Anchors Away!

We finally got a new boat....it starts and idles...woohoo!! We really like it, now if the weather would just cooperate maybe we could enjoy it.
We didn't like the position of the trolling motor so Gene moved it farther away from the pontoons.

We are surrounded by lake scum. It is worse this year than we have ever seen it. Gene made an attempt to move it away from the dock by getting in our little fishing boat which we have named "The Minnow" and using the net to move it on out into the cove. It helped, but there is still a lot there.

Last year I attempted to "grow" a worm farm. I wasn't very successful. Somehow the worms just seemed to disappear. I am attempting it again! Wish me luck!

P.S. I miss my grandbabies soooooo much.

You Load Fifteen Tons and What Do You Get.....

You get your name on a brick on the Coal Miners Memorial Wall

My paternal Grandfather

My Maternal Grandfather

They worked so very hard all of their lives and this job took a toll on their health. But they were proud that they were able to work and support their families. Young people today should work so hard to support their families instead of expecting the government to take care of them. The most work that many able-bodied young people do in this day and age is stand at the mailbox waiting for their government check. JUST MY RANT FOR THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alzheimer's or Do You See What I See

I just visited my parents and other family members. My dad has dementia. My mother and aunt have Alzheimer's. Both are such horrible diseases.

I called my parents when I was about 5 miles from their house to tell them that I was coming to visit. As usual, when I pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, I heard my dad ask my mother "Who is that?" My mother said "Mary Jane". Your heart can go to to your throat when you realize that your dad no longer recognizes you. As soon as I get out of the car I said "hello, daddy, whatcha doing?" and I think something in his brain clicks when he hears my voice and then he recognizes me.....I just wonder what I look like to him; for just a few minutes I would like to be able to see what he sees and maybe I could understand...just a little. He actually handles his dementia very well; but it hurts to see how confused he is all the time. In his mind his house is always full of people. These people get on his nerves and he doesn't trust them. Every time we get in the car to go for a ride he wants to know who all is going with us and what about all those other people. He doesn't like the fact that he thinks that we leave people at his house..he is afraid they will get his "stuff"

Mother on the other hand does not suffer from delusions, she just has the very typical Alzheimer's symptoms. She constantly repeats herself. She can't remember what she was doing five minutes ago or what she just ate. She does still recognize everyone. She puts things up and can't remember where they are and finding car keys or any keys for that matter, is like a scavenger hunt. She is on Aricept and it has really helped her. Daddy cannot tolerate Aricept.

Then I ran down to the nursing home to visit my Aunt. She is younger than my dad and also suffers from Alzheimer's. I walked into her room and she recognized me immediately. I thought to myself "well, this is going to be good" (I was worried because her doctor had told me that she was crying all the time anymore). She said "I have been thinking about you and Tammy a lot the last couple of days" and I was so pleased and thought to myself that this is going to be a good visit. And then it started.....she proceeded to tell me about how tired she was from tap dancing all night with an Elvis impersonator and how the crowd was yelling for her and how he kissed her and she kissed him back...and then nothing else made any sense the whole time I was there. I took her a chocolate milkshake and some french fries, but she ate very little.

After I left the nursing home and went back to my parents and told them that I had taken my aunt a milk shake, they decided that they wanted one too. So, we pile in the car and I buckle mother in and set the child locks on daddy's door and off we go. As we are riding down the road I spot another Aunt driving down the road by herself...she is 87. When we get back home I call her and have the only sensible conversation that I had all weekend. It is wonderful to live to be that old and still very sharp mentally and physically ok. Unfortunately for me, this is an aunt by marriage..the dementia and Alzheimer's are all my blood relatives.....I guess that I know what I have to look forward to. I can only hope that medical science will come up with something to help this disease. I think that I could handle the situation with my parents when I could go from visiting them to visiting my grandchildren; because my grandchildren always make me smile and warm my heart and give me hope for the future. I sure miss my sweet babies....3 weeks and counting :(

Whose Afraid of the Water!

It certainly isn't any of the Creech family! These boys love the water. They just jump right in and swim like fish.
Paula, Austin and Trevor cooling off.
Trenton Paul "cheesing" for the camera!

Bobby and Trevor.

Austin and Trevor just taking it easy!

First Day of School

My great nephew, Trenton Paul, will have his first full day of preschool tomorrow. He did very good on his entrance exams. I sure hope he likes school. I am very anxious to hear how it goes! He is a very fortunate little boy because his babysitter has been his Granny, my sister-in-law. I'm sure my sister-in-law will be very anxious about his first day too.
Here is a picture of my sister-in-law taken in Gatlinburg a few years ago!

I am an old soul!

I think that I actually belong to a different generation than most people my age...I think I am older. I am the only person that I know that likes to sew. I don't like to make clothes because it is cheaper to buy them than to make them and I have never really been good at sewing clothes. I like to sew crafts and home decor stuff. I learned to sew at a very young age on an old big, black Singer sewing machine. Mother would make dresses for me and my sister and she would give me the scraps to make clothes for my dolls, or furnishings for my shoe box doll house. Barbie clothes were particularly hard to make because Barbie dolls are very small. I made pot holders and embroidered pillow cases when I was very young. I like to cross stitch, but I didn't start that until my teens. So, you would think that I would be good at it by now, but I'm really not; I just enjoy doing it. I think that sewing is like playing an instrument, singing or any other skill; you can practice all the time, but you still need to have the innate talent to be exceptionally good at it. Anyway, I decided to make Aaron's name in stuffed letters to hang on his wall in his new room in Crystal Lake. I didn't really like the "N" but that was the only pattern that I had; but here is the result It is hard to tell from the picture, but the pattern of the fabric is Thomas the Tank Engine. I cut and sewed the letters at home and I stuffed and closed them sitting on the deck at the lake while Gene took a nap. He has had an abscessed tooth and has been really sick this week.

I still sew on the machine that belonged to my grandmother. So these pillows were made on a sewing machine that belonged to Aaron's great-great grandmother.....pretty neat! This sewing machine has NEVER been serviced and runs like it is new.

We got the leaking water pipe fixed at the lake and tomorrow we are going to work on the TV cable. Always something to do..............

Sad but True!

Today I had to drag out my old high school yearbook. Not something that I normally do for fun, but I have had several "friend requests" on my Facebook that are from people that I went to high school with, but I absolutely do not remember them. So, out comes the Redskin, 1972 edition (which smells a little like mildew; isn't that depressing) and off I go into my jouney back in time. I found myself stopping and wondering "where is this person" "wonder what profession this person has" and then of course remembering some of my friends that have passed away. I think it is very odd that you can live within walking distance to people, go to school and Church with them for 12 years; and then, for some very strange reason, many, many of these people you will never see again after you walk up on the stage and get that high school diploma. Sad but True.