GREAT SEAL STATE PARK

These pictures tell about the design of the state seal.

Close up of the seal.
Hills of the great seal state park.


Great Seal State Park:
When we took our drive to the great seal state park, these are the pictures I took that day. The explanation of the items on the state seal are as follows. The hills on the seal were the inspiration for the design of the Great Seal of the State of Ohio. The sheaf of wheat represents the agricultural roots and the bundle of seventeen arrows symbolize Ohio's place as the 17th state of the union. One of the hills is named Mount Logan, in honor of the Indian Chief Logan, who lived here. The suns 13 rays represent the thirteen original colonies. The Scioto(pronounced si'-oto), river flows between the hills and the cultivated fields in the foreground. The design is attributed to the cooperative visions of Thomas Worthington, who was Ohio's first U.S. Senator and the "Father of Ohio Statehood", and Eward Tiffin who was Ohio's first governor, and William Creighton , Ohio's first secretary of state. So there is a bit of Ohio history for you today.

Weather:
It has been pretty chilly here this week, and I'm not happy about it. We slept in the house last night, and it got down to 28 degrees early after midnight. One thing I'd like to suggest to you if you haven't yet bought your motor home or fiver and plan to full time in them, make sure you have double pane windows or storm windows! Our fiver is a 2008, and that is one thing I have found to be needed. We have lots of cold coming from the glass. There is no air leaks the glass just feels cold. The rest of the fiver seems to be very well insulated. If we are to live in this fiver we'll either have to figure out some way to make and install storm windows or use clear plastic on the windows. What do the rest of you do? Our apartment isn't finished yet but our bedroom is so that's why we spent last night in the house. The tanks under the fiver are equipped with heating pads, so why the manufacturer didn't use double pane windows or add storm windows is a mystery to me.

Gas:
Here in Ohio gas is now $2.38, but diesel is still $3.69. I hear that the oil company's are going to slow down production, so the price will probably go up again. I guess we normal people just can't win. I think the oil company's are really greedy! All of you out there heading south please travel safe and have as much FUN as you can! I hope to see some of you in the RV Dreams chat room tonight!
Well that is all of the news I have for you today, so until I see ya again...

REMEMBER ME?

Scene of the Crime: September 2nd, 1972
Oop's didn't mean to use the same pic twice!
Church We got Married in.
Fall Color in Southern Ohio




Hello Again:
Hope ya haven't given up on me!
I just needed some down time to regroup after being at Mom Millers. We didn't do too much this time while we were there, so no panic attacks this time. When we went to McD's so I could post, she was a bit agitated after being alone for an hour, so that's why we didn't go back to post again. We did take her for a drive out in the country to look at the fall colors, but we didn't stop and go in anywhere this time. When we got home her hands shook for a while but I was able to distract her by showing her the pictures that we took after I down loaded them onto my laptop which doesn't need the internet to do. She was amazed that I could show the pictures to her that fast, and after a bit the shaking in her hands stopped. The fall color isn't as brilliant as it usually is because we have had a really dry fall. I did get a few colorful pictures though. We drove to the Great Seal State Park, but I will post about that tomorrow. I hope you will find it interesting and I didn't want to put all the pictures in one post.

Scene of the Crime: LOL!
This is the church we got married in in 1972. We drove past it to see what it looked like, and it still looks good after all these years! Wish we still looked as good! LOL! Times sure have changed since then. Hard to believe that our youngest son is getting married. That definitely makes me feel OLD! Haha! Speaking of times changing, Mike and I are going to go vote early, this afternoon. Since they are allowing people to do that now we figured we would, so we won't have to stand in line on November 4th.

Wedding:
Things for the wedding are moving along very well. The corsages and boutonnieres are done. The RSVP's are coming in, and things are falling in place. Now I just need to get busy on the bouquets. I need to pick up some more flowers to match the Maid of Honor's dress tomorrow. The rehearsal dinner is going to consist of a salad bar and pizzas, either at the church hall or our middle son and daughter in law's house. Now we just have to decide where to order the pizzas from, and have them delivered at the right time! Where do you get your favorite pizza? Around here we have Domino's, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, and several small pizza places that have very good pizza too! I guess we'll have to call around and see if any of them will give us a discount on a large order, first. That would really be nice, because I think we'll probably need about 15 to 20! Yikes! On that note, I think I better go lay down before I faint so I'll see ya's tomorrow!

McDonalds WiFi

Miss Kitty
Sunset Last Night
Ditto ^
Tree in Mom's yard
Wednesday Chillicothe:
We're in Chillicothe, Ohio again. We got here this morning, and it's our turn to stay with Mike's Mom. So here we sit in McDonald's using their wifi. We can't hook up to wifi at Mom's house anymore, so its either this or not post until Sunday. So you can see which one I chose. We figured we'd leave Mom and her kitty alone for awhile and then we'll take dinner back with us. I hope I don't end up sick, because I'm allergic to cats! YIKES!!! She didn't have the cat the last time we were here, but she seems really attached to her. I'm sure she is alot of company for her, and someone for her to talk to and take care of. I will probably come down here to McD's by myself next time, so we don't leave Mom alone very much.

Flowers:
I brought the wedding flowers with me, so when I get the boutonnieres and the corsages done, I'll take some pictures and post them. Hopefully I'll get all the corsages and the boutonnieres finished this week, then I'll have a bit of leeway with the bouquets.

Leaves:
The leaves are starting to turn here in central and southern Ohio now. I hope to get some good pictures of the leaves and some pictures of the Great Seal Park here that is on the seal of the state of Ohio. I'd love to be able to get some pictures of the amphitheatre here where Tecumseh is performed, so we'll see, maybe we can take Mom for a ride I'll see ya in a couple of days again, so until then...

BLAST FROM THE PAST !!!!

Herman of Herman's Hermits gets standing ovation
Answering questions at the "Meet and Greet"
Kara (Our oldest Grand daughter) and Peter Noone
British Flag used at the concerts
Signing autographs after the concert- looks great huh? (will be 61 in November)!
Listen People
Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter
Peter Noone aka Herman sings I'll Never Dance Again for the Noonatics!

Saturday Off To Van Wert, Ohio:
When we picked Kara up on Friday afternoon and we got back to the fiver Kara made a necklace and bracelet using Union Jack (British Flag beads) that I had ordered online, with red, white, and blue beads in between. She was so excited to finally be going to another concert. It had been almost a year since her last concert. Mike drove us to our designated meeting place at 10:30a.m. and we waited for my friends to get there. Once they got there we moved our bags and got on our way. We arrived at Van Wert and the hotel about 1:30 p.m. Almost immediately we started running into our fellow Noonatics=members of the Peter Noone Fan Club. Some of us have followed Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone since the beginning of the British Invasion in the 60's. We have all ages of members and lots of Noonakids like Kara! Kara became a "Noonatic in Training" at age 5. She is going to be 9 in December, and has been a full fan club member for 2 years now. This is our "thing" to do together, going to see Peter Noone concerts when they're close enough. I have also introduced Autumn and Tehya, our other 2 Grand daughters to the concerts which they also love! Autumn 7 has been to 2 concerts and Tehya 4 has been to 1. This is also my revenge on my sons, because having listened to all the records when they were growing up they can't stand to hear it now, and they have to listen to it at their houses now because Peter Noone gave the girls cd's of their own, at a concert! Haha! Seriously, I don't have to worry about taking them to a concert, because it's good clean FUN, and I don't have to worry about the lyrics or the language! You just can't go to a Herman's Hermits concert starring Peter Noone and not leave with a smile on your face. Most of the songs are very upbeat and happy songs.

Herman's Hermits Hits:
Some of the songs you may remember that they recorded are:
Mrs Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter
I'm Henry the Eighth
There's a Kind of Hush
I'm into Something Good
Can't Ya Hear My Heartbeat
Listen People
Dandy
No Milk Today
The list goes on but unless you had all their records like I did you might not recognize all the songs.

Fan Club Meeting:
At 5 p.m. before the concert started the fan club had a meeting called a "DO" Which means that Peter Noone is there to take a picture with each one of us and answer questions. All 70 of us got to pose with Peter and got a Polaroid picture of the 2 of us, which he autographed. Some of us he recognizes when he sees us and calls us by name, even if we don't have our chat name badges on. He knows who I am, because I was one of the committed Ohio reps for the fan club the last 2 years. We had all written a question on an index card before he got there so they were all collected and in a bag ready to be answered. As he answered questions he also told us about "hanging out" with some of the bands of the British invasion, and other recording stars of that era! We heard lots of funny stories about the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, the Who, the Dave Clark 5, The Monkees, Elvis and Johnny Cash! In total Peter Noone spent 2 hours with us and we heard lots of very interesting stuff. Today there are not many entertainers who would spend that kind of time with their fan club! We had club members there from Canada, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky,Delaware, and of course Ohio. Club members representing Ohio were from Ada, Akron, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Kettering,Medway (me which is close to Springfield) Middletown, and Van Wert!

The Concert:
After the fan club meeting the concert started at 7:30p.m. Peter Noone, Herman and his Hermits put on a Fab 2 hour show with a short intermission in between. The concert was "sold out" and the venue has already invited them back next year! I'm telling my age here, but I was lucky enough to go to the Ohio State fair in 1967 (I was 13) and, 1968 when Herman's Hermits were there. I still have my Herman's Hermits button that I purchased then. Peter was impressed that I still had it and autographed it for me a few years ago. Most of my pictures didn't turn out very well because it was dark, and it's hard to get still shots because Herman is always dancing and jumping around when he is on stage! The lady in front of me also kept moving her head and getting in my shot, so sorry about the shots with her head, but I was unable to crop it out. I wish I had his energy. Must be all the Starbucks he drinks! Anyway, now that I've probably bored ya to tears with the concert and fan club talk I'll close with this: Saturday was a total rush, and I'll be back tomorrow for sure...

T G I F !!!!!

Thursday:
Thursday found us back at Lowe's to get more lumber! We're now another hundred dollars poorer! It's not just building supplies that are so expensive either? I went to the grocery store yesterday and came out with I kid you not 2 plastic bags and it was $45.00! I was amazed, and I had a huge case of sticker shock! I just wonder what everybody is going to do!

Friday:
Today we went and picked up Kara at school again. Tomorrow Kara and I are going to Van Wert, Ohio to see Herman's Hermits, starring Peter Noone! We're going to a Peter Noone Fan Club "DO" ! We get to get our picture taken with Herman, ( Peter Noone)! Then we get to see a FAB, FUN, FANTISTIC Concert! We can't wait to go see all the Noonatics and have a blast! I get to feel 16 for a few hours! Haha! Well I can pretend can't I? Just kidding after all, and all kidding aside, it's a guaranteed good time. So I'll be out of town until Sunday afternoon. I'm hoping we're allowed to take pictures at this venue, because I think we have pretty good seats. At least I hope so! I'd love to get some good pictures to post of Kara and I with Peter. Wish me luck! Woo Hoo! See ya on Sunday and all of you take care until then...

WEDDING CENTERPIECES DONE !!

One of the centerpieces without the sand and votive candle
Mariah is having a blast.
Cassie gets ready to glue a flower on.

Wedding Centerpieces:
Today Mariah (Bride), Cassie (Matron of Honor), Rhonda (Mother of the Bride), an I did 24 centerpieces for the reception tables. We worked from 11:00a.m. until 5:00p.m. and we finished them all. Man our hot glue guns were really HOT!! Duh right? Anyway if we touched the hot glue once, we must have touched the hot glue a dozen times! It took quite a while to peal it off our finger tips when we were done. That is one more thing that we can cross of the list of things to do for the wedding! Woo Hoo! We now have the menu picked out for the reception, and the decorations settled. I have 7 more corsages and 8 more boutonnieres to get done, and then I can start on the bouquets. Once I start on the bouquets it will start to get really exciting. I love seeing the bouquets start to take shape. That's when it starts to get really fun for me. Then after the bouquets are done I'll get the head table centerpiece with the little white lights done. Once that's done all I have to worry about is the rehearsal dinner, and my part of the reception menu. The things that I'm making can all be made ahead several days so I think I should be able to take it easy the last week before November 8th. Poor Rhonda, Mother of the Bride, is making all the bridesmaids dresses, and also the wedding gown. I talked her out of making the wedding cake! She does a beautiful job, but she would have been bonkers, plus she works 2nd trick at a nursing home! The mother of the bride shouldn't work herself to death, and not be able to enjoy the wedding and reception.

Today:
It has been rainy all day and hasn't got out of the 60's today. I know we need the rain, but it sure made it gloomy today. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend though, so I really can't complain about one day this week. The day just reminded me that fall is here, and winter will be just around the corner! Did I just say that? No I couldn't have! I'm sure we have several weeks of Indian Summer coming up first! Now I'm trying to convince myself and all of you!

Wood:
When I got back from helping doing the centerpieces, Mike informed me that he had used all the wood that we got yesterday and he needed another $100.00 worth of wood to finish raising the floor in the apartment! Geez in one day! So join me tomorrow and see if we manage another hundred dollars for wood. Until then I'll see ya's...

LOWE'S GETS A CHUNK OF OUR CHANGE !

Lowe's:
I hate going to Lowe's or Home Depot! It always costs us too much Money! I guess I should be happy though that Mike is talented enough to do all the work himself on our apartment. I know it would cost a lot more than just the supplies and lumber we're buying now. It cost us almost a hundred dollar bill by the time we got out of Lowe's today. All we bought today was 10 2x8x 10's and 2 boxes of nails! YIKES!!! Then we have to buy sheets of plywood for the floor, and pipes for the plumbing. We're planning on using the new laminate hard wood for the flooring. We won't be putting that down until I get the bead board for the walls painted. Mike hates to use and work with dry wall, although he can if he has to. I love bead board so that won't be a problem for him this time. We got home about 1:15 this afternoon, and Mike unloaded the wood while I did the dishes and finished up the spaghetti sauce and put it in the crockpot. When the apartment is done we'll have about 640 square feet of living space. After having lived the summer in the fiver that will seem huge to us. We haven't minded living in the fiver, in fact it is easy to keep clean, and a lot easier to take care of than the whole house was. So the apartment should also be easy to take care of since it will be a 1/4 the size of the main house. I'll keep ya posted on the apartment as things improve, and get finished.

Tonight:
Tonight I am going to listen to the debate and visit with my friends in the RV Dreams chat room. I will not be stating anything political on my blog, other than to say I think we need a change, and that I think that the terms should only be for 4 years with only one chance of re-election. No more chance of life long terms in the House or Senate, so things become the way they have today, and I don't think the House or Senate should be allowed to vote pay raises for them selves or their retirement. That's my opinion of all this and I approved this message! LOL! I hope to see many of you in the chatroom this evening, and I will see ya all then...