The Brenda Photo Challenge-Halloween

This photo challenge is Halloween, very appropriate considering what day it is!

The little country store we stopped at on Sunday had some wonderful Halloween decorations!







And this creepy guy is in the window of one of our neighbors!



Go HERE to see more Halloween pictures!

Hump Day 10 (or however many times I have used this title!)

This week is going by pretty fast. Must be my new desk!

Last Sunday we took a drive to see the fall colors. I didn't really get any good pictures as we didn't stop and it's hard to get good pictures out the car window. We did see a decapitated stuffed moose on the side of the road, however!



Actually, that was kind of in the middle of nowhere, with no houses around..rather weird, I think.

We stopped at a very crowded farm to get cider and donuts. They had a pretty neat general store.



And there was some awesome Halloween decorations.



It was a nice day but the best color was right in our front yard!



I took the day off tomorrow because Rich is having a colonoscopy in the morning and that's a good enough reason for me! He did the prep today. No solid food, lots of liquids and that wonderful tasty stuff that you have to drink a ton of! Poor baby, it's rough I know. Even the celery was looking good to him today!!

Mine, All Mine!

First I have to say that I did a little digging on that sewing machine. So far I found out it was manufactured in 1910 in Elizabeth, NJ. So next year it will officially be an antique! That's all I know right now. I have no idea if my grandmother bought it new or used. I think she was still in Italy in 1910 so she must have bought it used. I know there was a time when my mom told me all of this stuff but I guess I didn't pay attention and now it's too late! Damn!!

Anyway, as I mentioned before, I got my own desk at work. I love it!! Well, I still don't love going to work but this makes it a tad easier! To show you, here is where I USED to sit:



And here is my new desk. It's about 20 feet from my old desk but makes all the difference to me! At least I have room to do my job now and can be a little more organized.



That's all for now. I have to get my flu shot today. Yuk. I hope it doesn't make me feel crappy. I still don't feel 100% better from my cold last week.

It's Friday though so that makes everything OK!!

Precious Old Things

I have had a cold for the past week and although I am feeling better, I'm still dragging through the days!

This weekend we went to my dads and picked up my moms cedar chest, or hope chest as she called it. I've been wanting to get it since she passed away, but always felt weird taking it from my dads house. But it's been 7 years and it's time.



It is still filled with table cloths, napkins, hankies and various other things.



It all needs to be cleaned and organized. Washed and pressed and I also have some of my own stuff to put in there. Get it all nice to give Shauna some day. A good project for when Rich goes hunting in a few weeks.

Oh, did I mention he's going up north hunting in November? Yes, four days of me, myself and I! I even took Monday and Tuesday off of work so I plan on getting a lot of little things done! Not that I can't get things done when he's home, but I can tinker around to my hearts content and don't have to worry about dinner or whatever!

When I was at my dads I also took pictures of my grandmothers old Singer treadle sewing machine.



I remember my grandmother sewing on this all of the time! I can still see her foot pumping that treadle back and forth every time I look at it. I also remember standing on it and bouncing up and down while holding on for dear life!

I never realize how pretty this machine actually is.



Anyway, someone told my Dad that that machine is worth a lot of money. I don't think it's worth thousands of dollars. It's not even 100 years old, yet, but I am going to try and get an appraisal to be sure. It's worth more than money to me, however, so we won't be selling it. It is a true family heirloom that went from my grandmother to my mother, and will go from me to Shauna.

I didn't take it home with me this weekend. My dad is using it to display his collection of miniature trucks right now, plus it's a nice piece of furniture in his family room. But some day very soon..!



I like the look of this tree in our neighborhood. It's got at least three different colors going right now!

I finally got my own desk at work. I am taking my camera to work tomorrow to take pictures of it. That's how excited I am!!

The Brenda Photo Challenge-Highways and Byways

This weeks challenge is Highways and Biways..anything that takes you somewhere.

By train.


By tunneling through a mountain.

By river.

Or just down a peaceful road.


Go HERE to see more pictures of Highways and Byways!

No Name To Be Seen

Well, I changed the header picture and now you can't see the title. I tried to change the title color to white to show up on the dark background, but all my fonts turned white so I had to change it back. I wish I knew HTML good enough to customize this blog a little more. Oh well, the above picture was taken this summer at Niagara Falls on the USA side, That is the rapids leading up to the falls and the mist coming up from the bottom. Rich took it and I love the way the sun shines on the water.

Went to Marie's daughter wedding on Saturday. The ceremony was at a gorgeous old church in downtown Detroit called the East Jefferson Presbyterian Church.

Both sides of the church were lined with these beautiful stained glass windows.



And there was a huge pipe organ!




The ceremony was very nice..even if the preacher was the blabbiest preacher ever!!

The reception was at a place called Laurel Manor. They had the bride and grooms initials projected on the wall.



And there was a table with all sorts of candy and little container to fill up and take home!



This was the favor at every place setting... a bottle of wine with personalized labels.



It was a very nice wedding the the bride and groom looked really happy!



Tomorrow they are on their way to Hawaii, lucky bums!!

Must Love Dogs

Reading the comments on the last post I noticed several people mentioned that they prefer dogs to cats. Up until about 20 years ago, I did too. When I was a child we had a dog, Pixie, who I loved with all my heart. I remember when she got sick and died (or was put to sleep, my parents never really said) how heartbroken I was.

When Rich and I bought our first house, we had a dog practically before the ink on the closing papers was dry! This is Missy. Sorry, crappy picture of picture. Missy lived to be 15 years old.



Than we had Ginger. She came from the Michigan Humane Society and she was the best dog you could ever hope for. She lived to be 14. Sorry, another crappy picture of picture.



After Ginger was gone we decided not to get another dog. By that time we were empty nesters and wanted to be able to leave on spontaneous trips once in a while, which would be hard to do with a dog!

Somewhere in between those dogs we got our first cat, a 5-year old named Stacy and that started my love affair with cats that continues to this day!

But I do love dogs, too and really miss having one sometimes!

The Brenda Photo Challenge-Pets

Ha, this is a easy one! I have so many pictures of my cats that I don't have to take another one!


"Jeez I wish she would get that thing out of my face!"


"Maybe if I refuse to look at her she'll stop trying to take my picture!"

"I'll just play dead and maybe she will go away!"

"Give it up, I don't even belong to her and she takes my picture, too!"

OK so it's no secret that I love cats and have lots of them! Maybe if you go HERE you'll see something other than cats!