Landscaping continues

The landscapers were here yesterday and weeded and cleared out under the weeping cheery. Today they are back and hope to get the topsoil in and the beds ready for planting.
It really looks empty now with everything gone. We have been getting ready for Don’s unbirthday party on Saturday. He will be seventy and it’s a good cause to celebrate. The outdoors is looking good.
 

Life

Kim Klassen’s lesson for today was to find a quote about life and use it with a picture.

Big Question

I am so wondering what my new landscape will look like.

Landscaping Part three

It’s the start of a holiday weekend so only two kids showed up to weed the back bank yesterday. They took out an overgrown forsythia bush and some tiger lilies that had been there forever. It’s hard to see some things go that I planted, but I hope the end result will be worth it. Right now it looks pretty blank.

landscaping part two

It’s the end of the day and all the workers have left. There were three younger people weeding the back bank and pulling out all the buttercup roots. They worked hard but still it was a difficult task.

It looks very different.

So does the area by the picket fence.
It has really opened things up.

All of the shrubs are gone except for one rhody that was saved.

It’s amazing how you notice the stone.


It looks very bare right now.
I can’t wait to see what the landscape architect has planned for me.  

Landscaping Part one

Take a deep breath.  That’s what I’m telling myself as we have made a major decision to completely relandscape around our home. We have been here almost 40 years now and have loved the location. It’s a great place to live on a quiet street. Because our house is brick it has been easy to care for. We have changed some things around the house since the addition by adding a courtyard and bank landscaping. We also added a picket fence garden area around the side. But we’ve never done too much to the front over the years.
     In the spirit of “one thing leads to another” we thought about having professional landscapers come in and help us with a problem we’ve had out back on our bank. There was water in one spot that we couldn’t deal with. Then we  decided that why not completely redo the front of the house too and bring it up to date with new landscaping. After contacting Tom O’Brien we made a plan and today the landscapers are here.
  Yes, the rhodies are beautiful this time of year, but so overgrown.
    Now they are gone except for one I’m keeping in the front which will be trimmed back.
All of a sudden you can see more of the front of the house and the lovely stonework.



The large bushes near the house on the side have been taken out leaving a large space and opening it up. I’m lovin’ it already.

Aging

Seventy isn’t old its it? Don will be celebrating that milestone soon. The body changes that’s for sure. There is a loss of stamina, energy, and strength. And the mind changes too. But in a better way. All those lessons of the past pay off as you don’t worry about things the way you used to. And you don’t let little things bother you so much. And you find more peace with life. I’m enjoying the winter of my life very much.

Are you lurking?

Do you know what a “lurker” is? A lurker is someone who reads a favorite blog almost every day but never stops to say hello. Yes, that’s right. A lurker never leaves a comment in the comments section. I’ve done it countless times and I’ll bet you have too.
  In light of that a gal on the web declared Monday, May 21st to be De-Lurking Day. That means that if you are reading this you MUST click on comment and leave a little note.
  It mystifies me to see that I have had 753 total visitors since the end of February from 23 different countries. It makes me wonder how they found my blog and what they think of it. OFten my live traffic feed shows not only people from my state of Pennsylvania, but from British Columbia or New Mexico. I wonder who they are and how they discovered me.
  So in honor of national De-Lurking Day would you do me a favor. Click the little button below. And if I can link back to you, please let me know. This could be VERY INTERESTING.

The Rat Pack is Back

Do you remember the Rat Pack? Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford

The Rat Pack was the name given to a few choice friends of Frank Sinatra who performed and caroused with him in the early 1960s.

The Rat Pack was never an official title -- the name is said to have been borrowed from a group of drinking buddies of Humphrey Bogart who were dubbed a "rat pack" by Bogart's wife Lauren Bacall. But the name stuck to Sinatra's gang, and nostalgia for the Rat Pack only seems to increase as time goes by.

The Pack's high-water mark came in 1960, when the group hit Las Vegas to make the spoofy heist film Ocean's Eleven. Sinatra and chums filmed during the day, did two live shows nightly at The Sands, and drew crowds and publicity wherever they went.

Last night Don and I were taken back to the sixties to see a Las Vegas show featuring Rat Pack look alikes and sound alikes at the Seneca Allegany Casino.
  Up on a smoky stage the boys sang and joked amid drinking and cigarette smoking. The lighting and costumes were first rate and made the show even more enjoyable. They even featured a woman singer who could really belt out a tune. It was a fun evening.
    Before the performance we had dinner with my friends Yrsa and Charlie at Meyer’s steak house in Salamanca. I dined on a Tuscan chicken dish while Don had a delicious Prime Rib.
   What a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Dan

That handsome boy on the left is my grandson Dan. His roommate Omar graduated this year from Penn State. Dan has one more year. For the summer he has an internship with Tyco Electronics in engineering. I am so proud of him.

Here he is with girlfriend Gretchen.

Kinzua Kuties

The Kinzua Kuties formerly known as our Red Hat group traveled to Buffalo today to have lunch at the Roycroft Inn.

The Inn's restaurant allows guests to dine amongst arts and crafts history. The Executive Chef's artisan inspired menu features many locally produced and seasonal ingredients. The Sunday brunch was voted the best in the area and Zagat Survey has named the Roycroft Inn "best bang for your buck."

Four dining areas offer guests relaxing ambience and atmosphere. The library with an original stone fireplace is a warm and intimate setting. The Hubbard Hall with its vaulted ceiling and beautiful woodwork is reminiscent of the English inspiration of the Roycroft. The Larkin Room with its beautiful windows overlooks the courtyard garden and in the warmer months, the Peristyle providing for memorable outdoor dining.

The Roycroft Campus, the Roycroft way of life and its story began in 1897 with Elbert Hubbard a legendary man of vision who founded the American Arts and Crafts Movement in East Aurora NY. For more than 20 years, the Roycroft Campus was a center of entrepreneurship, creativity and learning. It was a hub of activity with over five hundred working artisans and craftsmen and drew visitors from faraway places.
I ordered a turkey salad with dried figs, toasted walnuts, and a large wedge of Brie. Mary Ann Fensel, a former Bradfordian who lives nearby in Orchard Park, met us for lunch and then led us to a wonderful bakery and flower shop.
We stopped nearby the Inn at the arts and crafts gift shop which was full of wonderful things. Next we went to Viddler’s five and ten for some old fashioned shopping.


This gift shop called the Cottage was full of MacKinzie Childs black and white checked items.

We had a wonderful trip.

Random Memory

One of the challenges out there in blogland was to find the 7th photo in your 21st album. I like this kind of random selection so I went to look and this is what I found. Don in the apple tree. We have a huge crab apple tree in our front yard.



Once Don decided to graft on some regular apple branches to it. Many years later each fall we enjoy a large crop of granny smith apples for pie. He is very proud of his tree. You can see the branch of white blossoms that were grafted on.

Another beautiful day in Pennsylvania

It’s a little cool, sixty-six gut sunny here today. I just got back from having my eyes checked. They are holding their own which is good. I had eye surgery in 2006 and lost clear vision in my left eye. I still have a lot of distortion which doesn’t allow me to read print in my eye. But with cataract surgery the clarity has improved. After all I’ve been through with that eye I’m happy with that report.
   Today a landscaper is coming to see about doing some outdoor projects around the house. The outdoor work has gotten to be too much for us this year. And it’s time for some updated bushes and trees. It will be interesting to see his ideas. This picture was taken a few years ago. The rhododendron have grown even bigger since this picture was taken.

Random thoughts

My boys

Chris is a “Mr. FIx It”. Here he is fixing Rose’s gift. It is a jar candle holder with a light to melt the wax. Scott is showing Rose something on his Ipod. Those devices are amazing.