Monthly Archives: October 2018

Oh, Glorious Days

I love Autumn.  I use to love Summer, but I have become heat intolerant the older I get and I don’t like to sweat so there’s that, too.    We have been having some glorious days and today was one.  Driving back from Indianapolis from my daughter’s physical therapy we saw some of the most beautiful red leaved trees in a field.  The leaves are indeed starting to change.   They are later than usual, but that’s okay.   It will be beautiful in Brown County in another week and the leaf gazers will be out in force.

We have been busy doing things with the Grandboys.   Once again we attended Grandparents’ Day at the Christian school two of our Grandboys attend.  We always enjoy it.   And we take them out to eat and get to have some one on one time with them.  It’s fun having a real conversation with our older Grandboys about all kinds of subjects.

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This one went from a  little boy to a young man almost overnight.   I hate it, but what can I do?  Kids grow up right before our eyes almost.

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This one is a Junior. Ack!

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Taller than us both and such a nice boy.  We love them both so much.

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Then soccer with this Grandboy.  His team won both games. Yay!

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This boy can kick a soccer ball. He made several goals.

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Sitting on his mama’s lap between games.

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This is our “baby” Grandboy. Getting so tall also.  He played goalie for a while.

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Sometimes he didn’t look very interested!   His team won their games, too. Yay!

Since this was the last of the soccer games for the season there were concessions, booths giving away things from water bottles to Tide sticks and some were selling soccer paraphernalia. And this guy showed up since Target was sponsoring the whole thing.

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The sky was so blue that day.

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Trees starting to turn.   It was just glorious and nice to be outside although right after the games the wind picked up and began blowing pretty hard.  Leaves flying everywhere.

In Autumn it seems the flowers give their last hurrah as if they know that soon they will be resting for a few months.

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My hydrangea had more flowers on it than ever before.

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I’ve always wanted blue hydrangeas and this year I finally have one.   I do have to add something to the soil so they will turn blue.

I’ve done very minimal Autumn decorating this year as I won’t be around for most of it.

 

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Fairy lights, pumpkins and Halloween figures on the mantel.

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A tray of tiny pumpkins and a Buttered Maple Syrup scented candle.  I haven’t lit it yet, but maybe tonight.

And of course, new yarn has been ordered and received.  I used up a bunch of yarn on patchwork socks and so I needed a new stash.

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These colors are so beautiful. My horrible photography does not do these colors any justice at all, but believe me, they are deep colored and delicious looking. I can’t wait to get them wound and let the knitting begin.  I’m really going to have to relearn how to knit sweaters because I have knit so many socks this year.  I use to knit sweaters and things for my kids years ago, but it seems I have forgotten all I ever knew.

Enjoy these glorious Autumn days because Winter is right around the corner.  Bye.

 

 

 

Been Through the Wringer

Do you feel like our country has been put through the wringer in the past few weeks?  Or months?   Or years?    Being put through the wringer is being twisted, squashed, pounded, and completely drained.   I have never seen anything like it in all my years on this earth.   Before you read much farther, this may get political.

I love politics. I will be up front with you about that. Ever since I got to vote for the first time at eighteen, I have loved politics.  I watched CSPAN faithfully.  I kept up with and still do, all the news I can watch.  Being honest with you, I believe there are several “news” shows that have drifted from being the news to being opinion shows and that is fine, I just wish they would admit to it.   I voted for Jimmy Carter.  GASP!     I grew up and started to see how politicians affected my life and my pocketbook.  Politics seems to have become all touchy feely anymore. Not about the operation of our great country and how our money is spent and how protected we are.  It’s about how people FEEL, not the facts or what is good for them.

During the last confirmation hearings of the new Supreme Court judge it went from finding out how well the man would serve on the court, how qualified he was, how long he has served with distinction, to something he didn’t do years ago, could not be proven and then he was called a drunk, that he threw ice in a bar, the horror, and that he did not have the temperament to be a judge despite the FACT he has served as a judge for decades and been praised over and over for how he performed on the job.   I know many women reading this are saying, but, but, he may or may or may not have done something to a girl in high school?   Well, there were no witnesses, no one to back the woman up, no evidence of anything she said and yet the “news” media continued the lies and deception over and over to try to brainwash people into believing one thing only.   How many of us can say we were perfect in high school?  How many of us have done things we would not want brought to light?  Would we want our lives ruined because someone may or may not have remembered something we may or may not have done thirty, forty, fifty years ago?  Things that could never be proven?   We live in a very dangerous world if someone can throw allegations at you with absolutely no proof and then you are found guilty.  It could happen to anyone.  Even you or me.

Then we watch as people, mostly young men and women throwing what I call tantrums and rioting in the streets. They are not peaceful demonstrations. I have seen people punched, signs torn from people’s hands and ripped apart, elderly people harassed by dancing young women who get in their faces and shout.  There is absolutely no respect for anyone from most of these people.  Is this the kind of country we all want? It’s not the country in which I grew up.  Do we want to hear our leaders telling others to get in people’s faces and shouting them out of restaurants?   Where has civility gone?   I noticed it began years ago when a certain young president told his followers, “If they bring a knife, you bring a gun.” I wondered then, who was bringing a knife??  Another politician tells people to get in the faces of those with whom they disagree.  And just this week I heard the woman who wanted to be president tell us that liberals cannot be civil with conservatives.  What kind of leadership is that?  Certainly not a leader who wants to unite people.   I don’t want a leader like that who promotes violence.  And less you say our president does that, I have listened to most of his speeches and he has never promoted violence. Yes, he has asked protesters to be removed from his rallies which I don’t find a bad thing.  And yes, people say “Lock her up,” about Hillary even though we know that family can get away with just about anything and nothing will happen.  It’s called letting off steam, but I have been to a Trump rally and there is no violence there and it was fun.   I’m telling the world most of all the negative things you are hearing about President Trump is not the truth. If you are reading this just know, most of us like the job he is doing. We have more money in our paychecks, we haven’t entered anymore wars and he is trying to protect our borders that have become like a sieve.

I love peace and harmony.  I don’t want to see people shouting at each other, striking each other and doing all kinds of mean things because of politics.   I want to get along with those who may vote differently from me, but if my man or woman wins, I want people to respect the office and respect our country enough not to throw a tantrum.  I certainly kept quiet for years when people were elected to office with whom I disagreed.  I just waited and quietly voted. It seems one side is not content to do that any longer. If someone beats their candidate, there has to be something wrong with the world.  Maybe we should all just turn off our tvs, get together for a pitch-in dinner and talk among ourselves and ignore the politicians and talking heads for a while.   I’d love to invite you for a cup of coffee and cinnamon rolls and just talk about our lives and our families. Most people all around the world only want the simple things. Freedom, enough food, shelter, friends and family.   This is what I pray for the world,  my country, my family, and my friends.

We don’t want to be put through the wringer any longer. Stop threatening to impeach someone duly elected or confirmed in his job.  Stop telling us what you want us to hear or believe and start telling us the truth.  Get along for a few months, at least, and let the country rest.  We have had enough.

Here’s to freedom and being able to voice my opinion.  May it never be taken away. Bye.

Autumn Weekend

Autumn has officially began with all its glory.  No, the trees are not changing color yet, but lots of things shout that Autumn is here. Everywhere you go, you see pumpkins at roadside stands, in fields and at grocery stores.  Mums in all different colors are displayed and tempt us to buy one, two or three.

Candy corn and candy pumpkins are put out in the stores. We have already gone through three bags of candy pumpkins or I should say,  David has gone through three bags of pumpkins. I ate one pumpkin, but I think they taste like wax.   I did some baking in an Autumn theme.  Cookies for a bake sale iced in orange icing and sprinkled with orange sprinkles.  My daughter said they made $275 for the MS Society at the sale, the charity the children chose to donate to.  I also baked a caked, iced in orange icing with candy pumpkins on top.

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I am slowly decorating for Autumn.

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The little tray I bought at an antique store filled with, what else, pumpkins.

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I love getting out all my Autumn quilts.  I am working on a pumpkin quilt right now and have an apple one to finish.  Maybe this week or next  I will be done painting and will have time to devote to quilting.  Speaking of painting, I have been painting on something since the first of the year.  I painted the inside of my shop, the shed, the outside of my shop, boards for our new screened in porch, stained and polyurethaned  two screen doors, and today I finished staining the floor of our front porch once again. I also am preparing to paint four new barn quilts to hang on the front of our house.   To say I am growing tired of painting is an understatement.

I love changing out my wardrobe from Summer things to cool weather things. I am getting out my clothes and washing and ironing them getting ready for a new season.

 

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Our Grandboys spent the weekend with us.  It’s always fun to have them here. We went to see the movie, “Small Foot” about a man taken in by the Yeti who considered him an object of curiosity.   It was cute, but I thought the music was way too loud.  The movie, “Goosebumps 2” that is coming looks really good. I don’t see too many movies anymore because most just aren’t my cup of tea.  There are very few movies made for adults that appeal to me.  There is always a hidden message that I don’t care to see. Why does Hollywood do that?  Just make a good movie with good dialogue and we will come.

Took the boys to church and right in the middle of it, one of them left to go to the bathroom and was in there for a very long time so David got up to check on him. A while later, here they came and Foster had lost a tooth.   He put it in his pocket to take home, but later I saw it lying on the floor underneath a pew.  Wonder what the janitors would have thought about finding a tooth in the sanctuary?  I use to clean our church. I found some strange stuff at times.

Anyway, he put the tooth back in his pocket and I hope the tooth fairy was good to him.

We took the boys home and visited with our granddogs.  I love Golden Retrievers, but I will never have one because of the long hair that has to be brushed all the time.  My daughter’s Goldens are just beautiful and the sweetest things.  I took lots of pictures of them with the boys.

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Lily, on the floor is the mother.

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Two sweet faces.

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Now that’s a doggie smile. My son-in-law was telling me that one day when he was off work, he was putting his shoes on to take a walk and the dogs all knew what was happening and he said they all looked like they had big smiles on their faces because they knew they were going out for a walk with him. Oliver, the dog who lost his leg in a trap, still wanders sometimes.   You would think he had learned.

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This is Oliver, the one I wrote a story about. He is so beautiful and you hardly notice he has a leg gone.

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You can tell the boys and the dogs love each other.

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Really tried to get a picture outside, but the dogs didn’t cooperate.  They wanted to play.

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My grandson made a basketball goal out of paper just because he wanted to.

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I like to encourage creativity.  I think he did a good job.

This week will be more trips to Indianapolis for my daughter’s PT.  We had a little excitement coming home last time. We were driving along on the interstate and a car with some men inside, drove up beside us and a man pointed to our car and wanted us to stop. Me, being the paranoid person I am, and having heard of scams where men do this to women to get them to stop, I told my daughter to just keep driving. The men had pulled off to the side of the interstate thinking we would follow them. We were near our exit and the outlet mall where David works so we drove to the store and I went in and he came out to see. Lo and behold, we had a sort of flat tire.  David looked at it and had us go to a filling station to fill it with air.     A side story. Once when we were traveling through Arizona, we stopped at a filling station and suddenly a man came up and looked under our car and said if we didn’t have a certain thing repaired, our car might flip. David, being a mechanic in the military, knows about cars and blew him off.  We traveled thousands of miles in that car afterward with absolutely no trouble, so I believe we were being scammed in that instance.  But me, I worried all the time about that car flipping!   I am completely useless when it comes to cars and their repairs.

Remember when we had the kittens under our porch?  Our daughter took one and Sunday was the first time I had seen him since she adopted him.

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He is beautiful with a beauty mark on his face.

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But very hard to hang on to.  He’s made them a nice pet.

Here’s to Autumn, Goldens, Grandboys and Cats. Bye.