Dog Days of August Decided to Show Up!

The last few days have felt the way they usually feel for most of August...hot and muggy. I have pretty much stayed in...but when I walk out the heat and humidity about takes away my breath! I really don't like humidity (I guess that is the Arizona in my blood!) Woody walked to and from the library for the first time in a while...hopefully that means progress with his sciatic nerve and whatever else might ail him. I have stayed busy cooking and cleaning. The cleaning continues in my sewing room...still trying to find places for things that have lost their spot due to me changing things around just a bit...plus trying to rid the room of a "bit" of dust (sewing rooms really collect the dust)! The cooking part of my day consisted in putting on a large Boston Butt Pork Roast to simmer for a good part of the day...preparing for our Labor Day "feast." That got done late afternoon. We did test it in some pita bread for supper...pretty good...if I do say so myself! I left it up to Woody to put it in containers to go in the fridge. Happy last day of August! I wonder what September has in store for us! I know one thing...the year is getting away from me all too fast! Ooooh! I'm hearing big fire works booms! Must be 4th of July...oh, wait...that's right Tullahoma's 4th fire works show got postponed till Labor Day! At least no rain this time! Speaking of rain...we are starting to get dry even after all the rain we have gotten all summer.

One Just Can't Depend on Good Help These Days!

Oops! We forgot to head next door when it was time to grandchildren sit! Woody was reading and watching the news and I was upstairs working on my project of the day...cleaning up the sewing room and rearranging just a bit. When I was putting things away that had gotten strewn about, I came upon a folder from 1957...one that I had been scanning photos from a while ago...that project had gotten set aside and the folder was still in the sewing room. So I decided that I would complete the scanning project before I put the folder away (and never got back to scanning these photos!). The last photo that I came upon was a class photo of my third grade class. I scanned it and then decided to post it on Facebook. Well...then I decided to tag all the people that I knew in the picture(knew most...but was aided with name spelling and a bit of a jog of memory by a hand-written (by the teacher) list of all the students in the room...I'm pretty sure that it was a list given out at Valentine's Day. Anyway...I got "lost" in posting and didn't realize what time it was till two little munchkins came in to see where we were!!!!! THEN I looked at the clock! Uh...oh! At least we live close. Woody is reading them bedtime stories. I went over and was given the job of untying a knot...found out that Elijah is a pretty good knot tier! Guess he would make a good sailor! I snapped a quick photo...to prove that we did show up for our "job" and then came back here to blog. Woody went to the chiropractor this morning. Then after lunch he and Elijah went to the grocery store. I had a sewing lesson with Esther. She learned how to back stitch today. She's doing great with her hand sewing as the others are doing with their machine sewing. Oh, and, we haven't lost the other two grandchildren who aren't in the picture...Isaac is still asleep from a late nap (wonder if he will sleep tonight!) and Graham is at a birthday party.

A Sewing Kind of Day

At least for me it was a "sewing kind of day." Woody and I loaded up the car with lots of sewing paraphernalia and headed to church to make pillowcases for the children at St. Jude's Children's hospital. Woody had to take me as I can't lift the sewing machine (He probably shouldn't have lifted it either!). He helped me get all my stuff inside and then he headed off leaving me to sew the rest of the morning and half the afternoon. We had a very good turn out. Lots of machines humming, lots of irons steaming, lots of rotary cutters slicing and lots of pins poking fabric! I think that the total of pillowcases made at today's workshop was close to 50. I made four of those. I think that a good time was had by all! Woody headed back home after dropping me off to take up a bit of my slack with today's schooling! He read and/or listened to several read. I didn't have him try to do Esther's hand sewing lesson...so tomorrow I'll make up her lesson. I think that Woody almost forgot to pick me up...but he did show up pretty close to the scheduled ending time. We loaded up the car and headed back home. Everything has been brought back in, but it isn't put away as I want to vacuum under where the ironing board stands all the time. I was going to do it right away, but I "played out." I sat down to rest my weary back and it wasn't very long till my eyes closed! Elijah and Esther came over after their supper and invited us to a puppet show. They received a round of applause and then repeated their show a couple of times and then Grammy and Goosey headed back home! That about sums up our day. I'm hoping that the pillowcases that we sewed for these sweet children who are so sick will bring a bit of comfort...the colors are very cheerful...should bring some smiles. I didn't take a single picture, though I meant to...guess I had my nose to the grindstone!

Oops! One Track Mind!

I got busy getting sewing things together to take to a workshop at church tomorrow morning and never thought about the blog till just now...oops! Woody went to the chiropractor this morning. I had school with Graham, Isaac, Elijah, Abigail and Joy. Joy was very pleased with the progress she made on the tooth fairy pillow that she is making for Esther. I think that we will get it completed before Esther's tooth gets much looser (not real loose yet...but she will have a pillow when the time comes!). I ate lunch and turned around twice and then headed to the church to work in the library. I ran a couple of errands on the way home from church. Then I cooked supper. I rested for a couple of minutes and then started gathering things that I will need for tomorrow's pillowcase making workshop. We will be making pillowcases to give children at St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis.

An Introduction to the Past!

Today has been a busy one. Woody got up and made sweet potato waffles. Yum! Esther was the first to come over for her reading time. When I walked her back home, I discovered that Nathan was having trouble with their sewing machine (my old machine...so I help solve problems at times). I attempted to figure out what the problem was but couldn't at the time. Joy ended up missing her reading time because of the time spent on the sewing machine. With the machine problem still unsolved, Graham, Abigail, Joy, and Esther headed over to our house with me bringing up the rear! It was time for art. Today we started a project that they are really enjoying. We are making beads using paper...magazine, old book, and catalog pages are cut into long triangles and then rolled tightly onto a thin bamboo skewer. After they have enough beads they will make necklaces, bracelets, or whatever they dream to make up with them. The neat thing about this art project is that Kathy has a necklace made up of beads made from paper just like we are doing and that necklace was made in Uganda. So they were doing a craft that is done in Uganda. They really liked that idea! After art, I headed back and took another look at the sewing machine and figured out what the problem was...a very simple fix...but sometimes those are the hardest to see! I took Isaac back home with me because he had finished lunch and was about ready for his nap. I had lunch after Isaac's school time and rested for a couple of minutes and then called for Elijah to come over. He traced around wooden shapes and then cut them out and glued them onto another paper. He moved them around and made a really neat picture that looked like a fox's head...but he moved them to glue them down and that shape never appeared again! While he was doing his art project, I happened to catch a glimpse of the old Fisher Price record player and the records that are stored behind my storage tubs. We use these tubs for desks for our art so they had been pulled out and I could get easily to the record player. I realized that Elijah had never played records on it. So after he finished his gluing down the shapes for his art project, I pulled the records and player out...plugged it in and then showed him how to play a record...a lesson in the past! I rested for a short time after Elijah was finished and then attacked a church library task that took the rest of the afternoon and just finished it a few minutes ago. I'm also working on two book orders for the library. Just as I was starting the book "project," we heard a friendly knock on the door and the hand that knocked was holding two Wendy's sacks full of baby Frosties!!!!! Good treat! I got Woody's and mine out of the bag and then headed next door to give them theirs. They were quite pleased. They turned theirs into "Freezies"--Frosties put in the freezer to be eaten a bit later. They were getting ready to have supper and then head to church so they will be eating them when they get home...something to look forward to! While I was working on books, Woody fixed our squeaky front door hinge! Yay! Then he headed off to walk "slowly" to the church for his time in the prayer room. He has started in walking again. He does say that his sciatic pain is some better but not totally gone...yet...he is hopeful!

A Little of This and a Little of That!

Tonight's photos are a little of this and a little of that around Williamsburg. And, today has been a little of this and a little of that around here too! Woody started out the day at the chiropractor. I started out the day with having school with Isaac. Our school day was a bit turned around as Joy, Esther, and Elijah had to go back to get more immunizations for their trip to Africa. So Abigail came over and read in place of one of them. Then Graham finally got to have his Grammy special lesson time. We are going to do a study of Simple Machines (me...teaching "physics and mechanics???!!!!). He will be using the education booklets/instruction books that he has for his K'nex. I will be adding to the K'nex information with books and information from various sites on the internet. Today we started out with a bit of background and learning about the six kinds of simple machines. We started out with "levers" and he built a balance...a "type-one lever." He will be building the various levers in the K'nex book and then we will move onto another type of simple machine. I guess I will be learning right along with him! He already understands about them better than I!!!! That's a good thing! This afternoon I have been washing/pressing, etc. fabric and gathering other things that I am going to need later in the week when I go to the church to make pillow cases for the children at St. Jude's Hospital.

A Teen No More!

Happy 20th birthday, Erin Elizabeth! A while back I asked Erin what she thought about not being a teenager any more. She said, "Twenty-teen sounded good!" Today she told me that it didn't feel much different than when she was a teen! My how these twenty years have flown! We now have grandchildren ranging from 20 down to "in the womb!" (20,16,11,9,7,6,4,1,unborn) I can still remember the feeling I had when I got the call (at church)twenty years ago today that Erin had been born. Woody was outside playing kick ball with the RA boys and it took a bit for him to understand me that he had become a grandfather (a Goosey)! Tonight's picture was taken when she was nine months old.

An Interesting Day...To Say the Least!

And, just where to start on telling today's tales? I guess at the beginning is usually the best place to start. Woody headed out pretty early to get groceries and he was home and had them put away before I got up. He was home a while and then he headed out to go to the library and also make a hospital visit (and go back to the grocery store to find some canned tomatoes that he had purchased but didn't get home with). The library stop went fairly smoothly (at least I heard no tales). And, the bag of groceries was at the store when he stopped back by. Then the interesting part of the trip started...when he went to the hospital. He headed to the room that he had visited in earlier in the week...but no one there...it took several tries to find someone to ask whether the patient had been released or just moved to another room. He finally found someone who knew that he had been released, but she had heard that he had had to come back to the ER this morning. So Woody got on the elevator to go to the ER...the elevator doors closed...he pushed the floor he needed...NOTHING happened...he pushed the floor button several times...still nothing...so he pushed the door "open" button...NOTHING happened...so he had to use the emergency phone in the elevator. He said that the elevator finally started moving and that someone from hospital security met him when the doors finally opened...though they didn't open on the floor that he had wanted to be on. It was explained to him that that elevator didn't go to the floor that he wanted to go to and that this mistake happened quite often. Woody headed to a different elevator and finally got to the floor that he needed to be on. My question still is...if that elevator doesn't go to that floor then why is that number on the elevator panel...or at least why isn't there a sign that says that this elevator doesn't go to a certain floor??? Oh, well, all's well that ends well!!! While Woody was off on his "adventure," I got underway with some cleaning that needed to be done here. I can say that the family room is much cleaner...except where the Monopoly game is ongoing...I decided that it would be best to wait to vacuum back there till after the game was over and put away. I don't want to vacuum up any playing pieces or houses or hotels! They have played at the game several times today, but it is still ongoing. I also did some cleaning in the kitchen. I planned to clean more, but my energy level gave out...as well as my back said that it was time to stop. The two pictures of Elijah show that he is getting ready for their Africa (Uganda) trip. This is his suitcase. His daddy has made him special stilts that can be folded up to fit in the suitcase. He will pack his clothes around them. He was so excited to show us his suitcase. Then he took it back home and a little later he came back looking for his suitcase. I reminded him that he had taken it home. We told him to retrace his steps! He thought that he had gone back in their front door...but since he found it in the garage...guess he must have gone in that way! At least it is found!

Dinner and a Show!

Woody had an early appointment with the chiropractor. I got up and got started on making dinner for tonight. It ended up being an all-day process. I made "No Noodle Zucchini Lasagna." The first step was to make the meat sauce. About the time that that was finished, Nathan came over with his meat slicer and sliced the zucchini the width of a lasagna noodle. After lunch I grated the mozzarella cheese and mixed the ricotta cheese mixture. All of that went in the fridge while I rested for a while. Elijah and Esther kept coming over checking on the progress of the meal! After my rest I started layering three pans of lasagna (We ate the largest pan, left the middle sized pan with the neighbors, and we have the smaller pan for another meal for the two of us...so that long time cooking at least will last for more than one meal!) Then it was finally ready to pop in the oven. We headed next door with one large pan of lasagna and a gelatin salad that we call "Yellow Jello", though this time it was "Green Jello." It is a cucumber gelatin salad...pureed cucumber is substituted for the cold water when making the jello. It makes a very refreshing side dish on a hot summer day...plus the children love it! Both of these dishes were made with our homegrown veggies...a zucchini(the size of a baseball bat (almost)(This zucchini had hidden from Woody...the neighbors were the ones who spotted it while we were on our NIH trip...so it only seems fair that they got to share in eating it since they found it!)and the cucumbers. I wasn't sure how the children would take to all the veggies in the lasagna...but they cleaned their plates well enough to be able to have dessert (carrot cake) that the neighbors (Kathy and Nathan and children) kindly provided. While we were eating, Elijah announced that after we ate that we would have a show. He wanted to show us some of the tricks that he can do on his new taller stilts. And, some of the rest of the children joined in to show us new tricks that they had learned in the last few days (since our last show). Goosey (Woody) and four of the children headed back to our house so Graham and Goosey could finish their Monopoly game that they had started several days ago. The other three just tagged along to either watch the game or play with some of our toys. Abigail and Isaac stayed at their house. Abigail was crocheting and watching an episode of The Brady Bunch. The last act of the show was Isaac showing me that he can build the tower by himself now. When I came home, I came upstairs to blog. A few minutes ago I heard the four head home and it is pretty silent downstairs now except I do hear the drone of whatever Woody is watching on TV.

Between You, Me and the Fence Post!

Williamsburg is known for lots of different types of fences, gates, etc. So when I visit Williamsburg I always try to capture them in some way, shape or form in my photos. Tonight's photos show a sampling of the ones that I took this trip. Woody got up early and headed to Murfreesboro for a dermatologist appointment. This one was to freeze a place or two that happened to be precancerous. I didn't go with him this time since we are in the midst of school. He had been so many times recently that he really didn't need me to navigate and we knew that the procedure wasn't such that he wouldn't be able to drive home. So he had that procedure and was home a little after ten. I hated to miss this day of school since we had already missed Monday. Isaac, Elijah, Graham, Abigail and Esther came over for school time with me. Esther (6) was so happy to get underway with her handsewing project. She will be learning various hand stitches. Today she learned about running stitches. She was very happy to show her family the results of her efforts. The challenge for me is teaching a lefthander to handsew. But I figure that since my mother, a lefthander, was able to show me, a righthander, how to sew, that I should be able to reverse the process and show Esther! I showed her how I do it and then told her to do it the direction and way that was easier for her. She seemed to take right to it. She does certain things right handed so she may end up switching hands during the sewing process (I know that I do!)! After lunch, I put together a jello salad for tomorrow's supper. We are taking supper over to our neighbors (Nathan, Kathy and family). Before I left our kitchen I put a small pork roast and potatoes in the oven for our supper. After I finished cooking, Woody cleaned up the kitchen...such a help! I went upstairs to rest...and at some point my eyes closed and I rested quite well for a while! Once I came out of my "nap fog" I started working on library memorials. A few minutes ago Woody and Graham went to make a visit inviting some of Graham's sixth grade friends to their Sunday School class.

Busy Wednesday

It has been another busy Wednesday. Woody went for another chiropractor appointment this morning. I had school with Isaac, Elijah, Graham, Abigail, and Joy. Joy was very excited as this was the first time that she had sewn with fabric on the sewing machine. After I ate a quick lunch, I headed off to work in the church library. Once again we got quite a bit accomplished...but not without a bit of confusion added in! As long as we take more steps forward than backward, we come away with a sense of accomplishment! I came home worn out and just had to sit for quite a while. Woody and I both "scrounged" for supper tonight. Now we are taking it easy for the rest of the evening. Tonight's photos show some of the rooflines and buildings on the Colonial Williamsburg streets.

Folk About Town

Tonight's photos capture some of the Williamsburg costumed historical interpreters that make their way about town. Today has been a busy school day for me...Esther and Joy came over individually for a time of reading out loud to me. Then Graham, Abigail and Esther joined Joy and we had a time of art. Today they were very happy when the paints got brought out. We did some experimenting with coloring on a piece of cloth with a light colored crayon and then painting over the whole piece of cloth with a wash of their choice of paint color. They got to see the wax resist the paint and see that when they had finished painting that they could still see the design they had drawn with the crayon. They each made two...a practice piece when we didn't know what we were doing and then one after they had experimented. After Art, Abigail read some out loud to me and then we got busy on her sewing project. She is making a triangular head scarf to wear in Africa. After lunch, Isaac came over to have his time for school. Then it was Elijah's turn. He had fun writing his numbers and doing a math worksheet, then he read some three letter phonetic words and matched them to a picture. Then it was time for him to do art...and this time, to him, we really had art...painting. He was very happy to paint. He painted and mixed colors to his heart's content. He painted two pictures. I rested for a while after all the school sessions were through and then fixed our supper...shredded beef tacos...I forget how much better I like shredded beef than ground beef for my tacos. I had made enchiladas with shredded beef some time back and had frozen the leftover shredded beef...intending to make enchiladas with it, but it got purposed in a different direction...first time that I have made tacos with shredded beef. The time that I have shredded beef tacos is when we are visiting in AZ and I get them at a Mexican restaurant. Mine were pretty good...even if I do say so myself! Woody didn't have a chiropractor appointment today...so a day off. He ran an errand this morning. Sometime this morning while I was having school, Woody made tuna salad for our lunch. Then this evening he and Graham went to invite a neighbor boy to Woody and Graham's sixth grade Sunday School Class. After that he drove to church for his time in the prayer room. He has returned and we are settling in for a quiet evening.

Garden Shots

Colonial Williamsburg is known for its gardens. Tonight's photos show some garden shots...along with a rather wet cardinal that was enjoying the seeds from the sunflower. Woody went for another chiropractor session this morning. I had a lazy morning as the children were out of pocket and I didn't have school time with them today. Woody and I met friends and had lunch out...a very nice visit along with good eats!

A Shopping Kind of Day

Woody did our weekly grocery shopping fairly early this morning. After he got home, I put the groceries away. Then he headed off to the public library. Not long after he left, I headed off to the shoe store with Kathy and Graham, Elijah and Isaac--a boy shoe shopping trip. We were successful and it didn't take the boys very long to be happy with their choices. The shoe store wasn't all that busy so on the way home Kathy called the girls and told them to be ready and we would take them shoe shopping, too. They liked that phone call! The boys hopped out of the vehicle and we picked up Abigail, Joy, and Esther and headed back to the shoe store. Satisfying three little girls did take a bit longer than it did for the boys! But in the end all left the shoe store happy! We got quite a colorful array! I have spent time in the sewing room this afternoon, but haven't done much sewing...more straightening up than anything else. Hopefully that will make actual sewing a bit easier! Part of the straightening up was getting clothes ironed that had stacked up on the end of the sewing machine cabinet...a place that they land till I am in the mood to iron! Graham came over after supper wanting a ride to WalMart! I took him, but he didn't find what he was looking for. I know that he was disappointed, but he'll be happy when he does find what he's looking for and still has his money! Wow...two shoe shopping trips and a WalMart trip for me on the same day...definitely more shopping than I have done in a while! Time for me to find my recliner and a good book! Woody is watching a DVD that he checked out from the library today.