What A Week!

It’s been a busy week.  We have had frost yesterday morning and a freeze this morning.  It is supposed to rain Friday night and Saturday.  I am not surprised about Saturday.  It seems it always rains on St. Patrick’s Day.  Our church which is St. Patrick’s Church is going to have a special Mass on Saturday.  We have a temporary priest because Father Jose is in Philadelphia in a hospital.  That is all we know.  No one has even told us what is wrong with him.  However, our temporary priest, Father Sherwin, has been doing a few things differently.  I really like him.  He is the one who agreed to the Stations of the Cross for Seniors.  It is held every Friday afternoon at 3:00.  I am thoroughly enjoying it.  It has much more meaning to me, and the other seniors agree.

I have been watering the magnolia tree and the new tulip poplar trees every other day.  They all seem to be doing just fine.  The Franklin trees that I started in containers last year seem to have survived the winter and are getting new growth.  I am really excited about that because we were told they were very hard to grow and probably wouldn’t survive.  It is still a touch and go situation, but there is hope.

Kevin and Renea’s new puppy, Shelby, is growing so fast.  Copper and her get along just fine.  They run all over the backyard.  In fact, Kevin moved his fence, with a little help from some friends, to make the backyard bigger.  The first time Copper came outside after the fence was moved, he ran up to the spot where the old fence was and stopped.  He looked around as if to say, what happened.  He didn’t stay there long.  As for Lola, she is just an old lady who doesn’t want to be bothered with a puppy.  Of course, Shelby still hasn’t learned that she needs to leave Lola alone.  Shelby has learned to sit.  She is especially good at this when she gets a treat and Copper is also sitting. 

I have stopped working on my genealogy for now.  I have kind of hit a road block so I decided to take a break.  I am back to working on my embroidery and plastic canvas.  I am also learning counted cross stitch.  A lot of ladies told me that it was hard and they wouldn’t touch it.  So, I watched a video on you tube, and decided that if I can do plastic canvas I can do counted cross stitch.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.  I bought a couple of easy projects, bookmarks and cards.  We will see how it goes.

I sure hope we get some rain soon.  We are still in a drought and I have been watering the new and transplanted trees.  If it doesn’t rain soon, I will have to get my mower, attach the cart and fill the sprinkling cans and start watering everything the hoses can’t reach.  I tried to get enough hoses to reach everything, but the hoses were then too heavy for me.  I sure hate getting old and not being able to do everything I want.  I am learning to adjust.

Just a quick update.  I have been sick the past week.  It seems I had the flu.  I am finally feeling better.  I have done absolutely nothing.  It’s been a rough week for Renea and Kevin also.  Renea’s dad died and they had the funeral and burial here in Alabama.  Her brother Mark and his wife came down along with a couple of other family members.  I felt really bad because I was so sick I couldn’t do anything to help them.

However, the past two days I have been packing.  Kevin is taking me to Cincinnati to stay with Jana.  We leave tomorrow morning.  She has to have surgery on both her eyes.  Both eyes have cataracts and one eye has a hole in the retina.  Recovery from the retina surgery will be quite lengthy and she will not be able to drive.  Not sure how long I will be there. 

The Frost/Freeze Has Arrived

Good Morning!  It’s a beautiful day in Alabama.  I have finished my morning chores, and now I am going to work outside for a while.  First on my agenda is mowing grass; at least two “sections.”  I finished picking up the twigs and branches that had blown down in two areas, so I thought I would mow the grass there.  I have even weeded around the trees and bushes in those areas.  Kevin got my mower charged and gassed yesterday so it is time to get started. 

So much for mowing the grass.  The mower wouldn’t start.  Kevin checked it, and I need a new battery.  So, I picked up a few more branches.

I have started embroidering the other hand towel to complete the set.  I finished the first genealogy class that I started.  I am keeping it open because I have been referring back to it while putting into practice what I have learned.  I have started the second class I am taking.  It is not what I expected, but I will hang in there.  I am hoping to get something out of it. 

It started raining early this morning (before I got out of bed) and it has been continuing.  It is a cool, wet and gloomy day.  We need the rain, so I am not complaining.  Since I can’t get outside I have been busy doing laundry and a few other chores inside.  I did hear on the news that we are supposed to have a frost/freeze the next two mornings.  I am sad about that because of all the plants, trees, etc. that are starting to show signs of life.  And, let’s face it, we can’t cover everything.  Just maybe we will get lucky and they will be wrong, but I doubt it.

Today is Saturday.  We have had a frost/freeze the past two mornings.  The temperature was down in the twenties.  This morning was thirty-two.  I just finished watering the three tulip poplar trees.  There are leaf buds on them, and I think they are okay.  We will find out in a few days.  I will water the magnolia tree after Kevin finishes mowing the front grass.  He decided to mow his front yard and my front yard this morning.

I have checked some of my other trees and bushes.  Some have dead leaves and the flowers that were blooming have died.  However, I have a few bushes that the leaves are still green.  Not sure about the Franklin trees.  It’s hard to tell with them because they are late to leaf. 

We are supposed to have storms late tonight and tomorrow morning.  Then by mid-week it is supposed to go down in the twenties and low thirties again.  If the first freeze didn’t get the plants and trees, the second one will.

I finished both genealogy classes.  As I said earlier the first one was well worth the time and money.  I learned a lot and have been putting it into practice.  However, the second one was a waste of time as far as I am concerned.  I don’t feel like I really learned anything that will help me.  I will just keep looking for those German ancestors on my own.  Maybe I will get lucky and find someone.

Okay, I am back.  I have finished all my indoor/morning chores, eaten lunch, and watered the magnolia tree. 

Jana and I have been doing DOT-TO-D0T books.  The one I am working on now has some interesting quotes/sayings at the bottom of the page.  I am going to use some of them to end my blogs starting today.  Not sure how many I will do, but there are a few.

The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand.  They are moments when we touch one another.  Jack Kornfield

Must Hope for No Frost or Freeze

Good Morning!  The a/c is now off.  In fact, I turned the heat on this morning to take the chill off.  We have had an inch of rain over Sunday and Monday.  I know that isn’t near what a lot of others have had.  Jana told me, and I have seen pictures on Facebook, that the Ohio River and the Miami Rivers are both well above flood stage.  I was just happy we received the amount of rain we did because it was good for the grass, trees, etc.  Now, we just have to hope we don’t get a freeze.  I have been checking the plants, trees, etc. and a lot of them have new growth. 

I am in the process of taking a genealogy class. I use the Family Tree Maker Program to record notes and information I find on Ancestry and other web programs.  I am taking a class to learn more of the features about FTM.  I have only taken two of the classes so far and have learned quite a bit.  Glad I am taking it.

I have also signed up for another one.  The next one is how to find your German ancestors.  I have subscribed to Ancestry World since I found out that Google has a translation program so I thought this would be a good time to try and find some German ancestors.  I also downloaded a translation program that Brian told me about.  I am hoping that between the two of them I can figure something out!

The purple martins have started to arrive.  They are busy building their nests in the apartment.  I have also noticed bluebirds, cardinals, sparrows, mourning doves, and many others.  I guess spring is on the way.  Yea!!!!  I will probably hang my hummingbird feeders in the next week or so.

Good Morning!  It’s sunny but a little on the cool side and rather windy.  Apparently, we were in the donut hole yesterday because we did not get any of the predicted rain.  We just had a LOT of wind.  This morning I picked up twigs and branches that were in my driveway and added them to the pile.  I have a lot more to pick up.  Since we didn’t get the rain, I watered all the new trees. All three tulip poplar are starting to get leaves.  Yea! 

I also watered the magnolia that the guys transplanted for me.  So far, so good.

I also fed the birds this morning.  They have been very busy and noisy.

The rhododendron looks great.  Lots of flowers. 

The forsythia “twigs” that I hope will grow into bushes also have green leaves.

The weeping cherry tree is starting to get little sprouts.  It never blooms like it should.  It gets a flower every now and then. 

However, the Bradford pear has just blossomed out beautifully.

The Rose-of-Sharon bush in the front of my deck is also looking good.

I also finished embroidering one of the hand towels of the set I am working on.  Turned out pretty good.  I really like to embroider.  I feel like I am creating a picture.  Weird, right? 

I have finished my first genealogy class, and I learned a lot! Now I have a lot to do.  Next Monday the new one starts.  I hope it is as productive as this last one.  

Now, as I said in my title we just have to hope we don't have a frost or a freeze.  Sad to say, that is very possible.

Tree Planting Time

Today is President’s Day.  Temperature is supposed to reach 80 degrees.  It’s still February and this week the temperatures are supposed to be in the low 80’s.  It’s cloudy, but not raining. 

Kevin was going to pick up my tulip poplar trees today and plant them.  Bruce and Nicholas were going to help him.  This past week we found out that Kevin is going to have to have back surgery, and there are a lot of things he cannot do.  However, the nursery is closed today.  So, we can’t get the trees until tomorrow.  So, instead, Bruce and Nicholas are here digging holes and transplanting trees from the woods.  Kevin has Nicholas riding the tractor and doing the digging.  He stays right with him and is teaching him what to do.   So far they have dug two holes in Kevin’s backyard for oak trees from the woods.  They have dug up the stump in my front yard from the Bradford Pear tree that was blown over in one of the big wind storms.  They are going to transplant a magnolia tree from the woods where the Bradford Pear was.

 Now you have to admit this looks like a typical government job.  You have two government employees "supervising" and the youngest doing the work :)

The magnolia tree has been transplanted!  Let’s hope it survives.

While Kevin, Bruce and Nick planted the magnolia tree I was busy weeding.  I weeded one tree (which I think is dead because it didn’t look good last year); four bushes (two of which has new growth already) three flower pots (one contained irises which are coming up, and the other two contained day lilies which I don’t know if they will come back).  So, I have a start on my yard.

All of us went to Kevin’s for supper.  He had fixed a pork butt in the smoker, and Renea fixed slaw, beans and macaroni salad before she went to visit her mom.  Jennifer arrived and she brought a german chocolate cake.  That is Renea’s favorite so Jennifer baked it for her birthday.  Renea didn’t get home in time to have supper with us because her mom is not doing well.  All of us left about seven o’clock.

Early this morning I went to Lowe’s to pick up a few items, and then it was on to Kroger for groceries.  Right after I got home, Kevin called.  He, Renea and Renea’s dad went to the hospital this morning to see her mom.  They got home about the same time that I did.  Anyway, we decided to eat lunch and then head to The Potting Shed and pick up my tulip poplar trees that we had ordered.  When we got back home Kevin, with a little help from me, planted the three of them in my backyard. They look very healthy, and even have a few buds on them.  Right now I have the hose running to water them.

 I realize because they do not have any leaves the only tree you can really see is the one closest in the picture.  The other two are there - in a straight line.  I thought it would be dumb to put three pictures of leafless trees.  

Wednesday I put a boneless chuck roast in the crockpot.  It was delicious and fork tender.  I had some single Bob Evan’s mashed potatoes in the freezer.  They sure tasted good with the chuck roast.  Did my laundry.  Watered the trees.  Worked on my genealogy books.  Actually accomplish quite a lot today.

Okay, it’s Thursday.  I finally broke down and turned on the air conditioners.  I can’t believe it’s February and I have the a/c on.  We have been setting record temperatures in the mid eighties.  IT’S HOT!!!!!!  And summer isn’t here yet.  Is this a sample of what is to come?  Heck, it isn’t even spring. 

 In addition to my regular chores I weeded the containers where I planted my Franklin trees.  No sign of life yet.  I also weeded the two rose-of-sharon bushes I planted inside the fences along the front of my driveway.  I checked the dawn redwood (Jim’s tree) and it is getting buds.  The Bradford pear has a few flowers and some buds.  I don’t understand why that tree doesn’t bloom like the others in this area.  It seems like all the others in the area are in full bloom. 

Where To Begin?

I am so far behind with my blogs I don’t know where to begin.  So, I will just tell you some things that have been happening, and after this, hopefully, I will be able to keep my blogs current.

On Wednesday, January 31st, Brian came to Alabama.  He stayed with me since everything is so hectic at Kevin and Renea’s.  On Thursday Brian and Kevin went fishing.  They had a great time and caught several large fish.  Later that afternoon Rita and Bob came to visit for the weekend.  It was great seeing them.  We had fresh caught fish for dinner and it sure tasted good.  Rita and Bob stayed in Kevin and Renea’s camper.

Friday Brian and Kevin took Bob fishing.  They had a great time, but didn’t catch any fish.  After getting back here we sat around, had a few drinks and snacks.  For supper I had made bar-b-q, slaw, macaroni salad and beans.  There wasn’t much left.  Jana took some home for her supper on Saturday night.  I also had an assortment of deserts.  And, of course, we spent the evening having a few drinks.

Brian didn’t have any drinks because he and Jana were planning to leave for Cincinnati at 4:00 in the morning.  They actually left a 3:45.  Brian wanted to get home in time to get some sleep since he had to go into work that night.  While they were travelling, Kevin took Rita and Bob for a tour of our backyard.  We then went to the Infantry Museum.  We had lunch at Burger King (Bob’s treat).  Kevin then took us for a ride around Fort Benning since neither Rita or Bob had been there.  We then headed for home.  I took everyone out for supper.  Renea didn’t get to go because she stayed with her dad who cannot be left alone.  I plan to take her out to eat – just the two of us.

 Rita and Bob left bright and early Sunday morning.  They arrived home safely.

Kevin and Bruce built a lean-to behind Kevin’s shed.  This is for Kevin to park his tractor and other equipment in so it is out of the weather. 

Kevin and Renea have a new baby – puppy that is.  She is a lab/short haired pointer.  She is chocolate brown, and absolutely adorable.  Her name is Shelby.  She is seven weeks old.  Her and Copper get along just fine.  They wrestle and play constantly.  Lola doesn’t want anything to do with her.  Kevin describes Lola as a crabby old lady.  Kevin plans to teach her to hunt with him, and to keep him company when working in the yard.

We seem to be having a lot of deer in our yards lately.  In fact, a buck rubbed his antlers against the trunk of my weeping willow in my front yard.  I sprayed the area with pruning spray.  Hopefully, the tree won’t die.

I am busy working on my genealogy.  I have found quite a few ancestors of Jim’s on his mother’s side of the family.  Not many, but I am making progress.

Our Silly "Girls"

They keep our life interesting.  Yes, they still are getting along just fine.  Chase each other all over the house. Mattie will go up to Penny, and lick her nose.  Penny just looks at her and then smacks her with her paw.  Good thing she is declawed.  However, they will lay next to each other like they are best friends.

Penny doesn’t seem to be messing with Mattie’s water any more.  Her new fascination is toilet paper.  When she was smaller she played with and ate the toilet paper all the time.  So, I changed toilet paper holders and she stopped.  Well, she is at it again.  She not only unrolls it, but she is biting it and putting holes in the paper.  I think she might also be eating it.  She is fascinated with the bathroom.  She lays around the toilet.  She climbs on the lower shelves where I store things and then peeks out at you while you are using the toilet.  She also rubs against your legs and wants to be petted while using the toilet.  We are learning to shut the door firmly.  When we do she cries because she wants in, and puts her paw under the door.  Not sure if she thinks she can crawl under the door, but who know what she is thinking!

Typical cat, she has taken over the house.  As I said in my previous blog, she has claimed one of the chairs with my new cushions as hers.  If she is not there or in the bathroom she is under the lap quilt on my bed. 

The other night we were watching television and she got up on the stand, sat in front of the television in her “queenly” pose and stared at Jana.  Jana put her lap desk in front of her face, but she continued to stare.  She stared at her for about an hour.  We have no idea why.  All we did was laugh.

Mattie barks a lot.  We usually have no idea why she is barking.  She can be sleeping and all of a sudden she jumps up and starts barking.  Mattie is “queen” of the yard.  Jana walks her outside and she prances and checks out everything. 

Another thing Mattie does is lick my jeans.  Jana feeds Mattie snacks from the table while we are eating.  When finished if I am still sitting there she comes over and licks my jeans.  Not sure what she is tasting, but it must be good.

I am still working on my genealogy.  I really wish I could read and understand German.  I am about as far as I can go without getting in my German ancestors.  I am thinking about asking for help.  I know it will cost me, but this is something I just “need” to know.  I have traced ancestors on my mother’s dad’s side back to when they came to America.  I have found out that they were Mennonites.  I am not surprised because of comments Grandpa made when he was alive.

The snow and ice has melted.  It is supposed to go up in the sixties today and tomorrow.  Jana has water again.  We had Kevin disconnect and turn off her water since it was going down into the teens.  We didn’t want her pipes to freeze.  She has only two more weeks here, and then she will be heading for Cincinnati.  Brian is going to come down to take her home.  He is also going fishing with Kevin while he is here.  Rita and Bob are coming to visit at the same time, and the guys are taking Bob fishing with them.  Now we have to think of something for Rita, Jana and I to do.

Last night when we went to Mass Father baptized a young boy and girl.  Their parents, godparents and grandparents were there.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  A little different than when I have seen babies baptized.  They included the congregation in the ceremony.

Today was a busy day.  Jana and I have planned our August trip.  I have some research to do, but we are about 75 percent finished.  We also started our plans for our November trip.  I am excited about both of them.  We are also planning on a few day trips for Alabama and Georgia when Jana comes down again.  As for when I am in Cincinnati we go almost nonstop.  

WINTER CAN BE OVER NOW!

Woke up this morning to 2.5 inches of snow.  This is in the south!  Yes, southern Alabama had 2.5 inches of snow.  It’s beautiful.  Everything is closed, schools, roads, offices, etc.  We have been told to stay off the roads because they are icy and because some people have gone driving there have been numerous accidents.  Therefore, roads closed.  Jana and I plan to hibernate for the next couple of days.  At least until it warms up and the roads clear.  I didn’t drive in this in Cincinnati, and I am not driving in this here.

Sure glad I filled my birdfeeders yesterday.  I have one in the backyard that is just about empty.  The other one is full.  However, there are a lot of birds out there.  The front ones still look okay.  Lots of birds there also.

Finally got all my boxes of Christmas decorations put in the shed.  Did this with help from Jana and Kevin.  Kevin carried several that were rather heavy.  Didn’t get the outside decorations down and put away until Sunday because of the cold.  Just got that done in time for the snow 😊

I have been working on my genealogy.  I am rather far behind.  I printed quite a lot of information that had been sent to me, and because of our travels and the holidays I didn’t get it into the computer program.  I am making good progress now. 

I have also been doing some redecorating.  I bought new chair pads (which Penny really likes).  In fact, she has claimed one of them as hers. I also bought placemats to match the pads. 

I also bought placemats to match the pads.  This all started because I received some new dishes for Christmas.  Everything is Pioneer Woman. 

I bought a new picture to hang in my living room.  I have been thinking about buying this one for quite some time.  Hobby Lobby had it on sale so I just couldn’t pass it up. 

I also bought a new quilt to hang in the living room. 

I replaced the four small pictures I had in the bathroom with one bigger one.  

.  I also replaced the large bird plaque in the kitchen with two smaller pictures. 

And, I bought new curtains for the dining room. I was not able to get a very good picture of the curtains.  They start out white at the top and then go to navy blue at the bottom.  Really pretty.

If all goes well I plan to have my living room painted in the spring, and new flooring in the dining room. 

I also need to fix the underpinning in the rear section of my mobile home.  I would also like to replace the siding so it all looks the same.  I have many books to read.  Many dot-to-dot books.  Many sewing projects.  So much to do.  So little time LOL