Thank You

Today is Veterans Day here in the United States.  Thank you to all those who have served (including my father, brother-in-law, uncles) and who currently serve (including a niece, nephew, coworker) in the military.  My brother-in-law made service in the US Army a career.  He and his family lived in many places both stateside and overseas.  My home has been in the same state where I was born and within 20 miles of where I grew up.  I salute all those families who routinely uproot themselves and are often single parent families while the military personnel is serving far from home and putting their lives on the line for our freedom.

Being it's Veterans Day, I have the day off work.  Six months ago, I scheduled a doctor's appointment for today.  Once that was out of the way, Mr P and I made a stop to pick up bird seed that had been pre-ordered, followed by breakfast out at Cracker Barrel.

The sun is out and temperatures are to hit 60 degrees F today.  There was some cleanup outside earlier this morning to finish pulling annuals that were hit by the first frost over the weekend.  Mr P is golfing, I will be taking a walk after lunch and finishing the marker for Chance so we can get it in the ground.  We hope to get our three fig trees "winterized" too.

The Try the World box arrived and on the right in the back you can see the country we will visit will be France.  The only item I'm unfamiliar with is the chestnut puree/paste.  The teas and cookies will go good together, won't they.

Election Day came and went and Pennsylvania will have a new governor come January 2015.  What a relief to no longer have to see those nasty TV ads, robo calls and all the cutthroat activities that are part of election campaigns anymore.  

Take care and have a good week.

Signs, Sounds and Smells of Fall

 November 1st and everywhere there are signs, smells and sounds of fall.  My walking buddy and I made our trip out in a light mist this morning and now at 8:30PM the wind is howling outside.  There are a few lily pad stragglers in The Puddle Pond on this 1st day of the new month.  The leaves that are left on the trees have turned and the walks from the house to The Puddle Pond are noisy as leaves crunch under our feet.  There's no sneaking up to snap pictures of the deer in the field on the other side of the stream that borders our property.  

We took a trip to one of our local apple orchards to select apples for pies and eating.  Lots of pumpkins, apples, winter squash to delight the senses.  Jonathans were purchased for pies, honeycrisp and cortlands for eating.  There's one honeycrisp left so another trip to the orchard will need to be planned soon.  Pumpkins grown down at the pond were picked and yielded 5 pints of canned pumpkin to use over the winter months.  

The wood stove has been in use at our house and the smell of woodsmoke is in the air.  The neighbors living in the little stone house across from the pond had a fire going the other night and I couldn't resist taking a picture. 

Another birthday came and went since my last post.  OnlyDaughter, OnlySonInLaw and Grandsons #1 and #2 sent a beautiful bouquet of autumn toned gerbera daisies in a copper bucket.  Their box from http://www.trytheworld.com/ (Try the World) arrived today too.  Pictures of the goodies in the box will be in another post and will allow me to enjoy the culinary wonders of Paris, France.  

Mr P surprised me with an evening out to enjoy Varekai, a Cirque du Soleil traveling show. http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/

The music, costumes, choreography, gymnastics and story line were superb.  Our seats were on the floor next to the stage and Mr P was pulled from the audience to participate in a skit which, for me, was as much a highlight of the night as the performance itself.  

Thanks to all who sent birthday well wishes my way.  It was one of the best in years.

Tomorrow morning there will be an early morning walk and later some of us are gathering at my Mom's apartment to move furnishings in her rooms so maintenance can paint.  Tuesday is primary election here in Pennsylvania and everyone I talk to says they will be happy when we are no longer bombarded with nasty commercials and robo calls from the candidates.  

I'm off to work on knitting a tea cozy that is a lesson in cable knitting.  OnlySonInLaw's second sock is on its way too.  Have a good weekend wherever you are.