In the Garden, End of May

 

It's amazing the difference a couple of weeks make.  The last day of May and the garden is lush.

 

This may be my favorite pot..a galvanized tub planted with maiden hair fern, baby tears, wire vine and impatiens.  It has filled in nicely.  I'd like to shrink down and walk under the fronds.  It's like a little rain forest, ala Olympic National Park. A friend of mine was a ranger there long ago...
I imagine the smell and the mist...

 

I'm calling this section of the front yard, Guild One Garden.  Gifts from two dear sisters
the butterfly sculpture and the stepping stone.

 

Our arbor...might be it's last year.  It's being pulled down by the bittersweet vine on one side ad
the kiwi vine on the other.  I'm a sucker for a variegated leaf.

 

Dad's bait bucket never looked so good...

 

or this bucket I scored a while back for a dollar.

 

What a great combination.

 

One day we stopped at the local thrift looking for a specific item...
What I came home with was this...
All I need is Toto and a bike to be Miss Gulch!

At $3.99, bargain for sure!

 

How do you use your old IV pole?  A little lawn art perhaps?
(long story short 1994... hubby was in a bad car accident...shattered hip...
bad infection...nursed him back to health at home...IV pole!)

 

Really, really miss those guys...

We have been so fortunate to have missed most of the storms of recent days. The sky gets black, we have a few showers, then it moves on.  Feels silly watering the garden when the threat of rain is great, but not much has actually fallen here.  I'll be out, trying to keep up with the weeds in the garden, waiting for the roses to bloom!

Take care my friends, have a great weekend.  Thanks for all the sweet comments, it means so much to me.

Birthday Bash for Someone Special

 

When I looked through my Pinterest page I started for Penny's party,
 I am surprised that I used almost every idea.


 

Just love floating flowers.

 

Here is the cupcake tower, with white daisies.  Also the favors.  

 

Grandma Peg played a song for Penny that had me is tears.  What a sweet woman.

 

Sweet families on the lawn...

 

Four of my favorite girls on the planet!

 

My guy, 2 of my brothers and one SIL.
 It was great to have everyone together for such a happy occasion.

 

Kisses from Uncle Mikey...
(You can see the deck was filled.)

 

and from Mom and Dad...Penny loved the sprinkles on the rice krispie pops.
The bib was made by my dear friend Mary Ann...so cute!
I love this little family!

 

 

A birdseye view.
My heart overflowed...so many family members, so many friends.
It was a tub of love...really, it was.

 

The next day the sun came out.  Penny got to explore.
(Once my sweetheart gave me a card that said, "Let's grow old together and watch our grandchildren play in the yard..."  I was thinking of that when we were watching Penny play.)
 

She is SO BIG! Penny loves her Grandpa!

 

We went for a walk to the park...
Cool hoodie!

 

but she was sound asleep before we got there.
 We sat on a bench and looked at that beautiful face.
 Oh sweet baby.
 

I made a scrapbook of Penny's first year.  Mom doesn't like fluff and stickers and stuff.
I kept it simple, well, as simple as I was able.;-)

 

We are an exclusive club, the two of us Pennies.
Penny took her first four steps the day after her party...

 

When we headed to the airport, Mom and Dad held Penny's hands, just like they did when Penny came home for the first time from the hospital.  A perfect ending to the best party and visit ever.  I miss you sweetie, grandma loves you so!

Just for historical purposes, here is what we served...

Brobe fruit salad
Southwestern Salad
Pasta Pesto and Peas
Potato packets
Corn on the cob
Hamburgers
Cheddar Brats
Polish Sausage
Lou's Grilled Ham

Desserts
Death by Chocolate cupcakes
Orange dreamsicle cupcakes
Homemade twix bars
Rice Krispie Treat Pops

Candy Buffet
Twizzlers Rainbow and Red
Good and Plenty
Kit Kat Bars
rainbow marshmallows
toosie rolls
lolly pops
wax bottles (you know the kind with the juice inside)

Favors
Chocolate Kitty cookies with
peanut butter for dunking
Scooby snack grahams and lil' box of raisins

Thanks for indulging me once again, and thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy this beautiful day!

A Very Happy Birthday

Yes, our granddaughter Penny had the happiest birthday. You'll have to take my word for it as my photos will not download into Picasa, a computer issue that I hope can be resolved. These are a few I took with my IPad . Hubby is in his glory, a sleeping one year old, snuggled in his arms is an invitation to nap.



The day started out cool with the threat of rain, and it never never did get warmer, and the sun never came out, but we had the best time anyway. We purchased this tent for a few dollars more than it would cost to rent. It looked pretty with the birthday garland and paper lanterns hanging inside.



Penny's favorite show is Yo Gaba Gaba. It's a show featuring crazy looking characters like Muno, above,




and Brobe, in watermelon form created by my talented SIL Elizabeth. On Yo Gaba they tackle the timely issues of the day for small people... One episode comes to mind... Don't Bite Your Friends... Words to live by!





This was a candy bar & lemonade stand. I used some rummage sale finds for tablecloths and my canning jars.




Everything was colorful. The repaired deck managed to hold all forty guests while we sang Happy Birthday, accompanied by a dear friend on Autoharp. I was bought to tears as Grandma Peg played accordion for the birthday girl...
It. was such a happy day.
So many friends and family attended. Penny was my constant companion. I just had to walk past and she held her hands out to me. The feeling for me, pure love and joy. In fact that was my feeling about the whole party.
I brought out many of the throws and covers from around the house...some were worn by chilled guests, some sat on blankets on the lawn. Everywhere were friends of Kris and Doug, friends that are more like family, my brothers, their wonderful wives and children. Babies... we had a bunch. Special guests, Penny's grandparents from Pittsburg and Uncle from D.C..
The food was abundant, Dad and Uncle Lou manned the grill while everyone helped inside to get the food to the table.




Penny was a happy girl all day. She visited with everyone, but it seems she liked hanging out with me best...Oh, and I didn't mind a bit ;-).

Hope I can get my computer problem fixed so I can show you more...

The house is slowly getting back to normal. All of our guests left yesterday, and my girls...the little bird and baby bug made sure I wasn't lonely all day yesterday.







It was a lazy day for snuggles and plenty of hugs for this lonely grandma, or is it Auntie Penny...I forget.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy this beautiful day!

Love, Penny


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring
military personnel who died in the service of their country.
The reason Poppies are connected to Memorial Day is this poem...





In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly.
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.






Reposted from 2010

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

This girl...is full of fun, mischief, words, giggles, love. Energy, she's got it! We've had two celebrations already...on her real birthday, and when Grandma Peg and Grandpa Lou came all the way from Pennsylvania to see Penny. Sweet p. is the life of the party, an energizer bunny... a tub of love!

We have cloudy skies and temps in the fifties, but the feeling here is warm, overwhelmingly happy and extremely blessed! Ferris Bueller says, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Today, I'll be enjoying this time together with family and friends, and appreciating every minute.

Enjoy this beautiful day my friends and thanks for stopping by.

Love. Penny






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

She's #1

Happy first birthday to our sweet p. She fills our life with fun and more love than we ever thought possible. We are so grateful to be a part of her little world, and so proud to be her grandparents. We love you so much! Happy Birthday Penny!

Have a great holiday weekend my friends. Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy this beautiful day!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Weekend Update, Hero Edition

 

My hero, said with a swoon.  My hard working guy went all out this weekend and did a tremendous job powerwashing our deck.  It is a very large deck, 16'x35' and also almost 20 years old. 
The guys helped replace the worst of the boards and the rest just got a good wash.  You would think that we would work very well together considering all of our years together, (and how much we love each other...)  but our work styles are very different.  He is methodical, using the power washing wand like a pencil to make each square inch spotless... I would take over every now and then and use the wand like a wide brush...making him a liittle crazy.  Then he would make me crazy rewashing the same board I thought I had just finished.  ;-)

 

This is what we were up against, left side before, right side after!

 

Here he is, resting after over ten hours of work over two days!  The deck looks great!  We are finished with the deck, yard and garden...now to keep everything watered, (though Mother Nature seems to want that job these next couple of days) and weeded till the weekend. Rest my love... He so deserves it! 

This week, a secret project, shopping and baking...then the arrival of the birthday girl herself, Sweet p.! Thanks my friends for stopping by and watching our progress. have a great week and enjoy this beautiful day!