Saturday, Nov. 10

We were in no hurry to get up this morning, though we didn't stay in bed past 7:30. After breakfast, I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises, then hurried to get ready for the day, so we could leave home around 10:30 to go on a "leaf peeping" and photo safari to a mountain town about an hour away.

The day started out overcast, but soon became sunny, so that the hills, in autumn colors, were stunningly beautiful on the ride up the winding road to the town. I had hoped to get lots of photos of the hills, but there is just no place to pull over on that narrow road. On the way back home later, I shot a few photos through the car window, and they are pretty, but they aren't what I envisioned getting today.

When we arrived in the town, which is a tourist attraction, we started by going to the town square. Lots of bluegrass musicians were entertaining there, but there were no parking spaces, so we headed to a restaurant at the folk center.

The restaurant is located way up on a hill, but can be accessed without having to buy admission to the folk center. Visitors have a choice of driving up the hill, riding a van, or walking up several flights of wooden steps. We chose to drive, of course.

We didn't have to go to the general parking lot, which requires a walk up a hill to get to the restaurant door, because there is handicap parking right outside the door. From here, Mother could ride in her wheelchair into the restaurant.

The dining room features floor-to-ceiling windows through which diners can enjoy birds and squirrels at feeders. We were particularly fascinated by a rotating board with an ear of corn at one end, and a weight at the other, which was mounted on a tree.

Today, a squirrel entertained us by jumping on the board at the end with the corn, and riding it around until he dismounted onto a platform. He bit corn off the cob as he traveled on the board. Researching online, I found that this device is called a "squirrel-a-whirl." Since Mother was so fascinated with it, I'll be ordering one for her for Christmas.

After lunch, we decided to visit the folk center gift shop, which required that we pass through the administration building. I thought that the shop was at the other end of this building, but instead, the center itself was there.

Ordinarily, we would have had to pay admission to get into the park, but when we inquired, we were told it was a free weekend. So we decided to take a tour. It has been several years since we last visited, so we figured we'd only be able to tour the upper level, because Mother couldn't walk down steps to the lower level. But we were pleasantly surprised to find an electronic lift designed for wheelchairs, which lowered us to the the second level.

Each small building at the park features crafters...a quilter, a metal worker, a woodworker, a candle maker, a printer, etc. There's also an old school house, a root cellar, a "still," and an herb drying house. Here and there, entertainers sang and played instruments, like the dulcimer.

We were surprised by how many plants were still in bloom...wildflowers, cockscomb, zinnias, crysanthemums, and others, many of which may fall to a predicted freeze in the coming week.

We ended the tour at the gift shop. All I bought was a small bag of tea cookies, but we were amused by a jar of what was called "Traffic Jam," which is a mix of various fruits.

A hostess in period dress offered us refreshments of tea cookies and hot drinks...a choice of coffee, raspberry tea, or hot chocolate. "I washed my hands a couple of days ago," she joked, as she coaxed the cookies out of the bag.

From the folk center, we went to a pretty little trout fishing lake that features a stone dam over which flows water from the nearby caverns. In this area, too, is a walkway to the backside of the dam. We started down this path, pushing Mother in her wheelchair, but though it is supposed to be handicap accessible, the walk has too many worn places that are hard to navigate, so about halfway down, we turned around and went back to the van.

By this time, it was nearing 3 p.m., so we headed home. The sun was hitting the hills at a different angle, of course, creating a blue cast, but the colors were still striking.

We arrived back home after 4 p.m., and I immediately accompanied Mother to her house. She was tired, even though she'd spent the day riding either in the van or in her wheelchair. She was happy, though, that we'd made the trip, since predicted storms in the next couple of days will probably strip the trees of their leaves.

At home, Hubbie and I watched our favorite college football team play to a disappointing loss. I'd recorded the game on the DVR.

After that, we watched a very strange movie called, "Brake." A Secret Service agent wakes up in the trunk of a car, where he is terrorized and tortured, while perpetrators try to get information out of him that they can use in a plot against the President.

Friday, Nov. 9

Up at 6:30 to go to water aerobics. It was a little cool this morning, but not bad, except for the chilly wind tunnel leading to the gym. The water was wonderfully warm, though.

Today, we once again got a lecture from our leader about wearing perfumes or highly scented lotions or makeup. We got the lecture because a lady who hasn't attended in quite a while reeked of it today. One of the regular members is super-sensitive to perfumes, so she was affected by the scent. Besides assaulting our noses, lotions leave an oily residue on the water, which affects the lap swimmers. I always shower the night before water aerobics, and then rinse off again in the locker room shower the next day before getting in the pool.

Back home afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, while I got ready for the day. We didn't do much for the rest of the morning. Had leftovers for lunch, and then Mother headed to the couch for a nap, while Hubbie and I ran errands...to two banks (one to pick up a ticket to a Christmas performance for Sis); to the greeting card shop to use a $5 coupon to buy five cards. Hubbie needed several for upcoming birthdays in his family, so he used that coupon. I also had a $2 coupon that I used toward purchasing a jigsaw puzzle for Mother for Christmas.

Today, the greeting card shop was having a Christmas open house, so there was a table set up with dip, spiced pretzles, a pumpkin spice hot drink, and a tray of luscious cookies. We snared several cookies to bring home for our evening snack...got enough to share with Mother. We also registered for a $50 gift certificate to be used at the store.

After that we stopped by a grocery store for a couple of grocery items, and since it was still early in the afternoon, we toured the town looking for good places to take fall foliage photos (I'd brought my camera along), because predictions are for stormy, cold weather beginning Sunday evening, so I figure this is the last weekend for autumn color.

Back home at 3:30, Mother was awake and ready to get up. We relaxed until around 4:30, when Hubbie fixed us a supper of French toast, using bread rounds leftover from our camping trip. They've been in the fridge since then, but they needed to be used.

While Hubbie fixed the French toast, and scrambled egg substitute, I did all the other things needed for the meal...heated blackberry syrup, coffee, and dinner plates in the microwave, etc. I like to heat the dinner plates, so the food stays warm longer, especially breakfast foods.

After supper, I accompanied Mother to her house, and then waited for her to shower before I came back home.

Hubbie and I decided to take in a $2-per-person movie at the downtown theater. The movie, "Taken 2," started at 7 p.m. It stars Liam Neeson in the role of a retired CIA agent, whose daughter in the first movie was kidnapped to be sold as a sex slave. Neeson's character hunts the perpetrators down and dispatches them one-by-one, and rescues his daughter.

This time, he takes his wife and daughter to Istanbul, where the daughter has to help rescue him and her mother, who have been taken by a bunch of thugs, one of whom is the father of a guy Neeson's character kills in the first movie. Lots of action, foot chases, car chases, explosions, and fights to the death, as Neeson again dispatches more thugs than we could count. A definite guy movie.

Funny: today, I got a letter from the college library reminding me to renew my Friends of the Library membership...it was addressed to Mr. and Mrs.(my given name and Hubbie's surname).

Thursday, Nov. 8

Up around 7:30, and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast.

Hubbie was scheduled to go to a Master Gardener meeting at 10 a.m. Before he left, he accompanied Mother to our house, where she began working on Christmas cards for Caring Hands Hospice, while I got ready for the day.

Before I showered, I spent a little while printing photos that I felt would make good backgrounds for Christmas cards.

It was 11:30 before I got back downstairs, and time for Mother to have her lunch. So before I started working on cards, I fixed Ramen Noodle soup for her, and heated leftovers for Hubbie and me...a pork chop diced up and heated with barbecue sauce, then served on sandwich rounds bread, and baked sweet potatoes, along with dishes of canned sliced peaches. Hubbie returned from his meeting just in time for lunch.

After lunch, Mother and I spent the afternoon until around 4 p.m. making cards, while Hubbie shopped at the WDCS for a few grocery items, and kitty litter.

Supper tonight was leftover lasagna, served with canned whole kernel corn, cottage cheese, and bread and butter.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house afterward, and then he and I watched TV, including a football game featuring the team from Hubbie's alma mater college. Alma mater won.

Wednesday, Nov. 7

Up at 6:30 to get ready for water aerobics. Br-r-r, it was a chilly, windy morning for the walk to the gym. Thankfully, the pool was warm, though.

Talk in the locker room was not about the presidential election, but rather about how an adjoining local county had voted "wet," meaning alcohol can now be sold there. This did not meet with the approval of these older ladies, of course, one of whom said, "It was them northeners at that retirement village that got that issue passed."

Their fear now is that, like kudzu, it's just a matter of time before alcohol invades our county. Never mind that it is already here, in private clubs, and in restaurants that call themselves private clubs.

Likewise, there was no talk in the pool about who voted for who in the presidential election. The only comment I heard was, "God is in control," hinting that those who had voted for Romney need not worry, even though the wrong man was elected.

A couple of the ladies worked the long hours from around 7 a.m., when they helped set up polling sites for voters, until after 7:30 p.m., when the polls closed. I was surprised, though, when one of the ladies commented that she didn't even vote. I guess her patriotism took her as far as helping out, but not as far as the voting machine.

Funny: back in the locker room, a woman was complimented on her haircut, and asked who had cut it. "Velma," the woman answered. Another woman said, "Oh! I know her. She's my former son-in-law's daughter's brother-in-law's mother-in-law."

Back home, I indulged in one cup of coffee instead of two, so I could hurry and get ready to go to the hospital conference room for a luncheon and talk about diabetes. Mother went with us this time. As far as we know, none of us has diabetes, but it doesn't hurt to be aware of the symptoms just in case.

Mother enjoyed the outing and the lunch, which consisted of baked chicken, oven fried potatoes, and mixed fresh fruits...cataloupe, honey dew melon, strawberries, grapes, and pineapple.

We were not home long before it was time for Mother and me to meet haircut appointments at 1:45 and 2:15. For some reason, the woman who gave us our appointment times chose to sandwich us between a lady who was having her hair tinted (by my hairdresser), and a lady who was getting a permanent (by Mother's hairdresser). So we were at the shop until around 3 p.m.

While we were gone, Hubbie peeled and sliced potatoes, and when we got back, Mother and I put together potato soup for supper. Mother diced the carrots, celery, and onions, and shredded Monterey Jack cheese, and I cooked the ingredients. I also gathered ingredients for bran muffins, which Mother mixed and put into a muffin tin for the oven. It was a comforting and warm meal for a cold evening.

I accompanied Mother home afterward, and waited until she had showered before returning home. She had a very active, productive, and satisfying day today, so she was in great spirits.

Hubbie and I spent the evening watching TV, as usual. Tonight, we saw the movie, "Angels Crest," about a young father, who takes his three-year-old son into the woods to play in the snow.

When they arrive, the boy is asleep in his car seat, so the father goes for a short walk. In the meantime, the boy gets out of the truck, wanders off, and freezes to death in the snow. Naturally, the town blames the father. In the course of investigating the tragedy, lots of family and town secrets are revealed. Surprise ending.

Tuesday, Nov. 6

Election Day! No matter who wins, we can all celebrate the end of political ads.

We were up around 7:30, but I skipped my exercises so we could get ready to go to our polling place to vote in this historical presidential election. We could have voted early, but we enjoy the excitement of going to the polling place on the tradtional day. Besides, we enjoy visiting with folks we know, including one of the poll workers, a lady who worked at the same agency as Hubbie and I did before we all retired.

Hubbie hung our flag on the well house, and Mother's flag on her front porch, and then we headed to the polling place. As usual, one of the poll workers remembered Mother's name. He sometimes forgets Hubbie's and my name, but he never forgets Mother's. Even as we were walking in the door, he was already flipping the pages of the voter registration book to her name.

We call Mother our super-voter, because she has been voting for seventy-two years, since she was eighteen years old. The first presidential election she voted in was in 1940, which was won by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt from New York (Mother's home state), against Republican Wendell Wilkie of Indiana. Mother voted for Roosevelt. She has now voted in nineteen presidential elections.

We arrived at the poll around 9:30. Fewer than ten people, mainly senior citizens, were present, so it wasn't long before we were able to vote.

I was amused when an older lady came in right after we arrived, and seeing the folks in line said, "Oh, I didn't know it would be so crowded. I'll come back later." If she couldn't wait the fifteen minutes it took to get to the voting booth, then she certainly would never have stood in line for hours, like some folks did in our capital city, and other places around the nation.

We were back home by 10 a.m., and around 10:30, I went to the women's wing of the hospital to meet an 11 a.m. appointment to have mammogram screenings. This is not my favorite thing in the world to do, of course, so I'm glad it's over for another year.

Back home, Hubbie fixed grilled cheese sandwiches for our lunch. Mother wasted no time afterward heading to the couch for a nap. While she napped, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the bank; to the newspaper office to drop off this week's word search puzzle contest; to the post office; to a grocery store to pick up block cheese; to a discount store to get birthday cards for some of Hubbie's great-grandchildren; to the gas station; and to the WDCS to begin shopping for Thanksgiving (selected a turkey and a ham), as well as groceries for the week.

It was 3:30 before we got back home. Mother was up by then. At 4 p.m., I put a cookie sheet of sweet potatoes in the oven. Later, I braised pork chops, and cooked corn-on-the-cob to have with sweet potatoes for our supper. Afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house.

Spent the rest of the evening tracking election results on TV. Tense.

Monday, Nov. 5

Up at 6:30 to get ready for water aerobics. Cloudy, drizzly, chilly morning for the drive to the college. The autumn trees were a monotone rust color on this gray day.

In the gymnasium dressing room, one of the lap swimmers, a woman with a young family, was in a chatty mood. She commented on how she was anxious to finish a rock fence at her house, before rain set in today. She said that the work is very difficult. She and her husband had hired a man to build the fence. But, as she put it, "he has issues," among which, she suspects, may be substance abuse.

She described him as a "colorful character," with an intimate knowledge of the color coding of bandana headgear as it relates to different crowds, like gang members, criminals, and rock music fans. She suspects him of substance abuse because, while he is an excellent worker when he shows up, he often works for only a day or two, then collects his pay and disappears for several days.

She thinks he is a good and kind person at heart, who is "lost," and in need of a church family. But though she has invited him to her church several times, he has never availed himself of the opportunity.

Since he has not shown up in a few weeks now, she and her husband are finishing the job that he started. And though they think he is a good man, they don't intend to hire him for anything else in the future.

The water in the pool was wonderfully warm, and twenty of us enjoyed it. Conversation was of ordinary life things, as we all studiously avoided talk of the presidential election tomorrow.

One woman commented that the time on her flip phone had not automatically changed yesterday. Hubbie still has that kind of phone, too, and the time on his also didn't change, even though the automatic function was on. I had to search for the manual function to change it. I told the woman at the pool how to do this. My android phone changed automatically, so I don't know why the flip phones didn't.

The cable TV boxes changed automatically, of course, as did my laptop and the upstairs computer, but the four house clocks, and the van and truck clocks, as well as our wristwatches had to be changed manually.

It's the time of the year to change the batteries in the smoke alarms, too. I reminded Hubbie of this tonight, prompting him to search for fresh batteries.

I was amused this morning when a TV personality on the early morning show referred to Standard Time as, "the way God intended it," as if changing the clock Sunday somehow put the world to rights again. Does she seriously think that manipulation of clocks actually changes time? Earth time consists of twenty-four hour days. This was true even when clocks didn't exist. A clock is merely a measurement of that twenty-four hours. We just choose to measure it differently in summer than in winter.

When I got back home from the pool, Hubbie did the honors of putting color in my hair, in anticipation of a haircut appointment Wednesday afternoon.

While I was getting ready for the day, Hubbie received a call that his teenage grandson had to be taken to the hospital this morning, because he was having difficulty breathing. It was determined that he had air in his chest cavity that might have been caused by his asthma.

By the time I was ready for the day, it was already 11:30. After lunch, Mother and I worked making Christmas cards for Caring Hands Hospice. While we did this, Hubbie took the van the dealership in another town to satisfy a recall notice on some part or other. He returned about 3 p.m.

Mother and I worked until around 4 p.m., and made seven cards. Mother didn't get a nap this afternoon, but she commented several times about how much she enjoyed the card-making session. I guess making cheerful Christmas cards on a dismal, rainy, day is good for the phyche.

For supper, I heated leftover lasagna, which we had with cottage cheese, and bread and butter. Afterward, I accompanied Mother to her house, and waited until she had showered before I returned home.

Hubbie and I spent the rest of the evening watching TV, including an episode of "Upstairs, Downstairs," the British series from PBS.

In the "What's Up With That?" department: yesterday, the art council director thanked us for the big bag of candy we contributed for the downtown Halloween trick-or-treat event last Wednesday night. And then she commented that more teenagers and adults with pillowcases stopped by the gallery this year in an attempt to collect candy. They didn't even make an effort to wear a costume. So her way around the situation was to say that no one without a costume could have candy.

Sunday, Nov. 4

Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter!

Woke up at 7:30 this morning, which would have been 8:30 yesterday morning. Since I skipped my exercises a couple of times this week, I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning, and we put together a dish of lasagna. Got ready for the day after that, and by the time I was back downstairs, it was time to put the lasagna in the oven.

Had lunch around noon, and watched a Lifetime Channel movie from DVR, while we ate..."Puppy Love," a lighthearted romance about a baseball player, whose dog goes missing while he's gone. The dog ends up in a pound, where he is adopted by a little girl and her mother, who are newly arrived in the community. Naturally, the baseball player finally finds the dog, and eventually he strikes up a romance with the girl's mother.

After the movie, Mother retired to the couch for a nap, and Hubbie and I went to the art gallery to work with the art council director in making etched Christmas ornaments. We worked until around 4:30, and made a dozen ornaments.

Learned today that in their wisdom, the chamber of commerce and the downtown business association have opted out of sponsoring a Christmas parade this year. Stated reason? Too much work. Christmas lights have been strung across main street, though, which are usually lighted in a ceremony at the municipal building just before the parade.

Funny: as usual the art council director delivered up a gem of fractured English when, as she urged us to take a free copy of our county's slick magazine, she commented, "It even fatures a cover photo of the mayor in all his livelihood." She meant "in all his glory," of course.

Back home, Mother was awake, but said she had only been awake a few minutes. It's good she had a few quiet hours to sleep and recover from our outing yesterday. It always takes her a while to get over an outing, even though she spends the whole time in her wheelchair. She doesn't get physically exhausted as much as she tires from the noise and activity around her.

As soon as we got back, she was ready to go to her house, so I accompanied her. At home, Hubbie and I watched TV, including a 2012 movie called "Transit." A family goes on a camping trip in the hope of ironing out differences. Instead, they are hunted by a bunch of thugs who have recently robbed a bank, the money of which somehow finds its way onto the family car luggage carrier. Now the family must work together to defeat the thugs.

The second movie we watched was, "The New World," starring Christopher Plummer. In this 2005 film, Captain John Smith, and Pocahontas, are integral to the 1605 founding of the Jamestown, Virginia, settlement.