PHOTO FRIDAY AND A FALL HARVEST MOVIE

Don't these ghost pears look so cute?  It looks as if they are covered with white chocolate.  It must be easy to make.

Guess what I did today.  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  The most I did was go to Wawa and get lunch for me and Joe.  That was it.  The rest of the time I watched some TV and slept.  For some reason I was really tired.  As I said before every once in awhile I get a day that I just have to take off and I guess today was it.

I had planned a big dinner, but ended up making fried rice instead.  Joe loves my fried rice so he was happy about that.  It must have been good because there's not one grain of rice left.

So since I watched a couple of movies, let me tell you about one of them.  It's called "October Kiss" (2015).

Poppy Summerall (Ashley Williams) is hired near Halloween as a temporary nanny by Ryan Lawson (Sam Jaeger), a widowed, work-obsessed executive. Through a series of adventures, the eternally optimistic Poppy sets out to teach Ryan and his two young children what’s important in life – unconditional love, family and the joy of everyday occurrences.

Cute movie.  I liked it a lot even though it was kind of predictable.

In two weeks the Countdown to Christmas movies start.  I remember the fun I had watching them last year, so I think it will be even more fun this year when I'm not working.  I can have a matinee each day.

As many of you know, my Photo Friday is used to show people the everyday life I have here in Philadelphia.  Things that I take for granted are new scenes to others.  So here's my shot for today.  It's from 2012.  I was stopped at a red light a few blocks from home and saw all the pretty autumn trees.  Fortunately the light was long enough for me to take a shot.  I hope you like it.

It's not so pretty this year.  Such a hot summer and fall has left the trees still mostly green.

So on to bed.  I will talk to you all tomorrow.

Kathy

Sunrise:  7:18 a.m.

Sunset:  6:11 p.m.

10 hours and 53 minutes of daylight

Temperature:  79*/57* 

PHOTO FRIDAY

Good morning, everyone!  I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful day for you.  Don't you just love this picture?  I don't know about you, but sometimes my world is very little... just my neighborhood.  But the world is very big and so is our God.

I told you earlier this week about the new vlog I am watching.  Let me tell you, this lady, Cas, is organized!  I should have a mind like hers.  And she is just like me in so many ways, so it makes me think that if she can do it, so can I.  One of the videos I watched yesterday was called "Eat the Frog!"  She was talking about the book of the same name.  The title is taken from a saying of Mark Twain's.  He once said that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long.  In other words, get the thing you most dread doing done first thing in the morning and the rest of your day will just flow into place.  There is one spot in my living room that I keep putting off cleaning because it is a HUGE job.  And then at the end of the day it is still not done and I tell myself that tomorrow I will do it.  I am going to try to do it FIRST this morning.  I bet it doesn't take me as long as I think it will.  I'm beginning to think dreading to do it is worse than actually sitting down and getting it done.

The weather has been beautiful here.  It is getting warmer again.  I am loving it, but I know it won't last.  I have actually gotten out my jacket and am wearing it.  *sigh*  I hate wearing sweaters, jackets and coats.  Hopefully this will not be a bad winter.

I haven't done a Photo Friday in a long time so I thought it was a good day to do this.  Actually this photo isn't mine, but one from my brother, Larry.  (See the link to his blog Exploration Photography at the end of my list.)  Every day he comes up with a photo of the day.  And one of his favorite topics is squirrels.  This is one he posted the other day and I just thought it was so cute and so fall looking.
 
 
If you get a chance, check out his blog.  It's really great seeing a new photo every day.

And since Photo Friday is all about showing you an everyday view of the Philadelphia I live in, here is one of mine from November 2011 taken outside of Richmond Library where I used to work.  The modern buildings of center city are framed by the early 20th century row houses of this working class neighborhood.

So you got two for the price of one today.  Now it is time for me to start my day.  Hope you all have a good one.

Kathy

 Sunrise:  7:10 a.m.

Sunset:  6:21 p.m.

11 hours and 11 minutes of daylight

Temperature:  High: 64*/Low: 41*

PHOTO FRIDAY

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday.  Give up?  My phone from Tennessee!  Yes, it really was my phone -- pictures, contacts and all.  I really like it much more than the one I'm currently using.  Joe said I should try to see if Tracfone will switch my minutes back to the old one.  I'll have to look into that.  What a story that phone could tell if it could talk!  It was found over 14 miles from where it was stolen.  I know now that I didn't lose it, but someone took it because how would it get 14 miles and three highways away.  But I am SO happy to have it back.

I have tons to do today at home.  Yes, for the first time in a week I don't have to leave home today.  I want to get things done.

My shawl that I'm knitting is coming along beautifully.  I've messed up in a few places, but I think I've hidden my mistakes well.  After ripping it out to the very beginning five times, I am not ripping it out again!  It is much harder than anything I've done in years so this is a growing and stretching exercise for me.  I know I can do it, it's just difficult.

So today I want to show you a picture of Philly that I took back in April.  The trees were blooming and the street outside of church looked so pretty.

I love living in a city of neighborhoods.  You would never know this is the middle of a big city.

Have a good day everyone!  I'm off to cut the grass and clean the living room.  Exciting, huh?

Kathy

PHOTO FRIDAY

It has been so long since I've done a Photo Friday.  So welcome back!  I have been taking photos of Philly to share with you but I never get to it.  Today is the day!

This picture was taken from Lowe's parking lot looking across the street.

New Jersey isn't the only place with strip malls.  Northeast Philadelphia (where I live) is full of them.  This is Aramingo Avenue which is the main drag where I live.  Every block is full of stores.  You can get just about anything here.  Target, WalMart, Lowe's, Home Depot, K-Mart, Dollar Tree, Radio Shack, car repair, you name it, it's there.

And then there's the food:  Wawa, 7-11, McDonalds, Wendy's, Checkers, Chick-Fil-A, IHOP, Super China Buffet, East Coast Wings and Grill, Wings to Go, Andy's Deli, Boston Market, Little Caesar's, Dominos, Papa Johns, Taco Bell, Sonic.  And the list goes on.

And there's always something new being built or a store moves out and a new one moves in.  The rumor is that a Marshalls is coming where the old fitness center was.  I hope that is true because I am looking forward to that.

Lots of clothing stores too:  Rainbow, Dots, Modells, Foreman Mills, etc.

All in all it's a great place to live.  My friend Debbie can tell you.  She lives a couple of blocks off of the avenue and doesn't have a car.  She doesn't need one because everything is in walking distance.  I live about a mile away and it takes me minutes to get to anything I want.

Hope you have a place like this nearby too. 

Kathy

SAD NEWS AND A PHOTO FRIDAY

Yesterday I had lunch with my friend, Carol P.  I know so many Carols that I have trouble keeping track of them.  We haven't done this in quite a while.  Carol and I worked together at Northeast Regional Library and are very good friends.  We went to The Dining Car for lunch.

I haven't been there in a long time.  The prices have gone up tremendously.  After we ate we went to Carol's house and visited for about an hour before I went home.

My other friend, Carol N. was in the hospital yesterday recovering from surgery.  She fell on Monday and broke her ankle in three places.  She was transferred to a rehab facility last night.  We are going to try to go see her today.

Snowy is a little bit better, but still not well.  Still not eating or using her litter box.  I got her to eat about 6 or 8 treats and that's the first she's had in a week.  I'm worried about her.

And to top it off, Joe's ex-wife (my step-son's mother) passed away in her sleep last night.  I read it on facebook and couldn't believe it.  Joe called D.J. right away.  We will find out the funeral arrangements tonight and then Joe and I are heading to Tennessee for the funeral.  We were going to go down this spring so I could meet Abbey and now I will never have the chance this side of heaven.  I'm so glad I talked with her on the phone and emailed her and got to know this sweet lady.  I will miss her.  I've been crying all morning and Joe is taking it really hard too.

Life is never easy and things happen so unexpectedly.  I will never forget to say "I love you" to those I love.  We never know when our last moment will be.

I wanted to post another Friday Photo.  When I took Joe to the doctor's the other day I took a shot of the pretty waiting room.

Their floral arrangement was very pretty and unusual.

And I've never seen a plant like this.  At first I thought it was a calla lily, but then realized it was just the same leaves as the green ones, but they were white.  I wonder what it is.

I have to go and get something to eat.  Then I need to start to clean up the house.  We have to get someone in to keep an eye on Snowy while we are gone and the place is a mess.  I'll be checking in later and let you know what is going on.

Kathy

ANOTHER PHOTO FRIDAY

After a very busy day yesterday I did NOTHING today.  I slept a lot but that's about it.  I woke up feeling lousy.  I think I may be catching Joe's upper respiratory infection.  I was supposed to go to the pension board today, but called and told them I was sick.  I was coughing so hard that I had trouble talking.  The lady I talked to was so nice and said everyone there was taking their turns being sick too.  She is going to mail information to me and I just have to mail it back to them to get my pension started.  I will have to go down there in a couple of months to sign final papers, but at least we can get things started.

Besides that I just slept most of the day.  I think I overdid it yesterday when I was feeling good.  But hopefully I will feel better tomorrow to get things done.

I really have nothing to tell you today, so I will show you my picture for Photo Friday.  Philadelphia is an old city, but the neighborhoods are of differing ages.  Bridesburg, where I live, was settled in the early 19th century.  The houses here reflect that.  This is a picture I took of some old row houses a couple of blocks from where I live.  I also live in a row house, but there are no porches in my block.  There are all different styles of a row house.  Thought you would like to see these.

Some people would find it difficult to live so closely with their neighbors, but we just think it is normal.  I would find it strange to live in a house in the country.  It is amazing how versatile people are.

See you tomorrow.

Kathy