Labor Day

Monday was Labor Day here int he States. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.

What does this mean in reality? Most businesses are closed. It’s a long three (or four) day weekend. Many people go away to celebrate the end of the summer, as the school year usually starts right after this. (Some places start just before.)

People have gatherings cooking hotdogs and hamburgers or steaks on the grill, and frankly, a lot of cold drinks and adult beverages are consumed!

Traffic is heavy, motels and campgrounds are booked up, and if you are lucky and the weather holds out, there is swimming and frolicking in the surf to be enjoyed.

This year Friday, Saturday and Sunday were amazing weather-wise. Monday I woke to the sound of rain hitting the air conditioner! Rain? How could this be? But it was and it rained all day, so what did we do? We watched the US Open Tennis! Thankfully two of their stadiums are now equipped with a roof that they can close in the event of bad weather. Good idea, I think!

I did make three meals and walked the dogs in between raindrops, and basically it was a nice quiet day!

Happy Labor Day & Happy September!

The Seasons

Sunday was quite simply, a beautiful day. If I could order perfect weather like this every day I would. Of course, then all the tourists would stay and the crowds would make me crazy!

There are reasons for the Seasons up here and I admit to enjoying them all. We’re definitely at the end of summer. With temperatures in the 70’s that is right where it should be.

The Sun rises after 6:00 and sets at just about 7:20 in the evening. The days are getting shorter and shorter.

Soon the trees will start their color change, leaves will fall, as well as temperatures. My truly favorite time of year! Autumn!

Here is a picture from last year.

Oct 17 006Ah, before I know it, the lake will be awash in color! Truly, my favorite time up here.

Of course, winter will follow, but truth be told, I don’t mind that too much either.

Four beautiful Seasons! It’s why I love New England!

Sunday September 1st

Here we are, September first! Where did the time go? Where did the summer go?

The sun is setting earlier and soon the leaves will start to change color and true Autumn will be upon us.

I’ve been struggling with a cold the last few days. This morning after a rough night, I slept until 7:30. Even then I didn’t want to get up. But, I did, and while walking the dogs, I hung the bird feeders and then came in for my coffee.

I was feeling somewhat chilled and took my temperature. 100 degrees. No wonder I feel so listless.

I’m having a  challenge with my laptop. It’s almost like it is possessed. I am in the middle of typing when all of a sudden the cursor moves to a different paragraph, or in the case a few minutes ago, it simply took me to a new web page!

I am trying to figure out what is wrong, but I may need to clean my machine in hopes that this will help.

You know, at first I thought that perhaps I was bumping the touchpad with my fingers, but after carefully typing I realized that it is not me.

Did you watch the Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka Match last night at the US OPEN? Not only was it a great game to watch, but at the end Naomi had Coco stay with her for the interview and she showed what a real champion does with a young girl. She was so kind and so gracious to Coco, that losing at such a high profile event was softened.

merlin_160022937_6f0c6dd2-2d3e-40b9-9e1c-a72873511696-articleLargeSo, great match Coco, great match Naomi, and bravo to bringing back kindness and class to the game of tennis!

Lovely Day

Friday afternoon some of our friends stopped by. Here in New England if you have fruits or vegetables to share, you share with your friends. Each year we share our apples and peaches with our friends. Today they came over with green beans, watermelon, and cucumbers from their garden.

We sat outside at our garden table talking and visiting. They all got to see my Christmas Cactuses and no one could believe how they have come alive!

While we sat there, the Downey Woodpecker came up to feed at the feeder near us, as did the Blue Jay and a Chickadee.

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The weather was perfect. Sunny, blue skies, about 80 degrees, and a very light wind. It just doesn’t get much better than this!

The Friday Five

The Friday FiveHere we are on the last Friday of August. The summer certainly sped by. In fact earlier this week it was so cool in the morning I had the distinct feeling that it was closer to the end of September than the end of August! Thursday did warm up slightly, but overnight the temperatures will fall again.

So, here are this weeks Friday Five!

  1. The people who supposedly fixed our driveway did a very poor job. The very next day after work was completed, the driveway failed! We have attempted to have the company come back, and see what they did wrong and fix it. So far they have avoided us. I am afraid that a lawsuit may be required for us to get the work done correctly. We held up our end of the bargain with prompt down-payments and then final payment when the work was done, but to literally have it fail overnight was something we could not have foreseen. If we had they would not have gotten their final payment!
  2. It’s Eggplant Season. I’ve been getting eggplant cheaply and it is beautiful. I admit to being an Eggplant Addict! I love it. I simply spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and roast the sliced eggplant until they are brown and tender-crisp. I’ve been eating this for lunch for the last couple of weeks. Jack thinks I am crazy. He likes Eggplant Parmesan maybe once every five years. But for me, I don’t need any sauces or anything I just like the plain and simple roasted eggplant!
  3. One of the greatest joys for me this week was having my grandchildren with me.
    20190825_220125They wanted me to stay with them while they fell asleep and when they did I snapped this picture of the two of them. It’s pretty dark and Savi is turned away, but Quinn is sleeping and peaceful as they both were and that filled my heart with such happiness!
  4. We finished watching Downton Abbey. Jack is now interested in the movie too. Just a few more weeks and we will actually go to the movies and enjoy! I so love Maggie Smith! She is such an amazing actress!
  5. I’ve been watching the US Open Tennis. I’ve seen some really tough matches, some great matches and a few where neither player deserved to win. But oh my! I do love to watch these talented athletes!

The Wonders of Grandchildren

I had the pleasure of having my grandchildren for a few days. What a wonderful adventure. I learned so much more about each of them and was able to thoroughly enjoy the wonderful ages that they are. One is fully conversational now and the other tells wonderful stories with words that far surpass the actual age that he is.

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Savannah was incredibly interested in me. She asked me about my previous marriage, what her mother was like as a little girl, and did I love dogs as much as she did? I could see the wheels turning in her head about what to ask me next.

I gave her simple answers for now. The only thing I corrected her about was when she asked if I was sick when I divorced her other grandfather. I told her no, but I was very sad. She asked then if I had loved him and I said yes.

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She wanted to know how many years I was married to my former husband and then wanted to know how long I’ve been married to Papa Jack? 11 years the first time and 31 years to Papa Jack! She was amazed that Papa Jack and I had been married that long. I guess 31 years seems like a very long time to a seven-year-old!

Quinn is at the age where his imagination is running wild. He told me stories where he was the Super Hero with big strong muscles! He is extremely well-spoken for a three-year-old and his vocabulary is amazing! He wants to tell jokes, although he hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it. Still, I must say Quinn’s laugh is infectious! And I found myself really laughing with him!

20190827_144014It was nice to see that the kids felt at home with us here so that spending a couple of nights was easy for them. Both slept well and ate well, and played well. So the entire experience was a real success!

I hope we can do it again really soon!

A Memory – Arnie

This Post I wrote nine years ago today. I was telling Savi and Quinn the story and read them this post and we all laughed. So I decided to share it with you all again. I think I was a better writer back then, or perhaps I took more time. In any case, it’s inspired me to do better with my future posts! So, without further ado, here is a post about the amazing Arnie.

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This morning Hubby had to go off to help a friend with some logging on his property. He packed a bag of snacks in case he got hungry, and called Fritz to his side, then with Arnie watching his every move, opened the door to go. Arnie slipped by him and raced down the stairs in hopeful anticipation, that he too, would be included in the outing!

“Arnie!” Hubby called to him. “You come back up here right now!”

Slowly, Arnie made his way back up the stairs and sat down next to my feet. Hubby reached down and patted him, but Arnie was not invited to go.

Fritz and Hubby left and Arnie raced into our bedroom, which overlooks the driveway. He jumped up onto the steamer chest that’s in front of the window and put his front paws on the air conditioner and watched!

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He whined and cried as he watched them get into the Jeep.

Aug 27 003
Before they started to drive up the road.

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Eventually, I got him to hop down and keep me company as I went about my chores around the house.

Two days ago, I wore my favorite pair of dangle earrings. They’re golden hearts, and I love the sheer simplicity of the workmanship. In fact, I love them so much that I bought my cousin Janet the same earrings in silver. She loves them too. At her father’s Memorial Service we both wore these earrings without knowing that the other would wear them.

Anyway, I was tired the night I took them off and I put them on the table between our two chairs in the family room and promptly forgot them when I went off to bed. The next day, I went to get them and there was only ONE earring!!!

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I searched high, I searched low. I went through the garbage, I checked pockets of my clothes. I looked under books, under phones, and under the laptop computers. Nothing. I spent several hours looking, even eying the four dogs, wondering if they had swallowed it!

Today, resigned to the fact that the earring was gone I went back to the shop I got them at to see if they had the same pair. They didn’t but offered to try and find them for me.

I came home, feeling quite sad but, well it is only a thing and things can be replaced eventually and so I should not dwell.

The phone rang and I answered and while speaking to my neighbor, I looked down at Arnie, who was tucked under the table. He had his stuffed soccer ball under there and sticking out of the ball was something shiny!

I jumped down and grabbed the ball and there it was! My other earring!!!

There are a few theories as to what happened.

  1. Arnie found it when he was walking around and stuck it into his ball so it wouldn’t get lost.
  2. Arnie likes women’s jewelry!
  3. Arnie brought his soccer ball up into my chair when I was in bed and while toying with the ball, got it close enough to the earring to hook it into the ball.

In any event, I am thrilled to have my earrings reunited! They really are my favorite pair to wear when I want to dress up.

Aug 27 010

So Arnie can sleep wherever he wants tonight, and there will be a nice piece of steak in his food dish too!

Arnie, my hero!!!

Monday Musings

On Monday I figured I would bring the two grandchildren with me as I did my errands. I never thought too much about it. After all, I raised two kids who were closer in age than Savi and Quinn. So it should be a breeze with these two.

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Well, mostly it was. But I worried a bit in parking lots and at the beach and at the Post Office. But, I managed with a great deal of joy in my heart. Especially at the beach. They loved that, and we are in fact going back tomorrow to swim.

I very seldom go down to Waukewan Lake Beach, (Say, like never), but it was really wonderful to be there and watch the kids swim. Tomorrow I will actually put on my swimsuit and go in too! Of all the things we did today, being at the Lake Beach made them the happiest.

20190826_160026I also must tell you about my darling grandson Quinn. He is three years old. And as we talked today I found out that we were having one of those conversations that any adult will lose. It goes like this.

“Quinn, be careful of Anneliese because she is pretty much blind”

“Why?”

Well because her eyes got a disease and she can’t see too well now.”

“Why?”

“Because she is very old.”

“Why?”

And so it went until I was ready to laugh!

20190826_102032I need to get the kids ready for bed now and then get myself in bed early too. 5 AM comes awfully early!

Grandchildren Are Great!

I think one of the greatest joys in my life is certainly my two grandchildren. With Savannah and Quinn, I get absolute, unconditional love. They bring me such joy! So when my daughter, Mandy asked if I could watch them while their Day Care/Camp was off I said yes! They will arrive in the afternoon.

Now I have planned meals and drinks and snacks and activities. I have books to read, Legos to play with, and coloring books to color. And I have every known color of Crayola Crayons.

61285597_408330570008755_5026013902790459392_n

67556701_10219856717710050_1284153440062144512_nI am thrilled with this visit and I feel like the luckiest Oma in the entire world!