Smile!

 This is on of the latest of Copper and Delta....Copper was just too tired to make it the rest of the way up the stairs.  It makes me want to giggle.  Delta is such a patient girl.  

Here is the other...I don't know what he is looking at.   I don't know why I didn't ask.  But he only has his ears up like that when he is really interested in something.    He went to the vet last Friday.  He weighed 22 lbs around October 18...I think that was the day she got him and she took him to the vet shortly after.  Then last Friday he weighed 45.7 lbs.  He is a growing boy!

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I am slowly trying to get ready for Christmas...the kids will do the cooking except homemade noodles were requested.  

Just thought I would show a couple ornaments.

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I leave you with this little graph that I show every so often.  Usually after a day of hunting for things.  I won't tell what the item was that I thought I must be crazy.  Ends up I had put in the drawer below the one I normally use.

Then I started to get the cards ready for the girls...I could not find them.  I made myself calm down and look again where I thought I had put them.  They had slid behind the books. 

Unexpected mail...

 I have orders coming, and knew the mail was bringing two packages today.   I finally figured what one of them was but the other tracking number did not match any of my order numbers.  Crazy me, I was trying to think what was I forgetting.

So this afternoon, the mail came...and look what the 'Unknown' package was:

It was this devotional by Susan Young.  From 'the lady who used to write my paycheck.'  That is a sort of joke.  Oh, she did write the paycheck.  But I always said that to her husband when he was trying to get me to take 'sides' with him over something.  I always told him I would always choose the person who wrote my paycheck.  Not the exact words...that has been so long ago and so much has happened since, that I don't remember exactly how I said.  

I opened it up and half read first that it was from her, to me, then I scanned the introduction.  And looked at the first page (January 1) and what should be the first verse:

What a verse to start the new year with. 

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 We had so much fun at work...I wonder how many people think of their bosses with such love and fondness.  I seriously doubt there is a week goes by that I don't think of them.  Sometimes daily.  There was love and caring as well as there were funny things that happened.  It is the only place I ever had a stomach ache from laughing so hard.

When it was just me there,  lots of times they would tell of their life when young.  I would give anything if I had came home and written down the stories I heard there.  Mrs. D was raised by her grandparents, and Mr. D's mom and dad had a boarding house and restaurant.  I remember  lots of bits and pieces, but it is not like hearing them talk about them.

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I will leave you with a recent photo my daughter sent me of the pup and Delta.

He is growing like a weed.  How they both fit on the couch is more than I know.  Delta is a big dog...I think she weighs aroud 90 lbs.  I forget what Copper weighs.  But though he is skinny, he is not little.   I get tickled every time I look at this photo. 

Lazing on a Sunday

 It is dark and dreary here in West Central Indiana...I thought while I am not tired I will try to do a little post...

Last weekend we were at our daughter's house...had to be there Friday to be there while a guy was working on her kitchen...I will try to think and download get some pics from that in my next post.

One evening she and I made a run to JoAnn Fabrics...they were having a sale on Christmas fabrics.

The above is something Daughter is making with some of hers.  It is going to be either a small throw or something to use as a table topper or to just hang on the wall.

She is also in the mood to start another quilt using 2 1/2 inch squares of fabric...using all neutrals.  these above are not sewn together.  If they were, it would would only measure 10 1/2 inches x 20 1/2.  It will take a lot to squares make even a twin sized quilt.  

So towards that end, I brought home a bunch of her neutrals and cut a bunch of strips 2 1/2 inch yesterday.  She will do the next step an cut them into squares.

She only wanted one strip from each fabric, or what is equal to a strip. Some were just small pieces that I totally cut up.  I tried to count the different fabrics and to the best of my ability I got 49, but I am thinking I probably missed at least one or two.

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On the fun side, how about a little synchronized chewing?

It is funny, Copper does the same thing of acting like she just has to go out and gets Delta to thinking she has to go out too....then when Delta goes out, she runs and gets her bone or whatever chew toy she had that Copper wants.

That is about it from my little corner of the world.  I hope you are having a great day.

a bit of this and that...

 First a couple new pieces of art from Lorelei.  How do you like the above...the assigned subject was pirates.  She did this ship in a 'jug with a cork!'  I would never have thought to do that.  

Then night before last she told me she had finally finished her Halloween assignment:

Click on each one to get a better view.  

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It was 58°F here yesterday, and may have gotten a bit warmer...that was the last time I looked at the temp.  And today I am sure it was at least 60, and probably higher than that.  We went for a drive, taking our rods and reels...and we did NOT wear jackets.  I had on long sleeves, but did not need them the last place we stopped.  Roger had on a sleeveless t-shirt and was fine the entire time.

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Have I shared the following?   

 She is just so cute...

That is it for this post...I hope your week is going good.

More Copper....

 You would almost think that Delta is his real mom...

She puts up with a lot from him.

And this one made me laugh out loud when my daughter showed it to me...

Smile!

 Just popping in to show you Copper after a hard evening play.

Not a lot to show

 There are a few more here than the last time I took a pic of them...6 more if I am counting right.  I still do not know what I am going to do with them.

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I ran into Hobby Lobby the other day and came out with these:

I got them for Lorelei and her mom.  Lorelei loves sloths...I thought sure I was getting her something really unique.  But when Sarah was decorating their tree, she got to the bottom of her ornaments an there were two exactly like this one.  But she did not have the squirrels.

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We went over there for Thanksgiving....Sarah baked the ham and  the basic cooking of green bean casserole, mashed taters, corn, crescent rolls and I forget what all.  Our other daughter made chex mix, sweet potato casserole, a cake that was delicious, and another snack.

All I made was an apple pie and deviled eggs...

I feel like I am forgetting something...but so weary I am just going to post this and try to settle down for the evening.

The Copper update...

 Just a few pics from our daughter...just have to share some of the cute views...

I call the one above All Tuckered Out...and though it has my name on it, it was taken by my daughter.  Both Copper and Delta had had a hard day of play.

Notice in the photos above and below...the ears!   He does not keep them up all the time, but at least they do stand up.

From being left in a box beside a highway, he has come a long way.

Poor Delta!  But oh, don't you love it.  Delta is so patient.  I don't know if she has ever gotten short tempered with him.  

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I have a couple videos to share.  I cannot decide on just one so  since both are short, will share both.  Both will either make you laugh out loud or at the least smile.  First up is Jeanne

And now, watch this one, be sure and watch past the first few seconds.  The real fun begins around the 20 second mark:

Long time no post...

 It has been so long since I posted I probably will break it up into a couple posts.  In this first post, I will show some of Lorelei's art.  

These above were all projects from school.  If I recall correctly, she was given the heart design and the 'L,' how she decorated them was her idea.  The hearts were painted with water color...the L, she added the vine and the stripes and the decoration on the toe tip.  I don't remember how they were colored.  She was told to fill a sheet with a shape, so she chose the simple leaf shape repeated over and over, varying the size and the color.   I think the pumpkins and fence were given to her...maybe she added the bats.

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At home, she is in the process of drawing the second girl...she is drawing it from a how to tutorial.  Still, I think she shows so much promise.

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The following she did here this weekend...

She just sketched this in nothing flat...I was watching her and wondered what in the world the jagged line was going to be...then she colored it in with watercolor pencils and I realized the lighthouse was high on a cliff.

This is a Christmas card she designed...if you will look closely, you will see where she erased 'snowflakes' in the background.    So simple, but I just love it.

Then what was amazing to me about these is how quick she drew them.  And she did a couple other sheets of just one rose and one of the other flowers and colored them, then touched them with a wet brush, but she must have taken them home with her.

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I know, not a lot more than the last time I posted a pic, but there are a few more.  and I have 5 or 6 more cut and basted to the paper and ready to be sewn together.

Update

I will try to catch up on visits in the next day or two...just did not do many today.

 I had my Mohs surgery today....no more cancer on the first time they did it!  I am so very thankful and Roger is beyond relieved.  My appt was at 10:30....my daughter came and took me.  I hated for anyone to have to go and sit and wait.  And wait we did.  I got there early and got in right away...and was back out in the waiting room at 10:28.  It was around 2:00 or a few minutes past before they called my name to come back...she told me on the way that it was cancer free.  So they had to numb me again and stitch me up.  

Anyway, wanted to share the good news... and if I was capable, I felt like doing what the guys are doing in this video:

Grands

 That is Lorelei on the left in the back...a photo her mom took.  That is two of her best friends with her.  The skeleton, E,  is a couple years older than Lorelei and the one in front, S,  is a couple or three years younger.  (Sarah babysat her and that is how they became friends.)  This is at S's neighborhood.  Her mom and dad go all out and have the yard really decorated, as do her grandparents that live a couple houses down.

Well, her grandparents were sitting out in their drive...her grandpa was dressed as Jack Skellington...I forget what her grandma was dressed as.  But her grandpa had a big spider...I think a foot high or so...I was not there.  Exact size does not matter except that it was big.  And it is controlled by a button....it can be made to lunge forward.

A grandmother came along with her grandchild and sent the grandchild up to pick up candy.  about that time S's grandpa hit the button and the spider lunged.  It didn't bother the child, but scared the grandma so bad she spit her false teeth out!  Oh, my, what fun tales come from these parties.  

Now for some Fur baby photos:

 

She wanted whatever toy Delta had...she has all kinds of toys but no other would do.  She has since learned to get Delta all revved up to go outside, and after Delta goes out, she runs and gets the toy.

The following are from the weekend...

You got to admit he is quite the cutie...

Notice the ears in both photos...they make me want to giggle.

Here he is all tuckered out...after a day of play.  

He met a lot of his neighbors this weekend...there are two boys across the way that want a dog so bad, but one is allergic to some dogs and others not.  So our daughter told them, it may be what they are bathed with, or how often they are bathed.  If Delta is out a lot and gets a lot of pollen in her coat, she has to be bathed.  The one boy wants a German Shepherd so bad, but the parents are considering a Golden/Poodle mix.  They have to be good kids...they have two different neighbors with small dogs, and they go walk them for their owners.

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I will end here is a short little video sure to bring a smile:

The kindness of strangers...

 

I have barely touched these the past couple of days.  And two of these were made months ago.  I have one or two more made...this photo was taken before they were finished.  I am not for sure how I am going to stitch them together....there are so many ways that they will fit. 

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Now to the challenges...one we are laughing about.  It was time to put the new license plates on our vehicle.  We get an actual physical plate about every 4 yrs I think.  The other years, we get stickers that we place in the corner of the plate.....with the year on it.  I have just about always taken care of this.  I went out to do it Sunday afternoon, and could not unscrew the the screws!  

I actually got a groin injury...or I suppose that is what it was/is.  It has almost quit hurting.  The first thing I rounded off a screw.  I tried the other screw...leaning into it will all my weight and pushing...with my feet braced.  That is when I felt the pain... I could not turn the screw one little bit.  So I got WD-40 and sprayed them and decided to let them set and hopefully soak loose,  and then see if Roger would have any more strength. 

When he came up from the basement, I told him I needed his help.  This is what we ended up doing...he pushed in with all his might, and I used channel locks on the screw driver to turn it.  We got the one good screw off that way.  I went and got the Vise-grips and he got hold of the other screw it and got the vise-grips locked on and was able to get it that way.  But we have both laughed about it taking two adults to change the license plates.    I was thinking that I surely was not going to have to wait and have Jeremy do it.  

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The other thing is not so funny.  I ran to Walmart yesterday to pick up a few things, and came out and had locked my keys in the car...in the ignition no less.  Normally, I cannot lock the door with the keys in the ignition, unless I am sitting in the seat.   I tried to call Roger...to have him go get our neighbor to bring him with his key.  Well, since his stroke, he cannot answer the phone...too many buttons there.  He may get it right once in a dozen times.

I tried to call our neighbor, but no answer.  Turns out I had one number wrong.  But he would have had a hard time getting Roger's attention to even get in and tell him what I needed.  So, I did not know who to call over there...in more ways than one.  A couple about our age was sitting waiting in the car beside me, so I motioned for her to roll down her window and told them I needed advice...and asked did they have anyone they would recommend to call to get my door open.

There was a car dealership near us, so she ran and asked them...they called a wrecker service and they came right out and opened it.  But the lady and her husband would not leave until they were sure I was being helped.   And tried to get me to wait in the car with them. This just goes to prove there are a lot of decent people still around.

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I am going to leave you with this little short video...Don't Cry!

Furbabies

The kitty is on up on the upper part of the steps...Copper is trying to make friends with her.  Not sure how long it is going to take.

Just have to share the views  my daughter sends...I guess Delta is also teaching him that the landing is a good place to have a view of the surroundings.

and third

Who can resist a face like this?

And now a little video of a puppy  doing what puppies do...it is very short.  But still soooo cute.

More cuteness...

 I received this one this evening...isn't he adorable.  He has been barking at the neighbor mowing his yard and using his leaf blower.  

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Yesterday I bit the bullet and and got this pin basted.  I did it on my dining room table.  I put the leaf in which makes it around 80 inches long.  And it is 42 inches wide.  There was about 12-14 inches of quilt top hanging over the far end, and on either side it came down to the floor.  The actual pin basting is easy on the table but getting everything spread out by myself is a real chore.  To try to get them centered on top of each other is not an easy task.  Anyway, it is pin basted, now I have to make a decision on what thread to use, and what design to quilt.  It will probably be something very simple.

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Does anyone else use the wool dryer balls?  I think it was on someone's blog that I read that used them.  So I got some.  And I do like them.  My clothes still have some static, but sure not as much as before.  Plus sometimes I am almost positive they dry quicker.  Anyway, I had a load of clothes in the dryer and had used the whole set of six balls.  The dark ones that I use for jeans/Roger's t-shirts and jogging pants...well, I hung everything up and only had four of the dryer balls.  I looked in the dryer twice...thinking I had just not looked good.  

Nope, not there.  I looked on the floor, thinking I had dropped them and not known it.  No, not there either.  So I checked the jogging pants I had folded.  Not in them.  I was beginning to think I was crazy.  I started feeling of the clothes I had hung up,  There was a heavy sweatshirt, and one was down in each sleeve!

I will leave you with a quick little video.  It is not good quality, but it still makes me laugh.  

It's a boy!

 I would like for you to meet our new Grand Furbaby:

As of right now his name is Copper.  He is a rescue...

Daughter drove to Dayton, Ohio to meet the people to pick him up last night.

Guess what?  He likes to watch TV, too.  We drove over to meet him today.

She sent this after we had been gone about 45 minutes or so.    They were worn out.  

I am so glad she got him....he is an intelligent puppy.  Delta likes him and he likes her.  He does howl...she is going to crate him at night or when she is gone.  And she plans to come home at lunch for a while to check on him, take him out, give him food.

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While dog sitting those two weeks, I got a lot of hexies ready to make 'flowers'....

And actually finished one yesterday.  It is somewhat of a struggle for me to see to hand stitch, but I do like to do it.

That is all for now...have a good week ahead.

Scenes from the road and other stuff....

 

We are now settled in back home for a little while...the above photo was taken Sept 29th on my way to the dermatologist.

Notice this is a barn house!  I did not realize it till I looked at pic on my computer.  It is a from the road shot where I just try to aim my camera at a subject...I glance at the screen but that is about all I do.   I cannot take time to really do much other than glance.  The only reason I can do this is because it is a P&S and I am so familiar with it.  

 While staying with the grand fur babies, I made about half a dozen more crumb blocks...

We also went to a new to us inside flea market...I saw a few nice items....such as this cup

and I loved this rooster plate, but I did not buy it.  I need no more stuff!

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The mole removed by the dermatologist was basal cell cancer...I will be going back November 6 for Mohs surgery.  Fun times ahead.  I might be glad that I have to wear a mask when out after that!  LOL  In case you don't know, Mohs surgery is done under local anesthetic.  The surgeon will remove a layer of skin/tissue and it will be checked for cancer,  If it still shows more, I will be taken back and they will remove another layer until it comes back clear.  

My father-in-law had Mohs surgery one time and he was taken back 7 times!  That was probably 37 or 38 years ago.  It was an all day thing. I hope mine is not that many times.  She did tell me I could wait in the waiting room, or in my car, or go eat, etc.

For fun I leave you with the latest Simon's cat.