" Time Out "

The weather this week is going to be absolutely gorgeous. I have gotten a lot of work done in my yard and have a lot that I still want to get done.

I think that I am going to take advantage of this beautiful weather this week and take a little break from blogging.

My husband is due home this weekend and I would like to get several things done before he gets home.

I will be back sometime next week. I wish all of you a Happy Fourth of July.

God Bless America!!

" A Little Hope, Faith and a Lot of Perseverance ! "

Well as you may or may not know, I have been working on a toad house for a toad that I had found in my yard a few weeks back.

Sadly I haven't seen "Mr. Toad" since right after I started this project.

I found the directions for the project online and since I had already started it, I decided that I would go ahead with it despite the absence of "Mr. Toad". I really liked the way that this finished product looked online, very natural, and thought that I would just forge ahead since I already had the supplies. 

It was a fairly simple project yet time consuming , sort of like a jig saw puzzle. An 8 inch clay pot, small rocks and glue was really all that was needed. I had to break part of the pot that was to be buried as to allow a toad to burrow. After that I wet sanded the sharp edges with a sanding block. After all we wouldn't want a little fellow or gal to get cut while burrowing!

You can only glue a few inches of rock at a time, so I would just sit and work on it here and there.

At first I was using a bit too much glue as I discovered that it didn't dry clear. After that though I got the hang of it rather quickly. It was fun to do. Quite relaxing really!


The following photo is what the area looked like before I started construction on " The Toad Hop Inn " project. 

This is the area where I kept seeing "Mr. Toad" a few weeks earlier. If you haven't read my posting about the toad earlier, I will tell you that I was so excited to see him. I love toads, frogs and lizards. This was the first toad that we had ever seen in our yard in the eleven years we have been living here. This was truly one of those times that I felt like a little girl again. That RARELY happens to me anymore. So when I no longer saw him, I was awfully, awfully disappointed.


But I didn't give up on the project. If nothing else it would just add a little more interest to the yard.


So yesterday, Sunday, I started to break ground. I must admit that I felt somewhat like a developer on a much smaller scale! Once I broke ground I was very careful as I dug. I couldn't help feeling that glimmer of hope of seeing "Mr. Toad" again although I was quite sure that he was gone.


When digging a hole for this toad house, you must loosen the dirt quite a bit. If a toad were to live inside, he would also need to burrow deep to escape enemies. Luckily for me the dirt was fairly loose and I also noticed a hole where I was digging, about the size of a toad. 


Once the hole was dug , gently of coarse, I put the toad house in place. As I was getting ready to fill the toad house half full with dirt, something caught my eye. Just to the left of me I spied a sweet and happy surprise!

Oh he was very hard to see. And I was so grateful that I was being very careful where I was placing the loose dirt! 

Now I know that this may sound silly to most of you but I must tell you that at that moment, I felt pure joy! Something else I don't feel much anymore.



So now I am even more into my construction project, being careful to try to make a toad friendly environment . I had read a few things online that helped me with deciding what was needed for the area.


Clay planter dishes filled with water and if possible a light that attracts bugs at night. Plenty of leafy shade plants for the toad to hide under. And absolutely no pesticides of any kind ! Here is the final result of my project.

The toad house itself is a bit hard to see. But that is the point after all!

So I guess perseverance can pay off. My little friend "Mr. Toad" is still around, at least for now. I will also tell you that being in my yard so much lately has really made me feel closer to my mom, I know that she would have enjoyed this project so much! 

Now we can all sleep well tonight knowing that there is one little toad that has some awesome digs ! No pun intended. 


Nighty night all!

" Hot Day, Cool Dessert "

I don't usually do this, share my secret family recipes. As a matter of fact, I am the only one with this recipe.

Well, not the only one in the world as I got it out of a major brand name recipe book. But at least the only one in my family. 

It is a major hit with my family and church members in the heat of the summer. Katie has been requesting it for the past week so yesterday we bought the ingredients and Kate and I whipped it up together this morning.

You have to like lemon. If you don't, I am very sorry for you as you don't know what you are missing! The recipe is as follows:

Lemon Torte

3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (12 squares)

3- eggs, separated

1-Tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

1/4 cup lemon juice (I use fresh)

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1-cup whipped cream (whipped)

or 2-cups cool whip- thawed (I use cool whip) 

Line a 9x5 loaf pan with 1/2 of the graham crackers

In medium saucepan combine egg yolk (reserve whites in small bowl), lemon peel,lemon juice,1/4 cup of sugar and the salt.

Mix thoroughly. Cook over medium heat until it just begins to bubble, stirring constantly. It will be the consistency of pudding. Let cool.

Beat egg whites in chilled glass or metal bowl until frothy.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.

Fold in lemon mixture and whipped cream.

Pour into pan. Top with remaining graham cracker crumbs.

Chill at LEAST four hours. For longer storage cover with foil.

 

This really is a yummy frozen dessert!

Before we made the Lemon Torte I did manage to get outside by 7:00 a.m. this morning. I did get a lot of weeding done in two hours, but by 9:00 the heat was already starting to bother me so I quit.

My son came by to mow and trim for me as well. It looks so nice, it's just unfortunate that we are having such an awful heat spell right now. Today it was 109 with the heat index and the air was so thick with humidity that it was hard to breath.

Even Katie didn't bother me to go out and "Do something" after walking the dogs. It felt like walking out into a furnace. So I just stayed in the house.

We made the dessert, I cleaned, did laundry and I finished the "Toad Hop Inn"! Now all I need is a bit of rain to soften the ground enough for me to dig. Oh I have plans for this "Inn". If nothing else, I think it will be cute!

The weather people say that it is supposed to be in the 80's all next week! I pray that they are right. This heat is stifling!

I was supposed to do my gardening yesterday but I had the strangest day. Every plan that I had made fell through. Little things kept going haywire. I was trying to show Katie how to pump gas and I messed up and got gasoline all over her pant leg. So instead of shopping while we were in town I had to race across town to get her home and cleaned up. Fortunately I had a sheet in my car and we thew it over her leg. But between the heat (had to keep the windows down) and the smell of the fumes, I was getting sick to my stomach. Katie was fine, just a little smelly!

Then my daughter-in-law, Amy, called to see if I wanted to go to the store and then to the new consignment shop in town. So Katie and I piled in the van with the grandkids and off we went to the grocery store where we had intended on going to in the first place before the gasoline incident!

That was a fun trip. Jack and I shared chocolate doughnut holes while we ALL shopped! My granddaughter, Sarah snuck a package of candy in with my items at the check-out while giving me a KNOWING look!

She almost got in trouble from mom until I told her that I was buying it for her, as I gave Sarah a KNOWING look! We have a special bond. That bond between grandma and granddaughter. No mom's allowed!

After putting our cold items in a freezer bag, off we went to the new consignment shop. It was very nice. The prices were surprisingly low. So I did indulge in a few items even though I really didn't need them.

 

The three wine bottles will go well in either the living room or the dining room. I haven't decided where yet. The glass bottle I just found intriguing. But I really loved the little jewel box. It was only $2.95.

 

This will go in my bedroom which is all Victorian. I love the red velvet inside.

 

I know that some of you have been to my daughter, Ginny's new blog. I wanted to comment on it but couldn't find where to comment. A couple of you had the same problem. So I asked her about it and she said that the comment section is a little "quote bubble" under the headline of the post.

Well Shut My Mouth! I really feel old and stupid now, LOL!!!

She is doing a blog about eating only foods bought at the farmers market for thirty days. Here's the link...

"The Farmers Market Project".

This is something that I would love to do. I don't think that Kate would go for it though. Ginny's market also has meat, fish and dairy.

Ours does not. However I do believe that I could live on fruits and vegetables just fine for thirty days. Katie however, not so much!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I do hope that nobody else has to deal with this extreme heat.

" A Long Week. "

It seems so long to me since I have last posted. In actuality, it's only been a week. Most of it has felt like a week in hell, temperature wise at least. Anyone who lives in the Midwest knows what I speak of.

The extreme heat and humidity has sent our heat indexes soaring. I actually got sick a couple of times from it and have since felt drained of any and all energy.

We finally got a break from it today as the humidity has left at least for the next day or two.

I will admit that most of my heat sickness, I brought upon myself. Lowe's was having another plant sale that I discovered while there to buy more mulch. I sent my husband over to the video game store so that I could be alone in this variable flora filled heaven, all at 50 to 75 percent off !

I felt very good as I started wandering around outside. I first went and loaded four bags of mulch into my cart and then I was off to seek some poor, orphaned plant that might be in need of a good home. I got very excited when I spotted this perennial flower that I had envied for a few weeks. It's $8.00 price tag however, stopped me each time from purchasing the beauty. And there it sat, marked down to $3.33 !

  

I love the dainty yellow flowers. Four bags of mulch and two flowers later is when I started to feel very hot, sweaty and light headed. So I headed to the register to purchase my items, called Jake and told him to come and get me now. It was only 105 degrees with the heat index, but I think all of the medications I take and the fact that I have never, ever been able to deal with the heat very well, it just was not a good situation.

I had to go home and that was about it for me for the day. This was one of those Ah Ha moments for me. I just need to stay in when the temps get to high. As much as I don't like being stuck in the house, I would dislike passing out even more. And I have actually fainted twice in my life from the heat in my younger years so I guess it's time for me to get a clue!

I have some very sad news. Really, it is very, very sad for me. My little friend, Mr. Toad, is gone! I haven't seen him in two or three weeks and it makes me very sad. I have been painstakingly working on his homemade abode. I guess he got tired of waiting. Or maybe he found a better yard. Or perhaps the stray cats were just too intimidating for him, whatever the case may be, I miss his company as I garden.

I have not given up however. Quite the contrary. I am almost finished with my toad house and have purchased a few other things for " The Toad Hop Inn ". I am going to forge on without him to complete my project. I may even import a toad from my son's house. I have gone so far as to not use any pesticides what so ever this year. I will post photos of "The Toad Hop Inn" when it is completed. I am hoping to finish this up this weekend.

We had a birthday this past Tuesday. My grandson Jack turned two. The really nice thing about his birthday this year was that my husband was able to attend! This doesn't happen often with his job. He misses so, so much and I know how heartbreaking this is for him. But not this time!

Jack is very into Hot Wheels now and he received many!

It kept him very busy as his big sister Sarah read all of his birthday cards to him, although he wasn't listening!

And his mommy and grandma played camera wars with each other!

Yes it was a fun evening. And it was a long hot week. I am so dreading seeing next months power bill, Yikes!!!

But I am not going to worry about that now. I have all of my work for the week done. Tomorrow is supposed to be The Perfect Day to garden. And that is exactly what I intend to do, God willing.

Speaking of gardening, my oldest daughter Ginny has started a new blog. It is called "The Farmers Market Project". Click on blog title for link. It is an interesting concept, one in which I would love to try for myself.

She will only be eating food that she has purchased from her local Farmer's Market, for 30 days. This should be very interesting and most likely will bring about some creativity on her part.

Please click on her link above and check out this new blog of hers. If you scroll down a bit on her page you can view her video of her " Last Junk Food Meal" for 30 days. This should be very interesting!

" She Made Her Parents Proud !"

Do you remember this photo? Well if not, it was a photo that I took of our fifteen year old, Katie, several months ago. It was her very first time behind the wheel.

Her dad was in the passenger seat and they were in our church parking lot.

The state of Illinois requires that when she received her drivers permit, she must log in forty hours of driving with a licensed driver over the age of twenty-one. I think it's twenty-one, either way my husband and I are way over that so who cares!

She also has to drive for six hours (Whoopty Doo!) with her schools driving instructor. Today was her first day with the instructor and one other student. She will be doing this over the next six weeks.

I left my house to go clean for my people this morning and my husband was somewhere in Ohio when she did her time with the instructor.

Well you can imagine how curious Jake and I were about how she did this morning. So I had called her from work and I found out that her dad had also called her from work, to see how she did.

I will tell you that the drivers education instructor has a brake on the passenger side of the car. If he has to use this brake, that's it. They lose their permit until the next year.

Jake and I have worked a lot with Katie on her skills. We even took her on the interstate twice already in preparation for this day.We have until her birthday in December to log the forty hours. So far we have logged about half of that.

So I think that you can imagine our surprise when she told us what he said about her driving. He said that she was a very good driver. And that she was one of THE BEST first time drivers that he has had!!

Yippie! Jake and I were so, so proud! Now granted, she still has five and a half more hours to go with him but I'll tell you, I haven't felt that much pride in a long time!

My husband said that we had a lot to do with it. I suppose we did but I sort of felt that she had a natural feel for it. 

I pray that she continues to be a safe, responsible and conscientious driver. Way to go Kate!!!

 

" We're Workin' On It. "

Those are the words that my husband heard on the phone today. 
"We're workin' on it."

Sometime this morning Katie and I discovered that not only was our cable stations not working but our internet as well.

Now I must say that in general our cable company is very good. It is rare that we have an outage or other problems. 

However, my husband and I have one major complaint. The automated customer service. I like to refer to this woman as " The animated lady". I don't like her. I really, really do not like her.

I feel like a fool trying to have a conversation with a fake woman. An animated lady. She tries so hard to be sweet but she never ever gives me what I want. I want a real person. I end up using obscenities at her and then most of the time I just hang up on her.

I would apologize to her but she is automated/animated after all.

It didn't bother me one bit when I discovered that we only had one channel to watch. It didn't bother me one bit that I couldn't go online.

I have a fifteen year old girl. Do you realize what cable and internet mean to a fifteen year old girl? 

I grew up with a black and white television. We only had about nine channels. I grew up with a phone that was attached to the wall. I couldn't sneak off into my room to talk to my friends.

To this very day, I love black and white movies and shows. Katie will not watch them because they are not in COLOR ! She misses so many good old movies and shows because of this.

When I was fifteen, we barely knew what a computer was. I remember my high school had a computer room for a computer class that they offered. It was the only room in the entire school that was air conditioned. I remember not understanding what this class was all about.

There were over two thousand students in that school and I rarely saw any of them in that class!

Not having internet access today did not bother me either. I had plenty to do and accomplished much. I listened to good Jazz all day. Even danced a bit.

I talk to my husband several times a day. He is a truck driver and is gone for two weeks at a time. When I told him what was going on and that Katie seemed as though she was in some sort of strange, foggy confusion, he asked if I had called the cable company.

I told him no. I really didn't care and I didn't want to talk to the animated lady. I do not like the animated lady. Besides I knew that the problem would be solved eventually. After all, I do have faith.

My dear sweet husband offered to call the animated lady for me. I don't know. Perhaps he has a thing for her. She is overly friendly. 

To me she is sickeningly sweet. But since he offered, I said go for it.

I can never seem to get a real person on the phone. I've tried to be nice to the animated lady, really I have. Yet I always resort to cursing at her. 

I think that my husband is flirty. He denies it. He says that he doesn't see it. He says that if he is, it is done unconsciously. Whatever!
He still manages to get to a REAL person. I think the animated lady likes him.

Am I jealous? Whatever works. He did manage (Of Coarse) to get a real person.

And for all of his flirty ways with the animated lady, what did he hear from the REAL person? 

No it wasn't "One ringy dingy, two ringy dingy."  It was those words that really make us feel satisfied.

"We're workin' on it."

It was nice of him to call. It did make Katie feel better knowing that they were workin' on it.

As for me. Well as you can tell, I am back here with you. Yet I had a really good day without all of the technology. A really good day.

As for Katie. She seems back to her usual self. She's on line right now too.

As for my husband Jake. It was very nice of him to offer to call "The animated lady" for me. 

Yet somehow, I got the feeling that he was a bit TOO happy to call 
"The animated lady".

" It's Official ! I'm Insane !"

Y

Yes I do believe that I must be insane to do what I did today. It started out to be a pleasant day. I woke early and had a leisurely morning enjoying my coffee and getting ready for church.

Kate woke up, showered and went to church with her friend while I went to church alone. I sat next to one of our long time members who sings really well. He is a sweet man, I have posted about in the past.

The service was just beautiful. We had a childrens service in which all of the little ones lit the candles, carried the cross, sang, read scripture and then at the end had to announce to the congregation what they were thankful for, one by one. They all did so well, it was just beautiful.

I wore one of my mother's rings to service today and between looking at it, seeing the beautiful little children and singing the hymns, I almost lost it at the end. I was crying. But fortunately I didn't have to go to the ladies room. Going to church is still difficult for me since mom passed away.

After service I ran up to Wal-Mart for a couple of things and then decided to cross the road to Lowes. I just wanted a few more shade plants. They had a BIG sale going on. I ended up with 28 more plants and a 20 pound bag of dirt for $16.00 !

What on earth was I thinking? Twenty-eight more plants to plant in this weather? I don't know what came over me. As I was walking around outside choosing plants, I started to sweat, a lot.

The weather channel said that it "Feels like 100", thanks but I think that I already was figuring this out! 

 
It may not look like a lot but after I got them home, I questioned my sanity. I love to garden, this is not the problem. I hate this heat and humidity, that is the problem. 

It was almost noon by now, Katie came home and we had some lunch after which we both fell asleep. Heat will do that to you ! I woke around 1:00 and watched the weather again, you know, just in case the temperature may have dropped 20 degrees since noon. 

It didn't. So I changed into the least amount of clothing that I could without risking arrest and headed outside to my trusty Lawn Buddy cart. I drank a lot of water and tea. My hose became my best friend once the water stopped coming out HOT!

I worked for a good two or maybe even three hours. It seemed like days. I was only able to get about nine of them in the ground but here is part of the end result....

Did you know that it is very difficult to dig around tree roots? Well it is, but it was sort of fun as it was all muddy and I was all sweaty and wet from hosing myself off ! I don't remember the last time I played in the mud! I am hoping that I can get some more done early tomorrow morning.

My orange Cosmos started blooming this morning....

And the first Rose of Sharon bloomed this morning as well....

And I also saw the first, o.k. are you ready for this ? Are you sure ?
Alright, I saw the first dreaded "Japanese Beetle" ! Yup, time to break out the Sevin Dust people ! I hate those little !@%#  *?  ^&%#$@!

Sorry no photo of them. They creep me out !

Needless to say Kate and I didn't work in the basement today because I decided that digging in the dirt while it is 100 degrees would me more fun! 

So it is official, I am insane !

I have that photo of my granddaughter and her friends having their lemonade stand. Next time they have one, grandma will teach them about marketing! We could make a fortune with these cute kids! My Sarah is on the right and she was a bit bossy I must say. Perhaps she may have a future in management !

I am so, so grateful that you are here and for all of your lovely comments on my posts. I love and appreciate every single one of you. Really I do. 

I feel the need to tell you this because I am afraid that now that you know what an insane woman that I really am, you may never come back ! I wouldn't blame you but I would miss you terribly!

Thank you so much for stopping by! 



O.K. I wanted to add one more thing. There is a new blogger in town. Her name is Danielle. She writes very well and she could use some followers. Please take a moment to visit her at her blog, "Lillies of the Soul". Thank you, I know she would love your visits!

" The Night Owl !"

Here it is after 9:00 p.m. and I am still awake. I took a really great nap today and yesterday. Also had a really good long sleep last night. I usually go up to bed about 9:00p.m., read my Bible for about 30 minutes and nod off. So I feel sort of strange being up right now! Sort of like I am doing something bad, LOL!! Geez!

I went to pick Katie up from camp this morning. I am trying to sound casual here but the truth is I missed her so much and couldn't wait to hear about her week at camp!

We were supposed to pick them up between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. I didn't want to seem too anxious so I decided to wait until 8:30 to leave the house! Imagine my surprise when I got a call at 8:15 asking me where I was?! "I'm on my way!" I told her as she hung up the phone.

I won't get into all of the detail, the important thing is that she had a really great time. She was very happy and I was very happy to see her, I received an actual hug from her! After we got home of coarse.

I know she was wiped out as by 11:30 a.m. she was napping! And so was I ! Well you know, it was hot as blazes here today, way too hot to work outside. And you will be happy to know that other than a nice big welcome home dinner I cooked for Kate, I didn't do any work today!

I really wanted to do some work in the yard today but it was 105 degrees with the heat index. I was dreading watering the plants. I guess God heard me because a nice storm rolled through early evening. Wasn't that nice of him? All of my plants received a good watering and it didn't cost me a penny!

It was still lightly raining when I took the dogs out at 9:00p.m. Katie had already went to sleep, again. The rain and the breeze felt heavenly. I have been working here and there on my toad house. It is a slow tedious project but it is looking rather nice. I read somewhere that a single toad can live up to 40 years! I wonder how long it could live if it were married! Sorry, I just couldn't help myself !

Katie informed me that there will be another camp for teens in August. She really wants to go again. My basement needs a good cleaning. We struck up a deal. Starting tomorrow after church, we will start working on it. There is just too many things that need to be done around here and I can't do it all myself anymore. So we will see how much help she will be!

Don't worry, even if she helps a little, I will still let her go but we won't mention that o.k.? She starts driving with her instructor next week for the next six weeks. Then the plan is a trip to see her big sis in North Carolina. The next camp would be after that. 

I am just happy that she has things to do this summer, last summer was so long and boring for her. Nothing that I suggested was good enough!

I went for a visit yesterday to my son's house. My granddaughter and two of her friends were having a lemonade stand. Good thing grandma showed up. I had to show them the fine art of sales and customer service!  They ended up making $17.00 ! It was fun, I have a photo but my camera is in the other room and it's time for this girl to go and get some rest.

I have done enough sitting the past two days, so after church tomorrow I will get busy again. Well maybe !
I hope you all enjoy your Sunday.

" Wait, How Old am I ? "

Have you ever caught yourself asking this question ? I know that I have, many times. Usually it is because the years seem to fly by so quickly. I don't dwell on how old I am. Well I did when I turned sixteen and then twenty-one. But for the most part I have asked myself that question simply because I have lost track of time.

I asked myself this question today but it wasn't because I couldn't remember how old that I actually was. No, it was because of how hard that I pushed myself this week. I had and still am having this entire week to myself. My silly husband thought, seriously thought, that I would relax all week.

You would think after twenty-one years together, he would know me better! Well I would think anyway. 

I recently had a total of six shots of cortisone and Synvisc in each of my badly degenerating knees over the past month and a half. So I have been feeling pretty good. Why I have been able to even dance a bit lately! 

Since I have been feeling physically spry lately, I have taken full advantage of this fifty plus year old body and the week to myself, to get some projects done. Now when I say projects I'm not talking sitting in a chair crafting although I have fit a bit of that in too.

No I am talking about spending hours in the yard on Monday, working. Working hard. Lifting and toting forty pound bags of mulch and dirt. Weeding and lots of digging and planting.

Tuesday I spent the entire day cleaning up after the tornado's, Jake and Katie. Which included nine loads of laundry. I washed all of the bedding in the house since everyone was gone, along with towels and clothes. My washer and dryer are in the basement. That's quite a few trips up and down the stairs. But that wasn't enough. I also decided to clean Katie's carpet in her room since she was gone. And then I cooked myself a full meal of broiled salmon, Chinese noodles with freshly chopped veggie's mixed in and brussel sprouts. What, you don't like baby cabbage?

On Wednesday, well what can I say. We have a spare bedroom that has gotten totally over taken with miscellaneous crap. Yes, crap! So I rearranged the entire room which involved moving around one-hundred or so books and lots of crap. The room was named "Happenstance" for a reason! I moved two bookshelves, one desk and a very heavy filing cabinet. I must say it looks rather nice since it had a good cleaning and vacuuming. I also took a little trip to the grocery store for some vegetables and a pizza.The pizza was fattening but I bought plenty of fresh veggies to counteract the fat!

Then today, Thursday, I had to clean house for my people. I did an extra good job as I had an appointment last week and couldn't give them my "All" ! Well they got my "All" today! I washed all of the ceiling fans along with cleaning the entire three bedroom house. 

Well when I got home today I was shot. I mean, worn out and exhausted. I fell asleep for a bit and can still, at will, just nod off.

You are probably thinking that I am a little crazy, maybe at the very least, slightly compulsive. Well you're probably right on both counts.

The real truth is that when I get these shots in my knees I feel so much better and I tend to get carried away. I forget that I am a fifty plus woman. My mind still feels like a twenty plus woman when it comes down to all of the things that I want to accomplish. I tend to forget that my body does not have the stamina that it once had. I get carried away.

Tomorrow I have work to do at church and several errands to run.
And believe it or not, I really wanted to get the garage and basement cleaned this week too!

So here's the question. Do you ever forget how old you are and over do? 

If you don't hear from me in a few days, don't worry I will just be moaning as I am laying in my recliner!

" Camp and Plants and Toads and Mirrors, Oh My!"

What a weekend ! A long one but in a good way. We started out with a drive to another town "in search of " swimwear for Katie. First I have to say that she is quite modest so when at the last minute she requested a suit for camp, I just couldn't say no.

So Saturday morning Jake, Katie and I took off to go to a different Wal-Mart as she couldn't find anything at ours. This involved driving on the interstate. She has driven on it once with her dad. I opted out on that trip. Next week she starts her driver training with her instructor. The first thing they have to do is go onto the interstate.


I sat in the backseat while dad sat up front with her. I must say that I was quite impressed with her driving skills she has acquired so far. I was a bit nervous at first, but after seeing her skills and confidence..

lets just say that I loosened up a bit ! The trip was a successful one as she managed to find swim shorts and a top over which she chose to wear a T-shirt.

We had a gorgeous weekend, most of which we spent outside planting, mowing and of coarse weeding ! I believe we planted around twenty assorted perennials and annuals. Trees and bushes. This is part of the end result.

 
My little miniature pine tree is to the left of the photo. This is only one section of the back yard. There are three more as well but this is the one that I was able to complete.

Sunday afternoon rolled around and Kate was all ready for camp. We packed up the back of the car and off we went. The setting of the camp was quite lovely. In the woods just off of a lake.

The road leading to the camp.

 

It really looked like a peaceful place. It has a nice little pool as well as several cabins, a canteen and worship center.

We arrived about ten minutes before Kate's best friend. This is the first time that we've ever left Katie anywhere that she won't be with family. I was feeling anxious for her but I could tell that she couldn't wait for me to leave !

Dad snuck this photo of her! She was so happy once her friend arrived!

 
I am quite sure that she was equally as happy when we left! She is sharing a room with five other girls.

 Now I have to be perfectly honest here. I was really a bit nervous leaving her here. No cell phones allowed. I realize that she isn't a baby anymore but she still is my little girl and always will be. Monday afternoon I received a call from her and I did panic for a moment,until I discovered that she forgot her sunglasses and belt and wanted to know if I would bring them to her.

O.K. I feel better now. She said she was having a great time. Now I can relax and breathe !

 
So now that everything is good with her and my husband is back to work I would like to tell you a little surprise I had yesterday. After Jake went back to work yesterday I went Lowes and bought some more flowers to plant. I worked outside most of the day and had one more flower to plant.

I was sitting on my lawn cart digging a hole for this flower next to the garage, when I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, something move. I glanced to my right when I noticed my little toad friend sitting about six inches from where I was planting the flower. " Oh Hello ", I said and continued to plant.

You can see how close he was to the red flower that I was planting, he is well camouflaged. He is on the bottom right of the photo. He sat there the whole time and long enough for me to get a photo or two of him !

This is as close up as I could get. I literally had  the camera, no flash, in his face ! I discovered where he was living and it looks to me as if there are two of them there. I need to get busy on that toad house this week and get it put in the ground !

I know this has been a long post and I haven't forgotten about posting a photo of the " Big, Heavy Mirror " that my husband was dreading to hang. He did get it hung and I am going to leave you with another "Before" and "After" picture.

Here is the "Before"....

And now the "After"....

I am sorry as I didn't realize that this photo was so blurry! That's me for ya! Anyway you get the idea and I am so proud of my husband. He did a great job but then I knew that he would! 

Oh yes and one more thing I forgot about. I woke early this morning, 5:30 A.M. and of coarse the dogs were waiting impatiently to go out. When I spotted this I just had to take a picture, I hope it is clearer than the last one.

If you look closely you will see that it is a double rainbow! Too bad that I wasn't awake enough yet to go look for the "Pot O' Gold" ! Maybe next time !

" Gone But Not Forgotten. "

I just wanted to let everyone know that my husband has arrived home for the weekend.

I wasn't expecting him this weekend, he caught me totally off guard !

We will be busy getting Katie ready for her week away at Bible Camp.

In other words she has decided at the last minute that she wants to get a new swimsuit. The search is on.

I only offered a month ago to go shopping for one. I was told that she wouldn't go swimming.

So here we are one day before camp, you ladies know what I'm talking about. This is going to be interesting.

So I will be busy this weekend. And while I am gone I will not forget about you.

So go on now, go enjoy yourselves!

Don't worry about me.

I will be back next week.

Topic : Hobbies

A hobby is an activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, often in ones spare time.

I am so happy that this definition is so broad. I mean really, anything can be a hobby as long as it is done for pleasure or relaxation!

I personally have had many hobbies over the years as I am sure most of you have as well.

For example, coloring can be a very relaxing hobby. Who needs to stay in the lines?

And then of coarse one of MY favorite hobbies would be sleeping. There just never seems to be enough time!

You need plenty of sleep if you were to pursue the " Swinging upside down " hobby.

Yes swinging upside down takes quite a bit of energy as does the hobby of bike riding !

Some people choose less physical activities as hobbies such as hanging out at church.

And than we have those that choose somewhat silly hobbies such as wearing fruit on their heads..

Dressing up their pets.....

Or even collecting cats!

Some people choose traditional hobbies such as crocheting.

Or sewing.

Some people like to cook and bake. And while I really did bake the Blackberry Crunch in the picture, you know that I would never choose cooking or baking as a hobby! If you know me you know that I am not a fan of the kitchen!

Sarah however would probably like baking for a hobby !

Many people love to craft for a hobby. Now that's one that I like! Anyone for a Paper Mache " Monster "?

One of my husbands favorite hobbies besides playing board games and video games is READING! The man reads all of the time! So does his granddaughter.

Speaking of the above mentioned board games, my husband and I often relax over a number of them....

He won this one. But I can hold my own very well thank you!


There are millions of people who like to garden as a hobby. Planting flowers is one of my favorite summertime hobbies.

I also like to play with fire !

Believe it or not, there are many people that actually like to mow for a hobby ! The two below are a perfect example !

So as you can see there are a wide variety of hobbies. I think that you can call anything a hobby as long as it gives you Pleasure , Relaxation and Enjoyment in your spare time.


With that being said I have decided, today, to make weeding my new hobby. I do it often in my spare time. I enjoy it when my yard looks neat and I get great pleasure from a job well done. So I am no longer going to consider weeding a chore. This is what I weeded today.

It is going to be my new hobby. I think it may be the only one that I will have time for this summer !

This is what is waiting for me!