Tuesday Talk

I have been watching mother woodpecker and her baby, who btw is as big as she is, eating out of our feeders this week. I have wanted to get a few pictures and yesterday morning an opportunity presented itself even though I had to shoot through the glass doors. Mom is the one on the left with the red on her head. These are hairy woodpeckers. Notice baby is a bit fuzzier.

She takes a sunflower heart in her mouth and then puts it in his mouth. Wish these were better quality but there was no way of getting them other then through the glass. They have been coming every morning.

Son and DIL have had a new swimming pool put in out back of their house. Things aren't finished yet but they were able to get into the water the other night and wanted us to come over and take a looksy. It's going to be really nice when it's all finished. The fence is going up this week and they should have the Tiki shack done also. The cover that goes over the pool is amazing. You have to unlock it with a key and it slides open and out of the way. It's a safety cover and 14 people can actually stand on it and it will hold them up. They are going to great lengths to make sure this is safe with little ones around. I'll show you the 'before' and when it's done I'll post the 'after'. The Tiki shack holds the pump, a changing room and a mini kitchen. There will be a bar across the front so the kids can sit there and have their lunch.

The heater isn't hooked up yet so the water is still rather cold! Poor D's lips were purple!

Since these were taken the cement has been stained and pressed and now looks like granite. The slide will go in as soon as the cement cures. They will have many years of fun with this. We had one at our previous house when Son was growing up and it was wonderful. I always knew where he and his friends were and they had such a good time swimming.





We have been having lots of rain but today there is some sun and it's 85*. I need to go out and put some plant food on my petunias, they just aren't filling out like they should be so maybe that will give them a boost.





I just put the boys in as it was getting buggy out there. They will go back out again after supper when it's cooler and less buggy. T rode Nick yesterday with me leading them. He is much bigger then Kipper and much younger so has lots of get up and go. I just don't want him to get up and go with her on his back! Ever since she rode the big horse, Sissy, at her lesson last week she wants to ride a horse not a pony!


Nancy over at Olive Leaf Ministries is having a give away! Now she won't divulge any of the details just yet but assures us that this is going to be a good one with numerous prizes! Go on over and sign up! :o)

!

If you want something to watch that will melt your heart watch this YouTube. Have tissues ready!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNTdWbVBgc&eurl=http://videos.komando.com/2

0

Random Friday

It's Friday and the weather is muggy. Dad and I walked this morning about 7:15 and we were sweating by the time we got back. So much for the shower I had already taken. We walked the neighborhood again as it's still so buggy in the woods. I love seeing every one's beautiful flowers and manicured lawns. Most everyone takes great pride in their yards. There's always one though that doesn't. Always. It's sad as it is a lovely big house sitting on top of the rise and used to have beautiful landscaping. My friend N. lived there when her husband was running one of the big paper mills near here and they took such good care of their yard, it was immaculate. Now it's lucky if the lawn gets mowed and I don't think they have done any weeding in two years.

This is going to be a rather random post. First order of business it to say thank you to Pea at Pea's Corner and Nancy at Nancy's Nonsense for the nice award that they passed on to their regular readers. It's the Five Star Award I would like to pass it on to all of my regular readers too as I consider you all Five Star Bloggers!!! I enjoy reading each and every one of your posts!

I've also added quite a number of names to my blog roll, hope you all don't mind. I have met some new bloggers in the last few months and am really enjoying getting to know them. Isn't it amazing how this thing called blogging has opened up a whole new world of people to meet? :o)

Someone sent me this picture of the baby with the mini horse foal and I LOVE it! Isn't that just adorable!!!??

Now that's a relaxed cat! I've seen Noodles in just about the same position!

This is Buffy my Mom and Dad's cat. She is one big fluffy dust mop! She does NOT have any mats though as Mom brushes her every day. She has traveled back and forth to Florida with them about 10 times right under their seat on the plane! She's rather cross eyed!

Do you ever see things that just take you right back to your childhood? Pea and I were 'discussing' that the other day via comments and I must relate one that happened to me the other night. Hubby and I had gone over to see the progress being made on Son and DIL's new swimming pool and on the way back through the woods I spied not one but two lightening bugs! I guess some people call them fireflies. Now you used to see them everywhere when I was a kid. We spent many an evening catching them and putting them in an old peanut butter jar with nail holes in the top so that they could get air. How we LOVED doing that and there were so many of them then it was so pretty to just watch them flitting around at night. Now you don't see them much, I wonder why? But anywho, I felt like going into the house and getting a peanut butter jar!!! Did any of you ever do that when you were kids??

Some one asked me how old T is after they saw the pictures of her riding class in my last post. She is six and started her riding lessons when she was 3. She did a couple of years English and then decided to switch to Western for a while. Also someone asked me about Sissy the nice little mare that she was riding in that class, she is a quarter horse and is over 20 years old. The instructor has had her for 20 years. She's a lovely mare and if she were younger I would love to buy her for T but as I already have several aging horses I don't think I want to go there.

Another random thought. With spam invading our computers at an alarming rate we have to have to have blockers in place at my husbands office that are really strict as to what it will let come through. It seems like there are a lot of downright nasty jokes that people send around to offices and we don't want it in ours. A few days ago I wanted to let Hubby know what we were having for supper so I e-mailed to him that I had bought a cooked turkey CHEST as I didn't know if bre*ast would go through. Sad state of affairs isn't it that we have to protect ourselves from so much sleaze!

On a much brighter note I have found a lovely blog called Oliveleaf Ministries by Nancy Douglas. Nancy is a Christian writer, speaker, Mom to a dear daughter with autism and now has a weekly devotional that you can read on her blog. She is a delight and I highly recommend that you take a looksy, you won't be disappointed!

Guess that's it for randomness today. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and those of you near the wild fires I hope you stay safe!

Tuesday Talk

It's a lovely day here in Maine. The sun is shining, the humidity is dropping and it's not too hot! I am one of those people that prefers cold weather over hot. Most think I am nuts but it is how I am most comfortable. Dad and I went for our walk through the neighborhood today instead of the carriage trails as it's a bit buggy out there first thing in the morning. I spray the horses every morning now as they hate the flies. Black fly season should be over pretty soon which is always cause for celebration. :o)

D spent the day with me yesterday as DIL was on her way home from Boston. T was still at school, it was their last day! Yippee! I remember how those summer vacations seemed so long when I was a kid. The lazy days of summer. How we enjoyed them! Growing up even further out in the country then where we live now was just a delight. Having horses and ponies to ride every day with friends was glorious! The summer seemed to stretch on forever and now it seems to go by in such a flash it's unbelievable. They say time goes faster the older you get......sigh......

Anywho, I digress...... D and I had such a good time. We hung around here until late morning and then headed over to Play Place at Micky D's. I forgot my camera which didn't make me very happy......grrrrrrr...... D's favorite thing to do there is to play air hockey. He's actually very good at it and soundly beat me two games in a row in which he found endless delight!! He couldn't wait to tell his Mom when she got home. I think I am going to have to go searching online for an air hockey table for the playroom. Think I will check out Craigslist.

Well it's Wednesday already and I still haven't finished this. Summertime is much busier here on the hobby farm. Horses to tend to, lots of mowing to do, flower beds to weed and water, riding every day and all the other warm weather things that go on.

Yesterday I took T to her riding lesson. She was absolutely THRILLED when she arrived and was given one of the full size horses to ride instead of old faithful Divet, the pony. He was having some R & R out in the lush green pasture, much happier then in the ring working.

Is there something about having ones tongue out that helps with ones riding? This is a good question for all of my horsey type friends out there in Bloggityville! :o)


The flowers are starting to fill out and are soooooo pretty. I took a couple of shots of DIL's garden when I dropped T off after her lesson.

This morning I took some shots of the things that are in bloom here in my gardens.

Mock Orange

Shasta Daisys

Foxglove



Flowers planted in an old bean pot.

Red Yarrow

Just look at this gorgeous sky!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!

Friday Happenings

You'll have to excuse me for constantly writing about my grandchildren but this blog is meant to be an online journal that I put away for future reference for them. We like being hands on grandparents and hope that they will continue to enjoy being with us like they do now. They delight in running upstairs and jumping on our king size bed when they first get here. Amazing how you let your grands do things that you wouldn't your kids. Mellowing out maybe???

I went to T's Field Day on Friday. What a blast watching all the Kindergartners running, jumping,throwing and kicking the ball. Every recess should be like that so that they get the wonderful exercise that they need after sitting at their desks all day. Too much time is spent in front of a computer or tv these days. I hope parents turn off the computers and tv for the summer so the kids will play outside. We used to play hide and seek by the hour and Red Rover or kick the can. Many an evening was spent on the front lawn playing these games and then we would be all tuckered out and ready for bed!

It threatened rain all day but held off long enough for the Field Day and today for all the classes to go to the park and play on the playground equipment. Monday is their last day of school FINALLY! With all the snow days to make up they had to go way over the normal time to get done.

I was on my way to an appointment the other day and it hit me when I saw this that I really live in REDNECK country! I was not impressed, not that I have anything against hunting if you're going to eat the meat but come on, this is rather tacky!!! Don't you all agree?????? Please tell me you do! I think the man in the truck was wondering why I was taking pictures through my windshield of his vehicle so he turned down the first side street that we came to. I wasn't taking the pictures as I was driving, it was at the stop light, just in case you were wondering! heehee!

The farrier came yesterday and did all the ponies feet and gave Buddy a good looking over. He can't see any reason why he fell a couple weeks ago and thinks he looks great for his age. I guess I am going to take the attitude that it was just one of those crazy things and ride him. Of course I'll wear my helmet, knee pads, shoulder pads, wrist wraps, jumping vest and anything else I can think of in case I take another digger!!

I had my interview with the director of the Humane Society and one of the board members yesterday. They took me to lunch at Olive Garden and I had yummy lasagna. They filled me in on what my responsibilities would be and what the procedures are for different things that they have to do. They wanted to know how I felt about them having to occasionally put an animal down, what the procedure for that is, that it is always a hard decision to make but is done with the utmost care and respect. When the staff knows that this is going to happen they all come in one by one and say goodbye and this practically brought tears to my eyes. I know that this has to happen if an animal is dangerous or too sickly to save.

They took me to the facility and I saw all the animals. It was sad to see the ones that have been there a long time and have yet to be adopted. I have a feeling our animal population will grow around the 'ole farm! It's a very nice facility but still has things that need replacing or upgraded and money needs to be raised for that. I was impressed at the cleanliness of everything and how healthy all the animals looked. Well, except the ones that had just been rescued a couple days before out of a horrendous situation. They were quarantined of course and everything is being done to get them back on their feet again.

I think this is going to work for me. I had some doubts going in but if I can help to make a difference I will be thrilled. One thing I can start doing right now is using up the fleece that I have in my sewing room making little blankets for the kittens to sleep on. I'm sure you all have seen the throws made out of this with the edges tied together to make them double. Small ones will work up in no time.

My dear blogging buddy Susie over at Susie's Space has had an unexpected incident happen that will keep her in a bright pink cast for the next few months. If you get a chance hop over and give her some nice Get Well Soon wishes! She is one of the nicest ladies here in Bloggityville and I know would appreciate your thoughts and prayers!

Wednesday Antics

It's half way through the week already. I just don't know where the time goes. I guess it's because I am busy all the time and that's lots better then being bored and the time dragging. It sure wasn't dragging today as I had T and D and they kept me hopping.

I want you to know that I now have a tattoo. Yes, your heard me right. It's a ladybug on my shoulder that my grand kids put on me today. It's a fake one but I just thought I'd shock you all first before I 'fessed up. Not that I mind tattoos, I think some of them are very pretty but on me notsomuch. I saw a cute cartoon the other day where a woman said she got a rose tattoo when she was younger and now it's long stemmed! :o)

I'm back riding Buddy again, although it is very lightly and carefully. I don't want to take another header and I want to make sure he is all right. My farrier is coming tomorrow to do the ponies and I am going to have him check Buddy over too. I really think it was just a fluke thing the way he fell and won't happen again but I am going the extra mile to be careful. I know he is old but he has been moving so well despite some arthritis in his knees that only bothers when he is going down a hill.

The kids love to play in their playhouse that we had built last summer. It is kid size with a work bench on one side for D and a sink and sideboards on the other side for T. I put some plants around it this year that will be pretty when they fill out.

D says he can get up there too, just give him a minute!

Now is that a laid back cat or what? A 6 year old with a water hose and a cat that's just laying there totally unconcerned! I think Noodles is part dog, he always wants to be around what's going on. Notice he is sitting on the porch railing on the right hand side behind T in the last picture. Now Munchkin is as far away from the grands as she can get, totally different cat. Smart.

One of the nice things about blogging is that you meet some wonderful people and make friendships across the miles. Tonight as I was getting dinner ready I thought I would make some of those Red Lob*ster garlic biscuits that we like but couldn't find my recipe that my fellow blogger and friend Pea from Pea's Corner gave me a few months ago. I got on my computer and e-mailed her asking her for it again and within five minutes I had a reply with the recipe!! How nice is that? It's like having a friend right down the street and we are probably 1000 miles apart! Soooooo, I whipped up the biscuits and we had them for dinner all thanks to Miss Pea!!! Thank you Pea, you're the best!!! :o) If there is anyone left in the universe that hasn't stopped by Pea's Corner you really should drop in and say hello!!



Mom's planter on her deck is looking good. With all the rain we have had lately I'm amazed anything has taken off but these sure have!

My old fashioned rose bushes are loaded with buds and a few blossoms. In another 4 or 5 days they are going to be just covered with blooms and I will take another picture then.

Guess that's it for tonight. Got a busy day tomorrow. The Kindergarten Field Day is in the morning and then at noon I am meeting with the Executive Director of the local Humane Society for my interview about being on the board of directors. The farrier is coming later in the afternoon so I need to get the horses bathed, clipped and looking spiffy. Not that he cares but I do. Of course the minute he leaves they will go right out and find some mud to roll in which isn't hard with all the rain we've had!

Father's Day Weekend

For those of us fortunate enough to still have our fathers with us it was a great weekend to celebrate. For those that don't I hope many happy memories helped you get through the day. My Dad is 84 years old but is years younger in fitness and attitude. I know because I walk with him every morning and I can hardly keep up! My FIL is 92 and he still works every day too at the office with my husband. They both are an inspiration to the rest of us with their hard work ethic.



Here they are in the foyer of the restaurant while we waited to get in for our reservation.


We always have such a good time when we all get together and usually it involves food. Ahem.... Not all of us were there this time as my brother had to work and one of my sisters lives quite a distance away and couldn't come this time.

These are my blue eyed nieces!

Dad and my younger sister.

We are a very close knit family. We spend more time with each other then with friends outside the family. There are five of us 'kids' with me being the middle child. (that should tell you a lot!) We grew up in the country with my Dad working in the woods and my Mom holding down the fort at home. We attended a little country church within walking distance of our house. I got married in that church in 1971.

Dad worked extremely long hours in conditions that were very difficult, hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. I think he got frost bite more then once. Back then we got snow that was up over the front porch and then there was mud season to contend with. Dad drove the log trucks until he was in his 70's. Mom and I always hated to see him heading out early in the morning in the dense fog and were glad when he drove in at night. His work ethic is top notch.

Dad was also the head of the house and took us to church every Sunday. He lives what he believes. He and Mom have always set a good example for us kids, the grand kids and now the great-grand kids. He is generous to a fault and is always there to fix whatever we need done around here. The list is sometimes long when he gets home from Florida in the spring as Hubby and I aren't very gifted in the 'fixing' department!

I could go on and on but he reads this and I don't want him to get a swelled head! HI DAD! :o)

Friday night we went to the Kindergarten Year End Musical. Mimi and Bampie came in from the lake to go too so there the four of us set with our cameras and big smiles on our faces along with all the other grandparents waving to our grandchildren. Of course all the parents were there too. It was an adorable program. My pictures are kind of dark as it was in a big auditorium but you get the idea. We LOVE going to T and D's programs!

T is the one coming out from the middle in this shot in the blue shirt. The teachers did such a good job with this. Teaching 5 and 6 years old kids choreography can't be easy!

We're getting rain this week, all week. The only good thing is that I don't have to pull the hoses all around the house to water my flowers! I have all of my planting done and I could smell the petunias this morning when I went outside. In a few weeks they will be loaded with blooms. Someone wanted me to post a picture of the front of my house but I'm going to wait till all my plants are in bloom as it is so much prettier.

Guess that's it for today. I may be busy building that ark again so if you don't hear from me you'll know why! :o)