A quiet weekend

It has been a rather quiet weekend here at the Karrasch’s. Don is in recovery mode and had some back pain yesterday. He can’t drive yet and really didn’t feel like going anywhere so we just layed low all day.
  Today we are invited to a picnic at Myra’s restaurant in Smethport. Don’s stepbrother Jim and his wife are in town and there will be a Lasher get together. It will be nice to have all the family together. We have been so lucky to have this side of our family in our lives.  Only one of Don’s sisters originally from Bradford keeps in touch with us. We are so thankful to have her in our lives. Family means a lot to us.

It’s all Good

Don’s surgery yesterday in Erie went perfectly. He has a graft that sits inside the walls of his aorta in his abdomen which allows the blood to freely flow and eliminates the aneurysm. The doctor was well respected in the hospital and it felt good to be in such competent hands. The surgery took less than 2 hours and we found everyone who cared for him pleasant and professional. Don didn’t even have any pain at all after the surgery until after the ride home on that bumpy route 86. He had to take a pain pill then. He will be allowed to resume normal activities in a day or two except for heavy lifting and driving. We see the dr again in a month and then he will have to have cat scans every 6 months for a few years. All went so well.

SAY A LITTLE PRAYER

Sometimes I feel like arms are wrapped around me. That’s how I feel now when I know all my family and friends are supporting Don in his upcoming surgery. It is wonderful to have such a large support system to send you love right when you need it the most…times of difficulty. It makes it easier to bear knowing that there are people out there who are genuinely concerned and willing to help. Thank you everyone. You make me feel so loved.

Poppies everywhere

The bright colors of these Pottery Barn poppy napkins were the inspiration for my table today.


I haven’t used my gold Fiesta plates in quite awhile but their color worked  well with the golds of the napkins.



The hammered chargers were a Goodwill find a few years ago and I found the jungle placemats at Walmart last year.



My older amber goblets and bamboo flatware completed the look.

 


How do you set a large table for only two? I usually end up placing the centerpiece at one end. In all the old movies you see the husband and wife at each end of the table. Doesn’t that seem funny now?


The gold vase is filled with poppies (faux…I’m afraid. Here is rural Western Pennsylvania we don’t have access to wonderful cut flowers as you all do)
 
Thank you for visiting my table. For more tablescapes be sure to visit Susan and Between naps on the Porch on Thursday.
   

THAT LOOKS BETTER

Yesterday Don and I spend quite a few hours redoing the landscape around the picket fence area. It was the first time I have used the “orange colored” mulch and I think I like it. It gives such a neat appearance to the area. It has cooled off considerable here in Bradford with highs just in the 80’s and nice cool sleeping weather.

THE MORNING POND

Take a deep breath. Can you feel the refreshing morning coolness and smell the fresh air after a rain? Early morning is the best time to gaze at the pond resplendent in all its summertime glory. Relax. It’s going to be a spectacular day.

 

Not before, not after….but during

What’s this you say? Yep, I know it’s a mess. I forgot to take a before picture but rain out between the raindrops to take this “during” shot. I’ve been wanting to do something with this ….ah-hem…usually nice looking area by my back door. This summer it got waaaaay overgrown and I couldn’t stand it one more day so I went out this morning in the heat to pull weeds. Don joined me with his electric trimmer and shaped up the bushes and trimmed the quick growing trumpet vine that threatened to bar my back door. We didn’t get it cleaned up right away because a quick moving, large droplet rain doused the area. My next task is to go and get some mulch while Don is cleaning up the droppings. He had already removed the old picket fence, bought a replacement and painted it. It is just waiting for us to finish.  I am more convinced by the minute that I need to hire a gardener soon!

  

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN IT’S HOT?

Whew! What do you do these hot days to cool off? We are experiencing a wave of heat, the likes we haven’t seen in quite a while. It’s into the nineties day after day. Luckily, we have one room that has a window air conditioner which keeps us cool. It doesn’t even cool down at night and I find if I keep the bedroom windows closed and let the ceiling fan blow on me at night that it is tolerable sleeping.
   Today I went to water aerobics and that water felt wonderful. I sometimes have to talk myself into going, since I am not the exercise type, but once I get there I love it. Since it’s so hot today I don’t plan on doing any more than catching up on my reading. Don is keeping busy painting the breezeway gate.
(with Sadie keeping a close watch)

SADIE AND LEANNE

Sadie loves company and she had a great time in the pond with Leanne.

I improvised a clothesline to take advantage of our HOT (93 degree) weather.




These peppermint phlox were so pretty I couldn’t resist. I’ll have to find a spot for them in my garden.



The cosmos are climbing right up the wire garden ornament.

GLASSES

Yesterday I took a trip to St. Mary’s to my eye doctor fully intending to get some new glasses, only to find out that because of the laser procedure that I had a few months ago prevented it. It takes 3 months for the swelling in the eye to go down and settle into your final prescription. So I picked out some frames and will get my glasses on July 15th when I have my next eye exam. Here are the Kate Spade designer glasses I picked out. There were people in the office and every one of the 5 people there assured me that these frames looked terrific on me. Hope they are right!

SOMETIMES A GIRL GETS LUCKY

Today Don has on his “appliance repairman” hat as he fixes our refrigerator. I’ve noticed for about a week that water has been dripping from the freezer into the bottom of the refrigerator. Don took out all the food and saw that a hose was frozen shut. He thawed it out and cleaned out the whole refrigerator.
    Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have such a talented husband. He has such a great knowledge of how to fix things around the house. He’s an electrician, plumber, car mechanic, landscaper, and the list goes on and on. Not everyone can have their own handyman. How lucky am I?

WOULDN’T YOU KNOW

The day started with such grandiose plans. We haven’t seen our friends, Aline and Jerry for quite a while and today we planned a lovely day of boating and eating lunch at a waterside restaurant, Docksiders. I packed a little cooler with drinks and snacks for a great day on the water. The temperature was a warm 82 with a cooling breeze. Everything was perfect…..well, not! When we got to Willow Bay we discovered than Don had left a fish finder on in the boat and completely drained the battery…no boating today. We were so disappointed, especially me.  The day wasn’t a total loss. We stopped by The Willows for lunch and then had dessert at my house followed by a game of Five Crowns.  Sadie is even put on her company manners and then swam in the pond showing off.

A little of nothing

Just a little relaxing day today. After the humidity and heat of yesterday the 70 degree temperatures were welcomed. Even Sadie took it easy and laid around. I spent a lot of time on the computer today. Just like the old days of winter I seem to have a lot to do. I wanted to download my vacation pictures to disks to send to my sisters. Then I ripped a Cd Linda sent me and burned it on my Walkman. I worked a little on changing up the music on my blog. Don is busy painting new pickets for our fence (see picture..LOL) I made a delicious beef stew for dinner. Just one of those days. The summer is passing by so fast. Next weekend is the fourth of July already. We don’t have any plans. Chris will be here and will go fishing with his dad. Love these days!

More Pictures of Sean

SEAN GETS A NEW ROOM

With the new baby girl expected this September Sean got a new bedroom. Ryan painted the spare bedroom and Sean got a theme from the movie, Cars, which is his favorite. He has car bedding, a bunk bed, and now a tv in his room. He’s such a big boy now…and only 2.

One of those days

My, it’s been one of those days. I started out with very good intentions. I took Sadie for a walk on the trail and then intended to go to water aerobics after coffee with the girls. An emergency call from my girlfriend sent me taking her to the vet with her very sick dog. Then I planned to do some cleaning around the house and…oops…my jaw (read tooth) started hurting and I had to take Ibuprophen and lay down for awhile. Then I made some phone calls arranging our next Red Hat outing. And then I spent time (read frustrating!) trying to get my printer to work…finally successful. Sadie is discovering that she can pull the fence out at the bottom so we’ll have to do something about that before she does her Houdini act again. My day has just been a mish-mash. I hope it was better at your house. LOL                                                      This statue in Savannah shows a girl who waved hello and goodbye to all those men who went to sea. What a job!

Tablescapes

Inside…….


The table is set for two. The little white birds are salt and peppers from Pier One.

 
Don’t you love the napkin rings from Pottery Barn that match my bird cage?

Outside, too…..

I welcome any chance to remind myself of Provence.

Splash

 

One of the most interesting things we saw in Savannah was this square. It used to be a parking garage and they put the parking underground to make this large gathering place. All day children were enjoying the cool water shooting out of the colored holes in the plaza. It made me wish I was a kid again.

A COOL DAY

I’ts a cool 65 degrees outside today with off and on light rain. That suits my mood which is very calm. After yesterday’s trauma (a visit to an oral surgeon for some not-so-nice root cleaning and Don’s trip to the dr. to find out he has to have surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurism) I welcome this day to just lay low. I am not in any pain, but my body feels exhausted as it is trying to heal.  Don has left for Lake Erie to fish in a tournament with his buddy and I have the house to myself (with Sadie). I’m planning on taking it easy for a few days. This beautiful fountain is in Savannah.