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The Youngest and Oldest Men in My Life

Jared – our two-year-old grandson was here for a few hours this morning while his two oldest siblings were in school, and four-year-old brother Ian and Mom visited an eye doctor.

Feeding Grandma’s Birds

Just enjoying a beautiful day.

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My Favorite 65-Year-Old

 Cerwin – gathering some of the many leaves in our yard.

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 My day in the office was fairly routine, having spent most of it front of the computer.  Today I was adding and updating addresses in preparation for a large mailing next Thursday.

An Awesome Day in Our Neighborhood!

A Day For The Birds!

~ Morning ~

I was surprised to walk by our front door this morning and see a young hawk on our porch.  I quickly went for my camera and tried in vain to take a picture, then realized the camera card was in my computer!  By the time I got the card in its slot, I had frightened the hawk to a ledge on the side of our house. 

I think it was checking out the many birds that come to our feeders.

~ Evening ~

This evening we went to Myerstown to deliver venison to a butcher shop – to be made into sweet bologna.  When we got out of the CRV, I noticed several beautiful swans.

I was grateful to have my camera along.

We stopped at a restaurant for supper and enjoyed the last bit of sunlight for the day.

Archery Hunting

October 21-28 – Mount Vernon, IL

Cerwin, our son Jeff, and son-in-law Ivan arrived at Wishing Well Bowhunting late afternoon on October 21.

They agreed that they had been to fancier hunting lodges, but the outfitters, area, and food was super. 

(They knew their living quarters weren’t going to be fancy, but liked the price better than those with high class lodges.)

After arriving they got acquainted with the area.

Rod, one of the outfitters, gave them an interesting ride around some of the 3,000 acres of soybeans, corn, and woodland on which they have hunting rights.

Cerwin took this self portrait while in a stand.

  They have lots of tree stands (Cerwin thought about 100) and provide comfortable cushion seats.

He said a highlight of the week was having a four point buck walk right under his stand the first night.  He didn’t shoot, because he knew there were larger racks in the area.

Later he wished he had shot at it, because it turned out to be his best opportunity.  He missed a doe and a buck on Thursday evening.  He said the buck was not a great shot, but he was surprised that his arrow missed the doe.

Jeff was the only one who connected with a deer, when he got a doe on Wednesday night.

This one scored 188 at Pope and Young.

Bob, the other outfitter, took the guys to his house.  Each one was a local deer – and all are listed with Pope and Young.

They also went to a local archery shop and checked out more local mounts.

Two sisters – friends of the outfitters – took excellent care of their food needs.

They even brought a cake for Jeff’s 42nd birthday.

Thursday morning was rainy, so Ivan demonstrates how they spent the morning and early afternoon – watching TV and playing Golf (a card game).

The wind storm yesterday provided some interesting cloud formations on the way home.

Though they only brought one deer home, they were pleased with the outfitters and area, and plan to go back in two or three years.  Each one had opportunity to see a large buck, but none were close enough for bow and arrow.

Jeff donated his meat to us, and came over this afternoon to cut the backstrap into filets for grilling.  The rest will go into sweet bologna. 

(He shot a local doe with bow and arrow, and expects that he, his wife, and two sons will have more venison in a few weeks when they can hunt with guns.)

Covered Dish Supper

 Tonight was a covered dish supper for the TFC staff who serve at the Harrisburg (PA) Chapel.  It is hosted by a local church.

Lead Chaplain David Roberts welcomed everyone.

Bob Thompson, TFC Board Member and General Manager of Perkin’s Restaurant told us how the chapel blesses his employees. 

Bob is the former owner of the truck stop.  After selling it, he leased the restaurant within the truck stop.

David Hershey is a volunteer chaplain (and my cousin – our dad’s are brothers) who does followup with those who make decisions on the chapel.  In this photo he is calling a driver who accepted the Lord earlier this year.  After getting her on the phone, he held the phone up to the mike while she shared her testimony.

While she talked, we could see her photo on the screen. 

David also called Mario, another driver  who shared his testimony.  Hearing their testimonies was definitely a highlight of the evening.

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On the way home, I called Cerwin to see where he, Jeff and Ivan were, as they were on their way home from their hunting trip in Illinois.  He had gotten home about an hour earlier.  It was good to see him again.

I will tell you about their hunting experience and post some pictures in tomorrow’s entry.

The Best News a Grandparent Can Receive!

Our revival meetings started tonight with, Pastor Luke Bucher as evangelist.  He preached a thought-provoking sermon on Joseph and his brothers, and the events God used to bring the brothers to repentance.

At the close of the service, our granddaughter, Diana, accepted the Lord into her heart!   

Diana on her 8th birthday in August.

Potato Soup

Today was gray, cloudy, and cold outside, so I was in the mood for hot soup.

I began a search of my refrigerator, and noticed a few potatoes, carrots, celery, a partial onion, two slices of bacon, and a small amount of chipped ham.

I was so pleased with the finished product.

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If anyone in my “neck of the woods” would like a delicious bowl of potato soup – call me!

Since the men are away – one in Illinois hunting and one in North Carolina on business – our daughters-in-law decided to treat the children (and themselves) to Pizza Hut for supper – and invited me – another Illinois hunting widow!

Jenna serving Jana and Diana

Jordan, Josh, and Nathan enjoying their supper.

The twelve of us took up an entire corner of the restaurant!

We couldn’t decide which dessert pizza to choose – so ordered one of each – apple and cherry.

Delicious food – Even better company

The Sky Captured My Attention Today

The brilliant sunrise drew me outside to capture morning shadows.

It was a beautiful fall morning.

A few hours later our daughter-in-law Kristen called to ask what was burning behind our house.  I was surprised to see black smoke billowing over the mountain.

My sister’s two son-in-laws are firefighters – and their third daughter is dating one, so I walked to her house at the other end of our woodlot – to get a better view for pictures and ask if she knew what was going on – as it was definitely a serious fire.

It was the old Alcoa building on the outskirts of Lebanon –  about ten miles from us – now used by a variety of businesses.

High winds carried the smoke toward the southeast and eventually darkened the sun.

By sunset the smoke was gone, but dark clouds arriving from the west made an interesting skyscape.