Just a little charming barn ornament....

Lorelei's mom saw this ornament and got it for me because she knows how much I love barns...

I have been so preoccupied with other stuff....I have not looked at blogs, not sure if I will get a chance to before Christmas. I am hoping I have time tomorrow night. But in case I don't, I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas.
I also wanted to show a picture of the Christmas tree that I took without the flash...you can still see the Christmas tree skirt. That is how Bubbie keeps it. I straighten it and he manages to almost wad it up into a wad. I straighten it out, and he messes with it again. I have decided to let him have his way. I almost put out presents, but have been so glad I didn't.

I do not know what is going on with the cats...Bubbie wanted out Saturday sometime around dark. He was gone for around 24 hours....he is never gone. For sure not like that. He will go next door, and every now and then he crosses the street...but he is never gone for long. Not like his brother who was responsible for a lot of gray hairs. I really thought something has happened to him. He had a 'garage' smell when he came in...oh, not strong...I had to get down with my face in his fur to smell it....but feel sure he was locked in a neighbor's garage. Just don't know which one.

Before that he was picking on the other cats, almost tore the tree down. He was even playing with one of the cat toys by himself, and usually the only time he plays with one is when we have it tied on the end of a fishing line and swing it around for him.

Then the Puss Puss has just been into every single thing...and she cries...I honestly think she wants to be a mommy. I don't know if it is possible for her to have that longing since is spayed, but she will get stuff and carry it around and cry part of the time. And she has done that lately, but she has also just gotten into everything. No matter what I am doing, she is there sticking her head in to see if she is missing anything. I sure know where the saying 'curiosity killed the cat' came from.
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All this time away from blogging and I have not been doing much. I have spent hours and hours yesterday evening and this evening/night looking for a pattern. I feel like i am always looking for something.

And I was looking through a lot of my fabric....and I found a baby quilt top that I totally forgot about making. And it has not been that long ago at all that I made it. If I had not run across it I would never have remembered it. I will have to take a picture of it next week if I can remember.

Roger has made another knife...I will be showing it sometime in the near future. It is one of the best looking so far.

I need to get to bed...oldest daughter and I plan to make cookies tomorrow...just what I need. Something I can't resist. I think we are just making three or four kinds. Anyway, I need to get to bed till I can get some sleep...
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Lorelei is wanting everything pink for Christmas. We do not know where she came up with that....she wants a pink princess outfit, a pink Barbie, a pink car, and I don't remember what all else she wants. And they were out shopping the other day and Sarah found some pink wrapping paper with princess and she got it and Lorelei was so excited....Oh, mom, you are the greatest...I love you!

Lean on me.....

,This post is entirely due to Sarah sending me stuff to post....just thought they might tickle your funny bone.






Now, weren't those short but sweet! Don't you just love that face in the one...I know you know which one I am talking about.

On the way....

We went to the strip pits one day last week, and right before we got to the area, we pass this field...first I spotted this small deer...took a couple photos...and said out loud, 'now where is your mama?'
Just a few feet farther on, Roger said, 'there she is.' We were gone at least an hour and a half or two and came back through there, and they were bedded down at the edge of the field. There is a house that sits at one end of the field...I don't know if it is 100 yards away even....
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I got my living room windows washed today...actually I did the one the tree sits in front of before I put the tree up. However, I am in a pickle now. The drapes I use, I washed...they are the type that has the rubbery white coating on the back...I cannot think of the word for that for the life of me. Now, I have washed these drapes numerous times...and they are old. But the ones in here in the dining room look good as new. Two pair in the living room look basically new.

Not the other set. When I went to take it out of the washer...it was stuck to itself. I don't know how to explain it other than that. And when I pulled it apart it pulled the back coating off. Just the one pair. I have no idea why. So, now I need to go find something new. And have I told you how long I have been looking. I even thought one time, well, I will just spend whatever it takes and get what I want. I couldn't find anything I actually liked.

So, I have put them back up for now, till no one can see in. But thinking about heading out here in a few minutes to see what I can see.

Our wild child....

Edited to add: Sandra first suggested for me to try Firefox, which is normally what I do at the first sign of trouble. It is all I use on my normal laptop. I took the time to download and install it and the problems seem to be solved. I guess we will find out for sure if this update will post from it.
As you may guess by these pics, we went to Indy for a couple days to see everyone....our granddaughter was especially charming. Her headdress is her own doing....and she was real proud of it.
She loves to play pretend...sometimes she will play and play by herself...she will have the characters just chattering away to each other.
Other times she wants one of us to pretend with her. I have to admit, I do not have near the imagination that she does.
This is her little smile she gives every time we tell her to smile.

She ran to get her Barbie to show us some time after we got there...it is a Princess Barbie. She told me the crown was broken. Jeremy told her to tell me who broke it....she looked at me and told me, "Papaw broke it." As serious as she could be...and he said no I didn't and she argued and argued with him that he broke it and it was the first time he had seen it.

Then, another time she was climbing in my lap, and I did not even touch her...she looked at me and told me "You hurt me." There were several other incidents of her saying things like that....so, I think her imagination is working over time.

Oh, and she wants everything pink for Christmas...she wants a pink princess dress and pink shoes, and pink doll house, and I forget what all she wants, but it is a long list and everything has pink for the color. She was first talking to me on the phone the night before we went...Sarah told her to tell me everything she wanted...so she started with pink car, pink princess, etc...and each time she said pink she changed her voice to this high sort of screaky voice.

I am here to tell you, I have not laughed so much in so short of a time as the past couple of days. She is like her mom was in that the more you laugh at her, the more she will try to make you laugh.
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Computer question now to any of you that might have a clue.

I have a little netbook that I keep downstairs with my sewing, and it also goes with me to Sarah's now. Does anyone have any idea why I cannot post to my blogs on it. And more than half the time I cannot post a comment to blogs from Blogger...I can post okay to wordpress or typepad blogs...just most of the time not to Blogger blogs. I think I can occasionally but it is so rare that I even wonder if I ever have...maybe I just thought it posted and click out of the window before realizing it didn't post.

And when I try to do a post on it, I can usually save it...I just cannot publish from it....this is just so weird. I thought the first time it happened that it was just instance of blogger being messed up, but now I think there is something about my computer to change, but I cannot think what. Especially with being able to access it, but just not actually post.

Feed them and they will come

I saw this single goldfinch day before yesterday and managed this capture....
also, the red-bellied woodpecker was here for a few seconds. He does not hang around long enough for me to take very many pics.
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Shopping is nearer done than it was...got just a bit more done yesterday. However, I am not doing anything on my quilt or anything else. I need to get refocused in that direction but having a hard time settling down to anything at all. I also need to sit down and make a grocery list...or start it...for what I will need for the Christmas dinner. It will be at Sarah's, but still we try to talk on the phone and make our list. We both do the cooking...

She and Lo both have colds right now...so hoping they get over them soon. She put Lorelei to bed the other night, and had no more than got back to the living room when Lo started yelling, "Mommy, I need my Barbie! Mommy, I forgot Barbie...Mommy, I cannot sleep without Barbie!" Over and over...it did not take Sarah ten seconds to find Barbie and take it to her, but she said she bet Lorelei yelled that 15 times.

Lorelei calls me once or twice and week and just talks and talks...and tries to show me stuff on the phone....I just cannot believe how fast she is growing up.

An added highlight to the day

Just got an email from my sister-in-law...they had taken Jackson, their grandson...(my great nephew) to a live nativity scene. It was like they were walking through a crowded street of Bethlehem.

Then they got to the part where there was Joseph and Mary with a donkey. When they got to them Jackson said, "Ride 'em, Cowboy!"

Color from my world...

This is not from tonight. It is from another night we ran through the strip pits...but not a night I have shown. Who cares either way...there is very seldom a night that isn't beautiful out there....if I will just have the patience to wait for it to come.
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So, we went Christmas shopping...got the majority of the rest of it done. I done had Lorelei's done as well as her daddy's, but that was all. Now the major portion of my shopping is done, and this is one tired gal.

It is strange...I do have trouble knowing what to get for people, but still, I enjoy Christmas shopping. The mall was not crowded today, and everyone I ran into or almost ran into, or who almost ran into me...we were all on our best behavior and smiled, apologized, and went on. That is easier to do when it is not crowded. Though, most times now, I make up my mind before I leave that that is how I am going to act.

It seems to me, even if you treat an old grouch the way you want to be treated, that they will respond in kind.

Now mind you I am not bragging....not by any means. I still have to fight frustration when I get behind two people that manage to take up what is room for four-six people to walk. People that are walking so slow but are weaving so bad you are afraid to try to pass....then you realize they are moving so slow that if you time it right you can zoom on through.

You just know they are wondering along, thinking about who all they have left to buy for, and trying to make up their mind what to get. At least that is what I am doing, when I am the one in a totally different world.

Visitors....

These photos all enlarge, and there are a couple more photos over on Time Stand Still of these sparrows in the brush...also, all of these do enlarge.

I had been meaning to photograph them for a while...and this evening I was sitting here with Bubbie in my lap. He was snoozing...I glanced out there to see the evening light hitting the sparrows and though what a perfect time to shoot them. But I didn't want to make The Bubbie get up, but Roger came in and it startled him so he jumped up on his own. By the time I got out there a cloud or two was passing through and I missed some of the best light. But at least I got some.
The nuthatch flitted in and out so quick it was hard to get a photo of it at all...not sure if it is only one or if there are more than on.

The tufted titmouse was slower showing up than the other birds...but eventually there were two or three of them at the feeder...

I don't know if the cardinal had been there earlier and i missed him, or if this was taken on his first visit...he did not stay long.

I sit at my computer and cannot do anything on it because I am so preoccupied with the birds. The minute I put my camera down, the red-bellied woodpecker came but he flew with my slightest move. Also a blue jay flitted in and out of the view a couple times.
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I passed the 10,000 photo mark on one of my cameras today...it started over with Image 0001....I think my other DSLR has over 9,000 photos on it. Can you image what that would have cost to take all those in film and had them developed? That alone would be crippling to the budget, let alone if you have photos printed of any of them.

Where does time go?

I warn you ahead of time...don't bother with enlarging this photo. It is no better enlarged than it is the size you see it. But there is something about it that I like anyway....

There was no way to get away from the sun being right in front of me when I took it...
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The days come and go so quickly now...just like John Denver says in Poems, Prayers, and Promises. See, I told you that song always goes round in my head in the fall. But that is beside the point.

I did manage to wash a couple windows today...we have the kind that flip in but with my shoulder I have not been able to do it. I was just going to use a ladder today, but decided to give it the old college try just one more time. With the advantage of standing on a step stool, I was able to get them flipped in and washed, got the curtains/drapes washed and put back up. Now I should be able to photograph a few birds.

I did put out some birdseed for the first time in quite a while...a red- bellied woodpecker was out there in less than 10 minutes. I expected the house sparrows, but was amazed when I looked out and saw him hanging upside down. I hope that he is a sign of good things to come.

I have did a couple other loads of laundry, and have made a few more little 4-patches. I am getting ready to sit here and count how many I have if I can wrap my mind around it. I am in the mood to get it done and move on to something else. Not sure what I am going to do with it, but I am in hopes of making the top and quilting it.

I have been sitting here looking at songs from our youth...and finally came across youtube version of Whippoorwill by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. There are at least half dozen songs by them that I absolutely love, but this one is probably my favorite...someone did a slide show to the song, and it is worth watching. So I will say good-night and embed the song here.

Warm or not warm?

The day I took this picture was not as cold as it is today, but I wonder do the feel the cold. Their fleece is such a mess, I really wonder how it feels. I assume it is warm...but, oh, do I bet it is smelly when sheared.

It has rained the whole day long. Cold rain. Not one ray of sunshine. However, they were predicting a wintry mix tonight and tomorrow and for now, that has been dropped. If we get sunshine, I will dance for joy....at least in my mind.

I have not done much today...Roger had to run to Walmart so I ran with him and picked up a couple things...one of which was a sketchbook. I cannot draw a straight line without a ruler, but I still wanted one to jot down ideas I have. The only thing is, I need one that I keep near my chair, one near my desk, and one down in the basement.

I also ran to the library to get some 'how to' books...that was all I got. I do not need any other books to read. I have enough on my kindle to last me a year. Instead of the old saying of 'she who dies with the most fabric wins' now it will be 'he who dies with most books on his kindle wins.'

Country critters....

Remember I went to the strip pits the other evening and saw 10-12 deer? Well, the next evening, Roger and I were coming home from the super Walmart in Paris, and decided to swing through there. It was really getting late...just almost dark. We saw a couple of the owls right away...both not even close to being within distance for the camera. We eased on along, not seeing anything for a bit...then we started seeing deer.

By the time we had passed all the way through, I am sure we saw probably 25 deer, at least. The last place we saw them was just as we left the place. I could determine some were bucks, but couldn't determine the size of their racks due to it being so late and almost dark and they happened to blend in with the background so well.

I could see this fellow, though...but it was still too late for my camera to get a good capture...this was totally black till I hit the button 'auto levels' in photoshop elements. With that being said, I hope he shows on your computer.
These two country cats we saw while on a drive the other day...the black one ran across the road in front of us...he kept watching the one below.
Soon, we were stopped to photograph a barn...and in front of that barn was a pasture.
This horse was one of I don't know how many....I am not saying there was a lot...just saying all I saw at first was him and another one, but as we went on I saw at least a couple more. I think they are all much loved horses, cause they kept nickering to me...and this one started up the hill two or three times, convinced that I had something for him. How I wish I had...
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I spent over three hours in the basement yesterday...doing laundry while I messed with my sewing. I did some more cutting and sewing....so much fun. It makes things feel back to normal for me. I want to go down in a bit and see what else I can do....

I have been cleaning off a desk...does anyone else have clutter control problems? I sure do. Seems like I have so much stuff I want to keep, or maybe just afraid I will need it.

Then there is the problem of books...even though I have went through my books till I just have just kept my very favorites, I still have plenty. I keep debating on whether I want to buy new books for my kindle or buy kindle editions of my favorites...I did buy the kindle edition of Giants in the Earth by Rolvaag. When Roger and I got married, he had an old copy of it...I finally got around to reading it and it is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it every few years.

I look at it as I can buy stuff I am not sure I will like, or I can buy old favorites that I know I will enjoy reading again.

Time for catching up...

So, I have not been in a blogging mood here of late...just had things on my mind and things I wanted to do....and reading. Not sure if the kindle was a wise gift or not. I just want to read and read and read.

Then, I really got thrown off track last weekend...Sunday night to be exact. And I have debated on whether to tell this or to keep silent...but wanted to explain part of my absentness this week.

I discovered a lump....yeah, one of those. Quite by accident. Sunday night, after Roger had gone to bed. The lump was on the same side I had a stereotactic biopsy in 2007. Which was negative for cancer, I might as well add.

Well, we were heading to a hand to-shoulder doctor Monday morn for a knot that Roger had on the underside of his wrist...right where his hand joins to the wrist. So, I did not say anything to him...just went on with him...it was just a ganglion cyst and the doctor drained it right there in the office, and we were on our way. We did a couple stops, and came home, and I called to get a mammogram. Got it set up for Thursday....still didn't tell Roger. Stuff like that just really worries him...

Then Tuesday morn, they call me about the mammogram...since I had had the biopsy, I had to see the doctor and get orders for a diagnostic mammogram. So, I called the doctor's office and got in Wednesday....I did tell Roger what was going on then. The nurse practitioner didn't really read me the riot act like I was afraid of...not when she remembered all that had been going on in the past year or two.

They were able to reschedule me for the mammogram on Thursday, just an hour later than I had originally been scheduled...and scheduled an ultrasound at the same time. They are over and done with...it is only cysts...the one I found is about the size of a quarter and there are at least a couple more about the size of a pea.

I don't think I will let anything slow me down from getting those mammograms now...I felt so dumb that I had put it off for so long. It could have turned out so different. I want to encourage all women to schedule their own mammogram. And to follow through with whatever the doctor tells them.

I am heading down to the basement to sew a little bit and try to get back to feeling normal...will probably try to catch up with everyone later tonight.

Strip pit report....

I haven't been going to the strip pits as much as normal, and when I have, there hasn't been much to report. Most times I have been lucky to see anything at all. I think it has been due to the time I am out there...I have either hit it too early or too near dark. Last night was different.
I had barely got to the first pond that is right near the entrance, when on in the distance I saw a Northern Harrier...I raced down to try to catch it. Then there were what I took to be three of them....they had moved on farther from the road and where swooping and circling...and just moving all the time. It did cross my mind that one was definitely darker than the others, and bigger...but I didn't give it a thought that the two smaller ones were owls till I downloaded the photos. You will probably have to enlarge this to even see the birds.

The birds drifted even farther away--I headed on down the road, but no more than started, till I noticed the two deer above....they were too far away to get a good shot, and started retreating soon as I headed their way. I passed a small pond that had swans on it, but they were too far away to get a good shot... I went on to the biggest pond near the road....water covered the road there and was a little deeper than I wanted to venture across, though I really think it would have been fine. It isn't like it is flowing....it just gets up and stands in the road.

I turned around, and headed back from the direction I came...when I got back to where I first saw the Northern Harrier and the other two birds, there were the owls! The short-eared owls--there was four right there, they swoop and fly low to the ground while they hunt. Now two of these did light on the ground...not like they were catching something, but they just set and looked all around...

I saw four right there, and then two more on down the way....so they are back in full force. I did go back to the entrance, turned around and drove back to where the water was across the road in hopes of seeing one sitting on a fence post, but no such luck. I did see more deer however....though I lost count. Oh, it was not 20 or 30, or any number like that...but thinking along the lines of 10-12...

There was actually a 3rd deer with these, but didn't get a good picture that showed it because it blended in so well with the background. And I think these are the two that are in the other photo above of deer...they are in the same place where I saw them.

There were also a few geese, and then there was flocks of some other type of duck...with as small as they were, they were too far away to get a decent picture of...there were about 3 different flocks in the air...each one probably having at least 100...and a few little groups of 6 or 8 or 10 'ducks.'

It was sure good to see some wildlife once again...