Zoo Picnic & Crafts....

   Saturday my son in law's company had their picnic at the Indy Zoo.  Here's Emily and daughter Layla holding hands with Max and his mommy Lynzie.

 Layla and Max were very well behaved the whole day. They loved the dolphin show.

 On Saturday, daughter Angie , painted this mural in a nursery for our step granddaughter Margo. Margo and husband Ricky are having a baby boy in September and naming him Leo.

Daughter Kathy, not to be out done, :):)...made a beach bag out of a produce bag and old t-shirts for her sister Angie.   Kathy and Angie had gone on a day trip about a month ago...they saw some tunics , beach cover-ups, and dresses made of odd scraps of materials and t-shirts. So Kathy gathered some of Angie old tees and made her this bag plus a beach cover up. I do not have picture of  the cover-up yet.  I think my daughters all have some artistic talent.
  Wishing everyone a great day, stay cool. XO

The Horizon....

  When I look toward my hometown of Tipton, my horizon ,has a woods to the left, a clumps of three big oaks . In the little gap at the woods I can see our courthouse. I have seen this shot for 12 years.

  When I use a telephoto shot you can see the tower of the courthouse a bit. It's five miles away.

  There's oak trees on both sides of the gap.

  In this shot you can see the trees on the left have some trees missing close by.

 Creating this new gap. There's a  logging company cutting the woods , down the road.

   This was my original view . I knew if I looked thru the gap in the three trees on the right, I would see my home town. Believe me when I tell you, this view helped me so much when we moved here. I cried for a whole month after moving here.  I had lived in Tipton all my life , but for one summer when my parents moved us to a smaller town....then we moved back to Tipton.

  This was my view Friday evening. When we returned home from visiting my daughters.

 This morning... I asked Ted why would they leave the one oak, he said maybe it was twisted, or they are not finished down there in the woods. It made me feel sad about the big trees being cut. But I know the saplings will grow and it will  become a big woods again.. At least I hope they don't do a total clearing. I wanted to shout, "Hey, we need those trees for oxygen"
  I never thought as a kid growing up that I could care about trees , other than climbing them. I am happy that I have planted many trees in town and out here.  Oh not  all have made it , but I keep trying. :):)
  Since the Emerald Ash Bore has killed about every ash tree in Indiana, you will notice how many ash trees were around our area. When you see a stand of dead trees, such as in our city park, you can bet they are ash trees. Our town is cutting them all out of the park, for safety and beautification. In the mean time, I will have to adjust to my new horizon.
   Wishing all of you a beautiful Sunday. XO

Before & After....

 Look at this coffee table. My daughter Liz 's friend was going to throw this table out and Liz asked her if she could have it. Liz dragged it home and when we were visiting, she asked Ted if he would put a piece of plywood on top. This just made Ted laugh out loud. We brought the table home with us and Ted took it apart. Sanded it all down.  He made some new slats of walnut and mixed them every other one with the oak slats.  Re-assembled the table. Put on a nice new finish .

  This is the after picture. Now this table goes along with the bench Ted made for Liz.  I told Liz she better not show this to her friend, because she will want it back .LOL

 Daughter Angie and I got away for a morning of shopping . I picked up some t-shirts and a pair of summer pants.

 We had lunch at Mc Allisters.  I orders the spicy southwestern  chicken sandwich with potato salad.  I ate all the potato salad and half the sandwich and brought the other half home ....which Ted loved. :) Angie had a pick two...half a sandwich along with the cherry/spinach salad, with cherry vinaigrette  dressing.  It was all very good . It was a fun day out with Angie. We had not had anytime together since school let out.  Next weekend is our all girl get away. My four daughters  and I are going on a mini vacation. :):)
   Today is starting out as pretty as the beginning of the week. It may cloud up and could get a pop up shower. I am going to water the plants anyway. Wishing everyone a great weekend. XO

Weeding....

  I know dear friends....weeding ....what a snooze fest. LOL  This is my red nancy plant before I pulled the grasses . It looks lavender, so I have always wondered why it was called red nancy. Do you know?

  Coral bells at the back door. It's so good and hardy. No coral bells yet, they come a bit later.

 West side of the house is all lilies, irises and one lavender plant.

  This lily is blooming now.  The strangest thing, I have found two purple irises mixed with my lilies and I have never had them before. :):)

   This is the blooms of the catalpa tree. They are very pretty, but like all flowering trees, don't you wish the blooms could last longer. The tree is at it 's  prettiest today.

  The winds have taken some blossoms off , I tell Ted , "Honey it's snowing". He knows exactly what I mean.

 This is what it looks like once the blooms fall off the tree. They will shrink away after being in the sun.

 Early this morning. This is a pretty sight for me as I wash dishes at the sink, or prepare food. I feel so blessed. To get up and see this in the morning hours and have some good coffee. I try to count my blessings everyday. It's 61 degrees here at almost 10 in the morning and no humidity...one of the sweetest days. I call this Vegas weather, I don't know why...it may be because you can wear a light weight sweater or go sleeveless.
   Wishing all a beautiful day.  Be happy .    XO.

Great Weekend....

  I spent some time playing around on the porch.  I put my lemon balm in this planter with a petunia. Hope they like each other.

  The wee rose bush that I hold in trust for my daughter Kathy ( given to her by her son)....bless this rose bush, it bloomed  a nice rose this weekend.  I have almost lost this rose bush a few times.

   The spirea bushes have filled out and look nice .

   The skies looked like this, almost the entire weekend. But it did cloud up yesterday late afternoon and rained hard. The wind blew our flag pole over. It had broken off at the ground. So that is one of Ted's projects today...mending it. The wind wasn't that hard but after so many bad windy days it caught up to us. Right before it rained, I had been pulling weeds in the flag pole flowerbed. LOL

  I have been meaning to show this little announcement of Luke's  birth. Lynzie and Mark sent these out to family and friends.  The card reads..Peace is knowing God is here. Inside says, May God our father shower you with blessings and fill you with his grace. ( Colossians 1:2 ) It was a hand written thank you from Mark and Lynzie for our baby gifts to Luke. Lynzie is so good about sending thank you notes. Yes, hand written too.  Love that.

Wonderful Sunny Days...

  Look at this beautiful sky. We have had some perfect days lately. Our Catalpa tree is in bloom.

  These pretty blossoms will fall off in a few days and it will look like snow in the back yard. If you drive along roads here in central Indiana  this week, you can spot these trees in the woods. Their blooms make them stand out.

  I put some pink and white petunias into a pair of kid boots  that I painted blue .  We have this wooden wagon near the shop full of ground cover, Pachysandra.  Oh you know I have painted that little wagon many times. LOL

   The peanut containers I painted like a flag were still good enough to use again this year. So I popped in some red petunias and put them on the old fence post bench.

  I have this little figure made of terra cotta pots and his head broke. I can not find any of my little plants pots, so I painted a butter container and put some marigolds in for his hair. Hope it works. LOL.

  More pink and white petunias and some dusty miller.

  The same in this concrete planter that used to be my mom's.

  Also in bloom here is my African violet, that my daughter gave me for my birthday in January. That's  a long time for me to keep a house plant alive. :):)
  Wishing all of you a pleasant  day. We will be relaxing around here.   Enjoy your weekend. XO

Grand Time....

  I finally got over my cold and could have time with the great grandbabies. I held Luke and cuddled with him for a long time. He is so sweet.  He has his mommy's blue eyes . I say his hair is auburn. Liz(gigi) tells me I say that about all the grands.LOL

 Luke's mommy (Lynzie) holding  her big boy, Max. He is waving as I take his picture.  He is learning so quickly . If you ask him," where is your baby brother ?" , he will point  and say "Luke". Just adorable. Max loves the chicken at his Gigi's house, so he tries to copy the cackling and the rooster's crow.  So much fun .

  Layla came to gigi's for lunch with her mommy and daddy. She seems to be growing up too. She's in preschool.  She loves Sam the dog so much, she gets a throw and covers him, talking as if comforting him the whole time. I hope I get to spend more time with them at these ages. Watching children learn is heart warming.
   Hope all of you are doing well. Enjoy this day. XO