Photo Roulette Friday!

When visiting Candace's blog today, I found this new Friday Photo Roulette meme, which she had participated in and linked to, so thought I would join in, too!!

You will find the Photo Roulette Friday meme at Cara's blog, Mischiefs and Laughs.

Here are the guidelines:
- Please be random! It's really OK to post a not-so-wonderful photo.
- You are more than welcome to edit your photo if you wish.
- Please include my button in your post, so people can find this bloghop and link up.
- You have until Tuesday night to enter.



My photos are not nearly as organized as Cara's....into folders, by year....oh, but I wish they were! Sooooo, I just counted to the 8th photo in my pictures ANDDDDD.....


Here she is! Our adorable Ellie, the kitty of the house! :-)

When Ed, my dear hubs, retired, he decided that he would like to have a house cat.

Really? Wow.

So, we were listening to our local radio station's Swap and Shop program one morning, where you call in and tell what you have for sale or to swap or listen to hear what others have for sale or trade.

Well, someone had free kittens to give away. So, he got the phone number, called and in just a couple of hours, after we had gone by the world's largest retailer and gotten the needed items, we had us a house kitty. She was soooo adorable!!

Daniel named her Eleanor Diane Cavinee. He got the name Eleanor from the silver car named Eleanor in "Gone In Sixty Seconds". :-) We shortened it to Ellie, and that is what she has been ever since.

Well, actually, we call her alot of things: Elzie, Els, Elzo, Furrball, Hairball, Hey-you-dumb-cat, Pretty Girl, Ellie Mae....and, amazingly, she seems to respond to all of them. :-) Well, sometimes. It depends on her mood. You know the mood. Remember....she's a cat. 'Nuff said.

A short while after she had come to live with us, we noticed that Ellie was grooming excessively, to the point of pulling the hair off her belly and down the backs of her legs and in patches off her back. We had no idea what was going on, so we took her to the vet...."Here we go", I heard the hubs say more than once.....only to find out that she was allergic to fleas and before we had put Frontline on her, she must have contracted one, so we laid down $100.00 to get her all better and eventually he hair grew back, thankfully.

Trust me, we keep current on the Frontline.

Next, were the claws. Owwweeeeeeeee. I mean, I appreciate the fact that she expresses her affection through "kneading" her little paws on my legs or stomach but those little daggers would pierce into my skin with each press. Soooo, it was off to the vet again to have those babies ripped out removed.
Aaahhhhh....that is much better. Knead on, dear Ellie.

Oh, but we're not done yet. Oh, no. We had to make sure this little kitty wasn't going to be multiplying her kind any time soon, so it was off to the local Rescue Shelter Spay and Neuter Clinic. For $25 we had THAT all taken care of! :-)

AND just when we think we have her all taken care of, she starts pulling her hair out again!

So, we are off to the vet with her again, only to find out that it is not a flea allergy causing her to pull her hair out this time. They don't know why she is pulling her hair but give her a steroid shot just in case something's wrong that steroids might fix.

After researching "hair-pulling in cats" on the internet and going to several message boards, I discovered that some cats do this when they are stressed. Some cats do this for unknown reasons. One gentleman says he has just learned to live with his ugly cat that has bare patches all over it, after spending $100's, if not $1000's of dollars only to NOT find out what was causing his cat to do this.

BUT, I do tend to think that Ellie's is stress-related because our son's Boxer shot through the door of our house one time and went straight for Ellie and had Ed not been right there to grab Heidi, the Boxer, she would have killed Ellie.

Ellie started pulling her hair out almost immediately and it was quite some time before she grew it all back.

ANDDDD since Ed and I went away for the weekend, two weeks ago, she has been pulling her hair out AGAIN!!! There were some pretty severe storms here while we were gone and we hadn't left her at home alone for a long time AND when we returned home, she was completely out of water AND down to crumbs in her food bowl, so I don't know how long it had been since Daniel had tended to her food and water.

Anywayyyyy....I just couldn't bear to see her pulling out any more hair, so one afternoon this week, when I was resting while Jaylon napped....she always jumps up on the bed with me....I laid my hand on her back and just prayed for her, asking the Lord to heal whatever is wrong with her..... AND I haven't seen her pulling any hair out since!!! AND I haven't had to sweep up any stray clumps of hair on her favorite rug or other places that she likes to lay!!!

He said that we could cast ALL of our care upon Him!

Soooo, I am trusting and believing that she is over the worst!!

I know there are those who will say that she is just a cat, but she is OUR kitty and we love her. She is part of our family and I take care of her daily and love her so much. AND I love her even if she does have ugly bare patches on her back but I do want her to be well and to feel good.

The above picture was taken a few years ago. I was walking through the kitchen and happened to look over and there she was just sitting up at the table like she belonged there....which she didn't!! :-) Oh, but it did make a beautiful picture of the kitty of our house....Ellie!!!! :-)

Our weekend vacay!

Two weeks ago, Ed and I drove up to Vermilion, Ohio which is situated on the shores of Lake Erie. I chose this small town because I really didn't want to be close to the Cedar Point area which can be pretty congested during this time of year.

We stayed at a B&B, which was a first for us. We were a little hesitant but the rates were great and I thought..."Why not?"

As it turned out....it was wonderful!!!!

We stayed at the Captain Young House, which is owned and operated by a 72-year-old, spunky, full-of-life woman named Ciel.
She told us that a Captain Young actually lived in the house and stayed there when he came into port.

Walking into the house was just like stepping back into another era of time.

It was not air-conditioned, except for the two guest rooms. But, strangely enough, the lack of AC added to the ambiance of the house. There were two or three fans running which made it comfortable and relaxing.

As we walked up the staircase to our room, this was what we saw on the upstairs landing:

A lovely library and reading area!

This was our room:

It was so beautiful and such a wonderful place to shut out the world and relax.

Here are a couple of more views of our room. I took them at night so they are a bit dark but you can still see how lovely the room is. :-)


This is the sitting room or living room viewed from the stairway.

We drove around Vermilion on Friday evening and made our way down to one of three public beaches in the area. I thought about going swimming but there was so much algae/seaweed in the lake, I decided not to.

There was a sign posted giving the reason for so much seaweed: The lake is in really good condition and,thusly, is producing an over-abundance of the green stuff. They, whoever "they" is, are endeavoring to keep the beaches clear of the green invader but there isn't much they can do about an entire lake.
Several families had ventured out into the lake and were having a fun time enjoying the water midst the heat and humidity!




Ed enjoyed talking with Ciel and playing with Scooter while he waited for me to sit
down for breakfast Saturday morning. We also had eggs, ham, homefries, biscuits.....oh, I could get used to having breakfast served to me each morning!
Well, maybe occasionally as I'm not always in the mood for breakfast.

AND this is Ciel and her cuddly companion, Scooter! :-)
Ellie had to get in the vacation pictures somehow, as evidenced below. As soon as I placed the suitcase on our bed, she was on it, in it, nosing all around. I couldn't believe she was able to squeeze her fat body into this snug compartment but she did it somehow! :-)


Of course, we, or rather I should say "I", had to go check out the local library before leaving town and we were very pleasantly surprised! AND the lady that signed me on to one of the computers asked where we were from. When she found out that we were from the Hocking Hills area, she excitedly told us that her son attended Tri-County Career Center where our son went! It IS a small world. Her son took a special ice-carving course that was offered and had actually participated in the ice-carving festival that is held in downtown Logan each January! Amazing.


Saturday afternoon we drove down to Mt. Vernon and stopped by the church to see who was there and our good friend Bob Sheets was there with a group that had gathered in the gym to play Euchre.
They all invited us to join them and while we didn't play Euchre, we did partake of the generous lay-out of food that they had.
I couldn't believe the food that was there!!! Oh.my.word. I couldn't resist! I had been very "good" in staying on my d*** up to this point but I thought..."Hey, I'm on vacay....live a little!!!" And I most certainly did!!
I thought a few times that if this is what a few people bring when they play cards, what must it be like at this church when they have a REAL carry-in dinner!?!?! Good heavens! :-)

We checked into a local motel and later that evening, we drove out to our good friends, Bob and Betty Sheets's home.
We got to talking and realized that we hadn't been to visit them for over two years!!!
I could hardly believe it!!! I was on my rollating walker the last time we were there!!!
Well, the last time we were there, we played our usual games of Euchre....me and Betty against Ed and Bob. We were all tied up at two games a-piece, so we were due to play the tie-breaker!
Betty prepared a wonderful meal of cold-cuts, vegetables and chips, apple pie and ice cream, and we had the most fun time of fellowship! Her mother, Sis. Whitt, joined us. Is any food as good as that that is shared with wonderful friends??? I think not. :-)
So after we had eaten our fill, the game was on. Betty and I gave it our best but the guys won and they weren't humble about it, either! LOL
My goodness, but we laughed and laughed and had such a wonderful time of fellowship together. The Lord has given us such a special gift of friendship with Bob and Betty. We are blessed. And even though we are not able to get together very often, whenever we do, we just take up where we left off and I believe that is one of the signs of true friendship!

The next morning, we went to church at Christian Apostolic Church where my former youth pastor has been the pastor for almost 35 years. He is an awesome man of God and he preached a very timely message, "Truth to All Generations", which you can listen to on their website. Just click on the "Online Serivces" link and look for the title.

AND to top off an already great weekend, we went to church in Nelsonville that evening with Daniel, Erin and Jaylon, where Bro. Jeff and Sis. Wanda Chavis ministered in song and preaching. What a wonderful ending to an already enjoyable weekend! :-)

Our little homeboy!

Okay, I know that I post ALOT of pictures of Jaylon, the grandson. BUT he is here with us Monday through Thursday from 6:30am until 6:00pm. Soooo, he is kind of like my life, my world, for those four days! AND a grandma can NEVER have enough pictures of her grandchild/children!!! I mean, how many is ENOUGH?? :-)

I bought him a big bag of giant legos a few months ago, but he just wasn't very interested in them until about a week or two ago and as you can see in the pictures below, he loooooves them AND he especially loves them when grandpa plays with him with them. :-) They have such a time!!!



Most of the time, Jaylon brings his books to me to read to him but this particular time in the picture below, he allowed Grandpa to read his book to him. Grandpa changes words and skips pages and somehow gets away with it, too. Go figure. :-)

I had fixed breakfast for Jaylon this particular morning but he just had to sit on Grandpa's knee and eat breakfast with him, which Grandpa didn't mind one iota! :-) It just tasted better coming off of Grandpa's plate!

I stepped out the front door one morning this week and, as usual, looked up at the sky and it was sooooo beautiful, I HAD to take a picture! I believe this was taken on July 28th or 29th.
Oh, and disregard the dates on these photos. I don't always set the date and time and have not figured out how to just take the date off! Grrrr!! I've tried everything. I probably just need to hand my camera off to a six-year-old and let THEM do it for me. *sigh* :-/ How do they do that?

Below is a picture of Jaylon all vegged-out watching Tigger and Pooh, his favorite!!! It's the only thing he likes to watch on TV, which is fine with me as we don't want him watching alot of TV. Oh, and he likes The Price Is Right, which Ed and I sometimes watch or if we can't watch the whole show, we try to tune in for the Showcase Showdown. I should just record it, hm?
I think Jaylon likes all of the clapping and excitement!!


This is just a cute picture of you-know-who standing down by the creek as we were taking our daily walk around the yard one afternoon and I thought he looked so cute and what would it hurt to take ANOTHER picture of the boy? I mean, I don't have one of him in THIS particular outfit! :-)


Awwww...and I just love it when he sleeps in this position 'cause his daddy did, too, when he was little, and it is soooo adorable!


Oh, and below is Jaylon CLIMBING. INTO. his water table! Good heavens, I had just turned around and when I looked back, he had climbed up into the little boat and was sitting there looking at me with the ornriest grin on his face!!! You can't look away for a second, I swear!!! And he has no fear! Oh my!! Lord, help me! :-)

And, lastly....I've said it before and I'll say it again.....kids love to play with things that you would never guess could possibly be fun....like my note and pen holder.
Jaylon kept pointing at something on the table and after holding up a kazillion things....he finally settled on the note and pen holder. He must have spent a half hour....no kidding....putting pens into the holder and taking them out. I gave him three or four more pens to use. Then he would take out a little square of paper and scribble on it. He was just simply entertained with this simple amusement.


Jaylon is saying quite a few words nowadays. He says Dada, Mama, Pawpaw...which is what he calls Grandpa Ed and Pawpaw Luke, Bubba for his Uncle Brian, dog, cat, okay, hey, pop, and he even said Mawmaw today, which is what he calls his maternal grandmother. Soooo, what am I...chopped liver???? *sigh*
BUT....then I thought for a little while and do you know what? Jaylon can say "Jesus" and that is the most wonderful name of all, so I can wait on being called Grandma a while longer! :-)

Oh, but let me tell you this....Erin and I were talking this afternoon (Saturday) and she said maybe he is calling YOU "Nine-nine" which is kind of a whiney, irritating sound he makes when he wants something and doesn't know how to say it and we keep pointing at things until he lets us know that that is what he is trying to say.
And I told Erin, "Oh, that is just great! So, you're telling me that he COULD be calling ME Nine-nine and all the while I'm telling him....Jaylon....what do you want...please say something else besides nine-nine....say "cookie", "drink"....anything but that whiney, irritating nine-nine."

Nooooo, he CAN'T be calling me Nine-nine. Can he? *sigh*

I'm going to bed. I was at least hoping for Ga-GA? But Nine-nine? We'll see.

Good night. :-)

Catching up!

A couple of weeks ago, I read on my girlfriend's daughter's FB page that she (the daughter) was having a surprise 50th birthday party for her mother that night at her mom's church. Said daughter lives in Kentucky!
Sooooo, I told the hubs that I would love to go and we hadn't been to Mt. Vernon in so long and could we, could we, huh? And he said yes!!!
Well, we got to the church and no one was there! I mean, it was supposed to be outside in the shelter house but it was empty. So, we just parked the car and I started calling different people that I knew from the church but no one was home. Ed said maybe the rapture took place. I told him to be quiet! :-)
Sooooo, we pull out of the parking lot on our way to get something to eat and who should we pass but Theresa and her husband and I'm thinking, "Oh no! I hope they didn't recognize us because the party is supposed to be a surprise and she'll wonder what we're doing up here!"
Soooo, Ed and I turn around and go back to the church but pull around back and lo, and behold! There are all of these cars parked there! So, NOW we know where the party is!!!
Theresa is still surprised and we had a wonderful time!!!
A REALLY neat thing that happened that evening was I finally met Theresa's daughter, Mrs. Lemon, whose blog I follow. Now, I have never met Mrs. Lemon until this night and it is soooo cool, because I FEEL like I know her as I have followed her through her blog and so much has happened through the years. She has gotten married to Mr. Lemon, they have had a son, Zesty and a daughter, Sprite and Mr. Lemon has a daughter who now lives with them, Splenda!

I've "read" them through wedding preparations, moving, putting their home together, having babies, the adventures of cloth diapering, tax preparation, and just all kinds of life stuff!! I mean, I felt like I knew them before I even met them! But then I feel that way about many of you whose blogs I read. It is so cool!!
Now if you are wondering about the names....Mrs. Lemon does not use their REAL names on her blog for privacy reasons.
So, when I finally met her in person and her family, I knew them as the Lemon Family and it was soooo weird trying to get accustomed to their real names but I wasn't too concerned when Mrs. Lemon's father, Sir Nottaguy-Imadad, told me that when he is praying for them, sometimes he forgets and calls them by their Lemon names! :-)

Happy 50th Birthday, Theresa!! It was so wonderful to see you, again!!!


AND it was good to see you again, too, Ross!


AND how wonderful to finally meet you in person, Mrs. Lemon and little Sprite! She has the most beautiful eyes! :-)



Here is Mr. and Mrs. Lemon! Just a beautiful couple and family!!!
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Now, to change directions just a tad!
Jaylon's Pawpaw and Mawmaw had been gone for about a week and a half on a wonderful Alaskan Cruise. Well, we took Jaylon by where his Pawpaw was working the day after he got home from the cruise. Little Jaylon just hugged up to his Pawpaw! He was so glad to see him. Actually, I don't know who was happier to see who....Jaylon or Pawpaw! :-) I just love this picture!


Below is a picture of Jaylon walking barefooted in the grass at church. I've always said that that particular grass looks so inviting! :-) I would just love to sink my toes in it! :-)


Does the boy know how to do some sleeping or what? :-)


We are getting quite the conglomeration of play things for the boy! This is some of what we have out on the ball court. :-)
I think his little swimming pool is so adorable but he doesn't really care for it. We've tried to put him in it but he wants right back out. I even crawled into it myself thinking he might get in if I did. Uhhh.....no, he didn't. AND me climbing into that pool was not a pretty sight. We won't even talk about me getting out of it!! Oh my!! LOL

AND lastly....Jaylon has learned that he can put his little toesy woesies on the middle slat of the gate.....which is meant to KEEP HIM OUT of our bedroom.....and reach my basket of lotions!!! I caught him in the act but he seemed unfazed. :-)

So now I have to remember to turn the gate so he can't get upon that piece of wood. These little ones are so clever!! :-/

A Blog With Substance!

Mary, a new friend I've made at Life In A Small Town, passed this award on to me! Thank you so much, Mary!

I read a few blog posts of bloggers who also received this award and most of them questioned whether their blog was REALLY a blog of substance.

Wellllll.....in my humble opinion, if you are blogging about your life, family, the Lord, things that you love, past, present and future, you surely have a blog of substance.

AND I read about bloggers questioning why they blog or what should they be blogging about.

Well, I'm sure that we all blog for different reasons, but I look at blogging as journaling for me. I've always wanted to journal but have never been good at stick-to-it-tiveness. (my made-up term LOL) My blog has been my best attempt at journaling in my 58 years of living and I'm pretty proud of myself, though since little Jaylon entered this world and our home, my blogging/journaling has suffered a bit BUT I wouldn't trade that little bundle of love and happiness for anything! :-) AND I'll just have to blog around him and his cute little self! :-)

Okay, back to the award!

As part of the acceptance of the award, I have to sum up my blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience in five words.

THE FABRIC OF MY LIFE

That is truly what I feel that my blog is. You know. Like the old cotton commercials. :-)

All that goes on in my life from day to day weaves together to become the fabric of my life.

Okay....now onto the rest of the award. :-) (I'm slowly getting there!)

Next, I'm supposed to tag a few people that I feel have blogs of substance.

Barbara at Stray Thoughts
Chantell at Where You Can Find Me
Stephani at A Defined Life
Mr. and Mrs. Nurseboy at Poop On Jelly
Angie at Angie's Ad Lib
Nel at Fasteneau Facts

There you have it! I'm like Joyce at From This Side of the Pond, in that I am a bit hesitant to pick out certain blogs because as I said above, if I didn't think your blog was a blog of substance, it wouldn't be in my blog list! AND there would be many more blogs listed there IF I had high-speed internet AND more time to blog! Soooooo, I've narrowed my blogs down to what you see in the list because I looooove reading your blogs AND you!!! :-)
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AND you didn't really think I could post and NOT show a picture of "you-know-who", did you? LOL
Well, here is a picture of said gorgeous young boy as he climbed upon the VERY narrow piece of wood in middle of the gate that is SUPPOSED to keep him out of our bedroom and bathroom!
I mean.....he had just the tips of his toesies on that thing as he balanced himself and started pulling out my lotions. Thankfully, I had my camera to snap this pic AND grandpa was right behind him to grab him before he made a REAL mess! LOL
Heavens, but he does keep us on our toes these days!!! :-0

Talk about randomness!!! :-)

This post should win a prize!!! :-)

I went to the library the other night and uploaded some recent pictures to my blog because it takes me so long to do so here at home with dial-up. Soooooo, below you will find said pictures in no particular order, I'm afraid. But! I will provide a running dialogue so you will at least know what they are.

Well....you'll know who that cute little baby boy is, IF you've been reading my blog for any length of time. He's pretty popular around here! :-)

The first picture, taken for your viewing pleasure AND for my memory-keeping, is of my sweet potato plant. I looooove my sweet potato plant. Are they as popular any where else as there are here locally?

I hadn't even seen or heard of them until Logan (my hometown) began participating in "America In Bloom" and the chairperson (who is a wonderful horticulturist) began using the sweet potato plants in planters, hanging baskets and anywhere else that he could in the plantings in downtown Logan. They add so much vibrant color and lushness to the plantings.
As you can see, I hung mine right outside my kitchen window so I can enjoy it all day! :-)

Below is a pictue of grandpa and Jaylon reading his little Easter pop-up book, "Five Little Easter Eggs".
Jaylon loooooves his books, though maybe not quite as much now that summer is here. He likes to be outside in the wide open spaces!!! BUT grandma and grandpa do need a break once in awhile. :-)

Below is a picture of my baby....er, uh....I mean, our son, Daniel, that I just love! Well, I mean, I do loooove him, of course, but I especially looooove this particular picture of him. I believe Erin took it over the July 4th weekend as they were driving to Akron, where they spent the weekend with these friends, whom some of you who read my blog know quite well! :-)


These next two pictures are of a family of swans that live at the upper end of Lake Logan, a local state park that is just a half-mile from our church which is located on....*drum roll please*....Lake Logan Road!!!! :-)

Anywayyyy....the mommy and daddy swans took up residence at the upper end of Lake Logan two or three years ago and have become quite a popular pair in the meantime as they've had babies and just become friendly with the locals.
Local photographers REALLY like them as they have presented some wonderful photo-ops through the months.


Awwwww....and this next little creature has a story to tell!!!
When Daniel and Erin came outside after church about three or four weeks ago, this cute little guy was wandering around without any tags on. Sooooooo, Erin having never met an animal that she does not looooove, took him home and commenced to trying to find out who he belonged to.
After having no luck at that.....and in the meantime, we all fell in love with him....she put an ad on Craig's List and found him a home with a veterinarian.
Since we didn't know the little doggy's name, we started calling him Spock, because we just thought he had a kind of Star Trekky look to him. :-)
You know the look.....so ugly that he's kinda cute? LOL
He was very well trained and obedient, so we just can't figure out why someone didn't come looking for him. We put up fliers, put an ad in the paper, ads on the three different radio stations.
Oh, and we figured out pretty much that he's a French Bulldog. AND a little doll baby! :-) I'm just thankful that Erin found a good home for him!

I think I've mentioned here before how much Jaylon loves to play the drums, haven't I? Well, below is more proof!

Can you believe the little guy went to sleep holding onto his drumsticks?
He doesn't have drums yet but I get out bowls for him to drum on AND we have an empty popcorn tin that he REALLY makes a racket on!!!
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ANDDDDDD this next pictures is just simply one of my favorites!!! It is of Jaylon and his Mawmaw Pat, Erin's mother.
Pat watches Jaylon during church services as Erin is usually praise-singing or helping teach youth class and Daniel is playing drums, leading worship, teaching youth class or any other number of things.
I've not taken care of Jaylon during a church service but I can imagine that he could be a hand full as he is a bundle of energy.

This next picture is of Jaylon waving his flag during the July 4th celebration in Akron or Tallmadge, when he and his mommmy and daddy spent the weekend with Dave, Heather and little Maddy.

Oh, and lastly.....Jaylon loooooved Maddy's Little Mermaid Dresser. :-) As you can tell! :-)

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Well, I have to go and do hair for a friend that just arrived.

Yes, it's early! 6:30AM to be exact! But she stops on her way to work!!

Have a great day, everyone!!