Another cold day.

It is another cold day here in central PA and I'm not complaining. Just a few flurries but definitely cold enough to kill the fleas and the ticks and the other nasties that made it through the past few winters. 

I think of the extent of the fires in CA and I can't wrap my head around what they are experiencing. I just cannot imagine the devastation: having to evacuate, having to collect whatever you can as quick as you can, losing a lifetime of memories in your home. Not to mention, the loss of life and not being able to confirm that your loved ones are safe. How do you come back from something like that? How can the rest of us help? 

I've been knitting lately - something that I learned many, many years ago but just really started to getting into it again. Mainly because I don't have a quilt in my hoop and I need something to work on while listening to books or while I'm at work. I'm learning some new patterns which is fine and truly gives this old brain a workout! But I will be starting 2 quilts this week for my twin granddaughters who are due in May. I already have a vision of what I want to make as well as the colors. I just need to map out the design. While I'm at it, I'll make another I Spy quilt for my grandson! You never can have too many quilts. I won't be hand quilting the baby quilts but I'll be able to sew the bindings on by hand which is very relaxing and something I can do in the evenings. 

Mittens I made for my granddaughter. I love this stitch!

A soft book that I made for my grandson

A New Year.

 Finally the sun is shining. It feels as if it has been weeks and weeks of only grey, dreary skies. I know that's not true but its amazing how just 2 or 3 days of greyness can feel like forever. I love Christmas but there is something to be said about getting back in the routine of work, babysitting, and other activities. Even when I worked full time, I had a hard time keeping track of the date when there were holidays mid week. But today I know that it is Friday and the sun is shining! 

Depression sucks in so many ways. It sucks the life out of me including happiness, motivation, and words. I don't want to talk to anyone and if I do, I sound as if I'm stoned (which I am not). It has always been this way with me during a depression: empty, grey days but then as I move into the early evening, I feel a little better. I am thankful though, that at my age, I know that this will pass. It make take a few weeks but eventually I will be alright. At the age of 62, I know what I need to do get through it.  One of the hardest things about my job was working with students who were experiencing depression. Medication can help as well as exercise and a better diet but there is no waiting around for the depression to spontaneously lift - at least not there wasn't for me. I found that I needed to be an active participant at some level in order to break the pattern. I didn't know that the first time when I was diagnosed. 

Another thing I've noticed lately - could be my age, could be what I've learned from talking to other people - is that I get irritated more easily. The irritation is part of being depressed to a certain extent but when I've been annoyed in the past, I would mainly just retreat completely from life. Now, I can identify the source of my irritation and while I do not like to confront people, I have no problem standing up for myself. Years and years and years of feeling stupid, worthless, bad. . . . . I know that I am none of those things. It has taken seeing someone else being gaslighted (gaslit?), to see that just because someone else tells me that I'm wrong every single day in covert ways, it doesn't mean that I am always wrong. Yes - sometimes I am wrong but many times I am not. I don't have to put up with someone ghosting me, someone ridiculing me, someone trying to manipulate me.  

2024 was a good year for me in many ways. My part time gig in the community has introduced me to many many nice folks who are my neighbors. Had I not taken this job, I never would have met any of them. I've made some good friends and it is truly nice to run into neighbors at local events. 2024 was a year of learning for me and I'm hoping to learn even more in 2025. 

The fair.

 

Two of my most recent quilts. The farm and tractor quilt is for my grandson's first birthday. I didn't have it finished to enter into the fair but it was  done for his birthday. That's a win in my book.

The Windy Fall Day quilt was entered in the local fair and it won judge's choice and first place. I was very, very surprised and almost didn't enter it! I'm glad that I did. 

Dog gone.

 It has been a rough month for dogs here - one of the perils of having several geriatric dogs. Casper, my boxer, passed less than two weeks after Tipper. Casper and I had a love/hate relationship. He loved me and he hated me. He mangled my left hand on more than one occasion. He caused a couple of fires in our kitchen. He had horrible separation anxiety. But we dealt with all of that. He was rarely alone and I learned to read the signs when he was in a grouchy mood. He was my buddy though - he followed me wherever I went: to the creek (his favorite), to the chicken house, wherever I went, there he was. 

Funny. I no longer really want to walk down to the woods or to the creek. In fact, I don't like to go outside much at all. I miss the old codger - the old, ornery guy. 

What a good boy

 

One of the cruelest facts of life is that we outlive our pets. Tipper was my baby - a Christmas gift many, many years ago. My husband surprised me with this teeny little puppy that he had stuffed in his jacket. It was love at first sight! I remember sharing mugs of warm milk with him - he loved it and so did I! He was fiercely protective of me - snarling and growling if anyone came near to me while he was with me. 

Tipper was old. Really old. Still, I wish I had him a little longer but I'm so thankful that he was relatively healthy until the end. Last Wednesday, I scratched his head and gave him a kiss. He was gone by the time I came home from work. 

I find it interesting that on that day, Google photos had compiled an album of memories that were of Tipper. I'll miss this boy - his snaggle tooth, his tongue hanging out, his bad breath, his bad attitude (toward anyone but me). 

Celebrating the 4th, 5th, and 6th.

And what great days they were!  We all celebrated in our own ways! One day, my daughter, her fiancé and their pup came over and we just hung out on the deck and sweated. It was just great being together - laughing and playing with the pup.  I then went to visit my oldest daughter and her family and we set off sparklers and then watched the fireworks. Another hot day but a really, really good day! 

I'm always a little heartsick when the house is just back to me and my pups (who are huge fans of the hot weather). I can remember years and years ago just wishing for a few minutes of peace and quiet but now, I wish I could get some of those days back! I get to enjoy some semblance of those 'good ol' days' when my grandkids are down or when I'm hanging out with my grandbaby but there is nothing like the constant rush and chatter of a house full of people! 

But in all fairness, I guess my dogs and my husband can create quite a bit of noise and confusion but it's just not the same. I really do love this season of my life though where there is a balance of crazy and calm.

What a day.

 

Such a beautiful day. The forecast that I saw yesterday made me think that it was going to be a day of thunderstorms but although we did have one pretty fierce storm, the rest of the day was dry and just pretty. I took this picture a few minutes ago because I absolutely love the colors. It rained enough today to make my garden happy. This year I planted 2 raised beds with strawberries and then 1 of beans and 1 of onions. All have done well. In the garden that I have by the creek, I planted 5 tomato plants, 2 Brussel sprouts, 2 green peppers, and 2 cucumbers. For a change, my cukes are doing well but my tomato plants aren't doing so hot. I think next year I will make 2 more raised beds for my tomatoes and the other things I like to grow.  I don't hold out much hope for the Brussel sprouts which is sad because I love Brussel sprouts. Especially with bacon. Hopefully I'm wrong and will have a bumper crop of the darn things!

I volunteer with the local fire company helping with their bingo games, food sales, and other fundraising events. This morning at 6, we were selling sticky rolls. These are very, very 
 popular in the community. Yesterday, the fire company sold nearly 1000 of the rolls. They are a big deal! This was the weekend of the community yard sale which is why the fire company was taking advantage of the sticky roll fundraiser.  I love helping out with these events - it is another way to meet people that I should have met a long, long time ago and it is a way to give back.  I can honestly say that I have more friends now than I ever had. I would even say that I have more friends now that I did if you would add up all the people I could have called friend for the past 59 years! 

I've melted.

Welp, we made it through the heatwave or as some people say, the beginning of summer.  I'm a cold weather girl so I'm not a huge fan of the heat and/or humidity. I think that I am in good company!  However, I am a huge fan of the flowers and other plants that flourish because of the heat and the rain. Today on my drive to work, I was behind a couple of Amish buggies so it was slow going. There really is no place to safely pass them on our windy road so I was just enjoying the view. The day lilies are out in full force! I also saw quite a few hollyhocks which I never noticed before. I guess I just wasn't going slow enough. I saw chicory, mullein, daisies, as well as some other flowering plants that were just gorgeous set against the greenery.

My garden is doing well. I've harvested exactly 7 strawberries from the plants I planted in April. Woohoo! I'm sure next year I'll have a much better turnout!

 

These are climbing roses that grow in a bush beside the road I've tried many times to start a new plant but no luck.

It has finally been warm enough that the chihuahuas don't need to climb under the quilts!

These are just some of the day lilies along my way.

 

My favorite things.

 Some of them anyway.

I did remember that yesterday was flag day but it wasn't until last evening that I remembered that I had this table runner that I made a year or so ago.  Oh well, better late than never I suppose.  And it will be there for Independence Day.  I need to pull out my other decorations for the 4th of July. It might be a good idea to do it now while I'm thinking of it. Except that I am at work.  

The 2 pictures at the bottom of the page are from a quilt show that our guild had on Memorial Day. 95 quilts draped over the pews of a historic church! It was simply gorgeous! The church wasn't really local - about 17 miles away but I loved the message. Everywhere, it had signs 'All are Welcome' and I truly believe it. The people of the church had hung pride flags which I love to see and which is something that I would never see at the churches for which I play the piano. I love the churches that I visit each Sunday but I don't understand the fear and the hate. 

Dang pig

A long time ago I wrote about a bunny and chicken engagement at our church. But recently there has been a new twist: a pig. On a recent morning, someone noticed that the stone that holds down the manhole cover as well as the cones we have to mark it, in the church parking lot had been moved. Our pastor looked at the surveillance camera footage from overnight and was very surprised to see a quite large pig strolling through the parking lot, pausing to nose around the cover to our septic. Fortunately s/he wasn't able to move the rock (and I'm sure the cover would have been much too heavy to move) but s/he did spend some time trying very hard to do so. Frustrated, s/he knocked over both cones and sauntered away. 

What is funny about this is that none of the neighbors have pigs. The closest farm with pigs is about 2 miles up the road. This was not a young pig. 

Which makes me question. . . do we have feral pigs? Is there a gang of wild pigs roaming through the valley? We have foxes and coyotes and bears and I'm wondering how long a lone pig would survive. I was tempted to go stake out the parking last night but I value sleep more than satisfying my curiosity. 

So for now, the origins of this particular pig shall remain a mystery! 

A motley crew.

 

It is so true. When you have a dog, there is always someone happy to see you.  My cats are happy to see me as well - especially if I'm putting something in their not-empty food bowl. 

Especially in my retirement years, it is so nice to have my pups to cuddle. Sometimes, when I'm missing my mom and dad, it's just nice to be surrounded by my pets. My dogs are noisy, my cats are not and when you have spent that last many years with a full house and then all of a sudden it is empty, that noise is appreciated. Maybe not in the middle of the night though...... 

I had forgotten how lively - and how much energy - a puppy can be! My old chihuahua is not impressed although I do think he likes the company. My teenaged chihuahua is in her glory and has absolutely no qualms in putting her foot (paw) down when the pup has carried things a little too far.

I've also forgotten how quickly a puppy can re-energize. He usually naps all morning and then is raring to go in the afternoon. Things really become crazy at night after I've tried to go to sleep. For 2 hours, things are wild and crazy. Zoomies for 2 hours straight with a few moments of what I call freeze frames interspersed with the bouts of frenzy. Finally when the lights are all off, things calm down until I get up in the middle of the night. Sometimes they sleep straight through, other times they take it as a sign to wind up again. 

I know that the puppy stage won't last forever so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can.