They're in Trouble Now!

The dogs love to race through the house barking, sigh....  Most of the time it isn't a problem, but once in a while Merlin will clip one of my potted jade plants and scatter dirt and plant matter everywhere.  I'm actually surprised the plants have survived.  I've had them for years-I bought a tiny potted jade from the Girl Scouts at a craft fair.  It was in a little paper cup.  It grew through a few pots, and when a dog broke a branch off, I potted IT and it's almost as big as the original.

Merlin (of course it was Merlin) really ran through there like a tornado!  Ignore the nose marks on the flap-for some reason the dogs won't clean it off no matter how many times I ask!

He hit so hard it threw dirt into the middle of the door!

Anyway, Mom yelled and they cowered.  Then I vacuumed.  I've vacuumed the living room three times in a week and the dirt cup is full every time!  Today, finally, it was only half full.  My carpet salesman friend said that it happened to him and it took a while after he got the new vacuum to catch up with the dirt.  Oh, and you know those fancy expensive vacuums that that British guy invented?  Carpet people say not to buy those-they actually have too much suction and will fray the carpet.  Who knew?  (Mine isn't the expensive one.)

On another note, I jumped on my blog to write a new post but noticed one of my friends on my blog list had a different sounding post, so I read that first.  My prayers go out to Lisa-her husband had an unexpected health issue right after he arrived at a trade fair.  Thank the Lord for modern medical procedures!  Stan had a similar event five years ago, and was able to have a stent.  He's healthy as a horse now, and got that way with a far less invasive procedure than a bypass would have been.

I was going to be a lot farther along on sewing by now but here it is 10:00 and I haven't started.  I want to sew a while then hit JoAnn's.  That plan got changed Saturday, so I'll try again today.  Stan is fishing again-yay-so I can do MY plans instead of his.  Ladies, don't let your hubbies retire!

Strolling

Thursday night was Manhattan's Christmas Stroll.  Of course Santa was there.  He started at the school library handing out treats to the kids, while the kids did crafts.

Sydney and Grandpa, I mean Santa!

He inhaled that candy cane!

 

They had kits for little polar bears.  Very cute!

 

Then he rode the sleigh to the bank downtown to have pictures taken with the kids.  The bank does this service for free and they are really good pictures.

 I had a really great picture of Santa among the kids on the wagon, but I didn't want to show kids' faces on the Internet with no permission, so I showed Syd instead.

Great pic of the Big Guy!

 Like a dummy, I didn't take pictures of the other grandkids when they showed up at the bank.  I'll have to steal some of Millie's.  I hung out at the bank while the kids strolled-not really up to running all over town yet.  I refer to "the bank" because in our small town there is only one bank.  They are very community minded and it really is a place where "everybody knows your name."

Another Road Trip

This time we met up with our son and DIL's church group, Imagine, and spent some time in Virginia City, MT. This is an old mining town that has been lovingly restored and is visited by thousands of tourists each year. They have two theater groups, The Brewery Follies-a bawdy, laugh filled musical revue that plays in the old brewery, and The Virginia City Players, a group that performs period plays from long ago, plus having a variety act. The Players are rated G, the Follies are PG, so since this was a church group with kids along we opted for the Players.

The Players have been holding plays in an old livery barn since the early 1950's-started by director Larry Barsness. Down through the years they have lovingly tried to stick with the original model and quite successfully, I might add. Stan's family started coming in the very beginning, even when money was tight. They would budget enough to get there at least once in the summer. I talked with the present director and he was tickled to know that there were three generations of people present who had kept the tradition alive. If Gram had been there it would have been four, but she was visiting my brother-in-law for the weekend.

About an hour's drive, so enough time for some knitting. I'm making a pair of socks for Grandma for Christmas. I decided, since it's the self-striping yarn, I would more or less work them together so the stripes would match. I got all the way up to the gusset by the time we got home.

Noses pressed to the window. Fascinating stuff for 5 & 6 year olds.

Pastor Randy checking out the weathered buildings. Some of these buildings were slapped up quickly to take advantage of the gold mining boom.

Isaac checking out the "Ye Olde Photo Shoppe."

As we left the Playhouse, we were treated to a bride and groom being carried around in a horse and buggy. We saw two weddings there-this must be something new, but quite a good moneymaker.

And finally and MOST importantly, homemade ice cream-made by a girl in pioneer dress with an old fashioned ice cream freezer.

My Heart is Heavy

I am still in shock over the terrible quake in Haiti. Every time I see footage of people still trapped, people injured with no medical care, no food, no water, no place to sleep, I want to cry. The media has informed us that the best way to help is with cash. Be careful who you give cash to, but you can always give money to the Red Cross, and for faith-based organizations you could donate to World Vision or Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, a little-known, but very well run relief organization within our denomination.

Now is not the time for political posturing, or blaming. I have heard the most outlandish statements from well-known people in this country and it APPALLS me that someone could say these things. An evangelist has said horrible things and one of the ultra-conservative talk show mouthpieces has faulted the president for actually wanting to help these people because they are black.

Time for that evangelist to hang up his pulpit and retire, and I wish that talk-show guy would just SHUT UP!

Anyway, I'll step off my soapbox now and go find my credit card so I can get money to CRWRC as quickly as I can. God bless the lovely people of Haiti.

Strolling

Last night was Manhattan's Christmas stroll. There were vendors, open houses at the businesses, a Christmas market, warming fires, and very important, Santa.

He started at the local school library right after school let out, and at 5:00 he was escorted downtown to the local bank by the fire department. There the kids lined up for pictures with the big guy and to give him their requests. Every year the bank takes the pictures, prints them right there, puts them in a nice framed card, and gives them to the families free. What a nice service to the community!

Waiting in the 4 degree cold for Santa to show up.

The firemen delivering their precious cargo.

Out of his mind with excitement that "Poppa" Santa rode the fire truck-his favorite vehicle.

Gingerbread contest-also sponsored by the bank.

The evening ended with fireworks.

The planners were happy with the turnout since the daily lows were -25 F up until last night when it warmed up to +4. I figure people were tired of being cooped up so they bundled up and came out. This is always a nice way to start the Christmas countdown.

Any guesses on who Santa was?

Thanks, Lera

I never win anything, but last week was the exception. Lera had a drawing for these lovely napkins, made from thrifted sheets. I got them this morning-what a nice thing to happen on a Monday!


They even have a cozy home, but I think a basket would even be nicer.

It's so cool that she lives in a small town like I do-my town has about 1500 people. Her return address is a PO box like mine! City people have no idea-they're always asking me for my mailing address, not getting the fact that we actually have to go to the post office to pick up our mail. A neat thing that Lera and I have in common. Thanks again!

We're Back, but First.......

We came home to the terrible news that four buildings had exploded in downtown Bozeman. Five businesses were destroyed, all in over 100-year-old buildings. Worst of all was the loss of a life, Tara Bowman, the manager of the art gallery that was destroyed. I didn't know Tara, but my heart goes out to her family, especially her young husband.

My DIL's sis works just a block from the disaster, and in fact was on the corner when it happened. How scary!

The cause was ruptured gas lines. All those lines are close to the same age as the buildings. Hopefully there was no foul play. There was another gas line explosion about a year ago downtown, and the word is that line was actually cut.

Anyway, I'll be posting pics soon, maybe even today, but I had to post this first.

Some pictures of the disaster: