IN Carmel

  Holly Hocks.  A memory of our summer camping in the UP of Michigan.  Cool breezes in a gentle sun.  The day started slow and I just kept it that way for a while.  I did all the crossword puzzles I missed while in Georgia.  Some were easy some not so easy but eventually, they were all completed. There was talk yesterday about Jared getting the Honda we traded in.  It was maybe, then no and eventually it turned to a yes that we heard this morning.  So Jared and Kimmy are doing a quick trip arriving here around 11 tonight.  Honda opens at 9 am. All the paperwork is completed. Our salesman Mr. Walker has gone beyond the call of duty.   I made a trip to Aldi's for some Granny Smiths and will deliver a pie to Tom marking our gratitude for messing more with our family than he needed to.  Kimmy said a long time ago that their next car would be a Honda.  It will be our trade in!  They gain a car driven for three years by two old folks who took great care of their car. When leaving Aldi

 Yes, once again an early wake up with the usual eggs for breakfast, restocking the bird food supply in the feeders with the hope they are not too upset with no food the last few days.  It was again wordle and crossword time. All successful.                So far, no takers.  I predict the chickadee will be first.  Their eyes are always open for food.              Clean bird bath water and yummy black sunflower seeds in all feeders.  What more could they want?                                                                                       Maybe consistency.  As you already know the turkey was especially yummy this year.  Maybe the turkey needs to be a big one which it was.  This morning I took care of the leftovers of which there were many.  It's another soup-making morning with tonight's supper ready to go.  Four more containers are ready for the freezer.  Just add celery, onions, a little barley, and walla! It's a soup that contains all the extra mashed potatoes,mea

 Today is the go home day leavin a beautiful place to visit and make memories.  And memories abound a plenty.  Jared and family started out at 5 am and we chose to stay until dawn broke.  Driving through Atlanta with a light on is what we like to do.  The sun was shinning showing off the fact that fall still has allowed leaves to stay on the trees in that part of the country.                                              On the drive immediately after we left the monastery. Downtown Atlanta has so many good-looking buildings with interesting tops.  I tried to take some pictures but just wasn't very successful.   We chose to go home the eastern route which makes such good sense since all of the cities on our trip today have by-passes.  And we drove in the garage at  6:30.  We had some rain and one big traffic slow down north of Knoxville Tn. I was a little spooked about driving on Thanksgiving Sunday.  We usually take that trip on Monday.  It just wasn't a bad experience today.  

Another great day with interesting things to do.  My day started once again with pie on my mind.  The eight pie means that my baking days are over this year in Georgia. This time four have landed in the freezer and not in the oven.  They will stay here and be baked at some later date for the monks.  Perhaps Christmas.  A good clean up happened and breakfast with whoever got up.   The grandsons were the last up of course missing out breakfast.  Adam continues to have difficulty involving his concussion waiting for his first available doctor's appointment in mid-December with the Neurologist.  We have concerns.  Dizziness and inability to sleep are some. A beautiful peaceful sunny morning looking across one of three lakes dug by the monks on their arrival to their new home dug for fire protection many years ago. Deer and geese were our entertainment.  Mid-morning we all walked to the Monastery to meet with Father Peter Damian who now is learning and doing much with sewing.  He has a

 Up early again and this time baker Russell started the morning making two apple pies and 5 apple dumplings for the day.  Rick was the next one up and we always can talk each other off the wall.  The kids meaning Kimmy and Jared were up next and more talk happened.  The morning was long with more folks getting up even later.                                Twenty-four buckets filled with flour and sugar ready to mix with other things to make fruit and nut biscotti one of my favorite pastries.  Twenty four buckets is three days' worth of baking.  The bakery makes fruit cake and wonderful fudge to also support the family of monks. Brother Philip is in charge of the bakery and is always a delight to visit with.   After the bakery visit we walked on to the bookstore.  The nativities are everywhere and always a joy to see.  Books and other items are in great supply.  Again it is great to see friends who work in this area of the monastery.                                                 

 As usual the day started early again.  I needed to be up early to get the turkey in the oven.  It's a big one and I figured that this Butterball needed to start cooking at 6 in order to get done by noon.  Humm...wrong.  It was finished by 10:30.  It had a chance to sit and wait for a while.  Breakfast rolls were the preferred food for the morning with folks appearing all morning from their nest of preference.   Dee invited us to see the church that now has new choir stalls for the monks.  They are beautifully made of walnut and mimic the ceiling of the sanctuary.  They have replaced the stalls that were called temporary at least 60 years ago.  All in due time.      Beautifully made now in a space where worship with prayers are held 5 times a day starting at 4 AM.   Doug, looking like a monk cutting the best turkey we have had in years.  Butter Ball outdid herself.  Back home at the guest house, food once again was the main interest of the morning with all the fixings that Russells

 Our Tuesday trip was very ordinary one with the usual horrendous traffic snarls at Nashville and Chattanooga. The weather was beautiful. and the  Wednesday started at Dalton, Georgia at 6 am.  Off to Atlanta where memories of confirmation trips filled my mind and then on to Conyers.  We had an exciting drive to some places never seen before after leaving Atlanta.  It's still happening after more than 15 years of coming to Georgia.  Getting on to Route 20 out of Atlanta is a doozy and that is also confirmed by Dee who lives here . It now can be called a three-year miss of being in the wrong lane at the wrong time adding this time morning rush hour and the sun in our faces.  But I still find it very amusing.  Laughing at our goofs is the only way to live, particularly if our GPS friend gets us back on the right track.  We arrived at the monastery around 9:30 and were greeted by Doug's brother Rick.  Lots of talk catching up with all that needed to be caught up.  And there is alw

 This morning I made a trip to church to look over all that had happened yesterday at the decorating event.  I picked up the pieces that were left to do.  It's mostly clean up, finish up, and then at some point rest up part.  I added a little touch here and a little touch there, straightening up and putting away.  It all goes with the job. I think the church looks smashingly beautiful.  We have nativities, big candles, banners, shell angels, courtyard lights to name some visuals and grateful that so many items remind us of and help us celebrate the birth of our redeamer. This banner has two makers.  Doris Douglas made the original banner attached to a different background.  The banner had been abused and unfit to hang.  A few years ago I thought it was either fix or toss.  I chose a different background, cut the star from it's first home and moved it to what it is today.  The star is a silver color outlined in black thick yarn.  The muted colors on either side are musical notes

 The big day has arrived.  Well, one of the big days that happens this time of year has arrived.  Another one comes in two days.  Georgia now is on my mind. Today after the second service  Advent/Christmas decorating happened.  It's a huge event for me. Preparation is 9/10ths of the event and lots of directions were shared. It's one of those lessons well learned with many years of teaching. Be prepared.   After doing this for a few years I can almost write every plan that needs to be written from memory.  So in about 1 1/2 hr of work and with great help, this year's job is finished.  I discovered that Sec. Presbyterian Church as well as Broadway UMC  use this day after this service to begin their own celebration of decorating.  We had cookies to eat, and they had lunch.  Cookies carried us through quite well. Less mess to clean up.           Blue again is the color of the season.  Blue a color for love as well as Mary's color.  Small wreaths are around each candle addin

 Sort of a ho hum morning until I got busy.   Busy meant starting the Sarah Ellen project.  It's a big one meaning Santa Clause is coming to Kenya.  But there will be no new clothes until next year.  It seems that the current set has been lost and there is no sleigh heading that way before Christmas..  So I have a little time to get it all together.  It's going to take a lot of time come to think of it.                                                                  It took a while to find all the pieces Today the starting point was preparing the pattern.  Extra small is the size although I would say this pattern is not very extra small.  I guess even a small Santa is big.  I needed to find the pieces for the Santa Suit and boot covers and Mrs. Clause's dress and apron and hat.  That happened.  I looked through the fabric I had and found enough white muslin to work on the apron.  It's finished taking all afternoon.  Mrs. Clause's dress is a little boring so this ap

 Checked the time and decided to get up only to find out after being up for 30 minutes that I was an hour earlier than thought.  Big bummer.  I just stayed up.  Instead of 5:30 it was 4:30 when I opened my peepers.  I made some changes to some of the hands on the clock.  The alarm and second hand just mess me up. I'll blame it on the fact that it's hard to open my eyes that early.              Father Cassion, otherwise known as Uncle  Dee could be the shortest guy in the picture.                      Got to love all those pine needles.                                     It was predicted by the mother of the boys that Eli would be the tallest.   The sewing machine took care of some of the early morning minutes by completing the top stitching on the sit-up-ons.  Such fun.  I stitched 5 squares with different threads on each of the mats. .  The hope is that the mats stay together forever.  So 14 are finished and I can check that job off as completed. I'll haul them into churc