Keim Lumber — wow! This place has anything a woodworker could want – from inexpensive hardwood remnants to exotic woods and veneers. Everything is displayed for hands-on examination and selection. I need to go back soon with a project in mind. Oh, and we had a very nice drive through Amish country — Heini and Guggisburg cheese shops, an apple orchard, lunch and Keim Lumber.
Me: We can have a Wii Game Night!
Caleb: We can play Wii golf, or Wii baseball, but not boxing.
Me: Why not boxing?
Caleb: Because you’re an old lady and old ladies can’t box.
Me: Oh, it’s ON, boy-o!
(I took one boxing match and he took the other).
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Me: Phoebe really gave me a hard time today while you were at school. She hissed and growled at me. I don’t know why she doesn’t like me.
Caleb: Maybe she senses you’re not a good person.
Me: …
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Caleb, wiping the table after dinner: I get a quarter for doing this.
Me: But I helped, clearing the dishes and getting your paper towels; I should get ten cents out of that quarter.
Caleb: No, because it’s your job to cook and clean. That’s what you were hired to do.
Me: (chased the boy out of the house)
We’re spending some time with Caleb and Owen and enjoying every minute. Caleb’s class went to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday, and he came home to enthusiastically recount his adventure — including the much prized beads awarded for his team’s accomplishments navigating the corn maze. Owen has been entertaining us while brother’s away at school. While he willingly and creatively entertains himself, he’s always ready to play, work or converse with us. His fireman outfit for Halloween is getting daily use. He also performed some karaoke from one of his books.
Here are a few snapshots — mostly Owen, but Caleb will catch up soon.
More photos HERE.
Here’s the video I promised Sebastian:
(He looks a little bit like Wall-E, doesn’t he? Maybe he’s Wall-E’s little cousin.)
We just got home after spending a few days in Virginia with Jean, Bob, Ben and Stephanie at the beautiful Roadruck home in the Shenandoah Valley. I don’t know what was more fun–touring the area with Ben and Stephanie as our guides, visiting the area wineries, or just hanging out at their house, watching Aida and playing “Cranium”. It was a fantastic visit, filled with lots of gorgeous Virginia scenery and belly laughs, and we can’t wait to go back.
Here are some pictures of our trip–from samplings at the wineries to the spectacular views on the Skyline Drive. Missing are pictures of Ben and Steph’s house, and all the improvements and decorating touches they’ve added since they moved in just 6 or 7 months ago–Ben’s been honing his carpenter skills and made a couple elegant luggage racks for the guest bedrooms; Stephanie has matted and framed some of her amazing photos in many of the rooms; and they’ve both worked on painting and personalizing their home so that it is warm and welcoming.
Thank you, Ben and Stephanie, for being such gracious hosts!
Today we harvested the grapes. I’d mentioned that the yield didn’t look too good, but we ended up with about 13 pounds — just 2 pounds short of what we needed for three batches of jelly. So we supplemented with two pounds from our Sunday drive to Geneva. By dinner time, we had 25 jars of grape jelly (20 8-ounce jars, and 5 pints) plus a small storage container. Not bad for half a day’s work.
Harvest Before
Harvest After
Now I don’t fee bad about not taking the camera out on Thanksgiving. Steph’s pics are sooo much better than what I take.
It’s only November, and winter is settling in –
It was a lovely day, and the last of the warm fall Ohio days we’re gonna see for a while, if you can believe the weather forecasters. Anyway, Larry’s been obsessing over his computer again (Involving Netflix on Demand, TV/computer hookup, tweaking, crashes, endlessly pissing around with the damned thing– you get the picture) and I thought maybe we should take advantage of the weather outside instead of staying inside absorbing radiation from the computer screen, so I proposed a drive to Volant, PA. It’s a little town situated on a hill in western Pennsylvania that I’d passed thru a number of years ago and I always wanted to go back to check it out.
We had a nice drive, gorgeous scenery, and a peculiar lunch at The Iron Bridge Inn, then went on to Volant. Shops line the street, and most of them offered but one commodity: primitive country decor. It was fun noodling around and walking from store to store, but I gotta tell ya: I formed a new theory as to why the pictures and photos of pioneers and farmers look so grim. I’d always thought it was because of the grinding pressures of a hard life and hard work, but now I wonder if it was because they surrounded themelves with soul-sucking artwork and drab, drab color. Such grim Santas, grimacing snowmen, and solemn, elongated cats dressed in pinafores! And all of them in shades of maroon, dirty ivory and dusty pine. Sigh. Poor, poor country folk. Fortunately, we had plenty of sunshine to brighten our walking tour and Larry bought me a brightly-painted sign on clearance from the Halloween line: “The Witch is In”. It’s hanging on the front door. It’s ok. I embrace who I am. All in all, a fun day–and now we can watch for the expected snow this weekend! Oh, and also we can start preparing for the Thanksgiving festivities! Woohoo!
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