Dec. 31, 2008

First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.
Yesterday Willie and I went to the Air Force Museum. We watched an IMAX movie of the space station, had lunch, and then headed for the space part of the museum. The picture below is of a hover craft. Willie rode the flight simulator. I most often found a bench to sit on and let him look his fill at the exhibits. Can't keep up with the grandson? You better believe it.


In the evening there was a holiday dinner at the local Olive Garden. There were 18 people there. We had a reservation but somehow we got mixed up with another party of 18. They coped very well and made up a long table for us in no time at all.

That's me on the far left, then Judy, Carly, Eve, Logan, Amy & etc. You can see LaDonna looking over Mary's and Al's shoulder on the right side of the table. And yes, that is a glass of wine in front of me. I caught a ride with Amy and wasn't a designated driver. A good time was had by all, as usual. The biggest surprise was when the bill was taken care of by Amy. WOW that's a nice holiday gift. The antique barn will only be open on Saturdays until April so we won't see so much of one another for a while. We do stay in touch though.

Looking forward to a new year full of friends and good times.

Christmas Rainbow

Since I seem to be tethered to Ohio for most of this winter we went back to an old tradition of going to a movie on Christmas afternoon. Susan, Willie, and I went to see Marley & Me. It was funny, a little overdone on the "bad dog" theme and definitely overdone on the euthanasia scenes at the end. We enjoyed it, a good laugh and a good cry is good for everyone.

On the way home I was glad I had my camera with me. The sun was shining but there was a strange light in the sky. I'm guessing it was ice crystals reflecting a part of a rainbow. It was a nice surprise.

There are a couple of birdhouse gourds hanging under the eves of my carport. The question is, should I bring them in and clean out the nests the birds made last summer? It will take tweezers to do it but it would while away an afternoon for sure.

If anyone has any advice please let me know.

Dec. 22, 2008

My Christmas presents are under the tree, all ready for the big day. I may be a bah-humbug person but I make small efforts.

The best part of the season is the people that I talk to and visit with. My grandson, Willie, spent the day with me today. We did his shopping for his family. He isn't hard to shop with. We were done in no time. Then there was lunch at the local diner. Then we did a little vandalism on a house he used to live in. A sign with their last name had been left over the front door. We went home, got a step stool and a couple of screwdrivers and removed the sign. No one lives there now but we felt a bit naughty anyway. Grandmothers should always do things like that with their grandsons.

This is Willie and Susan, his Mother. He is sitting on a stool or he would be taller than her. She had to work today so she dropped him off on her way to work and picked him up on the way home. Of course, she works early hours, 6:00 a.m., so he crashes on the couch until a more reasonable hour, like 10:00 when I put a cold wet wash cloth on his face. He still loves me anyway.

This is Willie concentrating on the computer. Young people keep us young, at heart anyway.

Kids of all ages

In my kitchen there is a cupboard that opens under the counter. It's not convenient for storing things as you have to get down on the floor to get into it. The obvious use for it was for really short people to use it so I filled it with toys. As the grandchildren got older the toys also matured, being collected from garage sales. Now that the youngest grandchildren are 12 the cupboard has been ignored for quite a while - until today. A group of grandchildren and great grandchildren stopped by to visit and remembered the cupboard. These "children" range from 23 to 12 and they had a wonderful time.



Jeremy and Jake made wreckers and moon vehicles.

Charlotte got a hand in the fun.

Carson played with a pop bottle while Red kept watch. He never did get the bottle open.

And Teddy has become very attached to an almost empty peanutbutter jar.

Do you suppose visions of sugar plums dance in his head?

Passtimes

In the winter in Ohio there are many things to do. Teddy has taken a position on the park bench in the kitchen for his nap. The park bench is in the kitchen so short dogs can stand on it and see out the window.

Silly prefers the floor for her deep thinking. She is very fluffy right now which is a good way to be in the winter cold season.

Red doesn't fool around - she just goes for the bed.

Last night we had some sleet and mist which turned to ice which caused a big mess on the streets but since we didn't need to go anywhere it was fine with us.

The back deck looks pretty, even with some doggy footprints on it.

The door mat on the front steps looks like a work of art.

And the back patio looks very artful with ice outlining all the blocks.

I had messed with my blog settings and somehow it started translating everything into Hindu. That took a while to figure out and fix.

Things for retirees to do in the winter: read library books, bake, wrap Christmas gifts. talk to friends on the phone, play games on the computer, take a nap, eat eat eat.

Weather Report

A prediction of snow in southeastern Ohio is a prediction of "white death". People run to stores and buy shovels, salt, windshield scrappers and extra food for preparation.


The weather report said snow with little or no accumulation. As you can see we didn't get the "no" part of that prediction. The picture above is the stump of the box elder that fell on the house when Ike visited. Since it is right up against a fence I had them leave a nice tall stump. Maybe I'll hang a birdhouse on it.

I have been driving Lory, my daughter, to and from work lately and had to use my 4 wheel drive this morning as the roads hadn't been salted yet. We still slithered around a little bit even with 4 wheel drive turned on.

After she got off work we went car shopping and she dealt for a vehicle of her own. We will probably pick it up Monday so it looks like I will lose my taxi job soon.

This picture is what I had the tree people leave of the maple that lost 4 large branches during our big wind. It has been called "touchdown" tree. Others have suggested it would make a really big sling shot. All creative suggestions are encouraged. I think I will have a lot more sun in my back yard next summer. Maybe I'll even grow some grass.

The little black dog I got in Texas last spring has ended up with Teddy Bear for a name. Being a Texas dog he hadn't seen snow before.

He tried stretching in it while looking at me accusingly. What in the world did I put on the ground in his backyard.

He tasted it and decided he'd rather have breakfast - inside the house. He has been in the doghouse lately as he ate a library book the other day. He is challanging for leader of the pack and has to be given a setback now and then.

Great Grandma Again

This is Jaryen Wayne in his going home from the hospital outfit. At 9 lbs 10 ozs he's a big boy.

Great Grandm got to hold him a few days later. He seems to have all he needs to get by in this world, a good appetite and a good pair of lungs.

He'll have to grow fast to catch up with big brother.