Remembering

Monday at Uncle Babe's funeral, Charlie mentioned that it was Mum's birthday and she would be 95. Mum loved the Psalms and 84 was one of her favorites.
Advancing still from strength to strength, they go where other pilgrims trod, Till each to Zion comes at length and stands before the face of God.
Shortly before she passed into glory I was singing psalm 30. She recited these words and said, " You must remember this.."
For sorrow like a pilgrim may tarry for the night, but then a shout of joy comes when dawns the morning light.

October

October's Bright Blue Weather

O SUNS and skies and flowers of May

And flowers of June together,

Ye cannot rival for one hour

October's bright blue weather;

When loud the bumblebee makes haste,

Belated, thriftless vagrant,

And goldenrod is dying fast,

And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When gentians roll their fingers tight

To save them for the morning,

And chestnuts fall from satin burrs

Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie

In piles like jewels shining,

And redder still on old stone walls

Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things

Their white-winged seeds are sowing,

And in the fields still green and fair,

Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,

In idle golden freighting,

Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush

Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,

By twos and twos together,

And count like misers, hour by hour,

October's bright blue weather.

O sun and skies and flowers of June,

Count all your boasts together,

Love loveth best of all the year

October's bright blue weather.

Helen Hunt Jackson

Remembering...

My mother loved to quote poetry. She had quite a lot memorized from childhood days on. As far back as I can remember she would recite this poem on the first bright blue October day. Today was such a day.

Something Told the Wild Geese...

Today, on my way home from visiting Charlie, I saw a formation of wild geese flying south.

SOMETHING TOLD THE WILD GEESE

By Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese

It was time to go,

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered, "snow."

Leaves were green and stirring,

Berries, luster-glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

Something cautioned, "frost."

All the sagging orchards

Steamed with amber spice,

But each wild breast stiffened

At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese

It was time to fly,

Summer sun was on their wings,

Winter in their cry.

The little wooden train at Old Economy

The Bed

The kids tried out a rope bed fitted with a straw mattress and a feather [down] mattress. Annabelle seemed to prefer the downy feathers.

More print shop

Print shop

The tour of Old Economy

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We were not supposed to take photos inside the houses that we toured, but the gardens outside were lovely.

Old Economy

We began by watching a video about the history of Old Economy and then our guide appeared in costume for the tour.

The gym and Mini golf at Senecca Hills Camp

Daniel Spiderman Blair on the Rock Wall

P3 on the Zip line...

The tour of Senecca Hills

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We saw the chapel, and then went over to the girl's cabins. They look just like they looked long ago, when I was a camper. From the cabins you can look across at what used to be the dining hall with the steps leading up to it.

A with P2 and P3's new hat

Registering and waiting for a tour at S.H.

Checkers at Senecca Hills

Charlie's garden and a bird's nest...

Spring flowers and chickens...

April Activities

April is birthday month... I tried to stay away from the cake etc., but I did succumb on my birthday to a small piece of cake.
I had a great time visiting Seneca Hills' open house where my aging little grey cells were stimulated to memories of my teenage days at that very camp.
This past week I accompanied the Homeschoolers on a field trip to Old Economy. I recall taking a class there many, many years ago. I was nice to be in a smaller group. There is so much to see. I enjoyed looking at the tools with P3 and trying to figure out what they were used for.
April is also the month when the earth seems to be waking up from its long winter nap. It is fun to see the first flowers coming up. It seems that every day there is something new to discover outside.

Annabelle

How did A get my frog purse?

Annabelle loves the big froggie!

"Take me! Cheeeese!"

Saturday morning...

Saturday morning, Bill made blueberry pancakes for breakfast! They were scrumptious! What a great send-off!

Paul and Amber

We did not see a lot of Paul, even though he lives just downstairs. He was fighting off a nasty bug. By Friday he was beginning to feel better.

Amber is always ready to play! She brought her stuffed duck to everyone, to try to get something going, but Paul is her favorite!

Around the house...

The picture of Mum and Dad was taken at Annabelle's wedding at camp many years ago. It is probably the nicest photo of the two of them together.

This is the bed where I slept very comfortably in Carol's sewing room. Carol made the beautiful quilt on this bed!

The living room window is prettier than any painting, especially when you look through it to the lovely winter scene in their front yard! That is Charlie, of course, no doubt watching Corner Gas!

Little treasures...

Grandma Best's Victrola and Carol's fern. The fern was given to her by Jo Leino, who is now in China.

Uncle Georgie's medals...

On Friday, since the weather was not nice for being outside, we stayed indoors. Bill brought out the little black box pictured here, which he said was damaged a bit when their basement flooded. It contained Uncle Georgie's medals [George Best] including his purple heart. What a treasure!

Lake Michigan shore...

Charlie and I wondered if they were dumping snow into the lake, but Bill explained that the piles of "snow" were really the result of the water spray from the waves freezing as the waves rolled into shore. Pretty amazing!

Brrrr - It was cold!

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is about 40 miles from Bill's house. That is not the moon in this picture. It must be a spot on the lens, because it is on all the pictures. We were there in the mid to late morning.

Glenn's Market

We stopped at Glenn's Market where this sign was hanging above an aisle near the front of the store. Glenn's Market is not a terribly big store, but it has everything - a sort of mini Wal-Mart. Bill bought some beef mesquite jerky. They had all kinds of exotic jerky including kangaroo, and alligator, as well as the more ordinary varieties. It was very good, not tough and impossible to chew. It would be good, I think, as a base for a stew as well as being a pretty good snack!

Carol

We are just getting ready to go sight-seeing in the area. It was pretty cold and there was a lot of snow on the ground - about a foot! Bill said that a lot of it had melted off...

The Michigan Trip

Charlie and I went up to Michigan the last week of February. It was a wonderful time! P2 loaned us his GPS which proved very helpful. The car battery seemed to die when we got stuck in a traffic tie-up in Ohio near the Michigan line. An Ohio State Police Officer came by and gave us a jump which enabled us to continue. We were afraid to plug in the GPS after that lest it drain the battery, so we just turned it on when we needed to know where to make the next turn. When we were nearly to our destination we were detoured to a country road. It was getting dark, but the GPS got us back on the right road without incident. Without it we would have been panicked.
It was so good to see Bill and Carol again! Good to see Paul, too, but we kept our distance from him as he was recovering from a nasty bug.
The next day we went to Glenn's Market and then on to Lake Michigan. We had a delicious lunch at a Chinese Buffet in a little town beside the lake.
The weather was not good for site seeing on Friday, so we stayed in and were treated to selections from Bill's vast collection of radio and old tv programs. We especially enjoyed watching Corner Gas. I miss being able to watch it on tv.
Our trip home was relatively uneventful. It was nice to see the snow disappearing as we neared home. Bill had about a foot on the ground, but at home it was all gone, except for where it had been piled up from cleaning the parking lot.
Going through my pictures, I realize that I never took pictures of Paul's apartment. He did a fantastic job of building his private retreat in the basement. It is just beautiful!

P3 turns 10

We got together in the community room for P3's birthday. Valentines made it a very special day for all of us.

Keyboard lesson

Wendy gave me a lesson on the keyboard when they were here in February. I am having so much fun using what she showed me - not that I am doing it very well yet.

Snowmen Wreath

Each child contributed one snowman to the wreath. It amazes me that their individuality came through so clearly in this project. Can you guess who made which snowman?

BIG SNOW

Beginning late Friday and all day Saturday, we had the biggest snow we have had in quite a while. I am not certain how much snow we got total, but Amy measured the snow on top of my car early Saturday afternoon at 8 inches. We got about 2 more inches and we also got a layer of ice [freezing rain]. Dino was kept busy all day trying to keep the sidewalks passable. The residents here phoned each other to check up and make sure everyone was ok. Bill got our mail for us. It was a dark dismal day as the sky remained gray, but still it was exciting to watch the snow pile up!

Cleaning up after the BIG SNOW

A good neighbor

Bill offered to get the mail for anyone who didn't want to risk the slippery sidewalks. In this picture he is bringing my mail to me.

David helps Annabelle

This must be after church. How nice to have a big brother to help out. Is that shoe on the wrong foot? Hmmm...

A discovers the wheel!

Annabelle entertains herself with a wheel from the tinker toys. She rolls it across the floor and chases it. She found that it works best on the tile floor in the kitchen.

Shmicksberg

We made a trip to Shmicksberg one day. It is in Amish country and has lots of little stores and restaurants full of crafts and food. In one store that had a lot of pottery the kids spied a rabbit under the counter. It was love at first site for the kids. We also found a cheese place that sold delicious varieties of cheese.