Last Week in Review...

In an effort to not get too far behind on my Blog, I shall toss out a series of last weeks activities...a veritable tossed salad of my life. (How poetic is that?)

We have had lots of very cold weather and we finally had some measurable snow. Monday night into Tuesday morning it snowed. We got at least four inches or more. Claude had a meeting he could have gone to, and would have, but decided to stay home and do that one as a conference call. Here are a few pictures of our yard in the snow.

 

I purchased a pair of green duck shoes in Maryland. I wore those shoes for 20 years. They were great when it snowed and I had to shovel and didn't want to do that while sliding all over the place. A couple of years ago I put them on and they fell apart. Go figure. The winter of 2016 I found a nice pair at Cabela's on a great sale. These even went over my ankles. I purchased them and waited for last winter to arrive to break them in. Alas, last winter we never had to shovel one time. So, my nice new shoes sat in my closet and waited, and waited, and waited...until!! Tuesday, January 16, 2018. This picture is my new shoes enjoying their first time in the snow. Yippee!! 

My neighbor actually took this picture of the deer from her front porch. The two little ones are feasting on my flowering vines around the meter. Claude put some nice bricks around it years ago and I planted this vine that produce little purple flowers. They look so much better than a meter sitting on the edge of the yard. I told Judy we needed to teach them to eat around the edges so I don't have to cut them back when they try to grow into the grass and that, while we were at it, we should teach them to eat only the weeds in the flower beds. The next day I drove in to visit with Papa. I looked at this poor set of vines and every single leaf is gone. They are really hearty so I feel sure they will come back in the spring. Such is the circle of life on our hill in Sadieville. 

The President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Pres. Thomas S. Monson, passed away. Tuesday, January 16th, a broadcast was sent out announcing the new First Presidency. It was really nice that Claude and I were both home and we watched it on BYU-TV. This was the first time they have made the announcement of the new First Presidency from the Temple in Salt Lake City. The new President of the Church is Pres. Russell M. Nelson. He was a heart surgeon by profession and actually trained the doctor that performed my fathers triple bypass surgery years ago. He is 93 years old but very young for his age. His first counselor is Pres. Dallin Oaks and his second counselor is Pres. Henry B. Eyring. These are all wonderful men with years of experience in their professional lives before their services in the leadership of the Church. They are ready to hit the ground running and keep the Church moving forward. So grateful for each of them.

Wednesday, January 17th was our first Institute class for this new semester. We covered the first two lessons in our Cornerstone class titled "The Eternal Family". This is going to be a wonderful class to learn in and teach. 

Friday, January 18th, I finally got a hair cut. I actually let it longer than I have in many years. I was enjoying the length. So Tyra just cut it shorter so it can grow again but be healthy hair. She really does a nice job with her haircuts and I am very fortunate to have her right here in Sadieville.

With my new hairdo I was ready to party hearty. I visited Papa in the afternoon with the intent of being home at 4pm so Claude and I could have a hot date. Sometimes, it just goes a bit awry. 

I started to leave the nursing with enough time to get home but there was a traffic jam at the nurses station of wheel chairs and residents trying to figure out where they are and where they want to go so it took a bit longer to get out the door. The facility is locked so the residents, some with Alzheimer's cannot get out. Only the staff has the number sequence for the lock and it is changed frequently. So, after wading through a lot of people, I got someone to unlock the door so I could be on my way. 

That wouldn't have caused me to be too late but driving north on Broadway when Toyota is letting out and the high school buses are leaving is slow at best. Add to that the sound of a fire truck approaching and you have ordered chaos. There are only two lanes at this spot, one going and one coming, so we each pulled as far over to our side as possible and waited so the fire truck could get through. Then we waited for the police cars and ambulance to also make their way through. Goodness. There was only one road to turn to the right before I would be committed to the busy road and whatever lay ahead on it. You couldn't see what happened to cause all the emergency equipment to whiz by. What to do? What to do? It is almost 4pm and I was to be home by that time. Hmmmm... Then I noticed movement in the traffic in my lane so I opted to stay with where I was and hope it worked out. It moved slowly but we made progress. I had to wait through two lights at the high school intersection as buses tried to get out laden with young people. Just beyond that I saw where the problem was. It was on the side road to the Extension Office and by the lake. I don't know what happened but I wondered if some foolish soul tried to walk out on the ice on top of the lake. 

I'm on my way now and making great time. Got on I-75 headed to Sadieville and sped on toward home...until...Exit 136. In front of me was a tractor/trailer rig and it was getting off at my exit. There was not enough distance to get around them before the exit so I just slowed down to get off with them. That is when I realized it was a tractor pulling a trailer long bed of bricks. No speed with them at all. Then I saw that it was a disabled tractor pulling the load of bricks being hauled by another tractor to take them to Love's Travel Plaza for repairs. Very, very slow. I could only chuckle. 

I finally made my turn and got home. Whew. What an adventure. Fortunately, I was all ready to go before I left to go visit Papa. Claude and I got in the neon green Jeep and away we sped to have an evening together. 

We had dinner at Josie's and then were off to Lexington. Our goal, a concert by Alan Jackson at Rupp Arena. We got there early enough to stand in line for a half hour before the concert started. While standing in line I took my left hand glove out of my left pocket and kept swinging it back and forth. You see, when I visited Papa the other day, my glove fell out of my pocket onto the parking lot. I didn't realize this until the next day when I put my coat on to go get my hair cut. I only had the right hand glove in the right pocket. When I visited Papa that day, I checked the spot I parked in the day before but the glove was not there. I went in an pulled the right hand glove out of my pocket and asked if, perhaps, someone had turned in a glove like that. Amazingly, someone did and it was right by the window. Yippee. I tucked it in my pocket and went on with my visit. When we got to Rupp Arena, I put my gloves on to walk across the parking lot to go inside. Then I realized that left hand glove was still a bit wet. So I was standing in line for 30 minutes using my time to fan my glove and blow into it to try and get it to warm up. One of the guards came over and looked at me quizzically. I thought he might think it was something he should be alarmed about. I explained what I was doing and why and he just chuckled. 

We found soda and water and a pretzel before finding our seats. 

The opening act was a young girl named Lauren Alaina. Didn't know her at all but she had a great set of pipes. Her music was not something I would have paid to hear but she did have a great voice.

Alan Jackson played and sang an excellent concert. Totally enjoyed it. 

Saturday the temperatures rose to 50 degrees. I hurried to the nursing home and scooped up Papa for a nice car ride. We drove to Paris and got him a chocolate shake and me a soda. Then we came back across on Iron Works Pike. Along this road I have seen this stone or brick obelisk that has fascinated me for years. Never found out what it was. This time I told Papa we were taking Mt. Horeb Road, which we have never done, to see if I could get closer and find a sign or something about it. I managed to get this picture and posted it on Facebook asking if anyone could tell me about this building. 

This tower is located on Castleton Lyons Farm. The history of the farm goes back to 1793 when a man from Virginia purchased 2,467 acres of prime Kentucky farm land. He was a dedicated thoroughbred breeder who would go on to be a United States Senator. The farm has gone through other owners over the years as well as several name changes. It was originally Cabell's Dale, the Castleton and in 2001 Dr. Tony Ryan from Ireland purchased it and changed the name to Castleton Lyons. His Irish estate is named Lyons Demense. Dr. Ryan built the tower in 2003 of field stone found on the grounds to serve as a reminder of Ireland. These towers are found mainly in Ireland and are located near churches and monasteries. They are thought to have been bell towers but aren't really sure of this. So there you have it. A unique bit of Kentucky and its history for your enjoyment and to satisfy my curiosity. 

Today has been a great day. Claude and I drove to Paris, Kentucky to attend their Ward Council Meeting and then to speak in the Sacrament Meeting. Then back to Georgetown where I dropped off Claude to speak in the Elkhorn Creek Ward while I hurried to the nursing home to visit with Papa. I played him a 30 minute talk given by Pres. Nelson a BYU. He loved it. Then we went down for his lunch and I left after he ate a bit to pick up Claude. When we got home I prepared both my Institute lessons for Wednesday evening. We had a visit from Tom and Mary Walker. So today has been a good day, a little rain but a good day. 

Oddities This Week:

1. The latest fad amongst the young is to take laundry detergent pellets, put them in their mouths and try to eat them. What in the world would posses anyone of sound mind to think this was a good idea on any level at all? This is one fad that I truly do not get.
2. While driving in the rain, I saw a man in his winter coat out washing his car. Hmmm... I had thought of leaving mine out in the rain. Then when the rain stopped I would take an old towel and wipe off some of the grime that has collected over it this past week or so. I found this character amusing. By the way, the lines at the car wash the two days we had 50 degree weather were very, very long. 
3. Then there was the kid walking down the street in single digit weather. He had his big coat on and a hat and gloves. However, in a style that again boggles this old girl's mind, he had his pants dropped below his behind so only his boxer shorts were showing and he was holding on to them for dear life. Goodness. Such silliness.

So, there you have it, my week in review. Hope you have a good week as well.