Last day this year of more daylight than darkness!

Did  you know that?  Yep, that's what the weatherman said this morning.  We have 2 more minutes of daylight than darkness today.  Enjoy those two minutes.

I've been busy this week.  I finished my pumpkin quilt, and it's adorning the back of the love seat in the living room.  I finished the mini Halloween wall hanging I was working on, and gave it to my mom to put on her door. The quilt was put together with blocks that I got in a swap in 2005.  I love how it turned out. The wall hanging was a challenge in one of my yahoo groups.  Mom loved it and was so surprised when I told her she could take it home for her door.  Rod gave her a small pumpkin from the garden.  And she was tickled that she had some Halloween decorations.

 I made a child's apron for Izzy for her birthday- - day.  Her party is Saturday, and I've bought her the Tupperware kid's plates, cups, bowls,etc. and a basket to put them in.  But I also like to give the kids a gift on their actual birthday.  Aunt Mary bought her a pair of pink cowgirl boots, and she looked so funny running around the house in her apron (which came past her knees) and those boots.  Changing a diaper on a child wearing a long apron and cowgirl boots isn't easy.  I know, I had to do it yesterday since she wouldn't let me take either off.

This weekend is supposed to be rainy, so hopefully some sewing will get done.  I have so much to do before our Disney trip.  I loaded Christmas music onto the Zune yesterday -- somehow the Christmas tunes help me make gifts in October.  Hope you have a great weekend.

September Poem

Did you have to memorize poetry in school?  We did.  In 6th grade we had to memorize the poem, September by Helen Hunt Jackson.  And recite it in front of the class.  I still remember and love that poem.  The days are growing shorter here in western PA, the air is a little brisker, and the pumpkins on our vines are turning a bright orange as the vines are dying.  And yesterday this poem came to mind.

SEPTEMBER
by: Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

HE golden-rod is yellow;

The corn is turning brown;

The trees in apple orchards

With fruit are bending down.

 

The gentian's bluest fringes

Are curling in the sun;

In dusty pods the milkweed

Its hidden silk has spun.

 

The sedges flaunt their harvest,

In every meadow nook;

And asters by the brook-side

Make asters in the brook.

 

From dewy lanes at morning

The grapes' sweet odors rise;

At noon the roads all flutter

With yellow butterflies.

 

By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer's best of weather,

And autumn's best of cheer.

 

But none of all this beauty

Which floods the earth and air

Is unto me the secret

Which makes September fair.

 

'T is a thing which I remember;

To name it thrills me yet:

One day of one September

I never can forget.

"September" is reprinted from Poems. Helen Jackson. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1892.

Have a great September day, and take the time to look at all of the autumn signs around you.

Take a Look at This!

Today Bubby came here to stay since he wasn't going back to school until tomorrow.  And this afternoon Izzy showed up with a bag of hull-less popcorn.  These two love popcorn. But to quote Izzy's daddy, "she's a messy little thing".  And it's so true, spills and messes just seem to follow Izzy everywhere she goes.  So you can understand how the bag of popcorn ended up all over my living room floor.  And as soon as I got the camera out of the case, Izzy said "Cheese"  And cheese it was!! All over that little face.

Bubby apologized for the mess, and immediately began to clean it up.  Izzy had her own idea of how to pick up the popcorn.  Can you see here stuffing it into her mouth?  Bubby very patiently picked up the popcorn piece by piece and put it back into the bag.

Can you see where the popcorn that Izzy picked up went? This is our little chipmunk with the cheesey bits all over her face.  But they were happy to be together again.  These are the kind of days I will always remember.

It's Just Another Manic Monday

Do you remember that song?  Never sure what it meant, but I liked it.  To update Bubby's condition, yesterday morning he made a complete 360 and started to talk, play basketball with his socks and his mom and dad.  The result of the latest cat scan was better than the one on Wednesday, and a shunt malfunction was ruled out (again).  To make a long story short, they sent him home!!  He was so happy to be out of that hospital, and we know that he doesn't remember anything that happened because he asked Mary where they were and why they were there.  Then last night, he had another seizure.  Mary called the ambulance, and then called neurology at Children's.  They told her that they felt it was just his body adjusting to the new medication, and didn't feel that hospitalization was necessary.  He came out of the seizure quickly, Mary canceled the ambulance, and I'm sure she had a very restless night.  Additional thanks to all for your prayers and support.  I have some really wonderful cyber-friends.  I am definitely blessed.

I really needed something to do yesterday - something fun.  So I used some pumpkin swap blocks from 2007, and put them together with fabrics in my stash.  I really liked the way it turned out.  No to get it sandwiched, quilted and bound.  I really love the colors green and orange.  Fall is definitely my favorite time of year, and pumpkins make me happy.  So today I am cheesin' (as DD Mary would say).

 Some of these swap blocks almost look like our pumpkins out back.  Anyone know when you harvest pumpkins???  Ours are turning orange and the vines are starting to die.  I think in October we are going to have a soup supper.  We invite friends and family, ask them to bring a pot of soup to share, and we provide the homemade bread and desserts.  We had one a few years ago, and everyone loved it and has been asking for another.  Rod and I both have birthdays in October, so we usually make it the weekend in between our birthdays.

Today I want to "rid up" my sewing room.  That was one of my granny's favorite sayings.  Some fabrics need folded and put away, and my sideboard needs to be cleaned off.  So I'll say have a good week.

Update on Bubby

After 24 hours of stating that it was definitely not a shunt malfunction, the drs. have now determined that it probably is!!  So, there is a good possibility that Bubby will be undergoing brain surgery this afternoon.  Whether the shunt will be reset will be determined by whether or not the cerebro-spinal fluid is infected.  If it is, he will remain in the hospital until the infection is cleared up. He is still on the ventilator, and Mary is starting to break down.  She's been so strong, but her will is weakening.  Please continue to pray. 

Prayers, Please

This is a photo of Bubby and Krissy on the first day of school.  Life was so happy then. . .  but things change.  Yesterday at school, Bubby had a seizure in the cafeteria.  The adults present surrounded him so that the other kids wouldn't see what was going on and be frightened.  And that's when the nightmare started!  The school called Mary,(his mom) and then DD Pam was called.  When Pam got there, he had been seizing for about 30 minutes, and Pam told them to call an ambulance.  He was taken to our local hospital.  They couldn't control the seizure, and called the neurologists at Children's Hospital in Pgh.  They were instructed to bring him there, and he was life-flighted to Children's.  He is now on a ventilator and in the Pulmonary Intensive Care Unit at Children's.  They have run numerous tests, but have yet to determine what's causing the seizures.  Mary stayed at his side through the night, and Krissy stayed here with Pappy and I.  She's only 8 years old, but is so strong.  She's been very quiet, and I know that she's very worried about her brother. Right now we are playing the waiting game.  They don't think it's a shunt malfunction at this time, and are waiting for cultures and tests for flu to come back.  I don't know that I've ever been so scared in my life.  The thought of anything terrible happening to my Bubby terrifies me.  Please pray for this little guy and his family.

The Attack Of The Giant Pumpkin Vine. . .

No, it's not the latest science fiction movie, it's what's happening in our garden. This is one of the vines which starts at the fence. I've pointed out one of the pumpkins. It's one of 17 that we have, and that was out of one package of seeds.

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Here's another vine climbing over the fence.  There's a pumpkin here too.

And it continues past the angel statue, past the little girl with the basket of apples, and . . .

over toward the deck.  Rod says we should be able to pick some of the pumpkins from the deck.  And the vines continue to grow.  Some of the vines  grew out of the boxes going the other way, and the pumpkins are in the boxes, on the grass, and even one is in the corner of two boxes.   I think there's a total of 4 hanging from the vines as they come over the fence.  I'm hoping that we can can some pumpkin.  Pumpkin pies from the pumpkins we grew in our garden will surely be a welcome treat at Thanksgiving.

Hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend.  We're going to our camp for just the day on Saturday, and hopefully I'll get some sewing done during the rest of the weekend,