A Little Beauty...

This morning I set to work diligently with household chores.  I had a lot I wanted to get done, more that I could really do, but I decided to just set to work and do what I could and be happy with each thing I accomplished.

As I worked in the kitchen, I felt the need to go out and check on my flowers in the front flower bed along the front porch. I planted some new annuals and we had a hard rain last night. I wanted to be sure they faired okay. This is what I found...

Now, the funny thing is, these pictures are of the perennials, not the annuals.

The daisies are my second favorite flower. My favorite flower is a magnolia. But daisies fit right close to them. This little bunch is gorgeous.

The green plant in the second picture is, however, new this year. I took a picture of it because it was surrounded by the daintiest little mushrooms. I've seen them in this flowerbed before. Not sure what kind of mushroom they are but they are very frail looking. This morning there were lots of them through the entire bed that runs the length of my front porch.

I did have a successful day at getting work done. I did all the laundry and ironing including the linens on two beds. I cleaned my kitchen, mopped its floors, washed the cabinets and rubbed Scott's Liquid Gold into them, cleaned the fridge, edited the City Commission minutes I took last week, and some other things.

It felt good to get all this done but it was comforting to find these beautiful flowers in my flowerbed to start my day.

Changes at Church...

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometmes called the Mormon Church. We have no paid ministry in our Church. Each congregation, called a 'ward', has a bishop and two counselors at its head. Claude has been a bishop two times in our life. Once when we lived in Denver, Colorado and once when we lived in Gaithersburg (later named Montgomery Village), Maryland.

This last Sunday, our current bishop and his counselors were released and a new bishop and his two counselors were sustained. This is always an time of tender feelings and joy in a ward family. Our Sunday was no exception to this abundance of emotion.

After the sustainings were done and the sacrament was passed, the previous Bishop, Rex Holt and his wife were asked to share their testimonies. Then the former 1st Counselor, Brad Manwaring shared his testimony.

The former 2nd Counselor, Bart Barber, was asked to be the 2nd Counselor in the new Bishopric. He bore his testimony next. Bart is a good man, a veterinarian by profession, with a delightful sense of humor.

He began his remarks by telling us it took him a bit of time to figure out why Brad and he had been asked to be Bishop Holt's counselor. Brad and Bart are fairly tall, Bishop Holt...not so much. Bart said he finally figured out that is why they were called, to be tall on either side of Bishop Holt. The congregation found this very amusing and enjoyed a little laughter. There has been more than one occasion when Bishop Holt had a youth come to the stand to recognize one of their accomplishments and the youth would be taller then him. He would always comment about that.

Then Bart said it hadn't taken him too long to figure out why he and Ivan Squire were called to be counselors to Bishop Jenkins. It was because they were both so handsome. This comment brought another round of good laughter. I love that we have a sense of humor about ourselves at Church.

Ivan spoke next. He will be the 1st Counselor to Bishop Jenkins. Ironically, on this momentous occasion, his wife was out-of-town. She took a trip for a family event and Ivan stayed home with their three adorable little girls. He is such a quiet, gentle man. He will be a great counselor.

Jennie Jenkins spoke next. She is our new Bishop's wife. She shared personal feelings about their little girl, Janie, that died very early in her life. The calling to be Bishop was extended to James Jenkins on the birthday of their little Janie. Jennie will be a great bishop's wife.

Bishop Jenkins started his remarks with something that I fondly remember Claude saying when he was called as bishop. Bishop Jenkins said, "When the Lord looks for a new Bishop, he searches the ward for the most spiritual, caring, loving, etc. lady...then he calls her husband." It is a very nice sentiment and it brought back tender memories in my life with Claude.

Bishop Jenkins then challenged us to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. That is a great challenge. He will be a very strong bishop.

I can't remember who made this observation but someone noted that our new bishop's wife is named Jennie, the counselors wives are each named Jennifer. Hmmm..

It was a great meeting. It is always fun to sustain a new bishop and thank those who have given so many hours of service and dedicated so much of their personal time in the calling of bishop and his counselors.

Saturday in the Sun...

We have all new City Commissioners this year. Judy Sinclair, our next door neighbor is one. She has responsibility for the parks. We actually have two parks in Sadieville.
Judy's vision was to take all the playground equipment from the park on Angle Avenue and move it to the park on Pike Street. She worked very hard to get this accomplished.

Before she was elected and with the help of Detta Wilson, they put together some playground equipment that was given to us by another city. They set this up in the Pike Street park.

After Judy was elected she set to work to move the playground equipment from Angle Avenue's park. She found it was cemented into the ground. After locating and contacting the people from whom this equipment was purchased,  they moved the equipment to the Pike Street park. They even anchored it in its new home.

Judy, with the help of her hubby, Dan, and Dominic Whelan moved all the railroad ties from one park to the other. Judy killed the grass where the new playground equipment would be sitting.

Then she got a grant to purchase 45 tons of rubber mulch to cover this new playground area to a depth of 6 inches.  Last Wednesday the mulch was delivered at three different times that day. The mulch came in 200 pound bags. Judy called Claude and Claude called the County and they provided help from the inmates. The bags were strategically placed, opened and emptied into piles.

Saturday at 9am we showed up to rake those 46 tons of rubber mulch to a 6-inch depth. As each new volunteer arrived I felt more relief.

I wore gloves, sunglasses and a hat. It didn't take long before I had a blister in the curve of my hand between my thumb and my pointer finger on each hand. Anytime a cloud cover came over I said a little prayer of gratitude.

After a bit I felt sick to my tummy. I stopped my working and headed for water for Claude and me. We paused for a few minutes and enjoyed the water. Then we set back to work. We were trying to pace ourselves but still be consistent so we could finish this work.

We were all extremely surprised when the mulch was all spread and even moved under all that playground equipment. It was black and blue in color. The colors were randomly placed. I'm sure, over time, these colors of mulch will get mixed all together. But it was quite attractive being shades of black and blue.

Claude headed to the grill and turned out burgers and hot dogs for all the volunteers. We all paused to chat and eat and look at this beautiful new playground.

While I have no little kids of my own, I do have grandmonsters. I eMailed them a picture of our new playground and they are very anxious to come and try it out.

This was an exhausting morning for Claude and me. But it just felt so good to see something really good being set up in our little Sadieville. And it was especially nice to have so many helpers from our community there to get this project accomplished.

Judy has plans for adding trees and eventually a building with bathrooms. We feel change for the better happening in our little town.

Musically Speaking...

Quick post to remember a great evening.

I got a notice about Steve Martin the comedian/actor coming to the Lexington Opera House on Tuesday evening, June 21st. I ran it past Big Guy Clauda and he thought it sounded like a good idea to him as well. I purchased tickets.

Steve Martin plays the banjo. He actually is very, very good on the banjo.

His wife's family loves to vacation in North Carolina. Once while visiting they introduced Steve to a local band named the Steep Canyon Rangers. They struck up a friendship, the end result of which was to go on a tour together.

They have made an album together. That is my age creeping in...they have made a CD together. It is titled "Rare Bird Alert". Every song on this CD Steve Martin had a hand in. He wrote the lyrics and/or the music to each song. These were the songs they performed for us during the show.

The show was laced with narration humor from Steve Martin. So you really got a comedy show by him with the most excellent music to boot.

Steve told us they had been invited to perform on the Mall in Washington, DC for the upcoming 4th of July celebration on the PBS show. They will sing a special song Steve wrote about the historic ride of Paul Revere. The cute thing is that this song is sung from the perspective of the horse Paul Revere rode. Very cute and worth watching the PBS 4th of July show from the Mall in DC.

The audience gave several standing ovations during the show. After the 'final' number, we continued to stand and eventually they came back and did a few more numbers.

One of these numbers was the 'Orange Blossom Special' which is a very popular Bluegrass piece. The fiddle player ad libed in several places. I'm sure I heard 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' in there. That was the first ad lib. As he did each successive ad lib the audience would roar with laughter as they recognized the piece that really wasn't a part of the 'Orange Blossom Special'. By the time the fiddler finished he had strings hanging from his bow that he just ripped off. Great fun.

The final encore number took us all by surprise. They played and sang "King Tut". this is a piece we all remember Steve Martin doing in an Egyptian costume.

The concert was sooooo good that I did something I hardly ever do after a concert. I went to the vendor and had Claude buy me a CD of this music. I has Steve Martin's autograph on the front as well as the autographs of each of the four band members.

I can highly recommend this show to anyone and everyone. Even if you don't know about or enjoy Bluegrass music, you will enjoy these guys and the humor of Steve Martin. A most excellent evening!!

Fun for Fathers...

Father's Day this year was a family affair. The Muskegon crew were able to leave earlier than expected on Friday. They arrived just prior to the Marx family arriving. Claude and I were the last to get here and it was at our home!! We were finishing up Sadieville's MusicFest.

The earlier arrival allowed for some family fun before finalizing sleeping arrangements.

While we dined on left overs, Hayden entertained us with the action songs he learned at Vacation Bible School.

Aunt Nissa brought florescent straws for the Mini's to enjoy. They actually flores in the straw and inside the drink. Quite cool and a huge hit with the Mini's.

Mike and Ashlyn gave Claude and me a quart jar of Jelly Belly's to thank us for hosting Mike's visit the weekend before. I used a great deal of self-control during the week and saved the jar for the grandmonsters to enjoy while they visited. Thanks Mike and Ashlyn for such a great gift. It was enjoyed by the entire family on Father's Day weekend.

There were a few more shenanigans...

...before we all found a place in our home to bed down for the night.

This was a fun sleepover. Hayden has always slept in Claude's office and Bailey slept in the Pak 'n Play in the basement. Bailey is really too tall for the Pak 'n Play anymore so different arrangements needed to be found. This time we let Hayden sleep in his favorite sleeping bag on the sofa in the basement with Paul on an air mattress on the floor beside him. Hayden was feeling quite grown up. Bailey moved to the pod bed in the guest room with her parents.

Saturday we asked Papa to come and spend as much of the day with us as he could. He told the nursing home he would feed Mimi dinner instead of lunch. When he arrived we were still trying to finish making orange rolls for breakfast. Papa and Tiny stayed all day long and we wore poor Papa right out.

Nissa and Todd had an appointment with Jake for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack in Ann Arbor, Michigan around 5pm. Our goal was to have a big breakfast with them. Then have a Father's Day dinner for a late lunch for the rest of us. In between we baked a special Father's Day cake and had dessert and gift exchanges for Father's Day before Nissa and Todd had to leave.

I baked a chocolate cake while we ate breakfast. Aubrey and Andie set to decorate it just special for the fathers in our family.

The cake was a remote control cake. All the little buttons were decorated on the cake with numbers written on the candies that served for the buttons. There was even a DVR button escpecially to tease Pa (Claude) for waiting sooooo long to get DVR.

While the cake preparations were under way, the rest of the family relaxed and enjoyed time together. Pa even found stories on his laptop to read to the kids.

At one point Hayden wanted to watch one of the science shows about the universe on the DVR in our bedroom.  Michael had something else he wanted Hayden to do. They did their negotiations and Hayden verbally agreed to certain things. Clever Michael wanted to be sure things would happen as they agreed. Michael held up his cell phone and recorded Hayden repeating an oath as to what he had agreed to do and not do when his show was over. After recording Hayden taking is little 'oath made up on the spot', Michael played it back for Hayden. I just thought that process between father and son was precious and needed to be saved.

Then it was time to have Father's Day cake and presents before Nissa and Todd headed back to Michigan.

Andie used Hayden and Bailey's footprints on cloth to make shoe fresheners for the guys. I'm not sure what fragrance she put in them but mint was a part of it at least. Hayden does not like the taste or smell of mint. Here are the foot print shoe freshener pictures:

Nissa and Todd headed down the road to Ann Arbor to meet Jake. I started preparations for a lasagna dinner to be eaten later in the day. Papa took Paul, Aubrey, Hayden and Bailey in his car to Mulberry Lane for a nice walk.

Mulberry Lane is a flat road (not a lot of those in our area) that is covered over with trees. There is a stream running along one side. It is a mile to the end where someone has a farm and then a mile back out. They had a pleasant walk. Hayden learned that another name for water is H2O. They were cautioned about poison ivy and taught what it looks like. When they returned, I was able to give them a great visual of why you don't touch that particular plant. And Paul ran back to the house from somewhere, I believe it was where Papa parked his car to begin their walk. A great time was had by all.

Andie then herded all the grandmonsters up and out to the back yard they went. We positioned Papa on a chair on the deck to watch the kids play. I was able to work between the deck where Papa was and the kitchen to keep dinner preparations going. Claude managed to get a nap.

Andie made a wonderful bubbly game using a bucket, rope and dowels. You make enormous bubbles with it. She brought that over and set it up on the hill.

I purchased two new kites. The empty lot we own next door is perfect for flying kites. It is at the top of the hill with no trees. You just have to be careful not to drift toward the back of the lot where there are trees and a power line.

A lasagna dinner was enjoyed by all about 4pm. Then we settled into the house for the rest of evening. The kids were so tired after a full day. The parents were soooooo tired after a full day. It was nice to settle into the house and watch a little movie with Hayden. Bailey did some artwork. Then it was off to bed for the Mini's. Paul and Aubrey stayed up with Pa to watch "Men In Black". Then they were tucked in their beds as well.

Sunday morning we arose early. Claude was out the door first. David picked up Aubrey and Paul next. I headed off to Church next. Eventually the Marx family headed back to LaGrange.

Thanks to my kids for coming home and visiting again. I just love family times together. I know they weren't raised in this house but we want it to feel like they are coming home when they are here. It felt that way this last weekend. That is a mighty good feeling.

Dodging Raindrops...

Sunday was departure day for the remainder of our family…however…we woke up to the threat of rain.

Claude had a meeting in Frankfort early in the morning. He was out of the house right after 7am.

David was to be here between 8:30am and 9am to pick up Aubrey and Paul. We made sure Aubrey and Paul were packed and hadn’t left anything behind. We made sure they had their breakfast. David arrived and honked in the driveway. The kids ran to meet their dad. The Marx family and I helped get their luggage and items outside. They loaded the car and then they were on their way.

The Marx family was to leave right after this because Michael had soccer games to referee in the afternoon. However, Michael showed me a weather map on his cell phone while we were on the porch waving good-bye. Let me just say this map he enlarged two times so it honed in right on Kentucky had the brightest reds, oranges and yellows that were pleasant to the eye but not so much to the heart. The phone was also giving Michael an alert for a tornado warning for Oldham County where the Marx family lives. Yike!!

We headed back to the house after our goodbyes to Aubrey and Paul. Michael checked and his soccer games were cancelled for that day. The Marx family would stay at the house for a few more hours to be sure they were safe rather than driving in the storm. Good plan.

Claude called from Frankfort. He said it was pouring rain in Franklin County. He was headed to Owingsville, Kentucky and out of the storm.

I needed to get to Church to teach my Gospel Doctrine class. If I left right then, I would make it to part of sacrament meeting and enjoy a portion of the Father’s Day program with my Papa. I had prepared all the things I needed to take the Church with me and hurried to my sewing room closet to retrieve them. I got the bag of baby blankets to be tied and the black bag with my lesson materials in it. After hugs with the Marx’s, I loaded my car and headed into the storm.

I made it to Georgetown and decided to review my notes before going into the meetinghouse. Hmmmm…the cloth on the black bag I was trying to lift from the back seat to the front didn’t feel like the black bag with my Sunday School material in it. It was not…oh my goodness. I picked up the wrong bag.

I called Andie at my home and told her my error. I asked her to go back to my sewing room closet, get the correct bag and have it waiting when I returned home. She found it while I was on the phone with her.

Back into the storm I pointed my little red wonder car. It was definitely worse than when I first went into Georgetown. I made it home and found Andie and Bailey watching for me. Andie came out to the car and I put that bag in the car and headed back to Georgetown.

Now the storm was really raging and I was wondering if I could get there without an accident and on time. Geez!!!

I did manage to get there on time. I reviewed my notes a bit. Then climbed out of my car to hurry inside. Bro. Durkin saw me coming in the rain. He was headed to his car with his umbrella. Bless his heart, he came toward me and covered my head and walked me into the Church.

I have to say it all went well. I had to slow down a bit emotionally before I taught.  Claude made it to Owingsville and home just fine.  The Marx family dined on leftovers at our home and watched a Star Wars movie before heading to LaGrange. On arrival they found a major limb on one of their trees that broke off and was in their yard. Michael spent his afternoon cutting it up and disposing of it. They neighbor was not so fortunate. Their big wooden swing set/play gym was upturned with the winds. It made for a very exciting Father’s Day.

Ouch!!!

I've always wanted to be a mom. Ever since I was a little girl I could think of no higher honor than raising precious children. So it is no wonder I was absolutely thrilled with the arrival of a little pink bundle of joy 40 years ago. We named her Nissa, which means 'elf-like'.

Nissa was a wonderful baby. She always woke with a huge grin. She loved everyone and everyone loved her.

Now they say we learn things from our kids. I definitely agree with that statement. And one of the first lessons learned from Nissa was the pain of cutting a tooth. Just before she cut her first tooth, I cut a wisdom tooth. It was excruciating. I have always thanked Heavenly Father for giving me the lesson so I was ready to be patient with this precious baby girl as she cut her first tooth.

Fast forward to recent years. I now have a precious grandson. He has something called 'sensory processing disorder' and he is a 'sensory seeker'.  Sometimes though, he builds up too many sensitive feelings and he just melts down. I ache for the little guy when this happens. And, I've tried to imagine what in the world this must feel like for him. He loves being happy and obedient and when all those senses start firing up at once he is a miserable little guy because it just go against his good nature.

A week ago I was weeding my flower beds. I got to the hydrangea beds and found what I was pretty sure was poison ivy. I'm now certain it was poison ivy because my hands and arms are covered in a rash of the most miserable variety. The last two days have been the worst and the nights have had their own challenges.

My hubby has purchased three kinds of medicines to help with this itch. Each has helped in their own way. Last night as I tried to quietly leave our bedroom so my dear hubby might get some sleep without my restlessness, he encouraged me to find the calamine lotion in the guest bathroom and try it. Message received.

I search this bathroom and found none. Then I remembered Andie's stash of meds for when her kids our visiting our remote home. I headed to the drawer where she keeps these things and, sure enough, she had a nice bottle of Calahist. I checked the expiration date and learned it expired in May 2011. Now, that was not so long ago so I figured there was still potency and it was what I would try next.  It did give some relief and after a couple of hours I was able to get some sleep.

I tell you this because I became keenly aware two nights ago that, while the rash is on my arms and hands, every nerve in my body was sensing this need to scratch. Every nerve was itching even where there was no rash.

Then I thought that this may be how my little grandson feels when he has a sensory overload to deal with. My empathy level jumped to greater heights than ever. I've always been patient with him as he endured these times of leveling out. Now, I shall be more prepared to deal in the future because I'll remember these days and nights of agony and how every single teeny-tiny nerve was agitated to the extreme.

Now, the lesson is to be patient with those little ones and watch the adult life lessons that correlate with their life experiences. It all seems to circle around in life.

The cure...I'm going to try this soon. I just have to hike down the hill first and search.

A good friend shared the insight that there is a plant called 'jewelweed' that is supposed to possibly cure or prevent poison ivy. He even suggested it might be along our creek as it likes to grow in moist places and also in places where poison ivy grows.

I Googled it last night.

Sure enough, I have seen this plant before in the wild. It has a beautiful orange flower on it during the summer. It is of the same family as the impatients flowers we plant annually in gardens. Only, as a wild plant it has greater potency. The stem can be broken and the juices rubbed on your arms, hands and legs before working around poison ivy, oak or nettle.  It will often stop any reaction to those of us allergic to those things. If you have the rash, using it for a couple of days may clear it up. It can be boiled to an orange liquid and frozen in ice cubes and used when you run into some of these noxious weeds. It can be picked and kept in a container in your fridge for two weeks. It is made into lotions and salves and sold by people. Amazing!!

I'm going to give it a try and Claude and I may find some plants and move them in a bed by the house for quick usage.

Ouch!!! I still itch and will be happy with this round of poison ivy is over. I have a huge garden bed on my hill to weed and put some plants in.  I know for a fact my nemesis is there, waiting, lurking, hoping to cause that old agony. This time, before I tackle that hill, I'm going to search for this herbal medicine called 'jewelweed' and see if it becomes a 'jewel' for me!!!

Into the Weeds...

Our yard is FULL of weeds this year. The drought last year and the heavy rains washing the soil away this spring have combined to give us our worst yard yet.

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. The temperature never went out of the 70's and the sky was clear. I determined I would set a goal of weeding my hosta bed at minimum when the sun started to shade the back yard.

I hit my back yard and my hosta bed at about 3:30pm. Gloves on hands, bags to dispose of weeds, garden tool to pry out those nasty dandelion plants, I was armed and ready to do battle.

I learned these lessons as I weeded the afternoon away:

1. I have grass growing in my flower beds and weeds in the yard.  What in the world is up with that!!
2. I knew there were seasons for certain things to grow. Did you know that applies to weeds as well?  I found myself pulling up weeds that were older and that I was familiar with. Then I found myself pulling up newer varieties and thinking to myself..."What fresh madness is this?"
3. Putting bricks to line the edge of the hosta bed was a great idea...except...those pesky dandelions think that tiny hole in the side of the brick is just the perfect place to grow and they are not easy to get out of that hole.
4. Poison ivy loves flower beds. It keeps trying to grow up the front of our home in the front flower bed and now it has taken residence in my hydrangea bed on the back of the house. Do you suppose it has traveled all the way under the house from the front to the back just to test my patience??? 
5. Does that verse in the Bible say, "By the sweat of thy brow shalt thou have weedless flower beds and yard"?
6. I love being outside when it is in the 70 degree range and the shade is over you. Everything just feels right, even if I'm pullin' weeds.

Those are my lessons so far. 

After finishing those two flower beds, I was pulling weeds from the patio along the back of our house headed down the hill. It may be that Claude just finished watching a series about the Civil War that he DVR'd, I'm not sure but I think that may be why I felt like I was on Sandi's (a.k.a. Sherman's) March to the Sea. Such silliness.

Now, I am watching my arms and face to see where that poison ivy will first erupt. I tried to be careful and not rub or scratch any part of my body. At 7:30pm when I came inside I immediately went and took a hot, soapy shower.  We'll just watch and see if any lovely blisters pop out today...

Surprise!!! From Surprise, Arizona...

I received a delightful phone call a few weeks ago. It was my nephew, Mike Hurst. He wanted to make a quick trip to Kentucky to see Mimi and Papa and he wanted to surprise Papa. That could be arranged, so we worked on a date and he sent me airline information.
I had a great deal of fun over the next couple of weeks with my mother. I would hold her head in my hands and whisper in her ear every time I got ready to leave her,"Mimi, Mike is coming to see you and Papa. You must not tell Papa. It is a secret." Sometimes she would say, "Yes". She really can't tell Papa a thing with her Alzheimers. But it was great fun to have a secret she and I shared to surprise her hubby.

Mike was to arrive Friday evening at Cincinnati's Airport. Claude and I decided to take Papa to dinner on the way up. I told Papa to come to our home Friday evening ready to go for a nice ride and dinner at Smokey Bones in Florence, Kentucky. He was just happy to have a change in his routine.

Friday evening arrived, we loaded in my car and headed to Florence. Dinner was nice and we watched the storm clouds rolling into Cincinnati as we ate. What is it with us and the Cincinnati airport and rain??? I mean REALLY!!!

We finished eating, loaded back in my car and Claude headed us to the airport. I checked the Delta flights on my Blackberry only to find Mike's plane arrived early. Yike!!! He was already at the airport and heading through those underground tunnels to the place I told him to meet us.

Sure enough, as we approached the terminals and parking the heavens opened and the rain poured down in buckets. Instead of parking the car and walking in together, we determined Claude would drop Papa and I off at the door to baggage claim and then circle around to pick us up.

With Papa in tow, we entered what we thought was baggage claim for Terminal 3. It did not look right. I mentioned this to Papa. Papa is wondering why we are going to an airport. He knows what an airport looks like. He has been to them before.  His 83 year old body shuffled along behind me as I walked around the escalator to determine what to do next.

I had us go up the escalator to determine what was wrong. My cell phone rang, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" by Hayden Marx was echoing through this rain drenched airport. It was Mike. He was at Baggage Claim 3 by the information desk. Hmmmm...where were Papa and I?

I had Papa follow me back down the escalator and I asked some of the staff which baggage claim we were in. They told me Baggage Claim 2. I could go back up the escalator and walk way down an passageway or I could call Claude, tell him our error, have him come back and get us and drive us down to Baggage Claim 3. We chose the second option. I called Mike and told him to stay where he was and watch out the window for us. All the time I was being careful not to use his name or that he was a guy so maybe Papa would pick up on the surprise. No need to worry there...Papa was still trying to convince me he had been in an airport before.

Claude circled and came back and got us. The rain was even harder. We drove to the next terminal and Mike was out by the door. He saw us, ran and plopped his luggage in the trunk and hopped in the back seat with me. Papa turned in the front seat and was not sure who he was seeing. He thought it my Jon, Mike's twin brother.

My camera was ready for that great picture when Papa sees Mike arrive on the escalator at the airport. That shot did not happen. But I did get a nice one after we got back to the house.

Saturday, Papa came out for breakfast. Claude did his usual grand job with bacon, eggs and pancakes. With full tummies we settled down for a nice visit, a little rain outside and a good morning visit. Not a bad way to begin a Saturday.

At lunch time we all headed into Georgetown to visit and feed Mimi. Claude went to run errand and Mike, Papa and I headed into the nursing home. Mimi was unusually eager to eat. She was finished in record time. Papa and I were stunned. We were also able to capture a few family photos.

We had Saturday afternoon to show Mike a bit of Kentucky. Claude drove us through the Burger King first for a bit to eat and something to drink as we drove. Then we were off to drive back roads and look at horse farms between Georgetown and Versailles and then to Frankfort.

In Frankfort our first stop was Daniel Boone's grave. The view from that cliff of the Kentucky State Capital is just gorgeous.

Papa was so happy. He had not been to Daniel Boone's grave. He read about that view in his Daniel Fox, Jr. books. They speak of the original capital building ,which is across the Kentucky River, and the white cliff behind it. From Daniel Boone's grave he could see the white cliff and he was transported back to those books he loved to read as a boy.

 

Now time for a pit stop. Papa ran in Dairy Queen and the rest of us stayed in the car. Papa surprised us with small Blizzards when he returned. They were delicious.

Our next stop was Kentucky's Viet Nam Memorial. I believe this is an amazing tribute.  It is a sundial with the names of the Kentucky soldiers who died in Viet Nam. The date of their death is in the concrete. The sun dial is set up so that, on the day they died, the point of the shadow of the dial touches the engraving of their death date in the concrete. One of my pictures has the guys checking out the carvings in the concrete. The other is just the memorial dial with the capital building in the background.

Claude would then make a pass by Buffalo Trace Distillery before heading back to Sadieville via the back roads. It was a gorgeous afternoon, nice breeze blowing which made for an enjoyable ride with tourist stops.

Back home it was time to finish up that smoked brisket dinner Claude was working on and have our feast. We dined on the deck. Mike helped me clean up that deck furniture that had been out all winter. The shade came over the deck and it just got a little cooler and nicer with every passing minute.

We were treated to a show by some bright yellow birds with black on their wings. I have a Kentucky Bird Guide book and I retrieved it. We were all of the concensus that these were American Goldfinchs. I don't ever recall seeing this type of bird in the yard before. They were so cute.

Sunday we attended Church in the morning.

Papa had been telling us about his transmission slipping. Sunday morning he was sure there was transmission fluid on his garage floor. After Church Claude, Mike and Papa opened the hood for a check before Papa left building. It was determined Papa's ox was definitely in the mire and he should go and purchase transmission fluid before coming out to Sadieville. Papa did this and brought it with him to Sadieville.

While I cooked a fried chicken dinner, the boys headed to the driveway to do some repair work. They worked with the transmission fluid and cleaned the cables to Papa's battery.

With Papa's car ready to take to the road safely again, they all came in and we had our dinner. Then we had a little time to visit before dessert. Then Papa headed back to Georgetown to feed Mimi dinner. Mike gathered his stuff for his trip home and we eventually headed back to Cincinnati...no rain!!!

Thank you Mike for taking the time and the means to make this trip. It was pure delight to have you here and to share a bit of time with you. We truly appreciate it.