Happy Anniversary to us

I really must post today since it is our 42nd wedding anniversary.  For dinner we are having grilled brats, a salad and leftover corn.  Since my dear husband will be spending the evening working on something for work we will not be going out to any fancy place.  I certainly am not complaining; I am grateful that he has a job.  While he works on that, I will work on a project that need completing, namely the Christmas letter. I am planning to email it to everyone for whom I have an email address.  We will see what the response is to that.  But it will get to everyone faster and with less expense.  I know, I should be supporting our postal service!

The parties are happening

It seems that my life has centered around food for the last two weeks.  We had two dinner parties at our house, the first for 12 (Gerry's group at work) and the second for 16 (the motorcycle riding group that we have dinner with at a restaurant every Monday).  Gerry also rides with the guys and I have taken trips to New York City and Savannah with some of the women.  This year I hired a 16 year old neighbor to help me.  I kept my sanity thanks to her.  Of course I was so preoccupied that I forgot to take pictures.

The AAUW group had a pot luck and for a speaker a women who is an "expert" in storytelling.  She told stories of her life and culture and encouraged us to do the same, especially with our children and grandchildren. She said to do it even if they don't indicate interest.  It is important.  It doesn't matter if you don't have all the facts correct- it is your story.

One of the photography groups I attend had pizza and other goodies.  The speaker was Ian Adams.  Look at his work on his website:  http://ianadamsphotography.com/  I bought his book, A Photographer's Guide to Ohio.  That was a Christmas gift to myself.

Testing the smoke detectors

Last night when G was taking a nap I decided to light our wood stove in the basement.  First I placed paper, then small wood pieces, then larger.  It started burning fine but the smoke came out into the room instead of going up the chimney. I worked frantically for a couple minutes, but to no avail.  Soon there was smoke in the room, in the whole basement and going upstairs.  The smoke detectors were screeching and I was running upstairs shouting, "I need help". Gerry rushed down and kept adding paper to the fire to get the draft to go up the chimney instead of the room.  It took several minutes to get it reversed. Buy now our house was filled with smoke.  He did get it reversed (smoke going up the chimney instead of into the house) and we opened windows and aired out the house.  This morning I cannot smell any smoke, thankfully.

Then I asked my engineer/scientist husband what had happened.  Aside: this is always dangerous because a lengthy explanation and perhaps drawings will follow.  He said we had made our house too air tight.  There was no supply of air coming into the house to replace the air that was to go up the chimney and the heat was not intense enough to force it up. He is now thinking about a plan to put in an air vent of some kind that we can open when we burn the stove.  All I can say is  that I learned a lesson and am glad I did not do it when we had a house full of guests.  Of course if I had, that would have been a memorable night for them.

Dinner party season

I decided I should post before things get really crazy here.  I have scheduled my (our) first dinner party of the season for Saturday with 12 guests.  The next one is a week later for 14 and then I am hoping to have one the Monday after Christmas for which RM has agreed to cook. The first is the craziest because I am putting up all the decorations, which includes three trees, cleaning  the house and of course doing all the cooking for the dinner.

Yesterday I discovered I have a holiday dinner tomorrow where I am to bring a dish to share.   It is to be one from my ethnicity.  That is German and we did not do a lot of formal entertaining so I was at a loss.  Finally I chose a German chocolate cake.  If it is a hit,I will make another for the dinner here on Saturday.  In looking up the background of the German chocolate cake I found that it is not even from Germany (is from Austria).  But I am not telling anyone that.  I will try to get a few pictures of the dinners at our house to share.

Great Coffee

Living "in the sticks" as I do, I am very excited that a new coffee roasting enterprise is located about 10 miles from my house. Yesterday when I went to pick up the two pounds of beans I had ordered, he had not roasted them yet.  So I hung around the 20 minutes it took to roast them.  The owner does not sell any beans that were roasted more than 24 hours ago. He has a state of the art roaster which is connected to a laptop which monitors the process and controls the temp at which it is roasting.  The temp actually varies with the type of bean.  My Panama beans were roasted at about 415 degrees (F). He told me French Roast are actually about 25% char(burnt).  So I will have wonderful coffee with the pies I am baking today:  peach, pumpkin, and pecan.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Furniture "Musical Chairs"

G and I spent several hours on Friday moving furniture:  computer desk out of my office (will go to FreeCycle), desk from his room to my office, twin bed out of one room (to FreeCycle), reg size bed from one room to another, queen bed from one room to another, king bed to last bed room. It makes me tired just writing about it.  We both were bushed.  Today I posted items on FreeCycle so hope they will be out of my house quickly.

On Saturday we spent most of the day loading a "junk" car unto a trailer.  G has heard that the price of steel is high, so he decided it was time to get rid of a car that has been setting in our yard for 5 years.  The problem was that he could not get it into neutral, so the wheels would not turn.  So he jacked it up a bit at a time and used a "come along" (chain and wench) to pull it unto the trailer.  It was quite an adventure since it fell off the jacks a couple of times and by the end it was completely dark so we had a light with a long extension cord to the yard. I would have taken pictures, but was too busy moving away from the falling car. It wasn't as dangerous as it sounds.  I just kept my distance and gave him moral support.

Weekend report

On Saturday Shawn, Stacey and  their two children spent the day at our house.  This was the monthly "work day" that G and Shawn schedule. The project this time was to seal the back door of the shop.  This is a door large enough for a semi truck to drive through.  So Shawn had the opportunity to climb high on the ladder, which he loves doing.  The door had fit so loosely that snow would actually make banks inside the shop.  Well, no more.  While they were working Stacey was trying to finish a Christmas stocking for B. Since the weather was cool and sunny I took both grandchildren for a ride through the woods on my four-wheeler.  Shawn took B later.  He said, "Grandma G drives slow, Daddy drives fast." And he is quite right. I did have both children on with me and I emphasize different things than his dad does.  We stop and listen for birds, talk about how most of the leaves have fallen, find where the deer have eaten corn from the standing corn stalks in the field and look for bones of animals that were near the woods.  K has a little four-wheeler (battery powered) that she rides so she and her dad rode together.  He thought that was neat.

On Sunday, G and I spent several hours cutting wood.  We are prepared for the Winter now.  If the electricity should go out we should be toasty and we can just enjoy the wood burning stove too. Since we do not have a fire place, we got one with a window to see the fire.

Moving the tree

I decided this tree is much too close to the house.  We either needed to cut it down or try to move it.

Gerry is happy that he is going to get lots of exercise by digging out this tree.

That thought was short lived - let's borrow a tractor and backhoe from a neighbor.

A new hole is dug much further away from the house.
We still got our exercise by shoveling the dirt around the tree once it was in place.

It was dark by the time we were finished and had returned the tractor.

Printer "fixed"

I have been having the most difficult time getting my printer to work.  We rebooted the router, I completely shut down the computer and printer. I ran the trouble shooting program on the printer and it said it was working - but it was not.  Hubby is not much help with this so I kept working on it. He did hook to printer up with USB instead of wireless, but still no go. Then I noticed that the "destination" was on another printer.  One clink and fixed.  There always is an answer to computer problems, the trick is finding it.  Well, a pat on my back, or maybe a slap on the side of the head would be more appropriate.  I am sure my computer guru (son) is just shaking his head.

Deja vu

I recall once years ago that I had to spend time talking with the IRS and having a root canal done in the same day.  Well today I am experiencing  deja vu. I am getting a crown put on (no root canal this time thankfully) and not talking with the IRS, but I have started filling out a 19 page application for tax exempt status for the women's club.  As President this task has fallen to me.    Actually I think I am just less intimidated by it than others.  The funny part is that they ask about activities for the last three years.  That is about how long I have been a member.  They ask for budgets, statements of revenue and expenses and a balance sheet.  All we have is the check register.  We do have a budget  of sorts, but I will be putting the rest together myself.  The  "one size fits all" form is a pain.  Enough complaining - Tomorrow I will write a positive post.

Trick or Treat

  Dad and Granddad ready to take B & K Trick or Treating.



 Waiting for friends to come join them.





K and B with their friends from next door.

Cutting Wood

As you may know the Emerald Ash Bore is causing the death of Ash trees across the US.  There is an estimate that 7.5 billion trees will die.  Just  in our small woods, we will be cutting up a lot of the dead trees.  Here is the first, which fell across the path.



G uses an electric chain saw to cut the branches.  He has a generator (which is out of the picture) and an extension cord.




The small branches are piled up as a habitat for animals.

  

I then load the wood.

G made a ramp to slide the wood down so he wouldn't have to carry armloads down.  His mantra is " Never do anything yourself if you can make a 'machine" to do it for you."

   
The wood is stacked in our basement where it can dry and be enjoyed in our wood burning stove this Winter.

Visit to State Capital

This last week I traveled to Columbus, Ohio (our state's capitol) with a women's club.  We toured the State House and the Governor's mansion. I found the mansion more interesting.  First Ladies over the years have all contributed to making it what it is now.  The gardens have native flowers and trees from the various types of areas in the state.  This link is actually from a previous administration but gives a good overview.
http://www.governorsresidence.ohio.gov/garden/gardentour.aspx    Look at the Heritage Garden Tour.

We visited the mansion which you can see here: http://www.governorsresidence.ohio.gov/residence/overviewtour.aspx

The mansion has furniture and art from the period and style of the house which is a Jacobethan Revival-style mansion build in the 1920s. I am including these links since I did not take any pictures.

G and I then rushed up to Play House Square in Cleveland to attend the Million Dollar Quartet.  It doesn't look like the same group as in New Your City but was great.  Look at a few YouTube clips.

A Sigh of Relief

Today both the cat and I are happy. Yesterday I spent 10 hours staining the deck because rain was coming. I finished at 7:30 pm and when we awoke this morning it was raining. I have the floor all completed and half of the railings.   The cat is happy because she had to spend her time locked in the garage while I stained.  Otherwise she would have been up there walking in it.  To get her in the garage I would offer her treats there and then close the door.  She kept falling for it.  Today it is catch-up doing laundry and cleaning.

Both of us having fun

Gerry and several friends took their trip to Hatfield McCoy trails in West Virginia on Thursday through Sunday. For Christmas last year he had requested a helmet camera which he used this time. He got some great footage of the trails. It made my heart stop to see the steep slopes on the sides of the trails. There was only one minor glitch: the settings were wrong and it recorded it all upside down. Here he is watching the movies with the monitor upside down. It was the only solution we could come up with.

While he was out having fun, I was at home having fun (Ha). Each morning I check the weather forcast to determine my activity for the day - a lot like a farmer. I need no rain for 12 hours and tempatures between 45 and 95. If all is well, I put on my oldest, stained clothes and start the work for the day. This picture shows the progress. The picture shows a bit dark, but it does look almost new. My friend asked why I did not hire one of the Amish in our community who work for $8 and hour. I had not even considered that. But the cost would add up as I have been working on this for nearly a month. And I know the quality of the work (only I know where I have made mistakes). At least no one had better point them out!!

More rain

Today I put on my old clothes, winter coat, hat and gloves to go outside to  mow the lawn.  It is about 50 degrees out but the grass really needs mowing.  Before I could start, the rain started coming down and it has been raining since.  Guess I will postpone this task until next week.  So instead, I am working through the pile of papers on my desk.  Tonight G and I are attending a concert of Gershwin music by two piano players and a women't trio - music like it would have sounded in New York in the 30s

New sofa and recliner

Out with the old, in with the new. From this picture, the old doesn't look too bad. But the cloth cushions are faded and have lost their support. The sofa and love seat are about 35 years old. I found the new sofa and recliner on Craig's List. It is six months old and fits DH really well. The sofa has recliners on each side.

A local church has rented a large truck and asked for furniture to take to Joplin, Missouri where the devastating tornados hit. I had already given them a dresser, chest of drawers and a crib. Then I found the sofa and chair so they are taking the old sofa, love seat and end tables. Of course now that I have the furniture, I can start thinking flooring and paint for the walls. But at least I know what I have to work with.

Hard at work

My goal today was to finish stripping the old stain from the deck. The weather is cooperating for the next two days to stain. But, alas, UPS damaged one box of supplies (the stripper) and it was sent back to the supplier so I could not do what I planned. Here is a picture of me working on it last week. If you are sick of me talking about this project - I am ready to be finished too.

The pictures give an idea of the before and after. So there is hope.

S's birthday

Yesterday we helped son celebrate his birthday. He is not too old to still blow out the candles.

v

Book club

I usually read non fiction or novels, but the book discussion group I have joined reads more variety. This month's choice was a biography of Abraham Lincoln, titled" One Man Great Enough" by John C. Waugh. It is his life from birth until he was elected president. It talks about him as a person not about the Civil War, although there is a lot about politics of the time. I found it a fascinating book, certainly one I would recommend. He was such a logical thinker and speaker, was a very moral person. Anyway I really enjoyed the book and the discussion.

Mowing and corn

Yesterday G spent the whole day being a farmer (at least the part that a farmer has to spend a lot of time repairing equipment). He has an old Ferguson tractor with a sickle mower. Both are quite elderly. He spent many hours on the mower then did some mowing on our geothermal bed and the ditches by the road.

I spent the first few hours with a half day flu, but recovered nicely. I then picked and froze about five dozen ears of corn. I may have mentioned that the man who farms our few acres, plants sweet corn for us. Well, it gets ripe all at once so in a weeks time I must harvest and freeze the corn. I am not complaining because it is a wonderful treat.

Pig Roast 2011

We had 85 guests for our pig roast this year. These are the four who manned the roaster for the 8 hours (plus prep and cut up time). On the invitation Gerry encouraged anyone who rides a motorcycle to ride it. This is one half of the lineup.

I think I have been running on adrenaline for a month so it has taken me a few days to recover. But today I am feeling more energetic.

Life is crazy right now

Life has been crazy here. Since the trip to Minnesota, we took a whirlwind motorcycle trip with 13 other people on a four day drive in Ontario, Canada. Since my laptop (only computer I now have) is in the basement sitting on a stack of plastic tubs (the only connection to the internet is there and the wireless router bit the dust) it is a bit hard to use. In a week or two we will have it up and running in a more convenient way. This week is preparations for the pig roast. We have about 80 people who have said they are coming at this point. This may sound like I am frazzled, but I feel like things are under control.

Road trip

Today I drove 400 miles-am currently at a Super 8 Hotel for the night. All went well, but driving through Illinois, (Chicago and north) was a bear. On the Skyway it was about 10 mph for an hour and then there was construction north of there. Fortunately it was early afternoon so I was not overly tired. The disappointing part is that I seem to miss the scenery because I am concentrating on the lane I am driving in. I have never used my computer away from home before so had to set up the wireless, but got it to work here. For most of you reading this, it is old hat for you. Tomorrow I have about 5 hours driving. I should mention that I am driving to Minnesota for my Mother's 90th birthday party on Saturday.

Staying home where it is cool

We too are enjoying the heat wave that is covering most of the US. I mowed the lawn first thing this morning, the main part that is. The trimming will be for another day. Gerry is spending three days at a motorcycle show. I was invited, but 90+ degrees and no shade did not appeal to me. I did tell him it did not mean I do not love him. Instead I am trying to wear out my clothes washer by washing several throw rugs. I will buy a new washer and dryer in the next week. I think the research is completed. I am going with a "bottom" of the line" instead of "top of the line". All I want it to do is wash and dry the clothes.

Picture

I

My blogger daughter has told me that if I don't have any words to blog, just post a picture. So that is what I am doing. Usually these two say "cheese" when I want to take a picture and it looks so artificial. This time, something was really funny to them.

Outdoor movie

The Cleveland Orchestra has their summer concerts at the Blossom Music Center which is an outdoor amphitheater. It seats 6,000 in the pavilion and 13,000 on the lawn. On Saturday we were part of the 13,000. The movie, Pirates of the Caribbean (first one I think), was shown on large screens while the Orchestra played the music and a choral group sang. I enjoyed it, but had not seen the movie so was concentrating on the story so often missed the music part. Since this was such a popular movie, there were a lot of people there. A few were dressed like Johnny Depp.

We will have sweet corn

When we returned from our vacation in June, I noticed that our renter had worked up a strip along our driveway. Since it was just one strip, I assumed it was too wet and he did not continue working the whole field. About a week later I noticed rows of sweet corn coming up that he had planted for us. So now it is up to me to keep it weeded. I spent a couple hours yesterday tilling between the rows. We have the hardest clay like soil I have ever seen. But it is great to have the equipment to use instead of hoeing. I am trying to work in the yard and garden in the mornings before it is too hot. Since DH is still working and gets home late, these duties are mine ( and he really does not like yard work).

Night visitor

Tonight when I turned on the light on the back deck to say goodnight to our cat, there was a raccoon looking in the patio door. He was helping himself to the cat's water and the bird seed from the bird feeder. I had noticed the seed being eaten rather quickly. I had taken Mollie to the vet for her required rabies shot this week; now I know why. She does have to interact with wild life. I chased him away, but he was in no hurry-just ambled along.

Strawberries

This week I bought 16 quarts of strawberries at a bargain price of $2 a quart. I bought them from one of my Amish neighbors who lives less that 2 miles from my house. I have made two pies (one for another neighbor who feeds our cat when we are gone), froze about three gallons of berries and made 10 jars of frozen jam. I have about 3 quarts left to deal with. I am running out of ideas. Do you think I bought too much?

Today I spent most of the day at a city wide garage sale. I spent less that $20 and came home with an electric pasta maker (new price on the box was $200 ) two DVDs, a bulldozer type toy for grandson to play in the sand, a bike helmet for him when he rides the four-wheeler at our house and two origami kits for children.

Stiff muscles

Today when I went to my massage therapist, there were serious sore spots all over, from my neck to bottom of my feet. Not sure if it is from my hike up Devil's Lake in Wisconsin, from the hours (about 20 total) sitting on the motorcycle there and back or from helping carry my cedar chest from the living room to the garage. The hike was well worth it. I haven't downloaded G's pictures yet so cannot show what it was like. I put the chest on FreeCycle and someone is scheduled to pick it up tonight. I am just picking away at getting rid of things I no longer use.

Found: cash and candy

You hear stories of little old ladies who die and their family find money and valuables hidden in their house. Well, dear son and daughter, you may have your work cut out for you. Yesterday and today while taking out summer clothes and putting the cold weather clothes away, I found an envelope with cash and a box of chocolate covered cherries that I bought as a Christmas gift for Gerry in my sock drawer. (I have a reputation for remembering a gift that I have hidden and forgotten to wrap when we are opening our gifts at Christmas.) The reason this project has taken two days is that I make a decision on each item. If it was not worn the past season, maybe it should go to the thrift store. And everything must fit. No keeping something with the thought that I will loose a few pounds and it will again fit. If I loose the few pounds, I will just buy new if I need it.

Readers: are there things you have hidden, forgotten and then found later?

Princess in family

Yesterday I went to a few garage sales. Since I too am on a serious editing mode, I am careful about what I buy. I found a purple velvet "princess" dress for my granddaughter since she has outgrown the two I previously bought. Not only outgrown, but also worn out since she puts them over her clothes many times when visiting.

Later in the day I spent three hours at the wholesale produce auction which is held three times a week four miles from my house. For forty dollars I brought home eight perennials and a few parsley plants. I cannot put them where I want the perennial garden to be since I need to plant background shrubs first. So my vegetable garden has become the perennial nursery. I already have several planted there waiting for the right spot in the perennial gardens.

In case you have noticed a lack of photos recently it is because my desktop computer is dead. My computer person, (son) was able to save the contents from the hard drive but the rest is toast. We are now getting an external hard drive for the pictures and just use my laptop. I have done a good job putting all my pictures on CDs or DVDs so would have had them if they would have been toast too.

Guests head north and a dinner for me

Yesterday Andrew and his parents set off for Toronto to visit relatives. BUT not until a new rental car was delivered and the old one taken away. Seems the trip needed another event in it. Andrew noticed the tire was loosing air. Upon inspection he saw a bulge in the sidewall. They asked if he could drive it and he declined. So a tow truck was sent out. I was able to visit with them an additional three hours and they help with the left over food we had accumulated.

I spent the evening at a dinner with my AAUW friends. It really does take time to get to know people. This group is very welcoming and friendly. Part of our program was meeting the three "nontraditional" students who received scholarships from the organization. These were three women whose ages ranged from 35 to 50 and have returned to college. A couple also are single parents, work full time and still are involved in volunteering in the community. Hopefully our scholarships encourage them.

UK visitors

Yesterday, which was the last full day that Andrew and his parents were here (they came to the US for his commencement at U of MD and then drove to our house). We started out the day by taking a rather large trailer to get mulch for me. Gerry was set on going to this place about 20 miles away because he heard they gave you 1 1/2 yards for the price of one. Always looking for a bargain. They loaded it, but we had to cover it, which took 30 minutes or so. He put on several tarps and lots of tie-downs. Fortunately I can use it directly from the trailer.

We then drove an hour to visit the Escher exhibition. My favorite is The Puddle:

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddle_(M._C._Escher)"

There are three elements: water, sky and earth. Of interest is the moon and trees which are reflected in the water, the water and the various tracks on the mud.

In the evening we met Shawn and his family for dinner where Andrew's parents had their first Mexican food. We suggested rather mild entrées which they enjoyed. We all stayed an extra hour at the restaurant as there was a rather fierce storm (with tornado warnings) outside. But we all arrived safely home in the end.

Rain

For the last two months it has rained 8 out of every 10 days. I have managed to mow the lawn two times which is more than some people have been able to do. But it has been impossible to plant in the garden or to do any landscaping projects. I have been able to spray thistles and do some weeding and G helped me put some edging around my garden shed where I have a perennial garden. I should not complain however, since my livelihood is not being threatened as it is for all the farmers. They are weeks behind in getting crops planted.

Today I had three projects to complete. The first was tire related. Yesterday G drove over a rock/piece of concrete which cut the sidewall on his tire. Guess what? He found a tire of the same size in his stash. My job was to take it in to be mounted. They said it was 10 years old, but in good enough condition to mount and use. He left me with very little gas so I put a small gas can in the car, but made it to the gas station where I put in over 19 gallons.

Secondly I spent an hour at the County Recorder's office. The buzz around here is everyone being approached by a company to sign an oil and gas lease. The is happening in New York, PA, and Ohio. We have attended some seminars to learn about our rights. The first is to find if there is an old lease on your property. The company which is coming into our area can buy it without even telling you. So you must void it. I found one from 1980 but I think it has expired. Next we have to decide how much we want to get involved. I won't go into details but it is complicated and not a big get rich proposition. One can make some money, but your property could be messed up.

Thirdly, I mowed for the second time. It has rained for 8 out of every 10 days for about two months. So the lawn is really long and muddy. Gardening and farming is out of the question at this time But I am being optimistic and making a landscaping plan for the year.

Thanks to Savannah Getaways House rentals

When visiting Savannah, I left behind at the house we were renting, my camera worth several hundred dollars. It has been returned to me having gone through the hands of housekeeping and the rental agency. I had quite calmly resigned myself to not seeing it again. This will be a reminder to me that there are honest people in our world and motivate me to do the same for others. It is interesting that daughter had posted on a similar theme this week. Let's keep the trend going.

President's work

As I have previous mentioned, I am President of a local women's club. There are about 50 members. It has been in existence for maybe 25 years and many of the women have been officers or been on committees. This year when it came time to get a roster for election, I could not even get volunteers for the nominating committee. So I took it upon myself to contact every member and ask if they would take a job. The result is that I have filled every position except one.

The reason they said no when I called was 1)I have held jobs for many years or 2)I spend most of the winter months in a warmer climate. The majority of the members are retired and have been in the club a long time so it seems valid. It was interesting to call them because I have been in the club about two years and don't know many of them well. I learned about their health, family commitments and travel plans. I actually took notes for myself to know them better.

Second Doctor in the family

Last Thursday G and I attended our son-in-laws Doctoral Defense. The Title was "The Response of Molecular Gases and Modulated Plasmas to Short Intense Laser Pulses". Through no fault of the presenter most of it sounded like a foreign language to me. G seemed to understand more than me. The good news is that he did great; they only asked for minor revisions. We are proud of him and so happy we could be there.

After a day of celebrating with him and his lovely wife, we drove to Pittsburgh where we visited friends and learned about the city. We spend a few hours touring the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning. It is 42 stories tall and has about 30 "Nationality" rooms which are class rooms decorated by various countries. During the week they have classes in the rooms, but the public can tour when there are no classes. We discovered there are many more interesting things to do in Pittsburgh, which is a bit over two hours drive from our home.

Still alive and well

Today we had our 105 gallon hot water heater installed It hooks into our geothermal furnace It took several evenings of work on Gerry's part to get the plumbing right. Previously there were two smaller heaters so he had to redo the plumbing so everything was hooked to the new one. Even after all his work, it took five hours to get in installed. Now we have an used furnace, used air conditioner and two water heaters to dispose of.

I have over-scheduled myself for the next two weeks, but all the activities should be fun. Thursday I leave for Savannah, GA for six days, am home part of one day then leave for MD for Andrew's defense. The day after returning home, I am hosting my book club at my house. Instead of reading a book, in April we each read a favorite poem, which I haven't chosen yet. So life is busy for me.

Weather changes

We had rain for a week, which caused all the snow to be gone. There was a lot of flooding around us, water over roads, and such. Our house stayed dry except for where it seeped in by the window wells in the basement. Gerry has covered then since. But, last night the snow returned: about 4 inches so it is all white again. Thankfully, we will not need to use the snow blower.

Today is clean the house and cook ahead meals day since tomorrow Shawn and a friend of Gerry's are coming over to help Gerry put together a tractor that has been apart for over a year. We really need to get it out of the shop (so other things can go in!!!).

Back from vacation

It has been over a month since I posted. The time was spent in Miami (at Renee Michelle and Andrew's house), Miami Beach (with both children and their families), the Bahamas and Key West (with sister Marge from MN). She, by the way was on the last flight out of Minneapolis before they closed the airport due to a blizzard. I returned Thursday and have not even downloaded my pictures. I will post some when I get to that. First I need to make sure there are no overdue bills. I won't even go into the difference in weather. All I can hope for is that Spring comes soon.

Vacation planning

This last week I have been preoccupied with planning events and trips. Our immediate family is planning a week together in Miami where Renee Michelle resides. Her brother and family will join Gerry and I for our first vacation together. We get to get the summer clothes out. Yea!! I will stay for about 10 days longer and vacation with my sister.

I have finalized several things for my trip to Savannah with three friends. Then there is my mother's 90th birthday party sometime this summer. Don't have all the details on that worked out. How did we do these things in the past without the internet?

Gerry is outside at this moment charging the battery of the tractor so he can plow snow. He will be ready for the sun and warmth.

Monday update

Today I am taking 8 boxes of things I have "edited" to the thrift store. So far I have not had any second thoughts about the things I have let go. I have sorted flower vases, candle holders, dishes and Christmas stuff. When I am in the basement, I say to myself, "What was I thinking when I bought this?" A lot was from garage sales, but still what was I thinking?

Gerry has pretty much recovered from his trip to China. He really did have his days and nights mixed up, not unlike what a baby does at times. Ha! He talked a lot about the food there: fish heads, eyes, cow stomach, and chicken feet. He is willing to try almost everything. I am sure my cooking is quite boring in contrast.

Computer savvy - not!

Sometimes I think I know just enough about computers to be dangerous. At least enough to be very frustrated at times. Daughter helped me start an photo book for my mother for a Christmas gift. Today I spent several hours finishing it. If you were in my house you would have heard a few screeches of frustration. But I did it. The hardest part was uploading the pictures from the computer to Snapfish.

A quick report on hubby. He has returned from his two week trip to China. The jet lag is giving him fits. At 10:30 at night he is just starting to go strong and I want to go to sleep. I will ask him to give a report that I can post on the blog.

New Hat- Tour Guide

Yesterday I finished my painting in the basement. It seems as if I need to finish one large project that is hanging over my head before I can concentrate on another. So today I have spent several hours planning a trip to Savannah, Georgia for the beginning of April. There will probably be 8 women going. I am trying to schedule it for when the flowers are in prime, but that is pretty hard to predict. This is the time that on average the flowers are in bloom. There are so many things to do in Savannah that I don't think I will have trouble filling our days.

Soup and Wine

Today our women's club (of which I am President) had their annual soup and wine luncheon. Twenty-seven attended. We had five soups, great bread, dessert and of course wine. The Chicken Tortilla soup I made was a hit.

http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/10/chicken-tortilla-soup.html

The lady who hosted had to set up her house to accommodate us, which I am sure took some time, but it took me at least three hours to make the soup and then the cleanup. What makes these events great is that everyone does their part and the whole is great. I am encouraged with how everyone volunteers. We had our Holiday House Tour in December where we went through five homes and had a luncheon too. We made about $3000 which will be used for scholarships for local students who are going to college.

Snowed In

Today I will stay home, snowed in by choice. It has been snowing for 24 hours with a steady wind and will continue to do so for another day or so. I could start the snow blower and blow out the drive way but will wait until the wind stops since it will just blow it closed again.

Instead I am working on the basement painting. No excuses now.

I am grateful for heat. DH is staying in a four star hotel where they do not turn on the heat until it gets to 12 C (54 F) in the rooms. He is very cold blooded so is probably sleeping in his winter coat.

Clouds of dust

Remember Pigpen in the Snoopy comics? He walked around with a cloud of dust surrounding him. That is how I look these days. The mudding, sanding and cleanup of dry wall dust on the walls to be painted is almost complete. I need to sand two spots yet, then am ready to start the painting. I hope to do the primer today.

Gerry is in China for two weeks for business. I did not envy his 15 hour trip there. He was awake for 27 hours traveling. I don't know how much "tourist" activity he will be able to fit in. Hopefully some.

New room in basement

During the week Andrew and Renee Michelle were here, Gerry and Andrew started building walls to make a room in the basement. As you can see, we had to move stuff around to make room for them to work. I am happy to report it all has drywall on it and is ready for me to paint next week. It was hard to get a good picture to show the hard work they did.