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I have been meaning to do this post for a while...sometimes I will go to do something and there will be a little message like this:

It is a sticky note on my laptop.  Every time I see it I smile.

I didn't always save them.  I don't know why I didn't think to start.

Then one day I was downstairs where my Juki 98Q resides.  But I have not been sewing on it in a while.  I happened to sit down and look at it and there was this:

Notice, she had written 'mom,' but it is crossed out with a pencil...I didn't know if you can see the pencil marks or not.  they are sort of light.  What pleasant surprise.

I forgot to take a picture of a Christmas card that she made me last year.  I had left it hanging from then until the other day when she was here.  But she replaced it with this:

And I have to tell this little story...it will melt your heart.  We always lay and talk as she goes to sleep.  And she said, 'I love you, Mamaw.'  And I said, 'I love you, too.  I love you more than you love me.'  She said, "Mamaw, I loved you from the day I was born, and I will love you till the day I die.'  I got a lump in my throat and couldn't do anything but  hug her.

A shadow shot...

We were down to see Tootie a week or two ago...well actually a bit more than two weeks.  We had out the fold up lawn chairs, and as I went to move it, I noticed this shadow...I wish I had composed the shot better.  But still, makes a nice colored shadow shot.  I was reminded of it when I saw  Green Comotion's shot.
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Lorelei is sleeping as I type this.  I went and got her yesterday evening.  She came helped to decorate the tree...along with decorating our hearts with joy.  And she goes to bed giggling.  What more could a person ask for in life?

A little randomness...

Photo from September

 1.  I have not been in the mood to blog much...not sure why.

2.  Roger is improving some.  He has had no new places break out, and he is not itching near as bad.  We have found out that his magnesium levels are low.  We will see the nurse practitioner again Tuesday.   I am thankful he has gotten some relief, and I know he is even more thankful than me.

3.  It has rained here.  All. day. long.  And been gray and drab and dreary.  The cats want out.  They go out only to want back in in a few minutes.

 Another September photo

4.  Our Christmas tree is up, not decorated.  I love just even seeing it with only the lights on.

December 2012

5.  I have been reading Call of the American Wild:  A Tenderfoot's Escape to Alaska.  I am enjoying it very much.  You can follow that link to read about it.

That is it from my little corner of the world...hoping that the rain doesn't return tomorrow.  I want to do something, but not sure what.  Not shopping! 

Falling charms the design wall

I have been messing with fabric again...just a few minutes here and a few minutes there.  Some of these are from scraps.  Some not.  I was going to make something small...but just kept making more and more blocks.  Now I have ran out of the tan/brown.  So, I either introduce another color at this point or I stop here and add borders and call it quits.

Or what I will probably do is put the blocks away.  I haven't decided what I am going to do.  I need to get busy and finish up another project.  But for right now, I am not doing anything.
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Roger has been breaking out again.  It started 3 or 4 weeks ago.  We could not get him into his dermatologist till in January, so he went to the family doctor and got a shot of steroids and some oral steroids.  They gave relief at first, but a day or two after finishing the oral meds, he started breaking out a bit more.

To make a long story short, he has been through h*LL...

This is after his hands started to  heal when on the steroids.  I don't have pics of any fresh breaking out.  He breaks out in patches...there will be a place here, and a place there...

I finally got him to agree to let me call my dermatologist and see if I could get him an appt up there.  So I got up yesterday morn, and he could see the Nurse Practitioner up there.  So we will see where this leads.  She is approaching it from different angles.  She took a biopsy of the freshest place on his leg, she took a swab from his hands.  They look worse than now than when the photos were taken.

She is took blood to check several things....it will be a while before we get the results of it all.  In the meantime she gave him some steroids that he rubs on the spots, and and gave him an antibiotic ointment.  His itching is not as intense...
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We had our Thanksgiving meal this past weekend...it just worked out best that way.    We are in the process of eating leftovers now for the rest of the week...LOL

From today!

I am sitting looking out my window at this!  I just can hardly believe it.

When we got up this morn, it was snowing big flakes but they were flakes that were almost rain or slush.  But time went on and it got colder and it is sticking to the roofs and the ground is white...oh, it is a winter wonderland for sure.  It is just simply beautiful beyond compare...the things that are normally dreary here take on a new life.

I have things I have to do but oh, how I wish I had time to just be out and in this.

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Don't they make you feel all Christmasy?

They take me back to probaby my favorite Christmas of all.  I had a sister that was everything to me.  She has been gone a bit over 2 years and it is still hard to believe she no longer walks this earth.  I think she was special to each and every one of us.  To us younger ones, though, she was IT.

When she would come home on vacation, I would cry my eyes out when she had to leave, another brother would get physically sick.  I think with him, it was when any of our sisters came home and left, but with me it was just Fran.

She very seldom came home at Christmas, but I remember one time when she did.  It was not too long after she married, but before she had children of her own.  Here her and her husband came in with this gigantic box of presents. There was a purse, there was a necklace, there was a watch, and I cannot remember what all else.  But best of all, she was there.  Such joy!

I don't remember a whole lot else about it other than being so happy she was there, but I do remember a couple incidents.  One night she, her husband, and my brothers were playing cards.  I think it was a game called Tripoly.  There were chips, and there was always an extra hand dealt.  Well, I was not playing...I was sitting as close to Fran as I could get.

She started having me check the extra hand for cards she needed...and I would.  If it was there I would sneak it to her, and put the one she discarded back in the extra hand of cards.  I don't know how long this went on, she was winning, and her husband realized what she was doing.  No one got really mad, or anything, but they did quit playing.   I still laugh just thinking about it.

I don't remember whether the next day was Christmas or if it was two or three days till Christmas, but whenever it was, mom cooked a ham.  According to my brothers, we had ham before but this is the first time I remember having it.  And I LOVED it....every time I passed, I was eating a bite of ham.  And I guess I just ate too much....that night I got sick and vomited and vomited.

And I remember Fran getting up to take care of me, and telling mom to go on back to bed.  I remember her washing my face so gently with a cool wet wash rag.  And I knew everything would be okay.  Oh, how I miss that sister.

A little randomness...

1.  One of the 'coffee club members' out at Hardee's told us it is supposed to snow this weekend.  And supposed to lay.  I don't know where I have been cause I have not heard that...not sure whether I want it to be true or not.  But if today is anything to go by, it is not going to happen.

2.  I have sewn a little bit almost every day this week...even just a little bit is better than none!

'When Bubbie was young'

3.  We actually bought some Christmas gifts today, and I found one yesterday, too.  I already had a couple things, so at least have a start. 

4.  Has anyone else watched Indian Summers on PBS Masterpiece?  I think this weekend will show the last episode and I don't see things ending happily for anyone.  YouTube has some full episodes right now, if you are interested. 

5.  I have accidentally published more posts the past few months than I have all the previous years of blogging put together.  Fact.

Edited to add:  I should have added I meant I published more posts before they were ready...I accidentally published them as I was getting them ready.  Sometimes with only the title written...sometimes with only a picture uploaded!  


Just have to leave you with a little laughter.  I have searched for years for this from Mama's Family--are you old enough to remember it?   You may have to turn your volume up.  Don't miss the first lines nor the last lines.




Linking to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 5....

Pumpkins, get your pumpkins!

I am thinking I best get these photos posted while it is still the time to enjoy them.

These were all taken at Shipshewana the first week of October.

I just happen to love the color orange...

I also love all the textures

I wonder if all of these are just for decoration or are they edible?  Or both?

I don't like pumpkin pie, do you?  I think they smell simply delicious and I used to make them for Roger.

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I was cruising along through the day, doing this and that, a couple loads of laundry, messing with sewing, etc and thinking that wow, I was getting a lot done.  I looked at the clock and it was alread 4:30! And there I was thinking it was about 2:00 or 2:30.  But Roger had fixed fried rice, so I had to do no cooking...

How about you...does your day sometimes slip through your hands without you even realizing it is passing?

Tripping down memory lane...

I was over at East Gwillimbury Camera Girl's blog and seen this post...well that part of the title that says 'Slays the dragon' kicked off a search.  For a song.  I could not remember the exact phrase...but knew there was one with something about slaying a dragon.

I did searches for the phrases 'slay the dragon' and 'slayed the dragon' at all kinds of places and could not find what I was looking for.  I ask Roger could he think of a song that has the phrase 'slay the dragon' in it...he couldn't.  And I could not even tell him anything about it.  All I could hear in my mind was 'sl... the dragon'  I could not quite make out what form of the word slay was used.

So I looked and looked and looked some more.

He mentioned the Superman Song which is by Five for Fighting.  Well, that wasn't it but it did lead me to looking for artists similar to Five for Fighting.  And I found the mention Colin Hay, who was a member of Men at Work--are you old enough to remember them?  Anyway,  it led me back to this song:



I don't remember how I originally found this song, but it is one of our favorites.  We have sat here and listened to it two or three times.

Along the way I happened to bump into The One I love/David Gray,  which made me want to look up Shatter/o.a.r,..along with All I Want/Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Then I found this...I think you will enjoy watching it.  One little boy is really shy, but the other end up having a good time.  I had not seen it before but am sitting here with a big old smile on my face:


...so thanks to EG's post, we have had a really enjoyable evening.  I first saw her post at about 8:00 p.m.  and it was about 11:30 before I zeroed in on it.

Does any of the songs bring back memories for you?  And doesn't it feel good to bump into a song you haven't heard in a while?

Going back in time...

Sometimes I get to wondering what I took a year ago this day....what ever day the day is currently.  Or I will wonder how many years I will have to go back to find pictures taken on a particular day.

To find pics taken on November 15, I had to go all the way back to 2009!

This is sort of faded out, even after fiddling with it in Picasa.  Ever since I saw this, I have wanted to find some old barbed wired to use to make a wreath.  And yet I have not made a real effort to find any.  I need to at least try to find some...I even have an idea of where I might could get some.

And next I am showing you a couple pics of weathered buildings..

as long as I can remember, I have loved old weathered, wood buildings.  Or anything that is old.

And chickens!

I think they are just so photogenic...

There's nothing quite like a handsome rooster...and hens give a place such a homey feeling. 

I could not find where I took these pics, but I do know they were all taken in Parke County, Indiana.

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The pics above show that it was a gray sort of day back in 2009.  Today has been bright and sunny.   We did have our breakfast on the front porch.  A late breakfast I might add.  I was totally surprised for it to be warm enough to enjoy sitting out there.

I have spent the entire evening sewing and messing with fabric.  A perfect kind of afternoon.

Time for a little bit of randomness

1.  Have you actually thought about how close it is to Christmas?  Even with seeing decorations out, I still had not paused to think.  And I still refuse to think much about it.  I want to wait till after Thanksgiving.

2.  This kind of cornbread is one thing I crave every so often...I have been craving it this week, but have still not taken the time to make a pan.  However, I did make a big pot of potato soup today and it is wonderful.  I love soups of any kind, any time, but they are especially good once there is a chill to the air.  How about it--do you like them any time or only after it has turned cold?

3.  I think this is the first year I have ever missed being in the woods and seeing ginseng.  I usually want to go just to see it and to take a fresh pic of it.  It now has a season to dig it, but when I grew up, you could hunt it any time.  Even then, our favorite time to hunt it was in the fall when it turned cold and had seeds to leave behind.

4.  I don't know why, but the Amish fascinate me, do they you?

5.  Don't you know that walking out into a yard with all that gold would cure about any sickness?  Or at the least, make one forget it for a bit. 

Linking to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 5....then it is back to get another bowl of potato soup!

Can we say front moving through?

We had wind last night...wind that howled and hunted for cracks to sweep through.  Wind that blew leaves hither and yon.  It really felt like winter was moving in.  We had to run to Kroger this more, so as it was on the way, we ran through the strip pits.    The pic below is as we passed through the area, and the above is as we left.  In the above one the sun was just peeping out for a minute.

I am not sure I am ready for this...but I know I have no choice.  I would not mind if I didn't have to get out in it except when I wanted to.  

With us for Veteran's Day

Lorelei has tomorrow off in observance of Veteran's Day....she is here for the night and will spend tomorrow with us.

She said they had veterans visit their school today.  When I was a kid, I had no comprehension of what our veterans had done for us.  Not when I was her age.  Not until I was a lot older.  Anyway, she was not sure if there was a Marine there or not...that was the branch Roger was in.

I am so thankful for these brave men...and women.  Who knows where we would be if not for them? 

Another year of The Voice

I don't know about you, but we do enjoy watching The Voice....and this year looks like another good year.  We really enjoyed tonight's contestants...just have to share a couple of the songs/contestants.  The first I am going to share with you is this:

Braiden just turned 15!  This song is an old favorite...I remember when it was popular on the radio...I am not crazy about certain things about how he sang it, but I still got chills down my arms.  He has such a great voice.

Then there is this one:

Jordan Smith is from near my part of the country....he is from Harlan, Kentucky.  I cannot listen without tears...I liked it by Beyonce, but oh, there is something magical about this.   And if you look up the rest of the songs he has sang, you won't be disappointed.

Pictures to make you smile...

The following pics were taken by Sarah, with the last one being sent tonight...

Rosie kissing Lorelei

Happy girls...

Tired babies....

Time for Five....

It is that time of the week again....time for some randomness. I am linking to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday 5...

1.  Color like this is becoming a thing of the past around my neck of the woods.  There are trees here and there with color, but a lot of the trees are bare.  Another sign that winter is headed our way.

2.  The kids have finished moving and are within about 20 minutes of us...we got to go to Grandparents day earlier this week.  It was almost like going home...so had the feel of when I used to volunteer and do stuff when our girls were in school.  We can go down there and visit for an hour or more and still be home within the time it would have taken to drive to their house in Indianapolis.

3.  I wish this log cabin was mine!  Or at least I had one like it.  I wonder how the owners would feel if a complete stranger stopped and ask to see inside?  I personally would not like it, so I doubt if they would either.  Still, I would love to see it.

4.  Can you believe I turned 60 yrs. old earlier this week?  This came in the mail from one of my BFFs from childhood.  She made it.  Such a pleasant surprise.  She will hold a place of honor on this shelf.  (See the picture behind her...that is Roger's grandpa...he was a lightweight boxer.  They called him Little Jimmy Leonard.)

5.  They are finished...but not at their new home yet.

Oh, I have to share this:


I wonder if I had a cone if it would help me diet?

I am using an old photo to begin with...one taken in 2010.  I ran across it the other night and like it.  I don't know if I have ever published it or not...

Fast-forward to 5 yrs later, on the exact same day of October 5th and we have this.  BTW, I did not notice that these were both taken on the 5th of October till just now when I uploaded them.  I did a double take to make sure.  I plan to link to Denise's Today's Flowers.

Remember to click and expand the view.
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The kids are moved into their own home!  Sarah and I both have aching feet....but she did about 4 times as much as me!  But she has worked today and is still working on getting things in shape.  Lorelei has been going to her new school since last Monday and loves it.  They now live within a few blocks of it.

Kitty Soft Paws is glad to have her own home again...we did not let her roam here because of how these cats are.  They are very territorial.  They do not like new cats or dogs on their turf, but they managed to put up with Otto and Rosie.  Oh, there were moments they got mad, but it did not go bad at all, all things considered, and were a few comical moments thrown in.

I was sitting at my computer snacking on something and Puss Puss was at my feet...I don't remember if she was begging for a taste or if she was just there, and Otto zoned in on me eating and came to see if I had a bite for him.  Well, Puss Puss puffed up, hissed and scratched at him and he was backing away and did not realize Bubbie was behind him and he got his tail end swatted which made him come back towards me.  That in turn made Puss Puss want to go after him again and him back into Bubbie again...it was hilarious...Sarah or I one grabbed his collar till he could not move and shoo-ed the cats away.

And we thought if they had time that Bubbie and Rosie would have eventually played together cause there were very short instances where we felt they were playing.  But so short lived we could not tell for sure.  BTW, Bubbie probably weighs twice as much as little Rosie.

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There are still a few beautiful trees, but for the most part the leaves are gone.