Sue's Flowers

I took tonight's blog photo while house sitting during my friend Sue's funeral.  They were just so pretty blooming in their sun room that I couldn't resist taking a photo of "Sue's Flowers."  My house sitting duties went very well and the hours passed quickly thanks to reading, watching HGTV, and visiting with my friends as they dropped off food for the family's supper.  They should be well fed!  The ladies in our class are good cooks!  And, all fixed plenty. We all loved Sue!  She will be greatly missed. Sue followed my blog and enjoyed my photos so I feel that posting a photo of one her flowers is a fitting tribute to her this evening.

Woody waited to walk later in the morning due to rain passing through early this morning.  I think that he said that we got 1/2" of rain this morning.  We walked four miles after I left to house sit.  Before I got home he had a doctor appointment.  This appointment was for lab work prior to his appointment with his nephrologist next week.  They are just keeping watch on his kidneys since they have taken a hit due to medications he was while fighting melanoma.   The nephrologist is just keeping a close watch on Woody's kidneys.  I think that this has become a monthly test.

Not long after I got back home this afternoon, Woody announced that he had baseball practice with Elijah's team this evening.  He hasn't returned from practice yet.  The baseball season is almost over...just a couple of games and then a tournament.  He just came in the door.  I guess we are now ready to settle in for a quiet evening!

Lots of Comings and Goings

When I went looking for a photo for tonight's blog, I happened upon some of the signs that we see along the country roads when we are off on our barn photo trips.  And decided to share a couple of those signs tonight.

Sounds like we have a storm blowing in at the moment.  I have been hearing far off thunder, but now it sounds like the wind is picking up.  I checked the radar about an hour ago when I started aching sort of like yesterday...and, sure enough, there was a line of storms off to our west heading our way. And, now it is REALLY windy.  Guess the storm is getting closer.

Woody started our comings and goings early this morning when he walked four miles.  Later in the day he walked to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription.  My comings and goings started when I headed out to the grocery store to get things for the meal that our class is serving after our friend's funeral.  I picked up paper products and some other miscellaneous items plus the ham that our class is providing.  The ham is what became the problem...the first store didn't have any. The next had some, but I wasn't very impressed with the selection...too small.  The next store had only two to choose from and they were huge.  So on my way home I thought about another store and stopped there and finally found one.  By the time I got home it was time for me to head to the church to work in the library.  I quickly grabbed a bite of lunch and headed back out the door.  Woody was outside by this time working in the gardens.  He weeded and also dug garlic.  We have quite a lot of garlic on our kitchen counter at the moment. I went to the church and Donna and I worked on finishing up processing several new books so they are on the new book shelf ready to be circulated.  When I got home I got the ham into the oven.  I won't have much time in the morning to do much cooking-wise before I head over to house sit during the visitation, funeral and burial for my friend.  I had hardly gotten the ham in when a friend stopped by with a cake for tomorrow's meal.  Then not long after that another friend stopped by with another part of tomorrow's meal.  Our refrigerator is full to bursting! And, then a little while later another friend stopped to give me some money toward the miscellaneous items that I had bought. It was good to get to visit with friends I hadn't seen in a while!  The ham has cooled enough and I managed to get it into the refrigerator, too.  It's going to be interesting to get all this over to their house tomorrow.  I will take nonperishable items and  leave the refrigerated ones in our fridge and Woody will bring them closer to the meal time. Anyway, hopefully we will get this all figured out and the family and their friends will be well fed after they get home.

Well, the rain has arrived.  I think that tomorrow is supposed to be rainy too.  This should be good for the gardens...and probably the weeds too!  Isaac was out pulling weeds on Monday after our Memorial Day picnic.  I found out that the children can earn extra screen time by pulling weeds for "x" amount of time.  I guess that motivated him!.

In and Out

Alberto has been in and out this afternoon...we haven't had a ton of rain because the storm is to the west of us and we are just getting some of the swirling edges...so we get rain and then we get sun and a while later we get more rain and then the sun comes out.  The clouds are coming in again at the moment.  I hadn't had a storm affect me for a while.  My Transverse Myelitis makes me a human barometer at times.  That hadn't happened to me in quite a while...I had almost forgotten that it happened...until this afternoon and I guess the low pressure to our west was felt by my body causing a bad headache and lots of aches and pains all over my body for a while this afternoon.  It is better this evening...not totally gone...but less bothersome.

Woody got up and walked four miles early this morning.  He didn't go to the prayer room today because he went last night.  I got up and made muffins to take to the family of my friend who died on Sunday.  And, a good part of the rest of the morning was taken up with getting the meal for their family finalized.  I did offer to house sit for the family during the visitation, funeral and burial until the family gets back to the house.  That way I will be there to answer the phone and door and our Sunday School class can bring the food they are providing when it is convenient for them during the day on Thursday.  Tomorrow I will shop for items for the meal that other members have provided money for and I will cook the ham that the class is buying for the meal.  So a couple of busy days coming up.

In between rain showers, Woody went out and pulled a few weeds and did some other things in the yard.  I have stayed in and did a little with my sewing project...I had to retrace the collar pattern because I traced it on the wrong side of the fabric.  I am getting closer to taking the fabric pieces to the machine to start sewing them.  I still have to cut out a bias strip before I can make the piping.  I also did a load of wash and need to get it out of the drier after I blog.  We ate leftovers today so I haven't had to cook, which was good as when it was time to cook supper, I just was hurting too much to cook (good excuse?!?).  I could have done without the excuses to not cook today!  I didn't even feel like reading this afternoon so I watched some Home and Garden shows on my iPad.  Makes me want to get going on the kitchen plans!  If I could just find a free day to run around and ask questions of some possible remodelers...some day I will find that day!

Tonight's blog photo was taken on our barn photo trip back in April.  The Winton name on several of the headstones must tell about the family name common to the area...we were on Winton Road. This is one of those pictures that lets us see a barn then that probably isn't visible now due to heavier leaf cover now.  So many barns in the countryside around here are hidden during late spring and summer...only late Fall and Winter and early Spring give us a pretty clear view of most of the barns in our area.

Memorial Day 2018

 We have had a very nice day.  I got up early and decided that I would take advantage of the large lemons that Woody had bought and make some fresh lemonade for our lunch cookout.  I ended up squeezing all the lemons and also zesting all of them.  I used the juice that I needed for the lemonade and then froze the rest in portions. I also froze the zest as ice cubes...all to be used as needed.  Most of the cooking was done except for last minute cooking...warming the beans, boiling the corn, boiling hot dogs (for the children who don't want them cooked on the grill), etc.  We took hamburgers and brats over to Nathan to grill.  The children helped Woody and me carry items from our house to theirs.  

Woody did walk six miles this morning and went to the Furnace Room Prayer Meeting tonight.  He also stopped in the prayer room at church to update a prayer request.

Speaking of that prayer request it is for the family of one of my friends who was taken last week to the hospital by ambulance.  I spoke with her last Thursday.  She wasn't well, but I had no idea how very sick she had become.  On Friday the doctors said that she needed to be kept comfortable in hospice care.  She was brought back to the Life Care Center here in Tullahoma yesterday for hospice care.  I got the message that she was back in Tullahoma at Life Care and three hours later I received word that she had passed away.  So sad for the family and her friends.

I have spent quite a bit of time this afternoon helping to make plans to provide a meal for her family and close friends after her visitation, funeral, and burial on this Thursday.  She was a member of our Sunday School class and we always try to help the family in any way we can in times like this.  She was a good friend.  I will miss her.

I started this blog post and got an invitation to go next door and have ice cream.  Woody decided that he didn't need ice cream since he had just had some watermelon.  But I headed off to enjoy an ice cream sandwich.  Sweet ending to this year's Memorial Day get-together.

We had some rain today...3/8".  I think that the rains are really supposed to commence tomorrow!

Strange Happenings

I can't get into blogspot.com on our laptop.  It keeps taking me to a sign in page that has nothing to do with the blog page.  So for today I will just post here and see if I can figure out what is going on later.  So no picture tonight.

Woody walked six miles this morning.  Later in the morning he ran a couple of errands for me and also went to the library.  I finished my Grisham book last night so figured that I could get back to doing other things than just want to read!  Well, he brought home the 17th book in a series by James Patterson that I have read all but the 17th...so now I want to read that!  I did get some cooking done today.  I got the Boston Baked Beans ready for Monday's family cookout.  And, I hardboiled eggs for the potato salad and deviled eggs for Monday.  I will get the potato salad put together tomorrow after church so it will have time for the flavors to meld and get good and cold for Monday's lunch.  I also did get everything cut out for the doll dress.  I reconfigured several pieces as I didn't think that they had come up with the best way to put the dress together...time will tell if my changes work!  Woody made a zucchini, tomato and onion dish for our supper.  I loaded the dishwasher before coming upstairs and it sounds like Woody is tackling the ones that don't go in the dishwasher.  I'm ready to sit.

Isaac has continued to work on riding his bike.  This is the most determined I have seen him in learning a new task.  His daddy told him that it would take about three days for him to learn and he is trying to keep to that time schedule!  By the end of the day he had definitely improved over yesterday...a lot less tipping over!  He worked on starting off on his own, steering, and stopping without crashing. Determination!!  And, it is paying off!  Graham said, "Now if he would just learn to juggle!"  Isaac isn't as motivated about juggling as the others have been!

Well, I guess I will publish this.  Melany is texting me about Wade's dad...he's about same as  yesterday.

Big Accomplishments!

Look what Isaac (6) started doing today...riding a bicycle without training wheels!  Way to go Isaac!  The thing that he really needs to practice is stopping!  So that is one accomplishment today...another is that it is Wade and Melany's anniversary and they have been married 27 years!

Last night Melany texted me that Wade's dad had been taken to the ER by ambulance...too many messages this week about ambulance rides and/or emergency trips to the hospital.  Melany told me this morning that it looked like Wade's dad has pneumonia and had had a stroke.  Wade went to the hospital where he is be with him today.  Melany finished up her school year.  Alex worked.  And, Erin fended for herself (not always the best thing!). The plan had been for Wade to be at home this morning, but the latest emergency called him to the hospital to be with his dad.  This morning Erin's blood sugar level was really low...one extreme to another.  But before Melany went to work they had gotten it back up and Melany works very close to home so she could check on her periodically and get back there if necessary.  Any time that Erin gets sick her blood sugar levels fluctuate a lot because of diet change when sick.  She had soup and a sandwich for lunch and was doing better.  I am going to add in here, as some might wonder, why at 25  she doesn't handle her type-1 diabetes better.  And, the answer is other health issues...the major one that keeps her from dealing correctly with diabetes most of the time = Asperger Disorder (a form of Autism).  Erin has a lot on her plate to deal with health-wise = 1)Type 1 Diabetes, 2)Aspergers, 3)Anxiety Disorder, 4)ADHD, 5)IBS.  This number of health issues would be overwhelming to anyone...but the Aspergers makes it very hard for her and her family.  And, really considering EVERYTHING she does pretty well...most of the time.  She is a champ at figuring out carb counting! But unfortunately long term consequences are hard for her to factor into what she knows about her diseases.  She was trying to handle her problem on her own over the weekend.  She knew to call the pharmacy as soon as they opened on Monday, when she discovered that she was out of insulin on Sunday.  BUT she didn't know what to do when the pharmacy told her that they didn't have any of the kind that she needed.  I guess she told Alex and he attempted to get in touch with his dad but didn't realize that Wade was on a conference call at work and didn't get the text message.  Melany unaware of all this was attempting to get her room ready for the end of school.  By the time that she got pulled into it, Erin was very high.  By that time the pharmacy did have the insulin needed and Melany started in bolusing the insulin and checking every 10-15 minutes.  At a point she knew that a hospital visit was going to be necessary.  And...the rest is history...and, now Erin is back home and hopefully on the right path again!  The insulin is now on auto refill and Melany will receive a text when it is ready to pick up. And, Alex will notify both parents when a problem with Erin arises! Always looking for new and better ways to handle "things!"  

Woody's daily exercise for today was at the grocery stores!  He did our weekly grocery shopping.  This week it included picnic food for Memorial Day.  I've got to remember to get the beans soaking so I can make my mother's Boston Baked Beans for the picnic.  I'll make them tomorrow...trying to stretch the cooking out over a couple of days so I don't have to do it all at one time.

I started out the morning cutting out the doll dress.  I got one of the fabrics cut out...still have some lining pieces and the white contrast fabric to cut out.  I got distracted and didn't get back to the task of cutting.  Being a doll dress there isn't much a time crunch on getting it done!  I worked some on my Sunday School lesson that I'm teaching on Sunday...got distracted from that too...that has more of a time crunch!  I did a lot of starting but not finishing today!  One of the major distractions is a John Grisham novel.  I hadn't read one of his in a while and am really enjoying it...wanting to "JUST" read!

We had breakfast for supper tonight.  Woody found a recipe for sweet potato pancakes.  They were pretty good...but were not the easiest things to cook...they wanted to stick...not sure if it was the batter or the pan!
I came upstairs to blog and Kathy came to the door asking us to come outside for a surprise.  The surprise was Isaac riding his bike.  I was momentarily afraid that the surprise was the present that I had heard that the cats had brought to Esther--a mole!  These kittens seem to be very good molers!  We like that!  Maybe there will be fewer and fewer mole tunnels through our yards!  Good kitties!

Thursday

Anyway...I think that it is Thursday!  It has been another one of  "those" days!  Woody got up really early and went on a six mile walk.  He has also worked in the yard off and on during the morning and afternoon.  Right now he is at Elijah's ball practice.  He will be coming shortly to get me so we can go to Joy and Esther's softball game.

I got another call today...another of the ladies in our Sunday School class was taken to the hospital via ambulance.  These calls have got to stop coming!  I talked to my other friend and she is doing very well and plans to come to Sunday School on Sunday.  And, I haven't heard from Erin today so I am assuming that "no news is good news!"  I just now put my hand on my cell phone so will try to check in on her in a little while.  The phone has rung off the hook today due to all that is going on with friends!  I have done a little towards making a doll dress that I have planned.  I have some of the pattern pieces pinned onto one of the fabrics that I am using.  This is quite a detailed dress for a doll...lots of pieces.

Well, I guess I had better go grab my bag with cameras and my water bottle and get ready to head out the door when Woody gets here.  Never too many dull moments around here!

Getting Out Day!

Both our friend and our granddaughter got out of the hospital today.  And, I think that both of them have spent time resting after they got home.  I did talk with Erin this morning and she sounded like she was feeling much better.  She got out of the hospital (ICU) a little after lunch.  They had to see how her blood sugar levels were after she ate lunch. When they were good, she was sprung!  She was ready to get back home.  She said that she wanted to get away from the noisy hospital.   Melany had a first today...it was the first time that she had ever missed the last day of school in all the years that she has taught.  She will go tomorrow as Wade is staying home from work to be with Erin.  Tomorrow is a day without children.  She will get to say good bye to the children on Friday when they have a short day to get their report cards.  Melany was glad that she had already been working hard at getting her room ready for the end of the school year.  There is always a lot for teachers to do in their rooms at the end of the school year...but there is even more if you are an art teacher! She is hoping to be able to finish her room tomorrow, but she is guessing that she will have to go back and finish up over the long Memorial Day weekend.

Woody walked four miles this morning.  He also worked out in the yard today.  It has been a very summery day.  I continued to work on getting more fabric scraps sorted and put away.  I have a big stack on the guest bed that needs to be put away in the storage tub for solid fabrics.  I just didn't ever find time to get down on my knees to get it slide it all back in.  I have sorted through a plastic shoe box that has velcro, elastic, zippers, snaps, hooks and eyes, and bias binding.  It is neat...at least until the next time I rummage through it to get what I need for a sewing project. After lunch I headed to the library to work for a while.  Donna, Fran and I worked on processing some new books.  After I got back home, I was tired and took a little nap before it was time to pop supper into the oven.  I guess I was tired because I took another little nap after I ate supper.  I noticed that Woody was dozing when I went downstairs a little while ago.  I guess it is a lazy evening for us!

Not Sure What Day It Is!

This has been one of those days when it seems much later in the week than it is.  All sorts of things have happened yesterday and today.  One of our friends was taken to Vanderbilt by ambulance yesterday afternoon...got the call in the evening.  Then later in the evening Melany texted me that Wade, she and Erin were heading to the ER in Murfreesboro because Erin's diabetes levels were dangerously high.  So I did a lot of texting with Melany keeping up with that situation.  It looks like our friend at Vanderbilt will be heading home tomorrow.  But Erin is still in the hospital in ICU.  She is on insulin through an IV and she has to stay in the ICU till she is back on insulin from her pump.  Erin is feeling much better, but her levels are still not what they want them to be so she will be on IV insulin at least through the night.  When I just messaged with Melany, she said that Erin was feeling better and was doing what she loves to do best...writing her "book" on her laptop. She has been writing on this book for years and at this point it is VERY long...but she continues on with it!

I was up pretty late keeping tabs on the Murfreesboro hospital situation and then Melany texted me pretty early this morning to let me know how Erin was doing.  Melany did go home and get some rest this afternoon and is now back at the hospital going to spend the night there.  This is Melany's last week of school...I think that tomorrow may be her last day with students, then Thursday they have an inservice/pack up their rooms day, and on Friday give out the report cards.  Not sure how much of the week Melany will be there!

Woody walked to the prayer room at church early this morning since he knew that he would be at the ball park this evening when he usually goes to the prayer room.  I got up and decided that today was the day to tackle the fabric scraps.  All the small ones are now once again corralled in plastic shoe boxes sorted by color.  I have several stacks of larger pieces of fabric that I still have to put away in their storage boxes under the bed in guest room.  But it is a job that is almost done...and will stay done till the girls or I drag out different scraps for projects.  I started a new box today since the boxes were getting too crowded.  That meant that I had to find a spot in my sewing cabinet to put that and with a bit of rearranging I managed to find a place for it.  I am getting to the point that I will be able to think about a new sewing project to start.  I think that it is going to be a doll dress to practice a couple of techniques that I have learned in my Facebook sewing club.

We have just gotten back from Elijah's baseball game.  It was another 8-9 game...but this time we had the 8.  It was a good game...so close!  It was hot at the start of the game, but clouds finally blocked the sun and that cooled it off quite a bit.  I have a feeling that it had rained somewhere not far off to do some of the cooling effect.  The clouds looked like they might rain on the game that is going on now...hopefully not.  The ball season is drawing to a close...just as school ends...that never makes sense to me.  I think that Elijah has two more regular season games and then a tournament...so just a couple more weeks of ball for him.  The girls didn't start their season as early as the boys so that season goes a bit longer.  They had a game last night.  Their team won despite not having Joy and Esther there to play.  They were in Arkansas at an Upward's end of the year banquet.  They drove back all the way from the other side of Little Rock today...they started out really early and pulled in about an hour before Elijah and Nathan needed to be at the ball field.

I guess that this day is about to come to an end...and I think that I have finally figured it out that it is Tuesday and not Thursday or Friday!  Now if we can just get everyone out of the hospitals!

Monday Rolls Around...Again!

Woody walked early again this morning.  Later in the morning he went to the Life Care Center and spent most of the rest of the morning there...getting home in time for lunch.  I spent most of the day on cleaning up sewing messes...mainly in the guest room where the children have their sewing lessons.  I'm trying to get all my notions, etc. back in "my" sewing room!  I made a hat for Esther's doll to match the outfit that she had made.  I had told Esther that I would make the hat so that was part of the clean up.  Of course now some of what had been in the guest room sewing room is now on my cutting table...and, that had been just about cleaned off.  Now I just need to put away pattern pieces and toss giblets of fabric and decide if there are any pieces that are large enough to save for appliques and other small things.  We did a pretty good job of using up two different fabrics by making the top, capris, and hat for Esther's doll. Do to all the sewing projects of one sort or another that the girls and I have done there is quite a lot of sorting that needs to be done of all sorts of fabric leftovers.  Right now they are residing in a bag and I need to get into that bag and sort through it and put them where they need to go = small scraps, large scraps, types of fabric, or file thirteen!

Woody went to ball practice at 5pm and then to the Furnace Room Prayer meeting and just got home.  We put off eating till he got home...so a late supper for us...which seems to happen more and more often these days in our busy lives.  I made a casserole for our supper and it is waiting on the stove so I will post this and go see to his supper!

From a Different Perspective

It was a very hot afternoon at the ball park.  We got there at 2pm and didn't get home till a little after 5pm.  I sat on the stands for a while, but it just got too hot so ended up standing under the stairs that go up to the press box leaning on the side wall of the concession stand building. It was shady there.  And the top two pictures show my perspective on the game from that spot. Not the best place for pics...but it definitely was much cooler there in the shade!  The first is the umps in between innings and the second is one of the times that Elijah was at bat...he's in front of the ump and catcher with an orange bat.

The A's gave Nathan a good birthday present = a win!  After the game they surprised him by singing Happy Birthday to him and then had mini cupcakes and drinks for the team.

Elijah came over quite early this morning and spent the day with us leading up to his ball game.  The rest of his family went to Kentucky for a program.  They got back just in time for the game to start.  By 5 pm they had traveled five hours, done a program, and played/attended/coached a ball game.  There is more travel for them this evening.  I'm not sure how they fit everything in at times!  Goosey (Woody) and Elijah went to the library together and also to Lowes to get some more plants for our gardens = tomato, eggplant, English thyme and also bought some seeds to plant.  While they were gone I put the finishing touches on the Sunday School lesson that I'm teaching tomorrow.  Elijah and Goosey had some batting practice while I cooked lunch.  We ate and by the time we finished it was almost time for Elijah to get dressed for the ball game.

Woody and I were very ready to settle in after the long afternoon in the sun and are looking forward to a quiet evening here at home! It has been a busy and tiring day!

I will end by wishing Nathan a "Happy 46th Birthday"...time does fly...how could he be that old?!?

Rainbow, Ball Game, & Birthday

 The rainbow started out our evening at the ball park...a good sign that the rain had moved on and that was just the start of good things for our evening.  Our team was playing the toughest team.  We had beat them once and they had beat us twice.  It was just one of those games that "we" really wanted to win...not that we don't want to win each game...but this one was just "one of those games" that a victory would be very sweet!  The other team went went in front four to nothing early on.  But our boys settled in and really played hard and came back to tie it.  Then it went back and forth...the other team went ahead by two...we tied it back up...then the other team went ahead by one...and we tied it...by this time it was getting rather late.  Number 2 (our Elijah) hit the ball in the last inning and knocked in the winning run!  Hooray A's!!!!!!  We had planned to go home after the ball game and celebrate Nathan's birthday (his birthday is tomorrow...but ball schedules and a gig for their family meant that we couldn't celebrate on his real day).  We questioned going through with the celebration when it got so late, but we decided that everyone's adrenaline was flowing after winning the game that it would be okay to continue the celebrating...so we had a late birthday party...surprising Nathan...well, a little bird by the name of Isaac sort of let it be known before Nathan got into the kitchen...but Nathan wasn't expecting it till he met Isaac on the stairway!  We had a yummy ice cream cake.

Thoughts back to Nathan's birth day...I was pretty sick at this time 46 years ago.  I had a 105 degree temperature and it wouldn't be too many hours till Nathan decided to make a rapid entry into this world at 2:52 am Pacific time on May 19, 1972.  I think that it got too hot in the oven for him!  Luckily my doctor had put me into the hospital earlier in the afternoon as I don't think that I would have made it to the hospital...as it was the doctor and Woody were only 20 min. away from the hospital and neither of them got there.  You wouldn't look at Nathan today and think that he was ever that scrawny 5# 12oz. baby boy who was born three weeks early. And, just think about how things/times have changed...back then he was rushed to the preemie nursery (doctors called him immature rather than premature) and we never got to do more than look at him through the nursery window...never touched or held him till he got to come home when he was six days old. I left the hospital several days before he did.  As a matter of fact three or maybe four days after he was born I attended a St. Louis Cardinal game in Candlestick Park in San Francisco!  What were we thinking?!?! Forty-six years later we still seem to be going to ball parks!
 

Rainy Thursday

The day ended up being rainy, but started overcast for our trip to and from McMinnville for my six month check-in with our personal care physician.  I didn't see her today as she was on vacation.  I met with one of her nurse practitioners.  I was in and out very quickly giving us two hours to get back to Tullahoma for Woody's appointment.  We got back in time for him to be able to walk to his appointment and of course he walked back too. And, the rain held off for his walk. It didn't start raining till after lunch, but it did rain quite a bit and stuck around for a while...and sounds like it may be starting up again.  Joy and Esther's game got cancelled due to the rain...so no ball game this evening.

The afternoon was so dark and quiet that I decided that it was a good afternoon to read and doze.  So I had a very lazy afternoon.  I did manage to get a load of wash done and in the dryer (now to get it out and put away!). And, I cooked a marinara sauce to go on angel hair pasta for our supper.  Woody decided to spend part of the rainy afternoon in the kitchen.  He made cole slaw (one of his favorite go-togethers is slaw and baked beans) and also a pan of brownies. His slaw is in the fridge getting cold for his lunch tomorrow. He cleaned up the kitchen after his cooking messes and I started cleaning up my cooking mess before coming up to blog. (A good excuse to rest from that job and go back later!)  I "plan" to go back down and finish cleaning up the kitchen shortly after I publish this.

I am teaching my ladies' Sunday School class this Sunday so I need to pick up my study materials and make heads or tails of that and make some sort of plans for the lesson.  I started the lesson while I sat down at the church on Tuesday waiting for food to be brought for the funeral dinner.  Now I need to get busy on it again.  Sounds like a plan for at least part of this evening.  Woody is reading and watching TV downstairs.  And, I am hearing more rain on the roof top...that sound might just lull me to sleep!

Hints of Summer

Well, school is over so that is the first hint of summer's approach...and then there is the temperature that is another hint along with pop-up showers along with humidity.  Summer is definitely on its way.

Woody worked in the yard or more accurately in the street.  He decided that the city wasn't going to come along and sweep up the last of the leaves and debris that were at the edges of our street so he took it upon himself over the last few days to deal with it himself.  He swept, raked, and shoveled the debris onto a tarp and dragged it off to a refuse pile.

Isaac and Joseph came over at the same time today and each did a little with me for about thirty minutes.  Their family needed to get on the road to head off for a gig today.  So school was over in a blink!  I then had library work to do.  I needed to get the latest order ready for us to work on them today during our work time at the church.  I also got a doctor appointment time changed.  I have my six-month check-in with my doctor tomorrow...but it had been changed for me to see someone else in her office because she was going to be away.  They neglected to tell me that the time changed as well.  When I got my email reminder I found out about the time change.  It was only a half hour change and under other circumstances it wouldn't have been a problem.  But tomorrow Woody also has a doctor appointment.  My appointment is in McMinnville about 45 minutes away and his is here in Tullahoma.  We needed time allowed for me to see my doctor and then have 45 minutes to get back to Tullahoma to see Woody's and the later appointment for me made it just about impossible.  I called to see if we could work out something else and they had an earlier appointment...even earlier than my original appointment so we will be heading off to McMinnville quite early (on my first morning that I don't have to set an alarm for school...will have to set one even earlier than usual).  But there should now be plenty of time for me to get my appointment in and for us to get back to Tullahoma for Woody's.

After lunch I headed off to the church for our weekly work time in the library.  On my way there I stopped at our pharmacy to pick up a prescription for me.  Then after we worked I headed to WalMart to get some over the counter medicine that I was out of.  I now have all my prescription medicine bottles packed up to take with me tomorrow.  My doctor insists on seeing my current prescription containers (with meds in them)...which in my opinion is bothersome!  But I do it to conform to her rules!  I have them next to my purse so I hopefully won't forget them in the morning.

After resting and reading for a little while after getting home from church and WalMart, I went downstairs and cooked our supper.  I am now ready to rest and read some more.

A Coming and Going Tuesday!

Tuesday has come and just about gone.  Woody walked early and went to the prayer room since he knew that we had a busy evening.  I had school...last "full" day of school for this school year.  Abigail and Joy split the long time today and read in the books that we have been reading together.  Abigail finished hers.  Joy and I got about half-way finished with the Nancy Drew book that she is reading.  She will now go on and finish it on her own.  Tomorrow I am just going to have Joseph and Isaac's school times and then summer vacation can begin!!! Woo Hoo!  A time teacher's love to kick up their heels (if only I still could!).

Not very long after lunch, I headed to the church with my potato salad. When I left, Woody was out having batting practice with the softball girls, Joy and Esther.  The pitching machine is for both baseball and softball.  While the mission group ladies went to the graveside service, I cut pies and waited for other food to arrive.  I was there for about 1 1/2 hours.  I got home thinking that we were going to a funeral visitation but in the end we didn't go.  So only one funeral today.  And, we also had only one balll game.  Joy and Esther's game was played even though it did rain some before and during the game.  But Elijah's game got called due to rain.  We are now home and ready to settle in for the evening...almost too much coming and going today!

End of School Year in Sight!

It has been sort of a head spinning Monday.  Woody walked early...getting ahead of the heat that the day promised.  I had school per usual with five of the seven.  Abigail didn't come over to read because Kathy's parents were leaving during her time.  Abigail gave Esther her long time today since Abigail was finished with her sewing project.  Esther finished the pair of pants to complete her doll's outfit.  So her sewing for this school year is finished.  So all have completed their long time projects for this school year.  Well...Esther still has her cross stitch project that she can work on during the summer if she chooses.  Elijah may want to do some summer science experiments.  We're also going to try to get the little boys to do some reading with me when they are in town so they won't lose what they have gained to this point!  Joseph is doing great sounding out short phonetic words and there is a neat app on my iPad that lets him do that so hopefully he will continue to do a little of that when he comes over.  Isaac is discovering that he can read a lot more books than he thought with just a little help from others. So I want him to keep that up.  We always have great plans to continue but then they are away more during the summer and we get out of the habit...but hopefully we can keep it up this year.  Their school year will be over Wednesday.

Woody went to the Life Care Center to have Bible study with Jeff and then visit with the residents.  He spent a good portion of the morning there.  As soon as lunch was over, I made a grocery list and headed to the grocery store to get needed ingredients for a potato salad that I have been asked to provide for a meal after a funeral tomorrow.  Tomorrow is a two funeral and two ball game day.  The lady who died was a member of our church but had lived close to her daughter for the last several years.  She had been a member of a mission group in our church for years and the mission group is providing a meal for family after the grave side service.  I am not a member of the group but have close friends in the group so I volunteered to make a potato salad that they needed and I'm also going to sit at the church with the food while the ladies in the mission group go to the service.  Then one of Nathan's best friend's mother died over the weekend and her visitation and funeral is tomorrow afternoon/early evening.  And, then the girls' softball game is at 5:30pm and Elijah's baseball game is at 7pm.  There is also a going away reception for a longtime member of our church late tomorrow afternoon.  I'm not sure how many of these we will be able to attend!  And...I thought that my head was spinning today!

The potato salad is in the refrigerator...and, I made enough for us to have some too...so part of a meal is ready for us!  I got the kitchen cleaned up and the dish washer running and I am ready to sit down!  Woody had baseball practice and the Furnace Room prayer meeting this evening.  I talked with a friend while I put the finishing touches on the potato salad which.made that preparation less tedious!  While I was talking, Elijah popped in and then a bit later Esther, Isaac and Joseph came in, too.  Then I realized that it was time for their parents' phone board meeting for their non-profit organization, Reflecting The Truth Ministries.  The children were supposed to play outside and when it got dark they came over here till Kathy came and got them...a bit quieter for their phone meeting that way!  They played quietly in the living room while I cleaned up the kitchen.  Woody was enlisted to pick up Graham at his Civil Air Patrol meeting. It is just the two of us so now...it is feet up time! I'm not sure that I will be able to keep my eyes open to read at this point in our day!

Fish Fry Saturday

Here's Mr. Mocking Bird, our bully bird.  He tends to swoop down and scare off other birds that come in to feed at our feeders.  I was very glad to see some of the chickadees come back the other day.  The smaller birds hadn't been coming to the feeders like they had been.  The woodpeckers don't seem to be bothered by his presence and don't fly away when he comes flying in.  I have noticed that a mocking bird has been singing in a nearby tree...not sure if this is a warning that he is near by and not to come too close or what.  I just don't want him to chase away other types of birds.  He does have a pretty song...not sure which bird that he is mocking but it is a rather loud but pretty song.

Woody got up early once again and walked four miles.  It is just as well that he is walking early as our days are really warming up.  After he got home, I helped him make a couple kinds of bar cookies to take to Sunday School tomorrow.  His grade Sunday School boys are "in charge" with bringing breakfast treats for the whole youth department.  They snack before Sunday School most Sundays.

This afternoon we headed towards Shelbyville to a lovely farm up on a hill between Tullahoma and Shelbyville for the annual fish fry that is a fund raiser for a crisis pregnancy center.  Our friends, the Hasty's, invited us.  We enjoyed visiting with them.  Nathan and Kathy and family weren't available to attend this year.  They had a gig today that prevented them from going this year. It was a very pretty afternoon, though, a bit warm.  We were glad to get seating under a tent to eat and visit...good to be out of the direct sun and every once in a while a nice breeze blew through.  Good eats as usual...and as usual probably ate too much!

Friday Night Baseball!

Woody and I have just returned from Elijah's ball game.  Elijah's team lost, but it was a good evening at the ball park. It was a bit warm at the start of the game, but once the sun went down it was very pleasant. I made our supper prior to the game or I knew that we wouldn't eat till very late.  I ate prior to the game and Woody waited till after (though, I am having another piece of chicken as I write this).  I had some leftover pasta sauce so decided that it would be a good time to make Chicken Parmesan.

This morning Woody and I went to Lowes and WalMart to look for herbs to plant in my herb containers.  We found a couple, but there wasn't a lot of choice for herbs at either place.  I guess we waited too long...but it is just now time to be able to plant the without concern of cold getting them.  We found dill and marjoram and Woody had already gotten us some rosemary.  Now to find some basil and thyme.  I think that our oregano from last year is going to come back and Woody planted some parsley a couple of weeks ago that seems to be coming up.

Then early afternoon Woody made a trip to Kroger for his weekly grocery trip.  He went to Aldis yesterday and didn't have anything on the list that he needed to get at WalMart so he didn't have as much running around as he usually does.

Early this morning Woody walked six miles.  Looks like he is getting back on a walking schedule.  

Good Game, Joy and Esther!

I just returned from the girls' softball game.  Woody didn't go tonight as he went to Elijah's practice.  Ball!  Ball!  Ball! in every direction that we turn!  I had to go before 5pm with Kathy and most of the crew as the girls had their team pictures taken tonight.  Because of the pictures the game didn't get started on time.  Graham had a Civil Air Patrol activity at one of the local churches and had to leave early from the ball park.  One of Graham's friends picked him up at the softball park.  The girls had a great game.  They won 13-6.  Joy got a hit and scored one of the runs...and, I think that she also walked and scored.  And both she and Esther made good plays fielding.  Their coach treated them to Dairy Queen so Kathy and the crew and I went to the DQ to wait on Joy and Esther to get their treats.  While we were there, Kathy got a text from Graham telling her that he was ready to be picked up from his meeting.  So we all headed out to their van and headed to pick him up.  And, after picking him up we headed home.  Quite a lot of planning goes into getting their family members from one place to another!  Nathan, Woody, and Elijah headed on home as our game ended as they were leaving their practice. Elijah was waiting for me when I got home from the ball park...he wanted to finish one of the science experiments that we started this morning.  Woody is watching TV and reading and I am planning to head to my chair to do some more reading.

Woody got up really early and walked six miles this morning.  I had school with the children.  Before Joseph got over here (Joseph's my first student), Woody had already left to take our Ford Fusion in for a recall...something about the steering column.  It was a quick fix.  Woody then went to the Credit Union and then made one grocery stop--Aldis, to have less grocery stops tomorrow when he does our usual grocery shopping.  After that he made a stop at the Post Office to mail a package.  I ate my lunch on the front porch watching the birds.  Later I was ready to rest my back in my recliner.  I read for a while.  And, then, before I knew it, or so it seemed, it was time to head next door to catch a ride to the ball park and for Woody to hitch one to ball practice.  Now we are home...ready to settle in for the evening.

Trying to Wake Up!

Well, I have been late blogging this week but the reason has been ball games...no excuse tonight...except that I ended up taking a nap after supper and just woke up!  Oops!  I hope that I can sleep when it is time to go to bed!

I had school this morning.  Again, the readers and I sat on the front porch and enjoyed a pretty morning while we read.  Even Abigail voted for reading outside since it was much quieter today...no mowers or tree cutters to compete with! Esther had her long time and finished the top she was making for her 18" doll.  She got started on the pants to go with the top.  Next week is the last week of school, but doll pants are so quick, I think that she will be able to finish...if not either she will come over to finish them or I'll finish them for her.

While the children were having school, Woody went on a four-mile walk.  He hasn't taken as many walks lately due to so much to do in the yard that equals exercise.

Woody made tuna salad for our lunch. After lunch, I headed off to the church to work in the library for a while.  I was the only library worker who went today so I mainly checked books in and out and shelved books and got an address from the church office that I needed to send a memorial gift letter.  So only stayed about an hour today.

Softball & Little League Evening

It was another busy Tuesday for ball games.  Joy and Esther had a game at 5:30 and Elijah had a game at 7pm.  We have been home for a little while.  Woody checked on the Cardinal game after we got home.  Games! Games! Games!  The girls won their game handily and Elijah's team lost by just a couple of runs.  Good games played by both teams!  The evening started out rather warm because we were sitting in the sun, but ended quite chilly by the time the sun went down.

We had school this morning.  It was another pretty day so my readers and I read outside on the front porch.  Abigail decided that she wanted to read inside as by the time she got there it was quite noisy...the neighbors across the street were having MORE trees taken down and Woody was mowing the front yard.  Joy and I worked on her sewing notebook.  It is caught up to date except for adding two pictures that we printed today which are drying.  She can tape them on their page next week...or when she comes over sometime this week.

Woody got the front yard mowed...a good job done for the moment.  After lunch, I headed off to get my hair cut and then ran an errand before coming home.  Woody was gone to another doctor appointment by the time that I got home.  He is having to check in with the nephrologist periodically as his kidneys have been compromised due to all his treatments over the years for melanoma...one thing gets better due to treatments, but it messes with something else in your body!  The doctor is just keeping a close watch on "things."

We ate an early supper...last night's leftover pasta and sauce.  Then we headed off to the ball games.  Woody went to the girls' game for a while and got to see Joy and Esther bat the three times that they batted and got to see them hit and score.  When it got closer to Elijah's game time, he headed off to their game and I stayed and rode to Elijah's game with Kathy and crew.  Another busy day in our household.  Our recliners are calling our names...Woody's downstairs in his recliner watching TV and probably reading and I'm heading into my recliner in our bedroom to read as soon as I publish tonight's blog.

Another Monday!

This robin is just waiting a turn to fly in a worm for the robin family babies that live up in the gutter on the corner of Nathan and Kathy's house.  I attempted to get a picture of the baby robins today.  I haven't looked at today's pictures yet.

I had a usual Monday school day with the neighbor grandchildren.  Joseph and then Isaac came over for their time.  All the readers sat on the front porch and read outside (and checked out the birds that happened to stop by during their reading time).  Abigail had her long time.  She finished another zipper bag for a friend.
While I was having school, Woody went to the Life Care to have Bible study with Jeff and then to visit with several other residents.  Later he worked some in the yard pushing the mower and doing some raking.  He has read, worked cross word puzzles, etc.  This evening he had ball practice with Elijah's team.

My gout has gotten better....so never really bad this time...thank goodness!  I just felt really tired yesterday...read and rested most of yesterday.  This afternoon I rested for a while and then worked on getting supper ready.  Isaac and Joseph came over and stayed during baseball and softball practices.  They ended up taking their bath over here and then we read stories for a while.  They are back home now.  Woody is downstairs having a late supper after ball practice and Monday night Furnace Room prayer meeting.  I'm ready to head to my chair and rest and read some more.  This Monday is about to come to a close!

Rainy Saturday

Here are a couple more of our bird visitors: a Red-Bellied Woodpecker and a Brown Creeper.   These are two of our visitors that really like the suet feeder.  It has rained a good part of the day and I didn't go out on the porch like I have the last few days. These pictures are from a couple of days ago.  I need to refill the suet feeder...probably the squirrels got the last of what was in it yesterday...this morning it was empty. I will refill it when it isn't raining!

Woody walked to the library this morning...before the rain arrived.  This was the first walk that he has taken in a while.  Lately he has been getting his exercise in on our yard: pushing the lawnmower and raking up debris.

I haven't done a whole lot today.  I dried and put away a load of clothes and also cooked a small pork roast in the oven to make pulled pork.  We enjoyed sandwiches made from that that for supper.

My gout continues to bother me...not really bad like it has been in the past, but it lets me know that "it" is there.  The gout rescue med hasn't cleared it up as fast as it has sometimes.  Anyway...I have stuck fairly close to my chair today and limited my trips up and down the stairs.  Rain + gout = good day for reading!

Play Ball...Again!

Coach and his son!

We just got home from Elijah's ball game.  The team left much happier tonight than they did the last game since they won tonight's game.  Lots of hitting and good pitching tonight.

Woody did our weekly grocery shopping this morning.  I put the groceries away when he got back home.  Woody did quite a lot of work out in the yard today mowing, raking, etc.

I did some more porch sitting after I filled up the goldfinch feeder.  While I was sitting out there we once again had quite a few birds come to eat.  I never saw any goldfinch today. Hopefully they will get word about the full feeder!

I have been doing quite a bit of reading over the last week.  I hadn't read much for a while so I guess I am making up for lost reading time.  I do seem to have a touch of gout.  Hopefully I have nipped it in the bud by taking my gout rescue med starting last night not long after I realized what the pain in my foot probably was.  So far it doesn't seem to be getting worse and I was able to go to the ball game tonight.  I have managed to get a couple of loads of wash done today.

The weather has definitely warmed up.  According to Weather Bug it got to 79 today. This is the first time that our upstairs felt quite warm to me.  I have been running the ceiling fan in our room for the last couple of days.

Warm Thursday

Today I had a usual Thursday school day with the neighbor grandchildren except Abigail didn't come to read.  She was helping her parents take the leftovers from their yard sale to another yard sale for missions.  The women's mission group at our church is having a large yard sale at the local mall tomorrow and Saturday so they took what they didn't sell at their sale to that yard sale.  Works out well.

Joseph tried a new lesson of making words with an app on the iPad.  He liked that...easier to pick up that alphabet than the one he has to get the letters out...as he said, all he has to do to pick up those letters is to turn off the iPad! All my readers read on the front porch again. Elijah had his long time.  He had been patiently waiting for a warm day so he could make a rocket out of a 2-liter bottle...today was the day.  Out of five tries we had one successful launch.  It shot waaaaay up into the sky...higher than our house.  He had an audience for this experiment: Joy, Esther, Isaac, Joseph and me.  We were all pretty impressed when it finally shot off into the sky!  Our school year is winding down, I think only two more weeks of school, but I hope that I can do things (experiments, reading, etc.) with them off and on during the summer when they are at home.

Woody had another doctor appointment.  This time for a recheck of his blood work trying to see how it compares with the last time (I think).  Woody, again, spent quite a bit of time out in the yard.  He is attempting to rake out leaves that are up against the house in one of the gardens...lots of bushes for him to pull through and under to get them all out.  I sat on the front porch for a while and read and watched for birds...not as many came around today as yesterday. We did have robins, mocking bird, tufted titmouse, red breasted woodpecker, red-headed woodpecker, mourning doves, cardinals, and a couple more.  So I guess that we did have quite a few stop by our yard.  Isaac and I filled all the bird feeders this morning except for the goldfinch feeder.  I am out of their seed so Woody plans to get some for them tomorrow since they seem to be frequenting our yard.  I just love to see a flock of those pretty yellow birds come flying in and settle in the tree.  Yesterday as I looked up I realized that there were quite a few of them perched in the same tree...it was hard to distinguish them from the leaves when looking up into the tree...they blended in despite their bright yellow color.  I think that you can see how they blend in with tonight's blog photo.  Isaac and I even made hummingbird food this morning and filled the hummingbird feeder after it cooled.  I haven't seen any hummingbirds, but I have had friends say that they have seen them and I was told by Elijah that he thought that he saw a hovering bird in one of our gardens the other day...so we'll see if our feeder gets visited by hummers.

Woody headed off to Elijah's ball practice a little before five and hasn't returned yet.  Quite a warm evening for practice.  It's looking like there will be no more freezes this season...time to plant a few more things.  I'm ready to get my herb gardens growing once again.

Beautiful 2nd Day of May!

We again had a beautiful day.  Woody has spent a lot of time outside doing various jobs in the yard.  He has mowed, raked, picked up sticks and leaves, etc.  I had a usual Wednesday of school with the neighbor grandchildren.  Joseph had his time with me and then the readers met me on the front porch and we read in the glider and watched birds.  Esther had her long time today.  She got farther along on her top for her doll...almost finished.  I ate lunch and then went to the church to work in the library for a couple of hours.  Donna and Fran joined me and we accomplished various library tasks including choosing some titles for our next book purchase.  I meant to stop at WalMart on the way home, but forgot to.  I wanted to get some seeds for the goldfinch which have found our yard.  After getting home, I sat on the front porch and read and snapped some bird photos.  Tonight's blog photo is one that I took today.  I am pretty pleased with my new lens.

Another Busy Day!

Lots of comings and goings once again today.  I had a usual school day.  Joy and I worked on getting her sewing notebook caught up during her long time.  Not long after school got underway, Woody left to take a friend to McMinnville.  he was gone a good part of the morning.  We ate lunch and then headed out the door to vote and deliver part of a friend's dinner. I was ready to sit for a while when we got back so sat on the front porch and read and took some bird photos. It was a beautiful day.  Though, I have been sneezing quite a bit this afternoon...lots of pollen in the air! I was going to post a photo or two that I took of our birdie friends, but haven't had time to get the pics off the camera. Woody had a mid-afternoon doctor appointment to have a test done that there wasn't time for yesterday at his appointment. It wasn't long after he got home from the doctor that he and I left (a little after 5pm) to go to the Joy and Esther's softball game.  Woody only stayed a little while at their game as he, Nathan, and Elijah needed to get to Elijah's ball field...two games in one night... hard to get to see all!  I stayed at the softball game and rode with Kathy and the crew to Elijah's game after theirs was over. The girls lost but, I think, had a fun time playing...though, were a bit down due to their loss!  We got to Elijah's game to see him just coming up to bat in the first inning.  Elijah's team also lost...but they definitely had a good time playing...win or lose!  Elijah got to pitch the last inning of the game.  It was his first time to pitch during an actual game.  He did a very good job for his first time on the mound.  We are now home.  Joy and Esther just came over and gave us the Krispy Kreme donuts that we bought from them for their softball fund raiser.  A nice snack after four long hours at ball fields!