A Walk in the Woods

A couple of weekends ago, we went for a walk in the woods by my mother-in-law's house. She's been gone for a couple of years and John's brother lives there now, but we still say we are going to Grandmom's. It's a nice little remembrance. 

We saw a lightning-struck tree,

and the bent cherry tree. It's alive and growing like this and John and his brother have been calling it the bent cherry tree for more than 50 years. 

I almost stepped on this fellow,

and here he is in a more close up view.

A few minutes later I came across another turtle, with pretty markings and lovely orange head and feet.

I also came across a couple of farmers outstanding in their field of sorghum.

It's peaceful and restorative to take some time to wander in the woods and see all the things that await. I hope you have the opportunity to take your own walk and see some interesting things!

All the Points

When the boys were growing up, I made dinner almost every night. That meant that every so often we would have leftovers, stored in a collection of containers in the refrigerator. Some had just a few bites in them, like leftover spaghetti and meatballs that Justin couldn't finish, or maybe a spoonful of green beans that Ryan didn't really like. Once the leftover containers had taken over the refrigerator, and I couldn't transform the leftovers into soup or something else, I would declare a smorgasbord night, put out all the containers on the counter, and everyone could decide what they wanted for dinner.

John loves leftovers, but they weren't very popular with the boys. There were "good leftovers" (macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, lasagna, or meatloaf) and the less popular "yucky leftovers" like peas, pork chops, or broccoli. One night the boys were moaning about how we didn't have anything good and they were tired of eating yucky leftovers, and I said, "Well, if you finish everything in a container, you'll get a container point!" I don't remember how old the kids were, but they were young enough that the idea of earning points won them over. They proudly tallied up their container points, and it wasn't until the next smorgasbord night that they wondered how to redeem their container points and what they were good for. I hadn't thought too far ahead, and wasn't willing to bribe my kids to eat leftovers with any real or monetary reward, so I just told them I'd figure out something.

I never did anything with the container point redemption scheme, and it eventually became a family joke. Even as adults, they still occasionally ask about container points. But a few weeks ago I discovered another type of point. 

A bunch of warning lights came on in John's truck after he had driven over some rumble strips on the way back from MD, so he took the truck to the dealer. They said he had a bad wheel speed sensor, and they would try to order one. It's one of those parts that has a rare and hard-to-get electronic chip in it, so they weren't sure if it would be available. They called me when John was on vacation and I decided it would be best to take it right into the dealer since they had actually found one. My service advisor was a woman who wondered why I was bringing in John's truck. I explained the story and told her that I was just trying to increase my good wife points. She found this fairly amusing and could barely get over the fact that I was going to sit there for three hours and wait for his truck.

When the truck was done I was pleasantly surprised to find that my good wife points had been upgraded. I'm guessing that the redemption is similar to container points, but I'm just happy to have my points officially documented (and to have earned so many)!

Museum of Me: Me As a Child

Last month, Kym introduced this wonderful idea, The Museum of Me. I thought it was terrific, and the whole time I was reading her post, I kept thinking about how I could tactfully ask her if I could steal the idea. (Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.) But part of her brilliance included an invitation to create our own museums, and she even sent her "exhibit schedule" so we could participate. So I'd like to welcome you to my Museum of Me. This month's exhibit is Me As a Child.

As you enter the main display hall of the museum, you'll notice a large portrait. It's a fair-haired young girl, about six years old. She's a quiet and reserved child, but her expression looks like she might be secretly quite pleased. 

It may not be clear from the first glance, but she is not a ballerina. Once you've noticed her crown and star scepter, it becomes evident that this young girl is dressed as Glinda the Good Witch.

(The resemblance is almost uncanny.)

When I was a child, my mother always asked what I wanted to be for Halloween. Halloween was never my favorite holiday, and I'm still not a fan of dressing up, but my answer every year from when I was six years old was that I wanted to be Glinda. That was the year we got a color TV, and I saw The Wizard of Oz in color. 

In 1963, VCRs and DVDs didn't exist (or we didn't have one), so watching The Wizard of Oz on TV was a special occasion since it was only broadcast once a year. The first time I saw the change from black and white to technicolor when Dorothy opens the door in Oz was truly amazing to me.  And when I saw Glinda in that gorgeous pink dress, I thought she was the most beautiful witch person ever. I truly wanted to be her, and since I was six, I thought maybe I could be. 

My mother and grandmother sewed the costume for me, and while I was initially disappointed that it didn't have a full-length skirt, I loved the satin cape, and glittery crown and star scepter they made. I'm sure that people answering their doors on Halloween thought I was a ballerina, but once I politely informed them that I was Glinda I'm sure they understood. I wore that  costume for as long as it fit, and there were many days that I remember walking home from school and changing into it. I thought Glinda was stunning, and I can still remember how beautiful that costume made me feel. Everybody should have at least one outfit in their life that makes them feel absolutely beautiful, and this was mine.

Thank you for visiting The Museum of Me. Be sure to visit Kym today for her new exhibit. The museum exhibits will be changed monthly on the second Friday of the month, so please stop by again in November for the next carefully curated installation. (The gift shop is on the right on your way out!)

Happy Birthday!

Today is Ryan's birthday, and he's 31 years old. For the past few years his birthday has brought a tinge of sadness to me because we've been 1700 miles apart. I visited him in CO several times for his birthday, but it wasn't like a big family celebration. 

This year is different. He is coming over tomorrow night and cooking dinner for us. He enjoys cooking and welcomes the chance to do it for other people. Venison steak with mushrooms over mashed potatoes with green beans should be delicious. My grandmother used to say that food tasted better if somebody you loved made it for you, and I think that's true.

I will making him some zucchini bread, which he wants instead of a regular birthday cake. It will be made with extra love so I hope it will taste extra good. 

He had a tough time in CO, by himself, with some big challenges of several types, all beyond his control without easy resolution, and then there was the pandemic. I'm proud of all that he's managed to do, the person he's become, and especially glad that he's doing it all a little closer to home. 

Read With Us - It's a New Book

After we finish with the Zoom discussion of a Read With Us book, our thoughts turn to "what next?" Sometimes this discussion begins even before we've finished the current book; sometimes we can arrive at a new book choice quickly, but there are other times when it takes a long time, lots of e-mail discussion, consideration, and re-consideration. This book was one of those other times. 

We had a few suggestions, expressed our thoughts, kind of chose a book, but then we un-chose it. There were more suggestions, Kym even made a pro/con list for each of the books, and we finally arrived at a consensus. I'm telling you about the procedure we used to arrive at this book so you'll know it has been well-considered and reasonably thought out. The book we chose is Matrix by Lauren Groff.

As so often is the case, I'm much more intrigued by the UK cover.

I know that several of you already have this on your TBR list, and possibly have it on hold at your library. I'm currently listening to the audio version and only had a short wait for it from my library. It's available from Amazon for Kindle for $14.99 and $17.99 for hardcover. It's also available from Audible for one credit or $22.05 for the member price. 

Carole, Kym, and I will be writing promotional posts for Matrix on November 2, November 9th, and November 16th, with our Zoom discussion scheduled for January 11, 2022. We hope that will be plenty of time for you to get the book and read it. At only 272 pages, it isn't a long one.

I'm hoping you will Read With Us, give Matrix a try, and plan on joining the Zoom discussion. I think (hope) it will be a good one!

Tea Time

I spent two glorious weeks in NJ, enjoying time by myself, doing all the extra laundry tasks I rarely have time for (washing curtains and some rugs), and even accomplishing some fall cleaning. It's been very nice knowing that things I've cleaned will stay clean for a while, and having whatever I want for dinner whenever I felt like eating it. I'm not quite sure how it started (maybe the first chilly day after I was tired of taking down curtains, doing four loads of laundry, hanging them out, and then putting the curtains back up), but I've been enjoying a cup of tea each afternoon around 5:00 pm or so. 

At first, I contemplated having a beer or cocktail as a reward for my work, but decided that maybe drinking by myself wasn't a great idea. A warm cup of tea is still a lovely reward, and because it was so nice and marked a break between working and relaxing in the evening, I've kept it up.

Sometimes it's a cup of the usual PG Tips that I wake up to in the morning, but I've also been branching out. I love Celestial Seasonings Peppermint and Tension Tamer teas, and they provide a very enjoyable caffeine-free cuppa. 

Other days I take more time and prepare a cup of loose-leaf tea. One of the things I did during my two weeks was to clean out my pantry and kitchen cupboards, so now I can see all the teas I have available. I have a bit of a tea fetish that I try to wrestle under control every now and then, but I like having a varied choice every day, especially now that I can see exactly what my choices are.

I've been watching Call the Midwife in the evenings, so I may have gotten the idea for my new tea time ritual by seeing the many times the characters put the kettle on and how they treat tea as calming and restorative. My tea time started without much thought, but now it's an important part of my day and one I look forward to. I might even bake some scones this week!

Just a Couple of Pictures

I sat here in front of my laptop for a few minutes, wondering what to write. After about five minutes, I thought that maybe I should wait until Monday to post since I couldn't seem to come up with anything. Then I remembered a few photos that I took this week. We had some storms on Tuesday in both the morning and evening, and the clouds produced a lovely sunrise and sunset.

Sunrise

Sunset

Here's hoping your weekend is a beautiful one!