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.