More projects...

We've been busy!

(At least my husband has.  Well, I have too, but who wants to see my cleaning jobs!)

Another project we just finished was our office.  We put in wood floors and moved the HUGE sofa sleeper couch downstairs.  The balance in the room is much better now and the new chair is a great place to read or take a nap.  The paint color isn't quite right, but we will live with it for now since it is pretty new, and we have plenty of rooms that need painting more.

Yesterday we found geraniums at Shopko for 27 cents.

They are a little droopy, but should come around. 

I used them to fill in all the flowers that I have "killed".

Hopefully, they will soon look like these.

(photo from Google.com)

And not like the ones I had to dig up, like these.

(photo from Google.com)

Now I am looking forward to some lazy summer days.

In fact, I think I hear some lemonade calling my name!

Do you think anyone will notice if I don't finish cleaning my bedroom closet?
Do we really need the bed uncovered?

♥

JoAnn

Project update.....

The fence is finished!

  I still need to uncover some of my plants that got buried and I need to clean up the grass line, 

but it looks so much better than before.

Thank you, Ken, for all your hard work!

Thanks to Katie for helping paint.

Our neighbor wanted her teenage son to help and so thanks to Chris and his friend, too!

Before:

After:

Now.....

I have visions of beautiful roses growing through the pickets.

Maybe like this:

(all of these images are  from Google.com)

or this....

I love these pink roses, too.

Sigh!

Maybe someday.....

♥

JoAnn

Independence Day....

Happy Birthday, America!

A lot of history has happened since July 4, 1776.

Thank you to all  whose bravery and sacrifice have made our lives safe and comfortable.

Thank you!

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

-Elmer Davis

"We can't all be Washingtons, but we can all be patriots."

-Charles F. Brown

I LOVE AMERICA!

Have a great (and safe) holiday.

♥

The Wonder Years.....Maddie's new bike

Maddie got a new bike for her upcoming birthday.

She is all set and ready to go with her blinking helmet and her determined, concentrated look.

She and Grandpa went all the way around the block- TWICE!

Someone else is all ready to go, too.

The helmet's a bit too large.  Her legs don't quite reach.

But Brooklyn doesn't care.  She is willing and eager.

Now, if only she could see.....!

♥

 

Death of a fence.....and the passing away of a great artist

Our side fence had been showing some signs of aging.

Probably due to all those years when the kids played games balancing on its top railing.

It zigged and zagged along the property line.

A strong wind could easily have knocked it down.

We even had to prop it up in a few places.

The flowers had to compete for attention!

Some of our family were here for dinner last night and we mentioned that we were thinking of putting up a new fence.  Within minutes the whole family was out side knocking the old fence down.  (You know it must have been really ugly since everyone was so eager to demolish it and the temperature 

was at least 97 degrees!)

We all got caught up in the action and before we knew it the old fence looked like this.

 

We forgot to pull out the camera until everyone was finished and most had gone, 

but THANKS for helping us!

P.S. We did have the permission of our neighbor who eagerly watched the whole process AND we are planning on some great fires in our fire pit.

Should I be feeling some remorse for losing a part of our past?

Hmmmm...

I don't!

P.P.S.  Today a great artist passed away. 
Arnold Friberg painted one of my favorite pieces (we have it hanging in our den),
The Prayer at Valley Forge. 
He was 96 years old and lived in Salt Lake City.

This painting inspires me.

(photo from Google.com)

♥

Vacation report.....

It was an amazing vacation!

Michelle and Katie returned from their trip to Mexico with the Bairds and had a great time.

Sun.

Sand.

Ocean.

Fun.

Katie, Audrey, Michelle, Melissa, Linda (with David in the above photo)

Vendor carving mangoes. 

Eating mangoes.

Relaxing.

Making memories.

Sigh!!!

They'll  be back!

♥

Youthful energy.....I wish

Getting older is not always a bad thing.

We gain some wisdom that we didn't have when we were younger and we do get to
experience a lot of different things.

 (I really would not want to be a teenager again and deal with all those issues!)

However....

One part that I don't enjoy is not having as much energy as I used to.

I find that I can't accomplish as much in one day as I did a few years ago.

Not a problem for this little girl.

Our house has an "island" and you can loop around and around in a circle.

Maddie's mom had just returned from girls' camp with a floppy hat and some glow sticks for Maddie and boy was she excited. She walked about 50 laps.  She was trying to catch Uncle Robbie who managed to keep ahead of her. 

After that fun wore off, she had a great time leading Great Grandma and Grandpa in some
glow stick aerobics.

Are you tired yet?
Don't you wish we could borrow some of her energy?

I'm linking up with Mary's Little Red House Mosaic Monday.

Go and check out some fun mosaics.

♥

JoAnn