Thursday Thankfulnesses

Yeah, it's Friday....yesterday I was too busy stuffing my face to post about being thankful for anything. ; )

But, I was thankful.....VERY thankful all day....

For my family

for the food they cooked and fed me and cleaned up after I stuffed myself

for my beautiful squirrels who went exploring in the woods and found a mysterious hole in the ground and they want to share it with me

for homeschooling, which has enabled me to cultivate a sweet relationship with my squirrels.

More Thursday Thankfulnesses to come next November, hopefully. : )

Sick, Sick, SICK!

This is the beginning of the third week I've been sick.....I am SO tired of it!

It started as a flu....I dubbed it "whine" flu, because it made us whine a lot. lol I don't believe it was swine flu, and it's a good thing, too, because as hard a time as I've had getting over this, I don't know if I couldn've survived anything worse!

Both girls had it and were over it in a week.....I'm still coughing and so weak I can't do much more than stick a load of laundry in the washer and get back to the living room.

I cough so hard it makes my head hurt, my stomach hurts, and I believe I've pulled a muscle in my back....still not as bad as my MIL, though....she coughs so hard she breaks ribs regularly...fifty years of smoking will do that to you......

I had a good night's sleep last night, though...my first in two weeks, and I am SO thankful for it! I only woke up coughing about four times and was able to go back to sleep quickly and didn't cough too badly any of the times....things are looking up! : )

We kept my sister's kids yesterday while my mom went to her in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner. They were SO good....little angels! I think the younger squirrel was a little bit sick, she didn't seem like she felt well, and toward the end of the evening she fell asleep on Emma's lap. ; )

The other two watched movies/tv shows with Daddy and Anna, and later in the evening, watched while we skinned and butchered a deer. : ) Then they roasted marshmallows over a fire, and then Mom came back and picked them up.

And, I have to say a bit about *my* baby....Oscar was SO good while they were here! I was amazed...he didn't bark or growl or offer to bite even once! I think he was a bit jealous, and he pouted until we took him out for his long walk in the night, but he was a little angel himself. ; )

Thankful Thursday #3

I am thankful we have food, shelter, water.....all the basics supplied.

I am thankful my girls are feeling better.

I am thankful for life.

I am thankful for enough.

Thankful Thursday #2

I am thankful that although we *are* sick, we're not really dreadfully badly sick.

I am thankful for the warm sun shining today.

I am thankful that I don't have to go anywhere, and my kids don't have to go anywhere and we can all stay home when we're sick without worrying about too many missed days. : )

Bucket List?

Yes. Bucket List......things to do before I kick the proverbial bucket. ; )

What do *you* want to do?

I will love my children like there's no tomorrow!

I'll thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.....at least up to the part where "civilization" creeps in. ; )

I'll see an eagle in the wild.

I'll restore an antique vehicle.

I'll be fully myself with no reservations or embarrassment. ; )

I'll stop wearing my hair twisted up all the time simply because it's "easiest". : P

I will get a kayak *and* I will go white-water rafting because my husband would like to and he'll have more fun with a friend. : )

I will choose to move toward the light with all my choices, including my choices of people I'm around.

Thankful Thursday

The flock of mourning doves in my yard this morning.

Good news about our house.

Squirrel feeling better and doesn't have a fever any more.

Got daddy's laundry finished up yesterday.

Had a good night's sleep and woke up to a beautiful day! : )

Fall Decorations - Super Easy Cute Pumpkins

I was reading a blog somewhere the other day with instructions to make pumpkins from rolls of toilet paper. I thought they were cute, but didn't think about making any, because I don't generally have a stash of orange cloth around.

BUT, Monday we stopped at a thrift store to drop off some stuff, and they had orange tissue paper.....for .25! SO, with the thought of pumpkins in mind, I bought it....and they're SO cute!

This is a blog that has pictures and instructions. Enjoy! ; )


TP Pumpkin Decoration

(My picture includes the one pumpkin that survived my *garden* this year. I don't know why, but the plants didn't want to grow until about August, then they took off and covered everything and started producing...too late for most of them to mature.)

October....

during which I have forgotten to blog! ; )

We've done a couple-few things....been a few places....mostly stayed near home and worked on the house-buying stuff.

Squirrels are busy with Facebook mostly, now that they've "discovered" it, and I've been cracking nuts most days.

A neighbour gifted us three boxes of black walnuts, and I'm trying to crack out at least one cup each nice day (which I need to get outside and do today, since it's sunshiney), and my mom gifted us a bucket of pecans, and I've been trying to get them opened and ready for pie. Ummmm... ; )

The garden is about through for the year. I cleaned out my herb garden, because catnip had nearly taken over. I set the catnip I thinned out to drying, and hopefully I'll be able to make a few cat toys for Christmas. ; )

When the tomatoes all died (besides the cherry tomatoes, which are still ripening all over the place) the pumpkins took off....but too late to really produce anything. There is one I *think* is big enough to be something, and about six tiny ones I don't think are edible.....or maybe baby pumpkins are edible....something to learn about, I guess.

I still have a hot pepper (the name eludes me) plant with green peppers which I'm hoping will change so I can make some more tabasco-like sauce. Daddy liked the last so much I barely got any! LOL

Anna has been reading Farmer Boy again for the first time, and conducting scientific experiments late at night with the stove...."How quickly does the eye heat up after it's turned on?" Answer: Quick enough to leave blisters when you touch it. ; ) She was *very* proud of her blisters, and bragged about them on Facebook and you'd have thought she was in danger of imminent death. lol

Having FUN!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

(When I embed it there is an advertisement at the first that IMO messes up the "plot", so just follow the link. It's worth it, trust me.) ; )

My educational philospophy in a nutshell...have fun! ; )

The First Week of October, or Thereabouts

We've been away from home a lot lately, but I couldn't say what exactly we've been up to. ; )

House-shopping some, and trying to find Daddy some jeans that fit, since he's lost 70 lbs...!...and library and running those little errands that pile up so if you don't stay on top of them.....hopefully we're done with all that for a while! LOL

Last night we had a wild idea....spend the night in the woods and hope to see some wildlife. Well, it didn't work out so well. lol By 10:00 the squirrels were bored and wanted to come home! They didn't even wait until the moon came up over the mountain. LOL This morning Anna said she wished we'd stayed, and then, when I asked if she wasn't lots more comfortable sleeping at home, she said she was. : ) I was certainly glad to get to sleep in my own bed! : ) We didn't see or hear anything, either, so it was kinda a bust. ; )

Tonight they're watching "Hello Dolly"....my mom gave us her copy, because my squirrels liked it more than she did. : )

They're also eating H'ween candy. Anna said, "Halloween better hurry up...we'll be out of candy." LOL

Today we volunteered at the food pantry, and my sister brought her oldest daughter down to help, and they all had lots of fun playing with the food. LOL

We went to the Salvation Army thrift store Friday, and found two nice bookshelves for the girls for $15 each! *Hopefully* we'll have a house before long to put them in! LOL

We went yesterday to look at one...don't get me started on it! Dreadful! I think we might be going to see another Saturday......there has to be something out there somewhere!

In the meantime, we're happy here for right now. Our odd neighbour has started being quiet, so it's nice better here again. : )

Late Nights

Tonight, about 1:00, Anna started singing "Danny Boy" then stopped and said, "I can't remember what comes next."

I was just about to get off the computer, but I asked if she would like for me to find and print the lyrics out for her. She would, so I did.....but then there was a bit of conjecture about the tune, so I looked it up on You Tube and we listened to it...along with a Muppets version ; )

Then she pulled the piano-ish electric keyboard out, and started picking out the notes, so I asked if she'd like some music for it.....she did, so I went in search of music, then I marked the notes with their corresponding letters and she played around with it a bit, and now Emma's playing with it.

It reminded me of Sandra Dodd's page Late Night Learning ....and I'm glad that, although I need to get up early for a doctor's appointment tomorrow, I was still awake to help her find what she needed in the middle of the night. : )

(And now I'm *really* getting off the computer and going to bed!)

Lists and Scheduling (Article)

(From Growing Without Schooling magazine, #93)

Click on the picture to read the article. It opens up much larger.

9-23-09

I've spent most of the last three days being drug around the dinkiest little towns, getting VERY frustrated because of the horrid directions I've been given, looking for some sort of decent housing.

A quote from The Beverly Hillbillies keeps coming up, "Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash." (Jed, talking about Cousin Pearl) Apparently we're just like her! lol Everything we can afford we wouldn't touch with the proverbial ten-foot-pole. ; ) And the ones we like...well...

Anyway, it's been interesting...seeing places I never knew existed. ; ) And today, while on top of a mountain 18 miles (!) from the nearest podunk town, we came around a bend and there was a momma black bear with two of the cutest roly-poly cubs EVER! It was SO awesome! They went down the road a bit, then went over the hill, and were gone before I could get my camera out and turned on. I wish I could have gotten a picture!

Tomorrow I've been promised I can stay home all day. Do you believe it? I don't either. ; )

(The good news is we've found two pieces of land....looks like we might be going the *new house* route now....new is good.) ; )

Recent Animal Encounters

The last of our *original* Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches died this past week. We had four originals, then about thirty offspring...now we're down to two. She was upside down one day, and I turned her back over and told Daddy, "Watch. She'll be dead in a couple days, because when they flip over and can't get back up they're dying." She did die in a couple days, but what I want to talk about was what happened before she died.

I was cleaning the cage, and I thought she was already dead, but when I picked her up she moved her antennae just a little, so I put her back in. The next morning one of the younger ones had come to sit with her, and it sat with her most of the day, until she died, then it went back into the tube.

How sweet was that! It burns me up to think of people using Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches for "Fear Factorish" sorts of things! These are living creatures with feelings for heaven's sake!

The second animal happening was yesterday. We were going down the road, and passed a squirrel. At first we thought it was roadkill, but as we went past it's tail moved. We didn't want it to suffer, so we went back to, as Daddy put it, put it out of it's misery. When we got back, though, it moved a bit more, so I got out to check on it. I took a magazine with me for protection ("I am a crazy, rabid squirrel, and I WANT MY COOKIES!") and when I got to it there was no blood or anything, so I scooted him up on the grass in the middle of the road and waited while some cars and an ambulance went past (must have looked really odd...lol). When the road was clear again I picked him up with his scruff and slid the magazine under him and carried him to the other side of the road where trees were, and after a second he hopped off the magazine and disappeared into the brush.

I was SO glad we went back to help him! He apparently hadn't been hit, was only scared and didn't know which way to go. It made my day happier, having saved a squirrel. ; )

Thank God, We're Back Home! LOL!

Well, the "school" experiment didn't last long. ; ) I lasted three full weeks, and couldn't take any more....I guess I should say *almost* three weeks, because I walked out in the middle of the third Friday. ; )

I simply couldn't bear being part of something so WRONG! I felt like too much of a hypocrite.....when have I *ever* used knowledge of a "predicate adjective" in real life? Well....about....um....*never*? In real life no one worries about whether or not you know where the predicate adjective is....no one cares! In real life, I dare to say, there are NO predicate adjectives......there are simply *words*. There are so many words, used so many ways....and the way people are taught in schools to "identify" them is...odd....to say the least. ; )

Rant over....we're HOME and that's all that matters! : )

We're still in the throes of house-buying, so pretty much all the stuff we usually do is taking a back seat to that. We did do a trip to a park and planetarium last week, to relax a bit.It was a very relaxing trip, and we all enjoyed it. : )

Other than that we've just been doing "around home" things....the squirrels have been on Facebook a lot, I've been working on getting fall produce stored for winter, and daddy....well, daddy's been working on getting the house-buying moving. ; )

(I noticed I didn't mention how the squirrels felt about leaving school. I think what Emma said last night while we were out walking the dog sums it up pretty well....we were walking hand-in-hand and she said, "I'm glad we're not in school anymore. It was fun to be in class laughing at the boys, but I'd rather be here." My squirrels are so sweet! : )

From a Conversation Online...Real Love

'It's all those other others that aren't so easy, neighbors --anybody who lives by you-- and so called enemies. Love neighbors as yourself. Well ok that sounds like how I'm invited to love God.
Oh and none of these are injunctions but invitations to Love. What do you think?"

"I think that the real issue is that many of us do not know what real love is.

I think we all are told we should love our neighbors as ourselves, but few of us know what it really means to love ourselves.

This is counterintuitive. On its face, it is easy to conclude that we love ourselves. But I don't think this is true.

I think this is because in our culture, we do not experience real love. We are not loved for who we really are. Most of what passes for love in our culture is conditional acceptance.As children we are rewarded and punished based on our behavior. Parents withdraw love when children do not perform in acceptable ways.

The church has adopted this thinking, too.As spouses are not loved for who we really are. Over 50% of marriages end in divorce. And more Christians than non-Christians live in loveless and unfulfilled marriages because they want to avoid divorce.

If we really knew how to love ourselves - if as children we had good examples of what real love and acceptance is, unconditional love - I think we would be better able to love our neighbors unconditionally.

If we accept ourselves for who we are, with all our faults, it would be much easier to accept others, too.I think that is where God comes in - to show us his unconditional love for us.

I think it is impossible for us to really love ourselves without experiencing God's unconditional love. Only then are we able to love others in the same way."

Karen Smith

A Beautiful Mess...

apples for poppy anne photo challenge for this week...

Happiness Is...

doing what *you* choose!

I have to say...digging out a creek bed wouldn't make me very happy, but Daddy is enjoying it. ; ) sitting beside the creek, reading and snacking? Not for me,today, but for Emma, great fun!

and for Anna? Playing in the *very* cold water! : )

(and *not* being in pictures at all makes me VERY happy!)

I love choosing what I want....choosing what makes me happy! I also exjoy extending that to the rest of my family! Having a CHOICE....and knowing you have a choice!....makes for happy days! : )

The apples for poppy anne blog post this week was AMAZING...so much better writing than I can do (not to mention a better picture). Go and read. (Nope. No choice. Just do it.) ; )

Hiatus

I am taking a hiatus from homeschooling....at least I *hope* it's a hiatus!

I'm going back to work, and both squirrels want to give school a try.

In a way it bothers me....wasn't our homeschooling experience "good" enough?

On the other hand, I understand their wanting to experience something new.

It happened to me at about their ages, too....I'd been in a small private school for 6 years, and decided to give public school another try.

I only stayed one day! At the end of that day I collapsed into the van and said, "Never again!" lol

In a way I want my squirrels to do that too! lol I want them to have a good experience, though...because, well, they ARE my favourite peoples ever! : )

This being an *unschooling* blog, though...I don't know that I'll post here much more. I'm thinking of starting another blog...not sure yet....maybe a "Can We Survive School After Homeschooling?" lol

Cats DO Control Humans!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090713/sc_livescience/catsdocontrolhumansstudyfinds

Was there ever any question?

"If you've ever wondered who's in control, you or your cat, a new study points to the obvious. It's your cat."

I've Laughed All Evening About This...

The library had a photo scavenger hunt today. The bonus clue was "I have close ties to family history where I ponder myself bald about the past."

Instead of taking a picture of the statue of the man the room's named for (you can see it in the far right-hand side of the picture), my squirrels asked a local historian if they could take his picture.

He was a good sport, and the librarians said, "Now he's got a new story to tell...and he'll tell it, too!" lol (He told three people within five minutes.) ; )

I don't know if they told him what the clue said....

(He's doing a geanology workshop Saturday. I asked the squirrels if they'd like to go and see him again. They said they would, and maybe take another picture...)

It Begins With a Colour: Circle

The apples for poppy anne "it begins with a colour" challenge for this week is...circle!

I took these pictures a couple weeks ago, but when I read the challenge I thought of them...

Daddy's....
Anna's.

The Lord is My Pace Setter

The Lord is my Pace Setter....I shall not rush

He makes me stop for quiet intervals

He provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity

He leads me in the way of efficiency through calmness of mind and His guidance is peace

Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day, I will not fret, for His presence is here

His timelessness, His all importance will keep me in balance

He provides refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity by anointing my mind with His oils of tranquility

My cup of joyous energy overflows

Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours for I shall walk in the pace of my Lord and dwell in His house for ever.

*A version of the Twenty-third Psalm from Japan*

My Life, Part Two

In response to my previous post , in which I whine a lot....

I'll try a more positive spin...

We got to volunteer at the food pantry again today! It's so nice to be able to help people. : ) Daddy didn't get to go with us, because he had an opportunity to help our neighbour...and make a little extra money. Extra money is always nice. : )

The squirrels were SO well behaved today, it was amazing! One of their friends was there, and she helped them with their work, and boys kept coming in, which delighted Emma, as she enjoys seeing a good-looking fellow every now and again. ; )

I had lots to do, no time spent wondering what needs doing! That's always nice. I like having jobs. : ) Even with being so busy, I did get to have a nice chat with the director after lunch. It turns out she's a distant relative...she's so thrilled by that! lol She's a sweetheart.

The commode overflowed just before we left, and thankfully we had some blankets Daddy's mother had sent down....they're wonderfully absorbant and just the thing to get water up out of the floor. They worked so well all the water was out of the floor in no time. I brought them home with me to wash....it's such a blessing to be able to do that! Up until about six months ago (probably less....I don't remember the dates exactly) I wouldn't have been able to do that, because I didn't have a dryer. Now I have a dryer, and it's SO NICE to be able to just pop them into the washer, then into the dryer and they're DONE! : ) I can take them back tomorrow all fresh and clean, ready for the next time the commode overflows. lol

On the way home we passed an injured pigeon, and my sweet girls wanted to stop and get it. I'm so glad they show compassion for animals like that! It was really badly injured...I thought it had died twice while I was holding it.....so we brought it home with us so Daddy could put it out of it's misery. Poor little thing. Daddy was wonderful, though....I'm so glad I've got him to do stuff like that! (I really could have used him during the restroom incident, too....true confession time....I don't know how to use a plunger!lol)

I made spaghetti and cheese sticks for supper (I love my crockpot! It's so nice to have food ready when you get home!). I accidentally knocked my plate in the floor, and Emma gave me hers....my squirrels are so sweet! : )

I was thinking of berry picking this evening, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow. Both girls are tired, and, truth be told, I'm a bit sleepy, myself. ; )

My Life...

Today has been like a see-saw....up and down, up and down....

We went to volunteer at the food pantry...and DH didn't go, because our neighbour came over and asked it he'd spray poison on his field. (Don't even get me started on poisons!) SO, anyway, he stayed home to do that, and we went on.

At first everything went fine...the girls didn't fight, and they had a friend there to help them with their work, and I got lots done...it was really busy today, and I was kept going, trying to keep the shelves stocked.

Anyway, just before we were going to leave I went to the restroom...and it looked like it hadn't been flushed, but there was a small girl there, so I didn't think about it, just went, and flushed...and it overflowed and KEPT ON FLOWING!!! The water wouldn't cut off in the tank, finally they had to cut it off manually. So then I had a BIG mess to clean up....about two inches of water over the entire floor, and it was beginning to seep out into the carpet. OOPS!

I got it all dried up, and volunteered to bring the blankets I'd used home with me to wash, because I felt really guilty (but, hey...they could have said, "Oh, the commode is stopped up..." as I passed the office...but I digress.)

SO, on the way home, we passed an injured pigeon in the road. And, of course, Anna had to stop and get it. It was injured too badly to live, I'm surprised it was still alive when we found it, it was in such bad shape. So we brought it home for DH to put it out of it's misery.

We got home, and I put the blankets in the washer, and Emma went to the field to get DH....and it has just now occured to me that she probably shouldn't have been out there breathing that poison....DUH, momma! And he "took care" of the bird, and I dug a hole and popped it in...and Anna is upset, because this is the second bird she's had die in two days...she was holding one yesterday when it died, and she's afraid she killed it...

I left spaghetti in the crock pot for supper this evening, but forgot to turn it on low and it was burned (not completely, but more than the girls wanted to eat), and when we got home I put cheese sticks in the oven to have with it, and they got a bit over-done, too. Neither was inedible, but Anna wouldn't eat any, and Emma just had a couple bites.

Then I knocked my plate in the floor, and Oscar ate my supper.

I was thinking of berry picking this evening, but with the day I've had, I have no doubts I'd meet up with a bear. I think I'll save the berries for another day. : )

(positive version)

It Begins With a Colour....PURPLE!

The "it begins with a colour" challenge for this week is purple.

Emma helped me find lots of purple when we walked the dog this evening....and she also posed for me. : )


I thought this beauty deserved to show off by itself. : )

Wiener Dog Wednesday

Oscar is watching Daddy make pottery...and helping himself to the jug of water. lol He was very interested in what Daddy was doing...

until he got tired. : )

Then, later, he watched Anna work on her creation.

6-27-09

Daddy has a new toy. He found this little jewel at the goodwill thrift store for $20! And this is his first creation. I am amazed he can make something so cute on his first try!

We went to pick blueberries yesterday....three buckets full!....and it went nicely until I got stung on the finger. I don't know what got me, but I started swelling immediately, then my throat started constricting (which was a new one for me), and I got scared and barely got to pick any more berries (which, of course, means I was still picking and ignoring my throat...brilliant, I know...)

We were going to try to get some more raspberries (I picked just a few, and we were going to see if we could find some more.) When we came across this little fellow.

Daddy walked right past him, then came back *Quickly*, but the poor little thing was in his own private misery and didn't notice us at all. We suspected rabies, and called to see what could be done, but were told to call back Monday, because everything is closed for the weekend. Oh, the joys of rural life! lol (Speaking of the joys of rural life...we also found the bones of the little baby deer I came across last time we were berrying....something got it. Which was sad, but still, that's life in the wild....)

We've been staying busy...seems like every day has somewhere we need to go, or something we need to do. Summers are *really* busy around here. : ) Seems like there's somewhere to go and something to do every single day! BUT, still I know June is nothing compared to how July will be! It starts off with a bang with a cookout and family reunion on the third and fourth, then gathers momentum from there, and we won't slow down until after Anna's birthday party on the 17th!

(Hopefully I'll have time to blog, though.) ; )

Wiener Dog Wednesday

I almost forgot to post!

I had to hurry and snap a couple pics of my baby..... but he was willing....that's SO unusual.....I wonder what he's been up to?

(but he looks SO innocent!) lol

Looking Up

As soon as I read the challenge for it begins with a colour this week *look up*, I KNEW what I wanted a picture of...
the trumpet vine that's growing all over the building beside the food pantry where we volunteer. It's amazingly beautiful.....and I think it's holding the building up. : ) In the winter when it's all dead you can see the cracks in the building's walls, and you don't want to walk too close. ; )



This is my favourite oak tree ever....last year I spent most of the year on the couch, because my back was all messed up, and I watched this tree go from bare to tiny squirrels-ear leaves, to full leaf, to red, and back again to bare. This year it's SO nice to be able to watch it change *as I go about my life*!(I also just loved the green and the blue.) : )

Jam!

I thought it was so cool....wake up in the morning with not even a thought of jam, and end the day with this! : )

Hubby was going out to work, but decided to come home and take me berry picking. We ended up picking only enough cherries for a mouthful, but I got enough black raspberries for a batch of jam and a cobbler later, and blueberries for THREE batches of jam and a cobbler later! I was SO happy with it. : )

I also came across a baby deer, hiding in the weeds! If I'd had my camera with me I would have snapped a picture, but I didn't, so I would have had to go get it, then come back, and I didn't want to bother it. I was startled, then looked close to see if it was breathing, and then went on quietly. I figured it's momma was hiding, watching me, and I didn't want to worry her any more than I had already. It was so sweet, though.

I'm Dreaming....

It has a barn.... a perfect house-site...

a creek...

if you click on this next one to see it better, you can see where I want the house, facing the barn, and a little bit farther back, t'other side of the field.

and this would be my view...

I've already named it.

Zephyr Valley.

I'm wishing and dreaming....

It Begins With A Colour :::Wild Card:::

it begins with a colour challenge this week it a wild card......as many colours as possible in one picture...

I've been looking for piles and bunches of colour...instead I found shelves... : )

And, although not *many* colours, still bright, beautiful, amazing colours...

(click on it. revel in the colours.)

If It Weren't For Scheduled Posts...

I'd be posting nothing at all!

We've been on-the-go so much I've barely had time to check e-mails lately....and haven't taken time to blog about everything.

Some things I'm not mentioning...let's just say my neighbours are idiots...

Other things....

We've been helping at the food pantry fairly regularly. We were there Monday evening, and Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The squirrels bagged flour, oats, sugar....things like that, and I've sorted and stocked shelves and re-sorted and cleaned until I'm wore out! I was so tired this evening I took a nap when we got home.

Monday we helped sort a shipment of food, and Anna kept saying, "WHY do they buy food from these people?" because the boxes we were sorting through had trash in them. I swear, some of them looked like they'd swept the floor and just threw in whatever they swept up....NASTY stuff, too. We keep buying food from them because it's cheap, but I hope someone calls and complains. There's no sense in them sending us boxes of trash. : (

I wish I had my camera handy...I'd like to take a pic of my garden and brag about it! It has done SO good this year! It's tiny, but lush. : ) I think we have 12 tomato plants, 6 hot peppers (I'm hoping to get jalapeno's, but haven't remembered them yet...), three pumpkins (they're funky old-fashioned lumpy things that store well....well, that is, once they *have* pumpkins they will be. The plants are just about hand-sized right now.), and lettuce and onions, and cucumbers. (And peas, but they're about done, so I won't mention them.) That's the back garden...in the front I have some zuchinni, a sunflower and a few peanuts. The sunflower came up on it's on under the bird feeder, and I'm assuming about the peanuts. I planted some, but until they're bigger I'm not *positive* that's what they really are. lol

My squirrels have been spending lots of time with the x-box, and reading. Emma has read almost 40 books in the past few weeks. She asked if I'd get Pride and Prejudice and War and Peace at the library, so we went yesterday while we were out, and she looked at War and Peace and decided it was boring and she didn't want it, but she did get Pride and Prejudice. She also got two Shakespeare for kids books, and several others she's read before and wanted to read again.

She's been wanting to read "real" Shakespeare....we have As You Like It and ...I've gone blank on the other one...in comic form, and she enjoyed the stories, so she said she'd like to read them *as* stories, not as comics. I thought a Shakespeare for kids would be more readable than a *regular* Shakespeare, although I bought an anthology of his plays at the latest used book sale, in case she wants to see them.

My mom was so surprised when Emma was listing her favourite books and mentioned the two Shakespeare plays as favourites. As a former high-school English teacher she knows Shakespeare as something to be avoided by young adults. lol

Anna is still spending large chunks of time outside. She fixed herself a "kitchen" in the front yard, and she goes out there and makes mud cakes and pies and decorates them. : ) At the food pantry yesterday she found an old rat skull outside and brought it home with her. Ewww! lol

Weiner Dog Wednesday

He went for a swim.... and got all tuckered out!

G'night Oscar!

Contrast/Hard and Soft

The it begins with a colour challenge this week is contrast.

While I would LOVE to be able to take my camera out and take lots of pictures for the challenge I accidentally dropped it in the creek the other day, and it's ....we'll say *not happy* right now...

HOWEVER, I do happen to have a couple recent pictures with lovely contrast...both of which made me think of *hard and soft*.

(yeah....one of the last pictures before I dropped the camera...) ; P

Weiner Dog Wednesday

SEVEN

SEVEN pumpkin seeds, waiting to be planted.

SIXes

On Daddy's shoe... SIXty-nine degrees...

SIXty cents for a drink...... .50 is a lot easier...who wants to deal with all those dimes?

address....

short cycle...

Day FIVE

FIVE little toeses... numbers scratched in concrete...
yard sale prices...
thermometer...
and wind chimes...