Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring...

Snaps of my place on Christmas Eve 2012. All is well.

The place is small so there aren't a lot of decorations. If I bring in a tree, whether real or fake, the cats would get it. So I just hang something at each window and that's about it. But the ambiance they provide is truly peaceful. I like them very much.

In the living room I put up a glass block into which tiny fairy lights have been wound. A red and gold gilded bow is tied around the block. Behind the white lace curtain the glow of the lights diffuses into a nice low-key holiday atmosphere inside and spreads out to the lawn for my part in neighborhood decorating outside..

The same goes for the bedroom. In this case there is a white ball studded with tiny white lights. They are  bit brighter than the living room window's glass block, and so they cast a nice glow into the entire room. I'm only in the bedroom when I go to bed so its dark in there. There are no other lights competing with the white ball, and the room has nicely lit radiance.

There is a sleeping kitty! Shhh!

In the kitchen is one candle. It runs on rechargeable batteries. On the sill above is a small vase of red holly and berries, interspersed with some white espresso cups! I wish I had a Keurig.

Where is Luke? Why, eating, of course! The small snuffs of the sleeping Bert and the mild chomp chomp of Luke's kibble are the only noises in the house. Except for the hiss of the gas stove and the clicking of the laptop keyboard, that is.

Atop the tall bookcase in the living room are the Christmas angel and the Christmas cactus. I have to put the cactus on top because that is the only place the cats cannot get to...for the time being. I know they are attracted to it and would find a way eventually to climb up there. So I am giving the cactus away tomorrow as a gift, so I won't have to worry any more about them munching on the greenery and getting poisoned by the blossoms...

So that is my quiet Christmas Eve. I have plans to eat Christmas Dinner at a friend's on Christmas Day. But for now, all is quiet with me and my kitties.

SNL, George Carlin, and old TV shows

This is a weird coincidence. I queued up the original episode of Saturday Night Live, which debuted in October 1975. As I began to watch, I listened to host George Carlin's opening monologue. I was thinking at the same time that it is 38 years ago that I first watched it, and how the time flew by. I was wondering how many of the cast is dead by now. Just then, Carlin asked,

“Do you ever look at the crowds in old movies and wonder if they’re dead yet?”

Either I should be spooked by the coincidence, or worried that I think like George Carlin. By the way, here are the ones who are dead:

Dan Aykroyd
Chevy Chase
John Belushi
Jane Curtin
Garrett Morris
Laraine Newman
Gilda Radner

First head writer: Michael O'Donoghue,
First musical performer: Billy Preston
First host: George Carlin

Did Carlin ever wonder if someone would wonder that about him?

Cats playing pattycake

I totally get this. I have two cats. ... "It's never over!!"

Christmas vacation

Christmas vacation starts this afternoon and I am glad for it. The last few days have been grief-filled and difficult, as we digest the news of the Sandy Hook, Newtown elementary school massacre.

The children have been all right, thankfully, but we have heavy hearts but we are smiling for the children. And each other.

It's a good long break. We go back to school on January 7. So that means I have a long time to write my blogs, study the bible, scan for new shows to watch on Netflix, read books, and play with my cats. It may not sound like a lot to you, but it is enough for me.

December blossoms

We have had some warm days. It was so warm, a steady several weeks of in the 70s, that the tree in front of school began to blossom.

Since then, we had a few nights of frost, which likely killed the blossoms. But the days rebound to the upper 60s. This is why I love Georgia. Even when it's cold...it's not.

This morning I watched Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in the newspaper yarn His Girl Friday. The repartee was hilarious. In one quick fire set of dialog, the newspaperman was summing up the murder's situation, saying that after the killer lost his job he hung around the park listening to 'soapbox spellbinders.' What a marvelous turn of phrase. I love good writing.

I've been taking it easy this morning. Cook and eat breakfast, watch a movie, do some chores, listen to a sermon, study a little. Easy does it. I wouldn't want to go too fast and startle my sensibilities and faint or something.

Now that I've cleaned out the fridge and washed all the dishes I think I'll cook something and mess up all the dishes again. Anyone feel like washing dishes is a pointless exercise?

Perhaps roasted vegetables will be on the docket, and maybe some kind of soup. What kind, I don't know yet.

But first, I'll pray for the families of the babies that were killed in Newtown yesterday.

It's a kind of Farmer's Market Saturday

I am so glad I live in a place where the Farmer's Market goes all the way until the end of December. I am headed out this morning to pick up some winter greens, and blueberry bread, then to the store to buy my Christmas cards, and come home to coffee, warm blueberry bread, and write out my cards.

I love when I come out the front door in the morning there are roosters crowing next door.

I love having only a 10-minute drive to work in the morning, past fields and farms, cows and donkeys.

In the main town of the county, the county seat, there was a meeting as to what to do with the only  intersection where there is the only stoplight. They decided to put in a rotary (called roundabout here). The mayor said, "This is probably the biggest decision Danielsville has made in 50 years," and I think that is wonderful. How great to live in a small town like this! I just love it.

When I go to the store I'm also going to buy ingredients for a green bean casserole. Something about the cooler weather makes me want to roast vegetables and make casseroles. This weekend I want to make the casserole, roast a variety of veggies, bake some Asian-marinated tofu, and maybe make oatmeal-craisin cookies.

The guy next door has put up his Christmas lights. Now the space shuttle can see us, lol. I always love the lengths he will go to decorate his home, and it is certainly colorful when he is finished.

As for my own decorating, I put only a white light in each of my windows. In the bedroom, I hang a sphere studded with white lights. In the living room there is a glass block with white lights inside, with a bow on top. It's pretty. In the kitchen window is a simple white candle. At the front door I hang an angel that lights up white. I leave the other bedroom window bare so that my cat Bert is not bothered, because that is his looking-out-at birds-spot. If I put something there he would likely have a nervous breakdown at the change. Plus, the next door guys' house is that direction and there is no way anyone driving by would be looking at my lights, lol.

It is the Christmas season. Merry Christmas!

End of vacation, almost

I have today and tomorrow left on my lovely week-long vacation. I've really enjoyed being home. The cats have too. They follow me everywhere and cuddle up on cold nights. I've been enjoying the peace and quiet. Today I made a huge batch of ratatouille, and a fresh fruit salad. I'm listening to discernment lessons, doing dishes, reading. My kitties love to have me at home. I am a celebrity, with an adoring fan base of two.

My car is under the weather so I have stayed home all week, except for church and one trip to the Dollar Store to get kitty litter. I have stayed busy by dong the above and also by watching Netflix. I'm not so enamored of the selections on the Netflix instant download, because it seems that every movie I type in is not available on instant download. Instant downer, if you ask me. But there's enough to keep me limping along with non-graphic content that is devoid of commercials.

I am daily getting more sick at watching television. Just the sheer number of commercials is outrageous, but the subject of them is atrocious. In attempting to watch even the most innocuous of shows, a quiet cooking show called Chopped, the ads in between the show segments made me sick. In successive turn, I saw an ad for vaginal mesh, male enhancement for more fun in the bedroom, and a housewife pole dancing around an upright vacuum. I turned the TV off.

Fortunately I have Netflix to watch Frasier, or Andy Griffith, or a fifties movie like Dial M For Murder. Sitting around the house all day watching movies or reading online can't be good for me physically. But it is oh, so good mentally and emotionally. And 2 out of 3 wins.

Ways to be happy

How many ways can a person describe happy?

I have time and energy to clean my apartment really good, and do laundry and to put it all away. I even spent time arranging all the coverlets so they are evenly hanging. (This is a comfort to an Asperger's person).

I miss a bloom or a blossom, and I scoured the yard for something alive I could bring into the house. I found one fading rose (or gardenia) and some morning glories. In the other bud vase I put holly leaves and berries.

The day is warm and sunny, hitting 63 degrees even so early. I turned off the heat. I am having tea and listening to a sermon. I am awake and not tired at all.

This alertness translates to being able to read a hard book, such as several chapters of John MacArthur's "Christ's Prophetic Plans". At night, I read Farley Mowat's "The Siberians." My eyes are not tired.

My laptop is fixed and so is the wireless.

I watched several episodes of Columbo. (His first name is Frank). I wrote a bunch of blogs on the other blog, and read the bible. It is quiet, and I cuddle with the cats.

Happy!

Vacation and pictures of hay

I'm home for Thanksgiving break. It is such a relief! In our school District we have the week off. We do not go to school on Monday and Tuesday, so that's that.

I particularly like Sundays when we have a holiday weekend or vacation. On a regular weekend, Friday night feels great because work is furthest away. Saturday feels great because I have the whole day to myself. Sunday morning is for prayer and then Sunday School and then Worship service. When I get home I make a midday meal, and then usually conk out. So it is mid-afternoon when I come to and that is when I have to start getting ready for the week ahead. I cook meals for the week, do a load of laundry, pack a lunch. Then around 5pm I sit on the couch and watch a rerun of the police show The Closer, and before I know it, it is dark out and evening has arrived and in a few short hours I go to bed and then get up and go back to work.

Weekends go by fast.

But not the week-long vacations! Those are great!

Here are a few pictures I snapped of the hayfield next door. For some reason I really like taking pictures of hay.

Hay, a Hawk!

As I neared my driveway on the way home from school today, a huge hawk flew in front of my car, and landed on this hay roll. The pasture is next to my house. I lurched the car to a stop in the street and jumped out to snap it. I'm glad I did, when I drove into the driveway and jumped out again to look for him, he was gone.

A frosty morning

As I drove to work Thursday morning, we had our first frost. It was just a few days after the time change too, so there was sun glinting off the frost and bouncing off the changed leaves. It was spectacularly beautiful.

I only drive up one road, a straight shot that takes 10 minutes. There is no shoulder and no place to really stop to take a picture. So I just stuck up my camera and snapped, lol. This was the result.

Barns, pastures, and frost:

At first, I almost deleted this photo. But I looked at the side mirror and decided I liked the contrast of the frost in front and the rising sun in the rear as reflected in the mirror. It was a golden, reddish sunrise that day. Pretty.

The fields and woods across from my school

The sun reflected against the bricks of the adjoining High School with frost on the ground

My school. On Tuesday there was a stiff wind storm and a large and colorful patio umbrella blew in and rolled around on the football field. On Thursday, a frost grew underneath it.

The ground fog is lifting as the sun rises

I love where I live!

My day

My day:

7:00-3:00
Run, run, run. Work, work, work, Laugh, laugh, laugh.

3:10-3:30
Vote. Clothespin not included


3:50-5:30
NAP! EXHAUSTED!

5:45
Dinner, Mexican salad: black beans, Spanish rice, spicy tomatoes, Romaine lettuce, avocado, sour cream. V8 Punch for beverage and a macadamia nut cookie for dessert. Surf Twitter & Facebook while eating.

6:30-8:00
Study bible, write blog.

8:0009:30
Watch Columbo.

9:30
BED

Hey, it's a day. Could be worse, It's actually pretty good.

Oh, crap! I said crap again!

I had a good time at recess today. I had the duty, along with another teacher and we stand out there and watch so they don't get hurt, or wander off, or that unauthorized people don't walk onto the playground etc.  The biggest portion of our duty is that we mediate their squabbles.

So two boys come running up. One of them is a quiet man type and another is all boy. Boy, is he all boy. So the quiet man is about to tell me what terrible deed all-boy did but all-boy gets a word in first. He yells, "I SAID I was sorry!"

I said, "What did you do?"
"I said crap. I didn't mean to say it, but I said crap."
I looked at quiet man and asked if he wanted me to pursue it or if he was cool. He said he was cool, and ran off.

All boy turned to me, now all smiles, and said,
"There's a big doo-doo over there. A huge turd!"

I am dying laughing inside myself because now he's actually said crap four times in the space of 30 seconds. I said,

"Ok, thanks for letting me know."

"When they get old they turn black. Want to see?"
"No thanks. I know what they look like."
"Okay," he said, giving me a look like I was crazy to pass this up. "Bye!" He ran off.

College football and changing leaves

We have fall break now. This vacation is a mini-vacation, being a Friday and Monday off on either side of this regular weekend. This fall break is on the weekend of the extremely-taken seriously Florida-Georgia college football game. This is an intense rivalry between University of Georgia Bullgogs and Florida Gators. A LOT of people drive to Jacksonville to watch the game in person and root for the home team. The Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs - both ranked in the top ten - meet in their annual rivalry but this year the outcome determines if Florida will proceed to the SEC championships or if FL will knock UGA out of contention. If GA wins they have to win the next three games to clinch the SEC East title and then go on to fight for SEC winner at the championship game.

Or something like that.

I could care less.

But saying that around here is akin to heresy and I could be run out of town on a rail. I told you they take the game extremely seriously, lol!

I'm just as happy to have four days off. The weather this week has been spectacular. We've enjoyed vivid sunrises, clear and sunny days, warm temperatures and thankfully no more humidity. All this will change as Hurricane Sandy passes. By Monday the night temps will be in the thirties and the daytimes will have said goodbye to the seventies. September and October are glorious here.

If it is going to be cool Monday then I plan to bake some bread in the bread machine. I also plan to make black bean salad, cream of mushroom soup, and granola bars.

Oh yes, and somewhere along the way I'll vacuum and do the dishes. But not yet.

The big news around here is that I changed the cat food. I noticed that the cats had been picking at their food, and some days refusing outright to eat it. My cat Bert has gained a lot of weight lately, too. He struggles to jump aboard the bed. They seemed a little sad too. I can't explain it. They just seemed down. I've fed them the same food since I brought them home from the shelter five years ago: Everpet cat food. It is the Dollar Store brand. But when they began to balk, and also to throw up more often. After all these years, I looked into the cat food reviews and apparently Everpet is the evil Hitler of cat foods. There was not one good rating anywhere, there have actually been recalls, and anyone adding their own review to a website always used a plethora of exclamation marks!!!!!

Immediately I felt awful, guilty, and terrible that I'd been feeding them this food. I changed right away to a Purina brand. But in my defense, they had never balked that much before and seemed to thrive. Now though they actually seem happy. The run to the bowl right away in the morning and they eat all of the measured-out portion I give them, with no leftovers. And no one has thrown up. I can't explain it but they do seem happier and more content. Calmer too.

I'm so glad I have cats. They bring me lots of joy and are great companions. I'd do anything for them. Far from being the stereotypical aloof cats, they are loving and constant companions. And they don't ask for much in return, just for me to give them cuddles, which I'm always happy to do.

This Fall Break is the first hop in the hop-skip- and jump trio of vacations we get from school. When we return to school it's just a few weeks until the week off for Thanksgiving, and then another few weeks until the big two-weeks off at Christmas. Between the change in the weather from summer oppression, the glorious landscape painting each day at sunrise of during the bright day as the sun sines through the colorful leaves, the anticipation of the holiday season...it is a great time to be in Georgia. Especially if the Bulldogs beat the Gators.

Pretty photos for you

Bird in a pear tree

Blue doors

Lichen

Magnolia growing

New England cemetery in snow

Boy choosing heavy pumpkin

High hanging fruit- out of reach

I didn't know the hay turns fall colors too

Waiting at a stop sign, photographed the trees.

On another day waiting at the same stop sign, photographed the water tank

The life of a cat lady

So it's fall and the leaves are turning though the days are still a delightful low 70s and the sun is still warm. But because the temps are not extreme the colors of the turning leaves aren't as vibrant as they were up north.

Leaving school today I saw a small maple leaf on the pavement, brilliantly red.

I carefully picked it up and noticed it was fresh. Lovingly holding it all the way to the car, I placed it on the beverage cup, intending to scan it when I got home and make something online with it. Maybe change the banner photo, maybe posterize it in Photoshop and make a greeting card...something.

I zipped to the grocery store and the Dollar Store to buy the week's stuff. Boy, milk went up thirty cents. That was a huge disappointment. A half gallon is $2.99 now.

Anyway, I got the food and drove home. I was worried that the heat inside the car had curled my leaf. It hadn't.

I got to the door holding all my groceries, with the leaf's stem in my mouth and the keys dangling from my pinkie. As I set the groceries down by the door I noticed a stream on small red ants traveling at full speed to the threshold and disappearing en masse inside the wall. Uh-oh. Visions of empires of fire ants building continent-sized cities inside my wall was too much to bear, so I jammed the keys in the lock, threw open the door and set all the bags down on the kitchen floor, while carefully laying the leaf down on the bookcase next to the door.

I grabbed the ant spray and used a third of a bottle spraying the ant line, the doorstep, and the walkway.

Then I put away the groceries, got dinner on the stove, and sat down to attend to email.

It was a hour later when I finished emails and replying to comments from the other blog, when I got ready to have some art fun and scan my leaf. I looked around. No leaf.

Hm. I know I brought it inside. I looked at the red rug on the kitchen, thinking the leaf had fluttered off in the frenzy to spray the ants. Was it on the rug, camouflaged but otherwise untouched? Nope. I looked at the bookcase and behind the bookcase. No leaf.

Uh-oh. Cat. The cat must have gotten it.

I went into the bedroom and saw the two of them curled up there on the bed in the waning sun patch. And on the rug next to the bed was a regurgitated leaf. My nice rug. My formerly nice leaf.

Such is life of an old cat lady. Apparently unbeknownst to me, what I had really been doing when I had cradled, shepherded and delivered a snippet of the outdoors, was not to scan and make art for myself, but to give a taste of the outdoors to my cat.

Saturday

I made veggie-tomato soup, ratatouille, grilled some zucchini, squash and scallions, and prepared fruit salad. I did it all while listening to some lectures on spiritual discernment. I'm a happy camper right now.

photo source

Uncontrolled bouncing

Ahhh, at long last, the weekend.

I can't complain. It was a teacher workday without kids, and to boot, I took a personal day, lol.

Yesterday was a day where, once per quarter, the children who have behaved to a certain standard are rewarded with a party. The first Reward Party of the year they get to play on bouncey houses. Each grade level comes out and for 45 blissful minutes, they get to free play in them.

When the kindergarteners came out, the grade I work with, they were massively excited. They were giddy, happy, and deliriously laughing. The fact that it was a 75 degree sunny fall day helped a lot!

One of the kids in line waiting to climb up the ladder of the inflatable slide, laughed and jumped on the bouncey house as a trampoline, looked at me and said, "I'm bouncing and there is nothing you can do about it!!!" She was right! Nor would I want to. This was one time they were encouraged to let loose and have fun. Run, bounce, slide, yell. Go for it, kids.

I plan to make banana muffins this weekend, and vegetable soup. Maybe quinoa salad. I plan to study a  lot and not talk to many people. I might go outside. Or not.

As the timeless and genius character Sheldon Cooper said Thursday night: “I didn’t really hit my academic stride until I cut out that time-suck known as ‘playing outdoors.’”

LOL, happy weekend!

Memories

This was a busy week that ended well. All was calm and nice as we brought the kids down to the final assembly point for loading into the cars and buses. One of the third grade teachers was singing a Friday song as she led the kids down the hall, and the kids were smiling and laughing. I received some sweet little hugs as I dropped off my bunch of kindergarteners.

The weather has broken from the excessive heat, though some days are still hot. But the humidity isn't high and the temps don't stay in the 80s for long. It's like the thermometer mercury tries with all it has to reach those upper 80s and just can't make it, and settles briefly into the low 80s before slipping down and down for the evening. We have good sleeping weather now.

So the day was warm but nice as I left the school at the end of the afternoon and concluded my workweek. My usual Friday venture is to go to the local grocery store just a mile away from the school before heading home for the weekend. As I entered the store, I saw the same kids I'd just dropped off at the school gym a few minutes ago. LOL, the aisles of the store rang with successive shouts of four different kids running up and down aisles exclaiming "Mrs Prataaaaaa!"

As I waited in the checkout line, I ran into a fellow I'd known at the church I'd gone to six years ago. He greeted me warmly and said it was good to see me. That is always nice, to run into someone you haven't seen in a while. He said he'd just gotten a chicken and had spent the night building a pen for it, and was at the store getting some feed.

As he left and I turned to my own aisle, the lady in front of me was looking at me quite intently. After a moment she said, "Didn't you write for the Madison County Journal?" I said I used to (the editor always put my photo next to my byline). She said she enjoyed my columns. That was nice also.

As I drove home I mused about how it is to build a new life. I guess my life here in GA isn't new any more. I'm recognized by children and adults, I've forged relationships at work and church and the community. I moved here 6 years ago this week. It has seemed like a blink of an eye, but at the same time, I've accumulated a body of public work, a reputation, and relationships. I also have accumulated a cache of memories unrelated to my former life in New England. All this has grown almost unbenownst to me during all that time.

The sea air and foghorns have slipped back in my mind as the newer ambient sounds of cows lowing and roosters crowing are more prevalent. I'm not sure how I feel about that, except to say, time passes, and all things change. You get used to that as you grow older, anyway. The decades accumulate and memories come and stay and then go as new memories slide in, as fleetingly ephemeral as the wisps of fog I used to watch evaporate into the warm sunshine of life.

Fog at Jasper Beach, Machias Maine

Fog at Lubec, Globe Cove, high tide

Sunset at Lubec Harbor

Sunset over the fishing fleet, Lubec Harbor Maine

LOL, waiting for the Fourth of July parade to begin in Eastport Maine. As is typical of Mainers and Maine summers, you have blankets and sweatshirts along with shorts and flip-flops, all at the same time!

Obama's smirk compared to Sheldon Cooper's haughty derision face

Obama's smirk,



reminded me of the classic Sheldon Cooper's haughty derision face,


and his "I look at you with an expression of exhaustion and ever so slight amusement" face-



Except, Sheldon Cooper would make a better president. Less arrogant too.

Lovely barn

Waiting for the Middle School buses to pass, I snapped this picture of one of my favorite barns along my route to and from school. The recent rain had greened the pasture. I definitely live in a nice place. :)

Rainy night in Georgia

It is raining here now which is very comforting. The sound of gentle rain on the tin awnings is nice, and the occasional car splashes into a puddle as it goes by. All else is quiet.

One reason it's quiet is that I turned off the tv a while ago. I had been watching the mini-series "Into the West". It was very good, but increasingly I find that I don't want the extra emotional entanglement. Caring about the characters, mourning over the white man's atrocities, musing over the course of civilization's inexorable march across the pages of history even as it tramples the ground under its feet, transforming the geography with wagon ruts, train tracks and dynamite...all pointlessly weighty on my heart. Committing to two hours is just beyond me. As Frank Barone said, "I'm not set up for that!"

Church service was excellent today. Well, they're all excellent, but today felt really good. I enjoyed the Sunday School lesson and the sermon was excellently put together and delivered. I felt refreshed when I came out.

Today's cooking was soup. Vegetable soup with elbow macaroni. I like how the macaroni saturates during the week and it turns into more of a stew and less of a soup. I have a cherry pie in the fridge, and salad too. Sounds like lunch for a few days!

I got curious as to whether my old house was still standing. I looked it up on Google maps. It looks pretty good! I see that the trees I'd planted back in 1984 have grown up nicely. Google maps is great for satisfying the curiosity factor but I'm still discomfited by the notion that drones fly over and vans lurk and snap photos. When I bought that house the internet was just a twinkle in Larry Roberts and ARPANET's eye. And now look. I can use Google earth and fly over Greenland if I want to.

I wonder what tomorrow holds? I'll find out in about 12 hours. Meanwhile I'll go read a book and listen to the rain.

What a week!

This was a long and rough week. I found out it was not rough for just me but for everyone. The Fair is in town, which is a pretty big deal. A local person told me that fair week is always rough at school. The kids are excited they are going to the fair, unable to contain themselves with excitement. Their antsiness shows up at school. Also, many kids and families participate in the animal shows and that is busy and stressful too. So it was just a plain old busy week.

It was made nice last night by the warm late summer air and golden harvest moon shining down. When I went into the other room I thought the neighbor had left the floodlight on. It was the moon shining so brightly!

I made a change from my regular routine of doing all the weekly shopping on Friday to splitting it to Friday and Saturday. I usually go to the Dollar Store and the Grocery Store at the same time. The two stores are side by side. But this week I've got a lot to buy at the Dollar Store, and last week they gave a receipt with a $5 off coupon on the back if you buy $25 worth of stuff. I actually do have $25 of items to buy this week so I could throw the $5 away by not waiting one day.

However, I really hate going out on Saturdays. I like to just stay in my PJs and write and do my chores at home and then take a nap and then do a few more chores, and then read. In other words, I like to recover from the week without having to enter the world again!!

Oh well, I am lucky I live only a half a mile from town and I can go get my mail, do a bit of banking and get my stuff at the Dollar Store. That is the other advantage of living in a small town, these three things are practically adjacent to one another. LOL. Heck, those three things are practically all there is in town at all. When I get home I want to do the laundry, vacuum and wash the dishes. That will leave only cooking for tomorrow.

I plan to make a pan of roasted veggies, baked tofu, and a quiche. Hey, if I'm going to turn on the oven, I may as well really use it!

So this blog entry is a procrastinating kind of blog entry. I should get up right now and get going. Really. Any moment now.

A bad soup

I made some cream of potato soup. This inaugurates the soup-making season. Now that it's cooler, my Sunday will henceforth be filled with either casseroles or baking granola bars, or soup.

I'm not sure my cream of potato soup is all that successful. It was a simple recipe, but somehow it didn't come out quite as good as the recipe ingredients made it look like it should. I think I need more broth and less milk.

Anyway, it is still not too bad. Not bad but not great. Perhaps it's because I'm out of practice. Yeah, that's it. Next week I'm going to make a cream of vegetable soup but use a lot less milk and a lot more broth. Maybe no milk at all, but just blender-ized roasted veggies providing the thickening agent.

The weather is glorious! It is in the upper 50s and low 60s overnight and the mid 70s during the day! I actually put on slippers today (though I'm still in shorts, lol). What grand and glorious day and there are more of these ahead.

Friday is payday and I'm thrilled. I love my job and then I get paid! Double grateful.

The agricultural fair is coming around again. It is a very charming event and highly popular to one and all. My church brothers and sisters will be there, serving and preaching, and most of the rest of the county enjoying the cooler weather and fun games and livestock competitions. Here are a few photos from previous seasons-

Have a good week, all. :)

Bread in the road

It was a cool and foggy morning. Driving to work the sky above was clear blue but the morning fog hadn't lifted yet. It pooled in the small dips, and the pastures were softened by the cloud of white adorning its sides. It was actually very pretty. The pastures are still green and vibrant, and the leaves haven't turned yet so  they're green too. The contrast of green below, blue above and white in between was pretty cool.

Driving along, I saw a something in the middle of the road. It wasn't moving, Oh, no, I thought...some kind of animal is dead. There are many animals around here and it is common to see raccoons, possum, and deer dead in the road. Once I saw an armadillo. Also we occasionally see a cat lying there in the middle of the road too. That's always sad. But as I got closer to the object I saw that it was a most unusual specimen. It was a loaf of bread!

I mused on that for a while, thinking, "Gee, I'd really love to hear the story of the bread." Did one of the kids in the car get mad and toss it out the window? Was there a bump in the road and a loaf jounced out of an open pickup truck or a jeep? I'll never know. But there was a loaf of bread laying across the center line of the road I travel to work every day. I laughed and thought, "My daily bread came to me a different way today!"

I had a good week at work. The kids are just great. I'm kind of tired though. I will enjoy this weekend. The weather has cooled off and the nights are absolutely a delight with the crisp air wafting in and me snuggled beneath my quilt. Ahhh, Friday is here. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Stunning sunrise

Sunrise as I went to work Friday. I stuck my camera out my passenger window and snapped as I drive along. The photo has not been enhanced in any way, except reduced for size. Pretty, isn't it!

The place where I took it is over a huge pasture. Here is what it looks like in the daytime.

It has been a nice weekend so far. I hope you are enjoying yours. I went to a friend's house last night. We had pizza and talked. Today the cold that has been threatening to emerge has become full-blown, despite my best effort to hold it off via hydrogen peroxide gargles and neti pot washings. So I am taking it easy, having iced chamomile tea and naps.

I am about to head over to the couch to continue reading Einstein's Dreams and watch some version of Law & Order. I don't know which, but there's always one of them on.

Broccoli isn't so bad, apparently

I was greeted at work by a very happy 4 year old this morning. I don't know her, she is not in my grade and I don't work with her. But in the breakfast cafeteria she came up to me and apropos of nothing, she said, "I ate broccoli last night!" I laughed, and then I asked her if she liked it. She said, "It's not too bad!"

LOL

A boy I know asked me to pray with him at lunch as he asked the Lord to bless his food. It was the high point of my day.

Here is a tiger lily outstanding in his field

The first leaves turning?

I love fall in Georgia. So glad it's coming.

Fun art

When I ran my own business, I used to take 2 weeks of vacation a year, one week at Fourth of July and the other during Christmas. I was living in Maine then, and I would go down to Venice Florida for the Christmas week.

I liked to pack light, taking with me only a carry-on. The first thing I'd do when I got there and picked up my rental car would be to go to the Dollar Store or similar kind of store, and buy craft supplies. The three main relaxation activities I'd do would be to go to the beach, to drive to nearby state or national parks, and in the evenings, stay in my room watching TV (which a busy, self-employed business owner rarely got to do) and do crafts.

One year, I bought a set of dot paints and a pack of index cards. I wanted to see how many different paintings I could make while limiting myself to the same size "canvas". It was interesting to challenge myself like that. Here are a few of the results.

Beach at sunrise

Patterns

Beach at sunset

Patterns

Pine forest dawn