November is smiling and so am I

Well, so far so good (she says on day 3).  The snow is fast disappearing and the sun is shining warmly.  Looks like the weekend is going to be good too.  Temps not much over 50* but full sun so I'll take it!

I didn't get to Rowley to spend time with Isabelle, her Mom and Tave.  Got as far as Brunswick and the rest is history or so they say.  Ended up at the docs instead yesterday morning and all's well that ends well.  And the warning light that showed up on my dash was merely tire pressure needing a check.  Maybe it was just a way to get me to pull over and do an assessment of my own situation.  Done and done!  I CAN still drink coffee and that is a relief to say the least!  "They" are saying it's good for you again .. who knows what "they'll" be saying a year from now.  For now I will continue to drink my 2 cups in the morning and occasional iced coffee in the afternoon.  Or when it works out a White Mocha Java with my honey at Rock City Coffee.

Meanwhile the living room is getting torn apart.  Much to Brad's initial dismay, I'm sure, when we have a garage and basement full of "stuff" that needs sorting, chucking and/or disposing of properly.  There comes a day when you look at something and decide you just can't look at it any longer.  Kind of like the dirty kitchen window that I decided had to be cleaned and ended up with a bruised knee and dirt in my face.  Another story .. just remember, what you could climb on in your 40s you might not be able to climb on when you're 50. (kitchen stool to be precise)  Of course it's easy to put the garage and basement out of my mind when I'm not looking at it all day and don't have to sit in it every Sunday morning and think "why haven't I gotten rid of those drapes?!"  I know, I shouldn't be thinking about drapes Sunday morning .. but really, if you could SEE them!

So while I let the water get up to steam temps in the steamer that I've rented after spending an hour stripping just 2 small strips of paper Tuesday afternoon I will post my ramblings because of course I have nothing else to do.

It felt quite good to get the chair rail torn off the wall yesterday.   Pounding the top piece up and off with the hammer and ripping the bottom piece off with the crowbar .. a satisfying feeling of accomplishment and wouldn't you know, Brad got home just in time to carry it all down to the burn pile for me.  Gave me a little feel for what it must be like when you can take a sledge hammer and tear a wall down!  Can I, can I?  Ooooo please honey bunches?  Also glad Brad could pull the piano out from the wall for me .. I tried, really I did.  Pammy how did we move that thing from one wall over to the other anyway?!  I must weigh a ton. (just noticed my typo and had to leave it .. yes I DO weigh a ton, but I really don't think the piano does)

It was over 18 years ago that we put this paper on the bottom half of our living room walls and bought our new furniture.  Brad put a charming chair rail up that I could set odds and ends of old tools on.  We have painted the top half since then but I'm needing a drastic change. I'm sure there have been some who have been secretly aghast at my choice of wallpaper and furniture fabric which I must admit I was a little timid about at first but kept going back to so with Brad's approval took the plunge.

You have to admit they do have all the same colors!

It grows on you and I loved it immediately.  Needless to say there aren't too many springs still holding up in the sofa and there are spots that are wearing thin on both the sofa and recliner so they are on our "to replace" list.  I think I've found the sofa I want in NEUTRAL!  I do feel for our friends and family who have to SIT on those flat springless seats.  I avoid them although the sofa is still good for a nap or two, and the recliner seems to be the best seat in the house for our dear friend Barbara Jean. MY favorite chair is here in the kitchen next to the wood stove.  A leather recliner Brad got me back in '98 that everyone seems to prefer over any other seat in the house. 

Since I'm going on so much about furniture I'll have to mention our two small wing backs that Brad's Mom bought us way back in the mid 80s.  Springs?  Well, I do believe there are still more in these chairs than there are in the sofa, but they've seen better days and I keep them covered up with cotton throws.  Nellie chewed the fabric off the arms when she was a puppy and claimed them as HER chairs.  She also chewed the material off the undercarriage .. how cute is that?  cough.  Do chairs have undercarriages?  It costs just as much to reupholster as to buy new, but the frame is still solid and they do hold a special place in my heart, so I'm going to look into that and slip covers.

I think that water must be good and hot by now so wish me luck ... maybe I'll share a picture of the sticky mess I'm going to end up with.  This should be interesting.  The last time I was in this mood Pammy came over and we stripped the paper off the kitchen and foyer.  Don't know why I didn't take pictures of that mess, maybe because we were having too much fun making it.  I'm thinking not though ..

Happy Halloween

Sunday noon birch trees bowed down by the weight of the snow and it was still coming down

Monday afternoon

Amazing the difference a day can make.  The sun is shining bright here today, the driveway is bare again and the green grass is sticking up through the few inches of snow we got from Saturday night through mid day Sunday.  Eaves are dripping and life is good.  Am I ready for the "Long Winter"?  No, I'm not and I'm still ready to move south as soon as Brad says the word.  Granted I will always have a love spot for Maine in my heart and who knows we may spend all our days here 'til our dying breaths, but one can still dream of warmer climates and sandy beaches, right?  If I could live next door to my sister and/or  (I'm getting greedy here) one or all of my kids I guess Maine winters wouldn't seem quite so long.  Alas that is not to be so I will have to chin up, grin and bear it, think of something that will "ease the pain" so to speak!  Hey all you Grandparents who live near your kids/grand kids and ladies who live down the road from your sisters ... you better be lovin' it.

Now this blog sounds like a whine fest and that is not my aim here at all.  You all know (if you know me at all) how I could go on and on about the best hubby in the world, kids who I love and adore and who (much to my continued and heartfelt gratitude) seem to reciprocate that love, grand kids who make me laugh and bring joy to my heart every day so really I have NO complaints.  I'm just not looking forward to another winter in Maine.  Time flies these days, so before I know it, buds will be sprouting and I'll be smelling mud and predicting the day the peepers will first sing in Mom's bog again.  I think I may be stuck on April 12th.  That was Mom's last prediction and she hit it right on the money, so I'm stickin' with it whether it wins again or not.  I have that memory stuck quite vividly in my mind .. Pam and I helping her out to the back deck so she could hear their loud clamor, their joyous racket singing once again just for her, one last time for her .. and it was for her, I'm sure of it.

Thanks to Pam and Skip for this memorial to Mom .. at the beginning of the path that leads to her bog

They were Grampy's peepers when I was a kid and he and Mom would compete and then the loser would take the winner out for what I was told was a "frog dinner".  I did find out they didn't really eat frogs when they went out although Bob Deniker would have loved the frogs legs if he'd been with them.  I hear they taste like chicken, and I remember dissecting frogs in 10th grade biology and they looked like chicken.  I think that's why it made it bearable .. I just kept telling myself it was chicken.  Why dissecting a chicken would be any more palatable to a frog I don't know.  Is this when I'm suppose to say "but I digress" ?

Instead of sitting here rambling I should be getting ready to head south.  Tally forth so to speak to Tavia's for the night and then to Briana's Tuesday morning to spend an enjoyable (and quite entertaining I'm sure) two days with my biggest munchkin, Isabelle.  Tavia has her today and I'm anxious for the details.  Conversations with this little being are quite delightful when you have the time to really take in what she is telling you.  Now if you are in the middle of something or in a rush to go somewhere you don't always appreciate her endless questions, observations and demands so it's a really grand thing when you can just sit back and take it all in.  Oh the perks of being a Gramma.

We got nearly a whole day of having a little Bumble Bee in our house last Thursday and what a delight that was!  She was making and sharing "honey balls" (marbles) with any and all.

   

 She really wanted to sleep in her costume and then wear it the next day to the Bangor Children's Discovery Museum.  Imagine her Mom saying "no"!!  Although she did pack it in the back pack just in case. 

Meanwhile Skyping and talking with Ashley today I'm finding out my littlest munchkin is in the middle of another change (and I'm not talking diapers here).  Teething for sure among other things .. trying SO hard to crawl and will soon be doing so getting into anything and everything available to those pudgy little fingers.  She said she would welcome some "Gramma time" today and I would be more than happy to take this little guy off her hands for a few hours.  What a HAM he is .. just like his Mama use to be.

Another little someone to just sit and take in .. his jabberings and discoveries of everything so new!  No toys needed.  Mixing bowls and measuring cups are all so much fun to a little guy who's not quite 7 months old.  Can't wait to see what he looks like in his Sweet Pea costume tonight.

Last but not least we got nearly an hour of Skype time with George last night.

His last "call" before he got himself a late supper and went to bed.  New facial hair experiments and ready to grow the "mo" for Movember.  Found out he had Sushi Thursday night and prefers raw octopus along with making his own in the design world of Salt Lake City.  Like an octopus getting his "feelers" out there. And taking quite seriously the commitment he's made to the Mandate Press.  Honestly, I can't get enough of my kids.  They live too far away but I wouldn't have it any other way for their sakes.  It does a Mom's heart good to see them growing into amazing adults all on their own.  Besides it's a lot of fun visiting them and looking forward to their trips home.  I get them ALL for Christmas this year!  (Ok, so that's one good thing about winter).

NOT looking like winter out there right now, so I better go enjoy the rest of this day.  Nellie could use a walk as much as I could.

Here's to all of you who are already dressed and out there making the most of another day that God has given us.

October Morn

It's cold and damp enough this morning to merit a cozy fire in the wood stove, thank you babe!  I made the coffee and oatmeal while Brad got a fire going for me.  Yes, I'm very spoiled but I promise I don't take it for granted.  I was confused about the arrival of Isabelle so it's just Nellie and me here, but the Iz and her Mom are coming up Friday night and we get to have her through next Tuesday.  I think we'll carve some pumpkins.  Can't wait to get my hands in their slimy innards and see what Izze does with it.  We Skyped this morning and she told me she was still trying to decide whether she would spend the night at Nanny's tonight.  Her Daycare lady is having knee surgery, so Nanny and Gramma are filling in. 

Just threw another log on and will enjoy my second cup while it burns (the fire not my coffee) then it's time to get started on a project.  Not sure yet which one .. eeny meeny miney mo!  Our closet?  Kitchen cupboards?  Sort through boxes of random STUFF?  Whichever it might be laundry can't be put off any longer. 

Shutdown time at the plant so Brad is putting extra hours in and not sure if he'll get to play hockey tomorrow night.  Having Bri and Izze here when he gets home will help .. and maybe some apple crisp?

Nellie just scared the bejeebers out of me as usual.  SQUIRREL!  She attacks the glass door, scrabbles at the blinds and bumps into the table.  One of these days the blinds are going to come crashing down on her putting an end to all this nonsense.  Heart still pounding I will sign off now!

Our back yard nearly peak on 10/12

My morning is complete.  Max and his Mama just Skyped me and I laughed so hard my belly hurts.

A Weekend worth Repeating

Almost too quiet here this morning after the kids headed back home to Pennsylvania.  Nellie's quiet snores as she sleeps on her blanket here in the kitchen keeps me from feeling completely alone.  The sun was peeking up over the trees when they pulled out .. only to return 15 minutes later for the 3 bottles still in the fridge.  Kind of important, those bottles!  It was still only 7:45 when they pulled out the second time, so I'm thinking they are probably sitting at the Kennebumkport Service Area right now feeding Max some fruit and cereal.

their first try at getting on the road

it wasn't long before the sun was warming the pumpkins and the day was on it's way

 The weekend flew by and the folders in "My Pictures" are bulging.  Can't get enough of our littlest pumpkin with all his smiles and giggles.  He was hamming it up big time for anyone who would pay attention.  I'm hoping this Maxwell fix will hold me over for the next 5 weeks 'til I see him again.

Sunday was wonderful and we enjoyed the extras in our meeting.  Mike and Caroline Goph from Northern Maine and Curtis and Eliza Jensen from Southern Maine.  Plus Pammy Jo who also stayed for dinner and added her apple salad to the calico beans and ham that Brad and I had made which just happened to be the perfect finish to the meal. Robert and BJ Littlehale and Austin Fleming stayed too, and after the meal we sat and played quite a few rounds of Banagrams .. until our brains were no longer functioning.

Austin was quite taken with little Max

who apparently reciprocated the feeling .. especially since he let him gnaw on his knuckles

and Max was quite taken with little Nika

and who can blame him!  She will be a year old on the 20th and is an absolute doll.

Sweater was made by one of Ashley's co workers

way too interested in the leaves to bother with smiling at the camera

 What a great way to start the week!  It wasn't hard to get plenty of grins from this little guy

and there was a never ending supply of drool

Shirts from Auntie Bri Bri were a huge hit .. "Tough Guy" has his flannel on

We had lots of visitors yesterday .. not sure exactly what the draw was!!

Aunt Pammy came first and had lunch with us

Then Unca Mahlon came for a cup of coffee

along with Aunt Darlydene who thought Max was about the cutest

and Carol Lee who brought some Apple Butter .. thank you!

 Time for a seasonal photo shoot of the kids on the front steps and by the old apple tree marking Maxwell's half birthday .. 6 months old on October 5th.

Time for a bottle which he pretty much does himself now

and always a happy boy when his tummy is full

The sun was setting and Grampy had finally come home from a long day at work. It's time to play .. with Nellie too.  Maxwell was fascinated by Nellie but wasn't sure whether to get excited or scared when she got too close.

The hat Grampy got him finally fits

Big enough for bath time in Gramma's sink

watching the drips from the faucet

strands of pearl dropped drool

a few more snuggles with Grampy before he goes to bed

Got up early this morning to give Max his bottle, get some last minute snuggles and see the kids off.  Hated to see them leave, but happy knowing that they are a happy little family starting a life of their own.

Waiting for Mama and Daddy to pack the car wearing his new hat from Nanny

All packed up and ready to go

We won't have an empty nest for long.  Briana and Isabelle are coming up after Bri gets out of work and Izze is going to stay with Gram and Gramps for a couple days.  Hope the sun keeps shining so we can play outside.

Well, I love a rainy night ...

Sitting by a cozy wood stove that hubby promptly started when he got home because he knew his "babe would probably like one tonight" when he goes off to play hockey.  That being done while I made quesadillas for the two of us; our belly's are now full and all is cozy.  And the rain comes down.

I think I'll save my custard for later.

I am trying to contain myself, but I am extremely anxious to get my hands on that grand son of mine.  Hopefully Trevor got home in a timely fashion and they were able to leave as planned, although Maxwell has his first cold and isn't quite himself .  Late tonight Trevor drops Ashley and Max off at Maxwell's Auntie Bri Bri's before he continues on his way to Orono for Homecoming Weekend. (good thing adrenaline can keep a guy awake!) Tomorrow we meet Briana and crew somewhere below Bath and bring them the rest of the way to Gramma and Grampy's house.  SQUEAL! 

Brad just told me a friend of ours who is a Scout Master is out camping with his scouts tonight.  Gotta be thankful for a warm DRY bed and a roof over my head!  Hopefully they don't all  "catch their 'death a pneumonia' " (as I was often told I might when I was just a grasshopper myself)

Lots to Celebrate

 Fall is a time of celebrations in our family starting with George who was born the morning after Labor Day in 1988.  We were fortunate enough to be able to celebrate his 23rd (and the fact that he is on his own and doing GREAT) at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake City with him this year.

 

Ok, so actually it was still summer when he was born and I was born on the day the seasons change and just happened to celebrate the big one this year.  That's right .. the big FIVE OH! I was 39 just the other day so I'm still wondering how that happened or what hit me!  I managed to drag it out for 4 days and got to have scallops at the Bay View in Camden with Pammy and Skip topped off with chocolate cake made by my babe afterward.

 I didn't get to celebrate with my littlest girl this year who turned 27 on October 6th, but I did get to spend a few days with her in September and thank goodness for Skype we "see" each other every day so I'll be able to recognize that grandson of mine when they come to visit!

 and in the middle of that "muddle" I've been able to spend some time with my other two favorite girls, Briana and Isabelle. 

Last but not least Brad and I celebrated our 31st on October 11th  I am more in love than ever with my amazing man and I thank my lucky stars every day for him.