Memorial weekend

On Friday I had dinner with my fine son, Tyler. It's nice to see what a great young man he has become. It's still rather hard to get used to the idea that he is grown up and no longer my little Tootlebug. When he was little he liked to carve his name on things like a dresser and a car and when confronted, he swore up and down he didn't do it. He always liked things to be straight. He'd line up shoes in a perfect row and furniture could not be angled--had to be flat against the wall. He was a great house cleaner too!
On Saturday I drove to Amery, WI. I garage saled on the way and got a few treasures.
It was fun to hang out with my sisters and parents. It stormed Sunday night and when it cleared there was pretty fog hanging in the back yard.
On Monday we went to see the home my nephew, Matt, bought last fall. It's a nice home and he had it "open house ready" for us--all clean, candles lit, and even had coffee and rolls for us!
And now I'm home and back to the dailies---buttons, buttons, and more buttons.

Thursday outing

We decided to go for a bike ride on the bike trail near Rushford. It was a beautiful drive and we went on some side roads for variety. Got to Peterson, hopped on the bikes and headed down the lovely trail. This little girl was reading on the side of the path. Our ride only lasted about 5 or 10 minutes when we heard a POP--my tire blew. I knew I needed to lose weight! John had just repaired my tire before we left and I guess it didn't hold. So we had a pleasant walk back and were glad it didn't happen 5 miles down the trail. Stopped to look at the Root River where we usually get out with a canoe. Water was still pretty cold. There is a robin standing on the birdbath looking in here at me--it is empty. Birds act rather demanding when they've been catered to. Like people perhaps.
This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice in it!!

Did you know this?

I haven't been doing anything noteworthy these last few days. I thot I would share something that was all new to me. Matt's mom, Kristie, sent an email out and I'm sure I wasn't the only one running to the kitchen and looking to see if it really was true. 56 and still learning new things!!!I've been using aluminum foil for more years than I care to remember. Great stuff, but sometimes it can be a pain. You know, like when you are in the middle of doing something and you try to pull some foil out and the roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time.Well, I would like to share this with you. Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, "Press here to lock end". Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can't count the number of times the Saran warp roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up.I'm sharing this with my friends that did not know this. If you all ready know this, delete this message and don't e-mail me and make me feel dumber than I already feel. If you didn't know this, e-mail me and let me know so I won't feel so dumb.I hope I'm not the only person that didn't know about this.

This is a story about a Christmas tree....
One year when it was time for the tree to leave the house(probably wayyyyy past Christmas), I asked John to set it up out in the yard so I could feed birds in it. Maybe I am going to be a crazy old bird watcher lady! I think I put pine cones with peanut butter and seeds on it. One day I noticed something going on...suspicious kid activity. Trevor had dressed in a white paper suit John had gotten from work and he was hunkered down behind a snowbank with a gun aimed at my lovely new bird feeder--shooting at birds. Irritated I was! Then a day or two later I came home to find the top portion of the tree cut off. It was one of my "I can't have anything nice with you kids" moments. I was upset and probably carried on about it. One night John was really late getting home from work and the next morning when I looked out the window, there was another Christmas tree!! After work he had driven all over town looking for a discarded tree on a curb. It wasn't easy cuz it was past tree pick up time. Now.. to me that was extremely romantic! What a dear heart he is!

I found good junk!

I had a great time yesterday going to sales! It would have been more fun with John, but he couldn't go. One place was very hippiesk. I could have gotten some great hippie dresses John would have liked(he always wants me to get a dress--like when I was 20!) Unfortunately the woman who had them was a size 8. At this place I got a great ancient book "ABC of Lettering"--fun to look at. And all these different hearts and stars for 25 cents each. These pretty little bottles may just make a nice birthday gift for Tessa. The blue one had a metal top that said Bromo Selzer. I remember that--big white tablets you put in water. A big stuffed moose thing had good buttons so I cut them off and Taile the dog has the moose. She is tearing him apart bit by bit. There was a leg on our bed this morning.
And these 2 spectacular chairs I grabbed from an alley for FREE. No, I did not steal them--there was a sign saying free. I also got 4 new perenials for my flower garden of sorts. I don't remember what they'll be so it will be a surprise.




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Yesterday I got a good dose of creative therapy. I went to my new friend, Val's, house and we made bars of soap and a spiral bracelets, and had good visiting. There is something about doing something creative that makes me happy and soothes my spirit and it must be done on a regular basis.
And today I have felt so mellow and content! John and I played Trac Ball until the dogs were exhausted trying to get the ball from us. I pulled weeds for half an hour--my hands look pretty awful now. I filled all the hummingbird feeders and seed feeders and put jelly in an oriole feeder. As soon as I came in and looked outside, there was a bluebird having seeds, oriols and hummingbirds drinking and an oriole eating jelly, and those pretty yellow finches! John said I'm going to be an old lady bird watcher.

Tanner came home the other night and said he had met a racoon on the porch. I imagine he comes to eat cat food at night. Maybe a relative to the one John shot on the upstairs deck this spring.

John found himself a new bike! Near his job there was a bike laying for 3 weeks with a broken chain and 2 flat tires. He finally figured no one wanted it so he put air in the tires, got a new chain, and has a 21 speed very nice bike. Bikes is another thing he collects..like vehicles. The two of us have 5 vehicles insured and licensed--State Farm loves to see me coming in the door cuz they know John's gotten another car.
I think I'll garage sale tomorrow--I need some junk!

It's Monday night and all is well

It doesn't seem right to write and not have a picture, so here's a picture of a painting at my friend, Rae's house. It is almost as tall as the wall and I love it. I think two old lady friends had a tea party, visited, and were comfortably sleepy, so they dozed off.
Yesterday was a nice Mother's Day. Service at church was excellent and uplifting. At one we all congregated at Grandma's and had pizza, salad, cake and rhubarb pie. I got heart-touching cards and gifts. Grandma needed her windows cleaned on the outside so everyone but me pitched in and they were done in no time. When I came home and changed clothes, the bed looked so inviting that I crawled in to read and that led to a wonderful nap.

Today I got to go to another brunch with the same group of gals I brunched with a few weeks ago.
Then I met with my mentee, Melanie and shopped Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Got stuff to make soap. Friend Mary recommended it as an easy, fun thing to do. Most of the scents to add were quite obnoxious smelling so I settled on Lemon Verbena--clean and light. We'll see how that goes....

Mother/Daughter brunch

This morning I went to a brunch at Pleasant Valley Church. There were puppets, delicious food, good message, and I had good company-- Val Dahl and her daughter,Kayla , and my daughter was Jessee, Trevor's girlfriend. The candles on the tables had to be blown out after one table's decorations caught on fire.
I've cleaned the house and now John is going to take me to a movie. We only go to movies a few times a year, so it's a treat. I can taste the popcorn already!

Friday

Part of the day today seemed like Friday and part feels like Saturday. John took the day off so the afternoon is Saturday.
This young man on the 4-wheeler is Lane who lives down the road. He came up with his dad and posed for me. He is a true blue farmer and has been since he was just a wee one. When he was a baby I took care of him some. The Waldos have 2 mules that they got last fall and shortly after they got them, the mules broke free and came up here to visit our horse, Henry. I don't know how they knew Henry was here, but they break out on a regular basis now and come visiting. They are cunning and aren't easy to catch so quite often they just stay for a few days. This time they had a long visit. They got them into a little shed today and were able to get a grip on them and took them for a walk home. Henry then stands and whinnies with great grief when his friends leave.




On the left is son, Trevor, getting scrap metal to take to the junk place for money. Looks like friend Jeff is merely observing. He's taking apart our old hay elevator. The barn is now gone and bales are big and round so we don't need it. I have to chuckle because Trevor is reminding me of John and is like John--even tho he would not like to think so. John has always been very
resourceful in thinking of ways to make money when it was needed. One year he went all over to farms and got old car and truck batteries that were no good and took them to the junk place. That's what bought groceries a few times. It will be a good trait that he has passed to the boys. When times get tough, figure out a way.

Day of Pampering

What a fun day I had! For my birthday in January Jessee and Trevor gave me a pedicure and an hour massage. This very sweet girl did my feet--I even got hot wax on them. They feel great!
The massage was terrific and I could have laid there and gone to sleep when it was over. I knew I was relaxed when I found myself stopped at a green light just enjoying life!
I'm going to remain low key and watch the movie "27 Dresses" and Survivor tonight.
I think if I was wealthy, I could tolerate such pampering every month--but then it wouldn't be so special.

What's Romantic?

My John is a romantic guy. Sometimes when I tell him something he did was romantic, he's surprised that I would think of that as romantic. Romantic to one may not be romantic to another. In the spring he always picks me a handful of crocuses when they come out on the point, daisies in the summer, or little wild flowers--the purple ones that he brought last week and put in an empty potassium bottle on the windowsill.

One summer when we had 4 little kids and only a shower in the basement, John had a babysitter come to take care of the kids and told me to get the book I was reading. In the back of the pickup there were plastic barrels of water. Off we drove to the woods..... he had mowed a spot amongst the trees and put a clawfoot tub there. He filled it with warm water and bubbles and I got to lay there reading. It was beautiful with the sun filtering thru the leaves. I was in another world. This was a real treat for a mom who didn't have a tub. Now that is romantic!!!!

Sunny Monday

I do not know what came over me today... I got up at 6 and I have worked hard all day. Maybe I was inspired by the sun. I exercised, washed lots of bedding, cleaned off both porches, and did a lot of work cleaning the yard. John helped me work in the yard. I think I may be sore tomorrow. If not...I'll tackle the screen porch.
I forgot to explain why Jami was wearing a hula skirt yesterday. We saw it Sat. at a garage sale and thot it was perfect for Jami. She put it on and went right into hula mode...cute!

Happy Birthday Jami!

It's been a beautiful Sunday! John and I had nursery duty this morning. The TV in the nursery was working again so we were able to watch the whole service while taking care of cute little kids.

We had cheap hot dogs at the Midwest grill place. I remember when we'd take 4 kids after church and fill them up on 10 cent dogs and pop--it was the deal of the year! One time when we were eating there, Tanner was about 3 or 4 and had to pee so he gets ready to just pee right there. We WERE outside on grass after all. One of the problems with growing up in the country and just taking care of business wherever you were. He started to pee in the KMart parking lot once too. Off the beaten path there....
Tyler's girlfriend, Jami, turns 20 next Friday. She will be on her way to China then so we celebrated her birthday tonight. She'll be in China for 3 weeks with a group from WSU visiting area businesses who have plants there.

We took a scenic drive home. It's so good to see green!!!!

I should have just taken a group picture.

I'm fighting the urge to go back to bed for a little nap. No sun today and rather drizzly and dreary.

Yesterday I had a delightful day of friends and eating! This last year I was part of a great group of women--W.E. --Women Equipped. We met twice a month and learned ways to be equipped leaders or servants in whatever God leads us, individually, to be. We've also shared our life stories which has been such a great faith buider as each of us has seen God's hand on our lives throughout and the faithfulness of God! And we've had fun just being together. Yesterday Marilyn Evans had us at her home for a brunch. The table was beautiful and food was delicious! Her granddaughter even made us placecards and her daughter-in-law had written a different scripture on each of the cards. It was amazing how many of us read our verses and KNEW it was meant for us right then. It is so true what Hebrews 4:12 says...."For the word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

After brunch I went to lunch with friend Sheryl for her birthday which was the day before. It was good to see her again and catch up! My spirit just felt so good and full after being with all these friends! My stomach was beyond full!

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