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.)
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.
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.
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! *********** 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.
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.
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. ******************** 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.
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. ******************* 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.
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.
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.
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.
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. **************** 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...
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 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
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.)
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.
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.
****************************** 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.
We spent the day at Sarah's....I was going to try to narrow these down to just a couple of Lorelei and Otto and a couple or three others. I just cannot cut the number back of him and her. I really hope you will enlarge the photos...in the one above, Lorelei is just a tad bit blurry. If you enlarge it though, look at the dimple! I just couldn't not publish it. Not sure if you will be able to see Otto or not...other than his tongue! Sarah was standing just out of view...we don't let him lick her face. And usually Sarah doesn't let him lick her hands...but for these photos we just let them go other than not letting him lick her face. One lick would get her whole face! When I got a few photos, we distracted her and washed her hands.
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.
