Some pictures of my tree

Hopefully this will turn out. The first pics are of my trees, with and without the light on.










And here is my fireplace

Happy Holidays to all!

I can't believe I've let so much time go by without posting something. I wanted to at least make a post a week, maybe two. I'll put that on my new year's resolution list..... make one or two blog entries a week, if not more. Sometimes I feel like I don't really have anything interesting to post or at least not interesting to anyone else. I lead a simple kind of life here, nothing too daring really. I enjoy the simple pleasures such as observing nature and the changes of the seasons. I have been keeping a weather and seasonal journal for the past few years now. I started it because I wanted to notice trends and see the best times for planting and such. Of course I rely on the Old Farmer's Almanac as well. My grandfather really enjoyed his and relied on it for information with his farm. I started reading it as a child with him and I look forward to when it comes out each year. There's a lot of good practical information in there as well.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Monday, my mother and I went to my aunt's house for dinner and had a nice time. My husband didn't feel like going, I hated leaving him at home alone, but I had promised my mom I'd take her. We spent the day at home yesterday. We made a Christmas buffet with ham, meatballs, salt and dill cured salmon, pickled herring, red cabbage, baked beans, cheese ball and all sorts of desserts. At first I wasn't sure anyone was coming but my best friend's mom and her daughter stopped by for a few hours. My best friend and her husband came later that evening. It was so nice having them, we had told them to drop by anytime because we would have the buffet up all day.

We are going by my parents tonight and exchanging presents. They were supposed to come to my house yesterday, but my father didn't feel well. I'm going to take some pics of my home and tree and try to post them on here. We'll probably keep our decorations up until the 1st or 2nd week of January.

Holidays

I always look forward to this time of year. I start getting excited in September with the arrival of fall, my favorite season. Usually there are quite a few festivals around here starting then and it gets us in the mood to celebrate. I always try to schedule my vacation time in Sept. and October because I think it's the most beautiful time of year to be out in nature and it's not too hot to enjoy it.

There are a few festivals in southeast Ohio we like to go to each year. We didn't get to go this year because of work obligations. They are near the Chillicothe and Columbus area in the middle of Amish country. The fall foliage is so pretty up there and we enjoy driving around the area and stopping at the Amish shops and bakeries. Last year on the drive home it started to snow a bit. This was around the 22nd or so of October and one of the earliest times I'd experienced snow in the year.

November brings in gray skies and chilly temps, but also a longing for cozy evenings spent in a warm home. I'm more of a homebody in the late fall and winter. I still like to get outside though, just nearer to the house. I usually read more in the winter, as does my husband. Last year we had several weekends that we stayed at home, watching it snowing outside and reading one or two books each.

The best thing of November would be Thanksgiving. Up until a few years ago I had always spent Thanksgiving and Christmas at my grandparents homes on both sides of the family. We were sad to lose two grandmothers and my grandfather within the last few years and the family that remained had a hard time establishing a routine or traditions for the holidays. One aunt though took over Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving and does a beautiful job making everyone there feel welcome and loved. The first few years were rough for us all though as we missed them so much. All my grandparents made the holidays a special time for us by their enthusiasm for celebrating and their love. Even though our family is much smaller due to deaths and others moving away I hope those remaining, new ones who enter our number, and friends who wish to join us have the happy times that I experienced in the past.

For this Thanksgiving my aunt is hosting the dinner on this Saturday. Her daughter is a nurse and has to work on Thanksgiving. My husband is on call that week as well and might have to go in on Thursday, so this works out well for us. The past two Thanksgivings we've not really had our dinner on the Thursday for some reason or the other. My husband and I had dinner out on Thanksgiving Thursday because he was on call for work and had to go in. Actually we enjoyed it just as much since we knew we would meet up with family on another day. We'll probably do it again this year as well. The day we get together doesn't matter, just as long as we always do. Family is important and I'm realizing it more as I'm getting older and I'm losing my loved ones.

Weekend

Just now getting around to posting about the nice weekend I had. Saturday my husband and I didn't do too much, just went into town to a few new shops I had been wanting to visit. Richmond is trying to revitalize the downtown section and it seems there are a few more specialty shops now. My husband was excited that a hike and bike shop was open as we'd been by there several times and it had been closed. They had pretty much anything one could want for outdoor adventures and what they didn't have they said they could get. So hubby was pleased to hear that and started making a mental list for Christmas gifts I could get him.

There's a new collectibles type store on main street and I bought my first rag child doll. She was so pretty and was only $3.00! I thought that was awfully cheap for a handmade item, but figured they were running some kind of sale. When I got home I noticed the tag on it that said... made in China. Hmmm. Well, it's a sweet doll anyway and I've name her Hannah. I placed her hanging from the mantle to the side of the fireplace. I also bought some homemade soaps there. We went to the by-pass area and found an antique and collectibles store there that had a lot of nice things, but the candles were so fragrant they gave my husband a headache so we had to leave.

Sunday was really nice, we finally got to geocache a bit. We went to Lexington as there are a lot of new caches out since we had been last. We had our GPSr loaded up and was looking forward to caching all day. We found 3 and decided to eat lunch. We went to a restaurant on Richmond Road that I had never been to and heard some great things about. They had a nice affordable lunch menu and I chose the Turkey dinner special. My husband had a crab cake/shrimp combo. Everything was really good and we decided to find more caches after we ate. We went to a city park I'd never heard of and found one cache that was hidden deep in a wooded area. It was so nice walking along the paths and kicking up the leaves. The temperature was in the lower 60s and the sun was shining. We had our golden, Lizzie, with us and she made several canine and human friends in the park. That's the special thing with Goldens they have such a sweet nature and expression that most people want to come and pet or meet her. Anyway, after we found that cache and returned to our vehicle I noticed my stomach was hurting a bit. It wasn't a few minutes after that my husband said his was as well. We barely made it to his office before we became ill and had to rest there for a bit. After that we headed back home. Still all in all it was a nice weekend. Anytime I can get out and walk in nature with the beautiful weather we've been having it's a great time.

Trick or Treat

My county is having trick or treat night tonight instead of tomorrow night. Usually I have only one or two people that come but I buy enough candy as if 50 or more will be stopping. As I live out in a rural area there's not much traffic, but more than one might think. I believe it's the new trend to go to subdivisions or church sponsored 'Trunk or Treat' now.

When I was a kid I couldn't wait until Halloween. It was then and still is one of my favorite holidays. The area I live in is/was full of my relatives and family friends. So my dad drove me to nearly every house in a few miles radius. I would come home with a plastic pumpkin full of candy as well as a grocery sack full that I would dump the candy in when the pumpkin got too full. My favorite candy was smarties, necco, the peanut butter kisses, and of course m&ms. My husband asked me to get 'good' candy this year as kids don't like the kind I pick out. He knows we'll have leftover candy for a while, so he wants the kind he likes. hehe Big kid!

I surely miss my grandmother (dad's mom) this time of year. She really went all out for Halloween, she enjoyed it so much. Her yard was always decorated and she made homemade treats like popcorn balls!

I hope everyone has a Happy and safe Halloween!

My first entry....

First entries are hard I think. I guess I'll start by introducing myself and telling a bit about my life and where I live. I'm a forty-something woman living in central Kentucky and I've pretty much lived here all my life. I've been happily married for the past 8 years to my best friend and soulmate. He's a keeper and a very patient man. We live in a rural area and in fact only two miles from the house I was raised in. We haven't been blessed with children yet, but we are still hoping. We do have our animal and fowl family members though. We have 3 peafowl, 1 guinea fowl, 1 golden retriever who is the sweetest girl ever, and two chow mix dogs who are sweeties as well. We were sad to lose two feline family members recently, Ellie Mae and Natasha.

I work a full time job as office manager at a steel fab shop and have a part time job as an accounting clerk for a used car lot. Life is pretty busy here, it doesn't get boring too often as there is something usually going on or that needs done.

We live on a couple of acres with a barn, pond, and small orchard. My husband and I are fairly new to the 'farming' life although I've lived near or on one most of my life. We put out a small garden each year, mostly growing tomatoes, herbs, potatoes, sugar snap peas, rhubarb, cantaloupe, watermelon, and this year we had a couple of pumpkin vines. Our orchard has several pear trees, apple trees, cherry tree, blueberry bushes, blackberries, raspberries, and we have some grape vines. As I said we are pretty new to all this and are learning as we go.

Thanks to all who read this and hope you all have a great day.