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….

Started the laundry first thing, then had an egg and toast for breakfast. I considered mowing but decided since there was such a nice breeze I would work on the shed. I knew I couldn’t take everything out – there are a few pieces of furniture in there that I can’t move. And a few heavy boxes of books. But I took most of everything else out there. I only had a few boxes put back when I realized I should take an ’empty’ picture.

Mostly empty.

These are the piles of stuff that I took out. Some of it I took to Goodwill, some I’m saving for the Skunk Hollow auction/sale, and some is just trash.

Part of the contents.

More of the contents.

But it looked a lot emptier and cleaner when I was done.

Before I changed my mind, I drove the donation things down to Goodwill. I decided to grab a frozen Coke – but the car ahead of me in the drive-thru must have ordered half the store. I sat for over 10 minutes behind them in line. So I took a picture of the sky through the sunroof!

It was cooler and breezy by then, so I ended up cutting the grass anyway! Then I watered the new grass and called it a day. Just finished a chicken sandwich and I’m done. The Ironing can wait!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

Courtesy of Logan Christian Church

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 5th is:

Blogger Day; National Couscous Day; National Dash Cam Day; National Night Out; National Oyster day; National Underwear Day; Work Like a Dog Day.

I actually worked like a dog today. I hope tomorrow is a bit calmer! God bless…

HCC was having church at Legion Keener Park this morning, starting a little later than usual. So I took my time getting up, read a chapter in my current book – which is surprisingly good! – and did the ironing. Mary picked me up, which is also unusual. I’m usually the one driving. It was a pleasure to be a passenger! It was also a pleasure to find that there was a ‘breakfast’ table with sweets and coffee before church.

Singing worship songs.

Todd had a great message about EVERYONE MATTERS TO GOD. It was something that none of us can hear too often. Jesus sees people; REALLY sees us. And he sees me. He sees our potential and seeks us out – He loves us. The scripture was ZACCHAEUS – and that Zacchaeus didn’t climb the tree to see Jesus because he was short – he climbed it because he was an outcast. And Jesus searched him on purpose and went to his house. Everyone matters.

This was our ‘sanctuary’ for the morning message.

Our church was having their backpack outreach after church – and had the big pavilion set up with games and prizes and snacks and tons of backpacks filled with school supplies. When Mary and I left the lines were already crowding in. Great event! Below are photos of the backpack event set-up.

Snacks for the kids

What kind of game is THIS???

The HUGE playground – another plus!

Slushy machine that looks like a train!

Karate demonstration area

Games

Tons of backpacks

Mary and I stopped for lunch and visited for a while, something we seldom get to do. On the way home we passed acres of sunflowers and they were amazing! We pulled over and took a bunch of pictures, but they don’t do it justice!

Butterfly….

Autmn txt me to say she and Cameron were going to hang out with me for a while this afternoon. He was fun and happy but can get his shares of NO!!! into his interactions! We spent time building with foam blocks, cooking and feeding the animals, and reading his favorite books.

Finger puppets

Looks like he’s trying to get away with something….

Brushing the puppy’s hair

Feeding the colt…

Sitting in the dish bin.

Autmn and Cameron were invited down to Noah’s mom’s house (a few blocks from my house) to swim so we strapped him in the stroller and I walked down with then. It wasn’t too bad walking down, but a little tricky getting back, as it was uphill!

Walking to Scott and Trina’s

A reluctant goodbye…. 🙁

I also compiled all my treadmill information and ordered one online. It looks like the perfect thing for me, and I got the 4 year service plan, so I’m confident that this was the best decision for my situation! It will be here Tuesday!

Simple and basic….

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

Courtesy of River Hill Church of Christ

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 4th is:

Assistance Dog Day; Commerce Day; Festival Monday; Hooray for Kids Day; National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day; Single Working Women’s Day; U.S. Coast Guard Birthday.

I’m for the chocolate chip cookies. ‘Nough said. God bless…

Today was my ‘loner’ day – catching up on chores and errands that I didn’t want to do with Chase here. He’s a pretty quiet kid but it still seems lonely and quiet without him in the house! I did my normal Saturday ‘change and wash sheets’ and fill weekly pill box, then had cinnamon swirl toast for breakfast.

I headed to Miller’s Crossing in Irwin to get my jar of honey. While I was there I (of course!) walked around and looked at everything. I keep my eyes open for Beanie Baby skunks – but today I found a cow! I had a white one but now I have twins! Well, this one in black with a white spot. But it’s really cute.

The black one is new – I had the white one. They’re hard to find!

From there I went looking for a birthday gift for Millie. It wasn’t exactly what I started out looking for in my mind, but I really think it will be a good choice. Also picked up a raffle basket gift for the family reunion. They are both the same weekend.

Just as I was leaving Irwin I got a call to go look at the treadmill that I heard about. It was pretty much the right size – smaller and lighter – but it felt like it needed a little more ‘medical’ attention than I knew how to do. I plan to sleep on it and pray about it and decide tomorrow. I do have a back-up plan…

Once I finally got home and had my green (yellow) beans for lunch, I went outside to work. I spread the top soil and planted a bit more seed where the fire pit was – then watered it. I trimmed some plants that were out of control and then swept the walks. My plan it to mow tomorrow evening or Monday morning. And that’s it!

Stepping stone grown over…

There it is!!!

More top soil to fill in.

Irises out of control

Much better.

The new neighbor puppy – Willow – kept an eye on my while I worked. Ken said the fence people put his fence too close to mine. We can’t get through!

Now the COW is watching me!

Too close….

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

For my friends….

TOMORROW August 3rd is:

American Family Day; Big Forehead Day; Clean your Floors Day; National Friendship Day; National Sisters Day; National Watermelon day; National Hair Gloss Day.

Tomorrow is my sister and Paul’s wedding anniversary! Sending them lovely wishes for many more years! Appropriate for National Sisters Day. I clean my floors in some way every day. And my family is the most important part of my life – with my friendships a close second!

Paul, Dad, and Kathy!

Started my day with breakfast and laundry, and was checking my emails when Kelly got here. She had laundry to do, as well, so we got that started then sat down and mapped out our day. We made a big batch of Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars for a party at her church on Sunday. Then we buzzed over to Walmart for a few food items, came home, and cooked up about 8 pounds of ground beef. They are making tacos tomorrow and Sunday so we got the meat done ahead of time.

Chase was playing his video games, Kelly took a nap, and I ran a gift over to Hanna’s Town for the former director who just retired. They were having a party for her, but it made more sense for me to stay here with my family. While I was there, though, I got my #10 skunk! It’s a finger puppet so Cameron will love it!

I forgot to mention yesterday that when I was trying to put the new broom hook up I had to get into my little-used tool box. And look who was inside!

Here is a picture of the Snoopy notebook I found yesterday. I may use it for my next journal.

I hope Chase had a decent week – he was very quiet and wasn’t interested in going anywhere or doing anything. I just kept feeding him and asking him if he needed anything! Sigh…. He seemed content enough.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 2nd is:

Mead Day; National Summit day; National CAD Day; National Coloring Book Day; National Disc Golf Day; National Ice Cream Sandwich Day; National Mustard Day; Sandcastle Day; National Play Outside Day; National VFR Day; National Sunflower Day.

I’ll play outside for a little while, and have ice cream at some point. Nate and Dave used to play Disc Golf ALL THE TIME!!! God bless…

Chrissy did come over for a while last night. She brought me a jar of sand from Ocean City MD when she was on vacation. We had a nice chat outside and watched the sunset.

Chase was still sleeping when I left this morning – I didn’t really have much to do when I got to work. Rege was all caught up since he spent a lot of time getting everything done. We sat and talked for over an hour – we solved a lot of problems if people would only listen to us! 🙂

I’m pretty sure we did it….

I wasn’t in a hurry to get home since I knew Chase wouldn’t be up yet. I stopped at Dollar Tree and picked up some cards and a few things that needed replaced at home. One was the broom/etc holder in the garage. The one I had was an ‘inside’ one held up by a stickie strip on the back. This was held up with screws and was much sturdier. I am not very accomplished at screwdrivers, etc, but I feel like this will stay up for what I’ll use it for.

Once I did get home, I gave Chase some time to wake up and be alert. I finished attaching the new holder, then went outside and pulled weeds and cut back some dead plants. Even though I was only out there for about an hour or so I was really sweaty when I got came in. I did snap a few flower pictures. Of COURSE I did!

Butterfly bush and Pinky-Winky bush blooming together.

Several Rose of Sharon bushes

Rose of Sharon flowers looking to the sky.

Look like mini-black eyed Susans. My phone app calls them Brown Eyed Susans.

Might be the last Stella Doro left to bloom.

Chase and I went back out to the Mall for lunch and looked again for his Pokemon Umbrion that he wanted. No luck. We came home and looked on line, too. But we left the Mall and went to Palmer’s Farm Stand. I was looking for tomatoes but they didn’t have any. I got 6 ears of corn and a pound of yellow (green) beans. I snapped and cooked the beans and will probably have an ear or two of corn for supper.

We stopped on the way home and got gas in the VW and in the mower can, so that’s done for another month or more. I just finished ironing and I am starting to get hungry. We’ll see if Chase is ready for food – he had a much bigger lunch than I did!

My neighbor is fencing in his yard to contain his new German Shepherd puppy. I know he’ll be glad he did that. We are getting too ‘old’ to be chasing runaway dogs!

It’ll be like a maze down there with all those fences.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW August 1st is:

Homemade Pie Day; International Can-It Forward Day; International Childfree Day; National Girl Friend Day; National Planner Day; National Water Balloon Day; Play Ball Day; Spider-Man Day; International Mahjong Day; Respect for Parents Day.

August first already! Yikes! I think I’m hungry for a piece of apple pie with ice cream. And here’s a big hug and lots of love to all my special girl friends out there! I could never list you all. Love you! I do have to admit that I am an avid planner. God bless…

Happy birthday Diane! Hope you treated yourself to your hot fudge marshmallow sundae! Have a great day and a healthy, happy year. We’ve known each other since the first day of 10th grade! Do the math…

Hiking

With Shannon at Hanna’s Town

Surprise visit from her granddaughter Abby, great grandson Beau, and daughter Lori

Abby, Beau, and Di.

I got up earlier than usual for a Wednesday (Day off) and finished cutting the grass. By the time I finished it was fairly warm and I was dripping sweat. But I felt fine and was super glad to have it done. I am NOT putting it off again, ever! That was crazy, and it was higher than made for an easy, quick cut. Whew.

When I came inside Chase was up, and that was early for him. His elbow was swollen and hurting. He had txt his Aunt Kimmie (who is a nurse) and she told him what to do for it. So the two of us got him comfortable, fed, and he fell back to sleep quickly. But that shot the plans for Mini-golf which made me feel sad. I was looking forward to spending time with him and Chrissy. I’m thinking she might stop in this evening just for a quick hello. But I think it’s going to rain tomorrow – plus she has to work – so no golfing tomorrow.

Gaming king….

Since Chase was basically out of commission I decided to do a surface cleaning – bathrooms, kitchen, floors. Got that done, watered the new grass, and washed the towels. Probably on Saturday or Sunday I will give the downstairs a good once-over.

Shook the rugs and hung them out for fresh air.

I used the last of my gasoline in the mower this morning – so I’ll have to handle that before I cut again.

Not sure if we will do anything tonight – but it won’t be golfing. I’m keeping busy with house projects and making lists for my August and September obligations. And I have to stay out of the M&M’s – I should eat something ‘real’!!!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 31st is:

Harry Potter Birthday; Hawaii Flag Day; Lifeguard Appreciation Day; National Avocado Day; National Chili Dog Day; National Intern Day; National Jump for Jelly Beans Day; National Mutt Day; National Raspberry Cake Day; Shredded Wheat Day; World Ranger Day.

Also the last day of July! Not a jelly bean fan, nor chili dog fan. I’ll just celebrate July! God bless…

Well, here’s what we managed to get done today. It was actually an inside day and I didn’t work in the yard at all. I really need to cut the grass! Ugh! It’s just so hot and doesn’t feel safe. So I stayed inside as much as possible.

The new grass is growing – but so is the old!

I was at work twice today, and the second time Ken was chasing Lantern Flies and swatting them with a rolled up USPS Priority envelope!

In the morning when I worked, Chase was still sleeping. I had a lot to do – as well as stop on the way home to help Mike P, and then pick up some things from Di. Here is one of the little cuties she shared with me from her daughter!

When you push on her foot she talks about going trick-or-treating!

Once I got home, Chase was awake. I gave him a few options for the afternoon, and we ended up driving out to the Mall. We had lunch at Chick-Fil-A, then walked around for a while. We did go in a few stores but didn’t purchase anything.

They are setting up the back to school train at the mall…

I was barely in the door when Sir Regis called and I had to buzz back to work. I finished up the last item that needed processed, and Ken and I got into a treadmill conversation. We were comparing brands and sizes and needs. I think I’m going to go look at one on Saturday, after Chase goes home. I’ve already been gone enough as it is! I think tomorrow Chrissy and Chase and I are going Mini-golfing. It’s to be pretty hot but I think we are going before lunch.

Willowbrook.

Autmn called to update me on Cameron’s improvements. He’s feeling much better. They had him to his pediatrician this afternoon. The prescribed meds are working and he’s on the right track. His fever is almost normal, he’s playing some, and eating well. Yea for that!

Contemplating his dilemma …

All good!

I did a little research and copied some examples for my workshop at Camp in September. It will need tweaking but I can’t actually get organized this early. I need to gather up books and pictures, and I don’t want to do that until I’m ready to use them.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 30th is:

International Day of Friendship; National Cheesecake Day; National Father-in-Law Day; National Support Public Education Day; Paperback Book Day; Share a Hug Day; World Snorkeling Day; Henry Ford’s Birthday; National Climb a Mountain Day.

Tomorrow is also Diane’s birthday – Yea! Perfect for Day of Friendship. Did you know there’s a huge bookstore at the Mall now? All books are $2 for paperbacks and $4 for hardbacks. Used. One of these times I’m going to peek in there! And we should have a ‘moment’ for Henry Ford. Automobiles have been my whole life’s career so worth celebrating! God bless…