Pics & Pieces

Just a little update

2009-11-12T23:21:00.003-05:00

If you haven't seen the video of Lorelei, please be sure to scroll on down to see it while you are here. You will have to have your volume turned way up to hear the music in the background. Anyway, to the update.

Roger felt like he was really starting to get well the past couple of days but got up feeling horrible again this morn. So to the doctor we went. I don't think she knows quite what to think...she is trying to treat at least one of his symptoms. And she is having some lab work done. Blood tests.

When we went over to the hospital, I just stayed out in the waiting room. Not a lot of room in the lab. They called Code Blue to the lab...everyone went running. I was hoping that it wasn't him, but it was. His blood sugar went real low and he crashed. Passed out and woke up to everyone over him.

He is diabetic. What is strange with this, besides not running a temperature, normally if he has a cold, or sick in any way, his sugar will be high. No matter if he hasn't eaten anything, it will still run high. With this, it is running normal.

So that is what is going on here.

Lorelei video

2009-11-12T14:08:00.002-05:00

This is Lorelei bopping to Feist on Sesame Street--you can hardly hear it on the video here. Enjoy!

Peaceful scene

2009-11-11T00:14:00.003-05:00

A barn a few miles from our home place in Tennessee.

I hope you will click on this to enlarge it. When you do, besides the road leading to the barn, you can see cow paths above and below the road. Being in Indiana, I don't notice cow paths very often. (Click here to see this in sepia.)

In the hills and hollers of east Tennessee, they are much more noticeable. A cow don't usually climb straight up and down the side of a hill...they will go along just gradually zig zagging back and forth as they graze on a hillside.

I remember following cow paths while I picked blackberries as a kid. My mom always reminded me/us kids to watch out for a rattlesnake. I suppose if she were alive today and I was to go blackberry picking she would still remind me to watch out for a rattlesnake.

For a big part of her life, they were a serious danger. The old home place bordered a park...and I think she killed at least one rattler in our front yard. It is probably a miracle that none of us were ever bitten by one.

Another time, one of my sisters was doing something in the tobacco patch...she thought she saw a rat run under the tobacco plants--thought she saw a rat's tail. When she raised the tobacco leaf, it was a copperhead.

Neal or I either one, would have loved to have a home up at the old place, but mom never wanted us to. I think she had too many hard times up there. Too many things to worry about. It is still one of the most peaceful places to just go and sit and listen to the silence.

Tennessee 2007 photo

2009-11-09T23:37:00.002-05:00

I was trying to find a photo to post and came across this and two or three others that I really like...taken when were in Tennessee in 2007.
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I am distracted right now...Roger has been sick since late Friday evening. He doesn't have a fever, isn't coughing nor does he have a sore throat or runny nose, but his whole body ached Friday and he said his skin hurt to touch. He didn't feel any better Saturday...Sunday he stayed up all day and we thought he was on the road to recovery, only for him to get up today feeling like he had been run over by a truck. I am hoping if he doesn't feel better tomorrow that I can get him to go to the doctor.

I haven't sewn any today, but sewed a lot off and on Saturday and yesterday I got a small quilt layered and pin basted; it is ready for me to machine quilt now. Maybe before too long I will have something to show for my labors.

It is late, and I need to post a photo on my other blog...

Want to have a picnic

2009-11-09T00:30:00.003-05:00

This sycamore tree was just as massive in person as it appears to be in the picture. I think it would be a pleasant place to have a picnic and/or campfire. I don't think I would want to be under it in a storm.

As we were sitting on the front porch

2009-11-07T23:00:00.001-05:00

Photo by Roger

As we were sitting on the front porch this morn, I was wondering how many more days we would have of pleasant weather. I was thinking about all the joyous moments of sitting out there holding Lorelei this past summer...wondering what would she would have been doing if she were here today. And I was also wondering a bit about what the future holds.

Across the street, Kay came outside and started jumping rope. The first thought that popped into my head was:
Up the ladder
A B C
Down the ladder
H O T!

That was one of the little rhymes we chanted when we were young and jumping rope...and on the Down part, we jumped as fast as we could. And this thought lead to the thought of other rhymes. I could only remember fragments...I could remember the phrase 'turn around,' and one about going upstairs...and there is one about who you are going to marry: doctor, lawyer, Indian chief.

I did a quick glance on the computer and came up with:
Teddy bear, teddy bear
Turn around,
Teddy bear, teddy bear
Touch the ground.

Teddy bear,teddy bear
Turn around,
Teddy bear, teddy bear
Tie(?) your shoe

Teddy bear, teddy bear
Turn around
Teddy bear, teddy bear
Out goes you.

As we jumped rope to Teddy Bear, we did the actions...I am not sure about some of the words here, and I also think we had more actions we did but I cannot remember them.

All I can remember of another is:
Cinderella, dressed in yellow,
Went upstairs to see her fellow...
and this was followed by something about how many kisses she got...

The one about who we are going to marry completely escapes me, but I do think it was a rhyme for jump rope...and I think we had other rhymes but I am having a real mental block when it comes to remembering them.

I was hoping Kay would come over: I wanted to see if they used these same little rhymes...I am sure I taught them to my kids but not sure if anyone else knew them. Were they common place every where or just a regional thing? Is this one of those things that remains the same in spite of the passage of time, or one that passes away into only the dim memories of the older generation. (How odd to think of myself as among the older generation--sometimes I have a real problem believing I am.)

Another story untold....

2009-11-07T01:07:00.002-05:00

We passed this old home a few days back on one of our drives....someone lives in it. It is another house full of untold stories. I would love to see inside. Have you ever noticed how some two story homes seem so dark and dreary inside and others seem light and airy. I wonder why that is. One would think it was the direction the houses face, but I am setting here thinking to two houses that face the same direction...one is like walking into sunshine when you walk in and the other feels like waking up to a cloudy day when entered.

By the side of the road

2009-11-05T23:07:00.002-05:00

On a drive a few days ago, we came across this by the side of the road...probably at least half a mile in any direction to a house. I just had to take a photograph of it. I thought it kind of neat.

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I am trying to get back into some sewing...and I want to explain something. When I say I am designing a quilt I probably shouldn't use the term designing. I am almost always just playing with the arrangement of colors...so I don't know if that qualifies as designing. A better term would be to say that I am planning my quilt maybe. Anyway, I didn't want someone to think I was that talented.

I completed 6 little blocks, have some others half made and during making the first two blocks earlier in the evening, I made the same mistake 2 or 3 times and had to do the froggy dance....rip-it, rip-it, rip-it....rip the seam out. It is very satisfying to sew. There is nothing like hearing my sewing machine or hearing the shutter of my camera! It is very soothing to my soul.

I think I will head back down to the basement here in a second...I just came up to do this post before I got too tired. I want to post a photo on my other blog also.

Letting the photos speak alone...

2009-11-05T00:46:00.003-05:00

Lorelei and her licker

2009-11-03T23:33:00.004-05:00

We spent the day at Sarah's....I was going to try to narrow these down to just a couple of Lorelei and Otto and a couple or three others. I just cannot cut the number back of him and her.
I really hope you will enlarge the photos...in the one above, Lorelei is just a tad bit blurry. If you enlarge it though, look at the dimple! I just couldn't not publish it.
Not sure if you will be able to see Otto or not...other than his tongue!
Sarah was standing just out of view...we don't let him lick her face. And usually Sarah doesn't let him lick her hands...but for these photos we just let them go other than not letting him lick her face. One lick would get her whole face!
When I got a few photos, we distracted her and washed her hands.

Two days later

2009-10-30T23:59:00.002-04:00

Click here to see this same tree taken two days before this photo was taken...it is sort of a subtle difference yet it seemed much more intense in real life.
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I have been really inconsistent with my posting. Nothing is really wrong, except had sinus/cold thing that has driven me crazy. I have felt more normal today than I have in days. I just hope and pray I can say the same tomorrow.

It has been rainy in our neck of the woods all day long, with a warm south wind blowing. It totally surprised me when I went outside to get one of the cats. Instead of making him come in, I sat down in the swing with him for a while. I know it is one of the last days warm enough to sit out.

Mama squirrel has been coming for food...I didn't see her today but seen her the three previous days. Before that it had been at least 3 or 4 weeks since I had seen her. I really thought she was dead. I could not believe my eyes, when I looked up and saw her the other morn as we went to leave...there she was. I ran back inside for nuts for her...she came to get them.

Lorelei was here yesterday...I put her down on a quilt on the floor. Cougar was sitting a few feet behind her. She looked back behind and seen him, then she looked at her toys...repeated the actions, then the third time she looked back at him she took off after him. He had just woke from a nap and was not in the mood so he took off.

Sarah has a double doorway between her living room and dining room....they have a wide gate across it to keep Otto and Keesha out of the living room when they want. She says if Lorelei looks over and sees him, she is off to see him to quick to talk about. And he is quick to lick. Sarah's favorite saying about him is that he can't hold his licker. (Liquor--lol)

Three views

2009-10-28T23:45:00.002-04:00

This is a barn we came across a couple weeks ago...I always wonder how long the barn was built before they decided they needed more room.
I enlarged this to see all the pixels and liked the latches on the doors, so I made another copy and cropped a portion to show them.

The gift of friendship

2009-10-26T23:43:00.003-04:00

I felt like we struck gold this past week.
The other day when we stopped along the road for me to take this photo, out the back door of the house came the owner. And along with him came a beautiful collie dog, which I hope to go back and photograph at a later date.
I was trying to tell him how beautiful the tree was, but he could not hear me, so he came out to the road where we were to talk to us. He ended up having Roger pull into the drive and started showing us all kinds of stuff.
Among the things he showed us were these gourds....he had a couple tractor waggons with them setting drying. I think that was the first thing he showed us...then he said come on over here. I wish I had had my camera, but the collie seemed to be afraid of it, so I put in in the car so he would come to me. But he is another story.

So he took us in a small pole barn; he had small boxes and crates of walnuts everywhere. He uses an old corn sheller to get the green hull off, then he lets them dry outside on screen frames. When they are done drying, he has a small cement mixer that he uses to tumble them to get the walnuts really clean.

He took us over to his regular garage to show us dried gourds, and also some little bitty bell peppers. He gave me some of those. While over there he also went in the house to get this photographic view he had of his farm...his wife came out and talked to us just a few minutes when we were over there.

Then he took us to another little pole barn type building to show us the corn sheller and actually ran a few walnuts through it. He showed us this thing called a Nut Wizard. He uses to pick up walnuts. Here is a link to one similar to what he had...he says it doesn't work where the grass is not mowed, but he threw walnuts down and demonstrated it to us. It really works!

I am not even beginning to tell all he told us. During the time of it, he gave me the top two gourds. Actually, he just told me to pick the ones I liked. On top of those, he gave me a couple flowers...he didn't know what they were. They have leaves/blades like maybe some type of day lily or iris.

So, Roger told him we would bring him one of my gourds. Later, I decided I would print a photo of the photo I took on my photo printer. I printed a couple 8 x10s of it, Saturday I picked out 3 or 4 gourds and we ran them out there. We really were just going to drop them off...but they insisted on us coming in. We sat and visited for probably an hour...

As we left, Helen told me not to forget my photos...she was totally surprised when I told her I printed them for them. And as we were leaving, Dick said to wait a minute...he went and got the dried apple gourd above, telling me he meant to give it to me the other day.
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Everyone knows I LOVE collies. I have never met a collie I didn't like. Diamond, their dog, was no different. He was just a tad bit shy at first, but when we went back Saturday the first thing he did was bring one of his stuffed animals and dropped it at my feet for me to throw. Every time we think of him, we smile. Maybe not as big as when we think about Lorelei, but still we smile. And we would love for the two of them to meet. I have never seen a collie that didn't like kids...at least not a regular full sized collie.
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I just had to tell this...it was like a breath of fresh air to meet and talk to Dick and Helen. He showed us some old pictures...she showed me pictures of her grand kids and great grand kids. They told us bits and pieces from their life...him more than her. He talked about the goats and goat cart he had as a kid and even showed us a picture...told us he road it to school every day.

He didn't live far from the school....he was the one that went early to start the fire before everyone else got there. He even had a picture of the old school...looked like a one-room school to me. I wish I had ask more questions. Maybe next time I will ask more. I also hope to get the courage to take photos of Diamond. I think he knows us well enough to not mind the camera now.

Just for fun

2009-10-25T22:54:00.003-04:00

I hope this posts...it is probably my favorite clip from the show Frasier. In my opinion, Niles made the show. The others were funny, but Niles just played his part to perfection.

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In other news, Sarah reported that Lorelei has a tooth! Watch out world. Also, she told me that she was told that when Jeremy was a baby and learned to roll, he rolled to where he wanted to know. So did Sarah...I forget how old she was before she crawled, and then that lasted only a short, short time and she was walking. I could be in the kitchen and she in the living room and here she would come rolling in!

What a difference rain makes!

2009-10-24T23:45:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned on Time Stand Still, this afternoon we retraced just a short portion of the drive we took Thursday. This is Brouillete's Creek which starts over in Illinois and empties into the Wabash River in Indiana north of Terre Haute and south Clinton
This is close to the same view, except I was under the bridge taking the bottom one today. Notice how high the creek is compared to the first picture...I did not realize we had had this much rain.

But the thing that really caught my eye and actually surprised me was the total absence of any gold on the trees. This bottom photo actually cuts off part of both trees that are at the edges in the top, yet limbs from both trees are actually in the photos. The tree that is so yellow on the left side did not have hardly any leaves left on it. And the one on the right edge is almost as bad.

You can see the differences much better if you enlarge the photos.

Mushrooms anyone?

2009-10-23T22:59:00.003-04:00

The first photo was taken when we were down to Nashville, Indiana a while back.
These last three pictures were taken just a week or so ago, in a county north of here.
They are all growing around just one stump....
I had so thought they were chicken mushrooms till I got close enough to see the gills. I have not tried to identify them other than that. The gills told me they weren't what I wanted. Chicken mushrooms are polypores. For one thing, they don't have gills. (Read more about polypores in the previous link.) They are porous on the underside. When torn apart, they tear very similar to a chicken breast, and when fried have a light chicken taste. We have only had them a couple times, years ago.

Drive by colors

2009-10-22T22:47:00.002-04:00

We did leave kind of early for us this morn, but it was dark and dreary and misting to begin with...then it lightened up a little bit.
This bottom photo was actually taken before the top, but I like saving the best for last. But the day began and ended in a misting rain.

Even so, we went on a nice long drive and saw some wonderful colors...but it only makes me want to go back in better weather if they don't all fall.

Pumpkins anyone?

2009-10-22T00:59:00.003-04:00

This was a house we passed the other day...it was at a place we couldn't really pull off the road for me to get a good photo, but I snapped a couple anyway.

I have been at Sarah's today....and working on getting everything updated on the old computer ever since I came home. I am stopping for the night, even though I probably still need to update some things. I am just going to stop and take a break...my mind can relax now that everything is working again.

Lorelei is a hoot to be with....I swear she has a since of humor right now. She loves to laugh and loves to make us laugh. I think she gets that from both her mom and her dad.

One more with an update

2009-10-20T16:32:00.003-04:00

I meant to post this one of Lorelei the other day...it was taken in September. I love the pleasant, contented look on her face.
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Guess what? Computer problems here again. On the old computer. On top of that I have had a bit of a cold and just didn't feel normal.

When I have computer problems, I just obsess about it till I do something, but haven't felt like doing anything. But I have started...the slate is being wiped clean as I speak. It was this Security Tool thing that got on Sunday...if I tried to run my antivirus ware, it would turn the computer off. I tried to go to Microsoft to get something to get rid of it, and it would not let it run, nor would it let some other anti-adware run.

I tried going to the safe mode to delete somethings, and though I only found one thing to delete, soon as I restarted the computer, it was back again.

So, until I get this settled, I won't be doing much of anything other than fooling with it.

I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not

2009-10-18T23:20:00.002-04:00

I hate to overdo a subject, but I just cannot resist showing these taken today.
Lorelei came to stay with us while her mommy and daddy went to the Covered Bridge Festival...
I must say that a good time was had by all.
She was one busy little girl...
she first wanted in her walker...got bored with that...
Then we went outside for a while. That was followed by playing on the floor with some of her toys. By the time she did all that, she was ready for a bottle and a nap.

By the time she woke from it her Aunt Rachel was here...so she visited with her for a bit. Soon, her mommy and daddy were back.

Lorelei

2009-10-18T00:20:00.004-04:00

These were taken about three weeks ago...I had downloaded the photos to the old computer and just forgot about them. (The 2008 part of the date is wrong, of course. I didn't realize it was wrong till after I took these photos.)

We had a wedding to go to today, and on the way there I took some drive-by shots with the little point and shoot camera. So, when I downloaded those to my laptop, I downloaded these also. I thought I would share a couple with you.

She was at the wedding....cute as a button of course. She just smiled, chewed on things, and watched all that was going on.

The view from this road

2009-10-16T16:12:00.003-04:00

These were taken about a week ago...
the color is really beginning all around. The tree above is the one you see across the road from the church in the first photo.
Stepping past that tree and looking on down the road this farm was the view.

Going back to the first photo, there is a road right before the church that leads to this place. Still not positive I could find it again, but I know more about the place to begin looking. As you can see here, there was a camper trailer parked there this time. I think they are beginning to work on the house. No one was there...if there had been, I think we would have stopped to ask questions. I am so curious about the history of this fine old farm.
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I have been being gone/or occupied with Lorelei this whole week. I am not sick, or anything...just been preoccupied with other things. I had not planned to take so long a break from blogging, or I would have warned everyone. I am going to try to start posting again on a regular basis, and get in some visits. I may not comment on every post, but I sure wonder what has been happening with everyone.

Mopheads!

2009-10-09T10:19:00.002-04:00

I saw these little bitty flowers out at the old strip pits the other day...they immediately reminded me of mop heads. At the most, each little flower was a half inch in diameter.
I haven't tried to identify them yet....maybe when I get time.
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I have been playing some with my Electric Quilt computer program...trying to think and design what I want to make next. I have got my machine all set and ready to sew if I could make up my mind. Sometimes it was easier when I didn't have so much to choose from.

Along the way, I have built up a significant stash of quilting material because I knew once Roger retired I wouldn't be going and spending so much on fabric. I still buy some along, or if I really need something I go get it. Usually I have a good supply of anything I need...I do buy good yellow fabric whenever I find one I really like because I continually run out of it. Almost any quilt I make has some yellow yellow in it.

It is so wet and rainy here in our area...I don't think it totally quit raining the entire day yesterday. And it is the same again this morn, though I think the rain is supposed to move on through by the end of the day, with days of typical fall weather following.

I was thinking as was waking up this morn about how unusual the weather is. I don't ever remember having as much cool weather by this time of the year when I worked at the orchard. There would be days I would start out with a jacket or one of Roger's heavy flannel shirts, but very seldom did they stay on past 10:00 a.m. This fall, there have been several days where I think I would have had to wear a jacket most or all of the day.

9th street Feed Mart

2009-10-08T00:41:00.003-04:00

I had Roger drive by the feed store today to see what they had outside...I didn't have my camera with me at the time so went back later.
I went there a bit earlier than I had planned...the lighting could not have been too much worse.
The owner carries food for pets, straw, hay, and in the spring has flowers and seeds...
and in the fall she always has pumpkins. And the pumpkins always catch my eyes. I still would like to go back at a time when there is better lighting, but for now these will have to do.

For all you birders out there

2009-10-06T18:15:00.004-04:00

I have been wishing I was good at working with metal...I have been wondering about making a few things. My husband could make them with hardly a thought...he is good at working with metal. And even though he doesn't do art stuff, he is good at it. He just prefers to make things that really serve a purpose...not that he doesn't like beauty.
He likes to make things that are really useful and really needed, not just things to look at. He can almost always look at something and make it....and a lot of times make it better.

I saw these along the sidewalk down in Nashville, and am thinking I will have him make me one or two, or else teach me how to make them. But I think it would be safer if he made them. Now he would make them for me if they weren't for suet, but he will like making them since they are for something other than just to look at.

Does anyone make their own suet? I know my mom did every now and then. I don't remember how she did it...for one thing it was maybe once a year. I don't think she had the beef fat available to do it more often. Being that I couldn't remember how she made it, I googled suet and find the info...if you are interested, here and here are a couple of places that have info on making suet. I am really thinking I might try making some. I hate throwing away the fat that comes on some of the beef I buy....so making suet would put it to good use.