October 31 This and that ...

Friday:  It's Halloween today. I've never been much of a fan of Halloween. I think it's because I was raised a Baptist. I'm serious. !!! And I can't quite "kick" it just because I haven't been a member of a Baptist church for ages and age (50+). It still creeps me out to see people celebrate witches and demons, etc. I don't mind the other kinds of costumes, and it's fun to "dress up" ... and trick-or-treating is fun too; but it's just not something I get very excited about. Contributing to my attitude is the fact that out here where the "old folk" live, there are no little children who come by for candy. Like zero. NONE. 

I've been trying to walk a mile a day--just around in my neighborhood. Look at this beautiful rose I saw yesterday ...

It's been a beautiful autumn so far. I've been raking leaves, almost on a daily basis. We have a LOT of leaves around here, so this is an activity that will continue for the next few weeks. I enjoy it because I love the leaves! I love being outside in the sunshine and wind. I love the colors and the crisp air!

I have continued restoring my painted rocks from my rock garden. I find that when I am painting, I am very happy. It's something that is difficult to explain. There is just a sort of calm and peace that comes over me that is so ... nice.

I don't have nearly as many birds at my feeders lately, and I'm not sure why. I stopped putting out the peanut-butter suet months ago because the Starlings came in DROVES and cleaned me out every single day. I'll have to research some winter-ish seeds to attract the little birds ... here is a fluffy one in my window feeder.

I've continued to work on making cards out of the pictures I take--mostly for friends--for their birthdays or just to cheer them up.

I am always sad to see the 31 days of October be over. With the onset of November, everyone goes into "holiday" mode almost immediately. I'm not sure I am ready for that yet! 

October 30 at Jesse's

Thursday:  I just have to show you a few pictures of what Jesse has been up to out in his garage. He has been installing a furnace out there, so that he can still work on projects throughout the winter without freezing to death.

Jesse is one of those guys who really really MUST have a garage! This is a 2-stall garage, which I haven't shown you very well. The one stall that almost permanently stores a vehicle is on the right (not pictured). There is a VW of some kind parked there which Jesse is going to "rebuild" at some future date.

And see that "thing" in the right hand corner of the picture below? That's the heater he is installing. He already dug the trench outside and ran the gas pipe along there and then somehow he got this discarded furnace, and today he was busy attaching tubing and other connecting materials to the furnace that will connect to the gas line outside.

I come over every Thursday to say HI to Jesse and Kaity; but Kaity was at a school dance this afternoon, so I just visited with Jesse and watched him cutting pipes and fitting them together and measuring and cutting some more. Amazing. Jesse has learned these plumbing and electrical skills from his friends, Larry and Scott ... and also ... just by DOING the work himself. He has a high mechanical aptitude. Neither side of his family carries this gene!!!! Well ... perhaps my father, but I would rather not mention him. Or perhaps his Grandpa Pahman, who was a tool and die maker. Anyway, Jesse just isn't phased by wires, or gears, or tools ... he just looks at what needs to be done, enters the data into his brain, and carries out the project. And he seems to ENJOY it. Kind of like a giant, real-life puzzle.

I so enjoyed watching him at his trade yesterday. I can't wait to see the finished furnace and feel its heat!

Kaity called and needed a ride home from the dance, so I drove over and picked her up. We only visited briefly, and then I left. She had things on her mind, and needed some time with Jesse. Perhaps she will come to Chris's football game against Calvin Saturday afternoon--I can hope!

PS:  It's now Sunday afternoon. I was over at Jesse's watching the Lions LOSE to the Vikings. He took me back out to his garage to show me his finished, installed garage heater.

This is the side door entrance to the garage. There is a nice wide front garage door, but when it is cold like this, Jesse keeps it shut.

Here is the finished furnace! Good job, Jesse!

This forest is what Jesse's property abutts against. His property line goes down into the woods, and then it bumps up against the boundaries of the city park. It's beautiful back there. Eventually, Jesse hopes to cut a pathway down to the bottom of his property so he can better enjoy it.

I love the woods! I'm so glad Jesse has this property.

October 28 with the Kids

Tuesday:  There was nothing highly unusual about today--I had lunch with my friend, Julie, and then went over to Dylan and Kelly's to do the routine cleaning that I do each week. What was nice, though, was that both Dylan and Kelly were home from work early today--so I got to see a bit more of them! I really hardly ever get to just visit with them!

I only took a few pictures today:

Here is Erin and Cal having their cantaloupe and cinnamon toast, our usual after-school snack. Cal decided to photo bomb the pictures ... sigh.

Here is Cal playing with their neighbor. I believe this family is from Sri Lanka, but I'm not positive. I've been told, but I forget.

Mr. Aidan getting his cool bike out of the garage. He was NOT in the mood to be photographed today.

This is Cal running very fast ...

Erin, just relaxing and watching something on the computer. I later found out that she is not allowed to do this--but I didn't know!

She surely doesn't LOOK guilty, does she?

It was nice that the kids could play outside today. I'm always all FOR kids playing outside when the weather allows. It's just so much healthier for them. I took zero pictures of Brendan today, but I did visit with him for a little while.

October 29 Autumn leaves

I just realized that this post is out of order by a day ... I wrote it first because I was so excited about the beautiful pictures I was able to take on my walks yesterday!

Wednesday: After raking up my little yard (most of it) and filling two of those large paper leaf bags AND my large leaf bucket, I took off to walk in the woods. I decided to stick to the north end because ... that's where I live. I would naturally go out to Canonsburg, except I have hundreds (I'm not kidding) of fall pictures from that location already right on my computer, edited, and still beautiful. I would also go to Pickerell Lake, but I didn't for the same reasons.

So Rockford it was! I have plenty of Rockford pictures too, but I was curious about White Pine Trails--what if I took it further away from Rockford, to see what I could see? So my first stop was out at 12 Mile just west of Northland Drive. Once I parked my car and looked around, I realized I HAD been this far on the trail before. I walked just a little distance and snapped a half dozen pictures:

This spot is 1.5 miles from downtown Rockford. I walked as far as a little bridge to get a picture of a creek that runs off the Rogue River--it would have been nice if I could have gotten down into the gorge a bit and gotten better pictures--but it was all fenced off! There was no access to getting down to the creek, unless I wanted to do a whole lot of maneuvering, climbing, and other stuff I probably shouldn't be doing at my age. So I stayed on the bridge.

This is the only other picture worth posting (below).

Since Luton Park is just off 10 Mile, east of Northland, I walked around there for awhile too. See the huge tree below? I remember being here with Emma a few years ago and mentioned to her that it would be a great tree to climb, and she scampered up into it like a squirrel. I'll have to find that picture of her!

It was partly cloudy as I walked; but now and again, the sun would break through and this is what it would look like--isn't it a huge difference when the sun is shining and when it is hiding?

Shadows are SO ESSENTIAL to woodsy pictures!

I love this little creek that runs through the park. There are signs all over the place directing people to STAY ON DESIGNATED PATHWAY ... so I didn't disobey too much, but just a little. 

And I do love a wooden bridge. I remember that I used this exact spot for a winter shot that ended up on one of my Christmas cards a few years ago.

And aren't the reflections SO beautiful?

Yes, yes, yes. I could stay here for a very long time and just ... breathe.

Luton Park is also used for bikers--and it's very popular. So as you walk, you have to be very mindful that there might be a bike around the curve, or coming up behind you.

I finished my hike around Luton ... I didn't take the long pathways, just the shorter looping one. I did get lost (shock) at one point, though, and wondered if I would ever find the parking lot again! I'm serious.

Since I was so close to Rockford, I left Luton and drove over there. I needed their restrooms! And it's always SO pretty to walk along by the dam too.

I crossed over to the other side of the dam to where the Rogue River walkway is and I walked both sides of the river.

I love boardwalks!

My phone tallied my steps, which added up to 4.2 miles. I was TIRED in the extreme, which is pathetic of me! It surely was nice to be outside on such a beautiful day, though. I LOVE AUTUMN.

October 27 The Jazz Festival

Monday Evening: I was so happy to be at Brendan's Middle School participation in the 35th Annual Craig York Vocal Jazz Festival at the Fine Arts Center tonight. I took a lot of pictures, regretfully in my usual nonprofessional way, with my phone instead of my camera. My I-phone is almost as good as my Canon, and my phone allows me to shoot in a dark auditorium without using a glaring flash. So these pictures are just going to have to do!

I arrived at about 6:20, ten minutes prior to the performance, and was able to catch a little bit of their rehearsal--here they are practicing "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" with the combined choirs and ensembles. Do you see Brendan? He is just to the right of center, above the piano. See his smiling singing face? I love it so much. I love how music just pours out of him.

THEN, it was very near to 6:30 (the start of the actual concert), and everyone exited the stage. I met up with Dylan, Kelly, and the kiddos at this point. We sat way up high in the auditorium, right in the middle of the stage. Very good seats.

There were NINE different choirs/ensembles on the program tonight. I tried to get one pictures of each group, but I'm not sure I did!

Forest Hills Northern Chorale sung a song titled: "He Beeped When He Should Have Bopped" which cracked everyone up. They also sang: "True Colors" (and I remembered almost all of the words from back in 1986!).

I think the group below is the Rockford Aces, but I'm not 100% sure. They sang a song I had never heard before: "Dulaman" I think it must be African. It was in a completely different language, and these guys sang it really well. I have no idea what it meant!

This next group might be "The Jeweltones", and they sang "Lullaby of Birdland," and "If Ever I Would Leave You" (which is the saddest song!).

This is possibly the "Northern Singers" that sang "Thousand Things" and "Over the Rainbow". Again, I'm not sure.

Here is the program ...

I think this is "Shades of Blue" from Community College. They sang "Georgia on My Mind" and "Do."

I think this group is called "Eastern Singers", and they sang "Swinging' with the Saints", and "I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo." 

And FINALLY!!!! Northern Hills Middle School! Brendan is dead center, in the 3rd row.

I had no idea Brendan had a solo part--he did GREAT singing "Hey Ba Ba Re Bop". 

Everyone clapped and cheered for all of the soloists (there were many throughout the concert); but I loved Brendan's best!

Here are all of the groups coming back on stage for the finale'. The whole group sang: "Alright, OK, You Win" as well as "Bridge Over Troubled Waters." 

All of these numbers tonight were done in the style of JAZZ. I didn't really think I was a jazz fan--but actually, I am! I love the mellow-ness of the sound and the swaying beat very much.

After the concert, we met up with Brendan in the foyer. Look at him! He is so grown up. He is as tall as his mom now. I think he is very handsome--which is neither here nor there--because his heart is so beautiful, and I love him so much.

I love these pictures!

And this little cutie ... I love her too!

Regretfully, I did not get Aidan or Callaghan in any of my pictures tonight! They were there! Aidan was the one who chose our seating for the concert. He sat very quietly throughout the almost 2-hour program. The littles did well too--except this was quite past their usual bedtimes, so they were super tired. 

I wish we could do the concert again--I really really loved it.