Getting Ready for Fall

Do you live in a place where the seasons change so much that you need to get ready for it?
We live in a place where the leaves turn to beautiful colors, the air has a nip in it, and where you can smell your neighbors fireplaces or wood stoves working. We pull out the big sweaters and electric blankets to keep warm.

Or do you live in place where it's always summer or spring?  If you do live in those places where it's always sunny and warm, I am envious of you.  We once lived in both New Mexico and Louisiana. There was something wonderful about wearing shorts on Christmas!

But for the rest of you, and for us now, we need to get ready for the cold weather that is coming our way.

The jobs seem to be divided between Hubby and me.  He does a few things and I do others.

We used to lose power almost every winter for several years. Our town and the utility company spent a lot of money and manpower and worked very hard to free up the power lines so that the last few years we have not lost power.  You know the saying right " The best laid plans..."  So we get ready to lose power anyway just in case.

One of the first things we do (I do) is clean these kerosene lamps.  We have several throughout the house.  Once the lamp is lit, it reflects in the disk behind it and so lights up the room.  We have them in the bedroom, kitchen, dining area, stairs, and family room.  In the event that we need them, they are clean and filled with fresh kerosene and even a new wick if needed.

The other thing to do is to rearrange  the closet.  Our house is old, so the closets are small.  I have some fall clothes up in the attic and I get them down and decide what I will be wearing. Now is the time to decide, did I wear it last year/ will I be wearing it this year?  If not, it goes into a pile to donate.  Winter coats - do they fit (yes we have more than one winter coat, some are long and really keep me warm, others are short and great for a quick trip out in the car, or to go out shoveling, or sledding.  Do they fit?  I lost a lot of weight and for the most part, none of them really fit me well at all.  So they are going to be donated.  Take pictures so you have a record of what you donated for tax purposes.
Go through all your clothes, PJ's, dresses, shoes, sweaters, sweatshirts, socks, whatever you have.  Now is the time to help others.  There are families-in-transition centers where those things can be used to help others.

Hubby bought the oil and wood pellet fuel for the winter, and I put the electric blanket back on the bed!  While I'm talking about the bed, is your bedspread nice but you just don't use it anymore, donate that as well.  Towels can also be donated (perhaps you have a favorite groomer, they can use the towels as they go through them fast).

There is more, but that is all I'm talking about today.  More, later this week.  Chime in! What have you done to get ready for the colder temperatures?

The Times They Are A Changing

I mean the weather up here.  It's 87 one day and the next it's 66!  Sunshine followed by rain.  After seeing so much damage over the past few weeks, it's a nice change.

My heart goes out to all those in the Carolinas who suffered so much with Hurricane Florence. I have two friends who I kept in contact with to make sure that they were ok.  They were both far from the coast but loss of power and high winds with rain still made a few scary days.  Luckily they and their family are all ok. I hope that any of my readers are also ok from this storm.

In Massachusetts, there was an underground build up of gas and a explosion happened, killing 1 and damaging 60+ homes.  Power is back on but no gas for those remaining homes  still standing and surrounding areas.  Peoples have been displaced from their homes as well.

Here in NH we are just starting fall clean up.  We put away summer and embrace fall and dread the onslaught of winter.  I love the colors of fall.  I love the burnt oranges, and dark yellows.  I love the smell of fires burning and ovens on cooking a roasting chicken or a roast.  I love sweat pants and sweaters.  I don't like the cold temps and frozen feet.  I don't like cold hands and snow up to my knees.  I don't like driving on snow covered roads and feeling like I'm trapped in the house for the next 5 months.

Do you get ready for the fall/winter season?  Do you have a list of what you do?  Do you and your "other half" each take part of the list or do you do it all?  Do you have pets? Do you get them ready for the seasonal change as well?

Over the next few posts, I'll tell you our routine and if you feel like sharing, you can tell me  your routine.  This should be fun.

Summer Hodgepodge.

Thank you Joyce for these questions,  I needed a reason to blog. 

1. What has been the highlight of your summer so far? (It's still summer people!)
Spending time with Hubby always makes me smile, going to the beach was certainly the highlight for me.  It was not very busy and the day was beautiful.  

2. What do you wish you'd done more of this summer? Less of?
I wish I had blogged more.  I didn't think people would want to know all about doctor's appointments or treatment updates which was most of the summer so I didn't blog about it.  What I wish I had done less of?  Have so many doctor's appointments and treatments. 

3. Something you're looking forward to on your September calendar?
We got the Ok to travel for the first time in over 3 years, so we are hoping to do just that.  Friday we are going on a whale watch which is not so much traveling as it is "getting out of the house" But I hope we get to go to Canada at some point this year.  

4. Best/favorite book you've read this summer?
A Touch of Deceit by Gary Ponzo.  I like mysteries and this was fun to read.

5. Share something positive, encouraging, or uplifting here.
Hubby and I are enjoying the start of school.  We don't have kids in schools but now that school is back in session, the lines are shorter, there are no overtired children in restaurants and we can travel!  We are looking forwarded to some day trips and some away trips.  That's so exciting for us, to get away and not worry about where the nearest hospital is or if the doctors there know about the meds I'm on and what to do in case of an emergency.  

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Summer may be unofficially over but the weather is still very warm (ok, some call it hot as in it's high 80's-low 90's)! I love it.  I hope it continues for a few more months before it gets cold because up here, it's cold for a long time!!!  

Catching Up

Good Morning,

Usually on Wednesday there is a Wednesday Hodgepodge from Joyce over at "From This Side of the Pond." Joyce is taking some well deserved time off.  You know letting life happen and being able to enjoy it and be present for it.  I'm so happy for her and proud that she recognizes that she needs to take time off.

It gives me an opporunity to play cahch up with all of you.

We are enjoying retirement and being able to make plans, change plans and do other stuff instead without feeling one bit upset about that.  We nap when we want to, eat when and what we want to,  and play at whatever we want to.  God is so good, allowing us this time together.

My health holds steady.  I'm on a new treatment that has "Death" listed as a possible side effect which was a bit scary at first, but 5 weeks into the new treatment, I'm still standing and feeling good.  There are heavy steroids involved which stay in my body for 36 hours so I have a "steroid high" for a solid day and half.  I'll take that over Death, any day!!  I still have good days and bad days but thanks to God, I've been blessed with more good days.  I feel so many prayers going up to God on our behalf.  To say that this treatment is a breeze would not be true, however, I'm holding up pretty well compared to others who are on this same regimen.

Our grandgirls are a blast to be around! They makes us feel both young and tired at the same time.  Our daughter and son-in-law are fantastic parents and have raised great girls.  We love having them around and are so happy that we get to watch them.  It both helps out our daughter and son-in-law with work schedules and allows us to play with them for a few hours a week.

Divine

August

Our Littles are still little and one of them, Divine, loves this summer  heat -which we are having a lot of - while August is like Hubby and looking for cool spots to wait this heat out.  AC is his best friend at the moment.

We are having a heat/rain wave.  It seams that it is either really hot or really wet!  We've had several days of downpours (glad we live on a mountain) and then it's just hot and muggy.  I love it but  no one else seems to.  Winter is long and cold up here in New Hampshire so when summer finally shows up, I take full pleasure in it.

Well, I guess that's me in a nut shell.  We are here, we are blessed, we are happy and happily retired.  
How are you doing?

Thank you once again Joyce for such great questions.  Here are my answers, give me yours. 

1. What's something in your house you'd like to get rid of but can't?

I would love to get rid of our windows.  They are old, tired, and I'm sure leak lots of cold air in the winter, which I hate.  Cost is the issue however.  We are not handy in those things so the cost would include not only the windows, but installing them. Oh well!!!!

2. When is the last time you experienced a sense of nostalgia? Elaborate.

This last weekend, we had the pleasure of having our grandgirls over for the night.  It was so wonderful seeing how sweet they are and how they are growing.  Our daughter is a wonderful mother and watching her with her girls brings tears to my eyes and swells my heart with pride.  


3. You're only allowed three apps on your smart phone or tablet...which three do you keep?

My Bible of course, so that I can have God's word with me always.  FB so that I can keep up with all the people I love, and Messages because I text more than I call these days.  


4. July 11th is National Blueberry Muffin Day. Who knew? Do you like blueberry muffins? If you were going to have a muffin would blueberry be your choice? What's the last thing you baked?

I do like blueberry muffins and that is my go to muffin when we do get muffins.  There are others that I like, Apple, Cinnamon and also Carrot.  But Blueberry is the one I order most.  The last thing that I baked was a long time ago when it was cool enough to turn on the oven.  I'm going to say that it was American Chop Suey.  

5. What's the biggest way you've changed since you were a child? In what way are you still the same?

WOW! This is a tough question! It's been a long time since I was a child. I would say that I am more confident now. I was very shy as a child (I sturttered when I spoke so I didn't talk much).  I am not so shy now.  I've embraced my being an introvert.  I am who I am and I am comfortable in my skin now.  
I still enjoy my own company.  I'm ok in a quiet house, or sitting in the back yard, or coloring in the morning.  
6. Insert your own random thought here.

We just had our president nominate a new Supreme Court Justince.  I hope and pray that he is passed through the process quickly and can start his new job soon.  I sometimes hear those other people complaining and whining about how they already don't like him (some complained even before he was nominated.)  They sound like a 2 years old having a temper tantrum! I want to put them in a time out in a corner untill they they grow up a bit.   Seems like they all want us to be tolerant of everyone and everything but only if it agrees with what they are tolerant of.  Too bad, I have my own mind and I will not be bullied by a 2 year old!  Have a great week everyone.  

Summertime, and the living is easy........

Thank you Joyce for the questions. These were hard this week.  Here are my answers. 

1. Security or freedom? Can you have both? Explain.
Yes, but only if you are willing to participate in the process.  By that I mean, vote, get involved, learn the facts and be civil in the process.  It's ok to disagree, it's not ok to be mean in the process.  If you refuse to be part of the solution, then you don'd deserve either security or freedom and will loose both.

2. If you could visit any historical American site what would it be? Why?
I think it would be Washington DC.  That's were our history is.  

3. Free as a bird, free reign, be free of, free enterprise, free trip, walk away scot free, free for all...which 'free' phrase can best be applied to your life in recent days or weeks? Explain.
Be free of side affects from the most recent chemo routine.  It feels good to not be sick from the very thing that is suppose to make you feel better.  

4. Something in your frig that's red? Something in your house that's white? Something in your view that's blue?
Watermelon in the frig, white paint around door frames, and a blue sign on the wall that says " The Day God Made Dogs, He Just Sat Down and Smiled.

5. July 27th is National New Jersey Day. Have you ever visited The Garden State? If so where did you go? Are there diners where you live? Have you tried Taylor Pork Roll? Do you like to play Monopoly? Salt water taffy-yay or nay? How do you feel about shopping at the mall? Springsteen, Sinatra, or Bon Jovi-you have to pick one.
We have driven through the state but we never really stopped and visited the state.  

Yes we have a small diner in our town, it's called Chiggy's Place. Very good food and great coffee

No never had a Taylor Pork Ross

No do not like to play Monopoly

Nay to Salt water taffy

Hate shopping at the mall

I would pick Sinatra

Raise your hand if you know why these add-on questions are appropriate on 

National NJ Day.
My hand is raised!  I got it!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I had a stomach bug, it was terrible, but it was no worse than what anyone else would get so that was wonderful!  My immune system is still holding strong!  

MY LOVE OF MOWING GRASS!

I mentioned that I was thrilled to be able to take back the yard work detail here at the homestead.  Most people were happy for me and hoped that I just took it easy and didn’t over do it.  Some were wondering about my willingness to mow while hubby was doing it.  Here’s my story.

Hubby and I have been married for almost 46 years. For most of that he has been a police officer. That meant that he worked rotating shifts, holidays and weekends. I have a cousin who is married to a fireman. That means that he works 24-36 hour shilft away from home and he too works weekends and holidays. We learned to take over and do things that were maybe considered “man work” but we didn’t think of it that way, we just did what needed to be done.

We started getting each other tools for birthdays and Christmas and even got each other tool boxes. We either could not find our husbands tools, or we didn’t know how to use them, so we started collecting our own. We leaned to make simple repairs at each other’s house and it was fun.  We started mowing the lawns because our men were either slipping or working and hubby discovered he couldn’t  breath when he mowed. I discovered that our kids never showed up while I was mowing to complain about anything because my answer was always the same “here pull some weeds, it will all be fine” I was left alone to think, pray, daydream, ponder what our yard would like or just listened to the quiet of mowing. I like it a lot. So it became my job which I loved.  Having to give it up hurt my heart. I’d been doing it for most of our 46 years together.

My heart is so glad to have this task back! I walk behind the mower and once again I find myself daydreaming, praying, and thinking about what the yard will look like after all the TLC it’s getting. My heart is happy again.

So enjoy what your heart is happy about.  Thank God for a happy heart!

Last Day of Spring Hodgepodge

1. Summer is upon us this week in the Northern hemisphere. Tell us three things on your summer bucket list.

1. Reclaim the grass!  Hubby has done the mowing for the past few years, which was wonderful of him to do since I couldn't but I love working on my lawn.  He didn't feed the lawn much and so over the past few years, the lawn looks neglected and now looks terrible!  Now that I'm feeling stronger, I have taken back the job of lawn care and am starting over to reclaim it and make it look FABULOUS!  It will be better next year because of all the work I'm going to put into it this year.  

2. Arcadia National Park in Maine!  I love this place and want badly to go back to it for a day, or better yet a weekend.  It's just beautiful up there.  

3. See more Baseball games.  We have a local team ( New Hampshire Fisher Cats) up here and the ballpark is nice.  We have gone to one game, but I would like to go a few more times for a Date Night.

2. Something fun you used to do as a kid in the summertime?

There was a local pond that we could walk to and go swimming.  There was a life guard on duty of course and a place where you could change your clothes and get a hot dog, chips and even ice cream if you wanted.  My girl friend, Sue, and I would walk down, spend the entire day (without adult supervision) and stop on the way back to get a soft serve ice cream from the small stand on the walk home.  It took us just a few minutes to walk there and back and we stayed the entire day.  Both of us were blond, light skinned girls so we never tanned - we burned - but loved swimming all day.  

3. Rooftop or backyard? Why?

 I can't remember ever going to a rooftop party but have been to lots of backyard parties.  I love being at those.  It gave me a chance to sit in the sun, visit others and even stick my feet in the kiddy pool to cool off.  I guess I could do that on a rooftop party but something about walking barefoot on the grass is just so soothing to the soul. 

4. Do you read food labels? Place importance on them? Make an effort to find out/care about where your food comes from?

For foods that I always get all the time, no, I don't look at the label.  But new things? Oh Yes I do!!  I need to know what I'm putting in my body for lots of reasons but mixing "things" I can't pronounce and Chemo drugs can be a real probblem so I look at labels.  In this day and age, knowing what is going into my body is very improtant.

5. A song you'll have on repeat this summer?

Well one song will not do.  It's the whole album!  ABBA!  Need I say more? Why yes, yes I do, It's not Summer without the Beach Boys!  So these 2 play over and over all summer, and fall!
 
6. Insert your own random thought here.


My mind is full of random thoughts today so here is part of the list running through my head today - and of course it's all the same time:
- This is week 2 of a new very strong Chemo infusion.  Last week went great and this week should be the same.  
- Did I put the lawn mower away after I mowed yesterday? - why can't I remember?
- That apple muffin was good, haven't had an apple muffin in a very long time.
- Boy, poor Hubby is going to have a long day today as this infusion takes a long time and he is just sitting here all day with me.
- A year ago I was back to work for a few hours each day, this year I am no longer working and sitting here getting premeds to protect me from the drug that I will get in about an hour.
There's more, but you get the point.  My poor head!!

A Hodgepodge of a Hodgepodge!

Good Morning all!  I hope you are enjoying the beautiful day we are having and enjoying the questions Joyce has for us today.  Come join us as we answer them.

1. What happens to the mail at your house?

Most of it goes right into the trash.  It's just junk after all.  I'm tempted to send it back by marking "Return to Sender" and having the company pay for postage for both directions but I don't.  That seems to just take too much time to do that.  

2. Something you always splurge on? Any guilt associated with the splurge?

I don't splurge on much, I'm pretty simple but I do like Jiff peanut butter and that is the brand that I spend money on.  I know that there are other brands that are more healthy but I like Jiff, so I buy that.  I feel no guilt at all.  

3. There are many, but what are two important questions you think every bride and groom should ask/answer before they plan their walk down the aisle?

WOW, after being married for so long it's hard to remember what we should have talked about before  we got married but I think the conversation about children (do you both want them and how many, how far apart, who will stay home with them or are you both going to work and have a sitter or use a daycare etc) and plans about where to live (which state, near parents or not, house, apartment, condo, etc) are the questions they should talk about.  I know that is most likely more than 2 questions, but really, important  questions.  

4. What's the best advice your father ever gave you?

Swing as high as you can on the swing but make sure you can jump off safely if you need to.  

5. Your favorite movie where a father features heavily in the storyline?

3 Men and Baby.   

These 3 men who know nothing about babies learn to raise one and learn to love someone else beside themselves.  Babies don't come with directions after all do they. 

 
6. Insert your own random thought here.

I was out with some friends on Tuesday and as always we were sharing some of our past.  I discovered that I am surrounded by very strong, determined, brave women who have faced tough times or are currently facing tough times but they do it with laughter, a smile, conviction to do the right thing, and a strong belief in a God who loves them and cares for them.  I can learn a lot from my friends.  I love my friends.  I hope you all love yours.  Have a great week.  

Mow over Hodgepodge!

Thank you Joyce for the questions, here are my answers.  

1. Describe your 30's in one sentence. If you're not yet 30 tell us one thing you hope to accomplish once you hit that particular decade.

The best of times.  

2. Is it harder for you to exercise or eat healthy?

Exercise, for sure.  

3. June 7th is National VCR Day. Huh? Anyway this reminded me of something I saw on Facebook listing household items we no longer have and the VCR was on it. I couldn't put my hands on that list, but found another list here of 21 items we all had ten years ago, but which are now obsolete-

bookshelves (WHAT!!???), drip coffee makers, alarm clocks, file cabinets, desktop computers, printers, printed phone books, answering machines, fax machines, paper shredders, a Rolodex, CD racks, CD burners, china cabinets, home phones, entertainment consoles, DVD players, calculators, takeout menus, incandescent light bulbs, and cable TV

Your thoughts? How many on the list do you still have? Still use?

Bookshelves?  Yes we have lots as we have lots of books. 
Drip coffee maker?  Not any more.
Alarm Clocks? Yes we have 2 old ones in our offices to keep track of the time.  
File Cabinets?  Yes, Where else do you keep the manuals of all the things we buy. 
Desktop computers? Yes, Hubby likes the really big monitor.
Printers? Yes.
Printed phone books? Every fall the town sends us a new one, I'm always surprised to see how small it is and it covers a few towns around us.  
Answering Machine? There is one attached to our land line so yes. 
Fax machine? Our printer is a fax machine as well,  I can't figure out how to use it so yes we have one but we don't use it.  Most things can be set via email right? 
Paper Shredder? Yup, still have one and still use it.
Roledx,CD racks,CD burner, China Cabinet? Nope, none 
Home phone? Yup still have it but most people call our cell.
Entertainment consoles? No. 
DVD player, calculators? Yup, still have them.
Take out menus?  Yes but we don't use them as much as we use to.  We use on line ordering most of the times.
Incandescent light bulbs? I think we still have some in the house.
Cable?  Yup we still have it. 

4. What's something you see disappearing in the next ten years?

Keys, both car and house. It will all be some sort of scanner.

5. How did you celebrate your birthday this past year? Is that typical?

I celebrated my birthday with a beautiful card, a nice meal for both breakfast and dinner, (no cooking and no clean up) a sweet card and the day to play in the yard. No one to bug me. Our children called me to sing Happy Birthday over the phone and talk for a bit about life.  It was lovely and yes, that is the typical day for me.  I love the ease of being home and and it's quiet and I can play in the yard, in the dirt.  

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I love to mow the lawn, I love the smell of freshly cut grass, the different patterns that I can put in the lawn, the peace of no one interupting me for something.  For the past few  years, I've not been able to mow and so Hubby has been doing it.  He doesn't like to mow but did it for me every month without grumbling for a few years.  He loves me.  I tried to mow a few weeks ago but the pull cord was too hard for me to pull and the mower was a bit too heavy to push. 
Imagine my joy when Hubby got me a new electric mower!!  I love my little green machine.  It starts with a push of a buton, it pushes easily, has 5 different heights to pick from and is a lot more quiet than the gas model.  I can get out to mow at 6 am if I want and not disturb the neighbors. 
I am such a happy girl! I can walk and mow and pray again.   Have a nice week everyone. 

The Official Start of Summer is Here Hodgepodge.

These questions always make me think which is something that really takes time.  Thank you Joyce. 

1. The last place you visited/patronized where you felt like you were given 'the royal treatment'?

This is easy.  Last Sunday Hubby brought home flowers for me.  I'd been grounded for a week and couldn't go to worship.  I love going to worship, and singing with all my "brothers and sisters." The sound is so beautiful.  The sermon is always so meaningful.  I was pretty sad about being stuck in the house with no one but the Littles to hang with.  The flowers really picked me up.

2. The last task you completed that was a 'royal pain'?

WOW this one is hard because there is really nothing that I can think of that is a real 'royal pain' to do.  I guess paying bills.  It's a necessary evil I guess. 

3. How have your strengths helped you succeed? How have your faults hindered you?

Living with cancer can really create times of depression, but I refuse to go there. I keep looking for the things that I can still do and really try to not think about the things that I can no longer do.  

As for my faults, I tend to go to the dark side of things fast.  Example: I have a doctor's appointment Friday with one of my oncologists and my mind wants to think "Oh No! We're out of options and he is going to tell me that I'm out of time?"  See...the dark side!  I really have to yell at myself and say "NO! He's going to me tell me what the new plan is and that it will all be OK.  That I'm strong enough to tackle this."  

4. If you found a remote that could rewind, fast forward, stop and start time, what would you do with it?

Well it sure wouldn't be 'fast forward'!  Time goes by too fast as it is. I'm sure not going to help it along.  I think I would like to rewind and relive some of the great times we had when our kids were little but I wonder if I would still make the same mistakes.  Maybe I'd just toss the remote because I'm not sure you can relive the past without changing it which would change the present. I like the present. 


5. Any special plans for the Memorial Day weekend? Will you in some way honor or recognize the meaning of this day (remembering people who died in service to their country)? Have you ever been to Arlington National Cemetery? Does your town do anything special to mark the day?

 We will most likely lay low.  Nothing special although I would like to go the beach and walk around if the weather is nice.  I've not been to Arlington National Cemetery but it's on my bucket list.  Our town does have a cute parade which is always fun.  Of course there will be tv movies about WWII that we will most likely watch and remember.  My dad was not in the military but my Father-In-Law was. So we will watch and thank all of the military for their sacrifice. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Well my white count came up so thank you all for the many prayers.  I still can't start Chemo however, because in the 3 weeks we waited for the white count to grow, the cancer grew very fast.  So on Friday, we see my oncologist to create a new plan.  Not sure what that plan will be, but we'll talk.  
There is a shingles vaccine that is a dead vaccine and one that my primary care doctor said I can have.  So we are going to talk about that with our oncologist and see if I can get it.  It will mean that I can stop taking the pill that I now take 2x a day to prevent getting the shingles!  That is huge!  I can now stop taking the drug to lower my cholesterol as it is down.  I love not having to take so many drugs.

Happy Memorial Day to you all and Thank you to all those who have served in the past and continue to serve today.  

A SMALL STEP BACKWARD HODGEPODGE

Thank you Joyce for the questions this week.  These are a challenge for me!  

1. What would you say is your biggest day to day challenge?

WOW! This first question really hit me hard.  I would have to say that my biggest challenge is finding "Normal".  There is not really a normal anymore when you live with cancer.  Everything and anything can become hard.  I feel as if I live in a bubble that will pop at any time and I will end up back in the hospital.  Push too hard, do too much, visit too many and I'm stuck in the house with some minor bug or too tired to continue with my chemo.  Not sure what is normal anymore.  


2. May 16th is National Biographers Day. What's a biography you really enjoyed reading? Is this a genre you read regularly?

This is not something that I read regularly so I had to really think about this.  I think it was the Diary of Ann Frank.  Hearing her side of life and knowing the ending was interesting.  

3. How important is keeping a clean house? Do you need to de-clutter your life?

I love a clean house.  Now, not the hospital clean mind you, but the kind that says come on in and kick your shoes off, relax, here is a glass of iced tea.  Since there are only 2 of us here most of the time, it's pretty easy to keep things tidy.  Hubby helps a lot and often finishes what I start when I run out of steam. Examples?  He will do the dishes when I cook.  He will bring up the laundry from the laundry room when I run out of steam and put them away.  He will cook if I can't -good thing I married a man who knows how to cook. As for de-cluttering my life, my life is not cluttered at the moment, it's pretty simple, which I love.  

4. You're the 8th dwarf. What's your name?

Grateful. I have a God who loves me and died for me.   I have a hubby who loves me and takes care of me.  I have friends who love me and pray for me.  I have grandchildren who make me smile and laugh.  I just learned that our oldest grandson is content with his life and wants nothing for his birthday.  If only we all could learn to be content with what we have.  What a great boy he is!!

5. What's surprised you the most about your life or life in general?

How time flies!  Really, you blink and your kids are grown and gone living great lives and being productive members of society.  You look at your husband and realize that soon your 46th wedding anniversary will be in a few months and wonder "when on earth did that happen?"


6. Insert your own random thought here.

Well last week I told you that I needed to grow white cells and so I was grounded.  I'm still grounded, as I didn't grow them, in fact my numbers went in the wrong direction.  My white count went down even more, not up.  I'm stuck home and grounded again.  Can't go out in public at all.  Stuck at home.  We'll try again on Monday.  See, Frustration is my name right now.  

Summertime and the livin' is easy!!

It looks like we, here in the upper right hand corner of the USA, have skipped Spring and have jumped right into Summer.  Our nights are in the 30's and our days are in the high 70's- low 80's!  Oh my!  There is green everywhere and I for one am loving it!  But I must stop what I'm doing and join Joyce in the Hodgepodge this week.  

1. What are your ingredients for a perfect Saturday?

Sleeping in late (for me that would be 7am) then out to brunch with Hubby. Perfect weather to play in the yard and then out to a lake or some body of water with Hubby and  the Littles (the dogs) so that we can sit by the water and the Littles can walk around in the water. Then an easy dinner and then relax the night away.  

2. What skill do you wish more people took the time to learn?
Oh please, learn how to invest your money for the future. Learn life skills like how to sew on a button, or cook a simple meal, balance a check book, and say Please and Thank You!!

3. What's something you ate as a child you can't stand now as an adult?
New England Boiled Dinner! We had this pressure cooked meal in the fall and winter and it may have been easy to prepare, but I really hated it!  I swore to myself that once I was out of the house I would never again make or eat this meal.  I've not had it in almost 46 years since Hubby also dosen't care for it.  

4. Something parenting has taught you? If you're not a parent tell us one important lesson you learned from your own parents.
Just because your children have your genes, they do not necessarily have your personality.  They are truly their own person and you need to let them be themselves!  Don't try to make them into a mini verson of you.  Enjoy the person who God is turning them into.  You will be surprised, pleased, honored, and blessed at the people they become.  

5. Share a favorite quote or saying about mothers or motherhood.

"Every wise woman builds her household, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands."  Proverbs 14:1  We have so much more power than we realize we have.  This quote is for woman in general, not just those who have children.  I love that. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

As I said above, we have jumped right into Summer so I've been spliting my time between gardening, refinishing our dining room chairs and resting.  I love to garden and I love to refinish wood furniture, but my white cell count was too low this week to begin another chemo cycle, so I have to rest and grow more white cells so that when I have another blood test on Monday I'll have enough white cells to begin another cycle which of course kills my white cells.  What a  strange state of affairs this is! 

So on any given day you will find me Here:

Working on the plants behind the sitting area...

...or the flower boxes...

...or in the containers we have.

Or Here:

The chairs are becoming a nice dark red color.

Or even Here:

Resting/growing white blood cells!