Weather Update

Weather Update

Northern Virginia lucked out. Just a dusting of snow and ice. But we have friends up in PA who have been without power since Sunday afternoon and may not get power back until this Wednesday. They are cuddling up with their dogs by their fireplace. Good luck Mary and Phil!

Cold Outside With Rain, Ice and Snow Pellets

Cold Outside With Rain, Ice and Snow Pellets

Is this the way to celebrate Halloween?

I don't think so.

Our Fall Wreaths For Our Doors

Our Fall Wreaths For Our Doors

Thank You John Brooks

Thank You John Brooks

Our wine club leader created this very informative book about wine.

This is a great book!

The Week Before Halloween Night

The Week Before Halloween Night

Lots of crazy shows on TV dealing with Halloween

I like Regis Philbin's old pics of Halloween costumes in the past on his show.

Russia Raiders in D.C. Last Week

Russia Raiders in D.C. Last Week

The eight graders from Russia Local School in Russia, Ohio were in D.C. last week. I hope they all had a good time. I would love to know all the tourist sites that they visited while here. I hope they were not too disappointed that the reflecting pool on the mall was tore up for repairs. And of course they got to see the Washington Monument with its earthquake cracks. I wonder if they went to see the new and impressive looking Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the mall.

Our Fall Mums

October Book Club Read

October Book Club Read

Jack downloaded this photo of the book cover of the book Turn Right At Machu Picchu because this was the very first book I read on my new Kindle. Delaine hosted the group at Dickie's house and served Peruvian foods. She chose this book because when she was just ten years old she toured Machu Picchu with her mother. She had old photos to show the group of her tour. Most members thought the story of the original "discoverer" of Machu Picchu was long and boring but they enjoyed the more recent trips to Machu Picchu by the author Mark Adams because they were humorous.

September Book Club Book

September Book Club Book

This was the second book my book club has read that was written by Jeannette Walls. Several years earlier we read The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. Jack also read both of these books this year and liked both though like me I think he liked Half Broke Horses the most. This is a true story in the since that the characters actually lived in the Arizona desert but Jeannette Walls wrote it as a novel because she was alive when her adventures grandmother was having these adventures. She calls it a "true life novel" complete with lots of black and white photos.

Another Sign of Fall

Another Sign Of Fall

Our burning bush has turned deep red.

Later it will drop its leaves for the winter.

A Sign Of Fall

A Sign Of Fall

Our little chipmunk that I call Chip keeps hiding more birdseed at the very edge of this step. His hole is so small next to the step you would not notice it all all.
And here is where Chip is getting all his birdseed. The farthest bird feeder from the window looks like it has a bird getting seed from inside the feeder but look closely and you will realize that that is Chip!

Thank You Present

Thank You Present

My sister Mary and her husband Jerry came with their oldest daughter Tammy to visit Jack and I last week. Now this is the yummy edible bouquet they sent to us for staying at our home. Thanks guys. The dark chocolate covered strawberries and apples were delicious.

Therapeutic Dogs In Hospital

Therapeutic Dogs In Hospital

In my recent stays in the hospital for my leukemia I have been visited by two adorable therapeutic

dogs. The first was a black lab who was so well mannered. Totally different from my daughter's black lab Barney Beans who is a non stop bundle of energy and action. My daughter Jeanine said she could just picture Barney in the hospital wrecking havoc like jumping up on the staff or grabbing and eating medical supplies.

This photo of a post card of a six year old female boxer named Jesse. She visited my room and sat up in a chair and let me pet her. Finally she laid down beside my bed and got ready to take a little doggie nap. However, her owner who had her on a special leash and harness told her to get up because we have more patients to visit and cheer up.

Animals do put a smile on my face. Jesse was like a Volkswagen beetle. She was so ugly that she was cute in my humble opinion.