July's a Wrap!

It doesn't seem possible that it is July 31.  The year is just zipping by.  Woody got up early this morning and went on a six mile walk.  I did finish Esther's birthday present.  I have spent the rest of the day doing things around the house that I haven't been doing because I have been sewing. Woody has read, done crossword puzzles, watched TV, washed dishes, etc.  That about sums up our day for this last day in July.  

Wednesday Wanderings

And, tonight's photo doesn't have anything to do with today's wanderings...just decided that it was a good picture to post for a nice summer day.  Woody got up early and walked four miles.  Later in the day he ran various and sundry errands...one errand was a stop at the farmer's market where he bought two very large zucchinis (looks like vegetarian/no-noodle lasagna is in our future).  He came home and put the ingredients for our no-noodle lasagna on the grocery list and then headed off to do our weekly Krogering.  I got up and went back to work on Esther's birthday present. It is starting to look like I will have it finished in time for her birthday.  After lunch I headed off on my wanderings of the day...stopping at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription before heading to the library to work.  And, work we did.  We are shifting books from shelf to shelf trying to make more space on each shelf...quite a job.  We got a lot done as my back can attest to!  On my way home I stopped at Jo-Ann's to pick up a couple of things to finish Esther's present with.  I will let you in on part of the secret (since I don't think that Esther reads the blog!).  Her present is a special dress for her 18" doll.  I think that she will be happy with it...just a few finishing touches and it will be ready to put under wraps for her birthday on Sunday.  I came home from church and ate supper and ever since I have been sitting in "my" chair trying to recover from my wanderings.

 I will be so glad when the upcoming election is over.  I'm tired of all the political phone calls...it is doing them no good in calling us since we have already voted...guess those canned messages don't know that!

Sewing Right Along!

I just looked at the clock and realized that it was time to blog.  Time really gets away from me when I am sewing.  Esther's birthday present is starting to take on a form...which is good.  Perhaps it will be finished for her birthday on Sunday!  I am taking it slow and easy on this project and am enjoying doing it.  Woody waited till mid morning today for what he calls a long four-mile walk.  He included a stop at the fruit and veggie market to get us some more tomatoes and peaches. The temperature has been very pleasant today...reason for Woody's later in the day walk.  He left shortly after supper to walk to the prayer room at church.  So he will have two walks under his belt when he returns.  He continues to feel very well as he approaches his next infusion next Tuesday.  Well, back to my secret sewing.

Mild July Monday

Woody got up early and walked six miles.  I got up early and started sewing.  I am still working on Esther's birthday present.  It has been a rather lazy, slow paced day for both of us.  Woody has read, watched TV and done crossword puzzles and he did help clean up the kitchen.  I made an easy supper...hamburgers and a marinated salad.  Once again the temperatures are cooler than normal for the end of July.  It only got into the low 80's today.

Summing Up Saturday

Lots of comings and goings at the bluebird house today.  Looks like little birdies are keeping their parents busy!  Woody got up early and went for a four mile walk.  Later in the morning he went to the library and grocery shopped at Walmart.  I pretty much stayed in today.  I did clean off another shelf in the lower kitchen cabinets.  I needed to put away some dishes on that shelf so it was the perfect time to clean it.  Woody and I managed to get my sewing cutting table upstairs. I have been wanting to relocate it for a while so we will see if it works upstairs.  I am working on a birthday surprise for Esther.  Woody has watched a library DVD movie. It has felt more like summer today...temperatures are rising once again.

We Voted Early

Esther woke up ready to continue her sleepover...there were still several things that she wanted to be included in the sleepover after she ate breakfast!  We finished a short chapter book that we started last night and then she played with the doll that I had as a child.  She also played dress up using the dress that Erin (now almost 21) wore in a wedding many moons ago.  Elijah came over mid morning to say that there was another baby bird hopping around out in their yard...so...Grammy grabbed her camera and Esther shed her dress up dress and we headed off to see this cute little baby bird.  That sort of ended the sleepover as Esther started doing fun things like riding her bike, etc.  Not long after that Woody and I gathered ourselves together and headed off to early vote.  The ballot for city, county, state, and national elections was very long.  But we voted fairly quickly since we had studied the ballot fairly well over the last several days.  And, it was much easier than the paper ballot as only the ones we were to vote for showed up on the computerized ballot.  On our way out of the parking lot Woody suggested that we go to Red Lobster for lunch so we did.  Enjoyed our lunch and then headed home.  I have been pretty much worth nothing the rest of the day.  I keep dozing off the moment I light on any chair including this office chair while I was looking for a photo to represent our day.  This is one of our shadow boxes.  The little cross stitched elephant and donkey I stitched many years ago.  I exchange appropriate cross stitch pieces in these frames depending on the season, holiday, etc...most of the time there is only one of these small frames on display...but appropriate to display two at election time.

Woody walked four miles this morning.  He continues to feel well after his infusion. We have now gotten the official papers in the mail showing the times for the rest of his infusion times.  I already knew them as I checked online on Vanderbilt My Health.  

I will end wishing our grandson, Alex, a great BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Happy 17th, Alex!

Special Time With Esther!

It's Esther's turn for a sleepover.  She is finally cashing in the coupon that she got in one of her Easter eggs for a sleepover at Grammy and Goosey's.  I think that she is having fun.  She arrived around 2pm and she has been busy ever since.  She took her things to the guest room and showed me what she had packed  and then we read a couple of stories.  Next we got out her Aunt Melany's Sunshine Family nursery set...someething that she hadn't played with before.  She had fun with that for a while. We even fixed the elastic in the baby's outfit and in the daddy's trousers. A snack was in order after that...yummy fresh cherries and some slices of fresh peach.  Then it was back upstairs to Goosey's (Woody's) and my bedroom and she decided that it would be fun to play with some of my jewelry.  In getting into one of the drawers in my dresser looking for more jewelry,  I found my above-the-elbow (to-the-top-of-her-arm!) gloves.  And she had fun with those.  Before we knew it it was time to get supper ready and I had a very willing helper to make one of her favorites...mac and cheese.  She helped set the table and then we got down to business of eating her yummy cooking along with a couple of things that I had prepared ahead of time.  After supper she entertained us with various scenes from the movie, Frozen!  She about knows it by heart...songs and dialogues!  Then she willingly played in the dishwater for a while and washed dishes for us.  She and Goosey are now playing a game of Monopoly. And, I'm blogging and resting a bit!  Won't be long till it will be story time.

Woody walked eight miles early this morning.  I got up and made a gelatin salad for tonight's supper and did a lick and a promise vacuuming job throughout the house.  Then I ate lunch and then we were ready for Esther to come over whenever she was ready.  The picture in the top left corner of the collage is when she popped into the house and proclaimed, "I'm ready!"

Wednesday--Again

We had another typical Wednesday.  Woody got up and walked eight miles. He did his Kroger shopping today.  I started out the day working around the house at "this and that." Then I worked in the library this afternoon.  We got a lot done once again...finishing up one task so we can move on to another. In the library the work is never done.  We had supper and then I collapsed in "my" chair...and promptly fell asleep...guess I wore myself out as I just woke up a few minutes ago...oops...wonder what that will do to my night's sleep!  

Behind Bars!

Woody said that he was afraid that it would come to this at some time!  And, today three friends and I went on another of our adventures...and when it was lunch time we found ourselves in a jail cell behind bars!  We chose to go to a restaurant in a historic jail in Fayetteville, TN...and ate in a cell.  We always find something to do together that turns into an adventure and fun! So I was gone most of the morning and part of the afternoon.  I had told three of the neighbor grandchildren that I would take them back-to-school shoe shopping this afternoon, so no sooner than I got home I pretty much turned around and headed out again.  We got two (Graham & Elijah) of them shod, but the third (Joy) had to have her size ordered.  This happened to her last year too. 

Woody stayed home most of the day.  Elijah came over while I was gone and made a blueberry dump cake to take over to his family.  I'm sure that they were very happy with their surprise dessert.  After supper, Woody walked to the prayer room at church and has just returned from that walk.  I think that I heard a few rumbles of thunder off in the distance. So he got home before the storm got here...if it gets to us.

(click on the picture and you can read about the historic Fayetteville jail)

We're Just Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along

Woody got up early and walked six miles.  I have been puttering around in the kitchen for a good part of the day.  This morning I made a marinated salad and then cleaned up the kitchen.  Then this afternoon I messed up the kitchen again to fix our supper and had to clean it up again.  One of my friends was cleaning out a closet and found a box of dishes that she was no longer using.  She remembered that we have the same pattern so she gave them to me.  I have been finding a home for them among my collection.  Several of the pieces we didn't have...very nice to add two different size platters and a divided vegetable bowl.  A bit of rearranging and they are put away.  I still have several other pieces that I have to find places to store them.  These dishes are the ones that we chose/registered for when we got married.  They are Poppytrail La Mancha Gold by Metlox.  My maid-of-honor questioned my choice as they are a bold color and she wondered if we would get tired of them.  But I still love them as much today as when we chose them 45 years ago!  They are not fine china but a heavy pottery and they have held up very well over the years.  Oh, and, I got back to cleaning out cabinets again...over the weekend I worked on one of the lower cabinets (the hardest for me to get to these days!).  Maybe now that I am feeling better I will get the rest of them cleaned out. Woody continues to feel fine with no known side effects from the first infusion.

Super Saturday!

It has to be a super day if Goosey (Woody) gets to rock this little guy to sleep!  We had all seven neighbor grandchildren over here for a time today while their parents went to pick up their RV that was having some routine work done on it.  Abigail and I fixed one of her dresses. Then I pressed it so it will be ready to wear tomorrow.  I did finish sorting my photos so once again I am up to date. It is always fun to do this job as it lets me review what has gone on in my world that my cameras have caught...this time it was only two months but still a lot has gone on in that time...at least a LOT of photos were taken!  Graham has decided that it is time to build a K'nex roller coaster before school begins...so that is in the middle of the living room...along with "several" other toys that the children have enjoyed today.  Kathy and I sat up here in the sewing room and discussed the coming school year.  The start of the new year is just around the corner so to speak. Kathy is trying to make a schedule that tells who and when I will be teaching six of the seven.  As I look at this photo of sweet little Joseph sleeping in Goosey's arms and realize that he will be six months old next week, I realize that it won't be all that long till he will be toddling over here for his first day of school.  Oh, my...they do grow up so quickly.  I won't think about how quickly just yet...will let him stay a babe in arms a bit longer!

Woody did our Saturday errands including his usual WalMart shopping.  One of the errands was to pick up two of  my prescriptions and he had to make two trips to do that as they hadn't filled one of mine yet due to the cost (they wanted to be sure that I was really going to get it since it cost so much)...looks like I am already in the donut hole for prescription insurance this year.  The pharmacist did tell Woody that a generic was coming out for this particular medication soon, but that it wasn't on the market quite yet.  It will be nicer for our and the insurance pocketbooks when it does come out.  Woody went on a four mile walk with Abigail and Esther.  They found blackberries along the route.  The girls, and, I'm sure Goosey really enjoyed finding them.  As you can tell by the fact that Woody is continuing with his normal activities that the first Yervoy (Ipilimumab/Ipi) infusion doesn't seem to be slowing him down.  

Friday Fun

Once again the morning started off pretty chilly.  So Woody put his walk off till mid morning.  And, this time I went along with him.  Since I was with him we didn't walk too far...just over into the next neighborhood and back...a short walk for him...a mile or less.  Later in the afternoon he went on another walk...this time a four mile walk in the rain.  I spent more time sorting today...this time pictures on the computer.  I'm down to just a few more days in July and I will once again be caught up.  Late this afternoon we went next door to take care of six of seven grandchildren.  Their mom and dad (and Joseph) were having a date night.  We ate supper with them and then read a lot of stories.  We have just gotten home. It has been a rather rainy day today...a nice slow steady rain...good for the flowers and veggies.

I just checked and the appointments for Woody's next Vanderbilt appointments have been made...not just for three weeks from the last infusion...but for all the rest of his infusions, labs, etc.    

Thursday...For Sure?

Rather a lazy day around here...enjoying the cooler temperatures.  Woody once again put off his daily walk (four miles today) till mid morning...waiting for the temperature to rise a bit.  I don't think that it ever got to 80 here today...unusual for mid July! We'll enjoy it while we can! I made a blueberry dessert this morning.  Then I just worked on getting some things organized.  I have filed some papers and unfiled (as in putting them in file 13).  At least the stack of papers that I have been going through has grown much smaller...and a couple of surfaces can once again be seen...a good feeling.  A little while ago, Woody said that he would see me later.  I asked him where he was going and he said the prayer room.  That got me confused for a few seconds but then I quickly pointed out to him that it was Thursday and not Tuesday.   His week is a bit turned around since he didn't go to the prayer room on Tuesday due to his long Vanderbilt day.  He reeled himself back in and has settled into the family room to watch a movie DVD from the public library.  Today would have been my mother's 102nd birthday.  I think that she would have liked these flowers that are now blooming in a barrel out back. Esther and Goosey (Woody) sowed the seeds for them back in early spring.  They are on a really tall stem.  I ended up taking them through a back window as that put me level with the blooms. The last I checked there still weren't appointments posted for Woody in 3 weeks at Vanderbilt.

Wednesday All Over Again

Our Wednesdays don't seem to change much.  The change this morning was that Woody didn't walk early as it was quite chilly out...only in the upper 50's.  So he waited till mid morning to walk his short four-mile route.  After he rested for a bit he ran an errand and went to do his Wednesday senior adult Krogering.  I started doing some picture sorting.  I thought that it might be nice when I only had a month of photos to sort rather than six months.  I only sorted Father's Day and then got distracted by something else...not sure what.  After lunch I headed off to the church to work in the library. We got quite a few books completed...which means that they are now ready to check out. I came home and changed one of the ink cartridges in our printer.  Woody couldn't print out his daily cross word puzzles until I did that.  After that I headed into "my" chair to rest a bit and that was the last I knew until it was past supper time and time to blog!  I think that yesterday's trip to Vanderbilt took more out of me than Woody...at least being a bit worn out by it.  When appointments for Woody's infusion in three weeks didn't show up online this morning, I did email Dr. Sosman's nurse and she replied back that she would work on getting them made.   I checked a few minutes ago and as of then...no appointments yet.  I'll just keep checking!

Next Melanoma Treatment Underway

 Well, we have finished another Vanderbilt visit and Woody has the first of four infusions under his belt..  We left the house at 9:30am and pulled back into our driveway a little after 8pm.  We did stop on the way home for supper. The rest of the day was either spent traveling to or from or in a chair in some part of the Vanderbilt Cancer Clinic...waiting around!  Things went pretty much like clock work...we were only about a half hour late for the infusion appointment (due to Dr. Sosman's appointment running over a bit). It was freezing in the infusion room.  I was so glad that I had taken a long sleeved shirt to put on if I got cold. Note that Woody has a blanket over him in the picture. Dr. Sosman ordered x-rays of Woody's right leg below the knee and also of his left upper arm.  The x-rays got added to the end of the day after the infusion.  So far he hasn't had any untoward effects due the infusion.  He said the only thing that he noticed when having the infusion was that every so often he thought that he could taste the medicine.  He said that he didn't like that. He did lots of crossword puzzles and a little reading and I read quite a bit.  Glad to be back home! I have come home armed with all sorts of papers about Yervoy/Ipilimumab. I just have to be aware of certain side effects that we need to contact the clinic about if they should occur. Well, onward and upward as Woody continues to defy the odds in his fight with 4th stage melanoma.  God has been right there with Woody and the doctors the whole way.  To God be the glory!

Woody did walk four miles this morning before we left for Nashville.

Super Moonday

Here's the shot that I got of the Super Moon on Saturday night.  I shared this on Facebook and I don't usually share the same pictures in both places...but then I don't get a "decent" picture of a super moon every day!  I took this from inside...through an upstairs window...and there is only a short time that I can view the moon due to the trees.  I just happened to look out and realized that it wouldn't be long till it would be between branches.

Woody got up early and walked four miles.  Later in the day he mowed.  And he made a couple of trips to the drugstore trying to get a prescription filled...he was finally successful on his last trip out.  I did this and that around the house this morning (a little bit of wash, a little bit of vacuuming and a little bit of dusting...that kind of day).  Isaac and Graham spent time over here this morning.  Then this afternoon Abigail came over just as I was starting our supper and she was a great help....chopping onions, opening cans, cooking the onions and garlic and finally stirring the marinara sauce.  We have eaten and are settling in for a quiet evening.

Tomorrow morning we will head off to Vanderbilt for Woody's lab, clinic, and first infusion of Ipi (Yervoy).  It will probably be a long day...no telling when I will be home to blog...hopefully not too long after the "normal" time. We will see!

A Dilly of a Day

It has been pretty much a typical Saturday for us.  Woody got up early and walked four miles.  Then later in the morning he went to Walmart and to the library.  I finally finished the book that I had been reading for a while.  I decided that today was a good day to go through a stack of papers and photos and either file them in the file cabinet or file 13.  I have only a few left that I have to find the proper/best place to file them and then that job is done.  This stack had accumulated in the school room and I want to start getting the school room ready for the start of the school year.  Graham and Elijah have spent some time with us today.  They want Elijah out of the house while they get ready for his birthday party tomorrow.  He has invited several friends to come so I'm sure that it will be a big ol' time!  He is excited.  I guess cake and decorations are a surprise for him.  I asked him what kind of party he was having and he said a "surprise" party.  Since he knows about the party, I assume that the surprise is the theme/cake/decorations.  As he left a few minutes ago, he said that he would be back tomorrow after church, while they get his party ready!  This is the first time for him to invite friends to a party so I know that he is excited!

Moooooooooooooooooooooo!

This herd of a new breed:  "Dorrell Breed Cattle" headed off to Tullahoma's Chick Fil A a little while ago.  It is Cow Appreciation Day there and anyone dressed like a cow gets a free meal.  I stayed at their house with Joseph while they steered their way across town!  I took pictures of Joseph while he played on the floor.  And then we rocked and talked for a while. He likes to bicycle with his legs.  Oh, and, he is ambidextrous...he can suck either thumb!

Woody got up and walked four miles early this morning.  And later in the morning he went on an errand--we needed some more tomatoes. Tomatoes are so good at this time of the year.  I walked around the yard this morning taking pictures of various and sundry things...got quite a few of the veggies growing in the neighbor Dorrell's gardens...their tomatoes are starting to get red.  I got well eaten by mosquitoes...this time I tried apple cider vinegar which had been recommended to repel mosquitoes...once again...not OUR mosquitoes! I have another concoction recommended to try...just not sure that I can find some of  the ingredients in Tullahoma.  I spotted a hummingbird at the feeder that Erin made food for yesterday...didn't take long for the feeder to be discovered.  I went out to attempt to get a picture of one at the feeder but no luck today.  Woody joined me on the front porch and we both were found by the mosquitoes.  One of our friends stopped by with a bag of fresh blueberries.  Yum!  Recipes for blueberries are floating through my head...now to decide what ingredients need to be added to the grocery list.

Company!

Woody got up early and walked six miles.  Mid morning Erin and Alex paid us a visit.  They are soon to each celebrate another birthday...Alex turns 17 the end of this month and Erin turns 21  (oh, my!) the end of August! This is the first time that Alex drove here and back without a parent in the car.  We had a very nice visit.  They played a couple of Scrabble games with Goosey (Woody). They were hoping that one of them could beat Goosey...but not this time...Goosey won both games. Erin made hummingbird nectar to put in our hummingbird feeder.  We ate lunch.  And we talked.  We had a very nice visit with our oldest grandchildren. They are now safely at their home...so a good ending to a good day!

Wednesday on Wednesday

Monkey see, monkey do!  Woody got up and went for a four mile walk.  Later in the day he did our Wednesday Krogering.  We are pretty much creatures of habit.  After lunch  I headed off to work at the church library for a couple of hours.  I have been attempting to clean the kitchen floor...the steam mop is acting up.  I am blogging hoping that it will act better when I go back downstairs.  Isaac is sitting in my lap.  He and Elijah are over here while Kathy runs an errand.  Isaac has helped me vacuum and push the mop.  Well, off to see if the mop is working correctly. Isaac went to the St. Louis Zoo this past weekend. He liked the elephants the best.  They can poop outside and not inside on the potty!  I told him that they would break the potty if they sat on it!  And, on that note...back to mopping!

Tuesday on Wednesday

At just about the time for me to blog last night (Tuesday), we had a storm come through.  I got the photos ready to post with the blog and attempted to open up the blog and...no internet.  Well, we are back online so I will now post.   Our day was pretty uneventful yesterday.  I took the pictures of  Lake Tullahoma yesterday, when I went to get my hair cut. It was quite windy when I was taking these and you can see that the clouds were rolling in for the storm that we had a few hours later.  I continue to play around with the settings on my camera.  The picture on the right was taken with a special effect that makes it look like it was taken with a pinhole camera. The rounded effect was helped by the leaves above and the trees below.  Woody waited last night to walk to the prayer room till the storm had passed.  He came back just before we had some more rumbles and some more rain.  I am trying to get finished with a public library book before Saturday, as I won't be able to renew it again.  It's a good book, but I have been into other things other than reading lately...or if I am reading it has been things about my camera...I go through spurts of reading a whole lot of  books and then spurts of not reading a lot.  So with the storms that came through...and no internet it was a good time for me to read...just 100 pages left...perhaps I will finish it before Woody makes his weekly trek to the library on Saturday!  Woody has been reading and working crossword puzzles...a lot of crossword puzzles.  Well, enough for this blog...I'll be back to blog again tonight...the good Lord willin' and the internet is on!

Someone Is Now a Handful! Who Could it Beeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Monday rolls around again...and the first week of July is over.  Today is a special day.  It is the day that Elijah turns 5...so he can now officially be considered a handful! Here he is with the string cheese that he asked me for...appropriate to post as there are five sticks of string cheese showing...sort of like five candles on a cake?  He was so excited about turning five. And, most of the time he is about as busy as the bee in the above picture...he only slows down when his head hits the pillow at bedtime! Just think...he will be in kindergarten this year...time surely does fly when it comes to the way the grandchildren are growing.

Woody got up early and walked five miles.  Off and on during the day he has mowed the yard.  I have spent a good part of the day "playing" with my cameras.  Every so often I play around with settings and the lenses that I have for my cameras.  I walked around in the yard and took pictures using one lens and then walked back around taking sort of the same pictures with another lens.  I cooked a quick supper and now for the rest of the evening I don't plan to do much and I don't think that Woody plans to do much either.
Now I will end the blog with a GREAT BIG Happy Birthday to Elijah!!!

Ever Have a Bad Hair Day?

 The poor camels at the St. Louis zoo were looking pretty rough.  It is that time of the year that they shed their coats due to the heat.  And Mama Camel was really having a bad hair day! But it looks like Presley, her baby, doesn't like me talking about his mama this way! Presley was just a few weeks old.  His daddy (not present) is Elvis...thus the reason for Presley's name! I asked where Elvis was and they said that he was separated from mama and baby for the time being so he couldn't/wouldn't hurt the baby.  I neglected to get mama's or the other adult camel's name.

Woody didn't walk early this morning.  He waited and walked to and from the library this morning.  After returning from the library he went to do our Saturday grocery shopping at Walmart.  I got up and headed down determined to do a couple of cleaning jobs in the kitchen.  The first job that I wanted to do was clean the kitchen sink.  Well, in order to do that I needed to put away the dishes that were in the drainer that is in one side of our sink.  The first item that I picked up was the griddle.  Well, it goes on top of the microwave and I thought that since it was off the top of the microwave that this was a good time to wipe off the top of the microwave...and thus went my cleaning in the kitchen...one thing lead to another and my kitchen sink never got cleaned until 3pm!  But I do have a cleaner microwave...because, of course, I needed to clean the inside since I was cleaning the outside.  I also have a cleaner stove top...since it is right next to the microwave...and I have a much cleaner stove hood...now at that I hang my head.  I was wiping off the outside of the hood and decided that I would swipe up inside of the hood.  Well, there is this little tab on the "screen" that is up under the hood.  Now, I had never noticed that tab before...or at least never thought much about it.  So I decided that I should look up on the internet and see if I was "supposed" to pull on that little tab...and "if" I did "what would happen!"  So I found out that this is a washable screen...ummmmm...and it said on the iternet that it should be washed at least every six months...hanging head...should I confess how long we have lived in this house?!?  Well, shhhhhhhhhhh, but it will be 30 years in October!!!!! Well, I decided that it was high time that I pull on that little tab and take that screen down and see about cleaning it...either that or about replacing it!  Well, after soaking in our bathtub (the screen...not me) in hot water, dishwashing liquid and finally adding some ammonia, I can say that it does look much better!  Coming to my defense...I hadn't had a stove with a hood prior to living here and it was here when I came so I really didn't know how to take care of one and really never thought about until today!  Well, now I know. And, once I got it cleaned I could read that our hood filter screen is supposed to be washed every month.  Woody also changed our air conditioning air return filters today...something else that is "supposed" to be changed once a month...at least I can say that it hasn't been 30+ years since they were changed.  I can actually remember when we last changed the air filters!  I will try to be better now that I know what I am supposed to do.  I am also supposed to change/wash the filter in my vacuum cleaner every month...maybe I should do that today also so they will all be on the same day!  Going back to the kitchen cleaning...I also cleaned the outside of the oven...the inside can wait for another day.  I knew that "if" I was ever going to get to the sink that I needed to stop having one job lead to another (and, it wasn't hard for me to stop with the inside of the oven!) So at that point long after lunch I finally got to the kitchen sink...which I had intended to clean from the start of my day.  After the sink, I stopped cleaning and have hardly moved the rest of the afternoon until I got up from my chair to come in here to blog. While I kept having one job lead to another one inside the house, Woody made several more passes of mowing some more on his "Golden Gate Bridge project"...our yard.  I guess you can say that we are a little cleaner around here and the grass is a little shorter after Woody's and my efforts of the day!

Happy 238th Birthday, USA!!!!

Wishing everyone a blessed 4th.  We have had a quiet day.  Woody got up and walked about ten miles.  Later in the he mowed some more of our lawn.  I spent most of the morning doing some machine embroidery.  So my sewing machine was humming once again after a bit of a respite.  We had a very American July 4th lunch...juicy hamburgers.

Thursday

Woody got up early and walked six miles.  I got up and did a few things around the house before I met friends for breakfast.  We had an enjoyable visit and then walked down the street and walked through one of Tullahoma's antique stores.  A fun morning!  Then I came home and plopped in my chair and could hardly move for a while.  I'm still not sure what was going on but I got to really hurting.  I was listening to the news tonight and realized that the hurricane is heading up the East coast...and that could possibly have caused me to hurt.  Not fun being a weather barometer!  I got to feeling better after  sitting for a while and having a bit of a snooze so I headed downstairs and put together a marinated salad for us to nibble on over the 4th of July weekend.  Woody went to the fruit and vegetable stand this afternoon and got us some tomatoes and peaches.  Then he made a stop for a couple of things that got left off of yesterday's grocery list.  We are both planning to take it easy for the rest of the evening.  Tonight I went back to the St. Louis Zoo for my pictures...the little joey was just so cute...he was out in the middle of the kangaroo area without another kangaroo in sight.  He was enjoying a meal of leaves.

An "Elijah-Kind-Of-Day!"

Woody got up early and walked four miles.  A bit later in the morning, Mr. MacGregor aka Goosey/Woody found Peter Rabbit aka Elijah and they dug our garlic...not as prolific as some years, but we have some to cook with.  I harvested some of our oregano and got it ready to dry this morning.  I woke up way too early this morning, but did get quite a bit done before noon...several loads of wash, a load of dishes, vacuumed several room.  At times I met myself coming and going!  After lunch I headed to the church library to work.  Woody took care of Isaac while Isaac napped over here...not too rough of a job!  Almost as soon as I got home from the library, Elijah and several of his siblings were over here telling Goosey and me that it was time to come open Elijah's birthday presents.  Today isn't Elijah's birthday, but he isn't going to be home to celebrate his 5th birthday so he decided that today would be a good day to open his presents!

Here he is after he opened the present that Joy and Graham gave him..a Star War's Lego set...he was pretty happy and as you can tell by Joy and Graham's faces they were pretty happy with they gave him too!  He had a great time.  He had asked for Star Wars things and guns...and he got some of both.  He really liked the Nerf gun that Auntie Cheryl sent him from AZ. And Esther gave him a water gun and Abigail gave him another type of gun!  We'd all better watch out if we see Elijah sneaking up on us! We gave him a stomp rocket...now to see how high it will shoot into the air!  The funny present that he asked me for was string cheese...so of course we had to get him some.  He was a happy camper with everything that he got.  And, he still has his mommy and daddy's gifts to look forward to on his birthday.  I came home after the present opening time and cooked a little something for our supper.  Then Woody headed off to do our Wednesday Krogering.  Not long after Woody left someone came over to visit me while his mommy ran an errand.  It looks like he is into "selfies!"

July Is Here!

Woody started out July with a four-mile walk.  Then a little before 8am we were in the car heading to McMinnville for a doctor appointment for Woody.  He needed to get his high blood pressure addressed.  The medication that he is taking doesn't seem to be lowering it enough.  It was decided that he would take more of one that he is taking so we will see if that helps.  On our way home we stopped and bought a paint brush so Woody could take care of our graffiti door.  He started painting it almost as soon as we got home.  It won't have people stopping wondering if we had been vandalized. It is once again a blue door.  After lunch, Kathy, Esther and I (and Elijah came along for the ride!) went to the shoe store to Esther some new tennis shoes.  The ones that she ended up choosing are quite colorful.  I drove the neighbor Dorrell's home and then I went on to run a couple of errands.  Quite a day for me!  I came home and finished cooking our supper that I had started before lunch.  We ate and then I collapsed in "my chair" and dozed off about as soon as I sat down.  Woody had planned to harvest our garlic today...but Peter Rabbit (Elijah) had other plans than to help Mr. McGreggor (Woody)...maybe tomorrow.  July started off like a fire cracker...quite hot...one time, when I checked, our car thermometer read 92...so guess the heat arrived along with July.  I guess we can say that we are in the downhill slide toward the end of the year now!  I cannot believe that one half of the year is behind us already...as the saying goes...time flies when you are having fun (and, I add...and even when you're not!)!  Happy July 1st!