There is Change in the Air

There is a change in the air for sure. It has been raining ice balls since last evening. The temperature dropped 40 degrees from Sunday to Monday. It is hard to adjust to such drastic changes in temperature. My titanium knees stiffen and my trigger finger wants to remain in one position only, an uncomfortable one at that. 

High school football is at an end also. Taylen's last game was last Friday and I again made the trek Gordon to watch him. It was parents night and fortunately a warmer evening than the previous Friday. Gordon / Rushiville beat Mitchell 35-8. Taylen is a freshman but he got to play in the last five or more minutes and made several yards running the ball. He almost made it to the end zone before the seconds ticked down. I am very proud of his effort in such a dangerous sport. He got hit pretty hard and I cringed as I watched. With all the news and research on football injuries, you just got to pray for them to make it through the season without a major calamity! 

Parents Night at Gordon/ Rushiville Game
Jessamyn, Taylen and Jay

Upcoming events include: a 50th birthday party for Jim, a retreat at Chadron State Park for three days, Baboo getting neutered and surgery for a my trigger finger release. There is never a dull moment. I am also going to return some house sitting karma to my neighbors the Gerks by watching their home and kitty. They are taking a trip to visit their daughter in Memphis. 

Football and the Attack Dog

It has been another busy week. Paqui, Zeyda, Breqkon and I headed to Jessamyn's in Gordon last Friday to watch Taylen and Jarret play football. It was cold Friday night and gratefully Jessamyn had parked her vehicle at the Gordon high school field earlier in the day at a strategic spot so we could see and still be in the car. It was the high school playing and Taylen is a freshman, so he finally got to play in the last 5 plays of the game. He made two tackles and ran the ball for 10 yards. Jarret's 7th grade game was Saturday morning in Chadron and it was his last for the season. He played defensive and offensive end. His team won every game and did not let any teams score on them. It was Gordon-Rushville 44 and Chadron 0. My plan is to travel to Gordon again to see Taylen's last game on Friday with Mitchell.  Speaking of football, it was hard to see the Broncos lose to the Colts. It was their wake up call to continue to do the work.

Jarret looking tough!

Breqkon a future football dude.

Not only are the boys tough players on the field so is my Baboo. I feel some remorse for the poor cats that have to endure the wrath of puppy hood! Alma takes the brunt of his rough play but Smokey gives Baboo a run for his money.

Smokey and Baboo

The Wind Cries Mary!

It is fall and the cold wind just keeps on blowing. Hard for me to remember the warm sunshine on my face and the sweat dripping off my brow when I was outside in the garden. Now things are gray, cold and wet with gail force winds. Blowing the chill in me while I am out trying to make Baboo potty. Lordy, my titanium knees are stiff and my right ring finger is getting stuck way too often. Quit crying Mary!

Baboo looks at me like, not again!

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Julie in Maine. Melinda is there helping her celebrate. I was invited and wished I could have gone, maybe next time...

On a more somber note, my brother-in-law Richard lost his Father this last week. He was eighty-six and in poor health. My prayers go out to him and his family for they have lost both their Mother and Father in this past year.  Also, Jessamyn and Jay's attempt to have a baby failed. Jessamyn took a pregnancy test Saturday at the Chadron Hospital and it was negative. It was very disappointing to say the least for all of us!

It certainly has been a busy week! Wednesday I had a Lion's Club meeting. Thursday Linda and I went to Scottsbluff to shop. Friday I had lunch with Paqui, Jeanie and Warren. Saturday I worked at the Lion's table at the fall celebration, Autumn on the Bricks in Alliance. Sunday I went to church and ate lunch with the Wilma and Harry. Got to tell them all about my trip to Europe. Monday I drove to Chadron to get my Enclave serviced and when I got home made applesauce from the apples Jessamyn gave me. Today I took Baboo to the vet to get his second series of shots and made four quarts of vegetable juice out of my left over tomatoes and other veggies. Boy, it amazes me that I get all that done, but on the other hand it makes me tired just thinking about it all... 

A Blizzard Then Seventy Degrees, What's Up?

This past week I had the pleasure hanging with my grandsons Taylen and Jarret. Thursday night put me right back to the 1990's when my girls were attending games in inclement weather. Like any right of passage you think once your kids are grown up it all over; the freezing cold, wet and the shivering. I had forgotten about having grandchildren ...  Needless to say, I watched Jarret's football game in 40 degree driving rain. They beat Alliance 30-0, thanks goodness. It makes the cold and wet much more tolerable. Taylen's game Friday and Jarret's game Saturday where all cancelled along with school due to the blizzard that rolled through the Gordon area dumping 12 inches of snow.

Yesterday the sun shown and temperatures reached 73 degrees! The frozen limp leaves of my flowers were gathered and disposed of. I am still working on the garden by picking all the left over pumpkins and gourds. Also sorted the left over tomatoes into groups of red, pink and green. Today is the day to get the fall decorations out and pack up the summer delights. The flys are making an aggressive effort to enter my house. Have swatted at least 50 over the past few days!

 The killer Rottweiler is on the loose according to my neighbor's text. Watching out for Baboo and the Sheriff's office has been notified. Thanks Aj for keeping our neighborhood safe.  I just couldn't go through that type of loss again...

Colosseum Rome

Temple of Saturn

Pantheon 

Weekend Harvest with Family

What a weekend! It was one with a theme of Italian cuisine from my bountiful harvest and wine. I was so busy cooking Sunday my camera lay at rest. Not only did I cook manicotti, beef roast, caprese salad, I then topped off my meal with a chocolate truffle dessert. While I cooked my great kids and grandkids helped dig my beets and carrots. They picked what zucchini, winter squash, cucumbers and peppers that were left. They also picked their pumpkins and gourds. It truly was more fun and less strenuous for me to have them help clean up my garden. The tomatoes are still turning so left them and the flowers on the edge of my garden along with the giant sunflowers for bird feed. 

This week I head to Gordon to stay with my grandsons while Jessamyn and Jay go to Denver for her implantation. Yes, Jessamyn and Jay are trying to have a baby. She is doing the IntroVitro Fertilization procedure and I pray it works. Hormone therapy has been brutal with many side effect. 

Puppy Baboo is quite the little guy, he is sometimes a terror around the house. Chewing my airplane plant,  and any thing he can clamp his jaws around, that includes the cats. I put the chest collar on Baboo today and he definitely did not like that! It was a battle of wills, but in the end I won until he squirmed out of it on his own.  Oh please give me patience, I forgot how challenging training a puppy was!

Since no pictures of this weekend I will continue to post more from my trip, enjoy!

Windmill in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Ancient bridge Kapellbrucke in Luzern, Switzerland

Mt. Vesuvius at Pompeii, Italy