New Visitor

I'm always excited when an unidentified bird comes

to my feeder. That means I need to find out a bit

about him! So I snapped a picture...

and pulled out my bird books

and went in search of who this little guy is!

Turns out he is a White Breasted Nuthatch! And like all good birders, I recorded the sighting, date, and name on my Life List. Maybe he'll stick around and bring Mrs. Nuthatch over for dinner!

Sepia Saturday = Little Jeep

Remember the little guy I showed you last week

in the Model A Ford? The Mister's oldest brother?

Well, here he is about 4 years later (1950?)

He's in the middle, wearing the white shirt.

The writing on the back of the picture says,

"A little boy at Connellsville

Airport had this jeep with an electric

motor attached and gave the kiddies a

ride around the runway."

Wow...it would be a little hard to go home

to your peddle car after that, wouldn't it? LOL!

To see other participants of Sepia Saturday, or

to join in yourself, click HERE!

One AM Conversation

• The Mister ~ ssssnooore
• Me ~ shhhhh!
• The Mister ~ Sssnoooore!!!
• Me ~ Shhhhh!!!
• The Mister ~ SNORE!!!
• Me ~ Stop!
• The Mister ~ snort. WHAT?
• Me ~ stop. snoring.
• The Mister ~ I'm not. I'm laying here wide awake!
• Me ~ Oh really!

Theme Thursday = Impression

"Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and

tenderness sealed up until your friends are dead.

Fill their lives with sweetness.

Speak approving, cheering words while

their ears can hear them and

while their hearts can be thrilled by them."

~Henry Ward Beecher

• Like a signet in hot wax,
• Early morning footprints in
• A fresh blanket of snow,...or
• Violets pressed in a book to dry.
• Even rain drops in a puddle or a fern

• Aged in layers of rock, your

• Many acts of kindness
• Along the way
• Remain like a virtual
• Kiss on my forehead.

If you want to read other posts on this week's

theme, click here for Theme Thursday!

"D" Is For...

Dew drops, Dusk,

Driving without a destination,

Daffodils,

Doves,

and Doorknockers!

pics from googleimages.com

Kewl Beans Grand Opening

After the weekend I had with my five men,

I'm thinking a day away is in order!

I'm off on a virtual trip to the grand opening of

the newest, coolest coffee shop in blogland!

Mr. Fox and Mr. Simpson are sure to be

wonderful hosts and I'm looking forward to it!

Since it's a formal affair, I thought this navy

silk gown by Vera Wang would be perfect!

Navy is my best color. :)

Not taking a date to this affair, just going

it alone. Maybe Mmm and Barry will

let me have a dance?

Now...wonder what special kind of lattes

I'll get to sample...maybe a cappuccino, too?

Do you think Mr. Fox really looks like his avatar?

One can only hope! :)

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Part 6

Because some days you need more than others,

and in the spirit of keeping it real, here's a

glimpse of my weekend!

Who...hid behind the door and ate a whole

can of Pringles???

What...were you thinking when you used

the waste can for a stool to reach something

on the top of the book case???

Where...are all the non-slip strips I put

in the tub???

When... did you pull the whole window blind off of the wall instead of just pulling the cord to raise it up??? Why...is the toilet paper rolling down the hallway??? And yes, I'm laughing (now!) so please laugh with me...whew...am I glad it's Monday! LOL!

Creative Tuesday = Window Pane

This English Robin is thankful for his seed

and is peaking through the window pane

to say thank you!

*****

This theme of Creative Tuesdays,

hosted by Mr. Toast,

had me thinking of my feathered friends.

They look just like this at my house when

I put seed outside the windows for them!

*****

To see other entries, or to join in yourself

(this theme due Monday), click here!

Sepia Saturday = Model A

This car belonged to George Johnsen of Grand Rapids.

He was The Mister's maternal grandfather.

And the little guy in the driver's seat is

The Mister's oldest brother.

But this isn't the first time he rode in this car!

He came home from the hospital in it after his

birth in 1946. Now, that's bringing home baby

in style, isn't it? :)

To see other sepias joining in this weekend,

click here...thanks Kat, for covering for Alan! :)

The Weekend

Flowers in the Window Sill, Carl Larsson

****

Happy Weedend, blog friends!

I plan on managing the five men, with a few extra

college guys hanging around I suppose.

Don't forget to relax, putter, and unwind a little!

I think my houseplants could use a little TLC, and

after yesterday's post...maybe some bread baking!

Theme Thursday = Bread

“If thou tastest a crust of bread,

thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”

--Robert Browning

• Appam
• Brioche
• Ciabatta
• Date Nut
• English Muffin
• Focaccia
• Garlic
• Hushpuppy
• Irish Soda
• Jewish Rye
• Kuchen
• Lavash
• Multigrain
• Nut
• Onion
• Panettone
• Quick Rise
• Roti
• Sourdough
• Tortilla
• Unleavened
• Vienna
• Whole Wheat
• hot X buns
• Yeast
• Zucchini

Do you have a favorite? Mine would have

to be anything with yeast...warm from the oven...

and slathered with real butter. Or toasted! Mmm.

If you want to make my dinner rolls pictured

above, click here for the recipe!

If you want to particiapate in Theme Thursday

click here for the link!

Homonyms

When I give the boys haircuts, why must the

hare play in the hair?

Hey..it's Mr. Toast's birthday today!

Click here and send good wishes!

"C" Is For...

Chickadees, Cookies, Chili with Cornbread, Collecting,

Clocks,

Coffee,

and Chocolate!

chickadee photo from googleimages

Tiffany Window

In the 1980's our church built a new, larger sanctuary... abandoning the old one to basically sit empty until a couple of years ago. The room, which holds about 150 people, has been renovated and now is a beautiful, vintage room for weddings, funerals and receptions. This smaller sanctuary is full of stained glass windows, one of which is a true Tiffany, complete with number and registration. It was commissioned by Whitelaw Reid in memory of his father in 1895. The window was completed and shipped from the Tiffany Studios in New York City to Cedarville, Ohio in 1902.

Being 106 years old when the sanctuary was renovated,

you can imagine that it needed some work itself!

The professionals were called in, Beau Verre-Riordan

Stained Glass Studios from Middletown, Ohio.

This studio was established in 1838 and they actually

had done the original installation back in 1902.

It took 10 months to refurbish the 18 foot window.

All the lead had to be replaced, using a unique

Tiffany lead, thick enough to hold the heavy glass.

I stopped in and watched on several occassions

as each piece was painstakingly removed,

returned to their studio for work and then

returned and put into place by soldering the lead.

This large medalion piece has 2000 glass pieces in it.

Each are cut, chemically processed and layered

to reflect light. In the sun the pieces sparkle! It was

very difficult to capture with my little camera, but you

can see some of the shimmering in the angel's wings.

When the 6 men were there to reinstall this medalion

piece, they were so nervous in it's lifting (heavy!)

and concerned not to drop it, that they asked that

nobody be there with them to watch.

I don't blame them one bit!

There is a sister window

on the opposite side of the room...same size and shape

with gold and brown colors, but not a Tiffany.

The restoration took 10 months and $35,000 but

it makes the room and was certainly worth it!

The line you see on the right side is an electrical cable outside the window. :)

Alan and Steve

My sister and I have commented several times

on Alan's blog that he reminded us of our

uncle! Well, last week Alan demanded to

see a picture so he could decide for himself.

Today, I offered to do a post and let you all see,

too. Above is Alan from News From Nowhere.

Thank you, Tony for the picture which I

blatently stole from your blog. :)

And this is Uncle Steve!

Now I'm sure you can see the resemblance!

Both handsome chaps, wouldn't you say?

And dear sweethearts, too! :)

Sepia Saturday = Harry and Mike

When looking through an old box of photos,

I knew I had to post this one for Sepia Saturday.

The man on the left is Harry, The Mister's grandpa.

Last Saturday I posted a picture of him and Geneva

on their wedding day. Here he is a bit older and

standing with his brother, Mike, in Ellsworth, Michigan.

I just laugh when I look at it, as Harry looks

none too pleased to be there. He seems to be

saying "Just take the picture, already!"

And Mike...doesn't he look like a character?

Maybe he was the jokester of the family

and Harry had just had enough!

If you'd like to see more sepia pictures,

or join in on the fun, go to Alan's blog here!

Theme Thursday = Surface

'Schwarzsee' lake near Fribourg, Switzerland -

Ascending air bubbles have formed a peculiar pattern on the frozen lake surface.

Today's theme is surface! Is that like the idiom

'scratch the surface'? or 'tip of the iceberg'?

That's what came to my mind anyway...those

idiomatic expressions that we use all the time.

Idiomatic expressions are common phrases

or sayings whose meanings cannot be understood

by the individual words or elements.

Scratch the Surface actually means to see

or do only a fraction of what is possible.

The English language is full of hundreds of

these idioms..and in my usual acrostic style,

here are some of my favorites....

• Iron fist in a velvet glove
• Don't judge a book by its cover
• If it isn't broken, don't fix it
• Off the cuff
• Mad as a hatter
• Afraid of one's shadow
• Took the words right out of my mouth
• Ignorance is bliss
• Can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs

• Eat out of my hand
• Xerox subsidy
• Play it by ear
• Raining cats and dogs
• Eyes in the back of my head
• Safety in numbers
• Sail through something
• In one ear and out the other
• Oldest trick in the book
• Nailing jelly to the wall
• Scarce as hen's teeth

There are so many idioms, believe me, I haven't even

scratched the surface! :) If you'd like to read other's

posts who participated, click here!

The Journey of the Pill Progression

Since our triplets were diagnosed with autism

12 years ago, we've been on a pill-dispensing

journey. Being diagnosed at four

years old and starting on medication, our

first stage was to open all capsules and grind

all pills in a coffee grinder and stir the powder

into baby food peaches. This was a great

system and worked for several years until

I decided that it would be more cost effective

to buy canned peaches and puree them myself.

So, for many years now we have been buying the 7 lb

cans of peaches at Sam's Club and running them through

the blender and keeping a container of them in the

refrigerator. The next stage was to stop opening capsules

and grinding pills and hide them in the spoonfuls of

peach puree. This was met with some resistance at

first with gagging or coming back minutes later with

a pill they still had under their tongues, but for the most

part was an effective way to give medicine and vitamins.

After the boys became aware that pills were lurking in

those peaches, we moved on to letting them see the pills

and even having them sit on top of the spoonfuls.

This is how we've done the twice daily dosings for several years. That is until the can opener broke over Christmas and I began thinking that buying six 7 lb cans of peaches each month was an expense we could do without. Not to mention the constant pureeing, etc that had to be done. So, with a fresh new year and ambitious mood, I declared we weren't going to buy peaches anymore! It was time to start taking pills with a glass of water like the rest of us do! And it was the easiest transition yet! So, I want to encourage any other parents with autistic kids that are in the middle of their pill journey to take heart... your kiddos will finally arrive and pop a handful in their mouths and rinse them down with a glassful of water..I promise! Yay! :)

"B" Is For...

Barns....

Beaches ~ with those layers of blue in the water

Berries...fresh from the garden on my cereal...

Birds...

And brown-eyed baby boys in the bath!