Autumn Day

I love this quote-

It accurately describes how I feel about my writing this week. I don't think I am writing as much as I would like too, or perhaps, should. But it seems that just thinking about it and doing it has improved my ability to get what I want onto paper.










Friday's free-write was on Today- a day in my normal life. At this retirement-phase of my life my normal day is so different from what it was 5 or 10 years ago! And I like that! I am so grateful for these changing times and seasons of my life.

The thought occurred to me that I wanted to write about this Autumn Day in my life. (But now that I analyze it I suppose that it's not only true in the sense that it is now autumn here in the Rocky Mountains but I am entering the autumn of my life.)

I sat down here in my lovely upstairs, corner, workroom that has ample windows to enjoy the sights and sounds of my neighborhood. The words just flowed out of the ends of my fingers onto the keyboard. When I finished I was stunned! What a gift! I don't know that I've ever been able to just sit and write exactly what I wanted without editing involved.



My next task was to go capture the images from my thoughts.


Saturday's assignment was to put all of it together in a wonderful scrapbook layout. (Can I just say, I really enjoy this class?) I love to be able to manipulate digital papers, auditioning until I find just the right combination! I really enjoy this facet of digital scrapbooking, no waste! I when I "cut" into that favorite piece of delicious paper it isn't all used up! I still have it to use as many times as I want! What a lovely perk!

In the midst of this process the words of one of my favorite Primary songs came floating into my mind and I had to add those them to my layout as well. I am fairly sure that this is one of the songs that was changed between the time I learned it, ages ago, and when the current Children's Hymn Book was printed. I didn't have room to fit all the words to the song on the LO so I will include them here.

Autumn Day, bright and gay, God gives richest gifts today.
Look on ev'ry side and see pleasant things for you and me.
Apples red and apples yellow, round and juicy, sweet and mellow.
Load the trees till they bend over and their branches brush the clover.
Child, be glad with all that lives, but forget not God, who gives
Words & Music A. B. Ponsonby

Monkey-Stomped

Sometimes there is only one way to describe a situation, but I don't think this is it!

How about:

• Monkey-Stomped
  
• Humiliated
• Whooped
• Routed
• Spanked
• Decimated
• Annihilated
• Trounced
  
• Smashed
• Disgraced
• Wasted
  
• Pounded
• Thrashed
• Flogged
• Pulverized
  
• Laid bare
  
• ...Treated very badly!! (wink)

All of those adjectives and any others you can think of pretty much describe what the BYU Cougars just did to the UCLA Bruins. This is the 3rd match-up between these two teams in the last 370 days. The Cougars bested the Bruins in the last two games... but, well, today's game was a thing of beauty!

Am I a Cougar fan? Oh, you betcha! Rah-rah-rah-rah-rah! Gooooooooooooo... COUGARS!

Journaling (with stress)...

I have to admit that my new Type + Writer class is not without stress. As I've participated in the "free-write" I've analyzed some of my feelings about this. I'm happy with my style of writing and capturing on paper what I have in my heart. BUT then when the "free-write" has rules I start to panic. I am right back in high school (or elementary school) and struggling with my undiagnosed dyslexia and just feeling plain ol' dumb! I have to remind myself that it's ok to be me AND learn new and exciting ways to communicate, but it doesn't come without the accompanying stress.

I've always been drawn to fonts and I love the look of a well set title. I love the way it pulls you into the page. I love the flourish of beautiful fonts or penmanship (something I never perfected).



I love the quote that I've used on the 20 small things layout. I found it when I was looking for quotes for my Quotes Album (still to be completed). It speaks to my heart about the road I've traveled. I am so grateful that is the case.



This road trip layout is actually the 1st assignment. The writing prompt was to make a list of our last adventure, and I LOVE bulleted lists!!! It was so easy and fun to bullet thoughts that described our latest road trip. I loved the list so much that I used it as an overlay on the background paper to capture all of my thoughts.

Type+Writer

I'd totally forgotten that my newest JS class started today. What a surprise to open my email and find that class started today and I'm just now!! looking at my email (2:28 pm).

I've allowed myself one of those rare mornings where I have laid in bed reading until now. I love those kinds of days and I haven't done it for... I don't know how long!

This newest class has me excited because it is about journaling. The quote at the beginning of today's email is:



I had to stop, right now! and write about this... it so well describes how I feel about why I journal. More later...

HE started it!!

Tonight since the time I got home the dog, Harley, has been trying to get me to play with him. When Stuart takes the bait on this account he always says, "HE started it!"

Like I said, Harley started it! (Sorry folks, no photos, but go to my last post about him if you want visuals). He'd taunted me with empty chip bags, made bombing runs on me every time I walk around the bed (with him trying to mouth me). I'd finally had enough and got out my ultimate weapon... (dun, dun, dun) yes, the Sonic drink cup with lid and straw! All I had to do was stand at the top of the stairs and squeak it and he started running laps in the family room complete with flying leaps off the back of the love seat. This always amuses me, so I followed him downstairs for more action... just in time to hear Gordon say on the phone, "Yes, we always know when we are in the presence of genius!"

I lost it... fits of hysteria... falling down laughing... the more I laughed the funnier it got.

But you know the best part? Gordon just kept on his conversation with his brother like his idiot wife wasn't even there... now I call that genius!

Embrace the Cowlick

While blobbing (ok, I just saw this typo and had to leave it LOL!! ;)) about canning I posted a photo of myself at age 20. I was surprised to see that since then (hmm... 36 years ago) I've changed my hair part to the other side.

The main reason for this is that I have this cowlick (ya think??) and by parting on the left I could camouflage this "flaw".

Since I started letting my hair grow out I've been a little frustrated because my hair wouldn't do what I wanted it to do, like: have some body, curl forward, stay out of my eyes, you get the picture.

So last night when I was getting ready for bed I thought, let's just try the old right-side part. Voila! I've got hair that curls forward, some body on the top, stays out of my eyes... imagine that??

Who says you can't make an old dog revert to old tricks!

I LOVE Utah!

Yesterday I posted about the cookbook arrival. Today as I left my tract this is the sight the greeted my eyes! I turned right around and got my camera!

This could only happen in Utah!! And I LOVE IT! I love the fact that we have a close knit neighborhood.

It reminds me of growing up in Greenville. We knew everyone and they knew us.




What a wonderful place to be!

They're Here!!

I got a call earlier this week from Deb telling me that the cookbooks would be arriving on Friday!! How exciting! It took a semi to deliver them (and I'm told a $1700 shipping fee) to get them from their origin to Debra's garage down the street from me. Now comes the fun part... (really it is the fun part) Debra and Diane get to pass them out to everyone who's ordered them.



Since they live so close I just took my garden cart down to their house and loaded it up! I was going to drag it home but Stuart fortuitously arrived so I whistled him down there to drag for me. Such a good boy!

I don't know if I ever mentioned before that I'd ordered 20 and by the time the order was placed each one of them had a place where it was going... what no extras? As it turns out, there are a few extras so maybe I will end up getting a couple more so I will have them on hand for gifts.



It is very satisfying to see my design, in print, on the cover. Hard to describe, but very satisfying.

Home Canning Tradition

It was 36 years ago that I first got my "taste" of home canning. I was a new mommy with an almost 6 month old Tony. We'd just come back to Greenville after being in Virginia for a little over 2 years in the Coast Guard. It was so good to be back home!

Since Greenville is so small we lived with Mom for 6 weeks while we waited for some place to live. It was while we were there that Mom taught me how to can.

I don't know where we got the apples, I know it wasn't for our wormy apple tree (so sad!) Mom showed me how easy it was to turn that box of apples into applesauce! She taught me right there in our tiny, little kitchen that I'd grown up in... being her #1 helper. I loved that little kitchen with its trash burner (wood stove) right along side the gas stove. She showed me how to just quarter the apples, cut out any bad spots and pop them in a big pot and steam them until tender. Then we sent them through the old Foley Food Mill. (If you want more instructions than this I found this site online.)


Add sugar if necessary, heat again and bottle using the open kettle method (which most sources don't recommend, but I've never had any trouble in 36 years!)




The years have been good to me where canning is concerned. For some odd reason I enjoy this process. There is something basic and satisfying about bottling your own fruit.

Now here I am... a Grammie but I am still canning. Since moving here to Utah I've been blessed with all of this produce right in my own backyard!!

A Nod to Deb and Humor

Sometimes you just have to love a good comedy routine. I was blog-reading (thanks to Deb's point to Google's reader, what a boon!) and found her post that cracked me up! I love good, clean, funny stuff and, for me, this has all of it!

Go check it out!