Christmas with Family

A few pictures of our visit with family over Christmas.

Pre-Christmas Happenings

Emily and Jonny flew to Indiana on the 11th, then left the next day for Kentucky to visit with friends and family. They returned to Lafayette this past Sunday and will be joined by Mark, Lori and baby Claire tonight in preparation for celebrating Christmas here in the morning.

Today, while visiting with Mom, the Martin roses arrived. They are beautiful and look quite elegant in Mama Jo's room. We will pick her up tomorrow to celebrate with the immediate family then she'll be here on Saturday when we celebrate with Deke's mom and brothers.

If I don't get back to blogging before Friday, I want to wish everyone a very blessed Christmas!

Emily and Jonny sharing a "cheesy" moment

Caroling with Carole

A few days ago, Carole invited Mom and me to her home for lunch. So yesterday, after Mom's hair appointment, we went for a delightful lunch of spicy bean soup and melt-in-your-mouth cornbread. After lunch, we roamed the house admiring all the beautiful decorations and reminiscing over all the family pictures hanging on the wall. It was a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon.

Christmas at the Home

Tonight was the Christmas party for residents and family member of assisted living where Mom is living. It was a wonderful gathering and was chocked full of activities and food. We all gathered in the main lobby where the tables were set with festive tablecloths etc. We went through the line for the traditional fare then listened to an "Old Order German Baptist" choir made up of families from the Flora and Rossville congregations. They sang Christmas carols a capella and had the richest and most beautiful harmony imaginable. Then Santa made his entrance with Mrs. Claus and an elf. They handed out presents to all the residents who oohed and ahhed their way through ribbons and bows and brightly colored paper packages. It was a fun evening and Mom was in her element.

Christmas Extravaganza

1950's Quartet backstage

Tonight was our last night for our church Christmas program. It was a huge production with rented costumes,spectacular lighting, special effects, superb acting and magnificent singing. Really good!!! The very best scene was a little 7 year old singing "Happy Birthday, Jesus." He sang incredibly, but he stole the show when at the end of his song, he stood at the manger, picked up baby Jesus and kissed him while saying, "I love you, Jesus." Every Mom in the place said in unison, "Ohhhhhhh."

But the second best act might have been the 1950's quartet made up of 4 incredible pastors! They did a marvelous job of belting out, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Deke was disgusted that the quartet was required to do 4 things at once: sway, snap fingers, sing and smile! He said the director could choose only one requirement because that's all he could do at one time. But he made it through both nights and even managed to sing his part! It was great fun and a wonderful way to begin the celebration of Jesus' birth!

Thank the Lord we celebrated Thanksgiving today. I told Deke I was so sick of seeing my birthday blog pictures, something better happen soon so that I could replace the Nov 7th entry!

We had a wonderful celebration at Max and Dianne's home in Lafayette. We picked up Mama Jo around 11:00 to take her with us. The nurse was surprised to learn that Mom would be staying overnight with us (told them at least twice) and proceeded to run around trying to get Mom's meds ready. When I learned that the nurse would have to call someone to get a special permit to open the safe in another part of the building, I told her to just forget it- we would bring Mom back for the night. So we headed to Lafayette and had a delightful Thanksgiving meal with the Joneses.

After dinner, the men napped or played with computers in the basement while we women huffed and puffed getting a workout with the Wii exercise game. After a final snack of shrimp, cheese etc we packed up Mom and Grandma Mary and headed out the door. By the time we left Lafayette, the temp had dropped at least 10 degrees with a stiff wind out of the north. As we passed the mall, we saw where people were lined up outside Best Buy for Black Friday. We remarked that we didn't feel saving $100 would motivate us to stand outside all night in this blustery weather. After dropping Mom off in Rossville, we headed home to relax with full tummies and grateful hearts.

A little deviation from the typical "at the table" pose

Grandma Mary

Mama Jo

Three Brothers

Ken

Happy Birthday to Me Again

Church office staff

Well, last night was a huge surprise for me. We had invited 2 couples over for dinner, cards and movie night when 2 more couples crashed the scene carrying a lighted birthday cake singing "Happy Birthday." It was a huge surprise. Deke pulled a real coup and kept the secret from me. We had a great time eating cake and playing "Up and Down." Again, a good time was had by all.

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my 61st birthday. Unbelievable that I am almost eligible for Social Security! Anyway, Deke surprised me by coming home in the early afternoon with Mama Jo in tow. Deke said we were to accomplish two things: shop 'till we dropped then eat 'till we were stuffed. We went to the mall and found a few items that fit in nicely with my wardrobe then proceeded to Red Lobster where the "endless shrimp" special was in progress. So we accomplished the two objectives and and great time was had by all.

A Visit with Mama Jo

Mama Jo's dental lower partial broke last week so I took it to her dentist for repair. Today I picked it up and took it to her-doesn't fit! So now we go back next week to try to get the thing fitted.

When I arrived at Mom's apartment, she was watching a movie in the lounge. She was happy to see me and we looked through a new picture album I took for her. Her albums contain old pictures of family members so it's a walk down non-memory lane as we peruse the pics. Actually she pulled some names out of the hat today that amazed me, but mostly she is clueless when naming family and friends.

I washed a load of clothes for her (I usually do that every Friday) and we worked on a jigsaw puzzle set up in one of the lounges. I also ate a brownie and drank some coffee while sitting with the residents during their lunch hour (forgot to get a picture at the lunch table).

I left her sitting in the lounge while she was once again going through the picture album. It was a nice visit.

I Lost a Good Friend This Morning

Yuck!

Clean but but no longer breathing

Well, I guess I'm getting desperate when I start blogging about my basement refrigerator that goes on the blink. But to me it's big news and sad news to boot because we've had that refrigerator since our Beavercreek, Ohio, days and it's been a good friend. Dependable. Reliable. Efficient. Has supported me in many a meal preparation and doesn't give me a cold shoulder very often. Our friendship has lasted for 26 years, as long as Emily's been born.

I expect it's the condenser but not being a mechanic, I could be wrong. Maybe it's just tired and wants to go to the frig graveyard. Should I resuscitate? Can I just let a friend slip away unnoticed and unwanted? Do I replace it with a brand new companion- one eager to please but probably not nearly as reliable or user-friendly? Do I really want to spend the time, money and energy breaking in a new relationship?

Oh woe is me. To do or not to do. That is the question.

Indiana "Falling" Away

This weekend some friends from Michigan came for a short visit. We walked the Erie Canal in Delphi and toured the museum in the Interpretive Center. The trees are in full fall foliage and oh so beautiful right now.

Perkins Pond near our house

Deke explaining the locks to Ryan and Gabrielle

Touring the museum in Delphi

Pastor Deke-Circuit Rider

There's Just No Quitin'

As unbelievable as it may appear, this little birdie is still hanging from the power line. His fellow executed friend fell off the wire a couple of days after I took the first pictures, but this guy just won't quit. Deke sees him daily as he goes to work. This little guy has gone through a windstorm and 2 rainstorms yet has held on. When both of the birds were still hanging, we stopped one day to observe them up close and to check the ditch for other carnage. We were standing there observing things when a car stopped on the road. Some lady lowered her window and commenced to tell us all about the birds and her daily observation of their predicament. Apparently the crispy critters have been a topic of conversation for many a traveler. Just thought you'd like an update.

Apple Festival

Last Saturday, we picked up Mama Jo and took her with us to Wesley Manor for the Apple Festival. We go every year to be with Grandma Mary who lives in the village. We roamed the booths, scavenged the garage sale items, and ate an apple dumpling that would put a diabetic in a coma. After the festivities, we returned to Gr Jones' house for some more coffee and a tiny sliver of apple pie a la mode.

Bye-bye Birdie

Unbelievable sight. Deke and I were driving home from church today when Deke says, "What was that?"

Of course I hadn't seen anything so I could not comment. He proceeds to back up the car and we stop next to the electrical wire where, astonishingly, two birds are hanging from the wire upside down, dead! Fried. Singed. Rigor mortised. Dehydrated. Just hanging from their little feet upside down, dead. Never had we ever seen such a sight. The reason I didn't get both of them in one shot was because they were spaced about 20 feet apart. It's hard enough telling what they are even with the camera zoomed completely.

Has anyone ever seen this before? And the question arises: How could this have happened? For them to be fried as they were, they would have had to have touched both wires at the same time. And how in the world could they have hung on by their little feet after the electrocution? What happened to these birds????

We need CSI to do some investigating. I'm hoping the satellites captured the carnage on one of their surveillance cameras. Surely there are some clues that we missed on the wires. Were there other dead little critters in the ditch? Did a meteor zoom out of the night sky and wipe out two little innocent birdies just resting on the wire? Did they simultaneously lick the wire? Were they bat wannabes? Did their fellow birdies take them out?

There has to be a closing for these little birds to rest in peace. Any ideas?

You say Potahto-I say Putaduh

October 1st. Potato digging time.

I just walked back from the garden with two 5-gallon buckets filled with newly-dug potatoes. I planted a mixture of russets and Idaho bakers, and given it was my first attempt at growing them, I'm pleased with the results.

I also picked the last of the tomatoes. Mixed in with the produce were green peppers, which are still producing splendidly, plus I did get 6 green beans after the deer completely whacked off all of the tops on my second planting. Oh, well. All in all, this garden year was very bounteous.

I know this looks like a pile of weeds, but buried within the hill are plump, delicious potatoes just waiting for someone to dig them up.

This is the bounty under one hill.

After digging out 6 hills, this was the take.