Posting Late Tonight!

Melany came to Tullahoma after her school day was over. She has raked a bunch of leaves before stopping for the evening. I think that she said that she had raked up 8 tarp loads of leaves so far...maybe more. Nathan and Kathy stopped and picked us up to go to Payton's and Abigail's for dinner. We had a nice visit and good eats. I have a picture, but it is so late that I just want to get the blog posted. Melany will continue her raking/clearing of gardens tomorrow. She has had a busy day...taught school all day, drove an hour to get here, raked up a lot of leaves, went out to supper, and now home and she has headed to bed. She should be tired! I will admit to being a bit tired myself! And, I did no where near as much as she has today! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Is It Possible?

Is it possible that this little boy could have turned into this 23-year-old-young man?!? Happy Birthday, Graham! We will celebrate Graham's birthday on Saturday. Today has been a day to stay around the house and once again do lots of small jobs. I picked up all the winter decorations today and took them upstairs and got them packed away in boxes to be stored with the Christmas decorations...now to get into the Spring decorations. I also put quite a few boxes into the Christmas closet. One half of the closet is packed to the gills from floor to top of the sloped ceiling with boxes of various sizes. The other side already has a start. I believe that what I have left will fit in...always a concern! I did do away with some boxes this year, so they should fit...but I will only know when the last box is placed...and...the doors close! I am hoping to be able to add two boxes of Montessori equipment in with the Christmas, too...we'll see! I did some more cleaning in the kitchen...today's job was to clean the filter in the dishwasher. It is not a hard job...just one that I tend to forget about as my last dishwasher I didn't have to clean the filter...or if I was supposed to, I did not ever do it because I didn't know that there was one to clean! I have worked some my grocery list. I guess I need to go tomorrow...I didn't go last week, hoping to finish off some of what is in my freezer. But it is sort of slim pickings around here and since Melany is coming tomorrow, I guess I need to have something to offer her to eat! Now I am working on a load of wash and that is it for today. Rest of the evening I am going to sit and stitch and watch my two favorite shows, Matlock and Elsbeth. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Wonderful Wednesday

We had a beautiful spring-like day. It got into the 70s. I had to go out mid morning...no need for a jacket and then coming home after dark from Bible study this evening...still no need for a jacket. Nice! I'm sure that we have more cold temperatures ahead, but we'll gladly take these days that promise Spring! I did something for the first time today...had an appointment with a CPA...Woody always did our taxes. I hope I gave her everything needed to prepare our/my taxes. I came home and did get further information that she needed and emailed that back to her...hopefully that was what she needed...I haven't heard otherwise from her. I did get the guest bed made for my Friday night company. And, more boxes found their way back into the Christmas closet. Everything around here seems to be going "slowly but surely!" I'm glad to be in for the night. I haven't done much stitching or reading in the last few days. I think that I need to do one or the other or both of those the rest of the evening. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Tuesday

I checked in with Donna today about skipping the library work today. We are pretty much caught up in the library...well, there is always something to do when working in a library...so I will reword and say that today we had nothing pressing to do. I felt that I needed the day to do some tasks around the house. I did get several things done and several others I got a beginning on. I'm wanting to get the Christmas boxes put away...time to get the upstairs hallway cleared! I did start putting boxes in the closet, but my back had other ideas...so I did little things with time-outs so I have accomplished a few things today. I do have the guest room all clear of boxes...just in time, as the guest room will have an occupant for a night this weekend. Melany is coming Friday after school to start getting leaves out of one of the gardens. She's spending the night and will do more work on Saturday. She's trying to get the leaves off the bulbs that have leaves popping up. One of my tasks was to change the bed in the guest room...they are washed and dried and ready to go back on the bed...rest of that task...tomorrow! I have done a couple of jobs in the kitchen that had been on my "to-do" list for a while...I now have a clean microwave (it wasn't as dirty as I thought) and also the range hood. So a couple of kitchen cleaning jobs done that were fairly quick and easy to do...I just had to find the time to do them! A friend stopped by to pick up some cross stitch patterns that she asked to borrow. I talked to Cheryl, my favorite sister aka only sister, for a while (a break for each of us). She had received her birthday gift from me. I was glad to hear that it had arrived. Tomorrow I have an appointment in the morning and then Bible study in the evening...so there will be time before, in between, and after those to accomplish a few more things...slowly but surely. It was a beautiful spring-like day today. Maybe that was the reason the I felt like doing some little cleaning jobs...time for spring cleaning?!? To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Monday Memories

I got home a little later than usual from prayer meeting and did a couple of things and am just getting to the blog. It has been another day of doing a little of this and a little of that. I have marked several things off my list of little things that needed to be done...a quick library "job," continued working with my photos, writing a note, texting a friend that I have found some cross stitch patterns that she wanted, and other "little' things that tend to be put aside. I got a sweet note from one of Woody's college friends and his wife. This friend was Woody's best man in our wedding. Another thing that I did...and, maybe it wasn't the best idea...but in the place where I store my photos, I got an "offer" to show me photos from this day two years ago. I went to the pictures and it was Woody all ready to leave Vanderbilt. I looked back in the blog to see which hospital visit this was and it was the nightmare one when he developed the arterial bleed. I sat and read blog posts around that hospital visit and some of what happened after. It made me tired just reading all that happened that time. I will say that it is "nice" to have the blog as a diary, but I don't think that I want to sit and read it every day...if you know what I mean! "It" all came back at me...what we went through during the last years of his life! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Sunday Favorite

Last Saturday in February

Well, it warmed up enough today, that I did venture out for a little and when I returned home, I actually brought in the last two or three days of mail...nothing extraordinary...the one interesting thing was a menu and coupons for a new pizza place in town. What was funny that pizza place was recommended for me to perhaps use to feed my family tomorrow. But I just talked with Melany and they aren't going to get here until after lunch...so food is a moot point. They will just come and visit for a couple of hours after I get home from church. I have once again spent a good part of the day getting to know my cameras and lenses. I took a "few" pictures today. This evening I am going to do a little picking up around here...still working on getting the cross stitch books, etc. put back away...that way if we land in the family room tomorrow when we are visiting, there will be more than one place to sit...when it is just me, I tend to use the couch to hold whatever I am working on at the moment...this past week the couch has held both cross stitch and camera stuff. I might have a little time later this evening to put a few stitches in my cross stitch piece...or read a few pages in my latest book. I guess I will see what the evening has in store for me. Perhaps more work with my cameras? I guess it depends on which rabbit I choose to chase! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Frigid Friday…

About tonight's blog title...it has been another cold day...but not quite as cold as the last couple of days...I just liked the sound of putting frigid and Friday together! But it was definitely frigid over night. It got down to 10° last night and at a point the windchill was below zero. But as the day continued on, it actually got above freezing. I still chose not to go out...keeping the warmer air inside, inside! Currently it is 32° and supposed to get into the upper teens tonight...so our cold isn't over...yet! I have done a little of this and a little of that today. I have been putting away needlework magazines, etc. that I got out to look through during my "holiday weekend." I continued to work a little on my cross stitch piece with kites. But mostly I switched directions and have worked with my cameras today...trying to figure out some of the settings that I still haven't mastered on my newest camera...also tried to figure out something on one of my other cameras...always something new to learn! I think that I have my newest camera synced with both my iPad and my iPhone so my pictures will tell me where I took them. Not sure that I have accomplished it...but will test it out to see. Then I transferred the few pictures from my iPhone...I rarely take pictures with my phone. I backed up the latest pictures that are on my iPad and am now in the midst of reducing the number that I have stored there. Two of my cameras will transfer photos directly to my iPad so they get stored there until I find time to back them up and then delete some of them. I still like to leave some of the best on the iPad so I have them there to share with you here on the blog. Tonight's photo is one that I hadn't shared yet and I found it when I was going through the pictures. Many of the photos that I take are almost duplicates of another, as I take them out of the car window from different distances and angles...then I choose the best of the almost duplicates. It is now time to delete duplicates. I still have these that I am deleting in my backup. So today has been sort of dedicated to cameras, lenses, charging of batteries, and going through all the thousands of photos that I have taken!!! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Another Snow Day!

And, when Tullahoma City Schools close for two days in a row, something is up! It did snow some more in the early hours and when I looked out this morning there was more snow on the roads than there was yesterday...but still not a lot. I think that today's reasoning in staying closed was because due to the extreme low temperatures. We were under a "Cold Advisory." I don't remember that advisory being used before...but they were warning about being out in the cold for any length of time. The overnight low was in the low teens and the wind chill was in single digits. I know that I haven't even opened a door to the outside either yesterday or today...staying in and staying warm. I have done some more stitching...working on stitching kites...thinking Spring during these winter conditions! I didn't stitch as much as I had hoped as I got a pretty bad headache this morning. I think it was sinus caused due to the weather we are having and also due to the fact that I realized this morning that I had neglected to take my two allergy pills yesterday evening. So I took my allergy meds, a couple Tylenol, and had some tea with caffeine...then headed to the recliner and my heating pads and throw...so got all toasty warm and rested my eyes for a while...dozed a little and after a while I felt better. I sort of stayed away from close work...like stitching or reading...so I worked on messing with settings on my camera...now to decide if I want to stick with the changes I have made with the camera. I could reset it to factory settings...but...then I will have to reset it up with the settings that I know I want left alone! Decisions! Decisions! Something to do on a cold wintry day! Tonight I'm looking forward to "my" TV shows: Matlock and Elsbeth. Right now I am heating a casserole that I had in the freezer. I talked to Melany earlier. She was enjoying another day off from school. She does have school tomorrow, but they are going in two hours late. If our weather holds, as I think it will, at least part of the Proctors are planning on paying me a visit on Sunday. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Chili Day

Well, the prediction for snow and cold did come true. Tonight's photo shows what it looked out my window this morning. I don't think that it ever got out of the 20s today and is supposed to get down to 13° or 14°. With wind chill over night it is supposed to fee like 0°. So it became a good day to make a pot of chili and enjoy it for supper...very warming! Once again, it has been a lazy day...I have stitched and read and did some checking out of features on my camera...and, a took advantage of a good day to do a little napping this afternoon. I have also continued going through cross stitch magazines and patterns/charts. I did finish stitching the little flag and then started stitching a design of kites, that I found in one of my needlework magazines, to use in my decorations for March. It has been fun to divert from my main needlework projects, but I am ready to get back to one of them. Well, faucets are dripping and cabinet doors under sinks are open...so hopefully pipes won't freeze tonight. I just keep telling myself that we are getting closer to Spring!!! But for today...the snow really is pretty! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Waiting to See…

Well, we are in waiting mode to see if the predicted snow will happen! Melany texted me that her school system is closed for tomorrow...I guess the powers that be there are believing. Like about all teachers...she is very happy for a snow day whether the snow comes or not! I am set...whether it comes or not. I plan to make chili tomorrow...a good way to occupy my time if the snow arrives...or it it doesn't! I am glad that I had no need to visit a grocery store and face the pre-snow crowd! Donna and I met and worked in the church library today. We got a book order started, straightened a few shelves, and checked some books in and out. I even wielded a swiffer duster over a few of the shelves, So far this week I have been able to do my usual daily routine...Sunday...church, Monday...prayer meeting, Tuesday...church library. Now we will see if the weather allows me to continue on with my weekly routine or if my Bible study will be cancelled due to snow. Time will tell! I have worked on the flag that I started yesterday and it is coming right along. I plan to work on it this evening. It is a small project and should be finished quickly if I keep at it for a couple of days. I feel like if I lay it down, I might not pick it up again and it will join other unfinished projects (UFO = unfinished objects in the needlework world). Since this wasn't in "my plans" to stitch, I think that it could easily be forgotten. And, it is a very quick stitch...so "onward and upward!" To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Presidents' Day 2025

I've just returned from prayer meeting. Today has been a quiet day...stayed at home till this evening when I went to prayer meeting. I continued with my long holiday weekend, but today I switched my stitching to red/white/blue from an all red piece. I looked through some of my needlework magazines to find a small patriotic pattern to stitch. I found a 1776 flag. I will stitch it and then make a small pillow out of it to put in my cutlery box for later in the year when I put out some patriotic decorations...from Memorial Day through July 4th. I started stitching the flag and almost have the blue part of the field of stars stitched...then on to the stars and then red and white stripes! I have been streaming Top Chef...guess trying to get inspired to do some cooking?!? We have been put in a winter weather advisory...snow may be coming late tomorrow through the night..."they" say we "might" get some accumlation...time will tell on that one! But for now...I am heading to the kitchen to fix a late supper...going to have a Reuben sandwich (not my sister's favorite!). But sounds very good to me...especially since supper is pretty late tonight! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Sunday Favorite: A Valentine Barn!

Over Halfway Through February

Tonight's photo is not a reflection on the current weather conditions! This is from a trip out after it snowed a while back. Today has been another low-key day. I stayed inside all day. This morning I had a Zoom Cottey College Alum bookclub. Today one of the Cottey professors joined us and we discussed the book that all the Cottey students read at the beginning of the year. This book dealt with climate change and was written by a young Ugandan woman. In the afternoon I was pretty lazy...stitching and napping. My "task" of the day has been to reorganize my cross stitch books before I put them back in the drawer. I'm still debating on how I want to do it. At the moment I have many stacks of these booklets all over the floor in the family room. I keep changing my mind about how I want them arranged...not that it makes a great deal of difference in the grand scheme of things...but at the moment it is wha I have chosen to do! I have in the past organized them by categories...thinking about doing them by designer or design company...again not a crucial decision and I can always change my strategy the next time I decide to organize them. I think that this organizing "thing" in my mind may have something to do with me having a librarian mindset! I alphabetize my spices...I was told once at a library conference that doing that was something that librarians often do. I can tell you one thing...that once I decide what I want in each stack...then they will be alphabetized within each stack and then those stacks will be alphabetized before they go back in the drawer...that's just me! (perhaps isert an eye roll here?!?) I have gotten some more done on the sampler that I posted a photo of last night...getting pretty close to dinishing that first graph page of 16! Once I get that area done on the sampler, I will probably put it down and work on another of my projects...I have about five that I have been in a rotation with for the last month or so. I have had cross stitch programming on in the background on YouTube on the TV...being kept company by like-minded folk. Interesting to hear what others are enjoying stitching...plus it makes me feel less guilty about all the on-going projects and future projects that I have, when others have so MANY more!!! I am treating this weekend from yesterday through tomorrow as a holiday weekend...after all...it statted with Valentine's Day and ends with Presidents' Day...I guess I can really extend that weekend through Monday...right!? I have told myself that I can just do whatever I feel like doing...which is pretty much what I do every day, anyway! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Be My Valentine! 2025

I have sort of set today aside to go to the grocery store, finish a book, and work on my Bristol Redwork Sampler...and, I have done all of those...hoping to continue to stitch on my sampler for the rest of the evening. The first picture shows one of my "displays" of needlework and other objects that are winter and Valentine themed. The 2nd and 3rd photos are of my Bristol Sampler. This is a reproduction of a sampler that was made by two sisters who lived and were schooled in an orphanage in Bristol, England. The original sampler was dated 1875. This is a very large sampler...the biggest that I have ever stitched and I am stitching on quite small count fabric...50 threads per inch and I am stitching over two threads...so...there are about 25 little x's per inch on a line of stitches. I do stitch under a strong magnifier with a light ring surrounding the round magnifier. Plus I do use my 2.5 reading glasses. In the picture that shows the large piece of fabric. The top line of letters shows the width that the sampler will be. The letters and borders that run vertically...well, I have not reached the bottom of the sampler...yet. I think that there are from five to seven inches to go. This is a sampler that I may never finish...just something that I enjoy stitching on off and on. Letters are so easy (most of the time) to stitch and I find them soothing to stitch. The area that I am working on at the moment...in the top left corner...you can see where the needle is will be where I pick up stitching when I get back to it in a little whle. The pin that I placed down in the heart motif is the place I am working toward...that small area will complete one page of the chart. At a glance at the multiple pages that this chart are worked on, it looks like there are sixteen of these pages/sections to stitch to complete the whole sampler. Lots of little x's!!! Currently it measures 17 1/2 inches across (final size) by 18 1/4 long (not the finished size. So that gives you a little taste of what I enjoy doing in my spare time...really just any time, spare or not! As I mentioned at the start of the blog, I did get my book read that would have been whisked away around midnight tonight. Reading, another thing that I enjoy doing in my spare or not so spare time...I have always been a reader. As a child/teen, one of my favorite thing to do was walk to the library and check out an armload of books and carry them back home and stack them up near the side of my bed and then enjoy reading through the stack...always looking forward to my next trek back to the library. That love of reading has never gone away...now I enjoy in-hand bookd, e-books, and audio books...the latter two were not options when I was growing up! A funny aside...on that trek to the library, I always looked forward to coming to the shade of a tree...I grew up in Arizona...so that walk was not always the coolest walk! I can still picture that walk in my mind and can "almost" picture the not always close spacing of those trees. I usually picture myself walking along the sidewalk in front of my elementary school...just one of the places that comes to my mind all these years later. I often made a stop at my father's law office, which was right across the street from the library. Sometimes he and I would go to the cafe next door...for a coke for me and a cup of coffee for him. Good memories! The grocery store was my other accomplishment for the day. I have most of it put away...still have a few things to fit into my pantry...a task that I am leaving for tomorrow. I have been wanting to go through some of the things in my pantry and see if there are things in it that need to be discarded due to expiration dates. I did that task with some condiments in the refrigerator today...little jobs...a little at a time! I did talk to Cheryl, my favorite sister aka only sister, for a while today...I guess our "Valentine call?!" Really it was just a call because, as we always say now that it is so easy to call on cell phones, we call "just because we can!" It is so much easier to call these days in comparison to 56 years ago, when I moved to TN from AZ!!! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! Here's the photo that I meant to post first...just shows more of the cutlery box:

Lazy Day!

I think that staying home most of the week has made me lazy! I did get a few things done around the house...like getting clothes put away from a load of clothes that I had washed yesterday...doing things slowly...dragging out their finish! I did do a good job of getting the kitchen cleaned up...so all neat and tidy and ready for tomorrow. I am working on organizing my cross stitch books. A friend asked to borrow a couple of books so I had to find them...which led me to go through what was in the drawer and organize them into broad categories and put those books together in the two stacks that I have in one of my dresser drawers. I put aside some that I may want to stitch for Spring (looking forward to warmer temperatures and changing out the winter cross stitch pieces that I have scattered around in my decorations. I still have those in their respective category stacks to go through and put in better order before I put them away...in other words that "mess" isn't cleaned up...yet. The rain stopped in the early hours, but it remained cloudy till late in the afternoon when the blue sky started to appear once again...only problem with that is that the temperatures are rapidly falling...already 30° and supposedly going to get down to low 20s overnight. I have been enjoying the above freezing temperatures that we have been having lately. I understand that we might see overnight lows in the teens next week. This back and forth with the temperatures is so typical for TN at this time of the year. When the temps are higher, I just feel like it is a promise that Spring is on its way...which, of course, I know it is!!!! I have been reading some today...trying to finish a book before it is whisked away in the next 24 hours or so. I think that I may be able to finish it. I also have done some stitching on a sampler and also on the latest Christmas ornament that I am working on. So I have done a little of this and a little of that today! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Rain Continues

The rain continued on into today. Once, again, I did rainy day inside things...a load of wash, started cleaning out a closet and rearranged the clothing in mine...working on getting rid of some things. I read and did some cross stitch. I finished another book. I had someone come to the door this afternoon interested in doing some work for an item...a John Deere lawnmower. He wanted to tear down the kids' playhouse in exchange for our old nonworking lawnmower. I explained that we had stored it back there under the leanto attached to the playhouse and that we had trouble with it from the time that we bought it used an that a tree had landed on it one time. He still wanted to do the work for the lawnmower. I called and checked with Nathan and he said, "Go for it!" It takes a job off of his shoulders! I never dreamed that he would go at it today since it was raining. But he got started immediately. He decided that he wanated to burn the wood...I wasn't all that keen on it, but said "ok." I didn't think that anything would burn today, but he got a pretty roaring fire blazing pretty quickly. He stayed with the fire till it burned down...but still had some flames...so I have been keeping an eye on it. It got to raining so that helped keep it under control. I chose not to go to Bible study so I could continue to keep an eye on the smouldering fire. It is way out on the edge of our lot that I call "the back 40." I'm sure that the neighbors will be glad to have the eyesore removed.The guy said that he would be back...figure that he would as the lawnmower is still out there...he only had a car today so couldn't take the John Deere with him. Tonight's photo I took out my kitchen window to show what the rain is doing to my neighbor's construction site! Well, one of my little neighbors construction site! Their yard is really a construction site as the dad next door is building them an inground swimming pool...so towards the back of the house is even muddier than the little boy's!!!! We haven't seen mushy, squishy yards in a very long time. I did walk out to get my mail. I haven't taken in my garbage can yet. My worker was here and I couldn't get it past his car...maybe it will not be raining tomorrow when I go out to pull it back to the house. I've had supper and now to settle back and stitch or read. I have an e-book that will be taken away from me if I don't get it done in the next couple of days...I may read on that...or may just get back in line and wait my turn for the book again! I have actually read to in-hand books lately from the church library. I find holding my a book open puts stress and strain on my hand and it ends up getting cramps in it...but so far I haven't had that problem this time. Maybe I'll get back to reading "real" books. I have not reading the books in the church library since I am one of the librarians there!!!! It's time for me to peek out the back window to make sure that the fire is going out gradually. I'm not really too worried tonight about it spreading since it is so soggy. But feel like I need to look out every so often. I have spent an awful lot of time looking out the sunroom windows this afternoon and evening. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Rainy Tuesday

I think that this is the first day in a very long time that it has rained most of the day. I kept waiting for a break so I could pull the garbage can out to the road...I never found a good time...so will hope that it is dry in the morning so I can put the last bag in and pull it out to the road before the garbage truck comes by. If not...there is next week's pickup! I have done rainy-day things...read, washed, talked on the phone, napped, watched a little TV. I finished the book that we will discuss at the Cottey Alum bookclub on Saturday. Then I read some more on another book that I am working on finishing. Well, the dryer is saying that the load is dry...so guess I will go get the towels out and fold them. Then on to the next load...trying to catch up on my wash on this rainy day. I have stayed high and dry by staying inside all day. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Monday…again!

A little late posting tonight, as I went to the Furnace Room Prayer Meeting, and, when I got back, I put together a pot of soup...one of my quick recipes. I had everything to go when I headed off to prayer meeting so I was ready to put it together when I got home. I'm letting it heat through now. And, I'm looking forward to a nice warm bowl of Stuffed Spud Soup after I blog. Today is one of the days that I look forward to each month...hair cut day! Joy stopped by midmorning and cut my hair. I enjoy catching up with her. We chat while she cuts. She was heading out to Motlow after she finished. She was going to the Monday lunch at the Motlow College Baptist Collegiate Ministry and then going to class after she ate. I found out while I was at prayer meeting that the circles of our church were the ladies who prepared the BCM lunch today. I was told what was served and it sounded good. After my haircut, I vacuumed up hair and then vacuumed up pine needles that had fallen in the doorway of the Christmas closet...so the floor is clean and ready for more boxes to be put in the closet. We'll see if I get back to that job tomorrow. Today I have continued to recover from the weekend of cooking and helping at a funeal meal...still pretty tired. I have stitched a little...but unfortunately I ended up counting wrong and I had to "frog stitch" = rip it, rip it, rip it. I am hoping to get the stitches that I had to take out this afternoon put back in this evening...luckily I hadn't put in very many stitches. Well, the soup is calling and I am ready for a late supper! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Sunday Favorite

What a Day!

Phew! What a day! I am glad that we provide a meal after the funeral, but it is a lot of work! I left the house around 11:15am and just returned at 6:15 pm. The meal went great and was very appreciated...but...we ladies who pulled it off ain't getting any younger! And, it was a long-tiring day. I'm very glad to be home for the rest of the evening! Wondering, at the moment, if I will be ready to get up and out before 9am in the morning! But I know that after I get a good night's rest, I will be ready to get out and going, again...I hope!!!! Other than cooking a dish for the funeral meal and helping set up and clean up before and after that meal...not a lot to report! I guess "I SURVIVED" is the main thing that I can report for today! There is another funeral meal for another family tomorrow afternoon. Because I was so involved with today's, I am not helping with tomorrow's...and...I'm not complaining or feeling left out! Tomorrow afternoon and evening, I'm calling a recovery day...form yesterday and today! NOTHING planned...read, sleep, stitch...whatever I have enough energy to do! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Appropriate Under the Circumstances!

I was looking through my photos for a barn to post as tonight's photo, when I ran across the photo that I have posted. Considering all the recent deaths and that there are two funerals this weekend. Marie and I delivered a meal to the family of our friend, who died last week. Her son was at her house to receive the food that we brought. I taught her son many moons ago at Ray's Montessori School. Lots of memories and lots of water under the bridge. It was good to see him, again, but I wish that it could have been under happier circumstances. I came home and put my feet up...very ready to rest. Now just one more dish to make...in the morning...for the meal for the family after the funeral tomorrow. Today has pretty much been cooking, warming up dishes, packing up the dishes for tonight's meal, and getting it delivered. What's left of the day, I have set apart for resting. Tomorrow is another day! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Zoom! Zoom!

This will be short tonight. I'm in the midst of cooking for funeral meals...rolls are rising at the moment and I have one more thing planned to get put together tonight. Then I will do the rest for tomorrow night,s family meal tomorrow. I have a really easy part of the actual funeral meal and I will get that ready on Saturday. I got the groceries bought early this morning. Then Donna and I worked in the library this afternoon. Since then I have been working on rolls...they are about ready for the oven. Cook! Cook! Cook! I plan to sit here in a few minutes and watch Matlock and Elsbeth...rewards for a pretty busy day. I am ready to rest for a while! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Long Wednesday…or So It Seems at This Point!

It seems like the day stretches out really long when it is broken up with an appointent in the afternoon. Lots of checking the clock to see how close it is to time to leave for the apointment. I did cook a roast prior to goimg to the appointment. Kathy, Elijah, Isaac, and Joseph made a brief stop to pick up a piece of their mail that had been delivered next door (their former residence). So we chatted for a few minutes and then they were on their way so they could have lunch and then get Elijah off to baseball practice. A little before 2pm I headed off to my eye doctor for my six-month checkup after my cataract surgery. My eyes were a-okay! The doctor was very pleased with how well I can see. He did say that hindsight is 20/20 and that he wished that he had put a little stronger lense in my left eye...he followed the "formula." which said that it should be slightly less strong than the right eye. But I can't tell that there is a difference in them...until...I read the chart this afternoon...but can still see very well with both of them. He said that my eye pressure was VERY good and that I won't ever have glaucoma...sounds good to me. Don't have to go back for a year...again, soumds good to me! I made a morning appointment this next time...so it won't cut into the day so much. I came home from the appointment and made gravy with the juices from the roast. I like to make the gravy not so much for the roast, though I may have a hot pork sandwich with a little of the gravy,but for my enchilada sauce. I hope that I have enough energy to make my enchilada sauce so I can freeze it for the next two times that I have enchiladas. But...extra cooking may not be the best idea for me at the moment. I have several things to make for funeral meals for Friday and Saturday...so I have to find time to grocery shop and make the recipes. I got the kitchen cleaned up after my gravy cooking mess, before it was time to go to Bible study at church. By the time I got to Bible study, I realized that I was pretty tired...for a little bit of the study, I struggled just a bit to keep my eyes open...but did stay awake and heard most of what the teacher said! I will say I was glad to pull into my driveway and head inside. I started my dishwasher and then came straight to my downstairs recliner. I think that this will be where I stay for the rest of the evening. I hope that I can either stitch or read...BUT sleep may be coming earlier than usual! To be contunued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Fun Day!

Linda H. came over late this morning and we headed off to have brunch/lunch. She ordered from the breakfast menu and I from the lunch menu and we both enjoyed our repasts! Then we went off to do a little shopping. First we dropped off some of my things, that I had been removing from my closet at a local thrift store. As for our shopping efforts, we both came away empty handed, but enjoyed looking. Then we came back to the house for tea and talk! We did very well with the talking part...we usually do! So we had a nice day of visiting...because we talked through our meal and then through our shopping time! Like I said, we are good at talking! After she left, I got into funeral meal planning...still working on that. I don't have a part except for making some food for two different meals and helping with the cleanup after the funeral meal. We have a group of ladies in the church who take charge of planning funeral meals...then individuals and adult Sunday School classes, etc. help with the side dishes and desserts and the church provides the meat. So it's all pretty straight forward. My next task is to summarize the plans and email my class with those and funeral details. The summarizing has my brain muddled. I guess it is time to publish this and get on with getting down to writing the email to the class...maybe it will become unjumbled, when I let my fingers do the writing (saying that reminded me about the Yellow Pages ads of old...let your fingers do the walking...). To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Movin’ On Into February

Today was a delightful day weatherwise...but another sad one for losing another friend! I was getting a list together of prayer needs to share at prayer meeting, when I got a phone call and needed to add another family to the list as they had lost a loved one today. When one talks about "things" coming in threes...recent deaths have far exceded that saying! Today we lost a friend who I have known pretty much from when I first came to live in Tullahoma...so for right at 56 years. Hearing about her death made me immediately think back to the morning that we heard about her husband's unexpected death many years back. I keep telling myself that I have reached the age when friends around my age start dying and your circle of friends...especially long-time friends...gets just a little smaller. I have had a nice day just staying around the house until prayer meeting time. I have done a litle cleaning...a little reading...a little stitching...and have begun working on my closet...that will probably be an ongoing project...but at least it is started and a few less things are hanging in it! I have plans for tomorrow that don't involve cleaning or sticking around the house. Linda and I plan to do a little galavanting around Tullahoma...perhaps there will be some tales to tell tomorrow night! To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Sunday Favorite (Another barn trying to hide!)

February Has Arrived!

I slept in later than usual. It was one of those days when I woke up too early...often when that happens, I can't get back to sleep...but today I was able to get back to sleep. Inevitably when I do that I get into a deeper sleep...and this was one of those days. I just chalk it up to needing more sleep. Since I didn't have anything planned for today, it really didn't make any difference when I woke up. Since it was later than usual, I decided to combine breakfast with lunch. And, since I needed to use some of my sourdough starter, it seemed like a good day to make sourdough waffles. So I had a waffle for my brunch and now have more in the refrigerator ready to pop in the toaster on some other days in the coming week. I got that mess cleaned up and I decided that it was time to sit down and do some Saturday stitching. I was able to finish my second Christmas ornament stitch of the year. After that finish, I started deciding what Christmas ornament I will stitch next. Before that decision is made I will put away the floss that I used for the one I just finished. So it has been a stitching day. I have also made a few decisions as to what recipes that I want to make this next week. I am trying to choose recipes that I have items for in the freezer. I took out a pork roast to thaw and decided on two or three recipes that I willl use it for. The first thing is a pork chop recipe that was one of my mother's recipes. I seem to be making a lot of her recipes lately. I'm not feeling like trying new recipes so I am cooking tried and true recipes. I think that I will also use some of the roast cut into cubes and make a soup/stew that both Woody and I liked...Shanghai Pork Stew. With the rest of the roast, I will either cook it as a roast or cube up the rest of it make Sweet and Sour Pork, an adaption from a Good Housekeeping Magazine from years back...original was for Sweet and Sour Chicken. So recipes have been floating around in my head as I stitched today. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!