Mystery Solved; Ships and Planes

The mystery of the wild animal is solved. (See Sept 5 blog)

So it WAS a bear after all!

Here is the CHE Home Ec. project they did this week: Ship-a-Fruit.

A scene from violin group last Wednesday. Getting arranged.

Some car entertainment inspired by the Olympics.


Since I'm on the phone right now....(wow - multi-tasking....Sorry Ch!)am not writing too much. Just the usual stuff this week, nothing unusual.

Will do more next time. Sad that R&C are actually leaving on Tuesday. Heading by Air India to the UK. Our desperate measures have not hurried things on enough. But all things are in God's hands....

They'll be here for an "oulaas" lunch and visit tomorrow. Pray for them. Actually, maybe they'll be leaving the US just in time as the economy crashes for real behind them. We all need to rely on God to supply our needs - our own work might not cut it from now on. It will be a learning and growing experience for all of us.

Til next time...

Second Week of September

Well SOMEONE'S relaxed and smiling! Our schoolhouse regular! Every time I ring the school bell, she's the first one at the door, just leaping, slobbering, whining and scratching to get in - a very good example to all the other students! Yes, my baby, a model student. You get an 'A' for the week. Precious.

This is my baby when she was a few months old

Just cannot come up with a good title to describe this past week. Maybe "a bit of everything" would do. For a little background history, I volunteer on the Board of Directors of the local chapter of the non-profit group: CHADD (Children and Adults with ADHD). On October the 2nd, we are bringing Dr. Russell Barkley to Chattanooga for a seminar - a leading researcher and author in the field of autism, ADHD and probably other mental disorders. Bringing someone of this caliber into town requires some preparation, planning and footwork. I've been doing some of the latter lately. Nuff said....Our greatly capable coordinator, who by the way, was just elected the NATIONAL CHADD VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR, (Yay Pamper!!) is the most hardworking among us so I will not mention ANY more that I do - it pales in comparison!!

Here are a couple butterflies from our Callaway visit 2 weeks ago.



Then, tomorrow, the community orchestra I play cello in, the ETSO, is performing our outdoor Fall concert. It wouldn't be so bad rehearsing almost every night this past week, but the music is tough (at least for me) including Brahm's Symphony #1 in c minor. The other two pieces are Brahm's Academic Festival Overture and Tchaikovsky's Violin concerto in D, Opus 35, which are both a bit easier. Not really your usual "Pops in the Park" but hopefully enjoyable to our esteemed outdoor audience. The programme starts at 7pm if anyone would like to join us!

C's orchestra experience is getting better and better as the music becomes more familiar (except when we get new music and have to, horror of horrors, SIGHT READ). The beginner orchestra is packed into its little room. I think they have 27 or so in it now and really need a larger space. It's stressing out the conductor!

And now today (starting last evening) poor C is suffering from a fever of 103 and, earlier, a sore throat. We're hoping it's a one day thing! Sadly, we missed SS and church, and also the special biking excursion along the Riverpark with the Adventurers. We were secretly hoping it would rain so they'd have to postpone and she'd get to go another day....but no, it was a beautiful sunny day today. (We're BAD, aren't we?).

Got to call Aletheia this week. It was nice to talk with Aunty K. and catch up on some news from that side. Hope your back improves soon, A.K.

R&C are packing up and selling stuff. Will be moving to the UK in just over 2 weeks! VERY SAD - though we wish them all the best. Hey world - hire this man - he can do anything, invent anything, manufacture anything, build anything; he's entrepreneurial, hardworking, loyal, - a people person - HE'S YOUR MAN!!! He will be worth millions to you - and I'm NOT making this up, people!

Well, now I'm going to see if I can find any photos to go with this blog....maybe some of baby Ca whom we visited on Thursday, now going on 9 months old!

Little Ca is cutting teeth - ouch!

Bye til next time!!

Orchestra and all

2008-2009 School Picture

Exciting times - C has been invited to join the beginning orchestra at AWS. She is the youngest there but doing OK so far with a little help from me with counting and bowing. She has been sightreading this week but with a little more practice, she won't even need my help. The only 'problem' with this new endeavour is the very difficult schedule - right in the middle of the day and both days are at different times. So we have to find something to do in town for 2 hours on Tuesdays (CHE day) and 1 hour on Wednesdays (also violin group day) unless we do a lot of travelling back and forth...:-(

The sun is setting earlier and earlier now - approaching 8pm and going at about 10 minutes per week. Kind of depressing, but is good in that we tend to go to bed earlier. Just wish it would stay constant at around 7pm. Guess we'll have to move nearer the equator for that. Talking of moving - I'm ready to go somewhere - and be a missionary in a foreign country. It just seems easier than being a missionary at home, ha ha. Well, life is not meant to be easy...just wish it were!

The Merc was open for an extra week this past week. have been having hotter weather. We got to go 2 days (as I only found out it was still open on Wednesday evening).
The water even warmed up from the previous week! We

On Wednesday evening we also had Adventurers II - a full uniform day for photos...I'll
include a group one if we get copies! There are about 27 in her class, I hear (didn't count). That includes only about 7 or 8 girls! Yeah, I don't know what was in the water that year!

Here's a paint-by-number I did a few weeks ago.

Talking of wild animals, what do you think?

I think this is a bear's scratchings. S thinks it's a dog...Maybe it's one humungous dog!  This was behind the barn close to the woods. I let Caridee free and she made a beeline straight for that area, sniffing and definitely in 'hunting' mode - but didn't show up with anything!

Some luscious fruit for supper prepared by our illustrious chef, SJohnson - the cantaloupe, honey dew and watermelon are from the garden.

CHE in its second week. I may have mentioned there are 11 in C's Home Ec. class.

Got a second wasp sting this week...disturbed it drinking from the hummingbird feeder I had come to refill. So much for gratitude. Immediately sprayed Gold Bond on it but you know what? Activated charcoal works better - I just waited too long before putting it on.

I'm accompanying someone on organ tomorrow - it's been too long and now it's stressful to do this kind of thing...

We're having lovely weather - no inkling of the rough weather in the path of the current hurricanes. We wish them the best as they brace for the worst. Since I don't keep up with the news, I have no idea where the storms are right now - maybe they pushed off harmlessly to sea...?

And lastly, here's a photo of my maternal grandparents.

Grandfather came from Wales and Grandmother from 1820 settler-from-England stock. Will sometime get one of the paternal side. The only one I know of is a small 3 X 5 and they're in the distance...

May your Sabbath be blessed and happy.