Whooooo Needs A Hug?

Today was national hug day.  It was funny to talk to my coworkers today about hugs and to find out that many don't like hugs, or folks touching them.  I don't mind hugs as long as they aren't the long, drawn out, hugging on and on until it's awkward hug.   When I got home from work I took Chubbs out for a walk...and a hug...and while outside I heard the familiar sound of the resident owl living here at the Pines.  I've heard him..or perhaps it's a her...many times through out the year.  I've even see a big white owl flying from pine tree to pine tree.  A friend from work was here cutting pine boughs around Christmas time and was excited to tell me she saw a white owl in the trees.  As I listened to the bird call I could tell it was coming from the Creepy Woods.  Then all of a sudden it seemed much closer.  I turned and looked up and lo and behold:

I saw this face looking at me.  I stood there watching and listening as he or she was calling to the other owl in the Creepy Woods....I guess we have 2 living here and maybe in the Spring some baby owls will be here too!   I  took Chubbs back inside and grabbed my camera hoping to catch some shots.  I was excited to see this beauty still sitting pretty, like he (or she) was waiting.  So this was my fun hug for the day...now I can place the face when I here the "Whooooooo"

Now go give someone a big hug! Make it a nice long one! Ha!

It's The Little Things

Don't we hear this statement many times?: "It's the little things in life that matter".  Frankly, it's pretty true, especially when blogging!   I was thinking of what I could put on the blog tonight and looked over my pics in the camera. There were a few "little things"..like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

My front yard was covered in tons and tons of black birds and even a few Robins. (They must not have gotten the memo that they are to leave and return in the Spring).  Imagine this photo expanded...I was trying not to disturb them but when they figured out they were being spied on they took off for the trees.

They look like leaves !

Here's one of the Robins hanging by some left over crabapple morsels. It was a bit creepy seeing them and I couldn't figure out why they were there.  I guess they were on a trip and my yard was a pit stop because they knew the temps were plunging downward.  Today it was only a high of 12de.   A severe weather alert for frigid temps is on through tomorrow.  Hopefully all these feathered friends made it home to some place warm!   Another pic was one that made me happy. Our good buddy Greg is a Vietnam Vet and he had us over to his home a few weeks ago to show us a special scrapbook he made.  He had pictures and newspaper clippings and other things he had collected while in the war.  He was in the Mekong Delta in the heart of the fighting.  His stories and photos are compelling.  What's really cool is the fact he's going to Vietnam next week and taking his sons with him to the places he fought.  He's not taking  a tourist tour..just those villages.  With his permission I went to our newspaper and told them about the trip and the scrapbook and how I felt it would be a great article.  He didn't hear from them and I thought it wasn't going to happen.  But he received a call for an interview and on Saturday he was on the front page.  I hope his trip is a good one for him...closure perhaps and also a chance to see a different Vietnam and his return to be a happier one instead to the original one many servicemen received when they returned from Nam...Good luck Greg!

To close out the weekend I made some bread.  I've never been a superior bread maker but I found a recipe that I like and it turns out good every time.  It makes the house smell wonderful and on a cold wintery day it's a winner.  However, I'm trying not to eat bread so I'm giving it away and I also took a loaf to work.  One loaf went to a lady in our church who was sick.  Little things that brought some big smiles.

I can live with that! And I can blog with that too! Find those little things in life this week...they are the things that truly matter.

The Force

I had a fun date last night with 3 handsome men...OK, 1 man and 2 boys....wait, don't judge me yet! These are those cuties:

Anthony, Jack and Cameron!  We went to see the new Star Wars movie.  It was fun to be with the Grandkiddos  but a bit surreal for me sitting there watching this particular movie.  I'm thinking it was a similar feeling for Jack.  When the original Star Wars came out in 1977, we had gone to see it with some friends of ours from Chicago. It was Labor Day weekend and they drove out from Chiropractic school to visit.  We had only been in Ohio since early that year.  I was pregnant with our #2 son and was due at the end of September.  I was very excited to spend time with our friends as well as seeing the movie that was the rage that year.  Because God has a marvelous sense of humor, I started having a few contractions the minute they pulled in the driveway.  I chose to ignore those silly pains since I was 3 weeks from delivery.  (The fact that I had our first son 2 months early didn't matter did it? Ha!)  After a lovely dinner at Red Lobster and waiting in line with tons of folks and eating a bit of popcorn I realized those silly pains weren't leaving.  In fact, by the time Luke Skywalker climbed out of the trash compactor, I was in a sweat and the pains were pretty close together.  Jack was really dismayed when I announced we had to leave...right in the middle of the movie. He really wanted to hand me the keys so he could finish the flick with our friends but since we all drove together that wasn't happening!  We were about 30min. from the hospital.  To make a long story short and skipping all the gory details, our son Craig was born about 3hrs later.  That made Jack whisper in my ear..."See, I told you we could have seen the rest of the movie"....Flash forward to last night.  I didn't have any crazy pains but seeing all the actors from the original film and seeing how old they looked had me gasping in reality pain! To add to the weirdness was the fact that this movie has a similar plot to the original. That's probably why I like it so much!  Now, I've seen those same actors over the years and of course I knew they have aged...right along with me! My son who was born on that early Sunday Labor day weekend morning is 38 years old and has a few gray hairs himself.  (Only my hair dresser knows for sure about mine! Ha!)    But the real kicker came as I was lamenting about the aging actors and then remembered that this old gal, me, and my handsome hubby, had gained admittance with tickets that said..."Senior discount"...sigh...May the Force be with you!

It's A Redo

Last year on January 8th I posted about my surgical post-op visit.  I noted that it was early in the morning and the temps were minus 27de....dang cold!  This week started out fairly cold also, only it was a balmy 9de on Monday.  The skies have been clear and a lovely blue, just like last year.  Sort of a "Redo".

The wood burning furnace that heats our home is chugging along as you can see from the smoke rising into that blue sky.  As the week has gone on, the temps have risen and today it was 45de and sunny....perfect weather for us!  I took Chubbs for a walk in the cemetery for the first time this year.  I'm sure he'll sleep good tonight!  The cold weather doesn't seem to be bothering him at all.  He even seems to like the snow.

We finally got our first dusting on Sunday night and Monday. 

The view from the entrance to the Creepy Woods. I think this is plenty of white stuff! Early the other morning, Jack had taken Chubbs out and Chubbs showed us that he can defend his territory.  Jack said he barked and growled at something up in the woods.  Perhaps my friend over at the Shady Dell was right about the Yeti living up there! Hey, in these parts we call him "Bigfoot" and there have been sightings down south of us...so they say anyway.  Chubbs was determined to get what ever was creeping around up there but Jack called him back.  We were just surprised he actually growled!  His personality is coming out more and more.  But sometimes he looks a bit sad..

That little face makes me wonder if he misses his old home or previous owners.  I get mad when I think someone dumped him.  I just wish they would have taken him to a shelter and at least let people know his real name.  We've kept "Chubbs" but I would love to give him his true identity!  Most of the time he's happy and playful and loving his new yard.  So he can defend us all he wants from any weird happenings up there at the top of the hill!  We feel safe now!

This was yesterday looking at the Creepy Woods entrance.

This was last January, same entrance...not quite a redo...and I'm good with that!

2016

Happy New Year!  Another blog post that's photo free...that's weird for me!. I'm sure it won't be the norm for long!  I'm still in the blogging business for now so I didn't want to let January 1st slip by without a greeting.  I do enjoy a fresh start don't you?   Life is full of surprises..the good and the bad.  Last year was a difficult one for some of my friends and some of my family made life changing decisions.  My older brother moved to Georgia, near his wife's family.  I have another brother who moved permanently to Florida.  With another brother living in Georgia, one in Wisconsin and us in Ohio it leaves my sister as the lone sibling in Illinois.  Her kiddos and grandkiddos are there and I know her and Mom will make the best of it.  It's funny that I've lived in Ashland for almost 40yrs now and I still think of Chicago as my home.  Can one have 2 places that say "HOME"?  Ashland is certainly home too since we have kids and grandkids, friends, jobs and a life here that I've come to enjoy.  Well, I'm claiming both places and find the good and the different in them and will continue to enjoy that!  So let's bring on a new year shall we?   Happy 2016!