PEACHES!! Pink, and Phew!

We have a peach tree! I don't know how we missed this last year. Scott just discovered it today.

And aren't these flowers pretty? They were a surprise last year. There are so many flowers on the end of one thick stalk. They make quite the display with three or four stalks in a tall vase. They also have a scent you'll never forget. Don't even THINK about bringing them inside. It took us a while last year to find out where the cat fecal matter was hidden.... it was the flowers. PHEW, ICK, YUCK! We'll enjoy them outside from now on.

County Fair

There's something for everyone at the county fair. For us it seemed it was the cows. The sheep, goats, roosters and and pigs all were scary looking and made scary noises. Ok, there were a few moments among the pigs when we screwed up our noses and made indelicate snorting oinky sounds and laughed, but mostly they were scary.


The cows though, wow, they were awesome to behold. We just stood and looked and looked and adored. Then we moved on and looked and looked and adored some more. Of course we discussed the fact that cows say "moo."

Then some ice cream to cool off. You can tell how hot we were.

Then it was time to say goodbye to the cows....

Sharing

Apparently Cooper thought Caycee was missing out on something.... he very generously shared a black bean with Caycee.

"Just try this."

"So, what do you think?"

"Didn't I tell you it was good?!"

Another reward for not weeding

Well, it happened again.... I didn't keep up with the weeding and all of a sudden there were flowers! Right in the middle of my circle of hose. I have no clue what is planted where, and no idea what some of this stuff looks like when it's first starting, so when I do weed (once or twice a season whether the garden needs it or not) I just pull everything that doesn't have a flower attached. I wonder what I have destroyed?!

A summer walk

Today was a Decorative day and I had some things that I needed to give to Sarah so we met for lunch... AND she brought Cooper! He's so cute I don't know how his parents stand it. He had grapes and cheese and watermelon and sweet potato fries and seemed to love it all. Sarah had some new barbeque burger creation (I remember those breastfeeding days when I could eat anything and never gain a pound.... Sarah's still losing (pounds, that is). I had salad (trying to be healthy and calorie concious, don't ya know) and cream of potato soup (mmmm) and Hot Fudge Brownie ala mode (cause you can't go to Baker's Square and not get dessert - it's a rule). I felt so guilty I had to walk tonight. It was a totally typical August evening...

Summer is my very favorite time of year. To me each month of summer is a little different.
June usually starts out hesitant, sometimes warm, sometimes hot, sometimes cool but with promise. By the time it's half over there are warm days, blue blue skies and you can just get lost in there and feel like summer is stretched out in front of you and will last forever. Knee Deep in June is the most relaxing, lazy place to be. (It's also a poem by James Whitcomb Riley and if you want to really experience it, you need to listen to Scott read it.)
July is celebrations and picnics and parades and county fairs. After the Fourth of July you already start talking about how fast summer is going by. All the flowers that you planted in May and June are filling in. The weather turns from very warm to hot.
Then August... this evening was pure August. Scott & I went for a walk after supper (ok, I walked & he scootered). It was near dusk and it was hot and the air was heavy. The sun was almost down, just a last bit of pink spread out in a few layers. You could hear the locusts (or tree toads or whatever - I don't know what they are but it's a totally summer sound). The corn is taller than me and still green. The fields of beans are like deep, deep lush green carpets that seem to stretch so far with a lonely stalk of corn shooting up every now and then. You know that, even though September will have it's hot days, summer is almost over. It usually makes me anxious that fall and winter are not too far away. But this year I'm counting the days... it can't go fast enough.... we can't see Justin 'til it's nearly over. Come on fall!! Hurry!!
Pretty soon we can take down our map of a foreign land. We can change our extra kitchen clock back to Central time instead of "Justin time." We can stop checking the MNF news realeases to see if anything happened as we slept. We'll be able to call him when we want instead of waiting and hoping to hear from him. We'll be able to SEE him and HUG him and I just can't wait!!!!! What a sight it will be to see him and his wife and kids all together again.... And he can take his car home. After our walk we drove his car just to get it moving a bit. We needed a destination and Dairy Queen was convenient. One Peanut Buster Parfait later and I need to walk a whole lot more.

Project Linus Quilt Finished

I finished my quilt to be donated to Project Linus. I thought I'd have time to make two but just finished sewing the binding on this one this morning. I got so involved in the best way to press the seams for less bulk.... what a puzzle. I like puzzles but GEEZ. There's gotta be a better way. I had some time this afternoon, so when I brought the quilt in I stayed for a bit. It sounded like the day was a big success. I think I heard a count of 98 quilts, and that was when there was still an hour or so to go.

Sure is a bright quilt.... guess that's what happens when you use bright fabrics. It was fun... on to the next project. Or maybe I should finish a WIP.

Welcome to the world, Norah - we've been waiting for you - so glad you are here!!

Congratulations Tina, Jim, Nadia and Evan!

What a beautiful family.

Babies are such a nice way to start people. ~Don Herrold

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

Happy 1st Birthday Caycee!

Caycee turned one yesterday and we celebrated! Auntie Jayci gave Caycee a special "do" - look close and you can see tiny pigtails on the top of her head.

"For me!?"

"A cake, a candle, AND you're all singing for me?!!"

" Now you're going to GIVE me the cake?!!"

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea - looks a bit messy. And how do I know it's not going to taste yucky?"

"Mmm, not bad, you can leave it here awhile."

"That was great! Let's do it all again every day!"

Why?

Sunday morning breakfast with mom and siblings and sometimes other suprise guests (this time it was Jerry! - good to see you outside of work) is always enjoyable. Good company, good food, good coffee, good conversation. We talk about what new in our lives, but we also talk about bigger things... like why do we drive on the right side of the road and in England they drive on the wrong, I mean left, side of the road. Who drives on what side where. We couldn't figure it out, so for all of you who were still pondering this issue (I know, it was only me - everyone else has moved on) here's some answers...

• In the middle ages you walked on the left side of the road so if an enemy approached you could draw your sword.
• In the 1700s, while hauling large loads of farm goods with wagon pulled by teams of horses, the driver had to sit on one of the horses. He sat on the left so he could hold his whip in his right hand. He wanted the other wagons to pass on his left so he could make sure the wheels of the other wagon didn't hit his.... so he drove on the right. You know Americans, bigger is better - the English had smaller wagons and they had seats! so no need to change sides.
• Napoleon enforced a keep right rule in the countries he occupied and most other countries stayed on the left. Things stayed the same in most of these countries even after Napoleon was no more. Bit of confusion in Austria because only part of the country was occupied so they did both until Hitler came along and said everyone on the right NOW!
• The United Kingdom controlled Australia and most of Africa so they drive on the left.

Well, that answers part of the question. But it leads to more.... Why do all boats, everywhere, drive on the right? Who said traffic lights should be red for stop, green for go, and yellow for hurry up the lights gonna change?

My personal weight loss plan

Zak & Caycee have gone home and I've lost another pound. Everytime they come, a pound or two goes - I love it. The first part of the plan is the limited calorie intake - no time for seconds (or even all of the first helping).

The second part is, of course, the excercise. This means cross training... weight lifting, aerobic, and walking...

Weight lifting: so they don't weigh much, but tell that to my arms! my legs! my back! what a workout! Who needs to lift mega weights? I've heard that leads to bulky muscles. Less weight and more reps builds lean muscles.

Aerobic: mostly sprints - Caycee's legs may be shorter than mine, but boy is she FAST! Blink and she is across the room heading for a plug or the indoor swimming pool (aka pet water bowl).

Walking: Zak's first request in the morning is "side" and this means outside. So as soon as everyone is fed and cleaned up and dressed (this usually takes a couple hours) out we go and we walk to the road, to the front porch, to the back yard, to the road, to the burn barrel (Zak has to throw all the corn cobs into it - did I mention we have a cornfield behind the house?), to the porch, to the garage, to the road... anyway you get it and you were getting tired just reading it, weren't you?

Key to all this is that you need to find exercise that you like - how could I not like hanging out with the grandkids... only thing missing is Cooper! We look at lots of Cooper pictures - I love the way Zak says "CooP!"

Cooper, Coos, CooP

To do lists

We're picking up Zak & Caycee today and they will be staying for a few days while Dayna gets a shot and has some recovery time. So I have things to get done this morning. I seem to work best, faster, with a list - crossing an item off is such a reward! (I know, simple pleasures for simple minds.) So I was just barreling through my list, got 1 1/2 things done and started thinking about why lists work. I headed to the internet and googled "to do" "to do list" "list motivation" etc.
I found lots of links to computer programs for making lists. That wouldn't work for me - I really like crossing an item off the list, it just wouldn't be the same as clicking on an item to mark it done. Kind of like trying to slam a cell phone.
I found a blog just about lists... To-Do List! People send in their lists, any kind of list. Kind of wierd but I found myself reading some of them.
I found a blog ZenHabits with a list of tools to get things done. I got dizzy looking at all the tools needed to accomplish something but found the authors "about me" and list of accomplishments interesting. I also liked a quote he had at the top of the page...
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle
So, an hour later and my to do list has only one item crossed off. That half an item has to be completely done to get crossed off. On my next "to do list" the first item needs to be STAY OFF THE INTERNET!!!! (for a while, anyway)

And Kudos to Sarah... she did a lot already today and she didn't even have a list... just a baby with plans!

There is no treasure like a friend

This was so very long ago. We haven't been in touch in ages. It's the only picture I have of my dear friend, but oh, the memories!

Project Linus

Project Linus is a group that gives quilts, blankets and afghans to seriously ill or traumatized children. Our local quilt shop has a Project Linus day each year. Anyone is welcome to come and help make quilts to donate. Every year I plan to attend but something always seems to come up, so each year I make sure to make a quilt or two before that day so at least I can make a donation to add to their collection. Here's the fabric I selected - yikes! - kind of bright.

My strips are all cut and I'm ready to sew. I need to make 48 blocks like this one:

Then I need to decide which layout I want to use. I should have enough fabric to make two. Any suggestions for which one to make?

Cooper was here

What a fun weekend. Cooper is the best idea John & Sarah ever had.

You say they are both sleeping? And how long is that going to go on? It's a highly overrated activity - I know, I've tried it. 'Course if you're on a boppy pillow after a meal cuddled against Mom, or leaning back against Dad, then I can see it. But just sleeping in a bed after the day has started... I don't get it.

Ok Grampa, I'm going to kick up the speed. Hang on!

I made it!

I reached my first walking goal. I made it to Dairy Queen. And, yes, I bought a Blizzard, an M&M Blizzard. I burned off 300 calories walking and the Blizzard was 670 calories. It lasted just about half a mile. I think next time I'll get a Dilly Bar - "only" 240 calories - then I'll at least not be in the negative on the calorie counting.

Happy 4th of July!

Land of the Free because of the Brave

Cooper's Coming!!!

. . . tonight, tomorrow morning, soon! And, he's bringing his mom & dad & Dora & Audrey. Looking to be a good weekend. Oh, there's gonna be hugs & kisses, & laughter - can't wait.

Daddy's Boots

Zak opened Daddy's trunk today. Before doing so the combination lock and the latches had to be thoroughly inspected. Then the big moment. (Grandma was afraid of foreign spiders and whatnot but her fears were unrealized.) As soon as the boots were out of the trunk, Zak was unhooking his shoes so he could step into Daddy's boots.

Friendship Blocks

I made, signed and mailed 53 blocks for a Friendship Quilt. The pattern I chose for my block is called Homeward Bound. In a few weeks I'll receive back one of my blocks along with 52 other blocks - one from each of the other women participating in this block exchange. They will all be patriotic fabrics as the women are voluteer sewers for Marine Comfort Quilts. Can't wait to see what I get back and then have the fun of arranging the blocks for the quilt.