Riding the Roller Coaster of Life...

Monday, January 18, 2021 Claude said to me, "Did you put a letter out for your father?" I responded in the affirmative. Claude quietly said, "You know it is Martin Luther King's birthday and there will be no mail service?" Oops. I completely forgot about it being a holiday. I had prepared two packages to take to the post office in the morning. Clearly that would not happen either. 

Monday would also find me driving on my own. This has not happened a lot and it now feels a little strange to be behind the wheel. I have a friend, Velvett, who had cancer. I drove her to her radiation appointments. Now she goes to see her doctor in Frankfort, Kentucky every six months. She usually calls to see if I can drive her there. It gives us a chance to visit again. We were both concerned about that this time because of the virus. She is very compromised because of all the chemo and radiation she had to deal with her cancer. This makes her extremely high risk. We both wore our masks the entire time. I did not go into her doctor's office but waited in my car for her, and we didn't give each other our usual parting hug. It was good to catch up with a dear friend.  

After finishing with Velvett, I took Papa his treat bag and filled the birdfeeder. Then stopped at Wendy's to get dinner for Claude and me. I spent my evening crocheting.

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 Claude and I spent our morning doing something different. We both really enjoy two trivia games: Jeopardy and The Chase. I pulled out our 1981 version of Trivial Pursuit and we split the deck of cards with questions and answers on them. We took turns asking each other a question and trying to guess the answer. We didn't use the board or play to win. We just played to exercise our brains a bit. It was great fun. As we played the game, we came across questions that would lead us to say one of kids could really help us with that answer. The light went on and I recorded some of these questions and their answers and started posting one each day to our family Facebook page. At the end of each day I post the answer to that question. Gives us little chance to play as a family. The question for Tuesday was in the History category: What color was Judas Iscariot's hair? (Answer: Red)

While we played Trivial Pursuit, I did the laundry. 

I learned that Claude had downloaded to his Kindle a book he thought was by Dan Brown about the Templars. It was time for me to learn how to do the Family version so we could share that book. I love Dan Brown books. In the evening I researched, or tried to research, how to do this. I couldn't keep my Kindle on-line to do this. Ugh!! I gave up and determined I would work on my laptop to see about this feature and filled my evening with crocheting.

Katelyn had her ultrasound and it was confirmed she is having a little boy in June. He will be named Joel. 

Tuesday evening we finished watching the Northern Exposure series. Season 6 was not as good to us as Season 1-5. Joel Fleischman's character left the show during Season 6. His last episode is one of my favorites. A doctor is incorporated into the plot with his wife after Joel leaves. They are interesting characters. The final episode was not one of my favorites. I told Claude as we watched these that the final episode with Joel should have been the last one. Northern Exposure ended with a song sung by Iris DeMent entitled "Our Town". Perfect song to end this show. They showed all the characters going back to their homes. It felt like I was saying goodbye to old friends. I will post the words to this song below. The link to a YouTube of it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9IUj1mDENg. Very touching. I am now loaning all my DVD's of Northern Exposure to Andie, our daughter. They grew up with their mother loving this show and they each had favorite characters or episodes they loved. 

And you know the sun's settin' fast,

And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.

Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,

But hold on to your lover,

'Cause your heart's bound to die.

Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.

Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,

Goodnight.Up the street beside that red neon light,

That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night.

He was the tender and I ordered a beer,

It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here.

But you know the sun's settin' fast,

And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.

Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,

But hold on to your lover,

'Cause your heart's bound to die.

Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.

Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,

Goodnight.It's here I had my babies and I had my first kiss.

I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist.

Over there is where I bought my first car.

It turned over once but then it never went far.

And I can see the sun's settin' fast,

And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.

Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,

But hold on to your lover,

'Cause your heart's bound to die.

Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.

Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,

Goodnight.I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa.

They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall.

I bring them flowers about every day,

but I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say.If they could see how the sun's settin' fast,

And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.

Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,

But hold on to your lover,

'Cause your heart's bound to die.

Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.

Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,

Goodnight.

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly.

But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes.

I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.

I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul.But I can see the sun's settin' fast,

And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.

Well, go on, I gotta kiss you goodbye,

But I'll hold to my lover,

'Cause my heart's 'bout to die.

Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.

I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 was Inauguration Day. Claude went to Lexington to do his errands. I stayed home and curled up on our sofa and watched this Inauguration. I felt it was a piece of the history of the United States that I wanted to see. Such upheaval our country is in. Such a good country but we are way off track, divided, and in a bad way. After the siege of the Capitol a few weeks ago, security was at an all time level in Washington, DC. It looked like other countries that are under military rule, not like my beloved United States of America. Having lived in Maryland for 20 years while Claude worked in Washington, DC, I have a tender place in my heart for the city and those hallowed buildings there. In addition, because of Covid-19, everyone was wearing masks. I told Velvett on Monday that I never knew I would live in a time where seeing people in a mask was not a cause for alarm in the United States. Because of social distancing, the audience was fewer in number by a huge margin. I took these pictures off the Internet so I could write to Papa about the Inauguration and keep him a little up-to-date on current events. This is Joe Biden our new President and Kamala Harris our new Vice President. The second picture is Joe Biden being sworn in as President with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, holding the Bible for him. 

I can't tell you how many times I have walked down the Mall in Washington, DC or we have driven down it. It was strictly cordoned off with temporary walls and military personnel. But on the grass were hundreds of flags of the United States. There was a good breeze and they were gorgeous blowing in the breeze. So I also sent these two pictures of those flags for Papa to enjoy.

After the swearing in, three of the former Presidents, Obama, Bush and Clinton, joined Pres. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at Arlington Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Again, I felt tears well up in my eyes as they showed the motorcade driving familiar streets to Arlington Cemetery and then to see these past and current Presidents and their wives standing there with the Old Guard. So moving. 

Then I quit watching and headed to the basement to accomplish some of the things I needed to do that day. Claude came home with groceries and I helped him put them away. We would spend our evening watching the Great Courses that I purchased for us. We have four of these courses. They are Founding Fathers, Mediterranean Cooking, Hebrew in the Bible, and Spanish. We watched the first lesson in each of these courses. I purchased the DVD version. We will watch them again and again to get them in our heads. We will not write in the workbooks but will use the workbooks and write in spiral notebooks instead. There are no tests. There are no grades. This is simply to get a few more wrinkles in our brains (as my mother used to say when we learned something new). 

Wednesday's Trivial Pursuit questions was in the category of Science & Nature. I assured everyone they had a 50/50 chance of getting this questions right. The question: Do mosquitoes have teeth? (Answer: yes)

Thursday, January 21, 2021 I started my day making brownies. Lots and lots of brownies. Our congregation provides one meal each month to The Gathering Place in Georgetown. This is a men's shelter. I volunteered to bring 50 brownies. They seemed to cook slowly. Then I had to let them cool before cutting and then cool again before putting them in individual snack bags. It was a nice things to do and it felt good to help others. It also provided my treat for Papa on Friday! 

While waiting on brownies to cook and cool, I finished reading my Simple Abundance Book. Oh how I enjoy this book. Reading it lifts my spirits and I feel good about how I have chosen to live my life. I feel again that Sarah Ban Breathnach is a friend. I reaffirm that the things I do for my family are gifts to them. This includes putting clean sheets on that bed when they come to visit. Even something that mundane is really a gift you give to those you love. When you think of that act as a gift, it truly makes the process of getting your 'work' done a joy, not a drudgery. I loved this thought at the end of the book "Never forget that all you have is all you need." Learn to be content and recognize the blessings you have in life instead of the constant yearning to get more and compare yourself to the have's so that you feel like a have not. I have traveled to countries where people live with dirt floors and no electricity and they are happy. Sarah is not saying to not strive to improve your life. She is saying recognize what you have and what a blessing it is to have that. And, Sarah uses this book to help us find our 'authentic self'. Not the face you put on for others, not the person who doesn't speak up because others dominate, but the person you really are at your core. You will love that person when you know them. They are real. This was such a good read for me at this time with the virus keeping us indoors and away from others as much as possible. I close the book feeling good about myself and where I am at in this life of mine. 

Once those brownies were all done and I had made a treat bag to take to Papa on Friday, I headed to my sewing room to accomplish a couple of tasks. I applied for a continuation of Medicaid for Papa. And I contacted service for my Kindle via Amazon chat. I could not get my Kindle to keep the Internet going. This ended up with me resetting my Kindle to factory settings and then having to reload everything again. It would take me until Friday morning to get this completed. While doing this I realized the book Claude purchased was not a book by Dan Brown but a book by Dan Jones entitle The Templars. I now have that on my Kindle and will enjoy reading it. I find the Templars fascinating.

Katelyn posted this picture of Raelyn having her upcoming birthday recognized at school. She is a cutie. Her birthday would be Friday. She does not go to school on Friday so they celebrated on Thursday.

Thursday's Facebook Trivial Pursuit Question for our family was from the Science & Nature category: What crackers were named for a U.S. doctor who promoted them to combat alcoholism? (Answer: Graham)

On Thursday our Andie, who teaches first grade, was given the first dose of the vaccine. 

Friday, January 22, 2021 would be an out and about day. I got up and worked on the downloads I needed to do with my Kindle. Then we left to get the brownies to The Gathering Place by 11:15. After that we walked at Moss Park. It was very cold for this walk. Usually 40 degrees is our cut off for walking. The temperature this morning was in the 30's. We did it though. Then we went to the nursing home and left a treat bag for Papa and filled his birdfeeder. He was sitting on the edge of his bed eating his lunch. I had to wave my hands so it made shadows to get his attention. He can't hear me knocking on the window. He looked up and grinned really big. Then he looked to his side where the treat bag was laying and said, "Thank you!" It did me good to see him looking that good, glasses on, enjoying his lunch, and aware enough to remember a treat bag was left for him. I took a picture of him and sent it to my family. I could also tell them he had received the second dose of the vaccine against Covid-19. 

Now Claude and I would head to Louisville. We were going to try a new restaurant, Taco Luchador. Luchador is Spanish for 'wrestler'. There are wrestler masks all over the store. Andie told us about this place. Well, maybe it was one like the one we chose to go to. There are several locations. We ordered chips and pico de gallo for an appetizer. Then we ordered three tacos to share so we could get a feel for their food. We ordered a veggie taco, a fish taco and an Asada taco which is grilled steak. The second picture is of masks that are worn by the wrestlers. The tacos were all good. We drove back to Georgetown and got an ice cream treat for dessert. 

This day was Raelyn's birthday. I posted this on Facebook for her 5th birthday. "Score!! Raelyn turns 5 years old today. Happy Birthday young Lady. We Love Ya Bunches!!"

Friday's Trivial Pursuit Facebook challenge was this question in the Arts & Literature category is: What was the Japanese word for 'divine win'? (Answer: Kamikaze)

Saturday, January 23, 2021 our 51st anniversary is coming up soon. We usually make a little trip. With the corona virus out there, one has to pause and consider if one should go or of one should stay at home. My impression was we traveled a lot in 2020 and we stayed healthy. That was a huge blessing. Now I felt strongly we should not make this trip. Claude really wanted to go. We went back and forth in our conversations. We picked possible places we would like to travel to and still feel we were being safe. Claude wanted somewhere warm. That wasn't as important to me but I didn't want to be in snow either. Saturday we talked about it one last time and then decided a route we might drive that would afford us some measure of safety from others. Saturday I spent the rest of my day researching, starting a grid of the trip and beginning to make arrangements.

There is a thing going around now. Bernie Sanders is a U.S. Senator who has run for president twice now. Some lady made him a pair of mittens. He sat alone in a folding chair wearing these mittens during the Inauguration. Someone got a picture of him sitting there bundled up in his coat with his mittens on his hands in his lap. This picture has 'gone viral'. People are superimposing Bernie in all kids of pictures. I received this picture from our daughter, Andie. We always take a picture on the stair of whoever is in our home of Christmas morning. This year we posed like we were on a roller coaster. Very symbolic of getting through 2020. Andie used that picture and added Bernie. So this is clearly my favorite of Bernie Sanders. Andie also posted one of him coming down a slide feet first and made comment in her role as a first grade teacher that proper slide etiquette was being observed by Bernie Sanders. There was even one where Sheldon from Big Bang Theory is complaining to Leonard that Bernie is sitting in his spot on the couch. Hysterical. I also loved the one at Hogwarts where Professor McGonagall is placing the sorting hat on Bernie Sanders head. Every Harry Potter fan will find that one amusing. 

Then I found a post on Facebook from my dentist office. Dr. Mark King is the dentist who fixed my gum and did my implant surgery. His office posted this on Facebook. I heartily agree with their statement, "Bernie knows where to go to get the best treatment."

Saturday's Trivial Pursuit question was in the category of Science & Nature: How many letters appear with the numbers 2 thru 9 on the old rotary dial telephone? Hint: Looking at your cellphone number pad will not help. (Answer: 24 letters)

Sunday, January 24, 2021 we enjoyed Sacrament Meeting via Zoom followed by Gospel study at home. When I cleaned our my music, I found a couple of books for children with Primary songs in them. I sent a text to Katie to see if she would like that music. She did want it. She plays the piano and teaches her kids to play. Sunday Katie came by on her way home for Church and picked up the books. The most fun thing was she rang our new Ring doorbell. It worked!! Claude and I were both over the moon about that. Katie could hear our rejoicing and was laughing with us when we opened the door. We don't get many visitors anyway. With the pandemic absolutely no one comes to our door. So, it was great to share some music I was finished with to a home that will really use it AND it was great to hear that doorbell ring.

Sunday afternoon I spent working on trip research. Sunday evening we watched television and we worked on our various craft projects.

Sunday's Trivial Pursuit question was one I called a truly irreverent Trivial Pursuit question for a Sabbath morning. The category was History: Whose first presidential order was: "Let's get this goddamn thing airborne"? (Answer: Lyndon Johnson)

Monday, January 25, 2021 was a rainy, rainy day. As in...it rained solid for 24 hours. At one point I heard rolls of thunder that shook the house a bit. I haven't heard thunder like that in a long time. Monday is also the day I take a treat bag to Papa. Claude drove in that pouring rain on I-75 to get us to Georgetown. I shall tell you now that we did not take I-75 in the rain home, Claude opted for Hwy 25. Even it had rain coming off the hill on one side of the road and flooding across the road. It was still better that dealing with 50,000,000 truckers spraying water in a downpour in heavy traffic on the Interstate. 

While in Georgetown we drove through Sonic and got a burger for dinner. Pulled into the old Kroger parking lot and enjoyed a nice meal. We were going to pull up under Sonic's covered parking and place our order there. I suggested we do the drive thru so the worker didn't have to go out in the rain. Claude obliged my request. Funny thing. We placed our order and they said, move forward to Stop 2 and we will bring your order out!! Goodness. We tried to be kind to them. We were both happy to get home where it was warm and we were safe. I just love being home. 

Monday's Trivial Pursuit question was in the category of Science & Nature: What's the hog's largest living relative? (Answer: Hippotamus)

Tuesday, January 26, 2021 we actually had a little sunshine today. Not a ton but a little was nice. It is laundry day and all those kinds of chores day. No big events this day.

I feel grateful today. Grateful for a good husband. Grateful for having all the things we need in this life and a lot of the wants. Grateful for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ and the Gift of the Holy Ghost in my life all the time. Grateful for the Atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ. It touches every aspect of my life. So much to be grateful for in uncertain times. This is what I focus on when all the silliness of a pandemic wears on me. Gratitude is a marvelous source of comfort and strength.

Tuesday's Trivial Pursuit question was in the category of Geography: What is the Red Cross called in Arab countries? (Red Crescent) 

A Couple of New Places for Us...

Monday, January 11, 2021 we woke up and both wanted a biscuit. I had a package to mail and needed stamps. Claude joined me and we took care of the post office business and then made our way to Love's to get a biscuit from Hardee's. I must say this was the biggest biscuit I have ever gotten from anywhere. It looked like whoever made it was at the end of their biscuit dough and didn't have enough for two biscuits so they plopped it all together and made one giganormous biscuit. Claude got a chicken biscuit sandwich and my biscuit was bigger then his! It was yummy but it was a really big biscuit.

Claude had a doctor's appointment in Georgetown at 1pm. I was going to go with him to drop things off for Papa. We had a bit of time so I ordered from the Great Courses catalog that came in our mail. I always look through this catalog but the courses are usually a few hundred dollars. I don't want to pay that much so I never order the course. This time the courses were all $37. I picked seven of these courses and placed my order for them. I am going to share them with family. I have read several reviews from friends on Facebook who say the courses are really, really good. Looking forward to learning new things. 

We left at 12:30pm for Georgetown. I drove so I had my car to take care of Papa while Claude was at the doctor. Papa was in his bed when I filled his birdfeeder so I got a wave and kisses blown to me. He was actually reading one of the letters I mailed to him. That made me feel good. I found myself crying as I walked back to my car. I truly believe, if Papa were to pass away, it would easier than having to walk away without giving him a hug or letting him tell his stories for the umpteenth time. To me, this is the real trial of the corona virus. 

I picked up Claude and we went to the drug store to get his prescription and then to Burger King for a drive-thru lunch. Claude wanted to buy groceries while in town so we went to Walmart. I stayed in the car enjoying my game on my Kindle. I stopped that and started reading a new novel. I received a text from my poor hubby stating the lines at checkout were exceedingly long. Twenty minutes later I received another text from poor hubby stating he was #3 in line for takeoff. Those lines must have been very long. I assured Claude via text I had started a new novel and was in good shape to wait.

We got home and, after typing a letter for Papa, I curled up on the loveseat in the living room to watch television and crochet and work on plastic canvas projects. We enjoyed Jeopardy. Alex Trebek passed away and Ken Jennings was guest hosting for the first time. He paid a heartfelt tribute to Alex Trebek before they started the game. Then Ken went on to do a great job of moving the show along. He has the potential to be a good host if offered the job. My understanding is they will have some other people guest host as well.  

I couldn't sleep again. It may be dealing with the virus and the state our country is in. Not sure but that may factor in. I went to my tried and true remedy, getting my book to read until I get sleepy. It helped and I did have periods of sleep through the rest of the night.

Tuesday, January 12, 2021 was the day I was calling AT&T again. Our Internet keeping dropping off. The router shows all systems are green and good to go. My laptop in right under the router and it loses the Internet connection. Claude's laptop is doing the same thing. His office is upstairs and around a corner or two from the router, so one would expect that to be a bit of a problem. So, I called the nice lady at AT&T and spent an hour trying to get the connection set up correctly. I did this the end of last year and it worked for a few weeks and then started up again. She wanted to plug the ethernet into my laptop. My new laptop has no such portal. So, I had to get Claude and his laptop down by the router as he did have that kind of portal. We were able to get what we hope will work for the future. 

The fun thing that happened was receiving a package for Claude. I shared in a previous post a couple of weeks ago about Claude dropping his one and only jar of dill pickle mustard as he was getting ready to prepare sandwiches for us. It shatter and all was lost. He was crushed and he had no idea where that mustard came from and he was really enjoying it. I took the broken pieces of the jar out and wrote down information from the label. Then I used my cell phone to order him four more jars of the mustard. The fun things about these jars is they are made to be juice glasses. Ordering four will give us a nice set of glasses. While I thought we had grown past this way of accumulating dishes, it appears my hubby was looking forward to using the container as a juice glass. I also found on the company website that they made pickled green beans. Our Andie bottled some pickled green beans a couple of years ago and she gave one jar to her dad. He was hooked. So I quietly also ordered Claude two jars of pickled green beans. I told Claude about the four bottles of dill pickle mustard and that we was getting two more surprise jars as well. 

I am working away in my office/sewing room and the light on the stairs starts to go off and on rapidly. Then I hear Claude say, "The package is here!" I ran upstairs with my cell phone and took pictures of Claude opening this box. I must say that watching Claude open this box took me back to opening our box of treasures from our trip to China. We purchased some things in Xian and they shipped them to our home. They arrived about six weeks after our return. The box was layers and layers of wrapping protection from paper, to bubble wrap, to Styrofoam, etc. It took us forever to get through the layers of packing to get to the items we purchased. This wasn't quite as bad but it came close. Claude found the dill pickle mustard first.

Then he found his pickled green beans. He was one happy guy. I guess we never get to old to get a package in the mail and it bring us joy!

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 we had the first of two really pretty days. Wednesday would be in the mid to high 40's. We needed to make good use of this day. A search of unique places to eat in Kentucky turned up a place that would be new-to-us named Hall's on the River. We ran some errands while we were out and then drove to Winchester, Kentucky. I found a walking trail there for us to try. We never found it. The plan was to drive past it to where we would eat. Then come back after eating and do our walk. We did find the restaurant at which we wanted to eat. It is on Hwy. 418 not far off Hwy. 627. It actually sits on Lower Howard Creek which runs into the Kentucky River not far away. 

We arrived at the restaurant and thought maybe it was closed. We put on our masks and went to the door to be sure. There was a cook, a server and a person to run the cash register but absolutely no diners in the place. We had it to ourselves. 

We chose the table we wanted to sit at and reviewed the menu. I had read the menu to Claude at our home when we were determining where to go. We both found there were items that sounded good to us. We ordered Fried Green Tomatoes for our appetizer.

For our meals Claude ordered Fried Catfish and I ordered Crab Cakes. Then we each shared so we both got a flavor of some of the things this restaurant offers. 

The food was delicious. We will return. I asked the server if we could roam around and take some pictures. There is decking around to eat outside with a view of Lower Howard Creek. The pictures are from the decks of the restaurant.

As we left Halls on the River, I asked Claude to pause for a photo op!

Once outside, I took pictures of the historical markers on either side of the bridge that goes over Lower Howard Creek. 

Then Claude and I walked down the mouth of Howard Creek to where it flows into the Kentucky River. The sun was going down on the Kentucky River. It was very pretty.

With the sun setting, it was time to head back to Sadieville. I posted my pictures on Facebook and was surprised at the number of people I know who have been to this restaurant over the years. Many suggested we try the fried banana peppers. It was fun to be out and enjoy a new restaurant. The virus has made it very hard for the food service industry. It is good to support them as they try to remain in business. 

As we were out and about, I did some texting with our grandmonster, Katelyn. She has two little girls and is pregnant with a son, due in June. She has wanted to hang pictures on the girls walls by an artist named Simon Dewey. He has painted two pictures of Jesus with a little girl. Katelyn loves that they look like her little girls. Raelyn is blond and Emelia has dark curly hair. 

I found the pictures by Simon Dewey that Katelyn wanted and also a painting by Greg Olsen that I thought would be great for their son. 

I ordered all three pictures. They will be framed and hang in the children's bedrooms so they know they are always safe. Love this.

Wednesday evening I received a telephone call from our daughter Andie. Her question, "Were you in South Africa in August 2019?" Yes, we were. Andie continued, "Well, you will find this amusing. Hayden received the post card you sent him from South Africa in today's mail!!" That's right folks, we mailed that postcard from Johannesburg, South Africa the day we were returning home, Tuesday, August 20, 2019. Hayden received it Wednesday, January 13, 2021. Andie told me it was in good condition. This she found amazing since it took 17 months to get from Africa to Kentucky. Amazing. Michael's stepmother was complaining about how long it took U.S. Mail to travel in December. Michael was going to call Joyce and be sure she heard this story!!

Thursday, January 14, 2021 would be another beautiful day. This time the temperature would get to the mid-50's. Time for a walk. We determined we would try Raven Run Nature Sanctuary. This was a place we found last year but could not get in. At that time you had to have a scheduled appointment on weekends so there were no crowds. This time no reservation was needed. It is located south of Lexington. We drove to Lexington and did a few errands there. Then we drove to City Barbeque for our big meal of the day. Then south to Raven Run. 

We found a kiosk with information about the trails to be walked. Raven Run is 734 acres of land with 10 miles of walking trails in varying degrees of difficulty. We opted to begin our visit with a walk of the Freedom Trail. It is listed as easy. It is close to the parking lot. We enjoyed this walk and I took these pictures of our walk on Freedom Trail.

As we got to the end of Freedom Trail just before returning to the parking lot, we spotted a mother deer followed by her baby. Her baby was almost as large as she was but it was obvious it was a baby and much more skittish than the mother. The mother looked at me and was wary but did not attempt to run away. It was nice to be close to them.

We decided we would walk to the Nature Center. 

In front of the Nature Center is a grass covered slope with a 'Phenology' station. This is a place where you put your camera in a stand and take a picture of the land. You then post your picture on Instagram. This allows them to watch the timing of changes through the year on this grassy slope. 

Between the buildings that make up the Nature Center was an interesting thing to me. It was called an 'impluvium'. Basically it collects rain water that is recycled and used at the Nature Center. Fascinating.

We found where the trailhead was for all other trails at Raven Run. Now we are prepared to come back and try another trail next time. We headed back to the car for the drive back to Sadieville. We made good use of our two good days.

We made good use of our two good days sandwiched between very cold days and snow days.

Claude and I finished two projects we have been working on. Claude finished his first ever plastic canvas piece of artwork. He did a fantastic job.

I finished repairing a gingerbread house. The roof had holes where the plastic canvas broke and the bottom also had holes in it. I made an entirely new roof. I cut the bottom out of the gingerbread house and attached a new plastic floor. This will go to our daughter Nissa. She plans to use it to put Christmas cookies in when her grandchildren come to visit at Christmas. 

Friday, January 15, 2021 was the first of three weekend days with potential for bad weather. Friday was to have a brief bit of sunshine. Then the front would move in and change that. We started the day with a bit of rain, then sunshine, then snow. It came down in little pellets like BB's. I know this because I took a letter to our mailbox for Papa and it snowed like this on me as I walked to and from the mailbox. 

I would spend my day in my sewing room. I determined my next project would be cleaning out my music files. I began taking piano lessons when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade. I have been collecting music of various types since then. I have two file drawers full and four boxes by my piano and what is in the piano bench as well as a bag of organ music in the back seat of my car. I would spend Friday and Saturday getting through all of this music. 

Saturday, January 16, 2021 we awoke to a bit of snow on the ground. Claude suggested we start our day with a biscuit run to Hardee's. I will never say no to that suggestion. Off our bright green Jeep sped to satisfy our biscuit cravings. Claude enjoys a chicken biscuit sandwich. I always opt for a plain biscuit. Without fail, I will be asked if I want butter or jelly on that. My response is always, "It has no calories if you don't put those things on it!" 

On our way to Hardee's, I had Claude stop so I could take a picture from the bridge of the snow on the creek. It had turned cold enough so the snow was not melting on the water and just resting on top of the water. It was simply lovely.

Back to our home to spend a day on our projects. Mine was to complete going through my music. I threw out three Walmart plastic bags of things. Emptied four binders of things. Now all my music fits nicely into the bottom two files cabinet draws, my piano bench, a basket with Christmas music and the bag for me to play the organ at Church in the back seat of my car. There is room in the two bottom file drawers for the music not in there to be in there if needed. Yeah me!! I was able to scan some pieces that are part of my three children's history and eMail this to them for their files. I taught all three to play the piano. 

Claude's project was the workshop's funny little storage area. We have lived in our home for 16 years. I gradually started saving boxes in this little area. It is a space that was finished as part of the room but is narrow between the stairwell and the wall to the family room on the other side of the workshop. Claude decided some time back it would be nice to have shelving in there to store the boxes on. He purchased supplies and Saturday was the day to get it done. He did it all himself with the exception of my holding up the long shelf while he attached it to the wall. Then he called me and I helped him put the boxes on the shelves. It looks so nice and like that space really had a purpose all along. 

During my rummaging and cleaning, I came across two potential frames for Claude's cardinal artwork. He was able to use one of the frames. I have moved this to our gossip bench in the entry way. It is perfect for a winter decoration.

Saturday evening, Claude and I curled up in the living room to watch more of Season 6 of Northern Exposure. During this season, Dr. Joel Fleischman goes 'up river' to live with a group of the local Inuit people. He goes from being a New York doctor to a person who lives in a hut with a dirt floor and lives off the land. His hair has grown out and I took this picture of him as we watched the television. I put a picture of Hayden beside it. Hayden has let his hair grow during the pandemic. I think there is a lot of similarity there. I looked at Claude as we watched Northern Exposure and he looked at me and we both said, "yes", at the same time. 

We went to bed Saturday night feeling good about our day and accomplishing tasks we really wanted to get done. I even found time to read some during the day. Good Day.

Sunday, January 17, 2021 we have enjoyed Church service via Zoom, Claude passed the sacrament to us, we read and studied together. Now Claude is getting his nap while I use the WiFi to accomplish the Blog and eMails. Then he can use the WiFi for his meeting. There is snow, a little bit, on the ground. As we ate breakfast this morning, the flakes were enormous. I was watching the snow fall as we waited for breakfast to finish baking. I said to Claude that these flakes were enormous and they reminded me of our wedding day. Growing up in the south, snow was a rarity. I prayed for snow when we were in Utah to be married on February 13, 1970. It did snow that day. When we came out of the Logan, Utah Temple, the ground was covered with snow and there were enormous flakes falling from the sky. It was like a blessing on our marriage from a loving Heavenly Father. As we are tucked in our home on a snowy Sabbath day, I again feel like it is a blessing on our marriage. We are richly blessed.