Just So You Know

Just so Tink won't think I've been blown away by a tornado, I thought I had better advise her--and everyone--that I won't be posting for awhile. We are leaving tomorrow to go up to Boyne City, Michigan to our friend, Bob's, cottage for the week. We are looking forward to a week of just sitting around, eating, reading,eating, going to Mackinac Island, eating, going to a winery, eating, going to a cheese factory, eating--oh yeah and having a few adult beverages. Anyway, due to the fact that we will be out in the "boonies", there isn't any internet service so----no posting on my blog. And no reading anybody else's blogs. Man, what will I do? Eat, sleep, eat, read, eat, see the sights, eat, drink adult beverages--ok, so you get the drift. I will try to take copious notes and pictures and tell you all about my trip when I get back. See ya in about a week.

Go Check Out My Genealogy Blog

Ok, I know a lot of you could care less about genealogy and especially my genealogy but today's post on my genealogy blog, Branches and Roots, is about how dumb luck and gut instinct helped me in my research yesterday. If you are at all interested, hop on over.

Wordless Wednesday-Can You Do This With Your Tongue?

My twin grandsons in one of their finer photo moments!! And if you want to see more up to date funny pictures of them, go to their mama's blog.

I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Wordless Wednesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida volunteering for a Wildlife hospital rescuing and rehabbing wildlife. I even dumpster dive for injured Raccoons!! I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. Back to Wordless Wednesday.

Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom

Keeping You All Happy

This is THE tree. And that is the barn, the blue one not the red one (actually a carriage house) where I had my garage/barn sale. It almost looks like a doll house next to THE tree.

OK, Tink says if I don't post once a day she will worry about me. And my daughter says if anyone cuts down our tree she will knock heads. Oh, and Gail said get to the basement sooner next time. So here goes--Tink, I'm posting. Karen the tree is still there. And Gail, I will go to the basement next time, I promise.

This is what a rainstorm does to a bunch of Peonies. I love my Peonies but they don't last very long and even less long when we have this many storms in a row!!

Didn't I Say "ENOUGH ALREADY" Loud Enough??

Well, for the 3rd time in 2 weeks, the tornado sirens made their appearance last night. It was about 6:15 and I had been watching the TV with the up to date weather radar and knew that we were about to get hit by a storm. I glanced out the window and saw that the sky was getting dark so I was just in the process of shutting down the computer when the power went out. By the time I got downstairs, Mr. Snowbird and Bill (the guy who lives with us) were standing at the front windows watching the rain blowing sideways. It looked like a blizzard--everything was white. Apparently the wind was causing this. By the time I grabbed the radio and a flashlight, it had quit. Only then, did the sirens start. While listening to the radio, the news director, Tom Sheldon (remember him Karen?) said that the warning was for NE Hancock County. This is the same area that was being hit for the third time. I debated about going to the basement but by this time, the sky was brightening up and the sun was peeking out in the west. So, like all of our neighbors, I went out on the porch. A fire truck headed down the street just a block away and a few minutes later, another drove by the house. It soon parked down at the end of the street near Main Street. And, of course, the sirens are on for 3 minutes and off for 2 and on for 3--well, you get the idea. I sincerely doubt that anyone had headed to the basement.

I did see a few branches down in our back yard and a big branch on the back of the garage next door. We have a HUGE Maple tree in our back yard which if it ever decides to give up the ghost will wipe out half the neighborhood!!! Last Friday a tree came down on a house on Main Street just a couple of blocks away. And from pictures in the Courier this AM, other trees came down on houses not to far away from us. But, our trusty maple weathered the storm yet again. Hang in there buddy, I'm rooting for you!

Once the sirens stopped, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. I did see that a tree had come down on wires at the end of our street--where the fire engine had stopped. This apparently was the reason the half of our end of town was without power. Lots of branches down but no serious damage that I could see. But, from the way the rain looked earlier--going sideways--I can understand why there were branches and power lines down.

Our power finally came back on about 9:00. Better than our friends in Bowling Green who were without power for 20 hours last Friday and Saturday. We had another storm hit about 1:00 this morning but that seemed to be mostly lightning and not much wind. I guess there were a couple of "unofficial" sightings of a tornado or two in the area but no touchdowns.

What I realized though was that when people don't have TV or AC to rely on, they gather out on their front porch and actually talk to their neighbors. I guess I kind of understand now why back in the "good old days" people were a lot friendlier, more neighborly, and a whole lot more trusting.

Anyway, as I said before--Mother Nature, give it a break already. I think the whole country is beginning to feel this way. Geez, I don't even want to think what Hurricane season is going to be like.

So, What Did You Do Today?

When you are retired, most of your days have no routine to them. When I wake up in the morning, I have my breakfast, read the paper, check all of my favorite blogs and message boards, check my email etc. OK, I guess you could call that a routine. But then, I decide what I will do with the rest of the day.

Well, today was clean the house and wash all of the glassware day. So, I vacuumed, dusted, tidied up etc. downstairs then I dug into my collectables. OK, I admit it. I am a collector!! Always have been but hopefully have given up that habit. But, those things that I have collected and still keep need to be cleaned once or twice a year. And today was that day.

As you can see, I love ruby glass. I think I inherited this trait from my mother. Anyway, I have tons of it. I did manage to sell off a few pieces at my garage sale but I still have a ton of it which I hate to give up.

Yup, more ruby glass. Mostly Fenton and Anchor Hocking. But you can see that I also have a collection of crystal bells and Haviland 12 Days of Christmas plates. God only knows why I collected all of these things. But, it gave my family great ideas for my birthday and Christmas presents!

Oh, did I mention that I like ruby glass?? My all time favorite piece is the vase in the middle on the top row. I got it for $7 years ago at an auction. There are two pieces. The bottom part is white onyx and the top is the most gorgeous ruby you will ever find. I have no idea how old it is, who made it or what--but I love it.

This was one of my passions for awhile. They are bells with the state flower on each one. 50 bells!! I got one or two in the mail every few weeks for I don't know how long. Lovely to look at but a pain to clean.

Quite a few years ago, we had an old hotel here in town called the Fort Findlay Motor Inn. They had a great bar where we would hang out at after play rehearsals. My daughter and I also did a couple of dinner theatres at the hotel so, yes, she hung out there too. When they sold the hotel, they had a huge sale and I was able to get one of the two ruby hanging lamps from the bar. It now graces our family room. It doesn't put out a lot of light but I do love it.

This is my favorite Fenton piece. I saved for this guy. I don't think we have ever used it as a lamp but just something to look at. Sad, really. A lamp this beautiful should be used.

OK, what I didn't show you were the cabinets full of Hummels I have also collected. Figurines, bells, plates, Nativity scene, etc etc etc. Geez, what was I thinking??

And, yes, each and every piece of what you have seen and haven't seen needs to be washed every so often. So, today all of the items you have seen pictured here were taken down, tenderly washed, dried, and placed back in their respective spots. Well, ok, I didn't exactly take the chandelier down and wash it but I did give it a good rub down with Windex!

So--that was my day. And what did you do today?

Done

Well, I am wrapping up my attic cleaning, box lugging, garage sale saga. Today was my last day. I really did pretty well and have made enough that I can go on my "Girls Only" trip to St. Augustine with my friend, Diana this fall. And I can buy the fountain that I almost bought there last year but didn't.

Anyhoo--I still have tons of stuff left in the garage. Mr. Snowbird has said that he can leave his car outside if I want to leave stuff set up and do this again in August. Cool! This way, I don't have to tear down, put away, haul upstairs, haul back downstairs, unpack boxes and set up again. I hate that part. A lot of the stuff is going to take a trip to Goodwill or Salvation Army though. This way I will have room for lots of stuff still waiting to go on the garage sale tables. (I wonder how many times I can use the word 'stuff' in a post?)

So, I'm done until August. Now that I'm done with all that I think I will finally find some time to do some online genealogy for some friends. Anybody want me to do some searching for you?