A Little Of This And A Little Of That

Good Monday morning friends. It's a big week in the US of A and we're excited to celebrate all that is wonderful about life in America. I honestly don't want to hear any complaining right now. I'm 1000% over the fault finding that has become the noise in our heads and our news feeds for far too long now. Look up. Turn off the talking heads and invite the neighbors for a cookout instead. 

Is America perfect? No. But she's full of natural beauty, big hearted people, a culture that's as varied as the miles are long, and freedom in abundance. May God bless our nation on her birthday and always. 

Joining Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) today for their Hello Monday link up. Recapping the weekend and doing a bit of a June flower photo dump too. Here we go-

June was nice. We had summer temps and plenty of sunshine. Friday was lovely and hubs and I sipped coffee on the deck before tackling the dinner prep. We had friends coming over later and hubs was grilling ribs. 

I got busy making a blueberry pie. 

The blueberries were the biggest I've ever seen and so sweet. I struggled a little with the crust and had to make it twice, but all's well that ends well. I make my momma's recipe which has a whipped cream topping instead of a second crust and I prefer that to the double crust. 

Do you use pie weights when you bake a crust? I usually forget I have them but this time I remembered and they helped. 

It was yummy! 

Friends arrived around six and we had a lovely relaxed evening sitting outside, listening to the sound of the waterfall, catching up, and eating a wonderful meal. They didn't leave until almost midnight and it was my favorite kind of Friday night. 

Saturday we had nothin'. What a feeling. We drank coffee in our pjs and chatted on the porch until Daughter1 called asking if they could come over and swim in the pool for a while. 

We peeled ourselves off the porch and changed into swim suits to meet them at the clubhouse a little before noon. We took the little red car because it's fun. The noodles took up the entire 'back seat' so I rode with my bag on my lap but it's literally .02 of a mile so no biggie. 

There was a family having a birthday party when we arrived but they wrapped up soon after we got there and the pool was mostly ours. The weather and the water were perfect and we packed up and made it back to the house just before the skies let loose with crazy rain and thunder.

We ate leftover ribs for a late lunch at almost 3 PM so I told hubs he could have pie for dinner. 

We popped over to our next door neighbor's house to check out their big patio project that's underway and while there I snapped a picture of their hydrangea. I want one in this deep purple color. 

My hydrangeas are blooming too...limelights-

and the pink diamond too-

We spent the rest of the day watching World Cup and I finished a terrific book I'll talk about when I share my recent reads on Thursday. I can't remember the last time I indulged in more than an hour of reading. 

A goldfinch has started hanging out on one of our hummingbird feeders. 

Yes, I'm in my bird watching era. There's a heron who grabs his breakfast on our shoreline pretty much every day and I'm amazed by these creatures. 

Sunday morning we went to church, then came home for a brunchy lunch of scrambled eggs and fried potatoes made with left overs from the frig. We discovered Father of the Bride was on tv so we settled in to watch (it's one of our favorites), and hubs had a nap while I blogged and finished a second book. 

So chill. So necessary. 

Now bring on the stars and the stripes and the fireworks and all the gratitude for living in this land I love. 

Festive Friday Favorites

I've been a Monday-Wednesday blogger all year lately, but thought today I'd join in the Friday Favorites link up (hosted by Erika and Andrea) with a few bits of holiday miscellany. 

1. I spent all day yesterday baking. It was such a joy to be at home, no where to go, nothing to do but spend the whole day in my kitchen. I know that doesn't appeal to everyone, but it's definitely my jam. I also did five loads of laundry,  and sorted out some Christmas gifts and decor that needed sorting. I made two kinds of cookies, two loaves of cranberry bread, and a chicken pot pie for our dinner. 

2. My daughter called on her way home from school pick up and asked if we were around and if so they'd drop by and say hi. It's one of the happiest parts of life right now y'all. A daughter living close enough to drop by. 

Also, I played at least 47 games of tic-tac-toe upon their arrival. My sister-in-law sent this fun set at Thanksgiving and the boys love it. So fun! 

3. I bought two of these little spoon rests at Hobby Lobby back in November and it's a sweet addition to my coffee set up. The other is by my stove. 

I bought these mugs the year hubs and I got married and while there are so many super cute Christmas mugs out there, these remain a sentimental favorite. There are four in the set illustrating the twelve days of Christmas. 

4. I like to leave a box on my front porch for my friends aka the Amazon-UPS-Fed Ex drivers. 

They're here often this time of year, and I know the days are long. I put bottled water and some snacks inside-chips, bars, clementines...that sort of thing. It gets taken so I think it's appreciated. 

5. I took the dog out this morning and was greeted with this-

Let heaven and nature sing!

Hello Monday, So Long July

Hello friends. August is just around the bend and here we have a full and mostly fun calendar of things coming our way. 

I know many people feel like July flew right on by, but I enjoyed the pace. Ours was not too fast, not too slow, or as Goldilocks would say 'it was just right'.  We had very few big events on the calendar, and spent a lot of time at home, enjoying the lake, grilling out, and resting my foot. 

Maybe that's the upside to a stress fracture mid-summer. It forces you to consider what you'll say yes to a little more carefully than you normally would. We had company over the 4th, but other than that the house was all ours. While we're never people with nothing to do, we had lots of down time which was nice. 

So how did you spend this last weekend in July? Here's how ours looked...

Friday I was supposed to have a mani/pedi. It was going to be a bit wonky with the boot and all, but I was okay with one foot having a full pedi and the other just a polish. Hubs was golfing and I was going to drive myself for the very first time since I started in the boot. The Dr. said I could drive if needed, and I considered this a need.  

I left the house and got about a mile down the road when I was forced to turn around due to a very serious accident ahead. Turning around meant I would have had to go around the lake in the opposite direction of my appointment so I gave up, called the salon, and went back home. I wasn't meant to drive I guess. Or get my nails done. Bother. 

Friday night hubs and I went to a nearby spot we love for a glass of wine and a charcuterie board dinner. It was nice. We got home a little before eight and my son-in-law dropped our two oldest grandsons off at our house to spend the night. Saturday was the mancub's birthday and they wanted the boys out of the house while they got things set up. 

Everyone put on pjs and piled in our bed to watch Honey I Shrunk The Kids. I hadn't seen it in many many years, and I often think I remember a movie as being fine for certain ages only to watch and discover I remembered wrong. That was not the case here and they enjoyed it. 

The boys are not normally early risers, but were up early on Saturday. I think the birthday party adrenaline was amping up and when I said the party wasn't for nine more hours they sighed a little. We had a lot of time to fill in between, so they worked on a lego creation I had here, and then hubs made blueberry pancakes on the griddle. 

We went for a lake swim, came back inside for lunch, and then my son-in-law arrived to take them home. We followed soon after to help with some of the pre-party tasks. 

Planning and hosting birthday parties for my girls was one of my favorite things to do when they were small, and my girls love it too. Daughter1 has an art background and this is a fun way to be creative. The theme was Star Wars and she made a Death Star pinata out of paper mache which was awesome. 

Also I hated pinatas as a kid. All that chaos and the anxiety of chasing down the candy. Whew. These boys were all in though and they loved it. 

Her goody bags which she made herself were also super cute. There was a ginormous inflatable water slide for entertainment and it was a good thing because it was hot with a capital H. If my foot wasn't in a boot I'd have tried it myself. 

These pictures make it look like no one was there, but kids were there lol. Parents too. We stayed until the very end so we could help with some of the clean up and when we came home we flopped on the couch and agreed birthday parties are the best kind of exhausting fun. 

I always write my grandchildren letters on their birthdays...you can read the birthday boy's new letter here (2922 Days).

Sunday we went to church. The 'kids' had a meeting after so hubs and I went to our usual breakfast spot for lunch, then came home, changed, and took the boat out to meet friends. 

Someone is always organizing impromptu float parties and they'll text a map with a pin telling us which cove they're in, and we tie the boats up together...

... and then we float. 

We got home late afternoon and I called my sister to catch up, then hubs grilled salmon for dinner. I made a spinach salad to go with and we watched a couple more episodes of The Lioness. Have you seen it?  I'm not really invested, yet it's somehow still managing to make me tense. We're about eight episodes in so I guess we'll finish the season. 

Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their Hello Monday weekend recap party. Hop over if you want to share your own or read what others have to say. Have a great week! 

Just Beachy

We have a beach trip coming up later this summer, plus the Hodgepodge questions this week have a beach theme, plus this month's Share Our Lives link up (which I missed) had everyone sharing their favorite vacation memories, and all this to say (finally!) I've been thinking beach-y thoughts. 

We live on a lake now which is beautiful, crystal clear, unsalted, and shark free. We don't do a lot of summer beach trips anymore because it takes a lot to peel us away from our happy place in peak season. 

Lake life is chill and there's no sand to sweep out of every nook and cranny at the end of the day. Our lake is big and there are quite a few islands scattered throughout that have small beaches which we occasionally pull our boat up to, and then haul chairs and snacks and sand toys over to spend a few hours beachin' it. 

Mostly though we swim off our dock, we jump off the back of the boat when we're out in the wide open water, and we motor over to friends docks for float parties and relaxation. 

Still I periodically need to see the ocean. 

I need to remember I'm small and the Creator of the universe knows precisely how many grains of sand lie beneath my feet. I need to feel the remnants of saltwater on my skin as I watch the sun sink into the water at the end of a glorious day. 

I've been to a lot of beaches on American soil and elsewhere but when someone says favorite I always return in my head to one place- Marco Island. 

When we started going to Marco, only people who lived in Florida seemed to know about it.  Marco was a sleepy town without much going on, and while it's not a crazy tourist trap today, it's not unknown either. 

The first year we went to Marco daughter2 was still sleeping in a crib so we're talking many many many moons ago. Hubs helped organize a meeting there and got to know the hotel manager, so when he brought us back later that summer the manager upgraded our room to one with a walk out which was perfect. We'd spend the morning at the beach then the girls would nap and we'd open the french doors and park ourselves in lounge chairs on our porch. It was perfect. 

This trip made it our place and we went back often as the years rolled by. 

Marco is covered in seashells and sorting through them to find ones that were special and unbroken was always a favorite activity. 

We spent our days sitting on the beach, reading books, talking, thinking, making plans, walking, exploring, eating at our favorite places and just soaking up all the family time our hearts could hold. 

I've read that while children may not remember every detail of a family vacation they do remember the overall sense of family closeness that develops when you travel together. Sounds and smells and tastes later in life can trigger memories from trips taken when they were young, and these trips become part of your family lore. 

It's been a number of years since we've been back to Marco. Life and all that jazz. But in my mind Marco Island will always be 'our place'. 

One that holds precious memories from the days when we were a family of four...

 When little girls waved goodnight to the sun as it sank into the sea...

of laughter shared...

and problems solved...

...a beautiful peaceful place where plans for the future that is now were born. 

This post is linked with Talking About It Tuesdays hosted by Joanne at Slices of Life

Friday Fragments and Favorites

Linking today with Andrea and Erika for their Friday Favorites hop. 

I'm out of sync with my blog these days mostly because I'm not doing a whole lot besides rest my foot. Hubs says I'm not doing great with that and gave me a talkin' to yesterday about how we're going to the beach and I'll be in this boot unable to keep up. Even if I'd done a solid nothing it's likely I'd be in the boot when we go to the beach. I have not driven one time and have spent most of the month with my leg propped up so I think I've done pretty great. There's been a day or two I've overdone it, but for the most part I feel like a slug. 

I volunteer on Thursdays making lunch in a soup kitchen, but after hubs said he thought it was too much  I called in last minute yesterday to say I wouldn't be there. Then he left for the day and I planted myself on the couch. Except he was suddenly buying a car and needed me to make four, yes four!!, separate trips to the office downstairs for information. I told him I'd have done far less walking and definitely no stairs had I gone to the soup kitchen. 

Anyway, I guess we have a new car lol. And it's been purchased in my favorite way. I wasn't there. I saw it online before he went to look, and honestly this is how I feel about a pick up. It's a truck. The end. Hubs is excited and even though he babies his vehicles his current truck has over 200K miles on it so it's time. Apparently there are a lot of variations, and he does his homework. Since it will be his mode of transportation if he's happy, then I'm happy. 

This particular new vehicle ticked 'our' must have list-the color both interior and exterior (those are my must haves-ha! ), something about the running boards and the tailgate, very low mileage (we never buy new) and price. No pictures because we won't get it until next week, but yay! We have a new ride.

We've spent very little time on the boat this summer so on Monday morning we spontaneously decided to pack up breakfast and go for a ride. 

Yes in my boot. Are you tired of hearing about it because I know I am. 

I made us a scrambled egg with cheese on a bagel to go. They were so good. 

It was a picture perfect day and we had the lake pretty much to ourselves. Weekends are busy, but weekdays it's like your own little slice of paradise. 

When my sister-in-law was here over the 4th she brought us these ginormous rubber bands (linked) which I think she said are made for patio furniture, etc but they are also perfect for keeping your towel from flying up on the boat. 

I ordered the most adorable little sundresses for my granddaughters to wear at the beach, matching because I like matching-

They're from Janie and Jack, which has so many cute things. 

Monday night we had plans to get sushi with some friends we haven't caught up with in a while. My roll was so pretty and just the right amount of heat. Hubs and I each ordered a roll and split an order of their Brazilian street tacos too. 

Our tomato tree. Y'all my hubs has the green thumb here. My daughter1's in-laws gave us a teeny tiny tomato plant back in the spring and hubs has cared for that thing so well that it's now what we call our tomato tree. And it's loaded! 

The in-laws were here over the 4th and they could not believe the size of this plant. Yesterday we picked our first tomato and I will probably make us BLT's for dinner. Hubs is golfing today and I'm sitting and it's hot so a BLT will be easy and won't require the stove. 

His lemon tree is also thriving.

We watched the grands on Wednesday evening while their parents had a middle-of-the-week date night. They had fun with these water guns which are more powerful than they look lol. 

Especially at close range. Nana got it in the face more than once and I wasn't even armed. 

Hubs made smash burgers on the griddle, and the boys put together new legos I'd purchased. We had fun just hanging out. 

Thursday morning's sunrise was a beauty. As are they all, but Thursday's was really pretty. 

My limelights are making me happy too. 

I spent the day on the couch when I wasn't running up and down the stairs to get hubs the paperwork he needed to buy the car. 

Also, I wasn't running. 

My next door neighbor invited us and two other friends over to float on Thursday afternoon so we went over there around 4:30 and floated for an hour. Afterwards we went for Thai food at a place we hadn't tried before, and it was really good, just very very slow. We weren't in a hurry so no biggie. 

Today I'm back for more sitting and reading and catching up on a few things blog wise. Hubs is on the golf course so won't be calling lol. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone!