Day 88 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

By the time you read this we will be well on our way to see Michael, Jessica and Kara.

We did OUR thrift store run today.  Too bad we didn't run across these toddler beds a month or so ago, huh, Jessica?  I think Sawyer would have liked the red fire engine!  $45 on each of them!

And we found another item for Rosa.....the best equipped doll a girl could ever want!  She now has a real bed to sleep in!  I couldn't pass it up for $3!  :D

Well, I probably won't post anything on here for a couple of days, so I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!

Day 87 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Did any of you find out how to tell a male robin from a female robin?  I looked in a couple different places and if I had to guess, I would say the one I pictured is probably a male.  But, I really would have to see a male and a female together to know for sure.  I read that the male is the only one that sings in the spring, yet the female also sings in the fall.  My robin was singing its lungs out!  I also read that the male's chest is a darker orange, really looking more red than the female's chest which is a lighter orange.  Her head is lighter in color than the male's, too.  And her throat is solid white while the male's is supposed to have a dark streak.  I can't tell from my picture.

Didn't spend much time on the computer today.  I did some shopping for items for Abigail's birthday.  This evening we made a visit to a  young couple who has been attending our services pretty regularly.  He said he has learned more from listening to Tim than from anyone.  They both like his style of preaching which is more teaching.  He is not a yeller, stomper, banger, spitter, hell fire and damnation pulpit beater and they like that and feel they are learning more.  Anyway, they acted like they plan to join at some point.  He will need to be baptized and she grew up and was saved in a Baptist church.  So that was encouraging.  Now we will see if it is the LORD's will.

Well, that's about it for today.  Have a blessed day tomorrow.  Until then.......

Day 86 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Monday, Monday
So good to me.
Monday, Monday
It was all I hoped it would be......
Part of the "Monday, Monday" song sung by the Mamas and the Papas back in the day.  I hope your Monday was good to you!  I got the checkbook balanced and we have money left over!  WOOHOO!  That always makes for a good day!  :D

I actually woke up with another headache.  99.9% of the time my headaches are behind my left eye or on the left side of the head.  But today's was behind my right eye.  So, I got up and took a couple of Excedrin and laid back down for about an hour and it went away for the most part.  It's still kinda lingering slightly but it's about bed time, so hopefully when I take some PMs that will knock it while I read some.

Tim and I took the deposit to the bank and got some groceries.  There really wasn't anything he wanted in the fridge to eat for lunch, so I suggested we eat at McDonald's while we were at Walmart.  I finished up yesterday's dishes and we headed out.  That was nice for a change.

I also finished a layout of some signs Kara had put on the play room door.  And I finished up the little skirt for Miss Abigail.  Not sure it won't end up being Rosa's however!  :D  I also wanted to share a beautiful picture I got of a Robin singing in the tree after the hard rain we had at one point late Saturday afternoon.

Until tomorrow.......

Kara's signs read (in case you cannot see what is written on the white papers very well):
Keep out if you are mom or dad
Come in if you are Kara (that one is my favorite!  She forgot the e on "come")
Keep the door closed (she wrote, "Ceep the boor klosed" writing a "b" instead of a "d" on door)
Knock 5 times if you want to come in  (she wrote, "noc 5 times if you ?ant to come in")
LOL!  Too funny!

I went ahead and enlarged this one so you could see how clearly I got zoomed in on her/him as I stood by the car port and the Robin sang from the tree closest to the laundry pole and behind the almost dead tree out the back door.  I took a step to see if I could get a little closer, but she/he flew.  How do you tell a male Robin from a female Robin?  Do the females have a red breast?  I'll have to look that up.  "Oh, Mr. Google?"

And here's the little skirt for Miss Abigail.  I thought it turned out cute, especially since I didn't have a pattern.

Day 85 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Hope you all had a wonderful day as you attended services in the house of the LORD today!  We had a good day!  The sun was shining brightly, even if the air was a bit chilly, and it was a beautiful day.  There were just a few sprinkles here and there.  Nothing to dampen the spirits of the LORD's day!  I hope you enjoy going to the house of the LORD to fellowship with your brothers and sisters in the LORD around the Word of God.  It is such a time of refreshing after being out and about in the world all week.

I would ask that you continue to pray for the man in our church who almost lost his leg towards the end of last year.........or was it the first of this year?  He has been doing a bit better the last couple of days.  Doesn't seem to be as depressed and he has been able to go outside on his porch to sit some on the pretty days.  That's enough to make anyone have a better disposition after being flat on your back for as long as he has been.  As the LORD brings him to your remembrance, please pray for Gary.  His wife is still working, so it has been hard on her going to work and then coming home to take care of him.  The ladies of the church fixed them a nice dinner of spiral ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, green beans, deviled eggs, cole slaw, broccoli casserole, dessert, rolls and beverage and their son took it all home with him from church.  That gave her a bit of a break and should have plenty of left overs to help her out some this week.  Thanks to all the ladies that helped with this and special thanks to those of you who thought of the idea!

For our dinner today, I fixed some rice and chicken in the oven during church.  So all I had to do was heat up some green beans to go with it.

This afternoon, I finished reading another of Thyra Ferre Bjorn's books, "Dear Papa."  I forgot to tell you that I finished "Mama's Way" which was about prayer.  You really must read her books!  They read really fast and for me to say that, most of you will be able to ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppppppppppppp right through them!  :D

I also did some knitting on Abigail's little skirt.  I'm almost finished with the ruffle then I will have to stitch the seam.

I also worked on a scrapbook page (having stolen another picture from Liz's facebook page) about Ryan receiving his soccer ribbon.

Now, it is time to do a bit more knitting and then I am going to bed with a headache.  Until tomorrow.....have a great week!

Day 83 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Well, let me think.  What have I done today?  After reading my Bible, I cleaned up my e-mail.  It really builds up just over night!  Most of it I have programmed to go straight to the trash with my yahoo mail, which is the designing e-mail.  And, I have really trimmed down my gmail to where I may get about 20 over night.  Most of those I just delete without reading, too!  About the only ones I read are the family/friends ones and any replies from this blog and any replies from facebook comments and a few other newsletters.  So, while there is still room for some trimming, I'll let it go for now.  But, it takes me about an hour at the most to take care of everything.....unless I get side tracked and start downloading stuff!  Which is what happened today!  Next thing I knew, Tim was over here for lunch at 11:30!

After lunch, I did some knitting.  I'm about done with a little skirt I'm making for Abigail.  I have to work on the ruffles now, then sew up the seam and fix a little tie for the waist and then it will be done.  She is so tiny, it may not fit her til next winter, LOL!

After knitting for awhile, I did some more computer work.  We (the designers at Digitals) are releasing another colaborative product tomorrow.  The digital kits are divided up into paper packs and element packs and sold for $1.50 each for 4 days.  Then, we can combine our papers and elements into one kit to sell as we normally do.  So, I was setting up my blog post for that and working on my facebook page, too.

For supper tonight, I fixed Tim a can of Skyline Chili and I had left over stir fry.  After washing the dishes I worked on some scrapbook pages with the new kit that is being released tomorrow morning (about 1 am EST, I believe).  So, here are those pages and then I am going to do some more knitting and reading before going to bed.  Have a wonderful Saturday!  Until tomorrow.....

Day 82 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Today being Tim's day off:
Left the house at ~ 10:15 a.m. and headed to Mt. Airy (Mayberry).
Stopped at King on the way to make a Goodwill stop.  Nothing found.
I had a list of about 6 thrift stores for Mt. Airy.
Found the first one.....a Goodwill.  Tim found a book.
Ate at Wendy's as we hit the main drag of town.
Did not find any of the other thrifts on the list at the addresses listed.
However, did find the Salvation Army (that we couldn't find at the address listed) across the street from one of the wrong addresses of another search.  Nothing found.
Didn't even hunt for the last one on the list.
Headed back to our 3 usual thrifts here at home.
Found a few things at the Goodwill on Peterscreek.
Went back home for a couple of hours.
Tim played on the ham radio.
I took care of some e-mail, did some knitting and some reading.
Went to Dinnertime restaurant for supper.
Came back home and returned to what we were doing before we left for supper.
I also listened to some facebook marketing videos.
Now, I'm going to do some knitting and reading before going to bed.

Until tomorrow.....

Day 81 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Not much to report today.  Being Wednesday, I finished up my Bible Club lesson with the print outs and craft.  And the usual day to day activities of making the bed, doing the dishes, fixing lunch and supper and computer work.

I do have a couple of pictures today, however.  Since Elisabeth was "unfortunate" enough to miss out on watching me wash dishes as she was growing up, I wanted to show her a sink full of dishes less the water and Dawn.

Liz, I didn't always have 4 dishwashers (Jessica, Michael, you and Nat) around to do my dishes for me.  Nor did I have the luxury of a mechanical dishwasher!  And, because I hate to stand a long time doing dishes by hand, to make it an easier and quicker process (especially if the dishes have not been done right after the meal and the food has dried on them) I fill the sink with the dishes, as shown in the picture's example.....plates on the bottom, silverware to the left, glasses closest to me and then as many dishes as possible stacked on top of the plates.....then fill the sink with all hot water and the dish detergent and let it all sit til the water cools enough to not burn my hands as I do the dishes.  Works like a charm every time!

And, depending on the mood I'm in, how much time I have, how many dishes there are, I may or may not wash them by hand.  I do still use the dishwasher from time to time.  But, I don't mind washing the few dishes that dad and I produce and it helps to save on water and electricity to wash them by hand instead of running the dishwasher.  I could rinse the dishes off and put them in the dishwasher until the machine is full and run it every couple of days, but if I'm going to rinse them, I might as well just go ahead and wash them!

So, I had another thought today while peeling my potatoes for our supper.  I have always used a veggie peeler to peel my potatoes.  Mom, however, used to peel her potatoes with a paring knife.  Kim does, too.  However, when I use a knife, I "peel" more potato away and end up having to peel more potatoes.  And the peeler seems to be quicker and safer.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  :D

Until tomorrow.....

Day 80 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Yes, I've been gone longer than I needed to be.  What can I say!  Nothing!  Chalk it up to no inspiration!  But, today I am inspired!  :D  I have lots of photos and memories to share, so grab something to drink and enjoy!

First of all, let me share a scrapbook page I did of our little Miss Abigail.  As usual, I stole the picture from Liz's facebook posts!  Isn't she just so precious!  I could look at this picture all day!  I see Liz in this picture and the reminiscing begins!  But, I won't go there!  Only to say that Elisabeth was a delightful child, full of spunky cuteness, just like Abigail!

Why  am I showing you a sink full of dirty dishes?  Well, as I loaded the sink to do the dishes, I realized that I was stacking the dishes in the sink the way I watched mom do it so many times as I was growing up.  You know how you always say you are going to do things differently than your mom did......then when you grow up and are making a life of your own, you find yourself doing things just the way mom did them!  It is true!  And you cannot deny it!  So, today, as I placed the plates in the bottom with the silverware along the side of them, then the bowls and the glasses and the oddly-shaped dishes on top, I remembered mom.......and I smiled!

Well, he got the itch again!  The ham radio itch!  When we moved from Buffalo to Winston-Salem, Tim sold all of his equipment because it is a fairly expensive hobby.  By the time you put up the "space radar" antenna that he had in Buffalo.....(not to mention the rental of a crane to place it on a 40' tower) there is a bit of expense.  Needless to say, we could not afford $1500 for a new radio or one of those antennas, so he talked to his blind friend, Anthony, to see if he could use his radio, which he had not used since we moved from Buffalo.  Tim was the one who got him into ham radio after Anthony expressed an interest.  But that is another story for another time.  The long and the short of it is that Anthony's parents gave Tim permission to use the radio, so Tim drove up to WV and back last Saturday to pick up the antenna.  That's right, Liz.  We purposefully didn't tell you since the trip was not for a social visit.  I didn't even go.  I did not want to disrupt your Saturday for a 1-2 hour visit.  I told your dad I would just stay home since he was going straight up and straight back.

So, here's what he did about the antenna.  The antenna you see in this picture is for the TV, which he has never been happy with.  So, time for it to come down so he could rig up an antenna for the radio.  He tied a rope to the antenna and then wrapped it around the chimney until he could get everything else situated.

My job was on the ground.  While he held onto the rope, I was to "walk" the antenna down to the ground.  To my amazement, it worked!  I sure had my doubts, however!

TADA!  Task accomplished!  Then he removed the TV antenna and attached another long pipe along side of the pipe you see lying on the ground.  He attached the antenna wires to the pole and then to get it upright, we had to "walk" the pole back up and stand it in the corner again where the old antenna had been.  I really didn't think we would be able to do it from the ground.  I thought he would have to tie the rope to it and pull on it while I walked it.  But, it was actually alot easier than I thought it would be!

There it is!  Really high in the sky!  Next we strung the wires of the antenna from the car port and one of the wires went to the tree in the front of the house.

I wanted to show you how my celery project is coming along.  Remember, I cut the last of the celery and then saw a blog post of how you could grow the "stump" end of the celery?  So, I grabbed the stump back out of the trash can, let the stump sit in a saucer of water for several days and then I planted it in this hanging planter.  Look at all of the new growth!  Very cool!  I have a bit of onion planted in this pot, too, but nothing appears to be happening with it.....yet!

There's where the celery is hanging and then I got the bright idea to put one of my garden hooks under the tree in the back (the one that is all but dead) and fixed my hummingbird feeder up to hang on it.  We shall see if it draws any hummers in!  I'm hoping to get some great pictures!

OK, back down memory lane.  The battery charging system in the good car acted up today and Tim could not get the car started to go to Lowes to get things for his antenna.  So, he went to the basement to get the battery charger.  Here's where the memories come in.  That battery charger is the same battery charger we had when we lived on River Road in Hebron, KY when Tim and I were first married.  (We will be married 36 years on May 8th this year!)  Why did we need a battery charger way back then?  Well, I don't know if we bought it for it's intended use, or if we bought it because during the winter, we had to run an extension cord down the hill from the trailer to charge the battery on really cold nights.  Plus, we had to keep a light bulb lit under the hood to keep the car from freezing up so we could be assured to have a vehicle to drive the next day!  The car was a Volkswagon.....a yellow beetle!   Ah!  Memories of living on that hill!  Memories of cutting that stupid grass!  Memories of having to walk up that hill after coming home with a brand new baby (Jessica) because we couldn't drive up the hill for the snow and ice!  Memories!

Well, this does not look good!  That pole is a great lightning rod!  We had thunderstorms and lightning come through the area tonight!  Tonight of all nights!  Tim rushed to Lowes to get a lightning rod so he could ground the antenna.  He got it done!

I'm so happy to report that nothing stuck the new antenna!  However, I did turn my computer off.....just in case!  

Last but not least, the little round things you see in this picture is hail.  We got a downpour and some hail at one point during the thunder storming!  All is quiet now!  And, it is time for me to say goodnight!  Until tomorrow?  Maybe?  :D

Day 69 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

I guess you are wondering why I have the end of this celery sitting in a saucer with water?  Glad you asked!  One of the designers at Digitals had this reposted on her FB page (from another source) as being the way to start another stalk of celery rather than just throwing it away (which I had just done and promptly pulled it back out of the trash).  It starts by letting it stand in this water over night and then digging a small hole in the dirt, fill the hole with water and set the celery in it.  Add about an inch of dirt and in no time I should see some new growth begin!  I'll let you know how this experiment turns out!  :D

This same designer also reposted that you can put the root end of a green onion into water and it will begin to grow!  I'm going to try that, too.....next time I have some green onion!

Nothing to report from today's activities, so until tomorrow.......

Day 68 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Today was thrift store day!  Only found one item, even though we went to the 3 regulars and then 2 more downtown.

I got some pictures this morning to scrap with my new kit that will be released tomorrow, so I will show those to you.

Other than that, not much happened today.  Tim and I are now the proud grandparents of baby guppies!  I will inherit the babies since all of my older fish (raised from babies last January) died.  I think keeping them for a year was a record!

Enjoy the pictures and pages from today's activities!  Until tomorrow.................

These are old hot pads of mom's.  They are today's decluttering items because.....

.....I found these for $0.55 each at a Goodwill we found on our way to WV last Thursday.  Out with the old and in with the new.

I tried to capture a few bird pictures this morning, but it was pretty cloudy, so the pictures are dark.  I cannot even tell what kind of bird this is.

There are two baby guppies in this picture.  Can you see them?

Here's some more white and pale yellow daffodils beginning to bloom at church.  These are the smaller variety.  Not nearly as pretty as the bright yellow ones.

Zoomed in to get this picture of a robin in the top of the tree in the front by the road.

My choice for lunch today.  Chicken sandwich with bacon and cheese, potato wedges and a drink.  YUM!  Tim had the same except that he always orders a side of cole slaw.

I love taking pictures of the American flag blowing in the breeze.  You can see how cloudy it was for most of the day.  This was taken above the Goodwill on University Parkway downtown.

By the time we got home this afternoon, some blue sky was beginning to show through the clouds in spots.  So, I took advantage of it and took some pictures of the budding trees on the church property.  This is the maple tree near the practically dead tree in the back of the parsonage.  Near the clothes line.

These blooms are from a tree between the church and fellowship hall.  Some sort of Flowering Pear tree, maybe (I looked up flowering trees and this looks like the bloom on pictures of Flowering Pear trees, anyway)?  I just know there are no real pears.

This is a bigger tree right behind the other one.  Same type of bloom, but with black stamen.

I'm always amazed to see the pretty little blooms of the grass!  A very pretty bluish purple color and only four petals!

Here's the only thrift store find of the day.  It was still wrapped in the store plastic.

From Big Lots, Tim and I got these mouse pads.  I needed to do something to try and alleviate some of the problem I have with my fingers going numb on my right hand from using the mouse so much.  Hopefully this will help.

Some of the cloud cover with sun trying to break through and brighten our day!

Day 67 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

If you have a squeemish stomach, you will NOT want to view the bottom pictures of the turkey vultures feasting in front of the house today.....fair warning!  :D

When I saw those turkey vultures, which Tim pointed out to me, I immediately thought of how they pictured life and the necessity of death so they could have life.  The death of the animal in the middle of the road will not impact anyone or anything else in life but those vultures.  As unimportant as that death is to us, there was one death that IS important to ALL humanity.  If that death had not happened, no one could have eternal life.

I am so glad that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was willing to leave heaven and enter our physical realm through the virgin birth for the sole purpose of living to die.....for us!  "and without shedding of blood is no remission."  Hebrews 9:22  You can't be good enough in and of yourself to get into heaven.  If that is all it takes to get into heaven (being "good"), then Jesus died in vain!  But, that is NOT possible!  The Bible clearly tells us that "there is N.O.N.E. righteous (good), No!  not one."  Romans 3:10

So, someone without sin had to die in our place.....someone who had no sins to be paid for.  The only person who fits that category is Jesus.  I pray you have recognized you are a sinner (we all are) and have asked Jesus to forgive your sins (we all have not) and have put your full faith in His death to pay for your sins.

OK, so life meets death in the physical realm AND the spiritual realm!

Since it has been a week since I posted anything, let me share some pictures with you.  Enjoy reading the captions!  Until tomorrow......

Here's the outfit I made for Abigail!  Fits her perfectly!  So, we did a photo shoot!

I love this picture!

She found the lady bug button on the flower.

She was done with the hat!

She was REALLY done with the photo shoot!

Ryan sure loves his baby sister!

Thad is as big as Abigail!

Sawyer NEVER stops!

Ryan (#8 in center of picture) is headed for the goal!

What a sweet little boy Thad is!

Out with the old.....in with the new (to us new, anyway!)

While I had everything out of the drawer, I decluttered these items.  The little grill belongs with the white drip catcher.  It is going, too!

Hyacinths in beautiful bloom!

What I thought were tulips turned out to be daffodils, DUH!

These hyacinths are bloomed before getting very far out of the ground!  ???

And old griddle that the recyclers would not take.

 WARNING!!!!!!!!!  Following are the turkey vulture pictures.

The vultures walked back and forth from the road carrying pieces of the dead flesh from the road kill.

YUMMY!