Patriot Day 2010

It was surprising to me that I have only posted on one September 11. Surprising because I think of September 11 every time I see the flag flying from the garage and that is very often indeed. We replaced the flag this summer. The one put up in the week following September 11, 2001, had faded too much to be used any longer. John hung a new flag over the Ponderosa, too.

Our memory of that day has not faded however. We'll be up early to lower the flag to half-mast. As I understand it, the flag flies half-mast from sunrise to sunset on Patriot Day (September 11). There's a reason for this — that we may not forget: On Patriot Day, we remember all those who were taken from us in an instant and seek their lasting memorial in a safer and more hopeful world. We must not allow our resolve to be weakened by the passage of time. We will meet the test that history has given us and continue to fight to rid the world of terrorism and promote liberty around the globe. [By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001 (Public Law 107-89)]

Though I will think of all my countrymen both at home and abroad, and those who serve in the military to protect me and mine, I always think with special tenderness of New Yorkers on this day.

Blessings to you...

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Goodbye Neighbor

I was mistaken for Mrs. Kravitz yesterday. You know, typical nosy neighbor type. Yup. True. And guilty as charged.

In fact, I spent my morning with the camera around my neck peeking out of every window and tiptoeing behind John's truck to take photos.

Trouble is that I was caught. CAUGHT. They saw me, all of them, and they shared a moment of perplexed discomfort as they fretted about what I was doing.

What was I doing? Just saying goodbye to a neighbor that's all.

photo source for Mrs. Kravitz

Yay, the corner lot is now empty and I prefer the view opened up this way. The real reason I was running around like Mrs. Kravitz was because when the mobile home first arrived several years ago, it roared across my front lawn and nearly wiped out my steps. Much too close to the house for comfort.  I didn't want a repeat so I was checking to see in which direction it would leave. They backed it up over their neighbor's lawn and directly into the adjoining street thereafter. This is the first time that I have been grateful for the ongoing construction on the upper road as seen through the curtained window in the middle above. It meant they couldn't bring the tractor my way. Phew!

***

Nan News~

The facility called me yesterday to say that my grandmother was having a very rough day. They asked if I could please contact my mother and sister and come in to see her. So we did just that.

What a change from Wednesday when John and I visited with her. Wednesday she seemed so well. Thursday she was so lost. Thursday she was bobbing around on that sea and, as a memory popped up, she laughed or cried and talked with those "memory people." She called "Come in!" repeatedly and decided to make us all pancakes. She stirred and stirred and straightened and worked at her bedclothes. Then she began a big batch of candy.

I hope that you are following along with my poor explanations, but she is having one auditory hallucination after another and it'd been going on all day. For the first time, she did not recognize my mother. She recognized me as my mother, but not myself, except for one brief moment. Oddly enough, she recognized my sister who sees her far less often than my mother or I.

Before I left, I requested that she be given a specific medication to calm her because it was going to be another long night for her and her poor roommate otherwise. John and I will be there early this morning...probably about the time this posts. I promise that I'll catch up with you as soon as I can. Visits to your place and those wonderful cups of tea and conversation keep me going.

Waiting for Morning Light

And for what? All those things that I worked on last evening turned out to be a fright. I do want to show you so that you can offer suggestions or laugh along with me. It's okay. Some days are like this.

Visiting Melissa's Nesting Party turned out to be great fun and some frustration. I couldn't comment everywhere I visited because I kept getting a 503 Error. That means that the server is busy, I believe. When all was said and done, I had found a number of wonderful ideas and so set out to accomplish them.

This was a wreath idea found *here* that went awry. I just didn't care for the flowers on it after I had made them; they were much too heavy. I kept my wreath simple in the end...an autumnal looking ribbon simply tied to the top. This wreath is tied to an antique trunk on top of which my ugly tv sits.

Of course, I am not wasting an hour of flower making so they wound up in the flower arrangement in the bay window. I used *these tips* for flowers.

Moons ago I mentioned that I wanted to turn my branches into a family tree. *This blog* showed what it might look like. I don't care for mine and will have to do better, but here's a little shot of it now.

Finally, this is where I stand with my altered sewing machine box. Suggestions anyone? I need more layers of that I'm certain. I am working on a tag. I'd like to include a scripture verse, but truly I am in over my head and need help.

Thanks for looking! (Thanks for helping. ;>)

Have a wonderful Thursday...

Fall Nesting Party

Melissa @ The Inspired Room is having a *Fall Nesting Party* today and I am joining her. But what to do...what to do... for a budget so tight it squeaks and so there'll be nothing new for Haven.

If you want to read a perfectly delicious piece posted by Alison @ Brocante Home about such things, please read Creature Comforts. You, like Alison, like me, may find another kindred spirit as regards taking care of a home on a shoestring.

Anyway, something needed doing so I dutifully climbed the stairs and looked for the autumn decorations box. I remember putting it ahead of the Christmas boxes last Christmas, which was very good thinking indeed. Last year, I buried it under the Christmas boxes...not such good thinking.

I tossed a small silk bouquet into my great-grandmother's lead crystal vase and plunked my little white Welcome pumpkin atop my Simple AbundanceIndulgence book, which just so happens to be autumn orange. The light is going to be so pretty coming through those windows once the maples turn yellow and gold. Today, things are still very green.

Not a great photo, but one of my favorite things is to add found leaves that have been pressed for a few days to my apothecary jar. They just float there as I add more and more and make the most fascinating shadows on the wall. The topper is an old sunflower stencil. My "fall" card is a gift from Kari and so beautiful that this is the third year I've used it. I traded out my fussy summer tea cups for some simpler Golden Wheat ones tied on with muslin strips instead of ribbons.

Then I turned my attention to the dining room bay window.

Oh dear. The trouble with cheap, as in cheap, fake flowers, is that sometimes it's just too garish by half. Well there's a remedy for that...

Here is the difference after a night soaking in coffee and a rainy morning making photos darker. Sometimes rainy mornings help.

Enjoy the Party! (It's so cool...there are thumbprints of each project or blog so it's easy to see what you'll be visiting...love it!)

Holiday Fun

My family gathered at a local state park for holiday fun on Sunday afternoon. We arrived at two and were the last to leave before the gate was locked at six. The cool autumn weather kept many other folks away and so we enjoyed the place nearly to ourselves.

The boys and their dad, along with their mom and auntie, played on the beach a long time building a river, a dam, and a castle. The grands are hard workers and enjoy having a job to do.

My daughter and Sam set up the table for a late lunch/early supper. Oh that hot coffee sure felt good going down. My mother kept her hands wrapped around the cup until the last bit of warmth was gone.

Jake and John exchange a howdy. (I can not tell you how this warms my heart. The boys' paternal grandfather passed away long before they were born. John steps in as "grandfather" just as my own step-grandfather did for my sister and me. They adore John! True confessions: Sometimes this can make me a titch jealous.)

No lifeguard on duty...

No problem!

Thwarted again!

Daughter and niece attempt kite flying. It turned out to be too windy.

There was running...

 chatting,

 eating (the boys are not into Italian sandwiches)

and playground slide races. (I tried this, but being the ample-bottomed Nonni that I am, I lost.)

The final gathering of the clan. You eagle-eyed folks will notice two missing. I'm always missing—that's why I hold the camera! (This is the only photo that will enlarge...lots of fun to see the

family interactions here, especially with the boys.)

The End of a Lovely Day...

Mandevilla in September~Happy Labor Day

One lonely bloom up high...

Happy Labor Day!

(My family and I have already enjoyed our fun at the beach. I'll share tomorrow...)

Comments are off...go have some fun!

My Source

This window box was too gorgeous to keep hidden in last Monday's mosaic. It's still summer and I am not rushing autumn even though the weather has taken a lovely cooler turn. I feel inspired to get up early and take care of my flowers again and so they'll probably do well into October. (This is not my window box. It's one on the F*ryeburg F*airgrounds. By the way, the fair is October 2–10 this year. Perhaps we'll surprise ourselves and find a way to go.)

Earl was a beautiful disappointment. I'm never sorry to just get glanced by these hurricanes. The only damage done was a swamped hanging pot of petunias. They became waterlogged and dropped heavily to the ground.

We're feeling some of that economic pressure that so many others are feeling. That feeling that the check didn't go as far as we'd hoped and there's a doctor's appointment, a car needing to be fixed, oil to be purchased. I find myself saying, "God is my Source" often.

"God is our Source" you know. Some of us have hoped in husbands, children, fathers, mothers, friends, but when all is said and done, God is our Source and His supply is inexhaustible.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

~Psalm 20:7

Have a wonderful Sunday and holiday!