Sunday, October 27 ~Fall~

I've been on a 2nd and more potent antibiotic to try and shake the ear infections that I have had for the last3 weeks.  If I were 2, I'm sure they would have me scheduled to have tubes put in my ears!  At least I am beginning to feel better.

Thursday morning I was greeted at the back door by a friendly little gray kitten/juvenile cat.  He looked to be maybe 3 or 4 months old and wanted to come in the house in the worst way.  I , breaking the cardinal rule of stray animals, fed the poor little thing.  I am pretty sure someone had dropped him off the night before and he evidently took shelter on our back patio.  He was obnoxiously friendly and would follow us everywhere we went working in the yard.  I don't know how many times Andy and I almost tripped over him as he was always underfoot.  We toyed with the idea of keeping him but Molly said "No Way"!  I had made up my mind to take him to the Madison County Animal Shelter and put a last minute plea on Face book and a former student came through and picked him up yesterday.  I'm sure he will be happy in his new home with 2 young boys to play with. 

Yesterday, I had the good fortune to attend the OSU vs Penn State football game.  Sharon invited me and although there was a rigid pre-game protocol that I had to follow, we had a marvelous time.  We visited the Heisman House and had our pictures with the trophy, went to the Skull Session and heard some great band music (ironically, the Kenton Ridge HS band was the guest high school band).  A special treat was the drum major for Penn State,  a 6 time National award winner in baton twirling.  He was so good that at one time he was twirling 4 batons at the same time.  We took a brief tour with Sharon's uncle, who is a Red Coat, and got to see inside the Huntington Club level at how the "other" half lives.  Our seats were great in C deck and had great views of the field and the Jumbo Tron so we could see replays of game.  It wasn't as cold as I feared it might be and despite the "spankin" the Buckeyes handed to the Nittany Lions, we stayed to the very last note of Carmen Ohio.

Penn State band marching to the Skull Session

View from our seats in C Deck

TBDBITL

Script Ohio

The undefeated Buckeyes taking the field

 

This year's Heisman hopefuls

Today, Andy and I went to the Sports Bar in London to watch most of the Browns game.  We had a really good meal that actually comes from Los Mariachi's next door via a pass through window.  Andy had a Philly Cheese steak, fried mushrooms and onion rings, quite the Mexican fare.  I had my usual lunch #3 chicken quesadilla.  At least the Browns made the loss a little more palatable by keeping us close enough that we could almost believe that we might win!

Have a great week and if you have nothing to do on Saturday, you can attend the Fall Bazaar at the West Jefferson United Methodist Church!

Random pics of the grand kids

Lily at dance class

Evelyn, our little motorcycle Momma

Princess Lily at Disney, October 12

Princess Lily without her crown!

Luke's 6th Birthday Party

Saturday morning, following the wedding and wedding reception, Andy and I drove down to Dover.  Before leaving though, we had a nice breakfast with his brother John and we said good-bye to the newly weds as they left for their honey moon in Florida at Disneyworld.

The birthday party was scheduled at 1 pm so we arrived in time to help get things ready for what Trish thought would be about 5 or 6 five year olds and maybe a few siblings tagging along.  Not sure what the exact final count was, but it was more than 6.  The boys were typical boys, running, falling, jumping and there were a few tears when things got a little too rough but everyone seemed to have a great time.  We had games, cake and a piñata to make the birthday complete.  Most of us disappeared around 3:30 for kick-off of the Ohio State game but the boys partied on without Ed, Andy and me.  The worst part was that Luke and Lily had another party to attend at 6 and I went with Trish and had to miss the second half of the game.  Thank goodness the Buckeyes were able to pull of a victory without me there to watch!

Sack races

Lily and her "friend" Lucas

Everyone took multiple turns at the Angry Bird.

Finally, the blow that released the treats!

We drove home on Monday and got home in time to pick up Molly from the vet by 7 pm.  She was ever so glad to see us.  Today I went back to Urgent Care as it seems my ear infection has returned with a vengeance.  I felt so bad this morning that I called in to the Bear Kitchen to tell them I wouldn't be in to help with the aviary diets.  Feeling a little better now.  On a stronger antibiotic.

Friday, October 18

Yesterday, we drove out to New Jersey to attend our niece's wedding.  Well, actually the wedding is in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  Our hotel is right across from Dorney Park which, as I recall from 40 years ago, was not much bigger than Wyandot Lake used to be.  Now, however, they have added many new coasters and a water park and it is a really large amusement park.  Not nearly as big as Kings Island or Cedar Point but still it is pretty big.  Andy could not believe how it had changed.  The wedding venue is just down the street at the Da Vinci Science Center which is a smaller version of our COSI.  We were picked up from our hotel by a very fancy shuttle bus and taken to the wedding.  It was outside and a perfect evening for a very nice ceremony.  So glad we were able to join the Bichler family for this very special event.

Our ride to the wedding, sweet!

Eileen and John, parents of the bride

Christine and Scott

Father and daughter dance

The Da Vinci Science Center

The rising Hunter's Moon, tonight is a partial eclipse

The groom, Ian 

Amanda and Andy's brother John

Mr. and Mrs. Ian Muessig

Andy and niece, Christine

Ian, Andy and Amanda

Thursday, October 10 ~Hocking Hills~

Once again I have allowed too much time to elapse between posts.  No real reasons or excuses just keeping busy with all the little jobs that need to be done before winter.  In the past week we did have our roof re-shingled (not sure that is a word) and we now have new shingles and we had gutter guards put on with the hope that we will not have to climb up a ladder to remove leaves from our gutters.  I also purchased a new car and I love it.


My jasmine green (I call it tree frog green) Subaru Forester, new roof in background

  This past week, I was invited to go camping with Sharon and her friend Barb in southern Ohio.  We spent 3 days hiking in and around Old Man's Cave.  I use the word "camping" loosely as we really stayed in Barb's brother's log cabin so you might say we opted for an upgrade.  I had a wonderful time and found the time there very relaxing although some of the hiking was rather taxing.  We birded in the mornings, hiked in the afternoons and cooked our evening meals over a large outdoor fire pit.  We were totally off the grid and could only use our phones when we went to the top of the hill behind the cabin.  We spent our evenings eating and watching the fire and the stars.  The weather was perfect.  Thank you, Sharon, Barb and Dick for the great get away.  It was just what I needed!

Old Man's Cave

The Lower Falls

The pond at Dick's place

Our fancy "tent"

Conkle's Hollow on the lower trail

My favorite tree, the sycamore

A stream at Conkle's Hollow

Ash Cave

The pond

Dick's masterpiece

The pond at 7:30 a.m.

Now back to winterizing the swimming pool, fixing flat tires, repairing my clothes dryer and cleaning the fish ponds!