Friday, November 23, 2007

Autumn

Well, all but one of those things I listed last week as hanging over my head are done. I made a tremendous amount of progress over the weekend and through the first part of the week, enough so that I’ve only done a bit of fiddling around so far on my Thanksgiving break. Lana and I went out to eat for Thanksgiving because my son and his girlfriend are coming up on Saturday and we will have our big feast day then. Today we’re cleaning up a bit around the house and I’m going to have a long walk later because the weather is gorgeous today.

Unfortunately, we have had a few real world intrusions into our peace. I had to have that work done on my car a week or so back, to the tune of almost $1500. This week Lana’s car is in the shop and has been since Tuesday because of transmission problems. This is after paying $150 already to have it worked on. Then one of the water pipes into our house sprang a leak, which we noticed when we sank into the ground walking to our shed. I dug up the pipe and found it was leaking at a joint, primarily because the joint was put on crooked. I tried some home repairs but that didn’t work so we are now waiting for the plumber, who I supposed to be here today. I don’t know how much that’s going to cost us but we’ve been living with limited water supplies the past two days so I want it fixed.

Still, I have very much to be thankful for. And right now I’m thankful that I’m off work so I can go have a nap. In the meantime, here are some more pictures for you that Lana has taken at nearby nature centers. We do love getting out in the woods.

Enjoy, and happy holidays.







25 comments:

virtual nexus said...

Hope you both have a real good break.

Lovely sense of the delicate colour in the pics.

Just had a very moving experience seeing the War docu - details on mine when you're passing thru.

Erik Donald France said...

Happy holidays to y'all, too. Car troubles aside, it is very nice to have a little break from work. I could get used to it easily!

Bernita said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Charles and Lana.

Lana Gramlich said...

We're almost through the rough patch, hon. All in all I think we have more to give thanks for than many. Love you.

(Back atcha, Bernita!)

Steve Malley said...

It's Saturday here, so on this side of the dateline you're already enjoying that delicious turkey and the company of the childrens. I do hope you're enjoying it!

Travis Erwin said...

Nothing is worse than car trouble, unless it is plumbing problems.

But life goes on. Glad to see you are still upbeat and able to find the good amongst the bad.

Leigh Russell said...

Thank for visiting, Charles, and for your understanding comments.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

I hope you have a peaceful break! I love these pictures - especially the one with the leaves. Autumn is my favorite season because of the fall foliage. So very breathtaking.

Anndi said...

The pictures are beautiful!

I hope you enjoy the day with your son and lovely bride (hello Lana).

Thank you for taking a few minutes out to play the rice game, i thought of the writers in my bloggosphere when I ran across this.

Travis Cody said...

This little break is whetting my appetite for vacation coming up next month.

Enjoy your feast day!

Inside our hands, outside our hearts said...

Charles,

Lovely photographs, seems you and Lana are like me, nature centers us.

As for the mess that has come your way, Well, I can only say life can really show its complicated side. However, one can feel the warm inwhich you and lana live ... things can not help but get better.

I hope you had a wonderful Holiday.

Tara

Lisa said...

When it rains, it pours I guess. Here's hoping that bad news really does come in threes and you're done for now. Lovely pix and enjoy your time with your son tomorrow.

Chris Eldin said...

I hope you and Lana are having a great Thanksgiving, despite the unexpected bumps.
:-)

Michelle's Spell said...

Car troubles suck, no doubt! Snowflake has to go into the shop because his door won't open so it's all very Dukes of Hazzard around here. Glad for the break, though, and hope you have a very happy feast day with your son today! Lana's pictures are lovely.

Anonymous said...

Blogging. Wow! Here I am lecturing my kids on the evils of the Net, when I run into this. What a nice bunch you all are. I'm glad. Good on ya!

Charles Gramlich said...

Thanks everyone. I probably won't be doing much blogging today, but should be back to my regularly scheduled commentary tomorrow.

david santos said...

Thanks for posting, very good.
have a good weekend

Jo said...

Why is it that everything happens at the same time? I have had a few things like this this week too - computer problems, etc., that all cost $$$.

I hope you're having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

I love Lana's photos. They make me want to go for a walk there.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for popping around. And yeah, Happy Thanksgiving to you all over there.

virtual nexus said...

Charles and Lana - just to say I've run into a problem in that it appears google can trawl all these blogs and comments - everything is accessible to the public unless they are restricted to invited readers or authors only.

I assumed I'd cancelled general access on mine but that isn't the case. Doubt there is any harm done, but I need a rethink as we have a lot of contacts. Keep you posted,

Julie

Danette Haworth said...

My mom's chimney keeps leaking and they keep fixing it. It's now probably the most expensive chimney in the U.S.

Donnetta said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Charles! I, of all people understand. Hubby says we were out almost $10,000 on this awful spell of illness I've had. That's emergency room visits, meds, specialists, etc. Feeling pretty good now and hopefully recovering. And I'm very thankful. Wrote a few more draft lines on the blog. When you get a chance, please give it a read. Hey, it's time to start thinking "Christmas!"
Donnetta

virtual nexus said...

Hi Charles

Just to say I've talked the relevant issues though with IT son; left VJ open and going to overhaul the rest.

Shauna Roberts said...

Sounds like a lovely holiday, despite all the problems (which sounds like our life for the past two months). I was surprised to see the colored leaves in Lana's; I didn't realize you have a true fall on the other side of the lake. Hope the rest of the weekend is great for you.

Charles Gramlich said...

David, thanks for stopping by. We have some fun here.

Josie, I know. But I hope it at least means we'll get the bad patch over and move onto some more easy roads.

Wayne, not a problem.

Julie, I noticed I had trouble trying to get in today to Virtual Journey. Wasn't sure what was wrong.

Danette, so the chimney is a "money pit" eh? I can sympathise. I had a car like that once.

Donnetta, its amazing how things that start out seeming minor can add up and add up.

Shauna, we actually get some pretty good color in the leaves here. I was surprised myself, but I sure enjoy it.