Our excellent adventure

After a few hours of catching up with all the family news we all went to bed and got ready for a Friday full of Ashland adventures...starting with a quick flower demo from Midge. She's very talented! She gathered a bunch of weeds from the Pines, added the orange and purple flowers from the grocery store and PRESTO: two beautiful arrangements for our tables. Thanks so much Midge!
Then it was off to one of my fav places, the Parsely Pot for cute and smell good items. Don't you love their little friend?
We also went to a few other places that were fun and of course to Jack's office for some good Chiro care for their backs.
On Saturday we headed down to Malabar Farm for Heritage days. Unfortunately the rain headed down too! We sprung for some souvenior rain jackets and weathered the storms.
Luckily many of the attractions were indoors so we could enjoy stuff without drowning!
The horse drawn wagons had covers too so we could get all over the beautiful grounds without getting muddy or soaked.
Jack was sweet enough to go with us to drive and make sure we didn't get into too much trouble.
Saturday night Jackie, Phil and the grandkiddos came for some pizza and icecream and to visit with Great Grandma.

They enjoyed seeing how all the kids have grown and changed.
Too soon it was time for last pics and hugs and goodbyes. We had fun despite the weather. We laughed and just enjoyed the parent, kid relationship that has matured into adult-parent relationship. Mom did great. She's always up for anything. I'm very grateful for a wonderful sister that is like a best friend.

So long you two crazy kids! Thanks for flying the friendly skies and visiting with us. LOVE YOU!

TGIF!

Ahhh, someone else for Eddy to pick on...
Looks much better than it tastes...well, actually it tastes alright, just not wonderful...
Welcome Mom and Midge, hope you're rested! If not, here's a nifty chair that I redid to sit down and relax a spell. It sat in my garages forever. It's a nice oak chair and I thought it would look great by the fireplace in the kitchen. I moved the rocker that was there so the walls wouldn't get banged up again from the kiddos rockin' away!

My weekend actually started today. My Mom and Sis (Midge) flew in from Chicago to spend a quiet fall weekend in the quietest, fallest place they know. ASHLAND! (sorry about shouting) We are hoping for good weather, fun times at Malabar Farm for the first festival of the year and perhaps to even visit the Ashland County fair. (Hope they can stand all this funness) (I love making up words that only make sense to me) Eddy is in heaven...fresh meat, I mean people, that he can charm, drool on, irritate, and maybe get his fav "butt" rub from. So far so good! I had to make a new recipe. It's called caramel apple upside down corn meal cake. It looks divine but the cake part is different and not as sweet as it looks. When you can't make up your mind if you really like it, I'd say that's a "better luck next time" recipe for sure!

Curtain Call

Yes, you may kiss the cook under the condition you don't have any diseases....I really don't have time for sickness.... I like this little sign for over my cupboards.
I needed just a little curtain cover for the kitchen and I bought this cute material and had my good friend Donna sew them up for me.... they give just the right amount of punch!
Here's a darker view...with only 2 windows that's the way it usually is in my kitchen.
This number goes right over my door. Thanks Donna for whipping these up so fast! I had some issues with my computer but now can finally post again after Donna gave me a good pointer for loading my pics again. She's so stinkin' smart! That's the kind of friend to have!

Swine flu for fall

My computer was infected with what could only be the Swine flu for computers. It's much better now and I'm catching up on my blogging...I'm sure my exciting life has been missed by all! (hehe) Well, some other signs of fall besides the flu are these pics...above my mum plant that returns every year and just keeps getting bigger! It blooms so nice and I really love it's color.
From August to October wasps go nuts building wasp condos...here's a fine example of their work after I had the exterminators blast it from the side of the dormer. Jack really wanted to do it himself but I had visions of wasps attacking husband on ladder...I wanted to make that 35yr. anniversary!
The dogwood trees are decked out with the pretty red berries....

When even the weeds look nice, you know fall is coming!
The pumpkins are ready for harvest...will they last until October? Hmmm....
The buckeye tree is loaded with nuts and the leaves are already a pretty shade of orange...
The sun was setting on the backyard and it made the locust trees look almost red...(instead of the ugly brown they turn this time of year!)
Finally, a sink full of veggies freshly picked from our little garden says: "enjoy this now, soon it will only be a tasty memory or a freezer treat! Hopefully all the nasty viruses, either computer or human, find no one as this lovely summer fades and fall starts to give us a final show of fun and color...Happy Labor Day everyone!

Littlest cousins in Ashland

Cameron insists on eating only candy that will make his tongue match is eyes....
Alexis and Cameron quiet down with the ultimate binky...Ring Pops"!
Here is a contrast for you....blue eyes on CamMan and dark brown on little cousin Addy.

We've Only Just Begun

Yes, that song was actually sung at our Wedding. Again I must ask the same dumb question:"Where has all the time gone?" Fast, it's gone fast! What a wild ride. On Monday Jack and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. It's been fun, interesting, happy times, sad times, well you get the picture! We have 4 wonderful boys (now men!) 9 wonderful grandkiddos, and I'm sure there's lots more in store for us. Jack's been a really good hubby and I want to say thanks for always supporting me in all I do and for renewing the contract for another 5yrs! We have a 5yr renewl policy and since I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers on Monday, that's as good as a signed legal document for me! Here's to 35 more years of more fun than anyone could stand in one lifetime! Happy anniversary Babe!....of course here's the pics of that fateful day....
Do I look nervous or what...Dad just kept saying "You can back out anytime" all the way down the isle!
Yep, that's the hokey pokey....turn yourself around so you don't have to look at this pic!
Cut that groovy cake! Love the hair and burns Jack...(no stache either!)
See ya in 35yrs! (You might not recognize us!)