Claudie Flay...Or Claude Ray...Or Clauda Dean...

Yesterday was a perfectly beautiful day in the hills of the Bluegrass. Very low humidity and a wonderful gentle breeze. Claude had a meeting in the morning at city hall. Then he came home and mowed the grass. Now, that is truly one of those wonderful fragrances, the scent of a newly mowed lawn. I was doing wash, storing the peaches I dried, and other home chores. We invited Papa out to practice music for Wednesday singing at the nursing home and to try out a new recipe that Claude wanted to make. Our Relief Society had an Enrichment meeting at which they exchanged favorite recipes. I missed the actual meeting due to a giganormous headache. But I was able to pick up the recipes at Church the following Sunday. I have a stack of them which Chiara, Neffie and Andie poured over and picked out the ones they liked. Claude loves to cook so I had him go through them and he picked out this chicken recipe. I can't give credit for the recipe to whoever submitted it because their name is not on it. But I can assure you that it is an absolutely delicious recipe as agreed upon by Papa when he paused in his eating and said, "Claude, you did it again. This is just great!" We sat on the upper deck and ate this wonderful meal and enjoyed the breeze and the turkey buzzards flying over the creek. They have a very ugly name but they are just beautiful to watch glide through the air. They soar around one spot for a while, then move down stream and then return later. At one point we counted 9 of them soaring a huge circles up and down the creek. Enjoy the recipe with the side note that Claude is saving the Cilantro Lime Dressing and mixing it with salsa for an extra great dip. I'm sure it will turn up on other foods as well. CHICKEN FAJITA SALAD with CILANTRO LIME DRESSING THE INGREDIENTS: Meat: 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts – cut into thin strips Ensalada: 1 Tbl Lime Juice 1 Small Red Onion – sliced into rings 2 Tbl fresh cilantro -- chopped 6-8 Cups Romaine lettuce ½ Cup green bell pepper -- sliced ½ Cup red bell peeper -- sliced ½ Cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 Can (15oz) Pinto Beans 1 Medium tomato -- diced Salt & Black Pepper to taste Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing: 1 Tbl fresh cilantro – chopped ½ Cup low/non-fat sour cream 1 ½ Tbl lime juice 1 Tsp granulated sugar ¼ Tsp ground cumin ¼ Tsp chili powder THE DIRECTIONS: Dressing: Combine all ingredients and stir well with a wisk. Cover and chill. Ensalada: Place chicken strips in a large non-stick skillet lightly coated with cooking spray or olive oil, and sauté until lightly browned (8 minutes or so). Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon lime juice, salt and pepper (to taste), and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro. Set aside. Combine lettuce, peppers, cheddar cheese, tomato, and beans, and then toss with chicken and top with onion rings. Drizzle with cilantro lime dressing and serve with baked tortilla chips and your favorite salsa or pico de gallo. YEILD: Serves 4 as a main dish. Nutrition Estimates Per Serving: 298 Calories, 2g Fat (6.5% calories from fat), 40g Protein, 31g Carbohydrates, 7g Dietary Fiber, 72mg Cholesterol, 652mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 5 Lean Meat, 1 ½ Vegetable; 0 Fruit, 0 Fat, ½ Other Carbohydrates I would suggest to each of you that you prepare yourself to retire in the country in Kentucky on a hill with a creek at the bottom. It is mighty fine living.

Charlotte's Web...

Living in the country you always enjoy waking up in the morning and checking what is outside the bedroom windows. Sort of to see what the night left for you to enjoy in the morning. Yesterday it was two big doe walking in Area 11 (What we fondly call the empty lot next to us that we bought. It is actually Lot 11 and our home is on Lot 10. After a trip to Nevada to Area 54 we began to call the empty lot Area 11. But, again, I digress...) One summer we woke each morning to a mother bunny and her babies hopping in Area 11 and our yard. Last summer we watch a doe and her 2 fawns having their morning feed in Area 11 and our yard. I remember us moaning as we drove home one day and spotted a deer someone had 'taken out' with their car on Hwy. 32 just before you get to Eagle Bend. We were concerned it was the doe. But the next morning there was the doe and her 2 fawns feeding as usual. This morning we awoke after rain showers yesterday and at some point during the night to a wet upper deck when we looked out the door from our bedroom to the deck. Then I noticed something shiny on the deck. Charlotte visited us last night, and while she didn't leave any words like "awesome" or "humble" she did busy herself throughout the night spinning the following webs when the support posts are on the upper deck.

This first was on the post nearest our bedroom door.

This one was on the center post of the deck and she spun a web on each side of the post.

The final was on the post that holds the John Deere weather center. Charlotte managed to spin a nice web to the left and then a chandelier type hanging from the weather center. I did NOT find Charlotte. Thank you Charlotte for a delightful morning surprise. How you did it in the rain I shall never know!

Last night Sadieville had a music festival. We have a group that is trying to raise money to restore and old church on Hwy. 32 that runs through Sadieville. The city purchased this little frame church and the little building behind it. They were the church and school for the African Americans that lived in this area when the town was originally settled. They are a bit of history that we don't want to be lost. A 'Renaissance' group has been formed to try and save some of this really neat and important history. This summer they are having 3 music festivals and last night was the 1st. A man came with his Karaoke and set up in the Waring Pavillion on Main Street. We all brought our lawn chairs and sat on the grass by the Caboose or on the street in front of the pavillion. The Caboose was opened so that people could go through it. The kids really enjoyed playing in and on it. At City Hall, on the nice decking, they served up hot dogs, beans, and corn bread with water or soda to drink. The proceeds went to the preservation group (Renaissance) to help them with their work. It was really well attended. The local reporter was there. They had a steady stream of people volunteering to sing and bringing their own Karaoke CD's. I took my crocheting, Claude went down to the depot (City Hall) and brought us back dinner (he is a great hunter/gatherer) and we had a delightful evening listening to some great voices and some that we just enjoyed because they were having a lot of fun trying. A rain shower came just before time to finish. Claude and I took our stuff to the Jeep and he pulled down and parked the Jeep by the pavillion. The event was supposed to finish at 9pm. At 9:30pm they were still passing that microphone and singing away. I found it interesting the way music brings people together. They raised several hundred dollars just from donations were the music was. Not sure how well they did on the food end of things. But it was a delightful evening. The next one is in July and will be Bluegrass Music. Papa might enjoy that one.

I Found My Thrill On Blueberry Hill...Wink, Wink...

Yesterday afternoon I headed to LaGrange to babysit the mini-Marx's in the evening while Andie took a break with some of the other moms in her area. This morning Andie plotted a visit to Blueberry Hill, a farm where you can Pick-Ur-Own blueberries. We enjoyed the drive over train tracks and watching for all kinds of trucks on the highway. I really think Hayden enjoyed that ride to Campbellsburg a lot. When we got to Blueberry Hill the parking area was full of chickens. Now the chickens were not the least afraid of cars. They were truly 'free range chickens'. We got Bailey & Hayden out of the car and they had a good look at all of these neat chickens after putting on their sunglasses, of course.

The nice lady that owns this blueberry pickin' orchard walked us out to the blueberry bushes that were ripe and gave us instructions on how to pick them. They grow 3 kinds (I could not tell the difference by looking at the berries). You don't pick the berries that are white or in stages of pink in lighter blue. These you leave to continue ripening and others will pick them later. You also look for a reddening of the stem and that indicates the berries are ripe. The most important tip was that they grow in clumps like grapes. You can touch a blueberry with your pointer finger and your thumb and rub just a bit and if the berry is ready for picking it will literally fall off in your hand. If it doesn't, it is not quite ripe and you should leave it for others to pick. We got 4 buckets, one for each of us, and proceeded to pick. We were assured the kids could eat as they picked.

While Andie diligently picked and I picked as I watched my youngest grandmonsters, we managed to fill 2 buckets to the top. That is about a gallon in each bucket and they sell it for $12 a gallon. Andie and I will freeze and try drying these berries. Of course it was fun to see what Hayden and Bailey would find to amuse themselves once they filled up on blueberries and were beginning to pink up with the really hot, sunny day we had. Hayden managed to find a caterpillar to play with. Bailey chased butterflies (sorry, no picture of that) and they both really, really enjoyed this little frame for a shed. They tromped down the tall grass in it and ran around through the openings.

They were such good kids that Ma (that's me and is short for BlamMa) treated them to lunch at Subway on the way home. One of the things I have always done with kids is wink and wrinkle my nose. These are quiet things and most kids respond with a grin or inquisitive look. Today while eating I winked at Ms. Bailey. I was totally surprised when she closed one eye to wink back at me. Hayden then follow suit.

It was a great outing. I'm so happy to have the blueberries and will now head up stairs to begin the freezing process. Thanks Andie for a fun outing that adds to our food storage.

My Turtle History...

After posting last time about the turtle sighting as the mini-Marx's prepared to leave Sadieville, it occurred to me that it might be a good time to include a little 'turtle history'. When I was a teenager (long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away!!!), I found myself interested in words. I could amuse myself at times by saying a word over and over and over to see how it sounded with prolonged usage. One that never failed to crack me up was 'ignore'. Now, just for fun, say it out loud over and over and over for a while. Here we go...ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore, etc. Now, don't you find yourself going more and more nasal sounding. It is just a very silly word. I said the word turtle one day and the more it rolled around in my mouth the more I liked the sound of it. It became my favorite word because I just really liked the sound of it. It remains my favorite word to this day. One day when working at CAPREIT, I was talking with Mike Pugh. He worked, at that time, in the cubicle next to me as an assistant to Dick Kadish, the owner and president of CAPREIT. I was an Executive Administrative Assistant to Jeff Goldshine, Sandy Becker and Ron Schattenberg, the 3 vice-presidents over Operations. Mike and I were near the same age and shared a lot in of common. One day we got to talking about words. I mentioned my favorite word was 'turtle' and asked if Mike had a favorite word. Mike said he did. It is 'flaucinaucinihilipilification'. It turns out that Mike worked transcribing political speeches and it was not uncommon for these political whiz people to throw in a word just to stump the transcribers. Mike and several others would take a few pages at the time of a speech as it was given and the goal was to have it ready for press release as quickly as possible when the speech was complete. I know in today's rapid fire society this my seem archaic to many of you, but nonetheless it is how it was done at that time. Mike got the portion of the speech with 'flaucinaucinihilipilification' in it. He quickly found the correct spelling and it has been his favorite word ever since. Just so YOU don't have to go to your dictionary this word is a noun and is rarely used. The definition is 'the estimation of something as valueless (encountered mainly as an example of one of the longest words in the English language).' Claude used to find unusual words and learn them so he could add and use them in his vocabulary. One of the ones I remember the most was 'penultimate'. The word is an adjective and means 'the next to the last'. So it is not the ultimate moment but the penultimate moment. Okay, back to turtles... When my kids were little (Nissa was 9, Andie was 7, and Jacob was 5), I was driving down a street in the Denver area in which we lived and I saw a little turtle crossing the street. I pulled my car to the side of the road and picked up that turtle and put it in the back seat of my car. When the kids got home from school, they had a wonderful and interesting new pet turtle. The kids got 2 cardboard boxes about the same size. They cut out an opening in one side of each box and taped the boxes together so that the openings fit together. Basically they made a 2 room home for their turtle. One box they kept full of grass. The other they put an bowl of water in and filled the floor of it with sand that inclined so the turtle could climb up to the water bowl. They found a little paper American flag and put it on the inside wall of one of the boxes. They named the turtle Toby. Toby could now get up each morning and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Then he could stroll over for a morning drink of water. We had a little metal sign on the gate to our back yard that read 'Watch out for Dogs' left from the previous owners. The kids took a permanent marker and scratched out 'dogs' and wrote in 'turtle'. Jacob was in kindergarten and would dutifully get up each morning and take Toby to the bathroom and run water from the sink over his shell, then give Toby and kiss and put him back in his box. Jake was due to have his first school pictures taken one day. He got up that morning to provide Toby with his morning ritual. Since it was October and Toby was ready to find a place to hibernate soon, he was not really happy with the ritual so he bit Jake's upper lip. I heard a blood curdling scream and Jake yelling "MA!!!" I ran to the bathroom and there stood my little guy with a turtle hanging off his upper lip. I couldn't do anything but yank Toby the Turtle off his lip. So for Jake's 1st school picture, he has a turtle's lip print on his upper lip.So there you have it...my love of turtles and a few stories from my turtle history.

Father's Day Weekend...

Amazing...I just finished taking all my Father's Day pictures off my camera and I didn't take any of Claude & Papa on Father's Day. That officially makes me not the best pictoral historyographer (I just made up that word). But I did take several cuties of the mini-Marx's. Michael was in South Dakota refereeing (is that spelled correctly?) soccer games. We did eMail a few to his blackberry. Hayden and Bailey love to play on our bed. It is high off the ground and just seems to be a neat place to watch a show or build a bird nest out of pillows. In this picture my youngest grandmonsters are chirping away like little birds. Last night we moved the pillows to the living room and with the 8 sofa pillows and made a long nest. Claude's annual summer quest is to improve his status as a 'gentleman farmer' by growing a bumper crop of tomatoes. This weekend the first of the cherry tomatos ripened. There were four little red tomatoes and the mini-Marx's had the honor of picking the first of this year's cherished tomato crop. Bailey felt they worked best when carried in the bug catcher container.

Saturday we went to the park and ate Kentucky Fried (oops!) Grilled chicken. Papa joined us and we had a wonderful time playing all Brookings Park has to offer. I wish you could see Hayden and Papa's faces better. They are both laughing and having a great time. It was great fun to see how much growing the mini-Marx's have done since we went to a park with them last. They climb higher and do more than ever. Great fun to watch.

This morning as we were loading the Marx Mobile for the journey back to LaGrange, we spied a little turtle coming around the corner of the garage. We quickly hurried mini-Marx's over to check out this cute little turtle. They each petted it on the back. We had a big discussion about where a turtle would like best to live. Pa held it up so it's tummy could be looked at and it's legs touched. Then we placed the turtle treasure in the grass and watched it climb the hill on Area 11 in search of the stand of trees there and probably eventually to the creek.

Papa gave me a turtle for Christmas one year that walks across the room while singing. Andie looked at me as we watched this little turtle trooping up the hill and said, "Aren't you just waiting for it to sing 'Slow down, you move to fast, gotta made the moment last'?" Claude requested beef enchiladas for his Father's Day dinner. We made 2 big pans, had a nice salad and Mexican corn. Claude also requested an ice cream cake for dessert. I suggested an ice cream cake be our tradition for special days (we had one for Mother's Day this year also). Claude said yep, all special days meant every Sunday!!! Presents were opened by Claude and Papa. They each also got to take one of those great Sunday afternoon naps. Michael called and as Hayden walked through the living room to the breakfast room with the phone to his ear I heard him say, "You're the #1 dad!!" It was a very good Father's Day in Sadieville.

June - The Birthday Month for Our Mom's

June is the month for Claude's mom and my mother's birthday. I've always found it interesting that in May we have Mother's Day and on May 3rd have Papa's birthday and on May 22nd we had Evan's birthday. Then comes June and we have Father's Day and on June 5th is Bonnie's birthday and on June 9th is Mimi's birthday.

This year Claude headed to Utah for Bonnie's birthday. Julie and Cordell coordinated an open house on Saturday, June 13th for Bonnie. Bonnie spent her real birth date in Vancouver, Washington for the baptism of CJ McCombs, one of her grandchildren. There was an announcement in the newspaper so the community knew an open house was being held. They held it at Bonnie's home. Claude said he was able to see many of the people he hasn't seen in years as well as lots of family. He really appreciated this trip because he had a good deal of time to visit with his mother one-on-one. We truly appreciate Julie and Cordell for making sure this happened. Tami provided tables and chairs. People brought treats and a good time was had by all. Claude was also able to take the Drysdale family to the Oaks for an Oak Burger. Rick and Lynette had their rehearsal dinner before their wedding at the Oaks which is in the canyon between Huntsville and Ogden. Our family loves to eat there when we are in Utah. This year young Daniel Drysdale graduated from High School and Lynette received a degree from Weber State University. In honor of these momentous events, Claude took this wonderful family to dinner. For Mimi's birthday, Papa and I agreed to wait until my little sister, Neffie, and her daughter, Chiara, and Chiara's 3 little boys got to town for their visit to celebrate. On the 5th, I had to do something for Mimi. So I stopped and picked up a Twinkie on my way into town. Mimi has no teeth so the Twinkie had prospects for being soft enough for her to enjoy. I got to the nursing home during her lunch time. Papa finished feeding her and then we broke up her birthday Twinkie, sang a bit, and Papa poured a little milk over her Twinkie and fed it to her. Her eyes lit up when she tasted that sweet treat and a great big smile came across her face. Claude left on Wednesday the 10th. Andie and the mini-Marx's arrived Friday afternoon the 12th. Neffie, Chiara, Kenny, Nathan and James arrived Friday the 12th in the early evening. That Friday evening during adult swim (that is after the kids are put the bed) Andie, Neffie and Chiara finished fixing the cupcakes for Mimi's birthday. I baked 47 cupcakes that Friday afternoon. Andie made butterfly wings and antennae out of chocolate melts and brought them already prepared. Andie made up butter cream icing and they iced the cupcakes, put M&M's on to support the wings, then added the wings and antennae. Then they put some more icing on to be the body of the butterfly. Now, butterflies are significant to Mimi and Papa because they made, painted and sold the butterflies you see on the sides of houses and fence posts to raise money to fund their once a month week long trip to serve in the Dallas Temple. They did this for 4 years. Each of their daughters was the proud recipient of a butterfly. So the making of these particular butterfly cupcakes was very special for Mimi and Papa. Saturday we had breakfast and then all of us went out to the cars to head into Georgetown to have a birthday celebration for Mimi. A little problem arose when Chiara's van was stone, cold dead. We tried to jump start it but didn't quite get that right. So we opted for the 'switch the car seats to Sandi's car' and quickly headed into Georgetown. Papa and Mimi were sitting there waiting for us. Mimi was happy to see so many little children as were the residents that came into the multi-purpose room. Papa brought his guitar and we sang a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday". Then Papa sang a special song for Mimi that he used to sing to her when they were first married. The song was written by a man of some significance (I can't remember what right now) for his wife. She had been very disfigured because of an illness and was extremely self-conscious. So he wrote this beautiful love song for her titled "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms". Yeah Papa! He got through it without his voice breaking. It was a sweet moment.

Hayden helped me pass out the beautiful cupcakes. Kenny helped Mimi open her present and we had a very nice visit. Bailey played peek-a-boo around the post with the residents. Nathan sat on Mimi's lap and she got lots of hugs. Chiara held little James and Mimi enjoyed him. It was a great morning and lots of fun for Mimi and the other residents and a true joy of each of her famly members. Here is a picture of the butterfly cupcakes.

You can look at Bailey and tell they were yummy!!

I'll leave the remainder of the pictures and story about Neffie and Chiara's visit until she has time to post to her blog. I will just say that Nathan called me "Gramma" his entire visit. It was just precious.

Nursing Home Humor...

Once in a while at the nursing home you hear something that you just didn't expect to hear. Today Papa did his usual weekly singing at the nursing home. We sang a song titled "Maggie". It was my first time singing it with Papa. He learned it at his mother's knee. It is beautiful old song with a lovely melody. After we finished, at the back of the room, Ray Perkins pipes up and said, "I sang that to a girl in the 5th grade." I told Papa what Ray said. Then I said to Ray, "Would you like to elaborate on that?" He said, "No, I just sang 'Maggie' to her." We all enjoyed and were amused by Ray's memory from long ago. It just brought the entire group together. After singing I went to my seat by Mimi while Papa played some mandolin pieces as he usually does at the end of his program. Mimi sits along the back wall where Ray and Joe sit. One of the ladies that works in the kitchen came by and Joe reached out to her. One of the things I love about this nursing home is that they are not afraid to touch and be close to the residents. This lady took Joe's hand and held it to talk with him. Joe is a big, gentle lug-of-a-guy. In his simple way he looked at her and said, "You're hands are cold." She explained she had just washed her hands. This interaction happened several times. Then as she turned to go back to the kitchen she said to Joe, "Cold hands, warm heart!" I've heard that saying many times before. Then Ray pops up and adds the other part of this verse that I have never heard. The kitchen lady said again, "Cold hands, warm heart!" and Ray adds, "Cold feet & no sweetheart!" Now you've learned something new. As Mimi used to say..."You have a new wrinkle in your brain."

All Aboard! All Aboard!!

Our little Hayden has enriches our lives with his love of all things to do with Thomas the Tank Engine. He has lots of train engines, cars and tracks that cover his room and spread over their home. He even keeps some at our home for when he visits. At one point he gave all of us train names. When I got an eMail notice that a "Day Out With Thomas" was coming to New Haven, Kentucky's Railroad Museum I just kept that eMail hoping it would work out so we could get our little train officienado to this most important event. When I was sure of the times that would work for Claude and me, I called Andie and she verified with Michael that it would work for them and tickets were purchased for 4 adults and 2 kids. We visited the Marx family Wednesday, June 3rd and gave Hayden and Bailey printed invitations to a "Day Out With Thomas". Hayden was fairly popping when he understood what that meant. We spent a fair amount of time going over the need to get through Thursday and Friday and THEN it would be Saturday. He knows his calendar and that really helped.

Claude and I arrived in New Haven early and found the city park and parked under the shade of some big trees, rolled down the windows of the car, and sat back to wait until time to head to the VERY crowded Kentucky Railway Museum. The Marx family would join us around 3pm at the train station. Imagine our surprise when we heard the peep, peep of Thomas' whistle. The train went in front of where we were waiting. About 2:45pm we headed to the train museum and found parking. Then we found Will Call to pick up the tickets. They gave us 2 little maps with 4 circles on them. If your child went to these 4 places (out of the many offered) and got a stamp in each one of them, they would receive a prize. This gave direction to how to spend our time. While in line at Will Call, the Marx mobile arrived. Since Claude and I had no cell service in New Haven, we were very happy to make connections that easily. We placed arm bands on everyone to verify we had entry into all areas of the event. Bailey worked all during the outing and (I believe it was during the train ride) actually removed hers from her little arm. Then it was off to see the HUGE Lego version of Thomas. Our next stop was at the location of our first stamp for our maps. It was the "Video and Story Telling". They would also put temporary tattoos of your choice of engines from the Island of Sodor. Miss Bailey hurried over to pick out a "Rosie" tattoo for her right arm. They had fun trying to get it to stick because the kids had sun screen on. Somehow they got that one on Bailey's arm. We had Hayden come over to pick out which tattoo he wanted. He looked them over and said, "No thanks, I have this." He pointed to his armband. Andie assured him he could have both but he repeated "no thanks" and was off to video and story telling again. We got the stamps for this and then headed to see the real Thomas that would pull our coach cars on our train ride. Hayden was very focused on seeing Thomas up close. In front of Thomas on the same track was an old HUGE black steam engine. We got in line so the kids could climb up inside and ring the bell. This thing had some wheels as tall as a grown man. Hayden wanted to touch it so I found a part that wasn't too greasy and let him touch the metal. Andie and Michael got the kids up the steep steps and Claude and I stayed below to take pictures thru the window of them ringing the bell.

"Imagination Station" was our next destination. This was also a spot to get another stamp. It was a tent with lots of train tables with tracks and trains so kids could enjoy playing with Thomas train sets. Bailey and Hayden both really enjoyed being under this tent, out of the sun, and getting to play with trains.

After a little time to play and cool off, we headed to the train station. It was about time for Sir Topham Hatt to make his appearance AND you could have your picture taken with him. The inside was crowded and the magician was finishing his show in the front of the room where Sir Topham Hatt would make his appearance in the back of the room. We found our way to where the line was forming and secured our place in line. This would be stamp #3 for the maps. Hayden loved Sir Topham Hatt. He held his hand and told him his name. I love Bailey's expression in this picture of amazement and wonder that Sir Topham Hatt was right there.

We had just enough time for a potty break and then outside to line up for boarding our coach car and a 25 minute train ride. Michael and Claude found great seats and Hayden and Bailey each had a window. It was such a pleasure to watch them enjoy the ride through the country on the train. I'll share my two favorite pictures from the train ride. Note how ready Hayden is with his arm band and his ticket. Then note the tender moment with Andie and Bailey. This was really a nice train ride. Hayden could see out his window all the old railroad cars of many different varieties and he was telling us what they were. He saw coal and cows and corn but he really enjoyed the different kinds of cars stored along portions of the train track.

The conductor came and took our tickets and punched them. A lady with a video camera came and spoke with Hayden. Then we returned to the station and headed for the 4th and final place to get a stamp...you guessed it...the gift shop. Aren't they clever vendors!!! Amazingly the mini-Marx's were very happy with 2 Thomas story books to add to their collection. We headed to a little local eatery and fed the kids hot dogs and ice cream (they needed to have sugar before the drive back to La Grange). We parted ways after a really fun afternoon. When Claude and I got home, there was a very excited Hayden & Bailey message on our phone to say thank you. Being granparents is just the greatest. We did learn that 4 adults to one 2 year old and one 4 year old is just about the right odds!!!

Fire Flies & Enlightened Moments...

Tonight I lay in my bed trying to fall asleep. We have not turned our air conditioning on yet. So at night we open the curtains while we sleep so the cool night air can fill our home to cool it off for another day. I finally rolled over and faced that open window. I noticed little flashes of light between our home and the trees on our hill. It took a moment to register that the fire flies have returned for this summer. These are just delightful little insects. They leave a kind of magic and peace in the summer evenings. It just feels very Southern. I realized as I lay there that I have been able to enjoy fire flies most of my life. I don't think we had them when we lived in California or in Colorado. But we have had them in Louisiana, Maryland and now in Kentucky. They made me think of other things I've enjoyed throughout my life: Homemade hand cranked ice cream Swinging on a front porch Napping on a quilt under the shade of a tree with a gentle breeze Singing along to a piece of music in my low range Homemade lemonade Sitting on top of a mountain looking across the country Hugs from my kids or grandmonsters Finishing a piece of needlework Looking at pictures of trips we have taken and remembering... The scent of magnolias Driving down the interstate with the sun roof open and good music at full volume Reading a really good book Claude & me having a soda in the car sitting at a corner parking lot Trying to pin hems in my skirts with my mom & laughing through it Grocery shopping with Jake and laughing through it When Nissa & Andie would say "I need a soda" and we had a great talk Picking strawberries in Gramma & Grampa Fisch's strawberry patch Getting a sun tan Letters from Papa with answers to my teen age questions Listening to the Eagles concert DVD at full volume on the big TV Singing with Claude or Papa when they play their guitars Talks with a good friend Watching the water tank fill during a gentle summer rain Building houses of straw in the woods & using snuff cans for dishes Jeep rides with Uncle Clifford And the list could go on. There is a lot of appreciate and really enjoy in this life. It was pleasant to pause and give thought to a few of those things and open my mind to remember more. Goodnight!!!

Oh Deer!!!

Claude and I were returning to Sadieville last night. Our home is out in the country. You drive Highway 32 for a mile or so at a speed of about 55 mph. As we were crusing down this road Claude suddenly slowed the speed down. I looked up from my Sudoku puzzle to see what in the world caused the sudden slow down. Claude started counting the deer leaping across the highway. Once they were gone, he slowly picked up speed and began that little distance to our home carefully looking for more deer. As we continued we drove by this road sign on the side of the road at this spot where the deer had been leaping across the road. Claude quietly said, "I guess they don't believe in the 'no passing' road sign." It was really funny to me at the time.

Hands...

I have hands just like my mothers. During my married years, after we would return home from a visit to Louisiana, I would be wiping a counter top and look at my hand and realize it looked exactly like my mom's hand. This last Monday, Mimi got very ill. Papa went to feed her at lunch, as is his daily habit. He called me immediately when he got home and just as I was about to go out the door to the dentist for my 6 month check and cleaning. He said Mimi had hurled her breakfast and wasn't willing to eat at lunch. She was burning up with fever, pale as a white sheet, and they weren't sure what was wrong. She was in her bed, in her room, and had not been up all day. (Usually Mimi is dressed and taken to the multi-purpose room for breakfast. She spends a good deal of her day sitting at a table there and takes all 3 meals in this room.) Mimi was also rolling her eyes and twitching a lot. Papa was very concerned. I told him I had to head to the dentist but after I would meet him to practice music for Wednesday and then we would both go to the nursing home and check on her again. He was pleased with that plan that is what we did. When we got there Mimi's fever was down a bit and she had some color. She was still not good at all. They took a culture and tested for flu. This test came back negative, Mimi did not have the flu. They called her doctor and he suggested they get a urine sample and check for urinary tract infection. This was the diagnosis they settled on. We left Mimi resting. Her doctor came that afternoon and checked her. They began giving her injections for this infection. Tuesday Mimi was still not great but did eat and hold down some food for Papa at lunch. She stayed in her bed all day. Wednesday I went in to sing with Papa. Claude took me in because we had plans to go directly from the nursing home to LaGrange to watch the mini-Marx's so Michael and Andie could have their anniversary dinner. Then to watch Bailey the next morning so Andie could take Hayden to a play. Claude dropped me off at the nursing home and headed out to complete his chore list of in-town stuff while I sang with Papa. When I entered the multi-purpose room, Papa was set up and had about 15 minutes until time to sing but Mimi was not in the room. Since she was a little better Tuesday, I somehow expected her to be sitting at her table to listen to the music. Papa told me he didn't think she would be able to come down yet. I told him I was going to sit with her until time to sing and I headed for her room. I found Mimi pale again and very hot to the touch. I raised the head of her bed and spent the next 15 minutes getting her to drink as much of the water they had for her as I could. Then I lowered the bed and headed back to sing with Papa. I stopped at the nurses station on the way and talked with Helen, telling her how hot Mimi was. She said they had taken her temperature and it was normal not long before. I assured her Mimi was burning up and that I had managed to get a lot of her water in her. Papa and I started to sing and while we were singing Lucy, the other head nurse, came and spoke quietly to us and suggested we call her doctor again and ask about getting her to the hospital for further testing. They had taken her temp again and it was 102 degrees. With the antibiotic for the urinary tract infection, it should not be doing that. We assured her that was fine. Dr. Weckman told Lucy to have an ambulance take Mimi to the Georgetown Regional Hospital and run tests. I finished my part of the program with Papa and whispered in his ear the suggestion that Claude and he give Mimi a blessing before she was to be taken to the hospital. He thought that was a great idea. I left Papa to finish his music program and get his musical instruments and amplifiers into his car. I called Claude and had him bring oil, and I went to sit with Mimi. She was reaching out into the air like she was trying to touch someone and talk with them. I would hold her hand and she would calm down. I just told Mimi that Papa and Claude were going to give her a blessing so she would have peace and calm. Claude got to the nursing home and Papa came to Mimi's room. The Ford's had come down to Mimi's room also to visit her. Doris is a resident in the nursing home and her husband, Jim, was with her. They love Papa's music and they love Mimi and Papa. Papa invited them to stay for the blessing. Papa asked Claude to pronounce the blessing. Claude gave Mimi a beautiful blessing. It was a most tender moment. The Ford's left to give us some quiet time with Mimi before she went to the hospital. Before the ambulance drivers arrived, Jim Ford came back into Mimi's room. He asked that we tell him when the funeral would be so that he and Doris could come. His voice broke as he spoke. I thanked him and assured him they would know if something happened. Jim left and Papa had me tell him what Jim said because he couldn't hear. I told Papa what Jim said. Then the ambulance drivers arrived and took Mimi away. Papa drove to the hospital to be with Mimi. Claude and I headed to LaGrange. As Claude and I were driving, I commented to him that I thought Jim thought the blessing was like last rites like they do in the Catholic church when someone was going to die. Doris and Jim are members of a protestant church, I'm not sure which one, and so they are not familiar with priesthood blessings. I made sure I told Papa about this concern so he could have a teaching moment the next time he saw them and make sure they didn't think we administered last rites to Mimi.

Papa called us when he got home from the hospital. He said the hospital found nothing additional the matter with Mimi that would require hospitalization. So they took her back to the nursing home. Papa headed home for dinner. He was exhausted. This morning Papa called and said he was sick with a stomach bug and couldn't leave his apartment. I assured him Mimi was well taken care of and that Claude and I were going to stop and visit her at the nursing home in the afternoon on our way back to Sadieville. We got to the nursing home and found one of the nurses helping Mimi walk to the multi-purpose room in preparation for dinner. Claude and I both had anticipated her being in her room. It was an absolute delight to see her, albeit a little unsteady, walking to the multi-purpose room. We stayed and visited with her for a good while. During the visit, Helen was getting the meds ready to be given to residents that needed them before dinner. Somehow Mimi and Helen connected across the room. Helen raised her hand and waved at Mimi. I was absolutely amazed as Mimi smiled and waved back at Helen. Then Helen came in and visited with us. She said that they had given mom fluids intravenously in the emergency room and also taken another urine sample. They were sure she had a viral infection and not a bacterial one. Helen figures Papa has the same thing except it is manifesting a little differently in him. It appears the fluids really helped Mimi perk up. I think Papa will stay home one more day so that he and Mimi don't re-infect each other. Mimi ate a good breakfast and lunch today in the multi-purpose room so she is on a mending trend again.

As I sat with mom and held her hand I remembered I had my camera in my purse. I got it and took this picture of Mimi holding my hand. I think it is going to be one of my favorite pictures. We can tell a lot by a person's hands. Both my mom and I have brown spots (age spots I think they are called). Our blood vessels stand up on our hands. Jake always thought that was way cool and wanted to have blood vessels that stood out like that. Mimi and I have long fingers (good for me to play the piano with). My mother always had long, strong finger nails. I remember playing with them in church as a child so that I would sit quietly. Today Bailey was playing with mine as we watched a television show. Mimi's hands worked every spare minute making things and so do mine. I enjoyed holding Mimi's hand today. She doesn't know me, she just likes my visits and trusts me. I'm grateful for being able to have her still enjoy my touch and it be a calming influence for her as she continues this long Alzheimer's journey. It is an awful thing in so many ways but it has provided me with so many tender memories and moments of acute awareness of what is really, really important in life.

A Few Favorite Flower Stories...

One of my favorite flowers has been the magnolia. It seems I have described this before but I can't find it in my book of my blogs I'm making, so I'll share the story again. Growing up in Louisiana we had a big magnolia tree down the street in the neighbor's yard. These neighbors lived about 4 houses down from our home on East Herndon. This magnolia tree was several stories tall. The branches at the bottom had never been trimmed off. This meant there were enormous long branches all the way to the ground. A kid could sneek inside these branches and not be seen because the leaves were so dense. The branches were close enough to each other and large enough that a kid could very easily climb way up in this big old magnolia tree. We loved to climb it and hide in the branches. My parents did NOT want us doing this in someone else's yard. But, kids will be kids, and we spent a good deal of time in those wonderful branches. Another magnolia tree memory has to do with Mimi and Papa. Papa worked for the telephone company at that time. The office in which he worked was a few blocks from Betty Virginia Park in Shreveport, Louisiana. This was a huge beautiful city park and it had huge magnolia trees along the back of it. Papa would take his lunch break and walk there sometimes. When the magnolias were in blossom, he would pick one for Mimi and bring it home. Mimi would put the stem of this beautiful blossom in water and set it on the mantel in the living room. The fragrance from that one blossom would fill most of the house. You had to be really careful because, like a Gardenia, if you touch the petals they turn brown. One of my requests when we moved to Sadieville was to have a magnolia tree in my yard. Claude purchased a Bay Leaf Magnolia and planted it. It just blossomed the other day and the picture with this blog entry is of my own personal magnolia tree blossom. These are smaller blossoms that the Granda Flora variety of magnolia and I'm sure the tree will also be smaller when it is full grown but I still love having my own magnlia tree to watch and enjoy. My very favorite flower has always been the daisy. I have no picture of a daisy. I just wanted to tell the story of this flower while I'm writing about flowers. Knowing this was my favorite flower when I gave birth to Nissa, our first child, Claude went to the florist and purchased a bud vase and bought one white daisy for this vase. He brought it to me at Barksdale Air Force Base Hospital. One white daisy for one beautiful little baby girl. Two years later I gave birth to Andie. Claude bought 2 white daisies and put them in the same bud vase he gave me when Nissa was born. He brought them to me at March Air Force Base Hospital, 2 white daisies for the 2nd beautiful baby daughter. Two years after that I gave birth to Jacob. Claude went to the florist and purchased 2 white daisies and 1 yellow daisy. He put them in the same bud vase and brought them to me at March Air Force Base Hospital. Two white daisies and 1 yellow one for a handsome baby boy. We moved during the next 4 years to Colorado and eventually purchased our first home. One day I was moving and cleaning kitchen cabinets and that bud vase was on the top shelf. I took it out to move it and dropped it and it broke in a jillion pieces. I sat down and cried. Not long after that I was a little over half way thru my 4th pregnancy and miscarried. I thought about the little bud vase and felt an interesting connection to it and the miscarriage. I'm not saying it was a forewarning or anything, just an interesting set of events a moment in time that gave me pause for reflection. Now, while I've spoken of Betty Virginia Park, I'd like to share a few personal history moments about that park. The city offered gymnastic classes. Mimi enrolled us girls in gymnastics and we took our lessons in a little building at Betty Virginia Park. I learned to do a back bend and I was limber enough I could put my head between my legs. NOT ANY MORE!! I learned to do the splits and lots of other fun things. I enjoyed these classes very much. Also at this park, our ward would hold a big picnic. These were always lots of fun. Somehow I remember a huge kettle of soup being made. We also used the ball fields at one end for the softball games some times. Bibbitt Pierce had been a cheerleader in high school. She was at that time a young married and she took some of us girls and taught us some cheers so we could cheer our ward on. Claude and I even stole a few of our first kisses at this park. I really liked Betty Virginia Park!!