Another mug...

Well, I'm not really collecting mugs or roosters, but I seem to be getting quite a diverse collection anyway! My sons gave me two ceramic rooster cookie jars back in their teens, along with a matching salt and pepper shaker, and now I have this mug that I found at the thrift store. It was the colors that caught my eye, but I like the rooster, too.

I'm doing this on my iPad, and not loving the hunt and peck typing. I may just add another photo and then go to my laptop to finish the text. I do like taking photos with the iPad and adding them here.

I made a little arrangement of wild flowers. It's hard to find nice flowers. Most of them are on the decline. It's COLD today. The high should be 62! I added a "sprig" of raspberry bush to fill in for flowers that I had to remove.

We've had some rain and are expecting more today.

Dear son, Josh, and family packed up and headed back to Kentucky over the weekend. Josh's business is picking up enough that he thinks they can make it financially back in Kentucky where they can find better medical help for the family. If they stayed here they would have to move closer to Minneapolis, and would be isolated from family, which they really need for support. So, they're back at his in-laws while they look for a place there. Hopefully this will be a permanent move. They've tried so many things to take care of a lot of complex medical and mental health issues. Josh's work in bookkeeping and copy writing is going well. He's getting lots of work and that's a real blessing! He's a good writer, and that's what he does mostly. I'm praying for continued success in that and some quiet time to do that creative work. Also, for all of the other complexities of his family's way of life.

Things are very quiet and peaceful  here. I've given the house a cleaning and now I'm beginning to paint walls. I started this project back in February but couldn't continue until now.

My windows are open in anticipation of painting later, which is making it bracingly cold in here. Adam hasn't fired up the woodstove yet. It's AUGUST after all. Shouldn't need it yet! So, I'll add some layers and soldier on.

My deli friends and I are getting together tomorrow for lunch. Haven't seen them in a couple of months. It should be fun. We're going to a little Italian restaurant just 5 miles from me. I've never been there, so I'm  hoping the food is good. :)

Stay warm or cool, depending on your location!
Shalom, my friends and family!

Ditching things that aren't working...

Elizabeth mentioned in a comment that it's a good thing to ditch a book if it's not interesting. Couldn't agree more. Too many books, too little time! I've found the same to be true of a Netflix series. ("Anne With an E" to be specific.) I'm deep into season 2 and suddenly it seems that the screenwriters have hijacked the original author's idea and are using it to promote whatever lifestyles and viewpoints they like. Those of us who disagree are, of course, prudes and mean-spirited things. Oh well. Not surprising. I guess I'll have more time for reading now!

I did finish The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen Year Old Boy With Autism. It only took a couple of hours to read and was full of insight into the autistic mind. Of course, there are many degrees of autism. This boy is on the severe end of the spectrum and communicates by tapping out letters on a cardboard keyboard. He does a magnificent job of explaining what he's feeling. I highly recommend it!

I think I'll attempt some lawn mowing. I hope it's not too hot.
Y'all be good!
Shalom!

Coffee mug Friday..

Ha ha. Thought I'd borrow an idea from Granny Marigold. This won't be a regular thing. I found these two tall, skinny mugs (my favorite kind) at the thrift store today. Yeah, my second thrift store in two days! Anyway, at 50 cents I couldn't pass them up. I have a theory that coffee and tea stay hot longer in this shape of mug. :)

My real reason for checking out the thrift store was to find a cheap iPad case. Sometimes they pop up. My iPad is older and a little larger than the most recent types, so it's hard to find a case for it. I think I'll check out Amazon. I did find this little vintage rubber stamp set. This has smaller type than the stamp sets I have now. There are more letters in there than it looks like. Some are underneath. Anyway, I felt sorry for it.

Remember this cozy mystery I bought yesterday?

I made it through the first few pages and couldn't handle it, lol. The author is apparently known for her wit, but she seems to go waaaaay overboard trying to prove that she deserves the accolades. Every single sentence drips with humor, until you begin to gag on it.

Josh loaned me this book, which looks much more interesting.

I'll leave this short and sweet. Yay, right? :)
I hope you're all getting all the goodness you can out of the end of the summer!
Shalom.

A little thrifting...

Very little, actually. I happened to be in Park Rapids (the slightly larger town 12 miles from home) and Micah called and asked if I'd check out a big rummage sale that was going on at our fairgrounds. I wasn't even aware of it, but said I'd be glad to. She asked me to be on the look out for some end tables and that sort of thing. Well, they had a small selection of very old-fashioned furniture. Not what she was looking for. She was glad she hadn't made a special trip and unloaded all the kids to check it out herself. I, of course, managed to find a few things.

There's a little church cookbook that has some old recipes and notes clipped inside. Love that! Also, an atlas with nice maps. (Collage!) The little wooden car and baby puzzle squares begged to be taken home to the grands. Then I went through the books. There was quite a nice selection, but I settled for one little cozy mystery. (I have SO MANY BOOKS!) After the rummage sale I went to the thrift store (just across the highway) and found three rubber stamps (not shown) and a pair of plastic (nylon?) knitting needles. (For that knitting I do every couple of years, lol.)

Besides the cozy mystery, I'm currently reading this... (Just a few pages a day. If I stick with it it will take me a couple of years to finish. We'll see..) Just so I can say I did!! (Or not.)

Well, almost time to babysit the grandgirls. Micah and Adam and the boys are running to Brainerd to pick up a desk Micah spoke for.

I'll talk to you later! Shalom, everyone!

A cold and rainy day...

Not complainin'! I'm actually wearing a flannel shirt, which may be an over reaction.  I sure don't mind some cool weather and we really needed some rain.

The weather is my excuse for doing a lot of reading and movie watching. I finished reading The Highlander's Last Song (originally entitled What's Mine's Mine) by George MacDonald. I just wrote down the list of other titles (romances) he wrote and then had to translate all of the modern titles into his original titles so I can find them in my Kindle collection of his stories. A nice long list of stories to read in the future. But right now...

I'm re-reading MK's novel called Three Against the Dark. This is in preparation to read the sequel Ten Days at Federal Hill, which I believe she's still working on. Let me know when it's ready, MK!

Earlier today I was watching "Anne With an E" on Netflix. I would agree with others that it's a darker version of her life, but still good in my opinion. She seems to suffer from PTSD and ADHD, but everyone has a history, right? I still don't get the whole "everybody hates redheads" thing. (Being a redhead myself. I was never persecuted for it!)

So, I'm wrapping up a lazy day with a meal of steamed broccoli and corned beef hash. I thought maybe the broccoli would balance out all the salt and fat in the hash, lol. One of my favorite rainy day, comfort foods. :)

I'd better eat my supper before it gets cold(er)! Thanks for dropping by!
Shalom to all!

The Sisterhood of the Broken Arm...

Hazel used to envy Audrey's cool pink cast a couple of years back. But she wasn't ready for the event which initiates one into the sisterhood of the broken arm. Ironically, Micah and Adam had just taken the kids' bunk beds apart and placed everyone's twin beds on the floor, fearing that someone might fall off of a top bunk and...do exactly what Hazel did. Apparently, one doesn't have to fall far to break an arm. Of course, Sully was in on the action. He head-butted Hazel and sent her flying off the end of her bed, which is all of a foot off the ground. (Or however high twin beds are.) She instinctively tried to catch herself with her right hand, and completely broke both bones in her right forearm. Micah was actually sitting on the bed with her back to Hazel when it happened. Hazel, Micah, Audrey and Adele were all screaming hysterically for a few seconds. Then Micah regained her composure and called me (next door) and asked me to come help because Hazel had broken her arm. I ran over and so did Micah's EMT sister-in-law, who was a mile down the road. There was a bit of chaos, some shock and tears, but Hazel was eventually whisked off to the ER, while I babysat Sully, Audrey and Adele. Micah's mother-in-law met them at the hospital and took care of Thatcher while Micah was with Hazel. Poor Hazel was asking if she was going to die, or would they cut her arm off. Yikes. Kids have big imaginations! So, everyone reassured her and prayed for her a lot. Micah said once they were at the ER Hazel handled things like a pro.

Hazel decided on an orange cast.

 The next day she went back in to have the cast adjusted because her fingers were swollen. She may go back in tomorrow to have it rewrapped. Somehow this photo got "flipped". It's really her right arm.

Like Micah said, "It takes a village." I think our family qualifies. (And Sully only has about a month to get over his terrible twos, ha ha.)

Josh and family are the new owners of a Dodge Caravan, so we all have wheels again. Yay!

I went in for a nerve conduction study, which involved little electric shocks and then some needles placed in various spots up and down my arm and neck. The doctor said he saw no signs of any pinched nerves, but I may have some carpal tunnel problems in my left wrist. Nothing too debilitating yet. Anyway, I think it all boils down to waiting and letting it heal by itself. I only have some tingling now and then in my arm and hand. It does seem to be improving slowly. I'm tired of talking about it, so I'll be quiet about it now, lol.

I'm going to go see if you guys have some more interesting news. :)
Shalom for now!

Sandhill Cranes and a long walk...

I arose early enough this morning to beat the heat, so I thought I'd take an early walk! But before I left I noticed these picturesque bales in the morning sun. Can you find the sandhill cranes?

I have gazillions of photos, but there probably won't be a lot of text. So there is hope of getting to the end of this post yet! Just think of it as a flip book and scroll on through. I know I should be capable of editing my photos more severely, but...I didn't. LOL

I went for a 3 mile walk this morning at about 7:00. The trail was still shady and it was fairly cool, but very humid. There were lots of other walkers and bikers out enjoying the nice morning.

 There's the lake. The trail runs parallel to it.

 

 That's the first 1/2 mile done!

 The sumac's are sporting their seed heads. Sumac lemonade, anyone? I made some 30+ years ago, but I think I prefer Country Time!

 I'm trying to identify this plant. See the arching, vine-like plant. I think it's more like a bush or shrub. The next photo shows it closer.

 It did have little green berries in that "cup" made by the leaves at the end of the plant. Any ideas what it is?

 A short cut through the bushes. There are several of these along the trail to make it more convenient for folks across the county road to access the trail.

 See the old rugged cross in the center of the picture? These questions make it seem like we're playing Where's Waldo... This little cemetery marks the 1 mile mark in my walk.

 This man reminded me of my Bob. About the same size, but about my age. Bob liked the occasional bike ride. This fellow had a cheery good morning greeting for me. I always sneak photos of people after they've gone by, ha ha.

 A speedy gal on a racing bike mumbled good morning.

 When I see the Grandpa's Cabin sign to my left I know I'm at the half-way point of my walk. (1-1/2 miles) Time to turn around and head back!

 Well, I'll turn around when I get to the stop sign.

 This is standing at the stop sign, looking right.

 

And this is looking left. Then I did the hokey-pokey and I turned myself around and headed back.

Do you believe I took a picture of this poo? I was hoping to try and identify this "scat" when I got home. It doesn't really look like dog poo, or horse poo. Horses shouldn't be on this trail. I was hoping it might be something more exotic like bear or mountain lion. I'm so weird! Josh will probably enjoy joining me on the research! We're two peas in a pod when it comes to nature study! (I did find some black bear scat that looked a lot like this.)

 A glimpse down the horse trail while standing...

 here by the little cemetery. This means I have one mile to go!

 Another plant (tree?) I'm trying to identify. These huge leaves are growing on a slender twig of a trunk. I see them here and there, but I'm wondering what they will grow up to be. They're much bigger than poplar leaves. About the size of my hand. I've been curious about them for a long time, but never really tried to research them.

 Do you see the raspberries?

 Half a mile to go! This was my old street when I lived on our little farm.

 This little house is across the street from our old place. This house was mustard colored when we moved here 30 years ago. Then it was painted mint green. Someone just painted it this electric blue. Hmmm.

Squirrel's nest?

 I can see the water tower! My car is parked near it.

 See the hitching post on the left? That's my little steed parked next to it.

 Downtown Nevis. My favorite gas station to get coffee at. :)

Good-bye 'til next time, hitchin' post.

 Yeah, you guys probably think I'm crazy (OCD?) for uploading all these photos. I think I'm trying to capture summer in a bottle, so I can look at it when winter comes. I know the green will soon turn to a crisp brown, so this is my little time capsule. To tell you the truth, I probably won't even come back and glance at this. Life keeps moving forward, right? And that's as it should be. (And if you actually looked at these, you're a BOSS!)

A couple of quick things. I just finished these ATCs for a swap called "Back-to-School: With a Twist".  After signing up for the swap, the host PM'd us a list of three "college classes". We're to make a card representing each class we're assigned. This is what I came up with. She told us we could interpret this however we wanted. Just for fun!

This one was for a class called "Limnology", which is the study of lakes and streams. (Simply put.)

My second class was "Snakes and Lizards of the Mojave".

The third class was called "Religion and Sports", but I decided to do it as "Sports as a Religion". More fun that way! (No offense, sports fans!)

I was going through the free magazines at the library the other day and found this old magazine from 1975. That's the year I graduated!

I thought it was really cool that they had a section like the one below. Nowadays we would be afraid to put our address "out there", but I think this sort of thing was more common back in the day.

I just finished reading The Shepherd's Castle by George MacDonald. It was originally titled Donal Grant. I thought it was pretty good. Is anyone aware if GM had controversial religious views? It seems like back in his lifetime he was seen that way. At least I'm assuming that because his leading character was thought of that way, and I think this character reflected MacDonald's religious beliefs.

 I'm reading this next. It was originally titled "What's Mine's Mine"! I may have to look into a GM bio soon. I got these two books at the library book sale and then realized I have the whole George MacDonald collection on my Kindle. I think it was free.

Well, I'm going to set you folks free! Did anyone get this far? Then get off of your computer, go outside, and enjoy the weather!
Love y'all!
Shalom for now!