I did hear a number of comments today about 9.11. It was such an act of deliberate violence it’s hard not to remember that day with horror and sadness…

I worked at both stores today. In Greensburg I had a bunch of documents to notarize for Ken’s niece. She’s trying to get her citizenship in Italy. She’s a basketball player and has her eyes on the Olympics! The documents were official papers from her grandparents and great grandparents – birth certificates, marriage license, working papers, passports. They were very old and so interesting. What history!

After lunch I went on the hill. I finished the middle section and got the first small part of the left side. I’m excited to get working on it again. It will be tricky climbing around among all the tall, scratchy plants, but most of it will be cutting down and not pulling and digging. So that’s good. One section at a time, and that was mostly my day.

When I came in I finally had the courage to change the water and air filters in my new fridge. It wasn’t hard so I’ll be good next time! So now I’m back to blue lights and not red ones!

Mary’s father-in-law passed away, so I went to the funeral home for visitation. Talked to Dave, said hi to Dom, and chatted with Mary. I saw a couple who lived across from me on Mohawk – Bernie and John. I haven’t seen them in decades so it was nice catching up. Their daughter just had a baby girl this morning! When I left there I stopped to pick up a few groceries. A ‘few’ groceries these days cost almost $100! And most of it wasn’t even ‘food’! Draino, shampoo, card stock, trash bags… Ugh. BUT!!! I did get Ghoul’s Mix M&M’s! So that’s a plus!

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TOMORROW September 12th is:

National Video Games Day (This one’s for YOU, Chase Emerson!!!); National Just One Human Family Day; National Ants on a Log Day; National Hugs and High Five’s Day; National Chocolate Milkshake Day; National Day of Encouragement.

Ah – tomorrow will HAVE to be a chocolate milkshake treat day! No ants, probably no hugs — But enjoy! Encourage someone and God bless…

Autmn and Noah are supposed to pop over, and I’m in my PJ’s and robe. With my hair scrunched up in a clip. Oh, well. It is what it is! I was working outside for about an hour and a half. Got about 2/3rds of the center section done. It was a cool evening and in the shade so it was a good opportunity to work outside.

Mary and I had 3 visitors in Sunday School this morning, in addition to Max and Gracie. One was Sawyer, a granddaughter of one of our members. The other two little guys have been coming to Second Hour and this was their first time in Sunday School. I think they enjoyed the class – but having kids from age 4 up through age 7 is tricky. The older ones are SO ready for deeper lessons! But it went well.

After church Kathy picked me up and we went to Delmont for a presentation by our second First Lady, Abigail Adams. She did an excellent job! I had to remind myself several times that it wasn’t really her. She divided the session into three parts. The first was her presentation; the second was questions and answers with her still in character. The third was questions and answers with her as herself, about her research and studies and professional life. She has portrayed many other people in addition to Abigail.

Some facts that I learned: Her husband, John Adams, called her Miss Adorable. They wrote over 2000 letters to each other. She said the hardest part about being a mother is losing a child. When John Adams was helping write the Declaration of Independence she wrote to him and told him to REMEMBER THE LADIES. He laughed at her! She was not a fan of Thomas Jefferson. After the revolutionary war John Adams ended up being an ambassador to England.

She is a very talented and lovely lady and a great speaker. Check her out on facebook as JoAnn F Peterson or at joannpeterson.com.

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TOMORROW September 11th is:

National Boss/Employee Exchange Day; National Make Your Bed Day; Patriot Day and National Day of Service; National Hot Cross Bun Day.

Never forget 9.11. THAT’s what will make our country great. I make my bed EVERY SINGLE DAY! I would not want to exchange places with my boss – any of them. Their job is way more challenging than mine! Have a great day – and remember what you were doing 9-11-2001. God bless — our country and its people.

So, today was divided into three parts. First, I got up a little early, put on ‘play’ clothes, and went out to weed. I got a nice section done. Then I came in, got a shower and dressed for the tour at Hanna’s Town. I wrote out some notes last night just as a refresher. There were some points I needed to go over.

There were 14 ladies in the group from the D.A.R – I told them I was intimidated by their credentials, which I didn’t have! But they were very attentive and seemed to really enjoy the tour and the information. I felt a lot better (confidence-wise) when we were finished. I also talked to Jim (another volunteer) for a bit in the shop afterwards. Found out he and his wife live just a few miles from me, near Jioio’s! Fun fact! Here are flower and butterfly pictures from the afternoon.

I came home, changed clothes again, and went back to the hill. I finished the far side! I was very happy about that! Probably about 85% was cutting back dead stalks so there are a lot of trash bags for next week’s garbage. It made me a little nervous, though – I think the weeds are rebelling and trying to sneak back down to the hillside!

But I think the section looks really nice. I’ll start on the middle next chance I get, then the far left.

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TOMORROW September 10th is:

National Grandparents Day; National Hug Your Hound Day; National Pet Memorial Day; National Swap Ideas Day; National TV Dinner Day.

I can celebrate Grandparents day – I am one, and I’ve had several! Someone please just hug a hound for me! Thank you, and God Bless!!!

I started my day out by putting on work clothes and going outside for almost 2 hours. I got the weeds cleaned out around the lilacs by the fence. It was sunny but cool with a nice breeze and it really needed done. First thing, though, I saw two deer – looks like mamma and baby – up on the hill where the horses usually are. Then I saw a rabbit hopping around the flower beds, and found what I think is a rabbit nest. Can’t be sure – but I’ll keep an eye on it in case it’s something else. It’s a fairly large hole!

After a shower and a quick bite of leftover soup, I drove uptown and met Kathy at the Palace Theater. They were offering free tours, which included touring the building and lots of history – not just about the building but a little about the Cultural Trust, and also owners and managers and neighboring buildings. Theresa Baughman – interim CEO and Director of Operations and Programing – gave the tour and was a total wealth of information and very interesting facts.

I have known Theresa for a number of years, as the Palace and the Civic Center are both part of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust. I usher for the Civic Center and have done that for a long time. I was very impressed with her knowledge and presentation and ease of sharing it with us. There were over 100 people in this afternoon’s tour.

I was back outside cleaning up the yard, cleaning out the flower beds, enjoying the Zennias, and finally, cutting the grass, just as soon as I got home and changed back into play-in-the-dirt clothes. I was sneezing and itchy so I took a cool shower and now here I am, typing in my Word Garden!

Kelly posted a picture of Peyton with Brandon – he will be selling the steer for beef on Saturday.

Oh! And before I forget — Autmn passed her permit test. So, here’s to another new driver on the road! Congrats!!!

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TOMORROW September 9th is:

Share Your Care Day; National Teddy Bear Day; National Wiener Schnitzel Day.

Care Bears are so cute! Share a little bit of yourself with someone tomorrow! God bless…

I picked Autmn up at 9am and we headed to Monroeville. Noah found her an eye appointment that was inexpensive and ready-in-one-day, so I was designated driver. Her stomach was a little upset, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A to get a glass of ice water, and there was a water main break and the food places were all closed! Luckily I had a bottle of water (though not iced) and a chewy granola bar in my car so that got us over the hump.

We stopped at NTB (Noah works there and it’s directly across from Eyeglass World) to say hello, then went to the appointment. She found frames she liked with transitional lenses and a warranty and they were very reasonable. My pretty Autmn Rose!

By then Autmn was hungry (of course she was!) so we popped into Panera Bread and she got macaroni and cheese with a baguette. I bought two cinnamon crunch bagels for breakfast a few days this week. Then I dropped her off at her mom’s. She needed some ‘mommy’ time!

I came home to Torilyn and Dottie and Pipi hanging out in my family room – Tori doing school online and Dottie and Pipi just chillin’. The buyers had a home inspection in process next door and Dottie couldn’t be home. So Dottie stress-ate M&M’s, Tori studied, the dog slept, and I went to work!

By the time I got everything organized I only had about an hour and a half to work outside. I did finish digging out the crab grass along the white fence.

Thunder started rumbling and the sky got a bit darker so I quit and cleaned up. Hoping tomorrow to start on the hill.

In the meantime, I’m going to turn on the TV and watch a cute, funny movie, Love Strikes Twice. It’s a mood-lightener! So I’ll put on PJ’s, get something to eat, and laugh for a while!

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TOMORROW September 8th is:

World Ampersand Day; Star Trek Day.

Ampersand. That is totally something to celebrate. Hmmmm. Have a happy Friday & God bless…

As is typical for my Wednesdays, I spent most of the day cleaning and doing laundry. I worked on the upstairs in the morning and got every inch of it cleaned. Also finished the ironing.

I had to leave about 12:30pm to pick up Autmn. Her iron count is low so she’s getting infusions for the next few weeks. I was a few minutes early getting to Mt. Pleasant so I pulled off Main St, parked, and took a few pictures. The fountain (which I truly wanted to wade around in!), the gazebo, and the view of the distant mountains. There are so many beautiful views of the mountains in Mt. Pleasant.

It’s only 2 minutes to Frick Hospital so we made it in good time. It didn’t take the whole hour to get the process completed. It was chilly in the room (she said) and another patient’s daughter got a heated blanket and draped it over Autmn. She was impressed and grateful. I told her to pass it on.

We stopped at Walmart (Mt. Pleasant/Scottdale) afterwards, and picked up a few items we both needed. Then she was hungry (of course! When isn’t she???) so she got a wrap at Subway, a bag of chips, and a Coke. I had purchased pretzels so I had a few of those, as I had eaten lunch!

By the time I dropped her off and got home, it was almost 5pm. I cleaned the downstairs, did laundry, husked and cooked my corn, and ate supper. This is the next to last chore for the evening other than answered Kathy’s email. Please keep Paul in your prayers as he had a bad reaction to his new prescription and wasn’t feeling well this evening.

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TOMORROW September 7ths is:

National Salami Day; National Beer Lovers Day (not me!); National Grateful Patient Day; National Neither Snow nor Rain Day (USPS!!); National Acorn Squash Day; National New Hampshire Day; National Grandma Moses Day.

Enjoy something! And God Bless!

I had work to do at both stores, and also got a call to stop and help Mike P. After work I did get stamps at the post office and then run out to Palmer’s to get corn and tomatoes. Joe gave me a cucumber and then Mr. G gave me more tomatoes so I’m set for a few days. I love toast and tomato!

I took my time eating, and even topped off my tomato lunch with an Oreo and something cold to drink. Then I went outside. I finished weeding the front yard and the side yard above and below the fence. Most of it was in the sun so I took time for a few short water breaks. Some of it ended up splashed on my face — on purpose!

At my next break I talked to Al (neighbor) and he said Joyce (his wife) isn’t doing very well. She’s in a lot of pain all the time. She has been dealing with this for so long — she’s one tough, brave woman, for sure. But then I badgered myself into cutting the grass so THAT core is done for a few days. It was so long I had to cut half rows to make it look even partly decent.

It felt very good to get a cool shower, wash my hair, and get into pj’s. After I was done mowing I was soaked through to the skin. Now I feel fresh and clean – but very tired. Happy, but tired!

I got an email from Lisa that Hanna’s Town had a group coming on Saturday afternoon and they need two tour guides. So I guess I’ll help with that.

Did I already share the story about the Beach Boys sign? Ron and I were going to the farm to do corn 2 weeks ago and we saw a sign in a grassy strip along the highway advertising the concert. It was long over, so on the way back we drove sort of close to the sign. Low and behold, it jumped into my car! So now I have a Beach Boys sign in the back yard. It was dirty and all over grass but I scrubbed it clean. It’s just so perfect. Thanks a ton — and you know who you are… 🙂

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TOMORROW September 6th is:

National Coffee Ice Cream Day; National Read a Book Day.

READ A BOOK! Or more than one! I love to read. Choose a fun one, have some ice cream, and read the day away! God bless…

I took the morning to have fun with Kathy at the fairgrounds for the Arts and Crafts festival. We walked around all the booths and looked at the vendors. We each bought something. I bought a coaster that looks like a giant chocolate chip cookie! Also bought 3 bars of soap. It is the exact brand that I buy at at Barbara Ann’s at the mall – only instead of $8 each I got 3 for $10! So it was a great bargain and I know I’ll use them.

One booth was selling stuffed animal lights. My favorites were the pink poodle, the M&M, Woodstock and Snoopy. And a 1776 tee shirt!

We sat down in the pavilion and had French Fries with gravy and listened to a band. Don’t know the name of the band, but they did Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffet) and Daydream Believer (Monkees).

Look at the view!

I dropped Kathy at home and then started laundry. I finished the day as LABOR DAY! While that was washing I went outside and started pulling weeds. I did along the white fence up my driveway, then the front walk, both sides. It was very warm and humid. I tired myself out and didn’t get to cut the grass. Maybe tomorrow. Wow, that heat wears a person totally OUT! I don’t know how Ron does it in Florida when the ‘feels like’ is often 104*!!!!

Kelly sent me a picture of Peyton’s steer – Brandon. Ma (Peyton’s other grama) made a curtain for the stall. Brandon weighed in just 10 pounds over the required weight. We’ll see who buys it this year.

Yesterday I went to a picnic at Mary’s house. She has a lovely patio with a nice covered area, and a fire pit in the back. I knew most of the people there from previous events. It was a nice afternoon with just enough breeze to be comfortable!

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TOMORROW September 5th is:

National Be Late for Something Day (this could be Mary’s day!); National Cheese Pizza Day; National Another Look Unlimited Day.

I like that last one. Maybe look it up and see why… Tomorrow — we have to go back to work. I had a four day weekend! Wow! God bless…

Mary and I thought we had a grip on the lessons and the class for Sunday School this morning. We were wrong… The boys (Ben and Max) were not on the same page as we were – meaning they were interested in everything BUT the lesson! But it all went well and Church was good as Todd spoke about God providing for us.

After lunch (which was crackers and cheese) I emptied the car out – I still had all the stuff in that I took to Kelly’s and brought back from Kelly’s. I put her items for storage in the dresser drawers of her chest in the shed, and put all my stuff away. I downloaded all the photos from yesterday, talked to Claudia about the Fall Tea (Hanna’s Town), and gathered up things to take to Mary’s picnic. I will share that tomorrow, as I have YESTERDAY to catch up with today!

So yesterday Kelly and I went to Oglebay for the Fort Henry Days celebration. It’s an 18th Century Encampment and battle re-enactment. There were demonstrations of 18th century life, Punch and Judy puppet shows for the kids, Talks on Midwifery and Myths of White Captives by Native Americans, Dancing, Blacksmithing, Surgeon tent, Bookbinding, fabric demonstrations. It was very informative.

Kelly saw a few people she knew, and she had insights about some of the displays. I saw my friend Louise (and husband Scott) and we chatted for a while. Some of the interesting displays were the Ale sellers, the fabric dyeing, the surgeon’s tent, the Bookbindery (one of the pamphlets was the Art of Farting!), and forge.

We walked down to Camp Russel, where the 4-H troops have their camp weeks and where Kelly usually helps with cooking all week. It’s a very nice place and the buildings are well kept.

From the encampment we drove over to the Oglebay mansion museum. That was one thing I really wanted to see. There is a lot of local history at Oglebay, in the park and the museums and the family. We parked at the gift shop and looked around, then walked up to the mansion. It is beautifully kept, clean and well displayed and very interesting. MORE than worth the price to tour! It’s self guided, with a map and little recordings in most of the rooms. I could live there! Here are just a FEW pictures of a FEW rooms!

We passed several office buildings and the greenhouse and the amphitheater. The gardens are amazing and immaculate. The views were spectacular. All in all it was a wonderful day.

We left there, had lunch, and went home to tackle a few projects for the West Alexandria fair. Kelly is a 4-H leader and has her hands in a dozen things! She was working on a display for their chapter, and had some help from her little friend Jo. She just sent me pictures of the finished display! Fair starts tomorrow.

When I left, Kelly and Matt were walking down the driveway holding hands! It was a sweet way to end the visit!

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TOMORROW September 4th is:

Labor Day; National Wildlife Day; National Newspaper Carrier Day; National Macadamia Nut Day.

I’ll take a laborless labor day! Time for a break – after a morning with Kath at the craft festival! God bless…

I left the house a little before 9 this morning and headed to Kelly’s. We were going to Fort Henry Days at Oglebay Park. It was SUCH a great day! But as it’s 12 hours later and I have things to organize for Church tomorrow I am going to recap the day tomorrow and share pictures. I’ll just say that I saw a reenactor friend (Louise) and Kelly saw a few friends, and we toured the Oglebay Mansion. Lunch at Chick Fil-A! So — photos tomorrow!

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TOMORROW September 3rd is:

National Welsh Rarebit day; US Bowling League Day; National Pastor’s Spouses Day.

Mom loved to Bowl; and Kathy is a pastor’s wife, so here is to her! Celebrate! God bless…