Lena stops by for a house tour

Surprised this morning to see the temperature was a warm 50 degrees.

Left at 7:30 when it was just light enough to walk.

The sun came up over the mountain later and it was

a mix of sun and clouds.

 Walked to town and then around both cemeteries a couple of times.

At one cemetery I saw a few rabbits and

at the other one 2 Blue Birds.

Walking back down the main road to home by Sale Barn Rd

I met a woman walking who I'd never seen before and we stopped

to talk.  She told me she has just started walking.  I gave

her a bit of encouragement and we went our separate ways.

Didn't get her name.  Hopefully she'll be out walking again

and I'll get her name then.

If you look closely you can see a half moon up there.

 Great morning to be out walking.

I'll be back to walking earlier again next week when we turn the 

clocks back.  At least for a little while it will be light until the dark creeps up again.
Found a penny

🎃     🎃

Made pancakes for breakfast this morning.

Then got some hot sausages started cooking in the slow cooker

and made Macaroni Salad which we had for supper.

In the afternoon we were both out working in the yard.
I was cleaning up more deadfall and cutting down little
sapling trees and adding them to my natural fence.

This picture is for you Henny Penny.

While we were outside Lena, a friend I met walking,
came walking by with her dog Molly and two family members who
are visiting her from Arizona.
I had told her to come by any time for a tour.
So I gave them a tour and we had a nice visit too.

Went back outside when they left
and later when I came inside I read a little while before supper.
Now we are off to the Wednesday night prayer service at church.

So that's been my day so far.
Hope your day was a happy one.
happyone  💕

A Sunny Day

Left again this morning at 7:30 for my walk

but this time there was no rain or wind, just a few clouds that

gave way to sunshine.

It was 40 degrees.

Walked to town and went to the library to drop a book down the book drop.

Then walked a bit around town before walking back home.

Walking down the main road just about to where I turn off 

Kathy went by in the car heading to town for her walk.

 The usual bus drivers and people on their way to work  

all gave a wave or beep as they passed by me.

Sure was nice to have a walk in the sunshine.

☀️     ☀️

In the morning we headed over to church to load the trailer

with the Roman's books we assembled during the last few months.

We will be taking them down to Stanton,Va one day soon

and picking up another pallet for us to assemble.

While out we stopped at Taco Bell for lunch.
We went through the drive through and sat in the parking lot
and ate.  I had a couple of the mini chicken quesadillas which
are pretty good.
I looked up the recipe for the sauce they use in them
when we got home and will give it a try.

Read a bit this afternoon, A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny.

For supper I made one of Ken's favorite meals
Spinach and Bean Soup but I don't have a recipe written down.
It's made with
spinach
cannelli beans
garlic
pepperoni

That's it for today.
Hope you had a happy day.
happyone  💕

The Rocking Chair

A rainy and windy walk for me today.

40 degrees when I left at 7:30 in my rain pants and yellow slicker.

Walked to town

and around both cemeteries and then headed back home.

Didn't see any other people out in the rain but these

geese on the pond didn't seem to mind the rain.

🌧     🌧

Today I Cleaned

Did Laundry

Read

Made weave-it squares

The first place Ken and I lived in when we got married was in an  

old apartment building in Norfolk, Va.

We had a furnished apartment and used to call the style of

furniture 'early depression.'

 We often went to a huge furniture store called Wicks to just walk

and look around and pick out the furniture we hoped one day 

we would have the money to buy.

In the back of the store was a room where they kept slightly damaged

furniture and you could buy it at a reduced price.

My grandparents had given us $50 and one day back in

the damaged furniture room was this great rocking chair.

The damaged part was just a few scratches and the price tag

on the chair read $50.

We bought it back in 1972 and it has traveled with us to all the

different houses we have lived in.  It even went to Scotland with us.

There it sits now in the living room.

Just got back from Brenda's where it was half price pizza night.
Having a chocolate Klondike bar later for my snack.
That's enough to make anyone smile. 🙂

 Today I hope you smiled often and laughed out loud a time or two.

happyone  💕

Added More

Dark, cold and rainy this morning so we decided to go to LaVale

first thing this morning and do our food shopping.

Wanted to go early to get it over with and since it is Saturday 

by afternoon there would be too many people.

Planned on walking later when I got home.

Still rainy and dreary when we got home so I just ended up walking

the loop in the basement.  That inside loop sure comes in handy.

This afternoon I went ahead and dug out a few more kitchen utensils

out of the box in the basement and put them and some more of

the cookie cutters up above the cabinets.

I like it much better with more things up there.

 I like old boxes and stacked some of them up and put out my cookbooks

and a few other things.

Ken likes to cook once in a while and when we were shopping he picked

out some veggies and steak for a stir fry and cooked supper tonight.

It was very good.  He doesn't use a recipe just whips it up on his own.

I still do the clean up, but it sure is nice to have husband who likes

to cook once in a while.  🙂

We were running low on ice cream so stopped at the Shop and Save

and picked up a good supply of it on sale.

That's about it for today.

Another good one and hope yours was too.

happyone  💕

Cookie Cutters

Most Friday's Ken meets his friend Edd at Denny's for breakfast.

He leaves a little past 6:30 and today I left with Ken and he dropped 

me off in town.  This way I could start walking in the dark because

of the street lights in town.

I figured I had time for 5 miles in town and then start for home

and Ken would pick me up along the way.

It was 38 degrees with a bit of a wind and by the time the sun

should have been up it was cloudy.

After walking the 5 miles I headed for home.  Kept an eye out for

Ken but he was a little later than usual and I walked all the home 

and arrived a few minutes before he did.

So I ended up walking 7 miles.

I felt no different than if I had walked 4 miles and I really could just

keep walking all day long. 
I do enjoy my walks. 🙂

🎃     🎃

I have a collection of old cookie cutters, the kind with the

wooden handle.  I went through them today and picked out

the red ones and hung them above the kitchen cabinets.

Put some old kitchen tools up there too.

Pictures didn't come out that great but here they are.

I think it looks a bit sparse up there so might add some of the cookie cutters
 with the green handles too but haven't decided yet.

I had a couple of buttons to sew on Ken's shirt
and a couple on one of my dresses and have been putting it off for quite a while. 
One of those jobs that I put off that only takes
a few minutes to do.
Feels good having gotten that done this afternoon
and wonder why I just didn't do it before.

Here are the colors I'm using for the latest baby blanket.
The Carron Simply Soft yarn is so nice and soft and easy to work with.

Tonight I'll sew the squares together that I've already made.
 30 done with 40 more to go.
I'll get some reading done, watch an episode of Midsommer
and have my ice cream snack.  Lately I've been eating Cookies and Cream.

It's been a good day.
Hope yours was a good one too.
Happy Day
happyone  💕

Bit of color

This morning I left the house at 7:30.

It was 30 degrees, windy, just getting light and the sun was on its way up.

A bit of color in the sky as I walked down my road.

Walked to town and around both cemeteries and back home again.

Saw the usual deer running back and forth across the road.

Ken said when I was walking he watched about 20 deer 

running around out back. 

Found a penny again today.

Did a couple loads of laundry.  I've been hanging the laundry on

my drying rack.  Don't have a clothes line yet.  I think that will

have to wait until spring now.  

We will be putting a deck out back next year and the clothes line

will be on that.

We've had a bit of sunshine today but it's been mostly
cloudy and very windy.  Feels more like March.

 Did some reading today and also made a few weave-its.

I bake Snickerdoodle Cookies and we sure do like them but had
never heard of Snickerdoodle Bread before until I saw the recipe on
blogger friend Lisa's Blog.
Saved the recipe and today baked the bread.
Ken and I shared a piece as soon as it was cool enough
to handle and it was delicious.
I'll be having more tonight instead of ice cream.

 If you would like the recipe I've put it on my recipe blog,
Karen's Kitchen
Snickerdoodle Bread

That's it for today.
A happy day to you.
happyone  💕

A walk, blue skies and a book

This morning I left for my walk at 7:45 and it was a warmer morning 

than it has been at 44 degrees.  A bit breezy at times.

Walked up and down the lane along our property up to one of our

neighbors house a couple of times.

Then down the hill and up to the top of another and back down again.

Passed up my street and walked to the main road along the brook.

Turned around and headed back home.

I don't find many coins along these country like I did in town

but today I found a penny.  🙂

It was another beautiful sunny day.

Ken was outside in the morning doing a bit of a cleanup

while I was inside getting my housework done.

Then late morning we headed down to the old house so I could

mow the lawn again.  I'm hoping this will be the last time this year.
I know I've said that a couple of times now.

BTW - still no interest in the house.  

It's been for sale over 3 months now.

Ken left me mowing the lawn while he went to the lumber

yard in town.

After lunch I worked on clearing more brush and dead fall
and making the natural wall.
I'm working my way up the side of the house by the garages
and nearing the back now.

Finished reading More Precious Than Gold
by John and Brenda Vaughn.
The Fiery Trial of a Family's Faith.
Brenda and her 2 year old daughter are both horribly burned
in a house fire.
Though parts of it were hard to read it is very good.

Now for a nice quiet evening at home.

A happy day to you.

happyone 💕

Sunny day

Upon arising this morning I decided to take my walk a 

little bit later than usual because I wanted my whole walk to be in the light 

and when the sun was shining.

Before I left I did a load of laundry and had breakfast.

Left at 8:15.  It was 30 degrees and sunny.

I walked to town and dropped a book down the slot at the library.

Then continued through town to the laundromat and put up a couple of fliers

for some church events coming up.

Stopped by the old house for a pit stop and the for sale sign in the yard

had fallen down so put that up again.

Then walked back home.

A beautiful day for walking in the crisp fall air.

When I walked in the door Ken said that I smelled 

like fresh air.

Was inside today getting some housework done.
These pictures are for you Vee.  😊

We went to Brenda's for half price pizza Monday for supper.
We usually just get a plain cheese but today we got a topping of
roasted red peppers.

A happy day to you.

happyone  💕

Dusting and Bible verse

That 1 - 3 inches of snow never got here.

We just had a light dusting.

Looks like someone sifted some icing sugar all around.

Looking out my back window.

❄️

The Bible verse for this month at church is a short one

and one most of us probably already know.

I Peter 5:7

Casting all your care upon Him;

for He careth for you.

Now we just have to remember to leave our cares there with Him

and NOT worry about them.

A blessed Sunday to you.

happyone 💕

Checkers anyone?

Chilly and rainy this morning so decided to get

my steps inside walking around the loop in the basement.

 Made pancakes for breakfast and then got put a meat loaf

in the slow cooker started for supper.

It's been kind of a lazy day around here.

We went out and did a couple of errands and that's about it.

I finished reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder and enjoyed it.

Next one up is Little House on the Prairie and will probably start

it later.

It was a nice day to stay inside and play a came of checkers

as these two decided to do.

 It rained pretty much all day until late afternoon when the sun came out

which was a nice surprise.
It did cloud up and rain again later and they are calling
for 1 - 3 inches of snow tonight.
We shall see.

 A happy day to you.

happyone 💕 

First lesson

Left my house this morning at 7:30 when it was light and walked to town.  

It was 30 degrees and we had our first frost.

The sun was out and there was no wind.

My friend Kathy who I met walking asked me last week if she could

have a tour of the new house.  I told her to stop by any time and 

I'd give here one.

I had the feeling that she wouldn't just drop in so I planned to

see her this morning while we were walking and ask if she wanted to see 

the house today.

When I got to town her car wasn't in the parking lot so I knew she

wasn't in town yet.  After I had walked 4 miles and hadn't seen

her, thought she wouldn't be walking today.

I had just started back home when I spotted her car

just getting to town so I went back.

Yes, she said to seeing the house today.  So I walked her walk

with her (3 miles) and then she drove us both to my house.

Gave her the tour and when she left Ken said you two sure

can talk.  😊

Ken and I continued to work on the brick in front of the garage

and worked till lunch time.

After lunch we went to an hour class at the college  

about managing water runoff on your property.

It was very interesting and learned a few things.

 So far Ken has been everything right with the water drainage

on our property.

Once back home again we just about finished the brickwork.

Just have to cut some of the bricks to even things up.

Will take a picture to show you when it is completely finished.

🚜     🚜

I had my first lesson on the tractor today.  I drove it up and down

the driveway and turned it around.

Learned how to raise and lower the front loader.

I was a bit nervous at first but felt more comfortable with it after

being on it for while.  We figured it was a good thing for me to learn

and at least know how to use the thing.

 Ken should have taken a picture of me.  Maybe next time.

Didn't feel like cooking supper so we went out to Perkins.

It's been a good day.

Hope your day was a good one too.

happyone  💕

Crisp Fall Day

Drove into town again this morning and walked around

town.  It was 30 degrees and dark when I left.

The wind had died down and once the sun came up

it was a nice sunny day.  Air had that nice fresh clean crispness to it.

 Walked all over town up and down all the streets, 

around one of the cemeteries and the ball park loop.

Love these cool mornings for walking.

Didn't eat breakfast because I was bringing breakfast with me

to church for the woman working on the baby blankets today.

We had those muffins I made yesterday.

That cupcake carrier I got has sure come in handy.

Brought along some juice too.

Thought I got orange and pineapple but there was apple in it too.

Never had that mixture before and it was very good. 

There were 8 of us today making blankets.
The latest baby blanket finished.

Ken and I took the day off from working.

This afternoon I read and started on the next blanket and

Ken was down in the basement with his trains.

We hadn't had homemade pizza in a while so we had that for supper.

As usual I made the dough and Ken made the pizza.

A happy day to you.

happyone  💕

Wednesday

38 degrees this morning and the sun did come out but it was very windy.

Couldn't drive into town for my walk this morning

because we had brick, and the trailer load of dust attached

to the truck in the way.

I ended up walking around Happy Trails and up along

the lane for my walk.

Makes a nice change walking in the woods.

This morning I baked Blueberry and Apple muffins

to take for breakfast tomorrow when I go to Blankets for Babies.

I'll finish up the latest blanket this evening.

Just have to sew the last strip on.

Will have a picture tomorrow.

I noticed our Farmer neighbor has acquired  a new 

brown and white calf.  All his other cows are black or black and white.

This pasture is right across the street from our driveway.

Work continued today on the brick in front of the garages.

Once again I kept Ken supplied with bricks and anything

else he needed. 

He finished in front of the first two garage bays 

and just has one more to go.

Baked another batch of muffins when we got done working.

This time I baked them for Ken.

Lemon Poppy Seed

 That's it for today.

Hope your day was a happy one.

happyone  💕

Friendship isn't a big thing - 

it's a million little things. 

~ unknown

Started the brick work

Left the house at 6:45 in the dark and drove the 2 miles to town

to take my morning walk around town again like yesterday.

Seems to be working out good this way for the time being when

it is too dark.

I was walking around one of the cemeteries and it looked like a

dog sitting there in the middle of the path around it.

I stamped my foot and when it turned and ran away I saw

that it was actually a fox.

I know they are around here but it is the first time I've seen one here.

It was a cloudy morning and 36 degrees and very calm.

Later in the morning we had a mix of sun and clouds.

It warmed up a bit and we went outside to work on the brick.

 Went and got a trailer load of 'dust' to put under the brick.
Were thinking of using sand but the dust was recommended by Lisa at the quarry.
Ken got the area ready for the brick while I hauled the brick over for
him to use. 
Work is pretty slow going trying to get the bricks in just the right place
and level.  They need to slope a little away from the doors so water
won't run into the garage.

 Work ended for the day here.

This is looking at it from the front door.
The brick we picked out looks like it has stitching around the
edges and to me makes it look like leather.

The brick will be this wide all along the three garage doors.

Our son David sent me a picture of his daughter, our granddaughter Scout

sitting in the drivers seat of a car driving.

She is grandchild number 3 and I just can't believe she is old

enough to drive.

 

So that's been my day so far.

And now to enjoy a nice quiet evening at home

which I so do enjoy.

A happy day to you.

Life is Good

happyone  💕

"Skipping is jumping for joy,

step after step."

~ Terri Guillemets

Drove to walk

 50 degrees this morning, dark and windy.

It was nearly 7:00 and still dark and I was antsy to get walking

but didn't want to go in the dark.

So I did what my friend Kathy does and drove the car to town.

I parked in the driveway at the old house and walked around town.

 Some blue sky around but then it quickly left and was cloudy and had

a couple of quick light misty showers while I walked.

Once I got out of the car I realized that I had forgotten my Striiv pedometer

at home.  Then remembered I had a walking App on my phone so used that.

My walk around town was up and down all the roads, around the ball park

loop and both cemeteries.

My friend Kathy was out walking too and the last mile and half of my walk

we walked together.  Hadn't seen her in a while and was nice to 

get caught up.

Here is the walking route from today.

What a crazy route it looks like seeing it pictured.

When I got home Ken had some cherry turnovers for us for 

breakfast that he made.

He does that once in a awhile and it is always such a nice surprise.  

Our next project is to put some brick down in front of the garage

so when we drive in we don't bring the gravel 

from the driveway into the garage.

Too rainy to start the work today but we made two trips to

the stone store to pick up our two pallets of brick.

Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be better and we can begin work.

I read this afternoon and finished The Little House in the Big Woods.

I enjoyed reading the book but it was different than I imagined

it would be.  It doesn't read like a story but of random memories.

Was going to start the second book but realized I had book number

three so on the way to Brenda's for pizza stopped at the library

and got number 2 to read later.

Also worked on the latest baby blanket and now just have
two more strips to make and sew. 

Still have one of those brownies left and I'll have that
with some ice cream for my snack
while we watch the next episode of Midsomer Mystery.
 

Hope your day was a happy one.

Life is Good

happyone 💕

"As a child, my number one best friend was the librarian
in my grade school. 
I actually believed all those books belonged to her."
~ Erma Bombeck