Time flys

This summer seems to be flying by really fast, and it seems that with working so many hours, I’ve missed it. I’ve wanted to do so much this summer, but all of July it seems that I was not feeling well at all. I think it was the heat that got to me. It never bothered me before this year. Is this a sign I’m getting old? (Horrors!!) Anyway, it is already August and where did the days go? Hopefully next summer we can at least take a family vacation. Or at least go on a vacation of some sort, and any of the kids that wish to come, can tag along. They are all into their own thing though, so we’ll see what happens. School starts for two of the kids still at home and I’m figuring my oldest son will also take up some college courses. It’ll be nice to have the house to myself for a few hours during the day when I’m not working. Maybe I can get some deep cleaning done around here. It’s nearly impossible with them at home. Ask for help? Yeah right… lol!

Picnic and Fireworks

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays because the family always goes down to the elementary school for the town celebration. The fire department sells grilled chicken dinner with potato chips, corn on the cob and cole slaw, there are several local bands playing music to provide entertainment, and when it gets dark the fire department sets off a pretty decent fireworks show. We get to see some of our friends that we haven’t seen in a while, spread a blanket out on the lawn and enjoy the nice weather.

Oyster shell crafts

I love doing crafts when I have spare time. My crafts are diverse and seldom do I make the same thing twice. I come up with an idea and then I’ll make it, and after I make one, I don’t make another. I think I do this just to see if I can make my idea work and then when I do, I move onto something else.

My dear friend Rhonda sent me a box of oyster shells that are really unique. They are a whole lot different than clam shells…a much rougher texture.  Inside, they look like there is abalone in them, so some of the colors are beautiful.

Now, I have to figure out what to make with them. I keep looking at them and I have a feeling I’m going to come up with something soon. I am tossing a few ideas around in my head that might work. It would be nice to send Rhonda a gift made out of them.

Summer

Every summer we spend as much time at the lake as we can, fishing, boating and swimming. This year has been no different. The best thing about this year has been taking our dogs out on the boat, they love it and seem to really enjoy going fast on top of the water, they hang their heads over the side and bark with glee. I had never known that a dog would love the water so much. When we pull in a big fish they sniff and bark at the fish like they were responsible for reeling them in it is so very funny. A couple of the dogs even like to get out in the water and paddle around, Dottie and Diva really like it the best I think, they jump in when ever they can. Over all this has been a great summer and I already can not wait for next summer to get here.

Going swimming

A good friend of mine has invited all of us to go swimming at her house. I’ve been cooking some things to take and am looking forward to going. Pat, my friend works a lot of hours and we don’t seem to be able to hook up and hang out as much as we used to. I’ll be great to spend time with her, her kids and her grand kids also. I haven’t seen her newest little grand-daughter and it’ll be nice to hold a baby for a bit. AND, I can give the little one back to her mother when I get enough of my “baby fix”. LOL!

New boat

After searching for two years we have found the new boat that we want to buy; it is a twenty foot cabin cruiser with sleeping berths for four, so we can go on weekend trips on the boat and not have to worry about a place for everyone to sleep. We have it out of the water right now getting it checked over and if everything is as good as it seems we will pay for it and get her back in the water next weekend. I can not wait we have wanted a big enough boat to go out for two or three days at a time and get out of our hot house! We have got it now and I am very happy about this purchase, and can not wait to get it in the water!

A Personalised Birthday Party

My grand daughter will be turning 10 in August, and my daughter and I got together to discuss what we could do to make this birthday super special. My daughter had surfed the internet for ideas and came up with some great ideas on how to personalise with the birthday child’s name and age. This would be so special for my grand daughter as ten years old is a rather tough in between age.

This site is fun, and has all kinds of great gift, school and party ideas with the special touch of everything being personalized. My daughter and I want to get the party favors, napkins, cups, and plates for cake and ice cream all personalised , just for her. I really think she would like it. And of course key word here are “personalised” and there are great gifts that can also be ordered. There are labels, that can be put into clothing, shoes, hats and gloves. I thought the pencils with names were cute and of course kids would like them for school, and they wouldn’t get taken.

Lately my grand daughter has been writing her name on everything from her shoes to stationary and books that she loves and has in her small library. The labels and other gifts would be perfect for her and also it is such a unique idea! She’d be the first to have a personalised party, which at that age is important since she’d be “one up” on her friends! All said and done, I’m sure this would catch on quickly after the party we have for her! Now we have sort of thought of a theme for the party, we have asked my grand daughter how many friends she would want to come to her party, and I have a feeling we are going to have lots of little girls who will tell their parents about the personalised  items we are planning on getting!

More changes and improvement

Being somewhat satisfied that the inside improvements are coming along on the house until fall, I’ve moved onto my projects for the outside. I have lots of ideas, but don’t want something that can’t be finished in a short amount of time. I’ve considered a walk way in the back yard to the pool instead of walking through the yard. It’s a pain in the you know when the grass has just been cut and even though it’s raked we still get bits of grass in the pool. Yes, despite of a foot bath bucket to dip feet in before going into the pool. (This still isn’t the best way to go).

I saw a really awesome walkway while browsing the inter net yesterday.  It was on a timeline, and I thought it was really beautiful. A lot of planning and work, but still unique and a work of art in it’s self. I also collect rocks and stones. I have even when I was young. This project I would have had to start as soon as it got warm enough outside though. And since I just found this photo, I may have to wait for this one. But I do want a walk way so perhaps after we get a plain one down, I’ll at least have a base of sorts.

 

 

 

Ripped pool liner

While getting ready to open the pool, everything was nearly done but once it started filling with water I realized that the liner had a tear in it and I was loosing water faster than I could ever have imagined once the water got nearly three feet deep. I had once heck of a time draining the  pool and trying to find the leak. And standing in ice cold water up to my knees as it drained made my legs numb.

I was about ready to hang up this project and save it for another day, when my daughter called. She was using a service to open her pool, and since her husband is friends with the guy doing it, she said she was sending a pro to me!

The liner wasn’t as bad as I thought and the guy who came out, had some super good stuff to patch it up. He said it would last though the summer and even gave a guarantee, which surprised me. Now I hope that the ground will absorb all the water that leaked out, and it’s not so marshy out in the back yard. Still…I’m so happy I have a thoughtful daughter who’s husband knows people!

May Day Celebrations

Remembering the wonderful May Day celebrations we had when I was really young made me actually feel like making a May pole and dancing around it. Alas…no one wanted to dance around a pole with me in our May’s finest clothes.

When my sisters and I were young, we went to celebrations for the beginning of May and they were really very festive and large events! There were cakes and goodies to eat and games to play, the May pole dance was a big deal also. Lots of music and of course the older folks did plenty of eating and drinking. Even school was closed for the day back then. I’ve got some really awesome memories from the past. Maybe next year I’ll just host a party and see what kind of merriment we can have.

To all my friends, I wish them a Happy May Day and Blessed Beltane!