Morning Drive

 Last week I had to go out fairly early to my Dad's to take off the pressure dressing he had on his surgical site.  It takes me about 25 minutes to get to his house. It was a cool and misty morning, and I even found a few colorful trees!

Just a tinge of color in those trees, but still a pretty scene.

You know I love those back country roads!

A dirt road and a farmhouse , so charming.

Cows!

Near Dad's house was this wagon with pumpkins and gourds.

This is a barn I pass every time I go to Dad's.  It's such a beautiful sight!  And you just might see another view of it later this week. :)

More cows...

This one was keeping an eye on me.

And look at that great color!

"Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and your outstretched arm.  Nothing is too difficult for You!"

Jeremiah 32:17

Friday Funny

(the sky this week)

My cousin is married to a man from Ireland.  They recently moved to the United States and live near me in Michigan. Her husband shared this Irish poem which he says sums up the weather here lately!

"It rained and rained and rained.
The average Fall was well maintained
and when the tracks were simply bogs,
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour
We had the most refreshing shower.
And then the most curious thing of all
A gentle rain began to fall.
Next day was also fairly dry
Save for a deluge from the sky
Which wetted the party to the skin
And after that the rain set in!"

Cooking Thursday

When cooler weather comes, a bowl of chili sounds wonderful.  And just when I was thinking I should make some, my friend Jenny from I'm Having a Thought Here posted her easy chili recipe!  I made it, and just as she promised, it was very easy and it was very good.  It had a little spice to it, but not much.  It makes a bunch, so I froze half and have another meal all set to go now.

Jenny's Easy Chili

3 pounds lean ground beef, browned
3 cans Bush's hot chili beans
3 cans Hunts chili ready tomatoes
1 envelope chili seasoning
Stir all ingredients together.  Place in crock pot on low for 4-6 hours.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Dahlia Picking

Saturday, my sister Cheri came with me to check on Dad.  She surprised me by having my niece Halle with her.  Halle lives in New York and had surprised her parents by coming home for the weekend.  I was happy to see her again, and so was my Dad when we got to his house.

On the way home, near my house, we saw a place that was having a dahlia picking deal.  $15 for a bucket of dahlias!  We stopped at my house to get a bucket and some shears.

Lots of choices!

Such pretty flowers!

Cheri and Halle

Here's our big bucket of flowers!   We split them up and Cheri took hers home.

I got this little bouquet 

And this big bouquet!  And Cheri got 2 bouquets too.
That was a great deal, plus some unexpected fun!

What's been happening here...

 How's Fall looking in your area?  We're probably not going to have much color here.  It has been a warm Fall, which I am not complaining about, but it doesn't do anything to change leaves.  It's been much cooler the last week, so I'm guessing that Fall is really here.

Lot's of clouds, not much color!

There are pockets of color, here and there.  This is our hydrangea plant.

On Friday, my Dad was scheduled for outpatient surgery.  He has a defibrillator that has been in since 2013. The battery was getting low, so the whole thing needed to be exchanged.  It was a long day.  The surgery was pushed back several times, and was finally scheduled for 4pm.  However, they didn't come get him until a little after 5.
Surgery went well and he was back a little after 6.

Here he is, having his feast of juice, crackers and cheese!

A little after 7, they said started unhooking him from everything, but then discovered he seemed to have some bleeding inside the surgical site, near the device.

The Dr got called back in - he looked like he was about to leave, as he was now in jeans...  They had to put a pressure dressing on the site and wrap him up, then watch him again.  
I finally got him back to his house around 9:30, then got home at 10.
Saturday I went to check him again and had to redo some of the pressure dressing as they wanted it on until Sunday.
Sunday I went back again to take the dressing off.
He's doing good and is glad to have that surgery done!

Saturday evening Andrew and Heather came over to show us their new car and have supper with us.
Our Cassie is now 10 months old and is crawling all over the place.

She's also pulling herself up on everything.

And she is still smiling!

Last, but not least:

Sunday was Alaina's birthday! My sweet girl turned 10.  I can't believe it, those years flew by.
Happy Birthday Alaina!  You are so loved!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

Todays recipe is is a hot roast beef bun. It makes a large amount, is so easy and reheats well!  It also freezes well, so I always throw half in the freezer right away.

 

Roast Beef Buns

4-6 pound roast
1 pkg dry onion soup
1 family size can cream of mushroom soup
Cut roast into chunks and put into roasting pan or 9X13 pan. Sprinkle dry soup over meat and pour mushroom soup over all. Seal pan with foil. Bake for 3 hours at 350 degrees, stirring every hour. Fork apart and serve on buns.  
You can make this ahead of time and reheat in a crockpot.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Fall Drive

 I took a drive down the country roads around here, to show you what Fall is looking like in my area.  There are some nice pops of color, but not a lot.  I think it's been such a warm Fall that we may not get good color this year.  It's still pretty though!

The farmers around here are working hard to get the fields cleared.

There are still a few wildflowers blooming.

Lots of green yet, but a little color.

This vine is really pretty.

Here's a tree that is really dropping leaves.  We'll see what next week brings.

Woodland Animal Pumpkins

 Last weekend when Alaina and Ruby stayed over, we made some cute pumpkin crafts. The girls love animals so this was perfect for them.

These were made using fake pumpkins.  One stayed orange, the other I got ready ahead of time by painting it gray. I also cut some pieces out of felt and cardstock.

Here's Ruby gluing some pieces together. She chose the orange pumpkin and was making it look like a fox.

Alaina took the gray pumpkin which was going to be a racoon.  

We glued together ears, tails, faces and feet.  Then we glued all those pieces onto the pumpkins to make our animals.

Here's Ruby with her fox.

And here is Alaina with her racoon.

Aren't they cute?

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 Todays recipe is one of my favorite pasta salads.  It's pretty with the red and green vegetables and is full of flavor.  I get asked for the recipe often, so I'm sharing it with you.

Italian Vegetable Pasta Salad

8 ounces uncooked tri-color pasta
1 1/2 cup broccoli florets
3/4 cup chopped bell pepper
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup cubed Monterey Jack Cheese
1 1/4 cup Wishbone Robusto Italian Dressing *

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water until cooled.   In large bowl combine all ingredients except dressing and mix well.  Add 1 cup dressing and stir together.
Refrigerate overnight.  Before serving, stir in additional 1/4 cup of dressing.
* Using this specific flavor makes a big difference in how the salad tastes.
 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Memories

 

This is a picture of my Dad and his sister Esther.  She was about 15 months younger than my Dad and passed away last week at 88.  If you saw her, you wouldn't have thought she was 88.  She still got around well and had a great sense of humor. She had a stroke and passed shortly afterward.  Her daughter said that even when she was dealing with the issues that came with the stroke, she talked of how blessed she was, and how God took care of her.  She was a joy to know.
My Dad came from a family of 9 kids.  He was right in the middle - 4 older, 4 younger.  One died as a child, and now all the kids older than him have passed, and now Aunt Esther being just a little younger is gone as well.
We have been very blessed to be part of this family.  They have stayed close through the years and always support each other.  The siblings that are living still meet up for breakfast frequently.
Dad and Aunt Esther were always known as the jokers of the family.  I want to share a few things we heard about the 2 of them when they were younger.
When they were quite young, Dad got a new winter coat. This was in the 30's so the Depression was going on and a new coat was a big deal.  Well, he was teasing Esther so much, that she got mad at him and threw his new coat down into the outhouse.  He got in big trouble, and she never confessed until she was married.  
Another story is from when they were older.  Dad told her he had set up a blind date for her.  She got all ready for it, and when there was a knock on the door, she went out to the entry, only to find a old man from church.  Dad knew this guy was coming to have a meeting with his Dad and totally set Aunt Esther up.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.  We've said that our Grandma was a saint to put up with all the shenanigans in that house, but we sure do laugh now.
It's sad to see another family member pass, but a blessing that she went quickly and we know were she is, and we'll see her again.
It was also good to see lots of family at the funeral, catch up and laugh over some of those old stories!

Weekend adventures

 We had Alaina and Ruby overnight this weekend.  Ruby said it had been at least 2 months since they were over, so they should come again next week.  It hasn't been 2 months, but it has been a while, so we were looking forward to it.

We surprised them by going to the frozen yogurt place after we left their house.  They've wanted to go there since I took them when we had their shopping day with me, and they were excited to show Grandpa all the good stuff there.  However, Grandpa didn't want gummy worms or swedish fish in his ice cream!

When we got home, Ruby was having fun looking at pictures with Grandpa.

Alaina was playing with the Newtons Cradle, which is something they get out all the time.

We stayed up late and watched a movie.

They slept until shortly before 8 the next day.

They were having fun playing house and hide and seek in the family room downstairs while I did a little cooking and laundry.  Then we did a fun craft together before we took them home.

We stopped at my sister Cheri's house on the way home because the girls wanted to see her new puppy.

This is Henry - isn't he cute? He's a little wet, as he had been outside and everything was soaked after a big rain.  So Alaina held him, but Ruby didn't want to get wet.

Something crazy happened in our town on Saturday.  A trailer tipped over, leaving a huge load of pumpkins and gourds all over the road.
They pushed them off to the side, and said people could pick them up, so we stopped to get a few.  The girls were quite excited about this!

Here's our stash, ready to go out on their steps.

We stopped at my Dad and stepmoms house to eat lunch and get Dad's meds set up.

Ann gave them some cookies to take home.  Ruby says great-grandma makes the best cookies in the world!

It's so fun to see them together.  I love seeing their relationship.  They are 6 and 9, Dad is 90 and Ann is 92.  Many kids don't get to know a great grandparent as well as they have.