Small Town Snapshot Sunday #13

Wendy at On the Front Porch hosts Small Town Snapshot Sunday. Check out the other participating bloggers on Wendy's blog, then join us and post one of your own!

I'm having difficulty putting together a STSS for this last Sunday. Last Tuesday my dad was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He has had health problems for several years now. He's been in and out of the hospital, but this time was different. I called the kids and they visited him on Wednesday. On Sunday my dh and I, my daughter and her family and my son and his family loaded up in our vehicles and drove to the big city from our small town. Dad looked pretty good really. He was sitting up eating lunch when we arrived.
He talked a bit with the great grandkids, but his hearing isn't to great anymore and it makes it difficult to carry on a conversation.

So he watched cartoons with them.

Tomorrow mom will be calling hospice to find out what they can do to help if dad is released to go home. Please have a look as some of the previous post I've done about my dad, my hero.

Small Town Snapshot Sunday #12

Wendy at On the Front Porch hosts Small Town Snapshot Sunday. Check out the other participating bloggers on Wendy's blog, then join us and post one of your own!

This post is going to say it was posted on Sunday Aug. 24th, but I probably won't get it posted till late Monday. It's been Grand Central Station around here for the past week, every day we've had family here. Last weekend a bil (there are 5 of them) asked if he could come visit, where he's at was holding their yearly celebration and it gets a little too congested for his liking. Also on the weekends I usually have one of my daughter's two sons here on the computer in the playroom. On Thursday the hubby and I were talking about going to town to shop when there was a knock at the front door. I find one of hubby's nephews with another bil. The nephew's wife had to come to Wichita for a class of some sort so he was making rounds visiting everyone. We hadn't seen him in a while so it was a pleasant surprise. He said he tried to call but didn't get an answer. I checked the numbers he had and there was a mixup with the area code which is why he didn't get hold of us. He was back out on Friday with pictures that he'd left in the room the day before. On Thursday my youngest asked if I could watch his children on Saturday so he could take his wife out on a date and I told him I would. Saturday morning another son was out with his boy who always calls my youngest's boy to come play. Then in late afternoon the girls are brought over. They all want to dress up and I am told to take pictures and make another story. We'll see...

The Princess, being a true Kansas girl, loves her ruby slippers...

Princess Knight doesn't like being type cast and likes changing the whole good/bad, girlie/tomboy thing on a whim...

The wings she is wearing I purchased off Ebay several years ago. One of my future craft projects is to make my own wings for fantasy play.

Check out the pink dress up shoes she's got on. I had convinced her to leave them off when we were traveling around the yard.

After they tired of the dress up play they came and asked if they could use the walkie talkies and asked to go to the park. The park is only a block away. While they were gone, K-Monster and I moved the TV from the guest room and his Xbox to the still unfinished studio. He had also brought his new notebook from school which he was able to get on the Internet in the studio. When the others came back from the park we surprised them with the games set up in the studio.

K-Monster helped them with the games on on his notebook.

I think they're getting a little too comfy in my craft studio. :) But I'm glad that I have it to put to use in such a way.

I wish I had taken pictures later because we put up two of the tables and brought in two queen size air mattresses and aired them up. K-Monster put a movie in his Xbox and he and the son's children spent the night in the studio. Sunday morning they were up fairly early for breakfast. Saturday late I had gotten an email from my mom to meet them for supper at 5:30pm Sunday. I had forgotten, but a long time family friend was in town. So after the son finished putting in my new mailbox and post we went to town. We had a wonderful visit and didn't get home till quite late. The week ahead doesn't look like it's going to slow up any either. Shopping on Monday. Doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Possible visitors on Wednesday......

Rainy Days & Sundays

We've had rain for the past two days, so I haven't done much of anything outside. My grass is really needing mowed but not till it dries out. I was driving home from downtown on Saturday and a bird landing on a telephone pole caught my attention. It is a hawk/kite of some sort and I thought it might be the same one that I had photographed earlier but I'm not so sure. This one appears to have a light colored head with a dark body and the other seems to have a dark colored head. The under body of the other one is light colored but I can't tell what it's back looks like.
Sunday my daughter and her husband brought over a truckload of lumber to burn in my fire pit. This was the remains of what once was K-Monster's fort/clubhouse and it was getting to be a hazard.

All the in-town grandkids came over to swim and eat icees.

The fire got hot enough the the sil had to find a long board to move things around with.

Below is what the fire pit looks like after two days of rain. Amazing that the full truckload burned down to nothing. You can see how intense the heat had been by the yellow grass all around the pit. I shouldn't have to worry about taking the weed eater to that for a while.

Took some pictures of the flowers that have bloomed around my garden. Only two large ones.

A pink zinnia...

Is this a giant marigold?

The same two from the other side....

The tomato plants are loaded but still not ripe.

Pumpkin is still looking good, but all the other vines are dying around it.

Just a lazy rainy day today. All the kids went back to school last Thursday. Need to figure out when to have the last swim of the season and get the pool drained.

Small Town Snapshot Sunday #11

Wendy at On the Front Porch hosts Small Town Snapshot Sunday. Check out the other participating bloggers on Wendy's blog, then join us and post one of your own!

Just outside of the big city on the road we drive most often is a 'speed bump' of a town called Clonmel.

It consists of a fairly large Catholic church with a nice large fellowship hall that hosts a variety of affairs. The rent on it is quite reasonable.
Across the road to the south is the coop that has a healthy business with the local farmers.

Then there's the one small store. It has not been open in a number of years. When I first moved out of the big city there was a bar and grill at this location.

The Pit Stop was just that for me with small children that would be hollering, "I gotta go!" when you're miles from nowhere. It was the only public bathroom for miles around. Now there's new life in the quiet little town, a weekend flea market has open up in the little store.

The Clonmel Pit Stop Flea Market

Stephanie L. Myers, Owner

I spent a while just wandering around inside and found items that were refurbished...

...and items left fully endowed with their own character.

Many gently used older pieces...

...some that look quite familiar to me personally.

Tin cans, bottles and jars all placed neatly and not overcrowded.

The commonplace items and the more unusual.

I really like these chairs, but I don't have anywhere to put them.

...and I really like this picnic basket too.

So many things. so little space in my home to collect.

Maybe I can work some decorative boxes into the shelves in the craft studio when I get it finished.

If you're out and about on a weekend around Wichita KS you might want to take a little drive out to Clonmel and check out all the wonderful bargains at the newly opened flea market.

7015 S. 183rd St W.

(K-42 Hwy & 183rd St. W)

316-650-1111

Stmyers8@yahoo.com

Golden Wheat AHSGR August 15, 2009 "Picnic"

Today was the annual Picnic of the Golden Wheat Chapter AHSGR. Years back we used to actually meet in a park and grill hamburgers and hot dogs on charcoal grills but few of the member are up to doing this anymore. Our meeting began with the usual great food brought by members in overabundance.
Afterward Harold Popp led us in singing some German songs. Our guest for our program joined in when it was discovered there was no piano available.

Ruth Scheer was our featured guest on the accordion. Because she as already seated and playing we postponed our business meeting and went on with the program.

Ruth told us that she has been playing the accordion for 72 years. She began at the age of 10.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the music...

...much of it most of us were familiar with, polkas and songs from the Sound of Music.

Afterward we proceeded with a report from the Convention in Medicine Hat and the rest of the meeting.

Below I have put together a short sampler of singing and music from the meeting.

I found an interesting video on YouTube about Harold and Ruth Scheer...