A Day in my Life - October

We've made it to October already. Here in Michigan, we've been having beautiful weather, although we could really use some rain. It's been in the mid 50's in the morning and reaching mid 70's in the afternoon. Lovely weather to be outside!
Here's how the first day of the month went for me.  It was a very busy day!

I always start my day with 30 minutes on the treadmill.  I did that and then got ready to head out the door.  I left the house at 9:15

This is about 5 minutes from my house.  I'm on my way to a Bible Study.

I arrived at church about 9:25. Our Bible study is on Philippians, Joy in Hard Times.  We were done at 11 and I was back on the road.

I drove to Meijer to get groceries and then headed back home.

Here's a scene from my drive home, something seen frequently around here.  Those are crates filled with onions that are being harvested.

I was home shortly before 1pm, had some lunch and then we had to leave again about 1:30.

Bob and I had an appt here at 2.  He had to review his insurance for the next year and I had to get signed up for Medicare because I'll be turning 65 in November!  We got that all taken care of and were headed home around 3.

We took the back roads home and enjoyed some pretty scenes.

I love seeing barns!

When we got home, I took advantage of the nice weather and took a short walk.  Most of our leaves are still green, but we are seeing some really changing.

Our church has Wednesday night programs and we eat supper there so I didn't have to cook.  We left for that around 5:30.

Here's a field we passed on the drive.  The sky is beautiful and the plants are all looking like Fall.

We had pasta, meatballs and salad for supper at church.

Usually we have classes after supper but this week we had something special going on.  It was shoe box packing night!  Our church supports Operation Christmas Child from Samaritan's Purse which sends Christmas boxes all over the world.  We collect things for the shoe boxes all year and when it's time, kids and adults come to help pack them.

Here's all the tables set up with toys, clothes, school supplies...  They were all arranged according to age, with girls things on one side and boys on the other to make it easier to pack the boxes.

And here everyone is getting started.

They also have tables to check each box before it gets closed up to make sure it's full and that it has a good selection of things inside. There's a table with cards so the packer can write a note to the child who gets it, another table with little items to fill all the spots in the box and one last table to pray for the child who is getting the box.  I was at the praying table.

We ended up with almost 300 boxes.  This van had the seats removed and was packed from top to bottom when we were done.  They are all taken to a warehouse to prepare to ship them out.

I got home a little before 9 and relaxed the rest of the night.
It was a very busy day, but a very good one!

Friday Funny

 

 

Cooking Thursday

This is a recipe I should have shared earlier in the summer because it's a great way to use cherry tomatoes from your garden!  But, better late than never, right?

Anyway, this is a very easy way to do something special with cherry tomatoes. Balsamic vinegar, fresh herbs and olive oil is a winning combination!

Marinated Tomatoes

Halved cherry tomatoes

fresh basil, oregano and thyme

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil
Place cherry tomatoes in pint jar to about 3/4 full.  Add other ingredients, cover and shake.

Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to marinade.

Will keep for about 5 days.

Serve on mozzerella cheese, cottage cheese, toast or with pasta.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Time for Fall

I'm never the first person to put up Fall decorations, I try to hang on to Summer for a while!  But last week, I decided it was time.  I don't do a lot, but here's what I did around our house.

In the dining room, I changed out my pictures on the wall, added autumn berries to the vases and some pumpkins on the ledge.

There's a Fall centerpiece on the table.

The living room shelf has a thankful sign and a gourd on it.

Also in the living room are these little pumpkins made of Jenga blocks.  Ruby and I made them several years ago.

This little vignette is next to our tv.

Our back entry has this Fall wreath hanging up.

The porch is my favorite. We have mums and pumpkins of all sizes.  The black milk can is an old one from my Dad's farm and the little pumpkins are in an old egg basket, also from the farm.  I love seeing those little bits of family history.

That's it - this will stay until it's time to take it down for Christmas decor and I'm certainly not ready to think about that!

Photo Dump

I have no theme for today, just some pictures I wanted to share with you all.

This photo was taken about 10 years ago and is of Alaina pushing Ruby on the swing.  It's hung on our fridge ever since because we love seeing the joy in it.

Now, Connor is about the same age as Ruby was there, so we hung the baby swing up again and tried to get a similar picture.

Here's Cassie and Connor.  Now I can add this to the fridge!

Most of our flowers are fading this time of year, but some are still showing some color.  The bright purple ones you see here are called Fall Crocus.  They pop up with just some green leaves in the Spring, then die back, but in the fall they pop out again with this beautiful color.

I noticed this pretty scene while walking, a neighbors bird house with morning glories blooming around it.

Isn't this butterfly in our back yard pretty?

This is a pretty little spot in the woods that I like to walk in.  Despite the warm temperatures we've been having, it's starting to look like Fall.

That's all I have today, thanks for letting me catch up on my pics!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

I recently saw a recipe for bread that was so easy to make and I had to try it.  It was as easy as promised and turned out great!  This makes a dense bread, perfect for sandwiches and toasting.  Bob loved it too!  

Sandwich Bread

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 packet instant yeast

In a bowl mix the warm water, sugar and yeast. Let set for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
Add flour and salt and stir until combined.  Dough will be sticky - that's ok!
Cover and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
Transfer to a greased loaf pan, smooth top and let rise for another 30 minutes.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 until golden brown.
Let cool before slicing.  Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

 

A Day Out

Bob and I have been trying to do some fun things occasionally as we so easily get into the rut of just being busy at home.  It doesn't have to be anything big, just getting out with the two of us is the goal.

So last week, we spent the day out.  We started by driving to Holland which is about 30 minutes from our house.  I had heard about a place called the Holland Bowl Mill that makes wooden bowls and utensils that are sold all over the country.  They offer free tours which Bob especially thought would be interesting because of the wood working he does.

 

 

 

 

Here you can see someone turning a bowl.

This shows how they get several bowls out of one chunk of wood.

After the bowls are done, they are set out to dry for 4 weeks.  Can you believe how many bowls are here?

They make other wooden things too - utensils, rolling pins, cutting boards, coasters, herb strippers...

They even have wooden light covers!

We came home with this small wooden bowl.  The design in it, is burned by putting an electric current through it.

After our stop at the Wooden Bowl Mill, we stopped and got a sub sandwich and took it to a nearby park where we ate and then did a little hiking.

This park is called the Grand Ravines because of the hills and deep ravines in it.  They have built places like this where you can look over the ravines.  We ate our lunch in this spot.

Here's another overlook

The trail you see here, is where we are walking to.  It winds along the hill and eventually we made it down to the river.

Here we are at the river.  It's such a pretty spot!

There's a covered bridge down there.  It isn't going over the river, but was moved there from another location where it couldn't be used anymore.  Now it's mainly used for photo shoots.

Another picture of the river.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place to walk and enjoy God's creation!

It's done!

I told you Bob was working on a storage shed for the back of our yard and I'm happy to say it's all done! I'm going to show you pictures from the beginning to end.

August 13 - Bob has the frame complete and crushed concrete leveled into it

The shed kit was delivered. Laura and Aaron and family came over to help haul lumber from the driveway to the back yard.

August 18 - Bob starts building walls

August 25 - my brother came over and helped get all the walls up

August 27 - the roof trusses and dormer are all in place

Sept 1 - we put on 2 coats of paint.  In the evening my BIL Mark came over to help get the plywood up on the dormer.

Sept 2 - the shingles are done and the windows and vents are in place

Sept 7 - the doors are installed, shutters up and lots of small details completed.

Sept 8 - the shed itself is done!  All the trim is painted, caulking is done, nail holes filled and painted...

Sept 12 - shelves built inside for storage

and looking into the shed.  When it gets colder our porch and deck furniture will be stored in here.

The finished product!  Bob's been working on landscaping in the front of it.  It'll be fun to see this new flower bed grow in front of the shed.  Bob worked really hard on this and I think he did a great job on the whole thing!