MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

FOR some it won't be so merry. A real bad ice storm set thousands without power in our state and it could not come at a worse time. Men are frantically working on restoring it and more snow and such could make it a really tough go of it. We managed to get the least amount of ice and I was glad. Our driveway is a skating rink..so cold the salt won't melt the ice on the roads or the sidewalks. Treacherous is a word that many people are using over the past few days. I managed to get my shopping, what little I did, over early. Was so glad I did that!  I went in the pouring rain to do my small tasks and prayed I would not catch pneumonia it was so cold. 
HAPPY to sit home now and keep warm and eat my Christmas dinner. More on that later..      

I WON!! I won a drawing for a cookbook from our beloved  blogger BETH MARIE!! I am thrilled, and honored.It sure was a shock and then I also got an early Christmas present of a new tablet and so I am trying to learn all the new things on it. I love it so far and it is so fast and easy. No wonder the clerk said that it was the best seller of 2013..I can imagine all the children in all the grade schools having these to work on..soon the pencils will be gone and the tablets we used to use. Soon kids will ask..what is a pencil?? OH MY!!  That is progress I guess. 

So for the menu for Christmas dinner..we missed Thanksgiving being so sick, so Turkey and Ham and all the side dishes we want this year. I will get back to normal after the new year. I am not making or baking any sweets this year..Jello is as close as it gets for me. I did find some nice sugar cookies in the store so will enjoy them too. 
                                  

I will close this with a photo of the last tree we had in our old home..We kept it up until FEBRUARY..YOU heard that right. It was the last tree mom saw and enjoyed and we just did not have the heart to take it down early. I hope you and your family have a wonderful and MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

BLAHHHS

Haven't felt much like writing lately. This bronchitis or whatever it was is still hanging on and the coughing fits are the pits. I got out for a few minutes to get much needed groceries and it just wore me out. My my, I guess I still have whatever it is. 
Fever lasted for several days so it made the think the FLU, sure didn't act like it though. ANYWAY...Christmas is only three weeks away and I just cannot get into the mood this year. We missed Thanksgiving entirely. I even watched the Macy's parade and tried to get into the holiday spirit. It just wasn't the same I guess. No cookies or treats, no appetite for them really. Kinda feel that BLAHH and hope it goes away soon!!
Snow and cold coming and that will really set the tone I guess for a white Christmas for us this year. Got to get busy and plan a meal and set up a tree..Hope that jogs the ole Blahh right out of me.. 

HAVE A WONDERFUL SAFE  HOLIDAY SEASON AND....
                                                         

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

For  all those who visit here, 

Have a wonderful, happy, safe Thanksgiving!!!

I'M SICK...

I am sick of just trying to keep going. I am sick of getting behind in everything. What the heck is going on? I look at life so differently now. I hate the way things are and seem stuck..stuck and cannot get out of my own way. I have "adapted" one person said to me. Yes, you could say that and then again.. NO I haven't. The pressure every day to just do one little thing that can help out..well it's not easy. The situation is grim,and trying to find a way out of it.. tiring. Is it any wonder I don't blog any more as this seems to be a daily thing for me. Pick yourself up and move on..easy to say if you are not involved. Easy if you are not attached to the situation. I am surrounded daily with reminders of past things and need to move on and then not able to. Sounds like depression to me. I have a lot of things to work through. I get joy from sun light..watching nature, breathing fresh air, cold or not, and spending time on line searching for new ideas. I got my retirement checks all sorted out, what a hassle that was. Seems powers that be could not figure out some things and kept asking me the same questions over and over. I dreaded hearing the phone ring. I am setting some goals for the winter. One thing at a time..one thing at a time. This too shall pass..

BARN CHARM

This barn was in the process of being painted brown. 

The top of the barn had a sign that was a black and white cow. I am guessing it was a dairy farm.

See-through barn that was pretty shaky looking. 

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

I miss our Barn Charm Tuesdays.. I liked seeing other's barns and posting my own photos of them. Something "charming" about them. I hope that one day they will reopen a blog site for them. Now I am posting my own photos today.. Hope you enjoy them.  As you can see there is still plenty of green here and up north. These photos were taken last week. This barn was very close to the road.. I was so surprised.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

 

IT'S DEAD AND GONE...

Well it looks like this blog is dead and gone.. I can write whatever I please because of the lack of readers here... sooo it's okay to post that the fall came and in the nick of time because our AC quit. I got so tired of standing trying to tinker with the controls. It was one of those digital display ones that keeps your room at a constant temperature. You would think that would be wonderful. I did.. UNTIL.. it got a mind of it's own.
It started displaying weird numbers and letters, and flashing on and off like it was having a seizure. I kept praying when it was 90 outside for just one more run to keep us cool. It was an older model but worked great. Sis decided to just let it go......
LITERALLY... she opened the window and after much prying on the braces...let it go out the window. It hit the ground with a bounce and landed right where our car had been sitting not 5 minutes before. IT broke into many pieces. The sound carried all over the neighborhood. Too heavy to lift it, we had to tug to get it up and flipped over to move it out of the driveway. ON the way out the window it decided to hang on the storm window and break it all out. So now the whole window is completely a mess.
Glass everywhere..OH JOY!! NOT!!!

WELCOME FALL.. please don't let winter come yet.. we are not prepared!!! Trips to find someone in this tiny town who does glass repair, (good luck with that) will be forthcoming.   

 Neighbors think I have went crazy as they see me go to the mail box and flail my arms in the air to keep the mosquito's off me..they are vicious and huge this year. It seems they have made a camp out of our yard and have called their army to 
stay for the duration. I looked up on a search engine what I could make myself and came up with this combination. The recipe consists of three household ingredients: epsom salts, beer and Listerine.  Combine a third of each in a garden sprayer, then wet everything in the yard.I was told one application lasts the season.  Boy you can bet I am going to try this at least once. Well maybe next season...this one is on the way out. BEER??? any kind will do it said..been a long time since a bought a beer..never liked the taste of it myself. 
Well gotta wrap this up here.. more later.. Have a great day.. the weather permitting that is.. 

RECENT VIEWS

I am not quite sure all my updates are going out there, but I keep adding here. Here are some recent views this summer because, YES, I am taking photos almost everyday!!

NASCAR in front of our store, those cars are sooooo loud when they start them up, makes your teeth rattle.

This cup made me laugh because my Sis always says this to me..she's a real cat lover! Had to buy it!!

Love the color of this Phlox..

Farmer's Market had such nice fresh vegetables..loved this little salesman. I bought beans because his
sign said.. "Corn may be wormy" ..talk about honesty!

9-11 REMEMBERED

                                                           

I was in my room doing my hair getting ready to take my mom for a hair appointment...I looked up and Matt Lauer said.." Something is happening at the World Trade Towers in New York City." Now I don't remember what they were talking about before and I know I was not really paying close attention until I saw the towers on fire...Then I got this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Those poor people, I hope they get out safely" I said out loud.. I turned to ABC then, and sure enough there was Charlie Gibson talking about what was going on and then the second plane hit.I watched it LIVE. I was numb. I totally stood there with my mouth open saying .".NO, NO this can't be happening! This is AMERICA what is going on???? "GOD BLESS Peter Jennings who came on shortly thereafter and was explaining what was going on. I yelled for my mother to turn on her TV.."Can you believe this.. WE ARE BEING ATTACKED!!!?

I took my mother to get her hair cut... under protest... I mean I REALLY did not want to go at all!!!SHE DID! That was the last thing I wanted to do..leave my TV...  I stayed in the car the whole time and never left the radio for more than a minute. I heard  them talking about other planes and how many they didn't know.. Every station was telling what was going on.Radios were on inside the beauty shop also and it was eerily quiet when I went inside to get her. We all just had the most terrible sad looks on our faces.  When we left, I went through the bank and got money so I could buy gas..(would I need a full tank?) we filled up the tank and I stopped and ran in for some food in case..(would we need supplies?) I had no idea what for...I just felt the need to do it. The store had TV's on... they were usually on the food channel but today they were on news!!  People were gathered around and people were talking about WAR!!! 

Pearl Harbor I heard mentioned from one elderly man. War!! I had not thought about that...  not really.. who in the world would attack the USA?..I mean thats so crazy!! I got out of there fast and went straight home....the TV hardly went off for the next 48 hours and I

 watched a very tired ABC anchor sit there through most of it,  tirelessly talking and explaining things..it was a comfort for him to be

 there...like Cronkite when Kennedy was shot. (Yes I am old enough to remember that day and Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy

 too. ) We have come a long way in the years that have passed and we still have a long way to go. Today I will be remembering a lot of things... but I will remember those who died there and in Pennsylvania and in Washington at the Pentagon. GOD BLESS AMERICA and those who serve our country and protect and serve our cities.. they are doing a tireless job and I absolutely support them 100%!!! 

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

Cannot remember where I took this, just loved the see through look of it. Wondered if they use it for anything. It did look like something was stored inside.

I liked the doors, this barn had horses on the door..sorry for the blur taken from the road through the car window. Wish I had gotten a better view of the writing above the door.

More BARN CHARM found here. 

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

I took this last fall in northern Michigan near Grand Rapids.  I just loved the whole scene. 
 Visit here for more Barn Charm Tuesday.

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

This barn roof was eye catching and very creative but what I saw later was several buildings. One was a winery tasting room and the other a gift shop.

From the road this place was huge. Even better when we visited it.
Here is more info on the place,quite a family business.

They used the barn and turned it into a cider mill. Very huge with a complete ramp for handicap access.

More Barn Charm found here.

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

Could not believe there was a chimney on top of that barn, made me wonder if someone was living in it. 

Looks like a Tin roof on that old barn but I love the vine growing on the silo too.

                                                                                

This one is kinda blurred, taken while driving by, two toned and odd shaped. Was not sure just what kind of barn it was.
All the barns were located in northern Michigan.

VISIT HERE FOR MORE BARN CHARM 

STILL AROUND....

I am still around..what's left of me.. I have lasted so far with the grace of using the public wifi at the library about 2 days a week.I still feel so out of touch with so many. It sure helps but does not in any way feel normal. I do hope that the situation will be better soon. I cannot believe August is here already. We have had such wonderful weather here in Michigan. A great break from the summer heat. 

I have been taking lots of photos lately..things this summer have been slow to bloom in some places. 

Love the look of this tree/bush..flowers, they do make my allergies go crazy though.

GREAT NEWS from our BETH MARIE about her cancer. I am overjoyed with the news and know that our prayers for her are answered.  

DAY SEVENTEEN!!!

I can't believe it's been seventeen days already.. time is passing. Some days slowly and some days I feel very stressed out.. guess you could call it "withdrawal" pains. Keeping in touch with what's "going on" in the blogging world or the Facebook family is very much missed. 

Making it day by day with the lack of connections and the overwhelming heat that is hitting us all this summer. I retreated the library as fast as they opened as did many other people. The heat index today well into 100+ so anyplace that is cool is a good place to be. This past weekend I ventured up north  to attend a birthday party for my niece's 2 year old. Nice to drive up and see the sights again. You never know how large those wind turbines are until you are almost beside them. ONE word..HUGE!
They rise at least 330 feet in the air and the blades are over 200 feet long. There was a huge "farm" of them all over the country-side. 

A boy and his wagon, taking his tractor for a ride. I do remember the days when I got my first wagon. It wasn't as fancy as a Radio Flyer but we did have it most of our entire childhood. A metal Radio Flyer wagon, we found out, is harder to find these days and soon may come obsolete to the more plastic ones. In buying certain models you have to order them, no matter what store you are in. They are only available on line orders. There was a time when a simple wagon like that could be found in any store. Sad sign of the times I guess. Well  until next time I sure hope you all can

LOST WITHOUT ANY CONNECTION!!

If ANYONE ever asks me again.. "Are you addicted to the Internet?" I will gladly tell them YES I AM!! The past 8 days seem like 8 weeks. I have gotten through every day and found myself so bored it isn't funny. I find I read more news on line than I thought I did. I look up more information and challenge myself more than I thought I would. NOT getting to do these things really makes an impact on your whole lifestyle. 
                                         

Lilies finally bloomed late this year..we had so many
but they were much smaller than usual. Talk about
fragrant!

Well I  even though I do get to update my computer maybe once a week..it is not nearly enough. The first day was the hardest. Get into a routine and like breaking any habit it is tricky. I must have picked up my laptop at least 5 times before really realizing, nope you can't use this. Convince yourself that the Internet does NOT exist.. well this worked for several days so far. Counting the days down.. things will get better.. I can only hope.. anyone with any suggestions.. I will take all the help I can get. It really is hard losing touch with those out there in the "internet world". 

LOST MY CONNECTION

Posting here in case I am gone for quite awhile. I have had wonderful free wifi connections for over a year now and am very grateful for them. This connection is temporarily out for the month of July ,so just thought I would let blog readers know. I am without transportation and only occasionally get to a free wifi spot here in town.


HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY 4TH HOLIDAY!!

THAT OLD HOUSE...

Oh how I hate to go by our old home place. It is painful. I know I shouldn't do it but something just tugs at me to go there.
                                                   

Mom always said "you will miss this old place someday" I told her maybe not. Now I do. Not having much of a place of my own these days I surely do miss the order and the freedom to do things like have a garden or the space we had there. It
was painful to know that the BANK which took over the house did NOT clean it out well for the new occupants.The new owner had to get the dumpster and clean it out himself. If we had only known we could have done a better job of ridding the place of stuff we could not take with us. Anyway.. here is how it looked last year....when the new owner started. He removed all the bushes in front, this was before he put on a new roof. It needed one badly. He chose brown.
                               

                               
Now he scraped it this year and took off the railings and placed rocks in front where the bushes are. We get a report every so often as he changes things there. We had a whole lot of calls when the new color was started. When you have a home in a neighborhood that is the same color for 60 years it was kind of a shock to them. I just say they are making it their own place. I think the surprise was the color they chose and how they go together. It is 40 ft to the top of that roof so you start where you can paint standing on the ground etc. I tell people maybe they are just trying colors out to see if they like them. There are at least 4 layers of oil based, lead paint on that house.. YES LEAD based paint. You can see the dark spots bleed through our old white paint. In order to stop that you have to remove the old paint. Well.... that is very hard and expensive to do. I sure could tell the owner some things but I won't. The neighbors won't either. They will just wait and see. Most people know it is very hard to paint with a latex paint over the top of oil base though.. it tends to peel off really fast. 
The latest news from the neighborhood is that the owner's wife is now pregnant and would like to move to a city where her relatives live and that has a HOSPITAL..we don't anymore. The saga continues... I sure hope they don't leave the house partially painted before the move on if they do.  Neighbors laugh and say they would have a paint party and put it back white all over. That really is just a dream though, it's really difficult and expensive to do. Well that is the latest update on THAT OLD HOUSE...will keep you up to date as things develop.  

HELL HOUSE UPDATED..

Soo the other day we got  news on the old HELL HOUSE that stands next to the house we used to live in.  For those who don't know that house had a real crazy history. It housed drug dealers and felons and just about everyone in between. Skunks, opossums, deer, including black mold. This house is three blocks from our downtown, not out in the sticks. The local police only had to hear the name of the street and they KNEW which house they needed to go to.  So despite how bad the house was when it was left for over a year to sit and rot, someone jumped on the price the bank posted and moved in. They got the whole building for $300. down and $300 a month.. I kid you not.  A very large two story house with THREE apts in it. Okay there were tons of problems with it and they fixed them slowly and stayed in the house.  WE were okay with someone DECENT living there. Someone who would keep the house up. HAPPY.. Us.. the police, neighborhood etc were thrilled. 

SO recently we heard that the house was in ruins, inside and out. The family that got the house got mad because they had to move out. You get behind on payments you have to move... that is life. You sure don't wreck the house and leave it in ruins. THAT is just what they did though. I got a call from a former neighbor who told me people were going through the house ransacking it looking to see what they left inside the house when they left. Doors open, windows open, junk everywhere. I guess they tried to leave it the way they got it in the first place. It was a wreck inside. The BANK will not be happy to see what they did. I still say they should have just took the house and tore it down. Who knows, they may just do that in the future. I would guess there are thousands of dollars of damage inside. Amazing enough, the outside really doesn't show it so bad since it had been covered in newer siding. It sure will be interesting to see how long it sits empty this time. The longer it sits the worse it gets..the critters find ways inside and they sure do love it there.  Glad I don't live next door anymore. It just seems to never end there. 

(Reprinted from another post.)

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

This barn was so nice having it's own little house behind it. Loved the metal roof, they certainly wanted it to last a long time. Given the winters we have here in Michigan that's a really good idea. 

This barn looked like it had been just painted..so bright red and the roof so neat and new looking. I loved the windmill next to it.  It was taken in northern Michigan last fall.

SEE more Barn Charm Tuesday HERE

P. S. if anyone experiences any problems with this blog please leave me a comment if you can and let me know. I have tried really hard to get rid of any lingering issues. 
THANKS!!!!

DISGUSTED!!!

I am so disgusted with the ad that has attached itself to my blog, I have contacted BLOGGER but  they have not contacted me on  HOW to fix this problem. I have had this blog for YEARS and never had a problem before. I just really am at a loss right now. I have went through my settings and changed a lot of things and nothing has helped so far. I do hope that no one else has been affected by this blog with any lingering viruses or etc.  I will keep trying to fix the problem..thanks for bearing with me. 

I OPENED ANOTHER BLOG PAGE HERE...

http://andsoitgoesontwo.blogspot.com/

CAT TV

She barely fits on the stool but she sits there anyway.  This indoor only kitty loves to watch "Cat TV" with all the squirrels and birds chirping around. It is spring and the screen enables her to smell and hear the critters. Don't ask what happened when she saw momma groundhog and her three babies in the yard. Oh boy!! 

It was carnival time! The weather cleared up and the kids came running. It's a big deal in a small town. Fairs don't start around here until July. Hard not to notice as you could hear the screaming inside the local store. 

I have had some troubles with this blog page. I am still trying to figure them out and get rid of what ever  was attached here.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

Corner of barn. This barn is over 70 years old. Has had two roof repairs
but never anything on the siding. 

This was a chicken coop I think..not much left to it.

FRONT side of  same barn two months later, looks much better than the back. 

                                 VISIT HERE FOR MORE BARN CHARM TUESDAY

I am aware there are some problems getting to this page, I am looking into solving whatever is attached here. Thanks for visiting.

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

Loved this red roof barn. It was hidden by a lot of trees.
Very well painted with white windows. 

Driving by I was surprised this photo showed so much of the side. This was taken  in
April of this year. Things were pretty dry here then.

More  BARN CHARM TUESDAY here

BARN CHARM TUESDAY

Loved how the yard was nicely mowed and kept and the barn was ...
well..not kept up. Didn't look like it was used for anything at all. Nice roof
though. 

This was a drive-by shot..just a neat old barn which still  had some color left to it. Find More Barn Charm Tuesday here