Beautiful Coleus!!

Today I met Annette and Shirley for lunch in Alex. It was Shirley's 80th birthday yesterday and she looks fabulous! We had a nice long lunch at Raapers and we ate al fresco too, perfect weather for that this week.

After lunch, I ran over to the new Ron's Warehouse and if I was just starting out in married life, I would have found many items but walked out empty handed. That store is packed with stuff that I don't happen to need. I did find some items at B & BWorks, they are having one of their big sales, nice time to buy their handsoaps at 4/$10.

My last stop was Colorful Seasons and yes, Annette, they do have nice countertops! Their coleus was 50% off and I bought a dozen and planted them all this afternoon. Most went in with my hostas for a pop of color and a few went in my kitchen windowbox. Their coleus was beautiful and it was hard to stop. I went in for just 4 or so..... My plant buying is officially closed for the season.

Last Fall 2009

I am posting this so that if you visit us this summer, you will appreciate how GOOD the lawn looks after all the equipment drove through to put the rip rap down. It got worse than this too. Why am I worrying about a little goose poop after this.....

Inspiration shots

Since I mentioned Charice's succulent pot that inspired me to create my own, I thought I would show you hers from last year. Charice, what did you do with this pot? Did you bring it inside for the winter or plant them in the ground, did they survive? I'm not sure what to do with mine this fall.
I couldn't resist showing a couple other shots from her yard as well. I posted them last year but it bears repeating.
This is their garage. If you asked me where this picture was taken I would say somewhere in Europe. It's so pretty.

June Flowers

Charice's pot of succulents on her patio table inspired me to make one up this year. I love hen & chicks!

Echinachia

The pansies thrive in cooler temp's.

The annuals would appreciate a bit more sunshine.

The birds steal the grass from these hanging baskets. I don't mind!

Mini hosta garden-no fairy house yet.

There will be tons of these at the house and the cabin and they are just starting to bloom. The nice thing is that they bloom for the rest of the summer and make an excellent cutting flower. They just reseed themselves and I pretty much let them be wherever they end up.

Trip to Madison

Mom and I drove down to Madison on a very hot day last week. We had something important to pick up from Rosemary. :) Audrey was home and we met her for lunch too. First she gave us a tour of her home that she and Gay have restored. It had lots of beautiful woodwork and many neat features. My favorite room was the dining room with a recliner in the bay window and computer-everything you need right there! It was a very cozy spot and Audrey says it's Gay's favorite chair. The quilt above was hanging in their guest room was made by Great Grandma Lillie Loney. Isn't it pretty?
We went out for lunch with Rosemary and afterwards met her parents (Bert & Elva) and daughter (Annie) for coffee & dessert at Rosemary's house in town. Rosemary has a permanent home in New Jersey. Bert and Elva will move here this fall from their farm a few miles out. Rosemary bought this house last summer and has been restoring it ever since. It's a darling Cape Cod.
Rosemary is a first cousin to Mom & Audrey. Annie(visiting and helping out this week) is in this photo and also lives in NJ and works in a hospital. She spent a week in St. Marten last winter with Mom and Rosemary. They had a great time together. Elva is my Grandpa Anderson's sister. She is 94! You may notice that Burt's arm is in a sling. He broke it trimming branches as he was perched on a trailer and fell. He is doing very well.
We'll end this post with another quilt, this one by Rosemary and hangs in her living room. She is a very talented seamstress as you can see. Before Rosemary retired she had a cake decorating business and sold her fondant frosting forms to people including Martha Stewart!

Sprain

This is what your hand will look if it's sprained. Dan had more discoloration before, this was taken on day 3. The top hand is the injured party.

Good news, I think

Dan had his left hand x-rayed this morning as it was quite swollen and discolored after Sunday's flip during the baseball game. The results were that it is a severe sprain and no break and Dan takes this to mean that he is cleared for Thursday's game. Hmmmmmm.

The last two screen doors arrived at Home Depot so I picked them up today while waiting for Dan's appointment. Two have already been installed in the screen porch at the house and bunkhouse in the cabin. They made a bigger difference than I anticipated and they don't need to be painted as they are white vinyl, yeah!!!

I am watching season 1 of Glee and I LOVE it! Sorry, that I've had it so long Shelly, but at the rate I've been watching, I will finish by tomorrow evening. I have book club tomorrow for Sarah's Key in the afternoon but when I get home I will resume watching. I thought it was kind of a kid series but I was mistaken. :) I enjoy the music as much as the story-line.

So, the geese, I can talk about it today. They came back and made their deposits yesterday. I reinforced the fence line last night and bought some new posts today as I think they hopped over a saggy spot. So far, so good but if they come back, I may have to break down and buy a border collie. I am also considering getting a hunting license next fall.

Tornado Damage

Here are two of the pictures Royce sent that show the tornado damage from Thursday night. In the picture above you can see the chimney laying on the ground. They actually saw it fly off. It must have been a terrifying experience and I feel so bad that they had to go through it. Royce said they had the kids and Ollie below the stairwell which is in the interior of their first level. Thankfully, they were not hurt but they do have a big mess and lost most of their big trees. The shop was also damaged.
There is a boat, trailer and 4 wheeler under this pile. They will find out how they fared today. I called Royce this morning and they have a large crew of people helping so he told us not to come up today. Mom and Dad are going up this morning. I will give you an update later of their progress. I am heading to work at the Bargain Bazaar today-they close at 2 so it's a short day. Have a good weekend.

Peonies

The peonies are at the end of their run.

Can't someone invent a variety that blooms all summer?

More Bread

I mixed up Shari and Danette's basic artisan bread mix a few days ago and decided today was cool enough to bake them. They were a little flatter than I anticipated and I will have to play around with better loaf forms to get them just right. It tasted delicious right out of the oven with dipping oil and butter and strawberry jelly as pictured below. We've already eaten one and a half loaves. Next time, I will not make them all at once but I was afraid the dough would expire in the fridge.

Turtle Gardens

Two creative kids...

2 fake turtles...

a woodland habitat...

and you're done!

Sophie and Joey had fun making these. We recycled two plastic salad containers and poked holes in the bottom, added rocks for drainage, then potting soil and shade plants we found around the place-mushrooms that Nancy says are doing very well. They topped it off with moss they peeled from the trees by themselves, rocks, a twig border fence and last a turtle. Sophie's is on a twig bench with a leaf rug. :)

Rainy Day Fun

We're having fun with Sophie & Joey! We were at Grandpa and Grandma's house yesterday til this afternoon. Cyrus had great fireworks last night and we had fun hitting the all city garage sales or as Joey insists "rummage sales!" Unfortunately, the parade was canceled due to rain this afternoon. I think everyone has had enough rain for awhile. Sophie and Joey are having fun with Shadow. At first, Joey was a little apprehensive about her but now they are buddies. He is right when he says Big Kitty isn't a very good family cat, that's she's an "adult" cat. :)

Our second grade teacher let me have a couple of her grass people for the kids when I was helping her clean out her room. They enjoyed giving them haircuts, they seem to have beards as well! They are socks with grass seed, isn't that a fun idea?

Joey cut his guy's hair nice and short.

Sophie's gal wasn't so happy about her cut, or maybe it's the beard.

Jumbo golf!

More Wedding Pictures

I do!!!

Courtney & Kelsey

I have the nicest mother-in-law!

Handsome dudes!

Pam's mom, Dorothy-she's so sweet!

Love this-matching smiles on Shelly & Matthew

Paige & Megan

Deb & Tim

The Godfather

Relaxing before the wedding

Kelsey took this shot-not bad!

A Hummingbird Encounter

Yesterday, I was half napping in the sky chair and I heard a humming sound very close by. I opened my eyes to see a female hummingbird checking out the flowers on my skirt, actually touching the fabric to see if there might be something worth eating. I sat stone still and all of a sudden she flew about 3 inches directly in front of my nose for a couple of seconds. When she moved in even closer, I flinched and she took off instantly! It was such a neat experience. I went in the house and filled up a feeder for her. :)