June/July -- Day by Day

What started out as a really neat idea is turning out to be more like a nightmare.  

Well, not really a nightmare, but certainly more stressful than I imagined.  The busier I get in the summer the more I forget to take a picture on the day. However, things happen and sometimes over and over again, not just on the one day.  And really, who cares, these photos are for me to remember my days.  

You just get to take a peek. 

The nightmarish part came in because for some reason picasa would not recognize a few photos I had already edited on that program and had to re-do them. Arrgh.  It made what should have been a quick an easy post into one that is taking half the day.  

Of course, the fact that I have three grandsons here at the moment, might have something to do with it.   

June

15. Father's Day

16. First harvest of the season, spinach!

17. I cut this clematis way back and wished I hadn't, but it is growing like mad and blooming. 

18. Lynette decided she wants to learn to sew. 

19. Using a pattern.  (She is pretty good, too.)

20. Handprints make a butterfly decorated pot. 

21. Christian

22. My roses are blooming.

23. I've decided to alter some skirts.  This one is a little longer than I would like, but the fabric is so pretty.

24. A skirt of Lynette's for me.  I love it.

25. A dress into a maxi skirt.

26. Barry is a goof.

27. I love these blue eyes and the cute little teeth and the great big smile.

28. These clematis are more purple than they were in the first photo,  I don't know why.

29. Here we are a little mixed up.  On the 28th I spent the day with the boys at their house while the mama and daddy worked.  Jim came in the afternoon to give me some help and to see the boys, too.  But, I liked the photos and I missed a few days.

30. Zane making a shower on his play set. 

July

1. I've been putting a lot of strawberries in the freezer to use in homemade ice cream and on my cereal. 
2. Zane is blowing up four balloons at once.  He can't blow them all the way up, but I thought it was pretty neat that he could get air in four at a time.
3.Laundry is a part of everyday life.  This basket has been with me since I've been married.  It has a crack in it and I'm going to hate to give it up.
4.  O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
5. Awww, from my daughter.
6. I love this color!  Some nice people gave me this plant.  I hope it blooms again.
7. On the road to Texas!
8. It was hot there, and the pool water was perfect.
9. On the lake.
10. My brother and sister-in-law in their home.  We are heading to ours.  
11. First zucchini scramble of the season, yum.
12. First dill pickles.
13. De-tasseling is going on, and so are the blisters.  Sore feet!!
14. Purple and orange sunrise.  
15. This is COLD for the middle of July!
16. Library craft day was yesterday and I decorated a bag.
17. A pair of red-headed woodpeckers has moved in.
18. A corn plant is growing in my flower garden. 
19. The Blue Angels at Offutt Air Force Base.

Road Trip to Texas with Three Little Boys

July 7, 2014
We got off to a good start.  Lorene arrived about 5:20 am.  We hadn't been up very long, our alarms went off at 5.  I didn't feel ready yet, and Lynette was still in bed. We were all packed and ready.  Jim packed our things in Lorene's van, checked the oil and the windshield washer fluid while I quickly packed some cheerios and the muffins I made for our breakfast.  Come to find out, those boys don't like blueberry muffins with big blueberries and crumbled them into a mess trying to eat around them.  We were on the road at 6 and going strong when Jim noticed he didn't have his phone.  Thankfully, we were hardly out of town so back home we go.  We dropped Lorene and Lynette off at Wal-mart so one could buy a book for trip entertainment and the other could get a syringe for the Tylenol Christian was needing for teething troubles.  The rest of us whooshed on home and we were back on the Texas road at 6:20 am.

Unfortunately, C took offense at his mom leaving and began to howl.  Fortunately, Zane asked for a toy and began to talk to him which stemmed the tide for only a few minutes.  We were on the road a half hour before he finally succumbed to sleep.

8:32 am
We are south of York, two hours on the road.  C is asleep, Ly is asleep, Lo is trying to sleep, Barry would sleep if he had his paci, and Zane is quiet.  It is now broken by a fussy, wakeful C and Ly didn't get her nap.  The corn is tasseling here and wheat harvest has begun.  It doesn't feel like we are very far south yet, but they are ahead of us here.

9:59 am

We are a little more than a quarter through Kansas. We just passed the Solomon River.  It's so green down here; they must have had rain down here, too.  The little river cuts through white clay banks with trees hanging over the water.  Somehow it reminded me of the Plum Creek, a wide shallow creek in the Sandhills that runs through my grandparent's ranch property.  I have many happy memories of the summers spent splashing there with my cousins.  The best place to swim was a few miles away from the house so it took planning and effort to get someone to take us there. 

10:20 am 

We stopped 20 miles before Salina for a rest area bathroom and "let the kid's run" break. There's sluggish creek here with a wooden bridge over it.  It was a nice place for a photographic moment, but Z wanted to look too closely and lean right over the edge.  We saw gauzy blue dragonflies and another kind with black and white wings.  

12:25 pm

We stopped for lunch at the McDonald's in McPherson, KS. The boys played in the play area and ate their lunch when we were back in the van.  Jim wanted a Big Mac; we don't eat at McD very often.  Not much there works for me.  I got the Southwestern salad with grilled chicken and no dressing, but I got it anyway.  So, I ate the chicken and some dressing free lettuce. I should have had a bunless grilled chicken sandwich.  I bet I won't remember.  

C finally fell asleep again, who knows how long it will last.  B and Z are doing pretty well, they are chatting and drawing pictures.  I don't know how long that will last either, there's a lot of trip left. 

3:04 pm 

Edmond, OK

We stopped for gas at Perry. It is HOT out here.  We aren't used to that kind of heat.  I don't think Oklahoma believes in "Welcome to Our State" signs.  Either that, or I missed it. We haven't had much heat yet this summer. The convenience store there was dirty and crowded.  We had to go to another one to find milk for C.  It wasn't much better.  He was having some bad moments; he's quiet again now.  Z and B are doing really well, fussing very little, they just want snacks every 15 minutes.  Z asks, "are we there yet?" or else, "is this Texas?" Barry sits without complaint.  We saw a rock shop at Edmond with the kind of rocks Jim wants for his backyard projects.  We will have to go where they have rocks to buy them.  You have to have rocks in order to sell them. C is talking to himself now.  It is better than the screeching he was doing earlier for his own entertainment.  We are passing through oil pump country and I missed the best photo op.  The rest have been too far away.

4:33 pm

Arbuckle Mountains/Wilderness Area.

We had slow going in the Moore area with road construction.  We were merged into one lane marked off with cones on either side.  Creeping along for a few miles we suddenly emerged into two lanes with a "End of Road Construction" sign.  All along there, we saw no workers, no machines, no torn up roads.  I wonder what that was all about.

The interstate here is cut through these high hills. I find it hard to call them mountains, since I have seen the Rockies.  The rocks look pretty rugged towering over the road, but it isn't a natural ruggedness, dynamite is the cause. 

We are within a half hour of the Texas border.  I've tried again in vain to photograph an oil well.  We really are going too fast for my digital camera with not so instant response time .

4:48 pm

Ardmore, we aren't in Texas yet.  I just heard Ly complaining that her hair was like a rat's nest.  She said another old saying earlier, but I can't remember it now.  She's the one who remembers more of those old sayings that have been passed down from my grandmother, to my mom, to me, to my daughters. Ly and I were talking earlier about knowing a prospective husband well before marriage, and I was giving her my "relationship lecture of the week" and she's rolling her eyes.  So, just now she and Z are talking Disney movies and marrying bad guys.  She says,"That's why you need to know someone really well before you get married, there's your lecture of today." That makes me laugh.  How many, many lectures (talks) I have given to a then non-appreciative audience. 

5:50 We are in Texas!  

We stopped for another kid run and potty break at the Information Center.  I took photos of the kids by the rock Texas sign.  There is only one with all three looking the same direction. 

We are all tired and C has screamed since we got back into the van.  Poor kid.  He's plumb tired of being strapped in.  He is settled down now and we should be at my brother's in a half-hour.  

9:08 pm 

After a tumultuous evening the house is quiet. Lo and Ly are exhausted. C is not.  I'm going on nerve I think.  We are wondering about our sanity is wanting to drive all this way with this age of kids. It takes so much energy to keep Z occupied and out of trouble.  He is so curious, but much of what he investigates ends up making a mess.  My brother's boys when with all the rest to the park after supper.  They are such nice boys. The girls are thinking it would be a good idea to drive at night on the way home, so the boys will sleep.  Ly starts detasseling the day after we get home and will need some sleep. C is not a good sleeper at any time. I hope we survive. We will, of course, but we will need to pull together.  I just hope Lo can get some sleep.

We did leave early. We left at 8:30 pm Wed. night instead of the early Thurs. morning as originally planned.  The trip home was much calmer. 

Day by Day--May/June

If I thought last months day by day was a mess.  This one is worse.  I am finding it harder and harder to remember to take a photo everyday.  I am busy watering, gardening, hanging out clothes,  and doing the usual, cooking, cleaning, laundering, resting. 

I also had a hard time getting enthused about doing those things.  I felt sluggish and like I was dragging myself along. So, I didn't get as many of the afore-mentioned things done as I should have. So, probably the real reason I had a hard time getting the "photo-a-day" done, was not the busyness, but the laziness. 

May
11. Happy Mother's Day with an original pastel drawling on my card.  
12. I loved the Fisher Price little people house when I was a kid.  I played with it all the time.  Now I have one for the grandkids.
13. Lynette's last day of "real school".  I watched her drive way many, many times the last few years.  
14. I know the National Honor Society evening deal was not  on a Wednesday evening.  I think it was Monday, but I got tired of editing these photos.  Besides I could have taken the picture of the medal a different day.
15. When you have chickens, you have deviled eggs.
16. Our Christian-baby is now ONE-YEAR-OLD!!  
17. A very good friend sent me an encouraging card as we were preparing for the BIG WEEKEND.  
18. This day is graduation day.  No, I do not have a photo of the graduate.  She got her own blog post.  This photo is part of the flower garden that I about killed myself off getting ready for the day.  I know I really wouldn't have needed to do it, but there is nothing like a deadline to get a project done.
19. Marigolds by the mailbox.
20. A favorite breakfast, cracked wheat with fruit cooked with honey.
21. Plants to plant. I'm not planting a huge amount this year.  I am spending all my energy on getting the weeds out of the flower garden.  I have a 5 perennials and some lobelia for the deck.
22. This perfectly balanced broccoli came that way from the store.  No alteration needed.  Cheesy broccoli soup is my soup of choice at the moment.  It is easy-cheesy.
23. You know, now that I think of it this was yesterday.  I had the best time watching Christian man-handle that push toy.  He tipped it up and down, pushed it and pulled it, knocked it over and put it back up again.
24. Watching the arrival board at the airport.  We are expecting our traveler home.
25. Measurable rain!! .30"
26. We have our garden planted.  Beans, beets, okra, yellow and zucchini squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. We have reduced our garden in size. And the corn is planted.
27. Hair long enough for a braid!.
28. Three boys in one place at the same time.  This doesn't usually happen, and it isn't my photo.  But, it's my boys.
29. Toad in the garden!  I watered him out of the ground.  He didn't like being drowned out. 
30. Baby boy overnight and too many blueberries means a diaper wash.
31. Mini blue goose pies (blueberry/gooseberry) for a potluck.  It was Lynette's idea, and she helped.
June
1. I have a dessert maker here now.  She's pretty proud of the fancy two-layer cake she made.  Recipe found on pinterest.  It was delicious.
2. Everyday this little black kitty is waiting for a handout.
3. Fantasy self-portrait (not me)  
4. Jim and I went walking out back of our property where the city is building a new sewer project.  Coming back I got a look at our property from a different angle.  
5. We have a new member in our household.  A tablet for the business.
6. I thought 70* as the high of the day was pretty chilly for June.
7. Finished two graduation gift afghans.
8. 27th Anniversary
9. Flowers from the boyfriend (not mine)
10. My climbing roses on the arbor have never looked better, just when I'm thinking of getting rid of them.  
11. My first harvest, spinach from by the front step.
12. Sandhill crane lawn ornament from my dad.
13. My daughter has earned her nursing assistant certification.  In two weeks. Good job!!
14. The storm building up here stayed east and south of us.  We got .90" of rain out of the deal.  Three miles away at our shop, we got 3.10"    

View From Home

I love our place. 

 It is beautiful to me in early spring. 

 These pictures aren't great scenes of beauty that would be published in the pages of magazines.  They are pictures of home.  

I've taken a lot of photos of the front of our house.  I've taken a lot of photos from our front stoop. Those pictures tell only part of the story.  They say a lot about what we see when we walk out our door, but there's a lot of life that happens in the back.  

We were looking after our Christian-grandbaby one over-night because Mama was sick and said grandbaby wasn't sleeping well at night.  We figured the one who should be sleeping was the sick one.  So, along with watching (and he's worth watching) this little monkey, I set about tiring him out.  

Deck steps-back of the house.

For many years we wouldn't even consider taking photos back here behind our shop.  It has been cleaned up some since the chickens live back here and we are planting a windbreak.

Town is less than a mile away now. 

 The garden and the backyard.

I just love the expression on this little boy's face. 

I love this, when I came out to join the fun and take pictures, there was no sign of anyone watching this little critter.  There he is, dancing in the street.  

Actually he is a long way from the road, and Papa was in the shop and could see him.  

 I don't think Papa knows what this boy is doing.

 Home is where your people are. 

Graduation 2014

Time is passing, oh so quickly.

It's time for the last one.

The high school days are over.

No more running to the school for events, meetings and parent-teacher conferences.  

No more watching the stresses of too many club meetings, tests, art projects and research papers

They say when one door closes another opens.  

My daughter is on to bigger and better things.  

Graduation isn't really the end, it is just the beginning. 

A glimpse of the day.  

Zane--no other explanation needed.  Not in this family anyway.

A crowd of blue. Some where in the middle is mine. 

We are so proud of her achievements.

Family

Our girl.

April/May--Day by Day

So, this is late, very, very late.  I was busy, and hiding, and had writer's block.  

I spent the end of April and up until the middle of May working very, very hard on the flower garden.  I got tired and just couldn't do anything else, and then it was like I was afraid to go back and blog.  I think I was afraid of all the work it would take to crop and number these photos and then remember why I even took them.  

I went to a non-fiction writers workshop this week, and while I didn't admire the woman's style of writing or much of her advice, there were two things I took home with me.  One, was to write a little everyday and the other was to always have some paper handy, so your ideas don't get lost.  

So, I'm taking the bull by the horns and spending an afternoon sorting photos, losing them, editing them, finding them, and blogging them.  

I'm hoping I'll get back into the regular-ish swing of things.  It is hard to get going when you're tired.  

April

6. A familiar sight on the countdown to the end of the senior year.  Research paper time!!

7. Comfort food.  The warm cocoa softens baked goods and makes them easier for me to eat.

8. Signs of spring!! Looks like my pink and purple hyacinths didn't make it over the winter.

9. Still knitting, reversible or double knitting looks worth a try. (and that's all)

10. Bills are still due on the 10th. 

11. Sick girls are no fun.  I can't remember what was the matter, but a fun fact--we had to go in to urgent care for pink-eye on the Sunday before finals week.

12. Scillas, my favorite.  Love that blue.

13. King's Buffet for an early birthday treat.  (not mine)

14. More snow in April.  

15. Finished another baby blanket. 

16. It's hard work sometimes to get two boys to play together nicely.  This time is worked, Barry did the pounding. Christian did the laughing.

17. My car.    I like the way it drives, the way it fits into parking places and it's gas mileage.  Even though I said I would never drive a PT, I like my car.

18. Baked kale chips, easy to make, but nobody likes them here. 

19. Fiery sunrise.

20. My favorite, oh I said that already.  Daffy's are my real favorite.  My birth month flower, but they didn't bloom until April.

21. I planted pansies on the north edge of the shop. It is shady there.

22. Tiptoe through the tulips...with me.

23. Another favorite.  Sigh, I like flowers.  This is a pink almond. When I was a kid we had an almond bush and the blooms where white with a blush of pink. I have never found anything like it.  This is the closest I've found.

24. School program.  My photos were horrible, I think my camera is horrible on anything that moves.  But, anyhow, there's my boy, bowing after a exuberant performance.

25. More of my Grandma A's quilt blocks.  There is a whole quilt worth of these plus the pattern and material for the sashing. 

26. I love me some Christian boy.

27. This mug is my boon companion, except when it is in the fridge, the towel cupboard, on the dryer....

28. Amazing sun pouring down in the evening.

29. I just loved the look of the lowering clouds.

30. I love flowers in the house, even when they are not mine.

May

1. The rows are finished on the rag quilt.  This is the back side.

2. It won't be long until these aren't going out the door together, every school day.

3. Sewing more blocks.

4. First spring harvest.  Our one miserable plant that is YEARS old has nearly enough shoots for a mess.

5. Lilacs!! My other favorite.  One of my favorite smells in other springs.

6. This isn't a very good photo since it was taken through glass and with my phone. I made this shawl during knitting class.  I love it.

7. My Grandma's hat. She loved gardening. I wear it out in the garden to keep the sun off and think of her.

8. Pond in the making.

9. The apple tree is really blooming, will we have more frost?  I hope we don't get that many apples.

10. The chickens are laying bountifully. New eggs don't peel, but a week old ones will. 

Day by Day--March

I started keeping these day by day photos so I could go back over the year and see the kinds of things that happen in those flying months.  I don't know what happened this month because everything got mixed up.  I have several photos for one day and none for other days.  Once in a while I do miss a day and make it up, but this month is such a mess it is more like "I did a lot of ordinary things this month, just maybe not on the day specified."

And really, that is what it is about, ordinary days.

March
2. My daughter (and her family) moved to a great big house in Pleasanton, with four bedrooms. The boys spent most of the first week running through the wide open spaces.
3. Barry is going to school, just like mom.
4. Christian's favorite mess making toy, plus he's cute. I just love that smile.
5. Boot holder-uppers made from old sweater sleeves. The sweater body is a couch pillow. 
6. Two new scarves. These were rather experiments. I've always got something going in the knitting and crocheting area.
7. Christian can walk behind a push toy.  (He's been doing that a little while.) If he runs up against something he goes around the the front and pushed it the other way.
8. Christian can stand alone. He also can open the cupboards and take things out.  I just hope he doesn't drop anything on his feet.
9. March hair, compliments of my daughter. It is so nice of her to help me out with my hair and not mind doing it.
10. Spring is coming!!! It didn't freeze.
11. I'm enjoying the piano again.
12. Our message board. These photos of the message board aren't working. It says, "Dad is gone W, Th and maybe F." Lynette's lunch schedule,
 M-Quesadilla T-egg salad sandwich, W-PB&J (grape), Th-chicken salad (the lettuce kind) and  Lynette's whale.  She draws nice whales.  
13. Barry, at Gramma's.  He has his fingers wrapped because he broken a finger running over it, himself, which the big plastic pirate ship, go figure. 
14. Sisters forever.
15. Sunset, always there, always changing.  One of the beautiful things about our place.
16. My dad gave me 50 un-circulated dollar bills, in consecutive order for an early birthday present.  What will be good enough to spend those on? 
17. This is what makes my nightly cocoa and cookie treat.
18. More boot holder uppers.  Nothing feels so good as using things up.  I also like the thought of helping my boots. The body of this sweater isn't a pillow yet.  
19. Sunrise is a lot later after Daylight Savings Time.  
20. I love to grow something by my sink.  Parsley takes a lot of water but the water globe is a bit a joke.  It's pretty, but not large enough to do any good.
21. 50th birthday cards.
22. Prom night, "Keep me posted, please", picture of sticky note...."I am home".  ha ha ha, good grief.
23. New glasses, she looks so much older.  My youngest is a young lady.  I'm not really ready for this.
24. Christian is now a biped. 
25. Digging in my "appliance manual" file, I found a the original stove manual with a registration card with the old computer punch holes in it.  Does anyone remember those?  We used them my first year at college registration, 1983.
26. Digging in my Grandma's quilting supplies.  Those hearts are material left over from a jumper I made, the diamond pattern from an envelope I sent Grandma.  My handwriting, their address. My Grandma made quilts, lots of them, they are a part of my heritage.  
27. Zane loves to figure things out and see how they work.  This is the mousetrap game which he loves.  I do too, I loved to play with the one my folks . .    had.
28. Another birthday gift!!  It's such a pretty color.  It has a better chance of staying alive living by my sink.
29. Succulent garden planning seminar.  After spending most of my birthday money, I have a cute mini-garden.  I hope this one stays alive.  Last years didn't.
30.   A note to the family about the grocery list says, "What kind of razor refills people!"  And my smart aleck says, "Razors don't refill people. Nothing refills people. They are a single use kind of thing." ha ha ha (serious eye rolling going on here) 
31. This day is the birthday of a very special young man who has beaten a serious bone marrow disease.  I am choosing it as a celebration of victory in life.

April
1. My daughter is an amazing artist in training.  She wants me to provide this disclaimer, "The boy is sad because his features are off."
2. Everyone loves cinnamon rolls!!  Even me, dunked in cocoa.  What am I going to do in the summer?
3. Snow!! In April!! We got a little over an inch with quite a big of melting as it came down. 
4. I need more jelly. I also need to clean up the freezer, so I made strawberry and peach with a touch of strawberry.
5. I really cleaned out the freezer, I made a batch of grape jelly from frozen grapes, tomato juice from frozen tomatoes, and soup puree from frozen zucchini.  I also went to bed totally exhausted.  

March 21, 2014

50 Years 

  I didn't expect that my 50th birthday would find me a cancer survivor, but I'm glad it did.  I want to do a post sometime with what I have now that I didn't have then, but it will be a hard one.  In the meantime, I will enjoy what I have, and here's a glimpse of what the last couple years have  given me. 

  

This is going to be my last monthly hair post.  There won't be much change month by month.
 
It is also another yearly milestone. Last year at this time I was just learning to eat again.  My feeding tube and port were removed early in March, and my options for food were really limited.  My mouth had brand new skin and it was tender so I had to be careful what I ate. My swallowing had improved but had a long way to go. With no saliva to help in the breakdown I had to eat wet things. Many foods would hurt or scratch, so I ate soup.  Lots of soup.  I learned to enjoy it.  It was warm, comforting and easy.   I boiled pounds and pounds of vegetables flavored with chicken broth and ate gallons of it. For a long time I wouldn't try anything else.  As the months went on nothing seemed to change.  I was beginning to get bored with the same old soup all the time.  I was wondering if this would be the way it would be forever.
Then, I turned a corner.  It was another jump forward in recovery.  All of a sudden I could eat just about anything I wanted. I could eat normal supper rather than soup all the time.  I still don't do ketchup, pepper, spicy food, vinegar, breads or dry food very well, but that leaves a lot of other choices.  

I started trying different things. I noticed I was eating more real food and less soup.  If I hadn't tried it post-cancer, I took a bite, some things worked some didn't. I was eating what everyone else was eating for supper, and I was enjoying it. 

I also got some sweet taste back and began to enjoy cookies dunked in cocoa.

Eating for me is so much more about perception than taste.  If I liked it before and it's wet or can be eaten wet, most likely I will like it now.
I also like things that I wouldn't have eaten before like puddingy things and soaked bread.  

If I do pay attention to the way things taste, I look for different sensations that I used to.  Things just don't taste the same.  I try to just eat and not worry about it.   

This feels like a major milestone for me.  I feel like I'm a lot farther along the road to feeling normal again.

The recovery epiphany of today is:

Things change, maybe slower than you think, but they will change.

Day by Day--February

I find it makes a nicer collage to use 5 week format.  This will end up an every 5 weeks blog.

February

2. When the days  begin to lengthen, then the cold begins to strengthen.

3. Egg production is down in the winter months.  Eleven hens, two eggs.  '

4. New recipe--smoked sausage and potato hash.  It was good, too.

5. I love a fire, it's so warm and cozy on these cold days this week.  

6. This is the coldest it's been so far this winter.  We haven't seen cold like this for a decade or more.  

7. Anthony's father turned this wooden plate for me on his lathe. It's my camera's home.

8. Doughnuts belong with snow, even though we haven't had much snow this winter, we wanted doughnuts anyway.  They are pretty good dunked in cocoa for the salivary impaired.  

9. A handsome young couple.

10. Lynette's favorite breakfast.  I make it nearly everyday, and have it down to a fine science.  It is sitting under the griddle to keep warm at 7:45 am.

11. Knitting 101 at the library.  I know how to knit, but wanted to make sure I was doing it right.  I think I know more that the leader of our little group.

12. I HAVE MY COMPUTER BACK AFTER THREE WEEKS FOR REPAIRS!!!! And a pile of stuff to do.

13. Finally, long enough hair to do something with, thanks to my daughter.

14. Happy Valentine's Day.  The ladies in this house both rated roses this year.  Two dozen red for Lynette, 1 dozen pink for me (my favorite).  The man of the house got cashews.  His favorite.

15. I have been scrapping like crazy on Lynette's book.  Hers are done to the end of 2013.

16. Game night with friends.  I love Blokus, but you need 4 people to play, so it's nice to play with someone else.

17. Now I'm working on my book.  I'm done to the end of 2012, and I cleaned up the room which was covered stem to stern with supplies.  I'm waiting on 2013 photographs to start again.

18. Library knitting class, one dishcloth finished another started.

19. I make my own pancake syrup.  I like to seal it so it keeps or to give it away.

20. More snow.  A lovely powdery dusting again.

21. I make homemade noodles for everything except tuna chowder.  I'm not sure why, but that's the way it is.  We had beef and noodles this day, with some leftover for later.

22. Jim is replacing the sheetrock in the garage, ceiling first.

23. Game night again, just Jim and I, waiting for something, but I can't remember what now.

24. The Millers, more scrapping.

25 We had cardinals visiting our tree.  I was sicker than a dog this day.  I had a fever and couldn't go to knitting class, but my camera zoom came through.

26. Sunset, about 6:00

27. Sunrise, 7 am.

28. Finished another graduation afghan.

March

1. My oldest daughter moved closer into a new house.

2. This seems to be the way we start out the month this winter.  March is coming in like a very cold lion.

3. Every week day morning this is my view.  Sunrise through the kitchen window.

4. It's beautiful and a little different every day.

5.Lettuce is good for the heart.

6. Re-purposed sweater sleeves stuffed with plastic bags to hold boots up straight.

7. Life happens, and I didn't take a photo this day.  So Christian gets tomorrow's photos now and then.  He can stand alone, especially when he is holding something. He also is opening cupboard doors, and not falling over while he does it. 

8. He loves to push this little stroller, when he runs up against something, he goes around to the front and pushes it that way until it is clear, then he goes around and pushes by the handle.  

Weather seems to be the main topic of conversation this winter.  It has been colder than it has been for a long time, with very little snow.  We have had a few nice days, too.  It's just that it's been frigid for a few days, then we see 40 degree days, then back again to single digits.  It's the mood swings that are hard to bear.  

  

Imitating Life

All pictures tell a story, and I want to tell you this one.  

Children are little sponges. What they see is what they do.  What happens at home they will imitate.  When you look at this photograph can you tell what is happening at home?  

This little boy's mother is going to school.  She is taking classes online.  She has a little table set up in the corner of her very small living room with her books and her computer waiting for a little time in her busy three-boy life to study.  

So, he studies, too.  He makes little notes with his pencil.  He taps his chin and thinks.  He types a little bit on the keyboard.  

He melts my heart.

I know that is my piano book he's writing in, but it's pencil.  We will find him another book,  

And we won't talk about the next time when he found a green pen, and we weren't watching.