Can you feel it?   The tiniest little breeze that has Autumn in it?   The hazy days of Summer slowly, but surely easing into the golden days of Autumn?  I can feel it even when the days are in the 80’s and 90’s I can tell that Summer is taking its last few breaths.

We are still swimming in  the pool. The water was 87 degrees today which is just about right for me.  David will swim when the water is in the 70’s, but not me!  The butterflies float around the flowers.  The birds feed their nestlings.  The dogs sleep in the shade. We see this as we swim.  It is like our own private Eden. But there will not be many more days of them.  I am already thinking about what flowers I will save and put into the greenhouse this Winter.  It is like deciding which of my children will go with the Nazis.  Did you see that movie, Sophie’s Choice with Meryl Streep where she had to decide which of her children she would have to let go with the Nazis?  A heart wrenching story which probably happened more times than we know.   Okay, my decision is not that bad, but I still feel like I am leaving some plants out in the weather to die when it gets cold.  I cannot save them all.

The garden is so beautiful.

I did not plant one sunflower seed and yet we have sunflowers growing all over.  The birds did such a good job of sowing the seeds this year and we see Goldfinches and Cardinals munching on the seeds and probably sowing more for next year.
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The Shasta Daisy we just planted this year did very well.  This will multiply.  My favorite kind of plant, unless it’s a weed.

This picture was taken through as screen, but this is my little kitchen garden.  It has become lush and full of flowers.  I hardly do any weeding anymore, but the plants are so close together there is very little room for weeds.

One of my top five favorite flowers, the Geranium.  It never disappoints and takes very little care. I have several blooming. This one goes back into  the greenhouse when cold weather comes.
David took the month of July off and we did a road trip along the Ohio River through little River towns. I love River towns.  I think I would have been very happy living in one.  Of course Madison, Indiana is one of my favorites.  It is a tourist town for sure, but still has its little town qualities. Years ago I use to go down there just to go to a certain quilt shop to buy fabric because she carried the reproduction fabrics I so loved. She has since closed which made me sad.

The wonderful,Ohio River.  Just think of the ships and Indians and settlers that came down this river.  Now we see barges and pleasure boats on it.  Once a year there is a tall ships weekend where boats with sails come up the river to Cincinnati. I have always wanted to see them on the water.

In one town there is this tall measuring platform that tells how far up the river rose in certain years.

Not sure I would have wanted to be near the river in 1937 when it rose 81 feet!  Must have been an epic flood.

Now we know where the house is that is in the song.  Mothers, tell your children!
We saw President Grant’s childhood home.


We didn’t go in this  time as we were there several, years ago, but I have a story about that time.  David and I wanted to tour the house, but we were on a time budget as we had to be somewhere else so we went inside and saw another tour group that was being led around so we thought we would wait.  Meanwhile we were in this room where they had signs up, “do not take pictures.”  We waited and waited for someone to come talk to us, but they never did and rebel that I am, I started taking pictures of everything in the room. Then David and I rushed out giggling like we had robbed a bank and got into our car and sped away.

it is kind of neat, though, to have a Yankee general and former president being born in my state.

Every little town is unique.  This was painted on a building in one town.

Murals are very popular.  These two were so pretty.

There was this army related train set up in one town.

Beautiful old houses are abundant along the river.  At one time people made their livings off the river and some became very prosperous.

And some lived in log cabins.

Coming to Cincinnati and we thought traffic would be bad, but it was faster and easier to go around Cincinnati than through our town!  We must have hit it just right.  No rush hour or people going to a ballgame.

Not a good picture, but it is the Cincinnati Red’s ballpark.  I have been to games there.  I remember when Pete Rose and Johnny Bench played for the big red machine. That was an awesome team that year.  Pete Rose should have been put in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  He was treated very badly in my humble opinion.

Driving down the highway we suddenly noticed wildflowers growing all along the side of the road. For miles.

It was so pretty.  Someone did a lot of work to get this to be so pretty and wonderful. Someone who loves wildflowers.

Saw this in one town honoring the Viet Nam vets.  Many vets were treated terribly after that war. Not sure why, but nasty people do nasty things and it’s never justified or good.  Young men sent to a war they were not allowed to win and ostracized afterward.  History will not look well on those who were hateful to those men.  Being a military wife I feel for those men.  I have a story about me confronting a man at a dinner party where he was badmouthing the National Guard  in which my husband was a member, but I will save that for another day.

Change of subject, but Hoosiers like to decorate differently than a lot of people do. Saw this cow’s head on someone’s barn.

And the American flag flies proudly.  I heard that one of those women on the show, The View, which I never watch, said  seeing a lot of American flags makes her feel afraid.  Let me tell you, if our flag frightens you, maybe you need to find a new country to live in because that flag has flown over the best country this world has ever seen and millions of us are ready to fight for it again should we have to.
So I will leave you with my opinion and you can take it or leave it, but on our country’s 250th  birthday I will say I am proud to be an American. Be proud of your country wherever you live and make it the best country you can. We all have faults, in every one, but no one and no country is perfect. Not sure I would  want mine to be! Have a great rest of your Summer or Winter wherever you are reading this all over the world. Bye.

I say, “Oh, dear!” Because I looked up,and yet another month has passed and we are in the middle of July already!  We have been busy and happy and enjoying life and hardly notice how quickly the days are passing.  One of our grandsons graduated. There was a party. July 4th came and went with a bang.  Not like the Big Bang we had last month I told you about.

About that big bang. Our Jeep was fried by a lightning strike and it was in the   car doctor’s  office for weeks. They had to go through all the electronics and see what was damaged.  Most of it was, I think.  They finally got it repaired and with a new battery and insides, we got it back.  Remember when I told  you David wanted to,know if the repair bill got over five thousand dollars to let us know.  It did. Gasp!  We sucked it up and paid for it as our insurance did not cover it.  David had just lowered the insurance premium on it months ago so we were left with the bill.  Bit it was cheaper than buying another car so….

Then we had to take the two dog brats to the vet for their annual checkup and shots.  We take them both together, but this time Sugar decided to throw a fit and cried all the way there, all the way into the vet’s office, the whole time they tried to weigh her. She laid down and just cried.  Lucy was sitting very calmly with me looking at her sister like, “What a drama queen.”  Then we went in to see the vet and Sugar continued her fit and when the vet came in, she had to get down on the floor to check her out.  The vet said this was the first time she had done an examination on the floor.  Everything checked out okay. They both got their shots then I took Sugar back to the car where she continued the whining.  David and I were completely exhausted when we got them home. We both agreed that next time we will take them one at a time to the vet’s instead of together.  There was another huge bill.  We pay more at the vets  than we do for our doctors.

And we were not finished, yet.  Molly had her one year “senior” checkup which meant she was checked from head to toe.  She has been limping lately so we got some pain pills for her that cost more than all our own prescriptions put together. If she continues limping the vet wants to take X-rays.  Not sure that is going to happen as Molly is thirteen years old and whatever they would find might cause her more distress than she needs.  So we are just keeping an eye on her for now.

Then I got a call that my sister was not doing well. She has arthritis very badly and suffers with a lot of pain.  She got so bad my brother-in-law finally has to call an ambulance to,take her to the hospital.  Now she is in the nursing home doing physical therapy because she wants to go home.  My sister has always meant a lot to me.  She was like a second mother being eleven years older.  I spent a lot of time at her house and I babysat her children.  She has always been there and I don’t want to lose her.  If you are a praying person, please send up a prayer for her. Her name is Joanne.

We are planning a 250th party at our house this Sunday.  We have been decorating and getting food together this week.  I told David I am getting too old for this, but I love doing it.  Here are some e of my patriotic decorations.

Our mantle.  Sorry about the table in front.

My little cupboard all dressed up. I made the panels and little flag garland.

My completed quilt from the Facebook group I belong to.

This is the back of it.  Pledge of allegiance material.

A George Washington pillow.

An Abe Lincoln pillow.

I made this pillow top years ago and it makes a nice patriotic pillow now.

Here they all are on the couch.
It has been fun making all these patriotic things and I still have a couple more quilts I am making.
David and I celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary this month  it is hard to believe it is that number as the years have flown by so quickly.  We have seen tragedies and sorrows. Had much joy and happiness. Raised our children to be good citizens of this great country.  Seen our grandchildren grow up and graduate and some get married so far.  We have had our ups and downs. We have even had some pretty strong arguments, but we have always come together in the end because life is way too short to hold anger inside for very long.  We have buried loved ones. Held newborn babies.  Have seen our children go through trials we wish we could have protected them from, but that is life. It’s not all sunshine and roses, but it’s not all doom and gloom,either.  I don’t know how much longer we have together here on earth.  We both believe we will one day spend eternity together in Heaven with Jesus which gives me comfort.  I don’t like thinking of this world  without David in it.  He has been a huge part of my life since I was sixteen.  He will always have my heart.  Here is the card he gave me with one red rose.

I won’t tell you what he wrote in it, but he can be a romantic when he wants to be.  One time we were having an argument about something and I was very unhappy and he wrote the most romantic love letter to me and I keep, it close and read it when he gets on my nerves!
My Daddy’s birthday was this month.  He was born in 1915.  He was a farmer and a factory worker.  He was a loving husband and a wonderful father.  From some things I have read, he had to chase my mother as she was not too keen on him for a time, but he won her over and they were married for over fifty years and loved each other very much.  We kids loved it when Daddy would grab our mother and give her a big kiss.  They both were so in love.  Here is his graduation picture.

My mother would have been crazy not to marry this man.  He was so handsome.  He had the bluest eyes.
So this has been our July so far.  David took the whole month off from his job and we plan to take a little trip some time in the future.
Here is to wedding anniversaries, love and patriotism for the greatest country on this earth.  Bye.

So, here we are in the middle of June.  I know I sound like a broken record, but, time is flying.  We have been so busy.  Well, David has been. I just point to jobs for him to do and he does them.  We are turning our back yard into a park or trying to. We have planted several new shrubs and one new grass. I bought plants that would have some color in the Fall as well as the Spring.   Two are supposed to have bright red foliage in the Fall. Now my garden has something blooming almost all the time between Spring and Fall. We both love sitting out on our new patio looking at all the pretty flowers and bushes and watching the birds feed their babies.

I wonder about a bird’s life. It is so short and it is made up of canoodling, hatching children, feeding them constantly and once they are out of the nest starting all over again. We humans have it easy. We canoodle, have children, raise them and generally for most people, they are out of the house and we don’t start all over and we live years and years longer than birds.  Our children have been out of the nest decades.  They did bring home babies for us to enjoy and watch grow.  One of them graduated this year. He has chosen his college, what he wants to major in and knows who his roommates in the dorm will be already.    Next year his younger brother will graduate and our daughter and son-in-law will be empty nesters.  We went to a graduation party at a park for the graduate.  It was a nice afternoon and we got to visit with family.  I forgot my camera so no pictures.

I have been busy in my own way.  I have several projects I am working on.  The little quilts group I joined on Facebook is making a small patriotic quilt in celebration of our country’s 250th birthday.  Ben Franklin said when he signed the Constitution, “It’s a Republic, if you can keep it.”  I hear so many people call our country a Democracy, but it isn’t.  It is a representative  Republic.    I am also working on two larger patriotic quilts. Here is a picture of my small quilt in progress.

And here it is all put together.

Here is the border fabric I used.

How appropriate is that for a patriotic quilt?

And here it is all pinned ready for quilting.

I have painted several custom paint by numbers in the past.  There is this company who would take a picture you send them and make it into a paint by numbers painting to do. I have painted all my grandchildren and I ordered two more pictures this Spring. It ordinarily takes them six to eight weeks to make the picture and provide the paints for it, but after twelve weeks and not receiving my paintings, I contacted the company to inquire.  I get my pictures already stretched on a frame and I was told their framing machine needed a new part and they were waiting on it.  I waited another four weeks and still no paintings and I contacted them again and still was told their framer was broken. I was getting a little peeved by this time.  Then I was  on Facebook this past week and the owner had a YouTube video we were supposed to watch and she explained the business was closing because of poor management. Well, they had my money.  So I was getting ready to contact them again when I got an email saying my order was shipped!  And I was to get it this past Tuesday!  I was so excited and then while tracking the package I was told their shipping date for my package was being changed. Then David found where the train it was on had derailed!  You cannot make this stuff up. Now my package is somewhere here in my state and I wonder what condition it will be in being in a train wreck and all.  And will I get it at all?   I will keep you posted.

I have told you I joined a group that gets a fat quarter bundle of William Morris inspired fabric each month.  It’s almost like getting a Christmas present every month except I pay for it. With each bundle I am making a little quilt using the same pattern each month and when the year is up, I plan to sew all the little quilts together into one big one. It has been so fun seeing what colors I will get each month and I am never disappointed. I can cancel anytime, but why would I want to! Here are the fat quarters I received this month.

William Morris had birds in a lot of his designs.  Here is one of them.  I just find his designs glorious.

How delicious is that fabric!  I can’t  wait to get started on another small quilt with this fabric.

Now for the Big Bang.  We have been having very strange weather lately. Thunder storms, threats of tornados.  A week ago,it could have been two weeks as fast as time is flying, I was downstairs alone, David having gone to bed early and I was browsing through Facebook as I like to do. I have followed so many interesting groups one of them being the Asher House where this man goes to animal shelters and rescues dogs who are going to be euthanized.  Some of the stories are really sad. Some people just should never have dogs.  He has taken in some pretty abused dogs and turned them into beautiful, healthy, happy dogs. Most he then puts up for adoption, but some he adopts himself.  I think he has about twenty dogs of his own. He has branched out to saving horses, donkeys and I think he has one pig.  He has this one dog, Matilda, who is handicapped.  When she runs her hind legs go every which way and sometimes she falls down , but she has the best and sweetest spirit.  I love watching her.  She has even had her own calendar.

Now where was I? Oh, the Big Bang.  There’re I was,  browsing through Facebook watching a storm coming, lots of lightening, counting  the seconds between the lightning and the thunder. That is how you tell how many miles away it is. It was getting closer and closer when suddenly, Flash! Bang! Lightening and thunder at the same time is very loud and there was a flash of light outside our dining room window and I knew it had hit  our house. All the lights everywhere in our house went out. It is very dark when not one light is on. Not the microwave clock. Not the stove clock.  Not the lights out in my greenhouse, I was in complete darkness.  I started looking out windows seeing if all the lights in the neighborhood were off, but, no, just our house had no electricity so I went upstairs . Our stairway is very dark with no lights. Woke up David. He did not believe me when I said we were the only ones hit by lightning so he came downstairs and looked out all the windows and proved to himself, yes, we were the only ones. He went down into  the basement where the breaker box is and reset the breaker and the lights went back on.  I discovered later after he went back to bed that the lights were still off in the back of the house and in my shop where our freezer is with a lot of meat in it. The next morning he had to reset the breakers to those places and everything was alright.

But  now it gets interesting. David works three days a week and he got ready to go to work the next morning, I had been up most of the night not being able to sleep after the Big Bang so I was up when he left for work. A short time later he came back in and said the Jeep had been hit by lightning as it would not start despite all its lights going on. So he called to have it towed and drove our other car to work.  Here a week or more later, they are still going through our Jeep part by part to see what was fried and what is working.  David told them if the repair bill hit five thousand dollars to let him know. I really hope it doesn’t hit that number!  May as well buy a new car. First car we ever bought together was a 1968 VW for three thousand dollars and I loved that car. Wish we still had it. Can’t buy a new car for less than thirty or forty thousand dollars now. So I am hoping we get our Jeep back soon  as I love riding in it,

We are getting a new pastor for our church this Sunday, Father’s Day. He and his wife have three young children so I am pleased about that.  I think our church is growing. David and I have been going to this particular church for over forty years.  It really seems like our family.  We have seen people come and go, had good friends to pass away and seen people go through joys and tragedies.  But we all serve the same God and love each other.

I will,leave you with a photo of our back yard.  The dogs’ yard I must say.

Sunflowers came up volunteer.

I hope your Summer has not been quite as eventful as ours. No big bangs or anything of that nature.  I will try to get back sooner, but time fugits and all that.  Bye.

Here in Indiana we can go from blustery, snowy days to warm Spring days overnight. Once April gets here everything suddenly is green and lush.  Still too early to plant fragile plants and seeds, but we can order them and dream about where we will plant them.  David and I are planting more perennials this year and have several sitting on our back porch waiting to be planted.

It seemed like the Spring flowers and trees came and went so quickly this year.  I think some things were harmed by a cold spell we had right when they were budding. But there were a few outstanding displays.

The Azalea in our front yard was so pretty.  Daffodils were everywhere in the yard.
Lilacs came and went so quickly.  David cut a bouquet of them for me.

I wish you could smell these.  They can not bottle this fragrance no matter how hard they try.

Such happy little flowers that don’t ask for much. Just some rain and a warm Spring day to bring them to life.

Now it is time for the Snowball bushes and the Irises to show their beauty.

This is just one in our front yard.  I will have to take pictures of the ones in our backyard.  I always think of David’s grandmother when I see these.  She had a huge Snowball bush in her back yard that stood probably ten feet tall and was always loaded with snowballs every Spring.  She and I were  kindred spirits, I think.  Our bushes were from her original bush.  So thankful I have that memory of her.

This is a miniature Lilac bush we have growing right beside the porch, it is so pretty.

We moved into our house 49 years ago.  Almost half a century of planting perennials in our yard.  Most planted by myself until recently.  These Spirea were not planted by either David or myself.  Some long ago gardener planted these and they have been this pretty almost every year. A couple of times David has cut them way back, but they come back even prettier.

They run along the whole north side of the house and if I don’t make the effort to look in the side yard, I would miss them.

Even prettier up close.  I wonder how long these bushes grew here before our family came to stay.  They could be one hundred years old for all I know. Our house is 111 years old.

Easter was almost two weeks ago.  Our choir sang a pretty cantata and the message our pastor gave was so interesting.  Our pastor is retiring this month even though he is only in His fifties, but he and his wife have had health problems.  We haven’t found a new pastor yet.  They said sixty people applied for the job!  Now the committee has to narrow it down to two or three who will preach to us and then we will vote for the one we want.  If you are a praying person, please pray we get the pastor we need.  A godly man who preaches straight from the Bible. A man who loves Jesus.

Anyway, Easter was a family day.  Sixteen at our table this year.  I didn’t do all the cooking. We supplied the meat, rolls and dessert and everyone else brought a dish or two.  We had some sad events during the day. Our new granddaughter’s grandmother was missing.  She found out about it just before they came to our house. She was in tears.  We prayed for her and not long after she found out her grandmother had been to a casino and had turned off her phone!  Later in the day our granddaughter’s husband got a text saying a friend of his had been killed in a car accident on the way to church that morning.  His wife and new baby were already at the church waiting for him.  How tragic it was.  Not sure what God was telling us. I think He was saying love your family because you never know if they will be with you another day.

Despite all the drama, we had the annual Easter egg hunt.  We only have two school age boys to hunt them. They both are in high school, but I think you are ever too old to hunt eggs.  Then, when they were done, I asked them to hide the eggs for the rest of the adults. We had an adult Easter egg hunt! It was fun.

I’ll show you my decorations for Spring.  While Easter isn’t about the rabbit, I find I have a nice collection of bunnies.

The bunny banner I made decades ago and this week I found the pattern I

I bought this little tree at an antique store many years ago.  It is one of my favorite things.

This cupboard I bought last Fall has more bunnies in it.

I must show you my Amaryllis.  It has been blooming since Christmas. It has had up seven blooms o it and it is still blooming and sending our shoots for more flowers.  I plan to divide it this Summer and put it in bigger pots.  This plant loves the greenhouse.

Another  plant  that has thrived in my greenhouse is this poinsettia. It is really a bush now and has been blooming since Christmas also.

Talk about loving the greenhouse.  This Petunia has taken over a whole corner.
Remember I told you about the quilt I am planning with several little quilts?

Quilts using this pattern and William Morris designed fabrics.   Well, I am up to fourteen of these quilts made.  Soon I will start sewing them all together.  I have made a patriotic quilt  also and will try to show you next time.
David helped me clean a corner of my shop this week. It took us all afternoon as we went through an old dresser, book shelves and bins to see what was inside. I cleaned and dusted everything I could.  This was when I found my bunny banner pattern. This being just one corner there was so much stuff.  I threw away some things and found a whole box of old hankies I had been wondering about.  David shop vacced the whole corner and hung some pictures we had found.  Still have three more corners and lots of shelves and bins to go through.  I have accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. We brought a lot of stuff home when we closed our store.  At one time I had hundreds of bolts of fabric, but I used some and sold some at garage sales over the years so it is whittled down, but I still have a lot.

We are getting a new patio poured  in a couple of weeks.  I am really excited about it as the old patio has become rather dangerous to walk on. I did a full face plant fall on it last year.  Funny when I was falling my only thought was, “ I hope I don’t break my glasses!”  I didn’t and was hardly hurt at all. Anyway, our new patio will be smoother so hopefully no more falls.
David and I are moving plants tomorrow and planting new ones.  Next week it’s on to Lowe’s to buy more plants, dirt and new pots.  Some of my old terra cotta pots are falling apart,

I will see you after the patio is done.  Lots of things to do.
Here’s to Spring and the beauty it brings.  Hope you are enjoying the warmer weather. Bye.

My three favorite months of the year are coming up.  I just love Spring and seeing all the flowers and trees blooming and watching the birds at all our birdhouses building their nests and raising their families.  Winter never seems very long anymore, but we did have snow this year and we are expecting more tonight.  But it won’t last long because we are expecting temperatures in the sixties and seventies by the end of the week.  This is Indiana.

Despite our rather upsetting start to the  year, we are both about done with doctors for a while. David is doing well since his stroke, but still has some vision loss.  Not bad enough he can’t drive, but I still remain alert.  He is taking this week off for my birthday and guess what?  It is supposed to rain every, single day.  There are flowers pushing up all over the yard and I have been planning what we will plant this year.  Several more bushes and of course geraniums and zinnias and we have a little garden marked off for Rudbeckia or Black Eyed Susans and Lavender.

Here are the petunias I told you were taking over a corner of the greenhouse.

This geraniums has thrived all Winter.

Geraniums rate up there as one of my favorite flowers.  See the little gas stove in the corner that has kept the greenhouse toasty warm all Winter even though it isn’t insulated at all?  Best buy  we ever made.  We just came upon it at Rural King as an end of season sale and we bought it on a whim.  So glad we did.

This   geranium I have over wintered a couple of years.  It loves the greenhouse, too.
So nice to have flowers blooming like this in the middle of the Winter.  Really boosts my spirits to see them.

The Poinsettia is still going strong.  More like a little tree now and will need to be repotted when warm weather gets here.

David likes to do puzzles in the Winter and he has done three one thousand piece puzzles so far.  All by himself as I don’t enjoy doing them, but I love to see them when they are all finished.  This puzzle is from the book, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Woman.  Winter edition.  He has put together the Spring, Summer and Autumn puzzles also.

After David started doing these puzzles I looked up the book and found one online.  This woman was a wonderful artist and roamed the woods, hedges and fields around her home writing about all the animals, birds and vegetation she came upon on her walks.  She really makes me think of Beatrix Potter who painted animals and birds she saw around her family’s vacation home and later on her own country home. They were of the same generation, I believe.
While David does puzzles, I order fabric and sew on my new project.

I bought this book a while ago and have made several little quilts from it, but now I have a new plan.

Using this pattern I plan to make several small quilts from it and to later sew them together into a larger quilt.  Here are some of the quilts I have made so far.

I am having so much fun sewing these.  I am collecting William Morris designed fabric,  I think I told you about it earlier.  I get six fat quarters of it sent to me each month.  I never know what colors I will get, but that’s  the fun of it.  I am also collecting Jane Austen inspired fabrics which work very well with the William Morris fabric and with reproduction fabrics I already have, I am finding many combinations to put together.  It will make a colorful, patchwork style of quilt or quilts when I am done.

Here are some e of the William Morris fabric I have received.

And here are some Jane Austen fabrics I have ordered.
Doing this and I already have Christmas gifts I am working on and I am expecting a patriotic quilt kit to arrive any day so I keep busy, but it is all fun to me.  I also am knitting every time I sit down to watch tv.  I cannot stand to sit and do nothing.  I am also pedaling an hour or two on my little peddling machine.  Keeps my legs limber if nothing else. I watched Jurassic World  and a move called “ FALL” on Netflix last night while I peddled and put the equivalent of twenty  thousand steps on the machine.  That movie, “FALL” was so good, I stayed up until one-thirty to see the ending. David went to bed at 8:30 last night.  He said he hit a wall, but I think he is still worn out after his stroke. I am glad he is taking a week off.
Well, that’s all from me for today. Hope you are having a wonderful ending to Winter and that Spring weather will be here for all of us soon. Unless you are reading this in a different hemisphere then you are going into your autumn which seems so weird to me, but very interesting, too.  You people who live in Australia, I have  dreamed of visiting your country ever since I was  a girl and did a report on Duckbilled Platypuses.  I probably won’t make it there this side of Heaven, but I do love your country. Bye, everyone.

Okay, I am finally getting to write a new post after several weeks that I do not want to repeat.  It has been a very sorry start to the new year.  To begin with, David had been having neck pains and not feeling at all well.  We decided to go out to eat a few weeks ago, and I noticed his driving seemed to be rather erratic. We were planning on going to a restaurant a little farther away until David decided to go to a nearer one which I thought was rather strange, but we picked up some food and headed home and again, his driving was not up to par and he speeded up at our turn and turned into the left hand lane almost hitting a car head on if I hadn’t have screamed and he slammed on the brakes.  I knew something was wrong, bit didn’t know what. We got home and I told home he needed to go to the doctor.  He wasn’t very receptive to the idea, so I said  no more.  Sunday morning came and I got all dressed up for church in what I thought was a very cute outfit, came downstairs and David was sitting there and said to me, “ I think I need to go to the hospital.”  I immediately got into care mode and got him in the car and drove him to the hospital.  Now I had not driven for a long time because it is just easier to let David do it so I was a little nervous about driving, but found I rather liked it.

We got to the hospital and David was checked out and then put in a room so he could get more tests. Turns out he had had a stroke that affected his vision.  His sight in front was okay, but his sight on the sides was affected.  The doctor said it may get better in time. They put him on meds, but kept him another day for more tests.  We had contacted our children and our son and wife came over from Cincinnati to help me. It was such a comfort having them with me. They stayed until David was released from the hospital.

I decided David should not drive for a while so I drove  him to his doctor appointments.

A week or so later, we both came down with coughs and stuffy noses.  Our son and his wife reported that they had, too, which led us to believe we all caught something at the hospital. . David and I both went to the doctor again and we both had acute bronchitis.  I had a really bad cough and hurt all over. Had a fever,too. David had a stuffy nose and cough.  So we left the doctor with medicine for David and medicine, steroids and an inhaler for me.

I’d like to say I am all better now, but the cough just keeps hanging on. David is doing better and he says his sight is much better.  He has a couple more doctor’s visits to check him out and I pray his health is returning.

We also had one of the worst snowstorms we have had in years.  Guess it was a good time to be cooped up in the house.  We didn’t feel like going anywhere, anyway.  I hope we have turned a corner. I hadn’t felt like doing any sewing for weeks, but a couple of days ago I did get out to my shop and worked on a couple of quilts.  I joined this fabric group where I receive 6 fat quarters of William Morris inspired fabric every month.  William Morris was a designer of wallpaper back in the 1800’s and he made some very beautiful designs.  Now his designs are on fabric.  I am making a small quilt every month using that month’s fabric using the same pattern for each one and when I have enough made, I will sew them all together in one patchwork quilt. It is going to be interesting because I never know what colors of fabric I will get.

I felt like baking today so I baked an apple pie. To prove you can teach an old dog new tricks, I just learned this year that pie dough is easier to roll and work with if you chill it for a couple of hours.  It has made my pie making so much easier.  This pie turned out perfectly and it is good, too.

David finished a puzzle today.  A Will Moses puzzle.  Will Moses is Grandma Moses grandson, I think. His paintings are very like hers were.  David said this one was a little harder because there was so much dark in it.

This is what my greenhouse looked like a couple of weeks ago. We have been in a frozen tundra for days, but next week it is supposed to get up to the forties.  Indiana weather. You never know what you are going to get!  I wish you could see the flowers in there.  I will have to get some pictures taken. There is a petunia that has taken up one whole  corner of the greenhouse, the poinsettia is doing wonderfully and I have a couple of huge geraniums that seem to love it in there.  I must say, our little gas furnace we put in there is keeping everything toasty warm.  No insulation at all.

Here is some of that William Morris fabric I was talking about.  It is so beautiful.  I could see it on the walls as wallpaper.  The Victorians loved their wallpapered walls.

We went to our granddaughter’s house after Christmas and this is our granddog.  Another Lab.  She is so sweet.
I think I have caught you up with what’s been happening with us.  I hope I have better news next time and that we are both back to health.  Happy New Year again.  Looking forward to a good February.  Bye.

Well, here we go again.  Another journey through a brand new year.  What will it hold?  Will there be another wedding, a new baby, hospital stays, travel?  That is the thing about a new year. It could hold just about anything. I know it needs our prayers.  We need to put it in God’s hands. I am just glad I made it through with David by my side.  We are in this together for as long as we both shall live.
We had an amazing Christmas. We had all the grandkids present except for the newly weds who spent Christmas with her family.  That’s what happens when kids grow up,and join other families. But we missed them

We had  a small dinner this time as I didn’t  want to spend all morning in the kitchen.  We had sandwiches,salad and desserts.  I baked a chocolate cake for another grandson whose birthday comes right after Christmas.

We opened gifts.

I gave the three younger grandsons patriotic quilts I had made.

Our oldest son in his Thanksgiving hat.  He left it here Thanksgiving so we put it  in his Christmas bag. Always the comic.

I love giving presents.  We stopped wrapping them a couple of years ago or rather David stopped wrapping them because it took him days. Christmas bags are the way to go as our family continues to grow,

This past Sunday we got together with a few of the family at my favorite Pancake House to give gifts to the newlyweds.

I had painted this picture of them and we took it to the restaurant where David asked the manager if we could place it somewhere where they would see it when they walked in. It was so funny. When our grandson saw it he said, “Is that us?”  He was so surprised. I really enjoyed painting it. It’s a paint by number. I’m not that talented!  You send a picture to this company and they make a paint by number picture of it and includes all the paints to paint it. I have done several.  My new favorite hobby.

Here we all are at the restaurant. It was fun visiting and we went to our granddaughter’s house afterward so the newlyweds could open the rest of their packages. I got to see my grand dog which is a Labrador.

Look at that smiling face.  I love Labradors so much.

Now I go on making things. It was kind of nice going out into my shop and just making something not necessarily a gift, but just fun to. make. One project I am working on is a patchwork quilt.  I joined a group that receives six fat quarters of William Morris inspired fabric. I plan to make one small quilt each month using the same pattern, but different Morris fabrics and at the end of the year sewing all the small quilts into a larger one. Should be interesting. Is have no idea what fabric colors I will get each month, but the ones I have gotten so far were beautiful.  I will show you my progress as I go  along.
Flowers in my greenhouse are doing well.  The geraniums especially seem to love being in there. They are all flowering profusely.  David divided a couple of mums I bought this Fall and they are growing new shoots and have flowers on them. If they do well, it will be the first time I have over wintered mums. The Poinsettia is just beautiful with several large blooms on it still.
Our daughter and her husband got us tickets to the Blue Man Group in February.  Never knew much about them so looked them up and it sounds like it will be a fun show.
I hope the new year is being kind to you and that you will get to do some things you love to do.  Happy and a blessed year to you all.  I will write more later.  Bye.

Have you ever heard someone use that phrase, “For the love of Pete!”  I have  and I think it means someone can’t believe what they are seeing or hearing or just amazed at something.  I always wondered just who this “Pete” is and why do we have to love him?  Anyway, I thought this when I realized it has been a while since I wrote here so here goes nothing!

So October came and went fast as every other month in this year has gone.  David and I did a couple of road trips and went down to French Lick where this animal ranch is. We have been down there before on our fiftieth wedding anniversary where we stayed in this grand hotel.  We visited the zoo and got up close to elephants and even got to touch them.  This time we went on an animal safari where we drove this road into this enclosure where animals waited to get treats from each car.  We bought two cups  of their feed and proceeded in to their area.  A camel came right up to the window on David’s side and David  stuck the cup out his window and the camel took the whole thing out of his hand!

This wasn’t the camel.  David  still has his cup of feed.

This was an alpaca,I think and it very daintily ate out of my cup.

Another white one.  The animals were very persistent in getting to the food.

See this guy?  The Emus scared me a little.  I would not open my window for them and they gave me the evil eye.

I was feeding this llama when the

white one  came up alongside him with its ears laid back in anger and I was afraid it was going to spit, like llamas are known to do, so I stuck the cup to its mouth so it wouldn’t get the chance!

See this beautiful, white deer or is it an elk?

Nothing like the behind of a zebra.

But it turned around for some feed.  Aren’t they beautiful animas?

Here comes another Emu!

Giving me the evil eye through the window!

Lots of deer.

Buffalo.  They are a gigantic, gorgeous creature.  I see them on Facebook  tossing silly tourists at Yellowstone who are foolish enough to get out of their cars for a closeup.  You don’t fool around with buffalo.

They even had longhorn steers.

Part of the tour included  going into their dinosaur habitat.

We drove through this entrance.  Rather scary, don’t you think?

What awaited us on the other side?  Visions of Jurassic Park came to mind at that moment.

Oh, dear!

There is one now!

Now I know why we needed to stay in the car.  These guys will eat you!


This one was chomping leaves

Oh, no, it sees us!

Push on the gas, David!

Good, we got away!

Oh,oh.  They are reproducing. Gotta get out of here!

This one has already reproduced.  Time to leave.

Hurry, David, he’s catching up!

We left the park just in time, but we planned to come back that night for their light show.

This Jack-o-lantern greeted us that night. My pictures aren’t the best at night.

Bats above us.

A bridge we crossed .  We saw a few lights and then journeyed through dinosaur land, but no lights.  What was going on?  Were the dinosaurs loose?  We came down the hill where a man stopped us and told us their electricity was down so we got a complete refund and were saved from the dinosaurs!

Inour drives we see the silliest things. Being Halloween time there were decorations everywhere.  We saw several hay bales painted.

Lots of pumpkins displayed in different towns.

Skeleton people were in many yards.

In the little town of Orleans we found dipped ice cream.  We are always on the  lookout for good, dipped ice cream.

I saw this house, right next to a railroad track and fell in love.  It needs some tender,loving care, but it could be a beauty.  I know. Our house once needed a lot of work and now it is a gem.  We are always looking at old houses wondering who lived in them, what is their story.

Houses like this.  They are dotted all over country back roads in my state.  Like the family just packed up and left one day.  Sad, little house.

Nestled among the trees and weeds this little house cries for attention.  If I were very rich, I would travel the country roads and find these houses and fix them up and give them to families who promise to take care of them.  And I’d keep tabs to be sure they did!

Here’s another one. These use to be starter homes.  When we first got married we lived in a three room apartment, then bought a tiny, three room house in the country for $10,000 and lived there until we were expecting our second baby and needed something bigger.  Our second house cost $16,900 and we lived there until David’s job moved us to where we live now.  I did not want to move.  It was far from my family and friends.  I cried for a week when we moved.  I hated everything about it. David told me once he was afraid I was going to leave him!  I never would, but I was not a happy camper until the kids got settled into their  new school and I had met some people and made friends.  Now Iwould not move back.  I have made many friends, raised my family and love my home.  I think I will stay here until the good Lord calls me home!

So, Ithink I have sort of caught up.  Did I tell you we went to a comedy show starring  Jim Gaffigan?  I always thought he was funny in a low key kind of way and he even made bourbon sound funny as most of his jokes were about that beverage that night.

Now it is on to Thanksgiving and then Christmas.  How can it be! Bye.