Ta Da.....

Yesterday was THE day I was able to see our new Great Grand-daughter, Matilda Mae.  She was 10 days old, and absolutely beautiful.  See for yourself.....

The proud parents....

No words can describe the absolute joy I found in seeing her and holding her for the first time.

"Babies are such a nice way to start people"  ~  Don Herold

Until next time.....

My Loss of the Written Word

Today over at Focusing on Life, Kelly writes about the "written word" how powerful it is and the necessity of hand writing.  I agree 100% however as the aging process takes over my body it has affected my ability to hand write.  Arthritis has settled in a few of my fingers resulting in writing becoming a painful process, not to mention the "hen scratching" that appears.  Even last evening as I was writing a little note inside a birthday card to a friend I realized my nice handwriting has bit the proverbial dust.  But that is not stopping me from putting words to a page, thank goodness for computers, they are now my hand-writing tool.  Somehow (thank God) typing on a computer does not bother my fingers, perhaps because I am not griping an instrument.  So my words will continue to flow, just not with pen in hand.

And by the way, welcome to Fall, when the leaves begin to turn their glorious colors of golds, oranges and reds, when we put away the flip flops and bring out the sweaters, when we shift from iced tea to hot tea or cocoa, when we taste savory soups & stews instead of watermelons & ice cream (altho I continue to eat ice cream year round, vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate is a food group in my diet).

And speaking of Fall are you as excited as I am that the new Fall season of TV has begun?  Summer always leaves me wanting...altho I did watch a few good series this past summer.  I have watched 2 new shows already, "The Red Band Society" about a group of rather seriously ill kids that "live" in a hospital...their triumphs and struggles, well written and the kids are all appealing.  Octavia Spencer plays the "stern" nurse that keeps the kids in tow but it becomes obvious that she has a heart of gold. And "Madame Secretary", a tough, smart, quick thinking woman with no hidden agenda that steps into the role of Secretary of State with no political background.  I vote that we replace all of our politicians in office today with that kind of person.  Many new shows to watch, so little time.

And PS on one of our shopping trips with my sis-in-law I picked up some new mugs and cups at Marshalls, how could I resist the one above!!??  I know I am helpless.

Joining Kim today at....

"It's not that everything will be easy or exactly as you had expected, but you must just choose to be grateful for all that you have, and happy that you got a chance to live this life, no matter how it turns out." 

 

-- Author Unknown 

Until next time.....

The Waiting Is Over

Whew....the waiting is finally over.  Matilda Mae, decided to enter this world on Wednesday, Sept 17th at 1:56 PM.  She wasn't very willing, she was just too snug and content in her Mother's womb to make her appearance.  After breaking Hilary's water (see I told you Matilda wasn't ready) and a long labor, all 8.86 lbs, 21" long our little miracle arrived.  And no, this great-grandmother has yet to see her, other than all the photos posted on facebook and you know how much anticipation I have to hold her, squeeze her, love her (and take her picture).  I am patiently (and that is really difficult for me) waiting until the new parents and child have some time to settle in.  With clothing, toys, books, hats & various other gifts for Matilda Mae I hope my wait isn't too long.

While waiting for her to arrive I took a quick trip to Ohio to visit my 2 sister-in-laws and their family driving 5 hours with both "kids".  I was so proud of them, Toby was buckled in with a harness in the front seat, and Cinder sat on her blanket in the back seat never hearing a peep from either one.  Both were better behaved than either one of my children when traveling.  No arguments, no fights, no "when are we going to be there?"

There I was blessed with new sights to see and capture thru my lens.   The first day I was there we wandered thru the old "Oregon" district where they are renovating the beautiful old homes that have fallen in disrepair.  Some were filled with charm and beauty, others still needed a little more tender loving care but every where you looked my eyes were filled with the architecture of a by-gone era.

And then we found the field of sunflowers and I was struck by the awe and beauty of this field filled with golden flowers with their heads leaning towards the sunlight.  Now I have seen sunflowers growing many, many times and have loved them from the start, but to see a whole field of them absolutely took my breath away.

Many more pictures to come from this short but sweet trip and ofcourse Matilda Mae will soon make her appearance on these pages in the near future.  I am blessed.

PS  I would love it if you would hop on over to my collaborative blog "Focusing On Life" where I have shared more pics with word art of my trip.

And I am linking to Kim's Friday Finds to share my lovely and joy-filled week.....

Until then......

Still Waiting....

Some of you may be wondering about that expected great-granddaughter I have mentioned a couple three dozen times or more and how she could come just about any day (ahem, that was 3 weeks ago), but as to this minute, this hour, this day we are still waiting.  However, after a trip to the doctor's on Wednesday there won't be much more waiting be assured.  In fact the doctor was shocked she had not made her appearance yet, IF she doesn't make herself known to this wonderful world and welcoming love by next Wednesday, guess what, Labor will be induced.  Shall we take bets on if she will come prior to the inducement??

The Grandmothers....

Remembering my own two pregnancies, one came without any coaxing and right on time, however my son decided, like my great-granddaughter that he would take his sweet time in making his appearance.  After a trip to the doctor's on a Friday, and he could determine that "everything" was ready and in place the Doc sent me home and scheduled me to go to the hospital on Monday to be induced if nothing happened over the weekend.  Well, nothing happened at least in the "baby delivery" department, but I did clean the house from top to bottom (small apartment at the time), scrubbed the kitchen floors on my knees, cooked up a storm, but NOTHING....not a twitch.

So come Monday morning, hospital here we come.  After breaking my water (I don't know how they do it these days) and telling me to join my husband in the waiting area and walk, that is exactly what I did.  It wasn't too long after that the pains of childbirth began and my son was delivered shortly thereafter.

Grandparents, Awaiting New Mom and Dad....

So my hopes and prayers are that our long-awaited sweet girl will come into this world safely into the loving welcome arms of their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and this great-grandmother. Stay tuned for the upcoming announcement!!

"If I am thinking correctly," said Pooh, "a new baby is probably, undoubtedly, the grandest gift of all."

PS  - Please hop on over to my collaborative blog FOL where I am musing on the "Distractions of Fall.

Until next time....

Don't Fence Me In....

The berries are hangin' on to the park fence....

The Sweet Autumn Clematis is thriving on the front fence....

And the Heliopsis (False Sunflower) is dyin' on the back fence....

Linking up with The Run Around Ranch's

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope.”  ~  Maya Angelou

Until next time.....

My Reward....

 

Isn't this a beautiful church steeple.  It was at one time the tallest structure in our city, but since we moved here several have taken her place as taller, you know progress.  I took this image this morning after a trip to the bank to get my debit card straightened out.  Only me could do something this dumb....a while back a weekend bank personnel (over zealous) cancelled my debit card....arghh!! She thought there was fraud on the account, but no.  Sending a new one took almost a week.  I very rarely carry cash, almost everywhere takes credit cards (except my hairdresser).  So until my new debit card arrived the bank gave me a cash card.  Only works at banks, no place else (I tried) but at least I could withdraw cash until my new debit card appeared.  Ahh the day arrived, my new debit card landed in my mail box.  But wait....they mail the PIN number in a separate mailing (for your protection).  OK, another wait.  Finally, debit card with funkie PIN arrives.  I immediately call the 800 number, quote the pin number to activate the debit card.  Whoopee!!  I am back in business except.....I immediately shredded the PIN number info without writing it down.  Drats. Oh well, I still have my cash card if I need cash.  Until I lost my cash card....I think I left it in the bank slot where you withdraw cash...the ATM machine.  Anyway, now I am up sh_ _ creek.  No way to get cash. But no worries, a nice young banker man fixed my problem and now my debit card can withdraw cash just like every other debit card on the face of the earth!!  Until I screw something else up.....

OK now that the debit card situation is over and done with I headed to get the oil changed in my car since my warning light had been on for awhile, ok more than awhile, too long.  And I had a slow leak in my left rear passenger side tire.  Every once in awhile the low tire icon would appear on the dashboard and I would stop and fill it up with air....I can't believe gas stations charge for air, come on.  So had oil changed, tire is now fixed (nail) and I am on my way again.  When I have accomplished obstacles like debit card issues, oil issues and tire issues, I feel the need to reward myself by stopping by the little park I passed on the way to the oil changer/tire fixer place to wander and ofcourse snap a few images.  And the fact that it was a beautiful day with brilliant blue skies added an extra incentive for this stop over/reward.

As I walked thru the park I found all kinds of "wild things" growing.

I have no idea what this is, but I love it.  The brilliant pink stems, bright green leaves, green and deep purple berries, wow.

And ofcourse the cone flowers are in their last stages of beauty...

Dry and bare but beautiful...

The entrance to the play area is dazzling with the mesh wire delights...

Not a single solitary child in the play area....school is now in session.

When I first began to gaze at this I thought it was a mother bug carrying it's young on it's back....but then I saw more in this same "position" and then I remembered the story my mom taught me about the birds and the bees and I think they were adhering to the age old mantra.....go forth and multiply.

Just a great day to reward myself....

"I believe God lets us stumble along, slowly finding our way, and giving us chances to pick each other up."
             ~ Anna White

Until next time.....

"Labor Day - Wars - Reading" or "More Rambling"

Happy Labor Day everyone who labors at something.  My laboring is minimal at best....in fact my yard and gardens have really suffered because of the lack of laboring that occurred this past summer.  I could blame it on the weather, but we have had really nice weather this summer, I could blame it on the fact that when the workers installed my new fence last summer they ruined quite a few of the bushes, which in turn kinda ruined the look of the front garden.  And I am sure I could come up with more reasons, but truth be told I think I was just lazy and I don't have quite the oomph nor my sweetie around to help.  Sitting on the back porch reading and relaxing had far more appeal to me this summer than weeding, mowing, trimming etc.

And now with this holiday upon us it really marks the end of summer.  Oh I know it will still be warm and there will be plenty more days of relaxing on the porch.  But somehow when Labor Day comes it is like saying goodbye to summertime.  The kids are back in school, the pool officially closes today, I will hear the cheers from the football stadium and the bands playing not too far from my home, the sun is beginning to lower in the sky and darkness comes earlier.

But with the beginnings of early Fall, my hydrangeas are exploding (see above) and my neighbor's sunflowers have burst into bloom.  I could see the bright yellow from across the street, so naturally I grabbed my camera and wandered around the pond snapping about a kajillion pics of the sunflowers.  Sunflowers have to be in my top 5 fav flower, especially growing.

Today not only is the US celebrating Labor Day but the day is also distinguished as the official end to World War II, VJ Day with the Japanese finally admitting defeat after 2 Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the Japanese avoided our attempts at peace.  After reading "The Girls From Atomic City" a non-fiction narrative of both the building of the city of Oak Ridge, Tn and it's purpose, to build the atomic bomb I have become more aware of what this world must have been like during the late 1930's thru 1945.    It involved more than 100 million people and more than 30 countries. Horrible, devastating war, but we don't seem to learn....war continues somewhere every day.  Another great book, fiction, involving the destructive effects of the war on a personal level is "All The Light We Cannot See", superb read!!

I am currently reading "The Invention of Wings".  The story of slavery and the bonds that are formed between the white daughter of a plantation owner and her black slave....which ofcourse eventually leads to the Civil War.  I seem to be stuck on wars today.  But since I now read almost 100% on my two kindles, one my original and one a Kindle Fire, I can tell you that I am 25% into the book, or I am on page 96, or there is 7 hours and 53 minutes left according to my reading speed.  Don't ya love it!!

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.  The man who never reads lives only one." 
                    ~ George RR Martin

Linking up with Tamar from Random-osity for her

                                                                 
Until next time....