Lesson 442: Pumpkin Spiced Awesome

Good evening, Readers.

Fall has officially fallen onto the calendar page.

I love it when living things go to seed.

Fall is pretty,

and with the couple of cold nights,

the leaves are starting to turn.

As I was taking this photo,

it occurred to me that perhaps this was not just a turning leaf.

Is this the poison ivy I got into?

It took 21 days to heal my most recent bout with poison-something-or-other

and I'm left with some shiny scars on the areas worst affected.

I'm sending a shout out to my Garden Nerds--

 I really need to know:

do you think the photo posted above is poison ivy?
If so, it is all over the place in my yard and I suppose it needs sprayed.

Farmer Friend Paul told me not to burn it.

I don't want to use chemical sprays like Round-Up.

Is there anything else I can do?

I google imaged it and there seems to be a million kinds of poison ivy.
How's a girl to tell?

See images for yourself CLICK HERE

While I was searching for poison ivy,

I found this cool happening in my backyard:

wild grape vines can climb trees!

Fall is great.

It's the season for football

and running

and golf

and,

well,

you know,

romance.

It's also the season for 16th birthdays.

The Settlers brought Ellen her gift in their traditional gift wrap.

Her friends ballooned her bedroom.

Quite a clever and fun surprise!

Mother Eloise snapped the traditional lit-cake photo.

It turned out nice this year!

Which one is frame-worthy, Readers?

I couldn't decide, 

so I posed the question to my facebook friends this evening.

My question was,

Which one is frame-worthy?

As of this writing 20 minutes post posting,

the polls are saying the following:

Color:  17

B & W:  16

It's been quite interesting to see who votes for what.

I am studying the demographics of the voting population. 

I will have a full analysis on next week's blog.

Meanwhile, 

I can think of nothing more fun than to use this poll

as a November Election predictor.

Trump will be assigned the Color votes.

Hillary will receive the Black & White votes.

Dang--

everyone just fled this blog to go on facebook and edit their comments.

For those of you left reading tonight,

who can actually handle political commentary,

here are Eloise's thoughts on the Presidential Race:

Hillary or Trump?

I'm still undecided.

I never remember an election where each side

 so violently and vehemently detests the other candidate.

News articles have slants, depending on the source.

TV news certainly isn't helping filled with attack ads.

I'm relying mainly on political signs.

This is my personal favorite.

Also good.

Way to be, America!

There's always hope.

As much as I love me some linebacker duck butt,

I don't want my butt to look like a linebacker's.

That's why I'm jumping in once again for the 58 Day Challenge.

It is a diet & exercise accountability program 

developed by local Erie Chiropractor, Steve Krauza.

It begins Tuesday and runs through the day before Thanksgiving.

Pay $50 to hold yourself accountable through

the season of pumpkin spiced everything.

I'd eat a pumpkin spiced dog turd if you served it on a pretty plate.

The money goes into a pot,

and the winners of the male and female categories 

get some extra Christmas spending cash!

My team is head over heelsexcited about it.

Contact me for details or call Dr. Krauza's office.

If you are in, 

you must be weighed and measured by the end of the day on Monday, 9/26.

Think you can't do it?

Watch this.

Weekend homework for every adult and student blog reader:

Watch Mutual Rescue:  Eric & Peety.

After you've completed assignment #1-

please do this bonus assignment for the weekend.

Don't worry, 

it's fun.

It's like getting a word search for your spelling homework.

This is MY FAVORITE video ever.

I wish I was on the production team for this one.

Just out from the country music world,

Forever Country,

featuring country artists from Then, Now, and Forever.

ALL of my favorites are on there.

Don't miss this one.

If that link above doesn't catch,

CLICK HERE

I don't want you to miss it.

Have a great weekend, Readers.

Check back next week to see who is going to win Election 2016,

and by what margin.

Have a pumpkin spiced awesome weekend!

ELOISE

Lesson 441: Sweet Sixteen!

Happy birthday, Ellen Louise.

When Mother Eloise can't find the words, Tim McGraw always can.


You're beautiful baby, from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know
The road that will lead you home again
Go on, take on this old world but to me
You know you'll always be my little girl


Enjoy your special day!

Lesson 440: Itchy!

Hi, Readers!

Have you been itching for the weekend to come?

Eloise sure has.

In fact, I've been itching for 15 straight days.

I have some sort of poison something or other.

It's starts with white hot itchy blisters,

and dries into scaly, burning red patches.

I've been employing every home remedy in the book.

I even tried dumping some of the Team Adrenaline Kool-Aid

on it at a workout.

No luck,

except for the fact 

that some of my teammates tried to lick my legs.

I found some relief in this plant--

not sure what it is exactly but is just grows in the grass.

It offers a temporary relief and has seemed to dry the rash up.

Eloise gives A+++to this product!

It really works.

I need someone to come and inspect my land.

Me, Hubby, and my Dad all have had it.

We all bum around in the brush, 

picking up sticks,

or picking wild grapes and blackberries.

Could this be poison oak?
It's not a tree--only about 3 feet in height.

See any culprits in here?

How about this?
Is this anything?

If you are good with plants, 

stop over to the Lamp Post and take a look around.

I've tried all the remedies and concoctions.

Now I need to find the source.

I'm growing tired of my pink legs.

Short blog tonight,

because the itching is the worst at night.

Night is a devil.

One can fight pain, worry, and depression better in the daylight.

If you've ever cared for a person in pain,

you'll agree that symptoms are intensified at night,

even when they were low level during the day.

Light is good.

See the light.

Step into the light.

Be the light.

And if you don't feel like doing any of those things,

you can always drive your boat

next to a giant inflatable rubber duckie.

That was a pretty cool thing to do last weekend.

And I didn't even think once about itching.

I watched this Big and Rich video featuring Tim McGraw a bunch of times

when I couldn't sleep at night.

Tim's the bartender and he looks nice in a ball cap.

Check it out.

Great tune, 

especially if you're a young 'un

who has just been through a heartbreak.

See you next week,

hopefully with clearer skin.

ELOISE