~~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~

It's coming soon. SOON.. Hope you all have your plans set and shopping done. I have been baking with my 4 year old "helper". He had a really fun time and yes the more icing the better. He was really good about NOT eating the cookies after he iced them. I told him that the ELF on the shelf would report back to Santa that he was doing a great job. This is his first Christmas with the ELF and it seems he likes looking for him and being GOOD. Bless the person who thought this idea up it really helps. I had to reflect back when his mother was his age and decorated cookies at this same table. It was a tradition to visit Grandma's house and decorate cookies with her cousin every Christmas.       

Seeing a third generation following along made my heart happy. I know his Grandma in heaven was watching and smiling. In the years to come he will find that making them and giving them away will bring him a great feeling of joy. 

I hope this Christmas, that whatever gives you the greatest JOY and blessings find you and your family. 

 

 

WHAT'S GOING ON????

Looking at the courtyard.

 OH MY..what is going on..???

Heard in the hallway when a woman left a large dog inside an upstairs apt.
IT started BARKING at everything that moved. NO DOGS allowed in this building so it was bound to bring people out of their apartments and into the hall. Is it any surprise that the lady left it in the place ABOVE ME??? NO not to me.. it sounded like an elephant running around up there. THIS was NO little dog. I have put up with people keeping me up all night and loud children running up and down but nothing like this. So I called the manager and reported it. The lady came back almost 2 hours later and I was so relieved when she left with TWO LARGE LAB dogs, I think everyone else was too. 

In APT 101 an elderly woman named Margaret lives and she has been in it for at least 25 years! I was startled to hear this. I also was surprised to hear that the management has NEVER replaced the carpet or painted since she moved there. She does not smoke but keeps her apartment hot summer and winter. I learned from her to put some sort of rugs over the top of the areas that are the busiest pathways. I asked her if they wanted to clean the carpet for her and she said.."Oh honey, I cannot move all this furniture around..so NO they have ever cleaned it." I made a mental note to not let my place get so cluttered that the carpet could not be cleaned somehow. Margaret and Barbara were good friends. Barbara lived in my apt for over 20 years too. Barbara was in her late 80's when she got too ill to stay here. Her daughter moved her to a facility out of town and Margaret could not visit her. They said their goodbyes when she left this place and Margaret never saw Barbara again. Two months later Barbara died from pneumonia at the facility. I had been on a waiting list for years and finally I got the call I had been waiting for.  The day I got keys to my apartment was a hot hot July day and the smell of new paint and new carpet was overwhelming. I talked to the maintenance man Aaron and he told me that almost everything in my place had been replaced. The only thing that wasn't was the tub and the refrigerator. He told me that Barbara was an immaculate housekeeper in her day but the place really needed so much replaced. The carpets had not been cleaned in years, again, because she had so much furniture they could not clean it. 

So I had to wait to move into my place because the smells were so strong it made my Asthma go crazy. I moved some things into the apartment but  I  really moved into my apartment a whole month later.
More later.....

GRATEFUL THANKSGIVING

SITTING in my nice apartment I am so grateful this year that the ground is green and we have no ice or snow to deal with. We had 9 inches earlier in the week and it was 14 degrees one morning. This morning it is 55 and it is all melted. We had our preview of winter. I decided to put up my tree this week and enjoy looking at it. Gets me in the holiday spirit.                                        

Yesterday I prepared several dishes to carry to my Niece's home for dinner today. I am so grateful they moved to my town and we can visit and see each other more. I am so used to preparing dishes to pass for so many years that THIS year I can actually share them instead of eating them alone. She has a 4 year old and that is always fun being around kids for the holidays. Traditions come and go and since Mom passed in 2011 life has been all over the place for me. I am grateful this year we are all together and celebrating the holidays together again. I hope whatever you do and wherever you are this holiday you stay safe and enjoy the blessings of the holiday with family and friends. 

 

STAND BY PARIS...

Sitting at the computer and the news came on my Facebook page that Paris had been attacked. I turned on CNN and was saddened and horrified as to how easily these attackers destroyed lives all over the "City of Lights". It took me back immediately to the attacks on New York City. I remembered how we felt having some terrorists wreak havoc on our country that day. I am so glad that all the world is supporting France and praying for the victims and that we are UNITED in stopping those who want to do us harm. GOD BLESS FRANCE and GOD BLESS THE USA.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN..

Boy am I behind... time was long ago I would make many blog entries every week. Now I make one once a month. I still get out in the world but not very often. Depending on the bus now days to get me around is fine but sometimes not in the budget. I managed to get a few photos on my last trip out. The fall is slowing coming to a close here. Trees turned slow and mostly yellow. I did manage to find some color here and there though.These were taken at a local apple orchard near town. Never have I seen a person deliver gallons of cider on the back of a 4 wheeler though. This place had a whole little house where you could go and pick what apples you want. Kids love it..temperature controlled most of the time. Fresh donuts being made were mouth watering. Nothing like them in the fall. Here are some recent photos

Delivering Cider 

     

APPLE HOUSE

I ventured into our downtown and found it celebrating a scarecrow contest. I began to see a theme start. I am not sure what the one above was supposed to be.

This was the spa.

  

A nurse at the health dept.

On the bus for a country ride.

GOLD tree in the park.

                 HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

WHERE DID SUMMER GO??

Wow I have not updated here in months. I sure am slipping. Blog entry what is that?? I have to remind myself to even look at it when it used to be a daily routine. Life happens.. now I am more settled in my place and enjoying my freedom and have things to keep me busy. Things are still green pretty much here but I expect them to start turning very soon. I am keeping an eye out for the woolly worm to see what he predicts for our winter this year. Last year he was 100% correct for my area anyway.Here are some photos I have taken over the summer..odds and ends.The sky was so orange when a local fire hit. Reminded me of how bad it was in Ca. where fires were eating up so much of their land.Sure was an eerie sight. I took this at a local Walmart made entirely out of their stock. It was very creative and boy it screamed  F A L L !

Haven't been able to get around a whole lot because of the heat this summer. I wait for the cooler days. It is so much easier to breathe.

It was a summer of firsts for my niece's boy Theo.. he had his first real birthday party and his first trip to the local county fair.

Watching him grow up reminds me how short life is and we must enjoy every minute of it.

HAVE A GREAT SEPTEMBER...

THAT OLD HOUSE...

HAD to update here on the progress for our old house. MY my..seems the neighbors that lived around there were pretty sore about looking at it.

  The new owner had really let the place be trashy and unkempt and it needed help badly.They started painting it and the color was well .. not great...It proved to be a real pain to finish the job. When the spring and summer arrived things changed. They picked up the yard and removed the trash and PAINTED THE HOUSE.They hired someone to paint it.. It was a big deal because this old house NEVER had a COLOR before. It's probably 140 years old now and was ALWAYS white. Now it is fresh and clean and looks like this..

There is still plenty to finish up but this latest photo is so very nice to see. I am very happy for the old place to look good again. I love the color and it is such an improvement. AS FOR HELL HOUSE next door.. it is still standing and up for public auction and everyone is wondering if they will get any buyers for it. As a refresher.. Hell House was a home that had three or four apartments and left for the critters to inhabit. It had seen drug dealers and numerous arrests and fights and police visits in its past. The whole neighborhood would rather it be razed to the ground than bought and fixed up. It was gutted after the last tenant left the water connected in the winter and the whole place flooded and then black mold grew inside. It is nasty. Just glad our OLD HOUSE...looks good again.. Mom and Dad surely would approve!

WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN????

When in the world did this happen?? I am asking myself.. when did you get to be "that old woman"?

I overheard some gals talking in the store and they were talking about some old woman. I looked around and saw no one there but me. Well darn, when did this happen? I don't feel that old inside. My gray hair and age showing now, I guess it was bound to happen some day but I am not ready.

 I well remember when a young carry out boy at the grocery store called me "Ma'am" the first time. I was crushed. I was in my late twenties.I guess every age has it's limit.  People live to be 90 and 100 now and that to me is old. Some people look their age and some people don't. It might be time to reconsider coloring my hair and changing my wardrobe. It won't change my age but it might help some. I was reminded lately that I was the OLDEST person at a relatives birthday party. What?? Yes, I looked around and I was.. I was the one complaining about the heat outside and what I could eat and what I could not. Typical talk of one who is older than anyone else there. 

Where did the time go? I think about all the years and all my adventures and the wisdom I have acquired along the way I feel pretty good about it. Getting older is going to happen sooner or later to everyone. My time is now I guess. Time to accept it and move on with life. Watch your health, get better in shape, eat right and be happy with each day you rise up and enjoy another day.

                            JUST HAVE FUN BEING THE YOUNG PERSON...