Leap Day 2020!

This photo from our barn trip yesterday is sort of surreal with the clouds floating over the hill tops and then the large area of snow on the hillside...and then such a pretty bucolic scene at the base of the hills.  There are at least two barns in this photo.  Yesterday's trip unfolded more of the beautiful Tennessee rolling hillside scenery.  We had a wonderful time together...chatting, catching up on our families' doings, and snapping many, many photos between us.  We ate at next to a grist mill in what was probably a storage building at one time for the mill...The Readyville Mill Restaurant.  I had a yummy sandwich made with smoked turkey, mixed salad greens, melted Brie cheese, and apple butter spread on the bread.  Today I found a similar recipe online to be able to print off to remember so I can replicate the sandwich again sometime.  I will be posting photos for a while of this trip as we got quite a variety of barns and also a few animals and other interesting sites along the route we took. Carolyn and I are glad that Marie, who drives, has such a good sense of direction...at times we had no idea of where we were, but Marie always seemed to know if she was driving south, north, east, or west!  Thank goodness...as we really drive in and around and back and forth with lots of stops along the side of the road to snap the next photo...always hoping that that the road stays clear of other vehicles...Ha!...which is impossible, but we find pull offs or sometimes go back to get the ideal angle!    Let's just say we have a lot of fun!  And, the three of us come away with LOTS of good photos...upwards into the hundreds for each of us...thank goodness for filmless technology!  I have no problem shooting lots and then deleting the blurry ones after I get home...and, still have many that I consider "keepers!"  We almost didn't go on our barn trip because we woke up to snow on the ground, but it dissipated quickly and we decided that it would be safe to travel...and it was.  This was the first of our barn trips that we got a few barns in the snow before it melted away.

Woody held down the fort yesterday, but I think he was gone almost as long as I was when he added up the time to get our groceries and run errands with his friend.  I think he only beat me home by about 1-1/2 hours.  He left the house about 8:15am and I left at 8:30.  He, of course, came home to unload our groceries (I'm thankful that grandchildren were available to do what I usually do...bring the groceries in!) and rest for a while and then headed off to pick up his friend.  He said that he didn't
get home till after 3pm and I got home around 4:30pm.

Today I stayed home and did some cooking...I roasted red peppers in preparation to make Woody's Sweet Red Pepper Sauce (his catsup).  Then I roasted a chicken and sliced it and also got pieces of chicken that I will use in soup or a chicken and rice casserole.  I froze the carcus for future chicken broth/stock making.  We don't need any at this time...but I will have the bones when we do need some and I won't have to cook a chicken to make broth/stock.  I had planned to do more cooking, but my back gave out...and the recliner beckoned!

Woody made his weekly trip to the public library.  I noticed that he was back home, but hadn't come in.  He was basking in the warmth of the car.  He stays cold most of the time (part of kidney disease) and was enjoying the warmth...he stayed out there quite a while.  I went out and sat with him for a little while and got too hot...I think the excess heat caused muscles in my back to relax too much and I got out of the car and had a muscle spasm...thus had to sit with a heating pad on my back for a while after that.  That may not be what caused it but it made me suspicious...my back hadn't acted up in some time and I had to be really careful the rest of the afternoon.  It does seem better now that I have rested it.

And, that sums up the extra day for this Leap Year!

Barn Trip! No More Words Needed!

How Can It Be? Graham's 18!

He received several gifts in groups of 18!

What more can an 18 year old want than some free sandwiches at Chick Fil A!

And, like most teens of 18 he likes those rectangular paper gifts.

A new speciality made by Abigail for this special birthday: A Candy Bar Explosion Cheese Cake.

I will vouch that it was decadent!

Happy, happy 18th birthday, Graham!!!  It seems just like yesterday when I heard you cry over the phone and I said, "Don't cry, Graham!  Grammy loves you." At that moment I realized that our names sounded almost exactly alike!  Of all the grandchildren, you were the oldest when we first saw you in person because you were born the farthest away from us...Texas.  We didn't see you till you were almost a month old...during my Spring break from Montessori school.  But of all the grandchildren you have lived closest to us for the most years...right next door.  Goosey and I are blessed to have you for our grandson!  

Wednesday Wanderings

I'm having trouble adding a photo to the blog this evening.  I guess I will go on and write it and then see if I can add a photo after I write it.  I keep getting a message that they can't copy the photo to my blog...a new message that I haven't seen before.  Wondering if I have hit the limit for photos in the blog.  (Finally let me add a photo as an edit!  I would go down and get rid of the last paragraph but it is very hard to get to the bottom of the post without messing up all the spacing!) When I went out to the mailbox today I was greeted by lots of dwarf irises and mini jonquils.  So pretty...it is really trying to be spring!

Woody stayed close to home today.  But I did venture out.  I ran an errand to Walmart before heading to work in the church library.  Donna and I didn't have a lot to do except for maintenance in the library so didn't stay as long as we usually do.

I still don't have a lot of energy (thinking that the antibiotics may be making me feel this way?) so I came home and read and dozed till it was time to warm up leftovers for our supper.  I got the kitchen cleaned up and the dishwasher running and I am back upstairs thinking about doing some more reading...close to the end of another book.

We have had some drizzle today and it rained enough for the automatic windshield wipers to come on when I was driving from Walmart to church.  Snow flurries have been talked about...and, I looked out the window a few minutes ago and, sure enough, I saw snowflakes flying through the air when I looked at the street light.  There's not supposed to be any accumulation.  Crazy weather as winter attempts to transition to spring...back and forth...back and forth!

And, the blog still won't let me add a photo.  I think I will post it and then see if I can add it as an edit.  If not...then...no photo tonight!

Sunshine Brought Shadows

It was nice to see the sunshine today...seeing it stream through the windows was really a "pick-me-up!"  It was nice to see shadows cast due to the shining sun.  But we had best not get too used to this sunshine and shadow phenomenon as more rain is predicted for tomorrow.  We will take any short snatches of sun that we can get!

I had school this morning...a usual school day.  Esther had her long time with me today as she flip-flopped her day with Elijah.  She painted.  She finished up a painting of a cat's head and started another one that involves color and a silhouette.  She got the background color done and will do the silhouette next time.

Woody and I have pretty much taken it easy again today.  He did venture out and got the mail today.  And my one time out was to take the garbage can and items for recycling out to the curb.  The rest of the day we just did little bits of this and little bits of that...just enough to get us through the day.  Now we are settled in for the evening.  Woody is watching the latest debate.  I have retired to our bedroom to read and relax.

  

More Puddles!

It has been another rainy day here in Middle Tennessee.  As I write this, I am still hearing rain drops on the roof.  Lots of puddles in our and neighboring yards and in the streets.

The school day was changed around a bit, as Kathy needed to go out to the Motlow Baptist Collegiate Ministry building earlier than usual.  This is one of the days that meals are provided for students, faculty, and others.  Monday meals are provided by area churches' mission groups.  And, today's meal was provided by mission groups in our church.  Kathy is a member of one of those groups so she needed to head out to get ready for the meal.  She took Joy and Esther with her to help.  The three youngest heded over to our house with their school work to do here. They worked and I nabbed the one I needed at particular moments and had my school with that child.  It worked well and they got most of their homeschooling work done along with having time with me for my school time with them individually.  When Abigail got home from Montessori, Graham came over here and got the three boys and the five of them headed out to help with and eat today's meal.

I have a reprieve from my dental "ordeal."  I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to be put to sleep like I was the last time.  The dentist scheduled to extract my tooth doesn't do sedation so we called the dentist who did my extraction the last time and scheduled with him.  And, I get a big reprieve as it won't happen now till the first part of April.  I'm glad that I am no longer hurting!  I feel much better about doing it this way.  I had a very bad experience once with an extraction that gave me nightmares for sometime after.  That is the reason that I chose sedation the last time.  I "thought" that I could be brave once again, but came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to be able to...so just call me chicken, but I will sleep through this one once again!

Woody just returned from the Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting.  So we are all in and dry for another quiet evening of reading and TV watching...once again nothing happening that is very earth shattering (especially since I don't have to dread tomorrow's dental appointment).

Simple Saturday

A little of this a little of that and a lot of resting...that has been my Saturday.  Woody's has been sort of that way too, except he actually ventured out to go to the public library.  I have also talked to several friends on the phone.  Woody has done his usual crossword puzzles.  We both have read.  He has watched some sports on TV.  My only TV wasn't viewing, but overhearing when I did a few tasks in the kitchen.  So...like I said at the start and with the title...a simple Saturday doing a little of this and a little of that!  Definitely nothing earth shattering!

Friday Doings

The photo shows part of Woody's doings.  He headed out to do our weekly grocery shopping fairly early this morning.  These pretty red peppers were part of his shopping...guess roasting them and then   making them into red pepper sauce is in their and my future.

While he was doing our shopping, I got busy in the kitchen getting ready for skinning and boning some chicken thighs.  Later I got out our recipe for Crispy Chicken Thighs and made those.  They are pretty easy to cook and have several spices added to the Panko bread crumbs that make up for no salt.  With the bones of the chicken I got homemade chicken stock simmering on the stove.  Those were my cooking accomplishments for today.  I did put the groceries away when he got back from the store.  Other than that I have taken it easy and read and rested.

Woody rested for a while after he got home from the store and then headed out to run errands with his friend.  He was gone till almost 4pm...a long day of errand running.  He was very ready for a piece of the chicken when he came in...a very late lunch.  He is now happily ensconced in his recliner watching his Friday evening news programs.

I've got the dishwasher running and am ready for my recliner and a good book.  Looks like another typical "exciting" Friday evening in this Dorrell residence!

Spring One Day...Winter the Next

We had snow flurries for a good part of the morning...sometimes coming down pretty thick.  But none stuck to the ground or the roads in our part of town at least.

Woody and I ventured out to go to the dentist.  It was as I feared...I will have to have the tooth pulled.  For the time being I am on antibiotics to clear up the infection and will get it pulled next week.

The rest of the day we have pretty much stuck close to our recliners.  I have read and watched some programs on my iPad and napped.  Woody has done his usual daily crossword puzzles, watched some tv, read, and attempted to nap.  He claims at times that he doesn't sleep during the day...but let's just say I have caught him snoring in his chair at least once each day!

Well, I'll keep you posted on whether it is more spring like or winter like...around here at this time of the year it is a back and forth battle between winter and spring.  I guess it is okay that winter still has us in its grips since it is still officially winter!  Guess we can't complain...at least not yet...but give it another month and Spring will be official...then winter can step back!

Another Sign of Spring

When I went out to the mailbox today, I noticed that our dwarf iris are showing their little heads above the mulch.  I will say that tonight's picture is from another year...they aren't up this much yet.

Today has been another stay inside day.  I didn't even go to the church library today per usual.  I talked with Donna last night and gave us the day off today.  I'm a little under the weather with a tooth problem.  We'll see how much of one when I go to the dentist tomorrow.  On Monday I noticed that a tooth was a bit sensitive.  And, yesterday one side of my face began to swell.  Just call me chipmunk face!  I did do a little cooking today, as I may feel even less like cooking tomorrow.

Woody has also stayed close to the home front today doing his usual daily crossword puzzles, reading, and watching TV.  That about sums up our day!  We are both settling into our recliners to finish out the day.

Domino Effects

Elijah worked with making domino patterns today during his long time.  He made three really neat ones...I took videos of the other two...this is the only still that I took.  This one only knocked down half the pattern he made.  The other two were successful—the entire pattern got knocked down.  The middle apparatus didn't turn the way he expected.  He later figured out a better way to use the spinner...better to have it positioned vertical rather than horizontal.

School was a little off kilter today as Isaac and Joseph went to the. BCM with their dad for some extra juggling practice.  I think that Nathan is calling it juggling school.  Esther and Elijah both came over to read and then Elijah came back for his long time.  Once he got all the dominoes picked up, he waited for a bit of a break in the rain and then ran home before the storm that thunder storm that was approaching got to us.  I told him that Grammy didn't have the best lunch choices for him so he decided to get a little wet and get home for what their lunch offering!

Both Woody and I have stayed in and kept dry.  I did take a rain picture to use tonight and then realized that it is on a camera that doesn't have WIFI link to my iPad.  It's easier to download directly to my iPad and only one of my cameras can do that.  So I decided to go with Elijah's domino effect pattern.  Here's one he did with 100 dominoes after it all fell down:

Anticipating

When deciding on a blog photo for tonight, I decided on a barn...perhaps in anticipation of a planned "barn trip" photo excursion next week.  Looking forward to it.

I have had a stay-at-home day.  We had a usual Monday school day.  Then after I ate lunch I made a small pot of soup for me: chorizo and potato soup.  I had some for supper...pretty good...a bit of a Mexican take on potato soup.  Towards supper time I made Woody his pasta primavera with sweet peppers and onions over bow tie pasta.

Woody has been in and out today.  It is a very pretty day which he decided to take advantage of and try to visit some of his Deacon family shut-ins.  It took several trips out to accomplish seeing them all or at least delivering some church literature to them.  One of the ladies that he tried to visit wasn't home so he left her literature and will try to call her tomorrow to make sure that she got what he left.  After Woody ate some of his pasta primavera, he and Kathy headed off for the Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting.

Once he returns, I'm sure that he has a quiet evening of reading and/or tv watching.  I have the kitchen all cleaned up and the dishwasher running, so I think my plans are to read...working on finishing another book.

I think that rain is predicted to return tomorrow.  We have been enjoying sunshine for several days now.  And, today's temperatures were very pleasant to go along with all that sunshine.  I guess we will adapt back to rainy conditions...if necessary!

Just Another Saturday

Today has been one of those days that just seems to pass by...nothing outstanding done...just a day as usual...I guess you could say a day like most days!

I got up and thought that I was going to do some cooking, but instead I just looked through recipes and found ones that I can cook with the ingredients that we have on hand.  Having that list will help me throughout the week when I decide what I "feel like" making.  None of that cooking happened today.  We had enough leftovers in the fridge to get through another day without a lot of effort on my part.  My only other accomplishments were finishing another book, doing a couple of loads of wash, getting clean clothes out away, and dozing in my chair.  Woody got in his weekly trip to the library and also running another errand for his friend.  I do have something that I just found out that I need to do...prepare a lesson for my Sunday School class for tomorrow morning.  Our main teacher is not feeling well this evening so is afraid that she won't be able to go tomorrow.  Guess that is next on my "to-do" list!

Happy Valentine's Day 2020!

Pictured above is one of my accomplishments of the day = heart-shaped brownies.  I came across this idea on Pintrest and decided it would be fun to take a plate of these next door as a Valentine treat.  Here's how you make them heart shaped: put cupcake papers in a square "brownie pan," fill them with batter and then place a small ball of tinfoil into one of the corners making a heart shape.

Woody did our grocery shopping this morning.  Then attempted to run errands with his friend, but he didn't come to the door.  Woody went back over around 3pm and found him at home and they ran errands then.  Besides the heart brownies, I made a pot of Mother's Boston Baked Beans.  That pretty much filled in my day...with a little reading fit in here and there...along with a bit of a doze while waiting for my baked beans to come out of the oven.  

It's going to be another cold night...down into the 20's.  They are warning about pipes freezing...guess it is a night to open base cabinets in the bathrooms and kitchen and maybe set a couple of faucets to dripping slightly.  We don't want frozen pipes!

   

We Were Clueless!

I mentioned last night in the blog that we had just had a strong storm blow through, but that it was over quickly.  Well...not long after I published last night's blog, Nathan and Isaac arrived filling us in on what had happened on our street and at our church.  They came in saying that they had to evacuate the church during the Wednesday night activities.  Due to the wind blowing down a tree (above photo) which took down power lines and that the telephone/electric poles had snapped off in the alleyway at our church and that power lines were lying on ground and also draped near church roof.

He also said that there was a tree down at one end of our street and another tree down on the street

that T's into ours.  There were work crews at both spots and that there was only one way to get to our street at that moment.  We never heard any trees fall or anything once the storm blew through.  I almost mentioned hearing sirens when writing the blog, but in the end didn't...and definitely didn't realize that they were actually on our street!  I think that something else must have fallen as after the power company cleared both the streets in our neighborhood, I later saw red lights flashing and looked out and at that point we had fire engines.  I think that the first was just a large limb that had cleared and that later an entire tree fell.  Here's the picture that I took out the guest room window last night:

And, here's a picture taken this morning:

It is said that we had 60 mile per hour straight line winds blow through when the front passed through.  Quite a bit of damage all over the town...the roof was blown off the restaurant that my Sunday School class ate at last Saturday morning.  Our church closed its doors today while repairs to the utility poles and wires were made.  Power was out for a lot...ours did not go out...the Internet was out for many who use the local fiber optic Internet...LOTS of trees were downed or at least large limbs were broken off.  The truck in the top photo ws parked across the street from the main building at our church.  It belonged to church members...our town made the Nashville news both last night and this morning.  I guess they were broadcasting from outside our church this morning.  As far as we know we had no damage except for lots of branches down in our yard.  And, the only surprise this morning for the neighbors (Nathan and Kathy and family) is shown in my last photo for the night:

Oops!  Their trampoline decided to do some jumping on its own!  This is Kathy's photo that I captured from Facebook.  I'm just noticing that the yellow on the ground used to be a slide attached to the playground...guess it was a causality, too...glad it didn't do any damage to the house.  I guess the porch stopped it from flying on over to our house.  Our house is the cream colored siding beyond their porch.

Hopefully things will stay calm around here for a while. Woody and I both said how strange it was that we had no clue that all this happened...just sitting tight in our house...oblivious!! 

Same Song...2nd or 3rd or...Verse!

We have just had the front of the storm pass through.  It rained and blew super hard for a little while...now we are just left with the rain.  I think that the rain will be with us for a while.  We are starting to be used to the sound of rain on the roof and windows.

Woody headed out fairly early this morning to go to the oncologist office here in Tullahoma.  Last week his hemoglobin was low and they wanted to check it a week after he had his anemia shot.  It had started to go back up so he didn't get sent for a transfusion...thankfully!

Knowing that rain was heading our way again, I decided to leave earlier than usual to work in the church library so I could make a stop at Walmart first.  I needed my over-the-counter allergy medicine.  I was in and out quickly and then headed to church. Donna and I only worked an hour since we were pretty much caught up.  We checked in books, shelved books, and straightened books
on shelves...and, of course, caught up with each other.  I also mended a book that the pages had come away from the spine.  I left the book for the glue to dry.  Time will tell if it is glued enough.

We are in for the night keeping dry and just relaxing.  This is a good night to read and/or watch TV.  I finished another book earlier today...one of the ones that I got at the public library on Saturday.  I heard something on the way home from the library about how the Internet has changed our way of thinking...that very few read books these days because their minds can't concentrate a long time on a book.  I know that I probably do too much "screen time," but I am thankful that I can still enjoy reading a good book!  Lately I look forward to needing a break from whatever I am doing so I can sit down and read.  I go through times where I read a tremendous lot and then there will be times that I concentrate on doing something else like sewing or hand embroidery or whatever I am "into" at that time.  It's reading spurts like I have been having that get me ahead in my goal of reading a book a week...then when I have lulls in my reading I won't get behind in that goal even if I don't read a book
that week.  At this point in the year I am reading an average of three books a week...so ahead of my goal at this point...I know that it will level out and by the end of the year it will be closer to the one book a week.  The number of books I read aren't all that important...I'm mainly just glad that I haven't lost my love of reading because of the Internet.

LOTS of Rain = Fog

Fog was settling in over Lake Tullahoma this afternoon.  The atmosphere around here is saturated.  The rain stopped this morning, but more is on the way.  The ground is saturated also.  You squish when you walk on the ground.  It took a bit for me to find places to walk that I wouldn't be bogged down when I went to empty the compost bucket in the compost pile this afternoon.  Squish! Squish!  Slippery underfoot too!

I spent the morning cooking.  I made a pot of potato soup and was glad that I had when it has turned back to much cooler temperatures.  I also skinned and deboned some chicken thighs.  Then I made spicy crumb coated chicken thighs.  Once again we have some eating choices in the fridge.

Woody headed out while I was cooking.  Woody took his friend to pick up the friend's CPAP machine and get instructions on how to use it.  Woody gets more reading time in when he takes his friend on these medical errands.  Woody was gone most of the morning.  I headed out to get my hair cut before he got back.  I think he was glad to find the chicken that I had left for his lunch!

A little while ago Esther and Isaac came over to let us know that they are home.  They did Upward's banquet programs in three states this weekend and yesterday.  They did six programs in Texas on Saturday, one in Mississippi on Sunday and one in Missouri on Monday.  They crossed the Mississippi River four times in their 5 days away and each time they crossed on a different bridge...so 4 crossings on 4 different bridges.

Think It Will Rain?!?

Once again it has rained most of the day.  I know that I woke up around midnight last night and it was raining and I think that it rained most of the rest of the night and then a good part of today.  We are in a lull at the moment, but more is coming.

I decided that I wanted the sun to shine so I worked in the kitchen most of the morning and some this afternoon.  Cooked items to eat were getting slim in the fridge so it is time to once again get busy and do some cooking.  I made more sweet red pepper sauce (Woody's catsup).  And, made chicken fried steak for lunch.  I have more cooking planned for tomorrow.

Up to a little while ago, Woody stayed in and kept dry.  He left a while ago for Monday night Furnace Room Prayer meeting at church.  I am sure that he was glad that the time to leave was in a lull in the rain.  My only venture out today was to get the mail and I found a down time in the rain so didn't get wet and didn't have to use an umbrella.

The ground is so saturated after last week's rain, that it can only get worse as the rains come over these next couple of days.  Last week Melany had two days off from her school due to flood conditions.  Tullahoma City schools were the only schools in the surrounding areas that had school.  Our city school system doesn't have school buses, whereas all surrounding areas do...those surrounding areas have lots of country roads that flood easily.

Melany and Erin came for a short visit yesterday afternoon.  It sounded like Melany had enjoyed being off.  She always looks forward to "snow days" and I think is accepting that this year they are coming as "flood days!"  She's wondering if they will have more off this week since it is predicted that we will have heavy rain over several days this week.  I have seen that several schools are starting several hours late tomorrow.  That may change if the heavy rains predicted over night happen.

Remembering to Breathe!

I spent the afternoon remembering to breathe as I did the latest stitching on my small wall hanging.  There is at least one reader of our blog who understands and probably chuckles when she reads about having to remember to breathe!  Now I will let the rest of you in on what I am talking about!  This afternoon I did some free-motion quilting on the machine.  Sometimes it is called stippling and sometimes meandering.  You run the machine with the foot peddle, but the feed dogs are down on the machine and you have to push the quilted piece under the needle and you control the length of the stitches.  And, sometimes you get to concentrating so hard that you end up holding your breath.  Melany and Nathan's fifth grade teacher in later years taught many quilting classes here in town and she would tell her quilting pupils to relax and "don't forget to breathe!"  And, this afternoon as I was running this quilted piece under the machine needle, I had to remind myself several times to breathe! I am another step closer to having the wall hanging finished.  Next I will square it up and then it will be time to add the binding.  I hadn't found time to work on this in a while and enjoyed sitting at my machine once again.

I was off bright and early this morning.  Our Sunday School class met for breakfast at a local restaurant.  We had a good time as we always do when we get together.  We enjoyed good fellowship and good food!

When I got home, Woody was ready to go to the public library for his weekly visit.  Since I had my coat on, I decided to go with him this time.  I had one book that I have been waiting on for quite a while in e-book form that the library had a "real" copy of and I decided that I would get it so I won't have to wait so many weeks for it.  I found another book that I also have on hold as an e-book and got that one too, along with another.  So I am well supplied with books at the moment.  Four from the public library (I also got the next Little House book for Isaac...the copy at the church library is checked out at the moment so we will start reading it from the public library copy.), two from the church library, and one e-book checked out on my iPad.  I have started both church library books, one of the public library books, and have the one e-book started.  So I am in the midst of four books as well as the chapter books that I am reading with the children.  I figure as long as I can keep that many plots straight that my memory is still working!   The only problem with plots that I have had lately is that I am reading the first Little House book with Isaac and reading a much later one with Esther.  So I have Laura Ingalls as a youngster in one book and that same Laura has married and become Laura Ingalls Wilder in the one I am reading with Esther.  One time I got confused when they were talking about Pa going to help his father...and, I am thinking how could he when they live so far apart...then realized that in the one I was reading with Isaac that they still lived close...whereas in the one that I was reading with Esther, they had moved off from the Big Woods and on to the prairie! But if that is all that confuses me in a day, I would say that is okay!

A Dusting

Look at the picture that I captured out our bedroom window late last night!  You can see the snow coming down if you look at the street light.  The way it started out I thought that we would wake up to a bit more snow on the ground than we did.  This morning it wasn't covered this much.  We have really had a variety of weather over this last week!

Woody did our weekly grocery shopping bright and early this morning.  Then he ran errands with his friend.  While he was gone I decided that I wanted to bake...snowy days always make me want to bake.  I ended up making cornbread muffins.  Snowy days also seem like good reading days to me and Woody and I both got in some reading time.  I finished another book.  I also rested my eyes for a while...I imagine that Woody did too.  All in all it has been a quiet and relaxing day for the most part.

Soggy Underfoot

It finally quit raining this morning...after pretty much raining all night and most of the day yesterday. Creeks are running high!

I stated off the day making pancakes for our breakfast.  Woody had been wanting them and he was out of oatmeal so this was a good day to have them.  Isaac was my only student this morning.  Joseph had a doctor appointment.  And, I think the rest were getting ready to head out for a ministry gig.  Isaac had his spelling lesson with me, then we finished Little House in the a Big Woods and then he worked on his K'nex build for his long time.  This build uses a motor and gears.  It is a replica of an amusement park ride.  I believe that there is a challenge after he gets this built and sees how fast it runs...then he has to figure out how to make it go faster or slower by changing the size of the gears.  He's almost got it built...this last part uses small parts and is a bit tedious, but he is sticking to it to get it finished.

Once Isaac left and I made sure that no one else was going to come over, I headed off to run an errand for Woody.  He has two plastic "ski" glides on the back legs of his walker.  He has worn out one of them...wore right through it.  I checked with a local medical supply store to see if they had them, which they did.  Yesterday it was just too wet to head off to get them so since it had stopped raining this morning and school was over, I decided to go get them.  Nathan helped us get it on...well, really helped us get the plastic circle out of the leg and then popped on the new one.  So Woody is once again gliding along with his walker.

This afternoon, Woody headed off to visit and pray with a friend who was recently diagnosed with
melanoma.  His friend recently had surgery and will soon begin immunotherapy like Woody has had. Since Woody has "been there, done that," he thought he could lend some encouragement.  What is amazing is how much has been learned about melanoma and now more ways to treat it than when Woody began is journey with melanoma.  His friend will be getting what out Woody into remission...but when Woody got it was still experimental and the only way Woody was able to take it was for other treatments to have failed...now they are using it to start with as it has been approved for melanoma.  Great strides continue to be made in the medical field in regards to melanoma.  When Woody was diagnosed, melanoma was almost a certain death sentence...Woody was given the probability of less than a year to live.  Thankfully he got in on drug studies that kept him going until they came up with an immunotherapy drug that finally out him in remission...eleven years ago this drug wasn't even an option...it became an option just shortly before Woody had run out of options
with other drug studies he had been on.  We've seen a lot of water go under the proverbial bridge in his eleven years experience with Melanoma.  We pray for Woody's friend that Keytruda works for his melanoma like it has for Woody's!

It's Raining! It's Pouring!

This photo was what it looked like around 1pm today...note that it is dark enough for the street light to have come on.  But at the moment it is coming down in torrents.  It has rained most of the day today...and, the heavy stuff is just arriving.

Woody went to the oncologist office here in town for his monthly shot for anemia and a B-12 shot.  He said that he got into the office dry, but was not so lucky to get back into the house dry.  About 11am, I contacted Donna so we could decide if there was that much at the church library that really needed to be done.  We decided that we could stay home and stay dry.  I'm so glad that we came to that decision as it was storming when we usually head to the church to work.

I did manage to get some cooking done today.  We were totally out of chicken broth aka "liquid gold."  I had saved/frozen the carcus of the chicken that I roasted a week or so back.  I froze it for just this reason...that I could make broth when I needed it and not have to cook another chicken.  I freeze it in two-cup portions...got 5 portions in the freezer and there are three more waiting for the containers to freeze them in.  When the ones in the freezer are totally frozen, I will take them out and wrap them individually and then use the containers to complete the job...unless I have used what is in the refrigerator in some recipe prior to that happening!  I also made a meatloaf for our supper tonight.  And, all the while it was pouring outside my kitchen was sunshiny!

Surprise Find!

Look what I found late this afternoon when I went to pull the garbage can out to the road.  I knew that the daffodils and jonquils were up and budding, but I didn't know that some had bloomed.  Definitely hints of Spring...but I'm pretty sure that this mild spell isn't going to last this early in February!  We'll enjoy it while it is here.  We had a drizzling rain off and on today.  I guess the harder rain is on its way.

I had almost a normal school day.  Isaac didn't come as he went with his dad to the Baptist Collegiate Ministry center today...today they went to the Motlow Campus in Smyrna, TN.  Nathan is helping to get a BCM started on that campus.  Elijah enjoyed his long time...he likes the time best if he ends up with something to eat!  Today he did an "experiment" of making donuts out of canned biscuit dough and cooking them in the air fryer.  It worked and he ended up with dessert for his family's lunch and also he decided to share the donut holes with his friend across the street who has a birthday tomorrow.  His little friend is going to be six so he is going to give him six donut holes.

Woody headed off late morning to run errands with his friend and also made a stop at the pharmacy to pick up some of his prescriptions.  The rainy overcast day made it a good day for me to have a lazy afternoon and I read for a while...finished another book and started a new one.  As soon as I returned that e-book, I found out that I had another e-book ready for me to check out that I had requested.  So I started reading that one. I fixed supper, cleaned up the kitchen and am ready for more recliner time!  Woody is ensconced in his recliner in the family room with the TV and books and crossword puzzles.  Looks like another quiet evening in our household!

Back to Monday...Again!

Monday turned up once again!  Imagine that!  Woody went out fairly early this morning and worked in the yard...filling in places with dirt and planting more grass seed.  It was really a mild day...I think that it was the precursor to rain heading our way.  The children from Isaac on wanted to do their reading out on the front porch in the love seat glider...it was that nice.

After lunch, Woody decided to head to Lowe's to get more grass seed.  I needed to get some sandpaper for Esther.  It had been recommended to me that she try chalk pastels using 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper.  So I went with Woody to see if I could find such an animal.  I did find 400 grit but not wet/dry.  I got it since she is to use it dry.  The size isn't the best...long and skinny, but I'm sure that she will be able to use it to draw something on!  At least I finally found some.  Tullahoma isn't the best place to look for specific items!  We don't have a lot of stores and thus not a lot of chance of finding exactly what we are looking for.  I had already looked at Walmart and didn't find any and just hadn't had a need to go to Lowe's...figured that I would definitely find it there...but didn't find exactly what I was looking for.  I imagine that the fineness of the grit is what she needs for the chalk pastels.  We will see!  Today Esther started a painting for her school art class, but needed it to dry before the next step, so she made a cute pen drawing that she added some water color to after drawing the shape.  I had saved a picture similar to the one she drew and painted.  Later we looked closer at the one that she was using for the idea of her painting and we found out that the outline was a rubber stamp that had water color paint added to.  I told Esther that she didn't need rubber stamps that she could do the black outline drawing and the painting!  I think her little mousy floating down on a snowflake is very cute. I told her that she needs to design some cards and sell them...maybe at their next yardsale!  The problem that Esther sees with selling her paintings is that she really wants to keep all that she creates!  Her mother tells her that the walls in their home won't hold that many!

Woody has just returned from the Monday Night Furnace Room prayer meeting.  So I guess it is time for us to settle back for another quiet evening.

Enjoyable Visit

I didn't take any photos today or upload any new photos today so decided to share a close up of the USS Constitution model my grandfather made.

Woody made his weekly trip to the public library this morning. I worked around the house continuing with more of the cleaning that I started yesterday.  Melany arrived a little before noon.  Erin didn't come with her as she wasn't feeling well.  We had lunch and then visited for the rest of the afternoon. Nathan and Kathy and some  of the children drifted in and out.  We weren't as much a draw to the children since their cousin Erin didn't come!  Joseph came over with his checkers/chess/tic tac toe game and challenged Goosey (Woody) to play all three.  We were all surprised that Joseph (6) already knew how to play chess and even beat Goosey one game.  I'm not sure if he ever won at checkers, but I think that Goosey, Joseph, and the cat all won tic tac toe games.  Isaac also brought his chess set over that he got in Kenya last year.  The playing pieces are African animals...a little confusing to figure out what animals are what chess piece.

We all enjoyed the day and now Grammy and Goosey are tired!