Happy New Year

 I wish you all an improved, better, and safer year for 2022.  May you all be healthy and happy.

I was looking for a calm, peaceful picture.  That is where we need to keep our mindsets.  This one was taken when we visited Hawaii.  It brings me peace.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  And God Bless America, we need it.  

Christmas Morning Sky

 

Have a good day, get some rest, and take care of yourselves.  Life is good.

God Bless America!

Merry Christmas

 Have a Blessed and Peaceful day.  Stay safe and take care of yourselves. God Bless America!

Truth

 

We are already starting to see this.

Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  God Bless America!

Good Idea

 

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good, and God Bless America!

These Pictures Don't Do the Sky Justice

The sky was absolutely beautiful early this morning.  I took these when I first went out about 6:30, and also on the way to Starbucks. 😊

It's a golf day for Les.  I've been enjoying my coffee and doing some odds and ends around here.  Moving over to the desk to take care of a couple things now.  Have a good day and stay safe.

Life is good!  God Bless America!

For Overworked Mothers

 

Thanks to I Can Haz Cheeseburger site

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  And God Bless America!  

Missing

This seems to be the time of year for lots of thinking and memories and feelings.  Our Christmas tree is full of memories.  We have ornaments passed down to us from our parents, and from grandparents.  We have ornaments that were gifts from people who are no longer living.  We have ornaments from places where we have lived and places where we have traveled. These are all happy memories, but we miss those people that are not with us.

And while thinking and remembering, I always think about how things used to be.  I grew up in a small town in Ohio.  The kind of town where a child could walk from one end to the other, alone, once they were old enough to cross streets on their own.  If we had a problem of some sort, we just knocked on a neighbor's door and someone would help.

It's sad that the state of our world has deteriorated to what we have now.  

I miss feeling safe.

I miss that people can't express an opinion without having to worry who is going to start a protest.

I miss my Mom.  I miss Les' Mom and Dad.  I miss our sisters.

I miss being able to do things I used to do without worrying what will hurt next.  I still try to do things, but at my own pace.

I miss people being nice to each other.  So many just seem so angry and so rude.  

Les and I have had a wonderful life together, and I am grateful.  He is the love of my life.  I always remember that.  And in spite of any sad memories, life is very good. 

Now I am going to go pet our furry boys and think good thoughts.  Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  And God Bless America!

Art!

B's art class had an art show.  Pam sent us a picture of her work and I asked if I could share.  I like it!  Good work, B!

Stay safe!  God Bless America!

The Furry Boys

 

Have a good day and stay safe.  Life is good and God Bless America!

The Grinch by Little Miss E

Don't know about you, but I think it's a pretty good likeness. 💗

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Watch out for the grinches!

Christmas Movies Have Started!

We watched Die Hard last evening and Die Hard 2 today!

My new shirt!

Les' new shirt!

And, yes! Die Hard IS a Christmas movie!

Otherwise, it is Sunday and I cooked breakfast and we read the paper.  I did the usual morning stuff and Les got on the computer.  I used our elliptical for a while.  Then I tackled our file cabinet drawers.  I always clean out and shred at the end of the year and thought it was time to get started on that.  It's also time to start thinking about getting paperwork sorted out for tax time.

Stay safe, people.  Life is good!  And God Bless America!  

Mr. Gnome's Garden is Ready!

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe.  Les and I are doing okay here.  He is out on the golf course right now.  It's a nice sunny day and headed for the lower 60's today.

I have had a good morning.  Our paper was late, but when it did show up it had the Sunday funnies and ads in it!  I read the paper and finished my coffee and then got busy.  It was time to clean the master bath shower; that is all done now.  I also have done some laundry and a few other odd jobs.  Best part was talking with Pam when she called.  She says they are okay at her house.

I haven't heard from Jacquie yet today.  Will check on them in a bit.  Cutie Girl and Little Miss E got their second doses of Covid vaccine yesterday.

Life is good.  Take care of yourselves.  God Bless America!

Assorted Decoration Pictures

The plumber snowman is in our second bathroom.

This picture is just because I really like it.  😊

 And of course, the reason we even have Christmas and do the decorating and have happy thoughts. 

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good and God Bless America!

Sigh - a Non-Christmas Post

I don't watch nearly as much news as I used to.  Mentally, it is a good idea to not over-do on the news.  I want to be informed, but I don't want to be saturated with it, especially when there are such disturbing things happening.

It has been two years now since the pandemic started.  A lot of us have taken precautions, worn masks, avoided crowds, washed our hands more, and used sanitizers on just about everything.  We've gotten the vaccine doses and the booster shots.  And along with that we've gotten the flu vaccine.  We are doing everything we can to protect ourselves and others.  There is no guarantee that we won't still get sick, but hopefully we won't get so sick we'll die from it.

Having said this and done all that, the Covid cases, Delta variant cases, and now the Omicron variant cases are rising.  Mandates are going into place.   The truth is that until everyone cooperates and works together on this it simply won't get better or go away.  When the Covid virus/variants attack an unvaccinated person, not only do they get sick and sometimes they die, but they are a breeding ground for virus mutations and more or stronger variants.  

Some of you might ask why I say this and believe it.  Well, I am an educated and responsible person.  I read a lot.  I listen to true medical experts and the CDC.  I trust our doctor.  I don't trust random texts, posts and messages.

As restrictions are going back into place here in our country, there will still be protests, disagreements, and refusals to get the vaccine.  We are not going to get control of this virus if we don't get people vaccinated

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, is tackling Covid head-on.  New mandates in Germany say those who have had the vaccine and the booster can mask up and go out among others, enjoy eating in restaurants, going to shows, shopping, etc.  Those who have not been vaccinated and refuse to do so, must take precautions, mask up, and are not allowed to be around more than two people outside of their household.  This means no restaurants, no bars, no shopping in stores, no shows, no gatherings at all for them.  And to this I say, good for you, Ms. Merkel!  And good luck!  

So, take care of yourselves and everyone else.  If you haven't already done it, go get the vaccine!!!  Stay safe.  Life is good, consider the alternative.  And God Bless America!

I Love These Little Guys

Mom bought these for Jacquie and Pam when they were little girls.  The Elves have always been on our trees.  I think they are the original elves before Elf on the Shelf started happening.

I'm doing a few extra chores today and some laundry, and I've been out to do a couple errands.  It's sunny, breezy, and in the upper 60's here.  Pretty nice out!  And...leaves are still coming down!

Life is good.  Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  God Bless America!

The Trees

 

Dining room tree

Living room tree

I  hope you are all doing well and staying safe.  Les and I are doing okay here.  It's sunny and in the upper 40's today.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a little warmer.

We went to lunch at Mission Barbecue.  Excellent pulled pork sandwiches, but they were huge!  We just had soup for supper. 

Otherwise, we've just been taking care of things around here.  

Please continue to take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!  Life is great!

More Decoration Pictures

When I have light in the right place sometime, I'll take a picture of the front door and new wreath.  But this is the rest of the front.

This is a new feature with some older ornaments since I had the "new" crate to work with. 😊

It's sunny and in the 40's today.  Les planned to play golf and got ready.  Turns out it is a lot breezier than expected and he came back home.  So after we finished our coffees, we went out and did a few errands.  Honestly, that is all I had planned for today.  So I am going to go read, and maybe watch some TV.

Take care of yourselves, and stay safe!  Life is good!  And God Bless America!

This and That

Thanksgiving turned out to be just Les and me.  Little Miss E got sick at the beginning of last week.  Jacquie figured whatever would get passed around with them and she didn't want to expose us to something.   Disappointing, but we understand and appreciate that she is careful.  I sent some of the food I had purchased and she cooked at their house.  I cooked a full dinner for Les and me.

We texted with Jacquie and Pam and checked on them.  

After cleanup, and a break, I went outside and did the decorations on our porch and hung the new wreathes up on the front door and the fence gates.  I had planned for us to set up the tree in the dining room but I ran out of energy.  

Les didn't play golf on Friday so we got both trees set up and I've been working on the decorations around the house.  And then doing some cleaning.  I'll be posting some pictures over several posts. 

Today has been a busy one even though I didn't plan it.  The usual morning stuff was done, I cooked breakfast, did the cleanup, we read the paper, and watched a movie.  I did a few odds and ends and then started on a pile of desk work that needed attention.  Les was on the computer for a while and then went out to gather up leaves AGAIN.  I went out and helped for a short time by holding open the bags for the ones he was picking up that he had raked.  Then he was out there mowing up the rest of them.  Tomorrow is pick up day and we have a pile of bags!  And our neighbors' trees still have plenty of leaves to fall!  Our trees - not so much.  😬

The last bit of decorating will be for Les to get the outside light set up this evening. Then I am declaring us done!

We've had some cold temperatures, but tomorrow should be pretty nice and sunny and Les plans to play golf.  I plan to get out and do a couple errands.

Les' Dad made Fat Santa and Santa and Mrs. Claus many years ago for us.  They come out every year.  This year they are on the mantle.

My Mom rescued this Santa from our town's grocery store when I was a little girl.  He also comes out every year. 

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good.  God Bless America!

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a Blessed and Peaceful day.  

 Life is good.  God Bless America. 

True

Just posting a cute picture.  Take care of yourselves and stay safe.

God Bless America!

A Review

First, thank you, Jacquie, for the concert tickets!  

I'll be honest, this was our first venture out to an event like this since Covid started.  We've gone to movies a couple times, but we go early times and pick our seats for those.  Our seats for the concert were good.  Masks were required for everyone at all times in the theater.

I'm not exactly sure what Les and I were expecting at "Christmas in Hawaii".  But the musicians were very talented and the music was very good!  I have to say though, we only could pick out maybe four songs that were Christmas ones. 🎄  

The concert opened with a musician named Thunderstorm Artis.  He was a participant on "The Voice".  Since we don't watch that, we didn't have a clue.  But he is from Hawaii and one of eleven children.  He played a guitar, and did a harmonica solo that was great, and he sang.

Then Jake Shimabukuro came out with his group.  Jake and the other two men with him are all from Hawaii. One played guitar, one a percussion instrument that I would have liked to have a good look at, and Jake played Ukulele. 

They played all sorts of songs and talked about famous performers they had performed with.  I enjoyed how at the end of an especially good tune they would all jump up and down and fist bump each other!  Thunderstorm came out and sang on some of the sets.

It was a very good evening!

I know it is early, but Mele Kalikimaka!  And stay safe!

A First!

Ever since we built our home, we have known we had wildlife around us.  We have had squirrels, raccoons, moles, voles, geese, eagles, hawks, turtles, frogs, and more.  We have seen reports of coyotes and deer in our neighborhood, too. 

This morning as I was cooking breakfast, I had a view out the window and something caught my eye.  At first I thought I was seeing the back end of a really large dog and I went to get a better look.  It was a deer - a young buck deer with some antlers!  He was standing there looking at our fence gate.

I called to Les and as the deer was running towards the back of our yard, Les went out to open the gate for him.  The deer ran back and forth across the back of our yard and made it through the space between the end of our fence and the sound wall.  Our neighbor on that side doesn't have gates, so we hope he made it out and over to the golf course.

Of course, this all happened so fast I didn't have a chance to get to my phone and get a picture of him, but he was beautiful.  This picture I found online is close.

Good start to the day!  Life is great!  Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  

God Bless and America!  (and the deer) 💗

Another Sky Pic

 

Notice the early morning jet trail on the left side of the picture.  We had our first bit of frost overnight; it was 33 this morning.  

Les is watching the Browns game now.  I am going to go see if I can corral and bag some of the many leaves that are coming down. 🍂

Take care and stay safe.  Life is great!  God Bless America!

Progress!

Cutie Girl and Little Miss E got their first doses of Covid vaccine this past week.  No problems other than the stress for Jacquie.  Second dose in three weeks.

Take care of yourselves!  If you haven't already done it, get the Covid vaccine.  Protect yourself and others!

Hey!

We finally made it to see the last James Bond movie, "No Time to Die".  It was a very good movie, even though we didn't care for the ending.  But we both knew it was Daniel Craig's last one.  It's a long movie and it tied up several story lines.  And the popcorn was great!  And only ten other people in the theater!

It was 46 this morning when we got up.  It's 64 now and sunny.  Nice out.  Les is playing in a golf tournament today. 

I did the usual morning stuff and then did a couple errands.  

Sometime this next week I need to go to the Laundromat and wash our Anniversary quilt. It's time.  So I got out our Winter Holiday one that Pam made.  Here are pictures to show how that went.  The furry boys love when I get out a "fresh" quilt.

Just got it on the bed

You can't see Angus in this picture, but he is the lump under the quilt behind the pillows.  Finnigan is just taking a break.

Angus still behind the pillows and Finnigan is now there under the quilt on the left side.

And this is why I buy pet hair rollers in bulk!

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!  Life is great!

Thank You, Veterans!

 And to my Veteran, I'll love you always. 💓

Please remember our Veterans who have worked for our country and sacrificed for the good of us all. 

God Bless America!

Have to Admit, This Made Me Laugh

Take care of yourselves.  God Bless America!

It's True, and Made Me Smile

I hope you all are having a good day.  It is sunny and in the 50's here.  Les is playing golf.  I'm going out to do a couple errands.  

Yesterday afternoon I went out and did a little cleanup in the back yard mulched areas.  Three large bags filled and those areas look better.  And I know it will have to be done again; leaves are rapidly falling.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  Life is good!  God Bless America!

New Chair

 

I recently realized I hadn't shown our new chair for upstairs.  First time we've ordered furniture from Wayfair.  It was delivered as scheduled.  It wasn't too hard to put together and it is pretty good to sit on. 😊  And it unfolds and makes a single bed.  If we need more bed space, we have the large air bed that Pam has left here.  

I was right about the time change and was awake around 4:00 a.m..  Dozed a little bit after that.  We're just having a quiet day.  Les is watching football right now.  I've done a few odds and ends.  it's cool, sunny, and breezy outside.

Life is good!  Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!

Fall Back!

 

Remember to turn your clocks back tonight.  Good luck adjusting!  I know this is supposed to mean we get an extra hour to sleep.  My body says nope!  We're probably getting up an hour early. 😊

But Life is good!  Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  God Bless America!

Just a Look

 I hope everyone is doing well.

It has cooled off here and has been in the 40's overnight.  Didn't get out of the 50's yesterday.  I bundled up and did a little yard work.  We were planning to go out and do yard work again today, but we had some "surprise" rain overnight and I don't do yard work in the wet.  And I don't think Les is going to mow either.

We're getting our Covid boosters this afternoon.  Had to make appointments at CVS for our Moderna.  This is fine, but the process of getting the boosters has been frustrating.  Our doctor's office isn't giving vaccines now.  And the Riverside system has designated several other clinics as vaccine sites.  While trying to get our appointments I found out they are not giving the Moderna at all.  So I called Walgreens Pharmacy and they are not giving Moderna either.  But CVS is, so that's fine.  I am assuming there is some sort of financial arrangement going on somewhere in this.

The pictures are pretty much the extent of the Thanksgiving decorations.  😊🦃  If you are wondering about the frog...... my Mom got him for us.  She always had a large cement frog.  I don't know what happened to him, but she thought we needed one many years ago.  So he usually stays there on the antique chest that was hers.  I think her Dad made the chest, but I have no one around to confirm that.

The curved glass side by side piece was Les' Mom's and was passed to him.  We have filled it will other small antiques.

Our holiday shopping is about all done.  Everything I've bought has been wrapped.  Things have been shipped.  My next project for Christmas is to make the new bows for our three new wreaths.  Wish me luck.  I think I'm good at quite a few things, but bow making is not one of those things.  When the bows are done, I'll start on the cards.

Our girls and family are doing well.  Everyone is busy.  Life is good.  Take care of yourselves.  And God Bless America!

Thanks, God

 

I am still here and still grateful. 💓

It's November!

 

Halloween is over for another year.  Chris and Jordan took the little ones around their neighborhood last evening to a few of their neighbors' homes.  And they got to do the Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday, so they all had a good time.  It was quiet here in our neighborhood.  Our Kiln Creek Community was promoting their Halloween/Fall Festival and encouraged each neighborhood to participate in the Trunk-or Treat that was being done there.  

I have packed away our Halloween decorations and gotten out our few Thanksgiving ones.  It is starting to look and feel more like Fall here; it was 47 this morning.  There is some leaf color around.  And we have lots of brown ones falling all over.  🍂

I did all the usual "morning stuff" here at home and then went for my Starbucks.  Les is playing golf.  I also went back out and did a couple errands.  I have now mailed/shipped all of the Christmas things that we needed to send.  🎄 You know the news reports keep telling us to do all this early this year due to the shortages and shipping delays and increased costs.  So I did! 😊

Tomorrow Les and I will go vote and then go to breakfast; his turn to pick where.  Thursday we will get our Covid boosters.

Doing any yard work was delayed for me by a really bad muscle cramp and spasm in my leg.  That happened during the night and lasted all the next day.  So I decided any yard work could just wait. Crap happens.

But Life is great!  Stay safe and take care of yourselves.  And God Bless America!

Happy Halloween!

I hope you are all well and staying safe.

Les and I are doing okay.  Keeping up with things and being careful.

Our temperatures have been cooler here and we've had a little more rain.  Today is sunny and breezy.

We got together with Jacquie, Chris, Jordan, and the little girls last evening and took Cutie Girl and Little Miss E to a Trunk-or-Treat.  They looked adorable and were very good.  There were lots of thank you's and they even complemented a few other children on their costumes.

Their expressions were much more smiling after their buckets were full. 😊 It was a nice safe, outdoor event.

Take care of yourselves and stay safe.  God Bless America!  Remember, life is great!