Ten Things Thursday

Okay, it's fall and time for some beautiful pictures!

What Butch Bought Wednesday!

So, while I was gone last week, Butch had a home repair to deal with. Our light over the sink has been a problem for several months. When you turn it on, it would flash on and off until it seemed to heat up. Finally, we were just leaving it on all the time. While I was in St. Louis and Butch was in Montana, Margarita came to clean. Apparently, she tuned the light off. There was no fixing it--all it did was flash all the time. 

Butch planned to fix it while I was gone. The least he could have done was to wait until I was actually gone!!

This really freaked me out. He said he was being safe--he put down 1x4's and made a platform to stand on. Doesn't look safe to me! He ended up having to replace the fixture. He said it took him about 2 hours in many awkward positions since the space is so narrow and high up! But, at least it's done!! He said he ached all over the next day from all of the twists and turns to get himself up in that little space!

Not exactly a fun purchase, but necessary. I must have a bright kitchen!! And I'm lucky enough to have a guy who can fix just about anything!

Travel Tuesday

Last weekend was our bi-annual scrapbook retreat at the Little Lake Village in Grand Rapids, Kentucky.

Everyone plans a meal and either a happy hour snack or dessert. We sit on the deck and enjoy the beautiful weather, scrapbook the day away, tell stories and laugh--a lot! We rent a 5 bedroom house with 4 bathrooms. Ironically, Pam, Karolyn and I share a room as there are 3 beds in it. There are 4 of us who share a bath while the other 3 girls have a private one. Susan has a room to herself, but shares our bath. Jeanne, Nancy and Janet each get their own room and bath. 

You might ask why we don't draw names. Well, Pam, Karolyn and I are very compatible roommates. Plus at least we do get our own beds. But it would be nice to have a room. There are 7 of us, but we don't always have 7 who can go. So there is a chance that we might get our own room now and then. It hasn't happened yet, so we'll see. 

We usually arrive around 11:30, but this time we were told the house wouldn't be ready until 2 p.m. So, we met for lunch at Patti's Settlement. It's an "old-timey" place with average food that's over-priced. There are other places nearby, but at this time of year, it's considered "off-season" so everything was closed.

We were able to get a photo.

When we go in the fall, we book for winter and the following fall. We're all set for 2026 and the owner always lets us have the same rate! $1400. Pretty good deal for such a nice place. And, it's only 2 hours from Nashville!

Until next time girls!!

Me on Monday AND Monday Mystery Update

You might recall a couple weeks ago about the mystery of the disappearance of this little beauty. It was a mystery as to where she came from in the first place and then, what happened to her--she disappeared.

Well, it turns out that Butch was going to use this little toy in a cache somewhere (as in geo-caching). Okay, so that mystery's been solved. I'm going to just keep her until next pool season and then put her back out at the pool where she belongs.

Now, on to "Me on Monday."

I got home from my scrapbook retreat yesterday--to this pretty arrangement. I couldn't imagine who would be sending me flowers. I have no special days coming up and I couldn't think of anyone who might be thanking me for something.

So, I read the card.

Isn't that so sweet? I promise I'm not going to make this about TS and all the good she does just by "being!" This is about how I love surprises like this. A beautiful arrangement for just "being!" 

Thanks Mindy! 

Something for Sunday

Here's my September report.

Movies Seen:

*****Downton Abbey—the Finale

Books Read—

   5 star books:

Many Lives Many Masters

The Briar Club

We Used to Live Here

Guess Again

Dave Barry: Class Clown

Podcasts—2

Lunch Out—7

Dinner Out:—1

Bridge—4

Pool Days—1

Documentaries/Movies/Series  

Hulu:

****Hollywood Demons (6 episodes)

***Alone the Challenge (2 episode)

****The Dry 

*****Captive Audience

*****Stalking Amanda (3 episodes)

Netflix :

***Love Con Revenge—(2 episodes)

*****Most Hated Man/Internet—(3 episodes)

****Volcano Rescue 

****Katrina: Come Hell or High Water (3 episodes)

*****AKA Charlie Sheen (3 episodes)

*****Inside Bill’s Brain (6 episodes)

****Life In Color (4 episodes)

*****Just One Look—(2 episodes)

*****Broken—doc—(4 episodes)

***Xanax—doc

*****Scoop

***Einstein

*****Buy Now

*****Black Rabbit (8 episodes)

Prime:

*****The Way We Were

*****August Rush

Scrapbook Pages Completed: 0 Busy planning for our retreat!

Trips & Events:

Hawaii Family Vacation

High Tea/Cheekwood

Road Trip: St. Louis, Springfield, Salem, Defiance

Rosary 55th class reunion (class of 1970)

Scrapbook Saturday

As you are reading this, I am on my fall scrapbook retreat with my friends and sisters. There are 7 of us--our AYM (A Year of Memories) group. We've been doing this for over 20 years---twice a year---fall and winter. We have good food, plenty of fun beverages (if you know what I mean) and endless hours of scrapbooking with a a Dateline marathon thrown in. Add in some Netflix and it comes out to nothing but fun!

I haven't done any scrapbooking in September. There has been so much going on including our family vacation to Hawaii and then my road trip through Missouri. So all I've done this month was get ready for the retreat--eeking out a little time here and there. I plan to have quite a few layouts to share with you next Saturday. Until then, I hope you are doing something fun!!

Friday Funnies

Five Things Thursday

Today we have beautiful books. I wouldn't mind having them on my shelf!

And then there are these books! Scrapbook albums! No, they aren't mine, but they do look like the ones I use. There are approximately 120 here. I have over 150. They are all over the house and not in just one place. I'm in the process of working on cleaning out the library and getting rid of books I no longer need. So, Once I have the room, I'm thinking having them lined up in rainbow order. That would look so cool. Once I do it, I'll share pictures.

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

Travel Tuesday

Okay, I'm going to share some pictures from my trip last week.

1. First stop, Springfield, MO.

Chrissy, my cousin and the purpose of the trip-- me and Janet.

2. Second stop, Rolla, MO.

Their replica of a part of Stonehenge was a bit disappointing. Considering I've been to the real place in England, this is pretty lame. I did not like the manufactured concrete blocks--nothing like the real thing. We had planned to visit the vacuum museum, but it has permanently closed. 

3. Third stop, Salem, MO.

Jennifer and Parvez's farm in beautiful. This view is from Janice's cabin porch.

Janice and Matt.

From left--clockwise: me, Jennifer, Matt, Sharon and Janice.

Janice, Sharon and me.

4. Fourth stop, Defiance, MO.

Jeanne and Jim's house. We spent a lot of time sitting here gabbing. I only got one picture of us, but it wasn't good, so the garden will have to do.

5. Fifth stop was Lake St. Louis, MO.

We went to Matt and Sharon's for dinner and a poker game. We sat on the porch and talked before dinner. Matt got this hand during our poker game--6 of us were playing and it was "5 card draw with jacks or better to open." Quite a feat to get 4 of a kind with that many playing. Oh, and did I mention that I won $21.70?? That's always fun!

6. Sixth stop (after a brief stop at Matt's since we rode together) was Cottleville, MO.

Matt and I were going to our high school reunions--55th for me, 46th for him.

A couple of my really good friends--Chris (what we called her in grade school, but known as "Fig" in highschool) and Jane. More about her a little further down.

I got this picture early on. This is Paul from the neighborhood. Even though he was in my class all through grade school at St. Aloysius and then high school, he was Ronnie's friend. This was the first picture I got.

After the few pictures here, I didn't get many more--too busy talking!

Pam and I were not really close friends, but it turns out we have BOOKS in common. She was a librarian for her whole career. We talked about our favorites and had a fun conversation.

I'm so glad we had name tags. Many of the girls I knew right away, but there were also several I didn't recognize--and a few that I didn't even recognize their names. This is Marilyn. I don't think I knew her well, but she came up to me very enthusiastically, so we had a nice convo. We were not in any classes together.

And now for these girls! On my left is Ellen and my right is Karen.

They are the sisters of Jane above in the pink striped shirt. Jane, my BFF, Reenie and I were really close friends. Here's the story:

On our very first day of school, Freshman year, I approached Jane and asked, "Hey, didn't you play softball for St. Jerome?" She did and we hit it off. I found out many years later--like my 45th reunion--that Jane did not want to go to Rosary. She didn't know anybody and her friends were going to the public school. When I approached her the first day, she said that I invited her to sit with my gang at lunch and she was "in" from then on. I had no idea, but we were really close friends. Reenie and I used to ride our bikes to her house about 2 miles away. The girls above where her younger sisters--5 & 6 at the time. We were 14/15. 

So, at our last reunion, Jane told me that her sisters used to pretend that they were "Reenie and Barb" all the time. She told me that they couldn't wait to see me again. They sought me out and we had so much fun. They were crazy excited and treated me like some sort of celebrity. Karen, said I was her "rebel" hero. Not sure what she really meant except that our school was the Rosary Rebels. Turns out, she was in my brother Matt's class. So now, we were on the hunt to find Matt. She wanted to know if he was still cute and I told her that he is! Go back to the top and see if you don't agree!

My reunion was great fun--we stayed the entire time and another half hour after it was over--4.5 hours! It was soooo hot! Full sun. I was standing on concrete for 2 hours--even though Matt brought us chairs. No one else was sitting, so I didn't either. After the 2 hours, my back was hurting--and I don't even have back problems! I convinced some people to sit down. 

I loved seeing so many old friends. Plus talking to some who I barely knew at all. It wasn't a single bit awkward. Just the situation made it all familiar. 

I have to admit, I was glad to get home on Sunday. I had so much to do to get ready for my scrapbook retreat tomorrow!!!

Monday Mystery

Okay, this is a bit of a lame Monday Mystery. 

While I was out on my walk in the neighborhood I noticed this:

It's pretty obvious that this is a mailbox--it is embossed "US Mail". I don't really think you need anything else--especially since ALL of our boxes in the neighborhood are the same--obviously mailboxes. But this neighbor must have decided that the fact that it is, indeed a mailbox isn't enough. I guess they want to make sure the mailman doesn't put the mail in the newspaper slot below the actual box. 

Or, maybe they just liked the little pop of red as a decor accent. Okay, I can get on board with that. But then, why couldn't they at least put it on straight? Or for that matter, why would you want to call attention to your crappy, rusty mailbox. How about getting a new one?

I have many questions--a mystery for sure!

Something for Sunday

So, I'm on my way home today from St. Louis. Now I have to get myself started on the next thing. That would be leaving on Wednesday morning for our fall scrapbook retreat. I have so much to do! 

Unpack

Do my garden chores

Grocery shop

Get my scrapbook stuff together (pictures, a title and some journaling need to be printed yet) and pack it all up

Play bridge on Monday

Book club Monday night

Lunch with a friend on Tuesday (this will be my day to do all the scrapbook stuff)

Cook for the retreat

Gather all food items

Pack my clothes

Load it all up!

Since I'm such a pre-planner, I'll get all of this done. I've already grocery shopped for the non-perishables. I've printed pictures and done journaling for many of the layouts I plan to do. Actually, the planning is half the fun of the actual trip. I love every bit of it!

So, today, I'm just going to share a selfie that we took during happy hour prior to my trip through Missouri last week. Our friends, Pete and Susan gave us a gift bag of "goodies" as a thank you for their trip to our condo at the beach. 

We snapped this pictures to show them that we were enjoying the Tanqueray with our gin and tonics. G&T's are our favorite drinks.

Later...

Scrapbook Saturday

These are the title and end pages that I designed for our current AYM (A Year of Memories) album. We're going on our fall retreat on Wednesday. That's when the 

girls will do them.

The corner flowers are made with a hexagon punch and assorted papers. Each hexagon is cut into thirds and then re-assembled to form the boxes--stacked to make the flowers. Super simple. I punched all of the hexagons and cut them for everybody so there wouldn't be any mistakes! Now if I can keep them from obsessing about how to piece them together....

This one is the title page. Super simple. Susan cut the date strip on the left for me from an old Quickutz die. I cut the "memories" and  camera with my Cricut. Everything else was done on the computer and then just printed. Add a little washi tape and a few brads--done! 

Friday Funnies