I was helping in Junior Church today. The kids were very attentive and Anthony’s lesson was very good. Several kids shared insightful comments about the lesson – which was about Jesus being the Light.

On the way home I made a quick dash into both Walmart and Lowe’s, but there wasn’t any solar outdoor lights that I thought would work for my back deck. Not sure what the next step will be. I thought I had it solved but both sets just simply quit working…

I love these little lights and neither string works! Bummer…

So, back to Altoona – the second half of day one (Thursday). We left Horseshoe Curve and headed into town. It was still a little before lunch so we weren’t ready to eat. We found the museum, parked and made our way inside. Kelly and Kathy both loved the museum – the displays and information are very helpful and interesting and also realistic. Kathy made ‘friends’ with one of the ‘workers’, and Kelly found her place at the bar. We had several good laughs at some of the displays. My favorite were the clothes hanging on the line, and the two rooms depicting a typical home of the railroad workers.

Railroad Museum – it’s big!

Entrance

Flat bed train car.

Clothes on the line – Window to Window!

Sample room – kitchen

Living room – all-purpose room

Clock near the news stand.

Kathy’s friend!

Kelly’s Bar – very popular spot!

Downtown – Courthouse and flag.

From the museum, we went across the street and had lunch at McDonalds, so we didn’t have to drive around looking for more choices. We sat over lunch for a long time and chatted, and just relaxed for a bit. We were all up very early that morning, then the longish drive up the mountains, then GPS-ing our destinations. So it was nice to just chill for a bit.

McDonalds – LUNCH!

Boyer’s Outlet Store was next on the list, and we all bought some little thing. Mary wanted Mallow Cups and I was able to get her a package of those.

Boyer Candy Outlet.

Candy!

Since we still had time, we drove over to Hobby Lobby and looked around. I like that store and we don’t have one here. Gabe’s was in the same plaza, so we popped in there, too. I found a set of matching sheets for ones that I had purchased for the twin beds (nice to have 2 sets the same) and Kathy got a purse. By the time we were done shopping and looking it was time to order and pick up the pizza to take to Kim and Greg’s. Kim is Kelly’s sister-in-law (Matt’s sister).There is a ‘Mom and Pop’ pizza shop there – which is a local favorite – so we picked it up on the way over to Kim and Greg’s.

Hobby Lobby and Gabe’s plaza.

Family Pizza – A Favorite!

We ate outside on the porch, and once we were done eating Greg turned on the gas fire-pit (on the porch) and we sat out there and shared stories and chatted until almost 9:30pm. It was a very nice evening, and with comfy beds and lots of room, we all settled in for a good night’s sleep. I’ll pick up day two tomorrow.

Kim, Greg, and Kathy – doesn’t the flame look like a ghost???

A friend of Kim’s wrote these books and left us autographed copies!

SO after lunch I changed clothes and went outside to do some yard work. Very comfortable and productive. I cleaned around the big maple in the front yard. Also, the Pinky Winky is blooming like crazy so I yelled ‘CHEESE!’ and snapped a picture! Now I’m waiting for Aaron to come and mow – hoping he gets here before too much longer.

Upper side of Maple

Lower side of Maple

Pinky Winkey

QUOTE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 27th is:

Bagpipe Appreciation Day; International Safe Places to Work Day; National Chicken Finger Day; National Crème Brûlée Day; National Love is Kind Day; National New Jersey Day; National Scotch Day; Take Your Houseplant for a Walk Day; Take your Pants for a Walk Day.

I’m thinking that I would be WEARING my pants! I don’t have any houseplants or Scotch. I have been to New Jersey a few times and I like chicken fingers. I have a friend who plays the Bagpipes! Pinnacle is a safe place to work – until a car drives into your building or a truck backs into cable wires and pulls them down! God bless…

On this Day in History:1775 US Continental Congress creates United States Post Office (U.S.P.O.) in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin

We had two lovely historic days in Altoona. It’s such a clean and scenic town and easy to navigate. The town is nestled down in the flat valley and the mountains surround it on all sides. They look untouched and historic and make you feel isolated when you are there. I was driving so I didn’t get a lot of scenery pictures but there were so many farms and quiet, rural roads and CORN FIELDS! And the corn was super tall!

Stock image

So I’ll take half a day at a time, so as not to crowd the posts. We left Greensburg at 8am Thursday and arrived at Horseshoe Curve about 9:30am, after driving through the tunnel under the railroad tracks. We parked and paid and freshened up, then went outside. We were offered a ride in a side by side but decided to walk up the steps. We all made it just fine but it was quite a hike!

Tunnel through the mountain – under the tracks!

Welcome!

A long way up.

AND a long way down! Reservoir, museum and gift shop, stairs!

As fortune would have it (Thanks, God!) we just got to the top plateau and level with the curve when the first train came though. It was super long! It was still coming out of the right side of the mountain when the engine disappeared into the left side! It filled the whole curve. And the reservoir was glimmering in the bright sun, the sky blue and cloudless. My favorite part was hearing the train whistles.

Brown eyed Susans lining the steps…

In abundance!

Me in front of PA train

Kelly and the PA train

Kathy and the PA train.

Me, Kathy and Kelly and our Altoona shirts!

Me and Kelly

Kelly and Kathy

Here comes the train!

Several engines…

Keeps coming and coming….

High flying flag

Train

Norfolk Southern

John Deer on the train!

A few minutes later the Amtrack came through, and it was fun to wave to all the passenger and have them wave back. There were two more trains went through and the last one had a loud, long .series of whistles. Super cool! When I got home Friday night I found a YOUTUBE video of the Big Boy 4014 going around the Curve, and I can imagine how impressive it would have been to watch that.

And there goes the train….

I was also a fan of the purple picnic tables! We walked through the gift shop but I didn’t purchase anything. I normally get magnets – but I had a really nice one from the last time I was at Horseshoe Curve – about 10 years ago – and it’s nicer than what they have now. We walked through the adjoining museum and watched a few of the videos and learned some interesting facts. Also learned that the Liberty Bell traveled around the curve in 1915 on a journey from San Francisco to Philadelphia.

Pavilion and purple picnic tables – with Kathy

When we left Horseshoe Curve we drove down into town to the Railroaders Memorial Museum. I’ll cover that tomorrow!

I just got a txt from Autmn – she and Christina are going to a concert in Pittsburgh for their favorite band. They were both very excited!

My beautiful girls – Christina and Autmn

I wanted to get a jar of honey and I had two empty jars to return so I did that after lunch. I walked around Miller’s Crossing while I was there – and found a skunk! I didn’t really need any more skunks – but then, I probably didn’t need any to begin with! I also was able to replace a black ring that I destroyed in the winter so that was a plus – and very reasonably priced.

My 11th skunk, the black ring, and honey.

Quote of the Day:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 26th is:

National Aunt & Uncle’s Day; National Parents’ Day; National All or Nothing Day; National Bagelfest Day; National Disability Independence Day; National Coffee Milkshake Day; National Dog Photography day; National Tree Day.

I’ll celebrate AJ and UC for sure – and be remembering my parents. I could eat a bagel – but chocolate chip bagels (my favorite) are impossible to find around here (I’ll have to settle for egg bagels!). Save a tree! God bless…

On this day in History:1866 Ulysses S. Grant is named the first General of the Army. Today is also five months until Christmas Day!

I was busy all day – cleaning and doing laundry. I spent a few hours helping Autmn with Cameron. We had several interesting conversations. At least I got to see him for a bit! Just when I got home Kelly was here – so we did a few things, then baked cookies (she was assigned to bring cookies on the trip). After that, she swept my downstairs carpets and the steps. She desperately needs a new sweeper and was taking mine for a test drive. I think she really liked it. We had grilled cheese and AJ’s corn for supper, then buzzed over to Gabe’s. We’re ready for our trip – after a good night’s sleep! That being said, I won’t be posting until at least Saturday. Have a great week! Blessings – M

I posted early yesterday, so when I decided to take advantage of the cooler temps and pull more weeds it didn’t get posted. I’m thinking everyone is tired of pictures of clumps of grass! But it feels like an achievement to me!

Corner by lilacs

Top edge

Cow corner

When I cut back the dead stalks, I found TWO holes like this. Wonder what lives there? Hoping no skunks!

I worked this morning – but there was some paperwork issues that slowed things down for me. Then my key fob ‘told me’ that the battery was low but Ken and Barry were both tied up. I zipped up the road and ran some errands but when I got back down to Pinnacle, Ken was standing outside in the rain on the phone. A box truck pulled into the lot and pulled some cable wires down. So Ken was on the phone with 9-1-1. He had to help a customer with something, so I stood outside and waited until the fire department got there – they were able to reconnect the wires, and Ken put a new battery in my key fob, and all was well.

I spent part of the afternoon packing and organizing for Thursday, and part of it reading. I still had a yellow squash from the farmer’s stand, so I sliced and browned that for supper. Talked to Kelly to get her ETA for tomorrow, and found out Matt is dealing with a kidney stone. Please pray for him when you think of it!

I’m re-watching The History Traveler Route 66 Road Trip – it’s from a few years ago. It’s still fun to see some of the places, and I always hear and see things that I missed the first time through. It rained all day but now the sun is shining – but it’s 70*, so not real warm. Tomorrow I will clean the house and use my wonderful new sweeper! Yea!

QUOTE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 22nd is:

National Hammock Day; Lion’s Share Day; National Mango Day; National Rat Catcher’s Day; National Be A Good Teammate Day; National Penuche Fudge Day; World Brain Day.

I’m so glad I have a brain – even though some may think I don’t use it… That’s enough! God bless…

On this day in History: Number one song in July of 1950 was:

Nat King Cole.

Happy birthday to my Mom! I still miss her, and talking to her (and more to the point, listening to her!), and going to Albion, and taking her to Lake Erie and yard sales and Albion park! She loved anything we did together!

Mom (left) and Aunt Hazel

Dad and Mom – September 11, 1928

My beautiful Mom!

Mom and me.

Kathy, me, and Mom! And amazing artwork on the window!

This is how I want to remember Mom.

Me and Mom at the lake.

Me, Mom and Kath with Mom’s SKUNK birthday cake! 2017

I started laundry before breakfast, then Diane came for a cup of tea and a scone. She goes on Mission Trips to Ashville (with a restoration crew) with Samaritan’s Purse (Disaster Relief Group) so we talked about that and about Gettysburg. Gettysburg to Diane is like Williamsburg is to me!

Restorations after Hurricane Helene

After her visit I worked on some projects here then went to Lowe’s. I was looking for a tub drain for Chrissy – I ended up ordering it on Amazon. Couldn’t find it in a store. I still have to iron and update my packing list for Altoona.

These really work.

QUOTE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 21st is:

National Junk Food Day; National Be Someone Day; Invite an Alien to Live with You Day; No Pet Store Puppies Day; Take a Monkey to Lunch Day.

I can always do junk food! I am ALWAYS someone. I don’t know any aliens and am not a puppy person. No monkeys for me. God bless….

On this day in History:

I think this has been one of the best weather days we’ve had all summer. Comfortable, in the 70’s, a breeze, sun, no visible smoke cover – It was really nice being outside. When we got to church, though, it was discovered the whole church did not have internet – it seems the storm might have ‘fried’ our router. So there was a lot of improvise going on, including no video for the Sunday School lesson and no live-stream for the service. We kept moving! Todd’s message was on God’s Will – The thing(s) that stuck with me most — We make at least 70 conscience decisions every day – we are afraid to make decisions – and sometimes the ‘wrong’ ones are not even our choice. And the thing we have to remember (I loved this thought) is that whether WE make poor decisions, or we are in situations and circumstances that we deal with unhappy or uncomfortable issues, it’s not always the choices that are made. It’s more what we decide to do about the circumstances we find ourselves in, and what we become after being tested. We have choices – important ones – but we have to remember we are important to God – He values us!

The fear of making decisions!

Once I got home, I heated up some pulled pork that Nate and Jen left for me last night. Yummy lunch! They stopped to give me my birthday present! It was on order – arrived exactly a month after my birthday! I am so excited! It’s a Shark lift-off vacuum cleaner – light weight, easy to use, lots of power settings – the main unit lifts off and has a hose, for easy cleaning of stairs and furniture and tight places. I tried it out – swept the steps and the couch and all the floor rugs. Perfect! And — TaDa!!! — it’s PURPLE! And the card is super cute! So it was fun having two birthday celebrations this year! And I LOVE the sweeper – I think cleaning day will be my favorite day of the week from now on. Well, maybe not…

And it does carpet and hard floors and furniture and corners steps and ….

3-D PURPLE birthday card!

Aaron came to mow and weed whack, and he carried 3 heavy black bags up to the trash for me. I over filled them and couldn’t manage them on my own. He carried all three at once – I couldn’t even handle one! I spent about an hour sitting on a cushion in the shade, digging crab grass from my flower bed by the driveway. It’s ready for mulch, which should happen within the next few weeks.

Front yard

bottom yard

Beside driveway – all weeded.

QUOTE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 20th is:

International Boombox Day; International Chess Day; National Fortune Cookie Day; National Lollipop Day; National Moon Day; National Pennsylvania Day; National Ugly Truck Day; National Wiffle Ball Day; Space Exploration Day; World Jump Day.

I had several boom boxes in my past. Now I have an old fashioned stereo system: Turntable, 5 disc CD player, Radio receiver, and double cassette tape player. Hope we see the moon tonight! I like Pennsylvania! I don’t do much jumping these days. God bless…

On this day in History: When the U.S. Board on Geographic Names forced us to drop the ‘H’ from Pittsburgh in 1891 we fought back. We were named by the Scottish general John Forbes and the H is the Scottish way of writing the name. On July 19th 1911, exactly 115 years ago, we won! We got our H back.

THOUGHT for the DAY:

Amen, and Amen….

It’s raining again and I hear thunder in the distance. It’s done this all day – sun then storms; rinse, repeat. Storms woke me at 5am but I fell back to sleep. Those storms were loud with lots of lightening. It was storming again when I was making breakfast and when I looked out the kitchen door my bottom yard was pooled with water, and below the fences it was gathering, too. But the neighbor’s yard had a brown river running across it, down between the fences, and onto the street. And now, here it comes again!

Pooling water in my yard.

More water

A brown river of water – starting on my neighbor’s hill (beside me), down and across, down again, and onto the road.

Autmn and Cameron stopped for about half an hour – he played with his animals but mourned the fact that we couldn’t go outside and give them all a bath. He told me all about feeding the ducks with Daddy on Thursday, and the vacation he is taking in August. Noah’s family is all going so they will have a great time at the beach and plenty of playmates for Cameron. We had so much fun playing I totally forgot to take pictures!

Feeding the ducks with Daddy! – feeding them Cool Ranch Doritos. Is that even a THING?

Something to look forward to for them!

I spent the rest of the day working inside – changing and washing sheets and then finishing up the editing for THE SUNDAY HOUSE. I hope the comments were useful for Liz – some were just my stumbling around the page, but most were grammar and punctuation.

This afternoon I printed out the information on the sites we plan to visit in Altoona. I even found another one, and hope we can manage to see that, too – it’s a Revolutionary Fort and looks fun and interesting.

Fort

I did manage to pull a few weeds at the top of the yard steps. Was only out a very short time – and I felt it was safe since I could actually see the hill across from my house!

Fence line – one small section is all I did.

In front of the bench

Top of steps

QUOTE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 19th is:

Flight Attendant Safety Professionals’ Day; International Karaoke day; International Retainer day; Lake Superior Day; National Football Day; National Ice Cream Day; National Urban Beekeeping Day; National Words With Friends Day; Stick Out Your Tongue Day.

Football? In July? Every day is ice cream day in my book. Not going to stick out my tongue!! God bless…

On this day in History:1864 US President Abraham Lincoln asks for 500,000 volunteers for military service (This is when Daniel – Letters to Mary – responded and ‘joined up.’)

Just a short post! I’m re-reading (for editing purposes) THE SUNDAY HOUSE and need to get the edits back to Liz by tomorrow. So I’ll post tomorrow after I get that done.

Kathy stopped over before lunch and we just JUMPED into a Williamsburg trip, just like that! Fastest trip to Williamsburg I every planned! We have our rooms booked and our programs picked and are excited to go! But before that, Kelly, Kathy and I are heading to Altoona for two days to see some sites and to stay with Kelly’s sister-in-law, Aunt Kimmie. How fun is that. So, details later. Back to reading!!! God bless….

Colonial Williamsburg

Altoona

Not much at work this morning – but Rege did switch me out cars. I’m driving a Jeep Compass, white with black accents. I was able to get settled in with little difficulty – paired the phone, set the mirrors, adjusted the seat, connected the phone charger, transferred all the items from the Mazda to the Jeep, and stopped and got a full tank of gas. I’m still learning the switches and knobs for radio, lights, a/c, etc. But it’s a comfortable car and drives/rides nice! It even has a little ‘jeep’ decal by the inspection sticker!

I won’t be off-roading!

I think I need a rubber duckie on my dashboard!

Dom did a quick mid-week trim on the grass, even in the heat. I couldn’t believe how hot, humid, and smoky it was today. I could barely see across the hillside.

I finished reading THE SUNDAY HOUSE and sent my edits to Liz, and she sent me back the revised manuscript. I’m about 1/4 of the way done reading it a second time – the first time I was caught up in the story and missed some edits. So hopefully I can catch any other ones and be done tomorrow…

Kathy and I went to a program at the Norwin Library tonight – Founding Father and Grandfather, which are George Washington and Ben Franklin. It was presented by Ken Koncerak and was full of information, fun facts, and interesting history. Do you know which one of these two was a runaway juvenile delinquent, and which one rode into battle in western Pennsylvania with dysentery? And as an added note, George Washington did NOT chop down a cherry tree, and Ben Franklin WAS the first Postmaster! And what did Ben Franklin leave to George Washington on his death bed? Great program.

QUOTE of the DAY:

PEANTUS?

TOMORROW July 17th is:

National Lottery Day; National Peach Ice Cream day; National Tattoo Day; National Yellow Pig Day; National Wrong Way Corrigan Day; World Emoji Day.

Don’t play the lottery or like peach ice cream – I have been known to do things the wrong way! And I have my Snoopy tattoo! God bless…

On this day in History:1969 Apollo 11 launches, carrying the first men to land on the Moon

ANSWERS: Ben Franklin was a runaway – left his home in Boston and settled in Philadelphia. George Washington was sick with dysentery when he fought the Battle of the Monongahela. Benjamin Franklin bequeathed his gold-capped, crab-tree walking stick to George Washington

I spent the entire day fluctuating between cleaning and laundry and reading Liz’s THE SUNDAY HOUSE. I forgot how much I enjoy the way she writes. It’s very unique. I did finish cleaning in time to buzz over to Giant Eagle and pick up 2 prescriptions and some chocolate ice cream. And now – I’m typing. Oh – and since I’m an ARC reader I did make notes and sent Liz some editing comments. I will probably read the book again and pay closer attention to the structure since I know the story! So that was my day – we’ll see what tomorrow brings!

QUOTE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 16th is:

Fresh Spinach Day (Popeye would love that!); Guinea Pig Appreciation Day; National AI Day; National Cherry Day; National Corn Fritters Day; National DOLE Whip Day; National Personal Chef Day; National Wedding Invitation Day; Rural Transit Day; World Snake Day.

NO! No SNAKES!!! Absolutely! I’ve never really come to appreciate guinea pigs. AI – that’s questionable. I’d love to have a personal chef – I hate cooking for myself. God bless…

On this day in history:1988 “Die Hard,” directed by John McTiernan and starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman, is released in the US — IS IT or IS IT NOT a Christmas movie? The debate continues…