Oma and Opa's Place

2011-03-28T18:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-02-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-02-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-04T15:22:00.000-08:00

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........

2010-11-30T17:47:00.000-08:00

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

2010-06-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-05-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

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!

Where have I been all this time?

2010-05-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

I had already started this post when a cold front began to make its way through our area. These pictures don't do justice to the dramatic appearance of the clouds. They were very low and very fast, driven by a cold wind. Fortunately, none of them seemed to be rotating. They were so low that they almost seemed to be skimming the roof of the barn.
Ah, life out on the prairie.

Now, back to the blog.....

Just in case you've been wondering, we weren't kidnapped by Stephen Hawking's unfriendly aliens. Since the last post we've gone down to Cincinnati to see Baby Snooks several times, we've kept Grant and Jordan some, I made one ER trip with Grandma (nothing serious, just the usual), I cleaned up the sewing room, last Friday I baked 19 dozen cookies for a program down at the Brethren Heritage center, Daddy hauled horse poo out of the barn and onto the garden, he bought a baby buck, we've mowed the grass a couple of times (and it needs it again), I worked for at the Ludlow Falls post office once, we get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, etc. - pretty much the same old same old. But we do have some pictures of the highlights.

Not long after Eryn was born, the next big event was the AFIT graduation. Here we have Master and Dr. Lt. Col. Stryker.

Sister Jennifer, Amie, niece Jessica:

Then There was Easter. Andrew, Amie, Grant and Jordan all dressed up for Easter:

This year: egg hunt at Opa's. Next year - the White House Lawn?

Then it was time for chillin' with Uncle Micah.

Uncle Micah tells one of his amusing "nose" jokes. Jordan totally gets it.

Then it's jammies on the pew with Oma.

It was great to see everyone at Anna and Jim's. All that was missing to make a perfect day was the Atlanta branch of the family. But they'll be on their way soon!

Ma and Pa Davis with Oma, Aunt Melissa and Eryn.

Uncle Micah and Uncle Matthew sharing a laugh. More nose jokes?

It was good to see Josh and Tara

pi r good

Aunt Melissa & Eryn

Brotherly love?

Motherly love

Jordan in the 'hood!

Eryn go braugh!

2010-03-11T06:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry that it has been so long since the last post. A superfluity of snow and a paucity of news and spare time have been the culprits. But now the snow is gone, the air is warmer, the hyacinths are pushing up, my morning is free, and it is time to get this blog in springtime mode.
As you all know by now, Anna had little Eryn yesterday morning. So I will let her introduce her little sweet pea.

She is a cutie pie. And as Anna's doctor declared, we shall now have to call Anna the "labor goddess" for having a first baby in such a short labor. I had barely got all the brothers told that Anna was in labor before Jim called me to say that it was all over and baby Eryn had arrived. As you can see, Jim has jumped into the thick of things, so to speak:

And here are a few shots of Miss Eryn wishing Oma would stop with the camera, already:

And last but not least, Opa and Oma with their new little squeeze:

So now, about the grandchildren still to come in 2010. I know that the technology says it is going to be a very pink year for the Strykers. And that is great, as long as the moms and dads don't mind me hoping for at least one of these girls to be into some of the traditional domestic arts and music along with their sports. I need a tea party and pearls companion. But I have to say that despite the verdicts of science, my omasense is still pinging very strongly on boys for the folks in Atlanta and DC this summer. Especially the DC folks. So my batting average is at stake here. But even if I get sent to the dug out by my predictions, it is still going to be a fun summer. My bags are packed for the Babypalooza 2010 tour.

2010-02-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

Well, little children, not much happening here at the moment. Sydney is hibernating, and I am mulling over the pros and cons of room make-overs.

No snow here in the last 24 hours. That is good. For a perspective on amounts, see the following pictures:

As you can see, over the last two weeks the pasture fence has been slowly disappearing. Drifting is a wonderful thing.

In other news, there was enough of a break in the weather last weekend that we could actually have Anna's baby shower. I was really happy that Jo Honeycutt, Jocelyn, Heather Bennet and Pat Bond were able to make it to Centerville from North Fairfield and Columbus.

Jocelyn & Heather

Anna, Jo, and Pat

We played games:

Amie, Trena and Julie team up for the

"Predict what Anna's baby will look like"

contest.

The "Cut a piece of ribbon you think will go around

Anna's belly" game

We watched Anna open presents and ate a lot of really yummy food brought by Jim's step-mom Jennifer. My contribution was the dessert:

Check out Anna's blog and Amie's for more on the shower.

Last but not least, my favorite adventure this week was getting snowed in at Andrew and Amie's on Monday and Tuesday. Two days of playing with cute little grandchildren was a pretty good vacation. The following video shows what can happen, however, when people have been cooped up inside too long by the weather:

I was glad to hear that Matthew and Melissa made it back safely through the storm from their Valentine trip to Atlanta. We're looking forward to a visit from Joshua sometime before the end of the month. Oh, by the way - I'm on Skype now. I have really been enjoying video calls to Uncle Lou. Grandma 'Carty likes them, too (I took my laptop in last Sunday so she could talk, too.) Anna and Jim and Andrew and Amie are on so far. If any of the rest of you get on Skype, let me know.

Love to all - XXOma

Baby face, you've got the cutest little baby face....

2010-02-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

Now here is something I have been wanting to do for a long while. With all the babies here and on the way, I thought a little comparative photography was in order

Opa (3 mo.) Opa (6 mo.)

Oma (3 mo.) Oma (2)

Joseph (3 mo.) Andrew (10 mo.) Joseph (1 1/2)

Opa (28) Andrew (2) Joseph (4)

Matthew (3 mo.) Matthew (22 mo.)

Joshua (8 mo.) Joshua (1)

Anna (6 mo.) Anna (2nd. birthday)

Micah (1 mo.) Micah (2)

Well, what do you think? See any resemblances to the newest generation?

Days of Tundra....

2010-02-06T12:20:00.000-08:00

Hello from the sunny but frozen north. After a night of 30+ mph wind gusts, we awoke to some pretty significant drifting, which has only gotten worse through the day. Opa got up and dug out the truck for me, and I mushed off through the snow. It took me about 40 minutes to go 7 miles to work. I think I had a grand total of 4 customers. One lady walked a couple of blocks to mail a package, and some guy drove in from up north on 721 to buy a book of stamps. I didn't know whether to congratulate them on their courage or smack 'em for being silly.

Our postal higher-ups insisted that things would be business-as-usual, and that we had to attempt rural delivery. Our Saturday sub couldn't get in, so I had to call the regular carrier. She came in and sorted mail until I could close up for the morning, and then I went out with her and we delivered what we could in town - she drove and I stuffed the boxes. We couldn't even get close to most of the boxes. We took a gander down one country road and quickly decided that there was no way we were going to do country delivery. We had a couple of calls telling us that the snow plows had eliminated quite a few boxes - they had scored almost a 100% kill rate out on Grubbs-Rex ( Where Elmer Longenecker lives, just south of Jim and Kathy's place) So on the bright side, it will help things on Monday. All those folks will have to come in and get their mail.

Any way, I left for home around 1:30. Things went pretty well until I got about half way here, and I came upon a lady whose car was stuck in a drift. I let her use my cell phone to call her family for help, and then I tried to help her get out. Soon another man came along with a truck a little bigger than a pick-up. He had a tow rope and was able to get her out so she could turn around. He told me I'd better turn around two, because he could see a 4 foot drift across the road a little farther on. So I went back to the road just south of there, and fortunately a township plow had just gone through. I was able to go around the blockages and eventually get back to 721 north of where I had been. When I got to Cirlce Hill it was evident that someone had used their tractor to plow out there, or it would have been completely shut up. After I made the turn at Brumbaugh's and headed north again, I could see the good Samaritan up ahead, clearing the roadway in front of Wick's at the corner of Yount Rd. He let me around him and as I got close to the house I could see that the final obstacle was going to be getting into our driveway. I stopped and called Opa to see how he wanted me to try it.

He said to gun it and see how the 4wheel drive handled it. It didn't. He had to come out and lower the snow level under the truck a little before we could get it in. But it was accomplished without too much effort and I was finally in my own cozy little abode by 2:30.

We were sorely disappointed to miss Bubby's birthday party, but with all the wind we're still having, we thought it best to stay home. Micah is out shoveling through the drift across the

driveway right now, so he can get his car out if necessary. That boy is seriously bored.

2010-02-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

It is 11:30 pm and Micah is out stomping around in the snow to see if the snowplows have been through. It is blowing quite a bit now, and still snowing. Darke County has issued a level 3 snow emergency and closed all roads to anything but emergency vehicles. Going to work tomorrow is going to be sooooo much fun. I doubt we'll have many customers in tomorrow.
I have included some pictures from the same angle as my previous post so you can see how things are progressing. The previous ones were taken about 12:30 pm. These were at about 4:30 pm.

Now here are the snow amounts at 4:30 :

6 1/2"

And at 7:30 :

7"

And last but not least, Micah arriving home in the snow and the dark.

I talked to Lou this evening, and he said that Atlanta was getting heavy rains. I guess it's always something.

Time for bed - sleep tight everyone.

Here we snow again......

2010-02-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

If you happen to be in Atlanta right now, and gloating about it, well.....I don't blame you. At this point it seems to indicate an abundance of good sense. The "wintery mix" (sounds like some sort of Del Monte salad, doesn't it?) kind of passed us by and went straight to snow by 10 am. But so far the snow has been coming out of the northeast, which I haven't figured out. Channel 7 doppler radar showed this system coming up from the south west. It must be rotating on us. Any way, they're calling for anywhere from 6-12 inches before it's all said and done. No matter what it's like, I'll be down sorting the mail at Laura tomorrow morning. We're hoping it will give up by noon, so we can make it to Bubby's birthday party without the sled dogs.

We'll keep you updated on breaking weather news as it happens. Film at 11.

Long time, no post.....

2010-02-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the gap in posts. There was a lot going on when we got back from Atlanta, and I have something I have wanted to put in the post, but haven't had time to put together yet. So be watching.
The picture below is the result of a trial run for a new cake pan. I got a giant cupcake pan so that I could make one for Anna's baby shower. It turned out pretty well. The baby is a fondant covered brownie (the body.) Her other parts are all fondant. You can make interesting decorations with fondant, but the stuff is pretty "blah" in the taste department. It's hard to beat good old buttercream frosting.

The other pictures are of Jordan eating the cake. If you look closely at the side of her mouth you can see her boo-boo from daycare. I guess she fell and bumped her mouth on a can. It looked pretty ouchy, but didn't seem to trouble her much. Not enough to slow down the eating.

Baby J can fill that cake hole!

Talked to Joshua on the big 3-0 on Monday. He's still at work on the house. I forgot to ask if his Corolla is one of the recalls. He's planning on coming down sometime later this month.
Happy Birthday to our little blue Bubby dinosaur, who will be three tomorrow!

XXOOma

Rainy Day in Georgia....

2010-01-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

Last night was just like the song "Rainy Night in Georgia," but it was more cozy than melancholy, since we were spending it with folks we love. Today the sun peeped through once, but other than that the rain has prevailed. It is supposed to be sunny and up to 60 degrees tomorrow.

Wyatt wore his dinosaur jammies to bed last night. He must have slept well, judging from his good morning smile. Note the buddha belly:

After breakfast he got dressed up in his doggy shirt from Uncle Matt and Aunt Melissa.
Opa was lookin' good in his new Christmas shirt and sweater.

But before getting dressed, Wyatt had to check his email - a very 21st. century lad.

It was quite exciting when we got to church this morning. There was an EMT unit and a fire truck there, and more fire trucks on the way. Alicia and I weren't even sure we should take Wyatt inside until we knew what was going on, but when we saw them send the other fire engines back, we figured it was ok. When we got inside Alicia asked someone what had been going on, and was told that a lady had gone into labor in one of the Sunday School classes. I don't know what the fire engines were supposed to do to help with that, but I will be waiting to hear the birth announcement.
It has been a quiet afternoon. Wyatt and the parents took naps. I fixed some lasagna for supper and had a cup of well-doctored coffee from Joseph's Keurig machine. Opa has been having a Mayberry festival on TVLand. One of the dogs is lying in the doorway trying to lick off all his fur, evidently. I think it's Griffey. So I'll break off this exciting tale for now, and go rejoin the clan.

On the Road Again...........

2010-01-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone! Long time, no post. Oma can only juggle so many balls at once and the blog ball seemed to be the one I couldn't keep in the air lately. But now that we are living at a leisurely pace here in Atlanta for the next few days, I thought I might get caught up. So here goes....

The following are a few pictures of what our part of the world looked like last Sunday when we went to church.

The lilac bush at the end of the sidewalk:

the view out toward the garage

We have been having a lot of single digit temperatures, and when you have a foggy night when it is 5 - 10 degrees, you get beautiful frosted scenery.

We're trying to get in all the Grant and Jordan time we can before the big move coming up, so we went down last Saturday. Here is my favorite photo from that visit:

Here is Baby J with her new Elmo slippers
(Courtesy of Howard and Karen)

And now for some trip photos. This whirlygig is at the center of the terminal at the Charlotte International Airport, where we had some layover time. I thought it was pretty cool; hence the video.

When we got into Atlanta on Thursday we took MARTA up to the Sandy Springs station, which is right across the street from where Marge works. She took us over to her office to show us around (it is a law office - very dignified. Lots of impressive books and dark wood, with tasteful and soothing artwork.) Then we drove home and spent the evening with her and Lou. We watched some Jeff Allen DVDs. He is a Christian comedian with some very funny takes on family life. Marge prepared a delicious roast beef supper, and we all had fairly early bed times. Marge and Lou both go to work around 5 am so that they can come home around 3 pm. That way they miss the worst of Atlanta traffic.
Opa and I didn't get up to see them off Friday morning. We were bums and slept waaaaaaay in. It was the first time I have gotten to do that in a long time. Opa worked on a puzzle book I got at the airport, and I looked up recipes until Lou got home. Then he loaded us up for the trip to Joseph and Alicia's. It takes almost an hour to travel 16 miles from Lou's to Joseph's. Oy.
Joseph had left a key for us, so we let ourselves in and recreated some more until Joseph and Wyatt got home. My, how that boy has grown. If he grows into those hands and feet of his, Uncle Micah is right - he's going to be a big boy. Alicia says he really likes all things musical, like the drums at daycare, or the piano in the dining room. He ought to be able to span close to an octave and a half with those hands.
They are out right now attending a birthday party for a friend's son. This afternoon while mommy and Wyatt nap, Joseph is taking me to the grocery to get a few supplies. Oma is going to make quiche for supper, and I saw a carrot cake recipe I'd like to try. I might make my lasagna roll-ups for Sunday. I volunteered us old folks to supervise kiddies in the basement play area Sunday night for their devotional group that meets here. Joseph was warning that it would be a lot of little ones. But I reminded him that it used to be nothing to have 6 Stryker kids, 5 Christophels, 3 Longeneckers, 4 Todds, and occasionally 2 Shoups all at our house at the same time, so I thought we would be ok. Although I was a lot younger then.
We haven't got any other pictures yet, so we'll share 'em as we take 'em. Every one take care, we'll be back in Ohio Monday night. Somebody turn up the thermostat before we get there.

NOW it looks like Christmas (better late than never...)

2009-12-29T18:39:00.000-08:00

Well, as you can see, our white Christmas was on backorder, and got here Monday morning, only a few days late. The picture doesn't do justice to the 17 degree temperatures and the icy winds. Opa had quite the time getting his car scraped off - he didn't have an ice scraper in his car, and my nice one was safely inside my car, the doors of which happened to be frozen shut. I never did ask him what he used to get the snow off.
It all started mid-afternoon on Sunday when Micah came into the kitchen and said that the weather crawl on the Bengals game said that we were in for 3-5 inches. We had just about the five that they called for. At first it was just that nice dusting.
Oh well, it's Ohio in winter. Whatcha gonna do?

We are having a progressive Christmas this year. It started on the 19th. when we celebrated Christmas/Jim's birthday with Anna, Jim, Andrew, Amie, Grant, Jordan and Micah. Andrew and Amie's house has been holiday central, since it is the most centrally located. We met there on the 19th., and then again on Christmas Eve, for a traditional dinner of pizza and popcorn.
On Christmas Day Opa, Micah and I went down again to open presents and see what Santa brought the kiddies. Then on Dec. 26 we celebrated there with Matthew and Melissa. Andrew and Amie were probably relieved that Sunday's snow meant that Chicken Oma wouldn't be tempted to try to make it 4 days in a row.
Any way, here are some of my favorite pictures from the holiday:

Jordan warming up for the Day After Christmas Sales

Gee,Dad, I wanted to play with that!

Uncle Micah Warbucks empties
out his piggy bank.

Helping Uncle Matt and Aunt Melissa open presents.

Who needs new toys when they have Tupperware?

Taking a little family break time.

Our sweet little Christmas elf.

Opa in one of his new Christmas shirts. We have decided that from now on, we are going to have our children pick out our wardrobes. They do such a good job of it.

We still have one more Christmas to do. Joshua will be coming New Year's Eve, hopefully bringing Tara, too, if she can get away. New Years day will be another gathering at Andrew and Amie's to watch the Sugar Bowl and cheer for the Bearcats. I have taken to heart previous comments about current Bearcat sensitivity to my "Later, 'gators" sign-off, so I'll just quote a Tigger........TTFN.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2009-12-23T20:00:00.001-08:00

It is looking a lot like Christmas. In honor of Anna's request, here is a shot of our Christmas tree. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Today Opa and I took the truck up to Joshua. He will be using it until New Year's to move into his house. We got the grand tour of the new domicile, and I really like it. It is a place with a lot of potential. It will provide Joshua with lots to do as he paints and refurbishes, and it has a very cozy feel to it. He is already thinking of hosting a holiday there in 2010. I encourage everyone to get up to Greenwich to see it sometime. Especially Jim. He needs to see the places where Anna spent her formative years. And if the Davis clan goes after Bavis is born, then Anna can introduce her to her Grandma and Grandpa Bennett.

Not much else to tell. We are looking forward to seeing everyone over the course of the holidays. Last night we dipped the buckeyes. Tomorrow I hope to make some fudge and cookies, but I have to work in the morning, so we'll see.

Better get your stockings out and hang them by the chimneys with care.

Grant and Oma say "hello"

2009-12-16T07:20:00.000-08:00

Good morning to folks in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Circleville, Dayton, Greenwich, and all the ships at sea! Grant and I have had a busy day already. We got right up this morning and went to prayer time at the church. Grant played with his cars and trucks, looked at story books, played with a rubber band he found, and sang "Little Bunny Foo-Foo." He sang it very quietly, and whispered the rest of the time, and was as good as could be. Oma was very pleased.

We came home and had a snack (toast, juice and Nemo gummies) and now we are blogging. Grant has been practicing writing the letter "G." And we recorded the video below on Oma's webcam! Check out the last post again. I am going to try to put in the pictures I couldn't get to load last night.

Later, 'gators.

What's cookin' ?

2009-12-15T18:05:00.000-08:00

What's cooking, indeed. The old blog is being fussy about letting load my pictures tonight, so we'll see how things go.

Grant is staying with us while Amie is TDY (I can't remember what that stands for, but it means she is out of town.) Andrew is bonding with Baby J while Bubby hangs here with us. Here are some pictures of Jordan playing Santa's helper with Opa and Micah.

Today was meal delivery for Manna, with Ruthie Longenecker helping us out. Grant seemed to really enjoy seeing Ruth.

When we got home Grant got to wear his new Christmas chef's apron to help me mix up cookies for Micah's Christmas party at work tomorrow. I've got to get them baked, so this post will be short.

Here are all the visuals I can get to load

Before I go, congratulations to Joshua on finally closing the house today! I guesss the bank got backlogged with turkey and pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving time, and just got around to sealing the deal. I hope we'll get to see it soon.

Love to all.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.....

2009-12-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

It is a lovely, sunshiny, cold (27 degrees) day here in Ohio. Opa has taken the day off to use up some of the vacation hours he has accumulated. Later this afternoon we're both going to get our annual eye exams, but right now Opa is out working on his combine.

We'll see how this whole video thing goes here. I don't expect the Academy Awards people to be calling just yet.

Meanwhile, here are some other scenes from life down on the farm: the goat and the horse are sharing a little lunch at the hay rack.

I also have some shots that just show the sunshine and the bare fields. I forgot how flat it is while I was surrounded by corn this summer. Now we can see all the lights in the neighborhood twinkling at night, along with the ethanol plant in Greenville. From some fluke of geography we can see that plant day and night, even though it is about 13 miles away. There is a plume of steam in the daytime, and all the lights on the structure at night. It is not unlike the ancient Israelites wandering in the wilderness, although I'm sure the view of the corn plant between the shed and the corn crib isn't as reassuring as the presence of the Lord over the camp.

But I digress. Here are the other photos:

Tomorrow Anna and I are going Christmas shopping, so I hope we have another beautiful day like today!

OK, I said I have my limits.......

2009-12-02T20:00:00.000-08:00

Last night I said I have my limits, and the president pre-empting "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was coming pretty close. Well, tonight Channel 7 crossed the line. THEY pre-empted "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for a UD basketball game! Now I'm reeeaaalllyyyy steamed!

Not much happening......

2009-12-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

Opa has about 90 hours of leave time to use up between now and Dec. 31. So, let us know what kind of plans you are all making for Christmas, and he can plan accordingly. We have been wondering if doing some of Christmas at Andrew and Amie's, either Christmas eve or morning, would help out the folks with children, and also those that live farther away. So put your little heads together and let us know what works. I'm kind of seeing Christmas eve, cheese, crackers, appetizers and munchies, some present opening..... this could be Christmas morning, too.

One item of note: I consider myself to be as concerned a citizen as the next person, but I think that the president could have found a time to address the nation that did not make it necessary to pre-empt "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I have my limits.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

Things are winding down from a happy Thanksgiving. Opa is playing solitaire on the other computer, Micah is watching football downstairs, and I am here updating the blog. Tomorrow we are going to Clint Shellaberger's birthday party in the afternoon, and then back to real life on Monday, but with Christmas music playing in the background.

Thanksgiving was fun. I had wanted to brine the turkey, and so I bought a brine mix when I picked up the turkey. But when I opened it up to prepare it, I took a whiff of the open bag and realized it had sage in it. Opa does not do sage. Fortunately Micah came home about then, and immediately got to work concocting his own custom mix. Then it was into the brine for Mr. Turkey, to spend the night. The brining bags are a huge improvement over trying to do it in a 5 gallon bucket, by the way. Below you see Mr. Turkey surrounded by herbs and ice cubes, ready for the fridge.

Anna and Jim came early Wednesday evening, while Opa and I were at church. Shortly after we got home Clark's delivered our Thanksgiving Eve pizza. Soon after we finished the pizza Joshua arrived. We watched TV and talked, and I finished up a few cooking chores for Thursday. Everyone wandered off to bed around 11:30.

Everyone pitched in to help with the cooking Thursday morning. As you can see from the picture at the right, Anna is starting to definitely look a little maternal.

Andrew and Amie arrived with the kids later in the morning. Grant and Jordan were all dressed up in spiffy new clothes to go over the river and through the woods to grandma's house. But grandkids would be cute if they were dressed in Kroger bags.

Below you see the feast. I don't know if Andrew and Amie ever got to put any food in their own mouths. They were always feeding the little birds beside them. Andrew manfully washed one pot after dinner (I had taken pity and used disposable table ware.) I felt so bad, since I wasn't sure he had ever even got to eat, that I told him to vamoose and leave the pots to me. I didn't have to tell him twice. Joshua, the other baby-gender loser, had vanished long before the Palmolive appeared.
It has taken all my available brain cells to get these pictures added in, so I think it is time for Oma to head for bed. But before I go, Matthew and Melissa came Friday afternoon (with a big pot of coffee, some pumpkin spice creamer and some really yummy Amish bread.) We had a nice evening chatting with them, and then Saturday morning we fixed ham, sweet potatoes, biscuits and cranberries for lunch. They had to head back to Circleville soon after we ate, because Matthew had his first basketball game this evening. He said this may be one of those character building years for his team. Go Lady Vikings!

Still experimenting........

2009-11-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

I thought I would try this blog site to see which is more compatible with my particular brain waves. Adding the picture of Sydney was easy. Getting her to sit still for a picture was another issure altogether. It took bribery - she'd sell her mother for a bite of Hershey's.

Opa got most of the corn done today, thanks to the help of Louie Reindel, the pastor of the Nazarene Church in Bradford. Louie left a big farm in northern Ohio when he was called to the ministry. I'm sure our operation is about like gardening to him, but he offered to run wagons for Opa today, as a chance to get away from his desk for a while. He and his family are really nice people, and we've been very glad to get to know them. At any rate, thanks to Louie's help, Dennis will be able to get done in good time tomorrow.

With my usual blaze of whirlwind excitement, I did the ironing today. That will be good news to anyone sleeping in the guest bedroom this weekend, since the ironing was all lumped up on the bed in there.

Tomorrow I will pick up the turkey and a few last minute fixin's for Thursday. Right now, the menu is looking like this:

turkey

dressing (Oyster & plain)

cranberries ala Davis

greenbean casserole ala Anna

mashed potatoes (personally herbed by Micah)

gravy
deviled eggs

rolls

baby pickles

applesauce (for Baby J, Grant, and Anna, who are fans)

Pumpkin pie

sweet potato pie

cherry pie

a pie to be named later (I'm open to suggestion)

Rose's cheeseball & crackers

If I have left out anyone's favorite thing, you'll have to let me know.

Anna and Jim are arriving Wednesday evening. Micah, of course, is already here. Don't know for sure if Joshua is coming Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. Matthew and Melissa will be getting here sometime on Friday (I have to work all day. Bummer. But my boss is working for me Saturday.) Daddy will be here.

Well, enough of that. Now I am going to try to add a picture, to see how that goes with this particular blog ware. Let's see, what shall I select........

How about the cutest grandchildren in all the world?

Well, it's time for a hot cup of tea, a warm bed and a good book. 'night, all.