IN Carmel

 Another day of this and that.  The first work job was to finish completely the first banner.  It now is ready for Patty and when she is finish, the banner is ready to hang.  Patty appeared this afternoon to take the banner home giving it her welcomed touch.  I worked on more hanging parts even though attaching them to the banner will come later.  I moved on to the garden and another garden cart was filled with throw out stuff added to the B Blue.  Two of the B B's are filled to the max.   I spent some time looking for a lost hearing aid. Where is it.  The last I knew it was on the table by the green chair.  It's not there now. I need to talk with the saint who finds lost things.   Neighbor Gina is working on taking down some Mulberry Trees.  I took pictures of them with Gina with hope she can turn the proof of eliminating these invasives that will help her with some better replacements.  Hamilton County has such...

 Last night was a long sleep.  Hooray!  Could eliminating some responsibilities make that so?  I'm beginning to think so.  So the morning at home was shorter than usual.  I took time to check on my Dahlia children.  All are just fine.   On the way to church we stopped at Rita's to pick up some clams for Bread and Bowl folks.  Rita attaches a label to the clams with instructions on how to heat the food.  Then off to church just in time to hear the choir rehearse again.  That's so important to us. We get a double anthem for the morning.   Heidi sat with us and there was lots of planning conversation before church and much more after church that involved upcoming Advent activities.  We will again extend an invitation to folks to visit the nativities that can be found through out the church in December.  We have a week day in mind.  Perhaps more if asked.  The sermon words forgiving and reconciliation ...

 The work part of the morning started with doing one more thing to number six banner.  What is left to do is sew on the material that when hung the pole that hangs banners in the sanctuary has a place to go. That's an easy thing to do but it must be correct or the banner will not hang straight.  Yikes  I don't need that kind of problem to happen.  Patty will come this afternoon and take the whole bunch back home to add her touch next week when Tom is off fishing.  So with that all in mind...What was the task for today after the sewing machine was turned off?  That wasn't hard to see.  Time to clean up.  That really started last night while I was watching TV.  The condition of the floor with fabric scraps, thread and who knows what else was there was driving me nuts. So at 9:30 I retrieved the sweeper from it's often hidden place and ran it until the two rooms I was using for the project at least had a cleaner floor. So, today's work was ...

 Well, as you can see the picture problem is still with us. There might be another way to get at this bug.  Just hang in there.  Eventually we'll get this solved.  If a college kid who works on computers is stumped there really is a problem. But we had a great visit with Andrew so all was not a lost cause.  Just some. Today.  What happened?  As you might remember, yesterday was a day at the sewing machine.  It was a sitting and pressing job for sure.  Well, today has been a standing job.  My legs are numb.  Did I need to do a standing job all day?  Of course not but there are times when the get her done just takes over.  So I got more completed on the banners with 5 of the six put together.  Not finished but they are together.  That took standing at a table with fabric pieces and flannel with a lot of pinning and basting for each banner.  All of that work meant that problems that I could have had didn't happ...

 So far the day is without storms.  Will it stay that way.  I certainly don't know but  maybe you do.   I would say it was a morning of sewing.  All morning.  I have heard from choir members and I know they speak the truth having been one myself, that when banners are hung, they see a plain piece of fabric hanging on each side of the sanctuary.  Often when decorating has been done the balcony doesn't show any interest.  That's their line of sight.  So with that in mind, the morning was spent working on all six backings of the banners with more strip quilting in progress.  And that was completed.  So with both sides now near completion it's time to think of what needs to happen inside the banner to give it some weight that produces good  hanging.  The material can't be something that will sag over time.  It can't be to heavy or to light but just right as Goldilocks would say.  I think the next stop might...

 What a strange day.  I'm thinking weather.  I wanted to keep the warm inside instead of letting in the cold.  Strange for August, I would say.  Then there were the rain storms with thunder and rain down pours just like when we receive hurricane rain from the south.  There was a lot of that for sure.  So it was a pretty much an inside day.  The lawn guys didn't come.  Garbage pick up was early. It certainly was just a different kind of summer day. So what was I up to.  I would say I was at the sewing machine for the whole day.  And the first part of many parts has been complete.  How many parts to come?  I haven't counted. When I'm finished and the banners are at church, I'll know.  I'm happy to say that I'm on the way.  Sometimes starting is the hardest part.  Now if I didn't like to do this kind of project , I might be complaining.  But working with fabric and just letting the pattern come as it will ...

 I pretty much stayed out of the garden today.  No cart followed me around so I didn't need to fill it.  The clippers stayed on the kitchen counter so no clipping happened.  I did cut some Dahlias but that is an easy job that doesn't take much energy.  I did a bit of sewing preparation but just a little. When the clock told me it was 10:15, I was on my way to 16th street again to see my Neurologist.  Another title I give her is my seizure doctor.  She is so sweet and we visited for about 15 minutes talking about everything.  I'll see her again in a year.  The pills are working so pill taking will continue.   Then back home on the ranch and it was work time with fabric, sewing machine and the cutting table.  More things were ready for the put together part of banner making. I assembled the first of six banner fronts.  The first one isn't finished but it's pretty far along.  Later in the day I started the second banner....

 Last night I took a garden walk and decided that the Dahlias needed more water.  My little book about Dahlia growing given to me by Laurel Dahlia made that a big point.  Dahlias like water to make flowers.  I thought there would be rain by morning but guess what.  There was lightening and thunder early around 5 but the rain stayed north of us.  So after my morning stuff the Dahlias got a deep drink of water starting at 7:30.  They drank till 8 am.  Now there is a chance of rain tonight again but if that happens, I'll call that a bonus gift. The cart followed me around until it was full of throw away parts of plants.  I pushed so many bumble bees out of bed.  Old Zinnia blooms seemed to be their HOLIDAY Hilton Hotel choice of rest. After the big dump at B Blue I gathered together all the necessary papers, tomatoes, cucumbers and more and loaded up the car.   Noblesville Hobby Lobby was my first stop. That was the second visit s...

 So, Sunday happened again as it has done for many, many years with 52 each year.  There are a lot of Sunday's in ones life time.  We added one more today. The morning started with it's usual stuff.  There was a lot of time to do patio sitting.  What a beautiful place to spend a morning no matter which one during a week.  The humming bird came to get a sweet drink followed by the Monarch.  One can recognize a Monarch from far away by it's flight pattern.  It seems to be spinning out of control with large spirts of energy never flying in a very straight line.  I would say it's crazy in flight.   I went on to Facebook and heard and saw Martin playing on his new organ.  Then heard a wonderful rendition of a benediction the choir has sung many times  Aron's blessing..The Lord Bless You and Keep You. The Lord make his face to shine upon you.   I wish I could play it here for you. It's so beautiful.  There was tim...

 The day started after a good night of rest.  So, onward and forward or something like that.  There was the usual yogurt with added things and then a wake up hour with my TV friends. The daylight hour brought a walk to fetch the paper and a look at the Dahlias who are in a bed on the way to the paper.  Good planning I would say.  More surprises are on the way. The morning hours were spent with finishing flower arrangements for the neighbor's party..  I call arranging just stuffing flowers in containers.  But arrangements sound a little glamorous.  There was nothing glamorous unless one thinks only about the flowers. There were Dahlias among the group snipped.  Filling six containers took some time and then I walked 4 to the neighbors.  I'm keeping the last two to be sure all holds up.  Artemisia sometimes gives me a headache.  I had a great phone visit with brother in law Dee. I miss the Georgia visits we once did each Thanksgi...

 I can't think of a song that uses the word Friday so I'll just start without it.  It was a very short night but I did a little addition while using the chair bed this morning.  I finally decided it might be my stomach talking to me so I took a Tylenol.  I'm allowed to do that.  So with all the usual morning stuff completed I did another usual thing.  The cart followed me around in the garden and it took a load of green stuff to the B Blue once again.   I moved a few pots on the patio.  Pulled out some stuff that needed pulling and the ever growing clovers made their contributions as they usually do.  The garden cart found it's way to the garage around 11 am.  Woo.  I was feeling bushed even though there were no bushes involved with the morning do.   I took time to sit a spell and eat lunch and then I sat a spell again until I decided to move on to what I knew was on the docket.  That was starting the process of ...

 Well, I woke up this morning,  with my mind...stayed on NOTHING.  Really NOTHING.  It was time for nothing.  And I just took nothing to really mean nothing. What ever came along I would be happy with. But there was nothing on my mind.   So after the morning stuff I walked the garden and thought it might be time to snip all the Becky Daisy's that were telling me that the good life was over.  So I snipped the spent daisy's of which there were many.  But many were left and the second generation of daisy's seemed to be on their way to replacing the spent generation.  When the cart following me was full, I called it a snipping morning of success. Neighbor Kathy walked over carrying a basket of vases that I'm filling for a party planned for their lawn area on Saturday.  It's always a pleasure to provide something from the garden for the yard party each year. I checked out all the Dahlias and when the phone buzzed I took a look and found ...

 Two big things happened today.  That was enough.  But the night was crazy.  A total of 4 hours of shut eye.  Why not more.  Who has the answer.  Certainly not me.  So I went with four.  Better than three.  That means the say came early and all the usual stuff happened.   The first of two big things.  I worked in the garden finishing up all the little stuff that was over looked on the first go around.  But only in one area.  So the cart followed me around for a bit.   Then the second was a bit bigger.  I did a run to Nora to pick up some medicine for Ramona.  Made another run about an hour later but received a cancel the trip notice.  So I canceled but continued on the road to once again move her on to the eye doctor again.  After some delays we made it to the doctor right at the 2 o'clock hour meaning we were on time.  That is if one does not live by the motive of early is on t...

 What I called a crazy night of rest...4 hours of sleep 2 hours of awake with horrible TV.  Then back to bed with another 4 hours of sleep.  Nights are very interesting to say the least.  Makes me wonder what tonight will bring.  But a total of 8 hours of aleep.  That's very good.   Today was a garden day.  It started around 9 and I made it till 11:30.  There should be more happening but today was enough for today.  Well at least enough for the morning. The paths look like paths again with weeds scrapped out.  That was a big job.  I went on to the Herb garden where I knew there were weeds.  That garden looks refreshingly better.  Then on to the big butterfly garden and mercy...there were so many butterflies landing, then flying and then landing again.  It was fun to watch.  I've always thought that color invites them in and then the pollen keeps them coming back for more.  The air was filled with d...

Picture efforts has gone a rye.  Andrew HELP!    It was a very short night.  They happen on their own time.  I wish it wasn't so but there's not much I can do about it. Morning always comes just like it did this morning.   I slid into the day slowly and then the pace picked up.  I sewed 10 more burps.  Did more knitting finishing another scarf tonight and then gathered everything together for a trip to church and then on to James and Heidi's place for a thinking together session.   Darren asked me to put button holes in four Chasable to accommodate a microphone placement.  It's one down and three to go picking the three up at church today.  I always get a bit nervous when doing something that I haven't done for a couple of years.  The button hole landed in the right place with the right size. There is a bit of time until the three are needed.   Then on to the three of us having a great thinking session and w...

 So far, so good.  Remember those little 4 words.  Well, they come in handy today                                                        Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. It's Sunday, Sunday.  And we were off to church a little earlier today wanting to join grandson Andrew while singing in the summer choir.  And we did.  It was fun and the best of all was singing a Bach piece.  Easy and beautiful as only Bach does from time to time.  I've sung some tough ones but today was easy.  It was a delight to see Andrew again back home from a summer of working at the church camp that he attended as a kid.             A very sad morning.  It's tear down time with Copper Harbor over.  I'll never forget that feeling. It was the blessing...

It's been spurts of busy and spurts of lazy.  It's my kind of day at least for today.  The thunder is rolling as I type.  It would seem a big, huge, impressive storm is coming our way.  I hope the garden survives.   The day started with rain.  My job was to do some cutting in the garden for a 9:00 church arrival time to do some flowers for the altar.  I moved it to ten allowing for a clothes change.  Heidi also did some garden cutting and we met at 10 in the sanctuary.  And here are the results.  Right Side arrangement...                                                                              Left side arrangement.                      ...

 Another day of doing.  First at home and then at other places.  I fetched the paper and snipped three more Dahlia's for the vases.  Remembering, the more I clip, more will appear.  That really works.  The rest of the garden was a joy to see.  So many happy colors for so many butterflies and bees to enjoy landing spots.   This is a butterfly mystery.  As you can see the butterfly is on the floor in the dining room.  That is where I found it this afternoon..  It hatched somewhere in the house but where and when and why?  It was moving very slowly so the hatching part had just happened.  It's all a total mystery.  Besides this one there were many others in the garden. We just added one more. That's a first for sure.   I finished another knitted scarf and added it to the scarf basket.  There is one area of scarf knitting when  at one time I would sweat bullets to complete.  Not so now. ...

 Another day to do or not do.  I did a bit of each if it's a need to know thing.  If not just ignore the blog.  That will work as well.             Crazy Arnie on the beach with sand flying caused by feet digging.  I think I call this puppy play.                                                        It looks like his mouth is digging in the sand. The big news for me...I finally have a diagnoses of what has been ailing me since July 15th with good solid proof. It's called chronic gastritis.  Other wise known as a belly ache!  It's not very comfortable and comes and goes as it wants to.  So I'm paying attention to this unhappy little organ and will learn what creates good vibes to happen and what makes for unpleasant thing to appear. All in good t...

  Summer has arrived.  It doesn't stay very long in the U P.  Look for a lot of cold rain appearing the middle of August. Camping season was over for us at that point with our little boy campers wearing winter clothes.  Now the sides are all rolled up in the dining fly with a great card game in progress.. But sweat shirts are evident. The wooden camp kitchen was built by Eric O. for us more than 50 years ago.  It's called an antique now. It  belongs to JB and Kimmy. I would bet it will move on to one of the kids at some point. Eric O's camp kitchen will live in infamey. Another simple day.  I'm liking them a whole lot.  Living today has been  pretty slow with a good wake up and then morning stuff and then to the chair with knitting.  I finished another scarf during the morning hours.  I need to do a few other things.  Will that happen?  I'm not so sure.  Retirement sometimes brings nothing much that fits in well with ...