Whirlwind Trip

I'm back from Virginia as of Sunday evening. I was a good trip with lots of conversation and visiting. I got to help some too with the move-in. Juanita's furniture arrived on Saturday, so we were able to be there. My sister and I talked non-stop. I really enjoyed that. Their house is really nice, more full than last time I was there. She brought out stuff that came from Mother and Daddy's house. That produced stories and walks down memory lane. My dad is very happy, so this is makes me happy. Nita is very sweet and I think she is good for him. I wish I would have had longer, but maybe the visit was perfect length.

Our Music tree is up and lovely,
Sue

A little blog break

I'll be out of town for a couple days (taking one of my special days tomorrow) to visit my sister, my dad and his new wife. So I won't be blogging for a couple days. I have to get up at 3:45 tomorrow morning - yikes!

Wish me bon voyage,
Sue

Foraging, the Newest Food Craze

Have you heard about the latest craze? It's foraging, that is harvesting food from the wild, food like mushrooms, dandelions and wild greens, berries, acorns, wild plants, even weeds. Has anybody had experience doing this? I'd like to learn.

Sue

Rain Continues

Hey, the rain is still coming down. There is flooding. The rivers are over flood stage. We are inches above our yearly average rainfall. Weird. I wish it were snow. We'd have a couple feet now, but at least it would be brighter. The rain is hard on the kids because they can't go outside during recess and run around screaming at the top of their lungs. Plus they all got wet coming to music today. They didn't seem to mind this however.

I am way behind on the Christmas preparations. No shopping done. Little decorating. I take that back we bought ourselves a new stove and dishwasher. These will be nice when they are installed - we must wait until next week.

I'm going to see my sister and meet my dad's new wife this weekend. Taking a personal day on Friday.

Quack,
Sue

Oversized Tree

Hey, anybody want a Christmas tree that's too big for us. It is too heavy and we can't lift it. It's on our front porch. It literally weighs a ton.

I wish it would STOP RAINING!!!! Enough already. We need to dry out.

Sue

Memory

Just how accurate is one's memory? I wonder about this. My sister sent me a box this week with some items found when cleaning out our family home ( my dad and his new wife are moving and sorting through 40 years of stuff). The box contained a diary I kept while I was an exchange student in Italy in hight school. I was 16. I have been enjoying reading it. I find it amazing the things I forgot compared to what I remembered. I remember it as one of the most wonderful experiences of growing up, and the entire experience changed me in a fundamental way. I had a very loving family and got to know a group of wonderful teenagers while I lived there. It is neat to read the thoughts of that 16 year old I was. I didn't remember I had written the diary and didn't know what happened to it. A friend of mine who had been a exchange student the year before insisted that I keep the diary. I'm so glad I did. It's like stumbling onto a former version of yourself that was kept there to be discovered now 40 years later. WOW.

Sue

Foodies, Read on

What should you get the person for Christmas who has everything? Are you ready for this? Drum roll... an instant meat thermometer. Do you have one? I don't. Speaking of foodies - have you read the latest issue of New Yorker Magazine? It's all about food. There were some fascinating articles on apples, coffee (growing it, roasting and testing it), foraging (finding food in the wild - the latest craze for the world's top restaurant chef in Denmark), African spice mixtures, and lots of others. I read the entire issue, as in every article. Very interesting.

Sue