And The Rains Came Down

In the last 2 weeks we've finally gotten much needed rain.  I'm not sure if the drought has been fixed but my grass is looking much greener.  I haven't mowed in almost a month!  I do feel so bad for our family and friends down south and send out prayers for all those who are really suffering with that horrible hurricane that has swept the areas in our southern states.  Our temps have remained mild and now it's a bit more humid than we've had all summer.  I really can't complain about the lack of mosquitoes!  Everyone seems a bit worried that our Fall colors will be drab.  Lots of stress on our trees.  But I'm thinking it will be a little later for color.  Our neighbor's tree across the way is changing nicely.

Notice the brown grass!  It's looking better today.  I've been busy working and decorating for the season. In 2 weeks my family from Chicago will come and gather with the clan here for our annual Halloween/Autumn party.  Midge and I have some ideas for the kiddos and looking ahead it looks like a chilly, Fall weekend.  Good for a fire in the pit!  Downtown Ashland has some activities going on that will entertain them and then I believe they are heading to Cedar Point on that Sunday for the Hallow weekends.  I've been helping out at the Historical Society Freer House again this year.  My friend, Bonnie, and I did up a couple of the rooms and I'm hoping to get it all done tomorrow.  They will have tours of the house starting on October 17th until the 27th.  I think it's looking pretty good so far.  They even have the basement open and decorated.  You see, the Freer House was called the Children's Home and it was where juvenile delinquents would go also.  There are actual jail like cells in the basement!  I saw them for the first time last week and just felt a terrible sadness down there.  I couldn't imagine children locked in those tiny rooms.  I'll take pics next time I'm there and show you.  In the mean time, here's a few pics of the room we've been working on.

A little story time by a kindly witch?

Maybe a nice lunch with some chatty skeletons!  I think once we're all done it will be even better than last year.  Again, more pics at a later date.  Finally, some Homecoming pics featuring our Granddaughter Addy Rae:

Lexi came down from Bowling Green University for the weekend to see her little but taller sister all dressed for the dance. Love those kiddos!  I can't believe that in a few days Addy will be 16!  I think her dad was just that age, right?!   Well, that's all I've got for now.  Just one note of sadness this week.  Annabelle's boyfriend, Cooper, died this week.   He was the sweetest little poodle that would come a couple times a week, bark until Annabelle would come outside, and they would sniff each other, run around a bit, then he'd head back home next door.   We were really sad when our neighbor called to tell us the news.  Cooper was 10 and was very active but developed Cushing disease and it took him quick.  RIP sweet Coop and say hi to your old buddies, Chubs and Arnold.  If you happen to see Eddy at the rainbow bridge, give him a kiss from us. 

We woofed you too buddy!
 

I Smell Fall In The Air!

We're in a bit of a drought here in Ohio that has kept the mosquito population at bay but boy my yard looks pathetic!  The leaves are changing and falling quickly.  We may get a few drops of rain this week...fingers crossed!  Even though the temps are in the 80's the nights are in the 50's and with low humidity it's really quite pleasant.  I was asked with Jack was retiring will I quit working.  For now, no.  I'm still enjoying the time and frankly Jack still has lots to do at the office before locking it up for good.  He's seeing some patients that he needs to finish care with and of course the cleaning out, packing up, and all that takes a little time.  I'll help where I can but we're still only with one car so getting back and forth and sharing a vehicle isn't ideal.  Don't get me started about the car.  The dealership hasn't even looked at it yet.  I've called so many times they don't even ask my name. They recognize the number!  If it's not looked at by Friday I'll be on the horn to Hyundai again.  In other news, Annabelle decided to take a little adventure walk last Thursday.  She was outside doing her business with me watching as usual.  She started to hike toward the creek but I quickly called her back.  She came running back and when she was almost at the deck I went inside quickly to turn off the stove.  I came to let her in and she wasn't there.  I went outside, walked around, called her name, checked the creek and then walked up and down my street. No Annabelle.  Jack was home for lunch and he and I went out in the car looking for her.  We drove all over the neighborhood with no success. He went back to work and I hiked up to the Creepy Woods and even took out our trail bike and rode around too!  Jordan came home from work and he walked the creek bed and also back in the woods.  Annabelle doesn't bark so we were worried if she was caught in a ditch or hole we wouldn't

 find her.  By 5 in the evening I was losing hope.  My neighbors were walking by and I told them to keep a look out for her.  They put a call out on Facebook and lo and behold a couple of folks said they saw a white dog running down 1302...that's a very busy road near us. Then on a Facebook page a lady said she found a little white dog on 1302 and had Annabelle's picture on her page!  After getting in touch with her we were able to go pick Annabelle up and bring her home safe and sound.  Thankfully the lady stopped and called her to the car and Annabelle jumped up into her lap! That crazy dog. She's never done that before and I will never leave her for a second alone again.  I really don't even know how she traveled that far that fast as I was right outside immediately.  Oh well, all's well that ends well.  The funny thing was when I checked this lady's Facebook page she only had one friend listed.  That one friend was my Granddaughter, Summer!  I guess Summer and her boys were friends back in high school. Small world!  

After taking burrs off her and a good bath she was tuckered out!  For a final note that tells me Fall is in the air, downtown Ashland is decorating for the season.  One of our retired docs and his wife donated some really cute pumpkin people.

There's 10 different ones set up all along Main Street.  They are super cute and folks are really getting a kick out of taking pics with them.  It's something that just makes you smile when you see it and don't we need a little more of that every day?  You bet!  Have a great week

A Few Other Things

 With the fun of having the kids from Oregon visiting last week and the gathering of the clan for a little anniversary party I failed to mention a few other things.  Jack and I went up to Lake Erie at the end of August (the 23rd) for a fish fry with friends from Jack's graduating class. We went last year and it was really nice and this year didn't disappoint.

The weather was perfect and the lake was beautiful and the fish was delish.  With our belly's full and after a good time with friends we headed back to Ashland.  Almost home the car started acting weird.  We were almost in the small town of Savanah (8mi from home) when the engine seized up and we were coasting. In a miracle that still makes me shake my head, our mechanic just opened his shop in Savanah on the main drag and we coasted right into his parking lot.  Whew.  Jordan came and picked us up and Scott the mechanic promised to look at the car the next day.  Well, a big surprise to us was that the car was totally out of oil!  No notice on the dash that anything was amiss.  This same thing happened to a coworker and also my daughter-in-law Evelyn. What is the common denominator in this?  Hyundai and Kia have had these problems with oil disappearing with no warning.  In fact, not even any leakage on the garage floor. To make a long story longer, I need a new engine.  We had to have the car towed to a Hyundai dealership for their evaluation.  Cost? $8-12,000!  I have called Hyundai and like my coworker and daughter-in-law, I'm sincerely hoping they are covering the cost.  I'm on the battlefield to get it taken care of as we are down a car and that is not fun.  I was really stewing about the whole thing but there's not much I can do so I have to suck it up buttercup and pray for a good outcome.  In other news, Jack told me back in August that he has decided to retire.  I was surprised at first because we always joked he would leave there feet first!  I know it was a big decision for him but now he's looking forward to some new adventures and these next few weeks will be filled with tying up everything, throwing out many things, saying goodbye to his loyal patients and then taking a deep breath! 47yrs in practice is a long run and he's a really good Chiropractor and has a lot to be proud of.

I'll miss seeing his sign on the corner of Center and Washington St.

The big old Victorian has been the office since 1981 when he and his Dad moved from the old office across the street.  We lived in the big apartment upstairs when our kiddos were little until we bought our first house.  We have many good memories here.

When Craig and the family were here he took a final tour of the office and sat out front for a final pic.  He learned to ride his bike in the parking lot as a 4yr old and told his kids how he and his older brother got in trouble for sledding down the hill in front of the office almost going into the busy street.  I had no clue they were doing that until they came in the apartment and soon after a policeman showed up after people complained about them! You never saw 2 more scared kiddos thinking they were getting arrested and me feeling like the worst mom ever!  Nobody was arrested and the cop was super nice and now we can look back and laugh! So we will take all our memories with us along with the many photos we have of our time there and move forward.  Congrats Jack on a career well done and a retirement well deserved.  It seems like only yesterday when you were a student at National and this was a looonnngggg way in the future.

Jack found this in the office and brought it home.  After dusting it off and laughing about my wonderful crafting I looked at the bottom and it was dated Dec, 1975, a year before he graduated! Again, the phrase that time flies is very, very true.  Congrats Dr. Starkey!

Milestones, Memories, Family, And Fun

 I hadn't posted much in August but the last couple of weeks were busy and fun filled.  We were busy getting ready for our kiddos in Oregon to make a visit.  It was a short but very sweet time.  They came to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  We didn't want a huge party and I know my sister and our good friend, Bryn, were disappointed.  But it's quite a lot of work to get all that done whether it was us doing it or them and when it's a huge crowd you don't really get to enjoy everyone.  So they said, OK, and we just had our boys, some of the Grandkiddos that could make it and our friend Bryn.  My sister had just been here and will come again in October with her kids so we'll party with them in a few weeks.  Time is flying by and these past 50yrs sure did!  Last Wednesday Craig came ahead of his family.  Amy, Sophie and Katie came on Friday because it was Sophie's first week of school and she couldn't miss that whole week.  Everyone from Oregon arrived via the friendly skies and it was a great time!  On Saturday the kids did all the work from decorating to cooking and if you know me that was hard and weird to not have a big hand in all the planning.  They did great though.  Here's a few pics of their work:

The guys, Jackie, Craig, Jordan, and Phil set up the cooking station in the garage since it was a little rainy outside.  They made hamburgers, (my request!) and brats along with pasta salad that Evelyn made, fruit salad Bryn made and potato salad that agreed I could make.  Added with chips and extras it was delish.  Phil took charge of the dessert which was key lime cheesecake (Jack loves Key lime) and double chocolate cheesecake to make me smile!

My gosh they were amazing and so gooodddd!!  He didn't bake them, he has a friend who makes these but we gave him all the credit for their yummyness!

The girls doing the prep!  That's my granddaughter, Sophie in front of the island, Amy my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter, Katie next to her with the "50" above her head.  Thanks girls, you did great!

The dining room set with it's gold lame' table cloth, flowers and happy anniversary sign.

Kitchen fireplace decked out with lots of gold

I put together a little poster board on the dining room buffet.  

The sign on the fence was cute but my transplanted hostas look ready to call it a season!

Jack and I in our "Golden together 50yrs" t-shirts.  

The kids gave us this metal sign they had made.  It can go inside or out but for now it will stay here. We also got a super cute blanket with all the info on what was happening in 1974.  You could buy a house for $36,000 then and now you can't get a car for that! Crazy.  I know everyone always is amazed at how time goes by and all the living that's done in those years.  We have such a great family and many good friends that we cherish.  When I put the following pic on the poster I couldn't help but wonder if that young, 21yr old, had any idea what life had in store.  Of course she didn't as none of us do but I will thank my Heavenly Father for the blessings and even the trials we've gone through to this point in life.  It's been lessons learned, love shared, tears shed from laughter to sorrow and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  To my siblings who sent us a sweet card with some cash to enjoy something special to my kids for putting up with us all these years and sharing this day, THANKS SO MUCH AND WE LOVE YOU ALL!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, you have no idea at all!

Crazy kids!

First dance but not the last!

A cool ride to head to the future.  Happy Anniversary Jack!  Love you forever!