Another beautiful day! I was happy to spend the day outside, but it did get cooler and breezy as the day went on.

First thing I did when I left the house was vote. It was 8:30am and I was #20. Hope the numbers increased as the day went on. From there I went to Jeannette – there were a few things to do there. Chrissy asked me yesterday if I could give her and Dray a ride to school – they could go in later if they had transportation. Jen and Nate both work on Tuesdays so I said sure!

And speaking of Chrissy – Ninth Life Rescue participated in a 5k race and car show at the UPS location site on Saturday. Chris ran the 5k and won first place in her category! I’m very proud of her – just for sticking with it in the rain and cold! Way to go, Chris.

It was still early when I got home, so I changed and went down to work around the shed. I pulled weeds and cleaned up and organized my little pile of wood for the fire pit, then straightened out the plastic. The mulch is long gone so that will be the next project after everything is weeded.

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to starting to weed and clean up the left side of the hill. I first got all the weeds and vines cleaned out of the thyme at the top of the steps. I didn’t want the vines to trip anyone (mostly me!). Then I dug out the very top between the steps and the fence. It’s ready for mulch, too.

As for the side going down the steps, I sort of cleaned it out, same reason as yesterday: There were plants coming up that were being choked. Hosta, columbine, Lady’s Mantle, Peonies, ferns. So I at least started that. I came in about 5:30 and got a shower. I do hope to iron when I am done here because I want to wear something tomorrow that’s in that pile.

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 17th is:

National Cherry Cobbler Day; Emergency Medical Services for Children Day; World Telecommunication and Information Society Day; National Walnut Day; National Idaho Day; National Pack Rat Day; National Graduation Tassel Day; World Hypertension Day.

Tomorrow for me is another school tour. Smaller group this time. Then I have an event at a friends house in the afternoon so it will be a busy day. Enjoy your Wednesday! God bless…

I was busy all day but nothing exciting to write about. Jeannette store was really busy – lots and varied things to do. I was glad that business was good last week! After I was done at Greensburg I stopped to help Mike P with a deal. I had a few errands to do that involved three different stops but I was home at 2pm. Heated up the last of the soup then went outside.

While the laundry was flopping around in the dryer I went outside to water the flowers I planted yesterday and then pull weeds. I started on the top right by the fence, which involved getting stuck in the lilacs several time and also sliding down the hill more than once. It’s 7:30pm and I just came in and showered so I was out all afternoon. It was a beautiful day to be out side!

I weeded the bottom center, and although there’s not as much color with the yellow gone, there are about 8 plants that were being choked out by the buttercups. So now they can flourish!

It appears that my grass-cutting neighbor got his wife a flowering bush for Mother’s Day – another thing to mow around! This is getting interesting…

But, that’s it for my day. I worked up an appetite so that’s next: Food!

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 16th is:

National Sea Monkey Day; National Do Something Good for Your Neighbor day; International Day of Living Together in Peace; National Mimosa day; National Love a Tree Day; National Classic Movie Day; National Coquilles St. Jacques Day; National Piercing Day; International Day of Light; National Barbeque Day; National Check Your Wipers Day; National Biographer’s Day.

I’m for peace, and trees, and light. My wipers are fine. I do have pierced ears but that’s all. Maybe I can think of something nice to do for my neighbors…. Enjoy and God bless!

Sending out a special wish for God to shower all the mothers with an extra blessing! It’s a tough job – but none better! This is the second Mother’s Day without Mom – still feels surreal that she’s gone. But I’m sure she’s in heaven dusting off haloes that rolled under the table and hugging encouragement all around!

Mothers special to me!

It was foggy when I woke up this morning – Almost like a Brigadoon morning! I taught the Sunday school lesson to Max, Grace, and Ben about Joshua and the wall of Jericho, and the significance of the number seven in the Bible. Then Mary had the kids plant a Marigold in a bright pink cup and decorate it to take home to their moms. They were surprisingly neat! Todd’s message was about being reconciled to God; long story short – it gives us peace and assures us that we belong to God.

All mothers got a devotion booklet and a little treat bag with candy and a pen. It was a nice remembrance.

I stopped real quick at the store on the way home as I was looking for a pair of sort of dressy capris (not jeans) for work and church. I found a black pair and a red pair so I was pleased. After lunch Nate came over and installed my solar flood lights on the top of the shed. It’s motion activated so if I go down there after dark I will be able to see to open the combination lock! I’m waiting until it gets dark to go down and test it.

Nate stayed and talked for a while, and although we didn’t solve any problems we didn’t create any, either! It was nice to have a visit, just us two, catching up.

I spent the next 5 hours working outside. I pulled weeds and cleaned out the L-shaped flower beds bordering the driveway, and also did in-between the patio stones. I had two packages of flower seeds from a gift basket raffle that needed to be planted so I did that as well.

Autmn and Noah stopped over and brought me Mother’s Day flowers – purple and white! That was so sweet! So I planted them, too, then cut the grass again. My neighbor asked me why I was mowing on Mother’s Day – I said probably because I’m a mother!

I came in and took a shower, had a bowl of Stuffed Pepper Soup for supper, and that will be it for me. I hope you spent time today enjoying your Mother’s Day or helping to celebrate a special mother!

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 15th is:

International Kangaroo Care Awareness Day; National Nylon Stocking Day; International Day of Families; Bring Flowers to Someone Day; Peace Officers Memorial Day; National Chocolate Chip Day.

Autmn brought me flowers so I celebrated that today! I think chocolate chips will be the best choice. I can always celebrate that! God bless…

The morning started with heavy rains, straight down – cloudy and cool and dreary. But now – at 7:15pm – it’s sunny and bright and the rain is gone. Isn’t that a song? “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone…” Ha! But I was pleased to be able to finally, late afternoon, get groceries purchased and put away without dodging raindrops. Had to go to two stores to get what I needed, but then, I was happy with just two. Tomorrow I may finish up my non-grocery list at Lowe’s or Home Depot.

My first chore this morning was to change and wash bed sheets. I also took off the new, dark plum comforter and put the light spring one on. Also took off one of the thicker blankets and tucked it away. There may be some cooler nights yet but I have a knitted throw at the bottom of my bed!

Since I didn’t get to the ironing last night, I did that this morning, as well as ran the sweeper downstairs. I was ready to leave at 11:45am when Kathy and Tonia picked me up for a special program at River Hill Church, where Paul preaches. It was a Biblical Portrayal done by LuAnne Baker, who shared ‘Martha’s Kitchen’. As I am a ‘Martha’ I was excited to see this. LuAnne did a wonderful job sharing Martha’s story as well as her view of stories of Jesus’ ministry and miracles.

If you don’t know the story of Martha and Mary – Martha was always busy doing the ‘work’ of the household, while Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn. Read the story for yourself in Luke 10:38-42. Are you a Mary or a Martha?

One of the ladies at the church arranged the program, and she (Paula) and her sister Pat led us in a few songs and talked a little about Mother’s Day. After the program we gathered in the fellowship hall for cookies, punch, and …. fellowship! It was a lovely afternoon and I was so glad to be able to attend. And it’s twice as fun to have cookies for lunch! Now it’s time for a healthy supper.

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 14th is:

MOTHER’S DAY!; National Buttermilk Biscuit Day; National Decency Day; National Underground America Day; National Dance Like Chicken Day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers – and those who provide loving, motherly support. God bless each and every one of you! No greater blessing!

Before I get started on my day’s post I just need to say that there is a tiny corner of my heart and mind that did NOT come back from Williamsburg. Sigh.

But, almost next best historic thing: Hanna’s Town School Tours (tongue in cheek). No really, I do like helping with tin punch. Today there was almost 85 students from 3rd grade, and these 3rd graders do so much better than the 2nd graders. Their finished projects aren’t that much better, but their concentration and project orientation are very much different. But we enjoy the students no matter what age!

And I have been also enjoying the interaction with my co-volunteers, as well. The ages, experience, and personalities are so varied and it’s very fun to share experiences with them. One of the ladies, Mary M, just started working at a flower farm in Norvelt! She loves it, and it sounds fun to me. And another girl – Amber – is originally from Erie, so we have a lot to talk about.

When I got home I answered some emails and paid a few bills, then changed clothes and went outside to play in the dirt. I got 2/3s of the right side of the hill done and it looks much better. It’s growing in nicely.

I also hosed the bird droppings off the deck and the side of the house. Those darned birds! You can see that even after spraying, the house still looks nasty. I need a ladder or a long handled broom to do a better job.

I have a load of clothes in the dryer and then will have ironing to do. Eventually I need to get groceries, which MAY be tomorrow’s job, but groceries on a weekend is not a good plan. We will see!

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 13th is: (Lots to choose from tomorrow!)

National Frog Jumping Day; Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day; Cornelia Lange Syndrome Awareness Day; National Apple Pie Day; National Train Day; National Fruit Cocktail Day; National Archery Day; National Miniature Golf Day; National Dog Mom’s Day; National Crouton Day; National Birth Mother’s Day; National Babysitter’s Day.

Not sure why croutons get their own day. They must be more important than I thought! If I see a frog I will watch it jump, I suppose! So, pick something fun and celebrate. God bless…

First off – Happy birthday to my nephew Jesse! Enjoy your day and look forward to a brand new year!

I was home early from work – but I stopped to get a gift card on the way home. Who knew it would take three stores to find an Amazon one?? But after a quick lunch I changed clothes and went outside to work. I touched up the paint on the foundation in a few places, since this seemed to be the painting day. Yesterday when I was spray painting I accidently (?) got purple paint on the walls. All good now and back to the light gray. I also moved the purple stars so I could appreciate them more.

Jerome the Paint Guy and his crew got all the new replacement boards painted on my decks (after Mark and Paul got them trimmed and fastened down), and left me the extra paint. It looks very nice and I’m glad to have that all finished now.

I weed-whacked the yard then cut the grass. The front yard looks better without the little maple helicopters but I’m certain that by morning the lawn will be covered again!

That was enough of a task for outside today. I had a few emails to send (including one to Marilee about the Flax Festival in September) and now I’ll think about supper. I am defrosting a container of Stuffed Pepper Soup but it’s still too frozen – so I may have to make something else tonight and have the soup tomorrow. Another school tour tomorrow but only 83 kids rather than 100-plus.

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 12th is:

National Fibromyalgia Day; National Sapphire Segulah Day; International Nurses Day; National Nutty Fudge Day; National Odometer Day; National Limerick Day; National Provider Appreciation Day; National Military Spouse Appreciation Day; National ME/CFS Awareness Day.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the weekend – so be happy! God bless… (and thank a nurse…)

Today was (you guessed it!) cleaning day. I kept at it all day, with a few extra chores thrown in, like defrosting the mini fridge’s freezer downstairs. All good now.

I finished up just in time to get Chrissy and take her to work – she got called in for an extra shift. I noticed that the front yard was FULL of those crazy little maple-tree helicopters. I just CUT the grass and it looks awful. But I think I have to cut it tomorrow again since it grew so much.

Mark (cousin) came over to cut the deck board to size and fasten the two boards in. Jerome (paint guy) is going to paint the new boards and spindles tomorrow. We did make a mess cutting the board – but I swept it up.

The little kitchen rug was a dirty mess, so I scrubbed it as best I could and hung it on the fence to dry overnight. Also painted the two stars that hang on the gate – I sprayed them purple. I still think they are not in a good place as they are barely noticeable. I’ll try to find a better spot over the weekend if it doesn’t rain.

So that was my day. I will get something to eat and be done. I forgot to write in my journal for a few days so I must catch that up.

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 11th is:

National Twilight Zone Day (did you watch that as a child???); National Eat What You Want Day; National Foam Rolling Day.

Tomorrow is my nephew’s birthday. I’ll post about that tomorrow. Have a wonderful day and God bless…

Today was another school tour at Hanna’s Town. There were 108 kids signed up from Norwin 2nd grade, plus teachers and parents. This time – for tin punch – there were two of us. That made it much easier. We always have a variety of skill levels, from over-achievers to ‘why am I here again?’. I don’t think I mentioned that last week one student asked me if I lived there full time (in the 19th century house we were working in). He was amazed that I DIDN’T and wanted to know where I really lived and WHY I didn’t live there. Well….

Today we had three sessions before lunch, then a break. The kids were outside running through the yard when the mail truck came up Forbes Road and put mail in the box. I heard one little boy shout excitedly: “I KNEW we weren’t in the 1700’s! There’s the mailman!” So, I guess he thought the school bus traveled back 200 years to get to Hanna’s Town. I hope he wasn’t too disappointed!

I went to work when we finished school tours. At the Jeannette store I did a DL inquiry and put it in backwards! I realized my mistake but since when does PENNDOT EVER want first name, middle, last? It’s always last name first! I guess I just need to pay closer attention. Or maybe I just need to stay in the 21st century and pay attention.

While I was waiting for Chrissy yesterday I snapped two pictures of the view from Nate’s driveway. It’s a beautiful view.

The neighbor (the one who cuts his grass every day) bought a swing set for his 3-year-old. I know he’ll have trouble adjusting to mowing around it. I hated mowing around our swing set back in the day!

In the meantime, the neighbor across the street has his antique cars outside yesterday morning. Not every day you have a car show out your front door!

It was a comfortable, sunny day for being outside, so I spent two hours cleaning out the front flower beds. I think the only thing I have left to do is the hill (both sides) and a small section along the driveway. I also need to get some Round-up for the stones on the hill. After I finish this I will do the ironing from the weekend and make myself supper.

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 10th is:

World Lupus Day; National Lipid Day; National Third Shift Workers day; National Clean Up Your Room Day; National Receptionists Day; National Shrimp Day; National School Nurse Day; National Washington Day (the state, not the General!)

Tomorrow for me is ‘stay home all day’ day – I’ll celebrate that! Have a wonderful Wednesday! (I still may celebrate George…) God bless…

Kelly and I hung out this morning, and when she left after lunch I went to work. From there I picked up Chrissy and took her to work, then came home and cut the grass. Now — I’m typing!

I’ll recap yesterday’s Free Museum Day (Ligonier). We went ‘to the top’ and started with Compass Inn. We went through the Inn and all the outbuildings, then walked across the road to a little Country Cupboard gift store – I bought 3 small sample bars of soap to try. From there we walked across to the Pie Shoppe and had a piece of pizza for lunch and some Snails! Yum! I took a lot of pictures at Compass Inn, and Kelly sent me the ones she took.

We got down to Fort Ligonier and watched the French troops drill in the side field, then walked to all the out buildings. It was just starting to rain when we finished outside so we hustled inside and went through the museum. I read lots of little bits of information about George Washington, which I enjoyed.

We decided not to go to the Railroad Museum because the parking lot was across the road and it was mostly muddy (experience from other years). We drove on to the Lincoln Highway Experience, which I particularly like, and walked through there. Often I sit through the movie about how it was made, but it was pretty crowded so we bypassed that and walked through the other room. Went we went back to the 1938 restored Diner section Kathy and Paul were there. Since they had a longer way to get there from church they were just starting. We all had pie (cherry or apple) except Kelly, and they left to go to the next museum and we headed home.

After supper we finished the binders for 4H and then watched an old CD of family movies from my childhood. We did a lot of laughing. Kelly offered to be the videographer if Kath and I wanted to recreate some of the scenes. They were copied on the CD from old projector films. So funny! The best thing was seeing Grama and Grandad Crooks on the movies!

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 9th is:

National Sleepover day; National Alphabet Magnet Day; Europe Day; National Butterscotch Brownie Day; National Lost Sock Memorial Day; National Home Front Heroes Day; National Moscato Day.

Sleepovers are fun! Kelly and I just had one. And we should remember our lost socks…. There are many worthy Heroes to honor! Have a Happy Tuesday! God bless…

So this morning Kelly and I gathered up a few items for the day and set off to Sunday School. Our lesson was about being happy/joyful while we wait on God’s direction. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) We made a list of that make us happy so we can think about them when we are having trouble being joyful!

But that’s for tomorrow! I will recount the day at Hanna’s Town yesterday, as I spent the whole day with a group of lovely, talented, hard-working ladies as we put together the Spring Victorian Tea. The day started a little after 9am when we checked all the tables and made sure they were set. Becky did the decorations and she always uses fresh flowers. So delicate and appropriate.

Lillian, Roxanne, and Michael were the tea crew – they made the spiced, made-to-order hot tea. Michael is a great help, making trips back and forth to the kitchen for water and requests.

The menu is always decided ahead of time, and then volunteers step up to make or bring all the food. By about 10am we began working on making sandwiches, plating the food, and organizing the process.

The servers, Deb, Carol, Cathy, and Janice, poured the tea from delicate tea pots and made sure the plates were in the tiers on the tables. The rest of us – scullery (kitchen help) – stayed behind closed doors, plating the food in lovely arrangements and seeing that everyone got to sample all the food.

We had two seatings – one at 11:30am and one at 2pm. There can be 26 at each seatings. Everyone invests a lot of themselves to make the teas a success, and this one was! We received (as a group) so many compliments. The food is always delicious and the atmosphere is delightful. It’s a big job setting up, serving, cleaning up, and then starting again. But it’s mostly a labor of love and it’s a great feeling of accomplishment when we are done at 4:30pm. I was glad to get home and unwind.

BUT — Kelly got here around 5:15pm and we set about our first task: She needed some perennials to plant at their 4H headquarters. So we dug three boxes of plants. Glad we did that yesterday as it would have been wet to do it today!

After a supper of grilled cheese made with homemade bread and cream of potato soup we put together a pile of binders for a 4H project about threes and leaves of West Virginia. We got all but two of them done. We watched North to Home while we worked – she had never seen it. It’s actually a favorite of mine.

So that’s it for today – tonight we’ll finish the last two binders and try not to do much.

Scripture:

Quote:

TOMORROW May 8th is:

National Student Nurse Day; National Thalassemia Day; National Women’s Checkup Day; National Coconut Cream Pie Day; World Ovarian Cancer Day; Time of Remembrance & Reconciliation; National Have a Coke Day; World Red Cross Day.

Have a Coke! And God bless us, every one!

(TOMORROW I WILL RECAP OUR LIGONIER MUSEUM DAY!)