The Day After Tom's Birthday...January 20, 2019

As I wrote in my last blog, January nineteenth was a horrible day. For most of the day we had rain, turning to ice when it hit the roads and trees and lawns.  Late in the day, the rain turned to snow.  By morning we had about five inches of powdery snow on top of ice. The temperature had fallen to 9 degree Fahrenheit. For people like us who had no reason to venture out, the world was beautiful.  The sun shone and all the trees and bushes glittered with ice.  Tom took all the photos in this blog.

This is my favorite of the ice covered branch photos..  Click on it to enlarge it.

This Carolina Wren is cozy under his puffed up layers of feathers.

Tom was focused on the cardinal.  He didn't notice that a house sparrow had done a photo bomb until he looked at the  picture on the computer.

These are the neighbor boys who made some pocket money clearing off drives for us old folks.

And Now Tom is Eighty....January 19, 2019

On September 12, I took Tom to a Reds game and then to a German restaurant to celebrate his eightieth birthday.  We were celebrating early because his birthday is January 19 which is an iffy day to plan anything in Ohio.

Now I'm patting myself on my back.  On January nineteenth we awoke to pouring rain, rain that was turning to ice and icicles .

Sonja, our daughter, called to say she, Reagan, and Samantha had planned to bring over breakfast to celebrate but when they saw the rain and ice, they decided to send greetings and visit us another day.
(Sonja stopped by on Sunday, the twentieth, after working at Kroger and brought pizza.  It was a pleasant visit.  It is not often that she has time for a relaxing visit with  us.)

Back to Saturday, Tom's birthday.

When Tom checked Facebook he saw that our oldest son, Ray, had posted a very nice tribute to him and what he had accomplished in his eighty years. Ray said, "I live in awe of what he's accomplished in those 80 years."

As the day passed, more and more people he has met and worked with over the years took a few minutes to send him happy birthday comments on Ray's Facebook post.  There were a few comments that made him ( and me) chuckle.  He heard from friends he hasn't seen or heard from in years.

In late morning, our 97 year old neighbor called, said she had something to bring Tom for his birthday. She drove over, said she had some shopping to do before the weather got any worse. We were her first stop.

She brought a practical gift for nearly anyone turning eighty.

By then, I had the cheery pie which he asked for in the oven.

I forgot to take the picture before lunch.  We also had scalloped potatoes with ham which he had also asked for.

But no company.  It was NOT a good day for visiting.  We were glad to see our neighbor returning from her trip to the grocery store because snow had now arrived to cover the layer of ice. And then the wind arrived.  By late afternoon, this is how the bird bath and back yard looked.  The bit of sunshine was nice but it was only a teaser.

It was still snowing when we went to bed.  But the weather did not stop Tom from having a great birthday.

December 31, 2018...A Strange Late Afternoon

It was wet when I went to Foodtown for a few last minute groceries...outside

and inside.

When I went back to my van there was a strange vehicle parked next to it.

An inflated alien was sitting in the front seat.  There were two more aliens in the backseat.  Guess they were going to a party in town.