Let’s have a cup of tea

Last year I bought Sara a tea set for her birthday and every time I go down we have a tea party. Even Sean sits down with us.

A garden is a promise of tomorrow

My father was a gardener. I remember well those wonderful vegetables growing and how proud he was when he brought his pickings into the house. When they retired and moved to Georgia his garden was his pride and joy. He was a very creative and curious man and was always experimenting. He grew a square tomato, a stars and moon watermelon and giant pumpkins. Every time we would visit he would take us on the “five cent tour” around his property and show us his latest plantings….asparagus, fig tree, plum trees, and muscadine grapes as well as loofahs. 

   He would be very proud of his grandson Ryan who inherited his love of gardening.

Ryan’s garden is beautiful and bountiful this year. He gave me a large sack filled with zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers to bring home.
He has passed on his love to his son Sean who delights in helping him harvest.

Hot and muggy

Today was another warm day with temperatures in the eighties. We have two window air conditioners and spent our time in those two rooms. I'm not doing very well into the heat. I'm not getting too much done. I did try to weed a little in the area by the pond where the wild morning glory vine has just run wild. I have decided that I would pay to have someone do that for me. I guess I'm going to have to make that concession to my age.

I had my art lesson today. Adriana had taken a workshop and learned some new techniques and allowed us to experiment and try some new ways to paint. That is what I am loving about the class. She allows us to grow. I will be working on this painting which uses gold as its background for a few weeks since it has to build up the layers.

Diane, Linda and Josh.

 

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More lake pictures

I had a great time with my camera taking pictures of all that was going on at the lake house. No talking….just enjoy.

Love my apps

I love these two pictures.....one of Molly, my great niece and the other of my great nephew, Jackson and his dad.

 

And Sara and me.

 

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Home again

I love being on a vacation. It's a chance to get out of your everyday routine and do some new things. We arrived home after a week and half visiting family in Tennessee and Virginia. I had a fantastic time. Fourth of July weekend at the lake was a chance to see all of my sister's family as well as my own. There was so much activity with all of us that we were busy all the time. Then we went to Ryan's and you know playing with the little ones was my priority. We did do something special the last night I was there. We went to Dolly Parton's new show Lumberjack Adventure. It combined singing, dancing, and eating with lots of acrobatics and lumberjack activities like sawing and climbing and cutting wood. It had jugglers and arielists with lots of tumblers. There was also huge make believe costumed fur animals parading around for the little ones. Sean and Sara loved it. If you are even in Pigeon Forge I recommend it.

Now we are back home and you know how that goes...lots of catching up, putting things away, laundry...you know the drill. I won't be satisfied till it all gets back in order again. And wouldn't you know I had a little project for Don. I bought a screen to fit over the door opening so those darn flies wouldn't get in. I love having the doors and windows open in this wonderful summer we are having.

Of course any trip wouldn't be compete without shopping on my agenda. I got a great Coach purse, some new tops, and two tablecloths. Also a few new books. Knoxville has great shopping.

These next few days will be spent resting up. Of course that will be after tomorrow's doctor appointment, mammogram and bone density test. As my friend Joan says...I always have appointment the day I get back.

 

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Some excitement pictures.

Last night there was a little excitement in Seymour. We had gone for the afternoon over to Don's sister's house in Pigeon Forge for an afternoon of visiting and swimming. We took all three dogs with us and we were really glad we did. On the way home we stopped for dinner at Cheddar's. Of course we left the air in the car running the whole time for the dogs. Then on the way home we noticed very ominous clouds and it started to rain with lots of wind. We came upon a police car directing traffic around a fallen tree blocking the road. On up the road a few minutes later was another tree down. As we approached Seymour there were more signs of damage with trees down or branches snapped right of and lots of debris on the ground. The road to .ryan's house was blocked off because of downed wires and a tree so we went around another way. There were a lot of yards with trees snapped right down and on her street there were six trees fallen. The power was out and didn't come back on till four in the morning. It was reported as a tornado.

 

 

 

 

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Sunrise, sunset

Remember that song from Fiddler on the Roof? Sunrise, sunset...sunrise, sunset. Swiftly flow the years. That is how I feel when I visit my young grands here in Tennessee. Sara will be six at the end of this summer and Sean is eight. It seems each time I see them they have grown. On the doorway to the kitchen there is proof of that. Mom and dad are both tall and the kids are following in their footsteps with their long legs.

 

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Just let me be in a safe place.

 

Nine dogs and not one dog fight. A few skirmishes over territory now and then. But a lot of hair. And a lot of moving around. Sadie voluntarily went into Selma's cage just to have a quiet place to lay out of the fray.

 

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Band boy

 

Scott has always loved music. He started out on guitar but his real love is playing drums. This year he is in a band called Echo Threefold. He is the young one...he's 21...on the left. Scott is an expert on bands and can tell you every song and how to interpret the music.

U

 

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Fourth of July 2016

Hello once again my friends. I hope that your holiday was full of fun and exciting. I know mine was. Once again we went to the Lake House for the weekend. Here we are...eighteen people and nine dogs. Thanks Dan for the family portrait once again this year.

The Lake House is the perfect entertaining spot with so many nooks and crannies where everyone can find things to do.

Of course both the kids and adults enjoyed the hot tub after a swim in the lake.

Poker night was popular with the guys.

Sean became quite the pool shark.

There was lots of time for visiting and catching up with each other's lives.

 

 

And did I mention a lot of drinking..peach fizzes were a hit. And eating. On Saturday Ryan, Jenny and Chris fixed blueberry waffles for breakfast. Chris grilled hotdogs for lunch and the made his special bourbon burgers for dinner. Linda made a breakfast casserole and Diane delighted us with Grandma Eleanor's chicken pot pie. All that with special salads and desserts I made zucchini pie, Don made a Texas sheet cake. Yes, we did a lot of good eating.

We all loved it down at the dock. I loved being in the water floating on a raft. And the kids played games and swam all day. The older ones kayaked and went on the jet ski and boat. They also went to the marina for a fun time.

Since this post is getting a little long I'll save more for another time.

 

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