I got up extra early this morning while the grass was still damp. I was watching the weather predictions which were so confusing and UNpredictable that I decided to risk it. Didn’t take long, and I was motivated to get into my day.

Before I started cleaning, I changed the doll’s spring clothes to R/W/B, and changed the blankets downstairs. There were a few other little projects I handled before I cleaned, like putting the WELCOME board out. It should get a little protection under the deck where it is.

I did get the cleaning done (in between reading chapters of IN THIS MOUNTAIN, the next book in the Mitford series, and washed a load of towels. I had yogurt for lunch and trust me – it’s totally worn off by now. I just grabbed a few M&M’s (R/W/B, of course) and will be ready to grab supper when I’m done with this.

Here are a few pictures of what I put out.

All this excitement about graduation and proms – my niece Hannah’s youngest daughter Rosie had her 8th grade formal — this is her last year at the middle school. Next year – L&N STEM high school!

My blessing for today was enjoying the early morning sunshine and cool breezes before breakfast.

PEANUTS thought for the day:

TOMORROW May 23rd is:

National Lucky Penny Day; Medical Coder Day; National Drinking With the Chickens Day (???); National Taffy Day; National Seeds Day; World Turtle Day.

Yesterdays day was National Download Day. Tomorrow — lucky pennies are good, and I have nothing against turtles. Celebrate! God bless…

The sun is shining; blue skies; puffy clouds; temps in the 80’s. So today was an outside day for me, at least this afternoon.

Lots of crazy things going on at work – You just can’t trust PENNDOT to stick to anything. Traffic was a mess on Route 30 – they had 3 lanes and a turn lane squeezed into one lane from AHS (hospital) to Target. Ugh. It was backed up from Lowry Avenue all the way to Lakeview.

After work I made several stops – one at Dollar Tree for some items for the Sunday School bulletin board, one at the bank, and then at Lowe’s. I bought four bags of Pond Stone and a big bag of Scott’s Weed and Feed. I need to find the right time to spread it on the lawn. The grass should be damp but then it can’t rain for at least 24 hours! That will take some doing.

I was able to get the stones where they needed to be – under the deck and two places on the hill. The water runs down the driveway and is wearing away the soil where the hill starts. Hoping the stones will help divert the water flow.

Since we planted Ozzie I needed to move the yard flag. It would be fine now, but as Ozzie grows it wouldn’t be. So I moved it over. Matt had given me two huge bags of garden soil, so I hauled it up to the front yard with my new (Christmas) little garden hauler and spread it in a big bare spot.

I watched a little bunny hopping around the yard and it crawled under the wheelbarrow in the flower bed. He must nap there – probably cool and safe!

Gen called from New York at about 4pm and we got caught up. They just came back from Disney and sounds like they had a nice time. And I just got off the phone with my step-sister-in-law SJ – I sent her a book – Letters to Mary – and she called to say she put hand-painted note cards (she’s an artist) in the mail to me. So two fun phone visits in one afternoon!

THOSE were my blessings for today!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW, May 22nd, is:

Bitcoin Pizza Day; Buy a Musical Instrument Day; National Maritime Day; National Solitaire Day; National Vanilla Pudding Day; Sherlock Holmes Day; National Safe Boating Week; National Download Day.

Yesterday’s day was Toothbrush day. I don’t know what a bitcoin pizza is and I haven’t gone boating in years. So — just have fun. God bless…

Beautiful day – but very warm! Because there was a nice breeze (and I had a nice sun hat) I could get the grass cut. I also trimmed the lilac branches that keep growing through the other side of the fence. It makes it harder to mow and it also looks messy when they are poking through.

But before that, work went fine. Both Sir Rege and Joe were talkative and helpful. Joe just came back from Philly and was excited to show me some photos, especially Elfreth Alley. And I was sharing in his excitement. I made a quick stop at Gabe’s to see if they had any worthy cutting boards to contribute to the Tea supplies, but nothing there.

I walked around the yard and took more pictures – I know you are probably tired of getting yard pictures!

When I got the mail there was a graduation photo of my friend Carolyn’s daughter Anna. We don’t see each other very often but I was so happy to get the photos. I didn’t realize Anna and Christina were the same age!

Nate came over after his supper and planted Ozzie. I gave him and Bunny a good soaking and I think the yard (as far as plants are concerned) is in good shape.

Autmn popped in to get a shower – they were swimming at Noah’s mom’s pool. She shared some photos of Cameron in the pool, and one in his playpen, and one of them playing giant UNO the other night with Chrissy.

My blessing today was feeling the assurance that God’s got my back! I don’t have answers, but He does, and I’m praying to be included in the solutions! If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…. (confusing things CAN make sense!)

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW May 21st is:

International Tea Day; National Memo Day; National Toothbrush Day; National Strawberries and Cream Day; National Waitstaff Day.

Yesterday’s day was Windsock Day – and I discovered that I am NOT a millionaire. Bummer. Tomorrow let’s have tea and strawberries! God bless…

TODAY is Aunt Joan’s birthday. Happy birthday, sweet aunt! We need to have a visit soon! Love you.

Mary and I did a good job with the lesson for the kids this morning; it was a hard lesson but they got it! It was about prayer and God’s answer: Yes, No, Wait. They had dozens of examples of the ‘wait’ concept! And they had to wait on snack which emphasized how hard it really was to wait.

Todd’s message was INVITE BOLDLY. We think we should only invite and welcome wholesome people into the church – but Jesus runs TO messy people, not away from them. WE are all messy. No matter how many come, there is still room. People need to know we care before we share Christ or invite them. Invest in them, then invite. We have to be stretched like a bungie cord to be useful. Investing is not easy, but the harvest is rewarding.

Today was one of the two days that I volunteered to do guided tours at Hanna’s Town, so I left straight from church. Therefore, I had to wear my volunteer shirt.

It was such a beautiful day! The sky was amazing, the trees and grass were bright green, and the birds were happy. Kelton, our new education director, was on site, and he asked if he could shadow me. I’ve been doing tours since 2003, and he’s fairly new to the site. It make me very nervous! And then a new volunteer came in and also wanted to shadow. I had to really keep my wits about me…

The new guy (who had obviously studied his manual!) was able to contribute interesting bits of information to the tour (we had a family of three adults), and Kelton told me he learned new things and really appreciated tagging along. He complimented me to the family on doing a nice job, so I was relieved. Here are pictures of the site, which I’ve posted before but the buildings looked so fresh and ready.

My blessing for today were the little ones in my Sunday School class. They are a handful but such a blessing to heart and spirit.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW May 20th is:

National Be a Millionaire Day; Eliza Doolittle Day; Flower day; International Red Sneakers Day; National Band Director’s Day; National Windsock Day; National High Heel Day; National Pick Strawberries Day; National Rescue Dog Day; National Streaming day; World Bee Day; National vegetarian Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Shoelaces Day. I’ll celebrate being a millionaire, flowers, strawberries, and streaming. Have a happy week and God bless…

Today was the day to switch out the spring and summer comforter on my bed and put the winter one away. It looks bright and happy in there now. A nice change.

After a shower – and toast for breakfast – I got the cookie dough out to start baking. That was fine, but it was too hard to work with. So I let it sit for a while, and printed out my Sunday School extra material, then got some mail ready. I kept watching the weather, which had said rain, but it was sunny and warm. So I got organized and washed all the windows and cleaned the tracks. The tracks are what takes so long and are much harder to clean than the actual windows. It was nice to open a few of the windows and let the warm, clean breeze flow through.

When I was outside I realized how pretty the yard was looking, with so much in bloom and the beds weeded and the grass cut. I even snipped a few rose buds for a vase. I’ll see if they open up.

Finally the dough was ready, and I baked the batch of cookies. I froze all but about five of them. I’m doing tours at Hanna’s Town tomorrow afternoon so I will take one or two of them with me to have with a quick lunch before they open at 12:30.

My blessing today was the beautiful weather, blue skies and puffy clouds! It’s like being wrapped in a happy blanket!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW May 19th is:

Frog Jumping Jubilee Day; National Devils Food Cake Day; Pentecost; National Shoelaces Day; Plant Something Day; Step Mother’s Day; Take Your Parents to the Playground Day; World Baking Day; National May Ray Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was Light a Light Day. Tomorrow is also my Aunt Joan’s birthday! Her card will be late – I missed the mailman yesterday.

I was up early for a Friday morning – trying to get a schedule for my day. I had a long list for the weekend and was trying to arrange things mentally. After breakfast it wasn’t raining yet, so I walked the gardens and checked on the plants. A few new blooms.

I got the red/white/blue light strings out and took the purple ones (that I had up for Spring) all down and put them away. Then I strung the new ones on the back deck and put some in the two lanterns.

By then it had started to rain, so I came in and put things away. I was putting my hat on the shelf, and it knocked over the box of matches, which then knocked the sun catcher off the hook which bounced on the floor. I leaned down to get it and bumped my head. Ugh.

I got changed and headed out for groceries. I stopped at Aldi’s first, then the Dollar Tree for a few cards, then to Walmart. Walmart is renovating and they’ve totally changed the checkout procedures. Almost no lanes with real checkout clerks – mostly self-checkout. And everything is rearranged. The checkout guy asked me how I was doing and I said I was fine until I came in there and got totally lost three times!

Nate and Dave were here when I got home, working on a few drippy and stuck faucets. They did everything they could with what they had, and then ate M&M’s which are always setting out. I had washed a load of clothes earlier and folded them from the dryer, then put the groceries away and made lunch – an English Muffin.

As I was meeting Aunt Kimmie, Greg, Chase and Ma (Ruth Ann) at 5:30, I started Potato Soup and mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and stuck everything in the fridge. The soup is now done, but I’m waiting to bake the cookies tomorrow. It’s 8:30pm and I still have a few things to finish up.

I realized I hadn’t posted the latest pictures of celebrations so I better do that now. Last week was Hempfield’s prom, and Chrissy went with her friend Hope. They both looked lovely.

Tuesday night Logan and Clarise went to their spring formal – I’m not sure where it was, but the views were as lovely as the couple!

Then this is Hattie’s graduation weekend from high school. Hattie is Kathy’s granddaughter. Kathy and Paul went to TN for the weekend to be part of the celebration. Congratulations, Harriet Christine!

My blessing today was safety through the storms. There were numerous tornado sightings within a few miles of here, as well as flash flood warnings. The rain POURED down! So thankful to be home and safe.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW May 18th is:

Armed Forces Day; I Love Reese’s Day; International Astronomy Day; International Museum Day; National Cheese Souffle Day; National Learn to Swim Day; National No Dirty Dishes Day; National Light a Light Day; Plant a Lemon Tree Day; World Fiddle Day; National Visit Your Relatives Day.

Yesterday’s day was Pinky Finger Day. Tomorrow I will celebrate Wednesday’s Chocolate Chip day and bake my cookies. God bless….

Today was a lovely weather day. Lots to do but everything went smoothly. I stopped on my way to Jeannette to pick up Kelly’s order at Gordon’s, then went through town to get gas for the Mazda. I finally got a chance to stop at Hanna’s Town while Lisa was there, and we got the linens labeled and tucked away.

From there I went to Greensburg Pinnacle and handled a few things for Joe. I had just enough time to pick up food from Diane and get to my chiropractor appointment on time, then home from there.

I got stuck behind a train in South Greensburg. I was the first car behind the gate. It was a fairly long train – I sat and watched the lights blink back and forth until the end came into sight. THEN — the train stopped. I sat there for a few minutes; all the cars behind me turned around the went another way. Eventually I did, as well.

I made bacon and toast for lunch before I went outside to cut the grass. There were only a few places that needed week whacked so I did them first. Since there was only the one section around the bigger tree that needed to be weeded and cleaned up, I was able to finish that in the afternoon. So now all the gardens have been completely weeded once. NOW — we start again!

Every time I find a Robin’s Egg abandoned in the yard, I put in on this little rock. These eggs are heavier than you think they would be.

Autmn stopped with Cameron to say hello on their way to Pittsburgh to pick up Noah. Cameron is so smart and cute! Mary stopped to get some of the food for her group, and she got to hold Cameron and play with him for a bit. He’s just so precious! I ask God to put a hedge of protection around him all the time. It’s a scary world out there these days!

My blessing today was seeing Autmn and Cameron, and getting baby hugs! And visiting with Mary for a little while.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW May 17th is:

Bike to School/Work Day; Pinky Finger Day; Endangered Species Day; NASCAR Day; National Cherry Cobbler Day; National Graduation Tassel Day; National Pizza Party Day; Pack Rat Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was Play Outside Day. But I love doing that, every day! Let’s do the pizza – and have a great Friday. God bless…

It’s Wednesday, so it was cleaning day. I did start out by watering the newest plants. Can’t afford for them to die off. I had a lot of side distractions today but still finished at about 4:30. Then I went outside.

There were a few stray ugly weeds in the beds lining the driveway so I did that first and took the trash up to the road. Then I started by the front porch and worked my way down the yard side of the walk, then back up the walk side, both sides. It looks pretty good.

I was hoping to finish the first round tonight but I didn’t manage that. It hit about 7:45 and I was tired, dirty and hungry. I got the base of the smaller tree cleaned up, then started on the bigger one, but I gave out. I came in and got a shower and will get something to eat as soon as I post this short Word Garden.

My blessing today was looking out my bedroom window in the morning sunshine and seeing both Bunny (the butterfly bush) and Ozzie (the orange Azalea). Makes me smile.

PEANUTS Thought for the day:

TOMORROW May 16th is:

National Classic Movie Day; Drawing Day; International Day of Light; National BBQ Day; National Biographer’s Day; National Do Something Good for your Neighbor Day; Play Outside Day; National Love a Tree Day; National Notebook Day; Ride a Unicycle Day; Wear Purple for Peace Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was Funky Sock Day. Tomorrow there’s lots of fun things to celebrate – I have a list of 6 things I have to do tomorrow so I’ll probably celebrate on the run. Have a lovely day and God bless…

I worked both stores and again stopped to help Mike P with something. He was either stressed or irritated but we got through it. I stopped at the Dollar Tree for a few things for work and Sunday School, then headed home.

Most of the afternoon I spent at the computer, paying bills, answering emails, doing research, filling out forms. At about 3:30 I stopped and began making phone calls to local garden nurseries in search of an orange Azalea. I started with my favorite and worked down from there. I finally found them at Laurel Nursery in Latrobe – but they only had 4 left. So I jumped in the car and zoomed (legally) out there and got the bush. It’s not the same color as the one that’s blooming down the street, but it is orange.

So I carried it around the yard until I found a happy place and I will plant it tomorrow or Thursday. Then I took pictures of the newest blooms in the yard.

I just finished ironing and putting laundry away. I finally got the 18th century shirt and skirt that Penny Rivers Costumes made for me and pressed it off. Maybe I will wear it on Sunday!

My blessing today was getting the orange azalea – which I named named Ozzie. Thanks to Kelly for helping to make it possible!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW May 15th is:

Asphalt Day; Break the Glass Ceiling Day (why would you do THAT???); Bring Flowers to Someone Day; Funky Sock Day; International Family Day; National Chocolate Chip Day; Straw Hat Day; National Police Week.

Yesterday’s Fake Day was Calendar Day. Tomorrow I’ll celebrate families, and flowers, and chocolate chips! God bless…

Beautiful day! Just right for being outside. I worked both stores and stopped to help Mike with something, then did title work for the other Mike. I am always happy when I can go straight home. Well, I had to stop at Hanna’s Town. I was going to drop the linens off but the bins were not where we left them so I have to wait for Lisa on Thursday to put them away. THEN I went home!

I had a piece of meatloaf for lunch, then got busy with my outside chores. I started a load of laundry first, then cut the grass and weed-whacked. It didn’t take long, although the grass was higher than I like to let it grow. The weather has just been so rainy.

Digging is not my strong suit, but I was able to dig a hole big enough to plant my butterfly bush and I think I did a good job. Nate offered to come over at some point and check it out.

Next I planted the flat of ground cover and spread it around the bare spots on the hill. I have a feeling the other plants will fill in and it won’t be an issue but this stuff is easy – just scrape over the ground and stick a square of thyme, etc, on the dirt! And it grows and spreads.

There was a perfect place right beside the driveway to plant the zinnias from Saturday, and then I planted the Lobelia from Kelly’s. Once I finished that I watered everything then took some pictures.

Autmn stopped over and brought me a donut and a 3-D handmade mother’s day card. It’s very pretty. She and Noah and Cameron are spending the evening with his parents, who just moved to Navaho Drive – a few blocks from me. That will be so convenient for them!

My blessings for today were Autmn’s card and working outside. Made me smile!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW May 14th is:

Bond with Your Dog Day; Dance Like a Chicken Day; Do Dah Day; Chihuahua Appreciation Day; National Buttermilk Biscuit Day; National Decency Day; Online Romance Day; The Stars & Stripes Forever Day; National Underground American Day, Calendar Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Footpath Day. I think the Stars & Stripes Forever is fun to celebrate. I wouldn’t want to live underground. Buttermilk biscuits sound yummy. Have a fun day – dance like I chicken if you have one to dance with. God bless…