On Walking And Waiting:

The weight is not coming off as fast now. I am still loosing, but slower now that my body has caught on to this new activity.

I am still walking around in circles waiting for that first glimpse of grandbaby. I want to smell that new born baby smell. Hear its coos and cries. Change its poopy diapers.

Boy? Girl? I don’t care! Health? I sure hope so.

I want to knit little things with the sex of a specific cuddly crying infant in mind. Not that I am into the pink and blue thing. But frills or no, would be helpful. (And just for the record, if my grandbaby is a boy and wants frills or a girl who does not, they can have it the way they want when they are old enough to state a preference, but it must be the child’s choice.) I think you now want I mean here. Something knit with that baby in mind.

They are not even telling the names they picked out until it is born.

It is harder to feel involved when you don’t know the sex or name choices.

But I know that the waiting will be over soon. I will survive this time. I will forget the waiting. As soon as I see that ugly scrunched up baby face.

Two heads and ten legs… I don’t care. I have this love all bottled up just waiting to be poured out on this grandkid of mine.

On Being On Track:

I have been on a self imposed weight loss program. It is more of a muscle building thing, but it has been taking most of my time.

While shopping the other day I realized that if I had to walk around with a fractious infant for any amount of time, I’d poop put in no time at all. Yes, I let myself get that out of shape.

So, I have been walking and walking and walking on a track, carrying ten pounds of weights in my arms. And I’m now walking for a few miles at a time.

The up side is I’ve been loosing weight again. I’ve lost five pounds so far. I really do need to work off those extra 30 pounds I gained last year, and then some more. 220 pounds is too much for any frame and mine is on the small side.

So I’m at 215 and dropping. And with the help of an almost grandkid I’ll be loosing some more.

I really did need to have a way to work off some of this baby waiting nervousness so I put it to work for me.

On Thank You’s And Waiting Some More:

Thank you for the kind words of healing.

I’m doing better today and I’m still waiting for the results of my tests. And will have to wait until Monday now that the work day is almost over.

So now I’m wait for Baby and the Doctors Office. And the one hangs on the other.

I’m not good with the waiting stuff. I never have been. I try, I really do. I keep busy and try to be pleasant, but it still gets to me.

Mountain Man will be happy to have me gone for a while. I’m making him a bit crazy with my clock watching and phone hording.

I’m going to bed early and watching some Red Dwarf, a sure mood lifter.

Tomorrow is another day.

On Not Now:

I have been sick again. I don’t know what is up this year. Wicked sore throat. Swollen glands and a stiff neck.

I can’t go see a new grandkid when it comes like this. I’m off to the Doctor tomorrow.

Here’s hoping that I get over this new bug fast.

On Spending Vs. Saving:

Yesterday we made ginger-pear butter and did more canning of pears from the pear tree out back of the house.

Today was shopping day so we were out most of the day. I needed a few things and we wanted to stock up for things needed this Winter. It was an all day shopping trip. I hate those and I’m glad it is over. I don’t know why I’m missing the shopping gene, but I don’t have it. I can’t wait to have any shopping trip over even with the savings.

I’m a thrifty spender and hate parting with money when I’m saving for something I need. I am still saving for that new computer. And the closer I get to my goal the more I hate parting with cash.

It was needs vs. wants so I spent the money. I’ll wait for weeks, months even, for a sale to save a few cents. The sales came and I went out shopping.

We are shoppers that go by the rule, That if you don’t have the money you don’t get it. So even if we use a credit card, the money must be there to pay for it before it is purchased.

The computer will have to wait a bit longer.

On Winter House Button Up:

It was a busy weekend. We were getting ready for Winter.

Moving wood piles closer to the house. Putting plastic over windows that won’t be opened for the season. Airing out bedding and winter coats.

Collecting the fallen leaves. The ash trees in front of the house are bare so now the leave can be moved so they stop coming in the house every time the door is opened. The oaks still have half of their leaves but they won’t fall off until Spring. Oaks are like that.

The chimneys got a thorough cleaning. Of course they will be cleaned more times through out the season, but it is always nice to have a fresh start.

One thing after another, but it feels good to have it all done.

It was a bit early this year. But with the baby coming and the early cold spell, it just seemed right to do it now.

I don’t need to have a house fall on me. After five mornings of frost I’m ready to button up the house for the Winter.

On Another Day Wasted, But In A Good Way:

Well, the snow never came so I didn’t make cookies. Not that my waist line needed them.

Today was very blustery. The wind didn’t know which way it wanted to go and whipped around all helter-skelter. It was a good day to have a fire in the wood stove and keep a cup of tea close by. That is when it wasn’t belching smoke forced in by the fickle wind.

I managed to waste time playing a video game called Ranch Rush. I fed fake cows, sheep, and ostriches, planted crops, collected honey, and made jam, bread and ketchup. I did this for far too many hours, but it felt good because I hadn’t been playing my other games since my computer broke.

I got a lot of house cleaning done in between days farming in the game. I like to get the dust and dirt out before I close up the house for the Winter.

I keep on waiting for the phone to ring. It is getting closer to baby time.

There is still weeks to go, but you know how it is when you’re waiting for something. You want it now.

I’m off to bed early to read and snuggle under the covers. The wind is still making noise outside and I just want to feel all warm and cozy.

On Stiff as a Board:

Well today started with a stiff neck and after hours of a hot water bottle I can now move.

Of course, the only things I have time to do now is the house work then it will be off to bed again.

I am glad it is over, but I just hate to loose a day.

The day was cold and wet. They said snow flurries on the weather report, but I didn’t see any.

And I was looking forward to first snow cookies.

In our house, Every year the person who sees the first snow flake of the season gets to start a batch of cookies and everyone else has to join in. (Not a hardship around here.) It is one of our home made holidays.

If it does snow before I go to bed I’m on those cookies like white on rice.

In fact, I think I’ll stay up a little later then usual just in case. Wouldn’t you do the same?

On Old ‘B’ Grade Sci-Fi Movies:

I just love old ‘B’ Grade Sci-Fi Movies and for some reason, for me they are best watched in the Autumn.

I can’t get enough of them. I laugh my head off over these gems.

Things that come from other plants. Giant things that eat or destroy a town. Mummies, Zombies, Vampires and Mad Scientists. I like them all.

Who could resist titles like:
Monster From A Prehistoric Planet
Cosmos War Of the Planets
Creature From The Haunted Sea
The Giant Gila Monster
Doomed To Die
The Ape
First Spaceship On Venus
They Came From Beyond Space
Frankenstein’s Daughter
Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter
The Monster Maker
The Terror
Attack Of The Monsters
Vampire Bat
Devil Bat
Voyage To the Prehistoric Planet
War Of The Monsters
Gamera Vs. Monster X
Warning From Space
Assignment Outer Space
Little Shop Of Horrors (A Classic)

Just a small sample of my DVD collection.

Oh, the things that could scare us way back when.

Toy spaceships on visible wire against a painted back drop don’t frighten they only amuse. Hokey dialog, Poor plots, and some down right bad acting bring tears of joy to my eyes.

There may be some great comics out in the world, but the way to make this Lady laugh is to show her a good old ‘B’ Grade Sci-Fi.

On Knitting for the Homeless:

Well I got the bag of hats, scarves, and mittens topped off. I did a major knit-a-thon on Sunday, and from the time I got the yarn a few weeks ago until now, I have a grand total of (Drum roll please!)

19 hats
14 short scarves and 1 cowl
17 pairs of mittens

I did have to replace my old double points because after making so many pair of mittens and socks with them over the last few years I wore a dent in the wood, making a collar around each end.

I still have more yarn and I do have to get more of them to the shelter because there is a turnover, but it is a good start for this Winter.

I wish I had a picture I could show you of the colorful pile, but until I have a new computer that will have to wait.

On Welcome To Goth-hood:

Well I haven’t been talking much about my Gothiness lately.

Not that its gone away, because it hasn’t. I just don’t feel the need to constantly state the obvious.

But will Halloween coming up I do want to add a welcome to all who don’t feel free to be Goth on the outside unless it is a costume party or holiday.

It is a tuff world out there and I for one don’t want to add to another Goth persons load. Not all Goths have a full measure of flashiness. And they just don’t feel the need or have the ability in themselves to wear the ‘out there’ cloths and makeup.

I knew what I liked and that it was not the same as anyone around me. And from a very young age I learned to keep my mouth shut about it.

And as a Goth who doesn’t judge other Goths, I also remember that first step into Goth-hood. (Though for me, it wasn’t called Goth way back then.) I had no role models or groups or anyone around that even thought like me.

I was in the closet because it was that or be sent to the funny farm for a depression I just didn‘t have. I just liked dark stuff and it made me happy. So for years I thought one way and acted another.

Not until there were other Goths to associate with, could I let my true self out. And/or even admit my gothiness to myself.

A big step for a person like me, standing at that time in the late 60‘s, in a world of hippies, drugs and free love. The natural movement was just getting a start. It was all about feeling good, happy and loving.

Bucking the system was the way to go, but only in a pre set of parameters. Communes are not the place for people that don’t play well with others. And no one wore black but old ladies who couldn‘t keep up with the times.

So from someone who got here the hard way. Welcome to Goth-hood. Your not broken, Your just different. And we like it that way.

On 10-10-10 Plans:

What are you doing on this odd dated day?

I should have been paying more attention to the weather. But I wasn’t.

I woke up this morning to frost on the ground. It was so nice to see as long as we have a warm fire in the wood stove.

The white fuzzy furriness. The down right cold nip in the air. The chill that goes through you.

Countered with the extra blankets on the bed. A cup of tea at hand. The crackle of the fire in the stove, with the dogs snoring underneath it.

All I could think of was warn woolen sweaters, socks and scarves.

The pile I’ve been knitting has grown of hats and scarves for the homeless. I will have to get them down the shelter as soon as possible.

I have a fairly good house and fuel for the Winter. But others do not. I am lucky at the moment and I feel I must share the wealth. Because when I was in need others, strangers, have helped me.

So for the rest of the day I’m going to top off that pile of hats, scarves and mittens I’ve already gotten started and get them to the shelter.

The cold is coming!

On Looking Upward:

Today was a lovely Autumn day. I was looking at the last of the color in the trees. And guess what I saw?

An Eagle! Flying over head. It skimmed the trees just north of the house.

We have had them moved into a State Park a few years ago. This park is a few miles away so I would look skyward every time I got a chance.

And just when I was thinking that they just weren’t going to come my way for whatever reason eagles reason with… There it was just flying low and circling higher.

I watched it for over an hour doing its lazy circle dance in the sky. Before it got too high to see any longer, it turned off toward the park and home.

This is not my first bald eagle sighting, but it was one of the longest and the closest.

They are intimidating in their largeness. It felt like if it had landed on my house with its wings still spread, it would have more than covered the roof, front to back, of my ranch style house.

I felt a bit like a hobbit must have felt in the Lord of the Rings at the part where the eagles swoop down and flies off with the main characters in their claws. I got that shivery feeling down my back.

I hope it comes back to visit again.

On I Remember My Grandmas:

I have been thinking about my own grandmothers lately.

They are both long gone, more than 30++ years ago.

Of the two, I remember my mothers mom more. It was location more then anything. She lived around the corner and the other was over an hours drive away. And back in those days that was a day trip.

The first house I lived in was my Grandma’s. My parents were saving to buy a house.














This is the house from the back. With my mom in the side yard, before World War II, if you want a time reference.

Because of my grandma that house was a haven from the rest of the world. We were eight of us in a four room apartment. My parents rented out the upper floor apartment to help pay for the clothing and feeding of the six kids.

At grandma’s it was loving care, order and discipline. The food was good, hot and plain. Things were done on a schedule. They didn’t put up with roughhousing or poking about. But underneath it all was a sense of humor. Jokes flew, mostly over our heads. Giggles and laughter lived at both of my grandma’s houses.

And a sense of peacefulness. The quite comfort of an afternoon nap on the rug in a sun puddle. While grandma snoozed in her armchair rocker. The quite warmth of the hiss of the radiators in the winter. A place to go when things weren’t ‘as one would like’ with too many people living at home.

My father’s mother died when I was 14 and my mother’s mom when I was 23. But never a week passes by that I don’t think about them in one way or another. For the things that they taught me or the experiences I had at their knee.

I want to be a grandma worth remembering.

On Just a Quick Message:

There is a new story up on my ‘Thrill or Shiver’ story blog. It is a Halloween tale called ‘Halloween Pizza’.

I put it up early so I don’t miss the chance depending on when the new grandchild arrives. Enjoy, or should I say, Enjoy the Shiver.

On Childhood Reviewed:

As the time gets closer to being a full fledged grandmother I find myself thinking about when my kids were born and their early childhood and even my own.

I find myself watching cartoons and kids shows more then adult TV. To see what is out there for children these days and to jog a few memories.

The only thing that works better is the smell of crayons.

I do wish that they lived closer to me and I could be a more hands on grandma. But I have been collecting a craft box for visits. Not that an infant can craft, but you can’t start the box too early.

By the time the Little bat is old enough, I should have a good collection of things. Paper towel tubes that slide into each other, to be turned into spy glasses and kaleidoscopes and any number of other things.

Buttons and beads, ribbons and strings, a rainbow of colors in paper. Glue and paste, plastic wrap and tape, tin foil and sparkles. Safety scissors and rulers, crayons and markers, pencils and pens.

I’ll throw in dowels and some food coloring too. Some news print and wrapping paper also. We will mix in imagination and a willingness to have fun.

And out will come kites and large paper hats, enough animals to full up a zoo and a tea party for two. Anything we want, we will make or make do, and have all the fun we can concocted. And if we don’t it wont be for the lack of stuff in the craft box.

It has always turned rain days into holidays before and I’m counting on it working in the future.

On Mess Accumulation:

How can a house get so messy when I was hardly out of bed for days?

I just went from pillar to post today putting things away and cleaning the rest. Tomorrow I get back to knitting. My hands are itching to have something crafty to do again.

I have kept off the five pound. Not one came back when I started to be able to eat again.

I have been doing light exercises. Mostly because my legs and arms still feel like they are made from spaghetti noodles.

We got out to go shopping for food and a few things. I picked up a copy of ‘Wind in the Willows’ on DVD for the Little. The stop action animation one I like so much. I found myself singing the songs from it even though I haven’t seen it for years. I must have liked it even more then I thought.

I even got to water the plants today before they died on me.

I wanted to play, but I buckled down and got a lot of things done. And that feels good too.

Now for some video game fun. See you tomorrow.

By the way 10-10-10 will be here soon. Are you doing anything special for it? I’m still thinking on what I will do.

On Couldn’t I Used To Get Into That Dress?:

First I’ll ask a question or riddle as it were.

How do you loose five pounds in three days?

A: Exercise like a Mad Man day and night and Extreme Diet.

B: Go to a Doctor and have him/her Suck it out of you along with a lot of your money.

C: Get so awfully sick that you can’t eat, while you eliminate everything you’ve got for three days.

Ohhhh! Ohhhh! Let me pick! Please! Pretty Please!

I did Letter C for the last three days.

It was no fun I do have to say, but on the flip side I lost a dress size. And a lot of my wardrobe opened up to me again.

On the down side I missed three days of my life and I still have 70 pounds to loose.

Back to eating right and exercising the rest of my butt off.

So I’m off to make my egg free, fat free, sugar free Banana Wheat Germ Cookies in my new oven. It’s the first day I could think of food since I got it. The better to diet with my dear.

On Or Two In The Bush?:

Should I have tried it a third time? I think not. Bird in the hand and all that.

My new gas range is here. There is a dent from the top to the bottom on the right side. Even the frame is bent at the bottom. I could cry.

It should look like this. (I have to link you because my note book won’t behave with pictures.)

The dent is on the side you can’t see when it is in place, so I can live with it. I just would have liked to have a new stove that looks new even where you can’t see it.

I sucked it up. Got a 20% discount. And had them bring it in.

I now sit with the old one in place because they are not allowed to touch the gas pipes and I couldn’t budge the coupling. The new one in the walk way and the back door off its hinges and propped up against the refrigerator.

Yes, they would have replaced the door, but I just wanted them out of here. (And once we get the old one disconnected we need to have to door off to get it out of here.)

Mountain Man is out of town for the day. And I’ll have to wait until 7:00 PM for him to help me put everything to rights. Good thing it’s a nice day out there today.

It will all be right once I can cook again. I am reserving happiness until I can see it is in fact working. Time will tell.

On Roof Repairs Today:

So far, Ms Mousie of the Knotty Mouse Blog took me up on my tagging. She commented to say she would post it there. A great blogging friend and wonderful person.

If you heard any kind of news on yesterday, you know about the rain and flooding we were/are having on the east coast. Here, we got more rain in a day and a half then we usually get in a whole summer season.

Over five inches here in my garden. In a word, Wet!

It rained in my parlor too. Pots, pans, and plastic wastepaper baskets were placed about to catch the many drips.

And the water came down the chimneys. Stinky, black, creosote water. We have chimney caps, but they weren’t enough for the rain and wind we had.

Mountain Man was away for the day and I was on my own until he could make it back home at two in the morning. (He would have gotten back by ten if not for the detours.) Did you know that Pennsylvania has more bridges than any other state? Bridges that get flooded in weather like we had yesterday.

The water is going down and we needed the rain for the water table. We have well water here, no rain - no water.

Mountain Man will be up on the roof today fixing the leak and I will be nervous knitting until he is safely on the ground again.