Book #4: The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan is a wonderfully uplifting book.  It is a true story about the authors family.  She grew up in a family of ten children with an alcoholic father whose financial provision was inconsistent.  Her mother, however, used her writing skills to enter the many contests of the era and kept the family afloat.

 

We drove right past Defiance on our recent travels. I found myself looking up various towns on the map that were mentioned in the book. 

 

This one is a true story, an easy read and very entertaining and positive.

 

The Silver Lining of Losing Your Email

When we got back from our travels I discovered that my primary email account was deactivated.  Our internet provider is Comcast and despite what their commercials say, they are the poster child for bad service.  We've had an ongoing battle with them for years over redundant charges.  This was their next strategic move - deactivating my account.  It's been a bit of a bother to switch to an alternate email account and I still haven't switched everything since I'm a tiny bit hopeful that we will be able to resolve this (I know....silly me) We still have internet because, well, because they have been charging us for two accounts for years. The funny thing is, though that in some ways it's been a great thing.  I used to want to check my email frequently even though most of the messages were just junk trying to get me to buy something or donate money.  Now I only get a handful of messages a day and have no urgency to keep checking since there is so little to see.  I feel like I've been given more time in the day!

Maybe losing your email suddenly isn't that bad a problem.

A Christmas Story House and Museum

A Christmas Story is my husband's all time favorite Christmas movie....maybe his favorite movie ever.  The outside scenes were all shot in a neighborhood in Cleveland, OH.  And, a fan of the movie bought the house, restored it to look like the rooms in the movie and created a museum and gift shop to go along with it.  Since we were nearby visiting Niagara Falls, we decided to stop by and see the place.  We had a lot of fun talking about the movie with the guide and learning all kinds of trivia about the making of the film. 

There is a leg lamp in the window and a Red Ryder BB gun under the Christmas tree, a "turkey" in the oven and the "Old Man's" car in the garage.

At the gift shop you can buy leg lamps of all sizes, a variety of movie memorabilia and even a bunny suit like Ralphie got from his aunt.

It's a great stop on your way through the Cleveland area!

September Travels: Niagara Falls

 

We've been on the road again....this time to Niagara Falls, Canada.  It is one of a very few places in the world that I have visited, but my husband has not.  It seemed like my parents went to Canada several times when I was young.  It was so much fun to revisit the area and see that the falls are as awesome as ever. 

 

We rode the boat, went under the tunnels, saw the whole downtown area and even visited the Floral Clock.  My mother always insisted that we visit the clock and a shrine on every trip to Canada.  I was never overly impressed with either.  The clock is nice, but after experiencing the power and size of the falls it sort of comes up short.  And every year I had my picture taken in front of the clock.

We were even treated to an Elvis impersonator in an outside café!

He had the look down pretty good, but not the sound.

From Canada we made a stop in Cleveland and then a few family visits and back home.  Except for our two nights in Canada we slept in a different place every night!  The pace was a bit exhausting and home was a welcomed sight!

When Time Flies

The summer is drawing to a close and I've started to think about just what I've been doing with my time!

Much of my sewing has been occupied by a project of Son #1.  Ever since he was little he has had an entrepreneurial streak.  He would sit by the road and try to sell vegetables from our garden, jars of "hand made" sand (He would rub rocks together until they powdered into sand.), and anything else that he thought I wouldn't miss.  Now, although he has a real job, he wants to revisit the world of retail.  So, with me as his supplier he will be having a booth at a farmer's market in his area.  I've been producing a variety of small objects to compliment some quilts and larger pieces.  The shop will be set up as a fair trade store so that if there is more interest than I can supply he can draw in other crafters to work within the fair trade framework.

I also made a Dorothy costume (sorry, no picture yet) for our October trip to Autumn at Oz.   It has been a long time since I did any garment sewing and just like I remember...the hardest part is the fit.  At first I made this way too big and even now I think the skirt is too full, but I'm going with it as it is, because after all, I'm living in the "invisible years" so I don't think it will matter a whole lot.

Then....there have been many opportunities to hang with my best girl.  She is so much fun to have around and such a good, good baby.

In between all that there have been a few trips with the husband.  Recently we went to the beach to meet up with family.  It was my first trip back without Seamus and it felt a bit sad not to have him with me on the beach.  I was a little lost.  But with the passing of time we have been able to start to discuss filling our house again with furry little paws.