It is apple picking time!

What a wonderful time of year, to be able to walk out your door and pick a fresh apple or pear! My pears are almost done for the year and we have enjoyed them greatly, but our apples are still going strong.
Nothing smells so good as homemade apple butter cooking on the stove, unless it is accompanied by some homemade bread.
And then there is apple jelly, pie, and apple sauce. Too much to make in too little of time.
But I think that my grandchildren love it best when I just peel and slice some. I can't keep ahead of the little hands reaching in for more. Happy Autumn!

Road Construction

I have never seen so much road construction going on at one time in my whole life. It seems no matter what road I take to anywhere, there is road work going on in one form or another.
I live in a rural area where it takes fifteen minutes at least to get to any of the towns. Every main road to every town is closed for construction. I went to the town East of my home today and had to detour. So, I took the route specified and had to detour on that road also for a bridge being out. Taking the third road in what should be a fifteen minute straight shot trip, I come across workers patching the road and making it a one lane street. By this time I am ready to just turn around and go back home, but I am not sure which way to go and I am not sure that it won't be under construction by the time I get there!

Coffee or Tea

I have realized through the years that most people either like coffee or tea. But the majority of people do not like both. Now there are some who like iced coffee and not hot coffee and some that like ice tea and not hot tea. But it seems that most people like one or the other, just not both.
I personally can't even stand the smell of coffee, but I do enjoy my tea, hot or cold. There is nothing better than to curl up with a good book on a cold winter's day and enjoy a nice mug of hot tea. My husband on the other hand doesn't like to start a day without his cup of coffee. Actually he has to have two or three cups.
I have a neice who works for a national coffee chain. She gets free coffee and/or tea every month that she works. The only bad part of this is that she doesn't like either. Therefore the aunts, uncles, parents, and grandparents benefit from her job. I love it when she shows up with my favorite kind of tea. I think I will stop this blog and go have a cup right now. Bottoms up!!!

Patriot's Day

This time of year has a very special place in my heart. There is hardly anyone in the United States that doesn't remember the minute by minute replay in their minds of what happened on that day in 2001. September 11th is now known as Patriot Day and I am very proud to say that I honor that day, not just for those who died in the towers, or the Pennsylvania field, or even in the Pentagon, but for every single American who today can say that they are a Patriot.
One thing that stands out most in my mind that day and for days to come after was how blue the sky was and how quiet it seemed. How the planes stopped flying and it just seemed like the world was holding its breath. I see pictures from that day and it all comes rushing back like it has just happened.
Another thing that will forever hold a memory for me on that day is that when I got home from that long, long day at work that my answering machine was full of messages, one right after the other, from my children telling me that they were okay and not to worry about them. I had family up in Cleveland where the one plane had ended up circling. I had boys in Dayton right beside Wright Pat Air Force Base where it was rumoreed that it had also been hit. But standing there in my kitchen, hearing their sweet voices on that machine trying to reasure ME that the world would be okay, I thought of all those people who would never again hear the music of their loved ones voices and I cried for each and everyone of them. It still makes me mad to think that some horrible men could come on our soil and do this to US!
But the best memory of those days was how we as a country came together to shove thier terrorism down their throats. We stood together as a nation, as a family, as ONE! Everywhere that you looked there were flags, not just on buildings or on a pole, but on people and on their homes. Everyone was wearing red, white, and blue. We were proud of what we stood up against and shook our fists in their faces.
We are once again getting back to what we were before. We have lost some of that sense of pride in ourselves and in each other. We are starting to get complacent in our everyday happenings and we are opening ourselves to more of the same if we don't watch it.
Pick up those flags and wave them again. Don't wait for the 4th of July, or the Olympics, or an election to show that you are Patriotic; we must be this way each and every day. Hold your heads high and smile at your neighbors; don't stare down at your feet. Say thank you to anyone serving our country, be it politicians, fire men and women, police personnel, Red Cross Workers, missionaries, or whoever, but most especially our service men and women. Say thank you and mean it! We need to be glad that we are in a country where no job is meaningless and that we all need each other to survive.
Thank you for the chance to write this. Thank you America for being there always for all of us. I will always wave your flag. I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!

Flying the American Flag

Flying the American Flag is a privilage and should be treated as such. I get so mad when I am driving down the road and see a flag that is flying in three different directions because it has been ripped apart by the wind and is in shreds. I also get upset to see that the colors are pink, purple, and cream instead of red, white, and blue. I have also been witness to some that are so ragged on the edge that they look like they have been carried into a hundred battles.
Now I know that it is impossible to buy a new flag every week, but if you are going to fly it all the time, be sure to keep it flying pretty. From my past experience I have found that the cheaper flags fall apart a lot faster. We have bought some for around ten dollars and they seem to last through a couple of seasons.
I do appreciate that people have the American Spirit and keeping the Grand Old Flag flying high. I just wish that they would take pride in that symbol of these great United States and make sure that it is a good looking flag for all to see.

Labor Day

The non-official end of summer is Labor Day. Although the calendar's true first day of Autumn isn't for a couple more weeks, all vacations and summer activities seem to come to a screaching halt after this weekend. The weather has already started to cool down and if you look at the trees, you can see that some of the leaves are changing colors. Even the animals seem to be getting ready for several cooler months. Our dogs are starting to get their winter coats and the birds are flying South for warmer weather.
I personally like the different seasons. I like each one in its own unique style and natural wonders that they give. I also hate to see the end of each old season but enjoy the beginning of the new one.

O-H I-O

Tonight is the kick off for the Ohio State Buckeye football season. I feel like a kid in a candy shop. It has been since January since I've seen a good football game and I can hardly wait for 7:30.
It isn't just the football game, it is the fans yelling, "O-H . . . I-O", it is The Best Damn Band in the Land marching onto the field, it is also the players locking arms in the end zone and running out of the tunnel.
I grew up with scarlet and grey pounding through my blood. I see that big block "O" or a buckeye and it gives me chills. I hear "Hang on Sloopy" and yell out at the top of my lungs. But most of all, I see script Ohio and tears come pouring down my face.
There is nothing like Ohio State football and no matter where you roam or where you might live, once a Buckeye always a Buckeye. GO BUCKS!!!

Anniversary

Yesterday was my husband and my wedding anniversary. It was not a milestone one for us this year, but it is getting close to one. We have never done much for celebrating on this day because we feel like everyday is a celebration in our marriage. But we have had some strange spur of the moment anniversary parties.
On our twenty-fifth, our children thought that we should do something special. They all came home and we got pizzas from Pizza Hut. It just so happen that it was on a weekend and unexpected guests dropped in "just because". By the time it was said and done, we fed about forty people and the majority of them didn't even know that it was a special day for anyone.
A couple of our others were spent camping because it fell on Labor Day weekend and that is what we did to celebrate the end of summer.
One other one was spent at a local lake with Kentucky Fried Chicken for our meal. We played softball and fished. My husband's parents came along and the pictures that we took speak volumes. We had a great time!
This year was no different. It was just my husband and I celebrating since it was the middle of the week and we ended up eating at a local Tastee Freeze. The food wasn't the greatest and we had to swat mosquitoes through the whole meal, but we were together and had completed another year. It doesn't take a five star resturant or a room full of people for us to remember that so many years ago we made a pledge to always be there and to love each other. We thank God each day that He brought us together and for the many blessings that He has given to us both.