She came, she conquered...

Lorelei got to play with bubbles today...well, she and I played with them. I think I have as much fun as her.
She was not in the mood to have her picture taken...

though she didn't mind if I shot while she was actually blowing them. But they all look the same almost, so only showing the one...

She had so much fun...she would blow and then just crack up with laughter.
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Sarah was hosting a bridal shower in a town near here Saturday, so when it was over we met her there and picked up Lorelei. I do not even know if I could think of all she done, but the beginning of our days together got off to a grand start.

We had not even got pulled away from the parking lot till she was telling her papaw to 'Stay between the lines! You are supposed to stay between the lines!" Well there were no lines...

I guess I didn't tell last week she was with her mom and daddy going somewhere and her dad was driving and she was telling him "Don't cross the white line, Daddy! You are supposed to stay between the lines!"

So, she started with that and had me in tears from laughing so hard...I called her mom to tell her, and Roger said tell her we are bringing her back. Well, I hung up and Lorelei said, "I don't want to go home....I want to go to your house!" I had to explain to her that papaw was just teasing her mom.

So, continuing on, we get through town and get back out to where the speed limit is 55, and she starts telling papaw he is speeding!

We have no idea where she learned about staying between the lines...or the speeding, either for that matter.

She spent two nights with us, and I just met her mom half way between...and almost the whole way there, she was wanting me to take her to school. She wants to go to a red school, too. I told her she would have to talk to her mommy--that she needed to be a little older. She told me she was older...she is 3 now...and she told me she already had talked to her mom and her mom said yes, she could go to school!

Harry Evans Bridge....

The gate that was featured in yesterdays post is right past this covered bridge on the right side. A few years ago, to the left of the bridge, culerts were laid and concrete poured to make another way over the creek....I have always assumed for farm machinery to be able to get back and forth quicker.
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It was on the cool side today...one that required me to put on a long sleeved shirt when I went outside to hang some laundry.

I just stayed home today...doing some laundry and started trying to clean up my sewing area. I have really dreaded starting on that. But a dent was made in the mess. If I am working on a project, and there is a mess from it, as long as I got down there almost every day it does not bother me. But let me be away from it for a while, and I cannot stand to sew until I have it somewhat under control.

I still have to get the backing for Roger's quilt made...when he got those two weeks, I just lost all interest in doing anything and have found it hard to get back on track. But the urge to sew is hitting me, so I should make it, but I am also wanting to start something new.

We are going to meet Lorelei and her mommy tomorrow evening, and bring her home to spend the night. Then, depending on how she feels, may meet Sarah Sunday till neither of us has to make the real long drive...but if Lorelei wants to spend another night, we will try it again.

From yesterday's drive...

I passed this yesterday...had someone coming behind me so didn't want to stop. The next place I intersection I came to, I turned around and came back to get a couple shots.
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I haven't did much of anything today...a little bit of regular cleaning....fixed burgers on the grill. Oh, I did a load of laundry and hung it on the line. I did spread some fertilize on the garden and Roger tilled it. I need to get out and get tomato plants. I just finished my last jar of juice and sure hope I have some good tomatoes this year.

We also need to raise plenty of bell peppers; we have used almost all we had frozen. Other than that, I want to try raising some horticulture beans again. Last year I did not get them out till late in the season and they did not do much. I think the first two year we were married plus one later on is the only years we have not at least raised tomatoes. There is nothing like homegrown tomatoes.

I don't remember quite how it happened, but when we were first married, we both worked at the same factory on the same shift...but for some reason here Roger came in from work and had a paper sack that had 8 or 10 tomatoes in it. They were small to medium sized...I think someone had sent them to me, knowing I would like them. I sat and ate every single one of them.

When we were kids, I can remember coming in in the afternoon and getting one or two and sitting and eating them and loving every bite of them....nothing has changed.

And my best friend/sister-in-law was talking today about cleaning out her jars and getting ready for another season. It brought back memories of home....

I think I have said before that our basement was not quite a dungeon, but it sure was not fixed up. It was really not even quite half a basement. There was a light at each end...a single bulb. It more or less lit up enough till you could see where you were going, but it would have been very tiring to try to read anything down there.

Across one end was we a set of shelves built to hold the canned goods. To the best of my recollections, they were about two ft deep and probably at least 8 foot in lenght....and there was at least 5 if not 6 of the shelves...the top one was over my head. Every season one of my jobs was to help go through and see if anything had gone bad, and mom would decide if some stuff was too old.

We would pour the stuff out...and then there was jar washing to be done. Plus I would have to wash down the shelves. Before winter, at least 3 of those shelves would be completely full, and the others would probably be half full. Most stuff was canned in quart jars...I don't remember if mom used pint jars for anything.

But she did have a few half gallon jars...and she even had some that held 3 quarts. I don't remember what she put in the 3-quart jars...can you imagine canning anything in an almost gallon jar? I know she canned some of the dill pickles in the half gallon jars, and maybe soup stock. Oh, and I think she canned some peaches and pears in half gallon jars.

The dill pickles I remember for sure I can remember because certain visitors always wanted a jar of them when they came to visit once or twice a year. And truth be told, a half gallon of pickles would not be too many sometimes for just me....or especially if I and my older daughter got started on one.

Now, I don't think she had that many half gallon jars and even fewer of the ones that held 3 quarts, so she canned more pickles, etc in quart jars, too. What I wondered is are half gallon jars even available now. I don't ever remember noticing them anywhere.
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No rain at all last night or today, but I did see lightning last night. Now there is a slight chance for tomorrow evening so we shall see. I won't hold my breath though.

Just one more bit of purple....

When I was taking the photos of the irises I couldn't help but take one more of the wisteria...is there anything prettier. I know there is a lot just as pretty--I guess it is in the eye of the beholder.
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I actually got out for a little drive today and will be showing some pics from it on Time Stand Still, and here, too. I really did not go far, and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. No eagles, no hawks, nothing but a few squirrels. I did manage to find a road I had not been on before and I want to go back again.

I came home and made spaghetti, thinking Roger would be home before I finished, but instead it was around 3:00 before he got home. No turkey, though he 'almost' had one. Turkeys are funny...when they are coming into his calling, a lot of times they won't cross water. Well, today, it would not come across the fence. And he did not have permission to hunt across the fence so couldn't shoot it over there.

We are supposed to have to have storms, so probably no hunting tomorrow. Not sure what we will do. I know there are things I need to do but not looking forward to them....

Spring beauties...

Our irises are starting to bloom...and I don't know the name of any of them. The top two came in a bag that was mixed colors....
And the one below I just cannot remember.
I cannot pick a favorite...just love their bright colors.
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Not much going on here. Roger finished cutting the wood from the tree. We saved some of it to have a bonfire some evening if we want. I planted a few more Asiatic lilies...I have gradually grown to really love them.

I am not sure what I am going to do where the crab apple tree grew. Maybe nothing this summer. I told Roger now I can look out the front window and watch for rainbows. Always before I had to go outside to see around the tree.

The cats did not know what to think yesterday...I am thinking they will miss it. They like to climb the bushes when we are outside watching them. I never notice them up them unless we are out there. They are like a kid showing off.

Tomorrow the turkey hunting season opens....if it is not storming Roger will go. And of course there is a chance for storms. I haven't tried to make any plans...so will see what the day holds...

The road ahead.....

This is a road we traveled on yesterday...like so many other roads. They always urge us on. And I always have the urge to take photos of these roads...I have countless photos of this scene with slight variations.
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We did cut down the crab apple tree today. Roger actually cut it down and I stacked the brush. It brought back memories of working in the orchard. Our chainsaw did not want to start...even for Roger. It reminded me of these pruners we had for a while at the orchard. They were ran by this portable air compressor. It had either a 5 or 7 horsepower gasoline engine. I am almost positive it was a 7 horsepower.

In winter, I always had to wait for the boss...because when it was bitter cold I could not start anything that had a pull start, except for the chainsaw. Well, that compressor was about the end of both of us. I would pull and pull and pull and he would say, move, let me try it. Then he would pull and pull and pull and then I would tell him to let me try....we would would both go through this several times before it would start.

As a side note, the picker I worker from had a 13 horsepower engine and would almost always start on the second pull the first time it was started for the day. Then later, one pull each time.
The engine for the compressor and the engine for the picker were both made by Honda.

Anyway, today brought back fond memories. And it was fun, but tiring to be outside doing that type of work. And when we were done, I even came inside and finished cleaning the kitchen cabinets.

The rest of the day I spent being absolutely worthless.

Wisteria....here, there and everywhere...

My wisteria has a lot of blooms on it...a LOT. Not that I think that is out of the ordinary...I think it is normal. However, most of mine did not open last year....
A good part of the morning sun is blocked by my crab apple tree...but I think we are about to remedy that. Roger hates the crab apples in the fall...I do not remember the ones on my mom's trees getting very big. The ones on this tree grow to well over an inch in diameter--I would say close to an inch and a half in diameter.

I have mentioned before that it seldom blooms pretty...this year turned out to be an exception. But still I would rather have my wisteria's bloom all open as to have that tree with maybe a chance of pretty blooms. So, we may cut it it down tomorrow. And just maybe the wisteria blooms will open up.
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We went for a drive today... I was suffering from 'tiredness' too much to enjoy it. I don't know what is wrong with me. I don't know if it is mental, or hormones off, or just plan laziness. We came home and I sat down here for a few minutes...

I decided to put on the music and start on a project that has been on my mind for longer than I wanted to admit. I started washing down my kitchen cabinets, taking down the knickknacks off the top and washing them as well as the top of the cabinets. I will not describe to you how bad it was, but it was BAD.

I don't know if it was actually doing something that helped, or just listening to music while I worked, but I did get quite a bit done before I stopped for the evening. I did leave my stepladder inside till I will have to look at it till I do the rest of the cabinets. I would like to get them done tomorrow but not sure how that will work out if we cut that tree down.
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Oh, and did it turn colder where you are? It was so chilly I had on a fleece jacket today when we were on our drive. We went south and east of where we lived. I figured it would be warmer there, but got back here and it was at least 5, if not 10 degrees warmer here. But it is chilly now. I am wondering what it will do to my wisteria...nothing I am hoping.

I thought I would show a different photo of the goldfinch we were following the other day.  He did have a lady friend that he was with.
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We watched Iron Lady tonight.  I seem to end up feeling that so many movies are good, yet something is lacking or I want something more.  I know I felt like that about War Horse...I liked it but was really disappointed at the same time.  It as if there is no real meat to the stories.  I wonder if I am the only one that feels that way.

Or do you notice how so many of the newer movies has the noise so loud, one cannot hear what the characters are saying?  I get to thinking it is me losing my hearing, but then I see older movies and I don't have that problem.

I have been sitting watching the first season of Taxi...so far, Jim (Christopher Lloyd) has not made an appearance.  I can still watch the following video any time and laugh...notice how he wets the end of the pencil before he begins to write.  I must say this is one of the funniest bits ever....
 I have shown this before but might as well put it on here...maybe someone new will see it and enjoy it.

Had my Lorelei fix

 From a couple weeks ago

We went to see the kids today...cannot believe how long it had been.  We knew Lorelei's friend, Emily, would be there when we got there....and Lorelei is crazy about her friends and her cousins.  So, I told myself not to expect too much of a greeting.  I didn't need to worry...when we stepped inside, she was in the sunroom playing.

She looked up and saw that it was us and she yelled Marmaw! and jumped up from the floor and came running to us.  She hugged us and immediately wanted us to come play with her in the sunroom....which we did.  She played with us and with Emily. 

I learned few things from her....for one thing, she is going to have girl babies....according to her because, 'they're so cute, Mamaw!'  Yet she was talking to her little cousin that is just a few months old and she told us/him that he was so handsome.  This from a 3-yr. old...but she so loves him.  When he is napping and she hears him wake up, her eyes just light up.

She is learning to write her abc's and recognizes most of them...her imagination takes flight before we get all the way through 'writing' them.  Actually, her mom has these dry erase things...not sure what they are called.  But it has the letters printed, then it has where Lorelei follows dashed lines to make the letter. 

I am forgetting things she done today...but one her mom told me about the other day makes me smile every time I think of it.  They were out in their back yard the other day.  Lorelei tripped and fell over tree roots...she looked at her mom, got up, patted the tree and said , Sorry, Mrs. Tree!' and went on about her business.

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Well, that is it from our house.  I am so tired I cannot think straight.  

From the twilight zone...

I just thought I would do a little post as an update sort of thing. Not sure where to begin so I will just jump right in with saying when I started my blog break from this blog Roger was sick...we assumed with just a normal short termed flu. But since there is always something going on here, I was not going to mention it. I hate to be so boring...I was thinking give it a couple days and he will be okay.

But here I am mentioning it....he was sick for two weeks...fevers, chills, and sweats...with two visits to the doctor last week....he had his first night free of night sweats and feeling awful Monday night...this is after two trips to the doctor. He had ended up really dehydrated and low on potassium and sodium....anyway, Tuesday I said something to him about did he feel like he was getting out of the twilight zone? He said that described it exactly, but that he still felt boxed in....

We missed Easter with Lorelei...have not seen her since April 1....I have not been to the strip pits since some time the week before that. We did go for a short drive Sunday but I was too tired to enjoy it. I suppose the stress of it all. I was really thinking it was something besides flu. I figured he would end up in the hospital....thank God he didn't.

I have not accomplished anything I intended with my break from this blog...just could not settle in and work with worrying about Roger. Instead I have been spending a lot of time on Google Earth looking at photos...yesterday I kind of started feeling the return to normal. Hopefully I can get back in the groove and get a few things done.

Remember this flower....

I forgot to post that Sarah found the name of this flower for me...its common name is onionweed...and its Latin name is Asphodelus fistulosus.
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I will be taking a little blogging break...or it may be a long one. I just cannot seem to get in the groove of blogging. I have been thinking about it for a while but about the time I really decide to take a break, something would pop up that I just had to blog about. But the past few days I just feel like I have not had anything at all to say. So, just decided to take give it a few days and see how I feel about it.

I am not sure what I am going to do at my other blog....only time will tell.

A different kind of barn charm....

We went to the Indiana Heritage Quilt show the first of March...this quilt is from that show.
The above photo contains the quilter who made it.
I have meant to show these long before now as an alternative Barn Charm entry but keep forgetting.

I would have sworn that I took separate pictures of all the seasons, but somehow I managed to skip winter....


but if you enlarge these you will get see it a bit better.

This is a different sort of barn entry....but I think I am going to go ahead and link to Tricia's Barn Charm meme...and hope people enjoy it. I just wish I had made it.