Flowers!  I love to walk around my yard and see what is poking up and blooming.  There are various colors and sizes and shapes, all over the yard.  The ratio of flower beds to yard is almost equal!  That’s fine by me, but the weed whacking is a definite drawback.  

I normally lean toward shades of purple, but several years ago I decided I needed an orange Azalea.  It grew ok for a few years, then got lost under a hydrangea.  So I risked the move and it now lives beside my garden shed.  It bloomed completely this year, so I think it’s finally happy and will grow bigger each year.

All that blooms are not flowers.  This little rabbit on a swing hangs from the upper deck and watches me type through the stormdoor.  He’s made of heavy, cement stone material and I’ve konked my head frequently.  I’m sure he laughs and laughs at that.

I love to see Snoopy on the flag out front – I change it as often as I think of it!  The little dutch girl and boy (he’s been trying to kiss her for over THIRTY YEARS!!!) was painted for me and was a birthday gift from my mom back in the early 1980’s. 

I feel right at home with my flowers, and they like keeping me company.  And the blooms change throughout the summer.  Wonder what will pop up next?

Kath and I as so blessed to have such a wonderful, Godly mother!  From the time we were old enough to remember, she has been a rock to stand on, a blanket to keep us warm and close, and example to follow, and a woman to pattern our lives after.  Her faith and patience have been priceless as we have made our way through the maze of confusion we call ‘life’.

Mom is always up for fun, ready to have a good time, wanting to be part of the party, happy to share in our outings and projects. She has been my greatest champion, supporter, prayer warrior, – words fail me!  There has never been a time in my life – both the good times and the hard times – when she did not have words of support or encouragement or delight to share with me – and all of them wrapped in scripture and love.

To me this seems like such a small tribute, but it comes from the heart – and I know I speak for Kathy and for John’s daughters and sons who call her mother – and I just have to add this one thing:  Mom, you will always be the star in our lives, bright and shining and guiding.  We love you to the STARS and back!  Have a great day!!!

What a beautiful day to be in Smicksburg!  Kathy and I headed out early this morning, glad to see the sun peeking through and the skies getting bluer as we got closer.  We were on a mission:  First, to see the Aunts (Joan and Dolly) and Uncle Clifford.  Mission accomplished.  It was so nice to see all three of them looking happy and chipper and well.  Love these families to the MOON and back!

Second, to go to a book signing at the Windgate Winery.  I had never been there, and was delightfully surprised!  There was an art gallery and an antique shop in addition to the vineyards and the winery.  But the main draw was the dozen plus authors who had their very interesting and appealing books for sale!  I was glad to walk through and say hello to the authors I knew, and to meet new ones.  Thanks, Tom Beck, for posting and letting us know about this event! 

The view from the end of the drive was amazing – first picture is the rolling hills and the barn.  Second picture is an Amish farm and buildings, snuggled in next to a large stand of trees.  The sky had turned bright blue and the clouds looked like cool whip!

No matter how many times we have been there, we always love stopping at the quaint little shops on main street.  My favorite is the Drying Shed but there are so many others that are fun to visit as well.  We decided NOT to go to New York (time restraint – ha ha) but did stop at the rest.  The fudge at the Village Sampler is very yummy.  Chocolate Walnut! 

It was a great day, shared with my wonderful sister, visiting family, seeing friends, SHOPPING … Who says you can’t go Home again??? Not ME!

So it’s that time of year again:  TIME TO PLAY IN THE DIRT!  This was a gift from a dear friend several years ago, and I do live by it.  I have spent the last several weeks in the gardens, in the yard, in the flowers.  Over the winter the leaves and dead stalks did their jobs to keep the shoots and bulbs warm under the winter snows, but it was time to clean it up.  Which I did!  That is a lot of work, and all the muscles in my body ache for days afterwards, but it’s a labor of love for sure.

I have my little tribute corner, by the little stone stepping path that Tazz always took to get to the upper yard.  He made such a mess in the mulch that I created a walkway of steps for him.  He’s been gone since 2007, but the steps are still there.  The kids and I use them to cut through, too.  I have the little statue as a tribute to Tazz – as if I really needed a reminder of what he meant to my household and my heart!  There’s also my yard Snoopy and Woodstock, both purchased at the craft booths in Girard at Dan Rice Days.  And of course, the WEEDS FOR SALE – PICK YOUR OWN.  Honestly.  They’re free.  Help yourself…

Most people use wooden planter boxes to PLANT.  I have a flower in mine, true — but I also have my Uncle Sam hat – a combined tribute to our country and to circus owner Dan Rice.  Look him up.  You’ll be surprised!

It wouldn’t be my deck if the flag did not reflect Colonial America in some way.  My 1776 flag does the trick. 

There are plenty of blooms in the garden right now – lilacs, violets, azaleas – but there will be more to come.  Keep watching for the flower show in future posts!  But for today, the little odds and ends that live in my yard are the icing on the floral cake!  And I love them all!

Today was free museum day in Ligonier, and six museums were free to the public for the day.  When you entered the grounds of the first museum (ours was Compass Inn) you received a ‘passport’.  Each time you went through one of the museums you got a stamp on your passport.

We started with the main house, and learned about the original stage coach stop.  Then we went to the out buildings, which included the kitchen, blacksmith shop, and the barns.  In the kitchens, we sampled journey cake and sweet breads hot out of the brick ovens.  Autmn got a tiny sword formed out of a nail, which we watched the blacksmith pound out.

This covered wagon was one of the first that traveled from Pittsburgh – through Bedford – to Philadelphia. We also got to see the little baby ducks, which were light as a feather and cute as a ….baby duck!

We went from Compass Inn to Ft Ligonier, where Autmn was excited to see lots of things she’s studying about in school.  She had my camera phone and was snapping pictures all over the place!  We went to the Lincoln Highway Experience, where we watched a movie on Route 30, did rubbings of old license plates, and fed the goats (who seemed very appreciative).  After a stop at the Antique Mall, we had a very late lunch at KFC in Latrobe, then headed home. 

It was a very fun day, and I know Autmn enjoyed it as much as I did.  She was enthralled with the actual bear rug in the bedroom at the Inn, and was impressed with the artifacts at the fort.  I know we’ll take another day and go on some actual tours, and get more details of life in the 1700’s. 

A big thanks to LIGONIER for providing such a great day for Miss Autmn and me to share!

What an exciting and nerve-wracking day!  I had the privilege of being a guest on Hank Bauchman’s Radio Talk show on Latrobe (PA) station WCNS this morning.  I was pretty sure I was going to stumble around – which I did once or twice! – but all in all it went very well.  He’s a great interviewer and I felt comfortable – the half hour went super fast!

We talked about Letters to Mary – of course! – but we also spent substantial time talking about Smail Auto – my employment there since 1967, making it almost 50 years.  He’s a great friend of Bud’s and has much respect for the Smail organization, and was very impressed with my lengthy tenure there. I sort of felt like I was running TWO spots, both near and dear to my heart!

I loved being offered the opportunity to talk about Daniel’s letters, about Mary’s life and struggles.  He asked me what one of the greatest truths about the Civil War that I came away with, and I had to say that it was the fact that the soldiers were not the only casualties of the war, Civil or any other.  The loss of the men -both in battle and from the communities – had a huge impact on the lives of the families of those left behind.  There are no numbers recorded for those casualties, no statistics.  Many people, like Mary and Charlie and little Alice, were left to make their way on their own in whatever situation they faced.

Right now I could think of about a million things I could have said in addition to – or instead of! – what I did say, but the blessing of being on the air, talking about Letters to Mary and the process of writing and publishing, was a great experience.  A huge thanks to Mr. Baughman for contacting me and inviting me to share Mary’s story, and talk about the book, to his listening audience.  It was great fun!

Sunday, April 24th, my middle grandson Logan turned 9 – on the day he was born:  again!  I tried to download the video, but with my unskilled computer knowledge it kept saying it was too large to transfer.  🙁  But Logan asked back in March if he could be baptized – immersed – on his birthday.  His parents and ministers talked to him and gave him a workbook – to be certain he understood his choice and what it meant.

So early on Sunday morning Autmn and I drove to Martin’s Ferry Christian Church and took part in their worship service, and at the end of the morning, Logan’s dad went down into the water with him and performed the baptism – transformation into a Child of God!  It was exciting and amazing and emotional and wonderful!  So proud of this little guy and the huge decision he made to choose Jesus!

Back at the Hancher house, Matt manned the grill (burgers and dogs) while several of us handled the rest:  homemade mac/cheese, strawberries, watermelon, corn, baked beans, chips, and sweet tea.  After eating way too much (strawberries went like WILDFIRE!), we gathered in the living room and watched Logan open his presents.  There were some gifts that even I would have loved to get!!  Chase was so excited for his brother he was grinning ear to ear!  We sang happy birthday and then had Oreo Ice Cream Cake for dessert.

The afternoon wound down with the guys playing a mini game of soft ball, the kids watching the new Star Wars video, the dogs basically lying around in the sun — I opted for a run to West Virginia.  Before you think this is an amazing feat – it’s only about 3/4 of a mile!  The neighbor’s 3 brown horses pranced up near the fence to great me on the way past – they are beautiful horses!  I ran back through the covered bridge and across the bottom yard to the pigpen and personally introduced myself to Baconator, Blackbeard, and Second Breakfast – which were totally unimpressed with my presence.  The boys found a snake on the hill – Kelly whacked it with a shovel and threw it in the creek.  So it was a very animal-istic afternoon!

Autmn slept most of the hour’s drive home, and we were glad to be back safe and sound.  But I want to say a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Logan – with wishes for many more, and a loving, dedicated life lived for God every single day!  Love you, my little one!

Last night – Friday – it was Chrissy’s turn!  Nate had several things going on at once, so I offered to take Chrissy to Blairsville to meet her mom.  Chrissy was not quite as chatty as Autmn had been, but we still talked about the state school tests, recess (I gather that’s her favorite), and her violet Bear that she dressed in a blue striped onsie. 

The great exchange went without a hitch, and when I left they were playing the lottery at Sheetz.  I buzzed across the street to Walmart to do some long over-due grocery shopping – plus a birthday gift my Logan (smile).  When I walked out of the store, dusk was just falling, and the bright pink sky was very striking.  It wasn’t until I was in my car that I thought about taking a picture. 

Every time I would go over a small rise, the trees would clear and I would see the sunset again.  It followed me into New Alexandria, where I could just see the misty fog rising from the ground.  It’s very hard to take a photo when you’re stopped at a traffic light, but I tired.  You can barely see the layer of clouds resting above the earth.  The amazing thing is the little ‘ tower’ of gray lifting from the pink glow of the sunset.

As I came down the little hill into New Alex, the striking contrast of the colors from the car lights, traffic signals, and businesses at the corner really struck me.  The rain made everything dazzle.

I got home in time to unload and put away groceries, do 2 miles on the treadmill, wash a load of laundry, make Logan’s Oreo Ice Cream cake, and grab a quick snack before falling into bed at 11:30.  So this week I got my ‘Burke girls’ fix, and tomorrow I will see my Hancher boys.  Great balance, if you ask me!

I had the unexpected opportunity tonight to spend a delightful evening with Autmn!  Her dad was working late – Chris was at the sitters – so I popped over to check on Autmn and just decided to stay with her until he got home.

She was just getting ready to make cheesy garlic shells for supper, but stuck them off to the side to take a walk with me.  We went in a big loop, and she pointed out all her friends’ houses, who lived where, and what grade they were in.  We talked about the PSSA’s (State testing at school), wearing shorts to school, and a bee in her classroom.

After she cooked and ate her shells, we talked about favorite foods (KRAFT macaroni and cheese, canned sliced potatoes, tacos, mashed potatoes!), and tried to find Tigress the cat, who was hiding somewhere … well enough so we couldn’t find her.  It was stuffy in the house, so we went out for another walk, and went the other direction this time.

There’s a quaint little creek (crik???) below their plan, and the kids love to play down there.  They have their little secret entrances and special places – Chrissy even found a $20 bill floating there a few weeks ago!  Autmn took a second to show me her favorite spot, and climbed on the branch of a fallen tree for a photo shoot.  It really did look inviting, and very fun, as I’m a creek kind of girl myself.

We walked back home, and came across a back yard full of violets, clover and dandelions in bloom.  It was so inviting you wanted to take your shoes off and just run around – but Autmn sternly warned me about the bee possibility.  So I refrained.

A big thanks to Autmn for the lovely evening – and even though I had a chore list waiting for me at my house, it was well worth the trade off to spend those hours with my Miss Autmn!

Well, Pig day again has come and gone!  Last year -2015 – the day after Easter found us making the trip to the Marshall farm in Smicksburg, PA.  We spent the day roaming and visiting and meeting the pigs.

 These little guys grew REALLY big – they had a short but happy and fulfilling life at the Hancher ranch, and ended up placing very well at the 4H showing at the West Alex fair on Labor Day. 

Spring is once again upon us, the time to begin again, and last weekend Kelly, Matt, Peyton and Logan made the trip to the Marshall farm to choose the piggies.  It was a quick trip this time – nasty cold weather, snow and wind, and a hectic schedule got in the way.  I did not even go along this time.

But along came Baconator, Blackbeard, and Second Breakfast (Right to left), and these ‘three little pigs’ are settled in their new home on the Hancher ranch.  The boys do an excellent job taking care of their pigs, and by the time the fair rolls around, these piggies will be WAY bigger! 

I will be heading to West Alex next Sunday for Logan’s birthday, and will meet these guys for myself.  They are noisy and skitterish and pretty much don’t like people at this point, so I’m sure it won’t be a warm and cuddly exchange, but it’s very fun to see how small they are now and compare them to the finished show-pig. (Pictured with Peyton is the 2014 grown up pig!)

Good luck, boys!  I am confident you have winners here!  Oink!