Day Three Hundred Twenty 2013

Ever Lovin’ Saturday













Lazy windy gray Saturday. Good day to read and rake a few leaves and make some stew and hang out with peeps. How was your day?

Day Three Hundred Nineteen 2013

Knox and Grandpa chillin’ out together, watching Thomas The Train on Netflix. Good times on a Friday evening. Happy TGIF, everyone!

Day Three Hundred Eighteen 2013

Another golden November day ~ the Autumn leaves are fading fast.

"The spirits of the air live on the smells
Of fruit; and joy, with pinions light, roves round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees."
Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat;
Then rose, girded himself, and o'er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load."
~William Blake, To Autumn

Day Three Hundred Seventeen 2013

Grandsons Knox and Elijah shared a snack and a TV show this afternoon after school. Elijah is the only kid I know who likes shredded mini wheats [the frosted kind]. Knox picked out and ate all of the colorful Lucky Charms marshmallows and left the cereal in the bowl. It’s all sweet on a happy hump day.

Day Three Hundred Sixteen 2013

HAPPY 37TH BIRTHDAY, KELLY!


Daughter Kelly celebrated her [hot pink!] 37th birthday today [and it snowed today just as it did 37 years ago which added a nice touch to the celebration]. We enjoyed a fun party at Kelly and Kerry and Knox’s new/old house with yummy cake, ice cream, and punch [and presents of course]. I wonder how long it’s been since that hundred year old house has heard that many loud voices and so much laughter. Wishing our snow baby a happy birthday and a wonderful life filled with lots of love and many many more good time celebrations. Your dad and I love you!!

Day Three Hundred Fifteen 2013

Happy Veterans Day to all the men and women, past and present, who serve this country in the armed forces and keep America the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Day Three Hundred Fourteen 2013

My Aunt Joy Brown, who will celebrate her 99th birthday on December 4, is a legend in her hometown of Gainesboro, which is located in Jackson County in Middle Tennessee. Many years ago, she handmade this Uncle Sam costume, from the hat on down to the trousers, as one of the outfits she wore to tap-dance in for the family at Christmas get togethers. Apparently, she is a born entertainer. Folks in town found out about her costume and asked her to appear at patriotic events. So she memorized a poem called ‘That Ragged Old Flag’, written by Johnny Cash, to recite on those patriotic occasions. She’s been doing this for almost two decades now. Today we attended the Veterans’ Day program in Gainesboro, and once again, Aunt Joy wore her Uncle Sam costume and recited, flawlessly, that poem [to a standing ovation afterward]. I certainly admire her tenacity and can only hope my mind is still as sharp as hers if I live to be 99.

Uncle Sam [a.k.a. Aunt Joy] and the veterans of Jackson County, Tennessee. Thank you, one and all, for your service to your country.

                 THAT RAGGED OLD FLAG

I walked through a county courthouse square,
On a park bench an old man was sitting there.
I said, "Your old courthouse is kinda run down."
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town."
I said, "Your flagpole has leaned a little bit,
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it.    

He said, "Have a seat", and I sat down.
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is." He said, "I don't like to brag,
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag." 

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing _Oh Say Can You See_.
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seams." 

"And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on through.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag." 

"On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low by the time it was through.
She was in Korea and Vietnam.
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam." 

"She waved from our ships upon the briny foam,
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home.
In her own good land she's been abused --
She's been burned, dishonored, denied and refused." 

"And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin,
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more." 

"So we raise her up every morning,
Take her down every night.
We don't let her touch the ground
And we fold her up right.
On second thought I DO like to brag,
'Cause I'm mighty proud of that Ragged Old Flag."

                          ~Written by Johnny Cash

Day Three Hundred Thirteen 2013

One of our upstairs bedrooms [guess it’s a good thing daughter Kelly doesn’t live here anymore] has temporarily become my hubs Neil’s RC airplane hangar. He is emptying out his shed [man cave] that houses all manner of guy stuff ~ tools and woodworking thingies and airplane paraphernalia, plus a whole lot of junk we’ve held on to that should’ve been tossed out decades ago, not to mention critters that believe it’s a nifty place to call home. He built the shed back in the eighties [I think] using wood from an old barn somebody let him take apart and haul off. The shed looks like a barn and was pretty neat back then. But time and termites and critters have taken their toll, and it has become a hazard to be inside it. The floor has caved in where Neil stands in various spots when he’s working on his planes, and the ceiling beams are starting to bow. So it’s going to come down soon and will be replaced with a brand new and much larger building that he’s going to order from a local dealer. In the meantime, the planes [and this isn’t even all of them] are snug as a [temporary] bug in a rug.

Day Three Hundred Twelve 2013

Random Pics Of Autumn Beauty And Blessings From The Week That Was ~ HAPPY TGIF!













Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love — that makes life and nature harmonize. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.    
~George Eliot, letter to Miss Lewis, 1st October 1841

Day Three Hundred Eleven 2013

“I made it with my bare hands,” said Grandson Elijah this afternoon after school as he answered my question about how he made this fabulous artwork owl.

No scissors or pre-cut strips of paper or even a pre-drawn outline. He fashioned his owl with strips of paper he tore with his bare hands. I thought that was such a cute way to describe his process. Good job, Elijah!

Day Three Hundred Ten 2013

We had lunch today at this little meat n three called Wilma’s Country Cooking. It’s located just around the block from our house in what used to be, decades ago, a neighborhood country store called Sparks Grocery owned and operated by a lady who lived right next door to the store. I have fond memories of Sparks Grocery. It’s across the street from the elementary school I attended back in the sixties. I used to walk over there after school and buy Beatles bubble gum cards. Still have them. Great memory. The grocery store went out of business years ago and has since gone through many incarnations ~ a bakery at one time and an antique store being the most recent. Now it has become a meat n three restaurant. Daughter Kelly and her hubs Kerry and son Knox walked over there yesterday to check it out and brought us a menu. They have different daily specials. It sounded really good, so we gave it a whirl today. We had pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and a roll/corn bread. And tea, of course. I’m happy to say their food is totally delicious and the price is very reasonable. They're only open for lunch. The place was hopping today with tables full and lots of take out orders. We hope to eat there again sometime soon.

Day Three Hundred Nine 2013

The autumn sun, in wonder, 
  Is gayly peering through 
This silver-tissued network 
  Across the frosty blue.  ~Evaleen Stein, November Morning

On my way to Wal-Mart about nine this morning to do some much-needed grocery shopping and had to stop and gawk at the gorgeous November sky. And snap a quick picture, of course.

Day Three Hundred Eight 2013

“Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.”   ~Charles M. Schulz

There is not a child on this planet who can resist jumping into a pile of Autumn leaves. Grandson Knox had a great time this morning doing just that. Mostly, he liked slogging through the pile and picking up armloads of the leaves and throwing them. No wet suckers involved. Just a ton o’ fun.

Day Three Hundred Seven 2013

If only leaves were a cash crop

Day Three Hundred Six 2013

EVER LOVIN’ SATURDAY!

Neil and I had lunch with daughter Kelly and grandson Knox at their new/old house this afternoon. Kelly was there all day, getting her kitchen organized while the Direct TV guys connected their TVs. The place is starting to look like home.

Our town postponed trick or treating until tonight because of stormy weather on Halloween. Grandpeeps Knox, Shelby, and Elijah finally got to trick or treat door to door. Knox’s friend, Adeline, joined them to make the rounds.

Knox really got into the Halloween spirit after he saw all the trick or treaters coming to our door for candy. Knox was Thomas the Train and Shelby was the Queen of Hearts.

Elijah was Robin Hood. I stayed at the house and fed the multitude of spooks who came by. It’s been years since I’ve seen so many. I ran out of the Halloween candy I bought for this occasion and had to dig into the stash of candy I keep here for the grandpeeps. I enjoy the Halloween tradition, and it was fun for me to see all the kids in their costumes. Good times with family and friends.

Day Three Hundred Five 2013

Hello, November!  TGIF Randomness

Grandson Knox browsing in the clothing store after lunch today ~ needed some new stylin duds to wear for his upcoming 2 year photo shoot.

Put a hat on his head and his first reaction is to take it off even though he looks great in a hat

Running off some energy on the trampoline this afternoon, baseball in hand. His newest word is “Mine!”

“October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Grandson Elijah’s second grade class had their ‘Harvest’ party today [whatever that is ~ they don’t have Halloween parties anymore in school and heaven forbid you should wear your costume ~ so the day after Halloween they had a ‘Harvest’ party ~ which sounds more pagan-like to me than Halloween] They got to dress up these little gourds. Elijah dressed his like a character in the movie ‘Avatar’. I said maybe he should have painted his gourd blue. Cute.

Elijah got this award today at school for displaying the 3 R’s ~ Ready, Responsible, Respectful which makes him a Super Student and an Awesome Kid! Way to go, Elijah!

“Come, little leaves” said the wind one day,
“Come over the meadows with me, and play;
Put on your dresses of red and gold;
Summer is gone, and the days grow cold.”
~Come Little Leaves  by George Cooper

Daughter Kelly and her hubs Kerry and son Knox moved here this past week, although they’re not quite ready to inhabit their new/old house yet. Lots of boxes to unpack and organizing/cleaning to do. Their house, on the left in this picture, was built in 1913 which makes it 100 years old this year. They’re staying with Neil and me for a while. Their house is just around the corner from us. We walked down there late this afternoon to feed the kitties [and locate the coffee maker ~ Kelly has to be there early tomorrow morning to wait for the Direct TV guy to come hook up their TV ~ and coffee is a must].

November sunset

“November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.
With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.
The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.”
― Clyde Watson
Happy TGIF!  Happy November!