Closing Out The Weekend

Summer is moving fast.  The 4th is over and the heat is on and off here in Ohio.  Today was a scorcher but cooling rains are coming tomorrow.  We did have a quick little soaker a little while ago but the sun is going down on another weekend.  It's been a busy one as usual.  Before I get into our adventures I want to post some pics of last Wednesday's church youth activity.   They made beds and toys for shelter dogs and cats.

This is a finished product. Pretty cute!

They have padding inside and are wrapped in comfy fleece.

They worked hard to get this project done.

I know the dogs in the shelters will enjoy these chew toys.  It's a stressful thing for these animals and I always support and encourage the "adopt don't shop" mantra for getting a dog or cat.  Arnold made a quick appearance for the kids to see an adopted dog and help them realize how wonderful this project is and how the animals and the shelter workers appreciate receiving these handmade items.  Good job kiddos and adult leaders!   On Friday our little Arnie made a trip to the Vet to have a fatty tumor removed from his right front leg.  It was making him limp and would continue to grow bigger.  I hated to have him go through surgery but in the long run I know it will be better for him.

We picked him up from the Vet's on Friday evening around 7pm and he was very out of it all night and most of Saturday.

He made a rare attempt to get up for a quick drink and on Saturday morning I hand fed him some chicken and rice.  We were getting a bit worried but suddenly around 5pm he was up and around.

He already walks much better although he limps a bit from the surgery. His incision is below his leg so not too visible.  He also had a small skin tag taken off his left eye.  Most of our weekend has involved making sure he is OK and taking it easy.  However this morning I couldn't find him and when I walked by one of the spare bedrooms upstairs I found this:

He found a comfy spot on this bed...silly boy!  I think he'll be his old self soon.  I want to mention that on Saturday afternoon we went to our step-Granddaughter's graduation party.  Her Mom, Evelyn, is married to our oldest son, Jack.  Megan will start college in the fall down in Cincinnati.

Good luck Megan! I know you'll do great!

Her Mom had a quilt made from all of Megan's sport t-shirts.  She's a big volleyball and soccer player. It came out beautiful.  So that closes out another Summer weekend.  It's going fast...now on to another Monday.  Wait!  I'm ready for another weekend!

A Kidnapping

I will confess...I did it..I kidnapped two little hooligans today.   I called my Granddaughters and asked what they were up too and when they said:  "Nothin"  I said:  "How about a picnic?"   They were all in, so I went to their house and snatched them up!  (With parents Ok of course!)   We decided that Mohican State Park would be the place to go for lunch.   The weather turned absolutely fabulous today.  It's as if a big squeegee came through with yesterday's storms and took all the moisture out of the air and left us with temps in the 70's and sunshine galore!  It's the last official day of  my "staycation" as I go on call this weekend , so I was happy to spend it with them.

This state  park is so beautiful.  I feel blessed to  have it so close to home.

A very picturesque covered bridge.

We snagged a picnic table in the shade and raided the fixings I threw together at the last minute.  We feasted on turkey sandwiches, (pb&j also!), chips, drinks, carrots and dip...and cookies for good measure.  Arnold found his spot!  He was treated to lots of snacks today!

After lunch we took off to explore the river.  Arnold just loves water and was in doggy paradise!

Addy was excited to spot lots of crayfish.

It's a perfect place to practice rock skipping. 

These two were great fun as always.   It's also great to see kids enjoy the outdoors and not even think about video games, TV, or phones.

All too soon it was time to head back home.  They spent the rest of the afternoon with me making some fruit pizzas that I have to take to a party tomorrow and I had them make one for themselves to take home.

Lexi took some time to drive the gator around.  She drives it better than me!

We decided to eat dinner out on the deck and they requested  spaghetti and meatballs...no problem!  Their Dad came after work and joined us and then all left for home tired, full, and with a delish fruit pizza for later.  This is what I call a perfect day!

Happy July 4th!

It's the 4th already and as usual Jack is at Boy Scout Camp for his 29th, and final,  year.  I know he's sad that he didn't make the 30 year mark but I'll be glad to have him home for this holiday.   BSA is changing and our church has decided to not charter a scout troop any more after 2019.  So I won't get into all the blah, blah, blah about what's happened to this organization but I will say Jack and I...he much more than me...have served for these past 29 years in many forms and have enjoyed working with the kids and the other leaders over the years.  It taught great values and I wish "Scouts" good luck and I hope all the corporate sponsors who pulled out over the past will get back on board and support this program that forced the corporate scout headquarters to pull the BOY out of scouts.  Nuff said!   I have this week off and have been doing many little things that I put off.  Things like cleaning out and organizing my closet.  I took 3 big bags of clothes to Goodwill and have trash going out on Friday...feels good to get that all done!  Carpet cleaning, floor waxing, and also time for some movies and naps!  Of course I have Arnold to take care of and I'm getting to know his quirks, and believe me he has a few!  He loves, with a capital L, to go on car rides.  He's not much a walker.  He's going to have surgery next week to remove a tumor that is right under his right leg and makes him limp.  Perhaps when that's fixed he'll be more eager to take longer walks.   He does love water.

I take him the cemetery because it's shadier there...he hates this crazy heat we're having.  He discovered the creek and I let him just enjoy it!

He got a nice grooming. Check his before on my previous post.  Of course they had to put a silly flower on his collar.

That's better! 

He's learning his way around the Pines but he's not as curious about it as Chubbs and Eddy were. Well, every dog is different I guess!  We've been roasting here with temps in the 90's and 100% humidity.  Not my favorite weather but I try to remember that snow will fly before we know it.  So I'll just stay inside where it's cool.  We took the pool down last year so I don't have that to jump in anymore.  That's OK..the work involved to keep it up was becoming a pain.   So we're having a very quiet July 4th.  I went to my BFF, Donna's house for a nice cookout earlier and I'm going to watch one of my favorite movies...Yankee Doodle Dandy.   Love it!  So stay safe this holiday and I hope to have something more interesting to post about one of these days! I bought another sign for my computer room:

I think this says it all!  Happy July 4th!

Happy First Day Of Summer!

My previous post was a bit of a downer but thankfully the sun did come up the next day and of course it's all good again.  First...Happy Summer! For those of us who tromp through snow and freezing days, it's a welcome time.   Second, my Mom came home from the hospital and is doing pretty good.  She had a bleeding ulcer but it's under control and she's getting some physical therapy and her strength is coming back as her blood count rises.  She's a trouper and I truly appreciate all the good words and prayers!  Father's day was nice with the kids that live here coming for a cookout of ribs and a fun call from Craig out West.

Our Granddog Kip seems to just keep growing! He's like a big muppet...so sweet and soft and loveable..but keep the ribs on a high counter!

Jack got this cool carved eagle from me and our oldest son Jack.   I found it on one of our adventures in resale shop hopping and had our son Jack get it and fix the flaws in it and make it good for the outdoors.  We're getting an outbuilding and it will look good there after we landscape around it.  Hubby looks frowny because the temps were in the 90's along with the humidity and he was ready to head indoors! Thanks for the pose Jack!  The weather has cooled back down but the rain is still coming off and on.  Yesterday Jack and went on another of our "adventures" to Mount Vernon, Ohio. It was a rainy afternoon but we had a destination in mind.  After our failed attempt to adopt a dog last month I found another little guy on Petfinder. 

Meet Arnold!  He's a rescue from KaleidoscopeK9's and was in a foster home in Mount Vernon. He's 5 according to the Vet papers.  He's super loveable...just loves riding in cars, playing with toys, playing in water and so far he seems to even love us!  He was living in the same home his whole life but the owners became involved in drugs and he was taken out of their home. 

He also loves to beg for a treat..doesn't he look like an EWOK ?  He gets groomed next week.  All that hair is a bit much for summer!

He loves Jack!

Addy and Lexi came over tonight to meet Arnold (that's been his name since birth so we kept it..although "Arnie" seems to roll of the tongue better!)  After playing and brushing his flowing locks   they are in love with him.  So all around it's been a crazy ride these past few days but isn't life like that...ups and downs?  Love seems to be the word of the post today.   Happy Summer and I hope everyone finds some love this week!

Just A Bit "Wonky"

Do you ever have those times when the universe is feeling off  kilter?  When things just seem to be happening and you want to yell:  "Jesus, take the wheel!"    The basement leak has been a pain because after 2 visits to fix it, the leak is still there..smaller for sure, but still dripping.  I know that's not earth shattering, horrible but it's like a stone in my shoe..very irritating.   I was out weeding last week and found some unexpected poison ivy and then it found it's way to my eye and some spots here and there.  I usually don't get a real horrible reaction but I've never had it so close to my eye...another stone in my shoe I guess.  My car's air conditioner is being replaced.  Not for free that's for sure! Now I'm up to 3 stones in my shoe.  Work last week..especially Friday was like a boulder in my shoe!  When someone asked how my cases were going I said we were somewhere between hell and despair.   Today we had a case that went not as expected and I was really thinking I had a black cloud over my head!  But the real issue is my dear Mom is in the hospital.  After tests and things they think they have her bleeding problem under control but Mom is 92 and nothing is easy.  My wonderful sister is with her at the hospital day and night.  I don't know how she manages to do it all and I feel bad I'm here and not there.  But hopefully Mom will be home soon so say some prayers for her...I know they will be heard and answered.  So I will stop my complaining and go to bed.  Things usually look better in the morning.  Last week I snapped  a pic of that black cloud and perhaps that's why I'm on the "wonky" side of life!

Weird looking clouds..

Scary looking too!

It's June? Already?

Yes it's June and I'm a bit slow in blogging this month already.  I had an early morning surgery yesterday,  but afterwards we weren't too busy so they sent me home (to my delight!).  I have a friend who drives around and gets some nice photos and I always think that I would do that if I had the time.  Well, with an unexpected time slot available I grabbed my camera and took off.   To my other delight,  I was on the low census list and scored today off too!  However, our leak in the basement was still leaking due to faulty new part issues.  The plumber must have sensed I was home and called.  So being stuck home for a bit I now had time to put pics to pen and blog,  So here goes...my life in June, 2018...

My $1.00 sign I found at a resale shop last week has found a home.  So here's a quick tour of my little garden areas.

My new climbing rose is blooming and climbing my new trellis.

My hosta jungle! I will be transplanting some of these to a new area.  Actually I've already done a little of that but have some more to go in that spot.

Ferns anyone?  This is down by the creek and they are ginormous!  About 5ft tall!

Laundry room window boxes coming along fine...red, white and blue.  That's what happening at the Pines but I took off down the road and spotted some typical Ashland scenes.

Goats..yes sweetie I'm shooting you today.

Cows. I noticed the electrical tower thingie and wondered if that's really good for those bovines.

Amish...yes sweetie I'm shooting you too.

I like this shot.  Rush hour in the morning!

This Church is down the road a bit and it always reminds me of a castle.

This Church is so old school and charming.

Even it's mailbox is cute!

How about this  mailbox?  I bet the postman/woman has fun delivering mail here!

Heading back home, we're getting new neighbors on our road.  What has me puzzled is I hardly ever see anyone working yet it's getting built quickly.  Hmmmm

Back to the Pines..no,  the house isn't leaning..I guess I am! Can't really trust photos from the car window!  So the weekend begins and we have some adventures in mind.  I'll bring the camera and maybe have something more interesting to blog about. Hope your weekend is wonderful!

Memorial Day

This day is coming to a close and I wanted to get my post in as I do every Memorial Day.   I love that we have a holiday to honor our heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can have the freedoms in this country that we sometimes take for granted.  I know many enjoy this long weekend.  I sure do! Jack and I went to the cemetery on Saturday to put new decorations on his parent's graves and also to see the beautiful flags on all the graves of service men and women.   I didn't have my camera so no pics of that,but today, as I usually do, I went to the parade downtown.  The weather has been pretty warm for this time of year up here.   In the 90's today and that's not Jack's cup of tea at all.  He had been up with the chickens and did work on our garden before the heat kicked in but decided to pass on standing in the sun for the parade. 

It was pretty typical of our small town celebration.  Not as many participants as in the past.  Not sure why but I enjoyed it anyway.

The high school band sounded good as they played patriotic marches.

The flowers that are donated and kept up so beautifully all Summer are looking fabulous this year.
I love how hard many folks try to keep our downtown looking pretty and inviting.  It's hard to have a thriving business community in these small towns.  I remember when we moved here back in the 70's.  The downtown had many stores and it was always busy.  That was before Wal-Mart and malls and now we have the internet that also has hurt even the big malls and box stores.   Cute cafes and antique stores seem to be the new downtown draw for tourists and locals.  We do have a little of both.  So as the day comes to a close I know Jack and I are both tired as we spent the rest of our day off planting our garden, painting, and getting all our deck furniture down from the garage loft.   I hope everyone had a chance to thank a service man or woman and pay respects for this special day.  I guess it's time to let Summer begin!