Books, Back roads and Birthdays

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My title contains things that I love. Sewing, Quilting, gardening and a lot of other stuff I love don’t start with a B so they wouldn’t have fit in my title! I love a lot of people, too, but this is not all about people today. It’s about my birthday week, how we have celebrated and how we continue to celebrate because I take a week for my birthday and a week is still not enough in my opinion. Everyone one should have a chance to celebrate their birth.

But, back to birthdays, I’ve had some really good ones and some not so good, but this year’s has been a good one. It started with birthday donuts.

I came downstairs and found this on the countertop. I don’t have a birthday cake. I have birthday donuts. David got me two honey buns and a chocolate iced long john. They lasted me three days and I enjoyed every one of them. With coffee that David made. He makes really good coffee. And yes, that is my age. I can’t believe I’m that old. But what’s a person to do, but keep on. None of us are getting any younger. We can’t youthen like in Camelot where one of the characters does just that. I saw a movie not too long ago where the man is born old and youthens as the years go by. That would be sad because as you get younger, all your family and friends get older.

We went to Bloomington on my birthday to watch one of our grandsons play soccer. We got to sit up in a balcony on comfortable seats in a heated building to watch. That was so much better than sitting outside in the cold, watching from the sidelines in hard lawn chairs. Plus we could see the footwork that the boys used to pass the ball and get it into the goal. I really enjoyed it. Then we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse where we had the nicest young man as our waiter. David and I believe that Covid has helped weed out the poor waiters and waitresses because the ones working now really want to work and they do such a great job. We have had the best service in restaurants lately. After that, we went for ice cream. David and I have been wanting dipped ice cream for quite a while. There are no places where we live that has it so we were happy to get some good dipped ice cream.

This is our daughter with her oldest son who is now a driver. That day was the first day he had driven on the freeway. I now have three teen-age drivers in the family. They were riding tricycles just the other day!

Sunday, we went north and had brunch with more family members at a pancake house David and I like. We had a nice visit and I received a new planter that had been made for me by a special person. I got to see three more of my grandchildren which was nice. I’ve already got flowers ordered for the planter.

Here is one of our grandsons with his corgi, Sadie. He wanted a dog for so long and finally he got one. Sadie is so cute and loves to fetch like our Lucy does. Next year I will have three grandsons graduating. Two from high school and one from college.
What picture is he watching behind him? Look at that sweet face and Sadie is cute, too!

But my birthday was not done yet. Wednesday we took a ride to my hometown. My nephew’s wife had some books for me they had found in my brother’s library that were my mother’s or my aunt’s that they thought I’d like to have. I love old books so of course I had to go get them .

I haven’t seen them in years. I use to play with my nephew as we aren’t that far apart in age. Funny story. When my mother had her last baby, my baby brother, he almost instantly became an uncle when my nephew’s mother had her first child, his older brother. A few years later my nephew asked if he could bring his uncle to school to visit. Thinking his uncle was an adult his teacher told him he could bring his uncle to school. So one day, in came my nephew with my brother, who was the same age as my nephew and the teacher was surprised. She said, “I thought you were bringing in your uncle!” “This is my uncle,” said my nephew. I imagine the teacher would forever check on the ages of relatives who were going to visit her class from then on.

My mother was a voracious reader. My aunt told me one time that she would even be reading when she was ironing. I always loved looking at the books on the shelves at my grandfather’s house to see what books he had. Many of them belonged to my mother.

She instilled in me my the love of reading. I always have a book to read. I can’t imagine not being able to read. I thank all the teachers that taught me how although I think I was well on the way before I even got into school. I can’t remember never not being able to read. It was an inborn thing, I think. I love books, words, grammar and all that. I plan to read these books of my mothers.
This is a geography book that belonged to my Aunt Ruth was older than my father. This book is big and heavy and I can’t imagine all the children having one, but they must have had as it’s a school book. It’s heavy for an adult to carry. And the geography of the world has changed quite a bit since my aunt studied it.
This page states the picture shows “modern” French farming. I don’t think their tractors look like this any longer!
Although Antarctica hasn’t changed all that much, I’m sure some of the countries in this book no longer exist or their boundaries have been changed. This will be a very interesting book to explore.

It may seem as if all we have done is eat this week. We went to one of our favorite restaurants while we were up north.

This pizza place has been around for a long time. It’s a Pizza King like where I use to work decades ago. I can throw a pizza with the best of them, I’m proud to say!
It is beautiful inside with all the Tiffany lamps and stained glass windows.
It has a double decker bus inside where you can eat in, if you like. We chose a booth.
There is a phone at each seating area where you phone in your order. It’s really easy and quick to get your order placed and then the pizza is made fresh while you wait.
It was nice sitting across from the love of my life and eat some of the best pizza you could ever eat.
I don’t usually post a picture of myself, but here I am in case you wondered who this old lady is who talks about nothing and can do it for a very long time!

We enjoyed our meal, but it was time to head home to the dogs, who will be waiting for their dinner, but we did take the back roads home.

How we both love back roads. Indiana is full of them and there is so much to see. We do live in a beautiful state with interesting people along the route. Down roads with woods on either side.
By babbling brooks. I had my window open and I wish you could have heard it.
How many of you have seen a tractor on top of a silo? Well, this farmer managed to get a vintage tractor up there for all to see. Plus…….

He had this carved character by the side of the road.
He looks like a cross between a mountain man and a bigfoot.
This shows he is obviously a man, but what is he looking at and why is he there, anyway? I want to know.
We see these turkey vultures on back roads all the time. They are God’s garbage creatures, clearing up the dead animals on the road. This bird was chowing down on a deer that had been hit. It did not want to move when we got closer and his buddy was waiting to land down to join him, so we left them to their meal and went on.

Less you think we didn’t eat enough junk for my birthday, we found a wonderful little town I had never heard of, Laurel, Indiana where we found another ice cream store. Well, if Ben and Erin Napier have Laurel, Mississippi in the home remodel show, Indiana has a town called Laurel with wonderful old homes that is a diamond in disguise. Anyway, the lady in the ice cream shop told us their dips of ice cream were so large we should probably order just one dip or half dips of two flavors. Well, if I were a drinker I would have said, “Hold my beer,” and I ordered a full two dip waffle cone and had not one problem eating it all. David did the same.That lady did not know us. Besides, we were travelers and tired and hungry from our travels. Ha. We drove around town just looking at all the beautiful houses. I’ve never seen so many wonderful places in such a small place.

Love this house. It stood on a hill overlooking the town which makes me think this was the rich man in town.
If I were a billionaire I would travel the country buying up old houses and restoring them to their former beauty. This house needs a little work, but it’s still wonderful. There were so many places like this. I was afraid people would think we were spying on them taking pictures of all their houses.
An historical building.
Very interesting. I love learning Indiana history. Our state has always believed that education was important because if you can’t read, do math, speak well and know common science, you are doomed to believe anything anyone will tell you. Of course, along with being educated, you must have some common sense which is sorely missing in many people today, especially in our government. And that is as political as I will get today.

Or not. This person was well ahead of his time. Now we are finding out that what his sign says is true! Oops, I got political again, but David and I got a good laugh at this sign as well as this one on a back road.

Hmmmmmm.
This is a turkey vulture who was sitting above this….
A really neat tower. I tried to get David to walk up there and look at the valley below, but I think he was getting tired. I knew I could never make it as I get winded very easily. I really, really wanted to go up there.

I just wanted to show you this picture of sugar cookies I baked this week to take to my grandsons. I thought I hadn’t talked about enough junk food this week. Next week it’s all vegetables I tell you!

And I wanted to show you what we have been up to. Or rather David has been doing what I thought up is more correct. I’ve been wanting to make our back yard more of a wild grasses, wild flowers sort of place that we would not have to mow and would encourage bees and butterflies into our garden. So, David has been removing turf and placing it where we need grass and uncovering dirt where I am planting the seeds. I have some bags of wildflower seeds coming that I will add with the grasses. Here he is working himself silly making something I thought up just a while ago. I love him so much. He even put a fence around this area to keep the pups out until it’s all established.

This is the National Guard armory where David started his military career. It’s also the place where they held some pretty great dances that I would go to. My oldest brother was head of the shop here and would take me to the dances and sometimes stay unless I had a date. I loved going to the dances although at one some guys tried to start a fight with David which scared me so much I was afraid to go out to the car for fear they were waiting on him to beat him up. The Kingsmen were supposed to play there once, but were in a horrible accident on the way to get there. So we danced to records that night.

Going to my old stomping grounds brings up so many memories. I grew up in a tiny town where everyone did know everyone else and also all their business. It is still a well loved little town. There’s a facebook page for it where people give the news of the town.

This is where my very best friend in elementary school lived. I spent many happy times with her here. She lives way across the country now. She and I were born the same day in the same hospital and her mother and my mother shared a room in the hospital. I think she was born before me, but I never held that against her! If she reads my blog, I hope she sees her old homestead.

I’ve got tons more pictures and could probably go on, but I will leave you with a picture of a bird town my husband made for me this week. My birthday week has been wonderful and it’s not done yet! Bye.

What if God was not Good?

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I read this quote somewhere this week, ” What if God were not Good?” and it set me to thinking about the God that I serve. First of all when I speak of God, I speak of the trinity God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They were all present when this world was created. At my age, I just learned this in the past few years. I did not realize that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were present at creation, but I should have known because they are all the same person. Something else my human mind can not get its brain around that God, the son and the spirit are all one and they all love us.

When God created the earth and all its inhabitants, He said every time He created something that it was good. God can only be good. His creation is only good. His love for us is the purest love of all the love there is. So, people say, “Why does God allow horrible things to happen?” That would be an easy question if you didn’t know more about God. You would just think that God really isn’t that good and he wants to see people hurt, but that is absolutely not the case. You see, when God created people, he gave them a choice. He gave the the ability to love Him and walk with Him in the garden and enjoy all His wonderful creation. But He did put a tree in that garden that gave Adam and Eve a choice. The tree of knowledge. If He hadn’t put it there, they would not have had a choice, but He gave it to them with a warning that should they eat of that tree they would no longer have eternal life here on earth, but that they would allow sin in and and would die eventually. Well, most of us know what happened then. Eve was tempted. She had everything else at her disposal. She could eat of anything else freely, but the serpent tempted her. Now that old serpent was satan in diguise. And exactly how and where did satan come from?

Up in Heaven, before the earth was even made, Heaven was a glorious place with angel choirs singing God’s praises all day and the director of those angels? Satan, himself. He wasn’t satan then, he was the most beautiful angel in Heaven. God’s right hand man, you might say.

But satan got cocky. He began to believe he was as great as God who created him. He started talking to the other angels and got many on his side can you believe it, and they decided to go to war.Just think, a devil that can talk angels out of heaven must be pretty persuasive. What a war it was, but God always wins in the end and satan and all his followers, that we now call demons, were sent from Heaven. And where were they to go? Someone suggested in a Sunday school class one day that God may of sent satan to earth as a test. This is not Biblical, so don’t set this in stone, but I could see God sending his fallen angel here and saying to him, “Let’s see if you can do a better job on earth than I have done in Heaven.” I don’t know if that was what actually happened, but satan did finally end up here on earth in that Garden of Eden one beautiful day and set the course of earth on a far different course than God had planned.

Satan walked with Eve in paradise and told her she would not die if she ate of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, but she and Adam could become like gods and know both good and evil. Satan never tells you the truth. Just know that now. He whispers in your ear and tells you things are okay that aren’t all the time.

Eve gave a good look at that tree and saw that it was pleasant to the eyes(it must have been a beautiful tree) and its fruit looked good and here was the serpent saying if she ate of the tree she would become wise.

So Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. People say it was an apple, but the Bible just says fruit. It could have been a fruit we have never seen or eaten before. Then dear Eve took that fruit to Adam and Adam ate of it also and their eyes were open to both good and evil at that very moment. They knew in an instant that they had been changed. They noticed their nakedness because they sewed leaves together to cover themselves and when God came walking in the garden to commune with them, they hid. They knew then that they had gone against God. God already knew, also, but He wanted them to tell Him what they had done. The first sin. Sin separates us from God because God is so good. None of us can be good enough for God because of what Adam and Eve did in that garden. We all know the difference between good and evil. At least most of us do. And we have a choice to do good or do evil.

So now you are asking why God allows bad things to happen. This is why. There is a choice between good and evil on our planet. Some people choose good. Some people choose evil. Even the weather was messed up after the fall. That is why we now have earthquakes and floods and all manner of disasters. But there are people who show the love of God by helping others in their distress. God never wanted bad things to happen to his Creation but he had to give a choice or we would just be His robots, doing exactly what He wants us to do, but that is not why He created us. He loves us and wants us to love Him back, but He gives us a choice. He even sent His son, Jesus to die on the cross. When Jesus hung on that cross, He took every single sin in the would upon Himself and those who believe on Him will have their sins forgiven.

Why doesn’t God just forgive us all and be done with it some ask. Well, there’s that thing about choice again. If He forgave us all, His son would not have had to die and we would be back to being robots again. I’m glad God loves us enough to give us a choice. I would not love a god that made me love Him. But I do love a God who gave His only Son, just for me and just for you. God is love and He loves us and does not want a single person to to go hell. Yes, there is a hell. I sure don’t want to go there and I am happy Jesus died for me that day over two thousand years ago. He’s coming back one day to take his church(his followers) to Heaven to live with him for all eternity.

And then the next question. When is Jesus coming back and why is He taking so long? I have an answer for that, but that will have to be for another post because this one is getting rather lengthy. The Bible answers most of our questions if we study it with an open mind and a heart to learn.

So God is good. I’m glad He’s good because how horrible it would be if God were not good and did not love us. If you have stuck with me through this, thank you. Sometimes I get a call from God to do something and this is what He called for me to do today. I hope it gives some understanding to people as to why bad things happen on this earth despite a loving God watching over us. He loves you, just remember. Bye.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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I don’t have much time to post anything much today. Just want you all to know you are loved and no one can take that love from you. Hope you are having a wonderful day and treating yourself well, because you are the only you in this whole universe and we need you and want you to be happy. I’ll be back with some interesting things to tell you. I’ve been reading some old diaries and I just might share some of the things I’ve read with you. If you want to read a long, happy blog go to Susan Branches’ blog. She illustrates all the books she writes and she’s written several besides cookbooks. She writes today about her and her husband’s long and happy marriage. Bye.

A Good Start to a New Year

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If this year is to be judged by just its beginning , it’s been a good year already. David and I started it out by going to a gospel sing at our church where a few different gospel singers sang and our preacher gave the sermon. The night was titled, “It’s twelve O’clock Somewhere,” because as the evening progressed and some people would leave we could vote whether we wanted the singing to go on. Several people left, here and there and it got to be ten o’clock and they were going to vote whether to keep on going, but David and I were tired and decided to leave before the vote so we don’t know how late the rest of them stayed. When we got home we watched a little tv and I went to bed before the New Year’s. I’m a real party animal. Poor David didn’t even get his New Year’s kiss like I usually give him. I was sawing logs when that ball came down. Oh, well. Anyway, Happy New Year to you all. Hope it is going well for you.

I had to get another shot in my eye this month which would not have been a good start, but Dr. Shah said my eye looked normal and I no longer needed any shots. I was so happy to hear that. I have to go back for a check up in a few weeks, but I am praying all will still be well with my eyes. At my age I don’t have cataracts like some people my age do. David had them and had to have surgery a few years ago.

David took a week off work at Ralph Lauren to celebrate his 75th birthday. I told him I never thought I would ever be married to someone so old, but then, I’m not far behind him. We celebrated by going to the ear doctor to have our hearing checked and one of my ears looked at that had been bothering me. The hearing specialist told David he was slightly hard of hearing, but not enough to need hearing aides. And then he checked my hearing. No one wants to hear these words about anything to do with you health or body. “I’ve got bad news for you,” the man said to me. I have 50% hearing loss and certain words I can hear with my ears do not compute in my brain. I’ve noticed that when talking to some people. They can be right next to me and I can hear what they say, but don’t know what they said, if that makes any sense. Then he gave me the choice of the cheap or the luxury hearing aides. I told David since he didn’t need any I was taking the luxury ones! I sure hope they work. I’m getting them this week.

After those fun times we spent the rest of the week having fun. We went out to eat three times, one time at IHOP with some loved ones. I love IHOP and usually get the classic french toast but I tried the bananas and strawberry french toast not knowing they pour strawberry syrup all over it also. I didn’t like it as well as the classic so I will stick with that next time. I love IHOP coffee. Usually I don’t like coffee anywhere, but at my house, but theirs is really good. I took David out to eat at Olive Garden where we love the Zuppa Toscana with breadsticks and salad, all you can eat which means I can usually get through one salad and one soup and maybe three breadsticks if I’m really hungry.

We took our Christmas tree down last Monday. We kept it up so long because our granddaughter and her husband were going to come down and get their Christmas presents last Sunday, but we had several inches of snow overnight and they couldn’t come so we will have to plan another time. Maybe go up to where they live and eat at a really great pancake house they have not far from their house. Always an excuse to go there. One of our favorite places and their coffee is pretty good, too.

Anyway, after the tree came down we cleaned our living room from top to bottom, washing windows, dusting the baseboards, putting away my collection of Santa Clauses and our nativity. And we moved furniture around which is something I love to do. When I was younger and stronger, I use to move furniture all by myself and I did it often. David said he never knew where the furniture would be when he got home from work.

I’ve typed all this time and not a single picture.

Here’s where the tree use to be.

My Christmas cactus bloomed Thanksgiving, had a few blossoms at Christmas and here it is in all its glory now. I think it’s confused.
I think transplanting it to a larger pot and putting it outside last Summer, where it flourished, has given it a new boost on life.
Have I already shown you the three pairs of socks I’ve knitted since Christmas? This is just one of each pair. I used up yarn I had over from other socks and I’m thinking I like knitting socks like this better than just the one color ones.
I got this absolutely beautiful yarn from a shop out of North Pole, Alaska called Bad Sheep. This picture does not do the colors justice. They are so vibrant. The one that looks like it’s blue is actually a deep green and the one that looks rose colored is red in color. These will be knit into socks and I may mix and match them to make what I like to call my “patchwork” socks.
Have I shown you this quilt I have finished since Christmas, also? If I did, consider my age and ignore it if I already showed you! I’m ashamed to say I have spent very little time in my shop sewing ever since my Christmas sale. I plan to finish more of my unfinished quilts this years, so I better get cracking.
I followed the advice of Mary over on Country Threads Farm Life blog who only quilts in straight lines. She gets sooo many quilts completed this way and I’ve decided I am going to do that also and get some done. I probably have fifteen or twenty unfinished quilts laying around and I also have plans to piece some more. I can’t hand quilt them all, unfortunately, but I will get them completed and into someone else’s hands. I kind of enjoyed just straight quilting on the machine and it sure was a whole lot easier than trying to turn corners.
David’s birthday cake. Not one of the prettiest you will see, but it was good and yes, it’s almost gone. We have candles for every age now and I rustled up these to put on the cake. At one time someone in our family was seven and someone was once five. They are all grown up now. Boo hoo.

Here’s the birthday boy. He’s looking pretty good for three quarters of a century. I think I’ll keep him for another 75(if that were possible!) He does love his sweets and he wanted a chocolate cake.

Because I have NOTHING else to do, I ordered a couple of paint by number pictures to paint. The paint by numbers aren’t like they were when I was a girl where you got maybe ten paints and one brush and that was all you needed. Now the pictures are very intricate and I got 24 paints and five brushes with each picture. As you can see, there are a lot of parts to this painting. I really don’t know how a real artist figures out what and where to paint to paint a masterpiece.

This is what the painting should look like when I’m finished. I’m going to put it on the wall by my owl floor lamp I bought myself. Ahh, look at Mr. Snowman peeking around the picture.
I’m still loving this lamp. I have it on all the time burning electricity and I don’t care. I’m going to do a blog about my love of eclectic lighting in my house. I always buy what I love, not always what I should and my tastes have changed through the years, but that’s another blog one day. The little light you can see behind the chair is one of my finds at an antique store that they were using for lighting and I talked them out of it.
Back to my painting. Here is the next picture I will paint. If you have been reading my blog for any time, you know I love my Labs. I have a chocolate one and a black one. Never have had a golden one. I would love to have a silver one and we tried to get one, but they are hard to find. This will go well with my Lab table I got for Christmas.
Here is what you get with the kits. I’m thinking about buying some better brushes to do the dog picture because the ones that do come with the painting are not high quality and don’t have fine points and there are a whole lot of teeny tiny things to paint in these pictures. Which is why I use this….
David surprised me and ordered me a new magnifying glass on Amazon. My old one had a bad place in it right in the middle and it was not easy to paint with. My new one is wonderful and I can see every tiny thing.

I’ve rattled on long enough. Just didn’t want January to go by without checking in. If the rest of the months are like this one, it’s going to be a very busy year and for that, I am grateful. I hate being bored and I never am because I’m always looking for something to do and I’m thankful I have a man who tries to keep up with me and helps me in many of my endeavors.

Here’s to new years, things to do, and husbands to love. Bye.

Settling in for Winter

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Christmas came and went in a flurry of decorating, baking, gift buying, church services, family gatherings and I loved it all, but now it’s time to settle in for Winter. We have almost three months of it to go and no matter where you live, it’s time well spent if you will do it.

I use to really love Winter as a child because it brought Christmas and sledding and making snowmen and snow angels in the snow. The cold didn’t bother me hardly at all even with my stocking gloves(I had no others) and wearing my brothers’ old buckle artic boots. I didn’t care how I looked because I got to go outdoors with my older brothers and go sledding down the big hill just down the road from our house. Winter meant hot tea and cinnamon toast on snowy school day mornings, piles of blankets on the bed where my room was so cold frost formed on the inside. Winter was my daddy making popcorn balls and bringing armloads of wood inside to fuel the big stove in our kitchen. It was my mother’s delicious suppers eaten around the table with all my family, snug inside while the weather roared outside.

Now that I am an old lady( I don’t feel like one) the cold weather really bothers me. Right now I have three heavy blankets on our bed and a mattress pad that has duel heat controls and mine is always on the highest temperature these cold, Winter nights. Sometimes I think it would be grand to be like the bears and hibernate all Winter snug in my cave. But I would have books to read also so as not to be bored. I’d lose weight like the bears do and come out in the Spring slimmer and ready for the warmer seasons.

But, alas I must just settle into Winter and enjoy it the best I can. Hot baths, snug beds, lots of reading, sewing quilts, making hot soups and baking delicious things. Going out to care for the dogs and the chickens who have to endure this weather the same as I do. The cold weather doesn’t seem to bother the dogs or chickens at all as long as they have a warm place to sleep and they do. Feeding the birds and watching them flock to the bird feeders almost running over each other in their greed for the sunflower seeds and cracked corn I leave out for them. I love watching them from my big chair while I have a work in progress on my knitting needles.

I don’t hate Winter. I think it’s good we have a little time to slow down and adjust our bodies to a slower time table while we await Spring’s warm weather. Sometimes, when I have a lot of quilts I want to make, I feel like Winter isn’t long enough. And it’s good we have to slow down our driving and take care. It’s not always rush, rush, rush everywhere even though there are a few who still drive on ice like it was eighty degrees out and the roads are dry as the desert. I just hope they don’t hit anyone in their haste.

We can’t dodge Winter so we may as well enjoy it as much as possible. The one really good thing about this time of year is that the days are getting longer little by little. Soon we will notice it stays lighter much longer in the evenings again. We will stay up later. I don’t know about you, but in Winter I go to bed a lot earlier than I do at other times. Like as I write this it feels like it should be about 9:00 and it’s 7:00! A hot bath sounds good about now. Then warm pajamas and turn up the heat on the mattress pad and I’m ready to settle in for the night.

Just think of Winter as God’s gift to us telling us to slow down, watch the snow falling, give our loved ones some extra attention. I use to love having my children home from school during the Chrismas holidays. They would play games all day or play outside in the snow. Monopoly games could go on for days. I loved every minute of it. But I also was glad when they went back to school and I had the house all to myself for a few hours.

Here’s to lovely Winter. The snow, sleet, ice and all. It’s ours to settle with and we will. Bye.

2023

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Christmas has come and gone. Already a week ago and time marches on. I hope you had a very nice Christmas. We did at our house. Kind of lowkey, but pleasant and even though, for me, it’s not about the gifts, I did get some nice ones. I asked David for only one thing this year that I really, really wanted. I saw a dog table with a glass top and the dog’s nose pointing up to a butterfly that is on top of the table. It was a Lab and looked so much like Sugar. I knew I was getting it because of the big box that arrived soon after I asked for it, but I had to wait until Christmas morning to see it and it did not disappoint.

It was better than I expected and larger than I thought it would be.

This is the butterfly on top of the table.

As if my cup doesn’t already overflow, I bought myself something after Christmas that I have been saving for and looking for for a couple of years. I love Tiffany lamps. I have one hanging in my shop. It use to hang in our kitchen and then when we remodeled the kitchen,it was installed in our dining room and then when we bought a new lamp for the dining room it got put in my shop where it will stay. I have wanted a floor lamp and have been looking at them on Amazon. There are pages of them and they all are so pretty I was having a hard time choosing one. Then, the other day, after searching for a while I came upon a page that had the most wonderful lamp I have ever seen and I could afford it!! I didn’t waste time looking any further. I clicked on it and told David it was on its way and would need to be put together.

Here it is.

So wonderful in the window.

The lamp itself is beautiful, but it is what is on it that made me fall in love.
The little owl nightlight. It sits on what looks like a tree branch. In fact the whole lampstand looks like a tree limb. I could not have found a more perfect Tiffany lamp for me if I had continued to look for months. This is just the perfect lamp for me. You can have the lamp on or just the owl nightlight lit or both at the same time. It’s so beautiful and I love it so much! Did I tell you I love my new lamp?

So the owl lamp sits next to my dog table and I am in bliss. I can look at them both as I knit or quilt or watch television and they will just make me happy. Almost like having the Christmas tree up all year with my new lamp. And I am feeling kind of sad the tree has to come down in the next week or so.

I wasn’t the only one who got what they wanted for Christmas. David wanted a new razor. Now weeks before Christmas David starts to let his beard grow. Now at his age it comes in snowy white so he kind of looks like Santa Claus. He enjoys taking peppermints to the store and handing them out to children, with their parents’ consent, of course. He has had children walk up to him and ask him if he’s Santa. He always tells them he’s Santa’s helper, but I don’t think some of them believe that and just know he’s the real one. I think it’s funny to see the looks on children’s faces when they see him. Oh, to be a child again and believe in the magic. I don’t think there is anything wrong with letting your children use their imaginations in believing there’s a Santa Claus, but I do believe children should know the real reason why we celebrate Christmas, also because without the birth of Jesus, none of us would be celebrating the holiday. It would not exist. Anyway, back to David’s razor. I took this picture of him Christmas Day.

Santa and his razor! You know, he cut off his beard Christmas night and I didn’t notice it until a day later! Better than last year. His beard was gone for two days before I noticed he had cut it off. He said his new razor was a dream to use. And I’m glad to have my clean shaven husband back.
Here is another picture of my dog table. It looks like its tilted, but it’s the angleof my camera that makes it look that way. I’m a terrible photographer.

So the holidays will be officially over tomorrow and then the stores will start pushing the next one on us. Valentine’s Day. But I’m way ahead of them on that.

While sewing for my Christmas sale, I found this heart garland I had forgotten I made and now it’s in my window.

Each heart is different.

I love to embroider and these hearts were so much fun to make.

So much fun that I have started another garland.

So let me be the first to tell you, “Happy Valentine’s Day!” We still have David’s birthday this month. So we will be celebrating that first.

Happy New Year to you all. I wish you health, happiness, peace and joy in the next year. May God rest His hand on you and keep you safe. Bye.

Let There Be Light

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We finally got out of town for the first time in ages. We have not spent an overnight since before Covid hit us two years ago! It’s not that we didn’t want to, but things as they were, it was difficult to get away. From my heart trouble to David’s shoulder injury, we have been kept close to home for far too long. And of course. there’s the animals that I, at least, hate to leave for long periods.

So last weekend we got into our trusty Jeep and off we went to Cincinnati where our son and his family live. We have not been down there since they got married so it was long overdue.

Would you believe this is the only “family” picture I took? What is wrong with me! I keep taking my camera and never get any important pictures. Well, this is important because this is my granddog, Annie. She is so lively and quick and LOVES to fetch. I loved playing with her. She reminds me of a smaller version of our Lucy who loves to fetch also. It’s been too cold out for me to play with her so I was having fun playing with Annie.

They also have this huge cat with batman like ears and another black and white long haired cat. They are both bigger than Annie.

We went down to Cincinnati to see family and to do some Christmas lights looking. Before we did they we went out to eat at an amazing restaurant, The Golden Lamb. It was built in the 1800’s and people like George H. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Charles Dickens have eaten there. Yes, Charles Dickens, the author of A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities. That Charles Dickens. His picture is on the wall with other dignitaries who have eaten there. We looked around at all the old furniture and books that lined the walls. It was a beautiful place to visit and I’m glad we did. It is still used for a bed and breakfast also. It would be fun to stay there.

After we ate a gigantic meal, I had their turkey dinner, we set off for Armco Park where there were lights to see. First we went through a neighborhood of large, older homes that were decorated for Christmas. These homes were three stories high and some had Christmas trees clear at the top window. They were all so beautiful. I’d like to see the houses in daylight.

Then we drove to the park and it was wonderful.

This was at the beginning of the light show.

If pigs could fly!

Dinosaurs and….
fire breathing dragons.
Whales and…..
trucks. HO, HO, TOW!

And of course, the reason for the season.

Peace on Earth, good will to men.

I’ll be busy the next couple of days preparing a feast for Christmas day. We are expecting a huge ice storm and lots of snow and below 0 temperatures, so it may be just David and I here that day. Just so all my family and friends are safe and warm in their homes during this storm that is coming.

So wishing you all, wherever you are in the world, a blessed Christmas Day. God bless us, everyone! Bye.

A Day in Court

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I grew up watching Perry Mason with my mother. He always won his cases. I watched People’s Court for years and saw how people reacted to a judge. I’ve seen countless court cases on tv at one time or another, but I never thought I’d take part in one until this week.

Last week I told you I got a call from a lady telling me to show up for court in a few days. I told her at the time that I was a little hard of hearing and found it hard to hear people from far away, but she would not accept that excuse and told me to show up for court.

So last Tuesday, David and I went downtown to our historic courthouse. We got into a line at the door where we were checked by security. Then upstairs to circuit court where people were lined up again to sign in. Then we all sat on benches in the courtroom and waited. And waited. And waited. Some lawyers came in. Then the person being judged and his lawyer came in. Finally, the judge came in. Not how I pictured a judge. She was pretty and young and didn’t look like a judge at all. But then, what do judges look like now? Times have changed. They are not all men anymore and that’s a good thing. Women were important judges in the Bible so there is no reason women should not be judges now.

Then the judge told us some rules, many of them I didn’t hear and had to ask David what she said. Then a video was shown about what to expect being a juror. Then the real process of choosing the jury began. First twelve people were called to come up and sit in the jury box. Then the judge said if anyone in the room had a reason they should not be on the jury to come forward and tell her now. I didn’t hear that part! David told me I better go up and tell her I could not hear everything that was being said. I was in a panic, really. So I got into the line. There were several people with excuses, but not all were excused. I didn’t know what I would do if I wasn’t. What if I sent an innocent person to jail because I didn’t hear all the information? Then it was my turn to go up to the judge. I was so terrified, but I took a deep breath, walked up there and she asked me what was my excuse. I told her I had been having trouble hearing all the talking in the courtroom and if I were put on the jury I may not hear everything I should hear. She then asked me, “Don’t you have hearing aids?” Ummmmm. Well, I have thought about getting some for a long time, but my pride has kept me from doing so and the prices are so high so I told her we could not afford hearing aids! For some reason, something I said or how terrified I looked made all the lawyers and the judge laugh and she leaned down and said, “You are excused.” I almost dropped right there, but I turned around went to get my coat and David and I left. David asked me what we were all laughing about. I wasn’t laughing so I don’t know.

I was a little disappointed and a lot grateful that I didn’t have to sit on the jury. It was a murder trial, too. One girl who was chosen was so elated she pumped her fist in the air.

All in all, in retrospect, it was very interesting to see how a jury is selected.. David is on the list now and we are wondering if he will get called. I will go with him and watch everything and if he should be chosen, I will stay for the trial. Maybe I will have hearing aids by then.

It’s almost Christmas and I am not ready. We did shopping for dinner today and wow was our list long. Next week will be busy, but this weekend we are doing something fun. I will tell you about it later.

Here’s to judges and juries and may they always make the right decisions. Bye.

Well, It’s Over

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You know how sometimes you plan something and look forward to it and wait and wait and suddenly it’s here and then….it’s all over? I don’t know about you, but when I’ve devoted my life the last year to making things for my sale and now I don’t have to make anything if I don’t want to, it kind of puts me in a spin of sorts. The couple of days after the sale I felt like I was on vacation with nothing to do, but exactly what I wanted to do. It was like I had put myself in sewing jail for a whole year. Don’t get me wrong, I love to sew, but my output this year was pretty amazing even to myself.

My sale went really well. I sold a lot of stuff. I was surprised at the things that didn’t sell. Isn’t that always the case? The very things you think everyone will love didn’t hardly get a second glance and other things went swiftly. But I made enough to buy either a new sewing machine or lots more fabric. We’ll wait a while and see what I decide. I thank everyone who came even if you bought or not. I enjoyed seeing some people I haven’t seen in years. Three of my very handsome grandsons came with their mothers and I had baked chocolate chip cookies the night before so I fixed bags of cookies for them to take home. My best friend from high school came with her husband and we had a good visit. They were doing a tour around the state going to different things and my shop was on their tour. I only see her every two or three years, if I’m lucky, so it was so nice to see her again. But, I’m glad it’s over. That’s not to say my life isn’t going to get more stressful because……

The phone rang today. Now I don’t answer the phone often during the day because it’s always a robot call or a salesman or someone from medicare thinking I need to change something or someone telling me someone is using my credit card and things like that. I figure if it’s an emergency or one of my kids or friends they will leave a short message and I will get back with them. Well, I answered the phone today and it was a lady calling me for circuit court duty. I told her I didn’t hear very well, but she said they had devices people could use to hear. I told her it was awfully short notice, next Tuesday when I am supposed to show up, but I said I’d be there. Since that call I have felt so tense and worried. I love to watch court shows and murder shows, but I’ve never wanted to serve on a jury. It’s a Big responsibility and what if I get it wrong? I read up on court duty and it said it could last for two weeks sometimes. Just what I need right before Christmas! And it said there is a lot of waiting. I’m not good at waiting. I’m an impatient person. They said to bring a book and snacks(not to be read or to be eaten in court, of course.) I will fill up my Kindle and charge it well and hope that will keep me entertained while I wait. That’s what I get for answering the phone!

I’ve got most of my Christmas shopping done. The kids are too old for toys so it’s clothes and giftcards this year although I always find a fun gift that no one expects that I give to the younger kids. Plus I have a lot of things left over from my sale I can give as gifts, too.

Today I did go out in my shop and sew a little. I got some new fabric in the mail this week which I had forgotten I ordered so my mind is working on what to make with it.

I ordered a big box of Tootsie Roll pops. They are larger than the ones you usually get in the store. A big box of 72. I hope I will pace myself and only eat one a day. I love Tootsie Roll Pops better than any other candy. I also ordered a bag of all chocolate Tootsie Roll Pops. There are never enough chocolate ones in the bag so this will really be a treat. They all came today and I’ve already eaten one. David may have to hide them from me so I don’t go overboard with the candy! And I’d like to share them with the grandkids.

So much to do and so little time and court duty. Bah, Humbug. If you love court duty, please let me know why you do and help me out a little. Bye.

Almost Here

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The day of my Christmas sale is almost here. I’ve been working and dreaming of the day for an entire year. Right after last Christmas I started sewing things for it and have sewn almost every single day since until this past week when it was time to set up my shop for the sale. Here are some views of my shop.

Ready for the big day. In other news…..

We spent Thanksgiving with some family and then went to our daughter’s house for some games. I took my camera with every intention of taking pictures of my grandsons but…..

Miss LIly stuck her nose into my face and then I only took pictures of the dogs!
What is wrong with me! I didn’t get one picture of the boys. But we did have fun playing a game and had a nice time with them. The oldest one just got his learner’s permit. Pretty soon all my grandchildren will be driving and I will have more to worry about. You never stop thinking and worrying about your children and grandchildren, no matter how old they get.

I’m looking forward to Saturday and my sale. I had two dreams. One, nobody showed up for the sale and I sat there all day by myself. The other dream I had there were so many people showing up they would not fit into my shop and they were lined up all down the street. Let’s hope it’s a happy medium between these two dreams! Bye.