Things are getting settled.

It is our second full day of being in the Southlands and we seem to be winding down from all the little things that needed to be fixed when we got here. It doesn't matter how careful we approach our leaving here in the Spring. There's always things that need to be taken care of before we can enjoy it. For example: We couldn't turn our shower on. It was frozen (in Fla???) in place. Paul fixed it. Our year-old refrigerator is making a noisey sound every once in a while. We turned it off when we left - my Dear One's great suggestion. We think he fixed the irritating hum. Haven't heard it lately. Our bedroom fan which is forty years old, is making a clicking sound when we try to sleep. I think we're due a new one!

I ordered the paper. Starts tomorrow. Paul had a haircut. Little things are being done.

I had told Paul that the weather here in November is outstanding. I think that may have jinxed us the first couple of days. (until now) because we've had really really warm and humid weather coming down to Chocowinity NC and also here. But today - is glorious! Paul opened all the windows and the screened doors - to let in the fresh air. He just got back from a walk with Gracie. Humidity is gone. Sunny, bright. Gracie today has learned that she can zoom in a complete circle (inside) the house. She was so cute.

Our trip down was great. We stopped at Edna and Mike's for an early lunch and conversation. I mentioned to Edna that we were thinking of using a hanging bell near the door for Gracie to tell us when she needed to go out. Edna gave us a bell - that we have hanging on the back door knob. Paul has to lower it a bit - hang it on a nail - so Gracie can reach it better. But we're very enthusiastic that this will work for us! Let's hope so. I think the correct order of things will be "Do you want to go out?" Paw hits bell. We go out. Then perhaps eventually it will dawn on her - hit bell. Go out! Hit bell. Go out! Hit bell. Go out!

Tuesday night we spent in Chocowinity NC with Marcia and Hal. Their place is in a lovely brick-homed golf community of beautiful homes and winding streets. We spent most of the time sitting on their back porch which overlooks the golf course, so we would hear "whack" every once in a while as the golfers went past. Marcia said they seldom had balls in their yard, which to me meant their golfers must be really good, since their backyard continues onto the golfcourse with only a few trees separating them from it.

Whew! My lovely old computer decided to go into the quitting mode . . . I was doing a scan - in the background when I was posting, and all of a sudden - bam - nothing. This blogspot.com does well with saving work -thank goodness. I had visions of repeating all I've written so far, and knew I wouldn't have the gumptions. Aren't you all lucky!

We're getting ready for Jil to arrive next Thursday. Kind of. He'll be "operating" out of the guest room and we're thinking of taking down one of the twin beds and putting up a work area of some kind. But I think we'll wait til he gets here to see what he needs. We know he needs the work space, and he needs peace and quiet to do his transcribing. The guest room can be closed off so he can work and not be disturbed. It will be a big change for the three of us. Prayers are surely welcomed.

Cousin Carol stopped by yesterday to welcome us, when I was out food shopping. It was nice to be thought of. . . and I'm sorry I missed her, but we had a little chat by phone last night.

Guess that's all the news from the Circlewoods Crew, aka known as the Woods Edge Crew, So I can still say "That's all the news from the Woods Edge." What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

We're Here!

Yes. We made it to Venice late this afternoon. All is well. Everything is working. . .including my computer finally.

Gracie got re-introduced to Martini, my brother Bob's papillon. Really cute! She's about 3/4 of Martini's size. Gracie is very subservient (?) and Martini seemed really to like her. They played together. She didn't want to have much to do with her last Spring because she was very rambunctious without much sense. After all - she was only 3 months old then. Now she's an old lady of 10 months.

Had a good trip - will blog about it soon enough. . .had trouble getting this old (?) computer up and running, but my Dear One was able to get it going. Now it's bedtime. Gonna go to bed!

So. . .what's happenin in your neck of the woods?

In the Blink of an Eye. . .

Things change. I didn't want to write this, but it's necessary.

I was waiting for my son, Jil, to publish about it in his blog www.junglejil@blogspot.com; which he did today.

As I was finishing up my blog on Friday, yesterday, I got a phone call from Jil, in the Philippines. He hardly ever calls. We always converse via our blogs or e-mail so I immediately knew that something happened and it wasn't good. We had been writing back and forth lately about this possibility. And trying to ease the pain and worry as much as possible. So. . .this is what happened:

After 8 years overseas, working for this company, Jil's United States medical transcription company gave him an ultimatum - he has two weeks to return to the United States or he would lose his job. This means he must leave his lovely wife Epril, whom he adores, and her family whom he equally loves. He is heartbroken, naturally and is trying to find a way to get back there to his loved ones as soon as he can. But he rightly ascertained that he couldn't stay without a job. He will be looking at ideas to what he can do, other than his present job situation, that will allow him to return. (At least he still has and will have a job.)

Jil has a one-way ticket from Manila to Fort Myers International Airport on Nov 3rd. He'll be staying with us for the time being. (Family is so important when he is so emotionally fragile.) Paul and I discussed this beforehand, and he was so good about it. I really married a good, caring man. I can never say enough how lucky I am or how truly I appreciate him.

So - that's all the news here - unhappy though it is - And what's happenin' in your neck o' the woods? I hope it's better on your end.

We're Gettin' Ready to Go

We've begun the steps that start us on our journey South. We got a car. Check. Deck furniture is in. Check. Flowers are taken care of. Check. Lists are made. Check. Crossing off things on list. Check. Doing wash. Check. Bills. Check. But there's always so much to do. Poor us: We're not going out to dinner tonight (Friday night) because we've got a lot of left/overs to eat or throw out. We've got two invitations to go to on Saturday - Lue invited us for brunch, and Sharon invited us for dinner. Wow. You would think that something was coming up! We're leaving? And it's also Paul's birthday on Monday, which means it's Dan, my son-in-law's birthday coming up soon also. Where has October gone??? And I need to get a card for Paul. He doesn't want anything for his birthday (what else is new?) but I'll think about it and get my dear one something when he mentions something. I'll sneak it up on him!

We're planning on stopping to see Marcia and Hal in North Carolina on our way South. They've always been so good about inviting us to stay, and we've always enjoyed their visits with us up here, and in the South. It's time for us to let them be hosts! It's a little out of our way, but that's okay. BTW - that's on my list - to call Marcia and see if we can come! No. I haven't done that yet.

That's all the news from this end for now. What's happenin in your neck o the woods?

Got a Car!

That's right. We went to a third (very large) dealership this morning (with Gracie in tow - our cleaning lady was there and it wasn't fair for her to watch her - that's like double the work - Gracie's so active. And it's not fair.) in Corning this time.

We were so concerned after getting that awful quote from yesterday's dealership, but thought a third would perhaps put us in the ball park. At least we'd be able to compare three rather than two. And we hadn't seen what we really wanted with the first two. All we could think was - how come there was such a discrepency between the two we'd seen??? Well . . . we were in for a surprise . . . this third one's quote came below the first low one! And it was the right color for us - titanium. Which to me is dark gray. And it also had a backup video camera without the dvd machine. Sorry Gracie.

BTW - she was very good. She sat on a chair, or in our laps for a good two-three hours while they checked and reviewed figures on their computer, made phone calls to the company, and basically got us a very very good price without us really negotiating. They kept coming out and apologizing because it took so long. It took so long to get it done because they are right between the 2010-2011 models, and their computers programs were set up for 2011. Unfortunately, they didn't have any 2011 - nor could they be found yet. We checked every place we went, and they haven't come in yet. I understand they're a lot different style. New motor.

The dealership was in a beautiful large new building - decorated as if it was in the 1950's - picture this: two old red and white mobil gas pumps (replicas), decorated with the flying red horses, set in in the back of the showroom. The price registered on the pumps was $.33.9. The sales offices were set at our right in what appeared to be a diner. The office help, or head honcho or whatever were to the left of us - in what appeared was the entrance to a a movie theater. The marquis said "The Fast and the Furious". To the right, in the back, near the service area, was a wooden display show case of 1950 priced candies - Good and Plenty - and others kinds (but not for sale. 1 cent a lb.) behind glass. Right by them was a candy vending machine with our present day prices. No thank you. And some on-the-house coffee. Okay - good price.
The place was so different, it made me kinda nervous about the car price because their overhead must be very high. Could they afford to give us a good price? Our salesman was older, (as were a lot of the help) and knowledgeable, - gave us good vibes. The whole place did. We sat in the showroom at a little round table for three. Had to pull a chair up for Gracie.

Paul picks up the car tomorrow morning at 10:00. I have Bible Study at 9:30 which I don't want to miss since we'll soon be leaving for Fla.

I think I've exhausted this subject. Oh, yes. I think we both need to become more observant. Especially me. We thought that it was a brand new idea (and what a great idea!) to have two glove compartments in the car, but the dealer today showed us that we have two in our present car also. One on top of the other. We'd both thought the top one was where the airbag was located, but no. There's a latch and right there, above our tiny little glove compartment that I complained about, popped open a nice lovely new much bigger glove compartment. Never used. Did we laugh at that! Plus we found out about six weeks ago that the middle console that we didn't care for, between the two seats, is removeable. Another laugh! We'll have to remind ourselves to read the manual on this one. We never know what we'll find!

So what's happenin in your neck o' the woods?

Wheeling and Dealing with cars

So far - this is working out pretty well. One subject per posting.

Paul and I have been car/van shopping. What a lot of rigamarole. Yesterday,
we went to the dealership where he leased our present van and the ones before that. The owner quoted a price to us. It was fine. We decided to go to another dealership and check out their cars and pricings.

So . . . we found a new van that we loved at this second dealership. And a really young salesman who looked like he couldn't have been more than 23 yrs. old. The van had everything we wanted plus more. . . which was a dvd player, headphones, etc. Since we don't have any children, perhaps Gracie could use it on long trips??? But it was a package deal with the back-up camera which we really wanted. You couldn't get one without the other. (Actually, I didn't care for the car color - a metallic bright blue. But when you're in it, you don't see the outside color anyway so I didn't mind it. )

Were we in for a surprise! At the second dealership, the young guy and his section boss came up with a lease price that was DOUBLE the first dealer. Paul seems to think the first guy may have made a small mistake, but not enuf to warrant the huge difference. We'll see, as we go to another dealership tomorrow. And back to the first guy. It sure is interesting to go car-shopping. The second dealership was shocked when we told them the price we were offered by the first guy. They didn't change the price though. Perhaps they did a little bit. They also offered for us to finance the van for 84 months at the lower price. That is seven years, folks. Which is great at our age.

Paul seems to think we may get a call tomorrow back from them. It would have been nice to help that young salesman out.

So - that's all the news from this end of the woods. What's happenin' in your neighborhood?

Grandma's tooth

Jil has the right idea. Write about one subject per blog. I, however, seem to find one subject just leads into another. But I'll try.

As you all know, I have a new granddaughter, Evie, who is now the very old age of 23 days. She's not supposed to be teething yet - and of course that's a given. Well - I have her beat for this year.

My wisdom tooth is coming in . . . and so I'm teething. I went to the dentist this morning and the bone sliver that was protruding from the back of the side of my mouth, was pushed there by that nasty old wisdom tooth that is coming in sideways - due to the fact there's no more room in my mouth. (my guess). It doesn't hurt at all now that the bone sliver is out. It was not attached to anything, and she just took some twizzers and pulled it out. But she said I need to see an oral surgeon. Great. She took X Rays for him/her. We want to leave for Fla. asap. (within reason)

Okay. I thought about it and decided since she'd taken the piece of bone out, there's no pain at all. So - last year we very wisely got set up with a doctor down there. I can call him from up here and get a suggestion from him for an oral surgeon down there! I have my X Rays which I'll take with me and he'll want to see.

Mondays

October in upstate New York can be exceedingly beautiful. It was yesterday, and we took a Sunday ride in the afternoon with Gracie. But it also can be gray skies. That's what it is today. I hear that Florida weather is getting really great - from two great sources: My cousin Alice and brother Bob. Mid 80's during the day, 60's at night. Sunny. We're comin' down. ASAP. We're planning on making stops along the way to visit good friends, though. So it should take longer. We'll contact them when our plans are more set. And let you all know.

I love Mondays. I always have. I guess it's the routine of every-day living that I love. HOWEVER, it feels like we're in limbo here right now. Reasons:

I have a medical/dental problem at the back of my throat - gum, left side. Have seen the dentist several times recently about it. (several weeks.) And my doctor. . .who couldn't see it at all. And I think thought me a hypochondriac. My dentist could see the section - infected. So she put me on antibiotics. The doctor couldn't see the area. He didn't have a dental mirror.

Now there is an area right there, I can see and feel what looks like a small sliver of tooth has protruded slightly out. My theory which has not been corroborated: I think perhaps I'm teething. Yes. Evie. I beat you to it this year. My thoughts are a wisdom tooth (I only had one appear during my lifetime, which was removed a long time ago, the rest are hangin' in there) decided to make an appearance. It looks like a small, tiny section of tooth. It does a number on my tongue which rubs it as it's on the side. So far it hasn't hurt much. I've been taking antibiotics for a while which (my opinion again) has decreased the chance of infection. So. I have another appointment with my dentist tomorrow at 9:00. So I won't know til tomorrow.

We're van hunting. It's that year and season to turn in the van for another. We know where we'll get it, but don't know much else. 2011 models haven't come out yet in the model we want, so we'll look at 2010 ones. Today, we're going out to do it.

Talked with Nancy last night - and Evie is up to 5 hours between feedings at night. So, she's growing. Nancy said she's still tired, but knows there's an end in sight. When you have a first baby - everyone tells you there's an end in sight, but it's hard to believe when you're going through it. The second baby has the advantage of a mother who knows for certain there's an end in sight! Vincent is doing well. He hasn't asked for Evie to be sent back. And he's very loving.

I sent a package to the Philippines for Jil - I'd ordered some things for him via Amazon.com. This was three weeks ago. Using USPS instead of Fed Ex which is so expensive . . . we wondered if that was the smart thing to do, but it finally arrived. That was great news. Now I can send other things he requests through the post office. We just have to be patient for it to arrive. The post office guaranteed it would be out of the country in three days, then it couldn't guarantee when it would arrive.

Paul talked with Brenda last night, and they discussed a "problem" we've been having with Gracie - she doesn't let us know when she needs to go out. Brenda said she put a bell on a ribbon on the door knob and she has Bode tap it each time he goes out. He's almost doing it on his own. Great idea, Brenda! Can't wait to use it. Perhaps Gracie will then let us know! Paul spent a good deal of time looking for a bell upstairs. No luck. Luckily it's the season when Christmas bells are appearing in the stores. So we should be able to get one!

So - it's time to start our day and go car shopping. That's all the news from the Woods Edge.
What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

New Pictures - The Library - upstairs - Part 1

I had eight pictures of the new upstairs "library" which just got new carpetting this morning. This has four - including the tube-light in the bathroom. Part 2 has four more. I was out for the carpet-laying, but Paul had an opportunity to put some furniture up there . . . just to make it seem like a room! My goodness, what a wonderful job he did. (putting furniture in, all the rest - so many things.) Now, when we get back from Fla. in the Spring, we'll get some real furniture for the room. Like a sofabed. And some bookshelves.

More pictures - Upstairs "Library" - Part 2

More pictures

We had such good weather while I was in Chicago. We spent a lot of time outside.

Somehow these got deleted. Not sure why.

A continuation of this morning's post. . .

This Fall picture turned out better than I expected. The red colors aren't as red, but the oranges and yellows are good. You can definitely see Vincent with his red hair and his red T shirt as goalie. He learned to put his hands out like that at soccer camp this summer.
I naturally got the pictures kinda mixed up, but you can see the rest. Evie is having her first bath. Vincent went outside and did some chalk drawings on the sidewalks.
Oops. Wonderwhat happened to those???

I'm back!

First, I turned my computer off instead of on! (I guess I forgot to turn it off last night) and then once it was on, I got caught up in looking at videos of the Chilean miners' rescue. It brought tears to my eyes to see them on the surface and out of that horrible situation they'd been in for so long.

So it's now almost 11:00 and I've fiddled away the morning. Wash, reading the paper. . .Well. . .
I'm back! from visiting with my new 12-day old granddaughter Evie and her family. Dan had to be away at a conference, that he had been scheduled to talk at. I helped out with whatever I could. I was in charge of cooking dinner so - I made several meals with lots of leftovers. Dan went shopping with the list I sent in an e-mail, and got everything I asked for. Strange, I just didn't think about them having space in their freezer for lasagne, pot roast, meatloaf, roast chicken. I'm hoping Nancy found room.

Evie is on a 3-hour schedule around the clock - and doing very well. Nancy is too. Very tired, and bleary-eyed. but that comes with the territory. After a seemingly endless time, it will be ended. None too soon. Can you remember? I can. To everyone else it seems to go fast, but to the persons involved - it's none-too-soon.

We took Vincent to pre-school on Friday morning while I stayed in the car with Evie. We then picked him up at 3:00. Doing the same. It certainly made life easier for Nancy having someone else around. It is a necessity - given their schedules.

Nancy has made a lot of good friends in her condo building. People around Dan and her age with children. It was nice to meet them. Now I know who she's talking about when she does. Her friend Michelle, who has a 3-year old named Max, is due in November. She watched Vincent when Nancy went to the hospital two weeks ago. The weather could not have been better. It was Indian Summer to a "t." or is it "tee" or "tea?" We sat outside and took walks. Perfect weather.

Saturday morning we walked up to the park where Vincent had his soccer game. He played goalie (5 minutes) and also ran after the ball. Those 3-5 year-olds are fun to watch. There were as many parents on the field as children. . . guiding them to what they had to do. No one kept score, but just emphasized having fun and praising them all the while. Beyond one of the goals was a dirt area, and some of the kids kept going and began to play in the dirt. scuffing up their shoes and watching the clouds of dirt. It really was fun to watch. Someone commented that there were much fewer tears this week. They're learning it was fun.

Future Plans, Remembered yesterdays.

Lue had us for chicken and biscuit dinner Saturday night and Paul took this picture of Greta. The picture looked great, but it appears darker than it did in the camera. She's a beautiful dog and acts much like a six month old puppy would, except she weighs close to 60 pounds. Lue has been very careful with discipline. She and Gracie have a lot in common - as far as being puppies, but I must say, Greta is the better behaved. We haven't realized how much we're letting Gracie get away with. If I picture Gracie the size that Greta is, and she is able to act like she does, well - it's not a very good picture. We DO have to do some more disciplining. No jumping. No teeth.

Another week has begun. I'm heading out, the end of this week on Thursday, to meet my new little granddaughter, Evie, and to help Nancy out with life in general - especially cooking - Dan has to be away - overnight - and it's good to have an extra set of hands available when there's a newborn around. I don't know how those single moms manage - even those who had planned having babies. There's so much to do, and so much can be left because of "time/hand" constraints. She and Dan requested a list of foods I needed to have so that their freezer could be filled with whatever I cooked. To be used in future weeks, days, whenever needed. I feel a little guilty with the list that I sent them. I think it was a mile long - but then, I've been told a million times not to exaggerate. I am leaving Paul home till Monday to do whatever needs to be done here and to take care of Gracie. He surely loves that dog. It's so nice to see him around her.



We had a long church service yesterday which I dislike. Okay, I know. I know. It's not christian-like to complain about length of service, but to be honest - I don't like it. (That plus not having "amens" at the end of hymns. In Florida, they put an "amen" at the end of the first hymn to placate us older folks who have difficulty with change.) It was world-wide communion - and Paul and I left after communion - it was almost the end - and went out to breakfast. Which we have in place of lunch on Sundays. I took my camera with me to take tree pictures, because it was a perfectly gorgeous Fall day, but Paul convinced me, and I agreed, the colors weren't at their peak yet. Soon. But not yet. The newspapers wrote - Adirondacks - first. We're - second. Long Island - third. And they're right.







Been thinking about Aunt Ella these past couple of days. My son, Jil, in the Philippines, and several others have written a comment requesting more stories about her. There are so many. She leaps out at me in my mind because she was such a colorful character and so integrated into my early life.







My parents built their home in 1936 and moved there with my mother's mother, my grandmother, Grandma Grace. Now, I realize I have named my dog Gracie, but I don't think I was consciously thinking of Grandma. I just thought the name Gracie was neat for a little dog. Same with Ella, my cat - she was named after Cinderella - ash color, white. Who knows? But I digress.







There was a building lot beside mom and dad's that faced the back of our house (we lived on a corner lot). Grandma had two sisters, Aunt Ella and Aunt Mabel whom we would call maiden great aunts because they never married. They bought the lot and built on it. She had another sister, Aunt Jenny, who did marry but lived out on Long Island in Amityville with her daughter and family later in life. and there was an Uncle Walter - the only brother. So Aunt Ella was one of five children. Aunt Jenny, Aunt Ella and Grandma Grace all had beautiful white hair at an early age. Uncle Walter was bald. Aunt Mabel, my mom, and I didn't receive this white-hair gene. We were destined for dreary mousy brown and gray later in life. Oh, well. It is what it is. And later on hairdressers could make me beautiful again. And my mother also.







Because Aunt Ella and Aunt Mabel never had children, Bob and I became theirs - in spirit. Our houses were very close to each other. The building lots in those days were small. Aunt Ella's long L-shaped driveway went past the back of our house - not more than twenty maybe twenty-five feet from her wall to our wall. She had rambling rose bushes and sweet peas growing on trellises at this side facing our kitchen and back steps where I can remember as a little girl, collecting some of her rose pedals and sweet peas, and grinding them, to try to make perfume.

Aunt Ella was a retired school teacher - but to everyone's consternation - she always voted against the local school budget. She couldn't understand why she had to support those high teacher salaries, since she never had kids. (Thanks for reminding me, Cousin Carol.) She would cut out newspaper clippings and show them to anyone whom she could get to listen. Of course, her teacher's pension in the mid 1940's was extremely little, and it was amazing how she got by. It must have been hard. They didn't get raises on their pensions either, and she lived til she was in her 90's.

So - I hope I haven't bored you with Aunt Ella stories . . .but there'll be more to come. Perhaps I'll put out an "Aunt Ella Alert" in the headings from now on, when I decide to write more about her. I appreciate any input from anyone.

Okay - that's all the news from the Woods Edge. What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

Licenses -one kind leads to another remembrance

Somehow Fall always slips in, and in the beginning - like today - it's just gorgeous. I must take some pics for you Florida people to see what you're missing. But - I know that too soon these colors disappear and we're in for the dismal late fall before snow comes. Those gray days.

Visited the Corning relatives last night for a delicious dinner. Saw 5 deer in the yard coming in to their parking area. No bear, but we were told it's possible we could have seen one. They've been seen. We left Gracie home - due to allergies to her. So we weren't gone long. Home by 8:00.

The last rain storms, and it was really coming down, caused lots of flooding. Our area around us and the surrounding creeks are full. We saw some fishermen last night on our way to Corning, and Paul said the fish were probably "running" due to the high water level. He hasn't fished in a long time. He says he needs a license - and you can get one at Walmart.

Licenses: Which reminded me of my great Aunt Ella, God rest her soul, who would have been 100 in 1980, was one of the first women drivers. A good part of her life, she had white hair, so she didn't seem to me to age, but to look the same. A great aunt. She was very spry - putting her rugs out on the line, to beat for spring cleaning, every year for years. She was very independent and very opinionated. She ruled the roost, and she and my other maiden aunt Mabel, whom she hen-pecked, lived next door to us, growing up. She retired from teaching around 1945. So. . .licenses: Believe it or not - She got her license from the car dealership where she bought her first car in Brooklyn. ( around 1900. These kind of dates I'm not good at - so not sure of the accuracy. ) I can remember her at the weekly Wednesday dinners at her house, all of us laughing about this first driver's license of hers. Plus along the same lines, but not licenses: Aunt Ella had the same car from 1937 - til she stopped driving - probably 1970. She died before we moved up to Bath in 1976. The car had very small mileage. She never went far - perhaps down the street for groceries, or down to a store in the next village. Aunt Ella was hard of hearing for most of her life, and she would back out of her long driveway onto the curvy street going like a bat out of h --. Honking her horn all the way - "Get outa my way, or else. . ."

She wasn't a good driver by any strength of the imagination. But I don't think she ever had an accident. The Lord was probably looking out for her. And everyone else on the road. Every once in a while, she'd take me for a ride somewhere. I can remember going to Jones Beach Park with her - not to swim, but to just go there, get out, turn around and come back. One story about her relates to her driving there, once, (not with me) and deciding she didn't want to pay a toll and didn't mean to go there, so she did a u-turn in several lanes of traffic. She also had the tendency to drive where she was looking. There are many "Aunt Ella" stories that were hysterical, but that's for another time. If wanted.

What a gorgeous day. And it's lunchtime. What're you havin' for lunch? What are we having for lunch? And what's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?