Ye-haw!

It's 40* this morning!  Some different from the 92* we had a while back.  That's Maine for you, if you don't like the weather just wait a bit and you'll have something different.  Dad and I will have to bundle up to go for our walk and hopefully Noodles won't go with us.  He whines and cries the whole way, gets behind then comes running past us and sometimes wants to be carried.  We try to sneak off without him leaving him in with Mom but sometimes he is already out.  Last night we took Kipper with us and evidently he didn't like that as he turned around and went back to the house.  Yea!  Guess Kipper will be going with us more often!

I was going to do part two of Memorial Weekend but now I can't remember what we did when.  I do know that Dad marched in the parade again this year with the other veterans.  FIL was unable to do so as he needs a hip replacement.  He and Son are on their way to Boston this morning for an appointment with the doctors to see about a time for the surgery.  At 93 he is very busy, still works at the office every day and lives alone next door to us.  He and Dad are both WW2 vets and have always enjoyed marching in the parades together.  Dad was in Europe and FIL was in the South Pacific.  We owe so much to those who did and continue to serve our country to preserve our freedoms.  I get pretty tired of hearing people complain about things here when we have it so good and can do what we want and say what we want.  Not to sound too rednecky but I agree with one bumper sticker I saw that said if you don't like it here go back home!  I think we have it pretty darned good!

We went to Miss T's program at school on Thursday night.  It was Nifty-Fifty, all about the states and the flag and what each thing stood for.  It was an amazing program with the little second graders just belting out the songs and reciting their pieces without a flaw speaking into the mic well so that you could hear every word!  Miss T looked so grown up to me in her cute little skirt and patriotic shirt!

I snapped a couple of pictures of Mom and Dad in the garage on my way out to the program.  They have been married 66 years!

We had our Humane Society Appreciation Night at the Muddy Ruddy Restaurant a couple weeks ago.  We have been working on it for some time and it was nice to have a packed room with animal lovers and supporters of Bangor Humane Society.   This is my son and the Executive Director.

Mr. Bill Irwin was our guest speaker.  He is the only blind person to hike the Appalachian Trail along with his guide dog Orient.  He captivated the audience with his stories about his adventures with his different dogs.  He has had five all together and now has Colby his faithful companion.  Colby is a black lab and Bill says he is the most dedicated and hard working of all his dogs.  Colby loves everyone and we were able to pat him and talk to him when he wasn't snoozing under the table by Bill's feet!  :o)    If you haven't read the book about Bill's experience hiking the trail you really would love it.  It is called Blind Courage and once you start reading you can't put it down!!  In this picture he is being interviewed by one of the local television stations.

Here I am with Renee who is also on the board.  We didn't sit down the whole evening as we were trying to get around to thank everyone who was there and let them know how much we appreciate their support.

                                                  Hi Colby!

People in line getting their books autographed and chatting with Bill.

Bill's lovely wife Debra taking pictures of all the goings on.

If you would like to read Bill's book let me know and I can put you in touch with them.  It's well worth the read and talks a whole lot more then just about the trail.  It is an amazing story of God's deliverance from a life style of addiction and a road to destruction. A call for help from a cocaine addicted son started Bill on the path of recovery. They can be reached at www.billirwin.com or info@billirwin.com

We head out to Tenn on Thursday!  Yea! Can't wait to get to Blackberry Farm in the mountains outside of Knoxville.  I have signed up for some horseback riding (of course) but am wondering if they have a western saddle available!!!!!  All the pictures in their website show people riding English and I haven't ridden hunt seat for 20 years!  Gulp!  I think I will sew some Velcro onto the seat of my pants!  We also have signed up for some carriage rides plus I would like to try fly fishing while the Hubs is in classes.  We have functions each night and they sound like they are going to be really nice and not all formal and stuffy like some we have to go to.  I'm just not a formal and stuffy person if I have a choice.  The last night we are supposed to wear our jeans and boots!  Yippee!  Now that's my kind of party, bar be cue and s'mores!!  Pictures to follow as you can well imagine!

Birthdays, fishing and more...

Oh me, oh my, where does the time go?  Are the clocks set faster in the summer time?  When I think of how I used to post every day I just can't imagine how I did it!  I will plug along and try to get at least one post per week out so hang in there with me!

It was a wonderful Memorial Weekend!  The weather was beautiful, breezy and warm, just the way I like it.  We started it off with Mr. D's birthday party on Friday night.  He is now seven years old, and again, where did the time go?!

Reading his cards.

Opening his gifts.

It was cold after swimming!!! But not too cold to eat a birthday cupcake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. D!!!!!   XOXOXOX

We also did some more fishing over the weekend.  It wasn't as cold as last time and we still needed jackets and caps on.  The fish were biting a bit better and we got a couple good ones.

A nice bass that Mr. D caught.

YIKES!  Look at this one!  It's a ................I don't know how to spell it...........  :o(   Okay, anyone out there know how to spell what it is?   pick-er-al ?  Miss T caught it but didn't want anything to do with it!

Grampie showing the kids the teeth in this one!

All the fish were thrown back as we like to catch and release unless we get something that is really good eating.

After coming home from fishing we packed up again and headed to our lake to put the dock in for the summer.  We always have a good crowd show up to help and we put in ours and the Hubs brother's next door.

The Hubs and his brother plus D (in his 15 year old cousins clothes) as he went swimming in his!  These two got smart and bought themselves a pair of chest waders so that they didn't have to get into the cold water in a bathing suit!

There is more but it's time to head out to get my hair cut.  It needs it VERY badly and also some color!  Every old barn needs a little paint once in a while!  :o)

Hot and humid Maine!

It is HOT here in the state of Maine and I mean HOT!  It's supposed to hit 92* this afternoon which is unusual for us especially in May.  Good grief we had a frost just a couple weeks ago!  I haven't put my annuals in the ground yet as I am waiting for the full moon to be gone as then we shouldn't have a frost.  I bought lots of pretty flowers plus my cucumber plants and the kiddos giant pumpkin plants.  They are ready to be in the ground, they are starting to flower.  Now these pumpkins are supposed to get between 400 and 500 pounds.........pictures will follow in the fall........what are the chances they get even a gazillionth of that size?  I'm a sucker for a pretty picture,  I must say the pumpkins on the package were amazing.  I didn't read the fine print though......time will tell.

Mom and I had a busy day yesterday.  She had to have a heart harness thingy put on at the Cardiac Center so we went over in the morning.  Only has to have it on for 24 hours which was a relief for her.  She has been having some dizzy spells so her PC wanted to check things out.  The people there were so nice, they explained everything and even gave us a box to mail the thing back to them so that we wouldn't have to make another trip over.

I have been having some problems with rosacea for the past year or so and it seemed to be getting worse so I decided to have some laser treatments to get it under control.  So Mom and I hopped in the car again and off we went to Ellsworth to the dermatologist's office.  There was a lot of road construction so we left early so we wouldn't be late for the appointment.  We got through relatively fast so was a bit early for my appointment but had brought some magazines and I had some paperwork to do so we were all set.

Have you ever had laser on your face?  It's a bit stingy when they do each vein individually but not bad.  When they use the thing that does a little section at a time it hurts!  Yikes!  It wasn't as bad as electrolosis but I did have to grit my teeth a couple of times.  The worst part for me was the tight little glasses that they put over your eyes to protect them.  It made me feel a bit claustrophobic at first but the stinging took that feeling away...

When we left I looked like a bright red tomato and we were thirsty so I stopped at a little roadside store to get us a bottle of soda and sure got the stares!  I think they must have thought I had gotten a horrible sunburn on my face or was a burn victem.  I just smiled and walked out like there was nothing amiss.  This morning I have a lot of swelling so look like a chipmunk with peanuts in his cheeks but it seems to be going down as the day goes on.  I have to stay out of the sun today and wear #50 sunscreen from now on but if it keeps the veins at bay I will gladly do it. 

Dad surprised me last week with a sign to put up on the road that goes to Buddy and Skip's graves.  He had it made by a local sign maker that we have known for many years.  I was touched by his thoughtfulness and had no idea he was having it done.  We are going to take it down in the winter as the wind and snow blows terribly hard up through there.  I want to keep it looking really nice for years to come.  Well Picassa won't let me copy and paste so I will have to figure out something else and put it in the next time.  Grrrrrrr..........  Well I got it in there but it's a bit blurry.

The boys are sure enjoying being home and pampered!  We opened up a new pasture and they were like kids in a candy store running down there and back eating the nice green grass.  I was worried that they might eat too much so I only left them in there a couple of hours and then shooed them out and took my mower and cut the grass.  As you horse people know too much lush grass can be deadly for horses and they don't have sense enough to stop eating it when they should.  Sounds like me and pizza.........

Back Online Again!

As some of you know I have been having computer problems the last week or so.  Couldn't even get onto my own blog and only two others, Pioneer Woman being one of them.  She has been in Florida having fun with her family at the theme parks that we enjoy going to with our family so it's been fun reading and seeing pictures of her trip.  I can see we have the same opinion of the horrible rollercoasters so I feel I am in good company!   :o)

Last week Son and DIL were in Bermuda, part business and part tenth year anniversary trip so I had kiddos off and on all week.  Their Mimi and I share grandmother duties when they are out of town so that neither one of us get too tired! ha!

We had a busy week and loved having them here with us, tucked into their beds in their own rooms here each night.  Miss T got to do a lot of horse stuff which was great for me too as I love watching her ride and Mr. D used my computer a lot which may have been the cause of it's demise! lol! He knows more about a computer then I do and he is only seven!

We went fishing one day which was fun but it was VERY windy and quite cold.  We finally got to a small cove where the waves weren't splashing up over us and that was much nicer.  D with a nice white perch which he released.

This is blurry but it is Miss T with a small yellow perch which went back in the water too.

Trying to stay dry as we were going across the lake in the high wind and waves!

Thanks goodness for chest waders when trying to get the boat back on the trailer!

Funsize and several of my other neices went to a Red Sox game a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately the Sox lost but they had a great time at the game.  They took the train down to Boston which saved a lot of driving in awful traffic.

Cleaning up the field after the rain storm.

Funsize LOVES the hotdogs at the games!

Mom and I went outside yesterday to take some pictures of the crabapple trees that are in bloom right now.  They are so gorgeous, I wish they would stay in bloom all summer!

Now I'm off to do some visiting with you all!  I sure have a lot to catch up on!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day is right around the corner.  I hope you all have plans with your mother or your children or grandchildren.  I am blessed to have my mother still here and just a few steps away into their apartment on the end of our house.  She's not quite a spry as she used to be but neither am I so we make a good team!  When I think of the days when we used to tackle projects that involved moving wood stoves back in the old lake house it amazes me.  We can get into enough mischief now but it doesn't involve moving heavy stoves!

These days we like to go shopping and going out to lunch with an emphasis on lunch.  We went shopping last week and hit the jakepot at Dress Barn for her.  They have a good petite department which fits her well.  Now you all know by seeing pictures of me that I don't shop in the petite department........ahem.........we won't even go there.....

My Mom has lost most of her eyesight due to macular degeneration.  She does well though and does most all of her housework herself and cooks when Dad isn't treating her to some yummy takeout.  There are lots of things that she used to love to do but can't now due to her lack of eyesight.  One thing I miss too is that she always got my groceries for me each week.  I would make a list and off she would go in the car to the grocery store.  What a luxury having someone do the weekly shopping!

Now she likes to fold my clothes for me and that's a huge luxury too!!  Sometimes I walk into their apartment and she is in her chair and I dump the big basket of warm from the dryer clothes right on her!  We have a weird sense of humor around here......heehee!

I could go on and on but I don't want her to get all snuffly as Dad reads this to her.  I will just say that I am blessed to have her as a mother and she's a keeper!  I love you Mom!  xoxoxox