A Second Look--September 20, 2016

I couldn't let another week go by without doing a Second Look, so I did an abbreviated one this week--meaning I looked around on my way to the mailbox. As you know, things are very busy around here as we orchestrate a move. And if the truth be told, I don't want to deal with the warranty on the air conditioner, the leak in the garage, or tile for the new bathroom. I'd rather be discovering my new yard and transferring some of the things from this yard. Soon enough that will happen. I just have to remember to appreciate the nature around me wherever I am. It really does ground me.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Thankful Sunday--September 18, 2016

I am thankful for signed papers. 

Hundreds of signatures later, we now own two houses. Next we're waiting on the contractor to see when he can start. Included in this is floor work, so there is very little we can move until it is done. In the meantime, we continue to get rid of things here and make lists of what need to be done. Lots of lists. However, for every step forward on this move, I am thankful.

Uncle Billy and Aunt Martha stopped by
 and helped us install new door locks.

A Second Look--September 14, 2016

Things are still moving here at a pace that is too fast for my liking, so I didn't get a chance to take photos for a Second Look this week. Here's what this week looked like a year ago. I've made comments under the photos to compare them to this year.

Here are a few things I saw last year

during a Second Look.

Sedum--Autumn Joy  
This year, they are about a week behind in blooming. They have just started.

Bumblebee on purple sage.  
The sage is in it's second set of growth for the season and it's still a favorite with the bees.

Marigold
The ever-faithful marigold is doing well. All of this years plants came from these plants from last year.

Queen Anne's Lace
I haven't seen any of this blooming recently.

The name of this plant escapes me at the moment. It comes back every year like a weed. Sometimes I let it grow and sometimes I don't. This year I left it alone and it's making a nice show in one of my beds.

Skipper Butterfly on purple sage (view from below)
The little butterflies are still around. I spent Sunday with my buddy, Sarah, and we spent most our time watching butterflies and bees on flowers at the church.

Blanket flower
I don't have many of these this year and they have the most blooms on them now of all season. They always brighten up wherever they are.

Celosia
This is an annual that I didn't grow this year. I planted zinnias instead.

Begonia
I have a different kind of begonia this year. They are doing quite well especially since I got them on clearance. You never know when you get plants like that.

Thankful Sunday--September 11, 2016

At the fair, the 4-H kids show animals. This calf was one of them this year.

I am thankful for the community fair.

Every year during the second weekend in September, my town has a community fair. It's an old fashioned fair with exhibits of canned goods, garden produce, and handicrafts of all kinds. There's an ice cream making contest, a pet show, a cake auction, and a tractor pull. There's lots more with a little something for just about everyone. And I really enjoy it.

However this year with everything going on, I said that I wouldn't enter anything or maybe even go. There were other priorities. However, as the fair approached, I started to get a little twitchy thinking about it. And on Thursday, the day to enter things, I couldn't help myself. All of the phone calls and sorting would just have to wait. I was going to enter some things in the fair.

When you enter things at the last minute, there's a lot of things you can't do. However, I managed to gather up some walnuts, flower specimens, a necklace and felted purse I had made. Entering things is part of the fun. I waited in line and talked to others about what they were entering. We talked about the rain during the fair last year and if the favorite local restaurant is ever going to open again. And it's kind of funny, but I feel that if I have seen something go through the entry process, it's sort of mine too. When I go back later with Ward, I always show him the things I saw when I was waiting in line and I check to see if they won any ribbons.

My felted purse was the black and red one.

On Friday, there's another tradition that I continued. After work, I met my sister at the fair and we scoured the exhibits to see if we got any ribbons. Then we had a hot dog that they grill to your exact specifications. (I'm a charred dog kind of person.) This supports the local fire department.

Last night, I took Ward back and I showed him the ribbons I won, and we looked at all of the exhibits. BTW, I got first places for some flowers, walnuts, and my felted purse. I know that they are very liberal with their judging, but seeing a blue ribbon on my things always brings a smile.

So this year, I did enjoy the community fair. And I'm glad I did. All work and no play, was making June a dull girl.

Connections

I'll written about this before--the many connections that seem to pop up when I visit my mother. She still lives in the small town where I grew up and when I visit, I always see someone or the other that I know. Let me put that differently. I always see several someones or the other that I know. It's all pretty interesting how it works out sometimes.

Ward's new knife is so sharp that it literally split a hair!

Last time I visited, I took my mother's watch to the jewelry store to be fixed. The owner was the cousin of one of my friends from school and as it turns out used to work with my father in the summers when he was in college. During the visit to pick up the watch (which he didn't charge for because he knew my mother), I met Ted who went to school with my sister. He was a master knife maker and had brought one in to show the owner of the store. During the course of the conversation, I told him how Ward would like to see his work. So he said next time we're in town, give him a call.

Well, I called him during this last visit and Ward spent the day with Ted making a knife. (Being the carnivore that he is, he made a meat carving knife.) Ward had a wonderful time and was very excited about the knife and learning about the process. He also related that Ted had had the same cancer that he had and that his mother had also been in the same facility that my mother is in. However, she had recently died at the ripe old age of 95. And for just one more connection, I told him I knew that because Ted's mother's room was the one my mother had just been transferred into. Such is the circle of life. And connections.