The Seasons

Is it me, or is there a problem with setting the font on this blog...In order to get the font I want, I have to first start writing...or would that be typing...or would that be keyboarding??? Anyway...in order to get the font I want, I have to start in, then highlight what I have, then select the font...this just doesn't seem right, but it works, and it's with no big effort on my part, I can accomplish what I need to get...it's just irritating, what with this world of instant this and that, and the amazing abilities of the computer, that there should be a program that is less that perfect.

I was awaken this morning by the approaching thunderstorm...I looked at the clock...it was 4:08 am, and in four minutes I could hear the rain on the tree outside my opened window. My first thought was..."Oh no...I forgot to turn off the automatic lawn sprinkler system!" I meant to do it several days ago, but it seems as every time I head for the garage, where the controls are, I encounter something in my path to make me lose my focus...so here I am at 4:13 am, putting on my shoes and headed for the garage!...after which, I decided to check the weather on the TV...I tuned in just in time for the advertisements, so decided to surf the channels to see if I could find the weather anywhere else. I got to channel 8 and my attention was diverted to the, causes, symptoms and cures of stress...not only in humans but in a couple of different kinds of monkeys too...some of it had to do with hierarchy. Then there was inflicted stress. They even studied the effect stress had on the fetus of extremely stressed mothers. It all came down to the need to lighten up and seek out what we enjoy, and to laugh...that laughter really is healing! Then I went back to bed and slept for another couple of hours. In the meantime, the cold front had pushed it's way through, letting us know Fall is here.

Speaking of Fall...that was always my sister's favorite season...I couldn't understand why, because my dread of cold weather was so all consuming, I completely missed the enjoyment of the beautiful leaves, the wonderful weather...it only meant to me that Winter was on it's way...the terrible dreaded Winter.

Yesterday a friend called whom I hadn't talked to in over a year...I told her we were able to miss most of the awful Winter, Kansas and most of the rest of the country had to endure last year, as we were in Florida...she laughed at me and said..."I loved it...it was wonderful!" (I was reminded...it's all in your perspective.)

Actually I'm not all that crazy about HOT weather either...My husband would go to New Orleans or San Antonio (his two favorite cities) in the heat of the Summer...but after doing it a couple of times, I've decided they're on our Winter itinerary from here on out.

I love the Spring when everything is renewed...in the early Spring, you'll find me spending every spare minute on the sun porch, watching for each new plant awakening. Never before this year, had I had the opportunity to just set and watch Spring unfold, but I was convalescing, having had double knee replacement March 31. It gave me the perfect excuse to lay out here and watch hour by hour, each and every little leaf and sprig of grass pop through and grow.

...and now...here I set...on the computer...eating a pear from our own pear tree. I noticed a couple of days ago, the leaves in the top of the maple tree are beginning to turn red ...beautiful, but still a little ominous...Winter IS on it's way.

Poetry Night...

MY ADDRESS BOOK

My address book,
done in pen;
Is a history,
of my kin.

While some have traveled,
near and far;
Others have stayed,
right where they are.

Some continue to roam,
and roam;
Others go away,
then come back home.

Although I’ve lived,
in many places;
Of those addresses,
there are no traces.

Joan E. (James) Wyatt


MY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

My guitar, it sets,
in the corner alone;
While in another room,
I talk on the phone.

My violin, it hangs,
on the wall, gathering dust;
While somewhere else,
I do what I must.

My Saxophone, it lays,
in it’s case dark and locked;
While checking the cupboards,
I make sure shelves are stocked.

My keyboard, it plays,
all by itself;
Within it I think,
there must live an elf.

Joan E. (James) Wyatt

Grandkid Story...

OK...I can't help it...after all, I AM a grandma...

In cleaning out my van, after hauling grandkids, I picked up a piece of paper with a lot of drawing and writing on it...I knew it had to belong to Nora, who at that time was a 10 year old.

She and her friend had been drawing house plans and creating families.

On one side of the paper were the house plans with names in each bedroom, on the other side, each family member was named with their age.

I had to take a second look to make sure...then turn the page over for verification...

The family teenager's name was Logon... as in Log on. I'm sure she meant Logan, but in this computer literate generation, she became a bit confused.

Of course I have many mannnnny grandkid stories, as any grandma has...I'll try to refrain from turning this into a grandkid appreciation blog...but maybe that wouldn't be so bad...after all, Art Linkletter seemed to do OK appreciating what kids said. (now I've dated myself)

I've just decided to give one grandkid story each post...you know they do like hearing about the cute things they said and/or did.

Today was good...We managed to get in a mile walk with our friends, Sandy and Walt. Then I had them and Donna over for left-overs before "small group". Sandy brought pumpkin bread for desert. Yum!

It's waaaaay past my bed time again...I have a number of things to do tomorrow, so I'm signing off...

Sunday....again already?

I can't believe how the weeks just flip by...I know I'm getting older...but that old?

I remember the year I noticed time "speeding up". I was in the 8th grade...it's like I had awaken...

Another time when time seemed to speed up was when I had three little ones. It seemed like life was swirling.

But now the weeks just spin by.

Today we had Greg, Rachele, Zach, Nora, Laurel, Joan and Jim Brown over for lunch. I needed to try out a new almond chicken casserole recipe I got off the Internet for the Wednesday evening meal at church. It got rave reviews, but I think it could use some garlic salt. I also made the Orange Jello/Cool Whip/cottage cheese/Mandarin orange salad, butter horn rolls (from scratch) and strawberries over angel food cake with Cool Whip.

I've spent most of the afternoon setting on the couch with Wendell watching TV while on the computer. I was spending time on the computer in any other room because of the noise of the TV, but was missing time with Wendell, so decided I'd try really hard to concentrate over the noise of the TV. It's a work in progress.

I'll be wanting to sleep-in tomorrow...it's way late for me to be up...

AWOL

I've been "missing in action"...that's because I had very little action this week...aside from going to Zach's (Greg's oldest child) foot ball game, and over to Jim and JoAn's for a picnic on their deck afterward, I did very little that was of interest.

I was flattered when one of my blog readers (and maybe the only one, who knows for sure) emailed me to check on me since I hadn't blogged all week.

My energy was at it's best on Monday and Tuesday when my computer was down...I think my cleaning lady must have unplugged the extension cord running to my router and modem, as it happened when she was cleaning in that room. Of course when she plugged it back in, it wasn't done in sequence, so I lost my Internet connection...I'll have to put a note on the outlet to the effect it's not to be unplugged.

So anyway, this has been a "low energy" week...although I've accomplished a few things, it seems more like I've just sort of stood by and watched the week disappear...and here it is Saturday morning...I'm going to give Molly (Carin Terrier) a bath this morning, then shower and go to the farmers market.

Nora (Greg's middle child) has a soccer game at 1:00, after which, her other grandma, JoAn and I plan to go to Cider Days, a fun fall festival held each year at Expo-Center here.

The above spelling of JoAn is really Joan, but she spells it that way so people will pronounce it right...it also helps in writing, as we do a lot of things together, and it helps keep it straight, as to who I'm referring to when I write about what we do...not to mention that is would sound really funny if someone would read "Joan and I went to..." It could be construed as I had multiple personalities". ;-)

I did manage to go out into my back yard and "dead-head" the roses and work on the butterfly bushes. It seemed to get me back in touch with the yard, which got waaay out of control the two weeks we were gone to Colorado...and the week after when it was cold and rainy. That will be my prime objective for this coming week...to uncover the flower beds from the weeds.

OK...so now I must execute my plan for the day.

I'll try to not go AWOL for so long again.

Good Night!

OK...It was a very busy weekend, and I'm entirely too tired to write anything tonight, but still wanted to check in...I'm headed for bed, and maybe tomorrow I'll be filled with spunk and energy...I hope...I'm looking forward to it anyway. Good Night!

Today

My Mom used to observe the weather, and sometimes say, "This is a Colorado morning." Which meant it was sunny, and warm or cool, with low humidity.

I looked out this morning and thought..."This is a Seattle morning." Drizzle with pleasant temperature. Now is has gotten a little lighter outside, so maybe it's not a "Seattle afternoon".

One day I was driving down a familiar street in Seattle, when I noticed something was strange... I had my drivers window slightly opened, and all of a sudden realized I didn't hear the normal "tires-on-wet-streets" sound. The streets were dry! It was that same year I got one of the worst sunburns I've ever had. The sun came out one day in June, (their one day of summer) so I decided to get a sun tan...in no time I was burnt to a crisp, due to the clear atmosphere and my skin having not seeing the sun since I had left Kansas...not to mention the lack of sunblock.

The big thing here at the house today was the sump pump running constantly...now it runs a lot when it's raining, but it didn't quit. My diagnosis was a stuck float, and as I grabbed a hammer and starting for the basement door, the phone rang...it was my handyman with a bid on replacing the rotten wood on our front porch. So I asked him if he had time to run over and look at the sump pump. With in 15 minutes he was here. In the mean time I had gone to the basement and unplugged the stuck sump pump and let the back-up pump take over so as to not let the stuck one overheat and burn up.

I decided to have him put up the ceiling fan I had bought for "Amanda's Room" ( I need to rename that room now that she's married and gone from here) And I'm going to have him replace the fan in our room, as I don't like how this one "wobbles"...so now I need to run out and buy the second fan...

Gotta go...

Drippity do da...

When it rains, as it has been doing, and probably will be doing for a while, I am reminded of 1993...the year of the big rains...

It seems only a short time ago...I lived in Holton at the time. I was on my way to work...in the rain, and, as most of my work was done outside...I began singing..."Drippity do dah...Drippity a" (to the tune of Zippity Do Dah)..."Me oh my, what a drippity day...Everything's slippery, everything's slop...Drippity do dah, drippity drop... Mister Rain Crow on my shoulder..." (now all of this had come so quickly...then all of a sudden I was stuck)

I stopped in to pick up my daughter Rhonda, as she worked with me at that time. I sang it for her and told her I was stuck...she said sing it to Matthew...her husband, my son-in-law, who at that time was working nights, going to school days...full time church...full time father of four. He stumbled into the room, in some what of a stupor, somewhere in between asleep and barely awake...and I sang it for him... by the time I was through, he had his face in a bowl of breakfast cereal...I walked into the living room and told Rhonda I thought he was unimpressed...in a few minutes, he staggered into the living room and sang: "Mister Rain Crow on my shoulder...It's a fact, I'm weary...everything is dark and dreary"...then I could finish it.."Drippity do dah, drippity a... looking for sunshine, along my way."

Drippity do dah, drippity a,
Me oh my, what a drippity day;
Everything's slippery,
Everything's slop.
Drippity do dah, drippity drop.

Mister Rain Crow on my shoulder.
It's a fact, I'm weary,
Everything is dark and dreary.

Dripity do dah, drippity a,
Looking for sunshine,
Along my way!

What with all the moisture and cooler weather this summer, for the first time in my life, I have been able to keep my fuchsia plants not only alive, but they are thriving. What a treat!

Today was "Women's Connection" at the library...they always have interesting speakers and a good lunch. My friend and co-grandmother of three of my grandchildren went with me. It's always a pleasure to spend time with her. My sister-in-law, Arliss joined us there. It's a friendly group of women...I always feel happy when I leave.

Enough for tonight...

End of the Day Post

It has been a hetcic day...Dogs got me up at 5:46...they wanted to go out, then to be fed. I know better than to try to go back to bed, as Molly fusses and barks until I get up.

I needed to keep going today anyway, as I had Bible Study at the church at 9:30...we thought it was 9:00 and arrived early enough to get to help set up... It was a good time, the first of the session where everyone introduces themselves. We were to tell about our lives between the ages of 3 to 12, as when Samuel was left at the synogauge. It was very interesting, as most went beyond.

After Bible Study was over, my sister-in-law, Arliss and I went to Hy-Vee to shop for the Wednesday evening dinner at church...we cook every other Wednesday. Usually there are four of us, but one is taking two months off, and the other was sick. We got along OK, as the meal was pretty simple, but after cooking and serving, then we had clean up duty, where normally we have someone in the kitchen cleaning so we can all leave after we're through serving. It's OK, though, as you can see, I have enough energy left to be on the computer.

When I stepped outside to wait on the dogs to come back it, I noticed the air was perfect in temperature, and having rained earlier, everything was looking wet and lush. There was a chorus of many different insects which were sounding quite mellow and happy.

The dogs are making little sleeping noises...I suppose a form of snoring. I guess I should follow suit. Good Night.

Hello Cyberworld!

So OK...I've been inspired to "blog" by my granddaughter, Becca,who recently spent a couple of months in Alaska on an internship. I so enjoyed hearing what she was doing, and in her special way of delivery...I wish all my grandchildren and friends would "blog", so I could keep up with what's going on in their lives.

I won't have nearly the excitement in my life...in fact, at my age, too much excitement could be detrimental.

Right now I'm setting in my kitchen, a handyman is fixing a number of things around the house, the sun is shinning brightly, my musical clocks, one in the living room and one on the sun porch, have just announced another hour has passed by. Right now, that passing hour means another $40 to the handyman, but that's OK with me, as I feel he was cheap at twice the price...after having some other repairmen here for other problems.

Molly, our Carin Terrier has just announce to me it's time to take a trip to the back yard...I'm glad she did that...too often she doesn't say anything, and if Itty Bit, our Chihuahua, doesn't get the urge, I may have clean up duty.

Back to my reason for blogging...Becca was the first inspiration, but then I found out my friend Sharon had a blog...she is always interesting to read...then I found a distant cousin, through my genealogy work...actually, her mother found me...anyway I enjoy her blog...she is a glass bead maker, and has been for years, and makes little glass bead people and mermaids...she is sooo talented!

What am I doing here in the kitchen??? I'm moving to the sun porch...

...aah! Much better. From here I see a large yellow butterfly fluttering around on the second level of my back yard...wonder if he'll find my butterfly bushes...If he does, I'll have to grab my camera and get a picture. My butterfly bushes are bait for my camera.

Earlier this year I saw some volunteer sunflowers come up in one of my flower beds...I had been feeding the birds on the rock retaining wall, and some had sprouted...I expected sunflowers with huge flowers on them, but instead, got wild sunflowers who's tops are above the eves of the house...guess someone slipped some wild sunflower seed into my thistle birdseed...anyway, they are filled with bright yellow flowers, and look especially cheerie as the sun bounces off them today...

...today is Wendell's (my husband) 74th birthday. His daughter had some snack goodies delivered from the local grocery store in a basket with balloons tied to the handle. I got him some pretty glass hummingbird feeders...it's too late to hang them outside this year, so I'll hang them in the sun porch and put them outside next spring.

Guess that's all for now...I need to handle the mail that came here during the last two weeks when we were in Colorado...Love Colorado, especially around Estes Park...actually, where ever I am in the mountains is a treat.

Gotta fix lunch...