TODAY is my cousin Allen’s (born the same year I was!) birthday. Happy birthday, Allen – hope you had a wonderful day with your family!

Allen and Bonnie last year.

There were a few things to do at Pinnacle, then I stopped in to see Mike P. Had to grab a few items for the weekend on the way home. I took a little detour and got some corn and tomatoes at Palmer’s Farm – had corn for lunch.

Palmer’s

THEN – I got a call from Uncle Clifford that the corn is ready! SO Kathy and I are heading out there early in the morning to help with corn. Before Autmn got here I popped back out and grabbed some lunch food to take along.

Stock image.

Cameron was SO wound up! He’s wild and crazy! We played inside for a short while, then we went outside. He chased us around the yard with his sword. Maybe we were re-creating Star Wars!

He loves the finger puppets

… and his chair. He’s also a ham for pictures.

Into everything

Building the tower.

Sword man!

I was able to get the grass cut – it was pretty warm but there was a nice breeze, and the front yard was totally in the shade. Since that is the last area that I mow, it was a cooler, level surface to end on.

Grass cut…. still waiting for the new grass to grow.

Everything is either organized or on my list for tomorrow so I’ll be ready! We haven’t visited AJ/UC in far too long – so this trip is long over due!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 15th is:

Chant at the Moon Day; Check the Chip Day; Hawaiian Shirt Day; Koolaid Day; National Lemon Meringue Day; National No Sponge Bob Day; National Shoe Donation Day; World Greatness Day; National Relaxation Day.

I generally don’t chant. I just made cherry Koolaid; it’s almost finished. I doubt I’ll be doing much relaxing tomorrow. God bless…

Happy birthday, Deb! Hope your day was fun! Love you!

Deb (middle) with son (Michael) and daughter (Emily)

Today is Wednesday, right? Clean, wash towels, take up trash. Lather, rinse, repeat! That was my day! With breaks in between reading my current book. Book 6 out of seven. I’m going to miss these characters when I finish the series, even though some of them aren’t very likeable. That’s sort of real life, right?

By mid-afternoon there were at least as many – if not MORE – leaves under the maple as there were yesterday before I raked. Bummer.

Stock image…

Once I took the trash up – which meant I was done with regular chores – I ‘suited up’ and went outside for garden work. I snipped all the dead stalks off the butterfly bush. It looks much fresher now without all those big brown lumps.

Bright white and purple now – no brown.

I decided to pull the weeds between the fence and the dying lilacs. They look bad enough with brown leaves, let alone clumps of wild grass and vines weaving among the trunks. I was amazed that they look so much better!

Messy mass of weeds and wild grass.

Weeds and dead leaves…

All good!

“Great job, Marge!”

Last night Autmn sent me a picture of Cameron — they went out for dinner somewhere and stopped for ice cream. You can see that Cameron is very excited about the prospect of chocolate ice cream. I would be, too!

The last of the clouds last night were pretty and pink.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 14th is:

Love your Bookstore Day; National Creamsicle Day; National Financial Awareness Day; World Lizard Day.

Tomorrow is my cousin Allen’s birthday. I love bookstores! Not so crazy about lizards… God bless!

Last night the rising moon was still orange. It’s no secret I’m not the best photographer, and don’t have any camera but my phone, but it was big and bright and full.

I worked this morning – had a few things to do. A long-time friend of mine had title work that needed done. He had an older Corvette he was selling and his neighbor had an older Jeep. So we spent a while getting all that done. And since we worked together at Smail’s for YEARS (he beat me by one year: His 53 years to my 52!) – as did Ken and Barry – we spent a little time chatting.

It’s very warm today but we still have a breeze. If you can stay out of direct sunlight you’re ok. My weather app says rainy days ahead. I’ll believe it when I feel it on my head! (Isn’t there a song about that? By B J Thomas?)

I got gas in the VW, stopped at the bank, and then came home and had a salad. Even though it was hot, a lot of the front yard was in the shade. You would think it’s October instead of August. My newly pruned maples are dropping leaves, and the yard was a mess. So I raked up under the trees and had five little piles, when bagged them. Yard looks neater now!

I had five piles

Cleaned and bagged.

I rewarded myself with a little row of M&M’s. Always the perfect treat!

I did get the cat story finished, and my writer friend Linda had some excellent suggestions for me. I knew she would; she’s more widely published than I am. So now I’m going to print out the story and send it to Sandy. I just hope it makes her smile!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 13th is:

Lefthanders Day; National Filet Mignon Day; World Calligraphy Day.

Tomorrow is also my cousin Deb’s birthday! And my dad, my friend Gen from New York, and Ron from Florida — all left handers! God bless…

Started out this morning with an M&M breakfast. No, I did NOT eat M&M’s for breakfast. I used my mug for hot tea, and my little snack bowl for oatmeal. Matching always makes breakfast more fun.

M&M Breakfast!

I went down to the shed first thing to check the Flax supplies bin. Kelly and I needed to take inventory so we knew what we needed to still get. We’re set except for a few things. The festival isn’t until September.

Flax plants – blooming!

Walking down to the shed I noticed the sky – ‘Look at the clouds!’ My kids will understand that! We used to drive to Presque Isle and watch the sky. It was like an internal thrill! The sky was bright blue with fluffy white clouds puffing across the sky. We called them Presque Isle clouds! Makes me want to go, just for nostalgia sake!

Look at the clouds!!

I did laundry and then sat down to get some ‘business’ accomplished. I got a refund on the first treadmill but they did not refund the service plan. They kept asking me if there were parts missing! It took a while, and believe it or not I remained patient, but I finally got a notice this afternoon that they were refunding the additional charge.

Refunded….

After I did that, I got to thinking about a long-time friend of mine who fell while doing a kind deed for her daughter’s family. I decided to write a short story based on her fall – although not with the actual details. It’s purely fiction. I’m waiting on feedback from a friend who has 6 cats, loves cats, and understands cat antics. Then I’ll be ready to share the story.

I made a salad for lunch, then got back to the laundry and emails. I went outside to get a few minutes of fresh air and decided it was nice enough to get some yard work done. There were still a lot of day lilies, Iris stalks, Dutch Iris, and cone flower stalks that needed cut back. I was out there a few hours but it made a really big difference.

Most of the hillside looked like this.

Cleaned up, section by section. #1

Section #2

Section #3

Section #4

Section #5

I looked this flower up – it says Allium. I don’t even remember planting it but I love it. Looks like growing fireworks!

Still have some flowers blooming.

My little solar bobbles watching the flowers.

I was excited when I saw notices on the Hallmark Christmas Movie Fan Page (of COURSE I’m a member!) about two new movies during Countdown to Christmas. The first one is A Newport Christmas, filmed in Newport! It sounds really fun. Has to be! The second one is Grand Ole Opry Christmas and stars Brad Paisley! And filmed at the Opry! Those are two I will be excited to see – over and over!

I actually got a decent picture of a butterfly on my bush!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

Not a scripture, but a wonderful thought!

PEANUTS?

With M&M’s!!!

TOMORROW August 12th is:

IBM PC Day; International Youth Day; Middle Child Day; Milkman Day; National Gooey Butter cake Day; National Vinyl Record Day; World Elephant Day; National Julienne Fries Day.

Are there still milkmen? I don’t think milk delivery is a thing. I still have a collection of vinyl records, including a bunch of Christmas ones and my Beach Boys ones! Enjoy! God bless…

Happy Birthday Snoopy! He’s such a creative, fun, amazing dog! I’m so glad Charles Schulz shared him with the world!

Greg, Nikki and Ophelia Saldi were at our church this morning. Greg was our previous youth minister, but for the past 10 years they have been missionaries to France. It was so interesting to listen to their experiences. You would think France would not be quite so religiously deprived but it’s very different over there! Glad to spend time with them. They were also at our family reunion yesterday, as they are very good friends!

Greg, Ophelia, and Nikki Saldi

Todd’s message was about being ‘called’ We are called to live a worthy life – a holy life. It’s not about what you do, but about who you are becoming. Be more like Jesus. Who you are becoming is more important than what you do. The size of your work isn’t determined by the significance of the task.

I had a little time before heading to Millie’s birthday party. My hand-made wind chimes fell apart, so I gathered up the pieces and strung them all back together.

Opps! Fell apart.

All fixed!!!

I also took a picture of the section that I cut back and weeded last night after it got cooler. It looks so much better.

All cut back – looks great!

There was a bright green hummingbird hanging around my butterfly bush. As is typical, I didn’t get a very good picture.

See the hummingbird? Top center

Everyone had a good time at Millie’s party – it was at Veteran’s Memorial Pool at Lynch Field. Millie loves to swim so a pool party is perfect!

Happy Millie

Sarah on the left – friends – Millie on the far right.

Kathy and Paul

Party pad

Gifts

Great day to swim!

Chip lips

Snacks

Pizza and donuts

The ‘littles’

Sarah and Millie – gift time!

Millie is a ‘Swiftie’!

Walking across the creek to the pool.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

Todd’s scripture basis.

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 11th is:

Hip Hop Day; Mountain Day; National Align Your Teeth Day; National Free Mask Day; Presidential Joke Day; Son and Daughter Day; Play in the Sand Day.

I love the beauty of the mountains. I have a son and a daughter which I am always happy to celebrate! I could use a day to play in the sand – at the beach! God bless…

Saturday! Started the day as is typical for Saturday – changed and washed sheets, refilled pill boxes, shower and breakfast. I even had time to do the ironing from yesterday so that was a help.

CELEBRATE~!~!

I still gave myself enough time to get everything ready for the reunion. I had to print out last year’s minutes to make sure I didn’t forget anything. I would have forgotten the extension cord if I hadn’t done that! But I got everything organized and only had the cooler and the basket with everything in it. I got there early enough to help with set up – and was glad I had brought extra serving utensils.

There was plenty of food – a nice variety – and yummy desserts. One of my favorite dishes was the Buffalo Chicken Dip with chips. But I will say that everyone really liked the chocolate chip cookie bars. I only brought about 8 home with me!

Food!

Everyone was busy eating and talking so I didn’t really get any good people pictures. That’s not my area of expertise.

My cousin John – on the end in the wheel chair – is our senior attendee! I’m right behind him in age.

Table two

Table three – Pistol the dog attended!

The whole group.

We also had a lot of Chinese raffle baskets. I didn’t have any luck with that this year but there were a lot of nice choices.

Lots of raffle items – and the coveted cactus lamp on the end! Jesse won that!

I came home and wrote out the details of this year’s event and got the rest of my Saturday chores finished.

Great group – I love my family!

Draining my cooler.

I did see an advertisement for a new Hallmark Christmas movie – I’m already excited for this one! Ginna Claire Mason (Hats Off to Love, A Holiday Spectacular, Broadway’s Wicked) and Wes Brown (Haul Out the Holly, Love on the Danube: Love Song) star in A Newport Christmas, a new, original movie set to premiere later this year during Hallmark Channel’s 16th annual Countdown to Christmas programming event. Filming took place on location in and around Newport, RI and Buffalo, NY.

I just saw a butterfly on the lilac bush – which at the same time is shedding its leaves and blooming at the same time!

Can you see the white lilac blooms?

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

Joshua 1:9

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 10th is:

Snoopy’s Birthday!; Melon Day; National Lazy Day; National S’mores Day; National Spoil your Dog Day; Update your Bio Day; World Lion Day; Agent Orange Awareness Day.

I will celebrate Snoopy — and that’s why you have to spoil your dog. In his honor. God bless…

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post – Stoney passed away on this date in 1991. I had just purchased this house. It was a trying time back then as the kids were young and concerned about the future. God is good, and here we are!

I was just getting organized to start my day when Gen called from New York. She had some information for me, and turned out I had some for her! And then we chatted! It’s always a special blessing when I can spend time talking with my friend – we talked for over 45 minutes and it was a delight.

After breakfast I managed to throw a load of clothes in the washer, then headed out for groceries. I needed quite a few items but for once (it’s rare…) I got every thing I needed, all at one store. Once I got home I made a baked potato for lunch and made potato salad for the reunion tomorrow. I was going over my ‘to do’ list in my head when Kathy called and wanted to stop and discuss our plans for the next few months. We sat on the deck and went over everything, and ended up choosing the Biltmore at Christmas for our trip destination in November – a candlelight Christmas tour! And we are staying at The Village (on location!). I’m so amazed and excited I can’t believe it! This will be two major dreams crossed off my bucket list — and I don’t really think there are any more items on it! Utopia! (The first was staying on Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg 2 years ago!)

Biltmore at Christmas

Walking back to our Williamsburg Colonial House!

Once we finished up our lists and secured our reservations and tickets, I came inside and made the chocolate chip cookie bars for tomorrow. I have my list for things I have to remember to take. I did forget to get drinks and ice but I’ll grab that on the way there. I hope to balance my checkbook when I’m done with this, and that will be another Friday in the books!

Mixed.

Baking

Done!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

Amen, and amen….

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 9th is:

August Moon Festival; Co Working Day; Garage Sale Day; National Book Lovers Day; National Bowling Day; National Hand Holding day; National Rice Pudding Day.

Tonight is the Sturgeon full moon, just so you know! I like garage sales but I LOVE books – I will be celebrating that. Not a bowling fan. Enjoy your day. God bless…

There were a few things to do at work, but then I stopped at the bank afterwards. Also dropped off something that Kathy needed at her place on the way home.

I was home earlier than normal, so I changed clothes, read a chapter in my current book, and then went outside. I spent the rest of the morning cutting back overgrowth and dead stalks, then came in and had leftovers for lunch.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Went back out after I ate and cleaned up around the side and bottom of the driveway. It always looks so nice after all that overgrowth is cleared up.

Before

After and…

After

Before

After

Diane is on vacation, and she sent me pictures of a purple shop! That would be fun to visit!

Wouldn’t you love to shop there?

Tomorrow I will grab a few groceries, then make an item or two for the reunion on Saturday. I’m considering chocolate chip cookie bars, as the ones Kelly and I made last week were pretty yummy!

Stock image

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 8th is:

Digital Nomad Day; Dying to Know Day; Happiness Happens Day; International Cat Day; National Dollar Day; National Frozen Custard Day; National Pickleball Day; Peanuts’ Day; Shop Online for Groceries Day; Take a Penny/Leave a Penny Day; Wear your Mother’s Jewelry day; National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto your Neighbor’s Porch Day; National Sleep Under the Stars Night; National WHATABURGER Day.

Tomorrow is 34 years since Stoney passed; that’s a long time. I really like dollars — lots of them. Happiness does happen but you can help it along. Logan and Matt like pickleball. ‘Peanuts’ Day’ is the food, not the Charles Schulz kind! Enjoy! God bless…

Wednesdays are usually slow – but today was really quiet. I cleaned, did laundry, and read. End of story! Book 3 out of 7.

Actually – I did spend some time plunging the drains in the kitchen and the bathroom. They are connected directly and when I plunged the kitchen the bathroom ‘threw up’. Ugh. But after dedicated time and attention the drains are all clear and open and flowing nicely. It’s been sluggish for a while so I feel like I fixed that.

Nate came up after work and helped me repack the wrong treadmill – I was shipped the wrong model. We secured the box and took it back to the store for return. I’ll wait for my refund before I reorder somewhere else.

And THAT is my day! Hoping tomorrow is a little more interesting.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 7th is:

Aged Care Employee Day; Cycle to Work Day; National Lighthouse Day; National Raspberries ‘n’ Cream Day; National Sea Serpent Day; Professional Speakers Day; Purple Heart Day.

I enjoy speaking about Letters to Mary! I’ve never met a sea serpent. Thankfully… Have a beautiful Thursday – God bless…

TODAY is my friend Corliss’s birthday. Have a wonderful day and beautiful year ahead!

Corliss, Kathy, and me.

Had a lot of work this morning – Sir Rege is selling cars! But I finished in time to get to the dermatologist. Mostly everything was ok – I did ask about the two issues that lingered a long time. The one on my arm she removed and sent out to analyze. The one on my ankle she prescribed a steroid cream but it hasn’t been filled yet. She says that’s why my ankle is swelling up and getting a rash. I was secretly fearing it was another tick bite. We’ll see once I get the cream.

We’ll see what’s going on….

My treadmill was here when I got home — but they sent the wrong one! I didn’t realize it was wrong until I got it together and noticed the differences. It worked well but didn’t have the features I purchased it for. So I called and got a return label and will get it sent back and try again.

Right size, right weight – wrong features!

Chrissy came over and painted the naked replacement boards on my decks. It didn’t take her very long and she even touched up lots of spaces that were worn through. It really, really looks nice. She was happy and efficient, and after she finished we ordered Panera Bread delivery and had cheddar broccoli soup and a baguette. She got a cookie for dessert.

Working on the top deck boards.

Top done

Bottom done

Master painter

There were butterflies on my bush, and although I tried taking pictures, Chrissy did a fabulous job! She’s great at photography. I was glad to have her for the afternoon, and sorry that it went to quickly!

This one is my favorite…

Chrissy said when she went home she was going to work on her Lego tree that Jen got her. She sent me a picture of the finished project.

Chrissy’s LEGO tree!

I didn’t feel like coming inside so I trimmed back a few vines, the dead daisy stalked by the front deck, and trimmed the overgrown azalea along the front walk. Since we already ate I don’t even have to cook supper!

The vines were taking over…

Cut back the day lilies

The walk is open now.

Cut the daisies back

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 6th is:

Balloons to Heaven Day; Farmworker Appreciation Day; Finish your Degree Day; National Fresh Breath Day; National Root Beer Float Day; National Wiggle your Toes Day; Regatta Day; Sailor Moon day.

My mom always liked root beer floats. I know several farmers and I do appreciate them! If I remember I’ll wiggle my toes. God bless….