June~Gathering the Moments

One thing I have learned about myself by blogging is that I love to whine. Yup. I'm a regular whiner with a bit of cheese tossed in. 
Now that it is time to gather the moments of June, which is, as you know, nearly unbelievable, I see that I have been "happier" in June and am only "unhappy" that it has flown by so quickly. There have been many high weather days and I hope that they might continue into July. 
The garden began blooming in late May, but early June brought the first irises. We are ending June with the bolero lilies in bloom.(No thanks to the lily beetle.)

 ~evidence of lily beetle damage on leaves~

 ~lots and lots of blooms~

~coral drift roses in front garden~
Today will be the first day without seeing the grands M–F. What a special time I we had to get to know them better and to enjoy them so often. I do have a date set up with them at the end of next week so that is something to look forward to.

~frisbee on an idyllic afternoon~
My daughter often came on one of her afternoon's off to give the boys some active playtime. I so appreciated it, too, because they love to play challenging things. I could hear Sam often telling his aunt that she didn't throw the frisbee fast enough and she would say, "What do you want? I'm wearing a dress!"
Speaking of active, we watched a lot of baseball in June.

The grands saw a lot of action as did their dad who was a coach (seen all together in top left photo: #s 6 & 3). Then there were moments when nothing seemed to be happening as shown by Jake's upstretched arms in the bottom right photo. LOL!
And that's how I feel about a month of blogging. It might feel to me as if nothing has happened, but quite a lot did.
So I end the month being able to say, as I began it: God will take care of you. 
Thanks to Cheryl at Thinking About Home who helps me remember to look for the good things and to honor the days.   

Idyllic Afternoon

Aaah, summer — that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It's a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends.

~Darell Hammond

Sharing an idyllic afternoon...
It's been too long since I participated in Mary's Mosaic Monday, hope to revisit my friends and perhaps find some new ones.

Let it Go

Letting Go is when you find release; Letting God is when your heart finds peace.

~Roy Lessin

The grands brought over their 
movie Frozen last week and we watched it together. They love it and I enjoyed it, too. I have listened to them  belt out the lyrics to the song Let It Go since. ☺ 

John came in and watched the movie with us for the last half hour or so, which gave him a hook to participate in his great-grandgirly's birthday party yesterday based on the movie. He didn't feel quite so out of the loop and could communicate intelligently. You'll be happy to know that he did not feel a need to go swimming in the frozen ice pond. Ha!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.Proverbs 3:5–6

Ahhh that's much better than 
♪Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway♪

Blessings to you this Sunday!

Photo~A~Day~Challenge~Week Four

22 green

If I were naming this, I'd call it "Discovery." In this case, Jake discovered a ball of pitch on the end of a spruce frond. Kind of messy and kind of delightful all at once.

 23 pair

Naming this, I'd call it "Imagination." Give a boy some yarn and a paper clip and tell him to go find a stick and pretty soon you have a pair of fishermen catching "the big one" right in their former luge. They loved this and played at it for a long, long time.

 24 hot

These red azaleas bloom well after the pink ones have died away. I still have another variety blooming yet on the side of the house. Crazy late season.

 25 cold

One section of a John Rossini print that hangs above the piano.

26 thermometer

Not sure that my coffee is hot enough...

27 fruit

Last night, we had our first strawberry shortcakes of the season made with local berries. I forgot to take a photo. Blessed me I remembered this one that Kati may recognize.

 28 yellow

 29 grass

Cheating a bit. It's mostly clover and I really wanted to show you the roses.

30 looking up

I actually lay on a blanket yesterday watching clouds float by and taking photos. Today, they make me dizzy so, lest they do the same to you, consider yourself spared!

~*click to visit the challenge already in progress*~ And this concludes the photo~a~day challenge for June. By next Saturday, we will have already been in July for five days. Thanks so much, Kati, for all the fun and challenges. 

A Biking Adventure

My niece (gal on left) and her friend are on a biking adventure. They take at least one every summer. Last year they flew to Austria and biked all over the place; this year, they are biking to New Brunswick. They'll be there in time to celebrate Canada Day.
The grands were duly impressed. 

Don't know what she told them, but it had to be good. We thought of them this morning when we woke to such chilly temps. Good biking weather, though...
Wishing all my friends and family in Canada a beautiful holiday weekend!

Sound Common Sense

~kinda skimpy~
The Kitchen Garden

I wish all my fair sisters would set apart a portion of their home grounds for a garden. A good flower garden exerts a powerful aesthetic side of the home life, and the vegetable garden contributes to the family's health and economy...

Best for the lady who tends the garden, though, is that life-giving something in the very smell of the ground... And when long summer days come, when the lady drops her endless sewing and gathers what she has grown in anticipation of a fresh meal — a vase of colorful blooms upon the table to meet the family when they sit — she will come back with lighter step and rosy cheeks. This is not romance, but sound common sense.

 ~Keeping Hearth and Home in Old Massachusetts

compiled by Carol Padgett

Hope that your garden is growing. Mine is, even if a bit skimpy this year. It still pleases my eye even if it'll not please my plate. Comments are closed today because I am having such trouble keeping up this week.

Enjoy your day! 

Gifts

It's in the toaster right now. I can smell it already. Hmmmm... My sister has recently returned from some time at the lake in New Brunswick, Canada. She always brings gifts and this loaf of bread from Kings Landing is a favorite with me. 
You may *Visit Pam at Playing With My Camera for many posts on Kings Landing.* It's so pretty there and Pam is an excellent photographer. (Pam lives and blogs from New Brunswick. My sister lives in the U.S. and does not blog, though she [my sister] visits New Brunswick and Kings Landing often.)
Sis never forgets my grands either.

This time she packed two alpacas in the car. Awfully darling little chaps they are, too. Oh my! That maple taffy is yummy. I had to hide it on myself.

This last gift... It's the camp kettle, the only one I ever remember. It's seen better days and has now got small pin holes and the handle is a bit dicey. My sister thought I'd like it. I told her it would look darling with a few flowers planted and sitting out on the porch at the cottage. She said, "I'm not taking it back! Do you want it or not?" So I have it. You may remember recent photos of a watering can. This lends an entirely new look.
I only wish she could have brought me the lake...

~morning mist~

She did the next best thing...
~*~*~
If people are visiting your corner, what do they take home? And/or when you are visiting your favorite place, what do you return home with to remind you that you've been there.
I'll go first. ☺ When people visit my corner, they often return home with a loaf of pepperoni bread. It is made using white bread dough and rolled out as if one were making  raisin bread. Instead of being sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and raisins, it is "sprinkled" with small pepperoni chunks and cheese. Then it's rolled up and baked off normally. Very tasty! We don't allow ourselves much of that. 

And Sparks Flew

That Eastern Spruce is what I call our Snuffleupagus tree. It's very special to me because, other than the lilacs, it's the only tree on my property. Bet that surprises some since my corner looks very tree-filled. 

Snuffleupagus needs a good pruning every few years. John wants it pruned more than I do, but I see his points: moisture control on the deck and air flow and the health of the tree itself. Here he is checking out which branches are too close to the deck or too close to the ground. Plenty of them are just too dead.

Sadly, it did involve some ladder work. I held the ladder and I carried most of the branches out to the truck.

 ~Tuckered or Lost in Thought~

In the afternoon, I was happily visiting you when I became aware of  grinding noises and a certain smoky smell and sparks! Lots and lots of pretty sparks. I decided to practice for the 4th of July using my camera's fireworks setting. 
This was another case of John's being bugged by something that I had never noticed. Apparently, the bolts were hanging way below the deck and he didn't want the boys to get hurt. Awww...in that case. Thanks, Hon, for not burning the deck down. 
Speaking of boys, they'll arrive soon and I will have them all day and for the remainder of the week. Fun! If I don't show up by Saturday, send out the troops. (I hope to be posting, but we'll have to see how it goes.) 
Thanks for popping by and a good Tuesday to you...

Bit by Bit

Bit by bit is our playbook these days. Do what you can, when you can, and call it a day.

I have for some time now kept the picnic basket on the top of the fridge. When I removed it for a photo op (see Saturday's final photo), I liked it ever so much better without it. (I think it has something to do with the fact that my inspiration photo had very high ceilings; mine are very low.) Today, I'll have to come up with something for the top of the fridge. My mother decorated hers with potato chip bags or bread loaves. My sister keeps extra bowls on hers. (I might do that.) What's on the top of your fridge?
John is all mine for the day. The list lengthens. I've added pruning lilac bushes and the spruce tree to the list and it was already long. He has his own ideas, of course. This reminded me of a story my boss once told me about hiring a cleaning crew to tidy the small campus where I worked every evening after my regular job. The husband and wife team had to do the usual things...bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping. In addition, they used toothbrushes to clean the beautiful moldings in the main library. My boss caught them at it late one night when she returned to her office. When asked, they said that they never left the campus before their designated time and spent those last few minutes cleaning the molding. They showed her with some delight how they had been able to do nearly all of it bit by bit — it glowed. It was so much improved. The point my boss wished to make was that one has to allow a person to make a job his/her own. True. And the other point is that a lot can be done a little at a time. Personally, I miss the days when I had a cleaning crew of my own. Hope that all you parents of children still in the home take advantage of training them to master chores. I loved the days when I assigned mine meal preparation (from about age 12 until they left home). My son really enjoyed it and remains an excellent cook and does much of the meal preparation even now. 

These are the bars I made to send with John on Saturday. He was a most enthusiastic taste tester. He was so enthusiastic that I had to tone him down a bit... LOL!

Pinners, don't pin the bars from here, you'll find the recipe at Stephanie's right *here.*

Come Just as You Are

Source

♪ Come Just As You Are ♪

I'm so glad that I don't have to "clean up" before I go to The Lord. He wants me dirt and all. He wants me to show up before Him as I am. The best part? He "will give" rest. He can not lie so take Him up on His promise.

Many blessings today and all week through... 

Photo~A~Day~Challenge~Week Three

 15 Backyard

16 Bright...Not!

16. Bright

17. Stripe

 18. something old

 19. refreshing

20. Book

 21. summer

Big thanks to *Kati for hosting Photo~A~Day!*  Have you thought of joining in? ☺
Have a happy weekend, everybody!

The Day After

So it's the morning after and John and I can laugh about it now... tee hee We're big like that.
Know how they say that men are from Mars and women are from Venus or some such foolishness? Yesterday, I came very close to believing it.

↑ There's the offending corner of the deck: one rotten board.

Nine in the morning and something's happening... Woot!

What is he doing?

He's removing the jagged edges of the deck that have always bugged him. I didn't see them. They didn't bug me.

Yup. It's a tidier edge all right.

In fairness, he also shored up the deck from below. Now it doesn't spring up and down when we walk on it. That had always bugged him, too. I was simply oblivious.

By then, after he'd taken a four-hour trip to purchase the "right" kind of screws, it was 6:30 p.m. A nicer wife would have let him off the hook, but this one wanted those boards replaced so she could wash the deck.

The two boards were replaced and I washed the deck as all light disappeared. We were knackered!

Pie you ask; no pie; no supper. I'll do better tonight.

The microwave you ask; I moved it. In the end, we have to do what we have to do.

~the microwave and the breadbox switched places~ 

We are now two boards and one microwave closer to the finish line, which at this rate, as far as I can tell, is about 13 days out. 

Have a great day and a happy weekend! 

Will You Help Me?

How do you or how did you or how would you request help? Between John and me, we're not worth the powder it'd take to blow us across the street. Talk about heading for old age in a hurry. We need help sometimes. My kitchen has been bugging me...no, no, not the cabinetry paint...I'm cool with that being on the perpetual back burner...I mean the shifting of a humongous microwave. It's going to require a he-man. So a week ago I began hinting about where the microwave would look better and be more efficient. Right. It has taken me that long to subtly drip, drip, drip that information into his consciousness. Is that what you do? (I have a vague memory of my mother requesting my help in this way, too.)
Today is that day. I have a honey-do list a mile long. At least. It involves furniture shoving, deck cleaning and setting up, and some carpentry skills not to mention an AC unit going in upstairs. 
Perhaps, he'll require a pie...some little something...we'll see how it goes. And, yes, I will share the befores and afters.   ~~~

~the end of heavy backpacks for this school year~
Today is the grands' last day of school. I will have them all day tomorrow and then Tuesday through next Friday. After that, they will be with their mother for the summer. My son was able to land a good job in his field so my daughter-in-law gave her notice. I am so happy for her and for the boys being with their mom...just as it should be.  I'm going to miss those little guys. It has been a special blessing for me to get to really know them better. They are a hoot; they make me laugh every single day! Sigh. Now whatever will I do with myself...