Surprise Visit ~ Moon Passing Venus ~ Surprise Road Trip

Warning:  It's a "grab a cup of ...." kind of blog post today.
 
I was taking bets as to how many people would notice, including our kids that were not home, the work we did on Sunday.

They noticed.  Whew.  Looks so nice when I look out my window now.  It's that kind of relief when you see a messy room all cleaned up.

Our 19 year-old surprised us with a visit last Sunday night.  First thing she said, was "I noticed you don't have any outside lights up."

Guilty.

We had zero time with all the outside work.  She insisted we at least put some up around the front porch. We did not.  We ended up taking a road trip.

Red Moon ~ Lunar Eclipse

Thanks to my older brother, I was able to get photos of the moon this morning.  Did you know today (Oct. 8, 2014) it would be red and there would be a total lunar eclipse?

Day 2 - No Hot Showers

I let Jesse out to do his "business" early this morning, and there was one single star visible in the sky.  Kind of a cool sight, so I took a picture.  A benefit if living in the country - I can stand outside in my pajamas, robe and slippers, and my neighbors cannot look out their window and gawk at me in shock and horror.  They'd most likely think I was a creeper with my camera at that hour too, ha ha!

Ring Bling ~ One Writer's Muse

Who knew that a gift from my mother would also be my inspiration to write?  For years, "ring bling" has been my writing muse, along with a secluded place.

On the left is my grandmother's ring, in the center my mother's ring, and on the right, another vintage spoon ring (also my mother's).  


I love these unique rings.  They not only have family ties, but are so fun to wear. 

On the far left is my fun, department store bling.  My 10 year-old also uses ring bling for her writing inspiration.  These rings are on one of my mother's vintage hankies.

I think I'll spend time writing today....

Yesterday I made a trip to the grocery store.  I came home and filled small lunch size containers with fresh pineapple, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.

I also filled bags with pistachio nuts, almonds, and bought organic raisins.

Now I can finally break the kids of grabbing store bought granola bars for breakfast.  I stopped buying them, but cannot make them myself every day, so I stocked  up on fruit.  Now the kids, hubby and myself, can grab a healthy snack "to go."

Although I am not keen on buying plastic lunch bags, it will have to work for now.  I need to invest in more reusable containers.


This morning, I heard one daughter screaming in delight.  She was thrilled to have healthy food already packaged up for a trip to school.


Yesterday, my daughter and son, placed cement blocks out for the billy goat to stand on.  He was so tickled to get them, that my daughter had to have my son hold him off, so she could place the blocks together.  When I heard that Orion (billy goat) was thrilled, I went out with my camera to snap some photos.  


However, he was already tucked away in his shed and was not about to come back out for me.  On my walk back up to the house . . .

....I snapped these photos.  Each one in another direction.  It was light out, so the back ground on the moon is interesting.  The jet was pretty neat to see too.  Next time, I plan to take a tripod out and get better photos.


A year of quotes:
"A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking."  ~ Earl Wilson

Full Moon and Other Tidbits

I attempted to photograph the sunrise this morning, however, I ended up catching another moon photo.

It was just starting to go down behind the trees.  I missed the sunrise by running back to get my camera.  The pink clouds were so pretty this morning.  Maybe I'll get a another chance to get a picture of it this winter.

Although I now I should be writing out my seed orders for the garden, I keep taking an inventory over my projects.  The most important ones to finish this winter, will be Christmas presents.  Those are a must to finish now.  Summer gardening, as large as our family is, will be very time consuming this year.

If you have a chance, stop on over to my S.C.R.A.P. blog. . .

I was inspired by another blog I follow, and with her mini-wreath pattern, we created a S.C.R.A.P. Cereal Box Gift Tag. 


Cereal boxes can be recycled in most cities now, but you can use any food box you may have also.  Or use the cardboard from light bulb boxes, clothing, curtains, etc.

I am now on day 4 of trying a herbal oil mix for our immune system.  I am simmering it so that the entire house can benefit from it.  So far, we are seeing results.  Instead of being irritable with sinus pressure, we are seeing many runny noses - the same results of some over the counter allergy medications.  I am also using garlic oil drops for my ear.  I am on day 4 of those too.  I still don't have my hearing totally clear yet, but continue to use the oil.  By day 14 I will know if they worked or not.

Following the Moon

I just have had some interesting views of the moon recently.  While taking one of the dogs out, I snapped these shots this morning.

 These were taken about 9:28am today.  Here is another shot I took on 11-11-2011.