October's 11 on the 11th

In the morning...



we waited for breakfast.


Daniel cooked, as usual, but multi-tasked, not like usual.


We went on a little car ride...


to the hair salon. It was time for a new look. (Remember those side swept bangs I was talking about?)


I now have them! As well as a few side layers and a good trim off the length. It needed it. The "after" picture of the front was a wee bit tricky, so maybe you can't even see a difference. The wind was having lots of fun. So, I might post another sometime when I get more accustomed to the bangs and how to "do" them. :) Tips anyone?


Some shopping afterwards...


and a pretty drive home.


The afternoon brought a walk to the library...


and a ride back home with lots of new books.


A new recipe for supper basically completed the day! (By the way, the squash was SOO good!)


Now, a few bullet points to catch up on a few things.

• In photography news, I am trying out Lightroom for a month. Oh my! Such possibilities  but I don't know my way around! Tips anyone? I think I should take a class or something. 
• We had about a 6 hour one-way road trip this past weekend. For the first time in YEARS, I read a pleasure book while riding. It was amazing! I slacked off from doing this because at some point, it made me too nauseous. But, it seems to be okay once again if we're on a straight section of highway with not too many hills. This has made me incredibly happy. I read all of "Heaven to Betsy", and started, "The Girl of the Limberlost." It has almost made me feel guilty...reading novels again!
• The purpose of that road trip was for the visitation and funeral of Daniel's maternal Grandma. She was 78. For Daniel and me, this makes 3 grandmas that have passed away within a year's time. It's not a happy thought. The service was very special, and such a nice way to honor Gran. 
• After the graveside service, we headed to our good friends farm. I haven't seen them since we got back from Panama, which made it a year! Soooo good to be around them and catch up on life. Even if it was probably one of the most hectic days to be there. They butchered over 200 chickens, ran the walnut hulling machine, wrapped freshly baled big round bales of hay, and then loaded the walnut semi truck. I didn't have barn clothes with me (sadly) so, I stood around looking helpful, bought apples for sauce, visited the bulk food stores, dried and put away dishes, and handed money to an Amishman for cider. (Everyone else's hands had chicken guts on them. Hey, I'm just being honest!) 
• Our visit was actually extended, because the first time we tried going home, the alternator went out on the car. It all worked out though, and we got another one ordered just in the nick of time before the shop closed for the night. 
• I do have pictures of the adventure, or at least some of it, but that will be saved for a non-11-on-the-11th-post. You can see some of Shannah's pictures (including our cute girlie in her fall jacket and cute hat) in this post. :) I will say though, that all those little boys slightly intimidated my pink-loving daughter! We might need to be around them more often to remedy that.
• Unfortunately, my picture post of that visit might be a few more days, because we're leaving on another road trip bright and early tomorrow morning. (I really should be sleeping now...) We are helping Daniel's brother Seth, and his wife Harmony, move 11 hours away. Really, I'm not sure why we're assisting in this endeavor since they will be incredibly missed and we aren't so happy about it at all. But, we are helping them out anyway.
• So, I'll happily read more of my Betsy Tacy books, finish Elnora's moth gathering, and maybe figure out where I left Anne of Green Gables. For some reason I just can't get past book 4. I always peeter out, and then I can never remember if I ever actually finished book 4. So I'm taking book 5 as well. 
• One thing I won't be taking is a new skirt. I'm desperate for new cold weather skirts, and my last minute sewing today was dismal. I work better with deadlines, but one afternoon was pushing it for this one. I tried to rush a bit too much perhaps and results were sad. 
• I hate the feeling that I've wasted fabric. Hopefully I can salvage it somehow when I have more time.

Wow...I think I wrote a lot! I do have a couple more posts in mind, and I just need to make the time to do them. One involves the reviews of a few grain-free pie crusts I recently tried, and more about grain-free eating. Although, I might bring in a guest blogger for that. Daniel knows more of those details and can explain it so much better. I just do the cooking. (Except for breakfast. See picture number 3 above.)

By the way, do you folks like it when I write more? Shall I? Or just kind of keep doing what I have been doing, which is, write when I feel like it and not when I don't?
I think I like the latter idea. I don't want to force it because it might not be fun then when I do!