Trip's Place

Wednesday

2012-02-02T06:13:00.002-05:00

I immediately thought an animal must have captured Chester this morning as it was nearly 6:30 before I heard him finally crow; needless to say I was ambivalent at first. After an alarm clock wake up I did the usual with my quiet time then a bowl of cereal before pedalling out to the rec on my bike for a couple hours of pickle ball. There was a small crowd of about 5 guys to start the morning but by 10 AM both courts where full and a few were waiting. After the rec I headed home to water the garden. I counted another 5 squirrels in the back yard after we have trapped about 9-10 in the last couple weeks and moved them out of the area. I only wish they had a natural regulator as I can't remember of such an infestation of them in past years, Oh well!!

Amy and the kiddos went to Tampa to have lunch with Tyler so I helped get ready for house church by vacuuming after running a couple errands. Seems one our new phones have already had a battery go dead and those little rechargeable ones are expensive. I think because we hang it up after every call we wore the memory out according to the sales gal at Radio Shack. I came back from the errands and we finished the salad from last nights supper, yeow is that ever good eatin' and we know its all organic. I will make another one for Thursday's birthday supper for Bobby.

Nancy was making a pumpkin cheese cake per Bobby's request for his dessert and she tried Paula Dean's recipe but something when wrong when she used ginger snaps cookies to make the crust, needless to say it leaked into the oven and oh well what a mess. I fed it to my worms in the garden, we had to clean the oven and then she started over using her regular crust which by the way turned out beautiful; so much for exploring. I was afraid the fire dept. would show up with all the smoke coming from the oven; it was that bad.

I read the rest of the afternoon until it was time to eat left over cabbage rolls and smashed spuds, yikes anything with red sauce seems to be as good left over as when fixed originally. After eating I headed out to set the sprinkler in the front yard while we waited for our house church to arrive. We had 11 adults and 3 kids all total with 10 adults at our house. We finally broke up around 8 which gave us time to watch a little of the Idol before getting ready for bed. LATER

Tuesday

2012-02-01T06:09:00.002-05:00

Well once again it was just another spring like morning with a cool breeze from the north which changed to the east and by afternoon we were pushing 80 again. Wow it must the nicest weather ever, however we could use a little rain as I'm watering every day, at least the humidity is low so we can keep the windows open. We had a huge crowd for supper again so the evenings have been filled to capacity.

The morning was much the usual with Chester being a little late as it was after 6 when I first heard him. He and Sam had me in stitches yesterday as Sam played with him through the fence after lunch. Chester would come up to the fence just waiting for Sam to grab his feathers and then Sam would hold on to his tail feathers and Chester would squawk and flop his wings and Sam would laugh and turn him lose and then Chester would come right back for it to happen all over again. That rooster loves Sam and comes right to the fence over and over again, Oh well!!! After my quiet time and a bowl of granola with strawberries I headed out on my bike to the rec for some 2 plus hours of pickle ball. We had a good crowd with 2 courts going most of the morning and lots of wet shirts.

I stopped off and returned some books to the library then headed home as we then headed out to Sam's Club to pick up some goodies. We are having another family supper on Thursday to celebrate son, Bobby's birthday as he will be 31, yikes how did he get that old so fast, anyhow we found a nice sirloin roast which we will fix as that also will be Eric's last night here before flying back to Detroit early Friday morning. After Sam's we stopped at Aldi's for some vino and a few other goodies as well before heading home.

Amy and the kiddo's came for lunch and we had purchased one of those you bake pizza's at Aldi and it was superb, much better than we had anticipated but just great for lunch as the cost was about 6 bucks. We added fresh mushrooms on top and it was so big it fed all of us and I even had to eat the extra piece so I was stuffed, good deal!! After lunch I headed out to the gardens and Sam played with Chester. After they left for their naps I read most of the afternoon until it was time to make a huge salad again from the garden. The lettuces, and kale are just splendid this year, so I once again filled up the big salad bowl as we were having chicken pot pies, rice, beets and green beans from the garden as well. GG, Eric, Betsy, Amy, Tyler and the kids were also coming and we or they finished up the cake, goop and strawberries left over from last night as well.

Amy and Tyler are moving into a different rental house tomorrow and they took off after the cleanup to see the house. Seems they will be renting from an old family friend and their now retired postman so Eric went with them as they were old buddies at one time to see the house. Wow was it ever a fun filled, an another eating evening; thankfully Wednesday evening will be just us and leftovers as this spare tire is really inflating despite my everyday workout. GG seems to be back to her old self and now that we have a new phone system installed in her house we will be able to keep in constant touch. LATER

Monday

2012-01-31T06:12:00.002-05:00

Well the morning started with Chester crowing his head off as usual and I don't blame him as it felt like a Spring morning with temps in the 50's and eventually climbed to the middle 70's, just a gorgeous day. After Chester's wake up it was much the usual afterwards; my few quiet moments, then a bowl of cereal with strawberries and a banana before jumping on the old bike for a ride to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. We had a large crowd with three courts going for most of the morning as I worked up a good sweat. It felt good to be back on the court especially after all these family meals.

After the rec I stopped off at the library and picked up a couple new reads as I finished THE GRAPES OF WRATH. I understand why Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel prize for literature for this write. He put you right there and the ending blew me away. Its definitely a must read in your life time I may even read it again as it will become one of my favorite reads, much like LONESOME DOVE by McMurtry.

I harvested a beautiful head of cabbage for cabbage rolls for supper. We were having GG, Eric and Amy's family for supper and Betsy and even Nelson one of Eric's friends stopped by and ate also. Nancy spent a couple hours putting this special together and believe me it was special when eaten along with smashed potato's and the red sauce spooned over the top and a fresh garden salad with crusty bread on the side. Amy made an Angel food cake with goop and strawberries for dessert, yikes was that ever a dewisheous supper. There goes the spare tire again as we sat around for an hour before finally setting down to eat at 7 while sipping a little vino.

Well not much else is going except GG seems to be doing well and has mentioned some things she wants to do. She now is getting some of Pap's papers and their accounts in order with Eric's assistance while he is here. We were glad to hear that Cris and Daryl made it safely back to Pennsylvania and we sure enjoyed their visit only wish it could have been for different reasons. LATER

Sunday

2012-01-30T06:21:00.002-05:00

The day was a little different than our normal Sunday as it was the 5th Sunday so instead of meeting for worship at Element we had a house church gathering. Several brought food to share and we sat around the table to fellowship. There was an egg and sausage casserole, french toast, fruit salad and sweet cakes along with juice and coffee. We had good time of fellowship after prayer. We left around 11:30 as it was being held at Dan and Carol's house which is just up the street.

I headed out to hand water the gardens and check on the new seedlings as well as the what needed to be harvested. Everything is looking good considering the damage those pesky squirrels do to digging. My neighbor has trapped several but they seem to be multiplying faster than we can haul them away, Oh well. The temperature has been just great with 50's at night and low 70's for the day and with little humidity. Too bad it couldn't stay this way for the next couple months.

GG seems to be getting on with her life as she and her sister and niece along with her son attended a concert on Saturday night then went out to dinner with friends on Sunday night. Her sister, Daryl and niece, Cris left on Sunday to return home in Pennsylvania so she will still have son Eric for a few more days this week. We will have them for supper on Monday night. I have a huge head of cabbage so we will make stuffed cabbage rolls along with smashed 'taters and of course the great salad from my garden. The lettuce just loves this weather especially the cool nights.

Not much else is going on except we took a long walk during the afternoon and ate a salad for supper. I read most of the evening and have really got into the Steinback book; I can see why he won the Nobel prize for writing. He writes as if this book is his autobiography. Its a great read about that era in American history. LATER

Saturday

2012-01-29T08:13:00.003-05:00

Once again another busy but relaxing day as we started the morning out with a sleep in until around 7 despite big beak Chester next door crowing. We did our quiet times and caught up on some reading then got ready to meet with GG, Eric, Aunt Daryl and cousin Cris. We headed over to Indian Rocks Beach for lunch at Keegan's a seafood house which has been in the neighborhood for years, could even have been centuries when looking at the building but it had high reviews and was even reviewed by the Food Network. I use to play pickle ball with the owners son but they have since sold out and moved on. We tried a house specialty grilled octopus as an appetizer and it was dewisheous. I learned it is soaked in a marinate of citrus juices and a few other spices for 24 hours and then grilled, yikes some of us were pleasantly surprised at the texture and taste. You then dip it in melted butter much like you do lobster. Actually the texture reminded me of lobster as well. I would get that again.

We were surprised at the freshness and the great taste of every one's meal. Daryl had a cup of the she crab soup and grouper bites and said it was very good as well. Most had fried grouper sandwiches except Eric had the triple tail and I had amber jack both were blackened sandwiches. The desserts were were awesome and homemade; key lime pie and derby pie which is pecan pie with a bourbon sauce. Yikes was that awesome as well and we each had a fork full as well. I can see why the restaurant food was rated high while the decor was definitely Florida "cracker". We had a great waiter who was a mountain of info but was in hurricane motion. I want to go back again.

We stopped off at our house on the way back from Keegan's and confirmed Cris and Daryl's flight info for their Sunday departure back to Lancaster, Pa. We sat around and shared stories while the sisters cat napped(GG & Daryl). It was a pleasant day with just enough chill in the air to make it comfortable with the windows closed and by evening the air cooled off once again to where you needed at least long pants on. We headed over to GG's to visit some more and to eat a quick and lite supper of turkey tetrazzini and a salad. We of course set around sipping some vino until it was time to eat once again sharing old family stories and perusing old photos. It was really a fun day sharing family time together as well as eating. GG, Eric, Daryl and Cris were heading out to a concert while Nancy and I cleaned up after supper. There was a lot of history about the family we learned on the Rouse side, very interesting to say the least.

Well we headed home and after the clean up I got ready for an early bed time after being out late most every nite the past 3-4 days. I caught up on some reading and a little business as well. Just a reminder for all of you who use any of the Nutrilite drinks, juices or shakes and the XS energy drinks or the Perfect Water(I just tried the pomegranated and blueberry Perfect Water and I now use it when I'm working out on the pickle ball court and its unbelievable how it restores your body) are BOGO (buy one and get one free)until the end of this month which is Tuesday. Stock up as I have no idea when this special will happen again. Remember your order has free shipping to your door when your total order is $120 or larger. Check us out at Amway.com/JNTriplett and take advantage of this offer.LATER

Friday

2012-01-28T08:22:00.002-05:00

We had a nice rain during the early morning hours but let up enough so I could ride my bike to the rec for my workout on the pickle ball court. I didn't hear from Chester until later as the rain must have kept him subdued; anyhow after my quiet time and a bowl of cereal with lots of fresh strawberries and a banana I headed out. We had a good group of players and there were lots of wet t-shirts by 10 AM. We did a little warm up for the upcoming tournament in Feb. with our pardners in the mixed doubles play. Mitsuko and I will try once again to play together as last year she had to cancel at the last moment and go back to Japan for her aged mother.

After the rec I stopped off and picked up THE GRAPES OF WRATH to supplement me over the weekend as I've just about finished Sparks latest book. I've been wanting to read Steinbeck especially this one again after many years. It was pretty wet outside so I didn't have to hand water the garden so I took off on the bike for the barber shop which isn't too far away. After getting the ears lowered I headed back to wait for Amy and the kiddos to arrive for lunch.

Well I cleaned out some leftovers; a little bit of meat loaf on a sandwich and a taste of homemade soup. Yikes was that ever good eatin'. Sam and I read books together and played trucks until it was time for them to head out for their and mine's afternoon naps. I laid down and took a 10 minute power nap then read until Nancy got back from the rec and her workout on the treadmill. We then got things together to head over to GG's for supper and an evening of chit chat, eatin' and chicken foot domino's.

Cris(Nancy's first cousin) made her famous Cincinnati chili and I brought lots of fresh lettuce from the garden for a nice garden salad plus lots of crusty bread. Needless to say before it was time to eat we sat around and chatted and sipped a little vino and we set GG up for a new install of her phone system as it rained and her Verizon land line went on the blink. She has the same trouble as we did and we don't need for her to be without a phone now that she will be there alone. The chili was scrumptious as its much like a modified spaghetti and we licked the pot clean. The GAB(great aunt Betsy) and Braden came late and brought a couple lemon pies from the Village Inn, yikes were they ever tasty.

The game began of double 12 chicken foot domino's around 7:30 and ended with Cris winning in the final round at 11 PM. Wow did we ever cut up and banner one another and had a great time of fellowship. Amy and the kids left around 8 as it was their bedtime so she missed out on all the fun. Tyler had to work late so he also missed out on the fun but the evening was a success as we ate and played together. Tomorrow we are getting together for lunch at a beach side restaurant for seafood as Daryl,GG, Eric and Cris have tickets to see and listen to GG's old group of singers perform in a concert later in the evening. That will be a good time for her as she will get to see her gang perform. Cris and Daryl fly out on Sunday morning back to Pennsylvania but Eric will stay on another week to out GG get settled into her new lifestyle. There will be some major changes for all of us but she seems to be handling it quite well at this point. LATER

Thursday

2012-01-27T06:15:00.002-05:00

Things are quite busy around here with company still in town after the funeral. Our morning started out the usual with the wake-up around 5 with big mouth Chester next door, then my quiet time and a bowl of cereal with fruit before riding out to the rec for my 2 plus hours of pickle ball. Wow did it feel good to be back again and we had a good turn out with some good play. After the workout I stopped off for a couple reads at the library and picked up the newest Nicholas Sparks THE BEST OF ME book. Actually I got that for Nancy but I read nearly half of it during the afternoon.

I transplanted some more bush bean seedlings and then picked 1/2 runner beans and lots of lettuces and kale for a huge salad for supper as we were all meeting once again at GG's for supper. Originally the whole gang was coming to our house but Daryl(GG's sister) likes to go to bed early as she is nearly 90 years old so we cooked the dinner and brought it to her house. We had mac and cheese, smoked brisket, salad, squash casserole, crusty bread and Amy made a carrot cake. What a feed that was and then we played a little Sequence The guys whupped the gals 5-1 in a hotly as always contested match. One gal had to be a guy and we still whupped them even though there was some collusion going on.

We stayed and visited until after 10 PM and had a great time cutting up, eating and telling stories. Diane's brother L.W. and his wife Kathy came over from Okeechobee( about 3 hours to the southeast)and spent the day as well. Friday Diane flies back to Detroit and Eric will stay on for a few days longer as will Daryl and Chris. There is another family dinner scheduled for Friday night.

GG seems to be doing well but did make a remark of how lonely it will be once every one leaves in a week or so. She is only about 10 minutes from us and I'm sure we will be there daily as her needs will be many. LATER

Wednesday

2012-01-26T06:14:00.002-05:00

We couldn't have scripted a day of remembering her dad any better especially since the day before was total disaster for Nancy. We awakened of course with Chester, Sam's buddy the rooster to a 5'ish wake up song but we did manage to lay around until nearly 7:30 as there was no sleep the night before due to the bug which had invaded her tummy. We weren't sure she would be able to attend the service scheduled for noon and I was very sceptical I would be alright to go as well; but everything worked out. The service was awesome and quite a tribute to her dad and mom as well. Bobby did a superb job and we all were in tears as well as laughter throughout.There were many in attendance we hadn't seen or been in contact with in years and the pictures displayed on the T.V. monitor regarding their lives together was great.

After the service all of the family and a few friends met in Largo at the Olive Garden restaurant where we had a separate room and then dined together. The food was very good and we had great service. We decided to meet at GG's house around 6 PM to gather together again for food and sharing thoughts and memories again as many were leaving for Miami later that evening. A van load pulled out around 9:30 for that long drive south as their commitments were many; plus the kids would sleep through the night making it a more enjoyable drive. We had a house full at GG's and we decorated the house with many of the flower arrangements giving the place a festive attitude and we thank all of you for your beautiful arrangements for this solemn occasion. The food and vino flowed as well as did more stories of her dad and the family.

We had a spiral cut ham as well as a fresh garden salad adorned with homemade Greek potato salad and homemade Greek dressing, cold cut sandwiches already made from the deli as well as homemade pies and cakes, what a feast.It was so nice outside we even had the doors and windows open. The little ones were having a grand time as they played and entertained us as well until it was way past their bedtime; I think there were 10 of them all under the age of 10 which kept the volume level high.

Pap would have enjoyed all the food but we weren't to sure he would have enjoyed all the kids and the noise and we know he wouldn't have had the doors and windows open so already we are breaking the mold he had established which seemed to make it a little easier saying good-by. We are having all the family except for the Miami gang which was 9 folks again on Thursday at our house for smoked brisket, mac and cheese another garden salad with all the fixin's. GG's sister, Daryl and niece, Chris are here from Pennsylvania as well as Diane and Eric from Michigan who will stay through the week-end.

We headed for home around 10 PM and sleep came fast. I feel very fortunate I escaped the bug that Nancy suffered through and we were very skeptical at first we would be able to be a part of the celebration of her dad's life with the rest of the family and friends. All in all it was a wonderful day with family and friends and we know Pap would have enjoyed himself especially with the food and the stories shared by many had he not been with the Lord. LATER

Tuesday

2012-01-25T07:11:00.002-05:00

Yikes what a day of being busy and doctoring Nancy. It all started around midnight when she complained of stomach aches and then it went down hill around 4 AM. The intestinal bug struck and it wasn't pretty; luckily I didn't feel bad and thought maybe I was going to skate on this one. A couple years ago on Christmas we both were down for the count for a couple days with the same bug, hopefully it won't happen again but as I write this post I'm starting to hear my stomach gurgle so if you don't hear from this writer for a day or so you will know I've met up with Montezuma. On a better note Nancy is feeling better after nearly 12 constant hours of pain and elimination and lots of Imodium tablets. I got her to eat a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup made and brought over by her Bible study leader last evening for supper. That was the first thing she felt like trying to eat in nearly 24hours. That soup really seemed to help her and we still have enough leftover in case I may need it.

After I got her settled enough during the mid-morning I headed to the Tampa airport to pick up her family that was flying in from Detroit. I warned them all that no hugging was to take place because of Nancy's condition as I may be contagious. I dropped them off at GG's house along with all kinds of food Nancy had prepared ahead for the funeral gathering for her dad. When they left Detroit it was freezing and nearly 80 when they arrived here around 11 AM; what a contrast as I picked them up in shorts and a t-shirt and they had bundled up in heavy winter clothing. Wow were they ever tickled to have this weather.

I spent the rest of the day taking care of some needs like washing clothes and trying to make Nancy comfortable and finally around supper time she was able to get up and eat a bowl of soup. Thanks again Jeanette Brown from SFBC; not only did she make the soup for Nancy but several dishes for the funeral gathering as well and delivered them to GG's house.

Well that's about all for now as this morning(Wednesday) Nancy is up and seems to be feeling better. She wants to attend her dad's funeral at noon today as she missed the viewing and visitation last evening; of course no one wanted her there passing the bug around. Hopefully she is beyond that stage and will get to interact with all of her family. I'm not to sure at this point if I want to take a chance and venture out for that occasion. LATER

Monday

2012-01-24T07:53:00.002-05:00

Well it was another gorgeous day with cool crisp morning to start the day and by afternoon we were pushing 80 with bright blue skies and lots of sunshine. I did the usual with Chester waking we up with his crowing around 5 then my quiet time before a bowl of oatmeal with lots of fruit before riding out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. Afterwards I stopped off at the library for what seems to be an excellent read so far titled THE END TO NORMAL by Stephanie Madoff Mack. She is the young widow of Mark Madoff who was the oldest son of Bernie Madoff the big ponzi scheme founder. Anyhow its really an interesting story so far.

After getting home from the library we ran errands to buy food for the upcoming meals related to her dad's funeral and for lots of out of town guest and family. There were trips to Sam's Club, Aldi's and Publix plus the vegetable stand. We got back to have lunch with Amy and the kiddos and then played with them until it was time for their naps and mine(but I never got one). Instead I had to replace a fan in the spare bedroom, fix a leaky sink in the kitchen and wash dishes and pans as Nancy began preparing food for Tuesday. She made a couple meat loafs that could be used for sandwiches as well as our supper, also baked a couple nut breads and chocolate chip cookies. After that clean up I read and watered the gardens until supper. I picked broccoli and sugar peas to go along with our parsley red potato's and meat loaf. Yumm!!

Just about bedtime Nancy began complaining of her stomach causing her some pain and discomfort. We both were at the nursing home on Sunday after church and she worked in the nursery where a couple babies has some diarrhea and she thought well she contracted a bug; and sure enough she did as she was up most all of the early morning hours. I won't go into detail but it wasn't pretty and as I write this she is still in a lot of discomfort so much so we don't want to contaminate her mom, brother Eric and his wife Diane and niece Arianne when they arrive today from Detroit. I'm hoping I will be able to pick them up but this bug she has is very volatile and gives you no warning and I don't want to be on the interstate when it strikes. Oh well I will see how the gut feels as it gets closer to the time of going to the airport. LATER

Sunday

2012-01-23T06:15:00.002-05:00

Well we had a great day of worship at Element Church with son Bobby, once again his message in a series on Grace was awesome as well was the praise music. His Canvass project that offers the artists of the Bay area a venue to display their talents was a big success with over 800 folks having the opportunity to view and purchase these works in a one night showing, plus they were shown the hospitality and love of the folks that call themselves the church at Element. Great to hear such different ways to reach a group of folks many of which are unchurched.

We started the morning the usual with Chester blowing his beak around 5'ish then our getting ready for our trip to Tampa for church. The day was another gorgeous one with 50's in the AM and high 70's by afternoon. We stopped off at Subway and had a lite lunch on the way home before heading out to the local nursing home to assist with our bi-weekly church service for those patients. Several were so glad to see us there and said over an over how much they(patient)needed company and the opportunity to worship. Many are all alone in the world and some are in such severe stages of health deterioration. We could relate as we saw how Nancy's dad was going through this final stage of his life; fortunately he passed while at the home of loved ones.

After the nursing home I settled in to watch the NFL playoffs the rest of the afternoon and evening. Both games were really good games but I was shocked to see the Giants beat the 49 niners and surprised the Ravens nearly won that game as well. Oh well as they say on any given day any team can beat another except for our lowly Bucs. Oh well!!!

We are inundated with calls and messages of condolences and we are thankful for all who have expressed their sympathy. The next couple days will be filled with making plans for the return of GG and of course the funeral on Wednesday plus the preparations for out of town families, so we will be busy. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as well as a dear friend Mechelle, our mountain sister who is under going an operation within her stomach on Monday. LATER

Saturday

2012-01-22T07:28:00.002-05:00

Well it was a busy day which helped with all the activity that surrounds a family when a loved one passes on. Much of the day was spent getting ready for GG to return to her house along with son Eric and his wife Diane as they escort her back from Michigan and making funeral arrangements for Pap.

After our quiet times and a bowl of cereal with all kinds of fruit for breakfast I headed out into the garden while Nancy got ready to head over to GG's. I transplanted a tray of bean seedlings as well as several tomato seedlings into the one garden that gets the most full sun. The weather here is just fantastic especially for gardening with the 50's at night and up to the low 70's during the day. I seriously doubt we will get any more really cold or freezing weather this winter. January is nearly gone and by February we usually start with the best weather of all for the year, much like Spring time in the mountains. I'm able to save a few tomato's and I'm ripening them in the window. The squirrels have gotten wise to my cage and I've gone catch less the last couple days, oh well!!!

We headed over to GG's with cleaning supplies and my rug shampooer. I spent a couple hours vacuuming and cleaning their carpets and I must say they turned out better than the last commercial cleaning they had done. Nancy scrubbed, dusted and clean bathrooms so GG won't be faced with all that after just getting back from a long stay, away in Michigan. I checked on and fixed a small drip from the water supply line in the bathroom as well as checked on the gutters. I need to bring my leaf blower over in a week or so and clean the gutters once again as their oak tree is really losing it leaves.

The funeral arrangements are set for Wednesday as I make this post at noon in Safety Harbor at the Sylvan Abbey Cemetery. We are expecting family up from Miami and down from Michigan so there will be lots of food preparations for family dinners and get togethers. Well it will be a bitter sweet occasion as Nancy is thrilled her dad got saved before his death and now we can celebrate knowing we will be reunited with him again. Bobby will officate the funeral as Pap ask him weeks ago do so. I know that will really be a tough go for him as well.

Well thats about all except we went through lots of old photos in GG and Pap's collection and they even found some post cards dated back to Pap's grand parents in the 1880's, wow that was only 20 years after the Civil War. It was interesting to hear the language used especially when writing about how the cow wasn't fresh yet( what that means is the cow hadn't had her calf yet). I remember hearing the term used when I grew up on the farm. LATER

Friday

2012-01-21T07:34:00.002-05:00

Well today was a day of mixed emotions as the morning started much the usual with Chester waking me up around 5'ish, my quiet time then the posting of my blog from the day before until I checked the e-mail and found that Nancy's dad had passed away just after midnight. She was still sleeping so I quickly let all of you know about his passing before giving that info to her. I fixed my usual breakfast of oatmeal and lots of fresh fruit and got ready to head out to the rec as I usually do when she awakened. She handled the news very well as we have been conditioned by this long illness and actually when he went into a coma 4-5 days ago we knew he was gone; so in away it was a blessing that he no longer lingered at deaths door. The fact he had made a profession of faith certainly made his passing so much easier.

I headed out for the rec which gave her time to reflect and gather her thoughts about her dad. After the rec we headed over to her folks house to find some funeral contracts and then we headed to Twill Auto to use their fax machine. Thanks to our friends the Botbyl's for helping us send these much needed documents to Michigan. We headed home afterwards and Amy and the kiddos came for lunch. Sam and I played outside while Amy and Nancy comforted one another sitting in the warm sun in the back yard. I made some calls which seemed to bother Nancy the most with informing those old friends of the family about her dad's passing.

We just idled away here at the house on the phone and Nancy sat in the warm sun on the front porch writing some thoughts about her dad's life. That seemed to help putting these thoughts on paper and will be shared at his funeral service next week. He will be shipped back here to Florida for burial the first of the week as it now stands.

We want to thank ALL of you who prayed for him to accept Jesus as Lord and he did, also for all the kind words and sympathies you have shared for us and our family. Now we just need to keep Nancy's mom, GG in your prayers to also accept Jesus as Lord as well. This will be a tough time for her as she and Pap were married 61 years together. There will be some life changing decisions for her in the next few months as well. Thank You all again for remembering our family, LATER

Update to Thursday's post

2012-01-20T07:17:00.001-05:00

We just got word that Nancy's dad passed away early this morning and that he is home with the LORD.

Thursday

2012-01-20T06:03:00.003-05:00

It sure felt like a Spring morning in the mountains with the dampness in the crisp cool air as temps were in the 50's. Even though we had a front move through with a nice rain the temps stayed about normal for us. Wow the garden loves this weather and once again I harvested lettuces, kale, beet greens, green beans and another cabbage. The few tomatoes I'm eating are ones that I've ripen in the windows.

The morning was much the usual with Chester crowing his off head at 5'ish then my quiet time and a bowl of cereal before riding out to the rec for my couple hours of pickle ball. We had a very small crowd for the first hour as 3 of us plum wore each other out in a modified game of 2 on 1(Australian). Finally a couple more players strolled in so we could at least have some rest periods between games; but what a work out. I stopped off at the library to check on some books but they hadn't arrived yet so I headed home to work in the garden. The kids weren't coming today so we ran over to GG and Pap's house to do some chores after a lite lunch of salad and leftover Zuppa.

I caught another squirrel in my cage and took him with us to the other side of the lake and turned him or her lose. That makes 4 I've caught in the last couple days and it seems there is that many or more I need to move. Peanut butter is the trick inside the cage and once in there,they are mine. I only wish these were woods squirrels as they make some fine eatin'. Back on the farm we ate them constantly as my dad was quiet a squirrel hunter, nothing like squirrel pot pie or fried squirrel, Yumm, but these critters here in the city eat any and everything and way to much junk. I'm sure if we would have a famine or something we could eat them. Oh well!!!

We stopped off at the grocery on the way home for a couple items before heading home to chill and read the rest of the afternoon. Nancy was on the phone to Michigan and there has been absolutely no change in her dad's condition. He just lays there like he is sleeping, breathing through his mouth with no response from any type of stimuli. This is very disheartening for GG as she feels he will just wake up and everything will be normal again. We are making plans for when the inevitable occurs; however we did hear from a friend who had a parent exist like that under those same conditions for nearly 5 weeks, Oh well!!!

Not much else except we had some dewisheous chicken fried deer tenderloin for supper with mashed red potatoes and I made a milk gravy from the deer drippings, Yeow was that ever some good eatin'. LATER

Wednesday

2012-01-19T06:00:00.002-05:00

Well it was a spring like morning with a cool crispness in the air. Eventually by early afternoon we had a nice rain giving everything a drink which caused the temps to drop a little. The morning was much the usual with a 5'ish wake up from big beak Chester from next door. He and Sam today were so funny together as he loves for Sam to grab his feathers and hold on. He giggles and of course Nancy and Amy think he is hurting the rooster but Chester comes right back to the fence for more of Sam's attentions. So funny.

After my quiet time and the bowl of oatmeal laden with fruit I pedalled out for my morning 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball at the rec. We had a good crowd once again and the play was fast and furious. We are starting to tune up for the Good Life Games in March which will feature a tournament at out gym with players from all around the state. Should be fun. After the rec I dropped off a couple books at the library before pedalling home to water the gardens. Nancy was watching Sam as Amy took Ava to the dentist for her checkup. Sam and I played outside and he is definitely all boy as he loves the dirt, bugs and of course Chester the rooster. He now likes to pull flower pedals and heads as Ava use to as well as a few of my pea pods. We have a grand time in the back yard and after he leaves I have empty plant pots, rocks, etc all over the yard. They went to Tampa to have lunch with Tyler so it was each man for himself for lunch, so I finished the little bit of stir fry and a nice garden salad.

Well we had house church and the attendance was low with only 6 adults as many were sick so we were glad they stayed away as we just got over the crud ourselves a few weeks ago. We are doing a discussion on Beautiful Outlaw a John Eldridge book and it really opens up some interesting ideas about the personality of Jesus. Nancy made oatmeal cookies and I had to restrain myself to eat only one when they came out of the oven. I fixed fried cabbage again for supper minus the bacon and we had a baked sweet potato; once again we are trying to limit out intake of fat and sugars. Speaking of fats and sugars I read wear Paula Deen has diabetes and she is overweight and smokes. Wow all that good eatin' or fixin's has sure changed her life and now she is promoting a drug for type II diabetics, Yikes I wonder about her life style and endorsements.Oh well!!!

Nancy's dad's health hasn't changed and I was wondering how he could maintain life at all after so many days of no nutrition or water. I'm wondering if he isn't hanging on so GG(Nancy's mom) will make a faith commitment as he did upon his death bed. Only GOD knows but that could be a reason for his lingering as he wants her to also join him in Heaven after she passes. Just a thought!!! LATER

Tuesday

2012-01-18T06:07:00.002-05:00

Brrr in the morning but by afternoon it was nearly 80 in some areas of the county. We had our doors and windows open and it was pleasant to set out under the big oak in the back yard while the kiddos played. The morning was much the usual with the 5'ish wake up by big beak Chester next door, then my quiet time and a bowl of cereal with fruit before riding out to the rec for some 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball. Wow what a workout as we had 2 courts going most of the morning with some really good play. I sure can tell a difference when we have 3 days off in a row from my workout.

After pickle ball I stopped off at the library on the way home for a couple reads then headed home to hand water the garden. Almost all of the bush bean seeds sprouted and what the squirrels didn't destroy of the new lettuce seedlings. Those varmints are sure a pain in the you know what; but I caught 2 today in my peanut butter baited steel cage trap. The only problem is I have to drive them over behind the library to set them free. Maybe this will at least move their population back to the woods and away from my garden. I don't know if their territorial or not but maybe I will catch the breeders and give my yard and garden a break until the next batch is born. I can see squirrel nests in every tree in our hood so this maybe a lost cause. Oh well!!!

Amy and the kiddos came for lunch so we had left over Zuppa and a fresh garden salad. Wow was that ever good. I need to start watching my portions again as I can feel and see the spare tire inflating around the middle despite my workouts. Oh but I do love to eat especially good food. For supper I picked fresh broccoli, sugar peas, cabbage and green scallions from the garden then added fresh mushrooms and canned bamboo shoots to make a stir fry which we put over Jasmine rice, Yeow was that ever dewisheous with a little soy sauce. I stuck with only one helping and have a little left for lunch tomorrow. After eating I headed to the library to release another squirrel that I caught just before dark. I really wanted to do this one in but the better part of me and Nancy insisted that it be released; so I did.

There is no change in her dad's condition as he is in a coma like state. Hospice continues to tell us it will be the end shortly as the metabolic function of his body is barely working. This is really taking its toll on GG as she sets by his bed during the day trying to stimulate some response from him. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Well not much else is going on on, LATER

Monday

2012-01-17T06:17:00.002-05:00

Well it was brr this morning with temps in the 40's but quickly warmed to the low 70's by lunch time and we went from the heat on to the windows and doors open. That's Florida winter weather. We slept in until nearly 7:30 despite big beak, Chester next door. Nancy was feeling the effects of giving blood on Sunday as she usually does after that event but as for me luckily its never a bother. We did our quiet times then I had grits and poached eggs whereas she had her usual bowl of oatmeal with fresh strawberries. Yeow the Plant City strawberries are in the markets and are they ever dewisheous.

After the breakfast clean up I ventured out to hand water the gardens. Amy and the kiddos were coming for lunch so I picked lettuces, kale and beet greens and cleaned them for a nice salad. The pesky squirrels continue to dig and help themselves to my garden plants but as long as I'm outside they stay away. I managed to stay out in the yards for most of the afternoon as Sam and Ava wanted to play outside with me after lunch. They have a fun time playing with Chester, finding buggies and playing in the dirt. We played hide and seek which Ava just loves to do, so while we were in the yard the pesky critters stayed away. Actually they came back just before dark and I scared them out of the trees with a few BB shots.

Nancy and I took off after the kids left for their naps to run a few errands; we went to her folks place to check on it and take down some curtains that need dry cleaning then stopped off at the grocery and the veggie stand for some tomatoes. Amy had brought over some cabbage plants in small containers as well as some tomato seedling that Tyler was going to plant in his garden but now they are moving in February to a new house they let me plant them in my garden as I now have some room. Speaking of cabbage we are now eating mine and the size of the heads are staggered so I don't have to eat or give away them all at one time. I did give my neighbor Jim one and he was amazed I grew that head in my yard. The heads are beautiful and probably weighed 5 pounds or greater.

Nancy made a pot of Zuppa soup for super and we puts lots of our home grown kale in it and was that ever dewisheous. That is such an easy soup to make and so tasty. Well we watched a little FOX NEWS and then I tuned into the debates at 9 and watched the whole thing until 11. I once again conjured up some changes about who I thought would be best to lead our country out of this mess we are in and still keep the USA safe; and there is definitely one I would not want to be in the white house. Its still up in the air who I will support but I observed some real keys that were there I had not observed before.

Nancy's dad is still hanging in there in a semi-conscious state. Diane said he seemed at peace in his condition while he continues to breathe on his own but makes no signs or responses. It has become almost that the prayers for his recovery are keeping him alive and maybe we just need to pray that he will pass away in his sleep and let GOD'S will be done. Those were Nancy's thoughts as well as many others in the family and we are excited knowing he will be reunited again some day with his family. Just an update on the newest great grandchild; John Sebastian is still in the hospital but progress is coming with regard to his lungs. LATER

Sunday

2012-01-16T08:04:00.002-05:00

Brr once again for us flatlanders here in sunny usually warm Florida. There was frost everywhere except on my garden which I did not cover with blankets; thanks to the big oaks that still have their leaves. After taking the chill off the house we began to meander around; Nancy was dressed like an Eskimo with 3 layers on and I finally put on a long legged pair of pants. I can almost guarantee she would never make in the frozen mountains of N.C. in the wintertime, anyhow after our quiet times and the usual bowl of oatmeal with fruit we got ready to head to Tampa for worship at Element Church.

There was a rather large crowd with many new faces especially for as cold as it was this morning. I think it hit the low 30's there whereas we in Pinellas County are 5-10 degrees warmer due to being surrounded by water which has a temp of in the high 50's this time of the year. There isn't much swimming in the Gulf except for those winter visitors who think this water temp is just right; at least they don't have to break the ice to get in the water. Today was Bloody Sunday as the blood mobile was waiting so I headed out as well as did Nancy; she has the good rare blood A negative whereas I'm a universal O positive. Bobby had an awesome message and the music was uplifting and very worshipful. Its great that we don't have to fear for our opportunity to give thanks and worship GOD.

We headed home with much trepidation as we still are awaiting the final word on her Dad's health. It now seems he has lapsed into semi-consciousness and doesn't respond to any speaking. He hasn't taken any sustenance in a day or so and his kidneys are not functioning at all. The morphine is keeping him comfortable and helps him to breathe with ease; it will be just a matter of hours before he passes. Everyone is almost at the relief stage when that does occur.

I sat on the couch the rest of the afternoon watching NFL playoff games while Nancy was on the phone with family. The Ravens won a squeaker over the Texans which really surprised me because if they play like that against the Patriots its all over for them as Brady looked unstoppable against the Broncos. The Giant game was a surprise for me as I actually pulled for them(underdog) and they out played the invincible(I thought) Packers. Michael Strahan was right on both of his picks against all the other NFL prognosticators; he picked the 49 niners and the Giants. I think the 49 niners will beat the Giants especially since they are playing in California. That should be a good game and I think the Pat's will defeather the Birds, although I would like to see the birds win.

We just picked and ate leftovers for lunch and supper but on Monday we making another pot of Zuppa soup; one of my favorites. Its supposed to be nearly 70 on Monday and the lows back to the 50's, now that's Florida winter weather. Not much else is going on, LATER

Saturday

2012-01-15T06:55:00.002-05:00

Brrr most of the day with lots of cloudy skies even though we stayed chilly we were able to walk in the afternoon and with a jacket on it was rather nice. We didn't have to have the heat but the house chilled down to 66 overnight. It felt good snuggling under a couple blankets except for big beak Chester we could have slept in later than 7:30. After a mountain breakfast of buckwheat cakes with a couple cackle berries on top I headed out to check on the gardens.

The bush bean seeds are all up so as soon as they get a little larger I will transplant them in hopes the pesky squirrels won't dig them up; also the new lettuce seeds are up and it will be awhile before I can move them into larger seedling packs as well. I've been picking my tomato's green as the squirrels have taken a liking to their flavor as well so I have managed to ripen about a half dozen in the window so far but the flavor is not the same. Oh well.

I watched the Saints and 49 Niners in what has to be one of the most exciting playoff games ever in the last quarter as the lead changed hands several times. I have been to Candlestick Park in Frisco and its a town crazy about their team and a beautiful place to play. I'm tickled for them and their win as I once rooted for them for years while stationed about 50 miles north of the Bay Area. I only managed to watch 3 quarters of the the Broncos and the Patriots as the Pats took the Denver team apart. They beat up on them so bad it was almost embarrassing to watch and I really felt for the young rookie Tebow as he played his heart out, but got little support for the rest of the team. The team was certainly and underdog and its showed. Their should be some good games on today(Sunday) as the season winds down to the 2 super bowl selections.

Well with the near passing of Pap Pap(Nancy's dad) another great grandson of his was born On Saturday. Brett and Liz Everett gave birth to a son John Sebastion weighing in at a lite weight of nearly 6 pounds. He initially had some lung problems at birth but has recovered and is doing better. It seems almost ironic that as his great grand father is passing on a new life is born in his lineage. Well there isn't much new to post other than these 2 occasions which we celebrate one and are saddened by the other and they both have to do with life and death. We are delighted that Nancy's dad accepted Jesus into his life and maybe this will lead to her mom making that same decision as well; as granddaughter Arianne stated Heaven will not be the same without them. LATER

Friday

2012-01-14T08:05:00.003-05:00

Well the weather sure changed here in sunny Florida on Friday with another front moving through the area and a drastic change in temps. The morning was much the usual with 5 AM wake up from big beak Chester, my quiet time, a bowl of oatmeal with all kinds of fresh berries and a banana before jumping on the bike for a ride to the rec. I did 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball play with a few breaks but not many as we had a big crowd today with lots of good rallies. The rec is closed on Monday for MLK Day so I will have to find something else to expend my energy on. Anyhow after the work out I stopped off at the library for a couple reads for over the weekend before pedalling home.

Those pesky squirrels know how to trip my traps and still eat the bait and love to set on the back fence with a green tomato in their paws eating it. I shoot at them with the BB gun but as soon as the back door opens they high tail it out of there so I very seldom am able to hit them on the run, and when I do it only stings them. Oh well I don't mind sharing with the wild life but this is getting out of hand as they don't completely eat what they bite, so they ruin them all. I have resorted to picking the green ones and putting them in the window but the taste is not the same, oh well.

I think I mention in the post that was some how cut into on Thursday that I made fried cabbage for supper the other night. Wow was that ever good. Nancy wasn't to interested at first but she changed her mind after tasting it. I think the idea of frying something turned her off but really what your doing is sauteing it. Here is my recipe; 2 or 3 slices of bacon cut into bite sizes fried in a skillet, 1/2 chopped onion(I used a sweet one and this is optional), add a little sea salt, black pepper and crisp it up especially the bacon, I took a large home grown cabbage and halved it and chopped it into bite size pieces and added to the skillet mixture, mixed that up and add a few red pepper flakes and cover at low heat for about 20-30 minutes, occasionally mixing until the cabbage is no longer crunchy but not soggy either. Yikes does that ever compliment a dish. Nancy really liked it and I can remember that along with fried cornbread made a wonderful inexpensive meal when I was single and just getting by. That's and old country dish I learned when living in N.C.

Well on a more somber note Nancy's dad is coming to the end of his life as he can hardly breathe. Hospice has taken over and is making his last few days left comfortable. We have begun to make arrangements here in Florida for various things to assist when he is shipped back here for burial. I suspect that would occur sometime in the next week or even days. She did speak to him by phone again on Friday afternoon but for just a few seconds. He is still lucid but sleeps constantly due to the morphine which is helping to ease the pain that is associated with being unable to breathe. He reaffirmed he had asked Jesus into his life so that helps with all the fear that's goes along with death here on earth. All we can hope for is that we will all who believe be reunited on the other side. Keep Nancy's family in your thoughts and prayers and especially her mom as she is still not a believer and the sting of losing her mate of 60 plus years will be hard on her.

Well Saturday will find Nancy and I babysitting for Ava and Sam as Amy and Tyler get a night out together. They had planned this last weekend but we had to change that because of all the activities with Bob and his family,LATER

Thursday(continued)

2012-01-13T06:59:00.002-05:00

Not sure what happened to blogger but it cut half of my post off so I will try to follow up on what was left. Nancy's dad is now in the hands of Hospice and has been moved back to Diane to wait the end. He is having a hard breathing so he is on morphine to help with his discomfort. Nancy spoke with him and he seemed to know that his time was close to an end and he did reaffirm his decision to accept Christ, so that helped to take some of the sting out of the situation especially for Nancy and the rest of the family. I think her mom has also realized the end is near as well. We followed Diane's suggestions about doing a few things to make the end a little easier with making floral arrangements, choosing pictures to reflect her dad's life and checking out food to serve after the funeral. We headed to Sam's and the florist as well.

Well I had better go as its time to ride out to the rec; I will finish this post later in the day on Friday, LATER

Thursday

2012-01-13T06:11:00.001-05:00

Well the day started with Chester showing off his loud crow around 5 AM; what a big mouth he is, anyhow after the wakeup, cup of green tea, my quiet time and my usual bowl of oatmeal doctored up with berries galore and a banana, I got ready to head out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. The play was once again constant, fast and very aggressive for most of the morning. Wow was there ever lots of wet shirts.

Amy and the kiddos weren't coming for lunch as they did a play date at the park with several of Ava's school mates so After Nancy gor back from the rec and her workout on the treadmill we had a bowl of soup. She then got a call from Diane in Michigan that Hospice was taking over her dad's care. He was being moved back to Diane's house from the hospital until the end. Seems his heart is giving out and he can

Wednesday

2012-01-12T05:52:00.002-05:00

We finally got a light rain this morning and then a gully washer after I got home from pickle ball. The morning other than the much needed rain was much the usual. Chester did his 5 AM show, my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with tons of berries and a banana before riding out to the rec for 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball play. The play was very good and by 10 AM I was ready for a break with a wet shirt. I stopped by the library and picked up a new read before beating the rain home as the skies were heavy with black clouds.

Amy and the kiddos came for lunch so we had bean burritos and wraps, wow were they ever tasty. Sam and I stayed inside as it was too wet to play outside so we looked at old pictures together dating back to '03 on the computer; plus we read several books together. His retention level is great as well as he is a fast learner. He and Ava rough house together and he is a tough one but she is to strong for him yet and he usually winds up getting hurt, albeit for just moments. He is really talking and putting sentences together and is quickly learning his numbers and colors.

After the kids left which was late we decided to postpone our weekly Sam's trip until Thursday as there still was some showers and lightning bouncing around the area. It was a good afternoon to nap and read. I did vacuum as we were having house church tonight. We had 8 adults and one child for a study on the John Eldridge book; BEAUTIFUL OUTLAW. He is a great author and we did a men's study on his book WILD AT HEART a couple years ago when we were still at SFBC.

Nancy had a pot of beef vegetable soup cooking on the stove most of the afternoon and wow did that ever smell good and when we ate it around 5:30 it tasted as good as it smelled. We have plenty leftover for lunch for a couple days; one of my favorites. Well not much else is new except there has been very little good news about her dad's health. He is still in the hospital with fluid buildup and now he is unable to even move his legs. It's not looking as if all of these different treatments are working; but he is still lucid and aware of his surrounding. There is not much else that can be done at this point except pray that he is not suffering with pain, which he has not complained of yet. LATER

Tuesday

2012-01-11T06:13:00.002-05:00

Once again another Spring like day with cool temps to start the morning and eventually reaching the high 70's, yikes this is great weather as the humidity has stayed away another day. The morning was much the usual with Chester crowing me awake around 5 AM, then a cup of green tea, my quiet moments to reflect, give thanks and to lift up those I know who are in need. Afterwards I had my bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries and a banana before jumping on the old bike and pedaling out to the rec for some pickle ball. We had a good crowd once again as many of the snowbirds have come South and the play was excellent once again. Lots of wet shirts. After 2 1/2 hours I pedaled out for home.

Amy and the kiddos were coming for lunch so I picked 3 lettuces, kale, beet greens and a green pepper and made a huge salad for lunch while Nancy was at the rec doing her treadmill workout. We were eating healthy today and going meatless after the nice tenderloin for supper last night. After lunch Sam and I headed outside to play and work in the garden. He and Chester were once again pals and they played along the fence; that keeps Sam entertained as well. He also loves to play with bugs much like Ava did when she was that age and to dig in the dirt. Each day when he leaves us Amy has to bathe him before putting him down for his nap; he is a boy through and through.

After Amy and the kiddos left we chilled reading and Nancy speaking with her folks in Michigan. No real change either way except her dad is now eating very little so that's not a good sign for any progress health wise. The staff has to now use a lift to get him up and into a chair. The edema is still present but not nearly as much.

I cut a huge pot of Swiss chard and sauteed that with olive oil and fresh garlic in a large skillet. That dish has to be one of my all time favorites and it complements any entree. We just a had baked sweet potato and the Swiss chard for supper, yikes was that ever good. After supper our good friends and neighbors, Dan and Carol came by and we took a good long walk through the hood. We got back to the house a little after 8 PM. I headed to the shower and it wasn't long afterwards while watching a PBS special on the Pharaoh Ramses the sandman came by. LATER

Monday

2012-01-10T06:18:00.002-05:00

The morning started with the usual fowl wake up around 5'ish, that Chester has the loudest crow and yet he and Sam are the best buddy's. Sam grabs him around the head and plays with him, touching his eyes, comb and beak. I'm surprised Chester doesn't peck him but as soon as Sam gets outside Chester comes a running to the fence. It's so cute hearing Sam giggle while touching Chester and then they run back and forth along the fence together, Oh well I want to cook him at 5 in the morning, especially on days when I don't have pickle ball.

After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with blue berries, and a banana I pedalled out to the rec for 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball play. We had a large crew today and there were tons of wet shirts. I headed into to the game room afterwards as three ladies needed a fourth for ping pong so after about 30 minutes and 4 games I pedalled towards home after a quick stop at the library to pick up a book I had ordered. I was ready for a break from activity as it was a great workout morning. The temps were very nice after a chilly(50's) start and had warmed up to the high 60's and nearly 80 by the afternoon with clear blue skies and bright sunshine. What a perfect day as the humidity stayed away. I hand watered the garden after picking green beans which we had for supper, along with a nice beef tenderloin I grilled and some leftover pasta.

Amy and the kiddos came for lunch and we finished the last of the Zuppa soup and both Sam and Ava really like that soup as well. Wow was that ever dewisheous and Amy brought fresh rolls and lunch meat for sandwiches as well. Sam and I headed outside after lunch; he and Chester did their thing until he started looking for buggies. I have a new crop of grey and red bugs that live on the fence and he love playing with them. Ava came outside after helping Nancy make chocolate chip cookies and played as well with Chester then they all headed for home and their naps. I sat outside for awhile reading before we headed to the grocery and vegetable stand. I finally have a few small tomato's starting to turn but the rats and the squirrels are having a field day ruining them. I'm having to pick them green and put them in the window to ripen or else they bite holes them; I've D-Con the rats but the bloody squirrels are hard to keep out unless I stay outside constantly. They really are a nuisance here in Florida, Oh well.

Nancy's dad wasn't having a good day as she spoke with her mom in the afternoon at the hospital as his cough has returned due to the fluid buildup in the lungs, but he is still hanging on for now. Not much else is going on except the weather has been perfect with cool nights; 50's and warm day's in the high 70's and a few low 80's. We do need some rain and a front is supposed to bring of some on Wednesday then cooler temp's for the rest of the week. Our friends from Michigan who are visiting across the street are heading back north on Wednesday just in time for winter weather there after almost summer weather here. They are hoping to sell her business and move down here in couple years and get away from the winters for good. They use to live down here years ago but the job market was lousy so they moved back and bought a bridal boutique shop and have been able to make do but they are tired of the winters and want to retire to Florida as his folks live in Zepherhills which is about and hour or so drive from here. Her mom Ms Carol lives across the street and we look after her to an extent and I'm always doing little odd jobs for her.

Well that's about it for a Monday except I watched a little of the boring college football game between Alabama and LSU and it had a baseball score when I cut the lights off. This was the second time these 2 teams played this season so why were they playing again; and the first game was boring as well. I think BCS has some revamping to do for next year, just my opinion!!! LATER

Sunday

2012-01-09T06:18:00.002-05:00

Chester(rooster)next door was having a fine time at 5 in the morning, must be the full moon has him thinking its daybreak. Finally he shut up enough to drift back off until nearly 7 before rolling out and getting ready to head to Tampa for worship at Element Church. Wow was there ever a large crowd with lots of new faces and some very old faces we hadn't seen in awhile. Bobby's message on Grace was awesome and had us in tears as well as the praise music was very endearing and uplifting; my son amazes us with his gift of speaking and putting together a message.

After the service we headed back to home for a quick lunch of left over's before heading out to the nursing home to assist with the church service there for the elderly and afflicted. We pushed about 15 or so patients in wheelchairs to the short service and then again back to their rooms afterwards. Many of them are in need of assistance and prayer for improved health and remind us so much of Nancy's dad condition. At least he is with family(Nancy's brother) and gets some love but these folks have no one. We do see a few visitors to some of the rooms but the ones we push to the service many will pass on alone except for the nursing staff.

Well Nancy put on a pot of Zuppa soup for supper and I picked from the garden some absolutely beautiful tender Kale to add to the soup. We took our pot of soup up to the Botbyl's and with their tostitoes we had a sumptuous meal and got to play a game of Phase 10 after eating while watching the NFL playoffs. Wow can you believe Tim Tebow, a rookie quarterback for the Denver Broncos? He is catching all kinds of flak because he is Christian and tells the world he is unashamed to be one. Well he is one tough young man as well and he comes from Florida. You gotta love a guy who is being true to his family and himself while putting all the analyst in a tizzy. Go Tebow!!!

Nancy's dad didn't have as good a day as Saturday but he is still hanging on. The doctors are thinking maybe a pacemaker for the heart may stimulate it to work harder to get the fluid moving to his kidneys as they seem to be functioning a little better at this point; of course that could change any moment so he still needs prayer. Bobby in his message this morning spoke about how his Pap(Nancy's dad)had accepted Christ as his Lord and had us all in tears.

Well on a business note if any of you who use energy drinks or want some great mineralized water check out our website as ALL Nutrilite drinks,juices and shakes, All XS energy drinks and the Perfect Water is BOGO(buy one and get one Free). Your order must have at least 25PV to receive the BOGO. I've tried them all and I'm stocking up at this 1/2 price sale. I have to put my order in before the 10th to get Free shipping so if any of you want these items let me know and I will have them shipped to me as my order goes in shortly, LATER

Saturday

2012-01-08T07:25:00.002-05:00

Well did we ever have a busy fun filled day which started with Chester crowing at 5'ish waking up Gabe but what we didn't know he was already in bed with Bob and Jill as he quickly went back to sleep. We all managed to stay in bed despite his crowing until nearly 7 o'clock. Nancy made French toast for breakfast then Bob and Jill got ready to head out to their Saturday Conference which was going to be another all day session. After they left we got ready to head out to Largo Central Park where there are miniature trains you can ride.

These rides only happen on the first full week-end in the month. The child must be big enough to straddle a seat with an adult and the ride is very cool; it goes through a tunnel, over a bridge and through the woods. The cost is only a donation and the trains are part of a club that mostly retired folks do as a hobby. Some are steam engines running on coal, some on propane but mostly they are gas engines and built to look like the real full size trains. Its about a 15 minute ride per train and you can ride all you want with about a 15 minute wait in between rides as there were 4 different trains that carried about 25 riders at a time plus the engineer and conductor. The boys and Tyler and I rode them twice while the girls headed to the fantastic playground. That placed was packed with kids and Ava and Annsley were like jitterbugs running from one set of equipment to another.

We left there around lunch time and headed for home and Amy and Tyler picked up a couple pizzas for lunch. We had the boys in our truck and they were so cute together mimicking on each other all the way home. If one smacked their lips or made any noises the other copied kated and they giggled at each other. They were hilarious together. The weather was fantastic as well with cool enough temps to keep it pleasant in long pants and yet warm enough for short sleeves in the bright sunshine. After a lunch Amy took Annsley to their house so the girls could play with Ava multitude of toys and Sam could take a nap. We were hoping Gabe would nap which he eventually did around 2:30.

Tammy and Rich(she is my first cousin) came by for a visit as they had attended the conference along with Bob and Jill but they decided to spent the afternoon visiting with us as they weren't interested in the afternoon or night programs. They flew in from Shallotte,N.C. and spent the night on Sand Key then had dinner at the Salt Rock Grill. We had taken them there last year and they had such great meal they wanted to have an excuse to do it again and the conference made it happen. They came to our house and visited for 4-5 hours loving up on the kiddos and renewing old friendships and old times. They are very comfortable in our family setting and are hoping to come back to Florida around Easter and eat dinner with us as they did last year. Their girls are getting grown up and the oldest Megan who is now a teenager is going to Europe this summer with a group of gifted students. Megan is very artistic and unusually talented as she has her own studio but she is facing the same problems all puberty kids are challenged with. Any how we certainly enjoyed their company and they headed out around 7'ish for a Greek restaurant Bobby mentioned. She is having some back problems with bulging disc so she stood most of the time here.

We bathed the kids and got them ready for bed. Sam and Gabe played together as well as Annsley. Tyler had taken Ava to the circus which had been planned in advance so we watched the 3 of them until it was Sam's bedtime. Bob and Jill showed up around 9'ish then we packed all of their belongings and they headed out. Wow was it ever quiet when they left. We headed for the showers and I cat napped through some play off games and then fell asleep. Yikes those little ones can wear you plum out; but we had a great time and the kids really bonded together.

Well today its church day in Tampa, I almost for got to mention Nancy's dad is still hanging in there as the kidneys are functioning a little better helping to rid some of the edema buildup; thanks again for your thoughts and prayers, LATER

Friday

2012-01-07T08:35:00.003-05:00

Now I know why people have kids when they are young, 'cause these grand babies plum wore us out. The day was a busy one with lots of going on's. The morning started with the usual 5'ish wake up by Chester next door then a spot of hot green tea , my quiet time then a ride out to the rec on the bike for some 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball. We had a great turnout with some long rallies and lots of wet shirts. The morning temps were really starting to climb upwards from the chilly start and by the afternoon we had windows and doors open to gorgeous weather.

After a quick stop at the library for a couple reads I headed home to water the gardens and get ready for Bobby and family as they were spending the night. They were attending an Amway conference in Clearwater so instead of driving all the way back to Riverview which is a 100 miles round trip they spent the night. We had Ava spend the night with Annsley as they were pals together sleeping together in a tent. They were like a couple jack rabbits and were in constant motion, finally around 10:30 they were worn out or at least we were and settled down. Chester woke everyone up with his 5 AM symphony but thankfully they fell back asleep until around 7 AM.

I fixed cheeseburgers on the grill along with fresh cold slaw made from a cabbage from the garden and Nancy made oven 'taters rolled in fresh rosemary and parsley also from the garden. Wow what a yummy supper that made and there were chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Bob and Jill took off around 5 :30 and came back around 11:00. We watched movies, popped pop corn and let the kids wear themselves out.

Nancy spoke with her mom in Michigan and things aren't improving at all for her dad as his health continues on a downward slide. There are a couple procedures the doctors want to try to alleviate some of the edema buildup but that would require a heart procedure. The decision hasn't been made yet as to try that operation.

Well its Saturday morning and we are getting ready to watch the Annsley and Gabe for the day as both Bob and Jill are off for the whole day at the conference. We are planning on taking the kids to a park in Largo where there is a miniature train; should be another busy fun day. LATER

Thursday

2012-01-06T06:12:00.003-05:00

Frost was everywhere as I rode out to the rec this AM; roof tops, car tops, yards but the big oaks around my garden saved the plants from any visible ice. The morning started out in the 30's but eventually by the afternoon somewhere in the high 60's maybe even low 70's. We opened the the windows after having the heat on most of the morning. Chester woke us up around 5 AM so I snuggled under the extra blanket until nearly 6 AM before venturing out to get ready for my ride to the rec. After a spot of HOT green tea and my quiet time I ate a bowl of warm oatmeal then bundled up for the ride. Only my legs and face was exposed as it was really chilly.

We had a full crowd today at pickle ball with some great play and there were lots of wet shirts, after 2 1/2 hours I headed home to check on the gardens. At first I was startled to see so much frost everywhere as it was supposed to be not as cold as the night before so I didn't cover my tomato's or herbs; but as I said before the canopy of the big oak save my garden. I watered really good as wet ground stays warmer than dry soil and with the wind yesterday the roots dried out fast in this sandy soil.

Amy and the kids were going to the park to play and have a picnic with some of Ava's school mates so Nancy and I took off for Sam's as we are having a family supper on Friday night. We are having Bobby and the family for an overnighter as they are attending an Amway conference in Clearwater over the weekend, and they will stay with us as well, as will Ava so the girls can play together. That will make it easier than driving back to Riverview late at night plus it will give the kids a chance to play with one another. Should be a busy, fun week end and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous with lows in the 50's and highs in the 70's and no rain.

Well I finished THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Steig Larrson and I must say he was an interesting author with never a dull page; too bad he has passed on. I'm really looking forward to reading the first and last book in the trilogy. I sat outside in the sun and read for a couple hours before picking lettuces, kale , beet greens and a green pepper for a large salad. We were having chicken fried deer cube steak(thanks once again to the Dalton's) along with Jasmine rice, Brussel sprouts and a nice milk gravy I made from the deer drippings, WOW that is some good eatin' and so good for you. No hormones, steroids and god only knows what else our beef is fed to make then bigger, fatter and pleasing to the eye at the market, anyhow if I had my choice of red meat I would take venison anytime.

Well after supper and the clean up we walked across the street to Carol Heckman's house as her number 3 daughter, Toni and her husband Mark are visiting for a couple weeks and we try to get together to play games with them. They are the folks who taught us Golf(card game) and last night they taught us a new way of playing Mexican train domino's. Wow was it ever different and fun. Nancy cleaned up again with a big win and girls won in the 5 games of Sequence; once again I had to play a "Harvey hand" as we were one guy short. The gals won in a squeaker with lots of table talk in the fifth and deciding game. We headed home around 9:30 after 9 rounds of domino's.

Well Nancy's dad is about the same as she tried to speak with him over the phone. He is alert and eating but the fluid has really progressed up to the chest cavity and surrounding his heart. He has accepted the fact there isn't much that can be done at this point because of all his maladies, but he is still lucid and alert. Thanks to all of you who continue and have kept him in your thoughts and prayers, LATER.

Wednesday

2012-01-05T06:09:00.002-05:00

Well it was another cold morning for us flatlanders with temps into the high 30's, I saw frost on the grass and roof tops away from the tree areas as I rode out on the bike this morning, Yikes my eyes were watering by the time I reached the rec. After the Chester wake up I did my quiet time then had a bowl of fruit salad before heading for my 2 1/2 hour workout on the pickle ball court.

I headed home after a quick stop at the library to hand water the gardens; seems it was spared from the frost due to the large oak tree. The basil is not a lover of cool temps and even though I put it in the shed it still doesn't look good, everything else looks O.K. We finally put the heat on for the first time this winter as it was 65 in the house when we awakened. I like the crisp cool air especially when your snuggled in between lots of blankets, Nancy was dressed like a snow boarder between those same sheets, oh well!!!

We didn't have the kids for lunch today as they went to Tampa to have lunch with Tyler; Nancyhad a mammogram appointment. I just read most of the afternoon until it was time to vacuum as we were having house church later in the evening. We had 8 adults and 1 kid and discussed doing a study on a book by John Eldridge the author of Wild At Heart.

Nancy spoke with her mom and dad and he seems to have responded to this new round of treatment and Dianne referred to him as the comeback kid, she was very encouraged his quality of life had improved somewhat even though we all know its terminal due to the congestive heart failure. This little rally and the fact he made a life decision about CHRIST has helped take the sting out of the inevitable and that's something we all at one in our life will face; death.

Hey just a business update on a lighter note; this month's special from our team leaders at Amway are BOGO(buy one get one free) all Nutrilite drinks( that's shakes, juices, twist tubes, etc)and all Perfect Waters and XS energy drinks; however your order must have at least 25 PV total to get the BOGO. PV points are attached to each item you purchase and depends on the value of the items. When you decide to order add those PV's and make sure they are at least 25 for the total order also that number applies to any items you order and goes toward the BOGO'S as well. If you spend at least $120 your shipping is Free as well. This is a time to stock up.

Well stay warm to all our northern family and friends we are supposed to reach 70 again by the week's end so our cold is just temporary, LATER

Tuesday

2012-01-04T06:11:00.002-05:00

Brrr it was a bit nippy here in the usually hot and humid coast of central Florida as it got down into the 40's last night. It was in the low 50's to start the day and gradually during the day the cold north wind caused the temps to stay around the middle 40's for most of the day until the sun went down, Oh well this is good for the mosquito control. The morning was so blustery with gusting winds of 15-25 mph so I drove to the rec instead of pedaling; beside I wanted to be home in time to watch Sam while Nancy and Amy ran to the store together. Ava was back in school so the girls had the morning free to shop.

After the usual wake up around 5 from Chester, I had my usual cup of hot green tea then a bowl of fruit salad after my quiet time before heading out for nearly 2 hours of workout on the pickle ball court. We had a good turnout with constant play even though we were missing several. A new player showed and he's a pretty good player but with an unusual name, Swan. He hails from Oregon.

Sam and I had a grand time together playing cars and trucks and he loves for me to read books and point out things to him as well as make all the noises for the animals we see in the books. He loves to climb up on my lap and look at pictures on the computer and he names the people he sees. He is such a sweet boy and loves his grand dad. The girls got home before lunch and we heated up the oven and had a frozen pizza. I headed out to water the garden after lunch as the wind had really dried things out.

We made a quick trip to Aldi's after the kids left for their naps to pick up a few goodies then Nancy headed to the rec for her workout. We could really tell the temps were dropping fast through out the afternoon and the forcast was for a heavy freeze north of the bay area and down into the 30's around us. I don't believe it was supposed to freeze in Pinellas County but come close; because we are surrounded by water which has a temperature in the 60's. I pulled out my box of old sheets and blankets and covered my tomato plants, peppers and herbs, hopefully they will survive and its supposed to be back in the high 50's on Wednesday and get progressively warmer by the weekend which is looking like the middle 70's again, ahhh!!!

Well Nancy's dad is hanging in there but we aren't sure for how long as his heart is now weakening due to all the fluid buildup. It seems the kidney medicine weakens the heart and vice versa so its a constant battle. He's is nearly immobile which doesn't help at all in moving the fluid back and out of his body, plus now he has reinjuried his knee somehow from a fall last week when he tried to stand by himself when no one was around. He is a bit trying at times and refuses to listen to those folks who have his best interests at heart; but that has always been his nature to certain extent. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts for him and Nancy's mom. She is just about worn out and of course seeing her husband is such weakening conditions is very disheartening.

We headed over to Amy and Tyler's for supper as she made her famous chicken green bean casserole, dewisheous it was and we watched some home movies from their visit in Kansas with Tyler's family over Christmas. The sledding movies were hilarious and it looked cold as well. Sam and Ava were so funny in the snow and sledding as well with a few wipe outs as they were towed behind grandpa Robb's truck. We headed home around 8 and headed for the hot showers. We actually put and extra blanket on the bed for the night. I watched some of the Michigan vs Va.Tech then turned the lights out at half time, LATER

Monday

2012-01-03T06:13:00.002-05:00

Well it was another busy day with really nice morning temp's around 60 then as the day wore on it began cooling off especially with the wind chill. The wind blew hard out of the north as that front passed through our area. I eventually put on long pants but it was really nice that the humidity had abated. I did move my recently transplanted sweet basil into my shed for the night as it does not like cool or cold temps.

After our 5'ish wake up call by Chester(rooster) we did our quiet times and had our bowls of oatmeal then Nancy spent the rest of the morning on the phone to Michigan. Her dad was taken to the hospital again on Sunday and wasn't doing well at all. Eric(brother) had a priest come in and speak with her dad giving him "last rites" and praying with him and her dad did pray to receive CHRIST as his personal saviour. Seems he finally realized the seriousness of his condition as his heart and kidney were almost at the non functioning stage. Well he has made some remarkable overnight gains and we can only attribute that to all of you who have lifted him up in prayer because his kidneys started working again as well as his heart function. They(hospital staff) got him up out of bed and he stood with their help for a brief period, unbelievable. We thought surely Sunday was the end of the road for him and now with his acceptance of CHRIST maybe that will help lead Nancy's mom to accepting CHRIST as well. Only time will time as grand daughter Arianne told her grand father Sunday that heaven would not be the same without him. She stayed with him most of Sunday night as she thought to that he was near the end.

Well that was great news regarding her dad and lifted our spirits for the day especially Nancy as she has constantly reminded her dad about the choices he needed to make. She spoke with him briefly and her mom and he actually ate some lunch and supper, so that's a plus. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching some really great college bowl games off and on. We managed to get in a good 45 minute walk through the hood in between visiting with our neighbor, Carol Heckman. Her daughter and her husband are visiting for a couple weeks from Coldwater, Michigan and we try to get together with them and play some games at least once when they are here. I will probably help him do some repairs to her house as he is quite handy and she needs a new roof over her back entrance way.

Well we snacked on left overs for supper as I finished the black-eyed pea soup YUMM was that ever dewisheous. I read and watched a little more football right up to the time it was to sign off for the night. The wind was howling outside and I don't believe it got as cold as they predicted as the temp this morning showed 53 for Seminole on the Internet. LATER

NEW YEARS DAY

2012-01-02T08:07:00.002-05:00

Well it was a wide awake night for me as I drank tons of sweet ice tea while playing games New years Eve at the Botbyl's house; so me who seldom uses caffeine was awake the entire night, anyhow I didn't feel bad or tired during the day on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday we headed out for worship at Element Church with Dan and Carol as we now carpool switching off each Sunday. The service attendance was lite but that was to be expected as lots of these young families were out of town but the praise music was awesome as well as a short message then we took the LORD'S SUPPER together.

We headed straight home this week as Nancy was preparing a large supper for Amy and her family as well as we invited Dan and Carol also. We usually eat out together after church somewhere around the Bay Area. Nancy put a pork loin in to roast along with smashed spuds, sauerkraut, Kielbasa, hot dogs and crusty bread. Amy picked up a lemon pie from the Village Inn which is always awesome. I saved my piece for Monday as I was too full from all the other goodies.

We spent the afternoon speaking with her in laws in Michigan as her dad was taken once again to the hospital. His kidneys are nearly shut down completely so it appears it will be just a matter of time, so keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers. He has rallied before but this time it isn't looking quite as promising. He still is somewhat lucid but unable to lift his limbs. He was admitted after spending the afternoon in the emergency room with the hope of flushing his kidneys and heart. I'm not sure what flushing means but that was the terminology used when describing the next step or procedure.

I watched a little NFL throughout the afternoon and our home town team the "hapless Bucs" were on par for a sub par performance against the Falcons and at one time were losing by the score of 42-0. The Falcon's put the bench warmers in and we did score about 26 points to make it look better. I think we need a whole new group of coaches as well as some of the players need to be prison. We have a bunch of thugs and law breakers on the the team who constantly shoot themselves in the foot as well as the local population. Unbelievable these guys are paid a ton of money to perform so badly. Enough said about the Bucs as you can tell my loyalty has left the Bay Area.

There should be some great college games on starting Monday and lasting through out the day as well as next week. These players show their desire to play hard without making the big bucks, although some of them are caught cheating as well. Sometimes I think we put to much emphasis on sports and not enough on things that matter. Well I started a new read by Steig Larsson and he is a great author(unfortunately he is dead) with super intrigue. I had heard alot about his novels and me not being much of a fiction reader finally was able to acquire one through the library system. There are 3 books in this triology so I'm reading the second one first.

Well it was nice enough we had the windows open with a house full of company and today we are planning on a low profile day with maybe getting a walk in and eat some leftovers. The for cast here is for the high 30's on Wednesday morning, Yikes my garden doesn't like that outlook. It was 62 this morning with some clouds and the sun just broke through. Hope your New Year is a healthy and prosperous one, LATER

Saturday

2012-01-01T07:25:00.002-05:00

Yikes, can you believe this is the last day of 2011??? Well there is no doubt time moves on and we grow older with each passing day and hopefully wiser(when did I become so profound). Anyhow we had a busy day and of course I'm writing this post on Sunday morning which means we saw the ball drop(big deal) because I was wide awake from drinking sweet tea all evening instead of vino; so I had a caffeine sugar high which had me awake ALL night. I'm still not tired this AM and feel like I should be heading out for my 2 plus hour workout.

The morning started out with the fowl call from Chester next door around 5 but we rolled over and slept in until nearly 7:30. We did our quiet times and I wrote my post then we did buckwheat pancakes with a banana in the batter and a couple cackleberries on top for breakfast, wow was that ever good eatin'. After the cleanup which seems to have migrated to my side of the marriage vows I headed outside to water the gardens by hand. It was plum warm out but the humidity seemed to be way down south which made for a gorgeous day. Nancy put a load of clothes in laundry and then we got ready for a long walk through the 'hood after she hung the laundry.

The afternoon found us reading, relaxing and talking on the phone to her Michigan family. Her dad isn't doing well as the fluid continues to build up in his lower extremities so we are anxious about what each day will bring. I had a nice chat with oldest sister, Josie in W.Va. and my dad in Va.as well. They all seem well and the weather there has really been nice for this time of the year. We headed out to neighbors Dan and Carol around 6 PM bearing some dewisheous smoked Salmon spread and crackers along with some fresh picked lettuce and herbs. We had never eaten lettuce rolls per say but I liked the idea and they turned out great with a lot less carbs. Carol has sauteed chicken beasts (bite-size) with bean sprouts, onions, garlic and some assortment of sauces and you spoon that on a lettuce leaf, add your favorite herb or sauce, roll or wrap it and eat. Very Good!

After the clean up we played Sequence and the guys smoked the gals the first 3 games but had to win in a tie breaker in the 7th game to win 4-3, way to go for the last match of 2011 guys!!! We then played 18 holes(rounds) of Golf and Nancy won, then we played 7 rounds of chickenfoot domino's and Carol won, so overall it was a gals win on the individual games but as a team effort the guys won. We headed out around 10:30and decided since we have church on Sunday morning we would watch the ball drop at our places. I drank way too much sweet ice tea which had me awake all night. I should have stuck with a little vino before eating. LATER

Friday

2011-12-31T07:53:00.002-05:00

It was a little warmer this morning with temp's in the middle 50's as I awakened to the fowl music from Sams feathered friend, who I named Chester around 5'ish. Chester by the way for those of you who have just tuned in to this rambling post is a checkered gray and white rooster who lives next door and is only separated from our yard by a chain link fence. He has a healthy set of lungs and a crow that pierces the early morning silence way before dawn. Anyhow after my cup of hot green tea and a few moments to reflect on all the blessings of life and to lift up those who we know who are in dire need of comfort and healing; I started my day with a bowl of oatmeal with a banana and a little cinnamon sprinkled on top.

I pedalled out to the rec for what would be my last pickle ball play for 2011 around 7:15. We had 4 players to start with but that quickly grew as several straggled in throughout the morning. I did the whole 2 1/2 hours for the first time since I came down with this congestion in the chest a little over 3 weeks ago. I felt great but could tell by 10 AM I was ready for a rest. The coughing stayed away most of the morning and day except for the first thing in the morning when it seems to be the most pronounced. I jumped on the bike and headed home facing a stiff northern breeze but with bright sunshine.

I watered the gardens and gave them a little boost of Miracle Grow especially the lettuces after picking a huge colander of 3 lettuces, kale and beet greens which I cleaned and then made a nice fresh garden salad for lunch to go along with a frozen pizza that we doctored up with some fresh sliced mushrooms. Amy and the kiddos ate with us as well. After eating Sam and I headed outside to the back yard where I sat in the sun an read and he and Chester(rooster) ran back and forth along the fence and Sam occasionally grabbing him by the head and played with his comb(the top of the head that is red). That rooster loves for Sam to touch him, anyhow after a while Sam wanted to ride bikes so I took out the trike and we played out front on the sidewalk. Ava came out and we played for nearly an hour and at times sought the shade of the big oak as the sun was downright hot.

The kids left for their naps and I was looking forward to a little rest as well around 2 PM, but first I needed to pick collard greens and get them on to boil for our supper. Nancy took off to the rec for her workout and I read this awesome account of a young Vietnamese girl who got away from her country before the fall to the communists and eventually came to America and went back to her country some 20 years later in 1986. This is her autobiography and you can learn so much history about that war torn country as she relates how our involvement was doomed almost from the beginning. It kind of reminds me about our history and the Revolutionary War we fought to break from England and gain our independence; but that is where it stops. This is a must read for those of you who like history and the different cultural conditions that third world folks face just to live day to day. WHEN HEAVEN AND EARTH CHANGED PLACES by Le Hy Hayslip is a must read!!!

Nancy spoke with her mom in Michigan and nothing much has changed with her dad's conditions as he is barely able to get out of bed for any length of time. The swelling from fluid retention is quite pronounced and his blood sugar fluctuates extremely from very low to high almost daily. Her folks will celebrate 60 years of marriage on New Years Day and we are hoping they will be able to celebrate it with a nice meal prepared by Eric's family. I think her dad wants scallops, so that's a good sign he is still planning ahead. Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers.

Speaking of a great supper we had one last night as we smelled the collards cooking with some ham based added to the pot for additional flavor as well as chicken fried deer tenderloin, my oh my was that ever dewisheous and I made a nice milk gravy from the fry pan to cover the steaks. Thanks again to the Dalton guys who made this possible. That is the cleanest smelling and tasting red meat ever.

Well not much else as we chilled after supper watching the FOX NEWS and I watched a little college football, LATER

Thursday

2011-12-30T06:19:00.002-05:00

Yikes it felt a little like winter this morning as it was in the low 40's and what a chilly ride on the bike as I pedalled out to the rec around 7:15. Anyhow it sure was good to be snugly with no humidity for a change and by the afternoon it had warmed up to the middle 60's with bright sunshine and blue skies.

The rooster was once again singing or crowing his heart out around 5'ish and later in the day Sam came by to play with him. He has an injured leg and now walks with a limp; I think I will name him Chester. He and Sam were buddies as they once again hooked up by the chain link fence. They are just to cute together; anyhow after the morning wake up and a spot of hot green tea I did my quiet time before having a bowl of cereal then heading out for around 2 hours of pickle ball. I'm gradually lengthening my playing time until next week when I can get back to a full 2 1/2 hour workout. We have been having some very good play with long rallies and our 2 new visitors from Chicago, Bill and Trish were back again. They are very good and nice players as well.

After pickle ball I stopped off and picked up a read from the library; one of Steig Larsson books. I've been wanting to read this trilogy for some time, while I'm usually not crazy about fiction everyone recommends this author especially now that he's dead at an early age. There is such a demand for his books from the library I will have to read them out of sequence, Oh well!! I will start with THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. I'm presently reading a great book on Vietnam titled WHEN HEAVEN AND EARTH CHANGED PLACES. Interesting read and helps clarify the civil war within the country when the USA got involved.

Well it was good to have Amy and the kiddos back for lunch and some afternoon play outside. They love being outside and we played hard until it was time for their naps and mine. Nancy took off to the rec for her workout on the treadmill and I napped and read until it was time to start supper. I picked fresh beets from the garden along with enough 1/2 runner green beans and we sliced off the bone some smoked ham, once again another dewisheous meal. Nancy's sister Betsy came by and finished the leftovers on her way home from work. After the clean up it was FOX NEWS time then a little FSU football versus Notre Dame. The Seminoles won in a come from behind game and that help set the stage for some good college bowl games these next few days.

Well not much else is going except we spoke with our mountain mom; her son and his gal left the mountains to head back to Florida. They had a great time for nearly a week checking out all the excitement in Sparta; at least they had decent weather as last year they were snowed in most of the time they were there over Christmas. Nancy spoke to her mom in Michigan and nothing much has changed with her dad as he progressively get worse each day with the fluid build up. I made contact with a fellow ex-trooper on Face Book who I hadn't heard from since 1986. He left the patrol and joined the National Guard flying 'choppers and now is flying med evac's in Jacksonville, Florida. LATER

Wednesday

2011-12-29T06:17:00.002-05:00

It cooled down overnight into the low 50's and with a stiff northern breeze made it feel down right cold in the shaded areas. The sun was bright and lots of blue skies but comfortable out of the wind. The morning started out the usual with a fowl symphony around 5'ish, then a cup of hot green tea while I did my quiet time and a bowl of fruit salad before riding out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. We had a new couple visiting from the Chicago area who we enjoyed playing with and really had a fun day with lots of players coming and going. I did about 2 hours and then this cough came back so I headed out to the library to pick up a couple reads.

After getting home I hand watered the back yard gardens, Nancy decided we needed to make a Sam's run so we did that all before lunch. I also stopped by Home Depot for some D-Con as the fruit rats are now starting to chomp into my green tomato's and ruining them. I found a half dozen or more with their teeth marks. We stopped by her folks house and checked on that as well. After a lite lunch of salad from the garden I got ready to shampoo the carpets through out the house. It had been awhile since that last happened, but what a difference it makes afterwards. Grand babies have a way of slipping out of the kitchen with snacks and invariably spill or drop goodies from time to time on the carpet, anyhow that took the rest of the afternoon and the results were great.

We hand picked up a whole pork tenderloin at Sam's so I sliced a couple end pieces off for stir fry for supper and cut the rest into roasts for later suppers. We will do one for the New Years Day feast along with some bean soup and hopefully collard greens. We have invited Bobby and Amy with their families and the Botbyl's. It should be another day of over eating and family fun, maybe I should have waited until that feast was over before doing the carpets, anyhow! I picked fresh sugar peas and some broccoli from the garden which we added celery, onion, fresh asparagus, and mushrooms to the cut up pork that I was sauteing in olive oil with fresh squeezed garlic. Nancy had a pot of Jasmine rice cooking. We spooned this concoction to the top of the rice and added some soy sauce and my oh my what a dewisheous dish and very good for you. After the clean up we got ready to head to Tampa to pick up Amy, Tyler, Ava and Sam who were flying in from Kansas. They had been on the road since 7 AM and the kids were exhausted. It was good to see them again and love them up; Sam kept looking at us as if he remembered us but wasn't quite sure from where. Ava had grown taller and prettier as well. The whole family had a new haircut which made them all look older as well. Tyler's sister, Kelsy is a beautician and fixed them all up with adorable hair cuts.

I learned when I got back from helping the kids back to their house that a fellow trooper friend of mine had passed on. Seems he had a patrol car crash in October and never recovered. Trooper Bill Dyer was just a young man in life years and I don't think he left an immediate family other than his folks. The passing of someone you know especially a younger person always reminds you of how precarious life can be.

Well its supposed to be down into the 40's for Thursday with highs of only being in the 60's. Now that's Florida winter weather. I picked up some bush green beans seeds and planted them yesterday as my 1/2 runners seem to do better in the mountains. Tyler's bush beans are just going crazy and mature rather fast so I decided not to plant runners anymore down here in Florida. Nancy spoke with her folks today and her dad is quickly filling up with fluid once again as its now reached beyond his lower extremities and now is into his mid section. He still refuses to go to the hospital and says he wants to remain at home. He definitely needs some prayers.LATER

Tuesday

2011-12-28T06:13:00.002-05:00

Well I was back on the pickle ball court this morning and did it ever feel good to exercise those rested up muscles. We had a small crowd which made for continuous play for about 2 hours for me. I started coughing again so decided rather than risk weakening my resistance by the extra 1/2 hour workout I would stop. The morning before the rec was the usual with a 5'ish fowl wake up, a spot of green tea with my quiet time and some left over egg casserole before pedaling out to the rec.

It rained for the first time in a couple weeks while I was at the rec as a cold front moved into the area. It rained off and on most of the morning and early afternoon so I didn't have to water the gardens at all. It finally started cooling off around supper time enough so we could turn the a/c off. We finished up the sausage gravy(almost like con Casio dip) with a little salsa and chips for lunch and then finished the leftover prime rib, mashed spuds with gravy and opened a can of peas for supper. That was the end of the Christmas Day eats and my were they ever as nearly good as the day they were prepared.

After lunch we decided to take down the Christmas Tree and decorations and store them in the attic for another year. They were certainly beautiful this year but I want to clean the carpets before Amy and the kids come for lunch on Thursday as they return from Kansas Wednesday evening. Nancy and I will pick them up at the airport in Tampa. I know they are looking forward to warmer weather after being in the snow and cold for the last week or so with the wind always blowing; which makes it feel even colder. Sam got an ear infection his first one while there and the doctor put him on an antibiotic; Amy is still fighting a cold as well. I think Nancy and I have just about whipped this cough as well with just some coughing in the morning and when I over exert my self on the court.

Nancy spoke with her dad and mom and the caregivers as it seems he is being a bear to get along with. We know he is frightened of the outcome as its not looking good for a total recovery from his ailments so he is making life miserable for all those around him especially her mom. Luckily she is becoming hard of hearing and misses a lot of his rants but the ones she does hear are hard on her. Nancy gave him a pep talk and hopefully that will help with how he treats those who are looking out for his welfare.

Just a final mention of the ICOOK line of kitchenware and cutlery from Amway and for this year. If you purchase at least $300 of any ICOOK line of products you receive a $350 value set of kitchen cutlery plus I will offer you a $100 of your choice of jewelry as well FREE. This order must be made by the end of this month, Dec. to receive these Free items. That's $750 of merchandise for $300. Don't forget these make wonderful wedding gifts for new homemakers and I must warn you these German made knives are top of the line as our son, Bobby bought a set a couple years ago at full price and he takes them with him whenever he does his chef gigs and they are dangerously sharp. Anyhow take advantage of the ICOOK products they are top of the line as well and you can only find them on line. We have a couple of their fry pans and they are the best we have in our cabinets; great for sauteing and because of their quality construction you use only medium to low heat, what a difference in food preparation. Well enough said check us out at Amway.com/JNTriplett

Well we hope all of you had a great Christmas with family and friends and gave as well as you received. Nancy and I were privileged to help out with our mountain church family in making Christmas good for a couple families who were down an out as well as we helped a young family in our Tampa church who were struggling with extra expenses. We had a grand time with family and friends here and only hope you made the day a little brighter for someone less fortunate. I want to THANK all of you who shared cards, photos and gifts that made our Christmas a little brighter as well. We hope the New Year will bring you good health and well being and may you share the LOVE of CHRIST with others as well. LATER

Monday

2011-12-27T06:08:00.002-05:00

Well it was a sleep in day after the fowl symphony at 5'ish, we managed to roll over until nearly 7 o'clock. Then it was much the usual except for no rec today as it was closed. We ate some leftover breakfast casserole and fruit salad to start the day of frugal eating after the past couple days of "eatin' high on the hog"(that's an old country saying). I headed out to hand water the gardens while Nancy did her Face Book perusing and adding her 2 cents worth(another old country saying).

We decided or Nancy decided she wanted to see the movie War Horse in the theater so we decided to go to the 12:15 show as no one would be there, according to Nancy. Well when we arrived at the mall where the theater is located the place was packed with cars and shoppers everywhere, another black Friday only this was a black Monday, anyhow the theater was almost packed with watchers and the movie ended up a tear jerker. I thought the first part was a bit hokey but the war scenes and battles were pretty much authentic as the horse did an amazing job. I'm not sure if this was based on a true story or not but I could see where this might have happened; but the real story here is that we actually went to the theater together after many years, almost like a date. The price of seeing a movie is way too much and these actors make way to much money, now I know why I don't indulge this industry of make believe.
Oh well!!!

We stopped off at the grocery for few items then stopped by Amy's and watered Tyler's garden; its still doing great and the beans need picking again but I will leave them as they are returning on Wednesday from Kansas. They had to take little Sam to the doctor as he was running a constant fever and his cold hadn't got any better, poor little guy. We sure hope he is better soon as he will be flying back to Florida and its not good to fly with a head cold.

After getting home we just chilled for the day with me reading and Nancy on the phone with Michigan and family. Seems her dad is still alert and siting in his wheel chair but the fluid retention has just increased with such swelling in his lower legs and feet and of course his grumpiness has escalated as well. They have tons of people to look after him there with lots of family members coming and going so that is giving him something to complain about as well. The prognosis isn't well as he refuses to be taken to the hospital and of course the stress on her mom is constant with his being irritable and difficult.

Well we ate lite once again and took a nice walk after a supper of salad and a leftover sausage biscuit for me. We chilled with me reading and watching Fox News and then some NFL. The Saints look good with Brees at QB and I predict the Saints and the Packers to be playing one another for the NFC championship. That would be a good game with real pro players, something that's not seen here in the bay area with the team we have. Its almost laughable when you mention the BUCS name.

Well it was a very quiet day around here and we will take the tree down tomorrow and put away the Christmas decorations for another year. I want to clean the carpets before the kids get back from Kansas on Wednesday. LATER

A few Christmas Day Pics

2011-12-26T09:25:00.002-05:00

Sunday(Christmas Day)

2011-12-26T07:33:00.002-05:00

Wow what a day of family, friends and eating. It was nearly 70 when we awakened to start the day so the a/c went back on and is still as I write this post on Monday morning. It got down right HOT on Christmas Day but we did have bright sunshine and blue skies. After our quiet times and a cup of hot green tea we got ready for a day of family, friends and rich food eating, my but was it ever dewisheous. We pretty much had prepared everything ahead of time so it much just heating and of course getting the biscuits baked.

I hand watered outside fighting the mosquitoes as they have showed up with the heat as well. I picked beans from my patch and did a little garden work while waiting for son Bobby and his family to arrive at 10 and then Carol and Dan arrived also with their pan of cheese blintzes. Bobby brought a skillet of sausage gravy and of course it was gourmet style which we could have eaten as the main dish, but we had the ham and cheese egg casserole, fried 'taters, fruit salad(I made this), biscuits and juice. Wow we almost had to roll away from the table as we were hungry because of the lateness in eating so naturally we or I over ate.

After the cleanup Dan and Carole headed out as they had to make the rounds of visiting their family so we opened presents with Bobby, Jill, Annsley and Gabe. The kids were so much fun watching them rip the paper and Annsley distributed the presents as she could read the tags. She is so dang smart(like her grand dad) and was so cute as each gift she opened she exclaimed her famous words "I've always wanted that". Gabe loved his big truck and just cuddled his puppy dog toy. He was so cute and the two of them were cute together for a change. Bobby and Jill gave us a gift certificate for the Acropolis Restaurant in Ybor City and a nice bottle of Pinot Noir. We were thrilled at the presents Aunt Josie sent(even though we agreed not to exchange presents now that we have so many grand babies to buy for) and hopefully she will allow us to bless her with a nice visit to the cabin this summer.

We were thrilled at how the breakfast turned out and of course I didn't eat anything until around 6 PM when we made a rib roast for supper and had the Botbyl's. That meal was another creation in an of it's self as I harvested fresh Swiss Chard from the garden as well and a ton of greens for a superb fresh garden salad. We had a 7 pound rare rib roast(Carole bought) and smashed spuds(Carole made the spuds) and Nancy prepared fresh carrots, gravy and rolls, as well. It was another dewisheous set down and roll away from the table meal. Two meals like that in one day and we will be big as a house; Nancy said tomorrow its back to oatmeal for breakfast, salad for lunch and stick soup for supper but I told Nancy what about the leftovers??? Anyhow thankfully the rec re-opens on Tuesday.

After the clean up from supper we played a double 12 game of "chicken foot domino's until nearly 10:00 PM. Dan cleaned up with a big win,(I was dead last) AGAIN. He won Saturday night as well, at least the boys WIN for those of you who keep score of which of the sexes wins!!! It was a fun day as we celebrated with family and friends and we remembered the reason why we gathered together to celebrate the day of the birth of our LORD.

I was able to get through to my dad at sister Dee's house in Virginia where she too was having a rib roast for supper and was unable to speak with the other two sisters, Josie in West Virginia and sister Pat in Pennsylvania as they were out with their families and away from their phones. Nancy spoke briefly with daughter Amy in Kansas and then her folks in Michigan but the celebration level of noise was so high there with all of their family present(20 plus folks)it was a short call. Sounds like ALL were having a grand time together.

Well we are looking forward to a NEW YEAR and all the excitement that goes with it. Nancy and I are so blessed with unbelievable super kids and grand kids. We wish ALL great health and blessings, LATER

Saturday(Christmas Eve)

2011-12-25T07:04:00.002-05:00

Well the morning started out with a serenade from the rooster's next door; one in the garage and one in the back yard. The one in the yard is Sam's buddy and when the two roosters are together they fight like crazy, so the neighbor keeps them separated but that doesn't stop them from dueling with their crowing, anyhow it was something to hear them.

After our quiet times and a lite breakfast I headed out to the gardens to water and Nancy busied herself getting ready for the Christmas breakfast we are having tomorrow. She was making a huge egg and ham casserole with bread crumbs on top. I peeled and cut up 6 large navel oranges as well as pulled some green onions for the casserole. After those preparations were complete we took a nice long walk through the hood. It was sunny and warm with temps in the 70's but the humidity was creeping back so the a/c would go on later in the day despite the nice northern breeze.

After the walk I fixed a great salad from the garden and was it ever dewisheous. I tuned in to the NFL and watched our hapless Bucs get stormed rolled by the Panthers; it was down right ugly and embarrassing these high paid pro's could perform so little. I have always been a supporter of the home town team but this whole team needs to be fired including the coaching staff. Oh well!!!

We got ready to head over to Element around 4:30 as Dan and I helped to set up the communion trays for the candle lite service. Wow was it ever a super gathering with nearly every chair filled and 60 plus little kids in the kid area. The music was awesome and inspiring and it was so good to see so many who had returned for a visit with family who had left the area permanently. There were lots of old familiar faces as well. The program was awesome and very upbeat as we celebrated this greatest gift of love to mankind in the form of a baby JESUS.

We were back home by 8:30 then we headed over to Dan and Carol's for a late night meal of Philly cheese steak hoagies, Yumm as that's the first time I had ever eaten one of those. We then played a 1/2 game of Phase 10(Carol won on the last round as we all were tied) and then headed home around 10:15. It was a fun filled busy day and we got to see our grand babies at the service as well. They were so cute in their Christmas finery and excited about the prospect of opening presents tomorrow morning at our house as well. We hope all of you have a great time with family where ever your paths take you and take a moment to reflect on why this is still a worldwide holiday especially among Christian folks in America. LATER

Friday

2011-12-24T07:20:00.002-05:00

Once again the temps were in the middle 60's as we started the day after a fowl wake up. That rooster is so missing Sam as he just sets by the fence waiting for someone to give him some attention. Whenever I water the gardens he just waits like a puppy dog for Sam to come by and play with him, that's so funny!! After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with a banana I pedaled out to the rec for nearly 2 hours of pickle ball. Each day I've felt a little stronger so I've added a few moments to each workout and hopefully by next Tuesday when the rec re-opens I can get a full 2 1/2 hours of workout.

After pickle ball I stopped by the library for a couple reads and I just finished a good read titled I BEAT THE ODDS by the character who was the football player in the movie Blindside, Michael Oher. He has a remarkable story to tell before he was sort of adopted by a coach and his family at Ole Miss University. This should be a must read for all youths raised in the projects and for all folks on welfare; regardless of your skin color. He is one great example of personal responsibility and willingness to take charge of his life and not let his circumstances dictate his outcome. Great read especially for those youths who have been foster kids and who have a complete dysfunctional or lack thereof so called family. Many kudos to him!!!

I rode over to Amy and Tyler's to water their garden, pick a mess of green beans and and some lettuce. Their beans are doing very well and I need to get some bush bean seeds as all of a sudden my 1/2 runners aren't looking great. Must be something in the soil their lacking of course they are a northern bean and I'm trying to acclimate them to the hot south. That could be the reason all of the blooms are falling off.

We had a fresh garden salad for lunch and my oh my is that ever tasty; all of the ingredients are home grown except for the 'maters. After lunch we chilled reading, napping and talking on the phone to family and friends in the cool and cold north. Seems the Ross and Everett Families will have a white Christmas but the rest will just be cool and of course we will probably turn the a/c on as it supposed to be in the 80's here with bright sunshine and blue skies, oh well!!!

Nancy spoke with her dad and he is about the same health wise and still grumpy. They took him to the doctor as his blood sugar is out of whack again and his feet are swollen as well; but he is talking about eating which is his favorite thing to do so he is hanging in there for now. Keep him and the rest of the family in your prayers and thoughts.

Well Nancy and I want to wish the very best to our family and friends and may you know the peace and contentment that comes with knowing the "reason for the season" and that is GOD'S gift to us in the birth of a babe named JESUS. That is truly one gift you must accept for with it comes all kinds of blessings in many forms and one that allows or requires you to share this gift with others. May the peace and love that is a blessing be upon all of you, LATER

Thursday

2011-12-23T06:12:00.002-05:00

Well today was another busy day with the 6 AM fowl wake up. The morning started out much the usual with my quiet time, a bowl of oatmeal then a ride to the rec on the bike for some pickle ball. It was in the 60's and quite pleasant with the Eastern sky showing signs of day break. I think today was the winter equinox; meaning the shortest day of the year and each day will get progressively longer until June 21st which is the longest day of the year or the summer equinox. Wow I am looking forward to the days getting longer as that means Spring isn't too far away and we can head to our mountain cabin once again.

We had a small crew for pickle ball once again but enough players to make for some good constant play with lots of wet shirts in evidence. I'm still limiting myself to about an hour and a half for this week as I can feel the fatigue setting in after that amount of time. I hope to be back to the full 2 1/2 hours of play after the Christmas break and then get ready for the Good Life Games in early 2012. I stopped by the library for a couple reads before heading home to work outside in the yard, roof and gardens the rest of the morning. I took my leaf blower and cleaned the roof and gutters of leaves and sticks from the 2 big oaks that surround the house; then I mowed and mulched all the debris for the gardens then I hand watered. It was nearly lunch time when I finished and we ate leftovers.

After lunch Nancy made a grocery store run for last minute goodies for Christmas breakfast. I chilled and read the rest of the afternoon and took a cat nap under the nice breeze that was blowing in through the spare bedroom window. Yikes was it ever nice with temps in the middle 70's and the cool breeze from under the big oak. Our friend and neighbor called that she was involved in a crash with her new car and wanted my opinion on what to do and the results the investigating officer of the crash determined. Seems she was at fault according to his investigation but failed to take in a mitigating circumstance presented by the other vehicle that according to witnesses was speeding. I gave her my expert opinion and had her measure the skid marks so we can determine a minimum speed for the other vehicle and then base that on the crush damage and final rest for both vehicles. This calculation may help her with her court case as well as liability.

I picked fresh lettuces, kale, beet greens and a pepper along with some herbs and made a huge salad for supper that we added a grilled chicken breast on top, wow was that ever dewisheous. We spoke with our mountain buddies The Dalton's and wished all of them a Merry Christmas. We learned Kallie had smooched her dad into letting her get another cat as their previous cats had been killed and that Caleb had out killed his dad with deer so far this season. He killed a beautiful buck the other day and I think that made 4 for him and 3 for his dad. That's where we get our dewisheous deer meat. I hope Gerald is keeping the deer on our side of the county thinned out as they have become a nuisance at times in my garden and flower beds.

Well seems the weather in the mountains has been rather nice with temps up into the 50's during the days; that's not bad at all as the Midwest is under winter warning again as well as the northeast. We are having unseasonably warm temps and the garden loves it; however I'm afraid the humidity is starting to become a factor once again so that means the windows closed and the a/c back on probably on Friday. The nights cool down into the 60;s which is not bad but the moisture in the air makes it sticky.

Not much else going on except her folks are about the same at brother Eric's place in Michigan. It seems they have settled in nicely and his condition is still about the same although he loves to eat and has remarked on the good tasting deer meat they prepare that's killed on their property. Grandson Philip is quite the hunter and keeps them in fresh red meat which in our opinion is the best for you and your health. Amy and the kiddos are having a fun time with Tyler's family in Kansas and they have another week before heading back. LATER

Wednesday

2011-12-22T06:18:00.002-05:00

Well it was another busy day with gorgeous winter weather for Florida; highs in the low 80's and low in the 60's, yikes is that ever nice. We spoke with Amy and the grand kids in Kansas and boy is it ever cold there with snow everywhere. The kids are having a grand time yet Amy attracted a cold. Nancy and I are finally getting over our coughing and head colds, I'm back to feeling almost 100%. I'm still only working out about an hour and a half on the pickle ball court daily.

The morning started with my usual fowl wake up; you know that rooster is missing Sam so much that he let Nancy pet him yesterday through the fence, he is over there where Sam usually pets him every time we go into the back yard. Who would have thought roosters make pets as he use to show signs of aggression when we came near the fence. After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal I headed out on my bike for the rec and pickle ball.

We had a small gang yesterday for pickle ball with only a couple players the first half hour but eventually ended up with 7 players before I headed out around 9 AM. I had a good workout and I still can feel the effects of the drain on my endurance from that cold. The play was grand with long rallies and some super points and I had a sweat in no time. The Christmas holidays have taken many players away and the rec will be closed next Monday. We usually lose 2 days of play because of the holidays but this year only the Monday after Christmas and the Monday after New Years.

After the rec I set sprinkler on the back garden while we got ready to head out to Nancy's folks. I cleaned out the gutters and she picked some navel oranges, they are the best eatin' oranges around. I'm been trying to eat at least one a day as well as a grapefruit thrown in as well a couple times a week. After leaving there we stopped at Aldi's for some items we need for our breakfast casserole on Christmas morning as we will entertain our son Bobby and family, the Botbyle's and Carole's mother, Jessie. It will be a little lite in attendance as Nancy's folks are always here as well. We usually don't have Bobby's family as its such a long drive for them but this year Jill's folks want them for dinner instead of breakfast so we will swap off, plus we will have our Christmas with them here that morning as well.

I headed over to Amy and Tyler's to water their garden and check on the house and all seems well. After those stops we came back for a fresh garden salad for lunch then we chilled the afternoon reading and catching up on some bill paying. We had some great news from our friends and fellow church goer's about the health of their about to be born baby girl. The doctors detected a heart ailment which would require immediate surgery to save her life after her birth. Well we started a prayer chain for little Kayla and when she entered this world the doctors were amazed she was well and this heart problem was gone. To GOD be the glory is all I can say and miracles do happen.

Well not much else is going on except we had one of our favorite vegetables for supper last night, fried eggplant garnished with all kinds of herbs, Yumm!! We made a meal of that only then took a walk in the hood afterwards, it was that nice out. LATER

A few garden pictures

2011-12-21T16:05:00.004-05:00

That beautiful Red Hawk is watching from the power line over my garden in the back yard, sure wish he had a taste for squirrels as they reek havoc in my garden and yard. Check out the brocolli, collards , swiss chard, pole beans(1/2 runners), beets and lettuce. Those green peppers taste just like bell peppers, but look like jalapeno's and are easier to grow. Those shots are from just one side in the back garden.

Tuesday

2011-12-21T06:18:00.002-05:00

Well once again the day turned out to be just another typical winter day in Florida although the humidity is on the rise. It was into the low 80's with lots of sunshine and blue skies. The Ross Family(Amy and Tyler) are in the midst of a severe winter storm in western Kansas with below zero temps and snow everywhere, there were pictures of the kids having fun in the snow on Face Book.

After the usual morning wake up from the rooster next door I did my quiet time then had a bowl of oatmeal with a banana before riding out to the rec for an abbreviated workout on the pickle ball court. I'm still not completely over this cold so I still want to workout but just not for 2 1/2 hours. I dropped by the library on the way home and checked on some books I had ordered.

I spent the next hour outside working in the garden; watering, pulling weeds and hoeing. The garden is really starting to produce and I picked only our lettuces for a fresh garden salad for lunch. The only thing store bought was the tomato's. I have plenty of green ones but they are slow ripening for some reason, actually the reason is the lack of direct sunlight due to the large oak tree in the back yard. Oh well!!

Nancy took off to due some last minute Christmas shopping and I read. Not much else is going on around here except its awful quiet with out the kiddos being here most everyday for lunch. I grilled a nice piece of Salmon for supper and we had fresh broccoli from the garden as well as red potato's. Yumm, good eatin'!! Not much else is going only except she spoke with her dad as he is doing O.K. as he is once again complaining about everything, usually that indicates he is having a good day.

Nancy and I are going over to their house on Wednesday to clean out the gutters and pick some of their navel oranges. I've been eating at least one orange or grapefruit daily since I started having these cold symptoms. After leaving there we will head over to Amy and Tyler's and water their garden as well and once again pick beans. LATER

Monday

2011-12-20T06:16:00.003-05:00

Once again we had a bright sunshine day with temps in the 50's to start the day and eventually reached the upper 70's. A strong northeastern breeze was evident for most of the day keeping just enough of a chill in the air to make it pleasant even in the direct sun. After my morning quiet time and a navel orange and a banana I pedalled out to the rec for the first time since last Tuesday for some pickle ball. It was good to stroke the ball again and I had some good play for about an hour and a half before I decided to call it a day. I'm still not back a 100% as I'm still showing some minor effects of the upper respiratory infection that came as a result of a cold. It was good to see most all the players and I felt welcomed back.

I stopped off at the library and picked up a couple reads before heading home to hand water the gardens. I then headed over to Amy and Tyler's to put out their garbage and to water their garden as well. I picked about a pound or so of green beans and were they ever beautiful. I did find where some creature was eating the beans laying on the ground and discovered a fat cut worm the size of my little finger chopping away. Well I took care of him and looked for others. I'm sure there are others but they are so hard to pick out from the soil and mulch.

Nancy and I had an early lunch then got ready to take her dad's car to be serviced where he wanted it serviced then we headed to Sam's club to pick up a few items we were out of; plus we needed to kill some time while the car was being serviced. After shopping Nancy dropped me off to drive the car back to her folks house then we headed for her doctors appointment because she too had the runny nose, coughing and watery red eyes. Actually she was beginning to feel better the longer she was out in the air but the Dr. prescribed a Z pack for her as well so we stopped off at CVS to fill that need before stopping by the post office to mail some last minute cards.

I had taken out a pack of deer tenderloin for supper and we fixed that with those fresh green beans from Tyler's garden and wow was that ever dewisheous. I cut the meat in little bite size pieces then sauteed it in a pan with garlic, onions and olive oil. After browning the meat we added beef bullion and a cup or so of water and the green beans and brought to a boil. We had a pot of white rice on the side and then spooned the meat and beans over it with a little soy sauce, Yikes it that ever good, quick and easy to fix. I still say deer meat is the best red meat you can eat its so clean and has no fat at all. Once again thanks to our mountain friends The Dalton's and especially Andy for his superb method of dressing and preserving the meat. Betsy came by and had a bowl of it and was surprised at how great tasting the dish was as well.

We spoke with our mountain mom, Helen for awhile then Nancy's folks in Michigan. Her dad is about the same and we learned that The Ross Family is getting a blizzard in western Kansas. Sam and Ava will get to see snow for Christmas and we saw a darling picture of Sam in his great grand father Sonny's tractor out on the farm feeding his cattle; both of them had great smiles and I'm sure Sam is having the time of his life as he loves anything that makes noise, especially trucks and tractors.

Well my cold is about gone with just an occasional hack from deep within the lungs plus I'm feeling much stronger. I will try to get in another hour or so play each day this week on the pickle ball court. Did I mention I've harvested 8 beautiful plate size heads of broccoli from my garden this past couple days. The bad thing about that crop it comes to a head all at one time so it looks like we will eat that again tonight. The tomato plants are loaded with green tomato's but no ripe ones yet and the lettuce is as well producing plenty. LATER

Sunday

2011-12-19T05:59:00.002-05:00

What an awesome day to take time to honor GOD by gathering to give our worship, our thanks and an offering. Bobby had a right on message and the music left you in tears of joy. Wow and besides our house church decided to help out a young family who had their Christmas shattered by unexpected car repair expenses. What a blessing to help out and see the disbelief and unexpected relief on their faces; once again confirming the saying it is better to give than receive.

The morning started out with cool temps down into the 50's and stayed rather chilly in the shade most of the day especially when out in the open breeze. We rode with our neighbors and friends Dan and Carol to Element for worship then afterwards headed over to Plant City to look for a restaurant for lunch. Well we had no idea about one certain eatery we knew of by name but was unable to find it but did see a sign for Fred's Home Cooking in Plant City proper. Well I must say they need more signs for tourist but the locals know where to go and they were there in droves. This place had the best tasting, food except for how "your momma use to make it" I have ever eaten. Yikes, even though it was a buffet the variety was endless and when you see local folks standing a 1/2 hour or more in line to to be seated should right away say something. We stayed and our waitress was the splitting image of our sweet niece Halley Jo right down to her mannerisms; it was uncanny causing Nancy and I comment about her several times. Needless to say we brighten her Christmas as well in Halley's name with a nice tip; but the food was out of site with the seasoning coming from a seasoned Southern cook. The restaurant while nothing fancy on its furnishings was remarkable in taste and variety as well as were its customers. What a mix of the races and when you have tons of mixed folks and some big enough to be the entire football line for the Bucs you know the food is good and plenty.

Well from the soup to the dessert it was the best tasting meal I have ever eaten out at a buffet. I even tried 2 desserts; peach cobbler and I brought a brownie covered in whip cream with a glaze of nut sauce for Nancy and she was too full so I had 2 desserts it was that tasty. They even give seniors a buck off and a discount if you clean your plates so there was no waste from our plates as it was that good. They even had fried green tomato's that where crispy, dewisheous!!!

Afterwards we headed to their blueberry winery to pick up their case of wine they get every couple months. The wine is very good as we have tasted it before but we were unaware Florida was such a great place for growing blueberries. We had an ice slushy made from blueberry wine and it was very tasty. The winery is small but their tasting room was very busy and we hope in the month of February when they are scheduled for their next case pickup we may stop before heading to Fred's for lunch and do some tasting.

Well Nancy's head cold seemed be getting progressively worst as the day wore on so we skipped the 6 PM cantata at SFBC and stayed close to home. She spoke with her folks up in Michigan and her dad was about the same. He was complaining so we knew he was doing as well as can be expected. Lots of the other grand kids along with their kids came by for a visit many of which he had never seen before so that was good for him. He has really filled up with fluids in the past 2 weeks, gaining over 25 pounds but he refuses to go to the hospital and wants to stick it out at home. He still is eating and able to sit in a wheelchair so that good and we even have a picture of him smiling with one grandson.

We just stayed home for the evening; me watching an upset win by the Chiefs over the undefeated Packers and then watched the Broncos and Tebow let a 16-7 lead slip away and lose to the Patriots. We then watched the Survivor finale up to the live show. I will have to check the website to see who won.

Well I'm hoping to get back on the pickle ball court this Morning(Monday) as it been 5 days since I last worked out and I need to start letting some air out of this spare tire around my middle. LATER

Saturday

2011-12-18T07:06:00.002-05:00

Once again another warm beautiful sunshine day with blue skies and a cool gentle breeze with temps in the low 80's. Thankfully the humidity is no where to be found. The garden is loving this weather especially the dark green leafy vegetables.

The morning was another laid back time with sleeping in after "big mouth" next door did his crowing. Nancy has acquired my congestion so she is stopped up in the sinus's and has a tickle in the throat as well but no fever. It seems the Z pack along with no workouts have helped me get over this crud as well. Little Sam shared his runny nose well as we think that's where it came from.

I drove Amy and Family to the airport for their flight to Kansas around 11:00 AM but they were in for a long day especially Ava and Sam. Seems they had to lay over in Nashville before getting into Kansas City around 6 PM our time then another 5 hour drive to Hays by auto, sure was a long day for all of them. Sam and Ava did well on their flights as we were concerned because of his cold and his ears able to catch up with the pressurized plane. I remember many times in the USAF we had to take the cabin pressure back up so we could clear our ears by valsalvoing(holding your nose and blowing) and then keeping them clear while dropping in altitude especially when you have a head cold.

It was close to 80 when I dropped them off at the Delta departure gate and the temp in Hays, Kansas was 27, Yikes that will be a big contrast for them as Sam and Ava love to be outdoors. They will be gone until the 28th so they will have a nice visit with Tyler's family. I'll look after his garden as its doing quite well especially his bush beans, they are producing as well as his lettuce. After dropping them off I headed home and we had a bite of lunch then just chilled the rest of the day. I had a leaky valve in the shower so I took both valves out and replaced the seats on the end of the valve stems which thankfully took care of that problem. I then cleaned out some old files with tax forms from the early 2000's and shredded them making room for this coming next years forms.

Also received in the mail a notice that we Social Security recipients are getting a 3.6 % yearly cost of living adjustment; of course already they(govt) has raised our medicare insurance rate as well as all of the utilities will once again raise their rates. I wonder if this is a vote buying gimmick for this present administration to stay in power as we have gone 3 years without a COLA and now in an election year they decide to give us one. ALL politicians in my book are the lowest on the totem pole of folks with any influence.

Well I cut a couple more heads of broccoli from the garden and we steamed that along with some tater tots in the oven and a bratwurst for supper. Yumm!!! I got into watching the History channel about moon shining in Appalachia and its really an interesting show with the local volunteer fire chief as one of the moonshiners; kinda like a reality show that goes back to the beginning of our country. The show also takes the enforcement side as well from the govt prospective of all the tax money they are losing because of the 'shine being sold illegally. I'm ambivalent about who you want to succeed as shine making goes way back to the area where I grew up. My dad still has a jar of shine that was made back in the 30's and the newspaper article that surrounds the makers execution and the sheriff he shot and killed. This occurred just down over the hill from where I grew in Virginia, very interesting, by the way the shine is still crystal clear and looks like it was made yesterday after being over 80 years old.

Today is Sunday and we are getting ready to head over to Tampa for worship with son, Bobby at Element Church. We will get to love up on Annsley and Gabe as well.LATER

Friday

2011-12-17T07:41:00.002-05:00

Well once again another beautiful day for winter in Florida. The temps were up around the high 70's and down into the low 60's with lots of bright sunshine and blue skies. The humidity is tolerable so we still have the windows open but close then at nights. My congestion has eased and I feel almost back to normal and now Nancy has it in her head.

I laid around and rested most of the day reading while she went to her Friday morning Bible study. Amy brought Sam by for me to watch him while she attended a school function for Ava. We played cars and trucks and I read the same books he loves to listen too. We had lunch together after Ava and Amy came then Nancy had a hair appointment so everyone took off for their naps. I did the same after vacuuming as we were entertaining Dan and Carol for supper.

Nancy made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce using lots of my fresh herbs from the garden along with a little Italian sausage that has fennel in it, wow does that ever add to a great tasting sauce. I made a huge fresh garden salad using my; cukes, beet greens, kale, romaine,Bib and Simpson lettuces, basil and dill with a green pepper as well. The only store bought was a little spinach and cabbage. Yikes was that ever a great tasting salad. I have lots of tomato's but none are turning yet so we did without any red on top.

After supper we played Sequence which was different for us as there were just 4 players but we played the best out of 5 games and the gals won by hair in the 5th. With just 4 players the game really is fast and the board nearly fills up before any winners, actually makes for a good game. That's the first we had played since we played in the mountains in August.

Well we had some good news for our mountain friend Mechelle's ailment so continue to keep her as well as Nancy's dad in your thoughts and prayers. The doctor found the cause of her condition and it is correctable with surgery; her dad's heart is not functioning properly due to the fluid buildup but she spoke with him today and he seems to be in a better frame of mind.

Amy and her gang is heading to Kansas for Christmas on Saturday so we miss them for the holidays. They fly out Saturday afternoon so we will take them to the airport and say goodbye. I know Tyler's family is getting excited about seeing them and they won't recognize Sam as he has really grown up since they last saw him. He is jabbering away as well. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers for safe travel as well. LATER

Thursday

2011-12-16T08:01:00.003-05:00

Well the routine has slipped away due to this congestion in the chest and head. I've had a sore throat off and on but a little salt water gargling seemed to have taken that away daily. I think the real culprit was running the body down with too much daily activity, so I've rested the past 2 days and I'm starting to feel great once again along with taking some antibiotics Dr.K. called in for me. I actually think I picked up Sam's(grandson) cold a couple weeks ago and its taken that long to really hit me. During the pickle ball tournament a couple weeks ago I had a sore throat but with not a lot of severe discomfort. All of the home remedies worked up to a point until I needed to take some time off and rest and once again help the immune system to catch up. The riding home on the bike with a wet shirt after a 2 1/2 hour workout into a cold north breeze didn't help at all as well, oh well I forget I'm not a spring chicken any more.

I slept in even with the big mouth next door crowing his head off at 5 AM and spent the biggest part of the day either napping or laying on the bed reading. After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal and a grapefruit I did head out to the garden to hand water for an hour or so. Its really starting to produce but I'm disappointed in my 1/2 runner beans as they were just loaded with blooms and now only a few beans are actually growing, next time I'm going to stick with bush beans here in Florida as they always do great but they take up a lot of room. Amy brought me a hand full from Tyler bushes and they are beautiful and he planted his weeks after I planted my 1/2 runners. Oh well!!

The kids didn't come for lunch so Nancy and I made a quick trip to Sam's for some goodies. She made a great pasta dish with sauteed asparagus, mushrooms, garlic, capers in olive oil and spooned over Penna pasta, yikes was that ever good along with a fresh salad some of which came from the garden. After the kids had their baths they headed for home around 8:30 so I settled in to the Fox News channel and eventually the debates.

Well the weather has been very nice and its been typical Florida in the winter weather, LATER

Wednesday

2011-12-15T08:02:00.003-05:00

Well today was one of those rare days in my life where I laid around all day. Tuesday night I started coming down with a chest cold or congestion , although I felt good physically I knew from past experience not to drag my body down further by working out. So after sleeping in until 7:30 albeit I was awake at 5 because of the big mouth next door. After a cup of hot green tea and my quiet time Nancy fixed us a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and grits.

Well I spend the rest of the morning laying on the bed in the computer room; reading and resting. I did that until Amy dropped Sam off then I read him some books and we had lunch together. I felt pretty good except for the deep cough which had not progressed to the annoying stage yet. After a lite lunch and lots of fluids I headed back to bed and spent the biggest part of the afternoon there, napping and resting until Amy and the kiddos came for supper. She made one of my favorite soups;Italian bean soup. Wow was that ever dewisheous and we cleaned the pot along with some baked crescent rolls.

I had been loading up on garlic, Vit C and an antihistamine I found in the cabinet and that so far seems to be working. I think not doing any real physical activity like playing pickle ball saved me. After supper we had our house church coming over to write Christmas cards to prisoners in the Florida system. We had a list of 87 names so we sat around the table filling out the cards and addressing them. Nancy had put out a large plate of her fresh baked Christmas cookies as well as tea and coffee. We did that until nearly 9 PM. I did get to see the last couple minutes of Survivor and what a turn around.

We also in our house church discussed a young family who is struggling due to lots of car problems as they have a VW and it must be a lemon or else they have been taking it to poor mechanics so we are going to brighten their Christmas with some gifts and help. I received a call from my old buddy, Walt Hampton in Sparta about 9:30 and we talked for nearly an hour. He is suffering some health problems as well and of course a lot of that is due to age. His young cousin was critically injured in wrestling accident at school and is now at a rehab in Georgia and another neighbor of his was nearly beaten to death by a stranger(down off the mountain) illegally hunting on his land. At least "Squeak" our sheriff and friend caught this guy and he is in jail in Sparta. Walt and Theila both need some prayer's as she is having severe back problems as well.

Well I've rambled long enough for a guy who laid around most of the day, I didn't even go outside to check on the garden. The weather here is still decent with the a/c off and the windows open during the day. LATER

Tuesday

2011-12-14T07:45:00.002-05:00

The day started out much the usual with a fowl wake up around 5 AM, however I managed to tune him out until 6. After a cup of hot green tea and my quiet time I cut up a sweet navel orange picked from a neighbors tree; wow are they ever sweet and juicy then fixed my proverbial bowl of oatmeal with a banana before riding out to the rec. We had some of the best play we've had in many moons. There were 6 of us and for an hour and a half it was super play with long rallies. The wet shirts were everywhere. I stopped off at the library on the way home and probably should have brought a dry shirt to wear home as the wind was still blowing from the north and may have given me a chill. I started to cough a little through out the day and by bedtime I had some deep chest congestion.

Amy and the kiddos came for lunch and afterwards Sam and I played outside until it was time for them to head home for his nap. The girls once again were in the final day of their Christmas cookie baking. Sam and I sampled a couple through out their process as we rode tricycles, played with the rooster and looked for buggies. He has to have a stick in his hands at all times when outside. He and I have really bonded the last couple weeks and he is such a jabber box as he learns new words each day. The kids and I delivered several boxes of Nancy and Amy's cookies to the neighbors along with Christmas cards. They were so cute handing out the boxes and wishing them Merry Christmas.

I tried to nap after the kids left but I could feel some tightening in my chest and coughing was becoming a little more than I wanted. I started to think back a couple years ago when I over worked my body on the pickle ball court so I decided I would take Wednesday off from exercise and let my body catchup and fight this cough. The gang came for supper and I grilled pork chops and cut 2 fresh heads of broccoli from my garden, wow were they ever dewisheous and the taste is so much different than store bought. We also had buttered macaroni and a fresh toss salad, Yum!!

I read to Sam while the girls watched Avonlea then it was bath time for the kiddos and then off to their house for bed. I followed their lead and did the same thing and then watched Fox News, O'Reilly and dozed through Hannity before calling it a day. I slept fairly well with very little coughing as I found some antihistamines in the cabinet and chewed some extra Vit C. I sure will miss my pickle ball workout on Wednesday but because of the holidays coming up I don't want to take a chance of getting run down.

Nancy spoke with Diane(sister-in-law) who is taking care of her dad and mom in Michigan and the heart doctor stated his heart condition was going from bad to worse, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He is eating so that is a positive. Well I've rambled enough, LATER

Monday

2011-12-13T06:09:00.002-05:00

Well its hard to believe that Christmas is less than 2 weeks away and only 8 more days until the the shortest day of the year and then we can look forward to longer days as well. It was in the low 60's this morning, comfortable with just enough warm in the air to make my ride to the rec pleasurable. After my quiet time and the bowl of oatmeal with a banana i headed out for two plus hours of pickle ball. We had some great play for an hour or so before some of the less experienced showed up and then several of the guys left, oh well. I still got a good workout in.

I came home from the rec and hand watered the gardens and noticed a few beans finally starting to show up on my dozen or so 1/2 runner bean vines, they were just loaded with blooms put now the vines are turning a little yellow so I'm wondering whats missing in the soil. Beans or legumes don't need fertilizing as they make their own nitrogen so I will have to research that problem; anyhow the cukes are growing as well as are the tomato's setting lots of little green ones. The lettuce is nice and I've been adding it too our market bought lettuce but I'm just about ready to quit buying that as well. The squashes as well are setting fruit but the humidity is so hard on squash in Florida as there is a mildew that usually causes the fruit to rot at about an inch or so long. I hate too use any chemicals on preventing this but I believe a copper spray does the trick.

Amy dropped Sam off on her way home from the grocery and we played outside until lunch time. He loves that rooster and that keeps him entertained for 1/2 an hour or more while I work in the garden. After lunch we played cars and trucks, read and rough housed as he likes to wrestle. Nancy and Amy made cookies while she was here before taking the kiddos home for his nap. I think they made or Nancy did three different kinds today; buckeyes, an almond one with a nut in the center and a white powered sugary one. Wow there goes the spare tire!!!

The Payne's our good friends from SFBC and from the Galax, Va came by for some fresh picked collard greens. I gave them 2 grocery sacks from just 2 plants. He is having many of the same health problems Nancy's dad is having; however he is able to still get around with a cane but he is in need of your thoughts and prayers as well. Sarah Ann is doing great for a gal who just turned 80 and is thankfully able to care for him at this point. They visited for quite awhile and raved at Nancy's cookies. It was good to visit and share with them our collards as well the cookies.

Amy and the kiddos came for supper and we made taco salad with some refried beans, once again very yummy. We played after supper and I read books to Sam as he likes the books that make sounds of animals and vehicles. He imitates them so cute. I spoke with our mountain mom, Helen and she said it was 15 degrees there Sunday morning, yikes that is a bit nippy and we certainly don't miss that as we are opening our windows during the day once again. Well not much else for now, LATER

Sunday

2011-12-12T06:15:00.002-05:00

Well did we ever have a busy day that started with heading out to Tampa for worship at Element Church around 9 AM and ended with us returning back to Seminole around 9 PM.

After our quiet times and the usual bowl of oatmeal with fruit we met up with neighbors Dan and Carol and carpooled with them to Tampa. The worship music was awesome as well as was Bobby's message, afterwards we headed home and stopped at Subway for a lite lunch. We got home around 1:30 PM and then turned around to head out to the local nursing home where we pushed wheelchairs to a small church service. Dan spoke and Nancy led the singing. After the service we got ready to head over to pick up Amy and the kiddos to take them to Riverview where the gals met up with Jill and Annsley.

The gals took off to Brandon Mall and "build a bear" store where Ava and Annsley chose what stufferd animals they wanted all what clothes it had on, etc. A neat concept and its seems to be very profitable outlet. Bobby and I watched Gabe and Sam and a disgusting effort by the Bucs against another team with a record as bad as them and we made them look like a Super Bowl Team. I think the whole team should be fired after that showing; even die hard fans like us were disappointed in the lack of effort by the players and coaches.

I ate some of Bob's chili he made for a chili cook off with the house churches and which his was voted the best tasting and I must say it was dewisheous. Sam and I ate 2bowls it was that tasty. The gals got back around 7:30 and had pizza as well as tried the chili. Ava and Annsley each had their stuffed animals in little strollers and were so cute together.

Well it rained hard in Riverview and I'm not sure we got any in Seminole but the temps have stayed down a little so we still have the a/c off.

Just a little reminder of the date for getting any orders on line from Amway for Christmas, the 13 which is Tuesday is the last day for guaranteed delivery, also for those who don't know what to buy for folks who have everything or are hard to buy for the Ribbon Gits make an excellent gift as well. The recipient of the gift album chooses from about 30-40 different selections in each album and its mailed directly to them Free. Amway has a special(not from our team)that offers you and extra Ribbon Gift Album if you purchase 4 others. Not a bad deal!!! LATER

Saturday

2011-12-11T07:17:00.002-05:00

Well we had a fun and exciting day with lots of good down home eatin' and Christmas celebration with the grand kids. The morning started with the big mouth next door crowing at 4:45 AM. I managed to turn over and phase him out somehow and then slept in until 6:30. After our quiet times Nancy fried up the leftover oven taters and along with a couple cackleberries(eggs) we had a dewisheous breakfast. I had a fresh grapefruit prior to the plate of tater and eggs.

After breakfast and the cleanup we decided to run some errands so I took off for the Seminole Mall and GNC. I needed a couple supplements that Nutrilite doesn't carry then headed over to gas up Pap's car as we drove it to Riverview the night before then we stored it once again inside their garage. I once again set the timer on the living light in their house so as to make it look like someone is there. We came back and I watered the gardens and once again spread some ant poison on all the little ant hills in the back and front yard.

We picked at a few leftovers for lunch as we were eating big once again for supper. I spent the afternoon riding up to the library on the bike and then setting into reading. The sun had come out and warmed things up enough to make it comfortable. Nancy took off to make some pictures at CVS. She put a 8 pound roasting chicken in the oven for supper and got potato's ready for cooking as well as broccoli and cauliflower. We had all the kids presents out an under the tree for when they came at 5:30. Wow were they ever wired and excited. The supper was dewisheous and we all over indulged so much so we barely dented the chocolate cream pie. Some of us refrained completely but not me as that is one of my favorite desserts; albeit I just had a sliver, YUMMM!!!

It was a fun time watching the kids open their presents and they were of course were very thankful with their sweet little thank yous and Sam's "tank you". What cuties they both are. It will be quiet around here on Christmas without them and of course Nancy's folks. Bobby and his family will come for breakfast and we will give them their gifts then we will probably hook up with Dan and Carol for a quiet friendly supper and play some domino's or card games.

Well its time to get ready for church as its Sunday morning. Its overcast and in the 60's so that a nice temp. We go back over to Riverview this afternoon as Jill and Amy take the girls to the mall for "build a bear". Never heard of it but of course the kids all know about. Bob and I will watch Gabe and Sam and hopefully a little NFL football, LATER

Friday

2011-12-10T07:15:00.001-05:00

Well let the Christmas get togethers begin and the pumping up of the spare tire around my middle. First let me sau the weather has moderated and even this morning the temp was about 15 degrees warmer than yesterday. By the afternoon it was really nice with highs in the upper 70's and lots of sunshine but with a nice breeze and no stifling humidity. After the fowl wake up at 5 AM i managed to tune him out until 6 before rolling out to a hot cup of green tea, my quiet moments and then the proverbial bowl of boring oatmeal with a banana. I headed out about 7:20 for the rec on my(this was son Bobby's bike when he was kid) 20+ year old bike.

We had a good turnout with 2 courts going and lots of wet shirts, so the workout was a sucess. A couple guys are heading out for the season and will be gone several weeks as well as a couple are recouperating. I seem to have gotten over the trouncing last Saturday on the outside courts in Lakeland at the Senior Games. I will stick mainly to the inside play at the rec except for the outside play on the unique court at the Roaring Gap Club. That court is aluminun with a non skid surface and is completely different than the asphalt tennis courts, anyhow the 2 games(inside and outside) are completely different as well as the balls are constructed differently.

I stopped off at the library on my way home early to watch Sam as Amy was in a school meeting about where to send Ava for kindergarden and nancy had her Bible study at 10AM. Sam and I played outside in the backyard, he was having fun with the big mouth rooster while I fed my garden with some liquid Miracle Grow, then he rode tricycles and eventually ended up playing cars and trucks until his daddy came by to take him home. That Sam is becoming quite the jabber box and is just so cute. We will do our Christmas with them on Saturday as once again Tyler will be away with his job and they leave the next day he gets back for Kansas. They will spend Christmas with his family this year.

Nancy and I had a nice salad with left over chicken on top for lunch then we chilled until it was time to head over to Jill's folks(Brian and Susan)in Riverview for our annual domino/Christmas get together with them. We drove Pap's car so we could recharge the battery and give it a little work out since its not been used much since August. The traffic was awful with crashes and back ups on all the major interstates so we took a detour through Tampa and its still took us nearly 2 hours to go 50 miles, yikes come Spring. What am I complaining about as we are semi-snowbirds as well!!

The fod was very tasty with son Bob making a great bean soup with ham hocks; the ingredients were out of the normal realm but the taste was awesome. Lots of cold cuts, casseroles, dips, meat balls,etc as well as Nancy made her dewisheous chocolate with chocolate icing cupcakes(I had to refrain) for dessert. We managed about 3 rounds of double 15 dominos as the atmosphere was rather hectic with 3 grand kids on your laps and trying to get 10 adults to remember whose turn was next. We had a raucous time with Nancy once again creating impromptu lyrics to old melodies which had everyone in tears of laughter. She and Susan feed on one another and next year we are definetily separating the two of them, maybe into separate rooms as well.

It was nearly 11 PM before got back to Seminole, LATER

Thursday

2011-12-09T06:13:00.001-05:00

Well it was a memorable day for Paw Paw(dad) as he turned 84 today. He has the distinction of living the longest in our family. I called to give him birthday wishes and he was bowling with his other league members; wow I want to be able to do that when I'm his age.

The morning was cold ,brr for Floridians with temps in the low 40's and a stiff northern breeze, after my quiet time and usual bowl of oatmeal I headed out,yikes my eyes watered all the way to the rec while I rode my bike. We had a good turnout for pickle ball and the play was continuous for 2 plus hours. Afterwards I rode home against that cold strong wind and it quickly chilled me to the bone. Finally after lunch the wind died down and the bright sunshine began to warm things up until it reached the 60's. By evening it was calm and rather pleasant outside.

Nancy ran some errands and I chilled with a book after setting the sprinkler on the garden as it was too chilly to stand out there hand watering. I finished a great read about a couple from England who set off for the Amazon to explore. Interesting and it made me want to be there(except for the mosquito's), its titled OFF THE MAP by John Harrison. Amy and the kiddos went to the park to play with other classmates of Ava's and to have a picnic lunch so Nancy and I finished the veggie soup, wow was that ever good on a chilly day. She then made cupcakes to take to our annual domino party on Friday night. The kitchen smelled dewisheous and was rather toasty as well so much she opened the windows to cool the cakes so the icing wouldn't run off.

I caught up on some bills and correspondence while she walked the hood then we got ready for Amy and the kiddos coming for supper. Amy likes oven taters so I picked lots of fresh parsley and rosemary that are chopped up to make a coating on the taters that are coated first in olive oil, man that is some good etin' along with fresh Brussels sprouts in Dijon mustard and baked marinated chicken breasts, almost a chicken Kiev. After supper the kids and I played while the girls cleaned up then it was bath time and they were on their way home by 8 PM.

Nancy's dad came home from the hospital but it seems his health is deteriorating even more as he can no longer stand alone. Diane (sister in law) thought he has gone down hill even more since he came from from Florida about 2 weeks ago and her mom stated she knew she was unable to provide any care as well and did think she could maintain their Florida residence if and when they should be able to come back. Keep all of them in your thoughts and prayers.

Well not much else is going on except Tyler gets home this evening(Friday) from the D.C. area after being gone all week on job related business. He will be surprised at how much Sam's vocabulary has increased just this week, he is a little jabber mouth but oh so cute. LATER

Wednesday

2011-12-08T06:07:00.001-05:00

Well the day started with mild temps of in the 60's and reached the high 70's and closed out down into the high 40's, thats Florida winter weather. After an early wake up by the rooster next door I did my quiet moments of thanksgiving and reflection had a spot of hot green tea then a bpwl of oatmeal with a banana before riding out on my bike to the rec for a couple plus hours of pickle ball. We had once again a nice gang of 8 with mostly good players. The action was fast and furious and there were lots of wet shirts. Afterwards I headed home so Nancy and I could run some errands.

The baking era has about to begun as Nancy will make about a dozen different types of Christmas cookies that we will pass out in the neighborhood. Seems Wal-Mart has the best prices on these ingredients so we made a trip out to west Largo to the neighborhood store and then a trip to the new Aldi store in Seminole. They too have super low prices on the same ingredients as well. Its really surprising how much more we pay for the brand names only, anyhow we got back just in time as Amy and the kiddos came for lunch. We chowed down on the last of the vegetable soup then the kids and I played out in the backyard as the girls made a trip to TOYS R'US in the truck. Their great grand parents in Kansas sent the kiddos or Sam one of these large tables with trains for Christmas and it was too big for their cars to haul.

We played hide and seek, rode the trike and ended up sidewalk chalking just before the cold front headed our way. It clouded up and we got a nice rain shower then the wind picked up as well dropping the temp's 20 degrees in no time. We closed the windows and doors to preserve the heat in the house.Amy and the kiddos came for fried fish, yellow rice and I sauteed some fresh Swiss chard from my garden in olive oil and fresh garlic. My oh mY is that one of the best tasting side dishes ever; Sam loves it but Ava wouldn't touch it as she now has some of her daddy's texture dislikes. The meal was excellent and this fish we fry is called Swaii or Basra, depending on where you buy it. It has absolutely no fishy smell or taste and it fry's up so nice, again Sam ate with gusto and Ava liked that as well.

After supper we all headed up the Botbyl's house for our house church meeting and we put together jars of layered; dry milk, cocoa, sugar, chocolate morsels and marshmellows in a pint size jars with lids and a Christmas ribbon. We will had these out to our neighbors as a show of good will. The temps were really dropping as we left for home around 8:45. I finished the last 15 minutes of Survivor before heading for the showers and then to read before bedtime. Nancy spoke with her dad who is still in the hospital but they seem to have him stabilized for now and most of the pneumonia is gone as well. He is now on insulin due to his diabeties and the large swing in his blood sugar levels. He sounded upbeat and was hoping by the week end to be able to leave and come back to son, Erics house for more care.

Not much else is going on as this week end will be a busy one as we start to gear up for the Christmas season and the get together's with friends and families. Friday night we have our annual domino party with Jill's folks; Brian and Susan at their beautiful home in Riverview, of course there will be way too much great tasting snacks and dips plus a raucous game of chicken foot domino's. We always have a grand time with them and only wish they lived closer as that drive late at night is a sleepy one especially after such good eatin'.

Guys and gals just an update on the ICOOK products from Amway; don't forget this offer of purchase $300 worth of goodies and get the knifeware set valued at $350 Free and as an added bonus I will send you another $100 of your choice of Free jewelry to the first customer as well. All shipping is Free as well and if you want these products for Christmas gifts make your order before the 13th of Dec.

Also if any of you need a tax write off of charitable donations I have a need for pledges or just contributions to the New Beginings Youth Homes in St.Petersburg, Fl. The 2 houses are for runaway or/an abused girls ages 12-18. The director was herself a runaway at the early age of 14 and now has become full circle resigning herself to help these girls who have no place to go where they can feel safe. Check out the website at http://nbyouthhomes.org/tables.html, LATER

Tuesday

2011-12-07T06:05:00.001-05:00

Well it was a long day starting with the fowl wake up around 5:00 AM, I managed to roll over and shut him out until nearly 6. I then did my quiet time and wrote this post before heading out on the bike for a couple hours of pickle ball at the rec. We had a small crowd to start with then reached about 10 players before they all dwindled down to 4 players by 10 o'clock. I then headed home to do some major gardening.I transplanted and thinned out some Bib lettuce, fertilized and hand watered until it was nearly lunch time.

Nancy and Amy had gone to Target for some shopping as they are getting ready to head for Kansas for the holidays. Now that Nancy's folks are in Michigan and Bobby's family is coming for Christmas breakfast this year we will have a rather small crowd for supper. We had even entertained the thought of making a fast trip to the cabin for a week or so after Christmas Day but the thought of getting snowed in squelched that rather quickly, especially with some rather cold and snowy weather on the way there as I write. Thursday for us is in the 60's for a high and down once again into the 40's at night. Time to cut the a/c off and once again open the windows.

Amy and the kiddos came for lunch and afterwards the kiddos and I played outside in the back yard. It was rather nice with a warm gentle breeze around 80 degrees. It felt as if the humidity was lessening and was down right nice even at that temp. The skies were clear with bright sunshine. It was going on 2 PM before they headed out for their naps and I needed to take a shower as we were heading to Bobby's to watch their kiddos for the evening as I knew it would be late when we got home.

We headed out around 3 PM and the road construction and traffic was just horrible, you can tell all of the "snowbirds" are back from up north. We took a short cut through Tampa because the interstate during rush hour is packed plus we wanted to stop at their Sam's Club near their residence off of Big Bend Road. We picked up a rotisserie chicken and a few other items which will save us a trip this week to our local one. This Sam's is brand new and huge and the lay out is great. We had a half hour or so to spare so we shopped around before heading just 10 minutes up the road.

Annsley and Gabriel were excited to see us and we had a super fun time. Gabe loves to play ball and of course Annsley is into her make believe world. Bob and Jill did dinner at P.F.Changs in Tampa(we have never been there) for Chinese cuisine and got back to the house around 9:30. I was starting to yawn as I have been turning the lights around 10 PM as 5-6 AM comes early. We got home around 10:30 so I had little to do before hitting hay. We had a fun time and Bob's little garden is doing great especially his tomato's. I picked a handful of cherry tomato's as his is really producing. I have several set on my plants but nothing like his as he gets full sun all day.

Well tomorrow(today as I write this post)is an infamous day in our history when in 1941 the Japanese Air Force bombed our Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This action drew us (U.S.) into WWII. Take a moment and remember all those and their families who died on that day for our country. I have been to that infamous site where several ships lay at the bottom of the ocean with many of the sailors on board,still entombed in that watery grave. Its a very touching site with oil still bubbling to the surface from those ships sunk so long ago, least we never forget much like 9-11. We of all nations have done so much good for so many people have such scars to remind us there are folks out there who don't like our way of life. We must be vigilant for our children and grand children and we must re-evaluate those who we elect to lead our land and keep us safe from such atrocities and never apologize for being a nation that is a beacon of hope for many in this world. Having travelled to many places in the world and mingled with the common ordinary folk, America is still the beacon of Liberty for all. LATER

Monday

2011-12-06T06:15:00.001-05:00

Well the humidity came back and with the temps in the middle 80's we once again closed up the windows and turned the a/c on. Here its December and we have the a/c on, whats wrong with that picture especially when our mountain friends have the heat on and are complaining about the cold winter weather.

The morning started out with a rooster serenade, then my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal before pedalling out to the rec on my bike for a couple hours of pickle ball. I was really glad to be back inside the gym as the outside play is totally different, I love the power game whereas the outside play with the different ball allows you only to play the "dink and dunk" rallies, plus the asphalt courts seemed to put added stress on my knees. I woke up Sunday morning with an ache in my right knee and it was a little tender Monday morning as well. Eventually it went away and it seems to be back to normal for now.

I hand watered the garden after my workout while Nancy took off for her walk through the hood. The weight room is under renovation at the rec so all the treadmills are down until next week end. It was a rather nice day until late evening when Nancy started getting a warm so we closed the house up. She had made a big pot of vegetable beef soup for supper as Amy and the kiddos came to eat with us. I'm sure the hot soup which was dewicheous added to her discomfort. After the kids had their baths they headed out around 7:30; I was bushed after reading and playing with them at lunch and then again for supper, plus I missed my afternoon nap as we ran errands after they left for their naps after lunch.

Well not much else is going on except her dad seems to be improving especially with the blood sugar regulation. We spoke with him in the hospital and his voice seemed much stronger as well as his demeanor, Thanks for your prayers for him, LATER

Sunday

2011-12-05T06:14:00.001-05:00

Well it was not our usual day as Nancy has some pain in her tummy and she was afraid she might be catching the bug that has touched many in her family; especially the ones who were at the rehab facility before leaving for Michigan. Sister Betsy, her mom and dad and even Amy has some form of a bug with upchucking and diarrhea. We thought it best to stay away from all for a day or so. We did our quiet times and then chilled relaxing in the warm sunshine and gentle breezes. I hand watered the gardens after a yummy breakfast of French toast and eggs then settled in with a book until the NFL came on at 1 PM. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and watching some football.

I must say our team the BUCS lived up to their billings and once again got beat by a team with a worst record than us, the Panthers(luckily for us it was blacked out locally on TV). I must say I like Tim Tebow and he showed once again he is the real deal with a team that has minimal talent; but they won. The Packers are also the real deal with a great team effort and its looks like they will GO ALL THE WAY(Howard Cosell saying).I see them winning the Super Bowl again.

We just picked for a lite lunch then Nancy boiled a kielbasa in beer for supper along with a fresh garden salad and tatter tots. Once again after the cleanup I watched a little football and read. Today was just a relaxing day after the stressed fill week with her folks going to Michigan and her dad being admitted to the hospital in Ann Arbor. He is doing a little better as she spoke with him by phone. His blood sugar is out of balance and there is some pneumonia in the lungs so he is in ICU there. This is a teaching hospital and one of the best in the country. Please keep all of them in your thoughts and prayers.

With this new phone system we have been catching up on our chatting with friends around the country as well as with family in Michigan. Its so nice to hear their voices so Nancy has had the "wires on fire". We spoke with mountain mom Helen and she has a bad cold and is off to see the doctor tomorrow, she sounded bad with a deep infection in her chest and throat, keep her in your thoughts and prayers also, we also spoke with our old neighbor and friend Ray Todd in the mountains, seems he is getting ready to have another back surgery due to ruptured disc's which has him in constant pain. He said its been cold there with some snow last week but today was sunny and in the 40's.

Well that's about it here except just a note on the garden. I have broccoli heads forming along green beans a couple inches long as well as a few cucumbers starting to form. The greens and lettuces are complimenting our salads and are doing well and we are using all of the herbs now as well. I have lots of small green tomato's and peppers as well also. The squash is blooming as well are the sugar peas. Looks like healthy eatin' in the next few months if the freeze stays away. Later

Saturday

2011-12-04T07:54:00.001-05:00

Today was a long day much of it spent waiting on the sidelines waiting to play in the pickle ball tournament in Lakeland, Florida which was a little over an hour drive from Seminole. My pardner in the men's doubles at 65-69 bracket picked me up at 7AM as we had an 8:30 check in. The area of the tournament was very nice and the tournament director had converted 8 hard surface tennis courts into pickle ball courts with movable temporary nets.I would guess there were close 150 players in attendance as this was billed as the Senior Life Games for Florida. There were teams from through out central and southern Florida. Many had motor homes and campers as well as stayed in motels for the 3 day events. We were unaware we could have checked on line for our purported starting times to play in the event as we were slated for a noon start.

We sat and warmed up several times through out the morning thinking we were going to be called to play. It was finally around 1:30 when we got on the court for our first match in the double elimination play. Let me interject this was an outside tournament using outside pickle balls. The outside game is totally different from the inside play in a gym. The balls are different as well. The inside game that we play 5 days a week is a power game where there are lots of slams, long power rallies and no interference from the elements(sun, wind and debris that blows onto the court). Well did we ever have to change our tactics from a power game to a dink and dunk style play and the first match was a disaster for us 11-4 and 11-1 loss to a team that played second to the national champs in Arizona a couple weeks ago. This team never plays indoors and plays together ALL the time. Needless to say we were not only humiliated but discouraged as we headed to the losers bracket, which meant we had at least one more match too play before we could head home with our tails between our legs.

We luckily had brought a couple power energy bars and there were bananas to eat supplied by the tournament as well as sliced oranges for later in the day. But we never left for any lunch as we were waiting to be called. We saw some very good outside play but I think I will say with the indoor play for now especially for any future tournaments. I remember several of the players who come to our tournament with the Good Life Games and they grumbled about never playing inside, the type of balls and the scoring. The two games are completely different in the style of play. The only similarly is the paddles and the folks must be over 50 to participate. We met some some really interesting and nice people and we were sympathized with when all found out we had never played outside.

The second match we played found us around 4 PM start. We lost the first set at 11-8and won the second 11-4. We were finally starting to refrain from our power game and because of the wind began to dink and dunk. I think we wore our opponents down as we came from behind to win 15-13 in the third set so that meant another match. This time we were to play a 15 point game with the winner moving on to the Bronze medal round(third place). We were ahead 8-2 then fell apart losing 15-9. So we were out of the tournament and just as well as it was really getting late and we had just about had it with having to wait so much in between rounds. It was an experience playing and watching some really good players both men and women. It was after dark when we finally got back to Pinellas County. We were both a little hungry, wind and sun burned and glad we had the chance to play in an outdoor tournament.

Just a note that Nancy's dad is back in the hospital in Michigan, this time its his blood sugar among other maladies so he will need some extra prayers. LATER

Friday

2011-12-02T19:14:00.001-05:00

Well it wasn't quite as cool this morning as it has been and it really warmed up to the middle 70's by the afternoon. The morning was much the usual after the fowl wake up, quiet time and then a bowl of oatmeal before riding out to the rec for about an hour and half of pickle ball. I cut my workout short as I'm heading to Lakeland in the morning for a pickle ball tournament with Rick. Rick and I have played together in tournaments before and the lowest we have ever scored is second place, so hopefully we will have a good day. This tournament is being played outside and they use a different ball and it will be a first for Rick as we are use to playing inside with a constant atmosphere.

After the rec I headed home to work in the garden while Nancy was at her old Bible study class at SFBC. It had been a while since she was last there on her weekly Friday class and now that she is free from running around for her dad she can get back to her weekly class. I chilled and read until Amy came for lunch with Sam. Ava was still at school having lunch there with her classmates. After eating I took Sam and Ava outside to play on the sidewalk with the trike and we had a grand time. Same loves to ride on the back of the trike while Ava pedals, they are just so cute together and Sam calls her A's.

After Amy left for the kids nap Nancy took off to run some errands for her folks and Tyler called me about driving with him to pick up their car that was being re-window tinted in St.Pete. Seems the window tinting for the Civic had a life time warranty and the old tint was peeling after 11 years and the company redid the whole car for free. Now that is standing behind your warranty. Any wasn't feeling well so I took off with Tyler to drive the other car home. She eventually got sick and barfed a couple time; sure hope what she has isn't contagious.

Nancy was out walking the 'hood when I got home and had stopped off to visit with Carol on her way home. They decided we should go out and eat, so we did. We headed over to Carmelitas Mexican Restaurant which use to be one of our favorites but it had been awhile since I was last there. It wasn't quite as good as when we were last there or remembered but it filled the tummy. After getting home we first decided to play some cards but cancelled out due to Dan pulling a muscle in his back at work today. I'll just take it easy and get ready for the drive to Lakeland for the tournament tomorrow morning as we will leave here around 7 AM. LATER

Just a business update for Amway: our team leaders are offering ICOOK which is a line of cookware and cutlery for this month. If you purchase at least $300 of the merchandise in the ICOOK line they will send you Free a $350 value set of knifeware cutlery. Wow I've seen these knives and are they ever top of the line. The first customer who orders this merchandise will also get to choose Free a $100 of your choice of jewelry. Also all shipping is Free for orders over $120 and ALL Jewelry orders are always Free as well. Take advantage and if your orders are for Christmas presents make sure you place your orders by the 13th of December.

Thursday

2011-12-02T06:00:00.004-05:00

Well today was sort of a relax and do not much of anything day for Nancy except she and I did put up the Christmas tree and she sort of unwound by decorating it. After our morning fowl wake up I did my quiet time then had a bowl of oatmeal with a banana before pedalling out to the rec for some 2 plus hours of pickle ball. Wow was it ever nippy at 49 degrees and a stiff northern breeze. We had 5 players initially and that made for some great play with lots of wet shirts. I stopped off at the library before heading home. We decided since Amy wasn't coming for lunch we would run to Sam's Club then stop at her folks place and do a few chores as we have no idea when they will return from Michigan.

Speaking of Michigan it seems her folks have settled in nicely with son Eric and family and even Pap's demeanor has improved albeit his health isn't great especially his renal failure. There is supposed be another doctor's opinion about his condition and if he will need dialysis. Nancy spoke with them late in the evening and it seems getting this new phone system gave us unlimited long distance calling, so that is a blessing in disguise. Anyhow we came home and finished up the leftover grilled chicken on a salad for lunch, YUMM!!

Nancy took off for a long walk as the temp's really got nice outside; around 70 with lots of bright sunshine. I sat in the sun on the front front reading then did some paper work(businessman that I am)for the up coming special of the month for December. I will send all and e-mail as soon as I receive it from our team leaders. I then got all of the Christmas decorations down from the attic so we could get in the spirit but it is just not quite there yet with all the stress from her dad's illness. This goes back to last year as we traveled home(Florida) from the cabin several times during the summer and this year we spent a total of 10 weeks at the cabin because of his health. Nancy has constantly been the one to drive them everywhere and look after their daily needs so now its kind of a relief but at the same time a void and of course concern for both of her parents health; both physically and spiritually.

I baked a frozen pizza for supper as we ate good for lunch and neither of us was in the mood after cooking big meals the past 5 nights with all the family gathering together for her folks departure. We just chilled after watching FOX News and I read until it was shower time. I did manage to watch a little of the Mountaineers put a whupping on the Bulls at Tampa Stadium. LATER Just a note from the picture of the tree is the difference in the lighting on the top and bottom half. The bottom half are new led lights we purchased today at Sam's and the top half are our older lights, interesting!!!

Wednesday

2011-12-01T06:12:00.001-05:00

Well lots of changes took place today, but first the morning found me awake early much before the rooster next door. After my quiet time and a bowl of oatmeal with a banana I got ready to head out to the rec for an hour and half of pickle ball. The cable man was coming back between 8:30-9:00 AM to finish the job he started on Tuesday, so I cut short my workout. Nancy was getting ready to drive her mom amd brother to the rehab and reunite with her dad for the trip to the Tampa Airport and eventually make their way to the Detroit, Michigan area.

The weather changed drastically here overnight and as the day progressed it cooled off even more. A strong northern wind was drying things out with a deep gray overcast so not only was it cooler but it looked like a typical cold winter day. I closed all the windows and even put on long pants and long sleeve shirt, yikes this is Florida. It was in the 50's and supposed to maybe reach the high 40's overnight, so that was a change.

The next big change is we now have a land line(that works), new internet service and of course too many TV channels but the bundled price was cheaper than what I was paying separately. I cancelled Verizon with relish but they had no concern that I had been without service for nearly 6 full days, so I'm through with them. I understand their service is available in the mountains for cell phone service but since we have local service there I don't need them, so I will stick with my simple Tracfone that works there as well and mucho cheaper.

Nancy took her sister Betsy to TIA to say good-bye to her brother and folks and to assist with some of their luggage, that was a story in an of its self but the folks got off and the girls got back to the rehab to retrieve some personal effects left and to thank the gals who assisted their father while he was a patient. I read and got up on some business matters. Thursday starts a new month and there are just 24 days to Christmas. FedEX came by the house and dropped a huge box from oldest sister Josie, she must have forgot we had made a pact to not ship presents back and forth, Oh well. She is always the first to do her shopping and is very thoughtful and generous as well; what she needs is some grand children but it doesn't look as if that's going to happen anytime soon. Thanks Josie(Sharon)!!!

We ate leftovers for supper as we have had family dinners every night since as far back as I can remember this past week. What a year it has been with her dad's health issues and trying to find a place for him to receive 24/7 care. He wasn't pleased about the move to Michigan but at least he will be with family and if only now he would appreciate and be a little humbled by all the sacrifices that has been done for him. This move will make life a little easier for GG and hopefully give her some peace and rest. LATER

Tuesday

2011-11-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

Well another busy day with lots going on but the weather was fantastic. Middle 70's a nice breeze just a slight coolness out of the sun with the windows open and lots of bright sunshine, Yikes this is the weather we like. The garden loves this weather as well as there was still some moisture in the soil but I hand watered late in the evening while grilling chicken breasts for 11 folks.

Eric drove his dad and mom to our place around 5:30 in their car for supper. He needs lots of help getting in and out of the car, wheelchair and to the bathroom. His demeanor is still rather harsh and not appreciative of all we are doing for him but that's him; hopefully it will change when he gets settled in Michigan with Eric. We had a nice supper with a tray full of jalapeno poppers to start out with which Betsy made. Even Sam loved them which surprised us all. Nancy had baked potato's both russets and sweet, cooked broccoli and squash and Amy made a huge dewicheous(Annsley) Caesars salad plus lots of red vino and crusty bread to go along with the marinated chicken breast which were magnificent in flavor and moistness, Yumm what a meal!!!

We all sat around afterwards having coffee while trying to share a few moments with Pap before he was taken back to the rehab facility for the night. Tomorrow they will take him by wheelchair transport directly to Tampa International for their flight to Detroit. Both Eric and GG will accompany him there until he recoups or whatever. Sam and Ava were so cute as they hugged and told him good-bye and he managed a smile for a second or two.

The morning for me was a busy one after my quiet time and a ride to the rec for pickle ball. I got in 2 plus hours of some good play as Rick my doubles pardner for the tournament Saturday in Lakeland, played together for several sets. We only dropped one set together all morning so hopefully that consistent play will carry over to Saturday's play. After the rec I headed by the library for a couple new reads then home to await the technician for Brighthouse. Well he was late getting here but we worked together for about 3 hours before he had to leave for another 4 PM appointment, so he will return on Wednesday morning to complete the job. We had to run a new cable line around the house to get to the computer room plus all kinds of new outside boxes. It seems when he is finished I will have phone, cable TV and Internet all coming into the house on the same line; its amazing with this new technology what can be done.

Well I get to call Verizon tomorrow and tell them what I think about the service they gave this last month when I have been a loyal customer for over 30 years, anyhow I heard from the gutter man who checked out the youth homes in St.Pete and he gave me an estimate for the 2 houses. Yikes!!!Hopefully we can work out some kind of a deal to have them installed maybe with some volunteer help that may save us some money but guttering isn't cheap; but these are large homes with 5 and 6 bedrooms each, so the roof lines were huge. Hopefully we can get the price down with only guttering certain portions of the houses, anyhow if you know anyone who needs a tax write-off or just wants to donate I could use some bucks for a worthy cause. Feel free to inquire and be a part.

Well that's about it for Tuesday and we learned our mountain friends and house church raised around 600 bucks with a corn hole tournament, auction, etc for a couple families for Christmas in the town of Sparta. Wow that was awesome and to think they may have made a difference in changing their lives forever as the one family is unchurched. I'm thankful Nancy and I have become a part of that group as well that reaches out to those in need and shares a little love. Many thanks to the Dalton Gang who spearheaded this journey with this family who had no mother and saw where the direction of the kids was heading.LATER

Monday

2011-11-29T06:02:00.001-05:00

Well the skies were gray and stormy looking as I pedaled out to the rec after my quiet time and lite breakfast this morning. I could feel the rain in the air but it held off until about 11 AM then the skies opened up with gusty wind and rain through out the day and evening. The garden will sure love this as there are blooms everywhere on the tomato's, beans, cucumbers, and peppers. We had a good turn out for pickle ball but I was sluggish and felt like a stuffed turkey most of the morning and even left 1/2 hour early. I did have a good workout but for awhile I thought maybe I had contacted Sam's cold. I think it was the result of a late supper and probably too much supper as well with 2 glasses of vino instead of my usual one. There has been total company since last Thursday so the eating has been rich and I can feel the spare tire around the middle is pumped up, Yuck!!!!

I finally got a hold of Brighthouse to come out on Tuesday to give me new phone service so I will bundle the services of a land line, Internet and cable; that will save me about 25 bucks a month for the first year, anyhow I just want to be able to talk on the phone and receive messages. Verizon never did come or contact me about my lack of service except they sent me a bill, Oh well!!!

Nancy took off to see her dad at the rehab place after lunch and visited until after 4 PM, we had invited Eric and her mom to eat but only Eric came so we had a taco salad along with some fresh asparagus we had purchased at Sam's on Sunday. Amy and her gang came as well and little Sam has not been feeling well so I think she is taking him to the doctor on Tuesday. They all are coming again for grilled chicken along with Pap, Eric, GG and Betsy on Tuesday. Pap and GG fly out on Wednesday back to Michigan with Eric so there has been lots to do to get him(Pap) some medicare help there as well because Humana isn't acknowledged there or is in some different form to Florida's Humana. We feel good he will be with family and GG will get some assistance as well with his constant care. Pap is not getting any stronger and he seems in a funk most of the time but being with a family where there still are young children(10&12 year olds) should help him or at least help him take his mind off his misery.

The temps dropped over night down into the low 60's and Tuesday its supposed to be down into the 50's for a low. The humidity is gone and the rest of the week is supposed to be typical Florida winter weather, yea!!! Just a little business update with Amway as the month draws to an end; the BOGO( buy one get one free) for All Artistry ends on the 30th and if you spent a $120 the shipping is Free, take advantage of this incredible offer as did we, and Amy and Betsy. LATER

Sunday

2011-11-28T06:04:00.001-05:00

Well it was another beautiful day with temps around the high 70's and still low or no humidity so we had the windows open once again. We were heading to Tampa for worship at Element around 9AM so after our quiet time and a lite breakfast we headed out.Today at Element we were doing a brunch before the service which had 3 of the staff and elders sharing their heart and we sang some awesome worship songs. We headed out for home after loving up on Annsley and Gabe after ther service. There was a good turn out as well and we saw some old friends we hadn't seen in awhile.

We stopped off at Sam's Club on the way home as we are cooking for GG and Eric their evening meals before they all leave for Michigan on Wednesday with Pap. So we puchased some great center cut pork chops and a few other goodies before heading home around 1:30. Nancy took off to visit with her dad at the rehab and I watched the Bucs play lousy once again as they were leading with just a few minutes to go in the 4th quarter against the Titans. Will I ever be glad when this season ends.

Eric, GG and Betsy came for supper and of course Betsy was an hour late as usual and she brought part of the supper, so we ate late once again. The chops were superb as was the sauted squash over white rice, Yumm!!!! We sat around and discussed what the future held for their folks and mainly about this short term fix to Pap's health care. We are hoping he will get better but his maladies are so severe its very doubtful; at least he will be with family even though it isn't to his liking being in Michigan.

We were all drowsy after the big meal and could barely stay awake by 9:30 so they headed out and I read for awhile before calling it a day. We still don't have a land line and today I'm having Brighhouse come in and hook up a new service. I'm through with verizon as this is the second time this month I've been without a phone for 5 days in a row, thankfully my Tracfone works so we did have contact with family here, LATER

Saturday

2011-11-27T07:11:00.001-05:00

Well another pretty day with the a/c off and windows open, yikes was it ever nice with a strong breeze from the East which kept the humidity away. We slept in until 7 AM then did our quiet times before a lite breakfast, I headed out to the rec to catchup a little pickle ball with some of the intermediate players and many of them were away for the weekend. There were 12 or so there and a few of us more advanced players so we intermingled and had some really good play for about 3 hours. I stopped by the library for a new read on the way home.

We were having a huge turkey dinner with all the fixins' again for Nancy's dad(PAP) who is leaving on Wednesday for Michigan with Eric. He will receive 24 hours home health care from them as they are already set up for these situations. What a relief for her mom(GG)as she has really been under a lot of stress(as we all have) these past couple months.

The turkey smelled so good roasting in a separate electric roaster and the gravy made from the drippings was excellent. We had the usual smashed spuds, fresh green beans, dry stuffing, spinach casserole and of course a huge fresh garden(some of my lettuce) salad. There were pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert and a few glasses of red vino as well. Pap was delivered to the house by a wheel chair transport and taken back to the rehab the same way about 3 hours later. He seemed in good spirits despite being told he was leaving Florida and he ate rather well, also. Its really difficult at this age to become an invalid to a certain degree and to have no spiritual hope as well. He will be among his son and his family with many grand children who already do care for assisted living.

After the cleanup which was huge I chilled and watched a little college football. We had 11 adults and Ava and Sam, so it was like old times with a house full and full tummy's. Yikes I'm glad we will have a full week of pickle ball next week as I can feel this spare tire getting bigger. Today(Sunday) is worship day at Element Church in Tampa. It's where we also bring goodies such as casserole, brunch finger foods, etc to share with other church goer's then have a great time of singing and sharing why we are thankful through personal testimonies. Come over or down if you need some "lifting up". LATER

Friday

2011-11-26T06:58:00.001-05:00

Well it was a busy beautiful day with no humidity and lots of bright sunshine and blue skies with a steady East breeze. The morning started out being in the 60's and it eventually reached the high 70's, just beautiful!! After my quiet time I poached a couple eggs then headed out to work in the yard and garden until lunch time. I mowed, clipped, edged, fertilized and hand watered. I'm still having trouble with those pesky squirrels as they dig multitudes of small holes in the yards as well as the garden. They are a real pest and I wish there was some way to rid them but they have no natural enemy here so they are everywhere, multiplying as I write. I occasionally get a shot at them with the BB gun which unfortunately only stings them and they run off. They do scatter when I come out of the house as they know the sound of the door opening.

Nancy took off after lunch to visit her dad at the rehab facility and was gone a couple hours. Here's the latest on that situation; Eric is coming in to town on Saturday and will take both of his parents back to Michigan on Wednesday for their long term care. That will ease the burden on GG as she has no experience with long term care plus her house is not set up for it either. Eric and Dianne have been doing long term care for years now with medicare patients so their house is equipped with all the necessities plus GG and Pap will be with family.

We had everyone over for supper last evening as Nancy made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce and a fresh salad. GG made some meat balls as well as some sauce so there was plenty to share. Bobby drove over to eat supper then visited with Pap as well, Arianne and Errol took a plate of spaghetti and a salad to Pap at the rehab for him to enjoy. Betsy and Braden also came to eat as well. Amy had just fixed the same meal a couple days before so she just came for a visit. After leaving the rehab we all sat around the dinner table eating and talking and afterwards just enjoying one anothers company until nearly 11PM. I headed for the showers and was ready to call it a night as Errol and myself were dozing on the couch. The gals were still going strong when I got out of the shower.

Seems we are doing another turkey dinner here tonight with all the fixen's and Pap is being transported here via a wheel chair transport van for a couple hours so he can enjoy all of us before heading to Michigan. He will stay in the rehab until he flys out with Eric on Wednesday, LATER

Thursday-Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-25T07:21:00.005-05:00

Finally the weather cooled down enough once again to open the windows. The rain we got on Wednesday brought in the cooler air but took out our phone line. I can remember never being bothered by not having a phone but now it grates on me for some reason, anyhow we were able to make contact with Nancy's mom and the rehab facility and of course our kids as there were big doings in the makings. A big turkey dinner at Bob's with all the trimmings and cousin Arianne coming in from Miami with Errol a boy friend.

The day started with sleeping in until nearly 7 AM, then our quiet times and a bowl of oatmeal with a banana before heading out to check on the gardens. I was letting neighbor Dan use my smoker as he was doing a beer in the rear turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner along with a roast chicken. I got it ready and picked him some fresh herbs and used the wheelbarrow to haul the smoker to his house, afterwards I settled in and did some garden weeding, tying up tomato plants and getting a trellis for my cucumbers to grow up an on. They are just loaded with blooms also I sprayed the foliage with a light coating of half strength Miracle grow which helps set the fruit.

We got ready to pick up GG and drive to the rehab to visit with Pap. Amy and Tyler and the kiddos were already there so we visited with him for a couple hours and stayed while the facility served him and GG a very nice turkey dinner. Wow did that ever look and smelled dewicheous(Annsley). The staff even offered us a meal as well but we were eating big around 5 so we passed but did taste the turkey and it really was very tasty and moist. We did partake of some juice and snacks they set out for the kiddos. We sat out in one of the small eating areas which was very nice and cozy with a large screen T.V. and that looked out on a nice area outside. This rehab facility is a very nice place. We headed out from our visitation around 1:30.

We picked up Amy and her family around 2:30 for the long trip to Riverview. I had forgot that Thanksgiving holiday was always one of our busiest and deadliest times of the year while on Patrol. The traffic was unbelievable both going in the middle of the afternoon and even more so on the way home around 9PM. It was bumper to bumper and we saw several crashes along side the road as well. Anyhow we made it back safely with full tummy's.

Bob's turkey was a masterpiece and his yam's were as good if not better than Pap's recipe. The Kuyatt's brought smashed potato's, candied pecans(yummy, you can not eat just one so I was strong and did not eat one) and apple pies. Amy brought green bean casserole and pumpkin pies and Nancy made dry stuffing,spinach casserole and pecan pies. Needless to say we had more than enough to feed a small army and it was very tasty, definitely one of the best tasting turkey's ever. The kiddos all played hard and were wore out by the time we headed out. We did have one interesting thing occur where Errol walked into the sliding glass door causing his lip to be punctured by his tooth. Seems Bob was showing him his garden and some of the herbs which had their smells on his finger's and he was rushing to share with Arianne and forgot the glass door was closed. The kiddos all were very interested in the bloody lip especially Annsley and Ava. It turned out we talked him out of the ER and he will have a fat lip for a day or so but we informed him "he would be better before he was married". That is our standard for accessing injuries and the projected outcome.

Well Friday will be another day of feasting as we wait for the arrival of Uncle Eric(Nancy's brother) and then the ultimatum for Pap of either going back to Michigan with him or a nursing home. He is situated with all that is needed to give him the care he needs and GG is more than happy to accompany him there, plus she will be around some different grand kids, some of whom she has never seen. She is so relieved that she won't have to be the main care giver as at her advanced age it would probably do her in and every one at the rehab shared that insight with her and us as well.

We truly hope all had a great day of reflection with family and friends around the table. LATER...Here are a few pics of the day, as you can imagine its a little difficult getting everyone together in proper fashion for a picture, especially the adults in the grand baby picture,Ha!!!

Wednesday

2011-11-24T06:56:00.003-05:00

Well we had rain again today and when that happens our phone goes blank. I find it difficult to imagine in this day and time a regular land line use is determined by the weather. Verizon is supposed to be one of the industries leaders, anyhow if anyone tries to call we still have our Tracfone and the number is 336-200-1711. We usually don't have it on but since Nancy's dad is in the rehab and her mother is alone we keep it on during the day.

The morning was much the usual with rooster waking us up at 5 AM, then my quiet time, a bowl of oatmeal with a banana before jumping on the bike and riding out to the rec for 2 plus hours of pickle ball. Wow, once again we had another heavy workout with 8-10 players so there were a few 5 minute breaks in between sets, but not many and I was glad for 10 Am when we had to vacate the gym. I dropped off at the library before heading home. There were rain clouds everywhere and sure enough after hand watering the skies opened up(that's when our phone troubles started).

Nancy ran out to the grocery store for some last minutes things for Thanksgiving Day fixins' as we are supposed to go to Bobby's along with Amy and her family. Seems GG and Pap will not be going this year as he is still in the rehab facility. The staff determined he was not able to leave as expected so now Eric (Nancy's brother) is flying in from Michigan and is hoping to take both of them to live with them there. Its either that or a nursing home as we can't provide the care he needs. Eric and Dianne have been providing that type care for medicare patients for years in their home so they are set up for his long term care. He is not happy about it but those are his options. I'm sure he will choose family over the nursing home and that extra expense as well.

Amy and the kiddos came for lunch and Sam has a new pair of tennis shoes and he won't let you take them off without crying, he is so cute and really starting to talk as well. Ava is her usual sweet loving child but really misses her school days and playmates as well. They took off around 2 for Sam's nap and I took one as well after catching up on some e-mails regarding our youth home project. I've lined up some professionals to give me some estimates on some guttering for both houses but now I'm without a phone; but its Thanksgiving so I doubt much will be done before next Monday.

Nancy brought GG here for supper and we had fried fish with black beans and rice, Yumm!!. I could see the relief in her demeanor now that she knew they were going to live with Eric in Michigan and we were making lists of who to call about putting their services on vacation while they were gone. She feels its best to take Pap straight from the rehab to the airport for their flight there so he won't change his mind once he leaves the facility and we all agreed that would be best as he can be rather dificult at times.

Well not much else is going on as we are all rethinking about the holidays and not having them with us will be a big change; but its whats best for them as he needs constant care and GG just can not provide that at her age. Did I mention she has already lost 20 pounds from all the stress of going to the rehab everyday, she has been faithful even when he has been less than tolerant.

Here are a few pics from the other day..LATER

Tuesday

2011-11-23T05:55:00.001-05:00

There was some rain during the night so everything had a good drink but with the sandy soil here in Florida it drains very quickly so by the afternoon I needed to hand water especially the leafy green plants like broccoli, kale, collards and cabbage as they wilt from the hot sun. Sam's buddy was up early this morning a little after 5 AM announcing it was time to get up; I don't know why he is so confused as it was pitch black outside.

The day started after his "fowl ruckus" as I got up and did my quiet time, then a bowl of oatmeal with fruit before heading out to the rec for 2 1/2 hours of continuous pickle ball play. We had 4 players for the first hour and we had some super play and finally a fifth showed up so we could have at least a small break at times, but we only had 6 total players for the day so it was quite a workout day. Afterwards I headed by the library before heading home.

Nancy is having all kinds of problems with her mom and dad about his health and how to care for him. He is supposed to be released(at his insistence we found out) on Wednesday but he is in no shape to be at home without some type of medical help as her mom will be overwhelmed with this responsibility and its a detriment to her health which is fairly good for 83. Nancy took her shopping and then by the house for lunch and she has lost 20 pounds due to the stress and he is not even home; I can imagine what his being home will do to her and her back as she will have to assist him in getting up from a sitting and laying positions. We are certainly hoping he will be re-evaluated tomorrow before the rehab releases him to go home. His attitude is intolerable to make matters worse, oh well!!!

Nancy was gone most of the day driving her mom around and trying to get the house ready for his arrival as I spent the afternoon on the phone lining up folks to give me estimates for guttering at the youth homes project I have become interested in helping with. Tammy the director has 2 grand children nearly the same age as Ava and Sam so we shared a little about our lives and how she got started with the homes as well. Our house church is very interested in being there for her and this project and will gladly accept any help or support shared our way. The project has non-profit status and any contributions are tax deductible. E-mail me if your serious about making any contributions and I will give you the info needed.

We had some hamburger steaks from a steer named "supper" and they were super(what a play on words); thanks once again to the Dalton's for sharing some of their grass fed steer meat and along with a fresh garden salad it was superb. After the cleanup I vegetated on the couch to FOX NEWS and then got interested in the Lightning hockey game which was a disaster as I turned it off after they were down 4-1 in the second period.

Nancy was gone again to pick up her mom at the rehab and once again was subjected to her father's rants as they voice their concern for both mom's and his health concerns. He is just unreal thinking once he get home everything will be just fine as he can barely function at the rehab with 24 hour care. He also thinks he will be driving again once he gets home as he can't even get in the car to ride; let alone drive. Wow we never thought being around someone in this condition is so trying, GOD help us!!! LATER

Monday

2011-11-22T06:28:00.001-05:00

Well not much happened today except the usual fowl wake up, my quiet times before a bowl of oatmeal then a ride out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. I did afterwards head into the game room and played a couple sets of ping pong and won both before relinquishing my paddle to another fresher player. I stopped off at the library before heading home to work in the garden. Bobby had a couple bales of hay left at the church from a Halloween get together they had for the kids so I brought them home and mulched them in and around my plants.

Amy and the kids came for lunch so I finished the left over chili then took the kids out into the back yard to play. It was rather warm and sticky so Ava headed in but Sam and I stayed out and I found him a grub so he played with that and then the rooster, they are so cute together. Its like they are pals now and I seem to have lessen my thoughts about wanting to roast or smoke him. He is a pretty thing; checkered black and white and right good size.

Nancy took off to pick up her mom and head to the medical supply store and then to rehab for the afternoon as we get ready in our minds to have her dad back at their residence starting Wednesday afternoon. He is by no means capable of being there with just the two of them and he refuses to go into an assisted living, but we will do what we can. I'm amazed he has survived all that he has been through the past several months, but he is determined to come home and he even thinks he will drive again, Oh well!!!

We ate the left over pork roast with some white rice and gravy for supper and I sauteed some fresh collards with fresh garlic in olive oil, wow was that ever tasty; not nearly as good as Swiss chard but good. My chard is coming on and by next week we should be eating that as well. The radish seeds I planted on Saturday are poking through the ground despite the squirrels digging in the row. I'm really curious to see if we get any radishes this time because of the sowing by the moon signs. I have done it before but wasn't completely convinced but if it works this time I will be a believer.

Nancy and Amy took off after supper to the mall for Christmas presents for the grand babies as several of the stores had coupons in the paper, she was gone until nearly 10 PM. I had a nice long chat with Shirley Heglar who is one of our mountain neighbors, her grand daughter Josie is having some unknown problems with the roof of her mouth so she will have that operated on over the holidays. We talked for nearly an hour. They haven't been back up since we left in October as well as they live down off the mountain.

Well it still hot and sticky here but the garden loves this weather as the 1/2 runner beans are really starting to climb and just loaded with blooms. We should have plenty of beans for Christmas Day dinner and the tomato's are loaded with lots of blooms as well and a few small green ones as well. The peppers are setting fruit and the cabbages are starting ball up in the middle along with tons of cuke blooms.

Gals and guys don't let this Artistry Products special pass you up because the savings are really real. This only happens once or so a year and it comes from our team leaders only. Give us a look at our store at Amway.com/JNTriplett I've decided to use any profits to assist with a youth house that is for runaway and abused girls. We can always use your help as well. LATER

Sunday

2011-11-21T06:12:00.001-05:00

Well what a busy day filled with honoring GOD by worshipping at church, honoring and giving back to the community by donating a pint(unit) of blood at church and entertaining and caring for my grand children(Bobby and Jill's). The morning started out with the usual " fowl melody" around 6:30 but we were already awake and ready to start the day. We did our quiet times then got ready for church after a lite breakfast, except for me as I would be giving blood later in the morning and wanted something a little more than oatmeal. I microwaved(poached)a couple eggs along with some instant grits with a little hot sauce and that carried through the morning until after church.

Bobby had a great message today on walking "WITH" GOD in our daily lives and the music was awesome as well. We had a super crowd of folks and once again lots of new faces. After the service we headed back to Pinellas County and had lunch at Panera Bread before heading home to watch a little NFL football. The BUCS played decent against the Packers as they are the only undefeated team left in the league and last years Super Bowl winners. The grand babies Annsley and Gabe came a little before 3 PM so we had some alone time with them before Ava and Sam came around 4:30. Bobby was doing a wedding down on St.Pete Beach and Jill was at a baby shower for our Amway team leaders as they are expecting their second little girl.

Nancy put a pork roast in the oven loaded with rosemary and other seasoning and did that ever lend a superb smell to the house for the rest of the afternoon until we carved it around 5:30. The smashed potato's and gravy were awesome as well along with carrots and baby green Lima's(Gabe loved the Lima's). Tyler and Amy came to eat with us as well.The kids had a grand time playing together and Sam and Gabe interacted much more together. Gabe loves to hug and give love and he was so sweet with Ava and Sam. Sam is a lover boy as well as it Ava. Annsley is a loner when it comes to affection and doesn't readily demonstrate it. But they all played together and of course wore us out. After their baths together(boys with boys and girls with girls) we got them ready in their night clothes. Bob left with his kids around 8:30 or so and Amy left shortly thereafter with her kids. It was like wow are we getting old or did we just all of a sudden relax when the house got quiet. It was a fun time and the eatin' was good.

I read and watched a little football until the sandman came along about 10:15 so I cut the lights out 'cause the party's was over. Nancy had made coffee so she was wired talking with her sister about her folks. GG is going back on purchasing all the equipment that her dad will need to barely function when he comes home on Wednesday. Both of them think they will be back to normal whereas they can't function at the rehab now, where there is all kinds of help.Please keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers as this is going to be a trying time. I'm really beginning to think senility has set in on both of her folks as well as the severe health maladies, oh well!!

This New Beginnings Youth Homes(NBYH)for wayward runaway girls has really sparked an intrigue in my heart for this group. I'm contacting some Amway folks in hope we can get some corporate sponsorship for NBYH as Amway is very big in charitable giving as well. Anyhow it should be fun and exciting to see what will take place in the near future for this worthy cause of helping to change lives for these girls and maybe give them some hope after being on the fringes of society and many times the reason is to escape abuse situations. Keep this situation in your thoughts and prayers as well and if you have any ideas or experiences share them, LATER

Saturday

2011-11-20T07:14:00.001-05:00

Well the humidity was on the rise again with temp's in the 80's so the a/c is back on again, I know that sounds weird when just 700 miles away the temps are below freezing. We actually stayed in bed until 7:30 as we tuned the rooster out we named Sam's Buddy. He is a loud one and yesterday we saw over where Sam usually hangs out he was crowing for him as he must of missed Sam playing with, so cute.

I ate a breakfast of eggs and grits then took off for the rec for some pickle ball after my quiet time. Saturdays is for beginners and intermediates players so my neighbor and buddy Dan was supposed to attend and I was going to give him some pointers but he stayed home and cleaned the refrigerator, yikes what was that??? Anyhow I played for about an hour and helped out with some instruction and mainly just kept the ball in play which really helped them as well, they were most appreciative. I did a little elliptical and treadmill workout, enough to work up a sweat before heading home.

Nancy was spending the day with her mom and sister as they shopped for a lift chair, a shower seat and a potty chair for their dad when he comes home on Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving. We remembered a friend of ours from SFBC who does medical oxygen and he called some of his friends who are getting those items for us at cost, wow what a savings as medicare doesn't cover all of the expense. Thank you Rene.

I spoke with my dad and he sounded good as he and his lady friend are just tooling around the countryside, she sent me a recent picture of them along with their pastor and they both looked great. What a difference with his health( a triple by-pass at the age of 83) as he is very active when compared to Nancy's dad who has been very sedentary for the last 30 years.

I spent the afternoon doing a little garden work. I pulled out my beautiful radish plants and there were no radishes on the plants because I tried it once again to plant in wrong cycle of the moon. Plants that produce fruit(radishes)underground must be planted in the waning of the moon but I planted in the waxing of the moon and got no radishes but did get big beautiful lush plants. I planted gain yesterday in the correct phase of the moon in the same spot and we will see if it's correct.

Well we headed out around 5:30 for Dan and Carol's for a supper of taco salad, nothing fancy was oh so good and not real heavy except for the cheese and sour cream, afterwards we played 12 rounds of domino's and Carol obliterated us by a couple hundred points. We were back home by 9:30 and everyone was yawning, luckily we are just 3 houses down the street. Tomorrow (actually) today is corporate worship at Element Church in Tampa with son Bobby and we will get to see our grand babies there as well. They are coming for supper at our house tonight as Bobby is doing an evening wedding down by the Skyway Bridge in lower Pinellas County. We will have Annsley and Gabe so Amy and Tyler will bring Ava and Sam over for them to play with and have a pork roast supper. LATER

Friday

2011-11-19T07:49:00.001-05:00

Well the day was a much nicer temperate day with less humidity, bright sunshine and a strong eastern breeze. I was up once again before the rooster next door began his morning "wake up the 'hood racket". I did my quiet moments then a bowl of oatmeal with a banana before riding out to the rec for a couple plus hours of pickle ball. Wow did we ever have some great play with some unbelievable long rallies, and by 10 AM I was ready for a break. I stopped off at the library before riding home and working in the garden.

I picked my first mess of collards and put them on to cook around 2 PM with a spoon of ham base in the pot, wow were they ever good and so tender, yikes. I want to try sauteing them in olive oil with fresh garlic as they are so young and tender. We ate them along sweet potato's and a grilled deer tenderloin. What a great supper however I think I like the deer loin better chicken fried, anyhow once again we give our greatest thanks to Andy Dalton for his harvesting and processing the meat. He has it down to where you would never know your eating venison, its that good.

Nancy spent the better part of the day working with her dad and the rehab folks as they are releasing her dad next week from rehab. They wanted to see if he can make it at their home with just him and GG and he didn't do a very good job. They are recommending he either go into an assisted living facility(which he refuses to do) or get some in home professional daily health care. His other option is to go and live with his son Eric in Michigan as they take in elderly folks and render 24-7 care; but he refuses to do that as well. He is having some confusion issues as well as to his where abouts, anyhow the rehab folks have said he no longer is able to be rehabilitated so he must go from the facility; thanks Humana Healthcare, Oh well!!

Did I mention I was able to assist a youth home administrator with just a couple phone calls regarding fixing her washer and dryer and no money changed hands; now I need a person who installs gutters on houses to assist with this next project and then some cash to help with mechanically fixing up a van that was donated to the home. I have the mechanic but now just need to buy the parts at cost. Its a lot of fun making things happen for people who are in need and the rewards are endless, LATER

Thursday

2011-11-18T06:11:00.005-05:00

Today was an exciting day filled with the joy and love that only comes with being a grand parent and a day which we saw people who are filled with the spirit of love for others manifested in doing a deed of kindness. I will explain both as I digress; but first the usual and mundane as the day started with me up before the "fowl piece" next door started his crowing and then my quiet time and the bowl of oatmeal with a banana before pedaling out to the rec for some 2 plus hours of pickle ball. Wow did we ever have a workout with some great games and lots of wet shirts.

It rained while I was at the rec so I didn't have to water the garden when I got home from a quick stop at the library after pickle ball. Ava attends the Oakhurst Methodist Church School and today the kids were having their Thanksgiving program and lunch. Ava was a little Indian girl and she was just darling as well as was the other little ones dressed as turkeys and pilgrims. They did several songs and some pantomimes regarding the season and did they ever bless your heart. Afterwards we were all invited to a buffet lunch of roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potato's, gravy,green beans, corn, cranberry sauce, rolls and an assortment of desserts, wow was that ever dewicheous(Annsley). We were talking and remembered this is the church where I dear friends Roy and Helen Gray attended for years here in Seminole. Today was the first time we had ever been there and the school staff and teachers were very nice and did a tremendous job with these youngsters.

After the luncheon Tyler dropped me off with the kids to stay at our place while he worked from home and Amy and Nancy helped with the cleanup at church. The kids and I played in the back yard as the rain cleared some of the humidity out and there was a nice breeze. Sam is just so funny with the rooster next door and today I caught him petting the roosters head through the fence. He is always over by the chain link fence poking stuff through to the rooster but today I heard him giggling and that bird was letting him touch his head. I thought sure the bird would peck him but no; it just stood there as Sam played with him. So funny and I now have a little more love for the bird as well as he was very tolerant of Sam's touchings.

Remember I mention about the lady who came to our house church with some needs on Wednesday night, as she was starting a youth home for runaway girls. Well one of the needs was to have a washer and dryer fixed at one of the houses; well I called my buddy who I have know for years(actually I had stopped him for some infraction when he was a teenager and gave him a break and remembered that incident) and he now has his own small business of fixing major appliances, well he headed down to take a look at the problems and was supposed to call me regarding an estimate of the cost to repair or replace the two. Well he solved both problems and took away some old and damaged appliances that were cluttering her garage and no money changed hands, just some old fashion bartering for a worthy cause, Thank You Jerry's Appliances of Seminole.

We did a quick supper of kielbasa boiled in beer and onions along with salad for supper as we had a full compliment of food for lunch. After the cleanup Nancy took off for the rehab to visit her dad and bring her mom home. I read in between watching FOX NEWS and the Lightning hockey team put a whupping on Pittsburgh, LATER
Here are some pictures from today's luncheon program and an old photo Nancy found that she put on Face book on Veterans Day of me when I was home on leave around 1968-69 from the Air Force. Enjoy!!!

Wednesday

2011-11-17T06:07:00.001-05:00

It was another hot and humid day with the a/c running and of course the windows closed, I love the windows open with the fresh air, oh well. I woke up around 6AM and even before the rooster next door started his serenade, he's slipping a little here lately for some reason. The day started with my cup of hot green tea then my quiet moments of thanksgiving and reflection then a bowl of oatmeal and fruit before heading out to the rec for some couple hours of pickle ball. Did mention I'm traveling with another pickle ball player to the Lakeland, Fl. area for a tournament the 4th of December. Rick and I will play together in the mens double event; wish us luck as it will be the first tournament play away from our gym and this event is being played outside. I play outside in the mountains so there is a little difference to the inside gyms constant conditions.

We had a good showing today with 3 courts going and a few waiting, our new players showed up again and added to the quality of play with our regulars. We now have most of the general players, except for a couple gals coming at 10AM, 3 days a week so that keeps our level of play up there. After the workout I headed by the library before heading home. Amy and the kiddos were coming for lunch so I did a little garden work until lunch time. Nancy took her mom to the doctor for a checkup then out to breakfast before visiting with her dad at the rehab.

Well her dad was told by the rehab that Humana was making them leave the facility the day before Thanksgiving even though he really is not able to care for himself. Seems they deem him as no longer suitable for rehab so now he must come home and it will be our responsibility to care for him as they can't afford a nursing facility. This will open up a new facet of our lives as it seems we will have to assist her mom in this new era. He can barely stand and only with assistance and is still have some issues with his bowels, oh well!!!

The kiddos and I played outside for a hour or so after lunch; collecting flower heads, bugs, chasing the rooster along the fence and riding the trike, wow I was bushed after all this and ready for their naps and mine; we had a grand time together. We were having house church tonight at our house with a meal so I had to vacuumed, etc before everyone got there. Nancy made a big pot of chili as well as did Carol and others brought goodies including a fresh salad, rolls and chips. The food was very tasty and plentiful.

A young grandmother visited with us who was one of our free oil change for singles and she shared that she was starting a group home for wayward girls ages 12 and up. she herself had run away at an early age and did all the things an incorrigible child did at that age. Well along with maturing and becoming involved with other girls who were abused in many different ways has decided to start a home for these girls, actually she has 2 houses side by side in St.Pete and now has house parents for each house. Tammy(that's her name)credits Jesus for making the turn around in her life and now is reaching out to those type girls and hopefully will be someone who gives them all kinds of support. We(our house church)are going to assist her and some of the issues they are facing as well to help her get this project, ministry or needs taken care of for these girls. Believe me she has the expertise in this area as she shared with us what happened to her.

Well we had a full house and 5 very active kids. After the cleanup and a shower I was ready for some horizontal lab(sleep). I turned the lights off a little after 10 PM. LATER

Tuesday

2011-11-16T06:16:00.001-05:00

The humidity has returned so on went the a/c as the heat isn't too bad, in the middle 80's but the dampness in the air makes it so sticky. Anyhow not much new this day except for the usual routine. A fowl wake up around 6 AM( of course I was already up and shaved) I think he sees our lights on an starts his crowing. After my quiet moments and a bowl of oatmeal with fruit I headed out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. We had 6 players to start with early and ended up with 12 for the day. There were some super points with long rallies and the result was lots of wet shirts, a good workout day.

I headed home after a quick library stop and picked up a new read by Kira Salak, titled THE CRUELEST JOURNEY. The author is the same gal who crossed Papal New Guinea and this time she is in a kayak in western Africa on her way to Timbuktu. What a traveler she is and tough as nails. After a little garden work and lunch I vegetated traveling with her on the Niger River as she made her way into the northern part of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. She was trying to follow a Scottish traveller, Mungo Park who did this trip in the 1800's and was eventually never heard from again on his second trip into the area on the river.

I grilled some chicken breasts and we had baked sweet potato's and left over squash casserole for supper, good eatin' all around. Nancy's sister Betsy came by for a visit and we had just received our Artistry order from Amway which I distributed to her as well. I ordered it on the 9th and we got it within 6 days, not bad for an on-line order and the shipping was free. If you haven't ordered yet these buy 1,get 1 Free Artistry cosmetic products, are ending soon at the end of the month as the special goes away then. This special comes from our team leaders ONLY.

Well not much else is happening, LATER

Monday

2011-11-15T06:17:00.001-05:00

Well the temps got a little warmer today with middle 80's and a small increase in the humidity; the a/c will probably be back on again if it continues to rise, but overall it was a very nice day. The morning was much the usual with the fowl wake up around 6 AM then my few quiet moments before a bowl of oatmeal with a banana. I rode out to the rec for some 2 1/2 hours of pickle ball before stopping off at the library on my way home. After a great workout I pedalled home to work out in the gardens.

We should have collards ready to eat any day and by the end of the week I will be able to pick some fresh lettuce to augment our store bought lettuce. I picked some beet greens and basil for tonight's salad we took to Amy's for supper.I have a few more small green tomato's setting and the 1/2 runner beans are climbing as well as the cuke's are heavy with blooms.

Nancy took off to drive her mom to the rehab and Amy and the kiddos came for lunch. Sam and Ava played outside with me for a couple hours after lunch. We of course played with the "alarm clock" rooster through the fence as Sam is just fascinated with the critter. Ava is still into bugs and picking flower heads. I got their trike out and they both were so much fun together as Ava pedalled while Sam sat on the back as we travelled up the sidewalk. Then I put Sam on the seat while Ava sat on the back and let the trike roll down the driveway while I caught them at the bottom. He still can't reach the pedals or steer but he is trying. They plumb wore me out and the sun was really getting warm out from under the shade trees.

After they left for their naps Nancy and I did a shopping trip to Aldi's store for some comparison shopping. They really have great prices and about 1/2 the cost of Publix. We found some really great savings items and we could tell no difference except for the packaging and brand names. Many years ago when I first moved to Florida while waiting to get on the Patrol I worked at an orange juice plant where the whole oranges where trucked in and processed into juice for different companies; well its all the same process with just different labels. Anyhow I'm sure it still works the same for pinto beans in a can that are nearly have the price as well as smoked hams. Yikes, what we pay for brand names.

We came back and I read until it was time to head over to Amy's as she was having us for supper and her famous chicken casserole, Yumm was that ever good along with her croissant rolls and Nancy's fresh garden salad. Tyler and I cleaned up and played with the kids as the Amy and Nancy did a mall run for Christmas clothes for the kids pictures. I headed home and read while trying to get interested in Monday Night Football; that was another blowout by the Packers and it looks as if they will repeat this year again in the Super Bowl.

I'm beginning to wonder about our leaders of America when we constantly apologize and denigrate our way of life; not only with our political leaders and wanna-be leaders but with our institutions of higher learning and their morals, Yikes I fear some radical changes are coming and its no longer has GOD, country, mom and apple pie as what once were icons of stability. This last leader ran on "change" and I'm not too sure his change is whats good for America. LATER

Sunday

2011-11-14T06:17:00.001-05:00

Once again another beautiful morning with cool temps into the low 50's and a high of low 80's and no humidity. It so reminded us of the mornings we have at the cabin in N.C. We slept in until 6:30 then did our quiet times before getting ready to head over to Tampa for worship at Element Church with son Bobby. The service and music was awesome and we got to see and hold our grand babies Annsley and Gabe as well. After church we stopped off at Subway for a quick lite lunch before heading back to our county; we rode with Dan and Carole as we are now carpooling on most Sundays.

After getting back home I did some hand watering of the gardens before vegetating in front of the tube and NFL football. Luckily the Bucs were blacked out here in the Tampa area because of low attendance so we got to watch a really good game between the Bengals and Steelers. That game went right down to the last series of plays whereas the Bucs were blown out by the Texans. It doesn't look good for my favorite 2teams(Panthers and Bucs) but my third choice is the 49'ers and they look good after beating the Giants. When I lived in California I attended a couple games at the old Kezar stadium downtown 'Frisco and rooted for then what was a team much like the Bucs are now; hot one day and horrible the next, anyhow it was a great experience.

We chilled the afternoon away catching up with some mountain friends; Eddie and Kimberly and our mountain mom, Helen. All seem to be well and the cold and wind have returned to the high country. All the leaves are gone from the trees and that dark barren ,cold, winter look is evident once again there. I grew up in Northern Virginia and don't miss miss this time of the year except for the occasional white snowfalls. Anyhow this could be another cold winter for them as it very early to be having below freezing temps.

Well we ate left over pasta fasioule soup for supper and my was that ever tasty. After the cleanup Nancy took off for the rehab to visit her dad and give her mom a ride home; I got into another late game and found it less than I expected so I read and we cut the lights off around 10 PM, LATER

Just an up date for you gals about a great bargain on some quality products offered by ARTISTRY. All of those products which are body and skin care, makeup, etc are buy 1,get 1 FREE for the month of November only and this offer comes from our team leaders only and not from Amway. Check it out at our website www.Amway.com/JNTriplett and browse. If your interested send me an e-mail or a note to this blog and I will sweeten the pot even more with some special customer pricing. What you find on the website is retail pricing. These products would make great gifts for the upcoming holidays.

Saturday

2011-11-13T07:35:00.001-05:00

Well it turned out to be a beautiful day although the morning temps were down right nippy; but beautiful sunshine that quickly warmed up to the middle 70's. I once again slept in until around 7 AM before the rooster crowed me out of the sack, I don't think he likes the cold temps. We did our usual bowl of oatmeal after our quiet times before I headed out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. Since the rec was closed on Friday due to Veterans Day I joined the beginners and less experienced players along with a couple others as the group had the gym all morning for pickle ball. I was one of the last to leave around 10:30. We had some good play and those just learning were appreciative of our willingness to not only play with them but to actually give them some pointers.

I headed for home as Nancy and Amy had gone to the mall for Christmas clothes for Ava and Sam for their pictures made for the holidays. I mowed, edged and fertilized the yards and just spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon outside. It was a great time to be outside. After Nancy got home she had brought her mom(GG) with her to have lunch here then I drove her to the rehab and stopped off at Lowes for some tomato spikes and a new dill plant.

We were having Dan and Carol for supper so Nancy had boiled the spare ribs first before I put them on the grill loaded down with Sonny's barbecue sauce. Boiling them for awhile really helps take away all the fat and grease as well as tenderizes; boy were they ever good and the meat just falls off the bone. Nancy made oven taters which she sliced the spuds into quarters or smaller, rolled them in olive oil then I picked fresh parsley and rosemary from the garden and she minced them and sprinkled and rolled that on the quarters and then baked them at 400 degrees until they just started to turn brown, yikes are they ever good. She also made her tasty fresh yellow squash casserole. Carole brought a yummy spinach dip and sliced cukes and onions in a cream sauce. Well needless to say we were stuffed, my oh my!!!

Well managed to get in a game of Phase 10 and Dan once again trounced us and Carole won a game of Golf after 7 rounds. We were barely staying awake and everyone was complaining of over eating but me; but I was getting bored at the games especially since I had a good ball game on in the background. They headed out around 9:30 and it wasn't long after I was ready for some horizontal lab, LATER

Friday-VETERANS DAY

2011-11-12T07:22:00.001-05:00

Well it was rather chilly here this morning at 48 degrees which needless to say is a Winter Day. We slept in as the rooster must have been to cold to crow which was rather nice until the sun warmed things up then he commenced to cock-a-doodle-do. After our quiet times we had a bowl of oatmeal and played around on the Internet. The rec was closed for Veterans Day so we just chilled.

Nancy found an old USAF picture I had taken when I was back in Virginia on leave around 1968-69 at my grandmother house in Mountain Falls. She took a picture of the picture and put it on Face Book so we got some feed back with that. I mentioned to here I enlisted in the USAF on Mar,3,1966 when I was 19 and she(Nancy)celebrated her 9th birthday on that day as well. I was living in Gastonia, N.C. and flew out of the Charlotte airport for Texas that day and that was my first ever time to fly on an airplane. I went on to become an air crew member in the 44th Military Airlift Squadron based in California and our squadron was the first to ever fly jet cargo planes. The C-141A Starlifter jet aircraft was the work horse for the Viet Nam war. I was a loadmaster and in charge of the weigh and balance among many other duties at the ripe age of 19, yeow were we entrusted with some awesome responsibility. I made lots of friends who lives depended on each other doing their job; what an experience.

I was scheduled or given orders to leave California in 1968 and move to Taiwan where I would be a loadmaster on the C-130 aircraft and fly sorties into Viet Nam. I received a back injury that required surgery; a herniated disc to the L5(lower back)which took precedent over the orders to Taiwan; so I never went as it took me several months to recuperate and once again be reinstated to flying status. The airman who took my orders was lost along with the whole aircraft and crew on a mountain in Viet Nam shortly after going there. I found his name on the Viet Nam Memorial Wall when we took a day trip to D.C. when my children were little many years ago.I keep in touch with a few of my old buddies I flew with via the Internet and Face Book, from the 44th MAS; Newt Smelcher, Jerry Illies, Bruce Fallon, Mike Stirk and Wally Beisser and other than getting older these guys have maintained throughout; however I've learned several of the guys I flew with have major health issues due to the cargo we carried at times, and one being Agent Orange which was used to defoliate the jungles in Viet Nam.

Well the rest of the day we chilled , actually we wanted to stay out of the wind as the air was nippy . I don't believe the temps got much out of the 60's and the stiff breeze made it feel even chillier.Sam and Amy came for lunch and Nancy made that great Penna pasta dish with sauteed asparagus, garlic and artichoke hearts with capers, Yikes is that ever a great quick meal.Sam and I played outside until it was time for his and mine naps.

Nancy was busy in the kitchen after Amy left with the kiddos; boiling off a large smoked ham which she made ham salad from and then making a large pot of pasta fagioli soup(not sure about the spelling) which we ate for supper on this chilly evening. After the cleanup Nancy took off to the rehab to drive her mother home and visit with her dad. I chilled and read and watched Gold Rush. I want to do that again. I took a week end while in California and headed up to Calistoga National Forest and sluiced for gold one week end and we had a lot of fun and found several pill bottles of gold dust. Then gold was 4o bucks an ounce today we would have been rolling in the clover at 1500 bucks an ounce. I often wonder if that fellow(I've forgotten his name but he worked in the mess hall at Travis) still works that are for gold. he knew what he was doing and it was a lot of work but fun as well. I still have a small nugget I found working that site.

Well better go and if this font is so small you can't read it I'm not sure what I did as I updated Java and now this has occurred, LATER

Thursday

2011-11-11T06:52:00.001-05:00

Well once again another beautiful day in sunny warm Florida with temps in the low 80's, no humidity and bright sunshine. The rooster was late this morning as I was up and writing my post for my blog and once again I had delusions of him being eaten by some possum or coon; they do occasionally come by and into this neighbor, but then I heard him. Maybe this time change has effected him as well. After my quiet time, my post and then a bowl of oatmeal with fruit I pedalled out to the rec for some 2 plus hours of pickle ball. We had a good crew and the play was fast and furious. I headed into the weight room where Nancy was working out on the treadmill and did about 5 minutes of the elliptical with her until she was finished. The pickle ball workout has kept me at a decent weight only about 2 pounds up from my last doctor's weight in ; but nearly 10 pounds down from a year ago. I love it and I feel great. I have to give some credit to the Nutrilite products I'm using.

After pickle ball I stopped off at the library for a couple reads then headed home to hand water the garden. The lettuce is really starting to grow and by next week we should be eating some of that as well as the radishes and collards. I have lots of blooms on the tomato's and a few set so far; of course the herbs are just doing great as I use fresh sweet basil, rosemary and oregano almost daily as well as the parsley and cilantro. The 1/2 runner beans are starting climb on some poles and the cucumbers are blooming as well. The sugar peas are about a foot tall and will soon be climbing up the chain link fence. I love the fall and winter garden in Florida and that helps to ease the pain of being away from our mountain gardens and flowers beds.

After a lunch with just the two us Nancy took off to drive her mom to the rehab facility to be with her dad. He is progressing very slowly but is still having issues related to his bowels. He does PT daily but still can not stand alone or walk with out assistance; at least his attitude seems some what improved, so that helps with those who see and assist him on a daily basis.

We took off for Riverview around 3 o'clock and the traffic in Tampa was bumper to bumper; you sure can tell all the snowbirds are back into Florida. It took us nearly an hour to go 50 miles on the interstate. We stopped off at Sam's Club near Bobby's house as they just built a new one about a mile south of him to do our weekly shopping. We had an hour to kill before we were needed at his house to watch the kids as it turned out we weren't needed at all as Bob got home before Jill left for her meeting. We grilled marinated chicken breasts and Bob made a superb stir fry over white rice and we had brought a fresh salad so supper was dewisheous(Annsley).

We had a grand time playing with Annsley and Gabe. Gabe is now saying "football" as well as chasing and throwing the ball. He has the sweetest disposition and always with a smile when you recognize him. He is also quite the eater and is not picky at all. Annsley is cute as a button but more of a loner as she puts together puzzles, I mean difficult ones and likes to play more dress up and be very imaginative. We stayed until after their bath time and they are so cute together and Bobby sure has them trained when it comes to their nightly routines.We headed out around 8 PM and could tell the weather was starting to change. A cold front was approaching Florida with gusty winds, some rain and much cooler temps, LATER

Wednesday

2011-11-10T06:04:00.001-05:00

Well it was another gorgeous day here in sunny warm Florida. The morning was much the usual with a late "fowl wake up" for some reason the rooster didn't crow until after 6 AM; was I ever hoping some critter ate him overnight or maybe he flew off to where rooster's go if they make it beyond the frying pan, Oh well!!! It was the bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and a banana after my quiet time and then the ride out on the bike to the rec for over 2 hours of some really good pickle ball play. We had another new player today for the first time and he's a very good player. Should be some interesting play this winter with all these new players and now most of our regulars are back as well even though several are now limiting their play due to old age and old injuries; so far I'm still able to play everyday.

After the rec I did some garden work until lunch time and then did a little business paperwork before settling in to read the afternoon away. I finished the book FOUR CORNERS by Kira Salak. Its a good read and if you like adventure you will love this read. Nancy had taken her mom to the rehab earlier in the morning so we got ready for our house church meeting at our house at 7 PM. I vacuumed and she baked cookies then we had a lite supper of soup and salad.

We had 12 folks including 3 kids for our house church meeting and we decided or discussed what projects we would do for the holidays which are fast approaching. We decided to help out a couple families less fortunate as well as do a Christmas get together of some kind; of course food is involved. Next week we are doing different kinds of chili and talking about making small Christmas wreaths to give away in our hood.

Well Thursday afternoon we are heading over to son's Bobby's house to watch Annsley and Gabe as he and Jill both have engagements so we will fix supper and play with them. We wish they were closer as it a 100 miles round trip and the traffic is horrendous but we do get to see them at church on Sunday's. This will be an added bonus,although I'm not crazy about the drive an especially at night coming home. Oh well!!

Just an a reminder to all you gals who want a super bargain on your beauty stuff, its buy 1 get 1 free this month from our shop at Amway on ALL ARTISTRY PRODUCTS, check us out at www.Amway.com/JNTriplett, LATER

Tuesday

2011-11-09T06:08:00.001-05:00

Once again another beautiful day here in the central west coast of Florida. Warm temps into the low 80's and down to the high 50's at night, bright blue skies with a gentle northern breeze and low humidity, so we have the a/c off for another day with the windows open. We missed seeing our daughter Amy and grand babies Ava and Sam as she did a park day with some of Ava's school mates, sure is quiet around here without them.

I did the usual morning routine with a "fowl wake up" around 6 AM and then my quiet time before eating my bowl of oatmeal then pedalling out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. We had a smaller crowd today with just 8 players but a new fellow showed up and is quite a nice player, Dennis is an old tennis player which really helps with this sport. We played hard right up to 10AM then I headed out for the library to pick up a new read. I'm reading a true adventure story about a young woman who crosses Papal New Guinea. I will update all when I'm finished but she puts her well being in jeopardy several times and all for the adventure of seeing some pristine country, its culture and people. She really tells an interesting story.

I worked in the garden until lunch time; cold meatloaf sandwiches with mayo, onion,tomato,lettuce and and some fresh basil, what a dewicheous(Annsley) meal. After lunch I chilled and read while Nancy drove her mom to the rehab. I did a little hand watering just before supper was time to start our supper which was very good and so easy to make. Nancy sauteed fresh garlic in olive oil along with fresh asparagus, artichoke hearts, onion and caper's and then put that over Penna pasta, wow is that ever a dewicheous dish, be sure and use plenty of caper's they really add to the flavor.

Well that's about it for the day except we chilled after the supper cleanup; I read after Fox News and she flipped channels, LATER

Monday

2011-11-08T06:08:00.001-05:00

Once again another beautiful day with warm temps and low humidity. A gentle breeze kept it nice for outside work and play. The morning was much the usual with an early morning "fowl" wake up, my quiet times, a bowl of oatmeal with a banana and blue berries before riding out to the rec on the bike for a couple hours of pickle ball. We had a full house with several returning "snowbirds" which made for 3 full courts at once and several waiting to get in. If you win on the court you stay in an play and pair up with a new pardner each game so with good play and a good pardner its likely you will stay on the courts most of the morning. Afterwards I stopped by the ping room and got a couple games in with those who play every Monday. I headed home to hand water the gardens.

Amy and the kiddos came for lunch and we had deli ham and cheese sandwiches. Nancy was still at the rehab and joined us later. Sam and I headed outside to play and work in the back yard. He found a fishing worm and played with that until it was "broke". He loves to run up and back along the side fence and the rooster chases him. They have this ritual where Sam pokes things through the chain link fence and the rooster pecks them from his hand. They are so fun to watch and Sam loves to hear it crow.

Our dear friend, Mechelle from the mountains called and we had a nice long chat.She said it looked like the ground was covered with snow this morning as the frost was heavy. All of her critters are doing well as is the family. We sure miss the great meals we share as well as all the fun games. She mentioned our small group(house church) is sponsoring a less fortunate family this year in Sparta and we are thrilled to be a part. They are having a community wide corn hole tournament to raise funds as well as food to benefit this family. Seems one child is in a wheel chair another teenager is heading down the wrong path after the mother left the family, so hopefully with a little concern and love we can make a difference in their lives.

I started a new read after the kiddos left and vegetated until it was time to water the front yard before dark. Nancy made a nice meatloaf with a scalloped turnip casserole for supper, yeow talk about good comfort food and very tasty. I'm not really liking the early darkness as it limits our after supper activities outside, oh well, LATER

A little business update; our team leaders made the month of November the month to stock up on all your ARTISTRY Products. It basically a month for gals to buy one and get another duplicate FREE. All make-up, skin care, etc products. Miss America is our spokesperson for ARTISTRY

Sunday(Return to EST)

2011-11-07T06:11:00.001-05:00

Well hope all of you remembered to set your clocks back an hour this morning. I actually believe that rooster did the same thing of course it could have been we were up later than usual and maybe slept better with the coolness in the air. Anyhow we got up when it was light outside for a change and did our quiet times and got ready to head over to Tampa for worship at Element Church with son, Bobby.

He had the whole congregation in tears as he shared some personal thoughts and fears. It was an awesome time of reflection and worship and the praise music was super. Thank you son for sharing and letting all of us know that while GOD is using you in a special way he also allows you to be real and down to earth frailties. an experience the same human. We are proud of you and only hope you continue with your love for GOD and your love for us your flock.

Dan and Carol rode with us so afterwards we headed to Chilli's for some lunch at Pinellas Square Mall. We had good food and a fun time together then headed home. I spent the afternoon watching or trying to watch the BUCS play football, actually I flipped the channel to watch Tim Tebow with the Broncos play with heart against the Raiders and they won. That was a good game and my only interest was the Florida Gator player and how well he does in the NFL. He is a strong follower of CHRIST and is just a super player that comes to play every Sunday among a bunch of thugs and criminals in the the NFL. I know the BUCS employ several on their team and they are a lackluster bunch. He is a football player with a great message and a great role model status. Too bad he is on a team that is filled with average players.

Nancy took off about dark for the rehab to bring her mother home and to visit with her dad. I read and watched a little more football until it was time to turn the lights. I sure will miss the outside work after supper now as it gets dark so early now, anyhow it a sure sign that we are getting closer to returning to our cabin now that winter is upon us as we will be looking forward to Spring and DST. LATER

Saturday

2011-11-06T06:43:00.001-05:00

It was chilly this morning with temps in the upper 50's but with bright sunshine and blue skies. We actually stayed in bed until nearly 7 AM, even with the usual "fowl wake up" we managed to tune him out for another hour or so. After my cup of hot green tea and quiet time Nancy put together a "mountain breakfast" of buckwheat cakes with a banana in the batter, fried smoked ham and eggs, Yikes was that ever a treat. After the cleanup I headed out to hand water the gardens.

We decided we would pick up her mom for the trip to the rehab and that I would accompany them as well as its been a couple weeks since I had last visited.Amy, Tyler,Ava and Sam were also there visiting so Pap had lots of visitors today. We stayed for about an hour and checked out the PT room as well. He was served lunch while we were there and it looked and smelled great. He ate most of his lunch and actually he looked the best I'd seen him in quite awhile. He still needs help standing and the swelling in his legs and ankles are evident but I saw him smile and actually interact especially with the Ava and Sam. It was a good visit and not nearly as depressing as I envisioned.

We headed home and cleaned up some left overs for lunch before taking a nice long walk through the 'hood. It was just a gorgeous day with no humidity and a gentle breeze kept it quite nice while the temps got up to the low 80's. The garden loves this weather as well. Tyler came by and I dug 4 collard plants, 4 cabbage plants and gave him 1/2 dozen Swiss chard and a dozen or so lettuce seedling as well for his garden. I have lots of lettuce seedlings; black seeded Simpson, romaine and bib to share if anyone wants any. I'll take some to Bobby for his garden as well.

Well after the walk we settled in to watch the Breeders Cup horse racing and a little college football. We were meeting up with Dan and Carol for supper so Nancy made a fresh garden salad using our beet greens and basil. We headed out at 5:30 and had appetizers of marinated artichoke hearts, tiny potatoes wrapped in bacon and cream cheese served with vino. The main course was grilled steaks, asparagus and candied yams and the fresh salad. A couple hours later she served warm baked apple pie with ice cream, yikes there goes the spare tire getting bigger. Thankfully I will be back on the pickle ball court on Monday. We Had a fun evening and Dan won in Phase 10 and Nancy won Oh -ell, another card game we learned from her folks. We headed home around 10 PM which was actually 9 PM with the time change. I finished up the LSU vs Alabama college game that went to overtime and a win for LSU.

Well tomorrow(actually today) is the Gathering at Element Church in Tampa. It will be good to get back to our regular routine for Sunday mornings and get to love up on our grand babies there. LATER

Friday

2011-11-05T08:05:00.001-04:00

Well what a change in temps for the day. The morning started out with rain so I drove to the rec after my quiet times and usual morning bowl of oatmeal with some blue berries, banana and cinnamon.After a couple hours of some great pickle ball games I headed home as Nancy needed the truck to drive her mom to the rehab. I didn't need to water as the garden was plenty wet from the early morning rain but the wind had picked up considerably. Finally the telephone repair man arrived around 11AM and it took him nearly an hour to find the contaminated wire that had shorted out in the line behind the house. He was a really a great repair man and gave us a number to call instead of going through Texas for Florida repairs and that to have to wait 5 days for repairs with out any service was not a good thing for the company. Long story short we are back in contact although we did have the Trac Phone which we used plus the Internet so we weren't without some contact.

We spoke with son Bobby and he was doing a beach wedding around sunset in our county and was bringing Annsley and Gabe by for supper and a visit. We invited Amy and her gang as well and the kids played great together. We took the 3 oldest ones to the rec playground after supper to play on the equipment until dark. Gabe stayed at home with grandma and Aunt Amy as he still has some congestion in his chest. He also had suffered a fingers in the door at home that morning and they rushed him to the emergency room for x-rays and treatment but he showed no ill effects except for some slight swelling.

Nancy made a huge pot roast with potato's and carrots in a nice beef broth which fit the bill as the temps dropped rapidly throughout the day and by dark it was in the 50's, yikes did that ever feel good and refreshing. After all the kids bath's and pj's on they headed home a little after 9 PM. What a busy day that was and we had a great time with the kiddos. Ava and Annsley are in their own realm with their princess dolls etc and of course make believe and now the boys are into trucks, trains, balls and emptying Nancy's Tupperware drawers; for some reason that's the first place they go to when coming over to play. They were so cute together and Sam is such a big boy on all the playground equipment. He and Gabe were so cute together as they both wanted be to read and play the book that makes all these sounds from fire engines, trains, cars, MC, tugboats, airplanes and helicopters. I would have thought they would get tired of that but not a chance. I was worn out after my shower and in the sack by 10:30 after reading for about 10 minutes, yikes on Friday Night!!! LATER

Thursday

2011-11-04T06:04:00.001-04:00

Well it was another sensational day with regards to the weather. Mild temps,bright blue skies and sunshine with a gentle breeze and that allows us to keep the windows open, although all we hear are sirens all day long. We had so much solitude at the cabin it was a little eerie at times, especially at night when we heard the neighbors dogs barking in the middle of the night we immediately thought of some wild animal on the prowl.

After our "fowl wake up" I did my quiet times with a spot of green tea, then a bowl of oatmeal with a banana before pedalling out to the rec for some couple hours of pickle ball. It was a lite crowd to start with with just 4 of us for nearly an hour then others straggled in and we had a crew playing constantly until noon.I had enough by 10 AM so I headed out for a library stop before heading home.

Nancy was picking GG(mom) up for a hair appointment then afterwards we had lunch together. GG had made some Greek potato salad and we shared that on top of a regular salad with some Greek dressing, Yeow was that ever dewicheous(Annsley). After lunch they took off to the rehab and I hand watered the gardens then settled in to read.

I grilled fresh Salmon and Nancy made fresh broccoli and garlic butter angel hair pasta for supper, Yeow to that as well. We ate very gourmet today or should I say "high on the hog". That's an old country boy saying and I often wondered what it meant and now I realize that's anything above the ground where the hog or pig walks; so if your a farmer or know where I came from, that's a plus.

After supper I cleaned up and Nancy took off to the rehab to drive her mom home and visit with her dad. There is some improvement as he was complaining again about everything and when that happens we know he is getting better. Well I finished another read about a sensational murder that occurred in the 1920's and the end result was electrocution for both male and female. Author Ron Hansen wrote about the "crime of the century" in a book titled A WILD SURGE OF GUILTY PASSION. Judd Gray and Ruth Snyder were complicit in the brutal murder of her husband for money and passion. Its a great read much like John Jakes who writes historical novels. A good read and a real page turner.

Well I received via Fed Ex my Ribbon Gifts today from Amway so I ventured on the Internet for some new purchases that will be delivered to my house. Wow was that not an incredible offer last month with these gift albums. I hope those of you who ordered are as satisfied as we are. We needed a couple of the items but wanted one so it worked out great for us as we bought 2 and recieved the one we wanted free. Thanks again to our generous team leaders Mel and Chris and for the bucks we are saving. Later

Wednesday

2011-11-03T06:16:00.001-04:00

It was another magnificent weather day in sunny Florida, temps stayed around the high 70's mark with a nice gentle breeze and tons of sunshine. The morning was much the usual; quiet time, bowl of oatmeal and a ride to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. Afterwards I headed home to work in the garden. Wow does the garden love this weather as its really starting to show growth and finally some color.

Nancy headed out for her walk to and from the rec and then did 30 minutes on the treadmill. We had an early lunch as she had to pick up her mom and drive her to the rehab at noon. Her dad is about the same but at least he is doing some PT but still can't stand or walk by himself alone, so there is much to be done before he can come home.

We decided to cancel house church tonight as most of the gang was on a cruise to the Caribbean so Nancy and I took a nice long walk in the 'hood after a supper of fried smoked ham, sweet potato and Brussels sprouts in Dijon mustard, wow was that ever some good eatin'. We love the sprouts and are glad they are back in season as they are a cooler weather plant much like kale, spinach,etc.

Not much is a happening down here except we sure miss the mountains and we both daily check Ray's Weather.com for a live web cam look from the Roaring Gap club house. The pictures of the leaves are just gorgeous this year and we reflect back on the first Fall we were able to spend at the cabin and how beautiful the leaves were surrounding our place that year. I think this year from the pictures we have seen of the leaves are much like that year. Our heart aches for that ambiance.

Well we watched Survivor and then I read until it was time to turn the lights for the night. We still have NO phone and its been since Sunday when I reported there was no dial tone on the line. We have seen no one from Verizon in the hood so I'm getting aggravated. Surely we will get something done before the weekend, LATER

Tuesday

2011-11-02T06:11:00.001-04:00

Well when I rode out to the rec this AM on my bike it felt like Fall had arrived, again. It was chilly well it felt chilly at 60 degrees when usually the temps are in the high 70's, Ahhh. The seasonal change in temps for Florida change almost daily, as we once again opened the windows and tuned the a/c off.

The morning except for the delicious temps was much the usual with the fowl wake up, my quiet time and a bowl of boring oatmeal with a banana and cinnamon. We had a small turn out for pickle ball of about 8 players which meant there were few rest minutes in between the games in the 2 1/2 hour workout, lots of wet shirts were evident. I pedalled home to work outside in the garden until lunch time as Nancy was leaving early to drive her mom to the rehab facility and Amy and kiddos were doing a park day with some of Ava's school mates. What a super day for that. So I did some of end of the month business transactions which didn't take long but its fun and I'm enjoying this new adventure which takes my mind off being in the mountains and all the fun stuff I do there.

Can you believe in this day and time we have no phone service with Verizon on our land line. For some unknown to us reason the phones quit working sometime Monday so I checked the interface box outside on the house and there is no dial tone from the direct line. I called and some gal in Texas said it would be back in service by the 7th of Nov., unbelievable it going to take 8 days before they can guarantee phone service. At least I have my Trac phone which we use for emergencies and for traveling especially in the mountains as our old T-Mobil cell phone was useless there; but the Trac works well there. Anyhow it a pain to not be able to receive or make calls on your land line.

The garden is doing great and I think collards will be ready for a first picking in a week or so. I picked young beet greens and added them to the salad last night with our supper of bone-in pork chops on the grill with fresh rosemary on top, sauteed yellow squash with onions and garlic in olive oil and a baked potato with fresh cilantro, (jalapeno pepper for me, as well) and sour cream, yikes was that ever a feast. After the cleanup we took a long walk through the hood until after dark. We got interested in a great old movie WE ARE THE TITANS and watched it until 11 PM.

Well not much else is going on except let me tell you about this month's business special for Amway. I'll try not to bore you but every couple weeks as an update and a reminder. This month of November is a gal's month for skin care and make up produced by ARTISTRY. Anything with that name in the company is buy one, get one Free. Yikes I was perusing that area on our shop's website and that stuff ain't cheap; but if you buy one then your actually cutting the price in half. Great sale and once again that comes from our Team Leaders only. I also learned Miss America is our spokes person for ARTISTRY.

Well the days are definitely getting shorter and will even more so in a week or so, but that means for us that we are getting that much closer to Springtime and back to the mountains, LATER

Monday

2011-11-01T06:16:00.002-04:00

Well the rain was pouring down which started sometime before daybreak so that meant instead of pedaling out to the rec I had to drive, luckily Nancy didn't need the truck until later in the morning. After my quiet time and a bowl of cereal I headed out. The street in front of the house looked like a river with water ankle deep, yikes. We had a full crew today for pickle ball with 3 courts going and several waiting to get on. We play rally scoring instead of the regular scoring which speeds the game up, especially when there are others waiting to play. The winning team splits up and 2 new players come on, so that makes for faster games as you are paired with different level of expertise in each game. If your on the winning team you don't set down but continue with a new player after winning 7 points and by a margin of 2. That makes for a good fast paced scoring game and even the good occasionally have to set down even when paired with the less experienced.

I stopped by the library and picked up a new read, but first let me share the title of a must read. THE MAN WHO BROKE INTO AUSCWITZ is an amazing read so far its Denis Avery's autobiography. He is still alive and well in his advanced age of in the 90's. This read is as good as the book UNBROKEN another WWII survivor and still alive today. Avery is English and quite the chap, a must read read for all.

Well the rain stopped around 11 AM so I ventured out to check on the gardens and to see if the plants survived the torrential downpours. Amy brought Sam by while she did some school activities with Ava and Nancy had gone to drive her mom to the rehab and for a short visit with him. He isn't progressing much with his rehab at this point as he still can't stand or walk without assistance plus he is back on oxygen. He is eating better so that's a plus but there are issues with that as well.

Amy came with Ava and we had turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch with lots of pickles and chips before the kids and I headed out front to play in the warm sunshine. The yards where still a little wet though not much as the sandy soil drains so well here in Florida. We did a long walk(for Sam's short legs) around the block and they(Ava and Sam) had a grand time picking wild flowers along the sidewalk, actually the rain caused the weeds to bloom and Ava just loves picking them, now I know why I have so many different weeds in my front yard as she deposits the flower heads there, oh well grand kids!!!

Nancy got back in time to visit and watch Avonlea with Amy before they headed home for afternoon naps. I took a power nap as well before heading back out to transplant some Swiss chard and more lettuce seedling. I just about have the garden filled with plants, now if the squirrels don't dig them up I will have enough to feed our family and neighbors as well. The Ross Family (Amy, Tyler and the kiddos) were coming for supper as I had plenty of beer can chicken leftover from Saturday night and along with tater tots, broccoli and carrots and a big salad we had a feat, yikes that chicken was awesome, now if could coax that bloody rooster into the smoker we would all be happy.

Well tonight was Trick or Treat and we had a large group of little beggars and were they ever dressed. Amy and Tyler took Ava and Sam through out our hood but this one group has several little girls and boys they were decked in their scary costumes an do course I try to make it fun by guessing what they were pretending to be. Well I guessed this one little 5-6 years girl to be a bat as she had bat wings, bat eyes and was black in color but she quickly corrected me that she was a fairy. Well Nancy thought that was the funniest thing she ever heard so now all my Face Book friends are aware of that moment; it was rather humorist. Well not much else is going here so I will close for now except to mention Monday night Football did a story on the devastation caused by tornado in Missouri(I believe) about the young man who was a high school player who lost not only his parents but suffered a broken back as well. It was a very touching moment when the quarterback of Chiefs met the young man to give him encouragement. I only saw the last few moments but it changed my perspective on Matt Castle and his role for young football players and the human side of some of the pro players. I wish I had seen the whole story, very touching. LATER

Sunday

2011-10-31T06:05:00.001-04:00

Well it was great to visit our old church this morning and hug many whom we hadn't seen in months; a few we hadn't seen in a couple years. We learned a few had passed on and many were having health issues due to their age but it was wonderful to renew many old friendships. Amy our daughter and her family are regular there and very much involved. We heard a good message and took the LORD'S SUPPER; while the praise music was sedated it was inspiring. After church we headed home and Nancy made a grocery run for a few things as Amy invited us over to their place for lunch which had been cooking in the crock pot all morning.

We enjoyed a kielbasa soup or stew which was very tasty and I fixed a large salad and we had crusty bread to go with. They finished up the leftover chocolate pie from last nights supper. We played with Sam and Ava until it was time for Ava to go to a costume party with one of her school friends, she was dressed to look like Dorothy and her hand basket with Toto the dog. She was adorable and is such a sweet little girl. Sam was being a boy and he crashed and burned a couple times while being wide open, but he also is a sweet boy and just melts your heart. We spoke with son Bobby and little Gabriel has RSV again and is having to take breathing treatments a couple times a day, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

After that scrumptious lunch we headed home to water the gardens and watch a little of the NFL about the only game worth watching was the Steeler vs the Patriots game and it was a good one. The Bucs were on a bye this week and so they didn't stink up the T.V. or have another bad loss. I started another read and its a good one about a British Army soldier who managed to trade places with a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Wow is it ever a good read and he was honored and received by PM Brown at a ceremony where he was awarded a medal of humanity. Great read and I will post the title tomorrow and this chap is still alive while into his 90's.

Nancy headed out to the rehab after a lite supper of a frozen pizza to visit with her dad and give her mom a ride home. I watched more football in between reading this exciting and true life story and decided to cut the lights around 10:30.

I almost forgot to mention we had a nice long chat via the telephone with our "mountain mom" during the afternoon. She said it was 28 degrees there this morning but had warmed up to a balmy 65 in the afternoon with bright sunshine and she remarked the leaves on the mountain were just gorgeous. They had some "wind snow" but nothing laid on the ground. All is well there with her and her brother Joe who lives near by. We certainly didn't get to do much with them this past summer as we usually do all kinds of fun things; mainly because of our return trips due to Nancy's dad's health; we were only there for 10 weeks all together this year. We are hoping next summer will give us more time with them. Well better go, LATER

Saturday

2011-10-30T07:22:00.001-04:00

Well it was a day of major temperature change from hot and muggy to cool and crisp. Not cold but at least cool enough to once again open the house up to fresh air. We had rain and drizzle for most of the morning until around lunch time when the sun broke through but it was still muggy until late in the evening when a rush of cool air from the north came through, that is so nice and now only if it will stay this way for awhile.

The morning started out a little different as I stayed in bed until nearly 7 AM even after the rooster next door crowed his usual time but finally gave up. We did our quiet times then had a lite breakfast; Nancy with oatmeal and I had 2 slices of pumpkin nut bread. We got ready to head out to meet up with our house church at Twill Auto Shop in St.Pete. Dan our neighbor and dear friend owns a family run auto repair and he offers the use of his shop every 3 months to help out single moms. Its one of our Element house church outreach ministries. We have the moms sign up for an appointment during the hours of 9-12 then we change their oil,filter, check air pressure in their tires and even plug a few,change burnt out bulbs and do some minor repairs all for free. The girls(house church members wives) share coffee and donuts with them as well and listen to their stories in the waiting areas and then present them with a free $10 gas gift card. We have several who are now repeat moms as they enjoy the $40 value but they need some attention and love from others. That's just one of our ways of sharing the blessings we have to others and who are strangers.I think we did 16 cars with just a few no-shows.

We finished up with the appointments just before noon so we headed home to get 2 whole chickens stuffed with rosemary and basil from my garden along with a beer in the rear. I loaded the smoker with hickory wood I brought back from the mountains and let those birds cook until about 5:30. They were magnificent and the meat fell off the bones with just a great smokey flavor tinted with the taste of rosemary. Yikes they were masterpieces. Nancy also rolled skin on red potato's in olive oil along with chopped up fresh rosemary and parsley also from my garden and roasted them in the oven. There was fresh greens beans from the market but we had jalapeno poppers for the appetizer and later during Phase 10 a chocolate cream pie for dessert. What a feed that was.

While chickens were smoking, Nancy took off to the rehab with her mom and visited with her dad while I vacuumed and did some small chores. I finished a read then caught some college football as we were expecting Dan and Carol around 5:30 for supper. Florida lost to Georgia in a close game and W.Va came back to beat Rutgers on a snow filled field. Thats right, snow in the mountains in October. That's a little early for that type of weather. It seems all along the eastern seaboard and mountains areas snow was evident with cold temps.

Supper was yummy and afterwards we played a round of Phase 10 with Carol beating us all and then 9 holes of Golf(card game) Nancy won convincingly. Was not a good night for the guys. They stayed until nearly 11 PM as we chatted about what type of project or ministry we should do for the Christmas season. I was finally able to get a shower and hit the sack around 11:30(way past my bedtime). Anyhow it was a fun day, good eatin' and a chance to do a good deed for those moms who are struggling to raise a family. LATER