It's Been a Terrarium, Toad, Terrific Smiles Kind of Day!

I had school time with Isaac, Elijah, Esther, Joy, and Graham.  Graham made a moss terrarium during his long Grammy school time.  We had been studying about moss as he got interested with some that we have in the back yard.  It's a good thing that he likes moss so much as it seems to be the thing that grows best in our tree-shaded yard!

After lunch Goosey (Woody) took Elijah, Esther, and Joy out to catch a frog...well, they were successful if you count the fact that they caught a toad!  They had quite the time with it.  We ate supper over at their house this evening and after supper we sat out on the back porch and watched a toad show...it was really funny when Isaac decided to hold it for the first time...he decided pretty quickly that he DIDN'T want to hold it!

Esther LOVES to hold him.  Abigail isn't much interested!

 Below is a picture of their new little "pet." I'm not sure if they have named it or not!  Poor thing I know that it will be glad when evening comes and they go in the house!  Their mommy has suggested that they put him in the playhouse in the backyard for the night.  Hmmmm...wonder if he will be there when they check tomorrow...oh, well, there are plenty of toads in the pond and it looks like Joy is pretty good at catching them!

To end tonight's blog...a great big smile from precious little Joseph.  He is giving smiles quite freely these days!

Drippy Saturday

This has been a good day for me to stay inside.  Woody did make several trips out into the drippy wetness.  This morning he did his weekly Saturday trip to WalMart and to the library.  This afternoon he walked to the Post Office.  I stayed in and cooked for our weekend repasts.  I made Creamy Baked Pork Chops...originally a recipe on the label of a Campbell's soup can. (The recipe card that I have the recipe on dates back to our early marriage years...so an antique of a recipe!)  Recently I have made adaptations to the recipe to make it healthier for us...as in actually making my own cream of celery soup (easier to control amount of salt, etc. in the soup...as in I don't add any).  The pork chops baked in the oven while I cooked brown rice and steamed some broccoli and also made a cheese sauce. (I guess that the cheese sauce was in honor of my mother.  She so often made cheese sauce for topping various veggies...especially cauliflower when I was growing up...I don't make it much as Woody isn't a big cheese fan.  I made it just for me today...guess I was thinking about Mother on this day that she died three years ago.) We had that meal for lunch and will have it again tomorrow for our Sunday lunch. I cooked today and the rest of our meals this weekend will be leftovers.  Cooking is over for me...unless I feel like making next week's soup tomorrow afternoon...time will tell!  I have done quite a bit of dish washing and dishwasher loading. I have also tackled several loads of wash. I just heard the dryer buzzer call, as I sat down at the computer to blog...wonder if I'll remember to head down there when I post this!  Woody is taking it easy this evening...dozing the last time that I passed through the family room to get some of the dry clothes.  I will admit to taking a nap once I settled into my recliner late this afternoon.  For me, it is " keep going" or "sit and snooze!" Well, heading off for one more trip down to the drier...

Fun Friday!

Today started out a bit warmer than it has been and Woody went outside in the morning and planted a few seeds...probably in Elijah's garden since Elijah helped him a little.  I stayed inside and "played" with my new pots and pans!  I made cream of celery soup that I need for a recipe that I plan to make this weekend.  My new wider sauce pan did a great job of making the white sauce for the soup!  Then after lunch Goosey (Woody), Elijah and I headed off in the car to go to the "real" Montessori.  It's Grammy's Montessori at our house (well, mostly these days just known as Grammy's school) and at the Montessori where I taught for 27 years it is known as the "real" Montessori.  Graham and I started calling it that years ago.  I had been promising Elijah that we would go over some Friday and today became that Friday.  Woody went too and did his walking in the area around Montessori, while Elijah did some Montessori work inside and then as you can see did some playing on the playground outside!  While Elijah was playing outside and Woody and I were sitting there watching him, a car drove up and it was the owner of the school, my former boss,  and Melany and Nathan's preschool thru kindergarten teacher...all the same person!  It was fun to get to talk to her for a few minutes.  Elijah was glad to meet her as she gave him a "real" Montessori snack...goldfish and animal crackers!  Not long after we got home, Esther came in to tell us that Isaac had his own bike...so of course I had to go out and snap a picture of him.  The way he rides it at the moment is with his feet in the exact position all the time with his daddy pushing from behind!  But it won't be long till he gets the idea of pushing those pedals with his little "frog boot" feet.  Esther informed me that this had been her bike and that her daddy had put training wheels back on it for Isaac.After seeing Isaac on his new bike, I came back in the house to "play" some more with my new pots and pans while making our supper.  We had pan browned potatoes (the new pan did great letting the chunks of potatoes get nice and crispy brown), asparagus and broiled talapia.  Pretty good...if you like fish!  And, I'm not all that fond of fish, but I will even admit that this tasted pretty good...brushed with olive oil, lime juice, minced garlic and onion, and several herbs and then broiled till the edges were crispy. I have the broiler pan soaking and waiting for me to come down to finish washing it so the whole house won't smell like fish!  So off to do a few dishes and then relax with a book and/or my iPad for the rest of the evening.  Woody is being entertained by March Madness.

A Hasty Visit

We had a normal Thursday for school this morning. Esther had her long Grammy time and started a new cross stitch project.  Today I mentioned to her that at the start of the next school year I would start giving her lessons on the sewing machine.  I think she liked that idea!  After lunch the doorbell rang and I had gotten a package that I was anticipating...some new cookware!  So I spent time getting them unpackaged, washed, and ready to be put away.  I felt like cooking but we had left over spaghetti...so I decided that I could at least warm up the sauce in the new saucepan!  Worked great for warming! When I was cleaning out the pots and pans shelves in the kitchen this past weekend,  I decided that we needed to replace a few of our much loved and much used and rather worn pans. So today I took out the old ones that we are replacing and hopefully have found a place for the new. Woody took his four-mile-walk this afternoon. Our friends Linda (Lindy to her and our grandchildren) and Doyle came to pay a visit to our Dorrell neighbors this afternoon.  They came for their first visit with Joseph.  They were also bearers of wonderful treats...first treats enjoyed were the baby Frosties that they brought for everyone.  Then it was on to unpack boxes and bags of wooden toys that a very special man here in Tullahoma made over the years.  He died several years ago, but his toys live on and bring back very fond memories of him and his wife.  Most that you see on the floor...the ones that are natural wood color are Ted E. Bear originals.  Linda and Doyle felt that their grandchildren had outgrown these.  So our grandchildren are the lucky recipients of many hours of enjoyment ahead of them.  Nathan enjoyed them almost as much as the children...as you can witness in the bottom picture!  We all had a nice visit...well, all but Isaac who was napping.  But I have learned that Isaac was quite happy with his discovery of these toys after awakening from his nap!

A Clear and Crisp Wednesday

Our thermometer reads that it did get to 50 today but just barely.  I know that it was quite chilly when I headed off to work in the church library after lunch.  I had a regular day of school.  Joy managed to get her notebook up to date during her Grammy long school time.  Woody stayed next door for about an hour this morning while Joy and her parents went for her first orthodontist consult.  Then this afternoon while I was at the church library, he stayed next door with Isaac and Joseph while the rest went out on their fitness run/walk.  They are doing a program called "From Couch to 5K."  Glad that it is them and not me!!!!!  Woody also did his weekly Wednesday Kroger bargain/senior citizen shopping and stopped by the public library to pick up a book for Graham and me. I rested for a few minutes after returning home from the church library and then headed downstairs to make our supper...a tried-and-true recipe for me...wonder how many times I have made this recipe for spaghetti meat sauce.  We hadn't had it for a while...good to have it for a change.  The recipe comes from the old red and white checked Better Homes and Garden cookbook that we received for a wedding present.

Neither Snow Nor...

This was the scene that I caught out our upstairs window when it was snow flurrying around lunch time.(Click on the picture so you can see the snow better!)  We had bursts of snow flurries like this off and on during the morning and afternoon.  And, it was rather blustery too...so all in all a good day to stay in!  The children did come over for their usual school times with me, plus Tuesday is art day.  Abigail got her sewing notebook caught up during her Grammy school time and also changed the elastic in one of her skirts. Then this afternoon when their homeschooling lessons were complete several of them spent a wintry Spring afternoon over at our house.  Several built with K'nex.  And, Esther and Elijah played a game of Monopoly with Goosey (Woody).  I spent the afternoon resting...just plopped in my chair and had trouble getting out of it...dozed a bit, but mostly just sat.  This was another day that woke up super early...around 5am...and I "play out" pretty early in the afternoon when that happens.  Even Woody didn't do much outside today except to empty our inside waste baskets into the outside garbage can and take it to the road for tomorrow's garbage pick-up.  He decided that the wind didn't bode well for a walk so drove to the prayer room at church this evening.   

Tiring Monday

At the moment my mind can hardly wrap around our day...just know that it was busy and that I am very tired...do know that I didn't get a nap today...so perhaps that is why I feel more tired than usual at this hour.

It started out to be a rather chilly morning, but warmed up to feel pretty good by the afternoon. At least it got into the 50's.  Now, tomorrow it isn't supposed to get out of the mid 40's and there is even a chance of seeing a snowflake or two...surely not!!!

I had a normal Monday school day.  Woody walked to the library late this afternoon.  I fixed our supper and have rested a bit after we finished eating.  Now I'm debating on whether I am up to a night of "Dancing with the Stars" or not...not sure that I have enough energy to walk down the stairs!

45 Years Ago Today...

45 years ago today my father walked me down this aisle.  Looks like Woody and the minister were waiting at the other end of the aisle! This is one of my favorite of our wedding pictures even though it doesn't really show any of us close-up...still tells the story.

Pretty Friday

Joseph is thinking about giving me a big 2-month-old smile!  I have done a lot of whatever I wanted to do today...I guess.  I headed out late morning to do a bit of shopping.  We needed a new toaster oven and I actually found one in Tullahoma.  Woody went for his daily walk while I was out.  He has been watching basketball.  I made one of my favorite soups that I don't make very often...Cream of Reuben Soup with rye bread croutons.  It was a last ditch effort to be able to eat the corned beef brisket that I cooked for St. Patrick's Day that was so dry. Putting it in this soup at least made the brisket edible. It has been a very pretty Spring day here in Middle TN.

Spring Has Sprung!

The above picture shows what started out our morning...lots of loud noises as they dug up an area of our street so they could do the next step in the sewer project that is happening around Tullahoma.  Elijah was quite interested, but he was also protecting his ears from the loud bangs and bumps that the digger was making. After a while, Elijah came in and had his school time which was abbreviated a bit, as were all the children's times today, as I had to be finished in time to make lunch for a couple in our church.  The wife had recently been in the hospital and various church members had been asked to provide a meal at lunch time for them and our day was today.  They eat a late lunch so I did manage to get the food cooked after I finished school with the children a bit early.  Then Woody delivered it to them.  Woody is their deacon in the Deacon Family Care Program in our church.  I took advantage of double ovens...don't have two myself...BUT when family lives next door...well, their oven can become your second oven!  That worked great!  I baked the sweet potato casserole in their oven and the chicken in ours.  After the whirl wind cooking spree, I was ready for a rest!  Woody went outside to go on a walk, but met up with Elijah and they decided that the time had come to plant the cabbage plants that they bought yesterday.  So after gardening Woody went on his four-mile walk.  Abigail came over later in the afternoon and we enjoyed visiting with each other.  She looked through a box of old jewelry that I have.  Then we went downstairs and I set to work on trying to clean up the cooking mess.  I can say that we have a fairly clean kitchen and the dishwasher is doing its job. We also got to take care of  Isaac AND Joseph (first time to take care of Joseph over here) for a short while.  I was very happy to stop my kitchen cleaning for a little while so I could rock little Joseph.  I can't believe it, but he will be two months old on Saturday.  I went over last night to take a few pictures of him on his 8-week birthday.  Then, of course, I grabbed up my camera and took a few of our sweet littlest boys while they were over here today.  Spring has sprung and if today is an example...looks like our Spring will be hopping!

Just A Day Away!

Spring is just a day away...we are all very ready for its arrival!  It does seem that as the days go by there is a definite leaning towards warmer days. Though the temps are still doing a good job of falling during the night.  I think that it is supposed to get down into the 30's tonight...but there is still that promise that warmer days are approaching.

Goosey (Woody) and Elijah decided that it would be a good idea to go do our Wednesday grocery shopping together.  So I had Elijah do his school time early this morning so they could  head out early.  Once Goosey finished his crossword puzzle they were on their way.. Then Isaac came over at his regular time.  Graham and Abigail each read out loud to me in their school time slots.  Then it was Joy's turn to have her long Grammy school time.  She read to me and then we continued to work on her sewing notebook.  After school I ate a quick lunch, rested for a moment and then headed off to church to work in the library.  Once again we got quite a lot accomplished.  Now we are anticipating a new book order that will probably keep us busy processing for a while.  On the way home I made two stops--the public library (I know...just can't get enough of libraries!) and the drugstore.  By the time I got home I was ready to collapse...but no rest for the weary as I needed to get busy and get a dish ready to take to a couple in our church tomorrow for their lunch.  I knew that if I didn't get part of it done tonight that there wouldn't be time to get the rest ready in time after I have school with the children tomorrow. Once I had a sweet potato casserole in the refrigerator, THEN I collapsed with the heating pad in my recliner.  I did doze for a little while and have just become alert enough to come in and blog!

As I mentioned Woody did grocery shopping this morning with Elijah.  They also did some shopping for seeds and plants for the gardens that Elijah and Joy are going to be planting.  Elijah is so excited at each sprout that comes up...be it weed or actual plant.  His onions are doing quite well.  And, today Elijah came in all excited because they think that some of Esther's seeds are starting to sprout.  Esther planted flower seeds in one of our barrels on our back patio.  Woody took a walk over into the next neighborhood to talk with a friend this afternoon.  We both took tours of the grandchildren's gardens this afternoon. That about sums up our last day of Winter, 2014!

Radiologist Report

Before

After

 This morning Woody went back to his radiologist to see how he was doing after radiation on his leg.  You can see by the "after" picture that his leg is definitely redder and it is also more swollen.  The doctor said that his swelling is lymphedema which is swelling caused by lymph node fluid build up caused by the radiation.  The doctor told him to be sure to exercise to try to keep scar tissue from forming. Also when sitting his leg should be up. This swelling may be with him for the rest of his life.  The doctor said that the radiation will continue to work for the next three months and that he doesn't think that Woody needs to be reevaluated until that time.  We will be emailing his Fellow and see what she/they at NIH deem best.  His radiologist said that he was seeing positive results but wouldn't be able to tell how well the treatment has done till evaluation in three months. I don't know where that evaluation will take place...here or at NIH or both places.  As I seem to say more and more often..."time will tell!"

I had school this morning with Elijah and Isaac and then Esther came over to read.  Then five came over for art.  We did Spring pictures in anticipation of the first day of Spring on Thursday.  They had fun and made some really neat pictures.  They each pretty much did "their own thing" with the mediums that I put out for them.  After art Abigail had her long Grammy school time. She continued to work on her sewing notebook and she read a story in her reading book.  After lunch Joy came over for her reading time.  After that I pretty much "chilled out!"  I am trying to finish a book so read and relaxed.

A little while ago Woody walked to the prayer room at church.  The first time that he has walked there in some time...trying to get in the exercise that the doctor recommended!  He also walked four miles this afternoon.

A Wild "Goosey Chase" This Fine St. Patrick's Day!

Elijah had to cut out a green heart for Goosey (Woody) to wear...the rest of us were prepared and wore green...even Joseph!  I had school with Elijah and Isaac and then Esther and Joy and Graham read with me. Graham once again chose to read during most of his extra Grammy school time.  He is now on the last of the Chronicle of Narnia books.

Now for the story to explain tonight's blog title.  Nathan needed to take their RV to have some work done on it and needed Woody to follow him to where he was going so Woody could bring him back home.  Well, Woody and he got separated almost immediately...though Woody couldn't figure out how he could lose such a large vehicle so easily.  What happened was that they went totally different directions and so Woody wouldn't have spotted Nathan. (Woody thought that Nathan was driving that big vehicle awfully fast for him to have never caught sight of him!) Anyway, I guess Woody wandered around in Winchester trying to find the dealership that he thought that Nathan would go to...well, he did finally find it, but Nathan was gone by then!  Nathan had called home and said that he was driving around trying to find his daddy, but couldn't especially since Woody had driven the new car and Nathan still wasn't sure exactly what it looked like...especially since it is white.  Nathan had been told in Winchester to bring the RV back to Tullahoma to get the work done so I suggested that he come on back and that eventually his daddy would figure out that he might as well come on home!!!  Which he did!  When Woody got home, I was over at Nathan and Kathy's taking care of the kids while Kathy went to pick up Nathan and bring him home!  Woody hadn't been over at their house long and Nathan and Kathy pulled back in to their driveway.  Kathy said that on the way home, all of a sudden Nathan burst out laughing.  He said that he was picturing his daddy finally finding an RV and just following it and that perhaps he was heading to Michigan following the wrong RV!  Anyway...never a dull moment around here!

I spent most of the afternoon making our traditional St. Patrick's Day meal--a New England Boiled Dinner: corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and onions.  My mouth has been watering for it all afternoon.  But then was a bit disappointed as the corned beef seemed very dry...after all the years that I have been making this same meal, this same way, I don't remember the meat ever being dry like this.  Oh, well, the potato and carrot tasted good to me!  Abigail spent part of the afternoon over here.  She got her magazine in the mail today and she made a craft that was in it.  It has been a very chilly St. Patrick's day here in Middle TN.

A Great Day to Celebrate!

How could it be anything but a GREAT day when surrounded by these smiles!  Melany, Wade, Erin, and Alex joined the two households of Dorrell's to celebrate Wade's and my birthdays.  Wade and I share the same birthday. We had lunch at Nathan and Kathy's which included a choice of birthday cheesecake or strawberry shortcake...yum!  After lunch Graham did a magic show for us and kept us guessing as to how he did his amazing tricks!

Woody did his normal Saturday errands...WalMart run and also a stop at the library.  When he got home, the Proctor's were already here.  Wade and Alex did some yard work...cleaning out the leaves in some of our gardens. The older children grabbed up Erin and headed off  to play.  Isaac claimed his Aunt Melany. Later Melany claimed Joseph and got in some baby holding time!  An all in all fun day...good way to celebrate two birthdays!

Another Sign of Spring

Look what I spotted this morning in the parking area at Janie's Sewing Center!  The first dandelions that I have spotted this season...warmer temps must be getting closer!  When I got up Woody was diligently working in the kitchen...getting things all cleaned up for the next messes!  I did make a slight mess when I made some homemade green salsa...a first for me.  I have a recipe that plan to make in the next day or so that this salsa is part of the recipe.  It was made with tomatillos...first time that I had used fresh ones.  After I got that made and got the dishes loaded in the dish washer, I headed off to pick up my serger from Janie's. It was in for what I call its "spa treatment" (getting cleaned and oiled).  Now both my machines are home...all cleaned and ready to do great and wonderful things...that is if I find the time to sit down and guide them!  Woody went on a walk that included stopping at the barber for a hair cut.  I have been intermittently doing a bit of cleaning...vacuuming, etc.  It needs to be done as I haven't done much but necessities around the house since my dental work last week.  I say "intermittently" as I couldn't keep at it very long before stopping for a rest!  I did get the whole downstairs vacuumed before coming up and collapsing with the heating pad!  Rather irritating not to be able to "keep at" things the way I used to be able to.  Tomorrow is a big day...celebrating my birthday with the Proctor's and the neighbor Dorrell's...a family gathering here in Tullahoma.  More on that tomorrow!

Late Thursday Blog

Oops...almost forgot to blog!  I got called next door to take care of Esther while the rest of them went for evening dental appointments.  Well, not all the children had dental appointments tonight as Esther and Elijah went last week for theirs...Elijah just went to ride in the new seat that they installed in their vehicle today and also to see his little brother, Isaac, have his first check-up at the dentist.  And, of course, Joseph didn't get checked since he doesn't have any teeth!  But the rest of them all came home with a clean bill of health.  Tonight's picture shows Esther with her first completed cross stitch project.  She and I put her rainbow into the top of a pretty jar lid...something for her to put treasures in.  I had school with Isaac this morning.  Then Elijah came over and read to me and then Abigail came and read and then had part of her long Grammy time.  We continued to work on her sewing notebook.  After Esther completed her cross stitch project we started working on her sewing notebook.  We printed pictures. Tonight's blog photo of Esther is one of the ones that we printed for her notebook. Woody went on a walk and also made vegetarian chili today. He has also been watching some March Madness.  After supper, I headed next door and, like I said at the start, about forgot to blog when I got home!  Guess...better late than never?

Predictable

Today has been a pretty predictable Wednesday...right down to the weathermen's predictions that the temps were going to fall as the day went on.  Woody went for his walk this morning at probably about the warmest part of the day.  The wind has been quite gusty which makes the temperatures seem even colder.  I had school with Isaac and Elijah and then listened to Graham read and then Abigail read.  Then Joy came over to read and have her longer time with me.  She is working on catching up her sewing notebook.  Today we printed pictures.  I think that she enjoyed looking at pictures of the sewing projects that she has done so far.  Woody did our Wednesday Kroger shopping.  When I got through with school, I put the groceries away.  Then I ate a quick lunch and headed to the church to work in the library for a couple of hours. We really accomplished quite a bit in the library today.  When I got home Woody was working away in the kitchen cooking several veggies for our supper.  He cooked asparagus and also another of our favorites--Italian Cauliflower.  I'm looking forward to a quiet evening of trying to stay warm as the temps drop even lower.  We are already at 39 degrees and the prediction for the low overnight is in the mid 20's...too cold, especially after the last few days of quite warm temperatures!

Nesting

Our birdhouses are once again in demand.  I'm so glad that I asked Nathan to clean out the debris that had collected in the birdhouses over the last year as this gave the birdies an empty place to build their homes for this year.  We are a bit disappointed that the sparrows beat out the blue birds...but there is still time for there to be a housing war and the residents switch!  These birdhouses have seen better days, but they are still attracting the birds.  The little fellow in the top photo was really having quite a time with the long piece of dried grass.  He/she would take it in and then it would pop out and then it would go back in and then it would be back out and he/she would tug it with the beak trying to get it in just the right spot inside.  Joy read to me this morning and then Graham, Abigail and Esther joined her to have art.  Today they made a jumping jack leprechaun...they colored him and then put him together with brads.  Graham is supposed to figure out how to string them so they can jump up and down with the pull of a string.  They had fun and we talked about St. Patrick's Day and also about legends about leprechauns.  I think that several left forming plans in their heads as to how to catch a leprechaun!  Maybe, if they do catch one, they will share the gold treasure! While I was having art with the children Woody went on his short-four-mile walk.  After art I got ready to head back to the dentist to get the stitches out.  I never checked to see what it looks like in my mouth with one less tooth, but the children this morning wanted to see what the stitches looked like.  They said that it looked like he had used a black marker.  The dentist thought that was a funny description!  Woody did go with me to the dentist again today...he said in case they needed him to scoop me up off the floor!  The stitches came out very easily and we were on our way.  We then ran a couple of errands which included him getting me a new watch for my birthday. My old watch was working well, but the clasp had given out on it.  I'm pleased with my new one.  After we had lunch, I had Isaac come over for a short time of school.  Elijah opted out today as they were working outside and I didn't blame him for wanting to stay outside on this beautiful day!  Woody had an appointment this afternoon with at the sleep clinic.  He found out that he does have sleep apnea when he sleeps on his back, but does not if he sleeps on his side or his stomach.  So he doesn't have to get an "elephant nose."  While he was at the doctor, I made a pot of soup.  Though the temperatures were in the mid 70's today, tomorrow they are supposed to once again drop drastically. Rain is supposed to be moving in along with some gusty March winds...typical back and forth weather as Spring approaches.  The grandchildren have been running around in shorts and have worked so hard with their mom and dad at getting a handle on the leaves in both our yards.  Amazing what can happen when so many arms and legs get going on such a daunting job!   Our yards look great!

Beautiful Day!

Daffodils = March birth month flower = appropriate photo for my birthday!  I have had a very nice day.  Isaac and Elijah came over first for their school time.  Esther didn't come over today as she was feeling a little under the weather.  Then Joy came over to read and then Graham came for his long Grammy time...he opted to read today.  He is really "into" the Narnia series and is zooming right along with them and didn't want to stop today to do a bit of sewing time...he said another day!  While I was having school with Elijah and Isaac, Woody baked me some birthday brownies which we shared with the grandchildren and their parents for a mid-morning snack.  After lunch Woody went next door and kid sat while the parents went to a meeting.  I have had several birthday calls today--one from a friend who moved away a short while ago and one from my sister and one from a friend here in town.  I have also been planning tomorrow's art lesson for the children.  I think that I will have them in a St. Patrick's mood when we get finished tomorrow.  Woody got us "fast food" for supper--I wanted French fries for my birthday!  I can remember several times when Melany and/or Nathan would give me French fries for my birthday...specifically McDonald's French fries...made their mommy a happy camper!  And, so far today, I don't feel much more decrepit than I did yesterday! Now...Woody on the other hand...I have neglected to report that he cracked a rib last Thursday when his arm slipped when he was getting out of the bathtub and he hit the side of the tub with his side...ouch.  He does claim that the pain is less, but he has to be careful just how he moves!  He supervised the planting of onion slips today...he has given Joy and Elijah the use of one of his gardens for this year and the onions were the first things that they have planted.  He did go on a four-mile walk today.  I didn't know that he had cracked his rib till Saturday when I couldn't find "my" heating pad and found that Woody had it and why he had it.  Looks like we may need to become a "two heating pad family!"  Ahhhh! Ain't getting older grand?!?

Real Time

Time will become confusing for the next few days around here...due to the time change.  I consider the time that we are on now "real time."  And, it is my opinion (such as it is worth), that there is no reason to change time these days...time change was for an agricultural society of which the majority of our country is no longer.  But my main reason in totally disliking this time change is that it makes me "move" an hour farther away from my Arizona family (AZ doesn't change time). But, though, I know that most folk look forward to more daylight at the end of the day, that isn't high priority on my part!  I just know that it is much easier to plan phone calls to my sister when there is only an hour separating us!  The other part that I don't understand is why the year isn't divided up equally as it used to be...doesn't seem fair that we only get four months of standard time and eight months of daylight savings time.  Oh, well...enough said! I will just be depressed silently!!!  I have already started changing clocks around the house...so now have no idea what time it "really" is!  Woody did the rest of our weekly grocery shopping this morning.  Then he went to the library.  This afternoon he walked his 4-mile route.  I did step outside for a little while today and took a few pictures of the flowers that we have blooming...so tonight's photo really shows flowers blooming right now in our yard (real time!).  A little while ago, we got a bit of a jump on my birthday and went to Dairy Queen for my free birthday Blizzard.  I have spent a good part of the afternoon baking cakes.  Our Sunday School class has been asked to provide dessert for the parents of the children in the Sunday night activity for children at our church.  The house really smells good! I spent a little time doing the next step in preparation to machine embroider the designs for Isaac's quilt.  I'm not sure if I am going to do any more tonight or just head in and read for a while.  And, now I am posting tonight's blog about an hour early for real time...but pretty close to on time for tomorrow night's time...which is the real time? So now if I will just go to sleep at the wrong time tonight (as in an hour earlier than usual) so that tomorrow my body won't be so confused with the new time!

Friday

Woody said that he saw that some of our crocus were blooming today. I'm taking him at his word and posting a picture that I took last year at this time.  I never actually made it outdoors today. I did mean to go out and take a current picture of what was blooming...but didn't think of it again till it was dark.  Woody took a four-mile walk shortly after he ate lunch.  I continued to work on my book list, which I can say has been successfully transferred to our laptop and has been printed out.  I made over 1300 entries.  I also worked on the Sunday School lesson for Sunday.  I made Linguine with Zesty Lemon Pecan Sauce for our dinner.  We hadn't had that in a while.  When I make it, I always think of our oldest granddaughter, Erin.  We made it together the first time that we tried the recipe.

Thursday

Tonight's photo was taken on Christmas morning.  When Esther tried on the tutu that Joy made her for Christmas.  I had been looking through photos that Joy and Abigail need to add to their sewing notebooks and decided that this sweet little ballerina would grace tonight's blog! We have had a very pretty day...so nice to see sunshine.  I have stayed in and not done much.  I'm still tired from my "ordeal" at the dentist!  I slept in this morning and then have worked in the sewing room...getting it ready for my machines to come back home and also working on choosing fabrics for Isaac's quilt. To show that our day was very nice...Woody went on his four-mile walk before lunch today. This afternoon I did venture out of the house and picked up my sewing machine.  Now that it is back home I should be able to get started machine embroidering designs for Isaac's quilt.  

Harbinger

Surely the sight of robins means that Spring is just around the corner!  Though we have gotten pretty cold at night, it seems that the days are warming up a bit...today we got to 50 and tomorrow we are supposed to get into the 60's...60's sounds like a heat wave! I have done close to nothing for most of the day.  I guess I was saving my energy to make some soup (mushroom-potato chowder...soft enough for me to eat!) for supper. It tasted quite good and was easy for me to eat.  I think that is why Woody chose to get the ingredients for this particular soup. Woody went to the grocery store this morning.  He's decided that he will go to Kroger on Wednesday's as that is their senior adult day.  I guess he has finally decided to take advantage of his age! I did come downstairs and put away the groceries so I would know what he had gotten and know what got put into the pantry cupboard so I could keep my list up to date! Woody also walked to and from the Post Office this afternoon.  I have sat in my recliner most of the day...dozing some.  I did finally feel awake enough that I worked some more on entering books that I have read on the iPad.  I have made over 1000 entries so far and still have a few pages to go.  I do wish that I had kept this list for longer than I have.  Some time back I went to the library and just perused the shelves looking for books that I remembered reading and adding them to my list.  Pain from my tooth (or lack thereof) seems to be at a minimum now.  I haven't had anything for pain for quite a few hours now...which is good...so must be on the mend.  Yesterday's experience did seem to have zapped most of my energy for today. I did load some dishes into the dishwasher and push the button to turn it on before I came upstairs...but I am upstairs for the night...heading back to my recliner as soon as I post this.   .

Survived!

I was supposed it have a root canal, but the endodontist said that the tooth couldn't be saved without very extensive other work by another specialist dentist and then there was still no guarantee that it could be saved.  I pretty quickly decided that I would "just" have it pulled.  Not an easy decision on my part who hates anything to do with dentists!  But this was the lesser of two evils...or so it seemed.  So, yesterday, when I got home, Woody called our dentist to set up an appointment.  So late this morning off we went.  I made Woody take me and stay with me!  Which ended up being a good choice, as it was not an easy extraction.  The dentist had a very hard time getting it to come out...an upper molar.  It wanted to hang in there in its rightful place!  In the midst of his "trying with all his might" to get it out, I started to feel sick...perhaps due to the fact he had to use extra medication for me to ever get numb (nervousness makes those numbing medications sometimes not work like they should).  Then when I started to feel sick, I started to feel faint.  I attempted to tell him...but that is hard when you are numb and also when the dentist has his hand in your mouth.  All of a sudden, he tipped my chair back and they were splashing me with cold water...I guess my pallor told him what my mouth didn't communicate.  Once they got my color back a bit, he continued to take a stitch or two and then we were finished and then they had me stay put till I felt like I could get up...told you I was a wimp at the dentist!  Well, it is over...it has taken forever for the numbness to wear off...possibly a good thing!?!  Woody drove to the prayer room at church tonight and on his way home stopped to get me a shake (and him a blizzard). That tasted quite good...one of the perks of the day?  I am feeling "no pain" but feel a bit light headed and a bit loopy due to the pain medication.  Hope that the blog makes sense! I am attempting to blog from the iPad so I don't have to get up.  Blogging from here allowed me access to previous blog pics so I went looking and found this one that I had posted on a previous dentist visit.  Well, I think that I will drift off to "la la land."

Promise of Spring?

Well, the first day-and-a-half were mild...then the lion decided to roar a bit and last night and in the night it got very cold once again and we had a bit of freezing rain...but we didn't have as much some other parts of TN. Our schools weren't cancelled. Woody was glad that we had one car in the garage as the one that was out was all iced over when he headed out to his 26th radiation at 9am. Woody is through with radiation for the moment at least. He has an appointment in a couple of weeks for evaluation as to how these treatments have worked. He does have some redness and his leg looks swollen. Now it is a waiting game to see how well things have gone. It has been soooooo cold all day. I had school with Isaac and Elijah and then Abigail and then Graham this morning. Abigail is trying to bring her sewing notebook up to date. Then this afternoon I had a "dentist appointment" which didn't go as planned so now I have another appointment for tomorrow with my regular dentist. I am still numb four hours later and today's dentist ended up doing nothing. Enough said about a subject that just about shuts me down! I may or may not blog tomorrow night! Over the weekend I worked on library memorials and got the last of the work that I can do at the moment finished this afternoon. Now to make a couple of book orders...one quite large...another day...the recliner is calling my name! Hopefully tonight's photo is telling us that Spring is trying to arrive! I think that we are more than ready!

In Like a Lamb!

It has been a very mild day for the first day of March. Now we will see in 30 days if March goes out like a lion! Woody did our weekly grocery shopping and went to the library. Then later in the morning he walked back to the library to return a DVD and a book that he hadn't taken on his first trip. So his walk today was to and from the library. I am in an "organizing mode." I wonder if it is because I can sense the coming of Spring?!? Anyway, I continued on with the list of staples that we have on two shelves in our lower cabinets (our "pantry...for lack of a "real" one). I managed to enter the items, how many and on which shelf they "reside" onto an excel spreadsheet app on my iPad. And, then, miracles of miracles, I managed to transfer them over to the laptop and was able to print out the list in alphabetical order. I'm hoping that this will help us keep up with what is under there and hoping that it will save our knees...if we don't have it then we won't have to get down on our knees! I have just taken out a bag of pinto beans that I plan to soak overnight for a pot of chili...so I marked them off the list. Anyway...it as an attempt to be more organized and help me see what we have when I am planning meals/menus/recipes. I also stewed some chicken today so I will have some cut up cooked chicken for recipes. I also cleaned out half of the lower freezer drawer...even vacuumed it! I know that you are all wondering about me at the point of me vacuuming out the freezer. I will try to explain myself...that part of the drawer is where we store our bags of various kinds of flour and corn meal...so it has dry flour in the bottom of it. We had gotten new bags of whole wheat and all-purpose flour and I wanted to clean it out and rearrange the remaining partial bags of flour. And the best way to get the dry flour out is with the vacuum. I vacuumed and then wiped out that side of the freezer drawer. Another day I will work on the other side of the drawer...meats and vegetables reside there...so not as messy as flour. I just need to move them around so I can see what we have in there...never know what one will find buried on the very bottom of the drawer! After stewing the chicken, I made broth by putting the chicken bones back in along with the carrots, celery, onion, garlic that I had stewed the chicken with. So...I will have a couple more cups of broth to add to the freezer after it cools and the fat rises to and congeals on the top...it is in the refrigerator chilling now and I will scrape off the fat and freeze it tomorrow. The best thing that I made was almond and blueberry granola...snacks and hopefully my breakfast for a couple of days. It was a Martha Stewart recipe that I unearthed the other day when I was organizing in another part of our house. Lots of organizing needs to take place around here...but at least I have done a little the last few days. Welcome, March...a month of anticipating the official beginning of Spring and also a month to grow older for some of us...first to grow older is my sister--tomorrow! Happy Birthday, Cheryl...a day early...since I don't blog tomorrow...I would hate to miss rubbing in that you are now only six years younger than me...at least for a few more days!