Day One Hundred Twenty 2013

Grandson Elijah lost his second upper front tooth today. He could wiggle it, but it was nowhere near as loose as the other one that finally came out a few days ago. I told his mom yesterday that it would be weeks before this one dropped out. Shows you how much I know.

He says he really won’t be able to eat apples now, just apple slices. But Pop Tarts and bananas ~ no problem, cause they’re soft. His new teeth are already coming in. Cool kid, with or without teeth.

Day One Hundred Nineteen 2013

Once again, our roof is covered in Maple tree seeds ~ a rite of Spring, I suppose. They clog the gutters and stick to the bottom of your shoes and get tracked through the house. I call them helicopters or whirly things. I know they are necessary to carry on the Maple tree population, yet I loathe them. I mean, why does there have to be so many of them? But, what are you going to do? Chop down all the Maple trees? It’s a thought, but I enjoy the shade they provide in the Summer, and I love their colors in the Fall. It’s my rite of Spring to complain about them. Thanks for listening.

From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.
~Aeschylus

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One year today. Miss you, Mom!

Day One Hundred Eighteen 2013

Yummy DQ Butterfinger Blizzard ~ decadent Sunday treat. We ended up in the middle of a birthday party for some kid. His/her friends sang ‘Happy birthday to you—cha cha cha—happy birthday to you—cha cha cha—‘ I’ve never heard that rendition before, but it was a fine performance.
Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope it was sweet.

Day One Hundred Seventeen 2013

Neil spent a lot of time today hanging new mini blinds on our living room windows. The old ones had been there for nearly thirty years. Back then, we couldn’t find blinds to fully cover our rather large, old-house windows.

I don’t have a before picture to show you, but take my word for it, the after blinds look so much better. And brighter. And definitely cleaner. Hooray for my handy man hubby!
Happy Saturday, y’all!

Day One Hundred Sixteen 2013

T G I F   random



Happy TGIF, everyone!

Day One Hundred Fifteen 2013

T BALL

Grandson Elijah had his game face on.

Lots of good fielding in the game.

And lots of good hustle.

And the batters all did their best. But Elijah’s gray team lost to the blue team 17~11. So much for Elijah’s prediction that this team would be easy [because they haven’t won a single game~well~until now]. You’ll get ‘em next time, guys!

Day One Hundred Fourteen 2013

Grandson Elijah’s stubborn loose tooth finally gave up and fell out all by itself today at school. He’d been wiggling that thing around for weeks.

He says it’s hard to bite apples and that he’ll have to eat apple slices. The other upper front tooth is loose, too. Stay tuned.

Day One Hundred Thirteen 2013

Pointed my camera at the bird feeder this afternoon, waiting for this dove to fly away so I could snap a bird-in-flight picture. But she sat there. And sat there. Until my arms got tired of holding the camera. Is it just me, or are doves the dumbest winged creatures? Or am I the dumbest armed creature, waiting for this dumb bird to fly away so I can take a picture? She sat there for so long that I thought, She’s got nowhere to be. Which made me think of a line from one of my favorite John Denver songs, appropriately titled Fly Away.
In this whole world there's nobody as lonely as she   There's nowhere to go and there's nowhere that she'd rather be
Stupid dove. [stupid human]

Day One Hundred Twelve 2013

Peace and happiness are available in every moment.
Peace is every step. We shall walk hand in hand.
There are no political solutions to spiritual problems.
Remember: If the Creator put it there, it is in the right place.
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
~An Indian Chief, 1876.

Day One Hundred Eleven 2013

My sweet grandpeeps~Knox, Shelby, Elijah~so glad you got to spend time together today.

The laughter of a child is the light of a house   ~African Proverb

 

Day One Hundred Ten 2013

Ever Lovin Saturday!






Grandson Knox is here for a visit with his mommy Kelly. While mommy Kelly enjoyed some ‘me time’ with her friend, Grandpa Neil and I took Knox to the playground at our church. He loved every second of it, especially going down the slide. The sun was out. The sky was blue. And Knox was oblivious to the cool wind. That’s what being a kid is all about ~ happy oblivion! He wore us out. I think I need a nap, too. Happy Saturday, everyone!

Day One Hundred Nine 2013

Neil and I took grandpeeps Shelby and Elijah to McDonald’s after school this afternoon for some treats. They got good grades in their latest progress reports so I guess that was reason enough to seek out some fries and shakes.

Elijah was the one who wanted to go to McDonald’s because the latest toy offering is from a popular video game called Skylanders Giants that he and Shelby love to play and he desperately wanted one of the figures from that game.

That’s why they call it a Happy Meal. It sure made this kid smile.

Happy TGIF, everyone! Don’t forget to smile and be happy.

Day One Hundred Eight2013

Granddaughter Shelby is totally into the whole Hobbit thing, having seen the Lord Of The Rings trilogy movies. She wants to read the books, but when she saw how big the whole thing is, decided to start with something smaller [or Hobbit size, you might say]. So she began reading ‘The Hobbit’.

And now she’s almost finished with it ~ only a few more pages until The End. Way to go, Shelby! I’m proud of you for your love of reading. Maybe you can tackle the trilogy one day.

Grandson Elijah is in the process of losing baby teeth. The front two bottom teeth are long gone and permanent teeth are already growing in. His top two are loose, especially this one. Each day he brings home that empty Ziploc bag the teacher gave him to put the lost tooth in. Maybe tomorrow, Elijah. Just maybe that stubborn thing will fall off when you least expect it.

Day One Hundred Seven 2013

Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.
~Khalil Gibran

Day One Hundred Six 2013

Lunch bunch peeps from left: nephew Chris, sister Ann, hubby Neil, and brother Ken. Beautiful day to gather in Dogwood Park, share a meal and some laughs. Hope we get to do it again soon.

Day One Hundred Five 2013

"Since Iris is the Greek goddess for the Messenger of Love, her sacred flower is considered the symbol of communication and messages. Greek men would often plant an iris on the graves of their beloved women as a tribute to the goddess Iris, whose duty it was to take the souls of women to the Elysian fields*."      ~Hana No Monogatari: The Stories of Flowers

[*The Elysian Fields or Elysium refer to a beautiful meadow in Homer where the favored of Zeus enjoy perfect happiness. By the time of Vergil (Virgil), the Elysian Fields had been located in the Underworld as the home of the dead who were judged worthy. In the Aeneid, those blessed dead compose poetry, sing, dance, and tend to their chariots.]

I love the Irises that bloom in our yard. The Iris is the Tennessee state flower.

Don’t say I never taught ya nothin.

Day One Hundred Four 2013

Neil and I enjoyed frozen hot chocolate and a little people watching at Poet's On The Square coffeehouse this afternoon. The frozen drink gave us a delicious brain freeze, and the people watching was interesting to say the least. I wanted to take pictures so badly but my inner censor said better not. A walk in the park after the frozen hot chocolate would have been great, but the rains came down and the temperature dropped, but that's OK cause it's all good. Happy first day of the week!



Day One Hundred Three 2013

Don't agonize. Organize.   ~Florynce Kennedy

A good system shortens the road to the goal.  ~Orison Swett Marden

You must have discipline to have fun.   ~Julia Child

I am an organizer. I like to have a place for things when I’m not using them. I enjoy the process. I probably could have made a living at organizing other peoples stuff. I used to be a neat freak, and it took me a long time to realize it’s a waste of time. Life is short. I’m getting older. I have other things I’d rather be doing than making sure a thing is in [what I perceive] its place. But I’ve let this one go for months [years] ~ the kitchen cabinets. Yikes! What a disaster zone. Julia Child would have been horrified. I ended up spending all day [beautiful day] cleaning out, throwing away [did I really have a bottle of olive oil that expired in 2009??], and re-organizing the precious little cabinet space I have in my kitchen. Wore me out, but it was totally worth the effort. I’m still not finished. All those open shelves need to be cleaned of dust and cobwebs. Spiders are probably nesting in my Pyrex. Oh well. As Scarlett O’Hara so blithely put it, ‘I’ll think about that tomorrow.'

Day One Hundred Two 2013

T G I F

Trying a new recipe ~ Hearty Beef and Barley Soup in the Crockpot

I bought a very small bag of pearled barley (I want to say ‘Pearl Bailey’ ~ if you’re under the age of 50, you have no idea who I’m talking about ~ anyway ~ I digress) because, let’s face it, who cooks with barley? Not I. But the soup recipe called for it ~ three-fourths of a cup. Lots left, of course. I put the rest of it in this vintage freezer Ball jar. I collect old jars. This one’s pretty rare.

One of the reasons I bought that jar is because of the galvanized lid. The original owner (I’m assuming) apparently put up some cherries and wrote the date on the lid ~ which dates back (way back) to when I was but a sixteen month old baby. Pretty cool. And old.

Neil took the day off to do some much-needed yard work. He bought a couple of truck loads of black mulch and spent most of the day spreading it, which will (we hope) look good and keep the weeds at bay.

Couldn’t have asked for a more awesome day which was a cool-ish 60 degrees. Felt more like spring after the eighty degree heat wave this past week. The rain yesterday evening washed away some of the pollen, thank you very much.

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

“Tell me the story about how the sun loved the moon so much that he died every night just to let her breathe.”  ~Anonymous

The strong wind yesterday blew petals from our cherry trees around like pink snow ~ a very pretty sight to see but wish they’d stay on the trees a bit longer.

Grandson Elijah after school. He was thrilled that it’s Friday and did a happy dance when he got inside the house.

Grandpa Neil, granddaughter Shelby and grandson Elijah (and moi) treated ourselves to some Mae Pearl’s frozen yogurt. Elijah got a brain freeze.

This is a terrible washed out picture, but the Hearty Beef and Barley Soup turned out great and was pretty tasty. Barley adds an interesting texture and flavor. We’ll have it again. Leftovers, you know.

“There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.”
~Jo Walton

Happy TGIF, y’all!