Yesterday morning while working at the breakfast table on my laptop, I heard an interesting rat-a-tat-tat. Hmmmmm... We live on a hill and there is a creek at the bottom. Across the creek the hill goes up very steeply again to the railroad track. The hill across the creek is covered in trees. All this topography leads to sounds that bounce and you are not quite sure where they come from. So when I heard that rat-a-tat-tat I wasn't sure if it was right on my deck or across the creek somewhere on Hwy 32. I listened and heard it again. Then my brain kicked in gear and I knew why that sound was familiar, it sounded just like a woodpecker. We have lots of different kinds of birds in our back yard but we don't have woodpeckers. I listened and heard the rat-a-tat-tat again. It still sounded like it was really on the deck. This time I quietly got up and went to the living room window, pulled back the curtain and peeked out. When I looked to my left at the bit of roof I can see from there, sure enough, there was a red-headed woodpecker on the roof over the breakfast room. What in the world was he/she doing to my home??? This time I broke with tradition and opened the door and yelled at the bird to get away. He flew away to the telephone lines. That was a little disconcerting. In 10 years of living here that has never happened to my knowledge. Really don't want woodpecker holes in our home. Our home is all siding and shingles on the roof. I thought woodpeckers really pecked on wood. Hmmmm...
The other day I went to Kroger to purchase Papa's groceries. This was in front of the store. The peanut guy saw me getting ready to take a picture from the parking lot and walked around front and posed!! I took this picture to send to Hayden on his eMail account. I'm not sure what they were doing there. No pressure as I walked past their table, no offer of samples or coupons. Just two people talking while the peanut guy posed for pictures.
Sunday, I had the strangest Sunday in a long time. I picked up Papa and took him to Sacrament meeting, took him home after. Then went back to church for Sunday School and Relief Society. No choir practice so I went home. I was home before 1pm. Wow!!! Usually I left early enough to set up the Primary room. Released from Primary, I no longer need to do that. There was no choir practice so need to stay after church. Papa had an awful nights sleep the night before and was in great pain when we left sacrament meeting to take him home. He wanted to go in and rest. I told him I wouldn't visit him because I would see him on Monday when I came in to buy groceries and that way he could rest without interruption. I think he was happy for that reprieve. So my hour plus visit with Papa on a Sunday afternoon didn't happen. Our temple preparation class was canceled as the family still had some sickness and didn't want to come out. So I sent my hubby a text and told him I was headed home and would see him there. As I was driving home, I realized that is what a Sunday feels like when it is not full of lots of other things. I'm used to Sunday when I leave at 8:30 on a regular Sunday or 7:15 on a ward council Sunday and getting home around 5pm. This was a very pleasant Sunday. I could get used to that really easy. Know it won't last but it was a good Sunday.
Yesterday I also spent 4 hours at Frank Shoop getting my car worked on. The 'check engine' light has been coming on. My manual says that is an emissions problem. I checked the gas cap and filled the gas tank as suggested in the manual. Then you need to drive it several times until the car registers all is okay and the light quits staying on all the time. If the light starts to blink, get it to the dealership quick. My light never blinked. It was a worn out thermostat which they had in stock and could replace. I just sat and crocheted and waited.
While waiting that waiting room was full of people. Seems like every wife had a husband. Not sure why that is necessary. But that is just my opinion. Claude offered to come with me and I assured him I had a bag full of things to do no matter how long it would take. If it entailed major repairs I would call him to discuss, but otherwise he would have a much happier day at home doing things he wanted to do there. Nevertheless, I could clearly see that in our future a date to the car dealership for whatever maintenance needed to be done might be a highlight of our week!!
The other thing I learned that kind of blew me away was the one couple that was probably there with their grandson. He may have been a son but I really think, judging my age, he was a grandson. She was talking with him and he asked if they had DVD's. She assured him they did not because they used NetFlix streaming. I had spoken with this lady before and knew she was 74 years old. Her comment caught me off-guard. I'm 64 and we don't have NetFlix. Seems if we did that, it would mean we need and want to watch more movies on television. So we don't have NetFlix and have no intention of going that route. I suddenly felt behind in the digital age. That, compounded by a new report the other day that said they were now building cars with no CD players in them. Instead, there will be a port to plug in your iPod or smart phone or whatever you listen to music on. I listen to music on CD's!!! I am officially falling way, way behind in the digital age. I should be more concerned...but I'm not. As long as our DVD player (and VHS players) and CD players hold out, I'm good to go!!
Years ago when we lived in Denver and my children were very young, I found a cute pattern to crochet granny square Christmas stockings. I made them for our family. I even made enough and sold them to pay for gasoline for a Christmas trip to Louisiana for our family. They became part of our family tradition. As our kids have married, a stocking has been crocheted by me for each of the in-laws and for the grandmonsters as they have come along. This year after Christmas, Nissa, our eldest, told me they needed 3 more stockings for their family. Last night, I finished the 3 stockings.
To assemble the squares I start by putting two of the solid squares right sides together and whip stitch with yarn two of the sides together. Then you whip stitch 2 multi-colored squares to two sides of each of the solid squarest to start forming the foot portion. Then you whip stitch 2 sides of of the next 2 multi-colored squares to the first two multi-colored squares to just about finish the foot portion. The final white square is folded in half and one short edge is whip stitched. Then you whip stitch the heal to the rest of the foot for a completed foot portion of your stocking. All this is done so the wrong side of each square is on the outside.
After adding all three ring, turn the stocking right side out. Working from the inside of the stocking, crochet at least 8 rows of double crochet at the top. Finish off. When turned down, this forms the cuff of the stocking. Crocheting from the inside places the right side of your cuff over the right side of the stocking. I add a piece of yard to the center back for hanging the stocking on my stair railing. I also add a bell to the center front of the cuff for decoration.
Final nugget. It happened again! Got an eMail from a man stating he was writing a book and found one of the pictures I posted and wanted permission to use it in his book. This happened once before. It has surprised me both times. I researched him on-line to be sure about his legitimacy. After being sure he was the real thing, I responded that he could use the picture. It just strikes me as interesting. Happy others enjoy a photo I have taken. Especially as I work though my pictures and try to get them totally in order. One can get overwhelmed with the number of pictures I have taken and then wonder why keep all those pictures. Then this little random act happens and I think, well, maybe it is a good thing.
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