Well, it has been a month since my last post, and it is still cold. Right now the thermometer is saying 34 degrees. Booooo! Oh well, at least the sun has been shining. So, you may be asking yourselves, what have the old folks been up to lately? One of Opa's projects was sausage making. I bought a pork shoulder at Krogers. Opa ground it with my old hand-crank, clamp-it-to-the-table meat grinder. Then he seasoned it with salt and pepper. He had Papaw's old sausage stuffer, and some casings he got from the Troy meat market. If Kasandra gets to read this post, the casings, which are the tubes you stuff the sausage into, are made from the pig's intestines. They are all cleaned and scraped. You place one end of the casing over the tube that comes out of the bottom of the sausage stuffer. Then you push the entire length of the casing onto the tube. The sausage is placed inside the stuffer, and a metal plate is placed at the end of the long screw you can see over the top of the stuffer. As you turn the handle, the screw forces the plate downwards, so that the sausage squishes out the tube and into the casing. It was my job to turn the handle, slowly and steadily. Opa slowly drew the casing out as the sausage filled it, until we had a tube of sausage several feet long coiled up in the pan at his feet. We cut the sausage up into links about 4 inches long, and then we put them in ziplock bags in the freezer. We put water in the bag around the links, because we have found over the years that the sausage stays fresher tasting that way. When we fried up some of the sausage, it was delicious! On March 10, little Eryn was one year old. We went to Cincinnati for her birthday. She had a lot of fun playing with the other little children who came. She also enjoyed the delicious cupcakes that Anna made. She was very neat while she was eating them, and didn't get frosting all over her at all.

Last Saturday we went to Granville for Jared Honeycutt's wedding. It hardly seems possible that it has been almost 12 years since he and Anna graduated from high school. While Jared was studying in Oxford, England, he met Wendy, who is now his wife. (I got to meet her when we visited Oxford in 2007. She laughs a lot, and has a great sense of humor.)Her family is originally from Malaysia, and now lives in Melbourne, Australia. It was a very international wedding, with people there from Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, South Africa, England, and the U.S.

The wedding reception featured an English high tea, a remembrance of their meeting in Oxford. They also had "bangers and mash" (sausages and mashed potatoes) and fish and chips. I was disappointed though - there were no mushy peas, an English delicacy that goes with fish and chips in some pubs. But the food was very good.

Below is a picture of their wedding cake. The two little creatures on top are little English hedgehogs, which are very shy little creatures. Jared and Wendy were very shy and slow in becoming a couple, just like the hedgehogs.

This is Jared and Wendy cutting the cake.

Anna, Jim and Eryn were at the wedding, too. Eryn was very good during the ceremony, quietly dropping pew cards on the floor for us to pick up. The maitre 'd at the reception brought Eryn her own special plate of fruit and yummy macaroni and cheese. She'll have high tea another day.

Jared and Wendy had a specially coreographed dance for their wedding. A friend who does ballroom dancing taught it to them. They had a lot of fun, but I think Jared should go ahead and keep studying for his doctorate. Dancing with the Stars probably won't call this week.

Notice how Jared doesn't look any older than he did as a high school student? If he and Wendy have children who smile as much as they do, they will have a very sun-shiny home indeed.

It was good to see Jo and Clyde, and Jocelyn and her husband Mike. Jocelyn is expecting a little girl July 2. She said they are going to name her Aubrey Nichole, but I don't know if that is how they are going to spell it, so stay tuned. Seth and Emily were there, too. Emily is working on a masters in theology at Wake Forest University.

That about covers all the news for now. We're looking forward to a trip to Atlanta the first week of May for Micah's graduation from Georgia Tech. The week before that I am going out to D.C. for an "Oma deployment." It's going to be a busy spring!

Hello, Kasandra!

This is a special blog post for Kasandra. I would like to introduce her to all my family and friends. She is a girl from Bradford who has been my friend for a couple of years now. She is mentored by Mrs. Chris Palsgrove every week at school, and I am their prayer partner. Kasandra keeps a journal in which we write messages to each other every week about things that interest us. Since I am away from home this week, we are staying in touch via my blog, which Mrs. Palsgrove will print out for her.

Dear Kasandra,
How are things in Bradford this week? I am in Woodbridge, Virginia, which is about 26 miles south of Washington D.C. My son Andrew had to travel to California on business, so I am helping my daughter-in-law Amie take care of my grandchildren while Andrew is gone. I'll tell you more about that in a little bit, but first I'd like to show you some pictures I took when I flew out here on February 13.
This first picture was taken out the window of my airplane. These are the tops of the clouds. Down below the clouds the weather was gray and dreary, but up above the clouds it is always sunny. I try to remember that on cold winter days when I am feeling a little blue.

My first picture showed what it was like to fly above the clouds. The next one shows what it looks like when you are flying in the clouds. All you can see is white cotton fluff everywhere you look.

I had to change planes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As we were landing there, I took this picture of a large ship on the Delaware River. I saw many large ocean-going naval ships and cargo ships docked along the river.

I flew from Philadelphia to Baltimore, Maryland, because it is cheaper to fly into Baltimore than into Washington D.C. From the airport I took a shuttle bus to the Amtrak train station, where I bought a ticket to Union Station in D.C. The train trip there took around 45 minutes. After arriving I went underground to the subway, which is called the "Metro" in Washington. Here is a picture of a train platform:

I went as far south as I could on the subway, which got me within about 15 miles of my son's home. He and my grandson, Grant, picked me up at the station.

I soon found out it was a good thing I came out to help, because all the kids had some sort of tummy virus. Each day last week someone had to stay home with me because he wasn't feeling well enough to go to daycare. This is Grant, who is 4 years old, looking out the window into the woods to see if he could see any squirrels or deer or birds.

When Jordan, who is two, was home sick, we took our picture together. She is really a funny little girl. She is two.

My daughter-in-law's tummy hadn't felt too well all week, either. So on Friday she decided to take a day off. She is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, and she works at the Pentagon. That is our nation's military headquarters in Washington. It is very stressful work, so she enjoyed her day off. It was warm, and the kids were feeling better, so we went outside to rake leaves.

The next picture is of the littlest grandchild here. Her name is Keara, and she was born on July 2, 2010. She is Oma's (that's me) sweetie pie.

Last night it sleeted and snowed here. Right now the sun is shining and the streets have melted off. I sure will be glad when spring comes!

I will be coming home Thursday evening. I will be glad to see my husband Dennis after 11 days of wishing he could be here to play with the grandchildren, too. I think I will even be glad to see the dog, Sydney.

I hope you have a good week. Stay warm!

Your friend,

Teresa

Ice Ice, Baby!

Well, this winter just goes on, and on, and on, and on...............The first picture is of the top of the rail on the kitchen steps. That is about a half an inch of ice, from the first wave we had on Tuesday. Opa went mushing off to work, and said that he's gone in worse.

But then came Tuesday afternoon. He sent everyone home from the office an hour early, because the storm was cranking up for phase II. Another brief round of freezing rain was followed by several hours of sleet, which came down as what you might call "micro-hail" - little tiny ice balls about the size of the head of one of my small sewing pins. That lasted until after midnight, when there was a temperature rise above freezing. This melted just enough of the little ice balls that they all melded together into one glassy, all-encompassing ice sheet. This morning when I let Sydney out at 8 am, she slid down the steps, could barely get enough footing to do her business, and then she almost couldn't get back up the steps. A little later Opa went out to try to clean off the steps:

That is 3 inches of solid ice that Opa is chopping through with his adz. After clearing off the steps he gave up, because he didn't figure he could hack through the whole driveway and barnyard.

He did chip a little path out by the stump for Sydney. That dog doesn't know how lucky she is.

This last picture is for the wimpy mail delivery people in Atlanta. This is the view out our bedroom window this morning. 5 inches of snow on the ground from last week, 1-3 inches of ice from the last 24 hours, 4o mph winds, more snow - and OUR mail still went today. Ha! Our carriers eat little girly men like you for breakfast!

Other than the weather, there isn't much going on here. Grandma 'Carty is about the same as usual. We went down to Jim and Anna's last Saturday, and got to see Eryn take some of her first solo steps.

I had someone come to check out our bathroom and give me an estimate on having some work done. It would include new wall board, a custom shower (no tub), ceiling vent fan and light plus wall switch, electical outlet, medicine cabinet and lighting, new flooring, and painting the cabinets. The custom shower is because our space is a little smaller than standard. I'll be interested to see his numbers. I'm praying that the postal service won't close my post office before I save enough paychecks to pay for this.

We are in negotiations to see if Jordan can come to stay with us the first week of March. I am really excited about that. Then we'll try to see if Grant can come in April or May.

Everyone keep warm and take care. Spring has to come sometime, right?

Thanksgiving in Woodbridge

I thought I'd try to get some of our trip pictures posted. This first one is giant paper airplanes that decorated the entrance to the underground tunnel at Cleveland Hopkins airport. We had to take the tunnel from one terminal to another to make our connecting flight coming home. We didn't have to use the tunnel on the trip out, but we could have explored it thoroughly, since we were in Cleveland about an hour longer than we were supposed to be. They kept telling us that our plane had an indicator that needed to be checked, and they were trying to get a techician to attend to it. When they finally got that busy person to stop by, he told them that it was a false indicator, and nothing was wrong. They probably didn't put their gas cap on correctly. That's what makes my check engine light come on.




















But the rest of our trip out featured trains. When we arrived at the Baltimore airport we caught the shuttle to the train station. There we got on the MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter) train for the trip to Union Station in the heart of
Washington D.C.

Once we got to D.C. we got on the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) for the trip to Woodbridge. Both trains were electric and very quiet. And a lot less stressful than the traffic on the streets. I think DC stands for "Drive Crazy"








When we got to the Woodbridge station Andrew and Grant were just pulling up - perfect timing. After a stop at the grocery and picking up some Chinese take-out for supper, we finally arrived at 3710 Beaver Ford Road. Boy, was it good to see everyone again! It seems like it has been a long time since July. Little Keara was only 3 weeks old the last time we saw her.





I set my alarm every morning so that I would be up when the first little grandchild peeped. The first one was always Jordan. She and I would have breakfast together, and would just be finishing up about the time Grant got up. Jordan would shout "Bubby!" and run over to give him a big hug. She loves her big brother.

Jordan hasn't forgotten how to push the buttons on Oma's phone.

We got lots of breakfast pictures - Jordan usually on my lap

I think we were watching "The Cat in the Hat."

Notice the sock monkey slippers.

Little Keara sure has grown since July.

Here are Jordan and Opa at breakfast.




Then it was out for a morning walk for Opa and Jordan, while Andrew went for building supplies, Oma stayed in with Keara, and Amie and Grant went to the theater to see "Tangled."

Opa took this picture of the wild life in Andrew's back yard.

Keara ready for bed.

Jordan and Grant helped me make muffins one morning.

While we were there, Opa helped Andrew put a new mantle up around the fireplace in the family room, and they put down laminate flooring in the basement. The mantle will still need to be painted. And the carpet will be put down in the rest of the basement soon, and then I think most of their big projects will be done, until spring and time for some landscaping.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and Monday it was time to come home. Andrew dropped us off at Union Station. It is pretty mind-boggling to take a morning drive that goes past things like the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. This picture shows the view out in front of Union Station.

This is the front of Union Station
While we were walking around I was on the lookout for someone famous.












Just across the street from the station, just out of view beyond that red and white bus, is the Smithsonian Postal Museum. Since we had a few hours to kill until our train left, we had breakfast, and then went to the museum. As an employee of the USPS, I thought it was pretty interesting. As we were finishing up looking at the exhibits, we came back to the atrium area of the museum, where a program was going on. A semi-big wig from the postal service was addressing a group of parents and school children, with Santa and a few helpers in attendance. and then what , or who. to my wondering eyes should appear, waiting to go on, but Al, the "If it fits, it ships" guy from the TV commercials. I love that guy! We get a lot of business because of those commercials. And the commercials are actually pretty clever, which is surprising. Clever isn't the first word that comes to mind when I think of the USPS. Check out the toy clown commercial on youtube. That's my favorite. But I think the commercials work because the guy who plays "Al" does such a good job.

Well, anyway, I was all excited. As soon as Al was done with his part of the program, I got up my nerve and went over to ask him if he would sign an autograph for my postmaster. He said he would be glad to. He signed a blank postcard I had in my purse that I was going to send to Micah. Sorry, Micah. Maybe next trip.

Then I asked him if he would mind if my husband took a picture of us, and he graciously posed with me. His mother should be very proud of him. He seemed like a very considerate, kind young man. And he says he uses priority mail!

So I got to see a famous person up close. What a way to end our trip!

I don't know if this video will play, but if it does you'll be able to get your laugh for the day.

Next post - bedroom upgrades

Catching up........

It was a long busy summer. New granddaughters. Andrew and Amie moving to D.C. Summer lunch program. Grandma 'Carty having another stroke on Father's Day, and having to move from assisted living to nursing care. I'm ready for things to slow down a little, so I'm doing a new post, finally.



Last week when we had temperatures in the upper sixties, we had this rainbow. It was double, and we could see both ends of it. This was the last of it, as it was disappearing.











Our big excitement last week (before our trip to D.C.) was the arrival of our new bedroom furniture. Opa and I figured that after 37 1/2 years we could treat ourselves.



In preparation for the furniture we did a lot of furniture moving. Another incentive was that the weekend of Nov. 14, Sandy and Karen Christophel came and stayed with us for the weekend. They were in town for the library's 75th. anniversary.



As we were preparing for their visit, it became apparent that the bed downstairs in the guest bedroom was going to be too short for Sandy to lie down on, and too tall for Karen to get into. So we decided to do our planned furniture moves a little early. We moved our old bed downstairs to the guest room, along with our old dresser. The high back bed and rocking chair from the dining room went up to Micah's room. We donated the twin bed to some folks had a need.



So we slept in Micah's room until the furniture came. And as you can see from the photos, we had a pretty empty room upstairs. It seemed like the perfect time to get the carpets cleaned, so I had Stanley Steemer come and do our room and the guest room.



















To complicate things, I had a funeral dinner to supervise the day the furniture was supposed to come. So Anna and Eryn volunteered to come up and wait for the new things. Eryn is growing and learning new things all the time. She still has her "queen wave" going on.....










The day after the furniture came we went to Bob Evans for lunch. Eryn was by far the cutest customer in the room.














I'm sure most of you saw the Starbucks picture of me and Eryn on Anna's facebook page. This little grouping was taken the same afternoon, out in Opa's "thinking room," the room formerly known as "the back porch." The new name is courtesy of Mark Longenecker.



As much as Jordan wants nothing to do with Sydney, Eryn seems to think she's pretty amusing. She likes to pat (whack) Sydney on the top of the head, which Sydney loves. And Eryn just laughs when Sydney comes charging over at full speed. She doesn't seem to mind high-decibel barking, either. So Sydney has found a new fan.





Well, the new furniture did arrive, and here is a shot of the bed and night stand. You can get a little glimpse of the new curtains behind the bed. I have the bed in front of the south window in our room. In another post I will try to get some more pictures to give a better idea of the new look in all the bedrooms. But the goal is that when you all come to visit, you will have comfy, cozy places to stay.



More soon!

Opa's Nursery

There is so much to catch up on that I think I will try to do it in short segments.

Back in May Opa got 30 new chickens. This is how they arrived from the post office.

This picture was taken last week, and they have changed quite a bit since then. Opa has spent some quality time in the evenings watching them grow. There are several different kinds, as you can see. The little brown one on the right side of the picture is one of the Aracanas. They lay blue, green or yellow eggs. They look more like a wild bird than the others.

Last night while we were in eating supper, Opa's goat gave birth to three little doe kids. Grant was here, and he was excited to see them. We'll try to get another picture soon, now that they are all dry and fluffy and a little more steady on their legs. They were all good sized for there being three of them, and they have gotten right down to the business of eating. The mom seems like she has some promise as a milker.

I told Opa I thought he should name the new babies Iris, Rose and Dahlia, in honor of his love of flowers. We'll see if he agrees.

We have a new baby calico kitty out in the nursery, too. I'll try to get a picture of her tomorrow.

More later.

Well, I am going to try to stay more current with my blog, so I thought I'd better do another post.

Some of you may be disappointed to hear that the church broke with tradition today. I did not get a petunia in a styrofoam cup for Mother's Day. We got little butterfly lapel pins instead. Makes the 4 1/2 years of pregnancy all worthwhile.

Here is a picture I didn't get into the last post. Poor Opa got bit by something while he slept a week ago Friday. By the end of the day he had a big goose egg on his forehead right behind his birthmark. But by the time I got home from work on Saturday, the whole side of his face was swollen, and he could hardly open his eye. He looked pitiful. He has such nasty reactions to bug bites. The sad thing is that the same bug probably bit me and died. To the insect world, I am the equivalent of Brussel sprouts.

This next picture is of Opa's new buck goat. Right now he is at the cute, non-stinky stage of life. If only it would last.

Now we have some shots of Grant helping Opa this afternoon as he was planting some flowers. I had picked up some Grant-size gardening gloves, and a Spongebob (of course) watering can. So Opa planted and Grant watered.

Anna and Eryn were here Friday and Saturday while Jim was doing some more painting at the house. Anna got her hair cut on Friday, and is donating her pony tail to locks of love. After her haircut, she and Eryn and I, along with Ruth, went out to lunch at the Brick House Cafe in West Milton. Later in the day we took Eryn to meet her Great Grandmother McCarty.

On Saturday, Grandma McCarty came to spend the afternoon. We had Micah take a 4 generation picture.

Now this last picture is from Grandma's doctor's (Dr. Pohlman) office. They are always dressed fo whatever season or holiday we are in. The nurses told me they are taking pictures of them for a calendar. I hope they sell copies.

Got to go fix supper - Take care, everyone!