First Half of November....... (with a little more forgotten October)

(Some of this post was in a draft I overlooked at the end of last month.  I'll save that for the end.) 

We pass this tree on Princeton Pike when we go to the condo.  On this particular day it was nearing sunset and at the light just before we reached this point, I got my phone ready and rolled down the window.  HWNSNBP took as long as he reasonably could when the light turned green so that I could snap some shots as we passed.  He even noted that the car that was on our right seemed to notice that I was taking pictures and slowed so they wouldn't photobomb it.  This is a black oak and it has a title - Champion Brearly Oak - because it is the largest tree of this type in New Jersey.  It looks a little sparse here because of the time of year, but I can assure you that when it's in it's full glory it is majestic.  I typically nod off when HWNSNBP is driving us to the condo (about a 2 hr. drive) but try to stay alert long enough to get a glimpse of this beauty.  You can see the limbs are so long and powerful - some of the lower ones rest on the ground.  There are two lightning rods attached to this tree to keep it safe in case of a lightning strike.  And despite the commercial growth of the area surrounding it, they keep this fence around it.  You can read a little more about it here.

We got to spend time (separately) with two of the grandsons recently.  GS2 came and spent a couple of nights at our "other house" in Branchburg.  (He calls the condo our "tall house" because of all the stairs to get in.)  We have boxes of cars and trucks that were once our son's that he loves to play with.  And he is a little fascinated with the little fairy garden planter that I have that is full of little characters.  He does ask if he can play with them and I don't mind as long as he's careful and doesn't bang them on the table or throw them around.  If something does break, it breaks, as long as he doesn't get hurt I tell him. 

He surrounded the little glass dish of glass piggies so they could be protected he told me.

He and Papa drove their tractors up and down the hill until the little one's battery ran out.  (Papa wasn't going to try to keep up on foot!)

He wasn't interested in any painting this time, or any Grandma projects, but he got a lot of outside time here and at the park with Papa.  Trucks, cars, and blocks kept him busy inside.  

Meanwhile, this little guy got some daddy time while his mommy spent some time with friends.

We visited with GS1 at his house and got some time to play some games.  Papa played Battleship and I played Sorry and GS1 won both!  Battleship has come a long way since I learned to play as a child.  My father would draw the grids on a piece of paper for us, that's how old I am.  Our kids had a folding case with plastic inserts, and this one is even more streamlined.

We ate at a new place in Barnegat called the Waterview Cafe.  It's fairly new to the area and has an art gallery of sorts set up inside.  It was a rainy Friday afternoon when we stopped in, the only one's there for lunch which turned out to be very good.  We had a lovely chat with the owner/hostess after our meal.  They are and will be doing painting/artistic events and I've read a lot of good reports on them.

Some tangles that I've done recently using some YouTube videos.  This is by Eva Wu - a variation of the tangle Tangnie.

This one by Tangle Yogi - Hurry Flower she calls it.  I haven't gotten to shading or adding color to it yet.

And this one might be the inspiration for a couple of Christmas cards if I do it in color.  It's called Wyfore Tree by @yukoxzen.  The scroll-like segments of the tree are the tangle Wyfore filled in with other tangles leaving it great opportunity for personal preferences.  

And what I had forgotten to get to posting in October.........

I know Halloween has come and gone but I wanted to post the pictures of some of the decorations I did manage to put out.  These little things fit nicely in the clear jars that I have on the pie safe.  They'll get filled with Christmas items soon.

When you have a box marked "Pumpkins" and don't find any pumpkins in it you can't help but shake your head.  Thankfully, with some detective work, the pumpkins were located and arranged in front of the tv where they'll stay until Thanksgiving weekend.  I will, however, remove the Halloween birds that I did manage to find at $Tree after looking for them in at least 8 different stores.  I also added some mushrooms that I found at $Tree to this display.

This will stay out a little longer also.  I found the pumpkin (that lights up) at a $Tree Plus when we were looking for the $Tree Halloween birds.  The gnome came from Target and the bird (with the candy corn beak) came from a local nursery that has a large gift store.  The charger it's on is one that I got at $Tree when I was looking for ideas for wedding centerpieces.  (Oh dear, I still haven't posted the wedding pics!!!)

I started physical therapy for my back a couple of weeks ago and it's going well, but it's just a precursor to surgery I'm pretty sure.  The PT is only going to add strength, it will not eliminate the stenosis that I have that is causing my spinal canal to narrow and put pressure on the nerves.  And I better get going now for my session today.