THE SNOW BEFORE CHRISTMAS

December 2009...

a month that will be remembered!

I turned 62 in December 2009.

That is a milestone for me.....

will be getting my first SS check

in February....yea!

I did a little Christmas decorating...

just wasn't in the mood this year...

some troubles in our family.

Then came the BIG snow!

We were without power for four days.

We used a small Coleman propane heater

for heat...and used our Coleman camp stove

for what little cooking we did.

We burned a lot of candles

and used a propane lantern for light.

We were without water for one day.

One part of all this I enjoyed.....

we played dominoes by lantern

and candle light at night before

burying under the covers.

Below, I will share some photos...

I'm trying to learn to use my new camera.

The bird feeders were busy.

The trees were beautiful.

Huey didn't mind the snow at all.

Just look at all the snow on the fire pit.

There are still spots of snow here and there.

But, don't you just love it when everything is

all covered in a thick blanket of snow?

I do.

ANOTHER SURPRISE

My daughter, Terri, and my granddaughters,

Shayna and Marlee

came to visit this Sunday.

I am always glad when they visit,

since I don't see them very often.

The girls are growing up so fast.

They brought birthday surprise for me.

A beautiful coffee mug.

My girls know that I've always loved birds.

Thank you, Terri.

Shayna had a little gift tucked inside

a birthday card.
A very pretty magnetic bookmark.

She knows I read a lot.
So sweet.....
Thank you Shayna.

My children and grandchildren
mean so much to me...
they are so precious.

I thank God for these blessings.

A NICE SURPRISE!

Just another normal Sunday....

Go to Sunday School

and Worship Service....

go home and cook dinner....

Tania, Holley and Lily come over.

John goes to get Daddy.

We eat dinner....

sit around and talk....

and play with Lily.

They leave...

I get ready for church.

Same ol', same ol'.

NOT TODAY!!

Went to Sunday School....

left before Worship Service....

go to Rite Aid for more Motrin.

I'm in pain...go home.

Take Motrin.

Get dinner ready.

Tania, Holley and Lily come in...

with a surprise for me!

To celebrate my birthday early...

just look what they brought me....

What a pretty cake!!

And a gift!

Tania knows I love birds.

She found this beautiful sweatshirt for me!

I was so surprised!

Thank you Tania.

I enjoyed the day....except for the pain.....
and I did not go to church service.
Someone suggested that I might have
dry socket after having my tooth removed.
So, I read about it online and agree.
I will see if I can tolerate it until it heals.
I do not want to go back to the dentist
for treatment....I won't go back....
unless I really need to.
Have any of you had dry socket?

SO FAR BEHIND

I'm so far behind on posting....

I will attempt to remember

all that has been happening

to catch you up.

I'm still watching the squirrels

and the birds....

I so enjoy God's little critters.

We took advantage of the nice weather

we had and went fishing

a few of times.

So relaxing.

God is so good.

We had a good Thanksgiving.

Just my Dad, my girls and

my grandchildren.

Gave them their

Christmas money gift,

to help them get

what they want for Christmas.

I will have a few wrapped gifts

under the tree for them also.

I thank God for my grandchildren.

Stored away all of the

fall decorations.

Got out my Christmas decorations.

Decorated the little white tree.

Hubby told me to order my Christmas gift.

Yea!

I'm getting a new camera.

Yea!

Should be delivered today.

Yea!

I had a bout with my back

for a week or more.

It was so painful.

I thank God that it is now

much better.

Just had a tooth pulled two days ago.

I do NOT like getting teeth pulled!

My mouth is still sore

and I feel like I have a tooth ache

on the whole side of my mouth.

Hopefully, time will heal it.

In the meantime, a few motrin

helps with the pain.

Thank God again.

Had my regular three month

doctor visit yesterday.

My thyroid problem is better.

She changed my cholesterol med.

She wants to see a weight loss

on my next visit.

Now, that is a hard order to fill.

I must earnestly seek God's help with that.

I can't do it on my own will power.

I need a higher power.

Lastly, to all of my praying friends,

I will close with a prayer request.

My heart has been heavily burdened

for a family problem that I cannot

discuss here....but....

please pray that God will intervene.

He knows the problem. He knows the solution.

I'm trusting in Him.

Pray for those involved to also trust in Him.

I praise God for my praying friends.

WASHING DISHES

Who likes to wash dishes?

Not me, but I wash a lot of dishes.

I am not blessed with a dishwasher.

But, I am blessed with a window

in front of my kitchen sink,

with a wonderful view of

some of my favorite things.

The only pleasure I get from

washing dishes is being able

to watch out my kitchen window.

Below are a couple of pictures that

I took through the kitchen window

recently and want to share with you.

How many squirrels do you see

in the photo below?

How many doves?

You may have to click to enlarge.

In the next photo,

the doves have flown away.

How many squirrels do you see?

I love watching the birds and squirrels.

I have counted 17 doves at one time,

but didn't get a picture of them....
I'll have to keep trying.

LAST VACATION TID BIT

This last tid bit is way over due.

I'm still here...

just haven't been posting.

I did want to share with you

a photo that I took on the

morning that we left for home.

Saturday, October 17th, 2009.

SNOW!!

The snow was so pretty coming down.

I hated to leave.

Seems like I always hate leaving.

Our vacation was a good one...

time just went by too fast.

I hope to have another vacation

in the spring.

Vacation is something that

I always look forward to.

I love the all beauty of nature

that God has given for us to enjoy.

VACATION TID BIT #6

Ready for some more pictures?

Well, ready or not, here they are.

On one day of our stay,

we traveled through the town of Thomas

and up the mountain where the wind turbines are.

The first time I saw these (on a previous trip),

I was just amazed.

Aren't they something!

They are really big and can be seen for miles away.

Another day, we drove along a road that we

had never traveled before.

I love traveling where I've never been.

The road took us along another part of

the Blackwater River.

There were a lot of primative camp sites

along the river and a lot of them were occupied.

The campers were awaiting the trout stocking.

We walked down to where there was a deck

built out on the river bank and I took some pictures.

It was a nice day and the reflections on

the river were so pretty.

I really enjoyed that drive.

VACATION TID BIT #5

Deer, deer and more deer.

Oh dear!

The deer are plentiful in

Canaan Valley Resort.

You have to drive slowly.

Most people stop and take photos.

Of course the deer are looking for food...

but....feeding deer is not allowed.

I must admit that I have been guilty

in the past of feeding the deer.

Below are some of the photos of deer that I took.

Aren't they just adorable.

I love watching the deer.

I don't know how anyone could shoot

one other than with a camera.

VACATION TID BIT #4

Missy loves to go for walks.

While we stayed at Black Bear Resort,

she and I took several walks around the area.

Of course I took my camera.

Below are some signs we saw.

I loved the golden foliage.

At the bottom of the next photo

is Missy...always sniffing at something.

Below is a shot of the gazebo at the pond.

A view from inside the gazebo.

A view of the inn.

And last, a view of our cabin.

Hope you enjoyed our walks.

Will be back soon with another tid bit.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARLEE

October is my favorite month of the year.

Not only because I love the fall weather,

but because it holds some special days.

It is the month we take our fall vacation....

which I look forward to all year.

October 8th is our wedding anniversary.

It was our 43rd this year.

October 31st is my youngest daughter's wedding anniversary.

October 23rd is my youngest daughter's birthday.

October 22nd is her youngest daughter's birthday.

Marlee turned 13!

She has grown into a very pretty young girl.

For her birthday, her sister, Shayna....

our young artist,

painted a portrait of Marlee.

She did this in her art class at school.

She took a picture of Marlee with her to school.

Marlee was seven years old in the picture.

By looking at the picture, she painted the

portrait onto canvas and gave it to her

for her birthday.

I think she did a good job.

The picture below is of Marlee

holding the portrait.

Below is a picture of Shayna

with the portrait.
They are both pretty girls....

my granddaughters.

I'm so proud of them.

What do you think?

VACATION TID BIT #3

The town of Davis is a very small, old mountain town. On the main street going through the town, the buildings are very old and consist of restaurants, bed and breakfast, and other tourist attractions. There is one old building that I just had to take a photo of. The building contains the Davis Post Office and The National Bank of Davis, as well as housing other businesses.

What is so interesting about this building, is the side view.

Do you see that tree growing out of the chimney? I wasn't the first to notice it, but John brought it to my attention. Obviously the chimney is no longer used....but, I wonder why the are leaving the tree growing there? You'd think that the roots would eventually cause the stones to break apart, or maybe the roots are just growing straight down the chimney.

VACATION TID BIT #2

This is my second tid bit of information about my vacation.

We stayed at Black Bear Resort, which is located in Canaan Valley.

Canaan is not pronounced like the Canaan in the Bible.

The accent is on naan and all a's are long a's.

You can go here to learn more about Canaan Valley.

I always have to take a picture of Blackwater Falls. I have many good memories of times in the past that we stayed in the cabins at Blackwater Falls State Park. Our grandson always went with us when he was just a little boy....oh, how the time has flown by.

On this visit, we noticed that the park is in the process of building more cabins.

You can visit here and here to learn more about the park.

That is my tid bits for today....more to follow.

I'M HOME

We got home from vacation yesterday. I had a very good time and will share a photo and tid bit with you each day.

The first interesting thing I want to share is a photo of a road sign that just blessed me. The sign is located on the same road as the resort where we stayed. If you can't read it, click on it to enlarge. When I saw this I just couldn't come home without a photo of it.

Canaan Valley in Tucker county of West Virginia is my favorite place to visit. I have even said that I would love to live there. I love the terrain, the wildlife, the beauty, the peacefulness....just everything about it.

I'll be back tomorrow with another photo and interesting tid bit.

NORMAN ROCKWELL

When I was a kid.....

a long, long time ago....

I remember that we had a

subscription to a magazine called

"The Saturday Evening Post".

Each magazine's cover was a painting

by Norman Rockwell.

Do any of you remember those magazines?

I recently helped a friend get ready to

move back to her home in Maryland.

She gave me a few of her things that

she wasn't going to take with her.

Below is a photo of a

Norman Rockwell

collector's plate....

"An American Mother".

I think it is really nice.

I must clear off a spot to display it.

BRAGGING AGAIN

I just must do some more bragging.

My oldest granddaughter, Shayna,

who is 16 and a junior in high school,

is very talented.

She plans to be an art teacher.

Below are a couple of photos

that she downloaded from her phone

onto my computer today

when she visited.

The first is an oil painting of a pear.

It sure does look like a pear...

very good.

The second is a self portrait.

It was done by pasteing

pieces of newspaper together.

This just amazed me.

I want to see the real thing,

not just the photo of it,

but she doesn't have it.

She entered it in a contest

at Marshall University

in Huntington, WV.

She was the only one in her class

to submit an entry.

Her teacher said that it was good

and should be entered.

Have you ever seen anything like this?
Isn't it good!

I am just so, so proud of my granddaughters.

Each of them are talented.

A WALK AROUND THE YARD

Oh, what a nice morning for a

walk around the yard....

while Missy and Huey

romp around under

the chestnut trees....

watching the squirrels.

The old Mail Pouch thermometer

showed an invigorating 56 degrees....

I'm lov'in it.

My fall flag is blowing in the breeze.

My little fall buddy looks happy....
just leaning on the well.

Just look at this azalea plant.....

it has produced one little flower....

peeping out for one last look before winter.

The ornamental grass is showing off

it's pretty new fall attire,

which will soon become all fuzzy.

The burning bushes are beginning

to sport their fall color....

and will soon be all red.

My heart is praising God

for all the glorious beauty

this wonderful season brings.