Is It Hot Enough For Ya?

When someone asks that question it's usually rhetorical so I won't bother answering.

Except to say it's hot. In the words of my grandma it's 'hotter than blue blazes'. Did you know blazes is a 19th century American term for hell? I didn't either, but I checked the trusty internet so it must be true. Also, it's been really hot. I don't remember getting heat advisories when I was growing up, but we get one pretty much everyday in the month of August. 

Question-are we surprised at the heat in August? I'm gonna say no. 

We had no plans this weekend. Whoohoo! Honestly I'm on some meds for my sinus/cough thing and they make me sleepy so there was a nap in the middle of the day Friday which was very necessary. 

We had workers at the house most of Friday, literally on the roof, trying to wrap up a chimney repair that will actually now be wrapped up today. Hopefully. 

They were noisy and it's a messy job so I pretty much stayed inside, read, and rested. I'd made stuffed peppers on Thursday so we had leftovers for dinner Friday night. Hubs and I watched a movie-Arthur the King and we liked it. Heartwarming and based on a true story. 

Saturday morning we went out for breakfast then hit the grocery store. I hadn't been to the market all week so it was time. We had plans to come home and take the boat out, and we got everything ready including ourselves, when hubs texted from the dock saying he heard thunder so it's a no go. 

It died down but the sky was still questionable so we floated for a while which was nice. Hubs grilled a steak for dinner and we spent the evening listening to music. 

Sunday morning was church, a quick lunch at home, then we made another attempt at boating. Daughter1 and Little Miss came over to swim and get in on the boat ride and we always love that. The boys had baseball so they hung out with Dad until it was time for practice. 

Daughter1 brought some pawpaws she'd gotten I think from her in-laws. Have you ever had a pawpaw? I had to look them up to see how you know when they're ripe and also how you eat them. 

Apparently in moderation because according to what I read too much will upset your stomach. They belong to the custard apple family and you can't eat the skin or the big black seeds. They only grow in 25 states with ours being one of them, and are not available in the grocery store. Supposedly they taste like a cross between a banana~ mango~cantaloupe. I'll let ya know. 

We motored to the gas dock but didn't stay out long because we were melting. We came back to our dock and spent the afternoon swimming. So nice. 

Daughter1 and little miss went home late afternoon and hubs and I watched an episode of the new season of Reacher before dinner. I made a simple pasta dish with fresh tomatoes from our plants, chopped shallots, garlic, and olive oil combined with some pasta and topped with basil from the garden, a little mozzarella, and a sprinkling of parm. So easy and delicious. 

We talked for a brief minute about kayaking to the island to watch the sunset, but it was still in the 90's, the air was thick, and it all sounded like more than we had in us. The dog days of summer are here and they're howling. 

So how was your weekend? 

Linking with Holly and Sarah for their weekly Hello Monday blog hop. 

A Few Days With My Favorites

Hello friends. It's Friday. Yay! 

We're retired so I'm not sure why the fact that Friday's here is still so exciting, but it is. 

I'm going to recap the past few days which definitely falls under the heading of favorite things, and I'm also going to try to meet the Everyday Image photo prompts at the same time. Mine might land a bit out of order (and I may have missed a couple) but I think that still counts. 

My daughters very rarely post their children's faces online so I have to get creative with my blog pics. I take plenty of their faces for our own enjoyment, and all you need to know is they're the cutest humans on planet earth. 

The most recent prompts Kym (A Fresh Cup Of Coffee) posted were-

wildflowers, water, neighborhood spot (quarterly), nature, adventure, favorite, twilight

We've had our Tennessee grands and their momma here this week and the local grands spent most of the week with us too, so lots of noisy fun was had by all. My favorite thing is having all the cousins together. There's a six year age gap between the oldest and the youngest and plenty of personality to go round. 

Daughter2's hubs had an out of town work commitment all week, so she brought her two sweeties, plus her big puppy to the lake for a few days. They arrived around lunchtime Monday and their Carolina cousins were in the driveway shouting their welcome. Did you hear them? I feel like you might have heard them. 

We had lunch then hit the lake. The lily pad is a great thing if you have little ones around open water. Everyone wears a life jacket or some other type of Coast Guard approved device at Nana and Pawpaws, and they all know they aren't allowed on the dock without one. The oldest (aka the mancub) asked me recently how old he has to be before that rule doesn't apply and I randomly said 18 ha! Maybe? 

Anyway the lily pad is great fun and they all love playing sea monster or alligator where hubs shakes it and tries to grab their feet and they try not to fall off. You can literally stand on the lily pad which makes it especially great for the smallest grands. 

Daughter1 took her kids home for dinner, and I'd made cold shrimp with cocktail sauce, cucumber and tomato salad, and crock pot chicken for dinner. Easy peasy is the name of the game with a houseful. 

After Daughter2's kiddos were tucked in she and I watched the second to last epsiode of last season's The Great British Baking Show. It's only taken us three months but we were determined to finish it up while she was in town. We watched the finale Tuesday night and were happy with the outcome. 

Tuesday was a beach and boat day. Let me just say here that getting five kids under the age of 8 into life vests, sun tan lotion applied, toys, drinks, snacks, towels, and floats all safely on board the boat is not for the faint of heart. Oh, and four adults too. Can't forget the adults. 

The weather was fantastic and we had the best day. All the grands wanted a turn as co-captain so half drove us out to the island and the other half motored us home. 

~adventure~

~wildflowers~

~favorite~

This particular island has a nice long beach and everyone swam and dug in the sand and collected shells and explored the local habitat. 

I wonder if this is our beaver's handiwork or one of his buddies? 

~nature~

We had lunch at home, the littlest cousin had a nap and everyone else rested until we were ready for round two, which was a trip to the neighborhood pool. It's literally about ten houses up from mine, but we still took two cars, several bags, and a trunk full of noodles because go big or go home, right? 

~neighborhood spot~   ~water~

We pretty much had the pool to ourselves which was so nice. Our pool is never jam packed because we have a lake in our backyard.  Also, we definitely sound like more people than we actually are. 

Once home the kids watched a show while Daughter2 picked her pup up from doggie day care and hubs and I got dinner going. My son-in-law arrived in time to eat with us, and hubs grilled brats, we had corn on the cob, slaw, and a big veggie tray. 

Then it was time for birthday presents and ice cream cake celebrating the newly minted four year old. His birthday was the week before but we wanted a family celebration at the lake. 

The cousins went home and the two staying here got so excited when our sprinklers popped up. Whoohoo! Ran through in their clothes like it was the best day of their lives. We'd been boating, swimming in the crystal clear lake, and playing in a huge pool but nothing could top running through those sprinklers in their clothes. Life's simple pleasures are usually the best. 

Wednesday hubs played golf with some friends. It was good lol. He's the king of fun and his back needed a rest. To answer your question, yes. Golf is less taxing on the back than slinging five kids in the air and on and off your shoulders into a pool. 

We girls plus their kids hung out in the lake for a while, then everyone changed clothes and the sisters took all the kids to Daughter1's house for lunch while Nana stayed home with the dogs and made sauce for dinner. 

Nana may have also sat on the porch in the quiet for a quick minute too. Just sayin'. 

The oldest two boys had piano lessons late afternoon so their momma took them to that and Daughter2 and I took the three youngest back to the pool. 

I told you grand parenting wasn't for weaklings. 

After piano lessons the boys moved on to baseball practice, but their dad took over there so daughter1 and her little miss could have dinner with us.   

Which brings us to Thursday morning. Hubs had a work meeting so we girls took the kids to our neighborhood playground to play for a while before lunch, and then daughter2 and her crew got on the road to head home. Boo. 

~everything's an adventure when you're two~

I did laundry and managed to get three sets of sheets washed, dried, and back on the beds, along with two loads of towels, then hit the grocery store to grab a few things I needed for company coming on Friday night, picked up dry cleaning and two library books that were on hold and then back home to put away the 'kid gear'-stepstools, a small table and chairs, the toybox, toys and games, books and more.

For the record...it's all worth it.

Linking today with Kym for Everyday Images 

and 

Friday Favorites with Erika at A Little Bit of Everything) and Andrea (Momfessionals)

Monday March Madness

It's the end of March and I'm going on record to say the first quarter of this year has positively flown.  I feel like that's something old people say, except all the young people I know are saying it too. 

Is it because the world's in chaos? Is it because we're regularly checking the very full calendars we now hold in our hands, and as a result our lives are marked by 'what's next'? Is there some scientific explanation for it? Whatever the reason I want to remember each day is a gift and to keep a grateful heart. 

Let's chat about our weekends with Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) who host the Hello Monday hop.  

We were at home this weekend which was nice. I've either had a houseful or been in the car going hither and yon the last four weekends, and then I was at my daughter's all last week which also meant a road trip, so I'm glad to be livin' local for a few days. 

I drove home from Tennessee Friday morning, arriving back at the lake around 1. Hubs and I had a light lunch, I did three loads of laundry, caught up on some paperwork, then got ready for some Friday night fun. 

A really great night out with friends. Those aren't them -ha! We went to a local venue that's part farm-part Airbnb-part cooking class locale. 

We signed up with friends for this month's pizza class. There were twelve of us in total, and the set up is really nice. We started with a simple but super delicious appetizer-baked brie made in ramekins. We put cubed brie, raspberries, blackberries, chopped pistachios, a little bit of a spicy seasoning, and a drizzle of honey and balsamic glaze in ramekins, then baked. 

This picture is pre-bake, but once they came out of the oven the cheese had melted into the berries and the combination was so good! They were served with grilled crostini and I'll definitely be making this at home. I've done baked brie before but I liked the individual servings and the way the melted cheese was contained in a bowl, so more like a dip. 

I wore my pizza sauce colored shirt because I know myself, but they did provide aprons so all's good. The host had made the pizza dough ahead of time so it could proof, but she shared the recipe and the particular flour and yeast she likes to use. We worked the dough and added our toppings, and then they were baked in a pizza oven on the deck that overlooks the farm. 

note to self-purchase a pizza oven 

This isn't my pizza, but I forgot to take a picture of mine before we ate it. Everyone shared their pizzas so we got to taste a variety. We've done pizzas on the Green Egg at home, but we struggle with getting the cook just right. The class used two different ovens but she recommended the Solo brand and I currently have one sitting in my cart on Amazon. 

There was a super creamy homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert with a small chocolate brownie and I want to try the ice cream recipe at home too. Melt in your mouth good! 

It was a fun evening with a nice group of people, lots of chatting, eating, and learning a few helpful tips for our future pizza cooking too. Bonus we were home in time to watch our Vols beat Iowa State to move on to the Elite Eight playoffs in college basketball. 

Course the game started after 10 PM so I snoozed through it and hubs watched and told me they won. Worked for me as I was pooped. 

Saturday we had things to do in the morning. Hubs worked on finishing up some painting in the lower garage that he started while I was away. We have a wall of wooden storage drawers we got when we built the house, and we've wanted to paint them ever since. We didn't pick these out, but our builder knew of another home build where they were not going to use them after all, and asked if we wanted them. 

The drawers hold a lot and are really practical for the space, but while we do love our wood here we have never loved the tone of this particular piece. Plus we already had a gray-ish countertop to use and it clashed with the wood. It's a garage so not a huge deal, but we wanted to make the change. I didn't get a before pic, but you can see the color here- 

 

Hubs used chalk paint and he's meticulous when it comes to painting. He won't like me posting this 'not quite done' picture, but the paint looks great-

Yes those are cassette tapes on top of that counter. They're relegated to the garage though. 

The drawers are now black and look so much better.  They need a clear top coat which will happen this week, and the drawer pulls need to be reattached, but otherwise a project completed. 

While he was busy with that I ran to the library to return a book, the post office to mail a package, and the market to pick up a few things to get us through the weekend and the beginning of the new week. I came home and made an appetizer to take to a neighborhood party that evening. It was tricky and I forgot to snap a photo. 

Basically it was a Caprese tulip garden...here's a link to the picture I'd seen and was inspired by. You x the top of a cherry tomato then stuff the mozzarella pearl inside, pop it on a toothpick, add basil for the leaves and then stick the whole thing in a cucumber slice. It looks like a tulip and when you make thirty of them you have yourself an edible garden. I added a drizzle of olive oil to mine at the end. A couple of tulips tipped over in the transport, but they were all eaten so calling it a win. 

My daughter1 dropped by with her little ones before we left for the party, and we visited with them for a bit before heading up to our clubhouse. It was sunny and I snapped a picture of this 'flock' of turtles on our neigbhor's jet ski dock. This is the local turtle hangout-

Also, a grouping of turtles is called a bale. Who knew? 

Our neighborhood had a casino night in the clubhouse and everyone brought appetizers to share. It's not Vegas so no real gambling, just a fun night with friends. There was roulette, black jack, and bingo and they had the room decorated for the occasion too. 

Sunday morning we went to church and had plans to go to lunch afterwards with my daughter and her kiddos. Her hubs was on call this weekend so was busy doing surgery and didn't make it to church. Anyway, we got in our car after the service to drive to the restaurant and the tire light came on. Yes! Again! Ugh! And yes, it was just last Sunday we had a flat on the way to church. 

Thankfully this one wasn't flat, but it was low so we pulled in to a gas station and hubs discovered a nail in the tire. Not the new tire but still, super annoying. We decided we better go straight home just in case it deflates before we can get a plug put in it tomorrow, so that's what we did. 

We had lunch at home, and watched the Vols sadly get clobbered by Michigan. I worked on my blog a little, but probably not enough. The A-Z challenge starts this week and looks like it will be a blog as you go proposition. Time to sit and blog or just time to think about what to blog has been in short supply this month, so while I have a theme I haven't actually written any of the posts ahead of time. I think most people do, but sometimes I do better with a little pressure. 

That's what I'm telling myself anyway. 

Sunday evening our church had a special night of worship to begin this Holy Week and we were tired, but got ourselves together to go and were so glad we didn't miss this really wonderful service. 

Have a wonderful week everyone! 

Top 'O The Monday To You

Another full busy week here, and then the weekend was party party party. Let's catch up...

Friday I finally got the tax organizer submitted to our accountant and it felt so good to have that job done. I needed a block of time to finish it up and Friday morning was pretty much the only block of unclaimed time I had all week. From the post office I went directly to the salon for a long overdue, much needed, mani/pedi. It was wonderful. 

Friday evening hubs and I went to a St. Patty's Day get together in our neighborhood clubhouse. They called it stews and brews and everyone brought either a soup, bread, salad or dessert. 

So many yummy soups with a lot of variety. The organizers brought both small and large containers, so you could have a bowl of one or a flight of several. 

The room was decorated for St. Patrick's Day and two neighbors set up an Irish Coffee bar which was fun and festive. Hubs and I wore our matching tees but I forgot to snap a picture. Pretty much par for the course here. 

We were up early on Saturday to make the trek to Tennessee for still more celebrating the birthday girl, aka my mother-in-law. Last weekend she was at the lake to spend time with all her great grands, but this weekend was all about her own children. 

I snapped this picture on our drive over on Saturday morning. This road repair and construction as a result of Helene (a year and a half ago!) has got to be one of the biggest ongoing projects in the country in terms of size, cost, manpower, and plan. 

We arrived at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's home about 2. There was a big Bass tournament happening on the river all weekend long, and we had fun watching the fishermen from their deck. 

We had a lovely family dinner Saturday night at a nice restaurant (Foothills Milling for the Tennessee peeps reading here), and it was so good!

My sister-in-law made a fun bingo game and when she called a square everyone told a story about my mother-in-law that fit the topic. Hilarious. Our server heard more than she ever wanted to know too lol.

Sunday morning coffee on the deck before we all headed to church together.  Right after the service there was a lovely little reception in the atrium for her many many MANY friends to come have a sweet treat and visit. She's been a member of this church for over 50 years and is very well loved. 

Mary (Life In A Small Town)  came by the reception too and it was fun to see her there. She and her sibs went to school with hubs and his sibs and we were all glad she stopped by. My mother-in-law loves her whole family and she brought her a sweet hyacinth which was so thoughtful. Did we take a photo or were we slacker bloggers? You decide. 

Once the reception ended hubs and I along with one brother and sister-in-law went to a nearby brewery to meet up with some college friends of ours.  A great day and always fun to see some of our favorite people who knew us when. 

Again, we forgot to snap a picture. Oops. We did have a photographer my sister-in-law knows come take some pictures at the church and a few family shots too, so I'm sure I'll add one to my blog once we get them back. 

We hung out at my brother-in-law and sister-in-laws house Sunday evening and will be home by lunchtime today. 

Barring crazy weather or crazy traffic of course, both of which are possible. 

Hope you had a nice weekend spent with people you love. Linking today's post with Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books)  for their usual Monday morning party. Why not add your link there too? 

End of September Everyday Images

I really enjoy the photo prompts Kym posts every couple of weeks on her blog (A Fresh Cup Of Coffee). I'm not sure if we're supposed to go looking for something that meets the prompt, or if we're supposed to scroll through the photos we've already taken and see what works. I guess either way is probably fine. 

I tend to look at the prompts when she posts them, and that helps me notice little things throughout the week that might work. I also like to add words to my pictures and make it more of a blog post because I'm better at words than pictures. 

Usually. The fonts in this post are all over the place and I could not seem to correct that. C'est la blog. 

Some weeks I get mine in just under the wire, and I missed last week's altogether, but I'm sharing the most recent here today. Kym posts new prompts every two weeks so you have some time to play. I'm also linking today with Joanne at Slices of Life for her weekly Talking About It Tuesday hop. 

Okay, here's what we're working with this time around-

neighborhood spot~ink~smooth~checked~sunrise and/or sunset~at home~ 

Neighborhood spot...

Not right in my neighborhood, but nearby and a place for neighbors to gather-

We've spent some time here recently, watching the Mancub play baseball and his brother Max on the soccer pitch. We were there Monday evening as the sun was setting, watching the six and under set play their hearts out, ever hopeful of a goal.  

Ink...

I'm not tattooed so I went with the other obvious choice-

Books, which are full of my favorite kind of ink-the written word. This is my current stash just waiting to be read. 

smooth.... 

I try to think out of the box on some of these and this is one of those times. That first cup of morning coffee is smooth, as is the lake early morning. Here's a shot of both-

checked....

I'm finally pulling out a few fall themed items for the house, and on Monday I switched out some pillows on the couch-

It only took me an hour to remember where I'd stashed the covers, but I finally found them in a big box in the attic labeled 'holiday pillows'. Who'd have thought it? 

The pillows are about as much as I've done because I got distracted by some of the other attic boxes I've started going through. I spent all of Monday washing Bitty Baby clothes that have been stored for thirty+ years along with two huge bags of dress up clothes I want my granddaughters to be able to play with one day soon.  I also discovered a stash of letters, cards, and assorted loose and framed photos which are always my downfall.  It's hard to stay focused when you land on a picture like this one- 

Look at that little cutie. I haven't seen this photo in years, and I know it doesn't fit the prompt, but it does make me smile. When I look at this picture today I see how much Daughter2's little Sugar looks like her momma. Her momma was three here, so a little older than Sugar is now, but that face! It's the same. 

Sunrise and/or sunset....

Well if you read here you know I'm never without a sunrise photo-

And lastly, at home.... 

When you live on a lake the water is home. 

Hodgepodge Favorites

Welcome to another week in The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. What was your favorite part about growing up in your hometown? 

Without a doubt it would be the neighborhood. We walked to school, rode our bikes with abandon, chased fireflies and played big games of tag and kick the can with all ages teaming up together. We knew our neighbors and there was a strong sense of community. Family. Friends. Fun. And the freedom to figure out life and our place in it.

As I was answering this question I remembered writing a post in my early days of blogging on this very topic. You'll find it here-My Very Own Wonder Years. 

"There was a time when the world was enormous...Spanning the vast, almost infinite boundaries of your neighborhood. The place where you grew up. Where you didn't think twice about playing on someone else's lawn. And the street was your territory that occasionally got invaded by a passing car. It was where you didn't get called home until after it was dark. And all the people, and all the houses that surrounded you were as familiar as the things in your own room. And you knew they would never change."

Kevin Arnold, The Wonder Years

2. Do you prefer 'material' gifts or 'experience' gifts? If you answered experience, tell us about one you've received and enjoyed. 

Here's how I feel about gifts...when I receive a gift I want it to say 'I thought of you'. Or 'I remember once you said you loved x and I saw x so I got it for you'. 

Some of my favorite material gifts are small inexpensive things that in some way suggest the giver has taken the time to really think about me before they just go out and buy something for the sake of buying something. It could be a hedgehog apron or a weekend in NYC. They're of equal value in my mind because they show intent and thought and planning...my favorite kinds of gifts. 

My hubs has planned two birthday getaways with an element of surprise and both showed a lot of forethought and planning. To me that was the best part of the whole thing. 

3. Is brown a color featured prominently in your home decor? Your wardrobe? What's one brown thing you own and love? Of the brown foods listed here which one is your favorite and/or most often consumed.. brown sugar, brown rice, pretzels, coffee, dates, cloves, German chocolate cake, whole wheat bread?

Is it featured prominently in my home? I guess you could say that. I like real wood and we have a lot of it in the form of beams, furniture, and wainscoting. Our wood leans toward the darker hues, which to me make a house feel warm and cozy.  The dark tones need to be balanced with light coming in somewhere, but for the most part I love the dark woods. 

Off the top of my head I don't think I have a lot of brown in my wardrobe. I do have a pair of heels I love and some brown boots, but in terms of tops, dresses etc no brown. 

I like all the foods listed, but if I have to pick a favorite I'm going to say pretzels. I always have pretzels in the house. 

My favorite brown thing I own and love? 

The little brown dog of course. 

Always livin' large. Remember his money shot-

Except there was no money lol. He did get his ten minutes of fame and was a happy distraction for over 91,000 voters during that very strange season we dubbed 'the pandemic'.  

4. Which 'Charlie Brown' character do you relate to most? If you're not sure, you can take a fun quick quiz by clicking here-Which Charlie Brown Character Are You?  or another one here-Charlie Brown Quiz. I got the same answer on both. 

I could have answered this without the quiz-Charlie Brown. 

Chuck is an ambivert and so am I. As the quiz describes...both introverted and extroverted depending on your mood or the situation (true). You're gentle and lovable (I hope so), determined (some might say stubborn) and hopeful (an eternal optimist). You mean well and care deeply about your friends (yes). When it comes to failure, you stay optimistic (of course), press on, and cheer for your friends to keep on going (keep going friends!)

 5. Favorite item you've purchased this year? 

I feel like I've made a lot of purchases this year, both large and small. We recently bought a slew of new outdoor furniture, two outdoor rugs, and a couch for the lower level family room so declaring that my favorite. Technically it's not going to be delivered until sometime in the new year, but since the deposit hit the credit card in this calendar year it counts. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

How about some random cuteness? Time is a-flyin' and I never posted any pics from our quick 24-hour visit with the Tennessee grands, which happened a whole week and three days ago. I meant to, but somehow I seem to always be a few steps behind here.

Sugar with her double ear infection and sweet baby J wanting to bust loose, but we powered through and snapped a photo. They're the sweetest-

Happy Wednesday Hodgepodgers! 

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