Last post

Someone had fun with hay bales...I hate that I had to look into the sun to take this but it still makes me smile...so I thought I would have my last post of the year leave a smile on your face.

I think the biggest happening for us this past year was the appearance of our first grandchild. Lorelei has sure added joy to all our lives. It is hard to believe that she will be a year old in less than two months! Can you believe that on February 9 she will be a year old?

Happy New Year to all!

Remembering last Christmas

Before you even look at the pictures below, I hope you will go here and here. That was what was happening with our Bubbie last year. As our Christmas came and went this year, I could not help but compare it to last Christmas. Last year I would be fine one minute, and the next my heart would just be breaking. All because of this fellow. And I had the music from above playing on my blog during that time...though I love it, it sure brings back bittersweet memories for me.
This is the way he sleeps most of the time. In fact his mom and brother also sleep like this, but not as much of the time as he does.
Before his accident, he never, ever sat with me or really wanted my attention unless it was to wake me up so I would let him outside. Now, he comes and sets with me sometimes when I am watching TV, or comes and curls up against me in the wee hours of the morn. I definitely feel like he knows we saved his life....and he is not even a jerk with his brother and sister. Before the accident, he drove them crazy with tackling them and wrestling with them. Now he seldom attempts anything.

And you can't even tell that anything was ever wrong with him. He is still curious, and loves to find an open cabinet door, or any door for that matter that isn't normally open. Roger does call him the Court Jester....
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I have been trying to decide on a new sewing project and spending a lot of time trying to make a decision. When I could not make a decision, I finally went down and just started cutting squares. Big squares at that...when I think I have enough cut, I will start to sew them together. I am in the mood to sew!

And to read. Lately, I have acquired several books....most of them things you probably have never heard of. Right now, I am reading Outlasting the Trail: The Story of a Woman's Journey West. This is considered a work of fiction, but it is inspired and based on true events. I can tell it is one I am not going to want to put down.

Cold, winter weather is always a good time to read. I told Roger, if I didn't have such good new books awaiting me, I would be tempted to read Long Knife by James Alexander Thom. And I might just read it anyway.

A good time was had by all

I am not sure if I mentioned before, but we did our Christmas yesterday....the day after. It makes it so much easier on Lorelei. She has so many people to visit, that it is more fun to wait and just have her the day after. It is easier on her mommy and daddy, too, because she is in a much better mood.
She was just a happy little girl yesterday, and kept us all entertained. Just busy all the time. She has to check out Shelby every so often....and that is okay as long as Shelby knows she is coming....not that she would hurt Lorelei on purpose, but she does not hear anything at all...and Lorelei does not cause enough vibration in the floor to warn her....so if she is startled she jumps up. And then there is the possibility of her stepping on Lorelei.
As you can probably tell by these last two photos, she is a born mom. She is just so gentle with Lorelei.
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We finally got some snow today....we have been having flurries the past few days but it never amounted to more than a skim of snow. Now we have 3 inches, or maybe 4. Believe it or not, we went to Terre Haute this morn, thinking it was only going to be flurries again. I took my camera with me.

On the way home, I mentioned going by Green Valley, just to see. It snowed harder and harder for a while, and everything was slick as could be. We were on country roads so only passed 3 or 4 cars...nothing was happening at Green Valley. We did not see anything moving at all, so continued on in a round about way that we have went before. We finally saw a flock of turkeys that were too far away to even attempt to photograph.
This is when it first began to really snow....to see a bit more be sure and visit my other blog. We did make it home safe and sound, glad to get here. We had leftovers--always the best part of holiday meals.

Merry Christmas!

One of my blog friends sent me these mug mats the other day! Aren't they cute. They are so cute and adorable...I think I might put ribbons on them and use them as Christmas ornaments or decorations.

I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a Merry Christmas...I wish you peace and health in the coming year.

Northern Harrier

I ran through the strip pit area again this afternoon...as you see it was a drab and dreary day. Even though I did not see it rain the whole day, it had rained last night and everything is just saturated.

The Northern Harriers are back in full force....I was never very close to any of them....for more than a few seconds. But in the distance, I seen seven in one spot. I have no idea how many are out there...they are amazing. And fast! I can be watching one, and glance away just for a few seconds and look back and it will have disappeared! Even if they are high in the sky.

They tend to hunt while flying just a few feet above the ground....then they disappear into the background. Yesterday we saw one catch something...Roger thought maybe a muskrat. It snatched whatever it was and flew over a little hill, so no chance to take a photo.

Open up and say Ahhhh

I hope you don't mind another Lorelei video...be sure and have your volume turned up till you can also hear the TV. This one is very short.
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I think I am at last totally done with Christmas shopping, but I do have things to wrap. We made a run to Terre Haute today, came home and picked up things here. Vacuumed and mopped, etc. Then sat and watched a little TV before heading back out to go do some grocery shopping. Plus this run was when I actually finished the grocery shopping. It was almost 11:00 p.m. when we got home!

Coming from from Terre Haute today, we made a run through the strip pit area before we came home. I will be posting a photo of a short-eared owl on my other blog either later tonight or tomorrow. We also saw swans and a few geese, but not near the geese we saw last year.

Movin' and groovin'

Just a short quick video of Lorelei...notice the position of her one hand/finger. I am not sure what she was listening to but she was enjoying it. We go babysit tomorrow for at least half the day. We have to be over there by 7:30 at the latest so I have got to try to go to bed tonight!

We have been getting a few snow flurries right along, but all we have is just a skim of snow on the ground. Even if all had stayed on the ground that fell yesterday I doubt we would have half an inch!

Quilt finished and received

I finally got this baby quilt finished and mailed....I made it for Jackson, my great nephew.
I had it ready to quilt the first weekend that Roger was sick last month, but didn't work on it any more till the week before the one that has just passed. It did not take long to finish it once I started. It was mailed this week, and has been received. I didn't show it previously in any other stage because I wanted it to be a surprise.

I am just itching to start something else, but haven't decided on what. I really should quilt some of the tops I have already made. I have 8 tops that need to be quilted, and probably more. Those are just what I can think of without thinking very hard!

Ready or not?

Click to enlarge
A house up the street from a few years back.

I wonder if everyone is ready for Christmas....I am...almost. I still have a few things left to wrap. And actually need to get gifts for the little kids next door. And I have yet to get in all the fixings for Christmas dinner. But that is not that much left to do.

Neal and I were talking the other night...our talks always include talking about childhood and the things we remember. I was telling him, the one memory that really stands out in my mind is all the cakes mom would bake at Christmas. There was a metal cabinet that had two shelves up top behind glass, and those two shelves would be full of cakes! I could not remember if it was just a year or two that she did that, or every year.

He said he thought it was every year, and that he helped her bake them. So, I told him I didn't remember actually eating them...he thought that she gave most of them away. Which makes sense...I just can't imagine not remembering eating them.

I cannot remember the variety that she made, but know she almost always made a jam cake...it tasted sort of like a spice cake if I remember correctly, and she always made a caramel icing for it. She also made a stack cake...at least that is what we called it. She had no written recipe, and did not measure a thing....but she made this dough. I know it had eggs and sugar in it, and other than that I can't recall what else. I know I liked the dough raw, better than baked.

She would divide take a dough ball about the size of a fist or maybe just a bit bigger....she would pat that out flat in a greased iron skillet. She kept two iron skillets in the oven and would make anywhere from 8 to 12 or 14 layers.

For the filling in between the layers, she used dried apples and cooked them down to something similar to apple butter but with more texture if I remember correctly. ( I know water and cinnamon were added to the apples, but think there were other spices, just don't recall what all.) That was a cake that company always enjoyed. I have never seen the cake made by anyone else, but I did find a recipe that sounds right here.

Thinking back, that is one of my favorite memories.

A visitor today

Lorelei stayed with us today....she is quite the character. Never still a minute. Wait. I take that back....I put her little jacket on her, and wrapped her blanket around her. Loosely. It wasn't cold, just windy. And we sat in the swing on the front porch once again. It has been ages since I have seen her that still. She just sat so quietly, not moving at all unless a car passed. She totally loves cars...I don't know what it is about them but she watches them as far as she can see them.

And she mimics us....at least Roger. If he coughs, she coughs. It is just too cute for words. And any of us can initiate a yelling contest. And she smiles the whole time. When she crawls through the house, she looks like a little wind-up toy. Specially on the linoleum in the dining room and in the kitchen.

I only hope everyone gets as much enjoyment from their kids as we do her. Her mom and dad are just so good with her. And her aunt is wonderful with her.

I never talk a lot about my older daughter...but I am just as proud of her as can be. I showed Lorelei some pictures of her today and when she saw them, a smile lit up her whole face. This daughter somehow inspires that in kids.

When she was in college, she worked at a mini mart for about 3 or 4 years while going to college. So many of the kids that came in there reacted to her in ways that astonished their parents. One or two would always have to kiss her good-by, all the time the parents saying their child never did that with anyone else. Then there was another couple that had a little girl about 3 yrs. old if I remember correctly....they would try to get gas without bringing her in. They would come in and warn my daughter to stay away from the window, but if their little girl seen my daughter, she would insist on being brought in. And my daughter would have to pick her up for just a couple minutes. The only thing I can think is that she made them feel safe.

Road to memories

As I sit here trying to type, a cat is at the front door wanting in. With four cats, there is one wanting in or out continually. When it is really cold, sometimes one will want out and when we open the door and it feels the cold, it will either step out and turn around and run back in or sometimes they don't even go out. But it has to be really bitter cold/wind for that.

Anyway, this road to the barn reminds me of other roads, other barns, other times and places. But mostly I think about our barn. It sure seen a lot of life. Just the normal day to day chores of feeding the pigs, and we always fed Old Bob, our old horse a little extra every day. I think it was corn ground up with some kind of sweetening added to it...maybe molasses? I don't really know what was used--I just know it smelled good.

And how many of you know that pigs will eat coal? Honest to goodness, they do. A few times during the year, I would have to get a bucket and gather it full of smaller pieces of coal, the various sizes of crushed rock. I don't know how mom knew they ate coal...and I don't know what it supplied for the pigs but they ate it like the pigs they were. Totally enjoyed it. And I know mom thought it supplied something they needed. And I have heard a neighbor talking about his pigs and thinking something was wrong, and mom told him to feed them coal.

And in the summer, two or three times a week mom or I, or both of us would cut a big armload of what we called horseweeds and carry them and throw them in the pigpen to the pigs. I have been trying to find a decent picture of what we called horseweeds but can't. What is listed as horseweeds in a google search is not what we called horseweeds. I just had a thought googled ragweed, then clicked images. It came up as giant ragweed. That makes sense because of the flower head--it is similar to regular ragweed.

In the summer, my sisters would usually come home for at least one visit...and soon as they got in my nieces and/or nephews wanted to go to the barn. The one thing I remember them really liking to do was to shell corn for the pigs. It was an added bonus if we happened to have a calf that we were keeping in the barn! I didn't realize it when I was a kid, at least not at first, but a couple of the nephews would try riding the calves if they were any size at all!

That is just a few of the memories that flood my soul when I see barns...so it is no wonder that I love them.

Case Cabin

We were out yesterday and went through Bridgeton and Mansfield. I took these pictures but am hoping it snows before the season is over.
I am sorry I haven't got the history of this house, and there is no excuse. Roger used to work with the lady that has this cabin, and we have even seen her up there and talked to her. Their farm is not too far from Bridgeton.

I will be posting another house that she has crafts in over on my other blog, Time Stand Still.

Mama Squirrel

I took these yesterday....and I put a couple others on my other blog, Time Stand Still. I was wanting her to flip her tail up over her back till you could see how much is missing but she never once flipped it up.
She is never on any schedule in coming. Though I think now that it is colder, I do see her more. There was one time earlier in the summer when I was just sure she had gotten killed. There were 3 or 4 weeks in a row that she didn't show up at all. She is a little piggy right now, and just eats and eats and eats. I suppose she is trying to build a layer of fat.

Still cold

A photo from January,1996 of the covered bridge at Bridgeton, Indiana.

It is still cold here, but supposed to get all the way up in the thirties tomorrow. We will think a heat wave has hit. I will be thankful for it!

We kept Lorelei today while her mom did some errands and a bit of Christmas shopping. She is such a happy little girl. And have I told you that she loves books? I didn't realize Sarah had stuck some of hers from home in the diaper bag, so I got out one we had for her for Christmas. She looked and looked through it. She will sit and sit looking through and talking about the pictures....what she is saying I do not know, but she is very intent when telling me all about them.

Her other thing is to reach for her papaw every time he passes. He carries her around and shows her everything and tells her about each item. And while it is okay for him to leave the room I am in with her, she does not like it if I leave the room and leave them behind.

She also enjoys going after the cats and Shelby...not all the time, though she does crawl up to Shelby fairly often and talks to her also. Shelby doesn't know what to think...she is sort of afraid of being hurt inless I am right there. Or maybe she is afraid of Lorelei being hurt...not sure which it is. If I am right there about as close as possible she is fine with it. But if I am standing up, she gets up, too.
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I have went back to moderating comments....I tried just using word verification and it did not slow them spammers down at all.

Bright Eyes

I am sitting here with my computer and a cat in my lap, so it is a chore to try to type. So, I would like to take just a minute to encourage you to click each photo and enlarge it.
Lorelei was one busy little girl today...in fact, I think she is a busy girl every day.
And a happy kid at that. But oh, does she have a temper!
There is a corner in their living room where there is an antique lamp table... and she always wants to crawl back under it. I have a hard time getting her out from back there, so I just don't let her go. She gets mad and starts kicking her feet, and does this grunting thing till you know she is unhappy.

I think you can see her tooth in this one if you enlarge it!

However, usually if she is offered other things such as a book, or to go look out the window, she forgets all about what she had started to do.

Cold!!!!!

This is from a few years back, but the cold feel to the picture certainly describes the feeling of this day.

I just let Shelby out, and three of the cats went out....the wind is so strong it about took the door out of my hand. It is funny, the wind literally howls in the winter. I suppose the foliage of the trees in the summer dampens that sound. That is my reasoning at least, whether it is wrong or right I cannot say.

Now, the fourth cat is out. I hope by the time we leave to go babysit Lorelei that they are all back inside. I don't like to leave and them be out in this type of weather. But two of them have been at me for the past hour at least to let them out. The boys of course....the girls tend to wait patiently most of the time.

The coldest weather so far is supposed to be headed out way. Mama Squirrel was a real little piggy yesterday. I told Roger then I wondered if she was trying to get enough food in her to last for a few days of sleep. Looking back, I bet she knew this weather was coming. I do hope she has a nice hole she sleeps in across the street.

It is about time for my alarm to go off, so I best go shut it off. I have been so off schedule with my sleep, I thought I best set it to be sure I am up early this morn. I hate it when I sleep half the day away....the rest just seems so short and I feel so far behind.

Christmas time's a coming

I got to see Bright Eyes today...but didn't have my camera with me. She is changing so much. She tries her best to tell us things...and has Da-Da-Da down pat. She loves to look out the window...she just looks out and jabbers away. She has the most mischievous grin imaginable. I go Wednesday to watch her a while for Sarah and hope to get some better pictures of her.

Just to let you know I am alive

I just thought I would do a post to let you know I haven't quit blogging, just been a bit under the weather. I came down with a really bad cold Thanksgiving day and have not been able to totally shake it. I don't feel bad; the worst thing is trying to get sleep because when I lay down I start to cough.

We have a new nephew--actually a great nephew. His name is Jackson. He was born December 1 and weighed 9 pound 4 ounces! and was 20 1/2 inches long. Welcome to the world Jackson!

I have not been out with the camera in a while, so I will start with a video of Lorelei. She is changing so much....as adorable as ever.

A visit with Lorelei

I went down to see Lorelei today...but I didn't take my good camera. The point and shoot does not do a good job of capturing her. She is just never still unless she is asleep. She jumped and jumped in her jumper. She gets going and she don't stop. However, I thought she sounded tired and asked her if she wanted her mamaw to come get her. She stopped and smiled real big. her smile will light up the whole room.

I went over and picker her up out of the jumper, she laid her head on my shoulder and never raised it again. She was sound asleep in just a couple minutes. I just sat and enjoyed the quiet time with her.

I will leave you with a little video I found in my mail 3 or 4 mornings ago....enjoy! (Sarah just uses her cell phone so they are not the best quality.)

A busy life

Although we often think of the Amish as leading a simple life, I think it is a busy one. Something about this photo, taken the other day says busy, busy, busy.

Almost every Amish farm we passed had their washing out on the line. Everything about their places was as neat as a pin.

As for me, Lorelei is waiting to see me, so I am heading to her house here shortly.

In the pasture

These three animals were what was in the pasture in front of yesterday's barn.
This poor donkey looks to be an old fellow....I did not even notice him till Roger pointed him out. I think I was so focused on the llama....I wanted it to look up at me but I could not get its attention for more than a second.

Look in the barn....

Today we decided to hit the road again...the sun was shining , the sky was blue...what more could you ask for? The fact that Roger feels like getting out is a blessing in itself. To have a second day of sunshine was wonderful.

We headed to Parke County and headed down some back roads we have been on before, but at a different time of year. I have shown this barn before...taken in the summer. I still wanted to stop and take a couple...I didn't notice what was in the hallway of the barn till I zoomed in. This is not a good picture, but it still makes me smile!
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I don't back up my files as often as I should, and decided the other day that I would back them up. I set it to back up on this external storage thing I have, and we left. I did not check when I got home other than it said it was done...I just disconnected it and put it away. When I got today's photos downloaded, I was going to quick back them up. I discovered that there had not been enough room on the other thing to back them all up.

I ran to Walmart and picked up an external hard drive and backed everything up on it. I have 48 gigabytes of photos alone! I just decided to let it back up and stayed off the computer while it was doing it. It was after 11:00 p.m. before it was done, then I had to re-size photos for here. And while I was at it, I just resized all the ones I thought I might use.

Don't I lead an exciting life?

Not a great picture, but a great cat

Before I ever started thinking about getting my own cat after we moved here, there was TJ. He belonged to a girl up the street. I can almost guarantee that he was the king of the cats around here. He was not neutered or anything, so you can see the scars from all his fighting if you look at his ear.

Yet he was one of the best cats ever...he would come here and stay for a few days ever little bit. The girls were young and there was nothing he liked better than for one of them to carry him to a chair or bed to snuggle with. If I was outside sitting and reading, he would come and sit beside me to be petted, but if I were writing a letter, he would lay across my paper till I had to stop and pet him.

He is long gone, but we think of him often. Especially if Cougar leaves and is gone for a day or two...we wonder if he has another home as TJ considered this his second home. If he was gone too long, his 'mom' would call down here to see if he was here. She didn't mind, she just wanted to know if he was okay.

I often think he would be the perfect cat for Lorelei, though I really think my Cougar and Bubbie are going to be fine.

Another good day

This is a big barn that I had not seen till the other day when we took the back roads home. There is a road we have passed I don't know how many times...I said something about it and Roger said to take it. I got 2 or 3 other good photos from that one little side trip.
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Today was another good day for Roger! We went to Terre Haute to pick up the ham for Thanksgiving. Roger is the only one that really like turkey, so we just fix ham. A Cumberland Gap ham to be exact. I have been getting them for several years and never been disappointed.

They are actually processed in Middlesboro, KY....that is just across the state line from Cumberland Gap, TN which is where I grew up.

One of the last flowers

I was trying to find something with sunshine that I had taken lately and not posted, but after a quick search I settled on this. Even though it isn't sunny, the blue is such a cheerful blue.

Roger is certainly feeling better...not sure if meds had anything at all to do with it at all. The dr's office did call today to put him on another antibiotic because of something they found. Roger had done been saying that he thought it might be some kind of bug. The girl he talked to did not know what was found, so guess we will find out either the next time he goes, if he doesn't call them back tomorrow. It has sure been a slow recovery...every day he has felt a bit better.

I am just sort of gun shy when it comes to meds after the other episode in 2005. For a while any time he got the least little bit sick I was afraid it was something to do with his liver. This was the first time I had that real scared feeling about that in a while.
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The sun actually shone for a while this morn, but it was dark and cloudy by noon. This is at least the 3rd day of dreary weather....and it has really gotten to me. I don't think it would have bothered me so bad if Roger had not been sick for so long. I am definitely a person that needs sunshine and have always loved the feel of the sun upon my face.

I guess like a little bit of all kinds of weather...Ialways LOVED picking apples in the quiet of a rain...as long as it wasn't raining so hard that I couldn't see if I had to look up. And even cold can be exhilarating. It feels so wonderful to come in to a warm house when your nose is red from the cold! I love being out in the hushed quiet after a snow...I guess the key is not to have too much of any one of them.

Old barns often remind me of a different time...when we had more time for each other. With all our time saving appliances and devices, time still seems to slip away.

The song below is one of my favorites. It just seems to fit the mood I am in. I often think about how the best songs tell a lifetime story in just a few verses. I hope you will listen and enjoy as much as I do. Below the video I will put the lyrics...

Better Days (Tim Grimm)

Farmer Jim had the bailer
I had the hands and had the time
He was up into his seventies
I was in the middle of may prime
I was bringing back my childhood
He'd been doing this all his life
Driving that old John Deere tractor
Eating lunch brought by his wife

And they'd rest under our maples
And they'd tell me of their past
Lost a son and lost a grandson
One went slow, one went fast
Ruth would tell me of the old times
Men would go off to the fields
And all the children and the women would
Hitch the team and drive them down to the woods

(chorus)
Me, I'm trying to learn the old ways
Of the heart and of the land
People growing old together
Families working hand in hand
So I will watch and I will listen
To voices cracked and faces worn with age
And when they're gone, Lord knows I'll miss them
They give me hope for better days

Amos Chesnut is my neighbor
All his life an honest man
I stepped up to his door a stranger
Walked away a new found friend
When he works out by the roadside
People slow and wave a hand
He watches life pass by his Oak Bend farm
But I don't know a richer man
He knows every creek and hollow
Every fencepost dug by hand
Where the paw-paws grow
Where the coyotes roam
Where the dirt turns into sand

(chorus)
with repeat last 2 lines

The first lines of the last verse reminds me so much of Lily, that used to be my neighbor. We moved here in 1980, and after spending the first night, Roger got up to go to work and our car would not start. The phone had not been put in, that was before cell phones...doesn't that in itself seem like another century?

Anyway, our way of meeting was for me to go over and ask if I could use her phone. I did walk away with a lifetime friend.

News and views from here

The above was taken yesterday. Doesn't it have a wintry look to it? It was not even that cool, but it still had the feel of winter coming. Rain started about midnight, and was still raining this morn, however lightly. I was awake a time or two and the rain was really coming down. It even sounded cold...the tone when it hits the awning is just a tad bit higher pitched when it is cold.

We still don't really know what happened with Roger...the lab work done did not show anything wrong...all his levels were normal. On our own, we decided to cut out most of the medications and he feels better. He now gets tired without doing anything. He is so tired of just sitting around.

It is a long story about why we cut out the meds...if you want to know more email me. I will say this that in 2005 he spent 5 days in the hospital. His liver functions were out of whack--one of the doctors made a comment that his body was just shutting down. It turned out to be caused by the medications he was on. At that time, the doctor and I talked him into going with insulin alone to control the diabetes.

He had to stop taking Lipitor also...and he had recently started on Zetia and Welchol for high cholesterol.

I am leaving out a lot...I have forgotten bits and pieces about it. This symptoms this time are so similiar to then. That is why we cut out most of what he takes.

I am just so in hopes that he really is on the way to recovery now. All we can do is take it one day at a time.

Just a little update

If you haven't seen the video of Lorelei, please be sure to scroll on down to see it while you are here. You will have to have your volume turned way up to hear the music in the background. Anyway, to the update.

Roger felt like he was really starting to get well the past couple of days but got up feeling horrible again this morn. So to the doctor we went. I don't think she knows quite what to think...she is trying to treat at least one of his symptoms. And she is having some lab work done. Blood tests.

When we went over to the hospital, I just stayed out in the waiting room. Not a lot of room in the lab. They called Code Blue to the lab...everyone went running. I was hoping that it wasn't him, but it was. His blood sugar went real low and he crashed. Passed out and woke up to everyone over him.

He is diabetic. What is strange with this, besides not running a temperature, normally if he has a cold, or sick in any way, his sugar will be high. No matter if he hasn't eaten anything, it will still run high. With this, it is running normal.

So that is what is going on here.

Lorelei video

This is Lorelei bopping to Feist on Sesame Street--you can hardly hear it on the video here. Enjoy!

Peaceful scene

A barn a few miles from our home place in Tennessee.

I hope you will click on this to enlarge it. When you do, besides the road leading to the barn, you can see cow paths above and below the road. Being in Indiana, I don't notice cow paths very often. (Click here to see this in sepia.)

In the hills and hollers of east Tennessee, they are much more noticeable. A cow don't usually climb straight up and down the side of a hill...they will go along just gradually zig zagging back and forth as they graze on a hillside.

I remember following cow paths while I picked blackberries as a kid. My mom always reminded me/us kids to watch out for a rattlesnake. I suppose if she were alive today and I was to go blackberry picking she would still remind me to watch out for a rattlesnake.

For a big part of her life, they were a serious danger. The old home place bordered a park...and I think she killed at least one rattler in our front yard. It is probably a miracle that none of us were ever bitten by one.

Another time, one of my sisters was doing something in the tobacco patch...she thought she saw a rat run under the tobacco plants--thought she saw a rat's tail. When she raised the tobacco leaf, it was a copperhead.

Neal or I either one, would have loved to have a home up at the old place, but mom never wanted us to. I think she had too many hard times up there. Too many things to worry about. It is still one of the most peaceful places to just go and sit and listen to the silence.

Tennessee 2007 photo

I was trying to find a photo to post and came across this and two or three others that I really like...taken when were in Tennessee in 2007.
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I am distracted right now...Roger has been sick since late Friday evening. He doesn't have a fever, isn't coughing nor does he have a sore throat or runny nose, but his whole body ached Friday and he said his skin hurt to touch. He didn't feel any better Saturday...Sunday he stayed up all day and we thought he was on the road to recovery, only for him to get up today feeling like he had been run over by a truck. I am hoping if he doesn't feel better tomorrow that I can get him to go to the doctor.

I haven't sewn any today, but sewed a lot off and on Saturday and yesterday I got a small quilt layered and pin basted; it is ready for me to machine quilt now. Maybe before too long I will have something to show for my labors.

It is late, and I need to post a photo on my other blog...

Want to have a picnic

This sycamore tree was just as massive in person as it appears to be in the picture. I think it would be a pleasant place to have a picnic and/or campfire. I don't think I would want to be under it in a storm.

As we were sitting on the front porch

Photo by Roger

As we were sitting on the front porch this morn, I was wondering how many more days we would have of pleasant weather. I was thinking about all the joyous moments of sitting out there holding Lorelei this past summer...wondering what would she would have been doing if she were here today. And I was also wondering a bit about what the future holds.

Across the street, Kay came outside and started jumping rope. The first thought that popped into my head was:
Up the ladder
A B C
Down the ladder
H O T!

That was one of the little rhymes we chanted when we were young and jumping rope...and on the Down part, we jumped as fast as we could. And this thought lead to the thought of other rhymes. I could only remember fragments...I could remember the phrase 'turn around,' and one about going upstairs...and there is one about who you are going to marry: doctor, lawyer, Indian chief.

I did a quick glance on the computer and came up with:
Teddy bear, teddy bear
Turn around,
Teddy bear, teddy bear
Touch the ground.

Teddy bear,teddy bear
Turn around,
Teddy bear, teddy bear
Tie(?) your shoe

Teddy bear, teddy bear
Turn around
Teddy bear, teddy bear
Out goes you.

As we jumped rope to Teddy Bear, we did the actions...I am not sure about some of the words here, and I also think we had more actions we did but I cannot remember them.

All I can remember of another is:
Cinderella, dressed in yellow,
Went upstairs to see her fellow...
and this was followed by something about how many kisses she got...

The one about who we are going to marry completely escapes me, but I do think it was a rhyme for jump rope...and I think we had other rhymes but I am having a real mental block when it comes to remembering them.

I was hoping Kay would come over: I wanted to see if they used these same little rhymes...I am sure I taught them to my kids but not sure if anyone else knew them. Were they common place every where or just a regional thing? Is this one of those things that remains the same in spite of the passage of time, or one that passes away into only the dim memories of the older generation. (How odd to think of myself as among the older generation--sometimes I have a real problem believing I am.)

Another story untold....

We passed this old home a few days back on one of our drives....someone lives in it. It is another house full of untold stories. I would love to see inside. Have you ever noticed how some two story homes seem so dark and dreary inside and others seem light and airy. I wonder why that is. One would think it was the direction the houses face, but I am setting here thinking to two houses that face the same direction...one is like walking into sunshine when you walk in and the other feels like waking up to a cloudy day when entered.

By the side of the road

On a drive a few days ago, we came across this by the side of the road...probably at least half a mile in any direction to a house. I just had to take a photograph of it. I thought it kind of neat.

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I am trying to get back into some sewing...and I want to explain something. When I say I am designing a quilt I probably shouldn't use the term designing. I am almost always just playing with the arrangement of colors...so I don't know if that qualifies as designing. A better term would be to say that I am planning my quilt maybe. Anyway, I didn't want someone to think I was that talented.

I completed 6 little blocks, have some others half made and during making the first two blocks earlier in the evening, I made the same mistake 2 or 3 times and had to do the froggy dance....rip-it, rip-it, rip-it....rip the seam out. It is very satisfying to sew. There is nothing like hearing my sewing machine or hearing the shutter of my camera! It is very soothing to my soul.

I think I will head back down to the basement here in a second...I just came up to do this post before I got too tired. I want to post a photo on my other blog also.

Letting the photos speak alone...