Well, this is really going to be a mostly wordless Wednesday post. Like the little turtle pictured below, I moved a bit slowly this morning and now I’m running a bit behind on things.
I also saw bald eagles, a muskrat, fish, kingfishers, a majestic blue heron, deer, and turkey vultures. However, this turtle was the only creature happy to pose for a portrait. 
Of course, I have more photos to share. And if I can figure it out, a couple of videos as well. Stay tuned. Happy Wednesday, friends!
And I do know that it is actually Tuesday. My week has already started off going from zero to busy workwise. However, over the weekend, we had a nice relaxing time with friends in Arkansas staying at a cabin near the Buffalo National River. 
I have to leave for work very soon but wanted to get my post up real quick before I did. We’ll see if I can manage it. May be a shorter Happy Homemaker Monday today that I link up with Sandra over at Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom.
Rained all day yesterday and is still kind of rainy and cool this morning. Highs in the mid 60’s most the week and cooler nights in the lower 40’s. I think that’s normal for this time of year but I’m not sure.
It’s gray and gloomy with wet leaves starting to cover the ground. Looks like fall has arrived.
Have a timer set as I try to get this post finished before I need to leave for work around 9:10. (Please forgive any typos/grammar errors as my editing time is very limited this morning.)
Not much, just trying to get myself ready and out the door plus do too many side jobs (run the dishwasher, start some laundry, etc.) on the way.
Couldn’t sleep last night so I’ll be paying the price today. Hoping the kids aren’t too crazy with the weather and that it stops raining long enough for us to go outside.
Lemon meringue flip yogurt, coffee, vitamins
Not sure what is for lunch at work. Have my back up protein packed: cheese and peanut butter crackers, an apple, water, and maybe a cookie.
Pork chops and baked sweet potatoes
Old Navy tee-shirt, kind of a muted floral design and navy pants with a ruffle flare looking thing at the bottom (I don’t describe clothes well). Tennis shoes and mismatched socks (spirit week at school)
Just finished The End of Temperance Dare by Wendy Webb. It was a bit too scary for me. Actually had to quit reading it while we were out of town. A good one but super spooky! (Well, at least for this chicken).
We didn’t watch tv on our trip, Chiefs game on Sunday (a good one!), probably Masked Singer on Wednesday. Not sure what else.
Always hard to plan after being away. Ha, always hard to plan no matter what. And my schedule is crazy this week (I’m doing a favor for a younger teacher and just covering her a few hours each day so she can do observations for her school stuff)
MONDAY: We had leftover taco soup *I worked 1-5* *J had a baritone lesson at 6:30*
TUEDAY: pork chops and baked sweet potatoes *I work 9:30-4*
WEDNESDAY: Maybe white chicken chili? *I work 1:30-3*
THURSDAY: Spaghetti? *I work 1:30-3*’
FRIDAY: Homemade corndogs (sort of, I bought this biscuit can wrap stuff. We’ll see), chips, fruit *I work 1:30-3*
Surprisingly not awful. I did some cleaning yesterday morning before I was called into work.
I have more photos to share but it’s a process to get them edited to the right size for the blog. Hopefully, I’ll able to share some more on Wednesday. 
It’s cold this morning! And due to get even colder later tonight. In the 20’s…what?
Somehow, today has turned into a busy Monday. However, before I jump into that, I’m taking time for the weekly Happy Homemaker Monday link up hosted by Sandra over at Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom.
Let’s just jump right into the categories.
It was 36 degrees when I woke up to let the cat out this morning. And it’s still pretty chilly out there, just barely 40 degrees. I know I was wishing I’d grabbed a jacket when I did my grocery store run this morning. We have freeze warnings for tonight and tomorrow night with predicted lows in the mid-20’s. Barely upper 50’s by mid-week but then on Friday, a high of 80. Welcome to the Midwest. Dig out your sweaters but don’t put those summer shorts away quite yet.
Well, yesterday I glanced out the bedroom windows into the backyard and saw snowbirds (dark-eyed juncos). Those aren’t supposed to be here until early November. And this morning, I looked out the backdoor and saw a white-throated sparrow. Bit concerned what these early arrivals might mean regarding our upcoming winter.
Just taking a minute to ignore the to-do list and work on this post.
So much. An upcoming trip, some small joys, something that happened at my work on Friday (basically a teacher left, I’m unsure if she quit or was let go…thinking it was a choice), the holiday season, if I want to “compete in a friendly way” with the neighbors who upped their Halloween decorating game, what to do with the rest of my flower garden. Too many thoughts. Might need more (or maybe less?) coffee.
Not bad, husband was gone hunting Friday and Saturday, so I slept better last night once he was home.
vitamins, crappy grocery store donut (it was good though…some kind of blueberry cheesecake thing), and vitamins.
Either a grilled cheese or PBJ (and Cheetos, maybe a banana, too)
My plan is for minestrone and homemade crusty bread with apple cake for dessert (we’ll see if the apple cake happens or not)
Black tee-shirt, floral pink/purple button down shirt over it as jacket, and jeans. Plus I actually put on socks and tennis shoes today!
Note to self: Do NOT read true crime/ghost story books when husband is out of town. I read my free Amazon Prime choices over the weekend. How weird is it that they were both set in Minnesota? The first was called The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey, set in Pantown, Minnesota during 70’s about a serial killer. I actually preferred the second book which was a little scarier than the true crime one of the first. The Stroke of Winter by Wendy Webb was a ghost tale set along the north shore of Lake Superior in the town of Wharton. I’ve read other works by Wendy Webb and always enjoyed them. This one had a bit of a cozy mystery feel to it though it was a bit creepy.
The Chiefs, SIGH. The Bills played a good game but it was still a disappointing end. I had to listen to that part in the car as J had band practice, pleading the fifth on whether curse words were uttered. Didn’t get to see Masked Singer last week because of baseball, really hope it’s on this week. Finished Kim’s
Convenience on Netflix. Not sure what else I’ll watch this week. Need to get back to The Walking Dead.
Just trying to use up a little of what we have on hand.
MONDAY: Minestrone, crusty bread (planning to use the remnants of a veggie tray for my minestrone) *J has a baritone lesson at 6:30*
TUESDAY: Roast in the crockpot *I have Bunco*
WEDNESDAY: Chicken strips, corn on the cob, maybe French Fries
THURSDAY: On their own
FRIDAY: On their own
UGH. Enough said.
Last week/the weekend was a little hard with band senior night/the last band competition and J not being a part of it all. I actually ran across this verse at a time I really needed to see it. Trying to keep it in mind moving forward.
Just a not so wordless Wednesday post for the day. We’ve woke up to rain the past two mornings. So very nice. And then, sunny before noon hits. Here’s a glimpse of a few things from the past few days that are more interesting than the tv remote and laundry piles.
Had cool weather for a second or two…
Baked banana bread 
Started decorating for Halloween/Fall 
One of my indoor plants back from its outdoor vacation… 
Nice to have a break from watering the garden 
Last of the cherry tomatoes, hoping they turn red soon.
Threw these pots to the side of the house in disgust a few weeks ago after some creature ate all my sunflower blooms off the stalks. 
Wait. When did this happen?! 
Happy Monday! Lots of things to do today. However, a few delays. Can’t grocery shop until tomorrow (could but I want my gas discount based on how many points the Chiefs score). Delayed kitchen chores because a yellow jacket is in there angrily buzzing at the kitchen light fixture. Or rather there was. Which is scarier? Seeing it or not seeing it? I’m not sure.
UPDATE: I found it in a water glass, not sure if it was alive or not, and gave it a “gentle” toss out the back door. Sigh of relief to have my kitchen back.
Let’s just get straight to the categories provided for us by Sandra over at Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom, the gracious inventor and host of this weekly link up.
It’s a beautiful fall morning out there, sunny and not too chilly. Supposed to be warm today, high of 82 predicted. Super excited to see a 50% chance of rain for tomorrow! After our rain (hopefully, we get it), the highs drop into the low 70’s. And I see a predicted low of 38 (BRR) for Thursday night. Guess I’ll be out throwing sheets over the mums again.
Blue skies, sparrows mostly at my bird feeders, a few leaves starting to drift to the ground on our slight breeze today. 
Doing some laundry, working on this post, considering another quick Target run for some items I forgot to pick up last night.
How to get back to the me I used to be before a lot of life happened. Oh, that’s nice and vague now isn’t it? Just thinking that I used to be better at being a caring and compassionate person and would like to do better than I have been doing lately.
Relieved as I think we finally have J’s schooling worked out, maybe. The plan we decided on (him and I) is that he’s going to on-line school (through a certified homeschool program because our district won’t let him use their on-line option, they have crazy strict restrictions on it) for this semester. Then, go back next semester to graduate from the high school with his friends. Have I ever mentioned the kid is only 8, yes eight, credits away from graduating?
And on an unrelated not, my back is hurting a bit but I’ll manage.
Flip yogurt, coffee, vitamins.
Possibly out, probably just a sandwich. Sort of depends on yellow jacket status.
Plan is for pepper steak and rice.
Um, it’s red Monday in these parts. Chiefs tee-shirt, navy blue shorts, and my slip on leopard print shows though I’ll probably change into real tennis shoes in a bit.
Nothing at the moment but I just finished a book last night called Beartown by Fredrik Bachman. It was well written (I do enjoy his books) but the subject matter wasn’t what I expected. If you’re looking for a feel good sports story, this isn’t it. It’s a pretty grim and gritty story about a small town pinning it’s hopes on a youth hockey player and a violent assault against a young teenage girl. It’s worth reading but don’t pick it up expecting something light. I guess it’s a series so I’ll read the next one when it’s my turn at the library (both books were on hold with long lines). Need to find something a bit lighter for my next read.
Many thanks to Billie Jo over at Afternoon Coffee and Evening Tea for recommending Halloweentown as a fun movie to watch. I loved it! Also watching The Chiefs (of course), The Walking Dead, The Masked Singer, and Kim’s Convenience. Last night I caught the end of the Ravens and Bengals football game. Sorry to my Bengals friends but wow, what a finish to that one!
Felt like I cooked a lot last week. Another week of it, I suppose. Not really in the mood to put a lot of effort into meals this week.
MONDAY: pepper steak and rice *J has a lesson at 6:30* *G is due home from his trip!*
TUESDAY: Some form of tacos *I have Mom’s Night Out*
WEDNESDAY: Might just make chicken strips and have salad with it
THURSDAY: Korean BBQ meatballs again with rice, maybe I’ll get some spring rolls to have with it
FRIDAY: OUT or maybe just BLT’s and French Fries
I need to put out my Halloween decorations (clean first though)
Still struggling to pick up the camera, not sure why. Need to get back to it, maybe just pick a time of day to go take a few photos. All the photos in this post I took this morning. 
Rejoice always, pray continuously, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ. (Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Felt like yesterday’s Thankful Thursday post maybe ended on a bit of a down note. And since I mostly try to keep it positive around here, how about a peace offering. Recipes for a simple dinner and a dessert. Plus some chit chat about the TV shows I’ve been watching. Normally, I guess it would be dinner, dessert, and a movie. However, I’ve not had the attention span for a movie lately. Maybe later this weekend.
To start, an easy dinner recipe for you. I found this recipe in the oddest of places. Back in the spring, my hairdresser was running just a bit late (very rare) and I was glancing at the magazines. For some reason, they had a food magazine in the collection. I wish I could recall which one.
Aside from a little sausage and vegetable chopping (oh, and garlic mincing), this is one of the easiest recipes to make. As an added bonus, every single person in my picky family likes this! In the picture above, I also used turkey sausage to double the meat. While it works with turkey sausage as well, it’s much better with the chicken sausage. 
We use regular orzo, broccoli in place of broccolini, and skip the cheese and lemon zest. It’s a good filling, one dish kind of meal.
And now for a simple dessert…
Sometimes people give my husband desserts when he’s working and this is one he brought home and then, the next day had the person text the recipe. I’d forgotten about them until recently when I spotted the grocery store bakery selling them in a clamshell. So, I decided to dig out the recipe and make a batch. They’ve been a hit! Super easy to make, we’ve been just storing them in the fridge. Funny I’d always thought they were made with Cornflakes but this recipe used Rice Krispies. 
What’ve you been watching lately? For me, I binged right through Only Murders in the Building on Hulu. So good, I highly recommend it. Started back catching up with The Walking Dead yesterday. It’s a scary show I can watch only in the daytime. For whatever reason, I don’t find zombies all that scary. Plus, anyone that’s seen more than an episode or two knows the zombies aren’t nearly as scary as some of the people in that show.
Last night, I was searching for something light to watch and saw the Steve Martin and Martin Short comedy special. Enjoyed that very much (if you don’t know, they are the two stars along with Selena Gomez in Only Murders in the Building).
Then, still searching for something that didn’t take too much effort to watch (like watching tv takes so much effort, ha!), I clicked on Kim’s Convenience. I’d read about in Simu Liu’s autobiography (he’s the star of Shang Chi, a great Marvel movie if you have Disney +) and mentioned getting his role it it. It was funny though I confess to falling asleep watching it (past my bedtime). Might be a good laundry folding show.
This weekend I’ll probably watch a bit more of the new Walking Dead episodes and maybe a Halloween movie. Any not too scary suggestions for me?
It’s been a while since I put together a Thankful Thursday post but I have a bit of time this morning before work.
Hoping to get back into the routine of these. It does seem to help to pause and be thankful for the big and little things that occur along the way. I picked up the camera for a few quick snaps for this post. So first, I’m thankful that I took the time to pick up the camera. I really need to get back into the habit of it.
See those petunias in the picture above. They were going to throw that big beautiful pot of petunias away at Home Depot a few weeks back! Not sure how it all worked out (they couldn’t give them to me) but somehow I bought a big (probably $40) pot of petunias for $10. For the record, they didn’t look like that when I bought them. They were an over-watered, in desperate need of cutting back and deadheading, dying mess. The pot will be handy next year as well (petunias are annuals in these parts).
Despite the ongoing drought, we had a good for us garden year. I’ll still try to maintain the fall garden idea but admit I’m tired. That said, rubs hands together, I do have plans for my vegetable garden next year. BIG plans.
I’m very thankful for my friends and opportunities to get together with them. A night out, a dinner out, dinner out and a small firepit with my husband and our mutual friends (s’mores!), and tomorrow a long overdue coffee date with a friend I’ve not seen in some time.
If you’ve read any Happy Homemaker Monday posts, you know this school year has again been a tough one with J. It started great and then, just plummeted. I’ve had to give up the idea of what this Senior year would be, clearly nothing like the one G had.
Yet, I continue to have faith and hope that we’re going to make it to the end and he’s going to graduate, go on and this is just going to be a little blip in the big picture. 
I’m also thankful for distractions like good, suspense novels, comedy and dramas on tv, coffee and chai tea, a certain little gray cat, and being able to sleep with the windows open. What things are you thankful for this week?
Yesterday, Carrie over at Northwoods Scrapbook mentioned me in a fun Autumn tag from a blog she follows called It’s Always Something.
Though I seldom do these, I thought I’d play along and share my answers today. And I “borrowed” Carrie’s idea to use older photos for this post since fall is taking the scenic route to arrive around here.
Our neighbors sometimes burn leaves (though I hope not this year, way too dry out there!) and I do love the smell.
I enjoyed answering these questions. Reminds me of when I did a whole fall series I did over at So Not Organized back in 2017 on Embracing the Fall Season. And of course, also makes me think of my dear friend Rebecca over at Rebecca’s Hearth and Home as I know she’s an all things fall lover. Maybe she’ll find time to join in? Anyone else that would like to join in, please do so!
Did you see that blur that was September blaze on by us? And now, October is here. Hoping and praying this is going to be a great month for all of us.
Joining in as always with Sandra over at Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom for the Happy Homemaker Monday blog link up.
One last hurrah (maybe?) of warmer weather before the cool temps arrive this weekend. Still no rain in sight and we really need it. High of 81 today but Friday’s high is only supposed to be 59. Time to get my indoor plants home from their outdoor vacations!
I see lots of outdoor clean up of plants and pots I need to do. Sparrows wondering why their birdseed hasn’t magically appeared yet (I’m out). A cat sleeping on the bench on the front porch. Sunny skies.
I’m taking the time to write this post after what seemed like a busy morning watering the garden, working on some plant cleanup, and a run to the grocery store. I’m replacing the herb garden wall pots in front of the porch with some mums, getting it into a bit of a Halloween theme, a work in progress: 
I wrote last week about already having a topic for my 31 days series but the weekend got away from me. And now, I’m thinking that perhaps I’ll give myself a break. I still like my topic but perhaps I’ll write on it at slower pace, perhaps weekly.
Not super tried but a bit frazzled thinking of all the things I would like to get done today. Also, trying to give myself permission to rest and not need to figure it all out. 
I forgot to eat breakfast before I went to the store. Oops. So, I had a pumpkin spice latte (first of the season here!) and a cheese Danish from Starbucks. Plus vitamins. And of course, some coffee at home before I left for the store.
No idea. Lunch is a hard category for me. Maybe just peanut butter and jelly.
A roast is in the crockpot
Black tee-shirt, olive green Capri pants, and of course, my leopard print slide on shoes.
I’m on a Megan Miranda quick lately. Last week I read The Perfect Stranger (good) and then, The Safest Lies (YA novel and just okay for me). Currently I’m reading Such a Quiet Place (just started it but seems promising so far).
Might be a summer person but I do love when the new seasons of my shows return! Masked Singer is back, hooray! La Brea, I missed the season premiere, need to find it somewhere. The Walking Dead is also back, planning to watch sometime this week. And if you are looking for something fun and a bit different, I stumbled on Only Murders in the Building on Hulu over the weekend, it’s a good one. And of course, anyone from this area knows the answer to the question: How ‘Bout Those….. (for those not local, the answer is CHIEFS!)
G’s going out of town with friends later this week so I’m trying to make some things I know he likes to start the week and then, things we all like (that he doesn’t) while he’s away.
MONDAY: Roast in the crockpot (BBQ sandwiches) *J has a baritone lesson at 6:30)
TUESDAY: Chicken sausage and orzo skillet
WEDNESDAY: Either or Spaghetti or Korean BBQ meatballs *J has an appt at 3*
THURSDAY: Maybe fish *I work 2-5*
FRIDAY: Chili (if not on Friday, then definitely one day over the weekend)
I started on my Fall cleaning schedule last week, need to continue it. And figure out where I’m going to put too many plants that need to come inside.
I did a horrible job of picking up the camera last week (though I did end up working a few days). Over the weekend we went “north of the river” to run some errands and I went in this fun tea shop in Liberty, MO. My purchase: 
I came across this verse more than once last week so I’m sharing it on here.
This isn’t the post I planned today but I still wanted to share something in this space. Here are a few random photos before I head into work this afternoon.
It’s a beautiful 68 degree sunny fall day here. I’m off to work. Hope you are enjoying your Wednesday! (Also, thinking of those in the path of the hurricane. Please, stay safe.)