Saturday....

51 degrees and cloudy with drizzle. Ahhhhh.... Nearly Winter in the Midwest!

Keith got into the 3 week Pipeline class at the Union training grounds in November. Rumor is that they have to stay in a motel in Terre Haute to collect their travel money and per diem. He is not thrilled about THAT. I figure a person can stand anything for 3 weeks! LOL! Maybe he'll get a job somewhere warm this winter!

Meanwhile, I'm off to the nursing home, armed with decorated cupcakes and a new sweater, to 'celebrate' my mom's 79th birthday, with her and her 78 year old brother--and whatever other relatives show up. 'Celebrate' doesn't seem like quite the right word for someone who's stuck in a nursing home, with no short-term memory, but that's all I could think of....

Wasting time with beads and gourds...

I am so artistic! Shame I can't find a market for my 'stuff'! :) These are 2 of the 6" gourd bowls that I've lined with tiny glass beads. Ya can't USE them because the beads are pressed into a beeswax/pine tar coating. But they look purty on the wall! :)

We had a friend of Keith's as a "boarder" here on our Hill for a couple of weeks--until he, too, got laid off from a nearby job. We had tucked his 36' fifth wheel in behind ours, Keith brought home our truck camper, and we STILL had room to slide another unit in! Our dogs were tickled silly to have an extra dog around, and an extra "dog person" to play with. They had a hissy when he pulled out today!

Still no word on whether Keith (and hopefully his buddy) will get into the November pipe laying class being offered by the Union. It sure would be nice! And would almost assure them of work by giving them special skills. Meanwhile, we are still waiting on Indiana to get the Unemployment Insurance straightened out....

Back to my latest bowl creation....

Finally Fall!

Brrrrrrr! THIS is more like it! :) Sunshine and sweater weather!

It's getting a bit crowded here on the Hill! A buddy of Keith's brought in his 36' 5th wheel while he's working a job nearby and Keith got his big truck/camper brought back from it's summer spot in Indiana, so parking is at a premium here! I suppose we could put another RV up here, if we needed to.... :)

Meanwhile, Keith has had 2 weeks of running someone else's combine--but he's still ready to go every morning! It's a whole different ballgame when you don't have to pay for repairs and fuel!

And life goes on.....

Nomads? Not so much!

So, at this rate, I may have to turn in my "nomad badge"! I have been sitting on this hill since MARCH!

Keith got worked himself right out of a job in Indiana, so he's back under foot and there's no more nice paychecks coming in. :( We did sell the tractor, tho--so we're good for a while. He spent all week running a friend's combine, so he's a tired but happy camper! Got his 'farming' fix. The Union says there's nothing coming up, so I've been haunting the Jobs boards--with no luck, so far! I applied at the new (yuck) Super Walmart, but they haven't called....

Fall may be here, but this business of having to run the AC in October is just bizarre! We didn't do that when we lived in Florida!!! Raking leaves loses it's charm when you're in shorts and tshirt, dripping sweat! 90 degrees, for crying out loud!

Busy "Grandma" week this week. I had 3 year-old Dawn 2 days and Connor spent the night last nite. He's taken up the drum, and brought it along to be sure he got his daily practicing done! I made him set it up outdoors.... LOL!

And there ya have it, for now!

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY!