COOKEEMAMA'S RAMBLES

Another Year Gone

2010-12-14T10:59:00.000-05:00

The older I get, the faster the years seem to fly by. I remember when I was a kid, how summer always appeared endless at the beginning of June. Now, I stand at June 1 and see the glimmer of autumn leaves in the near future. How perverse human nature is.

And I, apparently, am not a faithful blogger. It's not like nothing ever happens in my life. It just doesn't happen on a frequent basis anymore. I can for for days without leaving the house. If my digital clocks and computer didn't tell me what day it was, I might never know. Yesterday, for instance, seemed like Sunday all day to me. I don't know why. I was aware the day before it was Sunday. Why would I have 2 Sundays in a row? Oh well.

I have been knitting hats like an obsessed person the past few months. Oh wait. I am an obsessed person. I must have 2 dozen hats in various styles and colors lying around. I've been trying to make enough watch cap styles in Philadelphia Eagles colors for the fans in my extended family. I think I do but will have to check. There's also a few crocheted watch hats but not in green/black/white of the Eagles.

Now, I'm trying my hand at slouchys. I love the way they look and the grandgirls are clamoring for them. Plus a daughter-in-law.

So, I sit, knit and either read books on the computer or listen to them via Audible.com. My knitting is fairly basic, so it is possible for me to read and knit at the same time. Of course, I have to check once in awhile to be sure I have things going the way they're supposed to. Friday, I washed my hair and realized I needed to run to Walmart. Since it was cold & windy, I slapped a new hat on my head and was instantly war. Here is a picture of it. It doesn't show up well, but it's a navy blue wool. I love wool..

I know I wrote about our new baby who was born in May. Esther Joy is her name and she is precious. She'll be 6 months old tomorrow. Our other little ones are of the age where Christmas has become a big, exciting deal. Especially 3 1/2 year old Sophie. She wasn't a bit afraid of Santa when she sat in his lap. Since she is quite the talker, I'm sure she told him exactly what she expects from him. She can be a bit bossy. lol

Not ending the year on a good note for our family. Last year, my sweet daughter-in-law, Lisa had chemo and radiation treatments for breast cancer. Then, she was fine. Her hair grew back curly. She went back to work and was feeling good. This summer, she was a whirlwind on family vacation. In November, she developed a rash on her chest and was told by her family doctor that she had shingles.I guess he never thought to send her back to the oncologist. Duh! It wasn't shingles. A couple of weeks ago, tests were run and the cancer has metastasized throughout her body. We are all devastated. But we are rallying around her and DH Jim. She is taking a different chemo treatment and is applying to get into an experimental program of some sort. My heart is bleeding. If you pray, please do so for her. Otherwise, just hold some good thoughts.

Now, it's almost Christmas again. My contribution to the meal will be a baked sweet potato dish and, possibly, my mother's pecan pie recipe. Unfortunately, I have to go out in the cold and hit the grocery store for a few ingredients. Thankfully, I don't need to buy pecans as I already have some. Nuts are so expensive. Makes me with I had a pecan tree out back.

Time Flies

2010-07-12T17:24:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been 8 months since I last posted. It's not as though nothing has gone on in my life. Sort of hit or miss. Sometimes nothing. Sometimes too much.

I developed an abscess on my lower abdomen the end of February and had emergency surgery the evening of the day I saw my family doctor. It was a staph infection. Due to one thing or another, I spent just short of 2 weeks in the hospital. Went home with a PICC line and Wound Vac. 3 days after coming home, I broke out in a rash. That turned out to be a drug reaction to the nafcillin that was being poured in through the PICC. Infection doctor changed me to doxycycline and removed the PICC. Hooray. Next day, I had to call 911 as I was going into anaphylaxis shock. I didn't know that's what it was at the time. Just knew I was about to pass out. Another 2 days in hospital having all sorts of fun tests.

Then, 6 weeks or so of visiting nurses who came to check my vitals and re-dress the wound. Toward the end, the wound got small enough that I didn't need the vac anymore. My wonderful granddaughter, Shannon, stepped up to the plate and packed with it with gauze every day until I didn't need even that. It was a hairy 2 months and I still don't have the stamina I'd like to have.

Enough of that and on to good news. On May15, my oldest grandson and his wife presented the family with a new baby girl. Her name is Esther Joy. She is adorable, of course. Aren't all babies? Proving that she is kin to her father's side of the family, she was 10 days late. I think mom Jess gave up answering the phone as she was heartily tired of people asking why she hadn't had that kid yet. Poor Jess. But she bounced back just fine and looked great on family vacation. Big brother Elijah is in love with his baby sister even if she can't throw a ball yet.

Hike to Swallow Falls in MD.

July 3 took us to Thomas West Virginia and the bluegrass bar The Purple Fiddle. We always sit out on the terrace so we can watch the fireworks across the small canyon. (No, I didn't take this picture. I should be so lucky!) Thomas has one of the best displays I've ever seen. And I've seen some big city ones. The local fire department puts them on. There are only 2 streets in/out of Thomas. High street goes east; Low street goes west. The firefighters were taking up a collection at either end of town. Our guys were collecting in a firefighter's boot. The Purple Fiddle doesn't charge early in the evening. Come about 7:30. they go around to collect a $10 cover charge for the bluegrass bands. So, we sat under the stars on a perfect night, ate/drank, watched fireworks and listened to some pretty good bluegrass. Watching 2 1/2 year-old Elijah enjoy the fireworks was well worth the cover charge. He loved them. He would yell and throw his arms up in the air for nearly every one. 2 1/2 year old Brady was way less thrilled. He and his parental units left early. 3 year old Sophie enjoyed them up to a point. Then, it was her bedtime and she was ready to hit the road.

Each night a different family, cooked a hot meal. Except for one night of a delicious meal at the lodge and the night we went to Thomas. Had some good eats, I must say. I made fresh salsa on our night. Phyllis & the girls made a taco salad buffet. The last night, Lisa put the big pot in the little one and made one of her amazing salads and a soup that contained leftovers and other things we didn't eat during the week. She called it Sort Of Italian Wedding Soup. It was delicious.

Unfortunately, all good things must end. We came home to furnace hot temps of 100F in Lancaster PA. Ugh. It's hard to believe I was raised on the Gulf Coast in Texas. Didn't like heat then. Really don't like it now. Oh well. Fall comes shortly after Labor Day.

If you haven't been on vacation yet, I hope you have a good one. Drive safely and play heartily.

Margaret

Love Fall Weather

2009-10-04T08:43:00.003-05:00

We didn't have a very hot summer here in the Mid-Atlantic this summer, but I'm still happy to see Autumn arriving. I think this must be my favorite time of year. Football, rugby, leaf colors, the change in light. I love it all. Lately, my life seems to be changing whether I want it to or not. Since Olivia graduated, I don't seem to be attending sports event as I used to. In fact, the one a couple of weeks ago where she got hurt was the last time. She seems to have dropped softball for rugby these days. Plus she and Shannon are both busy with college. I took a look at one of Shannon's medical textbooks the other day. A person really needs to be in shape to lift those suckers.

Friday, I got my annual flu shot. Shannon went with me as we were going to do a couple of things afterward. Then, we met Amy, Austin & Brady for lunch at El Rodeo. I've been hankering for some tamales lately & Amy likes Mexican food. El Rodeo's tamales are not the best in the world but they are the only ones in Lancaster County that I know of. Too much masa harina paste and not enough meat. And the sauce isn't what I would pick if I had a choice. Oh well. I am in Yankeeland, after all. When I first moved here, there was one Mexican restaurant on the other side of Lancaster City. I never went there as people told me it was awful. Now, I'm wondering if they knew what they were talking about. These people put sugar (or something sweet) in their chili and barbecue sauce, after all! Ugh.

So, to honor Fall, I thought you all would get a kick out of the cute picture I found on "I Can Haz Cheezeburgers".

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A Sporty Weekend

2009-09-21T10:03:00.006-05:00

It was a sports sort of weekend. And the weather was absolutely, perfectly gorgeous. Cloudless blue skies, mild sun warmth, clear autumn light. Just feel good weather.

I haven't been able to get to the last few of Olivia's rugby games as they've been a few hours away. Now that she's graduated, she no longer plays for the high school age Knightmares. She is now on the women's Thorns. Saturday, the game was down in the Brandywine region. Not far from Andrew Wyeth's home and the Brandywine River Museum. Love that place.

I didn't take Olivia as she rode with some of her teammates. So, I didn't have to leave here until around 9:45am. When I got to Rte 30, I was suddenly stuck in tourist traffic. Those of you who have ever been to the Lancaster quilt show, know about Rte 30. Not up to the traffic it carries. Especially after it narrows to 2 lanes past Rockvale Square shopping mall. So, I took a street that would lead me over to Strasburg and past the steam railroad museum. More tourist traffic, of course. But once I get past the railroad, there is none and it's a quick drive down to Gap. Just before getting to the railroad, the road forks. The road to Gap goes right by the trains and is the left arm of the fork. I have done this dozens of times. Where the heck was my brain that made me take the right fork and end up wandering around in Amish country? Which made me late for the game start. Sheesh. TG for my Garmin GPS or I would have been in Delaware without a clue.

I finally got there and the girls had been playing for 5 minutes or so. They started late or I would have missed 15-20. I wasn't in the mood to drag my chair the length of the field to where the girls were set up. There were only 1 or 2 parents there. I parked about 10 yards from the goal post and set my chair up by the car. I had to use the binoculars as most of the action took place at the other end of the field. The Thorns were getting tromped. I think the final score was 30-5. In rugby, a Try is worth 5 points and the extra point is 2. Try being the same thing as a touchdown.

The warm sun did a job on me and I kept dozing off. Suddenly, I lurched into full alert and opened my eyes. At the other end of the field, a player was down and thrashing around. I could hear her screaming/crying from where I sat. I just knew it was Olivia. A quick scan with the binoculars told me that I was right. It wasn't one of those down for a minute and back into the game types of player down. She was down for a good 5-10 minutes. I knew we were going to the ER before they picked her up. So, I threw my chair in the trunk and my other stuff in the back seat. I was going to drive down along the sidelines, but 4 girls carried her up to me and were nearly there before I could even get in the car. She was in bad shape and I thought she might have broken her tibia. She had tackled someone and that girl fell right on top of O's lower leg. Girl was no lightweight and ground was hard. Something had to give.

Several players from the other team had helped bring her up and one told me how to get to Chester Hospital. She also gave me her cell #. After we got started, Olivia said she wanted to come home and go to "our" hospital. Lancaster General. An hour away from where we were. She said she was fine as long as she didn't move. Since we had to drive by where Phyllis was working, I called to give her a heads up about her baby. She freaked just as Olivia had said she would. I understood completely. Far from her baby, couldn't leave work. Lots of texting went on Saturday afternoon. In Gap, we swung by McD's for some sweet tea. Then, by the Rainbow Dinner Theater so Phyllis could check O out for herself.

On to the hospital in mid-city Lancaster. 2 security guards and a nurse got her out of the car and into a wheelchair. By the time I parked & got back to the ER, she had already been thru triage and had her pager. Shannon was at work. So, she came down for awhile until she had to go back to get evening meals ready. She also brought me a lovely hot cup of Constant Comment tea. It really hit the spot.
She was working ICU this weekend. The end result of all this was no broken leg and no hairline fracture they could see. The diagnosis was a contusion and possible the bone was bruised also. Her leg was wrapped with an Ace bandage and she was given crutches to add to her crutch collection. We were only at the ER for about 2 hours. So much better than they used to be. And, yes, I know an ER is not a first come, first served sort of place. But it was still fast. Because the weather was so fine Saturday, it was the sort of day where people get injured a lot.

We ate at Bob Evans on the way home swung by the CVS to get her Vicodin prescription. Then, I took her home, got her situated on the couch and brought my own self home. Where I collapsed at the computer.

Yesterday, one of her rugby buddies picked her up and they drove down to Westchester University to watch another rugby buddy's game. I think they played Penn State, but not sure. Phyllis, her neighbor and I went to the last Barnstormer's baseball game of the season. Another perfect day. We left at the end of the 7th inning. The Stormers were ahead and Phyllis was tired. She had called Olivia to see if she was on her way home. O invented a new word. She said she was "crutching" her way up a hill and would call mom back in a few minutes. I love that word. I could just see her going up the hill on her crutches. If Saturday happened to me, I'd be on heavy drugs still. I think she's taken 2 pills. She was pretty tired last night. I don't know how she's managing her crutches and text books at school today. Is there a law somewhere that college textbooks must weight 20 lbs. each?

And we 3 at the baseball game had a grand time, too. Since it was the last game, people were partying all over and the Clipper was giving out lots of stuff. The weather certainly contributed to the general good feeling. A win just iced the cake for us all.

Old Baby Magazine

2009-07-14T07:14:00.009-05:00

I was searching through my Rubbermaid bin full of old photographs and came across this baby rearing magazine from 1939. Obviously, my mother either purchased it or was given it shortly after I was born in 1938. She didn't know anything about taking care of a newborn and was scared spitless. I'm sure she searched for all the help she could get. She tried nursing but that was falling out of favor in those days. The new 'modern' idea was that a bottle fed baby was healthier in some way. It sure did release a woman from being on call every few hours and I think that might have been the attraction.

Anyway, I thought I'd scan an article every few days and post it here. I love the ads. So 30's. The magazine only cost 15 cents. I have no idea what that would be in 2009. A lot more, I'm sure. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have.

DOUBLE CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM ENOUGH TO READ:

Happy Days

2009-07-13T17:05:00.003-05:00

Proving that kids don't really change.

There's No Place Like Home

2009-07-07T19:00:00.022-05:00

Shannon & I got home shortly after 8pm last night. Well, she did. That's when we got to her house. We had to unload her stuff and I had to visit with Phyllis & Olivia a few minutes. I got home closer to 9pm. Where I grabbed my purse, camera, knitting bag and stuff that would melt. Dirty clothes and suitcases could wait until today. And did.

Yesterday was the first day in the whole week that we weren't freezing. Or chilly, anyway. The highest temp during the whole week was about 68F. On July 3, no less. The guys and the kids lit a bunch of fireworks they bought at the vendor in Walmart's parking lot earlier in the week. I was amazed at how good they were. Not the big bangers they have at the festival shows. But lots of flash and spark to suit me and the little ones. And smoke. Cough, cough.

Saturday, we all trekked about 40 miles away to the small town of Thomas, West Virginia. They all stopped there at the Purple Fiddle last year on their way back from some waterfall. I didn't go as I was at a point in the week of wanting a bit of solitude. I got my solitude this year when they all trooped off Friday to a winery about 1 1/2 hours away. Gregg swore up and down that Thomas would be having their fireworks Saturday night. The Fourth. DGIL, Jess, argued that she had read they would be on Friday night. Gregg showed us on his Internet access via his cell phone that, yes indeed, fireworks to be on the Fourth of July.

The mass of them wanted to hit a brewery somewhere before going on to Thomas. I didn't want to do that any more than I wanted to go to the winery the previous day. I let them go and I went to Thomas a bit later in my own car. The Purple Fiddle was easy to find as the town only has 1 street. Actually it has 2. An upper street and a lower street. They are one way streets with the lower one being the one the PF was on. There were quite a few people walking around carrying portable chairs. Mid-block, there was a concert getting underway. A girl was singing Fortunately for me, I found a parking spot another half block away right in front of the PF and swung into it. It was only about 10 minutes before I saw some of my crew ambling up the street.

We sat in the courtyard to have our desserts and drinks. I had a yummy coconut-almond pound cake. It was huge. Several in the group had small tastes and ordered their own slices.

ITM, there was a guy wandering around the courtyard looking for his cell phone. He said it was his birthday and people had been calling him a lot. He couldn't remember where he last had it. We all called it, but it wasn't to be had out where we were. It turned out to be behind the bar inside. LOL Let's just say the fellow had been celebrating his birthday before we got there. Later, he came out and sat down to talk to me. I was sitting by myself at a table while the others had migrated over to a picnic/bench table next to it so the kiddos could eat. He kept calling me 'Mama' and proceeded to tell me his history. Recently moved to the area from DC, used to own a restaurant, was a licensed master electrician, etc, etc, etc. This has happened to me all my life. Drunks gravitate to me to spill their guts. And I am one of those people who never know what to say to them. So I grin like an ape and listen to the tale. At least he was pleasant.

BTW, there were NO fireworks Saturday night. They had been the night before! Score one for DGIL Jess. LOL When Gregg looked at his cell again, he noticed it was saying Just 4, 2008. We all had a good laugh at that, for sure. Most of them did stay for the bluegrass string band that was to perform at 8:30. I decided not to part with $7 and went back to Alpine Lake. On the way over, I almost wrecked the car when I rounded a curve and saw a long line of wind turbines on the crest of a mountain. They were beautiful! I've seen them in pictures but never imagine they were so huge. And the blades were turning slowly and gracefully in the wind. They looked like ballet dancers and were mesmerizing to watch. I took some pictures with my cell phone camera but haven't figure out how to get them onto the computer yet. Soon as the fog clears from my brain.

Another place I stopped (it was still daylight) was to drive up a road to see what is billed as "The Smallest Church in 48 States".
It was pretty small alright. And behind it was another building with a sign saying it is the smallest post office. I didn't get out. The door was open and I just drove near it to peek in. It looked like a lovely place to go for a bit of quiet meditation. The grounds were well kept and pretty in their own right.

We played games just about every night. Lots of laughing, teasing, yelling. Our family doesn't play sedately. Mucho competition among some. Here are some of the games we played till 1-2am.

'Eye to Eye, Junior' by Simply Fun.

'Hit Or Miss' by Gamewright

'Partini' by Parker Brothers

Because the weather was so lovely yesterday and warmed up, we packed up, cleaned house, checked out and headed for Alpine Lake and the beach for a few hours. We had to be out of the house by 11am. I felt so lazy that I kept putting off leaving. Finally, I told Shannon that we needed to go. It was 4pm. So, we said our fond farewells and drove off for PA. I knew the rest of them wouldn't get home till very late. Amy wrote on FaceBook this morning that they got in at 1am. They made a few stops along the way. I've learned the hard way that I can't keep up. So, I don't even try.

Oh yes. The meal the girls and I made was Mexican. Chicken enchiladas, frijoles, guacamole, Tostitos chips, and Margaritas. It was good if I do say so myself. There were only 2 enchiladas left over.

Garland Family Vacation. What To Cook?

2009-06-21T13:38:00.005-05:00

It's that time of year again. The Garland family vacation begins next Monday. It will be a different kind of vacation this year. Although there will be a core group staying the whole week, the rest will be coming and going like there is a revolving door to the house. I will be there the entire week because I am taking MY car for a change. I finally put my foot down about being at the mercy of Phyllis & girls. Just about the time, I want to go somewhere, they need the car to head out exploring or going to the beach down at the lake. Then, I must choose whether I want to do those things or stay at the house and knit or whatever. This year, I can go or not go. But it won't be because I don't have wheels. Shannon is riding with me and will stay the week also.

I don't know if Jim & Lisa will be going or not. She has her 3rd chemo treatment this Wednesday and isn't sure how she will be feeling. If they do go, they'll go on Wednesday and come home on Saturday. I hope Lisa is able to make it. We need to coddle her for a bit.

Kim & her little family will go on Monday and leave on Wednesday. Her mom, Dawn (my former DIL) is leaving her DH and moving back to Lancaster. She's going to stay with Kim & Derrick until she finds a place of her own. I don't know where she's going to sleep. It's a tiny apartment. Melissa's not going at all this year due to her job.

Phyllis & Olvia will be there Monday-Friday. Olivia is starting a new job for the summer. Working at Schopf Brothers roadside stand. While it is roadside, it's next to their big old PA Dutch house and there is a big barn there. The barn is used at Christmas when they have wreaths and other greenery decorations inside. Right now, corn is coming into season this week. When corn is on the table, it's like ants at a picnic. People go berserk to get it. Especially this first corn and the fact that it's a holiday weekend. Big O will be a busy girl. I'll be getting my corn from the young Amish couple up the street. That's their farm at the top of this page. Corn, tomatoes, cukes, onions. Yummy. I live on tomato & cucumber sandwiches in the summer.

So, it looks like the core week long group will be Phil/Amy & boys, me, Shannon, Jenn/Gregg & their kids and Mike/Jess & Elijah.

One of the things we've always done is a different family cooks a meal each night. That way, we all get a hot, decent sit down meal every evening, but only have to cook one of them during the time period. With the revolving door thing, I'm not sure how that's going to work out.

I used to make Baked Ziti, but switched to Taco Salad last year. I made a homemade salsa w/cilantro and Phyllis made the Taco Salad. Kim is making the Ziti this year. I'm tired of the salad and have been searching for something else to make. I am still going to make the salsa. So, I'm leaning toward Tamale Pie. I haven't made that in a donkey's age. I found some good recipes complete with video when I Googled 'tamale pie'. Who needs cookbooks cluttering up the house? LOL Anyway, this one sounds the best and the addition of the corn is intriguing.

Pet Peeves & Other Grumblings

2009-06-10T09:24:00.005-05:00

Every so often, a word or phrase enters into the public lexicon and becomes over-used in short order. It seems that every tv show is using it. Then, everybody I know. Soon, just hearing the word/phrase gives me heartburn. Unfortunately, I find myself saying them also. I'm not a word snob. But enough is enough sometimes. It's a shame I reach that had-it-up-to-hear point before anyone else does. Or so it seems, anyway.

Two items come to mind that I keep hearing of late. I'm sure I could think of more but these will do for now.

Re-purposing. Huh? What does that mean? Does it just sound fancier to say 're-purposing' than to say something is used or being used for something other than it's original intent? I liked it at first. Then, every decorating, remodeling show on tv began to say it. It's a great favorite of interior designers and remodelers. Have you noticed there are no 'interior decorators' anymore? Where did they go? Getting re-purposed into interior designers I reckon.

The second item on my hit list is the phrase "just sayin'". Again. What does that mean? You already said it. Why do you have to, then, tell me you said it? It was cute but has quickly grown stale.

There are lots of others that have come & gone, thankfully. Where's the beef. Dead meat. For far too long every crime show of any type found an actor telling someone they were 'dead meat'.

TV commercials can get very annoying when they are repeated over and over and... Geico Insurance comes to mind. I hate, loath and despise the caveman commercials! They are repulsive and sure don't make me want to buy Geico insurance. Progressive isn't much better. The high-fiving squirrels was repeated so much, I wanted to shoot the television set.

More advertisers should take a page out of Anhauser-Busch's advertising campaigns. Ever changing and always entertaining. Thank goodness for my DVR.

Hempfield High School Class of 2009

2009-06-09T20:49:00.003-05:00

Senior Olivia

2009-05-28T11:56:00.008-05:00

JUNE 7, 2009

Where did all those years go?

2009-05-25T07:44:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged. I just haven't been in the mood to write, I guess. Which is why I'm not a best-selling author. LOL

I can't remember all the stuff that's happened, so I won't bore you with it. A few birthdays here and there. My oldest baby, Phyllis, turned (cough, cough, mumble)on May 7. I don't mind revealing her age but that would reveal mine. Uh uh.

Miss Sophie Brielle celebrated her 2nd birthday in style with a good many family members present. She really got into the paper tearing part. Also tossing out wads of tissue from gift bags to get down to the good stuff. She had the cutest face every time she pulled out another goodie. Hard to describe it. She looked surprised and awe-struck all in the same face. None of my pictures captured it.

Mother's Day was lovely. I was invited to Phil & Amy's for a scrumptious meal. The grand finale was a stunningly beautiful trifle. It tasted even better than it looked. Amy has one of those trifle dishes that really showcase whatever is put in them. I knew Mutt & Grace (Phil's mom & step-dad) would be there. We've been celebrating Mother's Day & Father's Day together since the kids have been grown.

A nice surprise was step-son Chris showing up. It's always a delight to see him. Kim & Derrick came by with Sophie to give us Mother's Day cards. They couldn't stay long because Derrick had to be at work at 4pm. A last nice surprise was when Lisa of Lititz showed up. A friend of her brought her down as she wasn't supposed to be driving yet after her lumpectomy.

I've been to several rugby games. One was in the rain. Fortunately, a dad had set up his canopy and invited us to share it. I went to Lowe's the next day and purchased my own canopy. In my favorite color of red. I didn't plan it that way. I thought they only came in blue or green. The girls didn't make the semi-finals but we were the hosts. So, the call went out for canopys. I took mine over on Saturday so some dads could take it up the hill and set it up. They used it for the refs. It was a gorgeous day, but windy. I didn't go since it was on Mother's Day and I was elsewhere as stated above.

I have been a crocheting fool these past weeks. I made 12 market bags of various patterns. Then, I decided to try my hand at coasters, potholders and hot pads with leftover cotton yarn. All from freebie patterns on the Internet. Some instructions were very good and some required getting into the mind of the creator. Some I just gave up on and ripped out for another go with a different pattern. I'm using one of the coasters here at my computer to set my coffee on. And other drinks thru the day. But mainly the early morning coffee. I have a tendency to slop it around for some reason.

That's about it from my little corner of the world. Since today is Memorial Day, I want to take the opportunity to thank our folks in uniform for their service and sacrifices. And I want to honor those who have given their lives to keep us all free. Salutes to you all.

A Pleasant Surprise

2009-04-14T07:04:00.013-05:00

Watch the whole video. Time well spent on your part. A wonderful bit found at DailyMotion. Which seems to be an alternative to YouTube. If it opens in another window, close this one so you only hear one and not two at once. Don't know how to change the html for it.

Susan Boyle - 47-
Britain's Got Talent"

Never judge a book by it's cover is still relevant today for a good reason. This reminds me of the first time I heard goofy-looking Jim Nabors sing on the old "Andy Griffith Show". He looked like such a dork. Then, he opened his mouth and pure gold poured forth.

I still have chills from listening to the opening notes of Susan's song. Did you notice Simon Cowell's eyebrows practically joined his hair line? LOL

2009-04-08T17:44:00.001-05:00

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YouTube Day

2009-04-06T10:59:00.007-05:00

Here I sit creating movies to u/l to YouTube. It takes forever because graphics just slow things up.

On Feb.28, Olivia had her last cheer event at Spirit Dance & Cheer Competition down in Williamsburg, VA. Plus she's in a stunt group. They had a good time around the rain drops and the Black Knights won a couple of honking big trophys. Do they even make small trophys? I've never seen one. LOL

Yesterday was the first rugby game that I've been able to attend. So far, the Knightmares have had 3 games. One Olivia missed because she was in Virginia. Another was forfeited by the opposing team. Phyllis took a ton of video. Which I am now editing, dividing up and posting to YouTube. I'll put it all on a DVD later. You can only have 10 minute long videos on there.

As for me, I've become a crocheting fool. I was making a market bag for myself. The girls saw it and all asked to have one. Except for Olivia. She doesn't want one at this time. But I have 2 for daughters-in-law and 4 for granddaughters. In order to keep from being bored stiff while I crochet, I've been listening to audio books. Love it.

I found out our library has installed a program where you can borrow audio books by d/l them. You must install the OverDrive software and console for it to work. You are allowed 5 books per month. There is a time limit just as there is when you take them from the library. 14 days normally. Then, it disappears from your console and you get other books. They don't have a huge selection yet but it's pretty large. Definitely an idea whose time has come.

I also belong to audible.com and buy books from them. I only get unabridged, complete books from either place. I despise abridged one. Who knows what some stranger has decided to cut out? Maybe a great scene or lovely passage of language. I'd rather decided for myself.

That's about it from here. It's a rainy, dark day and I'm awfully sleepy. But will fight the good fight to stay awake so I can sleep tonight.

Audio Books & My Library

2009-03-27T13:16:00.010-05:00

I joined Audible a couple of days ago as they seem to be the only audible books place on-line that I can find. . My Garmin GPS has MP3 capabilities and I love listening to books while I drive. I think their monthly fee is a bit steep since they charge for audio books in addition. I signed up for the 3 cheapie months and got 2 unabridged books. I hate, loathe & despise abridged ones.

As I was surfing for other audio book sites yesterday, I came across OverDrive. They set up public libraries with their software & programs so that patrons can borrow audio books from a virtual library. You don’t buy them as on audible.com. You are borrowing them just as if you walked into the mortar & brick building & there is a time limit. I checked it out and went thru the tutorial. I discovered that my library just got this service in Dec. Limited to audio books now, they will be doing e-books later. Right now, they need to work on getting more audio books into the virtual library.

One big plus is that you are not limited to sitting at the computer to read/listen to the books. You can burn them to a CD or off-load them onto some other device. Like your i-Pod or other MP3, a GPS that has audio book capabilities, maybe even your cell phone. You can get all this info at the OD web site. Be sure and sit thru the whole tutorial. It's very informative and can be referred to again if you get confused about how to get books.

I was beyond excited! Now, I want to find out if this will apply to InterLibrary loans. On the OverDrive
site you can check to see if your local library has this program in place.

I have now signed up through my local library, downloaded the OverDrive console software and chosen a couple of books. The first book is boring and I won't mention the name. It's non-fiction. I don't know what I was thinking there.

For my 2nd book, I decided to choose an old friend. One I haven't read in many years but have seen the various film versions. Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". Think Colin Firth here. THE Mr. Darcy.
It's grand to be read to by a lovely feminine British voice. For now, I'm listening to it in WMA as my computer chair is the most comfortable place for me to do yarn work. Keeps my back straight.

2009-03-17T15:13:00.001-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

ANOTHER 50TH BIRTHDAY

2009-03-15T13:15:00.001-05:00

One of my step-sons turned the big 5-0 earlier this month. His kids decided to throw a surprise party for him. Trying to find a date for any sort of get-together in this large family takes the brains of a general. Something is going on for somebody/family every weekend. So, even though his birthday was 2 weeks ago, March 14 was the first free day available. The only day from what I understand.

Mike & Jess held the party in their house. I had never been there. It’s in Lancaster city and is a row house. If you’re not familiar with row houses, an end one is the most desirable. And that is what they have. Mike bought it a few years back and has been restoring it gradually. Jess has added her special decorating touches to it. It is cute and cozy. The perfect place for a young family of 3.

The party was scheduled to start at 2pm EDT. Since it was supposed to be a surprise, most of us got there a bit early. Everybody but the birthday boy, his wife and their daughter. Not the ladies fault. He had gone off somewhere, had his cell phone either on vibrate or turned off and was incommunicado for several hours. His grown kids were sort of upset but they are used to it and managed to sluff it off and have a good time with the family that was there. I pointed out to Mike that he had hosted his first family get together. The torch has been passed to the next generation.

To make a long story a bit shorter, Tim, Lisa & Emma arrived after he was finally located down in Baltimore and they arrived about 6:30pm. Of course, by then he knew it was a birthday party for him and was more than dismayed about it all. Unfortunately, he missed his mom & step-dad and one of his brothers. Mutt doesn’t like to stay late anywhere. Since he was downtown city Lancaster yesterday, he was even more anxious to leave early. Grace, who would have stayed to the end, didn’t have a lot of choice but to go with him since brother Chris, who lives near her, was leaving at the same time.

There were lots of adorable kids there. Sophie, 22 months, Brady, 16 months and Elijah, 14 months were everywhere. The boys have both started walking and it’s so cute to watch them. Sophie is used to bossing them around but I think the tide is starting to change on her. LOL

As for what I’ve been doing, I’ve been crocheting on the market bags like a fiend. I’m on my 2nd bag of Coat’s & Clarks Save the Earth mesh bag. The first one I am referring to as the King Kong market bag. I made a mistake on it by using an H crochet hook rather than the F called for. Surely did make a BIG difference! I think it will make a fine thing to haul toys and other things to the beach or park. If you filled it with groceries, you’d never be able to pick it up.

The one I’m currently working has the right sized hook and is turning out very nicely. It’s Seaspray Green. A lovely soft green. My plan is to make each one of the girls one. Not necessarily this pattern but they all were saying they wanted on like it yesterday. We’ll see how bored I get.

Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas

2009-03-12T17:38:00.013-05:00

For Karen H who has lost her pencil and needs something to distract her. LOL

My parents & I were on our way to California on vacation. They drove off and left me in a gas station restroom in Dumas, Texas. In the 50’s, Dumas was a pretty bleak West Texas small town. Or so it seemed to a shook up 11 year old. AND a sand storm was coming. I had been asleep in the back seat. Got out to use the facilities while Daddy pumped gas. They didn’t notice I wasn’t there and drove away. This was an early 50’s Cadillac. Approx. the size of a battle ship. I still remember that awful feeling of looking up/down the wide empty street & not seeing the car. I went to call my uncle in Houston over 600 miles away. Just as I was talking to him, my parents came screeching up. Mother turned to ask me if I wanted lunch & I wasn’t there!

For years, my uncle would sing “I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas” when he wanted to get me riled. Now, I sing what I can remember and my grandchildren fall down laughing. They think their old Nana has slipped a few cogs anyway. I live to entertain the young folks.

And, now, especially for Karen H. are song, the lyrics and the history of the song.

DING DONG DADDY FROM DUMAS
(Phil Baxter)

Recorded by : Louis Armstrong; Lawrence Brown; Eddie Condon;
Arthur Godfrey; Benny Goodman; Phil Harris: Eddy Howard;
Ben Pollack; Somethin' Smith; Squadronaires; Bob Wills

Now, I know all, you all don't know who I is
Because I just got here today
My hometown is a little town
Way down Dixie way

Now, everybody down there from miles around
All calls me by my name
Now that I'm up here
In your big city
I sure wish you'd all do the same

Because I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas
And you oughtta see me do my stuff
Why, I'm a clean cut fella
From Hohner's Corner
Ooh, you oughtta see me strut

I'm a paper cuttin' cutie
Got a gal called, Katy
She's a little, heavy lady
And I call her baby

I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas
And you oughtta see me do my stuff
Yes, a ding dong daddy from Dumas
And you oughtta see me do my stuff

I'm a ping pong papa from Pitchfork Prairie
Oughtta see me strut

I'm a ding dong daddy
Got a whiz bang mama
She's a Bear Creek baby
And a whompous kitty

I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas
And you oughtta see me do my stuff

-Instrumental Break-

Just a ding dong daddy from Dumas
Ooh, you oughtta see me do my stuff

I'm a cornpone popper
And an apple knocker
You oughtta see me strut
I'm a momma lovin' man
And I just left Mary
She's a big blonde baby
From Peanut Prairie

I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas now
And you oughtta see me do my stuff

-Instrumental Break-

Just a rinky dinky daddy from the Dumas
Who you'll see me doin' my stuff

I'm a peach pie papa
From Jackson's Holla
Ah, you oughtta see me strut

I'm a honey drippin' daddy
Got a hard-hearted baby
She's a sheep shakin' Sheba
And hallelujah!

I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas
And you oughtta see me strut!

Legend of the Ding Dong Daddy

What is a Ding Dong Daddy?

This is the question most visitors to Dumas, Texas ask after arriving in the county seat city of Moore County, lodged in the near northwestern top of the Texas Panhandle.

Let’s go back to the beginning – First of all, the man who first developed the town was named Louis Dumas and the town was his namesake. This all took place in the late 1800’s as the Texas Panhandle was one of the final areas of the State of Texas to be developed from the raw prairie.

Dumas, the town developer, stayed in the city with his name only a short time, but the name remains to this day. And, what began as a dusty crossroads on the prairie above the “big blues” north and west of Amarillo above the Canadian River began to grow. First, the town was given little chance to survive, but the pioneer-stock was hardy stuff and they stuck it out. The small village was only 571 souls in the 1920’s and late in that decade a man who was to become a moderately successful band leader and song writer, Phil Baxter, chanced upon Dumas. He spent a few weeks in Dumas getting acquainted and after he had a steak continued his journey. Les than a year later Baxter penned the words and tune to a song which he name “I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas.”

The catchy song gained national recognition when Phil Harris, band leader for the Jack Benny Radio Show, recorded the song.

Dumas, like many smaller towns, grew and prospered during the years prior to and during World War II. During this time several industrial plants had been constructed and the town boasted 2,117 population in 1940. Shortly after the end of World War II, local Dumas residents organized and began operations of radio station KDDD. The three “D’s” came from the song – I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas.

Radio station KDDD used the song as its theme song and later early radio station manager, and later owner, Ken Duke, commission an Amarillo commercial artist, Hut Hutson, to create an image of the Ding Dong Daddy of the song.

As a result, Hutson created the caricature that is the “Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas” complete with radio microphone. The radio station copyrighted the caricature and used it as its trademark. The little Ding Dong Daddy became popular and in the early 1950’s KDDD loaned the logo to the Dumas Chamber of Commerce for use in promoting Dumas, with the provision that the logo not be used by any commercial business other than to boost Dumas.

A few years later, the Chamber of Commerce created a counterpart, giving life to the Ding Dong Dolly from Dumas.

Plastic pins of both the “Daddy” and “Dolly” have been give wide distribution over most of the Free World as Dumas residents have traveled and given away the small caricatures of plastic.

Today, the Moore County Historical Museum has on display the original artwork of the “Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas”, along with an autographed copy of the sheet music by Phil Baxter. Also a copy on tape of the portion of a radio broadcast interview with song writer Phil Baxter and KDDD’s Ken Duke made during the Dumas Dogie Day celebration in June, 1957.

So, you can see that there really is a “Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas” and holding or wearing one of the Daddy pins gives the owner an attitude of being a part of the great heritage of the Panhandle of Dumas, Texas.

Except courtesy of “Our Town – Dumas” by Jay B. Funk.

Senior Picture

2009-03-08T15:10:00.001-05:00

Olivia got her senior pictures last week. I finally got my copy yesterday. Sure looks all grown up, doesn'tt she?

Oh Lonesome Me

2009-02-28T15:56:00.009-05:00

Something to amuse myself while all my playmates have decamped to exotic places like Middletown DE and Ocean City MD. Ocean City in February? Oh yeah. The Reach the Beach Cheer & Dance National Competition
is going on Feb 28/Mar 1. Olivia is in group cheer and a stunt group. I understand from text messages that there is no parking to be had within several counties.

The other group, containing some of my favorite relatives, are visiting another group of some of my favorite relatives in Middletown DE.
I'm sure they are all having a good time. I hope Cassie, the only girl in the group of 6 kids, is cracking the whip on those boys. Cass needs Emma to watch her back.

And here is my LOL for the afternoon:

Cutie Kittie

2009-02-25T16:46:00.003-05:00

Pockets To Let

2009-02-24T19:28:00.008-05:00

Well, I may be broke now but I'll be able to cook things and have clean dishes. I went to Lowe's today. Definitely to buy the stove I've been whining on about for a couple of years. Possible a dishwasher. The last was an iffy. I did my homework on the Internet for a couple of weeks. Narrowing it down to what I wanted in the price range I could afford. If price were no object, we'd be talking a whole different scenario here.

Jerry, the salesman, was surprised that I had the model # of both written on an index card. Plus I had measure the space for the stove. I decided to deal with the rocking stove by putting a thick piece of plywood down for the new stove to stand on. I don't have the money to get a new kitchen floor this year. I figure the weight of the stove should hold the plywood in place. Maybe a floor replacement next year. We'll see.

The stove was easy. I was upset that they didn't have the portable dishwashers there for me to see. They only had built-ins. That would have cost me another $500-600 for carpenter/plumber/electrician guys. Plus I would lose 2 badly needed drawers and the 2 shelves of cabinet space beneath them. The shelves I could live without but I surely would miss those drawers. One of them is my junk drawer, for crying out loud! Whoever heard of a kitchen with no junk drawer? Not me. Where would a body keep all those little bits & bobs that can't be pigeon holed as utensils or cooking stuff? Batteries, rubber bands, instructions for long-departed appliances, etc. You see my point, I'm sure.

So, here are the new appliances soon to appear in my kitchen and put everything else to shame.

If you click on the picture, it will open to a larger one where you can see the appliance better:
GE 30-Inch Freestanding Gas Range (Color: Black) Model: JGBS18DENBB

GE 24-Inch Convertible/Portable Dishwasher (Color: Black) ENERGY STAR Model: GSC3500NBB

Black, aren't they? I love black appliances.

Mail Bonanza

2009-02-21T13:24:00.004-05:00

I was sitting quietly doing a bit of knitting when I heard a vehicle out front. Bella went ballistic. So, I knew it was a delivery person. Turned out to be Joe, my mail guy. I was expecting some Crocs I ordered the other day. The real deal. Not the fake ones. They are still in the "sortation" depot of FedEx somewhere deep in Wisconsin. Apparently, sortation is a new buzz word among delivery folk. I noticed it on the USPS page also.

Anyway, he dropped off 3 packages. None of them my Crocs. I got 3 Karen Rose books that I had won in a New Year's Eve contest. I just had an email from her this morning apologizing for not getting them to me sooner. Not a problem. Her books are the kind I don't read after it gets dark-thirty. Scary. I also got a Taste of Home Comfort Food cookbook. I forgot I ordered that. I must have been needing some comfort food that day to have ordered it. Like I can't get any old recipe I want off the Internet. Including Chicken Fried Steak. Hooray. The 3rd package contained 3 skeins of Lion Brand yarns "Lion Cotton" in Sage. It turned out to be a loverly shade. I found a crochet pattern for a market bag and thought I'd try my hand at making one. If it turns out OK and goes fairly quickly, I may whip some up for the family women for Christmas or just because.

Or, if you were ever a Pogo fan, Decimation Day. We used to celebrate Decimation Day in my family when we read Pogo and until all the people who celebrated it died. I should revive it. If you don't remember Pogo or know what Decimation Day is, I'll tell you. Pogo was a wonderful cartoon drawn by the late Walt Kelly. They live in a swamp people with (crittered with?) some delightful characters. I Googled Pogo and Wikipedia has a much better description of the strip and it's history than I could ever give. Wiki does't mention Decimation Day, but it's any day you choose to celebrate. Any day, several times. I can't remember exactly why the Okeechobee swamp folk celebrated it. In my family, we would give someone a gift that wasn't a birthday/holiday gift. We would say it was for Decimation Day. That way the recipient couldn't protest that we shouldn't have.

BTW, Pogo Possum is most famous for saying "We have met the enemy and he is us." Dr. Joyce Brothers mistakenly credited Charlie Brown for this, but not so.

LOL More than you ever wanted to know about a comic strip or my snail mail.

I'm off to pick up my Girl Scout cookies from my favorite Girl Scout. Olivia is having a blast at Penn State where she is attending a rugby camp for the weekend. Mom is having empty nest feelings.

Kids on Love and Marriage

2009-02-13T20:08:00.008-05:00

This is very timely for Valentine's Day and romance. It made me laugh. My daughter sent it to me. I wish I knew who authored it so I could give credit, but there was none attached. To whoever did, thank you.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?
"You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming." Alan, age 10

"No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with." Kirsten, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
"Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then." Camille, age 10

"No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married." Freddie, age 6

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
"Married people usually look happy to talk to other people." Eddie, age 6

"You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids." Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
"Both don't want no more kids." Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
"Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough." Lynnette, age 8

"On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date." Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?
"I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns." Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OK TO KISS SOMEONE?
"When they're rich." Pam, age 7

"The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that." Curt, age 7

"The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do." Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
"I don't know which is better, but I'll tell you one thing. I'm never going to have sex with my wife. I don't want to be all grossed out." Theodore, age 8

"It's better for girls to be single, but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them." Anita, age 9

"Single is better, for the simple reason that I wouldn't want to change no diapers. Of course, if I did get married, I'd just phone my mother and have her come over for some coffee and diaper-changing." Kirsten, age 10

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
"There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?" Kelvin, age 8

"You can be sure of one thing - the boys would come chasing after us just the same as they do now." Roberta, age 7

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
"If you want to last with your man, you should wear a lot of sexy clothes, especially underwear that is red and maybe has a few diamonds on it." Lori, age 8

"Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck." Ricky, age 10

Rugby Season & Other Stuff

2009-02-06T14:06:00.005-05:00

I'm so excited. The first scrimmage is March 1 and Olivia is already going to practice 2 afternoons per week. Tomorrow is the last wrestling match. Hooray for that, too. It's just not a sport I can get into although I know it's very popular. Last Saturday was presentation of the parents by their Senior kids. Here is a video that Olivia's BF took. He did a good job.

Other than a couple of snow storms, all's quiet on the eastern front. In fact, the temperatures may hit 50°F on Sunday. We won't know what to do with ourselves. In spite of what the groundhog says, I wonder if spring isn't just around the corner? This past week, I've been hearing more and more Canada geese flying back and forth to the Susquehanna. They sleep there at night and cruise the corn fields by day to score food. And they are very noisy birds. You'd think they'd use all their energy for flying. But nooo! They must constantly honk, honk, honk.

Had a lovely evening Tuesday. I had cabin fever and hied myself over to visit one of my DIL. Turned GD Shannon was also there. I invited her out to eat at Friendly's. Amy decided that sounded good. So, she called her DH Phil to meet us, bundled up the boys and off we went. It was a lovely time. That night they got 8+" of snow while we got none. The storm was called a freak of nature in big headlines the next day.

I don't have any pictures today. So, I snatched this clip from YouTube. It's called Rugby 101 and is a computer generated instruction on the basics of Rugby and what various plays & positions are called.

RUGBY 101

Go Steelers

2009-02-01T14:24:00.003-05:00

If I can't have the Cowboys or the Eagles, I guess Pittsburgh is my choice of the day. Whatever. One side or the other will win I'm sure. That's my prediction. Weather is fine in the Middle Atlantic today. Probably perfect in Tampa. ITM, enjoy the little rocker from LOLDogs.

So True!

2009-01-30T11:44:00.001-05:00

I totally get this!

Sophie & Aunt Phyllis

2009-01-28T13:21:00.007-05:00

Can you tell I have a new cam corder? Lots more fun than a girl ought to have. Here are 2. Phyllis took the one of Sophie and I took the snow scenery out my back porch door about noon EST. No way I'm going out and chance falling on my face. Or worse, my knees.

Sophie:

Not a whole lot has been going on around here since Christmas. Being sick doesn't count. I'd like to forget that part. A bad thing happened early in January. Phyllis got laid off from the Fulton. So many people have lost their jobs in this sucky economy that a new job is hard to come by and fiercely competed for. I have my fingers crossed that she'll find another job soon. I know it's panicking her and she is depressed about it. I heard on the news that even Hershey is going to be cutting back on job. Not laying off but not replacing those who retire or quit. I think it would be a foolish person to quit a viable job right now.

The snow was pretty but it sleeted/rained on top of it. So, it's pretty crusty now. Mike, my next door neighbor, was cleaning off his truick when I went out to shoot snow video. He later came and cleaned my walk and ramp. And brought the 2 garbage cans in that I left at the curb last night. I knew it was going to snow but was too lazy to go back out for those 2. Thanks a bunch, Mike.

Snow:

Welsh Bog Snorkeling Champinships

2009-01-27T16:01:00.003-05:00

The stuff you find when you surf the Internet. You just gotta love those wacky Welsh. From whom I think I am descended since my maternal grandfather's surname was Powell. A fine old Welsh name.

Uh huh. I found this on the wonderful site of Mental Floss. It looks sort of chilly, but everyone appears to be having a good old time. Maybe not the dog. He doesn't have a happy face.

In Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales crowds watch competitors swim up and down a 133 meter bog filled with sulphurous, weedy water. Some wear silly costumes but all entrants must not use conventional swimming strokes, relying on flipper power only.

Farm Show Week

2009-01-10T05:35:00.007-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!
The Pennsylvania Farm Show opens up in Harrisburg, PA today. http://www.farmshow.state.pa.us/farmshow/site/default.asp Not that I'm going. I don't do crowds these days. But I enjoy watching the news to see the various events. And one of the local channels always does a longer show from there.

The kids who raise animals for sale at the show are wonderful to see & hear. Last night they were shown grooming their cows, sheep, goats, etc. These animals are extremely pampered. I'm not sure when the judging began, but it's been going on all week. Which means these kids get a 2 week pass on school. Plus the recent 10 Christmas vacation. I'll bet they are studying in between brushing down their livestock. There were some very nice interviews which give me hope for the future. A girl was explaining why she raises an animal that she will have to give up. She gave a great brief talk on how it has enriched her and taught her that she has to work for what she gets. That no prizes are just handed to you because you are cute. She said she'd rather win a farm show blue ribbon than be a prom queen. Wow. Then, there was the boy, grinning ear to ear, who proudly showed off his animal. He said that a lot of people his age are into sports. But he'd rather be on the farm raising his animals and working the fields. He was adorable. They both were.

And here we are going into the middle of January 2009 already. Did you have a good time? I had a great, fun Christmas at with the Garland clan and our various satellites. We had 2 of those this years. One was Olivia's current boyfriend, Harry. The other was Missy's roommate, Dave. I call them satellites because these are people who may or may not be there next year. Not family or even SO. Sometimes they are friends who had no place to go. So, we embrace them into our mob scene and try to make them feel welcome. With 25 very noisy people, some of the go away a bit dazed by it all. LOL

The day after Christmas, I started coughing. Talk about deja vu. The same darned thing happened last year and I ended up at the doctor's office. I am self-medicating for the most part this time. The cough is the worst. One of those dry, hacky kind that come in spasms. I can be sitting quietly. Suddenly, the coughing starts and goes on till I start choking and can't get my breath. Sometimes dry heaves accompany all this. Ugh. Oh well. This too shall pass as they say. Whoever "they" are.

I did have a quiet New Year's Eve after all. Just what I wanted. In fact, I didn't even turn the TV on till about 10 minutes till midnight. I was on the computer earlier in the evening. Then, I read. I just wanted quiet. I watched the ball drop in Times Square and gave a thankful prayer that I wasn't in that crushing mass of humanity. Some of those people had been camped curbside since Dec. 30. And it was bitter cold, for gosh sakes! But all those bazillion people were trying to get out of Times Square immediately after midnight. I'll bet that was something. It was good to see Dick Clark at his old stand. He's recovered quite a bit of function since his stroke. His speech and one side of his face are affected, but I was proud to see him there. His wife came running into the scene just after midnight and they were kissing like a couple of teenagers. Cute

Another Year Come & Gone

2008-12-30T14:47:00.011-05:00

There is a Christmas video at the bottom of this blog. Scroll down to view.

I haven't blogged in quite awhile. I've had things to write about, but just haven't been in the mood to do so. These things come and go like the tide, I guess. Gosh, it's been almost 2 months since I last wrote. Now, if I can remember a few things that have happened. Heck, I can barely remember this morning.

I know I said that Olivia got her license early in November. Now, she has wheels. A guy that Phyllis works with wanted to sell his 1995 Jetta. He was bleeding money to pay for storage in the city and he rarely drove it. After a few weeks of dickering around and having our friend, Tim, get one of his mechanics to go over it, a deal was struck and the guy practically gave Olivia the car. For a 13-year-old car, it's in pretty good shape. I'm jealous because it has seat warmers. A decided plus around here in the winter time.

So, I am, for the most part, permanently retired from chauffeuring duties. I have been picking O up after wrestling practice a couple of times a week. She got her car a week too late to be able to sign up for a school parking space. Currently, if she wants to drive to school, she'd have to park a long way away. She decided she'd still take the bus for the time being. I think the next time she can sign up is February. And wrestling will be over by then. TG! I hate wrestling. Watching grass grow is more interesting.

Another biggie for November was the fact that November 19 was my birthday and I turned the big 7-0. Gulp! How did that happen? I sure don't feel like an antique. I asked that a big deal not be made of it. The girls and I went out to Red Lobster for dinner. That seems to be the place we always choose for special events. For all the years of our marriage, Richard & I would go there on January 1 for our anniversary. In the first years, they were about the only place open on New Year's Day. Then, it was because it was our tradition.

And we just celebrated Christmas, of course. This year, it was at Jim & Lisa's house. We did something a bit different this year. We did what I call a Santa ring. I guess it's more popularly known as a White Elephant. In case you've never heard of nor been to one, here are the basics. There are several ways to run one. This was our way. Of course, we let the kids open their gifts beforehand.

We set a spending window so that everyone would be on a even foot. We've always done this with our gift exchange. The window is $20-$25 per gift. The idea was that you had to bring a gift if you wanted to get a gift. And we strongly encouraged every adult to participate. I was very happy to see that they did. Amy had a box with our names on slips of paper. She had a child draw one name. The first person, Phyllis, got to choose from all the unopened presents. She opened her choice, a panini machine, and we all got to see what it was. The next person had the choice of either taking the panini machine from Phyllis or choosing another upopened gift. It went on this way till the last person chose and there were no more gifts to open. A gift could only be stolen 3 times. The 3rd time, it stayed with whoever had it. It was a lot of fun. When the idea was first talked about, you'd have thought we'd asked them to strip naked in Lancaster Square by the reaction of some. I think most ended up having a good time and enjoying the ring. Mostly they were perturbed by not knowing if a man or woman would receive their gift. But I think we all did just fine. Would you believe the Ov-glove was one of the most stolen gifts? Who'd a thunk?

I have no plans for New Year's Eve. Probably I'll be on the Internet or reading or knitting. Whatever strikes my fancy. I never was a NYE kind girl and have gotten less of one as I get older. The last NYE party I went to was either 2001 or 2 at Jenn & Gregg's. They are great party givers and always make a body glad to show up. I'm so happy they are back on the east coast. They've already had a cool party. They built a house in Delaware and moved into it in October. Not long after that, they invited their families down for a combination house warming/Penn State game party. And a good time was had by all.

This is an experiment. I made a slide show w/music from my Christmas pictures. I wanted to see if I can put it here.It took several tries but it worked. Hooray!!

Be warned the video is about 6:00 minutes in length. There are 2 songs. "Down at the Twist & Shout" by Mary Chapin Carpenter & "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Carrie Underwood. Guess I've done pretty good for someone who hasn't blogged in 2 months.

For anyone who doesn't know, there are 12 grandchildren and 2 great-grands in this video. Michael is the oldest at 28 and his son, Elijah is 11 1/2 months is the youngest.

New Driver In PA

2008-11-09T11:05:00.012-05:00

Yep. Olivia got her license the other day. She was trying to be so cool beforehand. It didn't matter if she didn't get it, she didn't like driving that much, etc. Trying to cushion herself from the blow of failing. We've all been there. I have anyway. From the picture here, you can see how far being cool went after she aced it. That's a great big WHEW!!! across her face.

Other than taking her to the DMV so she could use my Dodge Stratus instead of her mom's Jeep Cherokee, I've been a knitting fool. I ordered some yarn from various places. Amy wants the Maine Morning Mitts. I got 2 skeins of Fjord from Crystal Palace Yarns. One is Roses and the other is Fall Herbs. Gorgeous. I think Amy will prefer the Roses as it has more pink in it. I can't wait to start the mittens. They have to wait until I finish the watch cap I'm currently working on.

I'll knit on it while I watch the last 2009 PBR World Finals events on NBC at 4pm EST. It's a little anti-climatic since Marchi clinched the World last night. Big gold buckle, $1 million and all. I am so happy for him. He had bitter defeat by coming in 2nd the last 3 years in a row. The Brazilians are fabulous bull riders.

Fall, Birthdays & Elections

2008-11-03T12:41:00.004-05:00

Tree across from Hempfield High School

I had the pleasure of attending Brady's 1st birthday party yesterday. He even had his own cake and candle. Other than sticking his fingers in it, he didn't know quite what to do. Especially since half a dozen people were standing around point cameras at him. He had his own paparazzi. I didn't get a good picture of his adventures with the cake as I was too close to him and I unknowingly had the flash turned off. Which makes for a grainy, blurred picture.

A good many of the family were there. Jenn drove up from Delaware with her 3. Oldest Brett will be 12 in about 3 weeks. His last year before becoming a..........TEENAGERS!! The older I get, the faster the years fly by. Bummer! Remember when the summer would stretch away from you the day school was out. Endless possibilities on what to do.

Amy made crockpot meatballs. Yum, yum! One of my favorite dishes she makes. And there was a large bowl filled with a delicious salad. I had 2 helpings of both. The cake for everybody else was pretty good. I had one helping of that and was gifted with some to bring home. I had that for breakfast with a big glass of cold milk. Perfect!

I didn't get to see them dressed in their Halloween finery, but Olivia took some pictures of Phil & Any in costume for a party at Bob & Deb Vasile's. He was a gynecologist and she was his chauffeur. I must say I never saw a chauffeur dressed quite so sexy
.

And no blog would be complete with pictures of Elijan and his sister great-granad, Sophie.

There Must Have Been A Sport Involved

2008-10-23T10:15:00.015-05:00

There I sat, freezing my hindquarters off, unable to feel my face or fingers and cheering for the Seniors. Not old folks, but the senior girls of Hempfield 2009. Why you ask? It's Homecoming Week and time for the annual Junior/Senior Girl's Powderpuff flag football game. Naturally, we are having the first really cold weather since April and rugby season.

I wasn't alone, of course. There was quite a crowd. Parents, grandparents (we are the best), other relatives, and all the other kids from the school. Including some of the Y chromosome football players who spent the entire game wearing nothing but gym shorts. Both Junior & Senior guys. They had painted letters on their chests. When lined up, they spelled out either "Junior" or "Senior". Folks, it was in the 30's last night. There was a bit of a breeze going on which made it seem even colder. You have to give these boys marks for remaining undressed the whole game. I tried to get a picture of them but they were too fast for me. One guy had on a really cool golden eagle mask. It was more than a mask, really. It covered his whole head and looked to be made of gold lame or spandex. I liked it. At least his face stayed warm. None of them wussed out and put on a jacket. I'm sure their mothers were thrilled at the sight of their babies letting it all hang out in the cold.

Olivia was beyond excited. It was good to see her happy and glowing. She loves playing football of any sort. I don't know what she's point out to Andrea. Most of the girls wore shorts. Thank goodness Olivia had the good sense to wear some warm tights. She got in some good play time. She even made a touchdown but it was called back because she stiff-armed a player. Phyllis called this "trucking". I don't think I ever heard that expression before. There isn't supposed to be any tackling in flag football. The rugby girls had a hard time with that. LOL I know Olivia wasn't even aware that she had stuck her arm out. It just went there out of habit and years of playing regular football and rugby. In case you don't know what stiff-arming or trucking is, here is a rugby picture:
It was a shame the TD got called back, but rules are rules. The Seniors won by a lop-sided score. 39-10 or something like that. There were a couple of girls who are probably on the track team and could run like the wind. The Juniors had some runners also, but the Seniors out-gunned them with good defense. It was a great game but I was ready to head for the car and thaw out.

There were some other events during the week that I was too lazy to write about. I should be more diligent in blogging but I'm not. I sort of write when the mood strikes.

Shannon celebrated her 24th birthday Tuesday, October 21. I can't believe she's hitting her mid-20's. It seems only last week, I held that little thing in my arms and welcomed her into the world. The older I get, the faster the years go. Phyllis & I gave her a gift certificate for a massage. Always a good thing to have. I knitted a scarf for her and gave it to her on Saturday. Just in time for this cold weather. We were going to take her out to eat at Tokyo Gardens but Mike, her boyfriend, took her down to King of Prussia to a different Japanese steak house. Last year, we all went to Red Lobster.

Saturday, Oct. 18, the Garland clan and the Clark/Gamble clans moseyed their way down to Middletown, DE. And may I say thank goodness for the GPS gadgets. We might never have gotten there otherwise. LOL Jenn, Gregg & kids moved back to the East Coast in the spring and built a new house. They had a combination housewarming/Penn State party. As usual, it was great. I was so happy to see them. Also, Gregg's side of the family. Mom Beverly, his sisters Terri & Lynda, brother Jeff, BIL Ray and many, many kids. The kids were from all the families. Lots of good food courtesy of Pat's Pizza. And, naturally, a good football game to view on their super duper plasma tv that hangs on the wall like a picture. They had the wall pre-wired so that there are no ugly wires hanging down. The picture was awesome and Penn won. Which made the day for all the alumni scattered around the living room. I would post pictures but stupid me forgot to grab the camera on my way out the door. Dadgumit!

So, that's what's been going on in my world recently. I have been knitting a lot. I made Shannon's scarf and I made one for granddaughter-in-law Jessica. At the same time. Now, I'm working on a gray watch cap to send to The Ship's Project. I'd like to make more of these. They go fairly quickly. I'm not a fast knitter and wish I'd learned the Continental method years ago when I was young. Oh well. The other thing I'm knitting is a black/red soap holder for Olivia. In case you haven't figured it out from the above picture, those are her school colors. I got some cotton yarn from Lion Brand because I wanted to try it. I've always used Lily's Sugar & Cream cotton for dishcloths and things like the soap holder. The Lion Brand is nice, but I believe I prefer Lily. Not to mention I have enough LB yarn to last a long time. Lots of dishcloths coming up.

After those are done, I want to make another pair of fingerless mittens for Amy. And Olivia wants a scarf and hat done in Knightmare rugby colors. Green/black. I need to pedal faster.

Phyllis's Surgery

2008-10-15T13:07:00.004-05:00

I needed to write about this and you can read or not. I just needed to put the words down and let it go.

Phyllis, my daughter, woke up coughing Sunday. Suddenly, she had a softball sized lump sticking out from her stomach. Yikes! I knew it was a hernia. She was supposed to work that afternoon but decided to run my the ER on her way.

If you've ever been in an ER for even a splinter, you KNOW you don't just run in/run out, don't you. She was in a lot more pain than she would let me know and she wouldn't let me take her down there. They gave her some pain med in her iv drip while they waited for the various results. The upshot was that she did, indeed, have a honking big hernia and needed to have it tended to asap. They gave her the name of surgeon,

Monday, she was off to see him. He told her it was a dangerous one and needed to be taken care of before it became strangulated. Which I had already told her. I've had a couple of hernia that did just that and nearly killed me. But Phyllis lives in the Land of Denial.

Doc would have done surgery that day, but she had eaten breakfast. So, Tuesday afternoon was slotted in. She woke up Tuesday, coughed and the lump went away. She decided she didn't need to have the surgery now. I told her the blank, blank hole was still there and the softball would be back when it was least convenient. Doc told her the same thing when she called.

The upshot is that she had surgery late on Tuesday. But we were at the hospital all afternoon. As soon as they took her to the OR, my granddaughter, Olivia, and I hot-footed it around the corner to McDonald's for a bite to eat. Then I drove her 14.5 miles home so she could get herself to cheer practice on time and not get strikes. Which ticks me off. Apparently the cheer coaches don't accept any excuse for missing a practice or a competition. Remind me not to die have a funeral on practice day. I really don't like those women. I don't much care for cheer competion, either. They are such a bunch of drama queens. You never find all that cattiness and back-biting in Rugby or softball. Or probably in any other sport where teamwork is required. Sheesh.

I didn't even pause when O got out of the car. I just headed back for Lititz and the hospital. Halfway there, the doctor called and told me the surgery was over and went fine. Phyllis was in the recovery room. She was there for about an hour. Then, back in the cubicle for a bit. There were certain things she had to be able to do before they'd release her. We got out around 6:30-ish.

She told them to call her Vicodin presecription in to the 24 hour CVS on Litiz Pike. They have a handy dandy drive-thru prescription window. We got there and there were about 4 cars in front of us. So we sashayed around the corner to Sheetz to get Phyllis a sandwich. She hadn't eaten since 10 the night before. When we got back to CVS, they couldn't find the prescription. Turned out the hospital called it in to the CVS in Bridgeport! Not going all the way over there. They said they would have it sent to them but we'd have to come back in about 20 minutes.

Since Phil & Amy live just a few blocks away, Phyllis wondered if we could go over there for a bit. I called and Amy said come right on. So we did. Phyllis was full of drugs at that point but enjoyed the little visit. Mike, Jess & Elijah were there. So, we got a baby fix. Brady was already upstairs with Daddy Phil trying to get him to sleep.

After an hour, Phyllis & I left to get the prescription and get her home. Which we did. Halleluia!

Today, she is feeling sore. I took her to the Centerville CVS to get some other prescription filled. The Vicodin doesn't seem to be lasting as long as it should. I never want to take that stuff again. I never, ever had such a vile headache as I did from Vicodin. It was worse than the surgical pain. Poor Phyllis felt every little bump in the road. I tried to stop and accelerate smoothly but there was nothing I could do about the roads. You don't notice those things when you aren't in pain.

October Already?

2008-10-01T07:08:00.011-05:00

That's OK. September seemed endless for some reason. And it wasn't even a 31 day month. But some months just get that way sometimes. It depends on what's going on in one's life, I suppose.The only big thing that happened all month was the picnic over in Mountville. Pictures in previous post.

I've sort of laid low and have been knitting like a maniac since then. I have 2 scarves in progress. I thought knitting an afghan was an endless project. Now I discover that scarves are also. I gave Jess her fingerless mittens when we were at the picnic. I had enough yarn left that I decided to make a scarf to go with them. Naturally, I didn't have enough yarn to complete it and had to order 2 more skeins. If I'd followed the original instructions and worked on only 20 stitches, I might have gotten away with 1 1/2 skeins. But I wanted it to be wider in order to showcase the pattern. So, I doubled the width. I like it and the fact that the pattern is worked every 4th row. The other 3 rows are Knit. I have about 45" done on it. Much more than shown here in the picture.

Before I started on Jess's scarf, I found a neat scarf over at the Lion Brand Yarn web site. It's called "The Road Scarf" and is really just a sampler scarf. They show it in a caramel color. I would have gone nuts with that. I had a lovely skein of Paton's Classic Wool. It a yummy variegated raspberry called "Rosewood". With the constant changes in stitches and colors, it's looking very nice. I wanted to give it to Shannon for her birthday on October 21. I'm not sure I'll get it done by then. I did put Jess's aside and am working like mad on it. We'll see. If I don't get it done by then, Christmas is right around the corner. I have about 40" done on it.

Olivia's foot is still not healed to the surgeon's satisfaction. She is totally bummed as it's putting a crimp in her sports play. The junior/senior girls started practice for the annual Hempfield High School Powder Puff football game. She isn't able to practice. Also, she has a softball game this coming weekend and her first cheerleading competition for the year is Oct. 12. It's been 2 months since the surgery. I don't know what the surgeon's beef is. I have a feeling she'll go ahead and play anyway.

Shannon started back to school just before Labor Day. She is going to Steven's 3 days a week. I'm glad she went back and didn't just keep putting it off. Last I heard, she wants to major in respiratory therapy. That sounds like a good thing. I would think a person could get a job just about anywhere with a skill like that.

Another Season Gone

2008-09-11T09:20:00.006-05:00

No matter what the calendar tells me, I know that summer is gone and we are in that transitional time of "between". Not quite summer, not quite autumn. Little signs are cropping up everywhere. Yesterday, I went to the Amish farm up on the corner of Marietta & Kinderhook (see picture at top) to get some cucumbers. I thought there might be some late corn, but there wasn't any. There was a big pile of crook necked pumpkins, though. A sure sign Fall is on the way. I got some lovely tomatoes and 2 nice looking cukes.

Last night, my supper was a tomato, cucumber, & Vidalia onion sandwich. With mayo, please. Probably grosses some people out. But I like it and that's what matters. I am, after all, the same person who used to take half a mayonnaise sandwich to school when I was in Kindergarten/1st grade. Just mayo & bread. Nothing else. It drove my mother crazy. She would put other things in my lunch to hide her embarrassment. I would bring home everything but my mayo "sammich". And I still like them on rare occasions. Sue me.

Since I last wrote, we have had the Olympics, the Repubican/Democrat conventions, and several hurricanes. I refer to the first 3 events as the Olympics followed by 2 circuses. Even as I write, Hurricane Ike is taking dead aim at Texas. Due to hit land anywhere from Houston to Brownsville. Apparently, it is one of those huge storms. Not a Cat 3, but it is carrying lots of water. Mandantory evacuations are in effect. I wonder how effective that will be. There are many immigrants, both legal & illegal, in the area and I don't imagine they are too eager to leave. Too fearful of being found out and sent back to Mexico. I hope they keep safe whichever way they choose.

And, of course, I couldn't help thinking of Sept 11, 2001 when I first woke up this morning. I haven't turned on the tv other than the Weather Channel. Now, it's off. I just don't think I can handle watching those beautiful buildings fall again. Nor the debris looking like odd snow. All the people who perished in NYC, Washington DC and a Pennsylvania corn field. I thought of the families left behind. Seven years is a long time and no time at all. Babies born then are in 1st grade now. I imagine some of the surviving spouses have remarried. Some are still grieving. Along with parents, children, friends and the nation. Rest well, those who lost their lives that day. You will not be forgotten.

School has started. Before Labor Day here in Amish country. Olivia is a senior this year. She had her senior picture taken yesterday. TG, she wore her hair down. She taken to wadding it up in a big pile on top of her head for some reason. Not attractive, but I guess it keeps it off her neck. She was upset last week to find out that she wouldn't be able to play football this year as she had planned. I imagine the coaches are relieved they don't have to deal with her this year. LOL She thought she'd have her bunionectomy and be back on the playing fields in 2 weeks or so. I sat right there and heard Dr. Wilke tell her it would be about 8 weeks. O just heard (or didn't) what she wanted to hear. Plus she thinks she's Supergirl and can do anything with no consequence. On her last visit, her mom went with her. The Dr. said that, if she injured her foot now, she wouldn't be off it for a year. Thus, eliminating rugby, softball & cheerleading. It would drive her crazy.

She has 2 more weeks before she can play anything. Just in time to start practicing for the anual Junior/Senior Powderpuff football game. If she can't play "real" football with the guys this year, she will settle for Powderpuff. If you're not familiar with it, it's flag football. Interesting to watch. Melissa & Kimberly both played their senior years. Shannon didn't but I can't remember why not. I imagine the girls who play soccer & rugby are the ones who get the most play time. I remember sitting in a cold, October rain to watch Missy play. Oh, and some of the football players come dressed as cheerleaders and do cheers. They are so funny.

HYA volleyball started Monday night. Olivia played. She said she would stand in one place and not jump on her bad foot. Uh huh. Mom & I both reminded her of the doctor's warning about what would happen if she injured it. She did try to protect it. But there is no way to stand in one place when playing volleyball. Especially not for jockette Olivia. Plus it was one of the best games she's had in all these years. She had to get the foot x-rayed Tuesday. Seems she woke in pain in the middle of the night. Then, woke her mom crying. She finally scared herself. The doc chewed her out royally and forbid her to play anything other than the piano for 2 weeks. LOL And she doesn't play the piano. So, she will be only miss 2 games.

Shannon also started back to school in August. I am happy for her that she didn't give up on going back to school once she was in the work force. She is going to Stevens and is aiming to become a respiratory therapist. An excellent idea. With the aging boomer population, there is more and more need for medical types.

I already posted about the Labor Day get together. See my post previous to this one for some cutie pie pictures of the babies. Now, I belive I will do a bit of cleaning. I need a blow torch and a dumpster. But I will start in a corner and work my way out a bit at a time. My tendency is to notice all that needs doing and just quit. Thinking small might be the way to go for me.

September Is Here Already

2008-09-03T11:34:00.009-05:00

3 Darned Cute Babies!!!

And so we bid a farewell to the summer of 2008. Where did it go? For that matter, where did the summer of 1956 go? I'm still looking for it while all these others come and go.

Brady

A fairly quiet summer it was for me. As they mostly all are nowadays. Which is fine. I once thought I couldn't live without chaos in my life. As in kids coming in/going out or moving in/out. I needed the noise around me. Now, I've been alone so long with just the current dog, that I've gotten used to the quiet and too much noise wears me out. Life can sure change on you when you aren't looking.

I had a lovely afternoon at the Mountville Lion's Dream Park this past Sunday. Phyllis & Amy put their heads together and decided we needed an end-of-summer family get-together. Jenn, Gregg & the kids didn't get to come as Gregg's family was also having a family thing. Everyone is so happy they are back in the East.

All 3 babies were present Sunday. They are so cute now. Sophie is a non-stop walker. You have to watch her every second. There were

Sophie

other people sharing the pavillion with us. Sophie walked up to one woman, grabbed her hand and started going. The woman went along. Laughing. We were, too, but it was scary. Sophie has no fears of people. I'm glad I'm not raising babies these days. Had enough scares of m own back in the day. Such as Phillip getting lost in Woolworth's at the mall. And Phyllis getting lost on the fairway of the Texas State Fair. Not the only scares but those stand out at this moment.

Elijah

Blanket Buddies

Kissing Cousins

I know exactly how you feel, kid.

Summer is Slipping Away

2008-08-13T12:47:00.010-05:00

Summer is slipping away. It seems like it was just Memorial Day last week. Now, Labor Day is coming at us fast and sure. And the kids all go back to school before that weekend. In fact, the schools are busy now with teachers getting their classrooms and work schedules in order and various sports teams in full practice mode. Naturally, the older I get, the faster these seasons flash by. Just when I would like it to slow down a bit.

Fast pitch softball season came to an end for us this past Sunday. The Razorbacks had a championship game against the Stingers over in Elizabethtown. Olivia wore her uniform but she couldn’t play, of course. The bunion surgery was only a few days before. She’s wearing a surgical boot and is using crutches to keep her weight off the foot.

We didn’t get to stay for the whole game. A nasty thunderstorm came up. Lots of black clouds & big lightning. The ump halted the game for awhile to see what Mother Nature was going to do. It was in the 6th inning and the Stingers were ahead 2-1. I have a feeling the game was called and they were the winners. We left before the rain arrived, but it wasn’t long before I felt like I was driving through a car wash. It was hosing down something fierce!

I’ve been knitting on a pair of fingerless mittens for Jess. She and I don’t like the same colors. So, it was a bit difficult to choose something for her. I got a nice variegated yellow-green-blue 100% wool by Ella Rae Classic Print. It has a lovely hand to it. Not stiff & scratchy like cheaper wool. And it’s non-striping. This seems to be the rage right now because so many people are knitting socks and want the stripes without having to use several skeins of yarn. This yarn is just randomly colored splotches. I only have the thumb to do on the 2nd mitten and I’ll be done. I’m wondering if there’s enough to make a matching beret. I may try it. Karen Mason’s “Gemma’s Beret” would be nice. I can see that on Jess.

The weather has been so mild this summer. Makes me wonder what winter will bring our way. It’s August and I was mightily tempted to turn on the furnace early yesterday morning. Instead, I dug out my sweat jacket and put that on for awhile. We’ve only had a couple of intense-in-the-90’s hot periods. I like this much better.

August Already?

2008-08-09T09:55:00.008-05:00

As you can see, I've been knitting gloves again. This one is for Jess, my granddaughter-in-law. It's the Maine Morning Mitt I've made before. It was designed by Clara Parkes and shown in her book "The Knitter's Book of Yarn". It's a very easy fingerless glove to make as she designed it to fit either hand. Thus, you don't have to cope with making a right and a left glove. I made it about 1 1/2" longer than the pattern called for as Jess wanted it that way. It turned out very nice. I got the yarn at a LYS. The KitKnit. The lady there was very nice and helpful.

I went in to get yarn for another glove altogether. That pattern has cables and I love doing those. The sample mitten (shown above) looked good but you can't see the cables the yarn shown above. It wasn't worth all that work only to have them disappear. I do like the varigation. It doesn't stripe but produces random blobs of color. The yarn is Ella Rae Classic Print and is 100% wool. A very soft wool, I might add. It would make a lovely sweater. If there's enough left after I finish the 2nd mitten, I might make Gemma's Beret. It would make a nice set.

Olivia had her bunion removed on Wednesday afternoon over in York. It was a nice little clinic with the surgery in the lower level. Much better than walking yourself to death at the Lancaster General Health Campus. Her surgery was at 1:00 pm and took a bit over an hour. Then, recovery for an hour. I think we got out of there about 3:30 pm. O was feeling no pain and insisted on going to the Barnstormer's game that night so she could work at the vendor's. Tracey took a chair so she could keep her foot elevated and she was put in charge of the cash register.

Thursday, she was still not feeling a great deal of pain. So, she and Phyllis went to the Razorbacks season playoffs over in Elizabethtown. I think they won and have a final game tomorrow. Not sure yet.

After all that running around, Olivia finally started paying the price. She woke up early Friday morning to pain. Not just the discomfort kind either. She took her pain med and laid around all day. Friday night, she went to the cheerleading coach's house for the annual sleepover. She called me at 1:00 am to say goodnight and that she hurt. I told her to take an oxy and go to sleep. She called Phyllis around 8-9am and was in a good deal more pain. Wanted to come home. Which is where she is now. Fast asleep.

That's all I know for today. I just wanted to post a bit and show off my knit stuff.

2008-07-30T08:19:00.007-05:00

It’s a shame that the young don’t appreciate their boundless energy. Those of us who are in our mature years certainly would. Unfortunately, most of us no longer have that energy. Let alone the boundless part. I couldn’t bound if a gun was pointed at me. Oh well. Such is life.

Yesterday was one of those chauffeuring days. Olivia’s foot surgery is next week and you know how much pre-op stuff there is beforehand. We went by the Dr’s office so that she could leave papers for them to sign and fax to the surgeon’s office. Then, we went over to the Lancaster General Health Campus so Miss O could run into the lab and leave a bit of blood.

That took a bit longer than I thought it would. We were supposed to pick Phyllis up downtown at 4:30 but O didn’t come out of the lab till 4:35. We raced downtown to get Phyllis. She was waiting outside for us. Then, we boogied on down to Willow Street to the dentist. Both of them had appointments.

Whew! It was a good thing I had my knitting and a book along. I never leave home w/o something to read or do. Preferably both. I’m working on a pair of fingerless mittens in a lovely dark brown. They have cables in them. Not many. Just enough to make them interesting. I’ve misplace both my cable holders. So, I hauled out a double pointed needle. I was afraid the stitches would fall off but they didn’t. I just have to go slow no matter what I use.

Luckily I found a parking spot under a tree. So I had shade. Makes all the difference this time of year. The car on my left was in the sun. I’d been there about 20 minutes when a dog reared up and started barking in that car. This makes me so mad! Only one window was cracked open just a bit. Like that would help the poor thing in that oven! I know, for sure, that the dog had been in there 20 minutes because that’s how long I’d been sitting there. Who knows how much longer? I whipped out my cell phone and called 911. I was stumped as to what township I was in. Turned out to be West Lampeter. I had to back out so I could see the type of car and the license plate. The nice policeman said they’d send someone out. Wouldn’t you know? The driver came out a bare 3-4 minutes after I placed the call. She was all nice and cool with her sprayed on tan. Sheesh! So, I had to call and cancel the police. I surely would have liked to see her get caught. The dog belonged at home on a hot day.

After the dentist, we had time to kill before Olivia’s softball game. We went across the street to the Willow Street Diner and had a pretty good supper. The ball field was just a few blocks down. So, we were about an hour early for our game. Phyllis and Olivia went down to the other field where the Blaze were playing somebody. I stayed in the car and tried to knit a bit more but my eyes kept closing. So, I leaned the seat back to a comfortable recline and slept for most of that hour. It felt good.

The evening was very nice weather-wise. Soft is the word I would use to describe it. Not sticky as it will be today. Whoever Olivia’s team, the Razorbacks, were supposed to play didn’t come and forfeited the game. Same with the other team, the Nitro. The coaches decided to have a game since they were all there. I’m sure Coach Jere thought it would be good practice since the Razorbacks are leaving tomorrow for a four day softball tournament in Virginia. Supposed to be a big honking deal.

The upshot of the game last night was lop-sided. Our girls are seasoned and hand picked by Jere. He put together the best players he could get and they win more than they lose. Plus they work well together because they’ve been together for awhile. The other team had a lot of young players and they made a lot of errors. It was a pretty boring game because of the disparity. However, our girls got in a bit of practice before VA and the other girls got to play against a good team. They just have to grow into their sport.

Well, it’s off to the daily/weekly chores. I hate to use the washer/dryer in the daytime but I need some clean towels. I don’t know how that slipped by me that I ran out of clean ones. I don’t usually let that happen.

Ciao.

Wild & Wooly West Virginia

2008-07-09T14:49:00.017-05:00

The annual extended Garland family vacation commenced on June 30 as most of us drove south to Alpine Lake Resort near Terra Alta, WV. This is one of those big communities built around a golf course. There are other things to do there. However, other than the beach, you need to leave the property to find things to do. Each family member had different things they are interested in.

The men played golf on Wednesday. They were quite a group this year. Jim is the ring leader, of course, as he is the avid golfer. He, Phil, Gregg & Michael used to be the foursome. This year, they added 2 more. Brother Chris was with us this year and he drove the cart as he doesn't play and isn't interested in learning. Newish grandson-in-law-to-be, Derrick, was invited to go along. I think he had a good time and I heard that he really improved as they played.

The women/children split up for the day. Jenn, her kids, Amy, her kids and Grandma Grace all hung out at the beach on the lake that dominates Alpine Resort. Another crew took off to Swallow Falls State Park over the line in Maryland to hike the trail back to the falls. They wanted to play in the Youghiogheny River and stand under the falls. The hikers were Phyllis, Shannon, Olivia, Andrea, Kimberly & baby Sophie, Jess & baby Elijah. The young moms had those baby carriers that fit on their backs. Making it easier to carry the load. I didn't go but stayed home to knit, read and enjoy the quiet.

A great thing that we've done for years is a different family each night cooks a hot meal. Thus, we all get one good meal every day but only have to cook once during the week. We had some very good meals. On our night, Phyllis made Taco Salad, I made a fresh salsa and Shannon made a chicken/salsa dish. I didn't get any of the last as she hasn't gotten the hang of cooking for a crowd yet. But everyone said it was delicious. She owes me. LOL The experts said my salsa was good, too. I'll put the recipe at the end of this blog.

Oldest step-son, Jim, is a professional chef with his own restaurant. He usually treats us to a shrimp dish. This year, we go a double treat. Lobster tails! It was cooked in a creamy sauce with pasta. Oh my! And there was tons of it so that we got to nosh on it for lunch a couple of days. Lisa made a huge salad. That woman can open the door to an empty refrigeratior and produce a meal fit for a king. She also makes killer salads. They are a good pair in the kitchen. Here are the shimp & lobster before cooking:

Chez Garland

Fresh Tomato Salsa (Hot)

9 tomatoes, chopped
1-1/2 cups finely diced onion
5 serrano chiles, finely chopped (I removed the seeds on all but 1 chile)
1-1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons lime juice

In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients. Chill for 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!!!

And we even had a breakfast cook. 11 year old Brett made French toast twice during the week. It was soo good!! I don't normally care for French toast but he used cinnamon bread instead of plain and it made all the difference. Yum yum. Needless to say, nobody starved during the week. The only downer was the dishwasher in #1 broke and we were left with either washing them by hand or toting them to the other kitchen to use that dishwasher. I think they did both.

Saturday night, the larger part of the group took of on a Quest for Culture. A sort-of annual event. I didn't go as I planned to take Olivia her friend, Andrea, into McHenry for the rodeo. Neither has ever been to one. Just the Quest group were leaving, I started coughing and coughed till I choked and gagged. It was awful. After I settled down, Phyllis & I drove up to McHenry to check out the fairgrounds where the rodeo was being held. I've been to some low rent fairgrounds/rodeo arenas in my time and this one was near the bottom of the list. Due to the fact that we had quite a bit of rain during the week, everything was a muddy mess. I could see that getting in and out of there would be a problem. Plus it was right across the highway from Black Bear ski slope where they hold the fireworks display. Delayed from the 4th to the 5th because of the aforementioned rain. I just wasn't comfortable with the situation and, frankly, didn't feel too hot. Phyllis ended up taking the girls and going to some of the places the Quest group were going. They never met up but dogged each other's footsteps for a couple of hours. Olivia said they had a good time, anyway, and bought some WV t-shirts.

10 More Days

2008-06-20T14:01:00.006-05:00

Then, I'll be off for the wilds of West Virginia and the annual Garland family vacation. This year, there will be 3 new babies tucked in with the crowd. One-year-old Sophie, 8-months-old Brady and almost 6-months-old Elijah. It's going to be interesting. I look forward to it. It so neat to have all or nearly all the grands and great-grands together for a week. Although, toward the end of the week, I believe everyone is thinking there's no place like home.

After the Africa hot spell of a couple of weeks ago, this week has been on the cool side. Especially at night. I went to a softball game Tuesday night and stayed in the car to watch. I wore flip flops and didn't even think to take socks. Olivia's night time games are pretty late now that she's in 18 and under. Next year, she'll be eligible for the new 19-23 year old league. If she still wants to play. Rugby is her first love at the moment. Mine too. Actually, for me, it's a tie between the two sports. I know I fell in love with rugby and nobody was more surprised than I. I would love to see a men's game and an adult women's. I can't believe anybody would play their hearts out more than Olivia's high school age girl's team.

She received an award for the most trys (goals) in a regular season at the rugby picnic. I wasn't surprised as she tends to run right over anyone trying to grab her. The kid's got some vry elusive moves in her. All those years of playing boy's football, I suspect. Here is her picture with her award.

I'm knitting away. I've been working on a watch cap for the Ship's Project. However, it's black and that's very hard on the old eyes when trying to frog out a mistake by lamp light. I can testify that the sun is the best light in the world to knit by. You can see every stitch no matter how black the yarn. I'm almost done with it but am a bit confused on the decreases for the crown and still keep it in pattern. So, I put it away for a bit. It's best to let things percolate instead of forcing them and making hideous mistakes. I've started a child's hat for Sophie in a yummy variegated raspberry. I just started it this afternoon. There's not enough knitted up to toake an even remotely interesting picture of it.

I got a surprise package in the mail this week. Each year, I order a pair of flip flops from the Carol Wright catalog and wear them all year. In summer for sandals. The rest of the year, they are my house slippers. This year I forgot that I had ordered a pair of Croc-like shoes. They are so ugly but everyone says they are very comfortable. I just didn't want to pay the big bucks that regular Crocs cost. By gum, these shoes really are comfortable! I've been wearing the for 2 days now and realy like them. Now, to see how long they hold up.

Summer's Here & School Is Out

2008-06-02T12:58:00.010-05:00

Well, school will be out in a couple of days and early summer is definitely here in the warmer days. Also, the summer storms that manage to mess up everyone's weekend plans.

Things quieted down for awhile after the rash of May birthdays. Rugby season wound it way to the end with a couple of sevens games. The awards picnic was grand and the food was delicious. Again, the storms messed up a part of that day and the girls's game was cancelled. Oh well.

Now, I am switching sports hat and tournament fast-pitch softball season has begun. Olivia's first tournament was this past weekend at Bob Hoffman field in York, PA. What a weekend. Tournaments are long by their very nature. Saturday is seeding games day. Sunday is tournament day. Mostly single eliminations. TG

Olivia's team, the Razorbacks, had just ended the 6th inning Saturday morning, when it started sprinkling and thunder/lightning began.

Then, it was hosing down and people were running for shelter. It was soon apparent that the games would not go on that day. Even if it had quit raining (which it didn't all day) the field were too wet and too dangerous for play. So, the powers that be had to re-vamp the schedule. The rest of the seeding games were played early Sunday morning. They were pared down to 1 hour of play and ties stood as a loss. So, that got everyone to the Sunday play just a few hours late. If you're going to play tournament, you have to roll with the punches as the weather is always a factor to be considered.

For the Razorbacks, it was a happy day. They won the tournament in a clean sweep. They won all 3 seed matches and all 3 tournament games. The last game was the nail biter of the day. It came down to the last pitch & last strike out. People were standing, the girls on the bench were clinging to the chain link fence and encouraging their players to greater heights. Whew! No pro game was ever more hard fought, jubilantly celebrated or bitterly mourned. I love kid's sports. They really, really care about the outcome.

Sunny Weekend

2008-05-25T13:39:00.008-05:00

For the first time in many weekends, the sun is shining and the temps are in the mid-70's. Lovely day. So, what am I doing cooped up at home on such a gorgeous day?

I didn't start out to this. Bella & I woke at our usual time. Around 5:30am-6:30am. I can't seem to sleep any later. After taking her outside for awhile, I realized I felt a bit out of focus and my brain wasn't working so hot. Deciding I was just sleepy, I went back to bed. Only to awaken around 10:30am with chills, fever, throwing up and other assorted unpleasantness. Yikes! Road kill city.

The bummer of it all is that I was invited to Phil & Amy's for a cookout today. Phyllis, the girls and I, that is. Olivia isn't home and I'm undone. Poor Phyllis went alone. But her other baby, Shannon, is there. And baby Brady with his big brother, Austin. I don't know if biggest brother, Gregory is there or not. He may be at his dad's this weekend. I forgot to ask Amy when I called to tell her I wasn't coming and to apologize. I hate missing a family do.

I tell you, folks, I have the strength of a newborn kitten. I hope it's just a 24 hour bug and will be gone by this time tomorrow. Phyllis mentioned going to Clipper Stadium to see our first Barnstormer's baseball game of the season. I wanna go!!!! The weather will be perfect. I need a baseball fix.

Olivia did get to play in one more day of rugby. The weekend after the semi-finals, the girls went down to Delaware to play in a Sevens tournament. Instead of 15 to a side, there are 7 players. Same size field with a lot more running. I didn't go but am told that the halves are less and so it the half time. The next sevens conflicts with her first fast pitch softball tournament. So, rugby is done for her for the season. I'm ready for softball.

The Fat Lady Sang

2008-05-12T07:42:00.013-05:00

And there is no joy in Mudville. The final game in the battle for first place in the state finals has been fought. Alas, the final score was Hempfield Knighmares 12 - State College - 19. Our girls lost by one try. Lots of tears were shed when they came off the field. Each girl feeling it was her fault they lost. But they are still winners. Coming from 16th in the state last year to 3rd this year. And to be unbeaten within their district? Quite an accomplishment and stats they should be proud of. I know I am proud of the effort and dedication each girl has put into the team effort. And proud of the coaches, Joe Capp and Dave Woerner. Amazing men.

There were 3 fields in action for most of the day. 2 ambulance were kept by the main tent. Unfortunately, they were needed more than once. Since I've been going to matches, I've not seen so many girls have to taken to the hospital by ambulance. Yesterday, there were 3 that I know of. Nicole got knocked out .Her father wasn't there as he had to work. My DD Phyllis went with Nicole to the hospital. Another girl got hit in the jaw before the first ambulance barely pulled away. A player was running with the ball when this player tried to tackle the first one. Unfortunately, she made contact with the first girl's elbow. A third girl was being taken off to the ambulance as we were leaving. She was playing on a different game and I never found out what happened. My fingers are crossed that all he girls are OK this morning. Olivia has her usual assortment of bruises.

The good news is that Big O is free to play in softball tournaments now. So, I can exchange my rugby hat for my fast pitch softball one. Whatever am I going to do when she graduates and goes away. Fortunately, I have Gregory playing lacrosse. I'll be happy to sit sidelines and watch him play. Austin and Brady are right behind him. So, it looks like I'll keep having sports to attend for the foreseeable time

Saturday was a great day even if it was chilly. We've gotten used to being cold at outdoor events. We had a 50th birthday party/family get together at the Mountville park. Even tho it was a bit cloudy/cool when we first got there, the sun finally came out around 4 and felt very good. We had lots of good food. The cake from The Cake Creators in Mountville turned out beautifully and was delicious as it always is.

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY, PHYLLIS!!!!!

2008-05-07T10:50:00.007-05:00

6 weeks & 12 weeks

1st Day of School

Posing for Richard

Robert T. Hill Jr. High Highland Lassie

Rugby Fever

2008-05-07T09:49:00.027-05:00

Olivia's 70 yd. Run

Well, rugby season is winding down. The Knightmares are now into the playoffs. They are undefeated. The first 2 games were played at our homefield at Centerville Middle School. First game was an easy win. The second one, not so easy. It was against the Cumberland Valley Eagles and was a hard fought game. Hempfield won it 12-7. I was exhausted from playing the game in my chair. I didn't realize how much twisting and turning I was doing till one of my friends started kidding me about it. Of course, she was doing it just as much as I was. LOL

I've been suffering the past few days with sunburn. After all those Sundays of sitting in the cold & rain, this past Sunday was gorgeous. And I got sunburnt on my arms, neck and below that a bit. I'd left the sunblock in the car and it was too long a hike to go back and get it. I didn't want to ask Phyllis as she's still suffering with her knees. The surgery helped her quite a bit but the Dr. says that she's eventually going to have to come to grips with having knee replacement. Only her left knee, I think. ITM, I try not to ask her to do anything that will require a lot of walking. She does enough of that on her own. She can't sit still for long at a time and walks up and down the field to keep up with the action. Oh yeah. I bought some Solarcaine w/Lidocaine and it works like a charm to cut down on the itching.

This past Sunday was a nail biter with the final score being 12-7. In rugby, the scoring is 5 points for a try (scoring) and 2 for the extra point. So, we got 2 tried and one extra point. Our kicker missed the first one but it was from near the sidelines. After a try, the ball is brought out 20 yards for the extra kick. It's brought straight out from wherever the player took the ball in. Meaning the kicker on Sunday had a very awkward angle to try and make it thru the posts. The 2nd time, she was straight out from them. It was so exciting and a hard fought game. These are the girls we played a couple of weeks ago when it rained all during the 2nd half. That was a close game, also. Now, we will have to travel a bit to Lansdale next Sunday. Apparently, it now goes into tournament mode as everyone is focusing on making it to the state finals. If the Knightmares keep winning, the finals will be held over 3 days in Pittsburgh the end of the month. Cross your fingers for them.

Phil came and brought Gregory and baby Brady. Mom Amy was at a scrapbooking retreat for the weekend. She got home just in time to take Austin to a friend's birthday party. Gregory sat his chair beside mine and we had a lovely time chatting. He's just begun to play lacrosse.. I went to one game a couple of weeks ago. Guess I'll be learning the rules and strategy for another unfamiliar game. Hey, it keeps me young. I love sports.

My buddy Gregory

Phil kept Brady in the stroller and walked up and down the field so he would stay asleep. Also, Phil is another one to follow the action. He is now hooked on rugby, too. I think my oldest step-son, Jim, would like it too as he an Philadlephia Eagles fan. The two of them have season tickets for the Eagles games. I don't know if we can get Jim to a game this year or not. He definitely can't go this coming Sunday. It's down near Philly for one thing and it's Mother's Day. He always cooks at the restaurant on Mother's Day. Phil & Jim, along with their spouses, always invite me, their mom and their step-dad to dine at Reflections every year. They made reservations at 4pm to accomodate me this year. I'm going to try like mad to get back in time. Cross your fingers on that, too.

Reflections interior & exterior.

Happy Birthday My Loves

2008-05-01T08:24:00.016-05:00

What a busy month this is going to be. My family is chock-a-block full of birthdays. A couple of them important ones.

Miss Sophie Brielle Smith graduates from babyhood to toddlerhood on May 4. She'll be 1. She's not walking by herself yet, but can go like gangbusters when she pushes her shopping cart around.

And the parental units are in for a shock when she start exerting her independence. As in "No! I can do it myself!" Hee hee. They don't have a clue yet at how tyrannical a toddler can be.

***********************************************************************************

On May 7, my baby will turn 50. Yikes! How'd that happen? I'm only 25 myself. We are having a combination family party to celebrate the return of the Clarks to the east coast and a 50th party for Phyllis. She keeps saying it's not a birthday party. But it is. So there!

*************************************************************************************

A couple of other birthdays that are important in the family and, especially to the birthday-ee are May 14 and May 16. My favorite son-in-law, Gregg, will be cough, cough, mumble on May 14. I hope he gets to come to the family do in Mountville. He may be travelling for his new company. He is a party animal and can give the best parties I've ever been to. So can his sister, Teri. If you don't get here, Gregg, Happy Birthday. I love you!

*************************************************************************

And, last but not least, Austin Garland will have a big 4th birthday on May 16. He won't be having a family whoop-ti-doo this year. He's old enough to have a few friends over. Much more fun when you're all the same age. I can't believe he'll be 4 and has a little brother now. Time is fleeing.

Like father, like son.

And The Time Flies

2008-04-23T09:35:00.007-05:00

Just inches from the goal line!

Here we are going into the last bit of April and I'm still adjusting to writing 2008. About the time I have that down, the number will change again. I used to think it was funny to hear "old" people say how fast the years went by as you got older. Not laughing now! Some days I feel like my head is spinning as I watch the months/years whiz by.

I'm closing in on 2nd Broken Rib sock. About 4 more inches on the foot. Do the toe. Weave in the loose ends and I'm done. Last night, I was wishing they were done. My feet were cold and I couldn't seem to get them warm. I even thought about putting on the finished one, but I never did. I finally got my feet warm by heating up a rice bag. I didn't think I even knew where to find one. It was in a drawer in the sewing room. Never used. Hooray. It will be again tonight, also.

Sunday, April 20, I sat on a hilltop at Cumberland Valley High School near Mechanicsburg, PA. It was chilly. It was rainy. The wind was blowing. Why was I there, you ask? For a rugby game, of course. Hempfield vs Cumberland Valley. Hempfield won 12-0. And a very good game it was, too. The first try didn't come till the 2nd half. Extra point kick missed. The 2nd try came just 2 minutes to the end of the game. Payce made her kick good that time. I don't know how in that pouring rain. Brrr

Olivia rode home with her mom and me. We stopped at an Olive Garden on the Carlisle Pike. In the middle of our meal, the rain began to pound on the roof. I looked outside and could barely see the cars in the parking lot it was raining so hard. TG it had stopped by the time we were ready to leave. However, we rain into some more of it as we were coming down I283. Phyllis wanted me to pull off the road under an overpass. But they don't have much room for doing that and I felt it was too dangerous. I did put on my flashers. Others started doing it also. Made seeing other vehicles much easier. Of course, there is always the fool who doesn't even bother to turn headlights on. Probably the same fool who doesn't turn his/her headlights on at night until it's completely dark.

This evening, I'm trekking up to the high school to watch gs Gregory play lacrosse. This is his first year. I just haven't been able to make his games. I know nothing about lacrosse. I figure, if I can learn the ins and outs of rugby, I can do the same for lacrosse. I'm dreading when Olivia is no longer playing sports. I've been sitting on various bleachers, chair-in-a-bags, stadium seats, etc for 10 years or more now. Gonna miss it big time!

Broken Rib Sock

2008-04-16T16:03:00.005-05:00

Here is my first sock that I'm not embarassed to show anyone. The first sock looked and fit like it was made for a tall person with teeny feet. I used the same pattern of Broken Rib Sock that I found in "101 Designer One-Skein Wonders" by Judith Durant.

Instead of the Cascade 220 I had before, I used Modea Dea Sassy Stripes. Swish is the color. 100% acrylic. They'll still keep my feet warm in bed on a cold winter's night. I added a couple of inches to that given for my size foot and it fits just fine now. I love how the stripes look like I did it myself. Of course, I'm holding out no hope that the 2nd sock with match it row for row. I don't care. I made a sock, by golly!

I've already cast on and knit a couple of rows to start the other sock. Since I can't use dp needles and wouldn't if I could, I made this sock by the Magic Loop method created by Bev Galeskas with Sarah Hauschka. http://www.knitpicks.com/The+Magic+Loop_BD30340.html I recently got a 60" Addi Turbo size 5 needle and this is what I used. The pattern called for that size and I got the gauge. I love this method. Once you understand it and master it, it's very soothing to do. So is the 2 circular needle method but I think this is my favorite. I did have to do some fiddling after I did the heel to get both ends going the right way for knitting. I finally got it, however.

The hand of the yarn feels good and I have never expected that in an acrylic. I guess things have really improved in the years when I wasn't knitting. I carry it with me everywhere. I got quite a bit done on this sock while sitting at a rugby tournament last Saturday. My photography stinks, however. The blue is more a med-dark blue. In fact, the colors are all darker than shown in my picture. I need to set up a place where I can take a decent shot.

Idle Chatter

2008-04-01T13:16:00.007-05:00

Nothing special going on this week. The weather is making the transition from winter to spring and having a hard time of it. I heard it snowed in the Seattle, WA area. I have my fingers crossed that won't happen in SE PA. Today is almost 60°F. Rainy and dark. A typical spring day, I think. One day clear as crystal, the next looking murky.

I went down to Westminster, MD with Phyllis on Sunday to attend Olivia's rugby game against the West Carroll Marauders. The Knightmares (our girls) were nervous because they were beaten badly by this team last year and remembered them as enormous. Well, the Marauders had the bad luck of losing nearly all of their starters to graduation. 12 girls in all. They are in the transition of building a new team now. Happens in all scholastic sports. Here are the results of the 2 games. The B game was sad. Our girls pretty much had their way in the whole game. I don't like lopsided scores like that:

A"
Knightmares 22 - Marauders 5
Carly Hallowell 10
Olivia Shelby 5
Sara Glick 5
Payce Madden 2
"B"
Knightmares 52 - Marauders 0
(this could take a while)
Ashton Stauffer 5
Paige Murray 5
Kiersten Seaburg
Maddy Sova 7
Maria Heckenberger 15
Nicole Inslee 5
Olivia Shelby 5
Kelly Sager 5
I would like to thank the West Carroll parents for the yummy food. I like the idea of the social after the games. More sports ought to do this.

I am still knitting away on my first sock. I started turning the heel Saturday night. I was a bit confused and it didn't look right after I had worked up a bit. I didn't want to work on it at the game as it was requiring my full attention. So, I took along a baby cap to work on. My 4th one, BTW. Sunday night, I decided to rip out all the way back to where I'd started the heel turn and pay closer attention to the instructions. Also, I understood better what I was doing and what it was supposed to look like. I learn better from visual than reading. Also from my mistakes. LOL

I'm glad I did the frogging as it went much more smoothly. Now, I'm about halfway down the foot toward the toe. I can sure see why anybody would want to knit both socks at once. I have to do all this again! I got a book on knitting 2 socks at once on the long circulars. I'm going to try that next. I'm really enjoying learning all these new methods.

This 'N That

2008-03-28T17:01:00.011-05:00

I'm finally biting the bullet and delving into the mysterious world of socks. <:- I picked up a book called 1001 Designer One-Skein Wonders and found a pair of socks in it that I think I can handle. Nothing fancy. Just basic K & P. I finally got the Cascade yarn from the folks in Indiana a couple of weeks back. I love it. It's red. So the socks will be for me, naturally. It's Cascade 220 Fiji. I love the way it feels. I also ordered a couple of Addi 40" circulars in sizes that I think I'll use the most in circular knitting. A pair of 5 and 7. These socks called for 5. I've gotten the first 2 rows done. Then, I thought it would be a good idea to copy the pattern so that I can encase it in plastic and be able to read the instructions more easily that if I have to find them in the book every time I look down. These Addis really knit nicely and feel good. And I really like the cable.

I've made up 3 baby hats for my pile I will someday donate to the hospital. I'd like to have 8-10 before I do give them. Last night, I also finished the gray neck gator. It's supposed to be for the troops but I think I'm going to try it out Sunday when we do to the rugby game down in New Windsor MD. I don't know yet if I'll wear it or let Phyllis. I hope that it's warmer than predicted. We'll see. You know my thoughts on ball fields and the wind/temp ratios. LOL

I notice a few green things poking up. Hyacinths from some that DIL Lisa gave me 10 years ago when I had some surgery. Daffys and tulips that were here when I came. My lilac and rhododendron bushes are swelling their buds enormously. I've thought about ordering another butterfly bush or two. I doubt I'll ever be down on the ground to garden again. Flowering bushes would do the trick, don't you think? I have purple now. I need to see what other colors are available. Then find a kid to plant them.

Many of the Canada Geese have gone on their way North from here now. A goodly number stay, but not near the numbers that travel on. Last month, there were thousands around. The evening sky was very noisy. Probably the morning sky too, but I wasn't up at that time to be listening. Another thing I saw several fields of nearby were Snow Geese. They filled a couple of fields and were breathtaking. Later, I read that they were having a bumper crop of them up at the Middlecreek Wildlife Preserve. They stop there on the way North, also. I haven't been up there in some time. Maybe I'll take the kids up for a picnic this summer.

I had a wonderful surprise this past Tuesday, March 25. My step-son, Phil, and his wife, Amy, invited me to have lunch with them and their new son, Brady, at the Lancaster Brewing Company. I was to meet them at 11:30. Luckily for us, that's opening time. I got there first and got a table for 4. They arrived soon after. After we chatted a bit, Amy gave me an odd look and said "We have a surprise for you". I looked up and there were my step-daughter, Jenn, and her 3 kids. Brett, Derek & Cassie!

I screamed! I was so excited. They have just moved back to the East coast from the Seattle area. I was totally clueless that they were coming to lunch. It seems everybody in the family but me knew. LOL Well, maybe Jenn's mom, Grace, didn't know. I'm sure she wanted the fun of surprising her also.

So, a good time was had by all and a super lunch in a place I'd been wanting to go. It won't be the last time I go there. I had a delicious Reuben sandwich. Also, a White Bean Chili. That was outstanding and I may have to go down just to get that to bring home one day. Thanks for lunch, gang. And the great company. I love you all.

Storm Damage

2008-03-11T14:28:00.010-05:00

I just got new siding put on the back of my house a couple of weeks ago. It's gorgeous. Makes it look like a brand new place. This past Saturday March 8, we had some awful storms with high winds. Which produced the usual downed power lines, trees, no power for hours on end, etc. The rain went thru fairly quickly, but the winds lasted all night.

Comcast had been knocked of use. Which meant no tv, no Internet and no phone. TG for cell phones. Not that I needed to talk to anybody. It was just comforting to know I could reach the outside world if need be. I was doing a bit of knitting and listening to the winds howling. I could hear thing banging against the side of the house. Against the new siding. I wasn't sticking my nose out there. I didn't go out Sunday either. It was freezing cold and the winds were still blowing.

Yesterday, I drove up the Texas Eastern Pipeline to have a look. Yikes! Half the rain gutter was in the yard and another umpteen feet were on the roof. It also looks like some of the roof was pried up. The water heater is accessed from the outside in my mobile home. It's at the very end of the house next to the master bathroom. I thought I heard something banging there, also. Turns out the winds ripped the door off and flung it far. Also, the year-ol water heater is tilting at a funny angle. I called the insurance company. Joe at State Farm told me to call whoever I need to repair. I called Howard of H&M. They specialize in mobile home repairs. Trust me, those guys are hard to come by. Especially ones that have been in business for awhile and know what they're doing. Howard may be curt but he knows his beans. He's coming tomorrow afternoon to give me a quote. Now, if I can scout up the $500 deductible. I have a feeling I won't be going on family vacation this summer. Oh well.

We went to the first HYA volleyball game of the season last night. It's not run by the high school, but they make the gym available to the youth association for those kids who aren't on a high school team. They play just for fun. There are only 5 on Olivia's team. She and Andrea and 3 boys. The girls were the only ones on their team to wear their t-shirts. It's University of Texas orange. The 3 games went by quickly and we were out of there in less than an hour. I enjoyed it and got to play with my new camera. I love the setting where I can play papparazzi. I just hold the button down and the camera takes pictures till I release. Cool beans! Here is one shot of Olivia spiking the ball:

On the knitting front, I am just about done with the Tudora neck warmer. I'm starting to think Christmas presents now. I know it's only March but knitting takes awhile and I have a gi-normous family. The Tudora has turned out rather nicely. If I make another one, I'm going to run the cable edge to edge. The author stops the cable when she begins to bind off for the front edge. I don't see the reason for that. My neck warmer is almost the same color as shown but I didn't plan it that way. I just happened to have some Debbie Bliss yarn and used that.

March Madness

2008-03-03T07:36:00.004-05:00

It was pretty windy around here Friday night. Howling and tearing limbs off trees sort of windy. Thankfully, it was only for about 24 hours and had died down quite a bit by the time I went to Olivia's rugby scrimmage on Saturday afternoon. It was a bit chilly but my stadium jacket was perfect against being cold. And it was sunny. I forgot my gimmee hat, so I couldn't watch the play if the sun was in my eyes. Very bright! They played 3 30 minutes halves. The first 2 were refereed by officials. The coaches decided to play another 30 minutes for the practice that both teams need. My bottom said an hour was plenty long enough to sit on bleachers. Even with a stadium seat.

I said I wanted a new knitting project and got one. Karen knitted an adorable beret that she got off the Internet and changed it up a bit so it could be knitted in the round instead of flat. I volunteered to be her guinea pig to test the instructions since she didn't want to make another one right away. After a small bobble at the beginning, I was off and running. TG I had Karen to ask questions of once in awhile. Sometimes, I read/understand things wrong. Or second guess myself and get confused. But it turned out nicely. I got Olivia to model it yesterday when I picked her up for rugby practice. I didn't realize she was wearing her mouth guard. Please ignore it. Also, her hair is thick, curly and hangs down below her shoulder blades. Hence, the big lump in the back of the hat. Here are the pictures I took in the car:

And the final news is that I got my new low-profile box spring Friday afternoon. What a difference 4 inches can make! It lowered the bed down to the perfect height for me. I can sit on the side of the bed and put my feet flat on the floor. Hooray. Now, I won't spend the next 10-15 years kicking myself for not getting the lower box spring. Be warned. Don't get the high profile mattresses/box spring sets unless you have legs like a giraffe. LOL

Knitting Up A Storm

2008-02-21T09:18:00.007-05:00

I've been doing a bit of knitting this month. After a 27 year hiatus from knitting, I've taken it up again with a vengence. Thanks to Karen Mason and her blog at http://threadsfromkaren.blogspot.com/ She's the sort of person who can get me in trouble as whatever she's doing looks like something I absolutely have to try also. LOL And thank heavens for her. I've pretty much given up quilting due the essential tremors in my hands. Well, I guess I have it all over my body but that's where I notice it. For some reason, I can knit just fine. TG I learned a few crafts when I was younger.

That's not to say I'm no longer learning. Holy Smokes! There's all sorts of information all over the Internet. Blogs, YouTube, My Space, web pages, etc. There's free patterns. I can order yarn off the Net and not have to be overwhelmed in a small, cramped shop where, not only can I not see what's available, but I can't even make up my mind. The same thing happens to me at quilt shows. I get overcome by all the sights in the vendors area and don't buy even an inch of fabric. Ridiculous, isn't it? But there you are. I don't think I'll be changing anytime soon.

I found a pattern for fingerless gloves on the Net. In this case, they are fingerless mittens. I made them from wool worsted and they are soooo warm! Olivia saw them and wanted a pair in black for Rugby. She claimed it would be easier to managed the ball if her hands weren't cold. So, I whipped out a pair in black. She loves them and says they do, indeed, keep her hands warm. Kimberly saw them last week and wanted a pair. I took her to AC Moore so she could pick her yarn. She originally wanted black, but picked a variegated in sort of tweed colors. They turned out very nicely.

Now, I'm tired of making the mitts for the time being. I've learned a lot with them. How to a gusset is made, how to knit in the round using 2 circular needles or 1 circular needle. Which is good because double pointed needles are impossible for me to use due to the shakes. I do use them to make i-cord, but even that's hard.

I've started adding some knitting sites that I enjoy over to the right. One of them that I would like to push for the moment are the knitted helmet liners. The very thing that got me back into knitting. I've made 3, so far. LOL I seem to be doing things in 3's. This site has the instructions for making helmet liners and scarves. Plus the address on where to send them. There is a link to a picture so you can see what you're aiming for. Also links to patterns for making neck gators and neck coolers.

I got a new bed a couple weeks back. I was stunned when I saw how high it was. Way above my nightstands. I also need to pole vault into it at night. I like to sit up in bed to read, watch tv and knit. It's a real struggle to get in position. I finally decided to call Sleepy's to see what could be done. I only had 21 days to exchange it if that's what I wanted. The upshot was that they are ordering a low profile box springs for me. They claim this will bring the bed down about 3.5-4 inches. That would be perfect. And, because the salesman didn't do something he was supposed to do, they are splitting the difference on the delivery costs. Hooray! I just hope the thing gets here soon. I had no idea that beds had gotten so high and no idea why. It sure leaves us height challenged types swinging in the wind.

Super Bowl Sunday

2008-02-03T16:16:00.000-05:00

Well, January 2008 has come and gone. I missed most of it due to whatever long-named disease it was that I had. I am not sorry to see the disease pass into history. I am sorry that January was such a bust. Oh well. At least, I am still alive to tell the tale.

Exciting doings in my family these days. I had a phone call from the Maple Valley, WA contingent last week. DD Jenn, to be precise. The great good news is that they are moving back east and will be within range of family doings once more. I have missed them mightily each day they've been gone 3000 miles away. SIL, Gregg, takes up his position at his new job on Feb. 25. Which means they are scurrying around like ants in a kicked up hill getting ready for the move. Even tho the company is taking care of the move, there are tons of things that only they can do. Plus they are leaving Feb 15 to head out for Orlando and a 7-day Caribbean cruise on Mariner of the Seas. As a transition from one end of the country to another. Plus the culture shock. LOL Yeah. That's a good enough excuse for a cruise in the middle of winter.

The other exciting thing I've already written about. The birth on Jan. 12 of Elijah Jay. Due to my illness, I was unable to rush off to meet him. I thought I'd never pry pictures out of anybody. But, daddy Mike finally sent me the ones I posted last month. Yesterday, the new little family were visiting with Uncle Phil & Aunt Amy. Amy called me just as I was starting my shopping expedition at Walmart. I was hoping they'd be there when I was done. They were. Unfortunately for me, I was in such a hurry to get over there that I forgot a few essential items. Like bread. Oh well. It was worth it.

When I got there, Amy had a huge cup of hot tea ready for me. Boy, did that hit the spot! It was black tea and very tasty. I hadn't eaten all day and had planned to beg for a sandwich. She had made up a delicious chicken/pasta soup for their Super Bowl party today. She graciously gave me a big cup of it. TG for those mega-sized Starbucks mugs. I don't think they sell those anymore. They are great for soups and other messy to eat things. And tea. BTW, Amy is a really good comfort food cook, IMNSHO.

I had barely gotten hold of Elijah when he gave me some lovely wide open grins. Is there anything more wonderful that a baby's smile. Unless it's a laugh. He's not up to that yet, but I'm willing to have him smile at me any old time. I wanted to have a picture taken of me holding the two baby boys. 3 week old Elijah and 3 month old Brady. When Mike was born, his cousin, Jason, was born 36 hours alter on the same weekend. I have a picture somewhere of me holding the 2 of them. One in each arm and a silly grin on my face. My first grandchildren. Elijah is my first great-grandson and Brady is the last grandson. I wanted to put both pictures here but can't find the old one. All I can say is that 27 years really makes a difference in a person. LOL

And, so, here is the picture of me & the boys:

New Life Once More

2008-01-21T17:04:00.001-05:00

My big news for the month of Janurary is that great-grandchild #2 has arrived. His name is Elijah Jay Garland and he was born January 12, 2008. Welcome baby boy. Terrific! I have one great-grandchild of each flavor now. Sophie, May 5, 2007, and Elijah. Sophie will be surrounded by little boys. She's going to have to toughen up so she can lead the pack. Unfortunately for me, I haven't been able to go get acquainted with Elijah because I've been sick for the past 3 weeks. Yuck. But I'm working on getting well. ITM, here's a few pictures of the little guy, his parental unit and assorted aunts/uncles. Plus cousin Sophie.

I had a cold back early in December. While it was no fun, I was glad it came early enough that I'd be well at Christmas. That worked OK. Right around New Year's, I started coughing. And coughing and coughing and...... You get the picture. I would cough till I gagged. Couldn't breath and had dry heaves.

I finally went to the Dr. Jan 14, He gave it some long name and said it was a disease rather than an infection. Meaning antibiotics wouldn't do any good. I got an Albuterol inhaler, Prednisone, cough syrup with codeine and a cool mist humidifier. I had to get a 2nd round of the syrup this past Friday. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be sick the rest of my life. Dr. Mac said I didn't have bronchitis or pneumonia. Or whooping cough. Apparently, this last is making a comeback in the world. Sheesh. My lungs were surprisingly clear.

After a week of being on all this stuff and hacking my brains out, it seemed, last night, that my cough was different. Not so violent. Even tho my voice sounds like I swallowed ground glass, I do feel much better today. Hooray! And I look up to find that January is 2/3 gone already. Good grief!

Enough whining. One thing I've done a lot of since I couldn't go anywhere to visit was knitting. I've made several dish cloths with cute patterns. Before Christmas, I made a couple of the 100% wool helmet liners to be sent to the soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan, etc. http://www.geocities.com/helmetliner/ People don't think it gets cold there but they do have mountains and it snows. Plus deserts can get chilly at night. I like the liners so much, that I made a blue one for me. And I wore it yesterday when I had to go out in the bitter cold. My granddaughter said I looked like I was going to rob a bank but I didn't care. My ears, nose and throat were protected from the cold.

I'm also knitting up a pair of fingerless gloves. Mainly to practice a new method of circular knitting that I just learned about. Instead of using 4 double pointed needles, you use 2 circular ones. It took me awhile to catch onto the method. I was too full of drugs to comprehend. Now, I've got it and I'm thrilled to learn this method. There's a hat I wanted to make for Cassie but it starts out with 8 stitches divided over 3 needles. I just couldn't connect the circle and a needle would fall out to make it more frustrating. Sheesh. Next, I want to learn the Magic Loop method but that will have to wait till I can get a 40" cable.

That's about enough of my rambling for today. I need to kick myself and write more often rather than be so long winded when I do write. However, I don't think I know how to write short stuff. My fingers just take over and control the keyboard.

New Year's Ramblings

2008-01-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

Where has the decade gone? Remember the millennium flap? Who can forget that? I always wonder at end of the world people who gather together to await the end. When it doesn't come, how do they feel? What do they do next? Find another guru? They really are sort of pitiful. They waste so much time and energy on waiting when they could have been living their lives to the fullest right up to the last moment.

I did title this blog "ramblings", didn't I? And so it is. Odd stuff that gets stuck in the corners of my brain and refuse to make room for anything important. Such as trying to balance my checkbook or where did I leave the car keys? In my case, it's often where did I leave my bra. This isn't nearly as sexy as it sounds. I just have a tendency to rip that sucker off anywhere in the house and fling it as far as I can. I hate bras and never wear one at home.

It's been an eventful year in my extended family. My oldest grandson, 27 year-old Michael, got married in July. He and his wife, Jess, are expecting a New Year's baby Jan 9. Or sooner. But it will definitely be a 2008 baby as I haven't heard anything to the contrary.

Also in 2007, my 13th grandchild was born. Brady Robert put in an appearnce on November 1. Just in time for his parental unit's 5th anniversary. He's now 2 months old and I am madly in love with him. He smiled at me Sunday night. How can a body resist that.

A first for me. Great-grandchild #1. Miss Sophie Brielle came to join the family on May 5. She is crawling now and doing any number of adorable things that only babies can do. I don't believe her knees hit the floor on Christmas day. She was passed from one person to another just as Brady was. Her poor daddy spent half his time trying to find out where his daughter was. I told him it's a family tradition that babies get handed around like a football at family gatherings. Brady's mom is used to it and was happy to have others take care of him for awhile. Mom and Daddy are very, very tired. A full nights sleep is their main New Year's wish.

And I got another year older in November. Which is a very good thing when you consider the alternative. Not for me the moaning and groaning about getting old. Well, not much anyway. I could do without the aches and pains. I see people falling on their knees and cringe. I also envy them not having to think about will that hurt or can they get up again. But I am eternally grateful that the total knee replacement surgery was available when I needed it. I didn't think I'd ever be able to walk very far without pain again. Now I can do that and stand for longer than 30 seconds at a time. Hooray!

Early December was a pretty wintery time. Snow, cold temps, etc. Then, it got milder before Christmas day. After a hosing down rain 2 days before Christmas, the day turned out mild and clear. Just right for the Christmas football game the guys like to play. The teams are most of the guys and Olivia. From 3 year-old Austin to 50+ Jim. You'll notice that one of the players is wearing a fur coat. That would be Merlin the Collie. I don't know if he made any big plays or not, but he had a lot of fun.

Finally, there were my fairy girls. Just a few months apart in age, they live on opposite coasts. But they have a wondful time when they do get together. They tend to dress in pink at the moment. I think that is the color of choice for all small girls. If the new baby is a boy, Sophie will have to learn how to keep them in line.

This 'n That

2007-12-19T17:07:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I haven't written in my blog since early November! I was going to be so faithful about it too. Now, weeks have passed. Thanksgiving has come and gone. Birthdays have occurred and passed into history. Mine included. Wasn't it just yesterday we were all worried about the Millennium Bug? Good grief, Charlie Brown.

At least I wrote about the birth of grandchild #13. Mr. Brady Robert Garland. He is so dear. I got to see and hold him at Jess's baby shower Dec. 8. And another precious little one is about to be born. Our New Year's baby.

Shannon, Melissa and Kimberly went together to host the shower. This was the first hostessing effort of any of them. They were very nervous about it. They needn't have been.

They did a great job. The party was at Kim's house. I don't know how she got the place so sparkling and took care of Sophie at the same time. Power of being young, I guess. Jess was properly surprised. I wish I had a photo of she and Mike walking in the door. She thought she was stopping by to use the bathroom. LOL If you've ever been 8 months pregnant, you'd know why she didn't suspect a party. We had a few guys there. Mike, of course, Steve, Derrick, Mike's brother, Kyle, and Uncle Chris.

The girls had some fun games. One we've done before was that we were each given a ribbon with some baby charms to hang around our neck. Then, you couldn't say the word "baby". If so, somebody could yell out and take your necklace. The person with the most necklaces at the end of the party won a prize. I had about 8 of them around my neck for all of 10 seconds before I slipped up. We laughed ourselves silly.

We also did the melted Tootsie Roll in a diaper game. A variation of the one Amy did where you had to guess what the candy was in each diaper. This time, we had to guess how many Tootsie Rolls were melted in the diaper. Trust me, this looks gross and like the real thing. Although it did smell nice and chocolate-y. Too bad the real thing isn't that fragrant.

The food was perfect for a shower. Nosh type stuff and a delicious cake. I thought it was a perfect first effort for the girls. Amy says she passes the torch to the next generation of hostesses. LOL I don't know about that. She and Jenn have done some fabulous parties over the years. And Gregg ought to be a party planner in his spare time.

Since I last blogged, we've had some nasty, bitter winter weather. A bit early, IMNSHO. However, it's all gone now and I even took my jacket off in the car today. The forecast for Christmas Day is in the 30's and sunny. This is good news for the family football game. The teams are composed of anybody who wants to get out and chase other family members around the field. From 50+ Jim down to 3 year-old Austin. It's a Garland family Christmas tradition. After that, we get down to the serious business of opening presents. Oh yes. We eat first. Got to keep our priorities straight.

Amish Winter

2007-12-18T09:39:00.001-05:00

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Beginnings & Endings

2007-11-08T17:20:00.000-05:00

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I'm happy to announce the birth of Brady Rober Garland on November 1. I am in love, of course. He is as cute as any baby has a right to be. Mom and Dad came through fine even tho they were pretty tired the next day. Which happened to be their 5th wedding anniversary. Talk about timing. What a lovey present Master Brady is.

Two things have ended since my last blog. First, Olivia's Blaze softball team played their last tournament of the year. And not a moment too soon as it was pretty darned cold to be watching softball in football weather. At least, it wasn't raining. We went to Shippensburgh, PA for the tournament. We had a deluge of rain from Thursday night thru early Saturday morning. Because the playing field was soaked, that day's play was postponed till Sunday. Then, they curtailed each game to 1:15 hrs in order to fit the whole of them in. It was worth being chilled in the long run as Olivia's team won the whole shebang. Softball is now done till spring.

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Hempfield High School had their last games Friday and Saturday. Varsity on Friday night. JV on Saturday morning. It was darned cold! We were bundled up to our noses. How exciting that Olivia got to play in part of the 3rd quarter and all of the 4th. First time in the whole season. Usually, the coach would put her in for a play or 3 near the end of the 4th quarter. I am happy to say that she acquitted herself quite well. Made several tackles with her patented Olivia swinging vine tackle. Still brings 'em down. She was one happy football player that day. I do believe she earned the coaches respect during the season. She might have been knocked down and run over more than once, but she always bounced back up for more and gave as good as she got. Without crying and whining, I might add. In this picture, she is on the far right side. By the referee.

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A Different Autumn

2007-10-27T13:01:00.000-05:00

The weather has not been what I would call autumnal weather this year. The weather gurus say it's because of the late warmth and not much rain. Usually the leaves are glorious and reaching their peak about now. Not this year. The trees just look a bit rusty. There is the odd tree in full color here and there. But even they aren't too pretty. And it's been raining fairly heavily and steadily since late Thursday night/early Friday morning. It's stopped for now and should clear up this afternoon.

Poor Olivia. Her football team had an away game last night against Reading High School. The JV kids have to suit up and go to these games even though they won't get to play. It was hosing down last night. I watched Football Friday Night at 11:30. A local show that covers all the games for the night. Many games were postponed to this afternoon, Sunday afternoon or Monday night. The few that were played were a horrible mess. There is no way any of the teams could play well in that sort of driving rain and muddy fields. Not all the schools have astro turf. I'm sure O was frozen before it was over. I was hoping that the sidelined players have ponchos but don't know for sure.

We were supposed to go to Shippensburg for the last softball tournament this morning. Yesterday afternoon, Phyllis got a call from the coach. The fields were under water at Shippensburg and all games for today were postponed till Sunday. Which means a very long day for everybody as all the games will be played tomorrow till finish. Oh well. I'm taking my blankie and other warm things. The forecast is for clear and cool.

Last Sunday, October 21, was Shannon's 23rd birthday. Where did those years go? She chose Red Lobster as the place for her dinner out. A family tradition. Her sweetie, Mike, was invited. Of course. They are the cutest couple. Amy, Gregory and Austin were also invited. And Mike's parents whom we hadn't met. They are terrific. We all seemed to meld together effortlessly. As if we'd known each other forever. None of that awkwardness that can happen when the parents meet each other. A good time was had by all. Too bad that the food was awful. Red Lobster used to have good food but it has sure gone downhill in recent years. I had a grilled lobster and shrimp plate. The lobster was a split tail of some tiny variety. About the size of a crayfish, actually. The shrimp was tasteless. About the time I was done eating, I noticed that Phyllis had vegetables with her same-as-mine order. Huh? The waitress apologized and said she forgot to put them on my plate. Also, we sat for about 10 minutes before we were even acknowledged by her. Not good service no matter how pleasant she was. Oh well. My birthday dinner will be somewhere else.

Mike gave Shannon an iPod Nano. It is so cute. Very slender and small. Not much bigger than a credit card. But it holds tons of stuff. I'd love to have one to listen to books. However, I have many other things that I need ahead of spending big bucks on something like that.

One other thing. We had a block party on October 20. A cul-de-sac party really. It was just for the neighbors in our little circle. Pot luck. It was the first time we'd done that and it was very nice. The guy across the street has a serious grill and he cooked hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken. There were no children a none live back here. However, my next door neighbor brought out their white German Shepherd, Rocket. He is so sweet. I had put Cocker Spaniel, Bella, in her crate. But went to get her as she and Rocket love to play. This caused others to bring out their dogs. The grill guy and his wife have 2 miniature dachshunds. So cute. Another neighbor has 3 teeny dogs of mixed breed. Like peke-a-poos. I think one weighs only a pound. They were cute also, but a bit too small for me. Bella is the perfect size, IMNSHO.

Finally Autumn

2007-10-12T13:28:00.000-05:00

The awful heat of the past week is gone. Along with it's humidity. TG! It began to rain Wednesday nite. Not steady but heavy at times. This issued in the beginning of cooler temps. I finally dragged my carcass over to the furnace and lit the pilot light yesterday afternoon. I had put it of as long as I could. This morning, I was mighty glad that I had done the deed as it had gotten pretty windy during the night. And the wind is still howling outside. Tuesday, the high was 89F. Yesterday, it never hit 70F. Today, at 2pm, the temp is 59F. No telling what the wind chill index is. I am content with cooler weather.

I went to Walmart yesterday and bought myself a shop vac. I had one years ago but sold in the garage sale when I was readying to move here. It was huge and in fairly sad shape. I really didn't have any place to stash it here. I found a small one at Walmart. Perfect for my needs and I can store it in the sewing room closet. I went around getting cobwebs down from high corners and black dog hair from spots where the vacuum doesn't reach. It's small, but mighty and it wasn't very expensive. Phyllis has a larger one but it's a pain to get over here. I could barely lift it in and out of the Blazer. And I hate to ask her to bring it. Her plate is full enough as it is. This works much better. I can haul the thing out on a moment's notice and not sit around wondering when/how to get hers.

We are not having much color this fall. I figured it had something to do with the dry summer. Sure enough, I was right. The news guy was talking about this the other night. Longer warm temps and not much rain have combined to do in the pretty colors. Mostly, the leaves are just turning brown on the trees and falling from there to be raked up. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Oh yes. I did one productive thing today. I called AAA and signed up for the Over 55 driving course. My insurance agent recommended it as it will reduce my rate 5% per year for 3 years. Every little bit helps. Apparently there is no driving involved. It's an 8 hour course held on 2 Saturday. Written work and videos are involved. Hmm. How does this help to make me a better driver? Mighty peculiar if you ask me

Autumn in PA

2007-10-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of a tobacco barn down the street from me. I should have gotten closer but I was taking the shot from the car. The barns are constructed so that tobacco can be dried in preparation for the auctions in December. I tried to find a wagon that was harvesting the tobacco but didn't see one around. I should take a drive around the county. I know the Amish are still harvesting. Below is another barn nearby. Not the one above. You can see the tobacco hanging up in this one. The cladding boards are the ones that can be opened and closed for airing. I believe they close them if it's raining.

There is no machinery to harvest tobacco. It's done by hand. Fastened in some way between 2 long boards by the stem, it is hung in the barn and left to dry. The above barn is very typical of the ones in this area. I seem to remember that, down South, the tobacco is stored/dried in long, open spaces with a net of some sort over them. It's been years since I've seen them, however, so I can be totally wrong.

This is what the inside of the a Pennsylvania tobacco barn looks like with the tobacco hung to dry.

OK, I have drained my knowledge of tobacco growing. On to other topics. One being I hadn't realized how long it's been since I posted. Weeks for crying out loud. Stuff has happened, of course. Most of it you already know, but I'm putting it here for myself.

Olivia went out for the Hempfield High School football team as I mentioned earlier. The coach threw everything he could at her, including huge players, but she stayed stuck. And gradually has won the coach's respect. I imagine he thought she'd bail the first time she was run over by some of her teammates in practice. Which shows how little he knew her. LOL She on the JV (Junior Varsity) team, of course. But she is still a midget among the giants. In case you can't tell, she is #88.

The good news for her is that the coaches, with all this new respect, put her into the game in the last 2 games. Granted Hempfield was ahead and it was the 4th quarter. Still, I didn't think she'd ever be put into a game. Unless it was the very last play of the very last game of the season. Her mom, Phyllis, got so excited I thought she was going to fall out of the bleachers. Olivia has been having lots of aches and pains due to all her various sports. She later told us that she couldn't feel a single one when she stepped onto the field that first time. She is an amazing person. I'm not sure I would have had the gumption to stick it as she has when I was her age. I like to think that I would have but I'll never know.

It won't be long till grandchild #13 puts in his appearance. The first week in November is his due date. I'm not sure what his name is and haven't asked Amy. I know she is very ready and I am very excited at the prospect of a new little person in my life.

The weather in Lancaster County has been off and on. September had some chilly nights. I never have gotten around to lighting the pilot light on the furnace. It's warmed up enough each day that I didn't need the heat. Now, the first week in October, it's Indian Summer and pretty darned hot.

I spent yesterday at a girl's fall softball tournament. It was too warm for me in the sun. Fortunately, there was a lovely row of old trees with great shade. They provided all the shade we needed for the day. The Blaze, Olivia's new tournament team for 2008, won all 3 games they played yesterday. I'm not sure if this will show up or not but here is the URL of the Google aerial map. If you click on Satellite, you will see the park. The field we played on is in the lower left corner. You can see the row of trees. The Turkey Hill is just below that and to the left a bit. The larger building is a gym. Just left of that is a dentist's office. Left of that is the Turkey Hill. They let us use their restr oom. TG and it is quite a hike to the concession stand. It's the small white building nestled into a grove of trees midway u p the field. Trust me, it's a lot further than it looks.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=community+park&near=Lancaster,+PA&fb=1&cid=0,0,7503140874932197737&sa=X&oi=local_result&resnum=1&ct=image

That's pretty much all I have to say for now. It's been a quiet Sunday. Did a few chores and hung out with Bella. She is learning to catch. I bought her a star-shaped squeaky toy and call it her baby. If I tell her to go find her baby, she goes into overdrive till she locates it. She sleeps with it and it is always nearby. Too cute. I love having a dog again.

2007-08-25T14:57:00.000-05:00

You know it's going to be a scorcher when you take the dog out at 7am and your glasses fog over! It was already 75F then and the humidity was about the same I think. And just a few days ago, I had the a/c off for a few days. The windows were open to fresh air. It was lovely. It's 3:30pm as I write this. The temp is 93F with a dewpoint of 77. Which, they tell me, means it feels like 107F. I'll take their word for it. Other than taking the dog out to do her business, I'm staying tucked up inside with the a/c. I hope it had a nice rest last weekend.

Nothing much has been going around here. I'm making progress on the blue Snowball/9 patch quilt top. When I put Bella out at 7, I took my coffee into the sewing room and ran up one combo block. I have 12 of them up on the flannel wall. I sort of wish I'd made light the center square of the 9 patch. But not enough to change them all out. I made up a bunch of sub-strata for the 9 patch. In digging thru the lot to put together a block, I seem to have made more with a dark center when I really needed more with a light center. Twice as many as the middle section, of course. Oh well.

I was also thinking I would do 20 of them. Now, I believe it will require more. Good think I have plenty of the main Snowball fabric. I was thinking of where I got that piece of fabric . I bought it about 15-20 years ago at a small shop along the coast of Maine. South of Bar Harbor, I think. Isn't it funny how you can remember exactly where you were when you bought one piece of fabric but have no clue on another piece. Well, that's the way it happens for me at any rate.

A Football Story

2007-08-18T10:21:00.000-05:00

I have a bit of news that I've been holding back. Mainly because I wasn't sure if it was going to fly nor how I really felt about it. Olivia is on the high school football team! She's talked about it ever since she started high school and she's a junior this year. I figured she was just wishing for the good old days over at Mountville. Not so. She was just biding her time, I guess. They really gave her the run around. When she went to sign up and weigh in, the coaches ran her from this person to that person to the trainer, etc.

Then, because of the concussion she sustained playing rugby months ago, they insisted she have something called an Impact Test. Another bit of running from pillar to post. The school was supposed to be giving it but their computers were down this week. When they came back up, the Impact software wasn't re-installed. Or something like that. ITM, mandatory practice started this past Monday. 8am-6:30pm. The kids had to be there or get kicked off the team. Olivia wasn't allowed to even run laps until the coach got the results of the test. She couldn't do anything but sit on the bench all day. In the heat. As the week wore on, she got more and more frustrated. She wasn't allowed to leave. I would have lost it long before she did. I am glad that the test was required. It tells me that the schools are concerned about the kids's welfare a bit. Probably to stave off lawsuits, but whatever works is fine with me.

The upshot was that Phyllis took her to Elizabethtown Thursday afternoon. Apparently, the test is give on the computer and tests memory. It took about 15 minutes. Then, it was a matter of getting the info faxed to the neurologist in York. She, in turn had to fax it to Olivia's regular doctor. Who, then, had to sign off on it and fax it over to the trainer at the high school. You can all imagine how fast these various people got it going. Phyllis had to keep calling this place and that to have it done. If she hadn't, it would still be languishing in somebody's TBR stack.

Olivia called me from the school yesterday in tears. She wanted me to come get her. The coach said it was alright for her to go and get the test paper signings taken care of. I picked her up around 10am. She didn't want to talk so I left her alone. The neurologist didn't even get in till noon. After the paper work was moving thru the system, Phyllis took her back to the field in time for team pictures and an ice cream social. Phyllis said she ran into a lot of people from the Mountville days.

There is a scrimmage today. I didn't go as I know O wasn't going to be playing. No practice, after all. But she's suited up and sitting on the bench. I guess she's a happy camper. Phyllis went. She's bringing me some chicken barbecue from the sale they are having after the scrimmage. The weather is fantastic. Not too hot nor humid. Hope it holds as we are off to see the Barnstormers baseball team play tomorrow at Clipper stadium. I could use a good baseball game.

There you have it. I'm proud of Olivia for sticking it out all week. And for putting up with some of the petty stuff the coach (es) do. Like forgetting to unlock the women's restroom each day. Sheesh. Phyllis found out this morning that one of Olivia's softball buddies is the kicker for the Columbia High School team this fall. I am woman, hear me roar!

And, yes, Olivia knows that she has to do 10 times better than any of the boys. Cross all the T's and dot all the I's so to speak. She's prepared. We'll see how the season goes. Guess I'll be warming a stadium bleacher after a bit.

The Wedding

2007-07-31T16:02:00.000-05:00

This is a flash show of my oldest grandson's wedding on July 29, 2007. Mike is my oldest granchild (of 13) and the first to marry.
Enjoy!

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Family Vacation in West Virginia

2007-07-24T10:33:00.001-05:00

Since I last wrote, I've been to West Virginia on family vacation with my extended family. This year there were 20 of us for most of the week. Steve & Missy came on Thursday night. It was all the time they could get off work.

Outside my bedroom

Even tho the rental was Monday-Monday, we left on Sunday for a couple of reasons. Primarily because Olivia was committed to work in a food vendor booth at Clipper Stadium for her rugby team. She had done it a couple of weeks earlier and enjoyed it. Both times, Phyllis and I got tickets to see the game. The first time was great. After driving 4 hours and coming home to high heat and humdity, the 2nd time wasn't so great. I was exhausted and so was Phyllis. Thankfully, Olivia's aunt & uncle came to see her and to take her out after the game. Since we were miserable and the Barnstormers were losing, Phyllis and I bailed before the end of the game. It felt sooo good to get home where it was cool and quiet. PLUS I was alone.

The place in West Virginia is near Terra Alta and not too far from the western Maryland border. So, we drove back and forth a lot going to various stores and other places. There's nothing to do at the place where we stayed if you don't play golf or do outdoor stuff. However, it was very peaceful and I read 3-4 books that week. Suited me fine. The big plus was getting to hang out with all the grown kids, grandkids of various ages and to get better acquainted with Jess, who will become my first granddaughter-in-law on July 29. I fell in love with her. She and Mike are perfect for each other.

The adult males played golf one day. Unfortunately for them, it rained buckets off and on all day. They would play a bit, hide from the rain, then go out to play some more. Gregg & Jenn were supposed to cook supper for the house. Since the game went on so long, the guys decided to take everyone up to the club dining room for dinner instead. As it was, we didn't walk in there till nearly 9pm. I think the young waitress almost fainted. She had to find out from the general manager if it was ok to seat us. He saw 20 people adding up to $$$ and said yes. She rallied and did a wonderful job for us. Especially considering the fact that a 2nd waitress had quit earlier in the evening and walked out.

The food was delicious. Just about everyone had steak with various vegetables. Even the littlest kid, Austin, never got fussy. Of course, he had the bigger kids horsing around with him. One good thing about being the only group there was we didn't have to be on our best behaviour.

So, a good time was had by all that week. Here's a picture of Phyllis the night before we left. She was in pensive mode. I moved the camera as I snapped the shot and got this really neat blur all around her. I like it.

Birthday Party & Softball Tournament

2007-05-21T06:49:00.000-05:00

TG I have no place to go and nothing to do. Other than the usual pick up the clutter around here. I am pooped and hungover from too much of a good thing. No alcohol was involved but it might have helped. :-)

SATURDAY

Altho Austin's 3rd birthday was last Wednesday, his parental units had his party on Saturday. I gave him a DVD of "Wee Sing Sillyville". I first bought this on video tape when 22-yr. old Shannon was 3. The tape is about shot. Olivia was complaining back in early March that she couldn't find the tape and had forgotten the words to some song. So, I ordered a surprise DVD version for her. All the grandchildren have loved this show. Most of the songs are ones that just about any grown-up would know. So, I figured Austin would be no different than the others in liking it If you have little ones to buy gifts for, I highly recommend this show. I got both copies from http://www.Amazon.com and they are around $13/14 with shipping.

Austin is heavily into Thomas the Tank Engine. He even takes various train characters with him when they go out to eat. The first present he opened was Percy. He was so thrilled, he abandoned opening anything else and left the room to go get his other engines. LOL He was persuaded to return and finish the opening job. Which included several other Thomas themed gifts.

His 2 big presents were a scooter that his maternal grandpop had the smarts to put together beforehand. Last year, he had to put a plastic Harley together. It took 3 grown men and way too much time to do. Austin had lost interest long before. Pop Pop learned his lesson.

Master Austin's insane parental unit gave him a drum set! That's what he's been longing for and asking for. Amy says it will go in the basement. Phil got him a chair so he could play. Showed him how to hold the sticks and use the foot pedal. The rest of the afternoon, we all had to shout to carry on a conversation. I was surprised at how coordinated the little guy was. He even had a sort of rhythm going on. He could use the drum sticks and the foot pedal at the same time. I don't think I could do that. LOL

It was a lovely afternoon. Olivia wasn't there as she had gone with the rugby team to Wilmington DE for a seven's game. They left at 6am and she didn't get back till 8pm.

We had the usual summer sort of food. Hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, chips, etc. Amy made a gorgeous (and delicious)salad. I don't like salads where stuff isn't cut up enough. Especially don't like honking big leaves of greens or huge chunks of tomatoes. This one was just right and had a yummy dressing. I can't remember what it was. Some sort of oil/vinegar with herbs. And that was it for Saturday.

All the drumming kicked my migraine up a bit and I was glad to be home with Bella. She doesn't even bark. So, it was quiet around here. Plus I could watch the bull riders in peace.

SUNDAY

Sunday was a softball tournament down in Solanco. This is all Olivia's new team does. Tournaments. This one started aroun 9am but we didn't have to be there till 12:00pm. The other day I played around with my digital camera and figured out how to increase the shutter speed. The result is this neat shot of the ball just as O takes a swing. I would press the shutter just as the pitcher let go. I'm impressed with myself.

Her team, Razorbacks, won their first 2 games and ended up playing at 6pm for the tournament winner. Solanco won. I won't say by how much. It wasn't a shut out but it wasn't pretty. This was just a practice tournament so the girls & parents who've never had the experience would know how things work. Three are only a couple of girls on the team that Olivia has played with before. They are gathered from different areas around here.

It was a gorgeous day altho rain had been forecast. The sun was warm but there was a nice breeze to keep us cool. I did remember to slather on a bit of sun screen. Got burnt at the last rugby game. We had 2 hours to kill between the 2nd and final games. So, we ran home, Olivia took a quick shower, and raced over to the rugby picnic so she could see those folks and turn in her (2nd) uniform. Her first one having been cut off in the trauma room a few weeks back. That's taped up on her bedroom wall.

Olivia and Phyllis visited at the rugby picnic for a few minutes. They each got a plate of food and we took off back down to Solanco. The rugby thing was near home. Solanco isn't. I drove about 65 miles that day.

For the last game, we took Bella, the new Cocker Spaniel puppy, with us. They say you should socialize your dogs. She certainly got that. She was splendid. She is the sweetest, gentlest dog I can ever recall having. Very loving and cuddly. Just what I need. I didn't take any pics of her at the game. So, here is one of Shannon holding her the day I got her. Mother's Day, BTW. Did you know that black animals are very hard to photograph well?

Sophie Brielle Smith

2007-05-11T08:24:00.000-05:00

Miss Sophie Brielle made her appearance in the world on Friday, May 4, 2007. She weighed 8lb 12 oz. A typical Galand, she was 11 days late. Mom and Dad were extremely happy to be able to hold their baby girl.

Naturally, she is beautiful. What else could a new baby be? In truth, she was very alert and had none of the red, wrinkled, worried old man look that many newborns have. I think that extra 11 days allowed her to gain a bit of baby fat and removed the wrinkles.<

She has many relatives as she will discover in time. She will soon feel like a football as she is handed from doting aunt, to grandparent, to great-grandparent, etc. Her cousins all survived this adoration and she will also.

Welcome to the world, Miss Sophie.

The Waiting Game

2007-05-04T08:27:00.000-05:00

The above photo was taken on Monday, April 30. As you can tell, the baby is all out front. Unfortunately, she wasn't ready for her debut.

Kim and Derrick went to Women's and Babes Hospital last evening so that Kim could be induced. She was 11 days overdue. I received a call from her step-mom, Lisa, around 7:30am to tell me that Kim was 10 centimeters dilated and a baby was expected to be born by noon.

So, here I sit. Waiting, waiting. Better to be at home that at the hospital. I think I'll pay a few bills and sew while I wait.

Saturday At State College

2007-04-30T10:57:00.000-05:00

If you want to read about Sunday, read the post following this one.

It sure wasn't my usual quiet weekend. But it got me out of my rut and that's always a good thing. I was supposed to drive down to Havre de Grace, MD last Sunday to see Olivia play rugby. Halfway there, she called to say not to come as she wasn't going to play. For some reason, I listened to her and came back home. Turned out she not only played but scored, as well.

Saturday, her team went up to State College, PA. That's home to Penn State. A very large college up in the mountains about 2 1/2 hours from here. Phyllis was working and couldn't go. A good thing as it turned out. I chose to go. Silly me. I followed the directions that are posted on the other team's web site. It and my GPS agreed. Got there fine. Oops. No rugby playing going on there. The only thing I saw was a boy's baseball game. It was a middle school and not that big a campus that you couldn't see all of it in short order. The phone # give to call if you were lost just went to the guy's voice mail. Olivia was warming up about then and couldn't hear her phone.

Just before the 2pm game time, she called to say they were at State College. Uh huh. Not only is State College the name of the town, but everything around there carries the same name. I decided that they might be at State College High School. Plugged that into the GPS and took off. Got there and there were about 20 buses and hundreds of cars. Oh no! Turned out to be a state lacrosse (or something like it) playoff going on there. Now what? I had to potty rather desperately, so I looked for a McDonald's in the GPS. Found one nearby. Ahh. After that, I went back to the high school and parked in the lot. I thought I might hear from Olivia at some point.

Between games, she called to tell me they were some place called Port Matilda. A port in central PA? A check in the GPS told me it was so and that it was 12 miles from where I was. Intrepid me took off. The only park I could find there was a small community park containing a few families playing on the playground equipment and a couple of fisherman wetting their lines in the picturesque stream that ran thru it. No rugby players.By this time, I was extremely frustrated. The only reason I was still up in the area was because Olivia was supposed to ride home with me.

After the Port Matilda debacle, I decided to just bag the whole thing and head for home. As I was tooling along Rte 322, she called to say the games were over and they were headed for the bus. There was really no way for us to hook up. I told her I'd meet her at Hempfield when the bus brought them home.

And that's what I did.Still hadn't seen a rugby game. Rugby 2 - Margaret 0. Ah but that was about to change. I did get to one yesterday. I'll write about that in another post. Olivia got hurt.

Sunday in the Park

2007-04-30T10:38:00.000-05:00

The game yesterday was about 3 miles up the road from me in a park where I often go to picnic or have a bit of quiet when I'm not ready to go home yet. It's a nice little park hidden behind some homes and is usually a serene place unless there is a game going on.

Yesterday was gorgeous as opposed to dark, sprinkly Saturday. I got a bit of burn on my arms. I got there before Phyllis and Olivia as O had a softball scrimmage to play first. I knew all her sports were going to collide one day. They were also scheduled to attend the cheerleaders end-of-season banquet but that didn't happen. It was over about the time O's first game was. She didn't want to go anyway as she wanted to play in the 2nd game.

So, I was picking up bits and pieces of the whys and wherefores of rugby before they got there. It's only their 2nd year of organization, so other folks were almost as clueless as we were. However, I was hooked on the game pretty quickly. A very fast-paced and exciting game. The play doesn't get stopped endlessly as it does in football. Someone gets tackled while carrying the ball? Ball isn't dead. They have to lay in on the field so either side can pick it up and run. Mercy. You never know who's got the ball as they pass it back and forth a lot. Can't throw forward. Only behind the player.

Olivia played the 2nd half of the first game. Then, she and Phyllis were supposed to leave for the banquet. Turned out the banquet was ending. Phyllis ran up the road to return Olivia's uniform and to get the meals that she had paid for. When she came back, the 2nd game had already started and I had been trying to video it with her cam. It's hard to see the play in the view finder when the sun is shining brightly.

When Phyllis came, there was a time out (I thought) and we were chatting. I noticed there was some activity across the field. Someone was down and guys were kneeling all around the girl. About that time, Phyllis couldn't find Olivia anywhere she looked. That was because Olivia was the girl down!It was scary. I didn't get it on camera and Olivia can't remember.
Apparently, she had the ball and was tackled. Her head hit the ground hard when she went down. Knocked her out. Phyllis went over. O was a bit disoriented. At first, she didn't know where she was, why or even the day of the week. Her pupils were fixed and she had a headache. Some people from both teams went across the field who were paramedics. Soon, the first responders came roaring up. TG, they were only 1/2 mile down the road. After awhile, an ambulance came to take her to the hospital.

All in all, I'd say she was lying on the field about 15 minutes. I couldn't see as there were people all around her. Different girls from her team would come back with reports for me. The paramedics felt she had a concussion. So, off we went to the ER. Phyllis left her car at the field and I drove. She was in no shape to. Since Olivia went in as a trauma alert, they went right to work on her. Just like on tv, they cut her clothes off her. Only her jersey and her sports bra. They cut one side of her team shorts and the spandex ones she had on underneath that. I guess someone must have said forget it as they didn't cut all the way to/thru the waist. After first assessments, they carted her off for x-rays and a cat scan. We didn't see her for the first 30 minutes we were there. She was taken to Lancaster General as it's a regional trauma center. That's the hospital where I had my knee surgery last summer. I was glad she went there. Their ER is huge and top notch.

The rugby coach came down after the game and stayed with us till we walked out after she was released. The diagnosis was a mild concussion. The prescription they gave was for oxycontin. We had to stop by the only drug store that's open after 5pm on Sunday. While Phyllis went in to get it filled, O and I drove down the street to Burger King. She was a bit hungry and I hadn't eaten since 6am. I had planned to get an Isaac's portobello sandwich after the game but that didn't happen. Phyllis got me some crackers and iced tea when she went off to get coffee at the hospital.

There was some talk of keeping her overnight but the Dr agreed that she could go home if there was someone to wake her every 4 hours and be sure she was OK. TG Phyllis didn't have to work today. Neither she nor Olivia wanted the overnight thing. I talked to Phyllis this morning and she said everything went fine thru the night even tho she didn't sleep too well. Olivia only took the one pain pill when we were in the car coming home. She had a vile headache, of course.
Phyllis was upset about the cut up jersey. The coach said not to worry about it. Since Olivia didn't have another top to wear home, he went to his car and brought her back another team jersey. He was very nice and I was glad I had a chance to chat with him. I did pick his brain with a few questions about rugby. He said that Olivia kept saying she was OK when she was still down on the field and wanted to get back in the game. That's Big O. He's not the first coach to run up against that with her.

Phyllis kept saying rugby is too dangerous. I pointed out that, last time, it was a cheerleading tumble gone wrong that made for an ER trip. Unless you're playing shuffleboard, just about any sport is dangerous. There were several other sports injured people in the ER yesterday. You get one of the first really decent spring days and you start getting sports and home/yard work injuries. It was crowded in there yesterday and it's an enormous ER.

One terrible thing was going on about the same time. Just as Olivia was brought in, the paramedics were bringing in multiple members of a family who's boat had gone over an 80 ft dam yesterday afternoon. My first reaction was they must not have noticed the billboard sized signs and alarms they have at both the big dams here. Turned out they had picnicked on a river island. When they left, the boat motor died and they were drifting toward the dam. The anchor wouldn't hold. Most of them jumped out and swam for shore but a 16 year old girl is still missing. So sad. My heart goes out to them all.

Olivia seems to be OK this morning. I've seen her on-line a time or two in the last hour. I imagine she has a headache and a bit of nausea. That goes with a concussion. I hope this is her last head-type sports injury. Those are so scary. Broken bones can mend, but head things are more uncertain.

I did quite a bit of walking yesterday. Phyllis had asked me if I needed her to drive me over to the field. I said no as it was right there. Maybe 50 yards from where I parked. At the hospital, I let her out at the ER entrance and went to park the car nearby. The garage is right there and the first 2 aisles are for ER parking only. I got a good spot. When I went in, I asked the receptionist about Olivia. They said someone would come to get me. That woman, a sort of guest facilitator, came out looking all concerned and asked me if I needed a wheelchair. Um. No. She said is was a long walk and my daughter wasn't sure I could do it.

I think the year or so before my surgery was harder on them than I realized. That was when I couldn't walk 3 ft without pain and Phyllis was always having to drive me closer to some field or other. I haven't been able to break her of that yet. It was a long walk but I had no problem and no pain. It's so good to be able to walk and stand w/o hurting.

That was my weekend. I need a few days to recuperate from all the excitement. I am glad I have this blog where I can write things down. Writing always seems to help me get things in order in my mind.

Slashing My Stash

2007-04-18T12:47:00.000-05:00

I took some pictures of my current project yesterday. I took a pic of each step in the process of making 1 block. So far, it's looking pretty good. I'm using various greens as the 6" square and peach/pink prints for the strips that go around it in Log Cabin style. I'm thinking I may throw in a small black/white polka dot for a block or 2 to add a bit of visual interest. So, here are the pix:

FIRST BORDER

SECOND BORDER

THIRD BORDER

UNCUT BLOCK

FIRST CUT : Cut 3 1/2" from edge of square, NOT edge of block.

FIRST CUT MADE

SECOND CUT: Again, 3 1/2" from edge of square. I have 2 1/2" shown here but that's wrong. I did correct before I made the cut.

DONE
Ready to be mixed with 29 other blocks.

Whew!!! I don't know how Bonnie does this. I'm exhausted from getting them arranged in order. Not to mention trying to take a decent shot. Good thing I shot multiples.

So, now you know what I've been up to the past few days. The sewing demons have me.

Ms. First Nighter Rides Again

2007-04-12T14:20:00.000-05:00

It was my great pleasure to be in the audience for the dress rehearsal of this show. It is currently running at The Dutch Apple Dinner Theater in Lancaster, PA. The performers are so professional that you forget it is a dress rehearsal. As far as I was concerned, it was opening night.

I had never seen the show and, other than knowing the Bible story of Joseph and his coat of many colors, I knew nothing about the stage show. I was blown away. After seeing "The Full Monty" back in February when it began it's run, I didn't think anything could top it. The two shows are so different that they can't be compared. And I enjoyed both tremendously.

The narrator is April Monte. She is onstage and singing for much of the show as she carries the story forward. Jonathon Goodman is Joseph. The show has a large cast with 11 brothers, the father, Pharaoh and his court. Counting the children's chorus of about 16 or so kids and the stage was filled.

There is never a dull or slow moment. No talking, all singing. The show was written and produced by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Enough said. They have both done amazing things in the music theater world. Long may they reign.

The show I attended runs April 12 - June 2. If you are going to be in the Lancaster, PA area during that time, I highly recommend attending the show. The food is good and theater is small by Broadway standards (seats around 300-400. Making for a more intimate viewing. I am including the URL for the box office. You can also purchase tickets on-line.

http://dutchapple.com/ticketsales.htm

Other than going to the play, I've just been sewing strata and cutting them apart to make the scrappy border for the Twisted Scrap quilt. I don't think it will take long if I just stick to it. But a couple of hours is all I can really do at a time. I need a new chair. My stenographer's chair has lost all it's gas and I tend to sit practically on the floor. Not very comfortable. When I stand, I have to not move for a few seconds till everything falls into place.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

2007-04-06T13:31:00.000-05:00

Kimberly sent me the above bunnies. Brightened my day. Thanks, Kim.

I took my car in yesterday to get the a/c charged up for warm weather. No can do, says they. It's too cold to get an accurate reading on the amount of freon needed. It was cold and snowing now and again. Another day.

After I left there is was very early. So, I decided to head out to Intercourse and hit the fabric shops there and along the way. Wah! I got out there around 9am. Only to find out that none were open till 10am. I wasn't in the mood to hang around. I whipped down to Walmart to get a few groceries. Especially the stuff for Easter dinner on Sunday. It will only be the 4 of us as usual. But it's nice to have dinner with my girls. Walmart didn't start getting crowded until I was ready to check out. Having to dodge kids whose parents are oblivious is a pain in the old southern end.

After that, it was past 1pm. I was hungry since I ate breakfast around 5am. I couldn't decide where to go. Tired of Cracker Barrel, Bob Evan's and Friendlys. Then, I spied Perkins and whipped into their lot. I haven't eaten there in over a year. I can never just jump in/out of the car. I have to get all my stuff together first. Just as I closed the (locks locked) door, I happened to think that I may have left my keys in the ignition. Duh!!!! That's exactly what I did. Senior moment. And it was snowing.

Since I was already at Perkins, I just went on in and was seated. After deciding what I wanted, I called AAA. Oops. I had used up my 4 calls for the year. Oh wait. My membership expired March 31. I renewed it over the phone while I drank my iced tea. When the woman said I would need cash to pay the locksmith, I pointed out that I had just renewed and this should be the start of new AAA year for me. Why so it is, she says.

In a few minutes, the locksmith called. He said it would be $55. I told him I was covered but he had gotten the old 4 calls info from somebody. So, he called them back. ITM, Phyllis called. She had been out to Sight & Sound on a free visit to see the Easter show. I told her what happened and where I was. She told me to place an Eggs Benedict order for her and she would be right there. She had to drive right down Rte 30 East which Perkins is on. (I know it's bad grammar. Don't bug me.)

The upshot was that the locksmith came, Phyllis went out with my card and it took him about 10 seconds to unlock the passenger door. And off he went. I'm thinking $55 for 10 seconds work? Oh my. Phyllis grabbed the keys and we finished lunch. We parted ways as she decided to go back out by the American Music Theater to get tickes to see the guys who were on "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?". Ended up getting 3 tickets. I never cared for the show so she didn't bother even asking me if I wanted to go. Which I didn't.

I was just glad to get home with my car, my keys and my groceries all in one piece. Today, I grabbed my spare set of keys and tucked them into a safe place in my purse. Now, if I don't lock the purse in the car along with the regular keys, I'm all set.

So There I Sat

2007-04-02T12:18:00.000-05:00

At a Spring league semi-pro football game. After missing Shannon's first time with the Atlantic Coast Patriots dancers earlier in March because of Kimberly shower and missing the second home game because the snow of St. Patrick's Day cancelled it, I finally attended a game yesterday. In a chilly rain.After an almost flawless week of weather, Mother Nature had her April Fool's joke yesterday. Rain was in the forecast. Not enough rain so that Shannon knew whether they would perform or not. But enough to make a person think.

Phyllis and Olivia were still down in VA and didn't expect to be here for the game. Shannon was surprised that I was going. I don't know why. I told her I was. The rain started when I was about halfway to Hershey. The games are held in Hershey Stadium. The rain was of the off and on variety. I paid for my ticket and Shannon met me at the gate. The girls were warming up under the seating area and she saw me as I was walking up to the gate.

I have been to enough outdoor games of Olivia's to know that a sweat jacket would not be nearly enough covering. I think there must be some sort of law that ball fields must be either 20 degrees colder or hotter, depending on the season, than the surrounding countryside. I had on my regular short-sleeved shirt and the sweat jacket on my drive up. When I got out of the car, I put on my stadium jacket. In my tote, I carried a rain poncho. I didn't carry an umbrella because I don't own one. They are a pain in the neck as far as I'm concerned. Oh yes. I had on 2 pairs of pants and 2 pairs of socks. I was ready for anything. LOL It was all needed. The rain was never heavy. Just of the light, steady variety beginning a bit before game time.

Luckily, the rain stopped just before halftime. The girls do a dance routine between 1st-2nd and 3rd-4th quarters. Then, they do a pretty cute dance routine at halftime. The other team had a player injured on the last play before the whistle. So, the girls couldn't go out on the field till he was able to leave on his on power or be carried off. Fortunately, he was finally able to stand and walk off.

By the 4th quarter, the sun was trying to break thru the clouds but having no luck. But the rain didn't start up again. Hooray. The final score was us - 3, them - 0. A hard fought game with the field goal coming in the last minute of the game.

After the game, Shannon and I had lunch at Red Robin. I don't think I've been to Hershey in years. My how things have changed around the theme park, museum and stadium area. Since I was last there, they have built a new ice arena for the hockey team. Closed some roads, made some one way. I had to drive a mile around on a circle from where I went in just to get to the stadium. Sheesh. Very confusing when I used to know how to get to Hershey Park and Chocolate World in my sleep. The new routing makes sense but you sure have to pay attention the signs pointing you this way and that. So, I got home in time to watch the bull riders last night. A perfect day, IMHO. 2 violent sports on view.

Today, I sewed a bit. One of the things I did was so a laundry care label to the baby quilt. Then, I ripped it off because I didn't like the look of it. Oh well. Kim knows what to do anyway. I have 2 halves of the Strip Twist all put together and ready to be sewn into one big unit. I realized I don't have a fabric that I want to make an inner border. I may have to go shopping out in Amish country tomorrow. Don't you feel sorry for me? The quilter's will be there in 2 weeks for QHC so I'd best hot foot it out there now before the pickings get slim.

BTW, the sun is shining brightly today. Mother Nature is wicked

It's Always Something

2007-03-26T08:19:00.000-05:00

What a weekend. Mostly quiet with the odd excursion for one thing or another.

After a few days of gloomy, rainy weather, Sunday turned off to be glorious. Warm, but not hot. Short sleeve weather. I went for a short walk around the cul-de-sac. Boy, was I winded! I was just getting in the hang of walking on my new knees when bad weather called a halt to it. Now, I have to start all over again. Maybe not from square 1 but close enough. I was so stiff and couldn't walk for long. One thing I've notice in the past month or so, is that I can now stand w/o any pain in my knees. A year ago, it not only would have hurt after a minute or so but I would have been in agony through the night. Now, I can stand and chat with a neighbor. Even if I don't want to chat. LOL

I mostly sewed over the weekend. As stated before, I finished the binding on the quilt for the new baby-in-the-oven. And posted pics of it. It's much cuter in person, of course. Before the quilt came, I was playing around with strips of fabric on a quilt pattern I got at Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville web site. Called Strip Twist. It took me awhile to figure out that the blocks aren't set on point. They just look that way from all the set of the quarter squares. Ingenious! I've made up about 5 of the 16" blocks and put them on the flannel wall. I find it helps to take pictures of these things when they are stuck there. Sort of giving better perspective than you get when you're working with the fabrics.

Oliva was supposed to have cheer practice yesterday afternoon (Sunday). Then, I was to pick her up and run her to East Petersburg for her first softball practice. The best laid and all that. Phyllis was to be at work at 4:30. She calle me at 3:40 in hysterics. Olivia had fallen out of a flip. Landing on her head. They wanted to take her to the hospital to be checked out. They did say that she was awake and moving everything.
I knew that mom was in no shape to be driving. I was dressed and ready to leave as I was going to Walmart before picking O up. I hopped in the car, ran by to pick Phyllis up and we trundled down to Lancaster Regional Hospital. In spite of my having to put on my shoes and pick up Phyllis, we beat the ambulance by several minutes. Phyllis was pacing in the ambulance unloading area. Of course, it took the ambulance a few minutes to get to the scene. Then, the paramedics had to take vitals. When, they took Olivia off the ambulance, she was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Everything was immobilized. But she was alert as advertised.

We got to the hospital at 4pm. She was released at 8:45pm. I never went back to the ER room. Phyllis and Tracy, one of the coaches, were back there. I knew those rooms are small and only have 1 chair. I wasn't really needed. I sat in the waiting room filling out index cards with my NAZ for my sweepstakes entries. When I got tired of that, I read. I never leave the house w/o a book or two tucked in my purse. I did go out to the car once just for some fresh air. And Tracy made a run to Wendy's around 6:30 or so. O was starving.
They did x-rays, of course. Nothing appeared broken. The Dr. decided to order a cat scan since it was her spine. The diagnosis was that nothing was broken or bent. A bruise or sprain. She has a trip to the family Dr. this afternoon. They gave her 2 tylenol with codeine tablets last night. To be taken at home for pain.

ITM, today my rear end is sore from all the sitting around in the ER waiting room yestserday. I think I'll go for a walk and work some kinks out before I start sewing.

Baby Quilt Is Bound!

2007-03-24T13:23:00.000-05:00

I got the baby quilt back from Bonnie on Thursday. Cut the binding and sewed it into one long strip that night. Yesterday, I got up with the chickens and sewed it to the front. All ready to be turned and hand stitched down to the back. I worked periodically thru the day and for awhile after dark. But my energy runs low after dark-thirty. So, I put it away till this morning.

I was in the sewing room with my cuppa around 7:30am. And I got it all done by 11am. It's small enough that I could put it on the flannel wall for photos. I would have made the label but we don't know if prissy miss is going to decide on Zoey Marie or Piper Grace for her name. It sure would be convenient if she had whispered to Nana and let me know beforehand. Now, I must wait till the big day to find out.

It turned out quite nice. I used fabric from Julie Owens's Big Horn Quilts in Greybull, MT for the backing and the binding. It's so cute and perfect for a child's quilt. Bonnie Hunter in SC did her usual magic with her long arm machine and sent it back to me pronto. I guess you could say this quilt is a national effort.

Now, I'm pooped and would love a nap. But Miss Olivia called and begged a ride to the mall for her and some of her friends. And, oh yeah, could we go out to eat cuz she's starving? Guess the 2 of us will eat at Silver Springs Family Restaurant up in Silver Springs. We still call it Bob's even tho it hasn't been that in years. Easier to say.

And, hooray, my cowboys are on tonight. That would be the cowboys of the Professional Bullriding Association. They are so cute. It's depressing to think that most of them are could be my grandchildren. Oh well. I enjoy watching anyway. I've been a rodeo freak since I could barely walk.

Big Horn Quilts

http://www.bighornquilts.com

Quiltville

http://www.quiltville.com

Happy Spring!

2007-03-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

Nobody is more happy than I to see spring and, hopefully, the last of the snow. I shouldn't complain as we really only had 2 big storms this season. The ghastly Valentine's Day storm (aka the glacier) and the one the day before St. Patrick's Day. The year of the holiday storms.

My new radio is working great guns. I can be a rolling boom box if my ears don't bleed. One neat feature that I discovered is there are 3 FM bands, 2 AM band and an AUX band. I've never been able to figure out what the AUX band is for on any piece of electronic equipment I have. Yet, they all have it. Hmm. Back to the FM bands, Ms. Olivia has been assigned her very own band. F3. Mine is F1, of course and I already have my country stations preset and The Rose which plays standards/oldies. Easy Listening some would call it.

I did a mixture of things yesterday. Scanned a few photos, went out to eat at Bob Evans with Phyllis & Olivia and finished sewing the quarter blocks on Strip Twist. And I'm almost done pressing them open. Cutting off the dog ears as I go. I know some people swear by keeping those to guide them but they just annoy me and don't help me line up anything. So, off with their heads, er ears!

After a bit of calculation, I found that I'm going to need a number more of the quarter squares. It's a good thing I've got lots of strips already cut. And some of those are in subsests of 2 already. Not nearly enough, of course. In quilting, nothing ever comes out even. A very good reason to buy lots more fabric than you think you'll need for your project. If you don't, sure as shooting you'll need more of it and it will have disappeared into the vast expanses of the universe and you'll never, ever find a thread of it again. Take my word on this.

We Have Radio

2007-03-19T19:11:00.000-05:00

Kimberly and Derrick came over this afternoon so he could install my radio I bought 3 weeks ago. They just left after we sat in the car while he showed me how everything works. Ulp. Everything is digital, of course. It has a cute little remote. He didn't put the mp3 plug in as there was really no room for it. It fastens into the back of the radio and the plug would have hung out separately from the radio if there had been room. Nuh uh. No thanks. Olivia can just plug her iPod into her little ears as she has always done. I don't want to listen to her so-called music anyway. So there.

Kim and I had a nice visit while Derrick was doing the installation. The baby isn't due till April 24. I hope she makes it that long. She is huge! The baby is all in front so that's making her back hurt when she stands a long time. She's still working 2 days a week at Blockbuster. She plans to quit around the middle of April. LOL I can just see her water breaking while she checking out a customer. I asked if there was another worker there when she was and she assured me that there was. Whew!

After a gloriously sunny couple of days, the rain has started in. Darn it! I have a bunch of cardboard boxes I want to put out for the Tuesday morning pick-up. But I don't want a bunch of soggy cardboard left for me to deal with. Maybe next Monday-Tuesday will be dry. We are supposed to be near 70F come Friday. That should make the snows melt even faster than they already are. I could hear it melting when I walked out to the car a bit ago.

I spent yesterday afternoon sorting thru my many, many photos for pictures of Michael. Naturally, I had to look a some on the way to finding those. This morning, I scanned them and burnt them to CD. I went to Walmart with the great intentions of getting prints made for him. Got all the way back to the photo department. Guess what? I left the @!!@# CD at home! So, I bought a couple of things that I needed and left. Went to the other side of the parking lot to see if Shannon was at work at Starbucks. She was. So, I went in and had a grande double white mocha. Yum. Visited with Shannon for a bit. Then, headed out for home. Was barely in the door till Kim called to see if it was convenient for them to come and install the radio. Heh heh. I got Derrick to haul 2 full garbage cans to the curb for me as they were leaving. That's 2 weeks in a row that I didn't have to do it.

Now, I'm tired. I spent half the night on the phone with Shannon who was lost in the wilds of PA around Harrisburg. Easy to do, I tell you. You can't hardly get there from here in Harrisburg. A lot of that has to do with the Susquehanna River. She crossed it 3 times on her way up and back. I don't know why she didn't take Phyllis's GPS with her. Duh. She didn't think of it till she was lost and headed for State College. Phyllis was upset when she heard what happened. She said she would have left it for Shannon if she'd just mentioned where she was going . I pulled up a map at Mapquest and guided her thru the various turns and loops that she had to make to get to Liverpool. At 2am, she called and was lost again. Scarier this time than it was in daylight. But I got her around the city and onto Rte 283. I figured she could take it from there. She could have driven a straighter path but it would have taken her thru the heart of the city at 2am. Not a good thing. It was better to make the loop around and stay on the Interstates and other major highways. Naturally, I couldn't go to sleep till I knew she was home. Or for a good while after that. Being a Nana is hard work sometimes. You'll notice she didn't call her mother. LOL Phyllis is extremely geographically challenged. If anyone ever needed a GPS, she is the one.

Maybe tomorrow I can sew. I can't think of any reason at all that I need to go out for anything or anyone. I want to finish sewing all the triangles together and start slapping them up on the flannel wall. Maybe then I can tell how many more I'll need to make a full or queen sized topper.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!

2007-03-17T09:08:00.000-05:00

A right old rip snorter of a nor'easter roared through the Mid-Atlantic yesterday. The official total is 11" but my weather-checking neighbor tells me we had 12". A lot either way. Maybe a mid-March storm? We do seem to get them.

I'm still waiting for Dennis to come around and shovel for me. He is the one who came a few days after the St. Valentine's Day storm. LOL Do I see a holiday storm theme going on here? Dennis called yesterday to say he would be up this morning to do my walk & drive. Not here yet. But that's OK. I'm not going anywhere. I'm sure he's working on his own place as some pretty heavy snow fell after he called.

I'm happy to report that he arrived as I was writing this and made short work of the white stuff. All except the car. I'm hoping warmer temps and Mr. Sun will do the job for me. I don't need to go out for a day or so. I intend to be sewing.

I sewed all day yesterday. I don't know how many strip sets I need to make Strip Twist bigger. So, I'm going to make a lot of blocks. They can always be used elsewhere. I have a bunch of quarter squares all cut and ready to sew together.

In case you want to see the design I'm working on (with a slight variation), here is the URL:
Strip Twist
http://www.quiltville.com/striptwist.shtml

I'm using only 2 ecru fabrics as the light part. To make the even lighter, I am using the "wrong" side. As some quilter once said "There is no right or wrong side to a piece of fabric. You pay for both sides. So you can use them as you see fit." Works for me! Another reason I'm using the back side is I wanted to design on the fabric to be muted. It's still there but doesn't jump out at you. When I get a few blocks made, I'll post a picture so you can see what I'm doing.

Another Storm On The Way

2007-03-15T17:52:00.000-05:00

Curses!!! Snow is back in the forecast. 3-6" of it. And it will be of the wet & heavy variety this time. Cold from Canada and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. I guess it's sort of a nor'ester but I haven't heard anyone say so. It's hard to believe the temp was a bit over 70�F yesterday. Short sleeved weather. It was a glorious day. Today looks more like February at it's dreariest.

However, I've had my ray of sunshine today. I got my Breeze back! Hooray, hooray! I called yesterday to see when I might get it. Was told that they discovered a water pump leak after they got the new head gaskets on and the car was almost ready to go. I now have a new water pump. So glad the cost is not coming out of my pocket for these things.I was so used to driving the little Cavalier, that it took me a bit of time to get re-used to the Breeze. I sure missed those electric windows and door locks. So I'm spoiled. So what? Before I went over to Mt. Joy, I decided that I was going to take a run up north of Lititz to:

Weaver's Dry Goods
108 W. Brubaker Valley Rd
Lititz, PA 17543-9401
(717)-627-1724

I can't remember the last time I was there. About 5 years, I think. They have changed the front part of the store to a Colonial country type gift shop. I'm not sure how to describe it. Sort of the Williamsburg look. Very popular here in the Mid-Atlantic area. Depressing to me when over done. It is nice to walk into the lovely scented candles and potpourri smells. If any of you have ever been out there, you used to walk into more of a Mennonite/Amish type store at the front. A hodge podge of stuff. The last time I was there, they had just finished re-doing the fabric/pattern areas. Very well lit now. TG! I just found out that the store was bought recently by:

Dutchland Quilt Patch
2851 A Lincoln Hwy. East
Ronks, PA 17522
(717)687-0534

I mainly went because I needed a new Olfa blade. I have no idea how old this one is but I haven't sewn much in recent years. So, it's pretty old. Yesterday, it was annoying me by skipping the cutting of some areas. I found a nice piece of tan fabric that will make a nice neutral for a quilt top I'm obsessed with right now. I may used the back to make it more of a contrast to the darks. I also scored 3 FQs. Dark blues. My color palette is mostly middle of the color charts. I can't afford to remedy that all at once but I can pick up a piece of very dark now and again. That's what I'm mostly missing.

There was almost 8 yds of the tan fabric on the bolt. It was $4.50 per yard. So, I took all of it. It's the sort of fabric that you can always use in something.It feels good to be piecing again. I do sort of feel like a newbie at it. For crying out loud, I can't remember how wide to cut the strips for binding on the baby quilt. 3"? Good thing I have some reference books available. BTW, the whirligig baby quilt is now in Bonnie's capable hands. Whirligig is the name of the pattern. I'm thinking of calling the quilt "Rainy Day Baby". Or not. I really like that umbrellas print I ordered from:

Big Horn Quilts
529 Greybull Avenue, PO Box 566
Greybull WY 82426
1-877-586-9150

.Which reminds me. I ordered the neatest little thread cutter from Big Horn Quilts. It has an heirloom look and can be hung around your neck for easy reach. I need a ribbon but do you think I even once thought of it while I was at Weaver's? Grrr You don't even have to look where you are cutting. Just take a swipe at the general area and, snip, it's done. I think this may become one of my favorite sewing tools. Along with my surgical steel seam ripper. I love that thing and should order another 1 or 2 just in case I misplace this one. You know how that goes.

Car In Shop

2007-03-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

I got my Breeze into the shop yesterday. In return I was given a 2002 Chevy Cavalier as a loaner. Tim had to run up to Hempfield High School and trade cars with his son who had the Cavalier. I don't know what the boy got in return, but he can have this one back asap.

As I've been grumbling, I feel like I'm driving a shoe box. Oh well. The heat and the radio work and I only have to drive it till the end of next week. Spoiled me. I have to hand crank the windows. Isn't that awful?

As I was driving home from the baby shower Sunday evening, the sky looked a bit unusual. I took this picture thru the windshield. It was prettier than it shows but thought you all might like seeing it.

Kimberly's Baby Shower

2007-03-05T13:14:00.000-05:00

1. Waiting for Kim.
2. Blindfolded
3. Missy made Kim her own special cupcake.
4. The pink Polar fleece blankie

While March didn't come in like a lion, it's making up for it today. Lots of big wind blowing around outside. A good day to stay in a drink something warm. Too bad I can't do that.

I have gotten a few chores out of the way this morning while I am waiting for the cable guy. And I don't think his name is Larry. Whatever his name is, he's not here yet. Even though I was told that he would be here between 10:30am and 12:30pm. Hmm It's after 1:00pm now. So, that would make him late wouldn't it?

Yesterday afternoon, I spent a lovely few hours in the bosom of a good deal of my family. The occasion was Kimber's baby shower. One of the advantages of being part of a large extended family was that she made a pretty good haul. One of those things was something I didn't get to see too closely. But I think it was a diaper disposal thingy. LOL That's pretty clear, isn't it? It may even be automatic. Wouldn't that be something?

Later: The cable guy finally showed up over an hour late. Says he got hung up on his first job of the day and that made him late for everything else. He didn't say if his name was Larry or not. (Turns out it was Louis. LOL Close enough.)

As soon as he leaves, I'll be heading out to Mt. Joy to leave my Breeze with Tim Moser for a few days. He knew there was an oil leak when he sold me the car. I took it in a week ago but it turned out to be a bigger deal than first thought. Instead of needing a new seal, it needs new head gaskets. Whew! I sure am glad there is a 3 month warranty on it. I think that's an expensive prospect. Tim will give me a loaner for a few days. As long as it gets me from point A to point B and has heat, I am game.

That's about it from this end of the world. An interesting year. One new great-grandchild and one wedding (in August). I need to go wrap up warmly so I can scoot out when the cable guy leaves.

A Lesser Snow Storm

2007-02-26T15:30:00.000-05:00

We dodged a bullet on the storm of this past weekend. The weather gurus were calling for a minor repeat of the storm of Feb 13/14, 2007. We did get the predicted snow/sleet/freezing rain, etc but it was a lot less than had been forecast. Nobody around here is complaining. The schools had a 2 hour opening delay but, at least, they opened. The other storm had them closed for 3 days. Then there were 2 extra days for President's Day weekend. IOW, they were out of school for a whole week. Some schools took Friday Feb.16 as a snow makeup day.

So, the new Plymouth Breeze is running sweet. I did take it back to the dealer as requested. He knew it had a leak of some sort. They still haven't found it. So, I'll take it back on March 5 to leave for a few days. Tim will give me a loaner so I won't be left high and dry. Or, as they say around here in PA Dutch country, it won't leave me sit. Got some interesting expressions around here, they do.

One family surprise this week was Shannon getting a new car. She got the Cougar back after a number of weeks in the shop. See earlier post for details on that little fiasco. She had gotten used to a 4 door car, ITM. One of her Starbucks customers is a car dealer. Well, several are as her store is deep in car lot territory. Thursday she drove home in a lovely 2002 VW Golf. I would never have picked this car as one she would like. But she does and it's a great car. Silver. In my head, I had pictured something like the Rabbit. Wrong, as usual. I got a ride in it on Friday and it was very comfortable.

I don't know about anybody else but I'm getting a bit restless for spring. Other than the storm that produced the glacier, we have had a fairly mild winter with little snow. I went by Long's Park the other day and the pond was frozen solid. For the first time in my 32 winters here, I saw no fowl of any sort. No ducks, geese or swans. I wonder where they hang out when the pond has no open water? We're talking 100's of creatures here.

Another odd thing was the pond had no layer of snow on it. It was a shiny as an indoor ice rink. Usually, the guys who play pick-up hockey, have to shovel off a playing area. This was really pretty. Here are the pictures to prove it.

View near where we feed the fish.

The gazebo out on the little picnic island.

Across the pond is one of the party pavilions.

Valentine's Day Storm

2007-02-19T13:36:00.001-05:00

The big, bad Valentine's Day 2007 storm is now history. All are glad to see the end of it. What a mess it left behind. The storm came in layers for 36 hours. Snow, sleet, freezing rain, back to sleet and topped off with snow. By Wednesday night, it had all bonded together to form something stronger than granite! I was stuck in the house from Tuesday till Saturday when some knights in not-so-shining armor rescued me. And I didn't even have to let down my long hair. LOL

Knight #1 sent his wife over on Friday afternoon to see if I needed help. Since my place was still untouched and undug, that went without say. I did. I watched from my sewing room as he labored away most of the day on his own place. I couldn't believe he was nice enough to offer help to me. The reason he sent his wife is because he doesn't speak English that well. Didn't matter to me if he spoke fluent Martian. He was kind enough to offer help when it was needed. He managed to get my ramp and about a foot of the sidewalk done before he had to cry uncle and stop for the day. He wasn't able to come back over the weekend as they were going away the next morning.

Enter knight #2. Grizzled beard, pot belly and all. He was beautiful! A couple of days earlier, I had called the park office to see if they might have a list of people wanting to do that sort of work. I didn't know she had made contact with anyone. Sir Dennis showed up about 9am. He had some major equipment. A snow blower was no good on the glacier. He had a digging iron, some mean looking shovels and 2 bags of solar salt. I never on earth would have thought of using solar salt as an adjunct to ice melt. But I'm sure going to get some bags when I next go out. Since the sun was out, the solar salt softened up the rock hard snow/ice in short order and Dennis got the job done faster than I ever thought he would. It still took several hours at that. Below is a picture of the evidence. Street and drive mountains.

My granddaughter, Olivia, had her last basketball game scheduled for Saturday afternoon. I was afraid I'd have to miss it. Not so! I went out 30 minutes before I needed to leave so I could clean off the car. Since it's in pristine shape, I wanted to do that job myself. If it got scratched, I didn't want to be mad at anybody but me. The sun had warmed it up and the snow came off in 4 big sheets. Hood, Windshield, top and trunk. I used my cane to poke tunnels into it and that did the job. I was on my way to the game. Unfortunately, her team lost. But it was a close score and an exciting games. Both teams played agressively.

Now, I'm ready for softball season. ITM, O has taken up learning to box. Courtesy of her Uncle Bob. Apparently, women's boxing is a big deal these days. Who knew? They went to the gym on Sunday. After that, she had to go to cheerleading practice. The kid isn't happy unless she has 3 sports going on at all times. Makes me tired. But I go to watch all of them. What a good Nana am I.

First Real Snow of Season

2007-02-11T16:03:00.000-05:00

It's nearly the middle of February and we are just now getting our first forecast of some real snow. By "real", I mean anything over 1". The iffy forecast today is for 6+" from Tuesday into Wednesday. We'll see. I have my snow shovel and Quick Joe ice melt at the ready.

My big excitement for the week, indeed the year, is I got a new-to-me car on Friday, February 9, 2007. I took my 1989 Blazer in to see what it would cost to have the heater fixed. This is NOT a good time of year for one's car heater to go out. I had to drive down to BWI on Monday, Feb. 5, late at night, to pick up Shannon. Just south of York, I realized the heater wasn't working. Or just barely, if it was. Since this was during the brutally cold period of that time, I sort of worried about hypothermia. Fortunately, I had a big old comforter in the way back. I don't think it's been out of the car in 4 years. I carry it around to use when I attend kid's outdoor sports and forget to take it out for a wash in between seasons. It came in handy for Shannon that night, for sure. Since she'd been flying and/or layovering all day, she just wrapped up in the old thing and slept most of the way back. We made it home OK but I decided enough was enough.

The upshot was that so many things were wrong with the Blazer (vintage 1989) that it really wasn't worth putting any more money into it. Since I have limited funds and don't buy things on credit, I had a cap on what I could spend. I found a lovely Plymouth Breeze 4-door sedan. Since my last two vehicles were a Plymouth Voyager minivan and the aforementioned Blazer, I was hestitant to go back into a sedan. After a test drive, I was won over. And the heater worked like a champ! Yes, I did try out the a/c and it worked fine also.

By 5pm, I was the proud owner of a 1999 Plymouth Breeze 4-door sedan! Works for me. I had done some research beforehand, had experience with a Plymouth and loved it.

Now, I just need to get used to the fact that the gear shift is on the floor. I keep turning on the windshield washer. LOL Speaking of wash, I sat in a long line at Cloister's Car Wash yesterday. It went pretty fast as they had 4 lanes to pay and kept everyone moving right along. It fell good to get the dust off it.

And there's all sorts of digital stuff on the dashboard. The only down thing is the FM part of the radio doesn't work but I can get that fixed fairly reasonably. I may have the radio replace with a radio/CD player combo. I have to check them out first. I did see that satellite radio seems to be what is being pushed in car radios now. I'm not sure I want a subscription deal.

My other big purchase of the weekend was a new chair for the computer. The one I am currently using has one broken wheel and sort of lists to port. Or starboard if the leg is in that direction. My daughter is putting the new chair together for me as I can't get down on the floor anymore. Well, I can get down there but it's the getting up again that's the problem. I love my new knees but am still not comfortable with kneeling on them. This too shall pass I'm sure.

2007-01-28T17:42:00.000-05:00

January 28, 2007

The holidays have slipped away and become last year. Now, January is almost history. Time flies whether you're having fun or not!

This is the year I become a great-grandmother. I'm not ready. As it was when I became a grandmother, nobody asked me if I wanted to be one. Of course, I wouldn't trade a single one of those 12 for any year of not being a grandmother. Each one added a lovely new dimension to my life.

The new baby is a girl. That's nice to know. Maybe it will kick start me into dusting off the sewing machine and seeing if I remember how to make baby things. I have several quilt tops pieced. They were done with new babies in mind. All I need to do is whip up a backing and ship one off to my good friend Bonnie down in South Carolina. http://www.quiltivlle.com She has a wonderful floor model quilt frame and does fabulous work. No hand quilting allowed on my baby quilts! I want the critters to enjoy their blankies right down to the last dirty bits of them.

After a very mild winter so far, we have been hit with some bitter cold. The pipes under my kitchen sink froze the other night because I forgot to leave a faucet dripping and the doors beneath the sink open. Duh! I could get cold water all day Thursday but no hot. It finally came back in the night between Thursday and Friday. Darn. That meant I had to wash dishes.

One of the best things about these cold days is being able to curl up with one of the books I received from Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com by using my Christmas gift certificates. Love those things. 3 different families gave them to me this year. They added up nicely and I will be receiving as yet unreleased books till the middle of April. I wish the other family members would do the same thing if they want to give me something. I don't need any more dust catchers in my life. I'm trying to get rid of some of it what I already have. I know this sounds ungrateful but I don't really require a gift. For me, the very best thing about Christmas is the family all getting together. I love the conversation, food, noise, kids running wild, etc. Music to my ears and heart.