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Here are Winnie and Walt at a Hendersonville restaurant on Saturday. I wish I could remember the restaurant name. Sarah? The restaurant wasn't on the main street but it was close.
And here is Sarah at the same restaurant. We had two pizzas, one with potatoes and one with smoked salmon. Both really yummy.
Here is Nora with her Daytona hat that she picked up on their way out of town from Daytona Beach. Her football team lost both their games, but she had a wonderful vacation with friends.
Winnie and Sarah have three small dogs, and Aaron always has a soft spot for Lucy.
One day we took Lucy to a vet visit in South Carolina and stopped at Traveller's Rest on the way back for hiking on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Behind a coffee shop was this cob structure with a little lending library.
Oh, how I loved my Asheville visit. People to eat with, every meal. A lovely vegetarian Thanksgiving meal with salmon.
Going here and there, visiting some lovely eating spots, trying out various local craft beers. Getting to share in the day and day out.
Saturday night Steph's family came on their way home from Nora's football tournament in Florida. Lots of stories, happy kids. They are always happy to spend time with Aunts Sarah and Winnie.
Yesterday was a long ride back. Steph and her family were much smarter and took the back road through Virginia. Same travel time but no sitting around and creeping time, roads much less crowded than my I-40 and I-75 roads.
This is surely the last rose of summer, blooming all by its lonesome on November 20.
I am still trying to make sense of the elections, and I have to admit that I am enjoying the memes with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden that show up on my facebook page. They are providing some much-needed laughter.
My grand dog Maggie spent a couple of days with me while her family was in Louisville for the last of Aaron's football games for this year. As they went out the door on their return, I told the kids that Maggie said, "I love you, Gran B. I'm leaving now." A follow-up to what I say she says when I come to visit, "I love you, Gran B. Don't take me home."
She is a most excellent dog, but she misses her family when they are gone, and she misses her huge back yard. She tries her best to be a city dog when she visits.
Not a lot to say about this, because the goose is getting fat. It's an Elizabeth Hartman pattern and very fun to do.
I saw the Super Moon last night before bed and again this morning. At those times, it wasn't as big as I expected, but it sure was bright.
In my effort to bring down my cholesterol,while maintaining my vegetarian diet, I've been eating a lot of egg whites. From the carton. Cooking just a little chunked veggie sausage, a little veggie, the egg white, and a whole wheat pita makes a nice breakfast sandwich. One day when I was going to work, I grabbed an Egg White Delight from the arches restaurant. I removed the cheese and meat, and oops, there was very little left, not to mention no whole grain.
This diet has been an adventure. One month in. Always trying to find new recipes.
This blue baby quilt was finished this morning. It was a long time coming. The strips for the log cabin blocks were from a kit I got at work, from Mayfield, I think. It's kind of different for me to make a blue baby quilt, I tend to pick out the pinks and greens.
I dipped a toe back into the world of facebook and CNN this morning and decided that it still isn't for me. I miss seeing the pictures of kids and the posts about babies to come, but this isn't the time for me to jump back in. I am far from centered. I'll continue with local news for now.
Sarah tells me that the smoke from the forest fires is sometimes seen or smelled from where she lives and works. All summer long she told me about how dry it was.
I have another quilt to bind, and this one goes back even farther than the blue baby quilt. Years, actually. Perhaps today is a good day to finish that one too.
What I'll miss about the elections (maybe the only thing) are the neighborhood signs for local candidates. Folks running for school board, city commissioner, judge. I'll miss the little flyers appearing in the door and the knock announcing the mayor, who was running for re-election. I enjoy the localness of them, the friendliness of the small town in the big city.
I even enjoy the little signs announcing that the family in that house supports presidential candidates. Just a snapshot of that family, not in my face, that helps me feel that the person cares and is willing to show their support.
There is much that I won't miss. I so enjoy real news, politics, and facebook friends, but I have had to step away from those very things that help me feel connected. I feel so sad about having to do that, but the ugliness of it all are affecting me too much.
And I had I hoped (what was I thinking?) that the end of the election would signal the end of the fake news sites that have been popping up from who knows where. Saying whatever they want, true or not. So many people take their words as truth and push the share button and the "news" takes on a life of its own. (Please understand, I'm not talking about the networks or talk shows that we know have their own slant, although I'm not happy with those either, I'm talking about the sites that we have to dig to find out where they come from and may not even find out then.) But now, after the election, many are still there.
I am a former journalism major from long ago and we were taught firmly that news should be news, anything else goes on the editorial page. You can see where I'm coming from. Check your sources three times, folks. But who has time for that?
I have to admit that I don't always follow the Sunday sermon like I should. The spoken word is sometimes hard for me to focus on. But the visuals - those I pay attention to and carry with me. This was the communion table last Sunday.
Out the door early for my mammogram. My mother died from breast cancer around age 70. I wonder sometimes whether regular mammograms would have made a difference for her. Different times. I am always a little surprised when women in her cohort pass away now. They had so many more years.
What a gorgeous last day of October. I walked across one bridge and back across another. Took time to swing on the swings at Smale Park. Perhaps I should have walked across a different bridge so I could look down at the venue for the Clinton rally, but I have a feeling that bridge may have been closed to foot traffic.
This morning my feet are nicely feeling yesterday's walk. I didn't wear my usual walking shoes. I'll wear those today and life will be good.
Not many Trick or Treater's last night. Maybe fifteen. I have a big bag of candy left. Every year I think that this will be the year, that lots of kids will come, that I should be prepared. Every year I am prepared. I bought Nora and Aaron's favorites, which I'll put in the freezer for later snacks. Twix and plain Hershey's. Plus lots of other kinds.
This morning my in-box had a few emails about Christmas bargains. It's November.
