I will break my day up into four parts. The first one was morning, and I had toast for breakfast then went out and cut the grass. I also pulled a few weeds and scrubbed the mower and the fence. It needed done. I also moved the azalea bush and the Hosta and planted the butterfly bush where those two had been (they ended up in the same hole somehow).

Got the grass cut…

Scrubbed the fence…

Hosta

Azalea

Butterfly bush from the bottom…

From the top…

After I finished that, I came in and got a shower and had lunch – a piece of leftover pizza. The sky was cloudy and by the time I got to Walmart it was raining. I had not bought groceries of any magnitude since vacation because the fridge was on the fritz. So I spent more than I have in years for one order. And sadly, most of it wasn’t food – cleaning products – which are expensive.

Less food — more ‘stuff’.

Again, I had to change clothes and get ready to leave for the Civil War Tea. And that was so fun! We had about 8 ‘officers’ and soldiers attend and they sat at our tables with us. They were very interesting to talk to! They do take their reenacting very seriously! There were several from the Confederate army and some from the North. My favorite was a younger guy from the South. (He actually lives near Meadville.) He was very passionate about his reenactments and was a wealth of information. He is also a writer so I gave him some information about the Loyalhanna Review. He’s had a few things published and can submit to our publication next year! But the tea was yummy – we had four different types of tea in fancy cups, and four different types of cookies that were baked by our hostess. My favorite were the molasses ones. They remind me of the ones Grama Steiner used to make!

Our hostess, who baked the authentic Civil War era cookies.

Our hostess, her daughter and granddaughter.

My friend Kathy – she bought her dress in Gettysburg!

The captain’s fancy hat!

These were our guests for tea!

This person introduced everyone

The one on the left is the surgeon.

Our friend the confederate soldier! He’s been doing this since he was 14!

A confederate officer – and the young man’s actual father!

He’s in charge!!!

General Sherman…

So I’ll be at Hanna’s Town at the Civil War Encampment tomorrow afternoon and maybe Sunday. I hope to have time after my volunteer shift to walk around and take pictures. If you are local, stop out! Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 9-3.

I had enough time when I got home to change clothes AGAIN – I planted my grass seed and covered it with a little top soil, then pulled the nasty weeds on one section of the far hill. I’m done now!

Planted out….

Looks so much better!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 19th is:

Flitch Day (look it up – it’s cool!); International Retainer Day; International Snowdon Race; National Football Day; National Words with Friends Day; Woodie Wagon Day; National Play Day; Toss Away ‘Could Haves’ and ‘Should Haves’ Day.

Woodie Wagon? Listen to the Beach Boys! Think I will, right now! God bless…

Was able to start the morning getting everything done in good time at work. From there I had to buzz over and pick a few things up from Diane. While I was there my Whirlpool repairman called and said he was heading to my house. He got the wires replaced and had the fridge back up and making ice even before he left. I told him I really enjoying chatting with him and hearing his faith journey, but I hoped I didn’t see him for a while!

I was just ready to eat lunch when Kelly called. She was headed to camp to pick up Logan and his two friends. Logan is playing hockey (Ice hockey) and his friends were going to watch. It was a two hour drive so we chatted while she drove (phone was hands free). We talked for almost an hour and a half and I think we solved all the church, community, family and event issues for the rest of the summer!

Go LOGAN!

I had toast and tomato before heading outside to pull weeds. I needed to clean up the stones between the two fences as it’s been since spring that I last tackled that. It really looks different, and better, of course. I was soaked and filthy when I finished, so I got a shower and put on PJ’s.

Before pulling weeds…

View from the bottom facing up – all done.

From the top down…

I just finished that when my friend Don W. called me. He was just checking to see if I was good and everything was ok! We chatted for a while, until his wife called him to dinner. It was so nice to talk to him! His twin brother just had a horrid bout of illness that turned out to be an 11 day hospital stay. Ended up being Lyme Disease! That can really throw a person off base – as I can attest!

Don is on the left…

When I walked past the phlox it looked like three different blossoms on one stem! It was actually three different stems but it’s not obvious…

Three tier phlox…

I moved the Dutch girl and boy into the stone circle – they love it there!!

SCRIPTURE – combined with PEANUTS:

QUOTE for the day:

‘No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.’ – Eleanor Roosevelt.

TOMORROW July 18th is:

Insurance Nerd Day; National Caviar Day; National Sour Candy Day; World Listening Day; National Tropical Fruit Day.

Nate loves Sour Patch Kids. We should all spend more time listening and less talking! 🙂 God bless…

I woke up this morning to a txt from Sir Rege. He, his wife, and another couple are in Ireland and he sent me a photo of a castle they were visiting. I was so excited to see that – and to think that he actually remembered to send me a castle photo. Thanks, Rege!

The whole way from Ireland!!!

The morning started out sunny and warm, but mid afternoon we had a few storms pass over, with heavy rain. I was glad my agenda focused on the inside today.

I saw on facebook this morning that Mt. Joy PA had some serious flooding. My skunk hollow cousin Karen lives in Mt. Joy, so I txt her sister and asked if she had heard anything. She txt me back and said there were a lot of flooded areas and a few impassable roads but her family was fine. I was relieved to hear that. We sure have been hearing a lot about flooding recently, all over the country.

A facebook photo from Mt. Joy.

So basically I spent the day cleaning – talked to my cousin Mark. He had a crew helping him move today, and has a few weeks to get everything out of the house he sold. Hoping everything goes smoothly.

Mark’s facebook photo

Looks like it’s done raining for the day – I just had a bowl of cheddar chicken rice so that’s supper. I’m listening to Christmas movies in the background (Christmas in July on Hallmark). And that’s my day!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

Another one courtesy of Logan Christian Church

PEANUTS?

Make mine tea!

TOMORROW July 17th is:

National Lottery Day; National Peach Ice Cream Day; National Tattoo Day; World Emoji Day; Wrong Way Corrigan Day; Yellow Pig Day; Get to Know Your Customers Day.

I actually never play the lottery – I do have a tattoo on my ankle. I often end up going the wrong way! God bless….

My buddy Snoopy

I drove over to Deb’s house this morning, and the two of us went to her brother Mark’s. We told him we’d help him get the kitchen and living room areas ready for him to move in tomorrow. It wasn’t hard work and it didn’t take long. He still has a lot of little things to do yet but they can all be done once he’s settled. It’s a smaller house, two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a galley kitchen. The living room is a nice size since he added a bump-out to give himself a front porch and a little more space. Just right for him, and not too much maintenance. He bought us lunch which was very yummy!

This is the listing pictures – before he worked on it. There are two houses there. His is the second one.

The other fun thing was that his bathroom light fixture had a blue tooth speaker – so it connected to his music or phone! I never heard of that. The shower had a rain shower head. All new fixtures and was really pretty. The kitchen cabinets were dark gray and very classy.

Deb went the back way from her house to Mark’s – and I didn’t know that way. I went home that way when I left and it was so much quicker than going through town. That was fun! It went right beside the country club.

When I got home, I prepped the empty fire pit space and leveled the ground as best as I could. I went over to Home Depot and got 6 bags on top soil, grass seed, and bag of mini-pebbles, and a flowering bush. I got all the top soil spread and leveled out, and then perked up the two stepping stones by the corner of the deck. I won’t plant the grass seed until it’s a little bit cooler. That area gets hot morning sun and I think it would die out quickly.

Top soil spread

Spruced up the stepping stones.

The bush I am going to plant in the lower triangle of the hill. I have a small azalea there and it’s growing so slow. The butterfly bushes are doing very well so I thought that would fill in the space quickly. When I came in I was soaking, sweating wet so I got a shower and put on PJ’s. Now, I’ll get something to eat and look over my camp notes.

Lots of blooms on the butterfly bush from last year

Mini Butterfly bush also has lots of blooms

Pinky-Winkey is really big!

This will go on the hill and I’ll move the azalea.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

Courtesy of Logan Christian Church

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 16th is:

Fresh Spinach Day; Guinea Pig Appreciation Day; National Cherry Day; National Corn Fritters Day; National Hot Dog Day; National Personal Chef Day; National Wedding Invitation Day; Rural Transit Day; Take your Poet to Work Day; World Snake Day (NO! Just NO!!)

I really don’t appreciate guinea pigs. Sorry. I’ll eat a hot dog but it has to be the right kind. I really wish I had a personal chef! God bless…

First thing this morning the repairman came to fix the fridge. He put the new parts in, but when he was replacing the defrost fan he found a cracked wire. So he ordered one – but in the meantime he fixed the cracked one so the fridge would work safely and I could use it until he gets back. It will be several weeks probably. Nothing to do but keep going!

Not quite this bad. Just a little nic…

I worked Pinnacle this morning since I will be busy tomorrow. I stopped at the bank, then buzzed back out to Burlington and ended up buying the soccer shoes. I use them for mowing as it keeps me from slipping on the grass. When I got home I put them on (since they were totally new and clean) and walked around the house to make sure they felt ok.

New shoes for mowing.

After lunch I went outside and finished moving all the stones that I could from the fire pit – so it’s ready for top soil. Then I hosed off the stones in their new locations.

Moved as many stones as I could.

Filled the ring.

Some of the extra stones – I hosed them off.

I spent about an hour trimming dead flower stalks, pulling weeds, and digging out wayward plants. I’m posting pictures but you probably don’t notice the difference. I keep forgetting to take ‘before’ pictures.

Cut back the dead Glads.

Right hill — pulled the weeds.

Left hill – cut dead stalks and dug out wayward plants.

I finally got my next medical test scheduled – next Tuesday at 2pm. It will be an easy test and won’t take long – but I had to have special medications to take before the test. The pharmacy was having trouble with that but now I have them and we’re all set for next week!

Kelly sent me a picture of Logan and Matt, who were both honored as West Virginia’s newest 4-H All Stars. Matt knew he was being inducted, but it was a surprise to Logan. How exciting for both of them – congrats!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

Don’t we need this some days???

TOMORROW July 15th is:

Celebration of the Horse Day; National Be a Dork Day; National Clean Beauty Day; National Give Something Away Day; National Gummi Worm Day; National Pet Fire Safety Day; National Tapioca Pudding Day; Orange Chicken day.

My friends April and Diane both love horses! No one should HAVE to be a dork if they don’t want to. Giving something away is a smart thing for several reasons. And my friend Greg P HATES Tapioca Pudding! God bless…

I woke up to a hard rain this morning – but it certainly didn’t last long. By the time I got finished in the shower it was sunny and clear. And warm. Our Sunday school lesson and sermon message were very similar – and I know that wasn’t planned. Well, GOD probably planned it! But since it’s something we all need to focus on it was a good thing. Basically it was talking about habits, and that you can ‘think’ yourself into whatever life by your focus. We worry too much because we THINK that way. We should be thinking of GOOD, POSITIVE things and focus on that. Don’t let negative thoughts take over your emotions. What you think about is what you become = and DON’T let the devil distract you. Changing your focus changes your direction. What thoughts are shaping your life? 1) Name the lies you tell yourself or believe. 2) Replace them with the truth. 3) FIX your focus! Fix your mind on heavenly things!

THIS is what you should think about!

I could not get my NOOK app on my phone to open for 3 days. I called B&N and they tried to help but that wasn’t working. So after church I stopped in B&N and the lady at the service desk was very helpful. We had to shut the phone down and delete the app and reload twice but we finally did get it to work. I’m very pleased and they were very helpful there!

My sister gave me a piece of lasagna and I had that for lunch – yum! It’s so fun to have a great meal that you didn’t even have to cook!

One storm came through already, but it looks like we may get another one. But in between I was able to work more on dissolving the fire pit. I cleaned out the fire bricks and put the fire ring up by the road. Maybe someone will want it. If not, trash will take it Thursday.

Then I got about half of the stone lugged over to the stone circle I made by the driveway. I still have a bunch more to do.

Making progress…

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 14th is:

International Town Criers Day; National Be Nice to Bugs day; National Macaroni and Cheese Day; National Nude Day; National Tape Measure Day; Pandemonium Day; Shark Awareness Day.

No nude for me – I barely tolerate showers! I will probably never be nice to a bug – unless it’s a lightening bug. There’s plenty of pandemonium everywhere – we don’t need a day for it! God bless…

We’ve been busy the last few days. But it’s been fun! Thursday night late Chase and I went outside on the deck to watch the stars and see the full moon – the BUCK moon! We watched the sky to see what stars were ‘moving’ – which told us they weren’t stars after all. It was 11:30pm before we went inside. It was a beautiful night.

Buck moon – internet image

Friday when I got up and showered I headed down to Norwin Square to get my bloodwork. But as would be typical, I missed the call from my doctor so I have no clue what’s next. Guess I’ll find out Monday.

I had toast and tomato for breakfast when I got home, then went outside to move more stones while I waited for Kelly to arrive. I got all the big blocks moved and I think it helped. Mostly I wanted to section off the new little azalea plants so they don’t get buried under vines and buttercups.

Yesterday’s stone wall project

Azalea at the bottom of the walk by shed

This one’s finally starting to grow – in middle of picture to left of Hosta in front of brown fence.

By the steps – behind the 2 stones.

At the bottom of the driveway – hope to put most of the pond stones in this circle.

This azalea is brown – hoping the roots have taken hold and it will flourish! (in front of stone)

Just have the little pond stone and the fire ring to clean out now.

Trimmed back some ‘wild’ daisies and clipped a few stray branches off the lilac by the front deck.

Corner by the walk is looking ok now.

Once Kelly got here we did some small projects. She’s making flower magnets for the fall tea at Hanna’s Town and has half of them made.

Half done – then they need magnets.

Chase needed meds for his cold and Kelly needed a white shirt for Sunday, so we buzzed over to Gabes and Walmart and handled that, plus a bag of popcorn puffs for Chase. I think his cold needed fed. (Feed a cold; starve a fever!)

Chase wearing my flower-light halo

Chase and his mom!

Paul and Kathy picked Kelly and I up at 5pm and we drove to Delmont to see a presentation by Ulysses S Grant. We’ve seen him before and he’s excellent. You have to remind yourself that it’s really NOT General Grant! He’s so informed and interesting and I always learn so much.

This is from last year’s presentation….

We ordered pizza on the way home and met the delivery guy in the driveway! Again, we stayed up until 11:30 just chatting and catching up. Chase touched up my memory plaque for Tazz and it looks really nice.

Kelly and I had scones for breakfast and Chase just got up, packed up, and slunk to the car. He had a bag of snacks and treats to munch on the way home – that’s his M.O.! I planned on mowing but it was already too hot and stuffy at 9am. So I switched gears, did laundry, cleaned up, and started working on a few previously ignored projects. I’ll keep working on them this evening and tomorrow. I have to catch up my journal too.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 13th is:

Barn Day; Beef Tallow Day; Embrace your Geekness Day; National Beans ‘n’ Franks Day; National Rock Day; National Barbershop Music Appreciation Day; Fool’s Paradise Day.

I kind of really like barns – especially old ones! Kelly used to always bring a rock home when we went on a walk when she was little — for her dad (Stoney). Not sure if she connected the significance. She was 3. God bless…

To my adoring public! (haha) No word garden today – had a full, busy day. Will catch up tomorrow. Sending hugs and wishes for a happy weekend.

There wasn’t much to do in Jeannette today – but we did get the truck temp tags I ordered last week and I was very excited! They are the new style and color! No one but me gets excited about temporary plates!

Sort of like this – but they say TRUCK instead of Let Freedom Ring and start with ‘V’. I actually love the new style!

I got gas in the VW then went to New Stanton to meet my friend Ginny for lunch. We had the ‘Two for…’ deal. I had a cranberry pecan salad and a BLT. It was good. We had a nice few hours catching up – her granddaughter will be a second year college student this fall, and her grandson just turned one! We both had pictures to share. And ironically, we’ve both had similar medical experiences, trying to find out why we get short of breath. We’ll see what we discover.

Salad.

I stopped at Youngwood Shop and Save to get my favorite bathroom tissue, then came home to answer emails until time to leave. I drove to Blairsville to meet Matt’s sister Aunt Kimmie to pick up Chase – but I was early so stopped in the Fleatique. I found a picture frame that matches the ones I have Logan’s and Peyton’s senior pictures in — so I was pro-active and bought it for Chase’s, even though it’s down the road a ways.

I like the picture in it – but I did buy it for the wooden frame!

I also found an inexpensive beenie baby skunk – they are normally sort of expensive since they are pretty rare – so I scarfed it up. He rode home on my dash and is now happily cuddled up with his mother and sister!

Skunk family…

I stopped on the way to the house and got Chase Chick Fil-A – it was dinner time and he was hungry. I think that and his bag of pretzels will hold him over. He does have pop tarts, too!

Hanging out…

When I went to pull in the garage I noticed that my broom holder had let loose and fell on the floor. I tried to hang a shovel on it – and it’s not made for that. It’s just a Dollar Tree find. So I cleaned off the board and reattached it, and added some duct tape — and removed the shovel!

Reinforced.

Last week I ordered 20 Letters to Mary books – just so I have a supply on hand. They came today, so for me that’s exciting. Anyone need a book???

When we stopped at Walmart to stock up on Chase-ables (food), I got a bag of popcorn. Then I came home and melted down some chocolate wafers and drizzled the popcorn. It’s something Chase likes so I don’t think it will last very long!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 11th is:

My Brother-in-law’s Birthday; All American Pet Photo Day; Cheer Up the Lonely Day; Collector Car Appreciation Day; Free Slurpee Day; National Blue Berry Muffin Day; National French Fry Day; National Motorcycle Day; National Swimming Pool Day.

Happy tomorrow birthday, Paul. Take a picture of your pet, and share it with the lonely. That will cheer them up. My neighbor Al has three collector cars. Stop at Seven Eleven and get a free Slurpee! I love French Fries! No more motorcycles for ME! My sister loves swimming pools. Have a happy day. God bless…

My sweet Chrissy on her bike – close enough!!!

Typical day – sun, clouds, heat, a dabble of rain. But I was inside most of the day. Wednesday (big surprise!) is my cleaning day, which I did. I took some time this morning first thing to have a phone visit with my sister. We needed it! It was nice to catch up. We talked one hour and 2 minutes!

I got all the cleaning done and washed a load of towels. I had lots of trash to take up to the road, including 5 bags of lawn trash. They weren’t heavy (I packed them better) so I could do it myself. While I was up there I noticed that a few of the limbs on the front tree were hanging too low, so I clipped them off and bagged them, as well. There were several overgrown plants in the flower beds so I pulled them, roots and all, and tucked them into bags.

No — not like this….

By then I had taken inventory of the critters in my yard. First was a baby bunny, then a small dove sitting on the dismantled fire pit.

I needed a stone to prop up a wall, and when I went down the hill a robin flew out of a nest in terror and scared me to death! Once he was away, I peeked in and saw that there were 3 small blue eggs in the nest. You can’t see the nest unless you know it’s there – which I do now. Standing on the driveway, looking at Snoopy, the nest is straight up on the left from Snoopy’s black ear.

Three tiny eggs…

I also moved a few of the stones from the firepit to create a small barrier wall by the bench. That was a fairly easy move, but the rest of the stones will take some work to move. I’ll wait for help.

I think it looks pretty cool.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW July 10th is:

Don’t Step on a Bee Day; Gospel Day; National Kitten Day; Pick Blueberries Day; Teddy Bear Picnic Day.

I used to make a regular occurrence out of stepping on bees. I never wore shoes outside in summer. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a teddy bear picnic? We could share the gospel with them. God bless…