Egg Hunt = Fun for Big and Small!

Good Friday 2018

We have had a good day this Good Friday.  Woody headed off to do our weekly grocery shopping and I stayed home and marked things off my "to-do" list for going to Cottey.  I managed to get the "outfit" ready for me to wear in our class skit.  I decided that I wanted a picture of daisies for the cover of the notebook that I am making for reunions that I have attended and for the time that we stopped on our way through Missouri.  I wanted daisies because a daisy is Cottey's flower.  So I decided that I would make the "art" for the cover of the notebook with one of my photographs of daisies and tonight's blog photo shows the one I played around with in my photo software and decided to use for the cover.  I put the groceries away when Woody got home.  Woody has worked out in the gardens again today.  Late this afternoon I made chili for our supper.  I ate a bowl and sat down in my chair and promptly took a nap.  I'm awake now and going to see what I can knock off the list after I blog.  Woody is downstairs watching TV and reading.  Another quiet evening in our household.  Guess that I will go work on the skirt that I set aside the other day to work on my Cottey skit "costume."  I have enjoyed being back in a sewing mode.  I have pretty much cleared off most of the stack of sewing items that had been sitting there waiting for me to do various and sundry things to them...some mending/hemming and some actual garments to be sewn.  The sewing table is actually becoming cleared...guess that is good since I used the sewing table to put together the Cottey memory notebooks and I still need table space to make these last few pages for the new notebook.  This will be the third time that I have gone to a Cottey Founder's Day.  I went to my first reunion the year after I graduated and then went again to our 15th reunion...quite a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since either of those!  I don't have any pictures from the first reunion...quite a few from the 15th and then a few of buildings when Woody and I stopped and walked through the campus in 1996 when Cottey was out for the summer.  This will be the first time that I have been to a reunion or visited the campus since having a digital camera...bet there will be a LOT more photos taken by me this time...of course, maybe not, if I get really busy talking with friends from yesteryear!  But I do plan to have at least one of my cameras close by my side the whole time so I can grab a shot or two when opportunities arise!

Rainy Thursday

Today has been one of those days when it rained off and on.  It started in the night and then let up for a while.  Woody was able to work some in the gardens...must have made pulling weeds easier!  We got school in while it wasn't raining.  Elijah invited some of his siblings to do experiments with him today.  So Joy, Esther, Isaac, and Joseph joined us during his experiment time.  Today was one of those days when the experiments weren't all that successful...but they had fun nonetheless!  It's always fun mixing things into water and pouring water, etc.  For part of the experiment we used a baster...all had fun drawing water up into it and then squeezing the bulb to put the water in something else.  So successful at least in providing fun!  While I was having school, Woody went to get a haircut.  After that he worked outside more until the rain started falling in earnest once again.  I have done a little of this and a little of that in an attempt to be closer to ready for our Missouri trip next week...gathering things together, making lists and today I have worked on what I have been asked to wear in a skit that our class will be giving during Founder's Day Weekend at Cottey College.  I am supposed to dress as we did back then (according to the strict dress code that we had) when we walked to town to do our laundry.  We had to wear dresses (always when we left campus) and we walked carrying our laundry bags.  I actually still have the laundry bag that Mother made me to use at Cottey...so I will be partially authentic.  I am shortening a skirt to knee length so it will look more like back in the late 60's.  I will wear knee socks with it and a knit top and cardigan.  I found a picture of my roommate dressed like this and decided that I would aim for that look for my part in the skit!  I actually had a corduroy coat when I was at Cottey that is almost the same color as this skirt...so memories!  I stopped yesterday on my way home from church to buy another notebook to put pictures of Cottey that I took at our 15th reunion and also some pictures of the campus that I took when Woody and I stopped one time several years back when we were traveling through MO on our way home from a trip.  I had planned to put these at the back of the memory notebook that I made for my second year at Cottey, but that one ended up being as full as the one for my first year so decided that I would put them in a smaller one...then I can add some pictures of this reunion after we get home.  I also decided that I needed to take a picture or two of our grandchildren so I printed off a couple this afternoon.  Lots of little things that I want to do before heading off next Thursday.  If all goes well for our trip, next week we will be in Nevada, MO and I will be reminiscing with my Cottey classmates! I also added to our grocery list several items that I will need next week to do some baking before we head off. I want to make a few recipes of cookies to share with my class and also plan to take some to the girls who presently live in the suite that we lived in for our two years at Cottey.  It was always fun to receive care packages...a big event in suite life.  Mother and Cheryl did their share of baking and sending packages to me and my suite over those two years. So I thought that it would be fun to have some in the hospitality room that has been reserved for our class and also share some with current Cottey girls.

Woody got home just a little while ago from baseball practice.  Due to the rain, Nathan arranged to use the gym at one of our local churches so the boys could practice throwing and hitting even though they couldn't play outside.  Woody said that it was a good practice.  Their games start next week.

Wednesday

The dogwoods aren't blooming yet, but when I was looking for something to post for tonight's blog and saw this picture, it just said, "choose me for tonight's blog!" (So I did!)

Woody and I both woke up early this morning.  He decided to go for an early four-mile walk since there was a chance of rain. The rain never got much more than a heavy mist.  I think that we are in for more rain during the night tomorrow.

I got up and did a few things before it was time to head to the orthodontist.  He got my retainer all glue snugly back on so it should be good for a while at least.  Due to my appointment, I missed Joseph's and Isaac's school time, but everyone else had their time.  It was Esther's long day.  She cross stitched a little on her swan and then got underway cutting out an outfit to make for her new 18" doll.

Woody took a friend to the doctor this morning while I was at the orthodontist.

When I got downstairs after Esther's sewing time, I found that Woody had sliced a lot of green and red peppers and some onions.  That was a pretty big hint that he wanted me to saute them so we could have Philly steak sandwiches for lunch.  They were good!

After lunch, I waited around for the mail since I was expecting a box of books for the church library.  I was right they did come today.  After the mail's arrival I headed off to the church to work for a couple of hours.  Donna, Fran and I worked on getting those new books ready for circulation.  There is still some work to be done on them, but they are a lot closer to being "shelf ready!"

We are now all settled in for another per usual quiet evening.  I'm going to work some more on the skirt that I am in the midst of making.  I did a little sewing on it this morning before my orthodontist appointment, but haven't had any time since then.  So I will see what I can accomplish on it this evening.

Thoroughly Tuesday

It has been a busy Tuesday here in our household.  I had a usual day of school.  Joy had her sewing time.  She sewed hair on the rag doll she made last week and made a quick pillowcase style dress for her doll.  Woody has spent a lot of time outdoors working on getting leaves out of the gardens.  He also ran errands with a friend.  I spent a good part of the afternoon on the next step on a skirt that I am making for myself.  It was a long process attempting to match the pattern on the seam.  I think that I have been successful.  Now to move on to the next step...another day! Late afternoon Woody walked to the prayer room at church.  He had skinned some chicken thighs that he had bought and while he was away I deboned them and cooked some for our supper---a new recipe--very easy--just rub various spices along with olive oil and cook them in the oven.  It would have been super easy if they had already been deboned!  Next time...I'll use some of the chicken thighs that are already to cook that are in the freezer...that will make it much easier...just have to thaw them. While I was still working with the chicken and waiting for the chicken to come out of the oven, Elijah, Isaac and Joseph came over inviting us to a party after they had supper. (I guess that they were thinking that it had been too long since they had had a party!)  I went over since Woody wasn't home yet from the prayer room.  They played a couple of games that they had made up and that was about the extent of the party.  They were happy, though!

I have to do an unusual thing tomorrow, at least for someone my age!  I have to go to the orthodontist!  My permanent retainer has come loose on one side.  They have fixed it one time before for me.  I feel like I belong there, anyway...we have sent five through their office...so far!  Melany, Nathan, Graham, Abigail, and Joy.  Esther will be soon to follow in their footsteps!  When I told the receptionist my last name she said, "Oh, Abigail, Joy, and Graham's grandmother?"  Guess our name is known!  At least we are known for something even though it is for crooked teeth!  I am going to the orthodontist that Graham, Abigail, and Joy go to.  The one that Melany and Nathan went to has retired...though, the last time I had to have this done I did have him do it for me.  I am glad to have the grandchildren's orthodontist as I plan to thank him for the fine job that he did for Abigail.  Her teeth are so pretty and straight now and I know that her mouth was a challenge.  So I will have to forego the little boys' school in the morning so I can go to the orthodontist!  The last time that I went the nurse who was attempting to call me in walked right passed me looking for me...she wasn't looking for someone with gray hair to have an appointment!

The countdown is really on now for our trip to Nevada, MO for my 50th reunion of my graduation from Cottey College!  I'm starting to lay things out on the bed and making my list of things to take!

Coming and Going

I got pictures of the sister kitties coming and going when I took their pictures the other day.  Note in the picture of Georgia, the kitty going, that there is a fluffy tail ahead of her...I think that she was planning an attack on her sister!  In the other picture it looks like Peaches got away and still had her dignity!  They are really getting big...not little kittens any more.

Woody went to Life Care this morning and had Bible study with Jeff and then visited with several other residents.  He spent most of the morning there.  This evening he went to Elijah's ball practice for a while and then left to go to the church for the Furnace Room prayer meeting.  After that he visited a couple who visited at our church yesterday.  So he has had a busy day of coming and going also. He didn't walk today due to it being quite windy and that made it too cold to walk.

I got up and decided that it was time to sew.  I had three pairs of Woody's trousers that needed to be hemmed so I got busy on those.  I didn't have school this morning because the neighbors (Nathan, Kathy, and family) had been to a wedding in Georgia over the weekend and were traveling back today.  I was really surprised when Abigail came in a little before 11 am to get their mail.  She came back at 11 to have her sewing time with me.  She is making a quick project for our sewing machines.  It is a rubberized pad that keeps the foot pedal of the sewing machine from crawling all over while we are sewing.  I have one and had been letting them use it with their machine so I didn't have one.  Once hers is finished they will use that one for their machine and I will get mine back.  I have also been working on straightening up the living room.  I had never gotten the furniture moved back into position after Christmas due to having Joy's quilt spread out on the living room floor.  So today I finally found the energy to move chairs and lamps around and get some more of the decorative items out.  I still need to locate the decorative items and bring down the books that go in a little bookcase and then get out some other items for the corner tiered shelf.  But I am through for today...I have had enough going up and down the stairs.  Everyone else did the coming and going...I went up and down stairs.  Everyone next door had someplace to go this evening except for Isaac and Joseph so they came over and played till Nathan and Elijah came home from their ball practice.  They had fun building with bricks and blocks over here and also playing store with the cash register.  The last fun thing they did after they picked up the other things was get out the marble run and played with that till their dad got home.  They had fun and I worked on the living room and played a little with them too.  Now the doors are battened down and we are in for the night...no more coming and going for us at least for the rest of this evening!

I'm late blogging tonight.  We have had an internet problem today.  Nathan got it back to working after he got home from ball practice.

Quieter Day

Our neighborhood has been much quieter today--no trees crashing to the ground or chain saws buzzing or grinders grinding up branches, etc.!  I still can't believe how many trees they cut down.

We have had a pretty quiet Saturday in other ways too.  Woody made his usual trip to the public library.  And, he has spent quite a bit of time outside working in picking leaves out of the gardens...a time consuming job!  The gardens are really looking good where he has finished picking leaves out.  I have pretty much done a little of this and a little of that and a lot of not much.  I'm still sort of dragging since I seem to be out of my usual pattern of sleep.  Last night due to taking such a long nap and sleeping so hard in the early evening, that made me not sleepy when it was time to go to bed.  I did manage to get my Sunday School lesson for my ladies' class put together in the wee hours of the morning when I "should" have been sleeping...at least got something accomplished!  After I publish the blog I will go downstairs and get a load of wash out of the dryer and get those put away...another accomplishment!  I worked a little more on getting ready to sew...but never turned on the machine...maybe tomorrow? Woody has basketball on downstairs...more March Madness, I would presume.  It's just another quiet Saturday evening in our household!

Friday

This day seems to have slipped away from me.  I'm not sure just exactly I have done.  Now...Woody...on the other hand has had a pretty busy day.  First he spent a good part of the morning doing our weekly grocery shopping at three different stores.  I do know that I put away the groceries...one thing I actually accomplished!  He told me earlier that he hadn't walked today, but that he had worked a lot in the yard.

Speaking of yards...the yard across the street had more trees cut down.  I'm not sure how many they had cut down totally, but  quite a few...more than a handful...but fewer than two handfuls (at least I think fewer). So less trees for squirrels homes across the street.  I figure that the squirrels packed up and moved across the street to our yard and its still abundant trees!  One of our grandchildren reported on seeing a squirrel jump from one of the trees just as it was toppling!

I fell asleep after I ate supper and am just now rousing enough to be able to think about blogging.  Today has been one of those days that I have just felt like sleeping.  I did manage to start cleaning up the latest sewing mess and started thinking about the next sewing project to do.  I have something planned, but so far haven't found the energy to get started.  

Is It Possible? 49 Years!

49 years...and we're celebrating in shifts!  Woody is helping Nathan coach Elijah's Little League team.  They practice from 5:30 to 7pm...and he didn't want to eat till after practice.  Well...I really don't like to eat late (7:30 is late to my digestive system!) Woody has just come in and it is 7:40.  I had told Woody that I would just as soon not go out to eat, but was in the mood for a steak.  And, I told him that he didn't have to get himself a steak since I know that isn't top on his list.  This morning when he ran an errand, he stopped at the grocery store and bought steak for me and fish for him.  Fine...except...the fish that he chose was salmon...something that I makes me VERY sick to my stomach.  Well, given that situation...having been up all night being sick after eating salmon...I don't want to be close to it and literally just the smell of it makes me queasy...just mentioning the word "salmon" has that effect on me too!  So I wasn't all that happy with his entree of choice for our anniversary dinner.  We had some Talapia in the freezer and he agreed to it for this evening and he can cook the salmon sometime when I am far, far away from the house and he can have the house all aired out by the time I get home!  Anyway...I ate my steak, ribbon fries, and asparagus while he was gone.  And, cooked his fish shortly before he got back from practice...so dinner in shifts! I guess that is okay at this stage in our 49 years of married life!

We woke up to pretty cold temperatures.  I don't think that winter has gotten the message that it is spring!  Our low over night was 28...that's pretty chilly.  We have listened to trees being taken down all day long.  The house across from us has taken at least three huge oaks down today and it looks like the tree service isn't finished as some of their equipment is still over there.  I truly hate to see these stately giants taken down.  Joseph came over for school, but decided that watching trees being taken down was priority today.  So he left pretty quickly so he could go watch.  Isaac did have his time with me and the older children read and Elijah had his science experiment time today.  Gummy bears were the substance that we experimented with today.  The first experiment was placing gummy bears in various liquids to see what they would do over a long period of time.  He just came over after practice and it was quite interesting how much they had grown.  Vinegar was the winner for making the bears grow the most!  He also made gummy bear slime.  He does enjoy his experiment time...especially when candy is involved...wonder why!

Chilly March Day

It was quite a chilly, breezy spring day...in other words...brrrrrrrrrrr!  Woody decided that it was a bit too windy and chilly to take his usual walk.  He did manage to walk to the mail box.  I had a usual Wednesday school day.  Esther had her long time.  She located the pattern pieces for a top, pants, and hat for her new 18" doll and also narrowed the fabric selections down to two possible combinations.  She also cross stitched a little on her swan.  She got its beak filled in with x's.  Woody made brownies while we were having school and sent a plate home with Esther when she finished her time with me. After Esther left I ate a quick lunch and then headed off to work in the church library.  Donna and I did "a little of this and a little of that."  After the library, I headed off to WalMart.  I needed something for Elijah's experiments tomorrow and a couple of other things.  Then I headed home and haven't done a lot since.  I didn't realize how sleep/tired I was till I sat down here to blog and kept dozing off as I was trying to select a photo for tonight.  Guess I need to get a better night's sleep tonight than I did last night!  I guess the day just caught up with me.

Celebrating the First Day of Spring!

We celebrated Spring with a free cone from Dairy Queen!  Last night we celebrated my birthday with a free Blizzard and today celebrated Spring with a free cone.  Pretty good celebrations...but probably these celebrations need a bit of time between the free treats!  Hard to resist free!  I still have a free Ruby Tuesday hamburger to "collect."  Time will tell if I find the time to get that before the ending date of the offer!

We had a usual Tuesday school day.  Joy worked on her rag doll.  The doll is ready for hair and some clothes.  Today Joy stuffed her and drew her face on with permanent Sharpie markers.  I gave her the assignment to find yarn at home she wanted for her rag doll's hair and to cut them to the lengths that the instructions called for...or a bit longer if she planned to braid the doll's hair.

Woody walked to and from the pharmacy today attempting to pick up some prescriptions for us...managed to get only one for himself and not mine or his other one...one of his had to be called into the doctor.  Not sure why they didn't fill mine.  I called about mine and they said that they didn't know why it hadn't been filled...that they would and I could come get it.  So on our way home from the DQ we stopped and got mine.  Woody still has one to get. I also found out when I filled my weekly medicine container that I was in need of another one to be filled so will call that in in the morning and be able to get it when Woody's other one finally gets filled.

Woody drove to the prayer room early this evening.  He figured that baseball practice would be canceled due to the rain that we have had off and on today.  But Nathan had arranged to use a church gym here in town so they had inside practice using Elijah's pitching machine, etc.  I was able to call Woody at the prayer room and tell him that practice was happening and where.  He just got home a little while ago.  He said that he fed the pitching machine balls most of the practice.

It continues to rain.  No storm so no kitties crying at the door this evening.  This morning shortly after Esther started her reading time with me, we heard a little meow at the door.  I wondered if it was Georgia coming back to see if meowing would work to get her inside again...but, no, it was Peaches.  I guess Georgia had told her about her adventure over here last night and Peaches came over for her turn.  We did let her in and let her explore.  The children thought that the story of Georgia's visit was extremely funny...especially when I told them that she had typed part of the blog last night.  I had to tell that story over and over again and show the part of the blog that she typed.

Storm's Arriving

We are in for some storms tonight and the rain has just started so I decided to post tonight without a picture.  There are tornadoes south of us in Alabama...we are hoping that we are north of the main line.  There is hail accompanying these storms...some as large as baseballs which have been referred to as "siding shredding" hail.  We have experienced out siding having huge holes made in it by hail several years back...so praying for no tornado or large hail!  We just got back from a quick trip to the Dairy Queen to get my free birthday Blizzard...a Blizzard for tornado-like weather! Woody has had quite a day of visiting.  First he went to the Life Care Center and had Bible study with Jeff and then visited with several of the residents.  One of the residents suggested that he go visit with another member of our church who needed a visit more than he did at Life Care!  So Woody did go visit with him.

I have spent most of the day finishing up my memory scrapbooks for my Cottey College reunion.  They are finished with two weeks and a couple of days to spare.  I still have to pull together pictures and some other things from another reunion that I attended (my 15th) and also some pictures of when Woody and I stopped at Cottey on a trip through Missouri.  But all my memorabilia is pulled together and is so close to being complete that I feel like I can take a big sigh of relief.

We have one of Esther's kitties in the house.  She was on our front porch meowing when we got home from the DQ and the storm was just breaking.  I think that she was afraid of the lightening and thunder.  Woody said to let he]r= \sh](she just typed that!)... her come in...she isn't used to being inside and just keeps meowing and looking around.  She is in my lap watching me type...probably dangerous for my hands!  I hope that her sister is in a dry place.  It is still pouring so we will let her stay in till it lets up.  So far no hail! She has finally settled down and is lying down in the floor in here with me.  Georgia is who came in...she is quite a purrer...but is also less affectionate than her sister, Peaches. Maybe she will be more affectionate towards us since we let her come in?!?  The rain is letting up.  She will probably be going out shortly to find her sister! She will have an experience to share with her sister!  Hope that Peaches isn't jealous!

And, the Rest of the Day to You!

Woody headed out pretty early this morning.  I think that he woke up and decided to walk before the rain got here...well...he came back a bit wet.  He said that he walked six miles ...four of which were in the rain!  Guess he got his walk in rain or shine!  I got up and got busy in the kitchen. The rain didn't last very long (was pretty much over by the time Woody got home from his walk) so he was able to work out in the gardens again today. I made our traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage for St. Patrick's Day.  I also made a cake.  I don't often make desserts these days but for some reason I felt like making one today.  Woody made his usual Saturday trip to the public library and also stopped at the store and got a couple of things that we needed after his weekly grocery shopping trip yesterday. He has watched March Madness and worked crossword puzzles, read, and challenged the computer to Scrabble.  After my cooking spree, I was ready for a quiet afternoon.  I put the finishing touches on the Sunday School lesson that I'll be teaching to my ladies' class tomorrow.  And, now we are ready to settle in for another quiet evening.  The Easter bunny made a special delivery to our house today. (My sister Cheryl is the Easter Bunny's special helper and saw that this got delivered safely to our house!) I got three cute bunnies under a glass egg cloche.  It added nicely to my bunny and egg collection.  I decided this year to display some of my spring collection on my dresser...a bit hard to photograph with the mirror behind them...you end up seeing everything twice plus other things that are in the room!  I had to stay to the side or you would have seen me too!  Tonight's blog title is the answer you give when someone says, "Top of the morning to you" so felt that it was appropriate to end the day with that expression on this St. Patrick's Day 2018.

Mid March

Does it seem possible that the middle of March has already gotten here?  Time marches on!  Today has been a fairly quiet day for me.  I am in the planning stages of another sewing project.  I realized that I needed something to help me with this project so made a quick trip to the quilt shop to purchase a notion.  I have done the first cut in the fabric with the rotary cutter (to straighten the fabric), but the rest is still in the planning stages...this is garment rather than quilting related even though I went to the quilt store. Woody's first task of the day was to do our grocery shopping.  He went to three stores and came home with quite a bit of food for me to put away.  He has also spent quite a bit of time outside today.  He is working in the gardens (cleaning out the leaves) and he also walked four miles this afternoon. He also took on a cooking task...cole slaw.  I have avoided the kitchen today except for warming up leftovers.  Woody is occupied with watching March Madness this evening.

Thursday Happenings

Woody just walked in from baseball practice.  Today he has worked out in the yard rather than taking a walk.  I have stayed in (per usual!) and have spent most of the day sewing.  I am tackling a pile of "need to-do's."  I needed to shorten one of my skirts so spent a good portion of the day doing that.  For some time I have wanted to make a skirt with a scalloped hem for myself.  I decided that I would make a scalloped hem on the skirt that I needed to shorten.  The best thing was that the pattern for the scallop that I had in a skirt pattern fit the the hem of this skirt.  It is all hemmed and hanging in the closet.  The other day I fixed a neck on one of my tops.  So both the skirt and the top are back hanging in my closet now and the pile of "need to-do's" is growing shorter.

It has been another very pretty spring-like day...a little cool but quite pleasant with the sun beating down. Nice seeing the sun shining through the windows.  Felt good inside and outside.  It was quite pleasant on the front porch today...I stood out there long enough to talk to one of my friends who stopped by when she was walking her dog.  Woody said that it felt better at ball practice tonight than it did two nights ago.  He said that ball practice went well.  It's been a while since he coached minor league Little League...back when Nathan was playing. Now Nathan is coaching and Woody is one of his assistant coaches.

Joy's First Quilt = Completed

Took a Double-Take

I just walked outside a little before 7pm and couldn't believe how light it still was..made me take a double-take! It made me look at my watch.  I thought that I knew what time it was, but felt that it couldn't be that late with how light it was! Still getting used to the time change!

The flowers that Rachel gave me for my birthday are even prettier as they open up.  I used my new lens to capture several close-up photos of some of them.

I had a fairly normal school day.  Esther didn't read with me because they were doing something as a family at her time.  Joy came over and had her long time.  She wanted to make a rag doll since her part of the quilt is done. I had hunted around on the internet and found a pattern for a very basic rag doll.  She got her cut out today and stitched around her and has gotten her turned.  This afternoon Elijah came over to have his long time as he won't be here on his day.  We got water to travel down a string and go into another container...interesting...an example of cohesion and adhesion.  We didn't get another experiment to work because all my red food coloring was gone...we will try that one again.  It was supposed to show water currents.  Maybe next time!

Woody is currently at the prayer room at church.  He had Nathan and Elijah drop him off after ball practice.  Nathan is coaching Elijah's team this spring and asked Woody to help him coach...so off to the ball field they went a little after five.  Woody also had a doctor appointment this afternoon with a nephrologist.  This doctor is trying to find out why Woody's creatinine levels remains high...of course with all that he has had done to him over the years with his melanoma treatments there is plenty of reasons for his kidneys to be affected.

Last night I managed to get the binding sewn around two sides of Joy's quilt.  Today I have made a quilt label for the back of her quilt and plan to work some more on sewing the binding down this evening.  I need to go attack the kitchen first and then if I have enough energy I will work some more on it. Hope that I don't fall asleep over it...I'm feeling rather tired this evening!  I still say that the time change has my internal clock all messed up.

Rooftops: Bluebirds & a Bit of Frosting

This morning we woke up to a bit of frosting on the tree limbs and rooftops.  Winter isn't giving up yet...but the bluebirds are interested in moving into birdhouses.

I had a usual Monday for school.  Joseph, then Isaac for preschool and kindergarten activities and then Elijah first, then Esther, then Joy to read, and finally Abigail to have her long time.  She continued to work on a zipper bag that she plans to give as a gift.

While I was having school, Woody headed off for the Life Care Center.  He had Bible study with Jeff and then visited with various residents.  He has quite a list of folk he visits since he handed out Valentines and several indicated that they would be interested in him visiting with them.  He had given one of the ladies one of his "Prayers from God" books.  She has vision problems so she gave it to a friend who could read it.  Now those two ladies and eight or so others get together daily to read one of the prayers from his book for a devotional time.

This afternoon I have worked on getting the binding attached on Joy's quilt.  I managed to get the binding sewn on with the machine...and, now I have to sew the binding down by hand...getting very close to finished...but sewing that binding down by hand is not a fast process!  I am hoping to get a good start on it this evening.

Woody has just returned from the Furnace Room prayer meeting.  I don't know about Woody, but I know that my internal clock is very confused by the time change.  I keep being surprised by how late it is and then realize that it is "really" an hour earlier...or at least for the last few months it has been an hour earlier.  Woody said that it never warmed up enough today to go on his daily walk.  Woody has settled in for the evening downstairs in front of the TV with books surrounding him...I'm sure that he will do a bit of reading and a bit of reading this evening before he goes to sleep.  I am going to go down and straighten up the kitchen and then settle into my recliner upstairs and work on getting the quilt binding sewed down.  And, that describes the quiet evening activities in this Dorrell household!

The Big Day!

The BIG day for the BIG number has arrived.  I still really can't believe that I have reached my 70th year!  I got a surprise when the doorbell rang late this morning and had a delivery from a florist.  My niece, Rachel, from AZ sent me birthday flowers and a balloon...how special!  I have had quite the day filled with cards, birthday wishes galore, phone calls, text messages, etc.  I have pretty much done a lot of nothing today except for making one of our favorite seasonal meals = New England Boiled Dinner = must be close to St. Patrick's Day!  We enjoyed our meal this evening.  Woody got up early and walked six miles. He went early to beat the rain that was predicted...but he got lightly rained on during his walk.  Later in the day he went to the public library and also stopped and got a couple of things that I needed to complete tonight's meal and also make a special soup (Cream of Reuben Soup)  sometime in the coming week.  I just started hearing rain on the roof...very typical for it to rain on my birthday...something that I guess I noted since it didn't rain all that often in AZ!  I guess that it is time for me to go spring our clocks ahead an hour...not ready for this time change...seems like we just changed them...so once again my sister and I over night will move an hour farther away from each other...it's just harder to think in two hour increments of time...so much easier to be just an hour apart.  So I'm off to find all our clocks and "Spring them Forward!" (It is easier to move the clocks ahead an hour rather than backward...at one plus IF we HAVE to change them!  "See" you next in Daylight Savings Time!

"Say Cheese!"

Here I am "looking at you" through my birthday present from Woody!  Today I have played around trying out my new zoom lens...have stayed inside and shot through windows...or at mirrors as in the shot above.

I was checking out how powerful the zoom was by just taking pictures of our street sign at various settings (out our bedroom window) and this little blue bird all of a sudden was there.  I didn't get a chance to focus it real well before he flew off so I just used some of the special effects in my photography software to make a picture that isn't quite in focus interesting (perhaps).  This picture is shot across our front yard and across the street...so pretty far away.  This lens is by no means among the lightest of my lenses!  It is a bit hard to hold it steady...may have to resort to a tripod to get really steady shots!

 This afternoon I spotted birds of a different sort in the trees on the lot behind ours (what we call the Back Forty).  I took this not zoomed in so I could see both Joy and Elijah and then zoomed in and got them individually.  Again...not bad for taking through glass and being way far away from them.

And, they didn't have a clue that Grammy was taking their pictures!






When I was walking back through the house I decided to take a close up of a little bird that Cheryl gave me for my last birthday to see how the lens does on shots in available light inside.

I'm pleased with this one too.  I think that I will enjoy this lens very much and hopefully will be able to get even closer pictures of our outside birdie friends once it is warm enough for me to venture out on the front porch or out on a photo excursion.  The last picture I snapped was of this evening's sunset.

Woody has stayed busy today.  He made our weekly grocery run this morning going to three stores.  After he returned, I put away the groceries.  He has read, watched TV, worked crossword puzzles, etc. This afternoon he went on his daily four-mile walk.  I have sort of taken it easy inside today.  I don't seem much the worse for wear after my dental ordeal yesterday...a bit tired...so just took extra naps!  We are now settling in for another quiet evening in this Dorrell household.

March Dusting

This morning I noticed that there were notices on my computer that some schools were either closed or delayed.  I began to wonder why then a notification came from a Nashville station that there was light snow that was causing some slick roads and bridges.  I figured that it wasn't us but then looked at radar and saw that we were in an area of "snow" on the radar.  I looked out and discovered a VERY light dusting of snow on the roof lines and a little on our car.  Guess winter isn't quite ready to loose its grip!  What we got is nothing in comparison to what is happening in the Northeast...rather glad that we were on this end of the amount of snow gotten. Ours is a laughable amount compared to what they are being pounded with! It has stayed quite cool most of the day...again with a breeze so it feels colder than it is.  Woody debated on taking a walk but in the end decided to brave the chillier temperatures and got his four-mile walk in this afternoon.

I survived my dental "ordeal" and have lived to tell about it on the blog.  I did better with this tooth that had to be extracted due to being put to sleep...made the process much easier...but still was a blood pressure raising incident as the dental assistant could see due to a blood pressure cuff being attached to my arm the whole time I was in the chair.  I did ask if it went down once they finally put me to sleep and they said that it did...I knew that it would!  I have stayed pretty close to my recliner and dozed off and on this afternoon and evening.

My birthday present came from Woody today while I was at the dentist.  I hope to be able to show you tomorrow night what it does!  I'll leave it at that for tonight...leave you guessing!  I didn't have school with the children this morning instead kept myself busy either cleaning or cooking...rather hard to cook and not taste since I couldn't eat or drink anything six hours prior to my dental surgery.  But I managed to make my potato soup and not taste during the making...though I really wanted to!  I decided that potato soup sounded like something good to eat since my mouth would be healing and I didn't need anything to really have to chew!  I haven't had any yet...am thinking about going down and heating up a small bowl after I publish this.  Woody stopped on the way home from the oral surgeon and got me a shake at Dairy Queen...at that is the only thing that is all I have had since very early this morning. So I think that I will head down and warm up some nourishment and make myself a cup of tea. Neither of which will I eat/drink while too hot.  Then I will be ready to head back to my chair.  Woody has been my willing chauffeur for the day.  Now we are both ready to settle in for another very quiet evening in this Dorrell household.

No Way...Can't Be True!

And, I can say for a few more days that this new number for my age isn't true...since we celebrated early!  I am having some minor dental surgery tomorrow and am not sure if I will feel like eating cake and ice cream on my real birthday, so our neighbors held my celebration at their house this afternoon.  Before the party ended the grandchildren and grandcats gathered for a picture with me. 

We have had a pretty busy day.  We had a usual Wednesday school day.  Esther had her long time and worked some more on her cross stitch picture.  It is going v-e-r-y slowly!

While school was going on, Woody took off to visit a shut-in couple in his Deacon Family Care Plan.  He took them a loaf of the orange cranberry bread. As he came back into our neighborhood, he noted that our new neighbors were at home so he walked down to their house and took them the other loaf of orange cranberry bread. No walk for Woody today because it really never warmed up.  It has been breezy and chilly all day.

After a quick lunch, I headed to the church to work for a couple of hours in the library.  Donna, Fran and I got some more books closer to ready to be in circulation.  I came back home and not long after I got home, Woody and I headed next door for my party.

We are now all settled in for another quiet evening.

Tuesday Doings

 After lunch today, Woody and I took a walk around our block.  A little cool, mainly due to a breeze, but a pretty day.  I took pictures of some of the pretty flowers in the neighborhood and then when we got home we stopped in the neighbors' (Nathan and Kathy's) backyard and hung out with the kittens for a little while.  Peaches chose a sunny spot to take a little cat nap after she finished grooming herself.  Georgia sat for a while on the picnic table and then hopped up to the basket that hangs on the wall under the kitchen window.

I'm wondering how comfortable it is for them both to be in that basket since they have grown so much.  They are very sweet kitties and all the children are really enjoying them...but especially their special mommy, Esther!

We had a usual Tuesday school day.  Today Joy had her long time and we worked on getting her quilt ready for its binding.  Joy trimmed around the edges and then she and I basted around the edges.  And, the binding strips are all cut.  Now to join the binding strips together and then get to work putting the binding on.  Woody stopped at one of Deacon Family members who is a shut-in and visited for a while and took him some literature from the church.  Later in the afternoon he made Cranberry Orange Bread. He plans to take a loaf to new neighbors down the street.  Mid afternoon I was in the mood for something sweet and decided that today would be a good day to make a scones mix that I had been given at Christmas.  They were a very good snack in the afternoon with a cup of tea!  Woody skipped the tea and went just for the scones.  The only problem was that then I was pretty full and didn't feel like supper.  Woody has walked to the prayer room and I decided that I would come up here and blog early and then go down and slip a frozen pizza in the oven so it will be ready when he gets home...maybe we will be hungry by then...Woody will probably have worked up an appetite since he will have walked to and from the church.  Now me...just bumming around here...probably don't need pizza...but probably won't be able to resist a piece or two or...!  

Monday...once again!

Mondays seem to roll around all too quickly these days!  We have had a pretty busy Monday...Woody especially.  I had a usual Monday school day.  Abigail had her long time.  She came over with the need for a gift so started on another zipper bag.  Before Isaac and Joseph left this morning, Woody headed off to the Life Care Center.  He was gone for a long time.  I guess he managed to have Bible study with Jeff and also visited with quite a few others, as he didn't get home till after noon.  He had lunch and not long after that he headed off to go to a funeral of a long time friend and co-worker.  I have done a little sewing and a little cleaning.  Today I tackled two of the bathrooms.  Over the weekend I continued to work on the scrapbook of memories from my days at Cottey College.  I got my freshman year book finished and got started on my second year.  I don't have nearly as much "stuff" for that year, so it shouldn't take as long as the other one did.  Joy saw her quilt with all the quilting that I had done.  I think that she likes it.  We will work on getting the edges trimmed and then start cutting the binding tomorrow during her long time...at least I think that we will!  Sometimes I plan we will do something, but we end up heading in another direction!  We had red clam sauce with angel hair pasta this evening.  After supper, Woody headed to church for the Furnace Room prayer meeting.  He is home and we are settling in for another quiet evening. We had rain off and on today...but not heavy like we had last week.

An Early March Saturday

Here we are on the first Saturday in March.  The daffodils are so pretty at this time of the year.

Woody made his usual weekly stop at the public library and later in the day ran an errand, but other than those two times has pretty much stayed in today.  I haven't even stepped out once today.  I have done a little of this and a little of that.  I have worked on cleaning up my sewing areas after messing them up with quilting paraphernalia still have a ways to go...but "things" are looking better.  I need to get them cleaned up so I can make the next sewing mess...plus my sewing cutting table now has quilting things on it along with scrapbooking things.  I need to get a handle on all that doesn't belong so I can do some sewing for myself that I have planned. But also still have a ways to go on the memorabilia notebooks for Cottey...set that work aside to work on Joy's quilt.  Back and forth between projects makes quite a mess at times!  I decided that today I would also work on getting a handle on the rest of the house as I haven't done a lot of cleaning this week while I was quilting.  So today's main accomplishment was vacuuming and dusting the dining room and then put out a few Spring decorations.  I also got the mantel in the family room back to normal.  I needed Woody's help to carry down the ship that my grandfather built years ago for me and just hadn't ever thought about when it was convenient for both of us to do it...today became that day...so the mantel looks back to normal.  I also am attempting to finish a book that I am reading so I can take it back to the church library when we go to church in the morning.  Well, didn't get as far on that as planned as I ended up taking a nap instead of reading as I had planned...but did get a little farther...maybe tonight when I settle into my chair I won't be so tired since I rested this afternoon and can get it finished then!  Woody has watched basketball on TV today and also a library DVD.  He has done his usual daily crossword puzzles, read, and challenged the computer to Scrabble.  He still has a bit of a cough...but I "think" that perhaps it is some better.  We had another day without rain...nice...though a bit on the breezy and cool side...typical "almost-spring-day."

A Sunshiny Day!

Last night I said that today I would start posting new barn photos that I was going to take today.  Well...I don't think that I have posted this silo before, but I didn't take it today, as our plans changed.  Our leader/driver for our barn excursions woke up this morning with inner ear problems...so "no go" for her and the rest of us...as far as barn photographing...the three of us not affected by inner ear troubles decided that we would celebrate the non-rainy day and declared a "girls' day out."  We went over to Shelbyville and shopped in some antique stores and then ate in a sandwich shop.  We had a nice day and it was really good to be out and about without being rained upon!

Woody went to the grocery store and got back before I took off for our day out.  So I put groceries away before I left.  While I was gone, Woody went for a four-mile walk.  He wasn't home when I got home. Wednesday I got Woody a book from the church library by one of his favorite authors and I noticed today that he is well into it...more than half-way...he must be enjoying it!  I decided once I got home that I would do the last three quilting motifs on the last three corners of Joy's quilt.  I "think" that I am through with the quilting part...definitely through with using the machine embroidery on my machine.  There are a few more rectangles that "might" need a little quilting.  But for the moment I am going to set it aside.  Once we trim and true up the sides then it will be time to put on the binding.  We're really close to finishing.  We will need to come up with a label for the back of the quilt.  I'm going to have Joy think about what she might like to name her quilt so we can put it on the quilt along with her name and mine.  I am glad to be at this point in making it...most of the hard work is behind both of us.We have some chilly days ahead of us so I would like Joy to have the quilted throw before it gets too warm to curl up under it!

Before I left this morning, I called my sister to wish her a happy birthday.  I would tell you how old she is...but since she is 7 years younger than me it isn't as much fun rubbing her age in to her!  Plus if I told you how old she is then you could add 7 to it and find out how old I will be in less than a week!

Rainy Welcome to March

It's pretty wet underfoot as I think these photos show!  Woody checked the rain gauge this morning and we had more than two inches in it.  So over the last two days we have had more than six inches of rain...that's a lot of water.  I was awakened to my phone squawking this morning...a flash flood warning.  The areas near the creeks that flow through town REALLY have a LOT of water.  Our yard looks like nothing when compared to those yards near the creeks.

I pretty much stayed inside today...once again...quilting...I'm about done with the quilting in more ways than one.  It was fun at the beginning, but I am ready for it to be finished!  I do have almost all the large areas quilted with various machine embroidered quilt patterns.  I still have the four large squares that are on the corners...and then I think that I am finished.

Woody went out to run a couple of errands today.  He stopped at the library to pick up a book that they had that was on reserve and, since he was out, he went to the Credit Union and Aldis (One grocery store out of the way for tomorrow's grocery trip!).

After I finish cleaning up the kitchen from tonight's supper, then I think that I will get my cameras ready for a barn photo jaunt tomorrow...new barn photos tomorrow night...I hope! I do think that the rain is finally over at least for a few days...supposed to get cold again...the back and forth of Spring!