AROUND AND ABOUT A BIT THIS WEEK, AND ANN’S SEPTEMBER HAPPY MAIL

I am starting off with Ann’s September card. The month is zipping right along and I didn’t want any further time to disappear before I mentioned her Happy Mail. She continues to delight those of us who receive them, with her thoughtfulness and wonderful creativity.

Thanks always Ann, you are such a dear friend.

I hope everyone’s week is going well. It was another glorious week for cloud watching here, a little more drama in those skies today. (We have had ongoing construction work on our roads for the last three years, adding an extra lane or two and working along several miles of road. We are nearing the end of our section. I'm sure they will be moving down to another. That's usually how it goes right?)

"Nature is a mutable cloud, which is always and never the same."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

We thought this looked like a very odd Toyota, but it wasn’t long before the penny dropped. It was no Toyota I had seen before, and yet even from a distance, familiar. It wasn't until we got closer that we saw the owner had a sense of humor, or was it something more?

We followed him for a few miles and then the Tesla Cybertruck turned right. 

I went back to cloud watching.

The skies started brightening up later but not before we had a downpour. This short video was at the beginning. It fell heavily afterwards. It's been all quiet today, apart from Mama Squirrel coming for a drink. (Today it got up to 89 degrees F. - 32 degrees C. The leaves are turning, we see signs everywhere and Fall is definitely around the corner.) 

It seems the appropriate time to share one of the jigsaw puzzles. I completed it a few days ago. I don't know what that red umbrella and those beautiful flowers are doing there on the wet cobbled street. We could write our own scenario. Any takers? No, me neither!

One day we decided a trip to our favorite cafe was in order. Hubby took a photo of me. Seriously, how many of you prefer to be behind the camera instead of in front of it? He, like me, loves to play on those phone apps and he changed me into a sketch and finally got my approval. I told him to take the lines out. My skin looked like the Grand Canyon and it ain't that bad yet. Smile Denise!

They were serving their coffee in Christmas mugs. The one I am holding has a wreathe with two cardinals and the word “love”. I can probably purchase one. If I didn’t have a zillion mugs in the cupboard, it might have come home with me, but we are still in the process of downsizing. It’s taking forever! Yes Ms. Kondo, it still sparks joy. That’s the problem, there are too many things around here that spark joy! I am keeping a few favorites that remind me of places we have visited over the years, and also treasures that family and friends have given. The rest are going to the man who keeps a big bus in one of the large parking lots. It's run by our local church where all donated items will be going to a good home.

A few days later we were at the supermarket and my sweet tooth checked out all the different kinds of fudge and cookies, but our sensible personalities took over, and we concentrated on fruits and veggies, except... 

that we were out extra early, missed breakfast and it was lunchtime. We had a slice of pizza in their restaurant area. We could have bought a whole one for less I know but at $4.00 a slice, in our minds, it prevented us from scoffing the lot during the rest of the day. We are trying the mindset of portion control, and those hiccups/side trips are much less than they used to be. Pat on the back for us, yay! 

We saw a family member this week. Last week too as we looked after his vehicle while he was away. Our airport is only half an hour from here. It was good to see him both times as there was a chance for a good catch-up. 

Bless him, he let us use his vehicle for taking things to our local garbage center as it has a truck bed. Gregg made a big dent in the garage, another yay! (This latest pile of 'goodies' was beyond taking to the man in charge of the donation bus). 

When I went out later I said to my dear man, "Where's the ironing board?" I got a sheepish look and an "Errrr....ironing board?" I had put it out there temporarily when I cleared out the area where I stored it. He said, "I thought you didn't like ironing anymore?" True, not that I ever did like ironing but there are times I need one. Oh well, we saw the funny side and there is a new ironing board in our future. And dear Ms Kondo, my ironing board never exactly sparked joy, but I was sorry to see it go.

We have noticed a lot of seasonal decorations in the stores, and saying it seems much earlier than last year. Merchants are getting a head start. A couple of weeks ago we saw these on our way out of the neighborhood. That skeleton is about as tall as I am. It’s huge!

I am not a skeleton person but I can’t seem to help myself, everything is a photo op. The following snapshots are of my favorite house for decorations. I have admired the effort they have put into it for several years now. They have added new ones this year. I'm going to wait until nearer Halloween before I ask Gregg to drive us through the neighborhood at night, not on Halloween but before, or maybe even afterwards. None are taken down too quickly. 

I'm sure these will all be lit up at night and will look exceptionally scary. Personally, I would like to see a few dragons, smiling yes! 

I realized I didn’t have any Halloween decorations and treated myself to a trio of scarecrows in witch hats. That's about as far as I go, and handing out the candy on the night. It is now 43 days until the 31st.

Thanks for looking and take 

good care of yourselves out there.

Enjoy your day.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - VISIT FROM OUR OVERSEAS FAMILY STARTING AT THE AIRPORT - PART 1

 Hello family and friends, my blog break is over. I will be sharing several posts from our recent visit from our dear niece, her partner and his daughter. I thought they were really nice to say they didn't mind me putting their photos on here. I have always been very close to my niece since the first time I met her when she was a wee baby, and when I met her partner and his daughter, they were as nice as could be, with delightful senses of humor. I grew very fond of them over this holiday. We all had a marvelous time and it went all too quickly, but we have great memories and many photos taken during their visit.

It all started at Washington-Dulles International Airport and we arrived early. It has been quite a while since we were there to pick anyone up. As expected, we found the arrival lounge busy, with many people expecting loved ones off countless planes. Fortunately we found a couple of empty chairs.It was such a happy atmosphere. As each planeload of passengers made their way out of the customs area, the excitement was palpable. We watched as several families/friends greeted each other with such joy and excitement. We waited for their plane to land, and a text finally arrived from our niece to say they were in line at customs and that it would take forever. But at long last they came through the doors, and wouldn't you know it, with all the excitement we didn't think of taking a photo. Our arms were too busy hugging each other. But I did remember to take this on our way back home.

I wasn't sure what they would like for their first meal here, and we thought of taking them out to a nice restaurant but as you might guess, they were very tired after their journey. So, we said we would order in, and everyone unanimously voted for pizza. We picked it up on our way home at a local family-run place. Our son went to the same school with the owner's son. You can visit their website here. I get nothing in return for this, but love giving people a good rating when it is well deserved, and we get consistently excellent food. We can purchase a variety of pizzas by the slice, and they also have wonderful salads.

The new table Gregg put together worked out great, and I meant to take a photo of it all set up but forgot. I will do that down the road somewhere. There were napkins but forgot to take those out of the cupboard and no one seemed to mind the kitchen roll. We were all so happy at being together. Knives and forks were set out and that pizza was thoroughly enjoyed.

My niece holding her glass up as we took one last photo before tucking in.

The first request on their bucket list was to see an American shopping mall (I think the ladies might have had something to say about this).We took them to Tyson's Corner the next day. I am still not able to walk around too much but I sat in one of the food courts and found an empty table and enjoyed people watching. Always a fun pastime for me. Husband and son sent me a few photos...and they came back to keep me company. Neither of them are shoppers for places like this, but once our family had the lay of the land, they left them to enjoy the mall. The Easter Bunny looked very tired...

but perked up as soon as this cute little girl visited.

You're not taking my photo are you son?

Oh, okay!

We sat right outside the Panda Express and Charlie's was a few doors up, but I only felt like a coffee son brought back with him. Great coffee from I forget where. Not one of the regular names you see, a new place.

Our dear daughter-in-law finished work and joined us. Then everyone came back and there was a group photo Gregg took.

There's a lot of American pop culture on German television and the youngest member of the group had heard all about Crumbl Cookies. Fortunately one had opened up not too far away from us, so we were able to stop on the way home one day.

A pose for friends back home.

I was told they change the cookies to a different variety weekly, with the exception of the chocolate chip. The cookies are quite big and some are cake-like.

Mine was this one with small easter eggs on top.

It was excellent!

I may be getting timelines confused as strangely I neglected my journal during the time they were here. I couldn’t keep up truth be told. So we did all of the things in my posts. Just maybe not in the order I put down.

That's all for today but more coming.

Thanks for visiting and I hope your day is a great one.