July 20, 2016

Flower Delivery Service

July 20, 2016

This morning I checked on the baby dove and he is still in the front yard, on the sidewalk.  He seemed content in the shade near the porch.  I have not tried to catch him.  I could not care for him and he seems to be doing OK.

On the way to the office, I stopped by my mom's house and Ron's mom's house to deliver arrangements of zinnias.  Both were up and dressed and ready for the day.  Ron's mom is looking very good.  She said she would be having physical therapy later today.  I had another arrangement to take to the office.  I had taken 2 there on Monday - one for one of the counters and one for my office.  Today I put the new one on the other counter.  Customers have been enjoying them.

At the office, Ron had several projects  to work on and I worked some on clearing my desk after the last couple of weeks of messing it up.  I did get receipts stapled to the credit card bills for the last three months.

After work we met our friends for supper and had a good visit, but the place was more crowded than usual for mid-week.  It was noisy, but the food was excellent and it was a good break in our week.  

From there Ron went to check on his mom and I went to the office supply store for a few odds and ends.  The clerk was so soft spoken I really had difficulty hearing her and had to have her repeat everything. 

Back at home, I spent just a little time in the yard and found that the little dove is still in the front yard.  It was in the grass instead of on the sidewalk and was not as afraid of me.  It looked alert and calm.  There were dead worms on the sidewalk so I expect one of the adult birds had been bringing food.

I spent the evening watching the Republican Convention on TV.  Again there were some excellent speakers.  I did not watch all of it, but caught a lot of it.  I also talked to our son in San Antonio.  They just got back from a short vacation and it was good to hear about their trip.

I started cutting out the inner border for a quilt on the design wall.  I have the outer border about half done.  

July 17, 18, & 19, 2016

Another Week Starts -

What Happened to the Last One?

July 17, 18, & 19, 2016

Baby dove I found today out of the nest and too weak to return.

Sunday morning went well.  I got up and ready for church without going back to sleep.  We actually got there a little earlier than usual.  Our class room for Sunday School was full of faithful class members and a few visitors.  It was a good lesson and a lot of discussion.

As usual, I left class a little early to pick up my mother for the worship service.  I stayed in the auditorium for the music and a song by the children's choir before going to the vestibule for the sermon.  I have decided for now to listen to the sermon out there.  I can hear it much better and then I don't get sleepy when I can hear it.

We picked up lunch and I stayed home to eat while Ron went to his mom's for lunch.  We both napped in the afternoon. When I got up I went outside and picked zinnias and picked over 100 and made 5 arrangements.  I spent the evening reading and  watching movies on TV.

Monday at the office I tackled the bank statement again and got it balanced.  I finished the report papers and emailed them to the accountant and mailed the hard copies to him.  He quickly sent back to me the numbers so I could make the tax payment.  I cleared up a bunch of odds and ends and then paid a stack of bills.

After work I returned home and spent a little time in the yard.  I knew Ron would be late so I baked a cake before I fixed supper.  Once he came home I fixed supper and we had a late meal.  During the evening I watched parts of the Republican  National Convention.  There were some impressive speakers.

Today (Tuesday) I was late getting up and late getting to the office.  I spent the rest of the morning working on my personal check book and got it balanced and updated.  The afternoon was spent on other accounting activities.  The day was slow until mid afternoon and then we got busy.  There were some rain showers around the area. 

At the end of the work day I stopped at the store for a few items before I came home and took care of a few things in the yard.  There was a baby dove on the front sidewalk.  I took food and water to it, but not sure it ever ate.  He could fly a little, but would not be able to fly back to the nest high in the tree. 

Looks like one of the parents brought him a worm to eat.

 

After putting the groceries away, I went to gather zinnias.  Again I cut 100 of them and then arranged them in vases, making 5 arrangements again tonight.  They are doing well but we are keeping them watered at least once a day and sometimes twice a day. 

While working in the zinnia patch in was windy and warm.  I did not feel that it was real hot but found it had been a heat index of 102 degrees.  I should have come in sooner, but had not felt hot at all outside.  But once I was inside I had to spend some time cooling off.  Ron had gone to do some work for a customer after the office closed and he came in soaking wet with sweat . 

I spent the rest of the evening cleaning the kitchen and watching the convention on TV.  I am enjoying  the chosen speakers each evening. 

While listening to the speakers I had my Cochlear mini-mic plugged into the TV and set the TV on mute.  Ron wasn't bothered by how loud I had it, but I could hear it perfectly.  I like that little device.

July 15 & 16, 2016

The Heat and I Don't Get Along

July 15 & 16, 2016

The girls picking zinnias

It is summer and it is hot!  Duh!  Thankfully I do not make my living working out in the heat.  I just can't take it for more that a short spell.   It has been very windy so in some ways it does not feel as hot but I can get overheated before I realize it. 

Middle granddaughter in the zinnia patch.

 

Friday I stayed home from the office and spent the day with the three middle grandchildren.  The girls and I picked flowers in the morning and then they arranged them.  We picked `about 105 and they had a great time selecting the ones to pick and the ones to go in the vases.  We ended up with 6 arrangements.  We gave one to their aunt when she picked up their brother for the afternoon.  The girls each took home their largest arrangement.  The two little arrangements and a middle sized one stayed here.

Container filled with water to put the 

flowers in outside as soon as they were cut

 

The oldest granddaughter started an allergy spell of a constantly running nose.  A dose of Benadryl solved the problem, but left her sleepy and she spent the afternoon curled up on the sofa, not actually going to sleep.  The other one spent the afternoon at the sewing machine working on her quilt that was started a few months ago.  She made good progress and it is looking great!

One resting

 

The day went quickly.  I needed to have the oldest girl and her brother who was staying with my mom, at the church by 4:00.  We  did that and came back home to wait for her brother to come home from their aunt's house.  Then I dropped those two off at the church at 5:45, then picked up my mom, and returned to the church for the closing service from Vacation Bible School. 

One sewing

 

After the service, there was a Family Fun Evening at the church with games and snacks.  We stayed for a while.  Our son and his wife and their youngest two and oldest, arrived for the service.  The youngest of the grandchildren, a 4 year old girl loved the new inflated challenge at the Family Fun time.

 She loved climbing this wall.

 

 After a while our son's family, Mom, and Ron and I went to Jason's Deli for a fun supper.  I had gotten over heated at the church and it was a while before I cooled down, but it was nice and cool in Jason's, so that helped.

One of our grandsons in the program in red shirt

 

After supper we transferred all the luggage to our son's car and I took Mom home and then headed to a quiet house.  I even went to bed a little early.

Supper at Jason's Deli was a delight

 

One note of interest at the church Friday night, there was a skit put on by some of the children and they were wearing mics and I could hear them with my radio tuned to the church station.  But when the youth pastor delivered the message, it was not being broadcast over that signal and I could not hear him.

Food was great, Family was spectacular!

 

Saturday morning, I slept until 9:00 and then had breakfast.  Following that I went to sleep until mid afternoon, woke for a little bit and went back to sleep until 6:00.  Obviously, I accomplished nothing for the day.  I filled the bird feeders right after breakfast so I could watch the birds, but I slept through their visits to the backyard.  There were dozens and dozens of sparrows that I saw at one point.

What a fun evening

 

This evening I have worked some on cleaning the sewing table.  If I can stay awake tomorrow afternoon I hope to sew.  The time with the grandchildren was wonderful.  They are growing up way too fast.

Our middle granddaughter has such an artistic eye.  

She would notice the extreme details of the flowers 

and the differences between them.  It was fun 

watching her spot and appreciate God's unique designs.

July 13 & 14, 2016

Sympathy again to France

July 13 & 14, 2016

The grandchildren loved watching the birds this morning.  

The birds were very active and we saw a great variety of kinds of birds.

 

As I have mentioned before, there are things I don't enjoy hearing, and today's news out of France falls in that category.  I just don't understand a person wanting to kill large numbers of strangers.  As someone posted just after the slaughter in Dallas of fine upstanding police personnel, "Come quickly, Lord."  Such a terrible loss of lives.

Probably a juvenile long billed thrasher

 

The last two days have been busy around here.  On Wednesday I went to the office about 9:30 so Ron could go on a 10:00 job.  People kept coming in and it was about 10:30 at least before he was able to get out of the office to go do the job.  He was gone a couple of hours.  The day was busy with assorted customers placing some orders.  I left the office about 3:45 to pick up our grandson from my mom's house and take him to the church.

 Chachalaca - have not seen the baby for a few days.

 

After taking our grandson to the church, I returned to the office and ended up staying an hour past closing time trying to figure out the bank statement again!  The credit card processing company is driving me nuts.  They keep breaking up their deposits into 2 or 3 different deposits with no logical reason that I can understand.

Great Kiskadee

 

I finally gave up for the day and headed home while Ron headed to stay the night at his mother's house.  I had a few stops to make on the way home.  Ron came in later saying his mom said she was ready to stay alone.  We will see how it goes. 

Tufted-Titmouse

 

I went to the church about 8:45 to get the grandchildren who were staying with us for a couple of nights.  Our daughter - in - law was there picking up the two youngest so that she could take them home.  One of the others was spending the night with a friend so I only had 2 for the evening.

The four flowers are all on one bush. 

 I know I have picked 4 others off this bush this week.

 

We came home, got something to eat, and went to bed before too long.  Everyone was tired.  I slept in the recliner and woke this morning to the two grandchildren playing quietly by my chair.  They are always quiet, but if they had been noisy, it would not have waken me since I do not wear the sound processor when I am sleeping.

Zinnias need to be picked tomorrow morning

 

After a while we got dressed and we picked up donuts for breakfast.  We chatted over our late breakfast.  Then about 2:00 I took them with me to the office so I could make a bank deposit and work more on the bank statement, but I was constantly being interrupted and gave up.  I needed to go to the bank and to pick up the grandson who was at Mom's and take him to the church.  From there, I went to the bank to make a deposit and then picked up lunch for us on the way home (at 4:00).  We ate and then it was time to take them to the church for VBS.

While they were there, Ron and I met our friends for supper.  It was a good visit and a much needed time out together.  After coming home and weeding the garden some and hauling the debris, it was not too long until time to pick the kids up again.  This time I had 3 to bring home.

They had supper when we got home and then watched a movie while I relaxed.  Tomorrow, I hope to be home with them all day.  I will settle the bank statement on Monday!

July 11 & 12, 2016

Feeding the Workers

July 11 & 12, 2016

Serving line for supper for VBS workers.

 

For several years, various Sunday School classes have prepared supper during Vacation Bible School, for the teachers and workers.  This allows those who work all day to go right to the church, have a good (free) supper and then be on time for VBS.  Monday was our class's turn.  We served chopped brisket burgers, potato salad, baked beans, chips, cookies, and tea  or strawberry soda for the workers.  The smells in the kitchen were delightful.  We had an excellent crew of workers. It is a good ministry - a little hard for those of us who work to get off early and be ready to serve at 4:30.

My day was hectic from start to finish.  I needed to be at the office a little before 9:00 because Ron had an appointment to get his eyes checked at 9:15.  He had locked up and left when I arrived at 8:50.  He was not back at the office until well after noon.  Mom, my sister Janet, and grandson Jacob, stopped by the office to see if I would be able to take our grandson to the church at 4:00. 

Some of the decor in the room where we were serving.

 

While Ron was at the shop for a bit, I went to the grocery store for cookies for the dinner at the church - just have not had the energy or time the last few days to bake cookies.  Then picked up some lunch and returned to the office to eat.  Ron had an emergency job he had to leave on as soon as I got back.  Then when he got back, I went by Mom's and got our grandson and took him to the church and stayed to work on the meal to be served.  A little later, Ron locked up the shop and went to finish the emergency job and never did make it to the supper at the church.  My sister ended up taking a taxi to the airport to return home since I was so busy.  Hated to not get her to the airport, but she is always quick to say she can take a taxi.  I am glad she was able to be here for a few days.

Before the meal, I helped some as they got things ready, but they had plenty of servers without me.  That type of situation just is overwhelming noise for me. We were serving in the gym and actually chatting at a table was okay, but in the serving line I just could not hear and would not have been a good server. 

 Such great decorations!

 

After all the workers and the kids praise team had been served, the kitchen crew sat down to eat and visit.  Our Sunday school class has such hard workers.  It was good to get to visit with these good friends.

From there, I headed home and it was a while before Ron got home.  I had brought him some left overs and he ate while we caught up one what each other had been up to all day.  He already got his new glasses and I didn't notice.  That was another thing he had to do in between the emergency job and the rest of the day.

Workers can come eat anytime between 4:30 and 5:30.

 

Tuesday morning I got up, moved to the recliner and slept another hour and a half even though I had gone to bed early last night.  I needed to cut the zinnias and gathered over 85 today.  I took them to the office and made 4 arrangements there.  I love having fresh flowers on my desk at work.   

I left the office about 3:30 to pick up our grandson and take him to the church.  He is helping with a variety of things at the church for VBS.  He loves working to keep things moving smoothly.  I hurried back to the office because Ron had a 4:00 appointment.  He left and I had the rest of the day to myself at the office. 

Since Ron would not be back to the office, I had time to do a little cleaning.  I did some sweeping and had hoped to mop, but ran out of time.  Mom had sent me a message that our grandson had forgotten to pick up a package that she needed me to mail.  I would not have been able to go when I picked him up so I just went by after work and picked it up and took it to the post office.

When I got home, I decided to do some weeding in the zinnia garden and got a good bit done before the heat caught up with me.  I came in and cooled off before going out in the backyard to fill the feeders, ponds, and fountains.  I kept thinking how hot it was out there and needed to be sure the birds had plenty of water. 

Our hard working grandson on the right in the yellow shirt. 

 The yellow shirts are the workers.

It was a good evening.  I was able to talk to three of our four sons and one daughter-in-law.  They are all doing well.  The couple in San Antonio is getting ready to visit the couple in New Mexico for a long weekend.  I am so glad they are going to be together.  

These last two days have been busy, but good.  We will pick up the younger grandchildren tomorrow night to spend the rest of the week here at our house.  Fun times ahead!

July 10, 2016

An Outstanding Sunday 

with Family

July 10, 2016

Children's Choir introducing the theme 

song for the week of Vacation Bible School

Last night I was up late house cleaning since I had ignored it for so long.  I was having family over for lunch.  We had our son Jeff and his family (7 children and his wife), Ron's brother and sister-in-law, and my mom and my sister, Janet.  That made 15 for lunch.  Our Sunday School class was faithful in their attendance and only a very few were out today.  The church service was well filled and the sermon was excellent. 

Decor in the auditorium

 

As soon as the service was finished, Ron and I left and made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things I needed for lunch.  Everyone arrived about 2:00 for lunch and it was delicious.  We had a good time visiting and it was a relaxing meal. 

Submarine for VBS.  

Theme: Submerged and going deep into God's Word 

 

After serving ice cream (Blue Bell of course), Ron and I took the two younger girls out to see the zinnia garden.  The oldest girl had gone to the church to work on things for Vacation Bible School which was starting this evening.  Our youngest granddaughter is 4 years old and tall for her age.  Many of the zinnias were taller than she is.

What fun to cut it all by herself

 

We cut 103 flowers today and that put the count from this patch at over 1,025.  The middle child in the family is middle of all the children and middle of the girls. (the child below) She first was more fascinated with the unique detail in the flowers and the little differences in them.  She pulled out her camera to get photos of them.  Then the three of us started cutting them.

Today's flowers were large and lovely.

 

When we brought them in, the youngest and I made two arrangements for Mom to take to two friends in the rehab hospital.  Then she and I made two others; one was long stemmed zinnias and one was short stemmed zinnias. All four arrangements looked great and she had fun working on them. 

 My young photographer.

Then the middle child came in from watching the birds from the sewing room windows and she made two lovely arrangements.  One is pinks, purples, white, and yellow zinnias and the other was reds, oranges, and yellows.

Selecting and cutting the flowers

 

Before long it was time for them to all to get ready for Vacation Bible School.  Six of the seven children are going to be here for VBS.  The oldest son went home with his parents and he was playing the special music tonight at their church in McAllen.  He is a gifted, well trained pianist and was being accompanied by a flute, violin, and another instrument, but I forgot what instrument. 

The fun of cutting flowers.  Her shirt went well with the flowers.

 

The second oldest son will be staying at my mom's and helping in VBS.  The remaining five will stay at their other grandmother's house for a couple of days and then at our house for a couple of days before going home Friday night after the closing night of VBS.

Entering the craft and snack area

 

Many in the church have put a lot of work into the decorations for the week.  All of them look amazing.  I know all of the children who attend will have a great week in store.

Detailed work done on the decorating

 

Ron and I  took the kids to the church and then came home to a quiet house.  I napped for just a few minutes, but that is fine because I need to be able to go to sleep tonight since I need to be at the office early tomorrow.

The craft area for VBS

 

As far as hearing, I went out into the vestibule of the church during the sermon and with the wire from my sound processor to the little radio I use, I could hear better out there.  At the table at lunch I did better than usual and maybe it was having the children all in the other room and they are all getting old enough not to come in every minute or two to ask a question, or say they aren't hungry.  The one who usually
eats the least had me serve his plate generously and he at very well.

One of the arrangements

 

It was a good day all around, but I will be in bed early tonight.

The zinnias were taller than she is.