Here we are on the road and wondering if the little dark cloud up there near the Batman building in Nashville is following over someone.
Well hello there! I know, I know blog fade got me as RL intruded. But yet again I’m back just like a bad penny. So shall we carry on as if nothing happened. Yes why don’t we…
Over the 4th of July weekend we went to North Chicago and stayed in the Navy Lodge at the Great Lakes Naval Base to visit our son Aaron and his fiancee Sara. Aaron home at their apartment in Kenosha after a lay off at the civilian job and then injury during his Army National Guard drill weekend. So he was free to hang with us and Sara was free Sunday for a tour and Monday for dinner. (more…)
This beautiful lady is Sara. She’s my son’s fiancee. Yep, this month he popped the question to his long term girlfriend. The marriage is in a few years. I’m getting a wonderful daughter without all the mess of raising one. But that’s not why I’m congratulating her. I’m congratulating her for graduating college. She’s now a physical therapist going on to medical school! That she worked hard for and made it! We are all so proud.
As I write this in February we’ve had a very mild winter by Wisconsin standards. Right now it’s rain and sleet mix out there, or sludging making an Icee like slurry on the ground that’s salt and petrol flavored I’d be guessing. For February in Wisconsin, that’s practically Spring-like. However I shall always judge the season by Charleston’s St. Patty’s day. Here’s why I think that’s the best weather ever. (more…)
I’ll be the first to admit that the older I get the more I dislike big crowds. I’ve never liked being packed like a sardine but now it’s more than that. So I avoid things that look to be too crowded. Also I don’t like loud. Yes I’m too old and it’s too loud. Don’t care, looking forward to those Senior Citizen discounts rolling in quietly.
It doesn’t take long driving around Kenosha that I noticed all the custom murals. On Labor Day in the heat of the day we took out the Mustang seeking murals for me to photograph. So enjoy the scenery on that warm day (in the upper 80sF). (more…)
This September our booth is in front of the fountain on 2nd Avenue every Saturday
It’s that time again. September starts the craft shows for my friend Paula and me. We kick it off with an Inventory Clearance Sale of the previous years’s things in Kenosha’s Harbor Market Every Saturday in September. Last Saturday was our first one this year and it went well. This is the first year that we have taken credit cards for purchases of $25 or more. (more…)
For Memorial Day I went down to Tennessee to spend time with my parents. My has gotten into Greene County history and doing posts on Down Home Greeneville on Facebook with a short historical write up about each. While I was there I took her around to make photos. Needless to say I made more than a few of my own.
Then I got home with my camera chips and realized I’d not loaded up all the photos from our trip last July to Williamsburg Virginia and the Norfolk area. I know I’m not done with the cruise pictures. Oh and winter – there’s been a really hard winter in there with shots of it, snow sculptures and such. Any way it turns out I have a few thousand pictures to upload. Okay maybe not multiple thousands but definitely over a thousand. So hold on to your hat for a few photo posts as real life time permits. There will be….
July of last year the trip to the beach, Williamsburg, and Mike’s Navy graduation (that I didn’t get to see due to flight booking, my agent ahem named Mike booked my flight before the ceremony not after)….
Mike enjoying a dessert while on vacation – Oct in OrlandoLife is a beach when on vacation in Virginia in July.The brutal winter here had us all thinking of the tropics.Yes I actually have over 400 photos from Williamsburg.Oh you know there were pet pictures.Holidays in Tennessee.Did I mention it was a nasty winter here? It was and we did all we could to make the best of it. Ice sculpture contests and such.Of course more beading and craft sales…Going about Greene Count Tennessee making pictures with Mom.Yep and more on the cruise adventures.
So over the last three days I caught up on my uploading to Flickr. Yes over 1800 photos uploaded. Raw just off the camera no adjustments images. I’ll improve a few for future posts – maybe if time permits.
Also for my birthday I got a droid tablet (no Apple stuff for this girl) so now I can easily take stacks of comics with me to read. Expect that sometime there will be catch up on those too.
In the meantime you have been warned – photos are coming. Be prepared.
Drive up banking in the winter – when you make the passenger get out and knock the ice off the card slide
Let me first start by stating the obvious – IT IS COLD OUTSIDE! Yes it was -16F when I woke up. No that IS the actual TEMPERATURE you don’t wanna know the wind chill – somewhere in the -30sF. I don’t plan to go out until afternoon when we are supposed to warm up to about oF. Okay formalities taken care of I’ll start on my post now.
Due to work I didn’t go down to see the folks (mine and his) until after Christmas. It worked out just fine. Aaron and Sara came down later and stayed after us as they wanted to celebrate New Year’s with their friends here. Ahh I remember when we actually stayed up in dressy clothes and partied with others. Now just staying up is the challenge. Funny as I get older I get more like a baby routine keeps me from being grumpy.
Any way here are a few photos from the trip. Not much as I only had my phone.
We visited my parents for a few days. Here’s Mike and my folks outside a Mexican restaurant in their town. Yes we had to show our support for the Tennessee Volunteers – all graduates of the University of Tennessee ya know. Dad is a golden grad and got his 50 years since graduation pin.Mom’s kitty Sylvester – I have two black cats, Mom has one, Aaron has one, and my bff Patricia has two – do you have a black kitty?The house shoes my parents gave Mike – yes they are slippers!That’s Greeneville Tennessee the town to where I grew up out in the county. I’m setting a novel (urban fantasy with a rural setting) centered right on the corner where that church is.The view of the Smoky Mountains from my in-laws neighborhood. As you can see there was snow on the mountain but it was still nice enough in the valley to go golfing.Jellico Mountain area of Kentucky on the drive home. The roads were clear the whole way just a long drive.The snow just started as we hit downtown Chicago.Back home to typical Wisconsin Winter views.
Okay tomorrow and Thursday I work so hopefully I’ll get another post in the pipeline for those days – maybe about the great YWriter and a postcard from the past… or maybe swamp tour or Colonial Williamsburg… or maybe not… Until next time!
Why hello there! It’s been awhile since I’ve been here. Lots has happened and not so much has happened. I do have a good excuse as to why I’ve been gone.
First off Miss Mo my female kitty got worse. It was very sad. She died and we did discover that the issue was a fast developing spinal cancer. I still miss her very much. She was a very special girl.
Miss Mo at the Vet’s. She made a number of visits before the spine cancer took her.
Next Mike graduated another post-grad program in Norfolk. It was another trip there for a few days. I was very proud of him. While there we went to Colonial Williamsburg. I made lots of great picture. Yes I’ll do a very belated post about them.
Then there’s work. A few times we’ve had short staff for medical reasons, people moving, etc. At times I’ve work full time rather than part time to help out. I love what I do so I don’t mind. BUT for me it’s a side thing.
Finally my writer’s block broke. Yes I furiously wrote 41 chapters of a whole new story, 21 chapters on my Urban-fantasy with a rural setting, and about 12 on my steampunk novel. The muses were so demanding I’ve been cramming in writing where ever I could. Now my goal is to go to an event in Madison by their continuing education branch where I can do pitches to publishers and agents. Oh to get an agent! My focus will be on the whole new story and getting it prepped as that muse is the most demanding.
He’s a cadet now. He’ll be commissioned as an officer upon his graduation. This photo is from his graduation from basic earlier this year.
Aaron is doing well in college and in ROTC. He got a full scholarship in bio-chem from them. He loves having his own small apartment. No roommate problems that way. Being one who has to report to PT at 5:45 am with roommates who think 10:45 am classes are early can be difficult.
The holidays were nice. Our big present this year was a new furnace and boiler. Our 30+ year old one finally gave up the ghost. Heat is a must in Wisconsin and a new system isn’t free. So each time the radiators bang with a surge of new heat we wished each other a very Merry Christmas.
Did craft fairs again this fall and winter. They went very well. Now maybe I’ll make time to get an on-line shop up in 2014 along with a book agent and a few novels sold! Eh? why not dream big!
Mike and I took a vacation to Florida in the fall. Again we enjoyed an airboat tour. Also we managed to not go to a single amusement park. Did hit the beach though!
Wonderful airboat tour to ourselves!
Health wise 2013 was one of improvement. My 2012 surgery seems to have helped many issues. It’s a slow and gradual process getting healed and stabilized but well worth it. Sadly as you get older bouncing back from such things goes slower than I’d like.
Finally for Mike – he’s nearing the end of his Navy career and retire looms on the horizon. I don’t know what we’ll do with ourselves. We’ve spent all our relationship with our lives accommodating the Needs of the Navy first and foremost. Now, there will be no monthly drills, no 2 weeks or more of active duty, no call ups – just waiting until we need to collect retirement. However that might be pushed off another year or two if he can. Captain Mike loves his Navy.
Yep Blue is the leader and the cause of frequent screen repair in the summer. As you can see his brother hangs back to ensure all is well.
Our remaining pets the two Furry Boys – Red and Blue are facing problems of aging cats. Red has chronic kidney insufficiency. Blue had hyper thyroid. They both take medication regularly. They are healthy and happy but aging like the rest of us.
As for comics… Yes I’m still into them. Saw Thor The Dark World and enjoyed it. However I do agree Tom Hiddleston’s Loki got the best lines. Then again I’ve always enjoyed snark (sarcastic humor). As for reading – I am behind. As in a few short boxes behind not counting those I only get in digital form. So be patient with me, I’ve been writing more than reading. However if there’s an issue you really want to chat about – shout out to me and I’ll be sure to move that title to the top of the catch-up list.
I guess that gets everything caught up about me and mine. Hope you and yours are doing well, had a great holiday season and are looking forward to 2014.
You know that Mike hast to go some where on nice weekends. This time it was a reenactment over at Silver Lake in Kenosha County. Of course we got in the faithful old Mustang, put the top down and took off. When we got there we discovered a nice park not far from our house. A quaint reenactment set just before the Revolutionary War broke out. Here’s the photos from the day.
This was the first thing that caught my eye. This barefoot little girl ran past us and down the back of the tents. I loved her costume! She was adorable.This was a pewter smith demonstrating how he made eating utensils. If you click and hop over to my Flickr account you can see some of the many trinkets he has made with his 100s of pewter molds.Well I assume you know what lace is but a lucet is a tool used in making cords.This tent had some beautiful handmade furniture for sale. Lovely stuff!This gentleman explained how to fire the cannon, the different types of shot used and when they were used in battle, then took the scouts through a drill enacting the process of firing.The don’t tread on me flag was flying.The storekeep in the tent in the background there had a very floral ensemble whose hat only made me think that he looked like he had been sleeping. Also I loved the lady walking by in historic garb.Red coats took off their red wool coats and slept outside their tents on the unusally hot day.
As always you can click on any photo to be taken over to my Flickr account. There you can see more images from the day. Until next time!
Mary Louise Eklund 