Biltmore Christmas is on! I’m so addicted! I sincerely hope I can eventually purchase it… And having been to Biltmore made it even more magical.

Autmn sent me a few pictures of Cameron from last week to brighten my day. And it did!

After I cleaned the house – took my lazy time! – I used up most of the rest of the milk to make potato soup. That will be supper…

White I was letting the soup simmer, I turned on my new iPad and started to set it up. Still a few things to add, but at least I figured out how to turn it on!

Took a quick walk outside after the rain, and found that I had a bright yellow Stella d’oro lily blooming, and the Pinky Winky finally has some PINK blooming!

Since today is National Cousin Day – here is a photo of my sweet cousins!

Today is also ‘old joke’ day so here’s an old joke: When is a door not a door? When it’s a jar… (har har har…)

My blessing for today is watching Biltmore after a long day of housecleaning and laundry.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 25th is:

Carousel Day; Culinarians Day; International Red Shoe Day; National Chili Dog Day; National Hire a Veteran Day; National Tickle Me Day; National Hot Fudge Sundae Day; National Intern Day; National Merry Go Round Day; National Thread the Needle Day; National Wine and Cheese day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Iris Day. Tomorrow how about hot fudge sundaes and merry go round rides! God bless…

Today was our outing to the Clayton House (Henry Clay Frick’s mansion) in Pittsburgh. After breakfast I did the ironing, then waiting for Kathy to pick me up. She was the driver and I was the co-pilot that helped keep us on the right roads. We got there 45 minutes early with no wrong turns!

Since we were early, we looked in the gift shop and walked to the Car and Carriage Museum. There were several dozen vehicles on display! Kath was busy snapping photos for the car guys in her family. The museum hostess took our picture in the ‘photo op’ car. The dash was so basic I think Cameron could have learned to drive it!

We had a very good tour guide, Barney, and he was a wealth of facts, stories, and details. It was so interesting to hear about the lives of Henry Frick, his wife, his children, extended family, and business associates. We also learned about local Pittsburg history (at that time, there was no ‘h’ at the end of Pittsburgh!). The house was stunning and well preserved – and thanks to the ‘numbers’ skills of Henry’s daughter Helen – remained in its current state far longer than the homes of Frick’s friends and associates.

After the tour, we walked through the greenhouse and gardens, rested on a bench under shade trees, and took pictures of the playhouse. That playhouse is bigger than the house I LIVE in!

For some reason Cordelia (Kathy’s GPS) took us home a quicker more direct way than the trip there. After I changed and had a short break, I was able to get the grass cut. Another successful day!

My blessing today was spending the day with my sister.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 24th is:

Amelia Earhart Day; International Self Care Day; National Cousins Day; National Day of Motoring; National Drive Thru Day; Pioneer Day; Tell An Old Joke Day.

No fake day yesterday – I forgot! Tomorrow I’ll OF COURSE celebrate cousins. Love those Skunk Hollow girls! God bless…

The day started at 7:10am when Autmn txt to see if she could spend the day here with Cameron. Of course I said yes, so I got my work done at Pinnacle and got home about 10 minutes after she got here. Cameron was happy and laughing and clapped when he saw me!

Autmn needed to catch up on her rest, so she got a shower then grabbed a nap upstairs. Cameron and I played with toys and read stories and built towers with foam blocks. We also spent the afternoon watching Sesame Street! He dances to all the songs. He also liked watching the rain through the storm door while it splashed off the deck boards.

So this is basically a Cameron photo dump. And he was such a fun baby and so good, and entertaining!

Kelly and I both bought Tic-Tac-Toe games, and I got creative and spray-painted my X’s purple and my O’s yellow! The other side is still white and black so it can go either way – but that’s fun!

Since Cameron took up my whole day, he is certainly my blessing today!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 23rd is:

Hot Enough For Ya Day; National Gorgeous Grandma Day; National Sprinkle Day; National Vanilla Ice Cream Day; Peanut Butter and Chocolate Day; National Lemon Day.

There was no fake day yesterday. Tomorrow – Ice cream will do, will sprinkles. God bless!!!

So yesterday was a busy day – but every step went well and I had lots of help and encouragement.

I got up early to handle my Saturday morning routine, when picked up the cantankerous balloons that did not want to stay in the trunk. I wrangled them in and all was well. Next I picked up the slider trays at Walmart and picked up two boxes of snack crackers in case we needed them with the charcuterie boards — I had no idea what all Joe and Susan were including with those.

Since the tables were set up and arranged, I was able to organize the supplies and decorations while I waited for Tamara and her husband. They are both good workers and creative so we had the tables done, the decorations handled, and the food tables ready in a little over an hour. When we left there, it was all ready except for the food and the guests.

I had time when I got home to catch up a few things around the house, then got changed and ready to go. I stopped at Kathy’s and watered the plants for the last time — their flight was delayed because of the Microsoft issue so they drove home – and the poor little flowers were thirsty. Thankfully I could stop at the Dollar General a block or two from their house and pick up the ice on my way to the party.

I grabbed a hammer and nails, and stopped at the bottom of the church road and tacked the directional sign to a pole. Being bright pink it draws enough attention – although I’m not sure there were any new attendees this year.

There was so much food! People were very generous and brought more than I anticipated. We did have a lot of leftovers, but everyone was willing to take things home. The only food I brought home was the box of snack chips – and since I purchased them I’ll save them and donate them to Chrissy’s grad party in two weeks! We had some drinks left, too, but we’ll have no trouble using those up.

Ruth – the editor – was the M.C. for the evening. About six people read all or part of their story or poem. Ruth also went over all the art and photo submissions. They were all amazing! And the stories that were read were all very good – I did read the first part of mine and it seemed to be well received!

Judith and Linda handled the registration table and served as the welcome committee. Tamara left two Aloe Vera plants and a beautiful sunflower photo to be door prizes. The sunflower photo would have looked wonderful in my Crooks room! But alas, I did not win it.

Unbeknown to Ruth, her committee created a new award to honor Ruth’s 21 years as editor — and to the amazing improvements and beautiful quality of the Loyalhanna Review. It’s called the Ruth McDonald Fan Favorite Award, and we can pick our favorite entry and email our choice to one of the co-editors. The author or artist with the most votes wins an honorarium. Such a great idea – a way to honor both Ruth and those whose creativity brought such success to the magazine.

The crew from HCC’s Helping Hands ministry got there about 9pm and we all started helping to pack things up and let the guys get the room back to rights for Sunday morning. Everyone worked together – even helping carry boxes and totes out to the cars – and we were done in good time. It was a lovely night with lots of food, fun decorations, creative authors and artists, entertaining readers, and great company. Another one in the books!

My blessing – both yesterday and today – was the success of wonderful people working together to honor and uplift each other.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 22nd is:

National Mango Day; National Hammock Day; World Brain Day; National Penuche Fudge Day. TODAY was Take a Monkey to Lunch Day; National Ice Cream Day.

Friday’s fake day was National Door Mat Day. Since we missed today’s ice cream celebration I’ll do that – but not with a monkey! And not in a hammock. God bless…

(PS – when the group photos get posted online I will grab a few and share them!!!)

Happy birthday to Mom!

That is all the posting I am going to do tonight. It’s late and I’m exhausted. I’ll recap the delightful party tomorrow! Sweet dreams!

After breakfast I did a quick clean of the house, since I was busy all week. Brown’s came at 11am and Kevin checked my air conditioner for its yearly service. It’s OK for this year but it’s nearing the end of it’s life. It is 32 years old!

I had the rest of the potato soup for lunch, then loaded the car as full as I could and took it all out to the church. They had the tables all set up and it looked very nice. Tomorrow morning we will decorate and get organized, then I’ll go early and set out the food and get the registration table ready.

Matt sent me a link to what he suggested as the best tablet for me since mine warped and quit working. I will probably order it on line next week.

I spent about an hour outside, walking through the yard and pulling some weeds and dead stalks. I still haven’t had to cut the grass and that is a small relief.

I also did a quick spray paint on the clapper of the wind chime. It was drying out and cracking so I hope this preserves it longer.

My blessing today was enjoying some comfortable time outside!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 20th is:

International Chess Day; National Moon day; National Fortune Cookie Day; National Lollipop Day; National Door Mat Day; National Pennsylvania Day; Space Exploration Day; Woodie Wagon Day; World Jump Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Yard Sign Day. Tomorrow would have been my mom’s 94th birthday. As for the Woodie Wagon – listen to The Beach Boys song ‘In My Room’…. God bless…(Oh, and I like the moon.)

Although my stomach was unhappy for a few hours this morning, the day started out good! Got an early email that CVR was up and running! That was such a relief! One day short of an entire month of inconvenience and altered processing. All good now!

Kelly and I worked on little things in the morning after breakfast. One of the games she came up with for the Stahlstown festival was ring toss – and look what she did to the cones! Candy corn! How fun is THAT!

She left a little after 11:30am and I went to work. I had to verify a license plate for her and Matt – I think it’s all worked out now. I did what work was in Jeannette, then stopped to help Renee at Mike P’s place, then finished up in Greensburg. Stopped at the bank on the way home and by then it was almost 3pm.

After lunch I changed into outside work clothes, and for the first time all week worked in the yard. The grass is still acceptable so I didn’t mow; but I did work on the stones between the fences. I trimmed the shrubs that were sticking through the fence, then dug up the weeds buried in the rocks. So that’s good! Now all the beds have been cleaned up fully three times since spring. Now I guess we start over! But they look pretty good…

I’m just going to chill out for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow and Saturday will have to be focused on the LR party!

My blessing today was for sure CVR being up and running!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 19th is:

National Football Day; National Words With Friends Day; National Yard Sign Day; International Retainers Day; National Play Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National VCR Day. Tomorrow – let’s play! God bless…

Well, Kelly and I didn’t let any grass grow under our feel again today! After breakfast we did two loads of laundry, updated our lists, and started brainstorming for – although it’s still early! – The Stahlstown Flax Festival in September. We are in charge of the kids’ activities and story table, and we made up our mind last year to add a few fun activities to the ones we already had.

I took a few minutes to clean up downstairs – yesterday’s ‘workshop’ for the centerpieces made a total mess of the floors so I swept and cleaned up. I feel better now!

Kelly wanted to make salt dough starfish for their ocean VBS theme, so while she was doing that I made the pepperoni biscuit balls for the LR party. We finished up about 1pm and headed out to do our never-ending list of chores and supplies. We ended up at the mall so we had Chick-Fil-A for lunch before we did any shopping. I took a few minutes to walk around Barbara Ann’s Country Store, and am pleased to say that I did NOT spend any money!

Kelly was looking for hand soap at Bath and Body Works and was excited to see all their hand soaps were on sale for $3.95. So she got what she needed for her kitchen and bathroom.

From there we went BACK to the Dollar Tree and grabbed a few things for our extended projects, then to Ollies next door. She bought a hilarious book about complete instructions on being a pirate! Trust me it was really funny. The checkout clerk ask her what a pirate’s favorite letter was and Kelly said, ‘ARRRR’. The clerk said you would think that, but it’s really the ‘C’ (sea – get it???). Everyone’s a comic these days.

Our Frosty Shack had a fundraiser for Hempfield Band so we stopped there for before supper treats. But then, we didn’t want supper! We came home and finished several projects (including updating our lists!) and then went over to Five Below. We found a few things we wanted there, then went to Walmart — where immediately it poured down rain! While we were waiting for it to let up, we bumped into a long-time sweet friend Ashly and her new baby boy, Obie! How fun that was to meet him in person and talk to Ashly.

So now we are home, time for supper, and neither of us are hungry! We have a few small items to finish up tomorrow morning before she heads home and I head to work! It’s been fun having her here, visiting just us two, brainstorming and working on projects, and sharing meals. And I did not pull even one weed!

My blessing today was meeting baby Obie!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 18th is:

Insurance Nerd Day; National Sour Candy Day; Perfect Family Day; National VCR Day; World Listening Day; Get to Know Your Customers Day; National Tropical Fruit Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Check your List day. But we sure did enough of that! Tomorrow — I will try to listen, and be perfect. God bless…

Kelly and I stayed up talking last night much later than normal, so we had a slow start this morning. We had hot tea with honey and Poppin’ Fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We both had a few things to work on, and lists to update. We did a little project shopping, then stopped and watered Kathy’s flowers.

We were busy all afternoon – we did some touchup painting, worked on her VBS lessons and experiments, made centerpieces and decorations and signs for my LR party Saturday, and then updated the lists. I’m so glad to have so much done. Two weeks ago I didn’t think I could even manage it. Tamara called me and she’s really helping out, making and buying food for the party, and even made an amazing spreadsheet to keep track of everything. I’m so thankful for both Tamara and Kelly – and their amazing help!

We had an ice cream break about 4pm. Now Kelly is upstairs organizing her VBS schedule while I do this post. It looks like I’ll make a trip out to the church on Friday night, and then Tamara and I will decorate and finish up Saturday morning. It’s all falling into place!

We were going to take a road trip today but it was too hot to consider walking around local historic districts. So we’re waiting for cooler weather.

My blessings today were Tamara and Kelly being such amazing help!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 17th is:

National Hot Dog Day; National Lottery Day; National Peach Ice Cream Day; National Tattoo Day; Take Your Poet to Work Day; National Check Your List day; Yellow Pig Day; World Emoji Day; National Wrong Way Corrigan Day.

Yesterday’s day was National Lemonade Day. Tomorrow I’ll do ice cream, but not peach. I already have a tattoo. Maybe I’ll do a hot dog! God bless…

This post will probably be a bit uninspiring! As Kelly does not plan on arriving until later this evening, I made some lists and handled some emails in regards to the LR party on Saturday.

I did work both stores this morning, and had interesting conversations with both Sir Regis and Joe. Tried to get reliable information as to when my processing program would be back up, but that didn’t work.

After toast and tomato for lunch I did a load of laundry. Also got several new emails about Saturday so I updated my list. The week will slip away from me quickly, so I handled ordering the balloons and the sandwiches and picked up a few things that are sometimes difficult to find. The rest will have to wait until Thursday or Friday.

A picture from Autmn.

Since it’s sunny and hot (93*) I am opting to stay inside for now. There is a brisk breeze right now but not enough to make sitting outside comfortable. Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting!

My blessing for today was Sir Regis and Joe!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW July 16th is:

Fresh Spinach Day; Lemonade Day; Guinea Pig Appreciation Day; National Cherry Day; National Corn Fritters Day; National Personal Chef Day; National Wedding Invitation Day; Rural Transit day; World Snake Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Iced Water Day. Tomorrow? DEFINITELY NOT Wedding Invitations or SNAKE day! NO NO NO NO NO!!! I’ll take a personal chef. I would eat much healthier if I had someone shopping and cooking for me! God bless…