Friday 5

Friday 5...
1.  Lorelei requested that her mom send me/us this:

This made us both smile...don't you love the moves she has?

2.  I have been to a quilt shop two different days this week.  One in Paris, IL and one in Linton, Indiana  I have been buying more batik fabrics for Daughter's quilt.  I have 51 'blocks' made.  I put blocks in parenthesis because it is not actually square, it is triangle shaped.  Anyway, of those 51 blocks, only 3 or 4 are repeats.  And between the two days this week, I have 28 more fabrics to add to the mix.

 Some of my favorite batiks from the other day's shopping.

3. My nephew sent me this video....have you seen it?


4.  Do you realize that the Kentucky Derby is this weekend?

5.  Is everyone happy that spring has arrived?  I know I am.

 I will be linking to the Around Roanokes Willy Nilly Friday 5 and Random 5 Friday if they are up and running.  

Friday 5

It is time for some randomness...hoping I can do them quickly.  Hoping I can catch up with everyone in the next day or two.

1.  Does everyone think about stopping blogging?  It seems like I cannot go two weeks without skipping a day or two...so, I get to thinking why not just quit.  Plus the fact that I just don't take as many pictures as I used to take.  For some reason, I just cannot totally give it up though.

2.  The flower above was actually taken in the fall...but still it makes me think spring. It is a crab apple tree.  When I worked at the orchard, I always found blooms when I was picking apples in the fall, so this is not really that unusual. 
 
3.  We just got back from Lorelei's...some of you know we were just over there for 3 or 4 days cause she was sick.  So, was up early yesterday morn and texting her mom...Lorelei had gotten up at midnight with her tummy hurting, and started vomiting at 1:00 and puked every hour till 7:30, then that turned to diarrhea.  I thought oh, no...here we go again.  But she didn't have a fever.  Luckily, her mom had that day off, but both her and Lo's Dad had to work today, so Roger and I got ready up in the morn and went over to be there for her.  I was expecting her to have that real sickly look when we got there.  She did look tired but not like she had looked last week...and no fever still.  By the time it was bedtime, she was begging to go to school today, but we kept her home today just to be safe.  She was fine though and will be going back to school tomorrow.

4.  I am anxious to sew a bit.  I have a project started, but just the cutting stage.  But I always have crumb blocks going till I can actually sew a little bit whenever I  have that itch.

5.   If it wasn't 1:30 a.m. in the morning, I would fix myself a pan of cornbread...and I would probably eat the entire thing. 

Linking to Random 5 Friday....

Time for Random 5 Friday

First of all, this is totally unrelated to the Random 5.  I did the previous post and at the end I included a couple things Lorelei had said in the past day or two.  Then later last night, Sarah sent me another text that said, " we(Sarah and hubby) were in the truck and she(Lo) got the hick-ups.  All of a sudden she did her deep voiced yell.  We asked what that was for, she said she was trying to scare herself to get rid of the hick-ups..."  Aren't grandchildren wonderful!
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It is that time of the week again...time to share interesting and sometimes not so interesting random facts about ourselves, our lifem our kids, our pets....  Just whatever we choose.

1. Weather has been a part of the news more than usual this winter.  Here in Indiana we have had record amounts of snow;  along with that we have had some bitter cold weather.  For here, anyway.    We have had snow on the ground much of the winter.  So, it shouldn't be surprising that snow is in the forecast for this weekend.  Right now, only an inch or so is predicted.  I would not mind if we did not get any at all.  I have had my fill of snow and cold.  Though the picture above is from years past, ponds are still covered with ice.

2.  I love anything with roosters....and chickens in general.  At one time I collected 'rooster/chicken' things.  I could count over a hundred rooster/chicken items that I had.  I cannot remember the exact number now.  I think it was over 120.  Now, most of them are packed away.  I still like them, and cannot bare to part with them.

3.  I just finished reading Sidonia's Thread:  The Secrets of a Mother and Daughter Sewing a New Life in America.  (Click that link to read about it.)  It is not the usual story of a holocaust survivor.  The daughter wrote the book, and it is about their life here after WWII.  I know it probably is not for everyone, but I really enjoyed reading it. I have also noticed with it, if the title of a book has the word 'thread' in it, I am going to at least look at it.

4.  Has anyone besides me started enjoying some of the commercials just because of the music that takes you back to your youth.  There is one for Mazda that has Teenage Wasteland as the background music.  Another for Hyunda uses Evil Woman.  Another commercial, I don't remember what its for uses Three Dog Night's Shambala.

There, I just could not resist posting it here.

And there are even more old songs/commercials but can't recall them right at the moment.   Is there any that you have noticed?

5. Now, for the fun read of the day, I am taking you back to February of 2012, to this post of The Run "A"Round Ranch.  Every time I read it, the next to the last paragraph cracks me up. 

Linking to A Rural Journal's Random 5 Meme....

Edited to add:  The weatherman is now saying that they are watching a winter storm that is heading this way for the weekend.  Thinking inches now!  YUK!  Last night or the night before they didn't know.

Random 5 Friday

First of all,  Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you get to spend it with a loved one.

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I swear I haven't got a brain!  I should have had my Random 5 ready to go but am going to have to sit here a bit to think of what I want to enter.  It is really apt to be a hodgepodge of stuff.

1.  Last night I was opening a bottle of Orange Crush...and it made me recall how bottle caps used to have that little layer of cork in the top.  Does anyone else remember those?  We used to try to get that piece of cork out in one piece, then we would put the bottle cap on front of our skirt, shirt, or whatever kind of cloth we wanted, then take the cork piece and come from behind the material and push it into the cap....thus pushing the fabric in and the bottle cap would stay there.

2.  We are supposed to get a little bit more snow today.  3-4 inches.  But it was supposed to be started snowing by now, so maybe 'they' will be wrong.  I haven't looked at the weather today, figuring as long as I haven't seen the radar I can live in hope.

3.  I am still having trouble with my glasses.  This is a first for me.  I did go and have them adjusted but soon as I had worn them a while, I felt  like they were hurting me in a new place.

4.  OH, I have a favorite post for you.  If you want to read something funny, got to Caron's blog, I have a piece of news for you.  Read  Did you Hear that?  It was a Crunching noise--I laughed till I cried the first time I read it...went back last night and read it again and it was still funny.

5.  We definitely need a butler!  Bubbie goes out one door, goes around to the other and wants in.  Then, I kid you not, he goes back to the original door and wants out right away.  He is a fun kitty.

Well, how's that for a random 5?  To see more, go check out A Rural Journal's Random 5 Friday meme!

Random 5 Friday

We saw the above down at Little Nashville a two or three month ago...just thought I would pop it in here since I had nothing planned to post.

Supposed to stay bitter cold...it is -6ºF as I type...and supposed to have bitter wind chill temps tomorrow.  I doubt I get out and do anything.

Well, it is time for Random 5 thoughts..

1.  Can you believe Lorelei will be 5 years old this month?  I can hardly believe it.  The time has gone by too fast.

2. We watched Jay Leno for the last time...it will be a while before I watch the Tonight Show again.  It just takes a while to be ready for someone new.  I was the same way when Johnny Carson left and Jay took over...it was a while before I could watch and accept him.  I am going to miss seeing him and Terry Bradshaw together. We always knew we were going to be laughing if Terry was going to be on.

3.  I got my new glasses...the frames need adjusting.  I knew they fit a bit snug when I got them, but did not realize just how bad.  So that means I have to get back to Terre Haute soon.  Hoping I can do that next week.   Thy are so different to anything I have worn.  I cannot get used to seeing myself in them.

4.  Every time my brother and I talk on the phone, we talk about food.  Food we ate as kids...food we like now....food we want to try.  He always ends the conversation with  "I'm guess I better hang up...I want to read a little bit and I know you want to find something to eat---I wouldn't want you to starve to death."

5  My mom used to say if you haven't ever made a mistake, you haven't ever done anything.  Well, I must have done a lot cause I have made a lot of mistakes!

With that, I am linking to Nancy's Random 5 Friday!

Random 5 Friday

 How's this for Oyster Mushrooms...we always called them tree mushrooms.  My husband spotted this growing on a tree stump on his way home from work.  We have gathered/picked them every since we got married;  Roger has actually been eating them all his life, but these are the first we have ever seen that were this big...

I just thought I would share these pics today till a few might see them that did not see the original post about them.

We had mushrooms to fry that night, plus froze several bags.
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It is time for Random 5 Friday

1.  It bugs me to no end when I email a business to ask a question and they do not reply.  I often wonder why even have an address if they are not going to handle the email responsibly.

2.  I have got to say it again:  I am ready for summer.  Or spring at least.  I can not wait to be able to sit on the front porch and to have ripe tomatoes from our garden.   We at least got above freezing today!

3.  I am almost through reading Hiking Through:  One Man's Journey to Peace and Freedom on the Appalachian Trail by Paul Stutzman....I always enjoy reading personal accounts of through hikers.  When I am done with it, I have about decided to start Grass of the Earth by Aagot Raaen.  It is the biography of Norwegian homesteaders in North Dakota.  I have read it before and will probably read it again.  It just sort of suits this time of year.

When it is this time of year, I wonder how our ancestors survived the winters.  It was a lot of work just to keep warm.  Much less do the work they had to do.  They didn't have heat and light and water at the flip of a switch.  And think of the clothing we have now.  All the special blends and fibers just to help stay warm.  

4.  I am the most indecisive person there ever was or will be.  Just ask my husband.  Most times I know what I DON'T want...just hard to decide what I do want.  He can ask me where I want to eat...I may not know where I want to eat, but I know I don't want to eat at McDonald's.  (Don't mind breakfast there...and I like their french fries)  We will decide to get out and go somewhere just to get out...I may not know where I want to go, but I know I don't want to go shopping.

5.  With the amount of money we spend paying taxes, our streets should be paved with gold.  Here in Indiana we pay federal taxes, State Taxes, property taxes, and we pay taxes on our vehicles each year when we get our license plates.  Say we have to pay $350 sales tax when we buy a car, we pay that when we go get our license plate.  Next year,  we pay say $325 when we get our license plates renewed...and it just gradually decreases.  The tenth year I think it is $49, and that is what we pay each year thereafter.  Of course a trailer is another $35 or more...and I think when we had a dog, it was 3 or 4 dollars for each dog.

So, I was wondering, what all kind of taxes does your state have?

To read more random thoughts, please check in at A Rural Journal.

Random 5 Friday...

Just something brighten your day.

It's time for Random 5 Friday again and I have only got a couple ahead of time.

1.  I love the way the words circadian rhythm falls off the tongue.  I think Circadian Rhythm would make a wonderful title for a book.
    ****I can never just spell rhythem.  Not any more.  Just in the past year or two I have noticed any      time I spell it, I usually spell it wrong the first time around

2.  I LOVE google earth.  I just have to say that every now and then.  I can spend hours on there looking at other places....but sometimes in just looking at the area around here.  Sometimes trying to find a certain place to place a few of my photos.  (You can see the few I have on there HERE.)

3. Sometimes for a late night snack, I bake a small pan of cornbread...sometimes I will have something with it and sometimes I just have it hot and fresh from the oven.

4.  I am loving our new Roku 3....it is faster than trying to watch Netflix or Youtube through the Blu-ray player.  I never had any problems with Netflix on the Blu-ray player other than it was a slow process to get it started and to search for something, but Youtube videos were most often hanging up, not loading, etc.

5. I am really wanting to see the second season of Bletchley Circle....I don't care if it is on PBS or if Netflix would get the DVDs.  I just really am anxious to see it. 

 That is my Random 5...now what are yours. 

edited to add:  I think I have the words spelled right now!  LOL  I guess it was too late at night for me to be typing this.   I guess I had stayed up too late the night before to be thinking straight last night.!

A Random 5 post

A random photo for a random post....

It is Random 5 time...I do love this meme.  I don't get everyone visited but I do make a good stab at it.  The only thing is I cannot comment on some Google+ entries.  I don't know why, but I have to set up an account if I want to comment on them, but I don't want an account.

Now for my Random 5.....

1.  I am really, really ready to sit on in the swing and read...wish I had room to move it inside.

2.  It is going to be a while before I can do that...we got more snow.  At least 3 inches...and we are supposed to get more, though how much I don't know.

3.  Does anyone besides me patch jeans?  I do it with a sewing machine for the most part.  I used to always do it by hand.  I can remember my mom patching them and them looking so neat.  I think that is why I patch them....just remember her sitting patiently stitching away.

4. Lorelei is supposed to come this weekend...she wants to come tomorrow but the roads are so slick we don't want to risk getting in a wreck.

5.  I have a few posts that I go back and read every so often.  Most recently were this one and this one from Sandra.  I had Roger read them because I was laughing so hard I couldn't.  Add to that some of the actions he did and it was comedy at its best. 

Linking to Nancy's Random 5

It's Friday....time for Random 5

Before we get down to business, I was looking back through my blog looking for something else and came across this video.  Does anyone else remember the show Taxi?  This cracks me up any time I watch it.  I have shown it some of my daughters' friends and they have thought it funny, too, so I think that it is sort of timeless.

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Now that I am back to blogging, it is that time of week again...time to share 5 random things.  This is becoming one of my favorite memes...I love reading everyone else's Random 5....and love that it gives me permission to jump around in my thoughts if I want.  Anyway, here they are....the first one I wrote down a month or so ago...

1.  Some of the best conversations in life are held around the kitchen table.  The others are sitting on the front porch. 

2. Other than the scheduled days off, Sundays and holidays...this is the first time we have ever went without receiving our mail.  We have not had mail since Saturday.  And I am not complaining...I don't know if others in town received mail or not, but it was simply too cold for them to be out on Monday and Tuesday...Wednesday and Thursday were not terrible temp wise, but I have no idea how they would have gotten around on these slick, messy roads.

3.  I have worked three puzzles since Christmas...one of them I was tempted to send to a friend and tell him he could work or burn it, whichever he liked.  It was that hard.

4.  I love my kindle...I love being able to go to Amazon and read a few pages from most books.  I also love being able to log in to Indiana Digital through my library, and borrow books all from the comfort of my home.  I can also check out audio books.

5.  It is supposed to get up into the 40's tomorrow...that is in Fahrenheit.  And it is supposed to rain.  AND, it is supposed to get up into the 40's for the next few days. Keep your fingers crossed that they are right.  

Now if you are inclined to join, or if you just want to read some random thoughts, please visit A Rural Journal.

Random 5

A scene from a week or two ago....

It is time for Random 5...I didn't know if there was going to be one so do not have them prepared.  Consequently, I have to come up with them on the spur of the moment.

1.  First of all, this makes my 6th time of doing a Random 5 post.  I thought I had only did two or three.  It is one of my favorite memes. 

2.  The pretty leaf season is almost entirely gone.  Every once in a while we come across a tree that still has some color, sometimes even a lot of color.  We wonder how they have survived when everything else is bare.  Tuesday when we went to Arthur, IL we even saw a couple or three trees that were still green.  We really wondered about that.

3.  You can actually see my dining room table for a change.  I am not quite sure when we began putting stuff on the dining room table, but it has become a real bad habit.  I assume when both girls moved out is when it started.  And got worse.  Now, there is usually coloring books and crayons sitting on it.  Add a book or two or three of mine, and the sales ad from the local grocery store.  So I cleaned it off yesterday and really want to stop using it as a catch all.

4.  The mouse I use is really aggravating....it is so heavy that I will set it aside and be in the middle of something, and it will click where ever the cursor is.  Or the page will close down.  On its own, or sometimes I just bump it from the side and it does it.  So aggravating.  Yet it has the back button and the forward button on the side by the thumb that I use so much and was the one most comfortable to my hand.  I do not like using the touchpad unless it is the only option available.

5.  Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.  I didn't make that up, but it always makes me chuckle; also a bit of truth in it.  It always amazes me how I can be sitting sewing, and lose my scissors or thimble or thread or something.  Times when I have not gotten up for anything...not moved from my chair.  Yet will completely lose something.  And will have to spend 15 or 20 minutes to find the item.


Random 5 Friday

Random 5

It is time for Friday's Random 5...I have remembered it two weeks in a row now!

I don't know how everyone else does their Random 5...but I use random thoughts from the week.  I have to write them down, or else I forget them. So sometimes I have them already to paste into blogger, others I have to think of one or two.  Today, I have them all, plus a bonus!

 1.  One positive thing about winter for me, it makes it easier for me to stay inside and sew.  When it is nice outside, I like to be out, or at least upstairs where I can see the sunshine.  I keep thinking I need to have a sewing table to set up on the porch so I can sew outside in nicer weather.

2.  I have problems remembering things fully.  I remember just enough bits and pieces of things to drive myself crazy trying to remember the whole story.

3.  I had a lot of nicknames when I was in grade school.  Two I will not tell.  The rest I loved and was right proud of...Spider, Cricket, Roadrunner, Briar Patch.  Not sure what that says about me that I loved them...but I did.  I suppose it was who gave them to me that made me like them....though I am not really sure who started the thing of calling me Roadrunner.  But it was because I made a made dash out the door, soon as we were dismissed from school of the evening. 

4.  Can I say that I am having a real hard time making myself do anything.  Not even things I want to do.  Whether it is things I just want to do or things I need to do, there are so many I have a hard time making a decision what I want to do first.

5.  I always either watch something on Netflix or something from YouTube...almost every single night.  In fact, I usually watch till I fall asleep while watching.  If I watch Netflix, it is usually some mystery with British characters...or an episode of All Creatures Great and Small.  If I watch YouTube, it is quilt related videos 90% of the time.



Bonus:  Roger still calls Lorelei 'the baby' when talking about her.  I told him the other day, by the time she is 16, she is not going to like being called the baby.  But in reality, knowing her and her love for her Papaw, she probably won't mind it coming from him.
Linking to Random 5...

Fridays's Random 5...

If you click to enlarge, I think you will be able to see the fine mist of rain in the above pic.  This was taken today...it has not stopped all day long, but for the most part was more of a misting rain...sometimes harder than other.

That being said, it is time for Random 5 Friday...I have jotted down the first three as they occurred to me during the week.  I would have forgotten them if I had tried to remember them.  So here they are...

 1.  This may have been mentioned by someone else, since I have not been joining Randon 5 very long, I have missed it if they have.  But has anyone else noticed that it is mostly or all women that join Random 5?  I don't think I have seen one single male, or if I did, they joined without listing 5 things.  What do you think this says about men and women in general?

2.  I believe that the actual physical heart does almost break sometimes during a time of loss...this from experience.

3.  Blogger really messes with me.  I am positive I visit blogs...yet will go back the next day and there will be two or three posts that did not show up the previous days.  Or sometimes it will happen just in one morn...I will visit a blog...nothing new.  Then will click on it again, and there is a post that was made the previous day.  (I still view blogs by visiting the actual blog--not through a reader of any kind.)

4. There is nothing quite like music to take me back to my youth.  Been listening off and on all night to music...some of it old stuff from  our youth...Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Poco, Eagles, etc.  Dan Fogelberg's Run For the Roses...can anyone listen to it without crying?  If you have never heard it...you should go listen to it. I find the songs that touch me most brings a tear to my eyes. 

5.  Did not do any sewing at all today...did mess some with fabric.  It ended up we had to run an errand or two, and of course, we took a round about way home on one of those.

Linking to Random 5 

Random 5 Friday

It is time to come up with my Random 5....and yes one of them has to do with the photo above.

1.  I think I take this same shot of milkweed pods every single year.  I just happened to notice that the other day.

2.  I really wish I was a neater person.  And I cannot seem to get started back at de-cluttering.  It would help so much to be free of the stuff I no longer use, or no longer need. I got rid of a lot of stuff from the kitchen, but find there is a bit more to do.  For instance, I have several odd-sized plastic containers.  We had them for when Roger was still working...for when he wanted to take lunch.  Now I don't need them, and find myself continually moving them from one spot to another.  So, out they are going.  I did actually throw away a couple yesterday, but I am going to get up there and go through it all. 

3.  The days are definitely getting shorter.  I don't like to get up till it is daylight...so, though I still wake up early, when I see it is not daylight, I usually get up for a few minutes, then go back to bed.

4.  Does any body else dread shopping?  I need to go to Walmart, but I dread going.  Just a few things I actually need, but I like to make the trip count.  So may do that after while.

5.  I want to try to make some little art quilts...but it is so hard for me to just let go and do.  Or when I make a scrap quilt...it is just hard to pick up any two pieces and piece together.  I wonder if that means I am a controlling person?

Random 5 Friday--You can go there to read other Random 5 posts.

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..

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....