Goodbye September. . .

I can't believe September has flown by so quickly! The flowers on our deck are still beautiful and will probably stay that way until the first hard freeze in November. I'm still getting an occasional visit from hummingbirds. I noticed yesterday a hummingbird was fighting away honey bees that were visiting the feeders.
Today is a beautiful day despite the fact I'm going to the dentist. One of my crowns came off Sat. Ugh! I hate going to the dentist!
Happy last day of September to you all! Enjoy your day!

Blogging Friends. . .

I have had such a wonderful time meeting new friends in 'blog land'!! Here I am in northeast Oklahoma and I have read the most interesting blogs from all over the country. When I get comments on my blog I am so thrilled! Thank you for welcoming me into your corner of the world. Your ideas on decorating, cooking, & etc. are very inspiring to me. I look forward to reading & learning more from you. Have a marvelous Monday everyone!

Indian Summer Sunday. . .

Today was indeed an Indian summer Sunday. Beautiful clear blue sky, sunshine, & mid 80's temperatures. We ate lunch at our favorite Italian cafe along the river. Later in the day we spent a few hours at the Tulsa State Fair. It was very crowded. We drove around for quite a while looking for a parking place. There were so many people, at times you could barely move while we were in the QT Center. Let me just put it this way, I was very glad when we headed home.

Enjoy your evening, I'll check in with you tomorrow.

Day Of Sharing Together. . .

This little plaque says it all.
Today was a fun day. We had a great time this morning visiting with my husband's classmates. Even though I was not in his graduating class I enjoy talking with people & hearing stories about their school days. Branson's brother, Victor and his wife, Janette were in Bob's class. After the gathering was over the four of us drove to Branson's house to check out the moving in progress. They had accomplished a lot today.

Hope your day was great no matter what you were doing. I'm ready to take it easy now & watch a little college football. Until next time, take care!

Fabulous Friday. . .

I hope your Friday was fabulous! We were busy again today helping Branson & Kristi unpack , hookup the fridge, washer, & dryer.
Tomorrow morning we will be going to a class reunion breakfast in Bob's hometown . I hope we can find some garage sales there to see if any treasures are waiting to be discovered. There are several subdivision garage sales near our house, maybe we'll get back in time to check out what's available. I'm looking for baby items for our grandbaby who will be arriving in a few months.
What are your plans for the weekend? Hope to hear from you soon!

New Kitchen. . .

Now don't get too excited, no, this is not my new kitchen, wish it was. This is our brother-in-law, Branson's new kitchen in his new house. He & his daughter, Kristi just moved to our area from Houston. Branson was married to Bob's sister, Kay who passed away in April. Branson's house in Houston received a lot of damage when hurricane Ike hit. Fortunately he had purchased this house a few weeks before. We are so happy to have them close by. My son, Bobby and I put shelf paper in all the shelves, drawers, & pantry. We also unpacked several boxes. There are so many cabinets! I would love to have a kitchen this size.

Welcome to Oklahoma Branson & Kristi!

Granny B's Salt & Pepper Shakers. . .

Late last night I remembered I had these cute pumpkin salt & pepper shakers that belonged to my Grandma Berger. Early this morning I went to the attic to find them. Ruby loved to collect & display all kinds of knick knacks. I'm sure that's where I get my desire to "fluff my nest"! I remember being fascinated with all her neat things when I was a child.

I've been busy today sweeping, dusting, etc., etc. :>( Not my favorite thing to do, but it's got to be done. I vowed when I retired to do these chores during the week when my DH was at work instead of both of us doing it all on the weekends as we have done for so many years.

Well, I'm off to the post office. Wishing you all a fabulous day, God bless!

Welcome Autumn Part Two. . .

I'm so excited that my son helped me set up music on my blog. Thanks Bobby for being patient with me!

Today I've posted more pictures of our house all decorated for fall. Excuse the quality of the photos, I have an old camera. I'm hoping for a new camera soon, my birthday's next month. (hint, hint!) Today is going to be another beautiful day here in Oklahoma. Hope your day is a good one!

Here is my antique kitchen cabinet that I refinished over 30 years ago.

Here is another old cabinet that was in my sister's basement 25 years ago. She didn't want it when she moved to Houston, so we took it home.

I love this antique quilt, it's perfect for this time of year.

I enjoy the picture hanging over my piano, to me it represents my sisters & me. I bought this piano the first year I taught and made $35.00 a month payments until it was paid in full.

Welcome Autumn Part One. . .

As promised, here are pictures of our home!

Welcome to our home!
Window over the kitchen sink. . .
Help yourself to some candy. . .The fireplace mantel. . .

I certainly enjoyed my day of decorating for fall, hope you had a great day too!

Big Bargains!

Today I stopped by Big Lots & found some great deals on fall decor. I bought leaf garlands, a fall wreath, & a cute harvest flag for my son & daughter-in-law as a house warming gift to decorate their front porch. They recently moved from an apartment to a house so they definitely needed some things to fluff the new nest. I bought some adorable turkey placemats for myself for $1.50 each. Gobble, gobble!

Tomorrow my goal is to get out my stash of fall goodies from the attic & my recent buys & get started decorating the entire house! Very fitting choice of activity for the first day of autumn don't you think?! Hopefully I can finish the project , possibly take pictures & post them tomorrow afternoon.

Hope you all had a relaxing day & God touched you in a special way!

We Love Our Saturdays. . .

My DH & I really enjoy spending time together on Saturday. We usually eat breakfast at our favorite little family cafe. The food is so delicious and the people are warm & friendly. We enjoy stocking up on supplies at Sam's and shopping for seasonal vegetables & fruit at the produce stores in our area. Sometimes we do chores & projects, go looking for garage sales, or just drive around admiring the countryside. We love our Saturdays no matter what we're doing!

Hopefully I'll be posting some pictures soon!!! :>)

That's What Friends Are For

This past Monday my former co-workers honored me with a retirement celebration. It was so great seeing everyone again! They had 2 collages on display that showed memorable pictures of me & people from my years of teaching. In addition, my family & I were treated to a delicious meal. A beautiful cake was the dessert we all enjoyed. I was presented with a potted plant & a generous gift certificate to one of my favorite places to shop, Old Time Pottery.

Today I met another former co-worker for brunch at Mimi's Cafe. She is also retired from teaching. We had a relaxing visit while we enjoyed our yummy food. She presented me with an adorable picture frame for my new grandbaby who will be arriving in March.

Thanks friends & family for helping me celebrate! You mean the world to me!

Until next time, take care!

My Houston Family & Ike

My Houston family consists of my sister M, her husband H, my niece A, her husband J, & their precious daughter, my great niece, E, our nephew, G & his fiance, K. G & K had driven to Arkansas on Friday so they were out of harms way. I was so concerned about the safety of everyone who was still in Houston . I always want them to pack up & head to Oklahoma when I hear that a hurricane might be heading their way. (The "mother hen" instinct in me!) I stayed on the computer sending & receiving updates from A for quite sometime. I finally went to bed at 3:00 am, I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, so I said one more prayer & fell asleep. M called Sat. morning to say they had survived & gave me details on her experience. She stayed awake all night, the 90 MPH winds howled for several hours. They live in a 3 story condo. They spent the night in their living room on the 2nd floor. They took in some water on the 3rd floor where their bedroom is & around French doors on floors 1 & 2. M & A both had trees that were uprooted. All in all she said it was a very scary experience. A & J's power came on early yesterday morning. M still doesn't have power.

To sum it up, God is good & faithful in all circumstances. I'm thankful for his protection over my loved ones.

My son, B is coming over today to give my a tutorial on getting pictures on my blog, & hopefully music! I'm excited!

Enjoy your day!

Fall is in the air

I know Summer is giving way to Fall when:

* The evening sky is brilliant & clear. . .

* The evening air is cool & refreshing. . .

* The days are shorter. . .

* Football season is in full swing. . .

* Pumpkins & scarecrows are appearing on front porches

I love Autumn for all the reasons listed above. I get excited when each season begins, but especially Fall!

I still have no pictures on my blog, be patient with me while I figure out everything!

Have a blessed day!

My First Try At Blogging!

Well, here it is, my first try at blogging! I started reading my cousin Cheryl's blog, Chery's Apple Basket, last year & since that first inspiration & reading many other wonderful blogs I decided to give it a try.

I retired from teaching in June after 30 years of many rewarding experiences. Actually, this is my 2nd time to retire. After my son was born in 1981 I was a stay at home mom until he started 1st grade. I have taught elementary music, 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th grade. I loved teaching & the challenges it brought my way. For me teaching was my calling. However, it was time for me to say goodbye to that stage of my life and walk through the next door to discover what the next stage would be. My DH & I found out in June that we were going to be grandparents in March. Exciting news! Everyone says this is why you retired so you could enjoy being a grandma. I have to agree, God knew the plan & helped me take a leap of faith. I am having the time of my life doing all the things I love to do.

More later.