Summer fun

Out to dinner with some friends then had them back to the house to play 5 Crowns. 

 Yesterday the landscapers came and reset the far back wall which had collapsed over the winter. They also put in new gravel. Now it looks great. 

The stargazer lilies are getting ready to bloom. I am certainly enjoying all the flowers this summer. We are still getting quite a bit of rain. Yesterday when I was at the farmer’s market a wall of water came moving in and I got to my car just in time. 

I’ve been taking time to read. This time I downloaded a book on my ipad using Libby. I don’t prefer to read on a device but this book kept my interest...Lincoln Child, Death Match. Read it all in almost one day. 

Wherever you are today I hope you take the time to do what you love. These summer days are short and we must enjoy every single one of them. 

Monoprinting

Tuesday at Mayville we did monoprinting where we painted on the backs of leaves and pressed them on paper. What fun.  

Today we took a trip to Erie to see a lung specialist for an opinion on some nodules found on Don’s lungs. After an X-ray, cat scan and PET scan they are noncancerous.  Thank God. 

Summertime

Off to Mayville to watercolor......busy summer...how I love it. 

A French picnic

If you know me at all you know that I love nothing better than to decorate and create vignettes. If I hadn’t been a teacher my dream job would be decorating windows in a big city or setting beautiful tables at events. I change my decorations with the seasons and now I am into summer. 

This little picnic vignette is on my baker’s rack.

So busy

It’s been raining for so many days here that I’ve lost count. The rain kept us in all weekend and we amused ourselves with dvd movies....I can recommend all of these even though Serenity was a little strange. 

I’ve been using the time inside to do some “spring” cleaning. Today I cleaned the basement and have a box for Goodwill. Then I cleaned the living room revitalizing the wood with oil. I also rearranged the bookcase and eliminated some things from the room in an attempt to simplify. 

I love this picture Wendy took of us....

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Still painting

I must say that I am enjoying my painting classes so much since I’ve been painting flowers. I love flowers and being able to interpret them on canvas is very satisfying to me.  This is the last acrylic painting for my Bradford class since our instructor is off to Europe and then teaches a residency in a nearby town all summer. 

But I will continue to watercolor at Mayville and at home. I bought some Japanese watercolor paints from Amazon and love the rich colors. 

Summer blooms

It was June and the world smelled of roses....

The knockout roses are just beginning to bloom. It is just the start of our flower season here in Pennsylvania and I look forward to enjoying these pink roses all season long.  

I changed this side of the picket fence area this year adding the azalea and a pot of hydrangeas. I like how it looks much better now. 

The little herb garden is doing well this year. 

Look at all the flowers on the climbing hydrangea this year. It has never bloomed so profusely before. You can see that it has almost smothered the peonies below. 

I also planted two pots of heather around the waterfall. Just a few more touches and all will be ready for summertime. 

It takes a village

Thank goodness for my son who came on .Saturday to help us with some outdoor work. It’s wonderful to have a strong guy around. Chris put a liner in our pond, filled it and started the pump working. When we were sitting around the fire that night a little toad was singing for us.  

In the evening we went to the Red Lobster for Don’s birthday dinner. On the way home we went through Allegany State Park and stopped at Science Lake. It is a beautiful area and we are lucky to have it so close to us.  

Wendy also helped as she trimmed bushes while I carried away all the trimmings. The front of the house looks so much better now.  

Chris removed a tree trunk and in its place planted an Azalea. 

What’s happening?

These days are extremely busy. Tuesday Cece and I went to Mayville to paint. Doing watercolors in such a beautiful setting on Chautauqua Lake is good for my soul.  Here is my latest.  

Yesterday was Don’s checkup at the Lung doctor. Everything went well and he had a chest X-ray while we were at the hospital. 

I’m having fun wearing my summer clothes finally.  

Today we continue with our garage cleaning.  

MOre Memorial Day pictures

Here are a few more pictures from Chris' Memorial Day picnic....