Winter Blahs

Hi, Y'all,

Rain is falling, falling, falling on our windowpanes today and making the whole outdoors look dreary. I know the earth needs the rain, so I won't complain too much. I sit here in my nightgown and housecoat and think how cozy it is in here. Gramps is sitting in his favorite easy chair in the living room watching a football game, and enjoying it thoroughly.

I have been online with Teresa and Tom and they have been trying to help me solve my problem with downloading pictures from my digital camera. Do you have any idea how difficult it can be trying to communicate long distance and come to a solution? Man! If you have never tried it, you should. We did come to a solution of sorts and through their help, I am able to provide you with a picture that was on my camera.

The picture is that of the salads that we prepared on Friday evening. (for commentary, go to Friday's blog.)

Today is the last day of November. One month left until the New Year begins. Where am I going with this? I don't know for sure. I know that a lot of things have taken place over this year. We moved from town into the country, back to land that had once belonged to my family, and I feel like I am home at last. (before my final home, that is) We buried my only blood sister on the first day of January this year. We traded cars in May of this year. Gramps became really ill this year, and is thankfully better than he was three months ago, and for that we feel really blessed.

We have learned a lot about Multiple Myeloma this year due to the illness that our son-in-law, Daryl, has. We have thanked God that Daryl seems to be holding his own against this devastating illness, and we have also thanked God for Daryl's constant testimony to God's goodness. We have followed Daryl's blog and are so blessed that Daryl is a part of our family.

We have seen three great grandchildren added to our family this year, and feel truly happy and blessed over their addition and pray that we will live long to see them grow.

We have been blessed to spend time with our families this year and look forward to good times with all of them in the coming year. Christmas will probably be very quiet this year, because due to Gramps health, we do not plan to travel over the Christmas holidays as we quite often do.

I guess this week I will be putting up Christmas decorations. We have two 32" fiber optic trees and will be putting those in the living room window, and perhaps put some Christmas lights around the railing on the front porch. I also have a wreath to put near the front door, and hope it won't blow away with the winter winds that blow across the porch.

Well, that is about all for this evening. I have lasagna cooking in the oven and will be making some garlic toast to eat with it. We had ham and eggs with biscuits for his breakfast and my lunch. I ate cereal at 8 a.m. this morning, so I had breakfast as lunch today.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the evening. God bless each of you, my friends and loved ones. More tomorrow. Bye for now.

Happy Birthday, Grandson Matthew

Hi, Y'all,

Today is the 24th birthday anniversary of my Grandson, Matthew. He is Carol's and Daryl's youngest son, and a fine young man! He is finishing up his schooling at a Christian University in Texas. Matt is a whiz at a lot of things, including the computer. He is their computer guru, and has worked a year as a computer "fixer" and consultant for a school system in Texas a year or so ago. (I hope I am not too far behind in when he did that).

Matt is a very loving and caring person, as well. He not only cares about people, but shows it in many ways. He is quick to witness to others about his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When he was in his teens, he was struck by a driver as he was riding his bicycle. She stopped to see if he was injured and his first words to her were to ask if she was saved. Her response was not a very kind one.

The pictures I am posting today were of his birthday two years ago. We didn't get to see him his last birthday, or his birthday this year. Last year, my sister, Margaret, was ill unto death, and this year, we were fortunate enough to have Tom and Teresa (his aunt and uncle) to come and visit us. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Matt! We love you.

This is all from Blabbin' Grammy today. May you all have a lovely day today, and not be suffering from too much turkey, stuffing and stuffing from sweets. It has been a lovely holiday, and I am blessed indeed. Love to all of you. Bye for now.

A Really Great Salad

Hey, Y'all,
I have had a really great couple of days because our daughter, Teresa, and her husband, Tom have been visiting with us. The mundane and ordinary days were just kind of tossed aside for a while.

We kind of had a long wait for them because they were delayed on their trip by an overturned eighteen wheeler west of here. I was about ready to be calling the highway patrol to see where they were, when I got in contact with Teresa. She explained that they were just pulling into the motel at Dandridge. We had a very late lunch/early supper at 4 p.m. at Shoney's. It was delicious, of course.

It was wonderful to see them, and we had a really great time visiting with them yesterday evening. We made plans for them to come over to our home again and they showed up here around 9:30. Teresa and I went to Knoxville today and did some really good shopping. We visited first with Hugh and Imazo, then went to visit with Mae. We really enjoyed talking to them all, and then we left Mae's and went to Knoxville Center mall.

We didn't see any fights over any merchandise, but that was probably because we didn't go at 4 a.m. In fact, there were parking places to be easily found at noon, when we went. We did a lot of laughing and having fun, talking about events of the past, and such. Everything just seemed to be funny and it was wonderful relaxing fun for the both of us. I really needed it.

We got back home and I had decided the other day to make a salad for our supper which resembled a salad I had had at O'Charley's. It is called a pecan-crusted chicken salad. I experimented the other day with making the pecan-crusted chicken tenders.
Here is the recipe I used for the chicken:

A pound of chicken breasts, cut into small strips,
a cup of pecan pieces, minced
2 cups of Italian Bread Crumbs
2 eggs beaten

Mix together the pecan crumbs and bread crumbs

Dip strips of chicken into crumb mixture and coat the chicken.

Heat butter-flavored Crisco in frying pan, and drop chicken pieces into it carefully.
Brown on both sides, cooking for about six minutes or until chicken is done.

Drain on paper towels.

Now for the salad:
Place into a salad bowl: Hearts of romaine lettuce, a handful of dried cranberries,
drained mandarin oranges, a scattering of bleu cheese, or feta cheese, a few sliced cherry tomatoes, top with pieces of pecan-crusted chicken and top with your favorite dressing (we chose raspberry flavored vinagrette).

I would love to have posted a picture, but I couldn't get the pictures to download from my camera. I will have to do it a different way, but I will post the picture soon.

The salads were delicious, and so simple to make. Teresa helped me to prepare them, but wouldn't let me take her picture. Bummer! She is such a beautiful person.

Well, Gramps has already gone to bed and it is only a little past 8 p.m. I guess we wore him out playing a game after supper. I made a pumpkin pie for dessert, along with the fried peach pies (which were really yummy - still have a couple left, in fact). I am going in and have a piece of pumpkin pie in a few minutes.

Tom and Teresa are back in their motel by now, packing up to go back home. I am hoping that they will soon be back to visit us. I am more relaxed right now than I have been in months. Thank you all, my children. I believe it is true that laughter is good for the soul. I know it did me a world of good today.

Tomorrow is the 24th birthday anniversary of my grandson, Matthew. Happy Birthday, Grandson, we love you!

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off. Pumpkin pie, here I come. Bye for now. More tomorrow. Love to all of you.

One of Life's Embarrassing Moments

Hey, Y'all,
Now why would anyone want to write about an embarrassing moment they had experienced? Well, just simply because it was funny in the years after it happened.

What reminded me of it was when Gramps and I were talking about Thanksgivings past. Here is what happened:

When I was about thirteen years old, the church that we attended was having a Sunday evening music service where anyone who wanted to could sing. My mom was always singing little songs and she had taught us one about Thanksgiving. So I decided that I was going to sing that one. Now the song is sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle". You know the one that kids learn in school about Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mind the music and the steps and with the girls be handy.

The words to the song that Mom had taught us were:
Thanksgiving Day has come at last,
Our hearts are jumpin', thumpin'
We're off to Grandma's house to eat
The turkey and the pumpkin!
(Chorus)
Of all the nice things good to eat
Our Grandma dear can make them
She lets us kids have what we want,
And never says don't take them.

Well, there are more words to the song, but you get the idea. The only problem with my singing the song, was that I was singing it so fast that the pianist who was going to accompany me, couldn't keep up with me. I literally ran away with the song.
I was nervous, because I had never sung before a group of people before. It was a disaster and I was in the middle of it. The pianist finally just gave up and quit trying to play the song. I finished the song, post haste, and was so embarrassed I could hardly walk back to my pew.

Needless to say, it was a long time before I hazarded singing a solo in front of a group of listeners, but it didn't stop me for ever. I am just a natural born: (choose one) performer, show-off, ham, out-going person who is not shy of meeting people and making friends.

Well, have a Happy Thanksgiving, all of you who read my blog! It is going to be a great holiday for us with our daughter, Teresa, and her husband, Tom, coming in to spend it with us. God's richest blessings on each of you. I hope you will each find something to be thankful for and also something to laugh about, even if it is my silly but true story. Bye for now. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off.

Appointments by God

Hey, Y'all,
Do you beiieve that many times we are appointed by God to be in certain places at given times? I do, because I believe that God is all-knowing, all-seeing, and is fully aware of everything going on or that will be happening in our lives. I just want to relate some of the times that I think God appointed me to be in given places.

When I was working at my first job in Knoxville as an 18-year old high school graduate, I was living in a one-room apartment with my mother, who worked at the Holston Knitting Mill. We lived in Knoxville, working during the week, and then went home to the farm in New Market on the week-ends. We were renting from an aunt who owned her mother's house (my grandmother on my dad's side of the family). My aunt lived in the front room of the house, and our room was in back of hers. On the opposite side of the hallway was a three room apartment, rented by a young married couple. The girl and I became acquainted. She worked at one of the dime stores in Knoxville and had seen a friend of hers who was home from serving in the U.S. Army. She said he was real cute and set us up for a date.

The young man courted me for a few weeks and then proposed. I accepted, and we were married early in January of 1952. I believe that was a God appointed meeting. Out of our marriage came two beautiful girls, who are now in their fifties, and are loved by many people, and who have had a great impact on those around them. We separated eight years later, due to mistakes on both our parts.

Another instance of what I consider to be a God-appointed meeting was when I met my second husband, more than fourteen years later, when we were both teaching summer school.
Out of that meeting, and subsequent dating, we were married and I gained a life-long friend and help-mate. He is loved by both the girls and their families, and loves them devotedly.

We moved to Florida in June of 2004. I had no idea that it would be a life-changing move for Gramps and me. In August of that year, it was discovered that I needed bypass heart surgery. The doctor that we had chosen to be our new family doctor discovered in July that I had two heart murmurs. He sent me to specialists and after several tests, I was checked into the hospital and had triple by-pass surgery and a pacemaker installed in my chest. My daughter, Teresa, who we were living with, and her husband, Tom, gave me such excellent care. I know that God had appointed us to be there.

When we were in Ohio recently, I know that we were there because we were meant to be. We were in the right place at the right time for Gramps to be helped when he needed it.

I believe also, that we moved back to Tennessee when we were most needed here. I know that had we not been here, we would not have been able to be of assistance to my sister and to my brother and two sisters-in-law. I also know that many of the good times we have been able to share with both Gramps family and my family would have been missed.

Yes, for sure, God guides us, when we let HIm, and He appoints places for us to be for our good and for the good of others. Now, may God's richest blessings be felt by you and yours. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Rest well tonight. Bye for now.

Monday Rain

Hey, Y'all,
Last night was not a very restful one. I usually take a couple of benedryl to help me sleep, and my back was in a killing mood (meaning it was really giving me a lot of pain), so that was a double whammy for sleeping. Gramps had slept quite a bit during the day, so he was not very sleepy either. Oh, well, maybe tonight will be better. (yes, he did have a nap while I was gone this morning, so we will see).

I got up about 1:30 a.m. and applied some Biofreeze to my aching back and did get some rest and a little sleep. Believe it or not, that stuff really works.

Around 6:15, I got up for the last time for good, and came into my workroom and worked on the quilt for about an hour. Gramps got up about 7:15 and we had breakfast. He knew I had a doctor's appointment today, and thought I was already gone, because he didn't hear me using the sewing machine.

I left about 9:45 a.m. for my appointment in Knoxville at the cardiologists (U.T. Medical center) and when i got to the parking area, I had to drive around for about 15 minutes trying to find a parking space. Don't you just hate driving around a parking area when it is raining and every space is full? I finally found a space next to the entrance to the Heart and Lung Vascular building. Providence finally smiled on me!

When the nurse took my blood pressure (after all that pressure of finding a parking space), naturally it was high. The doctor increased my medication to what he thought I had been taking, but hadn't been. Another medication was also increased.
We shall see if my pressure improves over the next few weeks. He advised that I see my primary doctor about prescribing something to reduce the pain in my back, since pain can increase blood pressure. (Of course, stress can elevate blood pressure as well, but I didn't remind him of that little fact).

Gramps is doing much better with daily life. He is beginning to get his appetite back. He actually has gone into the kitchen yesterday and today to look for and find food to eat when I was not here. He is continuing to get up at night and not need any help doing so. I am greatly encouraged.

On my way home today from the doctor's office, I stopped off for brief visits with Hugh and Imazo and then Mae. It was really good to see them again. We didn't get to go out to eat last week for their anniversary like we had hoped to. Imazo did tell me that her sister, Lois, whom we went to visit in September in Ohio, fell and broke a hip and is back in the hospital but doing well.

Mae is looking forward to spending Thanksgiving Day with her family and is planning on making some fried peach pies to take with her. They will be taking dinner at the home of her son, Fred, and his wife, Doris.

We look forward to a visit from our daughter, Teresa, and her husband, Tom, during the couple of days of Thanksgiving. It has been close to two years since we have seen them, although we keep in close touch.

The weather looks cold and dreary outside, but it is warm and cozy in our little home. I stopped at Buddy's Barbq and brought our lunch home and it is gone. Burp!

I have bought some dried peaches and will be frying some peach pies for our dessert on Thursday and Friday. They are cooking on the stove right now. I will be making the pies on Thursday morning, so they will be warm and fresh on that day.

Well, that is about all for now. I am sure that Carol and her family will have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Daniel and his family are coming down from Illinois and of course the other three children and families will be there as well.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Love to you all, and peace be unto you.
Bye for now.

Autumn Glory

Hey, Y'all,
Yesterday morning, I looked out and saw some flurries flying around, nothing serious, but it reminded me of how my sister and I used to call one another when it was snowing. One of us would say, "Well, it's a fallin'". The other would reply, "Yep, it sure is!" Then we would continue on to wonder if it would lay.

I was straightening my computer desk today, and happened upon a package containing poems that she had written, and that I had collected from her apartment after her death a little less than a year ago. One of them is called Autumn Glory and she wrote it in 1955. Since it is still technically autumn, I am going to print it here for your enjoyment.

Autumn Glory

Leaves of crimson, gold, and green

In a distant woodland grove-

A glorious sight to behold-

It shows the handiwork of our Lord.

A nearby field of new-mown hay-

All stacked in mounds so high,

Should catch the glimpse of passersby-

As they go traveling on their way.

A fading sunset o'er the hills

Brings on an afterglow.

And as I watch it fade from sight,

I always seem to hear

A voice from within my very soul

Speak softly, yet so clear,

"Look close, thou soul, and you will find

That I am very near."

Margaret E. C.

1955

Well, folks, that is it for today. More tomorrow, I reckon. This is Blabbin' Grammy, signing off for today, and I know that Margaret would have enjoyed seeing her poetry on the internet. May you each feel God's blessings this day and morrow. Love to you all.

Bye for now.

Happy Anniversary number 56 - Hugh and Imazoe

Hey, Y'all,

Today (November 21)is the 56th anniversary of Hugh and Imazoe's wedding day. It was a day of great surprises. That morning, a huge snow of more than one foot fell and fell quickly. It provided several huge obstacles to the carrying on with the wedding. The snow knocked out the electricity (a good thing they had candles to light in the church). My mom had a great deal of trouble getting up the hill to the church and it was only a block away from where she was. She had on slick bottomed shoes, and my sister-in-law, Mae, helped her get up the hill, which is a challenge even when the weather is good.

The snowfall that day was a record snowfall, and many people remember the giant snowfall of November 21, 1952. I happened to be living in Indiana at the time. My first husband, Charles, and I were expecting our oldest daughter, Carol, in less than a month. So what I write here about that day is just hearsay.

I have some pictures here of different stages of their lives together and of how they interacted within our family.

Imazoe is very dear to me and is a very important part of our lives. She and Hugh are truly a matched set, where you see one, you will see the other. Imazoe was a member of her family before I met her, and she is a dear. She and Hugh, and Gramps and I have taken several trips together out west to visit their son, David and his family, and our brother, John, and his family, who also live out in the same vicinity.

Hugh is a big brother that I have always looked up to. He and Imazoe have worked hard during their lives to bring up their two children, David and Jeff, to be good, kind and loving citizens and have succeeded well in doing so.

Gramps and I recently (over the past year) have had the opportunity to meet Imazoe's sisters and their families, and really enjoyed the time we have gotten to spend with them.

Imazoe is a very talented lady (she would probably never admit it). She is very good at doing craft work, is an excellent seamstress, a really good cook, and I wish I could fold clothes to look as neat as she does. When there is anything to be done, she jumps right in and leads the way. I admire her so very much.

There is much more I could write, but I want to put as many pictures as I can of Hugh, Imazoe and our families as I can find on my computer. One more thing I can say, "Imazoe, I'm so glad you are a part of our lives!"

Pictures are from top:

1. Hugh, Imazoe, Mae, Gramps this year at our home.

2. Imazoe and Margaret in 1970s at our family home (near here where I live now) in New Market.

3.Imazoe

4.Family members in New Market home

5. Teresa (part of her), David, Imazoe and Jeff.

6. Imazoe in her yard this summer

7. Hugh and Imazo, holding my daughter, Carol in the summer of 1953.

8. Hugh, Dad, Bill and Mae

9. Hugh and Imazoe in 2005 while we were in Arizona visiting

10. Hugh and Dad

11. Gramps, Mae, Hugh and Imazoe

12. Margaret and Imazo (looking at a cookbook, I think)

Wedding Invitations In the Making

Hey, Y'all,

Yes, Rachael and sister, Tanya, are busy making beautiful wedding invitations to send out for the January wedding of Rachael and groom to be, Jason. I went over around noon today to visit and somehow, just couldn't keep my hands out of the creation of the invitations. They had already designed the invitations, but I got to help fold some of the parts of the whole.

While I was there, I got a quick snapshot of them and of Tanya's oldest, Kevin, who just turned three years old.

This morning, I cajoled Gramps out of bed a little early by promising him ham, eggs, biscuits, and of course, coffee. He is sleeping much better these days. So, true to my promise, I delivered the good breakfast, and shared it with him, but I had sausage instead of ham.

I did get some organizing of my workroom done this morning after I had cleaned the kitchen. There is much more to do, but I will get it all done in good time.

When I came back home this afternoon, I brought some hamburgers back for a late lunch. We will have left over potato soup for supper after while.

I have started the fifth row on the quilt for Matt, and will be finishing that row before bedtime tonight. As the quilt grows, so does the difficulty in adding the additional rows. Hence, it takes a little longer to add each row. After this row is completed,there are three more rows to do.

Speaking of the weather, which we weren't, but I am now, cooler weather is ocming in again, and there is a chance of snow a little north and east of here tonight. It can wait for a LONG time, to make its way here, if it so chooses.

The next thing I will approach to reorganize is my computer desk. It looks like it is about ready to fly. ha ha. It is really loaded up with stuff and more stuff. No wonder it is difficult to find anything on it.

Well, this is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for tonignt. It is only 4:35 p.m. right now, but I reckon I could just lie down and take a nap. I guess I will get up and move around some instead. Maybe even eat a piece of chocolate pie. Yeah! That is a great idea! See you all later. Love to you all.

Grammy

Middle of the Week Day

Hey, Y'all,
Just sitting here trying to keep from going to sleep. The sun is shining in warm on my back and I have been up since about six a.m. I decided last night that I was going to be doing some cleaning of dusty furniture and washing up the "dust catchers" that are in my liivng room. SOOO, when I couldn't sleep any more, I got up and got busy.

Gramps was still sawing logs and continued to do so until about 11:30 a.m. That left me plenty of time to carry collectible junk into the kitchen and swish it all through soapy water that I had put in the kitchen sink.

I quit washing and drying stuff about 8:30 a.m. and had my breakfast of cold cereal and finished reading the paperback that I have been reading over the past couple of days. After breakfast, I continued my labors until about 11:15, and sat down in a casual chair in the living room and as I was resting, I drifted off to sleep only to be awakened by the ringing of the telephone. It was a number that has been turning up on my caller ID, with a private number. I had already looked up the area code for the number and found it to be coming from San Antonio. I tried to trace it by looking it up on the computer in "reverse" numbers. It would not identify the name of the caller.

I decided to answer the phone and discovered it was A.T.& T calling to offer me DSL service. After I had talked to the lady awhile and informed her that I didn't believe we could have accesss to DSL out here where we live. She rushed to assure me, that yes we do. Anyhow, after a few minutes, she checked her facts again and discovered that "no, we don't have DSL where you live." I said, "I knew it. and we have Hughes Net and are under contract to them, anyway". I then informed her that I was tired of getting the calls from them (AT&T) and to please stop calling. She said it would take a month to be sure that we wouldn't be getting any more calls from them.

The quilt I am working on for Matt is almost half put together (4 rows attached) and after I get the other four rows on, I will be doing some hand stitiching on it to personalize it for him. I hope to have it finished for Christmas.

Tomorrow, I am planning on redoing my work room and clearing out some obsolete and unnecessary stuff that I have in here. I will probably get an early start on it. I look around at it, and see a lot of unorganized mess. I have been planning on doing this for about 4 months, but you know how that goes, I guess.

Supper tonight will be a small supreme pizza and a small salad. Gramps and I will share a DeGiorno (It's not delivery...It's DeGiorno!).

I went over to Mark and Allie's this afternoon and spent some time with Rachael, Tanya, and Tanya's two little boys, Kevin, and Adam. What fun! Rachael and Tanya are busily getting invitations made to send out to people for Rachael's upcoming wedding. Kevin, three, sang some Christmas songs with us. What a delightful little voice he has! Both boys are just darling. I am hoping to have some time to spend with them tomorrow, as well. I'll try to get some pictures then for my blog.

Well, gotta go turn on the oven and get the pizza ready to put into the oven. More later. Love to you all. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the day. May you each experience the love of God in your heart and in your lives. Bye for now.

Gramps Speaks - Part two of 100 things

Hey, Y'all,
Since I am putting the rest of Gramps' hundred things about himself, I thought a sweet picture to go with it would be one that I took of him with Ellie, our great granddaughter that we just met in August.

I must confess that a few of the things I am entering as Gramps' 100 things about himself, are things not that he told me, but that I know about him from the 42 years that we have known each other. So, here goes:

Gramps speaks:

51. My first taste of women's lib happened when I was in the first grade, and being the helpful person that I am, I got a chair for a little girl that I thought was really cute. She rebuffed me by getting her own chair and ignoring my assistance.

52, My brother, Howard, got the nickname of "Mouse" when he was in high school. It happened one day when he saw a mouse run across the room, and he said, "There goes a mouse!". Later. because I was his little brother, I was called "Little Mouse".

53. My favorite movies when I was growing up were westerns. I still enjoy watching the old westerns.

54. My favorite pies are: pecan, apple, and lemon meringue.

55. I love peanut brittle.

56. A favorite meal of mine is country fried steak and country gravy on top of it with mashed potatoes.

57. I used to love going out with Ruby on Friday evening after a week of teaching and eating fish at Shoney's and then going to a movie.

58. I used to enjoy doing the cryptograms in the News-Sentinel.

59. I am proud of my wife's ability to do almost anything.

60. When I was in elementary school, we didn't have a lunch room, and my teachers noticed I never brought any lunch to school. They brought a lunch for me every day.

61. One of my teachers in the fourth grade noticed me chewing my crayons and started bringing me lunch.

62. I am a collector, and have collected stamps, coins, and little model cars.

63. In the fifth grade, a boy had done something that upset the teacher. We had windows that opened out, and because she was chasing him with a paddle, he jumped up into the window and threatened to jump out. He didn't though.

64. I have been a deacon at our church and was an active one about 25 years ago, but can no longer serve.

65. I like to whistle sometimes, and sometimes I keep whistling the same thing over and over again, until Ruby finishes the song for me, so I will stop it.

66. I enjoy watching informational television.

67. I like to watch public television, sometimes even the educational ones for kids.

68. I once turned a somersault for my grandson, Daniel, when he was about three and I was about 52.

69. I like seeing Tiger Woods play golf.

70. I fell in love with Ruby at first sight, a little over 42 years ago.

71. I love to tease and aggravate her.

72. I like doing things for other people.

73. I can be quite stubborn when it comes to something that I am convicted about.

74. I consider myself to be patriotic and love my country.

75. I was rejected for military duty because of my lazy eye.

76. I miss my brother, Howard, and my sister, Johnnie, and all the good times we used to have when we got together.

77. I used to watch Johnny Carson every night.

78. I haven't driven a car for ten years and miss the freedom it gave me.

79. I really admired JFK and was saddened when he was assassinated.

80. I used to wash dishes for Ruby when she was teaching and I was retired.

81. I helped John, Ruby's brother, build the upper story on his house out here in the country.

82.He held the ladder for me while I climbed up and nailed on boards.

83. I really enjoyed watching Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne in movies.

84. I liked the Esther Williams movies too.

85. When my mother died, it left a big hole in my heart and life.

86. I have had two really bad cases of sunburn over my whole body. One time was when Ruby and I went to New Mexico to visit Teresa, who was in the Air Force. We spent the whole day at the base pool and I came away looking like a giant lobster. It was a few days before I could bear to have clothes touch me.

87. I lived for many years in the house that my mother had built after my father died from the mine accident. I did not leave it until Ruby and I were married. I was 50 years old at the time.

88. I can now walk through the house without my cane or walker.

89. I like to ride trains.

90. I would love to go to Yellowstone National park and see the geysers and other natural features.

91. I like flying in small planes so that I can see the natural features of the land below.

92. Ruby and I love to watch children play. They have so much joy and energy.

93. I am proud of my daughters and their families.

94. I take pleasure and pride in their accomplishments.

95. I take pleasure and pride in all the accomplishments of my nieces and nephews.

96. I cannot, and do not wish to, operate a computer.

97. I am at peace and am ready to meet my Maker any time He wishes to call me home.

NOTE: I would like to add these things about Gramps:
98. He is a gentleman of the old school manner. He always removes his hat to pray, when he sees a flag go by in a parade, and will not eat wearing his hat. He always waits to let everyone out before him, and if I happen to be standing behind him, I am the last one to leave. ha.

99. He is slow to anger, and remains calm when I might not be.

100. He is tender-hearted and solicitous, always considering the needs and wants of others. I love him.

Th-th-that's all folks.

Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Hopefully, I haven't repeated any that I put down the other day. I didn't go back and read the ones I had already posted. Bye for now.

Whoa! Busy Monday...Fer Shure

Hey, Y'all,
I decided yesterday to do some rearranging of our bedroom, which meant taking apart the twin beds, and buying some wood planks to put inside the bed frames, so that perhaps it would firm up the mattress on top. I knew I would have to wait until Gramps decided to get out of his bed. Duh!

After I got up, I came into the kitchen to take my first med for the day, and after getting dressed for the day, I came into my sewing area and finished up the second row on Matt's quilt, and made a short list of what I wanted to get in Jefferson City.

When I had finished breakfast, Gramps was getting out of bed, and so after he had had his breakfast and insulin, I went into the bedroom, stripped the beds, took apart the beds, stood the mattresses up against the wall, and measured the distance between the rails that the box spring rests on. That way,I would know what length to get the wood slats cut into.

After getting Gramps settled into the living room, I left for Jefferson City, and went to Lowe's, where I found furring strips that a clerk cut into the lengths I asked for. Then a quick trip to Food City for groceries and then I headed for home.

Right now it is just three o'clock, and we have had lunch and put the beds back up and I am in the process of washing the bed linens so that I can remake the beds in a couple of hours.

So, this has been a busy day so far. It is not over, but I am resting right now. I know Gramps is going to have to get used to his bed being turned in a different direction. He thought I was getting our bedroom ready for our guests (Tom and Teresa) coming next week, until I told him that they would be staying at a motel. Bless his heart.

I have just taken a break and had a piece of chocolate meringue pie that I bought in a weakened moment while at the grocery store this morning. Yum!

I will have to stop in a while and fold a passel of clothes that are dry and waiting in a clothes basket. More are drying in the dryer, and bed linens are in the washer. Then I'll be making potato soup in a little while for supper.

The beds have yet to be made, but I have until at least eight o'clock this evening to do that.

Tomorrow I will be posting the rest of "Gramps' 100 things about me ".

Well, I am heading into the living room now to fold clothes. I can sit at the couch and fold them, and it gives my back a rest.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the day. May you feel and experience God's love in your heart. His blessings rest on each of us. Bye for now.

Lazy Day Sunday (I Think)

Hey, Y'all,

All is quiet on the Eastern Front and Gramps is still in bed sleeping away his day. My day began at 7 a.m. when I arose to take my morning medication and then to go down to the newspaper box and pick up the Sunday News-Sentinel. I then went into the kitchen and went through the paper, pulling out everything except the informative part of the paper, and set the want ads and other ads to one side.

I decided then that I'd better wash the few bowls that were in the sink and set the kitchen to rights. Breakfast then was eaten, and I came into my little craft/computer/tv viewing/sewing room area and sat down to evaluate my quilting status. Yesterday, I was able to put together two rows of the quilt that I am making for grandson, Matthew. I had laid it aside about an hour before I went to bed because I needed a rest from it, so that I wouldn't make any bobbles in it. I may pick it up later this afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon, Allie and I went into Morristown to Hobby Lobby. Oh, my, such a wonderful place for decorators, and hobbyists, and for regular folks like me. We saw some really neat home decorations there, and we even bought some.

I found a lamp that I thought was perfect for my living room,and also a heavy crystal flower-shaped candle holder, both of which I purchased for discount prices. (Picture of new lamp in my living room is posted. The new lamp is lit, and to the left of the window).

I had a lovely long chat today online with daughter, Teresa, who was multi-tasking while she chatted, which is perfectly all right with me. She is very talented that way, you know.

They are coming in for Thanksgiving, which really makes me feel especially thankful this season.

My brother, Hugh, and his wife, Imazo, will be celebrating their 56th anniversary on November 21st. That is a long time isn't it? More on that later. (On their anniversary)

Allie's oldest daughter, Tanya, is coming in from California this week ahead, (tomorrow) and will be here for the whole week. It will certainly be wonderful to see her and her boys again.

Well, I had better let this be it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Love and best wishes to all of you. Bye for now.

I am Encouraged

Hey, Y'all,

This won't be a long posting today. Just wanted to let you know how encouraged I am by the fact that Gramps actually asked for us to go out to eat this afternoon, even with the weather looking crummy.



He laid in bed until 11:30 this morning and then got up to eat breakfast, but at around 4: 30 he got dressed in his outside clothes, (blue jeans, shirt, etc.) and asked about going out for supper. We went to Shoney's for their seafood buffet.



That pleased me greatly and encourged me. I have been busy today starting the sewing on Matt's quilt, that is, the actual putting together of the squares. I put together the first four rows of squares and will probably finish the other four rows sometime this weekend.



I may sew some more on them this evening. It is just around 7:45 p.m. right now. I have one prime time television program at 8:00 p.m. that I want to watch. I am trying to keep my eyes open right now, because I was up at 6:30 this morning. It would be so easy to go to bed right now, but then I would wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to get back to sleep.



This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the night. Love to all of you, and may you feel God's peace and love in your hearts. Bye for now.

Birthdays

Hey, Y'all,

Just a few lines to tell you about our day today. I had already posted a story about today, but I wasn't happy with the way it was published. So here goes again.

Today is the birthday anniversary of two very special people in our lives: my brother, Hugh, who turned 80 today, and my sister-in-law, Mae, who turned 89 today. She is the widow of my oldest brother, Bill, who passed away twenty-two years ago.

We went to Knoxville this afternoon to take Hugh and Imazo to eat. We had planned to take Mae also, but she was snatched away by her children and grandchildren to be taken out to eat. ha. (I say snatched away because we didn't know until yesterday that she wouldn't be going with us).

Mae is shown in the picture to the left with her sister, Lucille. Mae is the one on the right. Hugh and Imazo are shown in the picture to the left. They come as a pair. You never (or hardly ever) see one without the other. :)

We are back home from our trip to Knoxville, where we went to Pueleo's Grill Restaurant. Yummy place to eat. We made little oink oinks out of ourselves.The real story, however, is how we got to Pueleo's. I quite often have trouble finding my way into places that are kind of out of the way. Same held true, this time.

When I told Gramp's speech therapist, Carol, that we were planning on eating there, she very generously gave us a coupon that would allow us to either get an appetizer or a dessert. BTW, (humming Pomp and Circumstance)hmm hmmm hmmm, hmm, hmmm= Gramps was graduated today from home health care and we will really miss having friends (that is what they became) coming in to help him get better.

Well, we came off the interstate onto Strawberry Plains Pike and saw the restaurant, but weren't sure where to turn to get into it, and accidentally found ourselves back on the interstate, and had to drive five miles (we enjoyed the scenery - that was a plus) and exited again onto the Pike, and found our way in (thank the Lord!) Always an adventure when we go somewhere, you know!

We had a lovely lunch/supper and when it came to time for dessert, we had it packaged up and took it with us. Hugh and Imazo had a coupon book as well and were able to use it for a take home dessert, too. We took the choice (apple pie) and then we all had coffee and pie when we got back to Hugh's.

I still feel stuffed and I didn't even finish my entree!

A little bit now about my brother, Hugh, and our sister-in-law, Mae. Hugh was 9 when Mae joined our family by marrying my oldest brother, Bill. I was only 4 at the time, and so, I have known her my entire memory of life. She has been my sister and confidante forever. I love and respect her dearly. She and Bill were married almost 50 years before he passed away from a brain tumor in 1986.

Hugh has always been my big brother, and I have adored and looked up to him always. He is one of the kindest and funniest people I have ever known. We all of us, share so many of the same memories, and we miss my sister and brothers who shared those same memories. One cannot think of Hugh without thinking of Imazo as well. Next week, they will observe their 56th wedding anniversay. He (and we) are so blessed to have Imazo in our lives. Imazo is a kind and loving sister to me, and I value her love and friendship dearly.

Our whole family has always been close and we miss those who have gone on before us, but we know that we will see them again some day. In the meantime, we look forward to those times when those of us who are still here can get together.

Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of weeks. We look forward to getting together with family and friends. Gramps and I look forward to seeing our youngest daughter, Teresa, and her husband, Tom,then.

This is Blabbin' Grammy fixing to take her full tummy to bed in a little while. Signing off for now. God bless each of you. Good night. Bye for now.

Happy Birthday to Hugh and Mae

Gramps Speaks - 100 Things about Me

Hey, Y'all,

I have asked Gramps to list a hundred things about himself (and I gave him some assistance, since he is in the early stages of dementia). Most of the things, he thought of without my help.

So....here we go. Today I will post 50 of the things about him. That is all we have come up with so far.

1. I am a Christian

2. I was born in a little town in Virginia named Honaker.

3, My father was a hard rock miner.

4. He was injured in the mines of Jefferson City when I was only 3 years old.

5. We had moved to Jefferson City when I was 3 months old.

6. I was encouraged to go to school by mother.

7. We lived in the shadows of the elementary school when I was going to school.

8. I was born with two handicaps - amblyopia in my left eye, and also an extended jaw, which was kind of like Jay Leno's jaw, jutting out on the chin.

9. Surgery corrected the jaw when I was 53, but the eye was never corrected.

10. I was a bachelor until I married Grammy at the age of 50.

11. I acquired a ready made family of children and sisters and brother in law.

12. I have one brother, and two sisters. One brother and one sister are deceased as a result of Altzheimer's disease.

I3. I went through grammar school without failing any grade.

14. I had my head bumped against a buddy's head by the principal because we had been scuffling around in the boy's bathroom.

15. A teacher, Mrs. Peck, made geography interesting for me and inspired my love of geography.

16. A teacher once made a mistake on my grade card by giving me a bad grade and my mama sent me back up to the school to make him change it. He did change it.

17. I have read the Bible through many times more than I can remember.

18. I wish I could remember more of the Bible than I can.

19. My mama really believed in the power of prayer. One time when I was really sick unto dying,I heard her go out onto the back porch and pray for me. She could really raise the roof and talked to Him like she knew Him. Needless to say, I recovered.

20. When she came back in, she said, "you are going to get better, and you are always going to be my good boy,aren't you?" I said, "yes", and I have always tried to be.

21. In eighth grade, we had to write a graduation speech and memorize it. I can still remember a lot of mine. It was about Tennessee and its natural resources.

22. I like to go fishing.

23. I learned to swim in the mine hole in Jefferson City.

24. In high school I played football.

25. Our uniforms were old. Our knees would stick out because the pants were too short.

26. Before the game, the coach told us to go home and eat a nutricious meal. I went home and had a cold biscuit, because that was all there was to eat.

27. My wife and I have two daughters and 2 sons-in-law, and lots of grandchildren and great grandchildren.

28. I love them all, and enjoy spending time with them when we can go visit them.

29. I had foot surgery ten years ago and had the front part of my left foot removed. I spent two and a half months in the hospital.

30. I am a diabetic and have to watch my diet.

31. Growing up, my brother, and two sisters and I picked blackberries till I got tired of looking at them. My mama made jam and jelly and canned the rest of the berries.

32. One time when we had been picking blackberries, we got chased by a bull when we went through a field where cows were.

33. Another time, we had been picking up black walnuts, and had a bag of them. We were coming through that same field, and the bull looked at us. We dropped the bag of walnuts and had to come back for it later.

34. I taught school for twenty-four years and the subjects I taught were reading, spelling, and social studies to seventh and eighth graders.

35. As a high school student, I worked in the summer for Bush Brothers Cannery and was in charge of collecting boxes of tomatoes in Grainger County. A truck driver from Bush's drove around and I had to pick up the boxes of tomatoes. Many of them were overripe from sitting in the sun, and the boxes dripped tomato juice onto my clothes.

36. I was hired by two brothers who owned a wholesale warehouse to work there in the warehouse, where among my other jobs, I had the job of stamping cigarettes for resale.

37. I was a smoker in those days and smoked until shortly after I met Grammy (aka Ruby). Then I quit smoking, when I realized what a nasty habit it is.

38. I like big band music (from the 1940's), jazz, and country music.

39. I love watching television and watch a lot of CNN

40. I am a diabetic

41. I enjoy dressing up and looking sharp when I go somewhere special.

42. I am a homebody and love being comfortable at home

43. I really enjoy sleeping late in the mornings.

44. I also enjoy eating out with Grammy and with family and friends.

45. I love my wife, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren.

46. My nieces grew up during the years that I was dating Ruby (Grammy) and we always enjoyed visiting in my sister, Johnnie's home, and seeing them growing up. We really love them.

47. I love my sister, Bonnie Jean, and love spending time with her and talking to her on the phone as well.

48. I really enjoyed my years of teaching and loved my kids that I taught. They were full of life and very interesting always.

49. I left the wholesale warehouse and went to Carson Newman College and got my degree.

50. I met Ruby when we were both teaching in summer school, the first year that she taught school.

Well, folks, this is the first fifty of the 100 things about Gramps, and we may be able to come up with another fifty next week. I don't know yet.

The picture I have posted is of Gramps with our oldest grandson and his family.

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the evening. May you feel God's love and peace within your hearts. Bye for now.

Autumn in East Tennessee

Hey, Y'all,

Autumn is about to go into really cool wet weather here in East Tennessee. I wanted to post some pictures of the area before all the leaves fall from the deciduous trees all around us. The leaves have been so very colorful and many of them look like they are aflame! The scarlet oaks, the sugar maples, and the dogwoods have been absolutely breathtaking this autumn.

When we had the bridal shower for Rachael on Saturday, I took a couple of pictures of the landscape around Karen's home, where we had the shower. Karen lives on Cherokee Lake in Jefferson County. One picture is the one I took of the lake behind her home. The other pictures are what I see when I go out into my front yard and then in the back yard. The scenery changes with the seasons, and is always beautiful. Even in the winter time when the trees are barren of leaves and the grass has turned brown, there is quite often sedge grass that has a golden color to it.

I have already emptied the garden hose of water, and will be carrying it to the basement soon. A couple of weeks ago, when a freeze was threatened, I wrapped the faucet that comes out of the ground and is connected to our well. So, it is now protected from freezing when the weather turns really cold.

The older I become, the more I dread the cold winter days. I guess that is normal, since no one really enjoys being uncomfortably cold. I dread it for Gramps because the cold really bothers him more than it does me. He is a diabetic and is normally colder than I am because his blood seems to be thinner than mine.

I have been pressing quilt squares today, getting them ready to stitch together. I didn't get through pressing the strips for the back of the quilt today, and will finish them tomorrow.

Gramps absolutely loves sugar cured country ham, so I fixed him some this morning for breakfast with biscuits and fried eggs. I promised him that he could go back for a nap later today if he would get up around 9 a.m. So, he did get up and enjoyed breakfast. I knew his occupational therapist, Sarah, was supposed to come this morning. When Sarah came, she signed off his treatment, because she said it was time and also said that I can do what she had been doing, working on his neck and shoulder muscles. Besides that, they had determined that his treatment would conclude on this week.

After I cleaned up the kitchen, and was pressing quilt squares again in the living room, Gramps disappeared into the bedroom. I went in a little later, and there he was, back in bed for his promised nap. HA. So I continued on with my pressing matters.

I decided I would clean up the coffee maker, and went into the kitchen, and put vinegar into the coffee maker to clean it. Went back into the living room to do some more pressing and then after awhileI went to finish cleaning the coffee maker. So I turned it on its back and set the carafe to one side and was industriously cleaning the yukky out of the upper part of the coffee maker. All at once my left hand accidentally slipped and I knocked the glass carafe off the kitchen counter. OOPS.

The glass carafe didn't break, but the handle on it did, rendering it useless. Fortunately, I didn't spend a lot on buying the coffee maker to begin with (over a year ago), so when I had to go later today to pick up prescriptions at the drug store, I went on to Walmart and bought a new coffee maker (another inexpensive one) whose only feature was an off/on switch.

Gramps and I had the last of our macaroni casserole for supper tonight. Gramps was still napping when I got home from my running around shopping. I had taken Mark out to take his truck to be worked on and he and I had gone to Walmart, Lowe's and the drug store. We invited Mark to come over and share supper with us, which he did.

Well, I have had a busy day, and now it is time to close off and end my posting. More tomorrow. This is Blabbin' Grammy wishing you a good night's rest and may you feel God's love and blessings in your heart. Bye for now!

Anniversary Time

Hey, Y'all,

Yes, Today is our thirty-second wedding anniversary and we are so blessed to have had so many years together.

I looked through several pictures on my computer to find one to post (a recent one) and found this one from this summer. Pictured are Gramps and myself, our good friends, Mark, Allie, and Jennifer.

The location is, of course, our front porch.

Our day began today with having to get up early to go to the local hospital so Gramps could have another MRI of his head so that the doctor could do a follow-up on the accident that he had in August when the shower curtain rod fell on him. Of course, he had to have the MRI with no breakfast. She had ordered a CT Scan, but the radiologists told us that if he has any blood clots or bleeding inside his head, the contrast would hide them.

Well, after we were finished at the hospital, we decided to go to Shoney's for breakfast. Yum! It was great, of course, and we enjoyed it tremendously. We decided to stop at the County Farmer's Co-op to see if they had any strong liniment. Why did we want liniment? Because, the doctor suggested we get some and use it on Gramps' neck and shoulders to loosen up the muscles and help him feel better.

We found some Watkins' White Liniment which has the active ingredients of menthol and turpentine. I put some on his upper and lower neck (in back) and will apply more tonight.

This afternoon, Gramps' speech therapist, Carol, came for her visit and, as usual, we had a really fun time, talking and playing a game. She will only be here one more time to finish up her time with us. We are really going to miss seeing her. Maybe she will stop by sometime just for a visit and to let us see her.

If you will remember, I told you about cooking a pork tenderloin in the crock pot, adding diet root beer to cook it in, and adding a few spices and some garlic. It was delicious, but after a few sandwiches with it, I decided to use the rest of it in a casserole. I cut up the remainder, added diced tomatoes that had jalapenos in them, cooked a half box of macaroni and added that, then put in a small can of tomato sauce (no salt added), a partial package of grated 4 cheese mixture, a can of low sodium cream of celery soup, a cup of milk, and stirred it all together, put it into a baking dish, and topped it with sliced american cheese and baked in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Yum, it was really good. Oh yes, when we dished it up, we added black pepper to the top of it. Toasted some sliced bread to serve with it, and that was our supper tonight.

Well, that is about it for today. More tomorrow. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for tonight. Love to all of you, and may God's blessings touch your heart and may you feel as blessed as we do. Bye for now.