This Weekend

Wrestling with his buddy before leaving

Waiting for Walt to come back and play

These dropped yesterday--let's add raking as another "used to be Walt's job" to my list

Waiting patiently

A field of pumpkins. The 18 wheelers had already been filled nearby-can you see the leftovers?

The twins are coming closer

Social Studies

I don't really like this method--but aside from that, what grade class do you think this is describing?

Four Bars Among the Amish

  Our stove pipes from the hardware store lasted one year, so Ken's been searching for stainless steel. I saw an ad a few weeks ago for an Amish tin shop, so today we took a ride out into the middle of nowhere to find it.  Left the main road, then a gravel road, then it turned into a rocky, extremely steep and narrow "road". So right after I made him turn around we saw the tiny, home made sign. I went up to their porch to ask which outbuilding was the tin shop. The house was just perfect--lots of small blue pants hanging on the clothesline, a sandbox full of Tonka trucks,  two sheep standing in the driveway, and a puppy on the porch. After talking to the wife, I so wanted to go inside with her, chat about little kids, and eat some apple pie. I thought she was closer to my age, and I know the man was her husband, but he looked about 25, and was quite the hottie. He made the pipes while we waited. Ken was overjoyed at the price. Now he's in the basement sticking them all together. Sadly, they are sharp, and blood has been shed on their shiny-ness.

Oooh, Shiny

Happy Man

Road well suited for strong horses, not so much for old Volvos

Amazing Cell Reception

Oh--the four bars? Verizon bars. I was zippety do-da ing all over with the phone while waiting in the car. What a waste. I'm lucky to get 2 bars at home.

Repent and Recycle

 I dislike going to the recycle center, another job that I have to do now that Walt's away. Usually we just feel sticky afterwards, but yesterday we were shamed....Ken had the audacity to try and put a window  glass (pane-less)  in with the clear glass. Some elderly lady in a bright orange vest flew out of her sentry post to tell us, repeatedly, that it had to go in the trash pit, not recyclables. He apologized 100 times, and she just kept repeating the same thing. Then he didn't realize broken microwaves went into the big cardboard box in the electronic shed, not on the floor of the shed. Jeez. Then another man was forced to scoop out a peanut butter jar we put in the plastics because it wasn't "clean enough". We always clean them first to keep odors away , and there's no sign posted saying they must even be washed(and NY has millions of signs telling you what to do) but his eagle eye saw evidence of  nut butter...I was a nervous wreck by the time we got to the garbage pit.  I'm sure they had a camera on us. I was praying that it's ok to toss styrofoam in with the regular garbage. So--since Walt was sick and in the middle of a hectic afternoon, I decided to cheer him up and text him as we made our way thru the dump. Afterwards, he asked why we chose to make such bad decisions. I told him that he must have been our moral compass. His response: "I guess so."

One Perfect Leaf

Beginning to Turn

Another Amazing Discovery

 I was trying to entertain Ken while he worked in the garage today when I made a fascinating find--a tiny pterodactyl fossil. Really! First an alien skull, and now this. Moments later I found some old seashells. Who knew our driveway held such treasures?

Some boring shells

Baby or mutant pterodactyl?

Probably newly hatched when tragedy struck

The Microwave is Dead! Long Live the Microwave!

I guess the sun made it look golden; it's silver. This was my first "you'll have to help me because Walt's gone" job. I was a bit worried because the instructions said  to have two people hold it while one put in the screws. Yay--I didn't drop it! Now if I can just find a way to get rid of the little song that plays four times when it's done...

Just Random Stuff

Being Rusty

Three hours later, I'd finished with one-half box.

First Apple Crisp of Autumn

??? Don't worry, Walt--I didn't squish it, just shooed it off the steps.

Baby alien fossilized skull found in driveway

Dirty Work

 I spent a few days digging out the area next to the garage. I planted a few plants there last year, but was too lazy to weed. I put in tulips, anemones, and crocus bulbs. We shall see.

Before

I had a horrible time digging up a few of the humongous ferns. I moved them to the back to act as a barrier to the ever-spreading weeds.

Two Grandmas In Texas

Joe loves to barbeque, so he may have been thinking more about meat here than ice cream. Love the hats.

Touring BlueBell

Wild and famous Peppercorn posing for the camera

  Grandma B and Debbie are vacationing in Texas this week, and stopped yesterday in Brenham for a short visit.  I hope they are soaking up enough sun to last them a while.

After The Storm

Family of five enjoying the wet grass this morning

I know what you're thinking

Keep trying, little guy

Now this is a cute butt

Making plans

Very late blooming tiny poppy

I'm extremely happy to have survived the thunder, now give me a peanut butter bone.

  Things seem to have calmed down after two days of thunderstorms. I went to the basement fridge to get some butter for cookies( Walt's coming home Saturday!) when I saw a chipmunk throwing his little body against the window. I ended up spending almost 40 minutes standing on the old couch, watching four baby chipmunks play in the mulch, chew the window pane, wrestle each other, and climb in the bushes.  I'm sure they couldn't see me, because we were face to face most of the time. They have a nest dug out underneath, and it's filled with acorns.

93 Degrees on Tuesday

   It was so hot during the beginning of the week. Sunny and 93, yet  just four days before we woke up to a chilly 38.  We went grocery shopping and bought many snacks to take to Walt, because we all know he's too helpless to buy his own. I chased Rusty around the house a few times before luring him into the shower, probably his last bath until next spring.

Look, Mom! And since W's gone, it takes us 2 weeks to finish a gallon.

Drying off in the hot as TX heat

Nasturtiums gone wild

Look how big this has grown over the summer

It's The Little Things

  We had a very good day today. Walt still tolerates my too-numerous-to-admit texts, so we're all caught up on what he's had at the cafeterias, how his first essay was completed a day early, and how drunk his floor mates can get on a Saturday night. He's going to a "thank you" dinner tonight for his scholarships.
 After waking up early, we apologized to Rusty and drove to Bath to pick grapes.  I was sure they'd be ready by now, but the owner said he's opening next week. Still, he let us pick a box full and they taste great, tho a bit tart. We discovered that Ken can make  great pie crusts(mine are awful) so these will become pie and jam. Ken's mom wants to go with us later. Then we went to the resale shop where I got a Lands End LS oxford cloth shirt for $2.  On the way home, we stopped at the old man's produce stand and got peppers, squash, eggplant, onions, and tomatoes at 3 for a dollar. The watermelons were only $2, and he took a dollar off because I brought him a bunch of empty egg cartons.
 Now the house smells like grapes, Rusty's tired out after a long walk, Ken's working in the basement, and I'm goofing off.

Last one

Labor Day

 We picked Walt up Saturday afternoon and took him back to school Monday morning. He ate, slept, read, and ate some more. Driving home, we took the wrong exit without realizing it, since it's all just interstate and corn fields. Twenty minutes later we see skyscrapers( sort of) on the horizon. We were almost to Rochester!

Dirty clothes, drawers hanging open, unmade bed. Just perfect.

Enjoying the air conditioning.

Waiting for possible liftoff

Still waiting

Getting grumpier. Liftoff cancelled due to approaching storms.

Isn't that sweet? Going back to school loaded with books and snack foods.