June 30, 2013

Benjamin is happy that his church library has

a table and chairs just his size.

He gravitated to them immediately when he entered the room.

This was their library's grand opening day and I got to be there for it.

His mom is showing him a book.

We have both read to him since he was a little baby.

Both our daughters were on vacation last week - - leaving the same day, June 22 - - - traveling 1,200 miles apart from each other - - returning on the same day, June 29.  I got to feed and play with the cats once a day at the older's house - - and of course, clean cat boxes.  The younger will most likely post some of her pictures soon.

Tonight was another of my "girlfriends' night" to celebrate a friend's birthday.  This friend LOVES July 4th and the patriotic decorations.  We were asked to wear red, white, and/or blue.  The table had a centerpiece appropriate for the season.

Although we all LOVE to eat, most of us are trying to be calorie-consumption conscious.   So tonight's menu was tossed salads with assorted meat and vegetable toppings contributed by those in attendance.  It was delicious as usual.

 

Check out the dessert.  I know you wish you had a bite!

After supper and before we left, our hostess had bought LARGE fireworks sparklers

and so we 40- 60 aged women went in the back yard and twirled them!

 

Praise God for the happy times in life where we can celebrate good things with others!

It gives us a diversion from the events and "decisions" in the news last week.  The grief in my heart is miniscule to what God's heart must be experiencing.  It would be wonderful if people would actually read the truth of our country's Christian Birth and the ideals of those who were some of the first founders. 

On the flip side though is our worship service yesterday at church with the wonderful patriotic and Christian music.  Our military men were recognized - - and some saluted each other during that time.  Many of us were overcome with tears realizing what their sacrifice in the armed services has given us.  So as we celebrate this week, I am thanking God for our precious nation and praying for revival in that land.

Wilt thou not revive us again : that thy people may rejoice in thee?  Psalm 85:6

May 27, 2013

Who remembers Edith Ann from Laugh-In?

 Did you think of that when you saw the above picture?

My sister, Sandie is 5' 4" so that gives you some perspective on this chair's size.

Sandie is shown with her granddaughter, Cobii.

If you are able to read the sign on the back of the chair, you will see that it is a public art display.  It is beside our Greenway (beautiful paved sidewalk through Cleveland but away from public roads).

 

You can see the landscaped walk with a street lamp beside it.  I happened to catch it between walkers.  Most everyday, weather permitting, this a very, very busy place.

We saw this bumper sticker and thought it was funny.

 

Earlier in the day we visited Red Clay State Park.

This is the inside of the house shown above. The doors and windows are barred and locked but you are able to view the interior easily.

This is the "Blue Hole".  The water looks bright turquoise in the right light.  The water emerges beneath a limestone ledge.

It is located on the far side of this bridge.

 

Yes, this is the creek bed which has water that is at least ankle high - - and COLD!

The water really is that crystal clear.

 

Red Clay State Park is a very nice place to visit in our area.  It has walking trails and over 200 acres.  The visitors' building has historical information about the Cherokee Indians who had council meetings there.  When the weather is "nice", it's a perfect place to visit for a nice family outing.

(That is the last post for our wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.)

 

"I made it beautiful, a work of art in limbs and leaves, The envy of every tree in Eden, every last tree in God's garden."  Ezekiel 31:9

Normal Life

I visited a couple of friends this week.

Believe it or not, the black cat was purring like crazy!
He just looks fierce.

Here is the BEST visit!  I saw him at a couple of stores once each week during the last couple of weeks.  We had a lot of fun shopping and looking around.  He is big enough to walk so he alternated between the cart, walking, and my arms whenever he would let me hold him long enough.  Precious, precious boy!

I have also taken time to do a bunch of annual medical appointments.  Between doctors' and lab visits, I enjoyed a delicious lunch.  (I only ate three of the potato chips.)

 

Plus I am still really busy with projects around the house.   The summer will be over before I make too much of a dent on my "to do" list - - - but I will rejoice in what did get checked off.

And of course, we celebrated the wonderful people in our lives on Father's Day!

 

We were with Joshua's family for dinner and it was wonderful as always!

 Many of you are to be commended for being so diligent in your blogging.  I do well to keep up with reading most of them!  Generally my goal is to update once a week.  Thanks for your posts.

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.  Psalm 16:11

 

 

Saturday Stuff

I love Saturdays.  It is generally the only day we are both home all day without anything scheduled.  Sometimes Bill has to go into work a few hours like this morning but not too often.

One thing I chose to do today was make our favorite fruit salad.  I know I have posted the dressing before but here it is again.

 

One part honey and 4 parts orange juice.  That is generally any multiple of 1/4 cup honey to 1 cup of orange juice.  Don't worry that the honey doesn't seem to be dissolving.  It will have done that by the time you can eat it a couple of hours later.  Use only hard fruits - - fresh or a combination of fresh and canned.  Missing from this are grapes but I was not happy with the prices on them.  This will keep close to a week in the refrigerator.  If you want soft fruits like bananas, add them to individual dishes just before serving.

 

I love working outside and did that three different times today - - but can't do it more than 30 minutes at a time due to the humidity.  However, two wheelbarrows of sticks were collected and a bunch of "volunteer" plants with stems were cut back.  At the same time, Bill was mowing.  Working in our yard is like draining the ocean one teaspoon at a time.

 

Here is my favorite footwear.  With these boots, I can walk through poison ivy, mud, etc. and just hose them off when finished.  Removing them is hands-free, too as we have some basement steps that act as a boot jack/boot pull. 

Better than being outside in the summer though is being inside with the air conditioning!!!  There are more than enough projects to keep me busy there, too - - - like arranging the books Amanda sent for Benjamin.  Height order is appealing to me.  (You are only seeing a small portion of the collection.)

It is difficult for me to focus on one task to completion because it bores me and I slow down - - so I jump back and forth - - and it seems there is nothing done to show for my efforts.  But perseverance pays off and eventually there are a number of finished projects.

It has been a great day - - - little time in the kitchen because I cooked extra during the week.  So we had good nutrition, too, with minimal effort.  Hope your Saturday has been enjoyable, too.

The fruit tells you about the tree.  Matthew 12:33b

 

May 26, 2013

Here are a couple of pictures that should have been posted

on yesterday's entry when we met for lunch last weekend.

My sister's older granddaughter is the pretty blonde girl.

My husband, Bill, is holding our grandson, Benjamin.

 

Benjamin's parents, Amanda (our younger daughter) and Joshua, 

and my cute husband again!

Amanda's blog 

usually has many pictures of the baby - - who is almost a year old already!

Sunday's sight-seeing was a trip to the Tennessee Railroad Museum which is in Chattanooga.  Sandie, Cobii, and I went there after church.

The lobby inside.  There is also a gift shop and snack bar.

Non-operational trains outside the front entrance.  A couple are museum displays inside.

 

My sister, Sandie.  She is sixteen months younger than me.

 

The return trip of the ride scheduled before us.

 

There are various places and times you can travel as well as different durations of rides.  We took the Missionary Ridge train which is about an hour.  At this point we had just come out of the tunnel (you can see our smoke).  You are allowed outside of the last car if you want to ride there on the platform.

Our engine at the turntable.

On the turntable.

 

Cobii getting to look inside the engine and coal car.

We had a great time that day.  It's an activity that has walking - -

but also opportunity to sit and relax!

. . . travel with us, Exodus 34:9b

May 25, 2013

My sister and her granddaughter came to visit us during Memorial Day Weekend.  We decided to meet at the Ocoee Dam Deli and Diner.  She was coming north from Atlanta and was able to exit to 411 and over to 64.  As I have mentioned before, if you are ever in the area, you really would enjoy eating there - - - - excellent food - - - especially the wraps.

After lunch, we "girls" went down to one of the areas that rafters begin a "white water adventure".  I am not promoting this company as it is one of twenty-four.  However, most of them transport the rafts on top of vehicles - - usually school bus types. 

This post will have similar photos that followers of mine have seen in times past.

 

The rafters have "suited up" with life jackets and helmets.  (Why does someone want to do a sport where they could possibly hit their head hard enough to cause brain damage?)    Notice the calmness of the water and also the drop -off under the TVA foot bridge.

Obviously the rafters don't go over the small falls but rather down the ramp on the right.

Notice the different colors of rafts  They belong to different companies.

Notice how calm and clear the water is just before it goes over the edge.

 

Do you see the rafters on the top right?  They evidently take them further upstream there to have them practice paddling and obeying instructions.

Here is a closer view of what they will ride.

The groups are about to embark on their Class IV Rapids Adventure as will over 300,000 others this summer.  It is a dangerous sport but there have only been six fatalities in the last twenty years.  Those generally happen if someone gets lodged or hung up underwater.

So - - if you or friends are looking for this type of fun, our area is a good place to visit!  And no - - I have not done this trip and don't plan to.  For me, 'calm' water is for swimming and rapids are to be avoided!

. . . behold, I stood upon the bank of the river  Genesis 41:17b

One of these things is not like the other . . . .

Do you remember that kids' song that began, "One of these things is not like the other . . . . .?"  It taught "same and different".  Apply that song/concept to these trees.  Obviously the one in the center is without leaves - - - and dead - - - and close to the back of our house.

 

We had made repeated calls to a recommended tree service a couple of weeks earlier than the day this was cut but they did not return our messages.  Then on May 17, this young man, Steve Foust, showed up with his wife, Michelle.  They were making cold calls and handing out business cards.  He gave us an excellent price to drop the tree.

 He is licensed, bonded, and insured - - but since I had never met either of them, we called their insurance company to verify coverage before we authorized his services.

As you can see, he was able to begin work and had the 80 ft tree down quite rapidly.  Steve LOVES this work.  It made me nervous to watch him at times because heights terrify me.

 

He and his wife are very, very sweet and polite.  They did exactly what they wrote in the estimate.

It may be obvious that we have an "old" forest behind our home.

In the future, we will again be calling 

Big Bear's Tree Service .

 

He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron . . .  Isaiah 10:34a