Gunboats Versus Sporty Cars

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I just returned from a trip to Wally world where I had my usual breakfast at Mickey D's when I go there early in the a.m..

Of course, I bought two apple pies and gave one away to a couple of elderly people, who had never eaten one before. So they thanked me and a little later told me how good it was. We talked for a few minutes about books (I was reading, of course) and then they went on their way. What a pleasant way to begin my day!

When I came out, a little old lady was getting into one of those huge cars that look like they were built for tall and big people. I call them "Gunboats" because they look like you could attack anything when you are in one. It took her a huge amount of space to turn it around and get out of the parking area. Verrrrrrry slowwwwwly at that.

That reminded me of one of my pet peeves: husbands putting their wives (especially older wives) into those huge cars to protect them in case they are involved in an accident. I have a clue for them: most usually if you have to put your wife to driving one of those big boats to protect them, the wives should maybe not usually be driving. It is the other drivers that need protection. 

Picture this: little old lady, in a car made for large drivers, barely able to see above the dashboard, driving into traffic, maybe not even knowing where she is going (or how to get there)...watch out, other drivers. Hazards ahead! 

Or picture this: Little old lady angry because she has to drive gunboat when she would rather be able to choose her own vehicle, (a sporty little two door, that zips around). I thank God that my husband never thought it necessary to decide for me what I would have to drive! (He would have had a dickens of a time trying, anyway. Ha.) 

Well, anyhow, I think that when it comes time for me to turn over my keys, I will do so without too much of a fuss. (We'll see, won't we? HA) But I know one thing for sure, you won't find me driving a "gunboat". Give me a sporty little jitney anytime!

Well, that is it for today. Gotta listen to my CD for Church Choir, and do a little more sewing. It is also day to visit with my 3 great grands that live about ten minutes from me. Who knows, we might go up into a space ship today! Wouldn't that be exciting? 

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

Happy Birthday, Madora!

Hey,  Y'all
Quite a few birthdays in my family over the next week or so. It is almost unbelievable. Birthdays include BJ's wife, Madora, (my new grand-daughter) today,  and a couple of days later, BJ's (Tom and Teresa's son and my grandson)birthday, then the day after that is Daniel's (Carol and Daryl's oldest and my grandson), and a few days after that we are celebrating Daryl's (my son-in-law)and little Brooke's (Andrew and Julia's little daughter, Carol and Daryl's grand-daughter, and my great grand). Whew! Did I leave anyone out? 

Anyway, this is a Blanket HAPPY BIRTHDAY! wishing all of you many happy returns of the day!

Oh, Oh! Just started sneezing.
Apparently this is going to be one of my "sneezy days"! I have those every once in a while. 

Well,  yesterday, I finished almost one full section of Mae's quilt. One more to go and then connect them, add the binding and label, then "Voila"! It will be ready to photograph and then send off. Hopefully by next week (or sooner), depending on how well it goes in completion. 

I hope to have "Cookie Jack" on the way on September first. I'm a thinkin' about him and how he is going to be doing in this episode. I reckon that story will just have to unfold like the rest of them have. I won't really know until it begins weaving itself. Sometimes I have very little control over them. Ha.

Well, that is about it for today. Happy Birthday, Madora! Love to you

Madora with son, Roman, and quilt I made for him

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.
 

You Crazy Squirrel! That's Not Food!

Hey,  Y'all,
Well, you know how squirrels are, they run around and jump from limb to limb of trees, run on the fence tops, jump into bird feeders, jump into bird baths... and on and on. 

Yesterday, I saw one of my back yard friends sitting in the bird bath, holding something strange in his paws and nibbling on it. It was one of those "environmentally safe" tablets that are shaped like doughnuts,  for killing mosquito larvae that you put in standing water. 

Apparently he didn't care for the taste of it, or it was too hard for him (or her) to bite. Anyway, he put it back down in the bird bath. Of course, he might never have noticed it if there had been water in the bird bath, but I had not replaced the water that had been emptied from the bath before I put the tablet in. I wasn't going out among the skeeters to put more water in. Fortunately, the sprinklers filled the bird bath with water soon after that.

Started working on my sister-in-law, Mae's, quilt yesterday. I'm moving right along on it. Hope to have it finished soon, then will begin working on another great grand's quilt. Have to get all them done before Christmas. 

I got the quilt I made for Madora sent off this morning and she should have it by end of day on Wednesday. 

Met with the children in the Children's Choir at church last night. I am going to be working with them helping them memorize Bible verses over the next few months. Really sweet kids! 

Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today.

Saturday Doin's

Hey, Y'all,
I finished Madora's quilt last night about 11:30, and am making the label this morning. Her birthday is on Tuesday, but I know the quilt will be a couple of days late. It is a lovely quilt, I think. Will post a picture after she gets it. 

This neck of the woods is really up in arms about the West Nile Virus. A lot of airplane spraying is taking place in parts of Northeast Texas, and I don't blame them for being concerned. Of course, there is a great controversy going on about the use of the chemicals used killing the mosquitoes, and its effectiveness versus the effects on the environment. I don't know about all of that, but I do know that I don't want to be infected by the virus. I stay indoors after dark and before dawn. In fact, I've been so busy quilting, I don't even think about going outside. 

This morning, I am making labels for a couple of quilts. Then I have some greeting cards to make. I have had my four to four and a half hours of sleep. (I'll probably grab a few more in the middle of the day. Ha.) In fact, I may even go back to bed in a few minutes. It is only 5:30 a.m. right now. The labels are finished sewing and nothing is urgent to do right now. 

My living room looks like a disaster area, but it won't take long to clear that up. When I am sewing, I don't worry about how it looks. I lost a small needle either yesterday morning or the night before, and I have looked everywhere for it. It is only an inch long or maybe an inch and a quarter, but it is perfect for hand sewing. I am thinking it may have fallen into the trash can I keep under the sewing work table. Hope that is what happened to it. :) I still have quite a few quilts lined up to do. 

I am traveling up to Illinois in a month or so, then hopefully to California in November to visit friends who live out there. I am looking forward to both trips. Might as well go while I can still travel, right?

Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.  

A New Moniker

Hey, Y'all,
I now have been assigned a new name by little Brooke, a two year old great grand. When children are fortunate enough to have a bunch of grandmas and grandpas hangin' round, there comes the catch of what to call them, so the little ones don't get confused as to which grandma and grandpa is being addressed. So, to one set of great grands, I am Grandma Young; to another set, I am Grammy; to yet another great Grand, I am not quite sure what he is calling me, since I have not really seen him in person. 

Now to little Brook and her sister, Alyssa, they have been calling me Grandma Young. Apparently they have just spent time with another great grandma who insists on being called Grandmother. So yesterday, during my weekly visit with them, I heard Brooke addressing me as "Grandma Mother", which must be her version of "Grandmother". It was so sweet coming from her little mouth. I have always felt that calling a grandparent "Grandmother" was cold and formal sounding, but "Grandma Mother", now that is just adorable! She must have gotten me confused with her "Grandmother" since we are both ancient. (to her) Don't you just love it? 

Well, I slept about three hours and then couldn't rest any more, but since I operated yesterday on about the same amount of sleep, I know I will have to go back to bed some more in a little while. Yesterday, I very nearly completed the quilt I am working on. I have a couple of rows to finish on one section of it, then I will be putting the two sections together and binding it today. It should be ready to send off by in the morning. Yay! Got a little bit of housecleaning to do today, as well. Also, some birthday cards need to be created today. 

That is about it for now, folks.  Blabbin' Grammy, over and out. Much love to each of you, my friends and family.  Bye for now.

My Unexpected Visitor

An Unexpected Visitor

Yesterday, I had a visitor
No, I had not expected him,
And he entered quietly,
So it was a surprise, you see.

He didn't say a word, 
He was mute as he could be,
In fact he could have been a she,
It mattered not at all to me.

He appeared quite suddenly 
Upon my bathroom floor,
Underneath a washcloth,
When I gathered my laundry.

No, not a spider,
Not a little snake,
It was a tiny gecko,
Lying flat as a little cake.

No bigger than a quarter,
He ran when I moved the cloth,
And flattened himself once more,
When I became so wroth. 

How dare that little fellow
Invade my private space!
I'd certainly give him "what for"
If I only had some Mace.

Alas, I couldn't do him in,
He was too fast for me,
Would he bite me on the bum,
When I used the lavatory?

Later Carol told me,
He would be a friend, you see,
And eat up all the skeeters
And help keep me West Nile Virus free.

My contribution (if you can call it that) to the world of poetry. Ha.

New Week Ahead

Hey, Y'all,
Well, here it is Monday morning; I don't know yet about the weather for today, except it is supposed to be cooler this week than last, (only in the upper 90's), and I predict this will be a busy week, Praise God!

Don't you just hate weeks that drag along without any activity? Several things coming up this week... I began yesterday evening working on a new quilt... actually two new ones. One for a sister-in-law, and one for Tom and Teresa's daughter-in-law, who.. along with their son and grandson, is living with Tom and Teresa till they find a house of their own. 

The quilt for my sister-in-law, who is more a sister than an in-law (she has been in my family since I was four years old and I've always known her), will be finished for her birthday in November. I will be doing the granddaughter's first. I hope to have it finished by the end of this week, so I can get it to her around her birthday (or a few days after). I also have quilts in the making for three of my great grands. All cloth has been purchased for them and some has been cut. 

Next Sunday evening, I begin helping with the children's choir at church. My job will be assisting them with learning Bible memory verses that they will be saying in the musical they are presenting in late October. That should all be fun!

Laundry to do today, and the kitchen to clean up this morning after (or before) breakfast. Depends on how I feel (motivation) at that time. It is only 4:30 a.m. right now. When I can't sleep, I get up. Then later in the day, I take a nap. Ha. Or go back to bed sometime later in the morning. 

Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

Storytelling, Again

Hey, Y'all,
Well, if you ever feel a little "down" or at loose ends, go spend some time with little ones. Yesterday was my regular time to visit my three great grands who live about ten minutes away from me. I took some little tubes of bubbles with me that we spent some time blowing. Little Brooke, who is somewhere close to two (I think) was fun to watch, pursing her lips to blow and getting the wand very close to her mouth. She wound up spilling a good deal of the bubble mixture, because she didn't realize that tipping the container with one hand while holding the wand with the other hand would cause it. 

Then I read a book called "Arthur Loses A Tooth" to Alyssa, who is 3 and 1/2. We talked all about teeth, and how we begin losing our baby teeth when we are around 6 or 7 years old, and our grown up teeth begin coming in to replace the baby teeth. We talked about the tooth fairy (some why's came in during the discussion - she loves to ask why) and I removed my upper plate of dentures -thankfully, they were clean , ha. You should have seen the look of amazement on her face. It was priceless!!! 

Her mother, Julia, and I had a good laugh. I know Alyssa will have a lot of questions for her mom and dad. Ha ha ha. Julia told me then about how her great grandmother had lived with them when she was a little girl. The grandma had Alzheimer's and would remove her teeth at the  table. They would all say, "put your teeth in, Grandma" and she would just laugh and say she couldn't remember anything and had no worries. 

I have been enjoying doing a little bit of storytelling at church. On Saturday, I provided the program for our seniors pot luck with three Cherokee folk tales. Then last evening, we had a talent show featuring mostly kids, some singing by a male trio, and a folk tale by yours truly. The pastor was the emcee. We had the talent show and ice cream in the fellowship hall. It was all great fun!

Today, I'll be going with one of my Sunday School class members to visit a former member (that I have never met) who is in a nursing home. This evening is when I get together with some of my friends for our evening meal and to play dominoes. 

Well, that is about it... I think I may begin a new quilt sometime this morning, after I put together the salmon loaf I am making for this evening's meal. I bought some Sister Schubert's dinner rolls for bread tonight. Yum!

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.     

Out and About

Hey, Y'all,
Well, yesterday morning was a busy one for me, thank goodness. I do like to keep busy, don't you? 

By 9:30, I was headed out the door into the sweltering heat (hit somewhere in low hundreds yesterday), and went to the doctor's office to get a tetanus shot. The wonderful thing about my doctor is that if I really need to go there, I can always get in without an appointment. I only had to wait about twenty minutes or so. Did you know there are two kinds of tetanus shots? One kind is if you are going to be around small children, and that is the one I got, since I go to visit three of my great grands each Wednesday afternoon. The doctor saw me in the hallway and hollered "hello" to me and came over to give me a hug. Somehow, all my doctors seem to take a shine to me... can you believe it?

While there, I also picked up a 24-hour specimen collection jug for an analysis of my kidney action. The doctor is concerned that my kidneys may be atrophying due to taking Lasix for water retention prevention over the past eight years. That causes eventual kidney failure. Just one more health issue to be concerned about. Duh!

Well, then I went to one of my favorite shopping areas, and stopping at Staples, I purchased some print toners for my printer, then on to Hobby Lobby for some cloth and batting, then on to the bank, and finally to Freddy's Steakburgers and had one of those, then home. Whew! HOT! The heat rises off this Texas pavement in waves.  Makes me really thankful for my air conditioning. BTW, I had several offers from family of their homes while my air was off, and I appreciated them. The use of my ceiling fans while the air was off made the house quite comfortable, however. Thank you all.

I know this post is kind of rambling and detailed (probably more than you wish to know), but it's my life as I live it and when I'm not writing fiction, the truth -mostly- is what I write. ha.  Yesterday afternoon, I just played and then last evening, I went over to Carol and Daryl's and we watched the final -yes- I said final- episode of "The Closer". It ended well, but I hated to see Kyra Sedgewick go. She was the heart and soul of the show. The other characters are okay but they are not the sympathetic characters that she was. They are trying to make Sharon Raydor a softer character by giving her a boy to look after, but I have my doubts about it.  Just MHO. 

Well, I'm going to put quilt binding around the doll quilts I helped the doc's two little girls make, and then take them to her one day next week. That will give me something specific to do today. I might could get them done in time to take today when I return "the jug". 

Well, that's about it for now. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

P.S. Planning a visit to a couple of places this fall. Hoping to get to see some more of my great grands who live in Illinois, also making a first ever trip to California to visit Mark, Allie and their family. Bye now.    

Are You a Dreamer?

Hey, y'all, 
I am a dreamer, both literally and figuratively. My night time dreams are so real that I remember a good deal of them for a long time. 
Let me tell you about last night's dream... (In case  you're interested, that is...ha)
Last night, I had bought a new house and it seemed it was a ranch house...hmmm fancy that! I had bought a horse or two, as well. There was a cook in the kitchen of the ranch house and she was making refried bean tortillas. Yum! Naturally, there was food in the dream. I put some oil into a skillet and some sausage to cook and then just left it, only to come back in and see it was really smokin' up the kitchen. I must have been hungry. Ya reckon?
Anyway, that was some house...
Oh, yeah, and a lady shows up sitting in my kitchen and I ask her what she is doing there. She tells me  that she used to work there for the previous owner, and that I owe her money. I told her, "I reckon not!" She got up and said, "I was afraid you were going to say that." She left and I woke up. 

Yesterday morning, I got up and the house was quite warm. I wondered why the air conditioning wasn't keeping the house cool. I looked at the thermostat  (one of those confounded contraptions that has to be programmed) and it said "filter" so I figured it was time to change it. I didn't have a new one, so I had to hightail it out of the house by 6:45 to go to Walmart to get a new one. Of course, I had to get ready for church before I left because the early service begins at 8:15, and I had to pick up the lady I take each Sunday by 7:45.

So, off to Wally World I go, and get a sausage biscuit to eat while I am there at Mickey D's (in the Walmart store). I get back to the house by 7:15, install the new filter, and sit down to eat my biscuit and drink my coffee. Then it's up and out of the house. When I got back after lunch the house was still warm, and I was sure the air conditioning was not working. I turned on all the ceiling fans, (there are five in the house) and by evening the house was quite comfortable. 

This morning the thermostat was sitting at 76 which is the set temperature on it, so hopefully the filter took care of it. The registers were blowing cold air this morning so it must be working. I turned off the ceiling fans in three of the rooms and we'll see if it, in fact, is working. If not, I'll call the service man. No need to call him if all is okay,. If the temp rises appreciably and not taken care of by a/c, I'll call him.

Oh, yeah, on Friday evening, I walked through my immaculately kept house (anybody believe that statement? ha) and stepped on a sewing needle. Yep, right between my big toe and one next to it, and it went in pretty good. So, I pulled it out, and poured peroxide on the affected area. I reckon today I need to check with the doc to see if I can come in for a tetanus booster, since I don't remember when I had the last one. hmmm. 

Well, that's about it for now. Reckon I'll start another quilt today. I feel at loose ends when I don't have one in the making. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you. Bye for now. More later.           

We Were in a Hot Air Balloon!

Hey, Y'all,
As you all may know, (or maybe not), I have always been fearful of heights... but yesterday, I climbed aboard a hot air balloon with two of my great grandchildren, a two-year old and a three year old. We took off into the blue sky, and as we floated along, we looked down...yes, I looked down too and was unafraid. We saw cows; we saw rivers; we saw birds flying past us. Can you believe it? We looked down and saw people waving to us as they looked up at the colorful balloon floating over their heads. We will probably go up in the balloon again next week when I go to visit them. 

Yes, we were sitting on the couch, with one of them on each of my knees. We traveled in our imaginations, and it was wonderful... Have you ever taken an imaginary trip with one of your little ones (children, grands, or great grands, nieces or nephews)? If not, try it, because it is great fun!

Thanks to my granddaughter, Julia, welcoming me into her and Andrew's home each week, I am able to get to know my sweet great grands. They have a baby brother, and I'm getting to know him, too. More importantly, when I am gone, hopefully they will all remember me with fondness, and pleasure. 

We did some coloring with crayons, and some reading of books. Thank you, Julia and Andrew! I love all of you so very much!   

Recalling stuff... Also Birthday and Anniversary Wishes

Hey, Y'all,
I was thinking yesterday about how technology has changed our lives over the years. I can remember when the telephone was just a big black object that sat on a table near an easy chair. It had a rotary dial which had to be operated with the index (pointer) finger, and it usually took at least a minute or more to dial a number. There was no answering machine to take your message. There might be seven other families on the line who could hear what you were saying. One had to listen for his own particular ring in order to answer the phone when it rang. It certainly made for an interesting time when you could hear what others were talking about (if you chose to listen). Some times that was the only entertainment there was. Ha ha. Not that I ever listened in on other conversations, but there were those who did.

One did not carry a phone around from place to place until the portable phone came into existence, then it was only carried around in the house. Now, one would never think about leaving the house without the cellular phone, which over the past few years has become a lifeline for many people. Have you become tethered to your cell phone??? Must it travel with you??? Is it your slave or are you its slave? 

Remember when we used to write letters??? Now it is email and text messaging.... Ah, the days of the simple life... Thank goodness we can instantly communicate with loved ones. It does have its advantages. I love Skype, too... it lets me see loved ones when I can't see them in person. Wonder what my mom and dad would have thought of Skype? They would have been amazed, I am quite sure! 

Posting a picture of four of my great grands who have been on vacation with their parents, and with one of my daughters, Carol, and her hubby, Daryl. They had great fun while in Arkansas. :)

Grandpa Daryl with four grands

    Don't they look like they're havin' fun? They are welcome to the water... It isn't for me... :)

Happy anniversary to the children's parents, Daniel and Whitney.
Happy birthday to my granddaughter, Emily (Daniel's sister)
Happy birthday to my good friend, Carolyn McClane, back in Tennessee! Love to all of you!  


Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin'Grammy signing off for today.. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.