a surprise gift...



a gift

Good Morning!  It's 7:30 Tuesday morning and I'm up and about -  drinking my coffee and reading blogs. Life is good.  The cats and I had a early morning 'get together' by the Aga at about 3 am. Occasionally I awake around this time (must be age?) and if I can't go back to sleep, I head for the Aga and a cup of warm milk or tea. The cats are always sleeping on the small rag rug there (my DIL crochets these),  so I just join them.  With a cup of something hot in my hands, a warm stove at my back, and purring cats lying across and beside me, I am content.

My son brought me an unexpectant gift yesterday. Aren't they the best kind?  I had mentioned that I liked and owned a few Annalee dolls - mostly small Christmas and holiday elves.  Apparently he remembered this and thus, the picture above. Wasn't that sweet?

New grandbaby is due anytime. We're all waiting expectantly! Other grandkids are 14, 11, and 5... so, it's been a while since we've had a new baby around. We know it's a little girl, and we know her name is Aoife (pronounced EEf-fa - long E).  I'm told the name is Gaelic and means 'princess warrior'.


PS: Today the check spelling part of my blogger isn't working???

the calm after the storm...



the lake behind my BIL's house



Wow! I feel like I've missed more than just 4 days.  Having my computer die on Election Day made me wonder what was up? But after the storm of election rhetoric, everything seems so calm now...

... unless you go to FaceBook where there's a lot of 'ranting' going on.  Don't go there. It's counterproductive. People need to 'try' to separate personal and political, which is difficult because the issues are personal.  But like the country, if you don't make this separation, families and friends become alienated. And people have a right to their own opinion. It may not seem reasonable or rational or even valid, but that's not anyone's call. Name calling is immature. Throwing 'facts' in people's faces doesn't change anything. Everyone have their own set of facts. People believe what they want to believe and they trust who they want to trust. Nothing will change that.  Enough said.

Now... where was I?  My computer just plain wouldn't come up on Tuesday morning. Apparently there was nothing major wrong, just a combination of something that had to do with  registration issues (?) and malicious software (?).  I asked if I did something to cause the problem. They said no and that it is hard to avoid totally. We have a good Virus Protection program. They did say that a lot of the malicious software comes in on 'games'. I don't play games. But my grandson does... did... (not anymore). He has an X-box and several other game systems, so he won't be hurting if my computer becomes 'off limits'.

Anyway, we're up and running again. This computer is a bit old. We still have 'vista'.  But as long as it works, we'll keep it. If we do have to get another at some point, we'll probably get a laptop. Being retired does change our perspective a little. We're more cautious with our spending... probably should be even more so, but we do think twice about most things.

In class, we're still working on finishing those 25 piece clay projects... and I will post some pics when they're completed.  At the moment I'm working on some small birdhouse ornaments for the Christmas tree. Here are a few that I've done so far.

And also remember today is Veteran's Day!  I keep a poem that someone had written taped up here by my computer because a long time ago when I read it, it moved me.  This is it:

Dear Lord, lest I continue
my complacent way,
help me to remember
somehow out there
a man died for me today.
As long as there be war,
I then must
ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?  (W. H. Auden)



Monday...

I have this card...

DH and I have this card.  We bought it a while back... too funny.  Seemed fitting sentiment for a Monday morning... and a busy week ahead.  Also reminds me of the song I have on my iPhone by the Irish Rovers called "The Unicorn"  (in the song, it's the unicorns that miss the boat).

Thanks for the photo editing advice some of you sent. I will be checking out some of the programs in the next few weeks. Don't think I'll have time this week with pottery deadlines and doctor's appointments. 

The weekend was fairly uneventful. I'm reading three books at once, "The Racketeer" by Grisham, and two cozy mysteries, one of the Midnight Louie series and a Pie Shop mystery.  I keep the Racketeer by the sofa and the 2 cozies by my bedside. This way I'm ready for long commercials or reruns in the evening (in the den)  and always read after I get into bed at night.  We don't have a TV in the bedroom. Tried it once years ago and decided that we definitely didn't like it. Oh, DH did make a huge pot of red beans and rice Sunday... it was great!!

books I'm reading

BTW, I still can't change my font style or size within blogger.  I'm sure it's something I did that caused this. But I went to tools at the top of my windows and enlarged it a bit.



Halloween pumpkins...

Halloween pumpkins... can you see the serpent's tongue?


 

Happy Halloween everyone!  Actually we didn't get many trick or treaters last night.  The numbers have been dwindling the last few years.  Can't say that I'm upset about it.  I don't care for people ringing doorbells after dark... and don't think kids should be out on the street after dark either. But I do love to see the little ones in their costumes.  I guess the trend has gone to Halloween parties at churches and other places.  Perhaps this is safest for all.  For a while we had truck-loads of kids (literally hauled in on hay trucks, etc.) from other areas. Apparently this has stopped also.   I'd be curious to know if you had many trick or treaters in your areas? 

I did make a pumpkin pie!  I'm not a big pumpkin pie fan, but I make a 'adapted' version... mainly a custard pie to which I add one cup of fresh cooked pumpkin and plenty of cinnamon and sugar.    We like it!

This morning I've already been to Yoga class, stopped by the pottery studio for a few minutes to get a few more things into the kiln, then home for lunch by 2.  Now there might be just enough time to take a short nap with the cats before having to think about supper...  ;)

a few of the cups/mugs I'm working on at the studio...



Baby Shower...

Baby Shower Cake

This week my daughter and I gave a Baby Shower for my daughter-in-law.  (This is why I haven't been on the computer for the last few days... lots to do. ) Anyway, this is my youngest son and wife's first baby and the nursery is being done in a zoo theme... so we followed through for the shower.  We started out with a luncheon, then a few simple 'baby' games, then opened presents... then dessert and coffee.  We kept things pretty much pink, green, and white.

We set up the cake and cookies in the (used to be dining room) now grand kids game room, the luncheon in the living room (which we now use as a dining room - because we like to eat by the fireplace), and the strawberry lemonade punch in the kitchen. 

It worked out well.  We had some of the out of town guests staying at the house Friday night so it got a little hectic with all of the bedrooms, guest rooms, and even the trundle bed in the computer room being used, but in general, we all had a great time. Saturday morning we sent the men and boys off so the women and girls could play.






When all the guys returned, they helped themselves to cake and goodies... and went back to the den to watch football while the rest of us sat around the tables drinking coffee and talking.




Everyone left this morning after a big breakfast of scrambled eggs (with green and red pepper, cheese, and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce, bacon), biscuits, danish, bagels, chocolate chip pancakes, orange juice, and coffee.  (We didn't all eat all this, but the kids wanted the chocolate chip pancakes so-ooo we obliged.)

Now I'm catching up on my blog reading, blog writing, and will soon go sit by the fire and fall asleep...
Baby is due in 4 weeks!



Elsie, the Borden's cow, at the State Fair



My friend asked me to check out the Quilts with her at the State Fair last week.  She is a wonderful quilter and I have attended several local shows with her.  And I have to say that some quilts are really works of art... absolutely unbelievable.  However, the quilt show at the Fair was a bit disappointing. For one thing, we expected to see a lot more on display (there really wasn't that many). 

But to the point here, we went to the Fair mainly to spend time at the Quilt Show (I'm not one for fairs... or rides... or crowds), but as it turned out, we had a lot more time to spend so we walked around a bit, shared a turkey leg, and did some people watching. As luck would have it, the weather was wonderful, so it was not too hot (as it can be at Fair Park).  As it got later, the crowds increased and we left.  But we did get to see Elsie, the Borden cow, before we left.  She's a very handsome animal... but looked a bit depressed and unhappy in her little crate in the tent. People were oo-ing and aah-ing over her, but she looked like she was saying, "Can we go home now?" 

BTW, we did swap our 25-piece clay projects yesterday.  However, I didn't get any pictures yet as some didn't bring their original pieces and others spent part of the class finishing them up.  But most of us swapped out.  I got instructions for a clay tree made of little squares, twirls, and flowers.  Am working on it - almost finished, but the clay swirls were still too soft to attach - so they are stiffening and I will attach them Wednesday. Lucky for me, it was a simple piece and easy to assemble.  One of the others is an art square with a decal on one side (hard to explain, but I'll get a picture soon). Then we had another birdhouse (similar to mine - maybe more elaborate - made out of porcelain), and then a building structure (kind of like a city street scene).  All in all, it was an interesting project (I won't say 'fun'), but we all 'learned' something from it - which I guess was the purpose.

Never the less,  I will be happy to get back to working on the wheel. 

A birthday breakfast...

Breakfast!

Our oldest son's birthday is today.  We had a 'get-together' with cake and ice-cream yesterday evening. But this morning I made a birthday breakfast.  Sunday breakfasts were common when DH and I were working full time. But now that we're retired, we sometimes go out for breakfast or just get by with toast and coffee. However, there are days when I get the urge to cook something special.  You know how that is... maybe it's a chocolate nut scone day or pecan or blueberry waffle day.  Today it was scrambled eggs, bacon, and apple walnut bread!

And our youngest son and his wife are expecting their first in the next few weeks. So Thanksgiving this year is taking on a whole new meaning. 

I love Sunday mornings.  Actually I love Saturday mornings too.  Maybe because when I was in the 'work world' these days weren't always available. Working in the Veterinary field for 20 years, Saturdays were a normal workday and occasionally it was necessary to work Sundays too. So-oo when Saturdays and Sundays became available as 'free days', I was ecstatic... and possibly still am. Even though all days can be free in these retirement years, I choose to take classes, run errands, and do necessary things during the week, leaving my Saturdays and Sundays for 'whatever'. 

This 'whatever' can be anything from artsy endeavors (sketching, photography, watercolor, clay, writing stories, etc.) to watching an old movie, reading a good book, going to grandson's soccer game, baking a new recipe, or just sleeping the day away with my cats (who are excited and all join me on the bed when I do this).  I am never bored.  But I do worry about the day when for whatever reason (age, physical or mental changes) this sad state of mind should overtake me.  I have seen it in people... and know that it can be debilitating.

However, today is today and that's a good thing.  So enjoy your day and thanks for reading my rambling thoughts...