Happy Halloween!

Here we are at a Halloween party - Lia's first. She's a ladybug and we are the lady bug catchers! We think we caught the cutest lady bug EVER! :)

To catch a RAT!

A week or so ago I spotted what looked like a pile of dirt or mulch in the corner of our deck shed. I asked Frank if he had dumped some dirt in the shed and the answer was no........hmmm....let's go look at this. We found 2 actual holes that were dug and a couple days later there were about 8. We didn't know what was doing this - a mole? racoon? possum? squirel? Nope. It was a big rat. Frank found a have-a-heart trap and caught this smart rat with peanut butter and nuts. He had to do it right and position the cage in a way where it couldn't just get to the snacks but had to be caught b/c at first it figured how to just eat the treats. We might find more but hopefully not!

Adams County Hike

We got out in the morning for a chilly but really nice hike on Jeff & Cindy's property.
Cloudy but beautiful.

Their dog Bo literally lead us on our hike, he'd run ahead, and then wait and then run ahead. We had no idea where we were going but enjoyed it all the same.

Lia was loving the outdoors.

Cindy and Jeff with their farmhouse in the background.

Tractor Jam

Here is our girl really jamming on the tractor! We call it her "James Brown" dance b/c she first did this - holding her hands above her head while dancing - at Chipotle when a James Brown song came on. We love this!

Adams County "Peace Thru Music" Barn Party

We were honored to be part of the celebration - and poster! :)
Lia running around the barn. You can't see b/c of her sweater, but she is sporting a pair of Carhart overalls! The PERFECT barn party clothes. This one she's heading for Mommy "pick me up"!

The food was fabulous! Salmon with asparagus & portobellos over couscous, beef tenderloin, eggplant and feta casserole, fruit, home made bread. One of the guests is an actual chef! And Jeanne made the birthday dessert - Italian Cream Cake - which we love. Frank says it's the best cake he's ever had!

Two of the band members with Mark Rogers.

The Rumpke Mountain Boys were awesome. They play bluegrass.

Lia's FAVORITE thing (besides the band) was the TRACTOR. She was going nuts for the tractor!

Yellow Springs!

We went up to Yellow Springs to visit our friends John, Angie, Gabrielle, and Peter and to go to the Street Fair.Lia could NOT keep her hands off either of the Day's cats, here is Blackie waiting to get out from under her hand to the safety of the outside. But he was very patient with her!!!
What a beautiful pair - Gabriel and Angie.
Jeanne & Lia on the train with Angie and Gabriel in the background!

Our happy girl playing with her Daddy!

Serious look for a girl having fun. Lia loved all the activities, miniature cows and pumpkins at Young's Dairy - besides the live happy animals!!!

Jeanne & Kelly out on the town!

Kelly invited me to join her at the Empire Theatre (below) to see Dead Man's Cell Phone (a comedy about a woman who answers a dead man's cell phone and then finds her life turned upside down). Before the play we went to Lavomatic for dinner - the food was delicious! What a fun night. Thanks Kelly!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dad (Don Grimes) turned 74 today - Happy Birthday Dad! You look awesome! We love you and we all celebrated at Bonefish!
Here's Jeanne cutting into her birthday present for her Dad - a home made Boston Creme Pie - his FAVORITE cake of all time - it was delicious - and fun to share with everyone!

Jeanne made KUSH

Today about the only place where kush is commonly eaten and much-loved is among the Oklahoma Cherokee. Here's a quote from a favorite cookbook of mine - The Cornbread Gospels - "A guarantee: A few bites of kush will introduce a whole new food to your repertoire. It is not the prettiest dish you'll ever see, but everyone who's sampled it at my table has asked for the recipe. So what is kush? Imagine a thick, moist almost-porridge, with the flavors of sutffing or dressing and a consistency similar to that of polenta or mashed potatoes, with savory bits and bites of sauteed vegetables stirred in."

I needed to do something with a bunch of left over cornbread from this weekend. I was telling Connie that I might make a blue cheese stuffing with it and she suggested just creating a different meal with it - with salsa, beans, etc. So I thought about it further and wondered if my Cornbread Gospels would have suggestions for left-over cornbread. Which they did, and many ideas as well. I decided on this one and added salsa, beans and sausage to it. It's delicous! A definite keeper. I started with the sausage and cooked onion and celery in the fat then added the cornbread (and some buttermilk bisquits I had in the freezer - which the recipe called for), salsa, chicken stock, hard-cooked eggs and fresh sage. Y-U-M!

Reggae Run 2009 - the 16th anual - in memory of Maria Olberding

We ran into Connie and Chris on the beginning of the walk - pretty amazing considering that there are thousands of people who attend this event now!
Lia and Jeanne up by the band, Lia was LOVING the Jamaican keyboardist - Gabbo.
Frank and Lia jamming to the band. Luckily we ran into Elena by the band!
Lia made instant friends with this sweet, beautiful girl, Miriam, the daughter of the keyboardist. Lia kept hugging her! What a little lover.

Lia dancing and making friends with a little boy by the band.