Open House.....

 I don't mind saying I am so mad...I was picking pictures to post and got these two , now my files seem to be locked up. I hate this new computer and windows 8. Well any way....here's Brock's cake. It really was cute. It says Rossville across the top and the little characters are wearing red caps and gowns as Rossville does, each one looked different.. I thought it was a perfect cake.

Liz, Brock's mom, had fixings for tacos in a bag.  Fruit, yogurt, cookies, and cup cakes also. Bottled waters. There were pictures, all over the house , of Brock ,from when he was an ultra sound(peanut)  till now.  If I am able to access the rest of my pictures, who knows when, I'll post more.  xo
 

T.G.I.F.......

  Good morning, it's Friday.  That used to mean more when I worked. LOL.  This is the  way it looks down the road when the sun starts to rise.

I love all the beautiful colors . Today will be another busy day. My grandson is having open house this afternoon and the graduation is tomorrow morning. Funny how fast that came about. Seems he grew in a flash. Wishing all of you a good weekend and lots of memories.  xo

Growing Things....

 This is my chicken pot. I put a red wave petunia in it. Hope it grows well. I wanted red flower this year. Oh by the way, my wild flowers did not come up. I wondered if there was even seeds in the saw dust like packing materials.

 This is a hosta on the east side of the house. It looks very nice this year. I think it may be time to split it up .

The big blue hosta around this tulip poplar tree, used to be near the shed, but got too much sun . So I split it last year and now I have four nice sized plants. Need to put mulch around this tree, hoping to keep slugs from finding the hostas. I don't think they like mulch, not sure..I know they hate salt. There's always the beer dish. I think they get drunk and drown. LOL Mom used to say she would try the beer dish, but then she would have to worry about dad drinking it. :):)
  Enjoy this great new day.  xo

Things Have Bloomed....

 This is our clematis, blooming just the past three days. I love the big flowers it produces.

 As you can see , it is loaded with flowers. Ted made this frame of wood and chicken wire.

 This is the plant that is called "Blue Eye" . I have no idea it's official name. Or why blue and not purple. :):). I bought one plant let it grow for a year, then split it into three plants.

 Here it is beside a clump of pachysandra.  Pachysandra is the hardiest thing I have ever grown. Gets about 8 inches high, will have yellow flowers ,late summer. Great border plant.

Now as I took this photo , I thought, I need to thin this bed out a bit. The evergreen "bird's nest" needs cut back. There's the barberry, pachysandra, mums, black eyed susans,and lilies. Also some sage plant. Right behind the evergreen is a container Ted made for the hose. I still have my pan for cleaning the hummingbird feeders beside it.:):) Wishing everyone a great day.  xo

Remembering...

 This is at Arlington Cemetery. Today each stone will have a flag beside it, in remembrance.

For all who gave their all, we are truly thankful. Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts.
   Hope everyone has a peaceful day today. xo

Good Morning......

A photo of the back yard just as the sun comes up. I like the reddish reflections of the sun on the trees.  This year doesn't seem to be a good year for me to get my own potting shed. We were planning to put it where you see that porch roof on the shed. It will have lots of windows, almost like a green house. Except that the roof is tin.
  Ted had two trip up this year. There's one graduation. Two weddings. A trip up north to help my daughter fix her sunroom roof. A few trips to help our SIL cut fire wood for the coming winter. I think we have too many irons in the fire. So I guess I will just have to be happy on the front porch.
   Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Being with family and friends. xo

What A Great Day......

  Here's the 5th grade class in their official goofy photo. Angie lets them get a goofy shot will posing for pictures. They seem to love that. I see Angie is right in there with them.

 The bus driver picked them this time , to take them back to school. They missed that hike back.

 Now this is the best class picture. I honestly have to say this was an adorable group of children.They were hungry when they got to Angie's. My grandson Jake and the bus driver's son did the grilling. Angie's keeps it simple, hot-dogs, chips, cookies/cupcakes, and a can of pop. I said simple, not healthy.LOL Those kids worked it off before they got there. They also played like they never wanted it to end.

Here comes the class down  the road.  They walked over a mile. I hope to see these children again , they were are good kids.  Sorry these photos are not in order.  Oh, the weather was the absolute best . :):)

Class Picnic....

Today I will be helping my daughter with her class picnic. She will walk all these children to her home for a day of games , fun ,and food. They get a workout. This photo is from Christmas. I am the big kid in red . LOL  Heck, I am the old kid too.
 My grandson Jake will be helping us today. He sub teaches at times, so all the kids know him. Maybe he can grill the hot-dogs while Angie gives them a Zumba class.  I will be busy braiding hair and polishing nails. Blessings for a great day. xo

Sister Visit....

  My sister Pam is visiting today. She is the blonde short one, in front, on the left. She is the one that I worked with for 30 years at G.M.
 When she comes out to visit, I make her lunch, and we watch our soap opera. When I fix her lunch today, I will make peas, baked potatoes , and salmon patties.  That's something we would have had growing up.  I know she never gets this any other time. The salmon patties .
  Once we eat, then start watching our soap...we gripe and complain about our favorite characters. Say what we would love to see happen. Oh by the way it's , The Young and Restless. We have watched since it first came on.  Silly, but fun. When we worked we missed it, unless we worked afternoons (2nd shift).
   The storms just missed us yesterday. I am thankful. But it did rain heavy and hail south of us. Golf ball sized hail in places. YIKES !!   Wishing everyone a good time today. xo

Catching The Sunset....

This is the setting sun , a couple days ago. I do not know what it happening with my blog photos. One day I can find and load the photos I want and the next nothing. It's not behaving as it should.  So this is a small post.
  I was going to show some outdoor pictures from around the yard. No luck. So I will write about it. Some things in our yard have suffered through the winter and the on and off start of spring. Our weeping cherry never bloomed it is leafing out but sparsely. The honeysuckle is not blooming only about a dozen leaves. The hydrangeas are just starting to get leaves....not real tall.  Our red bud tree only had a small haze of flowers up high. It is leafing at least. A couple Japanese maples are in poor shape. I tell Ted one is dead...he says let's wait.
  Well I can wish all of you a wonderful day. I think we are in for some storms. I truly hope nothing serious.  Stay safe, xo

Green Lawn....

 I have to say, the lawn is much greener after all the rain we had the past few weeks. I can still find some spots that need a bit more seeding. The past two days have been sunny and nice. That also helps with the grass growing.  I don't think the jasmine is going to be very full this year. Some things were hurt during the winter and the struggle spring had in arriving.
 Ted went golfing this morning. The fellows like to tee off early when the weather allows. Then they are finished early enough that the day still has plenty of time to do other things. Soooo, when Ted Bear gets home, we are going to the store to stock up on some things.
   Hope all of you have a great day. Wishing you some sunshine too. xo

Winning....

 This is a wonderful gift that I won from "cards4ubylouise" . I got this package in the mail last week from Louise.  She is an expert card maker.

  This is the bundle of cards she sent to me. A variety of cards. Beautifully made. Tied together with a pink ribbon and a butterfly clip. So charming.

  Yes, I stood on my head to get this shot....do computer have  gremlins ?? I sure did not take this picture upside down...but it too late to change it for me. Anyways, this is the nice tea Louise enclosed in the gift of so many goodies.

Earrings, she made by hand. This picture sure does show of pretty they are. Wish I had taken them from the package. There was hand cleaning gel, brag book, nice pin, a garden pick,tea, and the beautiful cards. Thank you so much Louise. :):)
  Wishing everyone a great day.   xo

Chubby Visitor .....

   Caught this little chubby squirrel eating hickory nuts. He sat there a long time enjoying his snacks.

 He threw his shells on the porch though. I better get him a waste can. Some times his friends and family are with him. We have quiet a few squirrels here. Not counting Teddy. LOL.

 Here's a picture of the little wheel barrow . I finally did get it painted. Put these potted impatiens , along with some pine cones, in it for now. What with the chilly days and all the rain we have had the past week...I still do not have things on the porch like I really want them. Just a thing here and there for the time being.
  Today the sun is out and it promises to be a great day. Enjoy it my friends, we never know what the afternoon will bring.  xo

Some Rain & A Bit of Sunset....

 This is one of the rains that rolled in here the past few days. It  looked a bit scary and had lightening .

But as the worst of it was past, the sweet sunset showed itself. I will love the sunshine any way I can get some. Even a sliver at sunset. LOL. Today is very pretty, but still on the chilly side.
  I went to my sister's , she was planting marigolds. They were a perky golden color. She has some wonderful poppies. They had taken a beating from all the heavy rains.  I swear, where is my camera when I need it?? Always home, never in my hands. My sister has purple and gold colors for her flowers. :):) 
 Hope you have a  great weekend . XO

Shipshewana, Indiana.......

 This photos are from a couple years ago . This is Amish country, Middlebury, Nappanee, and a few other little towns. This is the flea market in Shipshewana.

I would love to have about 10-20 of these baskets to hang around here. LOL   All of them are pretty. I have had some beautiful hanging baskets but they were never as big as this one hanging by the tent pole. Wow wee !!  It is still a bit chilly to be planting anything around here, but in a couple days , things will be warming up. Took Spring forever to get here and it keeps slipping . Soon it will be just right. I should just go ahead and get my flowers and pot them and keep them in the garage till I can put them out. ;):)  Wishing all of you a great day.  xo

Where Did Spring Go ???

 Gosh, it's cold out today.. .going into spring 46 degrees should be good. But it's not feeling so warm around here. This is after having 80's a couple days last week. The weatherman just said maybe snow flakes in the northern part of our state, Indiana. That is way to cold for me in May.
   There are containers of flowers such as these all through our town. Not all are in this type of container.  Some are urns on pedestals. It give the feeling of summer being near. LOL
  I hope some of you are having great weather and sunshine.  xo

Flower Shopping.....

 Saw these flowers at the Horton's greenhouse. I do not know what they are....Begonias??

 These next two photos are at Jean's Plants. Inside she has displays of potted plants and knick-knacks.

It is not a big shop, so getting  through with anyone else there is a tight squeeze. But I love to go look at things there. Jean or her husband Lee will visit with you, if they are not too busy. They do cut flower arrangements, potted plants, and balloons. The annuals are outside. Town was buzzing on Saturday. I liked seeing that.
 It rained here again last night and may thru the day. Hope all of you have a great day.  xo

Beading......

   When my daughter Kathy came down to visit, she stayed the night. We had the best conversations. Plus running around town and looking at things. This is some of the stuff she brought with her, to work on. She makes bracelets, from beads and buttons. She had some charms made from washers, clever, I thought. She gave her sisters some things she made. Kathy is my crafty girl.  I got the leopard print head band. :)
  With all my daughters here and my camera right on the coffee table, I still did not get pictures. They all have phones that take photos, and they did not get pictures.  So that proves we were really into our talking. LOL
   Hope everyone is having a good start to the week.  xo

Gifts.....

  This is one of the containers of flowers I got for mother's day. I left it out and the rains last night, beat it down, almost stripped the blooms off . It's a pink geranium and purple petunias. It'll pop back and be pretty again.

Here's pictures of my grandson who is graduating at the end of the month. Where did all those years go. Brock is a great young man, with a kind heart. He's been working as a waiter through this senior year. I have not seen much of him, it seems. His mother brought these photos to me on Mother's Day.
 I had the best Mother's Day with my daughters. Lots of wishes from the grandkids too.  I hope all of you had a beautiful weekend also.  xo

Love Your Mothers....

  Wishing all you a very happy mother's day. I have truly enjoyed mine, it started yesterday. Gifts of flowers, lunch, hugs, nice visits. Hope everyone gets some hugs for their children.  xo

More Park Pictures....

   Well actually this is not at the park :):) It's from in front of the house. This is Thursday's sunset.

  The park has many of these new benches, made of recycled plastics. They will never need painting  and won't rot. Sure will not be as hot as metal benches. They are dedicated to groups and individuals.

 This is a sheltered water fountain. Years ago, the water was cold and sweet. Today you couldn't pay me to drink out of one of these fountains. I noticed the shorter one's bowl was full of water...not draining. So yuck to that. I still love the old stones that were used in making it. Needs some  paint on the roof line. We will be celebrating our park being 100 years old this July.

I have always love this little earth bridge. It looks as if they have been working with the stone barriers. This leads to a walkway bridge over the creek. Lots of new trees were planted in this area. There's new playground things being installed. Some are for handicapped  children.  This is nice. All kids want to play. Hope your Saturday is wonderful.  xo

Flowering Trees.....

 These flowering crabapples are in front of a cute little house, Right on the main street going into town. I love how very bright they are, and just about the same size.

 This is the lilac bush(tree) , that my sister and I stood near just so we could smell that wonderful scent. This picture just doesn't show how very blue looking the flowers are.

 This white lilac is in the back yard where I grew up. Mom was so happy when she planted this bush. Daddy pulled his car into the yard once to wash and wax it and backed into this bush.....mom was not at all happy with him.  Dad staked it back up and it grew fine.

This kid's playhouse looked so cute, I had to get a photo. It has a wee flowering tree of it's own. I think the children who lived here are grown and gone now. Their father keeps it nice even now.
  Hope everyone has a great weekend. Don't forget your mothers on Sunday. If you still have your mother you are blessed. Hug her for me.  xo