Monday Comings and Goings!

I only had the two little boys come at the same time this morning.  The rest were doing testing.  Nathan came and got them when he was ready to run errands and take them to the park to play.  Woody went to the Life Care Center this morning.  He had Bible study and then visited with several of the residents.  I talked on the phone or did emails trying to get caught up on folk in our Sunday School class.  This afternoon I headed off to the store to get a few things that I needed to help with a meal tomorrow night for a friend who had surgery last week.  Woody had another doctor appointment.  He came in saying that he had to go back to that doctor tomorrow because they hadn't had time to do one test.  I started making the items that I am taking for my friend's supper tomorrow night...just pulled the last item out of the oven and waiting for it to cool a bit before I put it in the refrigerator. Woody has also done some mowing today.  He attempted to go to Elijah's ball practice, but the practice place was changed and he never found the team!  He is now at the Furnace Room Prayer meeting. When he gets home, he will pick me up and we will head off to the softball field for Joy and Esther's make-up game.  I sort of feel like we are meeting ourselves coming and going!

A Family Day

Well, it was a family day with Melany, Wade and Erin paying us a visit.  Alex had to work.  But I took nary a picture...so guess I will go with another barn photo for tonight.  Even the visit turned out to be a pretty busy time.  I knew that Woody wouldn't eat lunch with us, since Elijah's team had a ball game at 1pm. Before he left for the ball game, we got a call that a friend needed a ride home from the grocery store.  So Woody headed off to be a good Samaritan!  Wade, Melany, Erin and I ate lunch at noon and Woody ate after he got home from the ball game.  Nathan, Kathy and family continued with their yard sale and also had a busy day of taking children one place or another.  When they were home one or another of the children popped in and Nathan spent some time with us visiting for a while after the ball game.  The Athletics (Elijah's team) had another win...a happy ending since they had used their best pitchers last night...two other pitchers came through for them. The team got treated at the Dairy Queen after the game by their team mom whose dentistry practice sponsors the team.  Melany and family brought me my birthday presents...so I guess you could say that this was a late birthday celebration.  Melany brought me a couple of pieces of pottery that she had thrown on her new pottery wheel...very pretty.  I also got a new bird house...which is a good thing as some of our birdhouses have seen better days!  We hadn't seen each other since Christmas so we had a lot to catch up on and spent most of the day talking.  Peaches even came in to visit with us.  Melany and Erin are cat lovers so Peaches found a couple new friends!  Later in the afternoon, Melany, Erin and I walked over to Nathan and Kathy's backyard and sat on their back porch and visited with both of the kittens.  Erin and Melany wanted to meet Georgia as well as Peaches.  It was a beautiful spring day...blue sky...very pleasant temperatures...a seasonal day for a change...I even wore a short sleeved shirt today...that says a lot!

Busy Friday

 Woody started out the day making the rounds of the grocery stores.  While he was away I got busy doing some cleaning that I had neglected due to going through things to give to Kathy and Nathan's yard sale.  When Woody got home, I put away the groceries.  And, then continued to clean and get ready to do some cooking.

Melany, Wade, and Erin are coming for a visit tomorrow.  We haven't seen them since Christmas.  So most of the cooking that I did today was for tomorrow.  I have made a chicken tortilla casserole and am planning on going down and getting some green beans ready to be cooked tomorrow.  The other thing that I am going to make can wait till in the morning.

This afternoon Woody and Nathan got the Elijah's pitching machine set up so Elijah could have some batting practice before tonight's game.  This pitching machine has come in quite handy this year since Nathan is Elijah's coach and Woody is helping him coach.  They have been using the pitching machine during their practice.  Woody's main job during practices is feeding balls to the pitching machine.  There weren't all that many balls so a week or so ago Woody ordered a couple dozen more.  He unwrapped them today and put them to use when Elijah did batting practice.  This way they don't have to chase after the balls quite as soon.
Woody just came in from tonight's ball game.  Their team lost by one run tonight.  I didn't go to the game since I was in the middle of a recipe when it was time for Woody to head off to the ball field.  Tomorrow afternoon they have a make-up game.

Well, I guess I have had a long enough rest.  I'd better get back to the mess in the kitchen!  One load of dishes has run while I have been upstairs so I guess it is time to unload them and put in some more and then mop the kitchen floor.

April Showers = May Flowers

If the saying "April Showers Bring May Flowers" is true then we should have a tremendous amount of flowers in May!  We had more rain in the early hours of the morning and then it rained most of the afternoon. We got another 5/8".

I had a usual Thursday school day.  Elijah did science experiments today.  While I was having school, Woody headed off to the hospital to have an ultra sound of his bladder and kidneys that his nephrologist ordered. The rest of the day we have pretty much taken it easy.  I decided that it was a good day to do some reading...so curled up in my recliner under a throw (chilly and damp today).  Woody read, worked puzzles (including putting some more boxes back into the Christmas closet...an ultimate puzzle challenge!), watched TV, challenged the computer to Scrabble, etc.  It was just one of those days that it was good to stay in and keep dry and warm.  I made chili and cornbread for our supper.  My next task is to go load the dishwasher.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunshiny...we're hoping that is a correct forecast for several reasons...1)we're ready for some pretty days and 2) Nathan and Kathy and family will have their yard sale again tomorrow and hopefully Saturday.  They chose not to have it today due to the rainy conditions.  They did have one customer, though. Remember: "One person's junk is another's treasure" so if you are in the area you might want to stop to see if they have a treasure for you!

Wednesday = Friend Day!

Well, we had a day without rain...but it was pretty much without sunshine too.  We are all ready for some bright sunshiny days!

I had a usual day of school...pretty much...a couple of my readers were at the orthodontist.  Esther worked on the doll outfit that she is making.  I had a good friend stop by so Esther did a little more independent sewing than she is used to doing!  I "had" to talk to my friend about kitchen plans!  We had a good visit and Esther got some sewing done.

After lunch I headed off to the church to work in the library.  Donna (co-library worker and, of course a good friend) brought her pictures from her trip to Italy so I had fun looking at them and hearing more about their trip.  We did get some library work accomplished also!

I came home and cooked our supper. I just got finished talking with a good friend who used to live here and has moved away.  Every so often we just have a good talk catching up with each other.

Woody has worked on getting things back in the Christmas closet...what a job...I know that he would rather not be doing that, but he is also glad that we got rid of some of the things that go in there...he is probably thinking that I didn't get rid of enough of the things! While I was at church he walked four miles.  He has also worked in the yard...must have dried out some!  He said that he emptied 1 3/4 inches of rain out of the rain gauge.  Seemed to me that we got more than that!  I just found out that we are supposed to be getting a lot of rain tomorrow morning...again.  Nathan and Kathy have decided not to do their yard sale in the morning due to the weather prediction.  Hopefully they will have a good Friday and Saturday for it.  And, they may even do it again the next weekend.  They have a LOT of stuff still.

More Planning

Last night's photo was of a barn/farm pretty much forgotten and fading away.  Tonight I am posting a farm that looks to be thriving.  Such a pretty setting!

Today I had a regular day of school.  Abigail had her long time and she got to work on another zipper bag that she is going to give as a gift.  Woody walked to the pharmacy to pick up a couple of prescriptions for us.  Everything is still wet underfoot so not the best time to be able to work in the yard.  Woody is patiently waiting for it to dry up at least a bit. Early evening, he walked to the church for his time in the prayer room.  The door just opened so I guess he has gotten back.  I wonder if he got wet, as we had a shower pop up just a few minutes ago.

This afternoon I got back to making plans for our kitchen.  I am trying to get all my notes that I have been taking on ideas of what I want in the kitchen and trying to organize them.  I'm listing some of the things that I want done and then adding pictures that I have saved from one place or another and also did a page of pictures of what the kitchen looks like now.  I think having this information in a notebook will come in handy when I am trying to explain what it is that I want in our new kitchen!  Time will tell!

Last Chance...Perhaps

This may have been the last chance to get a picture of this barn...it is just about down.  Where we stopped to eat  this barn was still in sight and one of the farmers, who was coming out of the restaurant, told me that we needed to get pictures of this one before we couldn't.  It looks like the silo will survive longer than the barn.  Which is probably why there are so many silos sticking up in the countryside without any barns nearby. This one was probably in the worst condition of any barns that we saw on our "barn adventure" this past Friday.

Today has been a usual Monday school day...well, not exactly as Joy and Abigail traded spots for their long times...so Joy had her time today.  Woody went to the Life Care Center this morning and had Bible study with Jeff and then visited with other residents.  This afternoon he had a doctor appointment which didn't take up too much of his afternoon.  This evening he had the Furnace Room prayer meeting.  While he was there, several of the neighbor grandchildren invited me to come over for a dance.  They even had refreshments!  I just watched and didn't participate! When I got home, Woody was back from the prayer meeting.

It has rained and rained and then rained some more since yesterday. It was too wet for Woody to do anything in the yard today.  Ball practices were cancelled due to the fields being too wet.  Wondering if the fields can dry out enough for games tomorrow night.  I did manage to get through all the pictures that I took on Friday.  I used three cameras and took quite a few with each of them.  I have gotten rid of the ones that aren't worth keeping and put them through one try with my photo software.  Most pictures need to be processed at least a little since cameras tend to lean one way or another in the way they take color...some lean toward green and some toward blues...so I at least go in and true up the colors before posting them anywhere.  And, some I play with more than others.  Sometimes when I like a picture, but it is not as sharp as I'd like then I make it look more like a painting, etc.  I do have fun playing with my photos.  The way the photo software works you can usually make a photo interesting even if it isn't that great!

Saturday

The neighbor grandchildren came knocking on our door fairly early this morning.  They came to start taking the items that I was giving to their yard sale.  They had decided to go on and have an unplanned yard sale today (planned for this coming Thurs.& Fri. and maybe Sat.).  Nathan and Kathy had gone on a walk early this morning and noticed several yard sale signs for some houses not far from theirs. They already had so many things from friends that they decided that they would take advantage of a very pretty day. And, all it took was them laying a tarp on the front yard and folk started stopping!  They pretty much had none stop customers for several hours and then people have stopped off and on for the rest of the day till they put things away an hour or so ago.  A lot of the things that I put out have gone...so that is good.  And, they are on the way to having a very successful yard sale that wasn't even supposed to have started today.

Woody made his weekly trip to the public library.  And, he has worked outside a whole lot today...mowing and raking.  He even did some planting...some green peppers and some onions in "his" garden and he planted some rosemary for "my" herb garden on our patio.  I made my mother's recipe for Boston Baked Beans today...so that was a long process...but not a lot of preparation...just long cooking times. I have also worked on some of the pictures that I took yesterday.  Tonight's photo is one that I enhanced with my photo software due to the fact that it had a glare/shadow on the barn because I took it through the car windshield.  I loved the flag on this barn so decided that I needed to do something to it to be able to save it!  The effect I used is called "accented edges."

Think "Spring Green" in the Crayola Box!

When I moved to Tennessee 49 years ago in the spring, I found out that there is a color in nature exactly like the color, "spring green," in the Crayola box.  And, today on our drive through the countryside that is one of the colors that stood out to me.  I used my photo software to mess with the above picture to make that color exaggerated...but it isn't very far off from what we saw today.  I just love the early spring when the leaves are just starting to form on the trees...everything looks so fresh and new!  We saw lots of barns today.  We left at 8:30am and returned around 3:30pm...so a long day of driving through the countryside.  I have gotten my photos transferred from three cameras and have quickly looked at them.  I needed to take them off the cameras before Elijah's baseball game this evening.  The following, I think, was everyone's favorite barn of the day.  We all liked the contrast of the black roof with the red.  Four of us went on our barn adventure, today.  Marie drove per usual, I was the navigator (that's a laugh!), and Jo and Donna were in the back seat enjoying the scenery.  They aren't as "into" taking photos of barns as Marie and I are!  We enjoyed visiting, seeing pretty sites and then eating at a country restaurant that we "finally" found...eating places out in the country are far and few between!

Woody worked in the yard and gardens today while I gallivanted.  He also went to the grocery stores for our weekly shopping.  When I got home, he was walking back to our yard from Nathan and Kathy's and had a long list in his hand.  He had been tasked by them to find a bunch of things needed for Elijah's game tonight.  They have been in East Tennessee and are going to get back just in time (hopefully) for Elijah's game and Woody had to go next door to attempt to find all the things needed.  I went over and helped him find what he hadn't found yet.  He about wore himself out trying to get into one of their vehicles...he had to enter from the back and what was needed was two bench seats forward...so he had to climb over two sets of seats to get to where he could unlock the doors and get what was needed...at least he didn't have to climb back over the seats!  I found out...too late...that there was a door unlock button inside the back opening!  Oh, well...!  Maybe good exercise?!?  Doubt it! I think that we now have everything needed by Elijah and Nathan for the game.  The last I talked to them they were still three hours away stuck in traffic in the Knoxville area. I think that it is good that Elijah's game is the 7pm game tonight! I'm blogging early since we will be at the game when blogging time comes around!   

Thoroughly Thursday!

If you were to come over and look upstairs in our hallway, you might think that it was Christmas!  Almost ALL the boxes are out of the Christmas closet.  I happened to mention to Woody that there were several boxes of Christmas items that we could probably get rid of in the yard sale...IF...we wanted to drag out all that mess!  Well, he knows, since he is the closet packer that taking three large boxes out of the Christmas closet should help solve the problem of too much stuff for that closet.  It took a bit effort to find the boxes that I wanted to do away with...but they were found and I went through them and am donating most of what was in those boxes to the yard sale.  I did keep a few items...but told myself that if I kept anything that I had to find a space in an existing box which I did.  I also repacked three angels into another box and did away with the box that they had been stored in.  I even got into some of the other boxes and gathered a few more items for the yard sale.  Good job done...BUT...now Woody has a lot of work to do to repack the closet.  At the moment, it is hard to even navigate down the hallway.

We found out this morning that one of Esther's kitties spent the night locked up in their shed.  Yesterday when Woody got the lawnmower out, the kittens had gone in to explore.  When he put the lawnmower back before dark, he figured that they were both out of the shed.  Oops!  She seemed none the worse for wear today!  Woody had a doctor's appointment this morning.  He returned just a little while ago from ball practice.  He ran the pitching machine for batting practice.  While he was at ball practice, I got our supper ready.  I utilized the leftover spaghetti sauce and made chicken Parmesan...quite a good way to used up the leftover sauce.  After I blog I am going to go get cameras gathered together because there is a barn excursion planned for tomorrow...hopefully there will be some new barn photos tomorrow night!

Wednesday

We have both kept pretty busy today.  Woody has about worn himself out working in the yard...mowing and raking quite a large area of our side yard.  He also ran an errand for a friend.  I got up and got right back to work on the kitchen.  I have now been through all the bottom kitchen cabinets that have items in them that I might want to purge.  I still have the cabinet with the baking items: cookie sheets, muffin tins, etc.  I will take a close look in that cabinet, but I'm not sure that I want to pull everything out.  I have for ages stored punch cups on one of the upper shelves in the upper cabinets.  I would use them for juice glasses when we had a large crowd, so kept them separate from the punch bowl.  Just a little while ago, I pulled out the punch bowl from the buffet in the dining room and put all the punch cups into that box.  I had thought about getting rid of the punch bowl...but have had second thoughts...at least nothing to do with the punch bowl is taking up any kitchen cabinet space.  This afternoon I also started looking through my cookbooks to try to decide which ones I want to put in the yard sale.  The pile for the yard sale grew a little taller today...or at least more spread out...now things are also on the dining room chairs and some are even on the floor.  I did get the tops of the cabinets vacuumed off...now just have to wipe them down with a damp cloth.

After lunch, I headed to the church to work in the library.  There wasn't a lot to do except for maintenance.  We checked books in and out and shelved the returned books.  We didn't stay as long as usual.  I came back and got back to work in the kitchen.  I didn't have to do anything except warm things up for our supper tonight since we had leftover spaghetti from last night.  I came upstairs to rest and read for a little while.  Shortly I will go down and put dishes into the dishwasher. Doubt that I will do much more than that tonight...my recliner is calling my name...loudly!

Busy Tuesday

Look what I found in one of our gardens today...so pretty.  I have kept pretty busy today.  This morning I did a little cleaning...decided that I had better run the vacuum at least through a couple of rooms.  Later in the morning we had an appointment with an insurance person who says that he can get my rates down...so we will see.  After he left, I got back to work on cleaning out kitchen cabinets.  The stack of items for the yard sale gets higher. The cookbooks still need to have decisions made on which to keep and which to put in the yard sale.  The things on the far right of the cookbooks are things that I plan to keep and there are some items to the very left of the cookbooks that I am still thinking about whether to keep them or not.  I have pretty much decided to keep baskets as I am always looking for a basket for one thing or another.  But the majority to the left of the cookbooks I have decided to part with.

We have had a very pleasant day temperature-wise.  It did get down to below freezing last night, but it warmed up rather quickly.  Woody walked to the prayer room while I cooked supper.  When he got back, I had spaghetti with meat sauce, pasta and Red Lobster biscuits ready to eat.  I need to go downstairs now and clean up the kitchen.  I got tired after fixing supper and came upstairs to rest my back for a while.  So now I have a bit of a mess to go take care of...thank goodness for the dishwasher!  I have washed a lot of dishes by hand the last couple of days as I am washing all the things that come out of the cabinets...I have put some in the dishwasher, but it is just easier to go on and wash them by hand and get them ready to take their place on the dining room table...or...put them back into the cabinets.  Yesterday I was on the step stool a good part of the day getting things off the top of the cabinets.  Today I have switched and am working in the lower cabinets...so my little short four-legged stool has been most helpful...keeping me from having to get totally down on the floor. Nine days till the yard sale...still quite a few things to go through!

First Step?

I took a big step today...one of the first to get ready to renovate our kitchen...I cleared all the decorative items off the top of the kitchen cabinets.  I am leaving the apple theme that our kitchen has been for so many years.  So today I took everything down and started sorting through what to keep and what to give to Kathy and Nathan for their upcoming yard sale.  They are going to have a yard sale to raise money for their  family mission trip to Honduras later in the year.  It will be the last weekend in April so I decided that I had better get started sorting through things that I need to give to them for their sale.  Just a little before it was time for me to make supper, I

got everything down from the tops of the cabinets on both sides of the kitchen...and now all items are on the dining room table...some to keep...most for the yard sale.  I am trying to decide what to do with my extensive cookbook collection...probably some to keep and some to give away.  I still have an entire shelf in one of the cabinets full of cookbooks.  Some have sentimental value...others not so much.  I will mull over what to do with them while I clear out some other things!  I want to go through the kitchen cabinets too.

Woody went to Life Care earlier than usual this morning because he had a doctor appointment when he usually goes to do Bible study and visit with some of the residents.  He didn't go to baseball practice this evening because it is so cold.  He is now at the Furnace Room prayer meeting.

I guess I will go see what more damage I can do trying to find items that we really don't need taking up space in the kitchen...and probably should look beyond just that room!  I still need to dust and wipe down the tops of the cabinets...but I think that I am through with ladder climbing for today!

Rainy Saturday = Good Day to Read!

It has rained or at least drizzled most of the day.  A good day to stay in and read...which is what I have done for a good part of the day.  I did a little of this and a little of that around the house followed by longer sessions of reading!  Woody got up really early and went on a six mile walk.  Later in the morning he made hospital visits and also stopped at the public library for his weekly visit there.  I talked this afternoon with Melany.  She is the one who told me about the book that I am reading: A Murder in Music City: Corruption, Scandal, and the Framing of an Innocent Man.  A while back she and one of the teachers at her school went to hear a talk given by the author of the book: Michael Bishop.  Melany's teacher friend had gone to high school with the murdered girl in the book.  It's a true story about a murder that took place in Nashville, TN in the 1964...one in which an innocent man was convicted.This book is the unraveling of what really happened by the author's intense delving into "the story" over a period of many, many years.  When Melany told me about the book I put my name on a waiting list and it took many months for me to climb to the top.  Now that I have it in my hands on my iPad Kindle app, I have felt compelled to get it read before it is taken back into cyberspace!  Plus it is just one of those reads that keeps you wondering what turn the story is going to take next.  I have gotten to the place in the story that I now know what "really" happened and he is just wrapping up a last few details.  This all took place five years before I came to live in Tennessee, but lots of names in the book are familiar to me as are the places mentioned.  Tullahoma even gets mentioned. Woody has been reading quite a bit too, today.  He is reading a legal suspense story that I checked out for him from the church library.  He has also watched basketball.  I'm going to hit the publish button for this blog and go back to finish reading my book.

Play Ball!

Tonight was the first ball game of this season...for me!  I guess it is Elijah's third.  At the start of this evening Elijah's team and the other team started playing the game that got called the other night due to lightning.  Elijah's team, the A's, won that game.  Then the second game was the regularly scheduled game for this evening.  The A's lost that one.  So at this point in the season they have won two and lost one.  Joy and Esther's softball games are supposed to begin tomorrow, but Kathy just told us that they have already been cancelled due to predicted heavy rain and storms tomorrow morning.  Elijah's team has a make-up game tomorrow afternoon if the weather allows...looking doubtful...but his hasn't been cancelled...yet.

Woody did his usual grocery shopping at three stores this morning.  I was still getting a handle on getting everything unpacked and put away.  I was looking for something and couldn't figure out where it was and ended up finding it still in the car.  So I think that all has been found and put away...now to do a load or two of wash and things will be back to pre-trip!  Isaac and Joseph came over for a little while this morning and played the new car race game on the Osmo iPad app.  They had fun and decided that they would stay here while the rest of the family went for juggling practice at the church...but in the end decided that they would go with their family.  I got the groceries put away.  I had requested some time ago an e-book from the e-library lending system that our public library is a part of.  It finally came to me sometime this past week while we were away so I checked it out last night and have been reading it.  I also napped for a while this afternoon.  Woody worked in the yard.  The grocery store walking was his walking for today.  We headed off to the ball game a little after 4 pm and just got back a little while ago.  Tonight's temperature made for perfect ball playing weather. We are home and settled in for another quiet Friday evening.

Thursday Nibbles

Not a lot going on here.  I sat out on the front porch for the first time in a long time...warm enough!  I decided that it would be a good day to try out my new lens on critters in the yard.  I was really hoping to see more goldfinches, but instead found this little guy at the bird feeder...enjoying the suet.

I had school with Joseph and Isaac and then read with Abigail, Esther and Joy and did science experiments with Elijah.  Woody spent quite a bit of time outside working in the yard.  He also walked 4 miles.  Right now he is at Elijah's ball practice.  I guess that everyone has ball practice this evening as I have the two little boys till someone gets home from practice.  They came over to play with Osmo and that lasted about ten minutes and now they are entertaining themselves with my swiffer dusters!  We'll probably all be sneezing shortly!  I'm still recovering from my reunion, I think.  I did get the suitcase completely emptied today since Kathy is going to need it soon.  I have emailed some of my pictures of the reunion to one of my classmates.  I will be sending them to my roommate, too.  At least they are all sorted through and I've used Photoshop on the ones that needed it.  So it is easy to send them.  They can be captured from our class's Facebook page...but it seems that not many know how to do that!  My roommate doesn't do Facebook so she has a reason to need me to send them to her! .

A Day for the Birds

When I was heading to church this afternoon to work in the library, I spotted a goldfinch at our goldfinch feeder.  I snapped a couple of pictures with a point-and-shoot camera and headed on to church.  When I got home there was a female goldfinch on the feeder and then later this male goldfinch came to dine.  This feeder had been ignored for so long and I noticed earlier today that the seed was going down in it so was hopeful that the goldfinches had found it.  I grabbed up my camera with my new lens on it and attempted to capture it...of course it was on the "wrong" side of the feeder.  The seeds are sharper than the bird!  But I figure that over the next little while I will be able to capture a really good one...but at least they are coming to this feeder and I will have a chance to get some really good photos of them over the time that they grace us with their presence.

Today was pretty much a usual Wednesday.  I had school with Joseph, Isaac, read with Elijah, Abigail, and Joy, and Esther had her long time with me.  Esther got to start sewing the outfit that she is making for her doll.  She is doing a very good job following instructions.  After lunch I headed to the library.  Donna and I did maintenance and continued processing the new books.  We got quite a few completely ready for circulation.  We will have some happy readers when the new ones are discovered on our new book shelf! Woody spent a lot of time out in the yard today.  It was a pretty spring-like day so a good one to be outside.  I got supper ready, we ate, and I sat down to rest and promptly dozed off.  I think that my busy weekend is still catching up with me!

Where Has the Time Gone?

Robertson Hall--my dorm for both my years at Cottey College

Beardsley Suite (now Santa Barbara Suite): the suite I
lived in both years at Cottey.  

My roomie, Lydia, and I outside the room we shared our
first year at Cottey.  The next year we stayed in the same
suite, but moved to a room that was a bit larger..two doors away.

The parlor of Robertson Hall.  Can you see Woody sitting
down at the far end?  I am taking this photo from the same
place where I stood when I first spotted Woody across this room. We were
having the Senior Class Mixer that night and this room was
full of Cottey girls and guys from various schools across
Missouri.  I saw Woody across that crowded room and decided
that I wanted to spend the evening with him...and I did...and,
the rest is history!

Two Cottey roomies and their 1968 boyfriends in 2018!

I finished going through all my pictures today and decided that I would share pics of our dorm, suite, and pictures of my roommate and me and our now husbands, who were our then boyfriends! Time hasn't slowed down...but as far as Lydia's and my friendship...it just picked up where we were the last time we saw each other (which was 1983 at our 15th reunion).  We are determined to be in touch more often than just a letter at Christmas.  You should have seen us trying to get our selfies taken...rather comical...I'm sure that we amused the present Cottey student who was in the suite when we were attempting it.  She had to help Lydia get her phone set up to take a selfie.  I was able to use my camera...but I had the camera that you can't see what you are taking...so just winged it and actually managed to get both our heads and our room number in the picture on my first attempt.

Today has been pretty much a typical Tuesday.  I had school with the little boys and then read with the older kids.  Joy had her long time.  Joy always knows what she wants to make next and I don't always have a pattern or "how-to" for what she wants to make.  She wants to make a small backpack like she already has but wants it to have a larger pocket on the front that will accommodate her phone.  So we hunted for directions...and we never quite found what she wanted.  And, I'm not one to wing what I make...I need directions, pattern, etc.  I think that Joy is going to be a sewer who "wings" her projects!

Woody went for a four-mile walk after lunch.  Then this evening he drove to the prayer room because of Elijah's game.  I decided that it was too cold to go tonight...and, I guess I was right as I got a text from Kathy right after Woody left.  She was asking for blankets!  Ooops...guess they are out there shivering!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jog!

 We got home last night at 9:20 after driving for nine hours and twenty minutes and traveled exactly 600 miles as we turned into our driveway.  I can't remember ever having the time and the number of hours and minutes match exactly the hour we arrived!

The whole weekend was pretty chilly.  I was glad for a coat.  The wind was what made it really bad.

Tonight's photo shows one of the newer buildings...meaning that it wasn't there when I was there fifty years ago.  It was there when I went back for my 15th. So it isn't a brand new structure.  The Hinkhouse Center is mainly for sports and includes a gym and an Olympic-sized swimming pool.  Out in front of this building is a sculpture titled "Suite Life."  It was sculpted by one of the members of my class.  I like this sculpture the best of the ones on campus...it is realistic whereas some others are rather abstract.  I talked to the sculptor and she told us how she made the bit out of the apple so realistic...she bit into the
clay to get an accurate bite mark.  This is very detailed even to the books that some are reading...they are actual books that have been written about Cottey or about the Founder of Cottey, Virginia Alice Cottey.  At Cottey all the dorms are divided into suites with living areas.  When we went there our suite had twelve girls in it.  A living area is centered with bedrooms around it.  The suite becomes like a family unit.

I did have a good time, though, a rather tiring time.  By the time I got in the car yesterday morning and we drove a little ways I was dozing off!  We actually drove in snow for quite a few miles at the start of the trip...crazy spring weather!

We got back into routine this morning.  I had a usual school day and Woody went to the Life Care Center to have Bible study and visit.  He stopped at Aldis on his way home.  This evening he went to Elijah's ball practice and then to the Furnace Room prayer meeting .  The two little boys have spent the evening with me while everyone else in their family were going in different directions.  Woody has just gotten home and I need to go finish dinner.

I worked on sorting the pictures that I took over the weekend so will probably be sharing some in the blog over the next few days.

Reminiscing at Good Ol' Cottey C!

Here we are sitting around in the hotel's hospitality room...we had it reserved for the whole time that we have been here.  This is where we landed in the evenings after all the activities on campus were completed.

We have had the most fun getting to know one another again.  We have a "memory book" of individual pictures of each class member, who attended (plus a few more who submitted their information). I have read through a lot of these, but have mainly talked with friends during this time.  This will be something to pour over when I get home and have a little more time.

The food has been wonderful.  We have had a Mediterranean Buffet, a buffet of Cottey's chef's favorite recipes, and the Founder's Day Luncheon buffet.  Talk about "a spread!" Cottey's chef really is great.  We found out today that this will be his last year at Cottey as he is retiring.  Glad that I got to partake of his delicious fare before he left.

Today was the big day for the skits.  They were all good...but ours was the best!  Just a bit prejudiced...but we were told by many alums from other years that it was.  We really filled the stage with our presence 44 strong.  We were introduced as "the golden girls."  I still can't believe that it has been 50 years.

One more gathering in the morning for a brunch buffet.  As soon as we finish eating, Woody and I will be on our way.  Getting a later start will mean a much later arrival back home...might not blog tomorrow night.

I hate to see our reunion come to an end...but we are all tired...so probably time for us to part ways and get rested up.  Everyone is already talking about the next time!  Oh...before I end...a challenge for my sister (probably not much of one!): Cheryl, can you spot Randi?  One of the "golden girls" in this picture, I have known most of my life...same church since toddlers, same 1-8 school, same high school, same college.  She is in this photo...it was fun to see her...hadn't seen her in a while...I guess not since our mother's funeral.

Post Card From Cottey!

 Main Hall, Cottey College
Nevada, Missouri

Having a wonderful time! 

Woody and I toured the campus so I could take photos early this morning.  Rather cold here...might snow or have freezing rain tomorrow or Sunday.

My roommate arrived...not enough time for us to catch up!

We picked up right where we left off all those years ago.

Our class has the largest reunion group--44. 

Be home all too soon!

Lois

Arrived Safely!

Busy visiting!!  Woody watching a St. Louis Cardinal game.  We're both happy campers!

Scurrying Around!

Just trying to get everything gathered together and ready to go in the car.  I have been waiting for Woody to put his things out on the guest bed so I could pack.  I finally asked him when he was going to do that...he claims he has already packed.  Would have been nice if I had known!  Well, off to get myself packed...guess I have a suitcase to myself this time!  Blog...hopefully...tomorrow night from Nevada, MO...the good Lord willin' and the Creeks don't rise...and, I don't get too involved with chatting with my classmates that I forget!!!

Soon I'll Post in Color!

Back...50 years ago, most of my pictures were black and white...for several reasons--1)black and white film was cheaper, 2)my father could develop and/or print the pictures in his darkroom at our house.  I mostly sent the photos off to be developed, but then we had the negatives for him to make more pictures with.  The building in the background is my dorm, Robertson Hall.  Lydia's and my room was on the second floor on the corner.  My subject in this picture was Marsha, our dorm president my freshman year.  Soon I will be taking pictures in full color and I can print them myself on my colored printer.  Times have definitely changed.  I am looking forward to being able to snap as many photos as I want since we are in the digital age...first time on Cottey campus with a digital camera.  Nothing holding me back from taking lots of pictures...unless is is a dead battery (battery chargers are on the list of things to take!).

My list seems to be getting shorter and the time till we leave is also getting shorter!  Today I secured all my notebook memory books so things couldn't slide out of them while we travel.  I made another batch of cookies.  I was planning to make one more batch, but just a while ago the menus for Cottey's Founder's Day weekend were posted on Facebook.  I really shouldn't eat anything between now and Friday evening's meal!  Doubt that will happen!  The Cottey chef is known for his great cuisine...I'm really looking forward to the meals.

I had school with the little boys and read with a couple of the children this morning.  Woody has spent a lot of time out in the front shared garden.  After lunch, I went to get my hair cut (one more step in being ready to head off!).  On the way home I stopped to get my glasses adjusted...probably not the best decision except they were starting to slip.  But they still aren't right so I will need to stop by tomorrow to see if they can get them adjusted better. The trifocal lines aren't in the right place...NOT a good thing!  Late afternoon Woody went to the prayer room.  Today he drove both ways because he needed to be back for Elijah's first ball game of the season.  I chose not to go tonight...I'm sure that I will get more chances this season!

I fixed a crab salad for our supper.  I made enough for tonight and tomorrow night.  Since I don't think that I am going to make any more cookies, I declare the kitchen closed except for eating leftovers till we get back from Cottey!  Now to go down and clean up the kitchen from the latest cooking efforts.  Woody had the kitchen all cleaned up for me...and I did a very good job of messing it up royally...these last cookies were messy and a bit crumbly when getting them cut. So I will go down and swipe down the counters and get the dishes in the dishwasher.  I have a load of wash in that needs to be transferred to the drier...a step closer to going...clean clothes to pack! My to-do list is growing shorter!

Clock is Ticking!

The dogwoods still aren't blooming, but the buds are coming closer to opening.  Perhaps this next cold snap will be "Dogwood Winter?"  My head is spinning with finalizing details of our trip.  We haven't been anywhere in so long that I have about forgotten my routine.  I don't think that we have been on an overnight trip since Woody stopped going to The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda...and, that has been a while!  I am checking things off my list so that is a good thing.  I am in the midst of baking a batch of cookies this evening.  I want to take cookies to share with my fellow classmates in our casual get-together times at the hotel...reminiscent of the many cookies that our families sent to us in "care packages" all those years ago.  I am also going to take a "care package" to the girls who live in the suite that I lived in while at Cottey.  Woody is enjoying sampling the cookies...making sure that they are edible!

The little boys just came over this morning for their time.  The rest didn't come over because they had to be somewhere shortly after Isaac was finished with his time with me.  I am not going to do long times this week as that will help me not have to do preparation for them. Woody was out working in the garden early today and went out a couple of other times as well.  He has totally finished the large garden that borders the driveway.  Now he is working on what we call the "shared garden."  Part of it is on our property and part is on Nathan and families property.  While I was having school with Isaac, Woody headed off to the Life Care center to have Bible study with Jeff and visit with several other residents.  I have stayed busy doing lots of little things to get ready.  The stack of "things to take" grows taller!  I have the bed cleared off in the guest room so we can put things to go in the suitcase there.  I gulp when I realize how close it is to actually putting things into the suitcase!  I have gathered my cameras and lenses.  I hope that I will be able to get some good pictures.  It sounds like they are hoping that I will take pictures, as my name keeps coming up when they send a summary of things that we will be doing...they say to be sure to bring phones for pictures and then they mention that they are sure that I have a "good" camera that I will be bringing.  They are basing this off of seeing some of the pictures that I post periodically on Facebook.  They keep calling me "a birder!"  Far from it...since I mostly take photos of birds just from my front porch...hardly off in the woods like a birder would be!  Anyway, I hope that I can fulfill what they think that I might do with my camera!

Woody went to Elijah's practice and then headed off to the Furnace Room prayer meeting and then home.  I had Isaac for a while as the rest of his family were in many other directions.  Isaac is filling me in on everything Star Wars these days.  He has recently bought himself a Lego Star Wars set and carries the spaceship just about everywhere he goes!  Woody is watching TV and reading and I guess it is time for me to go back and do some more baking of this batch of cookies...I am beginning to question why I made a double batch!  I'm glad that the next kind that I make will be bar cookies...lots less time consuming!

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

According to Christian tradition, dogwood blossoms bear the scars of Jesus' crucifixion. The petals are tipped with blood-fringed nail indentations, the flower is cross-shaped, and the center represents the crown of thorns. This symbolism is to compensate for the dogwood being the wood of the cross on which Jesus died.

Because the tree never wanted to be put to such use again, God also twisted and gnarled its trunk and branches so that no straight boards could be made from it. While there is no evidence that the legend is true, the tale persists. The legend of the dogwood blossom is an example of a pourquoi (French for "why") story, a tale that attempts to explain why something has its particular features or characteristics. (copied)