Blossoms

Today's gift

It's the sky - it's that unbelievable heavenly shade of blue today and to celebrate I went outside to pick black walnuts up off of the grass in the backyard. This may sound like an easy job, but in reality it is very dangerous!! These nuts are the size of tennis balls and are dropping from the branches of the tree just like rain - almost constantly. I have considered wearing one of the boys old bike helmets. (That would be considered! ) I would rather look nice and take the chance of getting a knot on the top of my head!!

Much too nice of a day to worry about anything, really. All too soon the gloomy days of winter will arrive and these warm days of heavenly blue skies will be a memory.

All fun, even the work!

Beautiful weather, nice weekend. Steve left for his folks in Minnesota on Friday, and I was very productive cleaning and rearranging in the family room. Saturday was more of the same, then Delaney came to spend the night. We invited Matthew and Davie over to play SORRY and Delaney won! Then we watched an episode of Perry Mason before they went home. Today the girls and I were at Sunday School, then spent the afternoon here. Delaney, Ella and I went on a lovely walk around the neighborhood before they went home around 4:30 pm. Tomorrow I will finish things up in the family room before Steve gets in around 7:30 pm. I will end the day with a "Stampin' Up" party at Gloria's in the evening. Should be alot of fun!

October, really?

Well, I guess there's no getting away from it - summer is really over, and several things bear that out. I haven't seen a hummingbird since Sunday so they must have left for warmer climes. The Heavenly Blue morning glories have just about slowed to a halt as I only now see one or two open each day. Here and there I can see a tinge of color on the leaves and our black walnut is dropping leaves and nuts - always the first to go and the last to leaf out in spring. And most importantly, for tonight's supper I have a roast in the oven - and I don't cook many things inside until the weather turns a bit crisp. Should taste mighty good!

Actually, I kind of look forward to this season!

Ukelele Ella

I picked Ella up from morning Kindergarten today, and we made a stop at Sam Ash Music to say hello to Uncle Matthew. He encourages his nieces in every form of music enjoyment and so today he bought Ella her first ukelele. She always admires them each time we go into that store and wishes she had one to add to her growing collection of instruments (maracas, tambourine and a floor drum) so she was thrilled when Uncle Matthew handed it to her! She can play pretty well actually, and soon enough she was strumming and I was "singing along" with Aloha Oe. After supper Steve was playing some Beatles tunes on his guitar (Ella knows most of their songs by heart!) and she was playing her ukelele - when Taylor walked in to pick her up he was duly impressed!

All of this is good practice for the career Ella has chosen as a Rock Star!!!

Ummm, that tasted great!

Saturday evening I peeled apples and Delaney cut them into slices for a cobbler. Turns out Delaney LOVES apple cobbler and as soon as it came out of the oven she had to scoop some out of the pan to cool off and after a short wait, gobble it down! Must say it tasted pretty fantastic....all gone now:(

Goodbye

A fine person, and very talented actor died today ~ Paul Newman at the age of 83. Besides his acting ability, he was known for his philanthropy - by placing his name on salad dressing, pasta sauce, salsa and dog food he was able to donate more than 220 million dollars in profits to a variety of charities. Perhaps the best tribute is that his children and wife only have wonderful things to say about him as a dad and husband. That's all that anyone of us could ask.

Any day now...

...will be the last one that I see the hummingbirds until next spring! I usually begin to keep track of each day they show up starting about September 20. The past two years I have observed at least one at the nectar feeder as late as October 1. I never tire of watching their fluid motion and the iridescence of their feathers!

Oodles of Apples

On Saturday I made my 27th annual apple-picking trip to Stuckey Farm. We took Delaney (10th trip) and Ella (5th trip) who both love going out in the country to pick apples and have a ride on the hay wagon. It is a bumper crop year ~ one tree could provide all we needed, but choosing to pick from alot of varieties and trees was more fun! We also bought gourds, pumpkins, apple cider and popcorn. Next up - apple pie!!

Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet

The concert last night was great! It was in a small venue and Matthew, Davie and I sat not 15 feet away from the stage area. Just to hear Bela Fleck play his banjo was worth the price of admission, he being the absolute top banjo player in the whole wide world. Then Abigail Washburn plays banjo too, and has a fantastic voice. They sang a very unusual arrangement of “His Eye is on the Sparrow” which I guess was the inspiration for their name. The other two guys played cello, and 5 string fiddle. Saw several people I knew there, including my dentist! I would say that over half of the audience was my age or older, then all the way down to 25ish. They played about 20 pieces, and a lot of solo stuff too. It isn’t run of the mill music for sure. It started at 8:30 and I got home around 11:30 I think. Nothing like live music.

A well-traveled hurricane

On Sunday afternoon we experienced the effects of Hurricane Ike, all the way up here in Indianapolis. We had rain and terrifically strong winds - enought to knock our power out 4 separate times, the worst time being at the very end of the Vikings/Colts game on TV! We were scrambling around like mad trying to find the right batteries for a transistor radio! As of today there are still 15,000 homes without power here, and at least seven people lost their lives due to the storm. Nothing like the damage Ike delivered down in Texas, but as much of a taste of a hurricane that I would ever want!

More shared birthdays

Today my friend Shelbe (known as a great Preschool director and now a fellow coffee club member!) celebrates her birthday as does Steve's mother Mary Elizabeth (known for her exquisite knitting abilities and unmatched crossword and jigsaw puzzle skills!) ~ a very Happy Birthday to both of these wonderful ladies!

Remembering

Thinking about the attacks on America seven years ago, and thanking the service men and women who are fighting for our country right now because of the horrid events of that day...

This morning, the scent of autumn

It is a very crisp morning ~ the slant of sunlight and the fragrance in the air is unmistakably that of autumn. I'm not sure I can let go of summer just yet!

This from one of my favorite poets...

Growth

At what instant does the summer change?
What subtle chemistry of air
and sunlight on the clean and windsmooth sand?
The small birds at the water's edge -
yesterday they were not there.
So suddenly the magic door is shut,
the trio suddenly is done,
the clasped hands inexplicably apart;
however dear, however bright,
the road we traveled on is gone.

Jane Tyson Clement

Rally Day

Yesterday at church the Sunday School year officially began with an opening program of music and information about the education opportunities available at Pilgrim. At the appointed time the children went up in front to sing some songs they had learned at Vacation Bible School in July. Hand-in-hand, Delaney led Ella to join the rest of the kids and they sang their little hearts out! The cutest part I think are all the different hand movements that go along with the words - both girls knew them so well, and their future in show choir flashed across my mind!!

The Lady from Alaska

The whole world's a stage...Sarah Palin is commanding it right now, without a doubt. I watched some of her acceptance speech on TV last night and one can't help but think she is not your garden variety politician. Sort of a hybrid she is.

What's sort of interesting to me is that the Palin family is from Wasilla, Alaska - I’ve been to Wasilla, ate lunch in a restaurant there en route to Denali National Park (Mount McKinley). For whatever that’s worth!!! Also, on the subject of her kid's names being unusual - my Alaska cousins can make the same claim. There's "Ranger" and his sister "Gypsy" (married name is Gypsy Jolly!).

No drab, dull or dry election campaign this time. Too many "firsts" are at stake!