How many of you remember...

I just finished the book Secretariat by William Nack.  I had seen the movie but sometimes I like to read the book.  Now that I have read the book I want to see the movie again.  I do remember watching him run the Kentucky Derby when I was in high school.  This one is the Belmont Stakes...you just got to watch him run!  And be sure and notice that he is running on his own...no whip is being used.

I had finished the book a few days ago, and meant to look then to see if YouTube had his race videos, but did not remember to do that till tonight.  Roger and I have sat and watched them, as well as others about him streaming on TV.    Oh, what a horse he was.  I would like to encourage you to watch some of the videos about him...there is one by ESPN that is excellent. 

I get pretty excited watching some football games, but they don't hold a candle to horse races.  I am always telling Roger I missed my calling.  I would have been happy just taking care of Secretariat. 

Random thoughts....

Time again for Random Five...I had not thought about it till a few minutes ago.  I really admire the people that aren't afraid to say what they are thinking...I always self edit.  Anyway, here are a few of my random thoughts...

1.  The first thing that popped into my mind is that I cannot wait for the weekend because Lorelei is coming to visit.  She has not been here since Labor Day weekend. Even though I took a few things to the family reunion, I still have a little pile of stuff to give her.  we are always seeing little things we think she would like. Any time we think of her and talk about her, we are always laughing.  Her mom got to volunteer at her preschool a few weeks ago.  Now, keep in mind on her very first day of school, she asked her mom if the teachers would like hugs.  Sarah told her she was sure they probably would.

So she absolutely loves preschool.  And her teacher told Sarah she is all about following the rules.  Mrs. W told Sarah it was so cute...she would see Lorelei raise her hand and have such a serious little face.  When Mrs. W asks Lo what she needs..Lo tells her she could sure use a hug!

It is things like this keeps a smile on our face...even through rough times.

2.  It has been a hard, hard month....I hope next month is better.

3.  Even with the hard things, there has been joy, too.

4. I had a decluttering day the other day....I told my husband it pays to declutter.  I was working in my kitchen and found $40!  I first found $20 up in with my cookbooks, Then there was another $20 bill I found.  I was cleaning off my fluorescent light.  It is mounted on the wall...it is a convenient place to set little things that I want to sit out of the way. It was weird, I had ran my dishrag over it and looked down, and there was that $20 and I had not even realized I had picked anything up other than a bit of dust.  And I think I had laid that $20 there a long time ago for something...thinking I would need to grab it to pay something but now I haven't a clue.  So not only did I come out free of some things that were cluttering up my cabinets, I came out $40 richer.

5.  It is past midnight now....I really hope I can remember to link to Random Five when it opens...how's that for my last random thought? 

Right now, I think I will go mop my kitchen and clean my bath till I don't have to do it in the morn..

One of two favorite fall poems....When The Frost is on the Pumpkin

Hoping this works....I am copying from two former posts of mine....



I heard this read a few years ago on TV...then got the idea to look for it on YouTube and found the above.  The words are below till you can follow along if you want.  The words are correct.  I have checked them against books of poems by James Whitcomb Riley.    

WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN  by: James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)

HEN the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,

And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,

And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,

And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;

O, it's then's the times a feller is a-feelin' at his best,

With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,

As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.




They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere

When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here--

Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,

And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;

But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze

Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days

Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock--

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.



The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,

And the raspin' of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn;

The stubble in the furries--kindo' lonesome-like, but still

A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;

The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;

The hosses in theyr stalls below--the clover over-head!--

O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock,

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock!





Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps

Is poured around the celler-floor in red and yeller heaps;

And your cider-makin' 's over, and your wimmern-folks is through

With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and saussage, too! ...

I don't know how to tell it--but ef sich a thing could be

As the Angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me--

I'd want to 'commodate 'em--all the whole-indurin' flock--

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

Busy....

Just a little touch of beauty from the Windy Ridge day lily gardens near us....
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Spent last night taking Roger to ER....too tired to go into details.  They kept him over night, let him come home late this evening...they don't know what is causing the problem...they ran all kinds of tests.  Did say that he had had a stroke but that it had been long ago....

I want to whine and complain, but trying to just be thankful that he is home and so good, so far.  This was a second episode...it happened last week, but we did not go to ER, did not go to the dr.  He didn't want to end up in the hospital and miss our family reunion.
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Yesterday, I had started my decluttering thing again...and actually got rid of quite a few things from the kitchen.  Some we donated to the Light House Mission and some went in the garbage.  I had manuals from things we don't even have...I had some seasonings that were ancient.  So into the garbage they went. 

Hoping I can get myself psyched up to do more.   There is so much left to do.  Even though I have rid myself of so much stuff...I need to let go of more.  Seems like we have so much that just clutters up our lives.  For now, I am going to get off here and totally relax...

A great weekend...

Every year, us brothers and sisters and families try to meet for a family picnic.  This year was no different.  It is the only time that Lorelei and her cousin Jackson see each other.  But they picked up where they left off...they played and played...

I want you to look at their expressions...aren't they priceless!

Then look at this one of Lorelei with her Aunt Patti.

That was Saturday...

Yesterday I decided I best get a move on and finish the binding on this Little Crumbs in the Corner quilt.

Of course the wind was never calm....it is always blowing when I take photos of quilts....so lucky to get one without the wind curling up a corner.  And if they aren't curling, it is still blowing and hard to get in focus.

From Nashville, Indiana

When we go to Nashville, Indiana, I really enjoy just looking!  There is always so much to catch the eye.  Such as the dragonfly above, or the butterfly below.

I really like them, but have seen similar ones before.

But I have never seen this quite before.  A log used as a planter!  I think it is a pretty cool idea...
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I sat and worked on my binding on the little quilt last night....I could actually have stayed up all night sewing on it.  I forget just how much I enjoy sitting and sewing by hand.  Being that it is just a tad bit less 5 ft. each way, I have it over half done.  I am itching to get it done and start on some new project.

Great Blue Heron and Bald Eagle

I posted one pic of this GBH over at Time Stand Still...thought I would show this other one here...it just amazes me every time I see them perched in a tree.   I saw him while fishing at Mansfield--he was at the base of the dam the whole time till he flew up right behind me.

Now look close at this pic...you might even need to enlarge it to see.  The other thing that watched me fish was this fellow here.  I kept watching for an eagle to be soaring overhead and happened to glance up the creek just in time to see him fly up from below and perch there.  He was there a big part of the time I was there, and was there when I left. 

I could not get any closer to him...he was on the far side of the creek and on up past the dam.  It always amazes me to see them...always improves any day to spot one. If I had not seen him fly up, from below, I would never have spotted him.  He just blended in with the background.  (The photo above is even a cropped version of the original.)
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It is raining and thundering here this morn.  And warm compared to the past few days.  It is even supposed to get up into the 80's for today.  Showers are in the forecast for today and tomorrow.  I am hoping this improves the chances for nice autumn colors.  I was afraid it was going to be so dry that the change would not last long.

One quilt done...

I just thought I would pop a little post in...I finished this quilt a few days ago.  Above is the front...

and this is the back.  I think I love the back almost as much as the front, if not more. 

And here above and below are a couple pictures taken a little bit closer in.

So there it is...I ended up actually liking it once it became a full-fledged quilt and not just a quilt top...and even Roger liked it and he always says quilts like this are not his thing.  Remember you can click on each picture to expand the view.  The quilting is nothing to brag about....more or less utilitarian. 

I have the little crumb quilt quilted and the binding is ready for that final stitching by hand.  It still may take a few days to finish it though as I have some other things going on.

Back to blogging one of these days..

I am taking an unexpected break from blogging...I will be back to blogging one of these days...leaving you with a song I came across.  If you don't like it as a song, at least read the words....




...What we do in love and kindness
Is all that we ever leave behind....


If I didn't love it before I heard/read those words...I would have after.  Truer words were never spoken. 

Remember this?

Remember this...this that I was making for a backing for another quilt.  Then Sarah saw it and showed interest.  So, I decided to use it for a quilt top and made a backing for it.  It is now quilted and awaiting the binding.  Hoping I get the binding sewn on today, at least sewn to the front....then will come the joy of sitting and stitching it down to the back by hand.  Even though I am not proud of the quilting, I can't wait to show it to you and show you the back.

It will be alright if you don't say this is pretty...I don't even think it is pretty.  But it is interesting...and it is fun to look and figure out how it all came together.  And the quilting is  nothing to brag about either.  I did loose quilting....oh, closer than the 10 inches apart that warm and white requires...but still really sparse to what I do normally.

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I made a big, big pot of vegetable soup yesterday...I make such a pig of myself when I make it.  I grab a bowl of it every time I pass through the kitchen.  I divided what was left into two containers.  I will freeze one, and the other we will have in a couple days.   That will mean I don't have to cook one time, only reheat.
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I have slept in the past two mornings and feel like I have wasted half my day.  I am just a person that needs to get up and get going.  How about you?  I really feel better all the way around if I am up and going by 6:30-7:30.  I know others get up earlier than that, but that is a good time frame for me.

But I have been watching you tube videos at night after Roger goes to bed...Friday night I was up till after 3:00 a.m. watching sewing videos.  And had to make myself go to bed then...then last night it was quilting videos....

Speaking of quilting, I think I am heading down in the basement with my latest.  I might even start with the binding.

Another from Tennessee

This is another shot from Tennessee....I figure that if the houses in the previous post had been kept up, they would have looked similar to this.
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I have long enjoyed reading the Random 5 Friday posts of some of my blogfriends, and have meant to join before now.  Usually I don't think of it till I have done did a different post.  So, for my first time, and hopefully not my last...here are my Random 5...

1.  Having a grandchild makes life so worth living!  I knew I would love a grandchild if I ever had one, I just did not realize how much.  It is not more than I loved my girls...just different.  I feel more relaxed for one thing.  Another is it is a shared responsibility.  Also, I think I have more time.

2.  Quilting is never far from my mind.  Photography is about the same...just always thinking about it.

3.  I always get more homesick for Tennessee in the fall than at any other time of year.  As you can tell by my posting pics from there.

4.  I always wish I knew and had passages of the Bible memorized as well as I do words to songs.

5.  After all these years, I still mostly love blogging...but sometimes it is so hard to figure out a post for blogging...specially this blog.  I don't have a lot of trouble with Time Stand Still, a photo blog since it is just a photo with a line or two about the photo.  I contiually learn little things through blogging.  And I seem to get more done when I am involved in blogging.

So there you have my first ever Random 5....

Old homes in Tennessee

Actually a couple old homes in Tennessee.  Drive-bys of course.  You can see the edge of the car window in the very bottom of this shot...notice the one has no windows on the end and the other does.    (I would like to encourage you to click and expand the view.)

On down the road and a bit better photo of the second home...notice what is standing peaking out above the trees on the left side...the barn below!

Not the greatest photo, but isn't it a beauty?  I just love these photos, and would really love the middle one for a jigsaw puzzle.  Does anyone else see pictures on blogs and wish you could have them in jigsaw puzzle form....I do all the time.   

Of course I wonder what happened to the people that lived there.  I cannot remember the surrounding area...I don't remember if there was a newer house close by or not. Whether there was or not, these scenes sure pull at my heart. 
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I have not been accomplishing too much other than most days been hanging out some laundry...I want to enjoy every bit of that I can before winter.  And I try to sit on the porch some every day.  That is one thing I miss so much when cold weather arrives.  We are still having breakfast out there a lot of morns...

I need to get back to decluttering but having a hard time getting started.  There's other stuff that is much more interesting!  I have the binding made for both current quilt projects, and got the backing made for the small quilt top....I did start over and made a new one.  Now I need to get down there and make a practice quilt sandwich and get everything set to quilt.  There is just not enough hours in the day....

I think she had fun....

Lorelei came with fishing on her mind...she wanted to go soon as she got here.  Which is the opposite of how she is normally.  Usually she wants to get here and does not want to leave.  We did manage to put her off till Saturday morn...I told her soon as she ate breakfast we could get ready and leave.  She ate and had her swimsuit on in the blink of an eye!  And was hurrying me.

So here she is fishing..with me already in case she catches a fish.  But of all times, no fish.  I think this is the first time I  have ever been here and not caught a fish.  So she fished for half an hour or so, then played in the water...
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 Then yesterday, Roger had to go down in the basement for something...she loves our basement.  Just so much of interest down there.  Soon as she heard, she wanted to 'load some of those pink bullets!'  (The resizing lube is kind of pink in color.)  Anyway, Papaw was happy to oblige.

She is so content....and just all smiles when helping him...

She can harldy hold still for us to take a picture.





She went home yesterday evening leaving behind an empty feeling house but grandparents with hearts so full.