THE GOOD THE RANDOM THE FUN THIS AND THAT FROM APRIL AND MAY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

This was March 22 [2015]. Beautiful morning sky over church of Christ that meets at Jefferson Avenue just before nine o'clock Sunday school. Cell phone camera pic almost captured the awesomeness.

 April 16 [2015]  Grandson Knox enjoying a snack sized bag of Skittles. You know they're delicious when they make your dimple pop out.

 April 19 [2015] I'm a cloud junkie. Can't resist taking pictures of clouds. View from church parking lot on Jefferson. 

 April 20 [2015] Stormy weather looking north on Jefferson Avenue. We've had lots of rainy days in April and May.

 April 25 [2015] I heart clouds!

 May 12 [2015] Math homework has been the bane of both Elijah's and my life this past school year. My number one pet peeve these days is common core, especially math. 

May 12 [2015] This is a common core multiplication problem using the "sticks and X's" method (or whatever) It makes my head want to explode. All I could do to help him was show him the way I learned how to multiply. For the sake of future generations, I pray the powers that be change teaching/learning back to the way it used to be. Life is hard enough without having to deal with this insanity. 

 April 29 [2015] Sky view over my backyard

 May 8 [2015] Hiding in plain sight. Well, almost. Candy filled Easter egg went undetected for over a month after the egg hunt in the back yard. Just happened to look down and there it was, still waiting. Waste of good candy. Bummer. This happens every year. So far I've found only three.

 May 8 [2015] Cousins Knox and Elijah looking at the book Elijah bought for Knox at the Capshaw book fair. 

 May 20 [2015] A very blurry pic of my bro-in-law Don blowing out his most recent birthday candles. Jane made the yummy Jell-O cake.

 May 20 [2015] This Day And Age: A Still Shot. Cousins sharing giggle-worthy stuff on the Net

 May 21 [2015] 55 degrees. End of May. Wow.

 May 22 [2015] The Sno Shack opened this month just off the town square, and on this day, the place was jam packed after school. Cousins enjoying the frozen yummy goodness. This place has any flavor you can possibly imagine -- such as Dill Pickle and Road Kill.

 May 23 [2015] Knox's Mother's Day Out art on display. He created some very cool handprint pictures.

 May 25 [2015] Chick Fil A peach milkshake -- Summer in a cup with a cherry on top.

 April 6 [2015] Elijah on the path to Granny's house on another rainy Spring day

 April 16 [2015] Granddaughter Shelby chillin' on the back porch swing after school

 May 8 [2015] Knox was proud of his Mother's Day Out scrapbook. He had a great time in school this year.

 May 8 [2015] Elijah surprised me with this pretty votive he made out of a baby food jar and colorful tissue paper. He gave it to me the Friday before Mother's Day, and I kept asking him, You made this for me, not your mom, are you sure? He assured me that he had made it for me. Sweet!

 May 8 [2015] My pretty votive all lit up with firelight. Thanks, Elijah!

 May 30 [2015] Bought some pretty perennials at Lowe's to plant in the front yard today

 May 30 [2015] On the way home from Lowe's -- looks like we're out in the country, doesn't it? Hope it stays this way.

 May 30 [2015] Knox came over this afternoon to help his grandpa plant those flowers

 May 30 [2015] Knox is a hard worker. He filled the dirt in around the plants. Great job, Knox!

May 30 [2015] Ever lovin' Saturday! Hope yours was fabulous!

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~Margaret Atwood

Hubby Neil is the gardener at our house. I don’t think he intended this to be funny when he placed his gloves on the handles of the wheelbarrow during a break today. I, on the other hand, thought it was hilarious and, being the resident photographer, had to take a picture.

Most of the plants in our yard are shade-loving. Trouble is, we don’t have much shade anymore. We’ve had about six trees removed this past year which has left us with a very bright and sunny yard. Neil has been busy digging up and replanting all these shade-loving plants like our Hostas, and it’s been a challenge finding new, shady homes for them around the yard.

Last week we bought a flowering crabapple tree to replace the mulberry tree that we had removed last March. They even ground the stump away, but when Neil started digging to plant the new tree, he ran into the rest of the stump and its network of roots hiding under the surface. Surprise!

It looks like a giant crab trying to wrestle its way out of the dirt. Time to bring the stump grinder folks back in. Who knew a mulberry tree could be so stubborn?

Bloom where you are planted. ~Author Unknown
Happy Saturday, everyone!

EVER LOVIN' SATURDAY ~ Plants and Treats and Sweet Peeps

It's planting time in our yard. Neil and I spent some time at Chuck Johnson's Nursery today. So much to choose from! We brought home a pink flowering crab apple tree, some gorgeous azaleas, and my must-have geranium.

The weather just does not get any better than this. We were scheduled for some fierce storms today, but instead we were blessed with perfection~the best day ever to be outside. [As I write this, the wind and rain has finally arrived at 9:30 tonight]

Daughter Kelly and grandson Knox dropped by this afternoon to share these cute lady bug cupcakes with us. Knox picked them out at Wal-Mart. They were almost too cute to eat.

But we dug into these chocolate bugs anyway~who cares if they're cute. They were totally delicious. [The lady bugs look like they're staring up at Knox, probably thinking, You're really going to eat us? But we're so cute!]

Knox helped his grandpa plant a little pink dogwood tree. He learned how to push the shovel into the dirt with his foot.

Neil just happened to have a Knox-sized shovel so he could help fill in the hole.

Knox had the best time working alongside his grandpa. What little boy doesn't love playing in the dirt? Knox said, "I don't have time to stop right now. I have work to do." Neil enjoyed playing in the dirt, too, until he ran into some stubborn roots. But they got the tree planted and also those azaleas. The crab apple will have to wait until tomorrow.

I got my hands dirty today, too. Planted my geranium in the clay pot my grandpeeps Shelby and Elijah made for me for mother's day a couple of years ago. I'm not positive what color the blooms will be. I'm hoping for a deep pink [at least that was the color of the others it was sitting next to on the shelf at the nursery] 

Supper at Fazoli's with Knox and Kelly. More sugar overload for Knox. The chocolate chip cookie was dessert, not dinner, by the way. He had a busy day today and didn't have his usual nap, so maybe he won't be bouncing off the walls by bedtime. Happy Saturday, everyone! Hope yours was awesome.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

We went to a TTU men's baseball game this afternoon. Attending a college baseball game is a first for us. Grandson Elijah, who plays coach's pitch baseball, has been practicing with one of the assistant baseball coaches at Tech and was interested in seeing the big boys play ball. It was the second game in a double header today with the Murray State Racers and didn't start until four. It was summertime hot today. We were grateful for those clouds that moved in over the sun. 

They had a great turnout, pretty crowded, and we ended up sitting on the Murray side. We found it amusing that 90% of the people there were female. Maybe the guys on the team have lots and lots of lady friends. Here's our bunch from left: grandson Knox, hubby Neil, grandson Elijah and his friend Anthony, who brought their gloves just in case a stray ball came flying their way, daughter Holly and granddaughter Shelby. (Photo by daughter Kelly. Thanks for sharing!)

We didn't make it into the group shot, so Kelly took this selfie of the two of us. (Thanks for sharing the pic, Kelly!)

The first inning was fun to watch. Tech got off to a great start. Their player #11 popped a beautiful home run over the right field wall. Murray rallied, hitting a couple of their own home runs which made it a game. But not being baseball junkies, we soon realized and remembered that, yes, baseball moves at a snail's pace, which is simply the nature of the game, and it might be more fun watching paint dry, so we left after the end of the 6th inning, two hours later. Tech was still ahead at that point, and they did win the game, 12-7. They won all three of their games this weekend. Yay, Eagles! (Thanks for this picture, Kelly!) Good times with family. Hope your ever lovin' Saturday was a home run, too!

GONE FISHIN’

Give a man a fish and he has food for a day; teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend.  ~Zenna Schaffer

Hubby Neil and son in law Jerry took Neil’s recently purchased, previously owned fishing boat out on City Lake for a spin today for the first time. The motor started right up. The boat did not sink. They enjoyed an afternoon of fishing. Jerry caught one and threw it back. And no one drowned. A good day out on the water. Happy Saturday, y’all!

Borrowed this picture from son in law Jerry off Facebook. Thanks for posting, Jerry!

Ever Lovin Saturday

Today looked and felt like October. Neil was out in the yard all day, relocating plants and rearranging stones for the backyard path. He called me outside to sit with him on the deck while he took a break. He was sweating from all his running around. I was bundled up in my down jacket and a scarf wrapped around my neck. It was 42 degrees, after all. Men don’t seem to know when it’s cold. Always thankful for a day of sunshine and blue sky, no matter if it’s March or October. Ya gotta love it. Happy Saturday, everyone!

Riding The Rails

There's something about the sound of a train that's very romantic and nostalgic and hopeful.   ~Paul Simon
We’ve heard of these train excursions to and from the Cookeville Depot, but we’ve never experienced one until today. Neil thought it would be a fun thing to do, especially for the grandkids [and especially for Knox, who loves trains right now]. The Chamber of Commerce sponsored the excursion through the Tennessee Central Railway Museum ~ “Cookeville Super Fall Foliage Excursion Nashville Cookeville” according to the TCRM Facebook page. 

Ready to ride the rails ~ hubby Neil, granddaughter Shelby, daughter Holly, grandson Elijah, daughter Kelly, grandson Knox, and moi [FYI: this photo has a little secret to it and I’ll tell you what it is at the end of the post]

The Cookeville Depot Museum has an awesome replica of how the West Side around the depot used to look back when folks traveled by train. Knox loves to watch the train go around the tracks.

The iconic neon Cream City sign across the street from the depot

Bird’s eye view

Waiting for the train

And here it comes!


You don’t realize how huge they are until you’re standing next to one. This train pulled into the depot and kept on rolling by. It was insanely long. Never did see the tail end of it.

Doesn’t he look like the quintessential train conductor?

Line up here and show your ticket.

We were in car #9400 [and that train was so long I wouldn’t be surprised if there had actually been 9400 cars]. Our seats were in the “dome”. Pretty cool.

The seven of us were a bit spread out but that was fine. There were about 25 other travelers under the dome. Great views from all around the car.

Leaving the depot and looking out the rear window ~ this was a short trip to Algood and back which took about an hour

Nice view from my window

We chugga chugged along the track slowly. The car swayed from side to side, at times strongly enough that we all swayed in our seats. [I’m happy to report I did not get train car sick]



Kelly took a couple of panoramic shots with her iPhone camera


Because the leaves are turning so late this year, it wasn’t a particularly pretty ride. The lady with Tennessee Central who rode in our car said the trip from Nashville was beautiful. I imagine so, since there was probably so much more farmland. Our trip took us through mostly business and residential areas. There was a house or two that sat only a few feet from the tracks. I can only imagine what that must sound like when one of the L&N trains come rumbling through their neighborhood, carrying freight.

Algood does not have a depot. We stopped here [right by this beautiful orange maple tree in someone’s front yard] and had to wait a few minutes while they disconnected the engine cars and turned them around to hook up to the back of the train so they could pull us back to Cookeville.

This engine was at the front of the train [and there were several engine cars, I guess you’d call them] that pulled us to Algood. Here he is going in reverse to the back of the train to hook up for the trip back to Cookeville.


Going back in time…well, not really…just going backwards which was kind of a strange sensation at first ~ that’s the smoke stack at TTU

You can see the old post office up there on the left next to the Baptist church on Broad Street

Almost home ~ you can see the roof of the depot ~ I still can’t believe how L-O-N-G this train was! I think our car was somewhere in the middle. Someone said there were between 400 and 500 people on board.

Crossing Cedar Street

Took this picture as we passed through the train car below our dome on the way out ~ felt like I had just arrived at Hogwarts ~ riding the rails was such a neat experience, something I wouldn’t mind doing again someday. Knox said “that train was pretty cool.” It was.

Shared a pizza for lunch at Momma Rosa’s

Loved being with my peeps today! Hope your ever lovin’ Saturday was a cool trip, too.

Here’s my little “secret” to the group shot at the top of the page. We couldn’t all be in the same shot together [I took this shot] …..

…. and Neil took this shot ~ so using a little digital magic, I Photoshopped myself into the picture just above this one. Scroll back to the top group shot and check it out. I’m not an expert at Photoshop but it was a nice way for all of us to be in the same shot. Happy Saturday, y’all!