last weekend, 2015

 Jay rented this machine to haul the water softener out of the basement, rather than carrying it up the ladder in his own arms.

Then they had some fun with it, clearing a path in the woods.

 Some kids, moving it on back fast from the field to the cabin after gun shots were heard in the woods.

Could they shoot us on our own property??

Well, no.  Not on purpose. Who would shoot children on purpose??

Yeah. Stay out of the field.

 The swamp:

 And this little beauty.  At one point she asked me about all the Asian Beetles crowding into ceiling corners and light fixtures:

"Are they fighting?"

I told her no. They don't look mad. They're not fighting.

 That's when Kari burst out laughing,"Like it's so easy to discern the emotions of a beetle."

Exactly! They beetle around doing beetle activities. Who knows what their mood or intentions are.

 And then on the way out of town we stopped at the gas station to use the bathrooms before we hit the road, since closing down the cabin bathrooms made them out of use.

She was complaining mightily about how hungry she was, so after she and Lydia had used the bathroom I told them to choose some snacks while I had my turn.

When I came from the bathroom, she had chosen only an AIR FRESHENER.

I howled,

"What do you want with that?  You said you were hungry!"

 "Oh, yeah!"

Good LOR-ed.

Here are pictures from trying to clean up this place and get out for the season:

Okay, see you in April

Love forever, MOM, aka GRANDMA, aka VAL

november picnic

 It was mid 70s today, warm enough for a picnic.   We cleaned up the leaves and dog crap yesterday, so the yard was nice.

 Then they went nuts in the sandbox, making rivers and mountains and filling the thing with water.

So far, November has brought nothing but sun.

November, I think we're going to be friends.

love, Val

hello, november

 Yesterday was a great cousin-babysitting kind of day.

 And it was warm and sunny too.

 Tim helping his niece out with a bottle.

Monday, great.

love, Val, aka GRANDMA

11-1-2015

 I haven't really seen these kids in a while, and I was starting to be lonely and also resentful.

(Yeah, not nice, I know.)

So, I called Dannell, and she foolishly answered the phone and I cornered her, "Why doesn't John call me back??  What the hell's wrong with him?"

Anyway, we went over there late this afternoon. I was going to go by myself, but Jay and Tim and Julia wanted to come along also.

 We had a good time.  It was a short visit, an hour and half may be, but they were so funny and sweet.

He read me a story in his bed, using a flashlight in the dark.

 And that baby girl has a full smile of teeth, and she's going around the floor like she's been doing it all her life.

 There was this pose:

 And that one:

Happy November.  Onward.

Nothing but love,  

love, Val, aka GRANDMA

halloween, 2015

 We headed over to my parents and met up with some of the grandkids to trick or treat.

 They were so excited they could hardly stand it.  The monkey kept tackling Mario.

 Finally got them all still for one picture before we headed out.

Tim wouldn't trick or treat this year--too old he said.

 So.   See that tall kid in the pink coat?

That's my last trick or treater.

I thought about when was it ever that I had only ONE trick or treater?

It would have been in 1979 when we had only John.  By 1980 we had Dan too.

 It's been thirty-six years it took me to work back to just ONE trick or treater.

My family is growing up, you guys.

What a beautiful night, plus so glad to have other squirrels to go nuts in giddy delight and drag up and down the streets, sweating in winter coats under costumes.

I love all so very, very much,  love, MOM, aka GRANDMA, aka VAL

p.s.  Could not resist these pictures of Jay's grandparents.  That's the original John, the one we named him after, and the original Lydia.