Subtle changes

The front door has needed some painting for some time now,

 it's just one of those things we just keep putting off. 

Yesterday my Sis-in-love michelle spurred my ambition when she posted 

all the things she was getting done around the house..... Thanks Michelle  :)

 It's not a dramatic color change, but I do like it better. 

Of course the lighting never does it justice.

Thanks to my hubby for painting....not one of my favorite things to do. 

The thing that I am good at is telling him all the places he missed  :)

 (someones got to do it)

Beach babes

Yesterday Audrey and I spent the afternoon at the beach. 

This little girl loves to swim and she loves to make friends.

 She met, and played with several little girls while we were there

Takin' a break for a little snack

Back in the day

Wordless Wednesday

A night with my honey...Under the stars

The things Rick & I do now for entertainment are very different from a few year ago.

We look for things out of the ordinary, 

we don't really have to plan anymore,

we can leave at the drop of a hat, 

there are no schedules to keep up with but our own.

Friday night was one of those nights...

We ended up here, at the Rochester (olmsted county) History center

in the outfield of the Rochester roosters ball field!

We weren't here to watch baseball.....

...but we did come to watch a movie under the stars

 That's right, we sat in our lawn chairs (under the stars) and enjoyed a 1955 movie called

"To Catch a Thief" 

never in my life would I have thought to watched this movie

 (in the comfort of my own home),

 but this night I did...

and I enjoyed it! 

I'm sure we will have a few more movie dates 

this summer (under the stars), 

I'm looking forward to a few more that I've never seen.

 click on the link below maybe, you'll want to join us for a date night under the stars!

movies under the stars

I call it bartering

My neighbors have been gone for almost 3 weeks now,

 they are getting married at some castle in the hills of  Denmark.

So anyway I'm watering their outdoor plants and taking care of the lawn as well. 

So today as I'm mowing their backyard I stop to admire these beautiful very large flowers.

I have always loved them and wished they were mine for cutting.

 So as i mowed, I justified that these beauties needed to occupy a vase in my home.

Otherwise they would just go to waste, the owners aren't even there to admire them, so It is my job to do that because I'm looking after the yard for them...right?

I threw in a few phlox from my own garden to give the arrangement a pop of color!

I love having fresh flowers in the house....and it didn't cost me a thing!

My first Groupon

Groupon, is a Deal-of-the-day website that features discounted gift certificates usable at local or national companies. The on-line company was launched in November of 2008.

It offers coupons for an array of services such as Trips, massages, make-overs, golfing, restaurants, horse riding, kayak trips, and jewelry just to name a few!

The one that caught my eye was the 16X20 wrapped canvas print (made from your own photo)
I knew just the one I wanted to print
It involves my grandchildren of course  :)

I paid $40.00 for this beautiful print, normal price was $120.00

Right now I have it in the "grandchildren room"

 (It used to be my daughters room)

Now, everytime I walk down the hallway, I get to see these two sweeties.

Music to my ears

How many of you remember the sweet sound of the Ice cream truck ?

If you never had one growing up, maybe you saw it in  a movie and could only wish  

you had one come by your house.

 We have lived here 25 years and I dont think we've ever seen one in the neighborhood. 

(maybe my memory fails me, Cheri? )

Last night my daughter and the family were over and low & behold... 

the music coming down the street was undeniably that of a Ice cream truck

 The music is piped out of a loud speaker and it reminds me of circus kind of tunes

Pictures of the ice cream treats are posted on the side of the van

 making it easy for kids to choose. 

Audrey quickly said, "Ill have that one"

A ninja turtle ice cream bar, mmmmmm

What a fun experience for a little one!!! 

"mom, can I have one too"? 

It's the simple things, and taking time for them!

I love when I'm out for a country drive and all I see are the vivid colors all around me 

No where to go...just forward with a little sense of direction, 

that's all I need

 I call those clouds, "Minnesota clouds", but I'm sure the other states have them as well  :)

and I love that I can almost touch the corn with my out-stretched hand, 

it's that close

We called it Honeysuckle

Went on a country drive yesterday and came across a few fields of purple clover

It brought back memories of the clover that grew near my home as a child, 

The minute I stepped out of my car the aroma took me back to my childhood

that sweet sweet smell...does anyone know what I'm talking about?

These fields actually looked like they were planted for a purpose, so I looked it up to see if this clover was used for something specific, here's what I found out.

Red Clover is used as Fodder which refers to food given to animals (cows, sheep, chickens and pigs) rather than that which they forage themselves. So this clover is harvested and fed to the animals along with hay, straw and silage instead of the animals grazing.

Another use is called Green Manure 

The clover is grown primarily to add nutrients & organic matter to the soil, so the clover is grown then plowed under and incorporated into the soil while still green.

So all that aside....

Here's what it was used for in our neighborhood. 

When we were kids we used to pull the individual flowers out and try to suck out the sweetness, 

I think we even chewed on it....mmmmm.  We called it "honeysuckle"

I love these little memories that pop into my head from days gone by.

F.Y.I.  Red clover has also been reported to be used for a variety of medicinal purposes, the one that caught my eye was this:  A large, well controlled study showed that

red clover extract supplements showed a modest reduction of hot flashes. HA HA

I might just have to plant me a crop  :)

My information was obtained from Wikipedia

A new roof over our heads

A few weeks ago I blogged about our poor gazebo canopy

 another one bites the dust

the wind tore it up good!

It's seen better days 

I got on the phone to order a better,stronger replacement

It arrived a week later!

Then the weather turned dessert-like so we waited for a break from the horrid heat

 before putting up the new canopy.

(I wasn't about to be outside anyway, so there was no hurry).

Yesterday a "cold front" came through so my awesome husband went to work.

We got a  roof over our heads again

We spent most of the afternoon enjoying our shaded cozy living space. 

 So glad to have my room back!

Our family = a great time

So this year our 4th of July celebration at Mom & Dad's was a little differen't

We still had a wonderful time, with all the family there,

 (mom always throw's a great party)

but the weather put a bit of a damper on things.....

instead of the usual, outdoor games, basketball, football, and just hanging outside,

 we spent most of the day inside trying to stay cool.

We had one of the hottest/humid 4th of July's on record.

We tried hard to stay cool but 25 people against one air-conditioner is a challenge.

A few of us ventured out taking turns under the shade of the apple tree.

the guys chattin' it up

Missy Audrey needed to run around, (with Uncle Gavin)

the weather never seems to affect them

I'm not sure who's putting who to sleep? (Uncle Brice & Carson) 

You're never too old to color

(Sam, Jenny & Kate) 

One of the main event's on the 4th is the big family picture

It's usually and ordeal to get EVERYONE out and positioned, there are 25 of us. 

This year (since it was hot and miserable) we decided to only use one camera to make the process quicker, unfortunately it wasn't mine so I must be patient and wait 

for my Brother in law to send it to me :/

The other must, is a grandchild picture with gran & gramps!

It's not always easy to congregate the kids....

  Waiting for Grant...Ha ha  It's always someone  :)

My mom with great-grandchild #2  

Carson Adam

There they all are, grandkids aging from 31 to 3 weeks old 

 Audrey and her daddy putting a puzzle together

More puzzles 

Jenny and Gavin staying cool....or at least trying. 

Neither heat or humidity can keep our family apart, we always have a great time just being together!

Mom.... I think since you and dad have almost an acre of land you should put in a large pool, 

just think you and dad could do water aerobics every morning. 

* no one could bear the thought of going to the fireworks, (it was still suppose to be humid and  near 90 degrees) so we skipped it this year. Not a big deal.... I bet they'll still be there next year  :)

Knee high by the 4th of July

The corn is doing well this year, 

the old saying goes like this,

The corn should be knee high by the 4th of July.... i think it's good  :)

Happy 4th everyone

Back in the day

For just a few hours we felt like we were in another era from days gone by.

I'm always fascinated to see small fragments of how it was, back in the day

This weekend Mantorville celebrated "Olde Tyme Days"

It was fun watching (especially) the women all dressed up in their frilly dresses with 

umbrella's in hand  to shield them from the heat.

On Saturday they had the 1st annual 

Old Tyme Days Period Costume Extravaganza & Competition.

Dressed in White on a very warm day

~~~

Not far from our car we saw a sign with an arrow directing us to a "Log Cabin"

As we headed down a grass path toward the log cabin we stopped to watch a blacksmith at work.

 It was fun to watch him pound and shape the metal into what he told us was a "steak turner"

 Coopers Log cabin from the late 1800's

The cabin was so cool. I love this kind of stuff!

 Just a few pictures from the inside

 Rick, checking out a few displays in the basement.

 The Restoration house

another home with many treasures from the past.

 Rachel, a high school girl from Mantorville,

 dressed the part, and was our guide at the Restoration house

 The original basement with stone floor

Old washing machines 

 Timber ceilings

I have never been to the Opera house in Mantorville but that 

will have to wait for another time

It's the 40th season of melodramas presented by the Mantorville Theater Company.

 This weekend there will be several productions of "She Aspires to Greater Things" 

These two lovely ladies posed for me as Rick and I passed by

They were a little shy, and said that their costumes weren't really that good

I thought they were great!

Today would hold many more fun events and competitions, It will have to go on without me,

 to hot for my liking  :)