Happy Happenings

Frosty's cheerful family greeting us at a photography exhibit we attended this evening.


A Christmas ornament the kids could make at the CHE Christmas party on Tuesday.


December is a busy time. Here are some events just in the last 5 days.

Waiting for the annual Christmas parade to begin - on a very chilly, breezy Sunday.


Sunday evening was C's first piano recital (since her previous teacher - yours truly - didn't have any!). This is her current teacher, Mrs Thorman, and a couple of the other students. C started out the whole recital with "Carol of the Bells" and did a great job.


This was sunrise on Monday morning. Taken from the back porch.


On Tuesday morning we had our annual pajama Christmas party at CHE. Here are some of the kids making ornaments (shown in second-from-top photo). We also filled up bags of candy and toys for needy children in the area, watched an animated Christmas movie about the first Noel, and decorated cookies. Right at the end we had lunch then drove back home through the pouring rain.


H straightened C's hair - I didn't think it could get any "straighter" but


here is the result:


Well, I'm afraid my blogs are sort of limited by the photos I take. If I were a true blogger, I'd plan the blog first, then take shots to support the story.... Anyway, since I've come to the end of any meaningful photos, I'll end now and bid you adieu til next photo download!

By the way, did I mention I have a new camera? A very nice gift from my better half. Thanks, S!

Some Winter Pictures

Woke up to snow falling this morning and a lovely winter wonderland.


It made an interesting pattern in the bare dogwood branches. It's amazing what even an inch of snow will do to the landscape, although after it stopped snowing there was probably almost 2 inches.


And on the trampoline.


Nandina? Something like that! The snow was already melting here.


Now this picture below has an interesting history! The two trees in the foreground are in full cherry blossom glory while the tree in the field in the background, at the same time as the buds, WAS in full orange autumn glory -- about two weeks ago!! I notified the hubby of this unusual sight but he failed to see a good photo here, so, because I didn't actually stop and take the photo myself during that time, the opportunity was sadly missed. Hence now, the snow on the blossoming cherry trees, but no brilliant orangey yellow tree in the background. BUT, the redeeming factor is the snow on the the blossoms....so enjoy what is but sadly not what could have been!!


Another sad oversight, due to the slight rush to get to church earlier than usual for a certain Adventurer event, the Com-Cam picture was missed! So kind hubby took it several hours later which meant patches of ground showing through already! Shucks.




Here are some Adventurer photos of the day.
Marching in. GET those hands out of the pockets, boys!!


Taking up the offering. (H and B are in the photo right)


The snow didn't stop there being a full church this morning. Fortunately the roads were clear and no ice, thankfully. Here's what it looked like mid-morning.


Hope you all had as wonderful a Sabbath as we had!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A picture of our material blessings of food this year! As usual, a laden table of potluck delights for all tastes and preferences. Wish you ALL could have been here this year to share it with us!

Expectantly waiting to dig in!



The greens in my greenhouse are coming along nicely. Since this picture was taken I've thinned the Swiss Chard and some lettuce. In my next design, I shall have two sides that open, allowing true sunlight to reach all the plants. As it is now, only certain plants get unfiltered sun for some of the time. The thermometer hasn't fallen below about 55'F so far and is mostly above 80'F. (thermometer is in the bottom right corner of photo). Of course the greens like it more on the cool side so we'll see how the tomatoes and greens fare in the same "room"!



Camera cam for November 25, 2009, showing a newly painted house!


In the process...


We thank God the weather was nice for a whole week so the painter could get the job done!
Til next time!
Adios.

Fall is gone again....

The trees are about bare already...."Fall" came and went within 3 weeks. Oh well. Good news - our house is now painted - all except for some trim around the windows and doors! Yay. Will include some more pics next time. Just wanted to get a blog in for November...

Little sprouts in my greenhouse....exciting!

Here's a Quick Plug

Have been having a lot of fun with Google-earth lately. Checked on various friends and relatives addresses and houses - you've been warned! But here's another warning - it's so addicting that 2 hours can feel like 5 minutes. Well, excuse me, this image is HUGE! Sorry about that! (It will not respond to the clicking on "small" or any other size for that matter, ha ha)

Fall is Here Again

The Dogwoods are looking very red and beautiful and the leaves are already falling even though many of the deciduous trees are still greenish. This week has been gorgeous weather - we've actually seen the blue, blue sky - and yesterday there was not a single cloud in the sky - not even a contrail!

"Scarf Dancers from Russia and the Dominican Republic" (wink, wink)



We've been enjoying our Fall Break from school this week although several things have kept going: piano lesson, CHE and today, Orchestra. C plays violin in the homeschool orchestra and cello in the 5th grade orchestra.

Last Monday we had a field trip to the CDM where the girls had a bunch of fun.


The travelling exhibit was on the handicapped.


For those across the pond, we have some recent pics of Soekie taken when we were up there about 2 weeks ago. She was happy and healthy. I didn't see the other cat....




This week we've had our first frosts of the season and my green house is now in use. I've planted lettuce; mustard greens; spinach (Swiss chard I think); and what was the other green again? I'll update you on that. S has a bunch of Blackberries, Raspberries and Blueberries ready to plant....can't wait to reap those!

Last Sabbath we had lunch with the Mihaescus - it was a very cold (in the 40's F) day with a cold drizzle mid afternoon but that didn't stop us from hiking, along with 2 other families, to a high point on the BT and enjoying hot chocolate and tea there around a little fire. I think it was about 20' lower than normal!

At the mo, I'm fighting a cold - or maybe it's larangitis?? - anyway, oink-oink, I think I'll be fine very soon. Now tonight C says she has a headache....

S is taking a lecture at the local Butterfly Club sometime in the next week or two. He has been working on a wonderful "powerpoint" (the Mac version though) of the over 100 butterflies they've photographed in Polk County. They now have the distinction of verifying the most number of species in any TN county. Wish you all could see his powerpoint presentation!
Here he is (dressed up for a banquet), getting a butterfly pic in Rhea county!


Well, news from our UK family is very encouraging - we hope to see you very soon - Let us know if you'll be arriving in Atlanta or Timbuktu and when to pick you up!

Cheers!

More Photos

Finally downloaded pics from my camera dating back to August 15 so I'll include some of these here.

A canoe trip down the Hiwassee in mid-August. Ours is the green canoe.


Although this looks calm, the water was moving right along. As a lot of you know already, this water is VERY cold!! But quite refreshing on a hot summer day.


Uninvited guests at our picnic supper.


Relaxing after the trip. (The kids are all at the playground!)


Before the great crop!


After!


Fieldtrip to Crabtree Farms.


Going to work in our own garden!


A sequence of our Haiti project. I should have taken more pics... Here, our dough is covered with plaster of paris strips. (Thank-you Google-earth for some topographical information!)


After painting, and glueing on bushes, grass and a few labels.


Close-up of Cap-Haitien (before the "buildings".)


Proud project owners - good job 3rd graders!


And now you're truly up-to-date - at least by what's in MY camera!

September's School

Here's the latest camera-cam.


Here we are half way through September. We've been busy beavers, I promise. This past week I had an extra student for a couple days to make 3 in the class. (He is in 2nd grade).

Then we had a (4th grader) friend sleepover on Sab. night as her parents were to make an overnight trip to Atlanta. And oh, a month or so ago, we had another 3rd grader spend a couple days with us. (in photo)

             As you can see in this school edition, we're talking "grades" today! (wink, wink)

This past week I had ETSO (orchestra) rehearsals Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights and a CHADD meeting Tuesday night. S was out of town Friday

until this morning's early hours - he was at Reelfoot lake in Western Tennessee - the one that formed in a large earthquake over a hundred years ago. They looked in vain for a particular butterfly but had a good time doing it. C sent along some hitch-hikers who, according to the photos,

seemed to have had a good time themselves!


Apparently there was a HUGE number of frogs, and a corresponding number of snakes (to eat them of course!). Thankfully they didn't get our intrepid adventurers here.




Notice the large beaver house in the background.


Looking rather lonely...


Well, the orchestra concert was last evening at Veteran's Park. All went well even though the music was challenging, including Dvorak's 7th Symphony in d minor. Also on the programme was a Liszt piece (Les Preludes) and a von Suppe overture (Poet and Peasant). We did another short Dvorak piece for the encore. Great weather thankfully, and a nice turnout of people. We've had so much rain around here lately that it could have been touch and go.

School is going well and we're getting into a routine now. Even as I say that, I still keep tweaking the schedule from time to time as needed. Sometimes the writing takes longer than expected....as mentioned previously in August's auspicious blog!

The Lord is blessing us. So far we've avoided the H1N1 pandemic but I hear it's not that bad/virilent at the mo anyway. Let's hope it stays that way... We pray you all stay healthy!

Things are looking quite hopeful in the Visa department in London. We've been expecting R and fam. to return "within about 2 months" since February....but haven't given up hope. The Lord will work it all out in His good time, we know!

Take care, all.

September

OK, this was a slip of the little finger and somehow a "blog" got posted, ha ha. I shall leave it in to boost my numbers, wink, wink.