Tag Archives: Weekly Wrap-Up

I just don’t feel like blogging…

By Posted in 2019, Spring at Sonnystone, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged , , Leave a comment

I’ve been thinking again…always dangerous, if you know me… I’m unable to find words to explain…I can’t make myself sit down at the keyboard and try…

That summer feeling of freedom is creeping up on me…if it weren’t for the chiggers I’d lie down in the grass and watch the clouds change shapes…but there are definitely chiggers, currently living on me in places where the sun doesn’t shine, so instead, I sit outside on one porch or another, swinging away the time.  Sorry to say, but I just don’t feel like blogging.

I had a super surprise this week when I was contacted by a distant Mayne cousin.  He shared some good stories of our Iowa Maynes during the Civil War.  He clued me in to the Gold Mine story.  I enjoyed the conversation so much and he’s going to send me some info, to boot.  Before he called, I was researching a completely unrelated family member and studying up on button factories, but now I’ve put that aside as I delve back into the Maynes… I love doing the research and learn something every day.  I want to share it with you…and I will!..but right now I just don’t feel like blogging…

Umm…That’s all I got…

We’ll have Olivia and Samantha staying with us Mon-Thurs while their mom works up north.  We will have a blast for sure…and I hope I’ll feel like blogging…

Peace

Weekly Wrap-up

By Posted in 2019, Spring at Sonnystone, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged , , 1 Comment

Thursday was Samantha’s last day of 4-year-old Preschool—whoa, time, slow down…   The program was darling and she was, of course, right on it with the songs and choreography…

I haven’t written about the Derby because it was such a disappointment…  Even though it’s not a Real Triple Crown this year, I dutifully bet the Preakness, picked that 25-1 longshot that placed, and made a cool $21.60  The Real Winner was Bodexpress, who ran the race without a jockey….I bet on him, too…

…On to the Belmont, she says half-heartedly.

Next week is Olivia’s week…She will be leaving elementary school (K-5) and moving on to middle school (6-8).  They call it a promotion and will have a program on Wednesday morning… Friday evening she will have her Dance Recital…

If the weatherman is correct, we should be getting summer-like temperatures just in time to get the pool up and filled for Memorial Day.

My Family History research continues to fill my rainy days…and  I do want to get over to decorate graves in Southern Illinois and prowl around the counties that I’ve been studying.  The great-grands seem so real to me now…

Wait!  I see the sun!!

Peace

 

Weekly Wrap-up

By Posted in 2019, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged Leave a comment

The week went from perfectly sunny and warm to perfectly gloomy and cool…

We took advantage of the great weather and got the veggie gardens in; read all about it Here…

I’m still working on the Ancestry, probably will be forever, it seems.  Just when I think I’ve got something finished, I discover a new clue and have to start over.  That’s the fun of it, but it’s also the frustration.

I’m meeting up with some friends for lunch and then we’re off to see “Twelfth Night” at University of Evansville Theatre.  Shakespeare’s comedies are a hoot once you get the rhythm of the 17th century language, and UE actors are always superb.  We’re proud of our hometown Actor of Great Repute, Rami Malek, who is a UE Theatre alumni.  I must have seen him perform, but don’t remember noticing, and that’s just how good these Theatre kids are…

++this video was muted when I linked it and I don’t have time to fix it.  Please unmute it before you watch it.  It’s really cute++

 

I’m still snotty and hoping that I can make it through the performance without annoying the entire theatre blowing my nose or clearing my throat.

We’ll be celebrating Derby Week with our usual aplomb.  The prep races have concluded and the field is set.  It’s time for me to totally confuse myself with odds and colors and names and trainers and owners and All Things Thoroughbred…   Olivia’s music recital is on Derby Day again this year, so the day will be Full.  I Love watching the fillies run in the Oaks on Friday, too, so there’s another bunch of numbers and names to comb through.

Horses can fly…

Peace

Settling into Spring

By Posted in 2019, Spring at Sonnystone, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged , 1 Comment

There’s a definite mental lag going on since we arrived back to Sonnystone Acres.  It’s always a Jump from the Magic that is Disney to Real Life, hence my whining all the way home that we should have stayed longer.

 

Then there’s the inevitable inner dialogue “Last Monday we were at Magic Kingdom, Last Tuesday we were at Epcot” all week long as I wash clothes and clean out the Rolling Sonnystone…   I’ve made a half-movie, downloaded all the Memory Pass photos for the other half.  I still have to organize my pins.  I bought new frames and have this year’s collection on display…  (after a frenzy of dusting)

Bright Yellow Forsythias greeted us as we pulled into the driveway…our yard is covered with meadow flowers and many of our daffodils are in bloom.

As soon as I could, I brought the surviving plants out of the shed.

I’m full of garden plans, looking forward to resurrecting my garden blog…  This week I will return to the Ancestry blog with plans to crank out a half-dozen or so posts.

Ya’ll know about my Uncle Junior dying while I was gone.  Sadly, my good friend Nu-Nu also died, buried the same day as Junior.  They were central to my “old folks tour” when I would take a day and drive over to Grayville and up to Albion and spend time with them.  When Nu-Nu moved to a nursing home in Mt. Carmel it took me a bit to “find” her, but I managed to get over there a couple of times, too.  I had tried to call her at Christmas, but got no answer; sent her a birthday card 2/24.  I don’t know any details of her passing, but she was 92 years old with bad lungs since childhood.   I will miss our visits.

I guess I need to find some new old people to befriend…

Peace

 

Photographs

By Posted in 2019, Photos, Travelogue, Trippin' in the Trailer, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged , , , Leave a comment

I would have blogged more often this week, as I know you are just chomping at the bit to read my scintillating travelogue.  The internet, alas, as been only intermittent…to put it nicely.  Very frustrating…so I am now using my mobile hotspot and must keep an eye on my data usage.

The morning before we left Perry, Casey discovered a large lump on the driver front tire of our Expedition.  Luckily, we had only a 3-hour drive to St. Augustine Beach KOA.  This KOA is a nice one, 3/4 mile from the beach and just 3 miles from the Historic City of St. Augustine.

After setting up camp, we inquired as to a Tire Shop and got lucky…The Firestone Tire Center was smack-dab in the Historic City, so we dropped the car off for a new tire and walked around town.  Nice $135 free parking, eh?

We have been to St. Augustine Historic spots before.  There are reallyreally old buildings, forts, churches, the perfunctory tourist shops, decent restaurants, and the Fountain of Youth, of course…   We ate lunch and wandered around.

Our entire stay at St. Augustine Beach was sunny, highs lower 80s and breezy…in my mind perfect…  The beach had a nice pier and was just crowded enough with happy sun worshippers…

Saint Augustine Beach FL

Anastasia State Park was about a mile down the road, so we walked its dunes and hiked a short trail…

It’s only 123 miles from our St. Augustine Beach campsite to our current spot in Wickham Park, Melbourne, but since we made the trip and got set up, we haven’t seen the sun…  I am accustomed to everyday rain in Florida, and I remember a day where it actually rained all day, but this is running to 4 days in a row, with highs only up to mid-60’s.

And isn’t that perfect when you need to spend a couple of days indoors…?! I have already been to visit my Aunt Shirley and I’ll go back and spend another afternoon (doing laundry, too).  We are hanging out over at Cousin Kim’s house this afternoon, letting her feed us… I deliberately waited to shop for clothes until I got here and am thrilled to have a SteinMart and Bealls nearby, so shopping is a nice indoor activity.  Oh, and I need to get the witch nails cut back again, so there’s that.   By the time I get myself all prettied and cleaned, the Sun Will Return and we can head back to the beaches.

Uncle Junior died last Tuesday morning at 2am in the Linda White Hospice. He was a sweet man and I will miss our visits.   Aunt Shirley is the last of Mom’s brothers and sisters, 83-years-old and doing okay.  >sigh<

When the sun comes back, we’ll get out and Wow you with more photos…  Till then…

Peace

 

 

 

 

Wrapping it All Up

By Posted in 2019, week-end wrap-up, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged , , Leave a comment

It’s been a fun week of daily blogging here at The News.  I’m ready now to get back over to my ancestry blog and write about some of the research I’ve been doing, but I want to share one more ghost-post…

First posted February 24, 2014…

Or so it seems…

We had a great birthday week-end.  Thanks for your kind wishes.  Many of you are like me, scratching your head and asking, “where have the years gone?”  This poem says it better than I can…

Time Enough

The tally of years
added up so rapidly
it appeared I had
been short-changed,
tricked by sleight
of hand, fallen victim
to false bookkeeping.

Yet when I checked
my records, each
and every year had
been accounted for,
down to the last day,
and could be audited
against old diary entries
(client briefings,
dental check-ups,
parent-teacher meetings,
wedding anniversaries),
verified with credit
card statements
(multi-trip insurance,
antibiotics, concert bookings,
mobile top-ups).

And, although
nagging doubts
remained—an
inkling that I had
been ripped off
in some way,
given short shrift,
made to live at an
accelerated pace,
rushed through
my routines with
unseemly haste—
nothing could be proved,
no hard and fast
statistics adduced.

I had, it seems,
unknown to me,
been living my
life to the full.

“Time Enough” by Dennis O’Driscoll, from Dear Life. © Copper Canyon Press. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Onward to Spring..it’s only 24 days away!!

………

We’re going to uncover the travel trailer, aka Sonnystone2, this week.  Current plans are to leave for Florida in two weeks, which seems pretty soon, don’t you think?  On the other hand, it doesn’t seem soon enough to escape the dreary cold we’ve been experiencing.

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes!

age2

Peace

Weekly Update

By Posted in 2019, updates, Weekly Wrap-Up Tagged , , Leave a comment

It’s been a busy week here at the Acres.  Casey has taken on a painting project and I’m tripping over him as I meander through the house.  He’s painting all of the trim, the same color but semi-gloss instead of satin, showcasing the filth just before he covers it.

The Camp Sonnystone Height Chart will Never be covered…

As for me, I’m walking on air, so excited about my new winter projects…

I came this close to buying a new Nikon.  Before I hit the checkout button, I got out my old D60 and made sure that it was still working like crap.  It was, but I felt such a nostalgia for the old girl.  We had so many adventures together, and I have neglected her for years? now.  Feeling guilty, I got out the q-tips and cleaned, pulling out veritable furballs.  I reset it, bought it a new battery and lens covers and it’s working like a charm now, though that didn’t add the pixels that make the phone camera pictures look so lush.  What it’s got going for it is its superiority at long shots, especially birds…

So it was, that I took on a Photo Project:  a picture a day using a list of prompts…  I will use whichever camera works best for the subject, just get back into the picture-taking groove…   You can follow me over at Photo Synthesis — clever, eh? — and I may occasionally publicize that blog, as well.

Right after I cleaned up the camera and started the blog, I Finally bought into Ancestry dot com and damn!  I’m glad I waited until I had Time on my hands, because I am now Obsessed with it!  I am so excited to share what I have learned already, but let’s just say that you should probably be calling me Lady Jo…no curtsying, but all men should bow…oh, wait, that’s the way it’s always been.

That project will be yet Another Blog,  All My Grandparents, and I will keep you informed regarding its launch.  Currently I am organizing the individual trees and double-checking the info.  I got too many branches going at one time and it’s become a little confusing.

I love it, though I’m just sitting here growing my ass in front of this computer screen and I need to get up and Move Around…  I really wish Casey hadn’t bought me that bath scale.  If you put it on a certain spot inside my closet it will shave 10 lbs off the number it shows when it’s sitting on the bathroom floor…  Where would you keep it?  I’m thinking he should just hide it from me…

 

Peace

 

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