Tidbits to Remember...

We have had two birthdays so far this month. 

Aubrey Anne was on the 14th of March. Aubrey is our middle grandmonster. I posted these pictures from 2000 on Facebook on her birthday. I chose these because Aubrey now has a little one of her own. He looks a LOT like his mother. 
 
 
Andie's birthday was on the 17th of March. Andie is our middle child. I posted these two pictures on Facebook on her birthday. I chose these because she is 12 in the first picture and 14 in the second picture. Her two children are now these ages. Andie's comment was: "Well, this firmly establishes that they are better off than I was in terms of a middle school hairstyle!"😂🤣😂

 

The other two things I want to remember are about my sweet Hubby. 

Thing 1)
One night I was watching television with him in the evening. A commercial about Hershey's chocolate came on. I said to Claude, "That just makes me want chocolate." Claude quietly got up and went to his office. He returned with a Hershey's milk chocolate bar. We each had a laugh and then enjoyed that candy bar. I don't know when he purchased those but he waited patiently for just the right time and I loved that gesture. 

This last week we were watching the television show "Madame Secretary". Tia Leone is the Secretary of State. She is frantically searching in her kitchen for something. Her hubby, played by Tim Daly (who is also her real life love), is watching her and listening to her tell about the current trial she is dealing with. He finally says to her, "What are you looking for?" To which she replies that she knows they have a secret chocolate stashed somewhere in that kitchen and she can't find it. He quietly goes to their kitchen table, reaches under it, and removes the chocolate candy bar taped under it. Thought Claude and I were going to split our sides laughing at that. 

Thing 2)
On March 8th I received an eMail from my Hubby. It simply said, "I'd like to go on record that I think you're a pretty hot gramma and I like hanging out with you...XXXOOO Claude"  On be still my heart. Doesn't every woman who reaches 68 with gray hair and some extra cushioning on her body want to hear that from the guy she is sure is still the most handsome creature on the planet? I mean, really. Claude is truly a keeper.

Now, on to that mountain of sewing before I go spend the afternoon with my father.

Crafting Complete...

It Is Finished!!! So many hours. My thumb has a hard time holding my pen to write my name now. But, it is finished. This puppy afghan is for our soon-to-be third great grandmonster. Katelyn picked out the one she wanted for their baby-on-the-way and I have been working since November on this beast. Happy it is done. These are really to be keepsakes for the kids. I am sure Raelyn will totally enjoy it before the baby does. 

This is a receiving blanket and burp pad. When we visited Julie and Cordell in February, Julie was making several of these blankets and burp pad sets. She knows a lady with a machine that stitches around the edge so the flannel will not ravel while also pocking holes around the edge through which your crochet hook can easily enter. All these years I have been poking my crochet hook through the fabric by hand. Didn't know anything about this machine. Anyway, Julie gracious sent me home with the prepared flannel and the yarn to crochet these items for the Roper's baby due to arrive the end of April or early May. The crochet thread is a fun kind that comes out looking like velour after you have crocheted with it. Simple single crochet all the way around each item is how Julie did it. So I did the same thing. Our soon-to-be baby will love these soft items from Julie and Cordell. 

Now I have a bunch of sewing projects on which to work. It really never ends...just like dusting!!

Josephine Sculpture Park...

Saturday, March 16th, I spent the morning visiting Papa. As the morning wore on, I sent a text to Claude and told him I really wanted to be outside in the afternoon. He could pick what we did but we really needed to be outside that afternoon. 

When I got home from visiting Papa, we decided we would visit Josephine Sculpture Park. It is just south of Frankfort, Kentucky off Hwy 127. I heard about this place on the news last year. It was on the news because once a year they craft festival on the grounds. That is the only time you must pay for parking. There is never an entry fee. The grounds have mowed grass paths through the natural landscape of trees and shrubs. You just walk through these paths and find big sculptures with plaques telling you the artist, the name of the artwork, and a bit out what it is depicting. 

Claude and I parked the Jeep and started walking. We have had so much rain that the places where the grass is thin were a bit muddy but we never really stepped in mud during all our walk. It was also still only in the low 40's so there were not many people there. This made for better pictures without having to wait and work around other visitors. You can take your pets but you must keep them on a leash and you must pick up after them. There were two couples with big dogs. 

Here are some pictures of the sculptures we enjoyed during out afternoon stroll. The first is me in front of some tree sculpture. We don't get tons of pictures of me because I am behind the camera. But Claude did get two of me this day and this was the first one.

Some of the sculptures are just to look at, some you may touch, others the kids could climb and play on. This was a kids climb and play on sculpture.  

This is a 'lodestone'. It is a place in Kentucky where True North and Magnetic North meet. It is made up of limestone rock that is already a part of the ground with a big piece of iron resting on that rock. Evidently they are putting these sculptures in places that fit this criteria around the world. Cool! 

We saw many uses of rebar in the sculpture world. This was one of them. It is actually a dome like structure that Claude is standing inside of. Hanging from the top on the inside a colorful wine bottles. 

This is actually a metal drum with items on the top that are turtle'esk. I do love turtles. 

And this interesting piece was titled Kentucky Fire Chicken! The cardinal is the Kentucky State Bird. Never heard it called a 'Fire Chicken'. But I like that name. 

The next four at the graphicologyhenge. Graphicology because it has to do with letters that people like to paint on buildings and train cars. Henge because the walls are formed in a circle, kind of like Stonehenge. The cool thing about this is kids are allowed to bring in paint and paint something on these walls. Claude quickly found that Harry Potter had been here. 

There were several trees that had to be cut down to make the park with its many paths. The trees needed to be removed to make way for other types of trees that needed to grow for whatever reason. The trees that were cut down were given to one of the artists. This artist carved the wood from the tree and it was placed in the tree that remained as a sculpture. We saw this type of sculpture in several places in the Park. The object in the tree branches is really a carving from the trunk of the tree that was cut down. It really looked like a concrete object nestled in the tree branches but it really is wood that is carves. 

This eagle is a large replica of much smaller carved eagles used in Native American rituals. My hubby is a regal eagle!! 

This was probably our favorite of the sculptures. It is beams that are like railroad ties that have been covered with strips of old tires. 

The solid inside cube is suspended in the outline outer cube. You can turn the inside cube around inside the outside cube without touching the outside cube. 

This is a boat and you can imagine it in water or in the air. When we were in Ireland there was a monument that had boats in this shape. Looking at this sculpture took me back to Ireland. Nice!

I cannot remember what this dress was to represent. Something ethereal. The thing that fascinated me was taking real lace to trip it and the coating the entire piece of artwork with something to keep it firm and able to without the outdoor setting,  

Okay, when we walked up to this I thought it might be a turtle. This made me happy because of my love of turtles. However, as you stand over it, it appears to be a snail. Hmmmm... The label just said it is to let you use your imagination. I stand with the turtle then! 

Claude trying to see if this one speaks to him. The post is all rock shapes stacked on each other. Then there are the things hanging from the top. No description of what the artist intended. I'm thinking he/she intended to have Claude pause and stare for a long time.

Some type of metal boat. 

These guys were title "Herb and Clarence". So, of course, our thoughts went to a "Where's Claudo?" picture. 

Every so often you would find a bench to sit on. We never sat on one but we determined Claude needs to make one of these for our back deck. Then we would let the grandmonsters paint it any way they wanted. They could paint it differently each time they visited. Sort of like our bench version of the graphicologyhenge.

This is an ox. It is made so that kids can insert plant starts that would grow in it.  

These two pictures are of an art object made with old tractor parts.  

A butterfly throne for Sandi. 

The next two pictures are the same sculpture. Actually there were 2 or 3 little sculptures that fit with it in the setting. I took the first one trying to imagine what it will look like as all this grass greens up this spring. It will just pop out over the top. Cool.  

This was another movable sculpture. Rectangles suspended in rectangles. They just spin around inside of each other. 

The most political statement made into a sculpture. That is a green dollar symbol hanging inside the frame base. The name on the sinking ship is the US Diplomacy. 

The cutouts on this object reminded me again of Ireland and the Celtic graphics that just weave inside of each other and never end. I love those patterns. 

Don't have any clue. The last sculpture and it is really out there. When I was a child, my parents had a set of encyclopedias. In each volume were several illustrated stories. One of these the people were portrayed with skinny bodies and lots of bubbly shapes on then, kind of like this sculpture. Don't remember what the story was even about. Just remember thinking the artist really reached to draw bodies like that, and, lo and behold, this sculptor did the same thing! 

We made a donation to keep this place going. Great walk and would recommend it to anyone. Now it was time to feed our tired bodies. Claude wanted barbecue. I wanted to find a new place. Googled barbecue in Frankfort, Kentucky. Found one place named Staxx on Hwy 127 in Frankfort. We found it and had a really good meal. Would go back there in a heartbeat.

As we left Frankfort, we spotted this guy advertising for a mattress store. It was a little windy and we both marveled at his ability to stay upright inside of a mattress costume. At least he is working to earn his money. 

We had a wonderful Saturday afternoon. Amazing the things you can find in your own area to visit and enjoy.

Windy, Very, Very Windy...

Thursday, March 14th would be a very, very, very windy day. Claude and I had a dinner appointment in Lexington at 5:30pm. Then we had a meeting following that at 7pm also in Lexington. The plan was for Claude to go to his afternoon meeting in Lexington and just stay in Lexington. I would go visit Papa in the afternoon, then drive to Lexington and meeting him to go to our dinner appointment. 

I enjoyed a morning at home to get things done in my sewing room. I went upstairs to get ready to go out for the rest of the day and planned to leave our home about 2pm to go visit Papa. After getting ready, I opened the door from the kitchen to the garage and reached around and pressed the button to open the garage door. No response. Hmmmm.... Maybe I didn't press it just right. I pressed that button again and still, no response. I went back into the kitchen and looked at the stove and the microwave. They each have clocks on them. They were blank. That could only mean no power in our all electric home. This happened as I was walking from our bedroom, through the living room, through the breakfast room and kitchen to the garage door. The problem--I couldn't open the garage door as it is electric. We have had it worked on and I didn't know how to do it manually. I could get out my front door but that didn't give me a car to get to Georgetown. 

I sat down in my living room and popped a text to Kentucky Utilities telling them there was an outage at our home. Then you are to wait at least ten minutes before you text status back to see if they can tell you about when you should get electricity again. In the meantime, I sent a text to Claude telling him I was trapped in our home. 

I picked up my crochet project and set to work. There was plenty of light coming in the windows so I could at least get some more done on that project. As I sat there I kept hearing what sounded like a train going around my home. I would look out the window and there was no train on the tracks across the creek. This was just a very forceful wind blowing outside. I was reminded that tornadoes sound like trains and grateful we didn't have the tornado warning siren going off. 

When Claude's meeting finished, he sent me a text saying he would come and get me for the dinner appointment. Not long after getting that text the power came back on in the house. I still waited for Claude. This would mean only one car out on the roads in that wind. 

Claude got me and we made it back to Lexington in time to get a box of paper at Staples before our dinner appointment. We enjoyed a nice dinner with the Horwinski's. Then we all went to our Self-Reliance Committee meeting at 7pm. The wind was still raging but no rain yet. 

We made it through the meeting with no rain and we all hurried to our cars to try and get to our respective homes before that rain came. I sent a quick text to our kids reminding them of when we lived in Maryland. There was a reporter named Wendy Reager with the news channel we loved. They sent poor Wendy to Ocean City, Maryland to report on a storm. She is doing all she can do to stand up against the wind and report on the potential for the storm. Finally she did the most funny thing. Into her microphone she said, "This is a butt kickin' wind!!" I assured my kids we were having butt kickin' winds.

Before we got home the rains came down in torrents. You couldn't hardly hear in the Jeep for all the noise of rain on the car. Claude even slowed way down to be able to drive in that wind and rain. We only had about 3 or 4 more miles to go. We were both ever so grateful as we pulled into Eagle Bend knowing our garage was close and hoping the electricity was still on.

The electricity was on and we watched the news. The picture of the wind that struck me most was a family home with their trampoline stuck in the roof. Yep... this was definitely a butt kickin' wind!!

Close Call...

In the winter it can be much harder to find good days to take Papa for a drive. Fortunately, Wednesday, March 13th was such a day. After lots of rain, we had two clear days for flooding to dry up a bit so we could get out on some of those roads Papa loves to drive over. 

I picked him up in the morning and we drove Hwy 460 to Frenchburg, Kentucky. Then we picked up Hwy 36 to go through Owingsville. My intent was to take Hwy 36 to Hwy 11 outside of Sharpsburg and follow it back to Hwy 460 and then home. By the time we got to Owingsville, I knew I needed to get on back to Georgetown in time for Papa's lunch. The best way to do that was to get on I-64 at Owingsville and head on back. It would still be between 45 minutes to an hour to make that drive on the Interstates. We only went a mile or so and there was this traffic back up. Emergency vehicles were coming up behind us and clearly there was a problem.

Clearly we were on the scene not long after this accident. I could see a place just ahead on our left with a cross over to traffic going the other way but I was not quite there yet. After a bit we saw that traffic was trickling through one car or truck at a time. We decided to wait it out. We could see emergency personnel going down the hill to the right and back up. That is a very steep hill so that was no small task.

Finally we moved enough to slowly get past the accident. We could see huge, deep tire tracks from the opposite side where an on-coming semi crossed the median and clearly went down that hill on the right. I saw the top of the trailer which was torn and mangled. This was not a good sign. 

That night I heard on the news that a semi-truck crossed the median and hit another pick-up truck as it went down that hill. People had died. They shut down I-64 at that spot and made drivers take a detour around the site as they investigated the scene to determine what happened to cause the driver of the semi to cross the median. The load he was carrying had to be taken from the trailer of his rig before they could try and move the rig off the hill.

We were blessed in our timing on this one. Having a wreck is a major concern of mine whenever I take to the road for any reason. I always say a prayer before I go on a drive. This time we were late enough to not be a part of this wreck in our driving time. But we were early enough that we could get past the wreck and I got Papa back to find his lunch in his room waiting for him. The only detour would have been a much longer drive from that point in Owingsville. I am grateful for the opportunity to pray and for continued answers to those prayers as I try to get Papa out and about a bit. My heart goes out to the people in this awful wreck and their families. 

Grandmonsters Bring Joy...

Tuesday, March 12th, Claude and I drove to Goshen, Kentucky to watch Hayden perform with the 8th Grade Band from Oldham County Middle School in the KMEA (Kentucky Music Educators Association) Assessment. This was held at North Oldham County High School. They received an Excellent for their performance. They also received a standing ovation from those in the audience when they finished their second number. It is a joy to listen to these young musicians. They definitely deserved an excellent and that is not just a prejudiced Gramma speaking. 

Here are a couple of picture of our Hayden. 

We received these two picture of our Raelyn. The first one she had been to watch Daddy (Drew) play hockey and it was late when they left. She fell asleep a very happy girl after being at Daddy Ice. 

Raelyn's parents took her shopping. That day she chose to wear a nice dress and tights with nice shoes. But get the girl in the store and she was super happy to add a hockey helmet as her accessory. Look at that grin!!  Reminds me of the line from Steel Magnolias. The ability to accessorize is what makes us different from the animals. (Well, something to that effect.)

These pictures are a little proof that Grandmonsters Bring Joy!!