ALL THE LEAVES ARE BROWN, AND THE SKY IS GRAY.

 Clean, clean, clean. I guess the fall cleaning bug has bitten since I am spending this week cleaning. Today Don used a great product called Armstrong New Beginnings on my kitchen floor. It dissolved all the old wax and dirt and it hasn’t looked this good since it was new. I cleaned the bathroom, washing the curtains and shower curtain and straightened out a spare bedroom. I wonder how I ever did all this when I was working full time and my kids were small. I must have ignored a lot of dirt>>LOL.

HELLO, NOVEMBER

It’s hERE…THE LEAVES ARE MISSING FROM THE TREES AND SCATTERED ALL OVER THE GROUND. THE SUN PEEKS THROUGH IN ITS HOPELESS ATTEMPT TO WARM THE AIR. THE “HUNKERING DOWN” BEGINS. IN PREPARATION FOR WINTER DON REMOVES THE SPOUTING FISH FROM THE POND AND COVERS THE FOUNTAIN.
 

A FEW STUBBORN LEAVES CLING TO THE WEEPING CHERRY TREE OUT FRONT. NOTICE THAT THE HILLS HAVE GONE COMPLETELY GRAY. 



SADIE STILL LOVES HER WALK ALONG THE TRAIL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF pITTSBURGH.


WE WILL CONTINUE TO WALK THE TRAIL AS LONG AS THE WEATHER PERMITS.

HALLOWEEN IN TENNESSEE

Jenny painted Ryan’s face and he had fun scaring the kids who came to their door.

Sean was darling as a monkey!

Sean at one and a half

A visit to Boiling Springs

It’s always fun to go to Boiling Springs to visit my son and his family.

Scott is taking guitar lessons and sounds really good.


Alex put a Halloween scarf on Sadie.






Chris grilled some burgers for us.


On the way home we stopped by Benzette to see the elk and were surprised to find this bull and 5 females right near the road. He wasn’t even bothered that cars were stopping and people were taking his picture.

Just a cabin in the woods

Don has been helping Jack Giering, a friend from Knox, build a hunting stand/cabin in the woods near his home. Every day Don traveled almost two hours each way to work on this project. It’s almost complete now and will make a great place to hunt deer.

The Karrasch Cafe

Today was the girls lunch at my house. I had a surprise for the girls when they got here. It was a participatory feast. I handed each girl an apron and had them help make the lunch. Yrsa was in charge of making Angels in Heaven an angel food pasta dish with pine nuts, spinach, bacon, sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. Kay made the salad with mixed baby greens, strawberries, mandarin oranges, mixed dried berries, with warm Poppyseed dressing served with Parmesan round crisps. Linda’s job was the Sausage Wellington made with crescent dough wrapped around sausage and cream cheese with sesame seeds on top. It was a full meal along with multigrain artisan bread, honey butter and a pumpkin layered mousse. We had a great time…even Sadie who finally settled down.
The table was set with the dishes that the girls gave me for my birthday.
I gave each of the girls a baking mix (blueberry, pumpkin or cranberry muffin), a kitchen towel and small utensil.

Water Aerobics

This morning I went down to the YMCA to try out water aerobics. Since I turned 65 I am eligible for the Silver Sneakers program sponsored by my insurance  company to instill wellness habits in the “older” folks. There were about 12 ladies in the pool and one of them was the temporary instructor due to the illness of a child of the regular instructor. First we used weights that were made of foam, but really had a lot of resistance in the water. We passed weighted balls and did exercises using a foam board. There was a lot of twisting, and aerobic moving and I must say I was completely worn out by the hour’s end. They meet every M-W-F but I’m not sure how often I will go.

It’s the Season

 

A snowy backyard

Button up your overcoat. Winter has come early in my backyard. Are you finding yourself singing Winter wonderland yet? Yesterday I got two calls wishing me a Merry Christmas. As much as we grumble about the snow…we stand in awe of its beauty.

You’ve got to admit….it’s beautiful!

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Welcome to fall in Bradford! We awoke this morning to the contrast of snow covering the colored leaves.
Sadie and I decided to go for a walk in the nearby Willow Dale Cemetery. She wore her new winter coat and jumped in the snow and pulled at the leash to get a sniff of some little animal who found shelter under a bush. It was so beautiful there with snow on the trees. Our first snowfall was spectacular!