our "pumpkin patch" to choose theirs. The small one in the middle is the one that they chose for Isaac! Nice that we grew enough for each of them to have one. Plus I already have three on the front steps and there are still several more in the garden. These are really special pumpkins as they weren't planted on purpose...they just came up in the compost pile...we like volunteer plants that produce yummy and fun things! These pumpkins are light on the outside but really a dark orange on the inside. When Woody got up it was cold and raining so he waited to walk till this afternoon. He walked four miles. He and Elijah hatched a fun plan after Elijah's school time with me. They were reading a book that showed fire engines and a fire station. So Goosey (Woody) asked Elijah if he would like to go to the fire station in town. Can you guess Elijah's answer? They ended going to both of the fire stations in town and Elijah got the grand tour at each one...got to sit inside fire trucks, turn on lights, run the siren, see where the firemen sleep and cook and eat, etc., etc. They gave him fire hats and coloring books that he brought home to share with his sisters and brother. A pretty special time for him and Goosey. At one of the fire stations, the fireman was a young father so he really understood the things that Elijah would like to see and do. Woody also took our green car to be diagnosed as to what its problem is. He made an appointment for it to be worked on. I got up fairly early for me and got busy around the house before it was time for school. Elijah, Esther, and Joy had their times for school today. Esther started reading Dick and Jane books today. She loved reading them. When the children read those to me it just brings back so many fond memories for me of my early reading experiences. Joy did her English homeschool lesson and then got busy on her hand sewing project. She is diligently making a present for Abigail for her birthday. Joy's birthday is this week and Abigail's is next week...so fun times ahead! Hmmmm guess I had better get their presents finalized (that means decide just exactly what we are giving them!). I spent a good part of the afternoon sorting pictures. What a job! Graham came over and started making place card holders out of K'nex for the girls' birthday party. They are having a joint birthday party on Sunday. Talk about excitement next door! Well, I am ready to relax for a while this evening...heading downstairs for Dancing With the Stars!

October Sunday

Woody went to the early church service and taught his Sunday School Class.  I, on the other hand, stayed home as I didn't think that everyone needed to hear me bark.  I really am doing much better...the allergy symptoms have moved right through all the stages and now I mainly have a cough.  I have taken it easy today.  I am on a mission to get my photos sorted...once again I have left that job for too long...so now have so very many to sort through.  It is fun, though, as I get to be reminded how much the children have grown over this year...especially Isaac.  It is just amazing how much a baby grows in his first year!  While sorting the pictures on my laptop, I have listened to Vanity Fair on my iPad.  I can now say that I am beyond the half-way point...what a long book! I am presently listening to chapter 37 and there are 67! And, these are not short chapters! Woody went for a two mile walk after he returned from church. Then this afternoon he went to the Deacon's meeting. And, this evening he went to the evening church service. He has watched a library DVD, done some reading, and watched some sporting events on TV. The barn in tonight's photo was just down the road after we left the Montpelier grounds.

Settling In...again!

It's strange how being away for five days seems to put me into a time warp...and it is hard to get settled back into routine again.  On top of being away and not feeling great, I've pretty much just puttered around with a little of this and a little of that.  I have just about got the suitcase unpacked...still a couple of things in it.  But do have all the clothes out and in piles "to be washed."  I have done one load and it is now in the drier.  When I go back downstairs...perhaps...I'll take the next load with me.  I have also worked some with the photos that I took on the trip (not as many this time as I usually take...one reason...the weather wasn't the greatest...and, another...I slept through most of the return trip thanks to Benadryl...so not much snapping of photos out the car window while speeding by things at 70 mph!  Tonight's photo is one of the ones that I snapped out the car window on our first day out...lots of low lying clouds over the Blue Ridge Mountains...rather picturesque!  I also posted a few photos (one being the one above) on FaceBook today...something that I don't usually do since I post a photo here each night.  But I was trying out a way to upload photos from my iPad and then decided to upload a few from my laptop to see how it is done with FaceBook these days.  I am still barking (coughing)...just sort of feel crummy...I have that "big head" feeling that I get when I have allergy and sinus problems.  I did make a pot of chili this evening...hoping that it will be good for what ails me.  Plus it has gotten a bit chilly here so it just felt like it was time for our first pot of chili of the season. And, it does taste good.

Woody got up and walked seven miles.  Then later in the morning he walked to the library.  And, then in the late afternoon he walked four miles.  I guess he is trying to make for all the walking that he missed while we were away. He has watched some TV...football, a library DVD, etc. and he has read.  So I guess all-in-all one can say that we are settling back into a routine after being away.

Home...again!

We left around 6:30 am (Eastern time) and pulled into our driveway a little before noon (Central time). I can't tell you much about the trip as I would guess that I slept about 4/5 of it!  Benadryl will do that to me.  I haven't really felt awake much of the day.  As soon as we got home, I pulled out the second loaf of rye bread so it could thaw to be used for Reuben sandwiches this evening.  Woody went to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping mid afternoon.  He just got back from a five mile walk.  He said that he had missed his walks this week.

Tonight's pictures give you a couple views of Montpelier, James and Dolley Madison's home.  We really enjoyed our tour.  We plan to go back someday and tour around the grounds on a day that it isn't raining like it was on Tuesday.  At least it stopped raining long enough for me to get several photos of the outside.  There is quite a bit of exploring that can be done around grounds, but the weather just wasn't conducive to much exploring!  You can see that the leaves hadn't changed color much.  I have a photo in the book that I bought about Montpelier that shows the trees behind the house just a riot of fall color...just a bit too early in October for much color to be showing...just a tinge.

Halfway Home!

We are halfway home on the highway and with Woody's melanoma tumors.  We got great news from Woody's research team...the tumors that they are watching continue to shrink! (Around 50% smaller than prior to his procedure.) Praising God for that good news.

I have been sneezing my head off, coughing, blowing my nose, etc. since a little after I blogged last night.  I am quite allergic to feathers and I had requested a feather-free room.  When we headed into our room the feather pillows were being replaced with those filled with poly-fill.  Well, I didn't think anymore about it till I got to sniffling an hour or so after we checked in.  Well, probably an hour after that I decided to flop on the bed...and it dawned on me...since I was continuing to get worse allergy symptoms...that perhaps they had neglected to remove the down comforter inside the duvet...sure enough!  I called the desk and they said that they would take care of it right away.  So I left and went downstairs to sit in the waiting room till it was finished.  Well, I went back up 30-45 minutes later and the task was taken care of.  BUT...there was enough feather dander (or whatever) and I continued to get worse.  I woke up in the middle of the night and took a shower...got dressed and headed downstairs to finish out the night reading in the lobby.  I quizzed Woody about how they had changed out the comforter...they took out the feather comforter...but used the same duvet cover...ummmmmmm...not a good plan!  I talked to them at the desk this morning and told them that they needed to reeducate their housekeeping staff.  When we told her how it had been done...she said that the duvet cover and down filler should have been taken out intact and then a blanket brought for the bed.  The way it was done probably had particles from the feathers floating around in the air, a few hours ago Woody stopped and we got Benadryl...so with that and my usual allergy meds...perhaps...I will be doing better soon!  I have hated coughing and sneezing and blowing all day at NIH...a place where just about everyone is avoiding germs.  I'm sure that many wondered what I was doing there today!


We headed to NIH on the first shuttle (6:30am) of the day...just wanted to get away from hotel. This is a hotel that we had stayed at numerous times and had never had problems before when I requested a feather-free room.  Anyway, we got things underway for the voucher.  Our research nurse hadn't put in okay for two nights in a hotel...so had to go through a few loops for that...but did manage.  Woody picked up the check right after the clinic time.  We met Woody's new female Fellow.  she seems very nice...she is our fourth Fellow...they rotate every six months. she talked to us and thenthe head doc came in and talked and then we were out of there.  I stopped at the desk to get the next appointment making process rolling (she'll email us the dates and time).  He will go back in four months...we had hoped that perhaps another month or so would have separated us for appointments...but not yet.  We were on the road a little before 3pm (Eastern time).  We stopped a little after 9pm and are staying where we consider the halfway point between NIH and home.

Ensconced on Pooks Hill...once again!

Everything pretty much has gone like clockwork today.  We got up early and headed out a little before six due to there being fog...and trying to get ahead of morning rush hour traffic on the beltway.  The fog was there, but above car level...so didn't cause a visibility problem.  We were driving into the gate at NIH by 6:30am...they seem to be opening the gates earlier which helped us tremendously.  We parked in perfect spot...just opposite the door we go into.  We headed straight to the lab and Woody was the third of the morning to get his lab work done.  Then we settled into some comfortable chairs and waited for 9am to roll around. I read and dozed a bit.  Then we headed upstairs to the CT waiting area.  Woody was pretty quickly called to get his "drink" and then it wasn't all that long till he was called back...that was the end of "quick."  He found out after he got back to the waiting are that they had had an emergency that morning so were way behind.  He finally showed up back in the waiting area where I was a little before noon.  We then decided to eat in the cafeteria there and decide if we wanted to head out in the car and give up our good parking space.  We finally decided to just wait out our time at NIH till we could take a shuttle and check in at the hotel.  Woody was very pleased to find out that his creatinine level was at a good level once again...and they stressed that he needed to drink a LOT...so we stayed there...close to a bathroom...and he was good and drank!  The time went by quickly...reading and talking to patients.  Tomorrow we will check out from here and head back to NIH on the shuttle.  Once there I will turn in reimbursement vouchers.  He already picked up his medication...so that got done during our wait today.  Then we will wait till it is time for the clinic after lunch.  As soon as we see the research team and they are finished with us we will get back on the road and head back toward TN. So I will be blogging somewhere between Bethesda and Tullahoma tomorrow night.

Rain...Rain...And More Rain!

We got up and had breakfast at our hotel and then headed out in a pretty good rain to figure out where we were to meet up with our tour guide for the behind the scenes tour of Montpelier.  Our tour was great and we learned lots and it was good to walk where James and Dolley Madison walked!  We left the Montpelier grounds around noon.  Then we stopped for lunch...well, Woody got something for our car to eat first...some oil.  After lunch we wended our way over to I-66 and then on to Fairfax, VA.  We got to the hotel a little before 3pm and checked in and we are  now ensconced here for the night.  We'll leave dark and early and head to Bethesda, MD and National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Woody has lab work and a CT scan and then we will be on our own for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow night the plans are to be in the hotel on Pooks Hill.  It has rained off and on most of the day.  I notice that it is getting foggy...hope that fog isn't a problem in the morning.

The Good Lord Willin'???

We wondered for a while if the good Lord was willin' for us to head off on this trip.  We got underway a little after 5am and we realized about 35 min. into the trip that we needed to turn around as the car was having problems...like it couldn't shift out of a gear.  So we headed back and unloaded the green Taurus and loaded up our red Taurus (the one that we prefer not to take long trips in). The only problem that we have had with it so far is that the odometer decided to stop recording mileage...and thus the tripometer didn't work either...one of the things that we like to keep up with...at least the car is still moving forward!  It did rain for a good part of the first of our trip...but finally tapered off.  We have arrived in Orange, VA.  Woody had the router mapped out so we would go past Montpelier before we got to our hotel and we are in a great place...it is just four miles away from us.  So we are going to relax this evening, then get up in the morning and have breakfast here at the hotel and then head on for our tour/s of Montpelier.  When finished at Montpelier we will head toward Fairfax, VA.  Now to sit back and wait for Dancing With the Stars.  We're very thankful to be here safely!