Silver Comets & Lil' Black Twigs

Good Evening Everyone,

Well, the weekend is winding down...I hope you all have had a great one! Just a few updates.....

This moring we decided to take our bikes, second day, mind you, to the Silver Comet Trail and try our luck there. The last time we had been to the trail was when it was first being built and in a totally different city. The trail was nice. Paved, smooth and split by a broken yellow line just like a highway. This is where the 'serious' bicyclist ride apparently, as the majority of the people there were dressed in typical bicycle uniform....the spandex shorts and tops in obnoxious, ad bearing colors, the cute(yes, i was being sarcastic) little 'airplane' helmets and the normal deep, brown leather tan (which will catch up with them in the not too distant future). And all of this was topped off with the typical "look down your nose and roll your eyes" attitude of a group of unwelcoming yuppies. That being said...we'll probably go again next weekend.  :) 

All in all, we had a good time and a good ride....we did 6 miles (3 out, 3 back). Which I don't think it too bad for someone who hasn't been a  bike in a very long time.

This afternoon we invited a friend of ours, Connie, to go shopping with us.

Shopping?

Why yes, Shopping! 

I was hunting the elusive Halloween Decoration!! I found some too!! We went to Garden Ridge in Douglasville, Ga. They had already put their stuff out (they always start early...they have begun setting up Christmas too). They had mostly cute stuff...but at least some of it was new and not just left overs from last year. I picked up a couple of things...I got two 'twirlies' that Sally and Connie liked. Ones a pumpkin and the other is a bat. I may give my 'manifer' (see earlier post - way earlier) one of them to hold. :)  I also go some black twig garland. This stuff is gonna look so cool on the rails of newly elongated, ready to be decorated front porch.  :)

As we were leaving Garden Ridge, I thought...

'I wonder if PartyCity has started putting out their Halloween goodies yet?'....

''Who wants to go to PC??"

One vote of YAY and one vote of eehhhhh, if we have to. Found a parking space right up front (wow, that was weird). As we were walking past the big glass windows, Sally says, nope, don't see any Halloween stuff. They must not be putting it out yet. So out came my boo-boo lip and I pressed my face to the window......WRONG!!! Waaayyyyyy in the back of the store I could see the boxes being opened, I could see just a hint of what appeared to be masks.....straight through the door and b-line for the back of the store. BINGO!! They were most definately preparing to put out the Halloween goodies. They had some up already....a few masks, feahter boas, make-up, etc....

So we - Me, with Connie right behind me and Sally way back mumbling to herself - wandered around and looked at what was out (and stuck my head in some of the boxes that weren't fully opened yet). I found a few neat things. A fake ax that wasn't too cheesy, the great big Frankenstien mask thats always up on the wall (it's $130...maybe that's why it's still on the wall). And something that I, for whatever reason, have become obsessed with recently.....A Plague Mask!! They call it a Carnival Creeper....perhaps that's because if most people knew the history of it they would probably freak out a little. I don't know what it is about these silly bird-beaked masks...but they have hooked me this year. Maybe it's because they conjour up visions of the Black Plague. Or because they are just creepy enough to make you wonder what's going on behind the mask. Or maybe it's because people (Doctors, highly educated people) were silly enough to believe that this simple mask would protect them from The Black Death. And  even centuries after this hard learned lesson, humanity is still naive enough to believe that they are in control of nature. HA! That'll be the day! Anyway, I have a Plague Doctor mask now! Wanna See It??

ain't it grand???

They also had full lycra body suits this year too! How cool would that be with this mask? Just a black suit with the mask....standing in the shadows to jump out at unsuspecting children (the parents are usually the ones who jump and scream). I can hardly wait!!!! YeeHaw!!!

Well, I guess that's all for now...Have a great evening and a wonderful week!!

TTFN

Doctor Doctor!

Good Morning All!

Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Been a busy week....

My business cards have been printed and the shipper says they should be here on Monday. YAY! Wanna peek? Here's what the new cards look like...

this is a portrait of my daughter i did a few years ago :)

there are little designs in the background...i don't know if they show clearly on this shot....

Thursday I went for my follow up for my "Not Normal" blood work. We did they weight & blood pressure thing.....there's a 7 pound differnece between my WII and the doctor's scale. His is heavier :(

My blood pressure was waaaayyy whacked out...160/100. I am now taking medication to help with that. It's a small dose (20mg) and hopefully I can get it back down without having to take meds forever. My prostate is fine (aren't you glad you know that now?)...my tryglycerides however, are really messed up. The level for 'bad' ones shouldn't be any higher than 150. Mine's at 268. Yippee. My 'good' ones are at 28...the doctor says he hasn't seen a number that low. Hey, at least I accomplished something, right? I am also teetering on the edge of diabities. So I have a lot to work on. I have to get back to my exercises....he wants me to be down to 170 by the end of January. That will help with the diabities and the triglycerides. So it's back to the exercise mat! Wish Me Luck!!  :)

Thursday was also my wife's birthday. I'll be nice and not post the number. She decided that she wanted a bike for her birthday....so off we went to buy a bicycle. We looked and looked and she finally picked one....then it was 'which one are you getting?' Big, blank look on my face....'well, I can't ride alone'. So we left the store with two new bikes. Two new bikes with tiny little butt crack seats. Oh boy! Even though we both decided we needed the 'big arse' seats. We got them home, made a few adjustments to her bike, raised the seat,  adjusted the handles and then it was dark. Friday we both had to work...and that brings us to this morning....

7:30 am (before it becomes blistering hot again) we both got on our shinny new bikes and pedaled up the street. I have not had my butt on a bike in 20+ years. We rode up the street, around the corner, down the block to the main enterance of the subdivision.....down the street to the back, turned around, back up the street, around another corner, down the hill, up the hill.....pop! Sally's chain came off. Flipped the bike over, fixed the chain....walked the bikes up the rest of the hill...phew!! Down the hill, around the corner and past the driveway (me, not her) down to the next cul-de-sac and back home. 50 minutes later.....It wasn't nearly as bad as I figured it would be. My legs are ok, my knees HATE me, and my bottom is like 'what the hell was that?' but the biggest 'pain' was getting my leg over the bike to get on it. My legs don't go sideways anymore. LOL  :)  If that doesn't count as execise I don't know what does!!

ain't they pur-tee?

My pumpkins are officially kaaa-put! :( 

The last two white ones have rotted through. My 'big' one is totally orange and not so big. Oh well, learn something new each time. At least I actually got pumpkins this year - not as I had pictured in my head but pumpkins none the less. I wish my Mom was here...she would have just looked at them and they would have grown to 50 pounds. Yes, she was a 'plant lady'. She would walk into a room and all the plants would perk up.....like they were hanging on every word. It's been 6 years now. It's been 4 for my Dad. I really miss them both!! Maybe next year I'll get some normal sized pumpkins. Just have to wait and see I guess!

this is 'The Big One'...it's about 7 inches to the top of the stem

Wednesday was my sister-in-laws birthday. She requested a bunny. Sally waited until Monday night to ask if I could make her one. Thank goodness I had the process down!! The bunny came out really well considering the pieces I had to work with. Shirley liked it a lot. I'm glad it made her happy. Now I have a 'Georgia' bunny request for a friend's upcoming birthday. I am the only one that sees a pattern developing here? :)

Shirley's birthday bunny

aannnnddddd.......HALLOWEEN IS ONLY 92 DAYS AWAY!!! I can't wait. I've gotten some new ideas from other blogs and websites. Guess I better get busy or it's gonna be time and I'll be standing there with that 'what happened' look on my face! I'll post progression photos as things start taking shape.

I guess that's about it for now. Enjoy you weekend. Talk to y'all real soon! Bye.

TTFN

New Art Work

Good Morning Everyone!
Hope y'all are having a great weekend. Can't believe it's Sunday already. Saturday was a blur.
I had two of my grandchildren on Saturday. They're getting so big (so fast). I babysat for a few hours so that their parents could go have a 'date'. They went to the movies...saw HP part 2. Shaylor played (ran all over the house) and colored with her great grandma. Rylee was everywhere he could get in his walker. The boys gonna go straight from the walker to a dead run. :)

Shaylor standing still (for a split second) so we could take a picture for Nana...

Rylee hammin' it up

I finished up a couple of digital pieces recently too! I think I want to use them for large format tee shirts (the image covers the whole front side of the shirt) and possibly prints. Not sure yet...what do you think? Let's take a poll...leave me a comment and let me know.  :)

"Simply Genius" 18x24 ~ Three of the world's greatest artist

"Simply Wicked" 18x24 ~ Everybody loves a witch!

Of course the copyright won't be plastered all over them when they are printed....I think I may add a 'digital' folder to my website for these. Speaking of, you can check out my other work at rlangerportraits. I have also updated my business card. It's ready for the printer. Should have them back in a week or so (depends on how much procrastinating I do - HA!).

I guess that's all for now....off to mow the grass. Hopefully I won't spontaniously burst into flames...it's miserable hot out...again.

TTFN

ps - my pumpkins are almost all gone now. the white one has been attacked by whatever left the holes in the others. :(

What A Week

Hi Everybody!

Hope you all have been having a good week.

It's been a heck of a week on this end. Monday I went back to work after being off for a week (worked on the arbor) and it was BLAH! Computers not working, computers crashing, printers crashing and dying, software not working....the list just goes on. And it's only Thursday. Phew!!

But I did have a good Wednesday (after work). I got a New Red Truck. Yay! It's a Ranger, just like my last one, only it was grey. It's called fireburst red. It's almost maroon. And it has power! Power locks (I even got a beep-beep, never had one of those) Power windows (I'm still reaching for the knob to roll the window down) a CD player and even a jack for an ipod. I'm really happy with it. Although I had to have them fix a turn signal bulb - which turned out not to be the bulb but a recalled sensor. Oh well, whatcha gonna do.

New! Red! Yay!

My pumpkins are really depressing me....in the last week and a half I have lost 4 of them. Due to bugs, as I discovered by accident. They had bored holes in the underside where they couldn't be easily seen. I was letting my buppies out a few nights ago and the critters were all huddled around the stem. I sprayed them with bug spray. But I saw more today. :<

This is the 2nd one I lost...no pics of the first as it was full of lil black ant (inside)

this was the 3rd one I lost. It was about the size of a baseball (shouldn't be orange yet)

this poor thing...it was a white pumpkin...it rotted on the vine (no idea why)

This is my biggest one (about the size of 3 softballs) It's turning orange early too.

this I think is one of the culprits...I caught about 4 of them munching on the stem of my biggest one.

this is a little white one. doing good so far. it's about the size of a baseball. no holes that I have found.

there's one more green one (will be white, i think) that is doing well too.

Hopefully the two that are left will yeild something. I'm really bummed that the others didn't make it. I may start a few more this weekend....It will give me about 3 months. They say they take from 90-100 days to mature. Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed (eyes and toes too!)

Have a great night!

TTFN

MMMMMM, Nummy, Nummy!

I got the bakin' bug today! I made some cookies...they iz good!!  :)
They're kinda, sorta chocolate chip cookies...
I started with a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe and went from there. I am posting the recipe just in case someone else wants to make some of these. You'll be glad you did.
The basic recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. It's my Mom's old cook book. Poor thing looks like it's been thru a war. The pages are discolored and falling out. Oh well, it still works!! :)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Criso Baking Sticks, Butter Flavor
1 cup packed Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnimon
half a bag of Ghirardelli White Chocolate Chips
half a box of Golden Raisins
Bag of Dried Apricots
Bag of Dried Pineapples
**anything in this color are ingredients that I added or changed from the basic recipe**

Directions:
Put the Dried Apricots and Dried Pineapple in a processor and grind until it's 'cut up'. It becomes sticky and makes a ball. Mix everything together except the dried fruit, raisins and chocolate chips. Once everything else is thouroghly mixed then you can add the other ingredients, one at a time, mixing inbetween (this just makes it easier to mix). You can use an electric mixer if you like. I mixed mine by hand...one, because I don't have a mixer and two, because I think it's easier to squish it (like making meatloaf).

the dough is dark due to the dark brown sugar

Once everything is mixed, drop them onto an ungreased baking sheet. Set your oven to 375 and bake them for 8-10 minutes. I have a gas oven (wouldn't use anything else) and I baked mine for 9 minutes. They have a slight crunch but are still chewy. Do 10 minutes if you want crunchy. I use two trays and alternate...because it is best to leave the cookies on the tray for about 2 minutes before taking them off. That way they won't crumble or break.

ENJOY!

Have a great evening!!


TTFN

Bag Lady & Fireworks

Good Morning All.
Hope you had a fantastic Saturday.

I had a pretty good one :)

I got some work done on my bag lady (plastic bag holder/dispencer). She's coming along nicely. She got her face and her hair-do. What do you think?

ain't she cute?

Then my neighbors called (texted) and wanted to know if we were going to the Rockmart Homespun Festival....I said 'what?' So I looked it up here. It looked like it might be fun so we said 'sure, why not'. So after dinner we packed up. Sally, Isabel, Shirley, Connie and myself all got in Sally's Mali-boo and drove 30 minutes to Rockmart. We met Barry, Amy and Faith (neighbors) at the festival. They got there first so they saved us a parking spot - sorta...I dropped the car right in front of theirs. There was a good deal of vendors there. Food, Information and Artists - quilts, painters, carvers, soap makers. One thing that was nice about this festival was that everything was hand made. They also had live music, no one I'd ever heard of but they were all pretty good. Lots and lots of people. I was surprised at how many people there actually were. Then at 10 (right on time) the fireworks began. They were pretty good. We had some good seats...the park was split in two. One side was where the stage was (with all the vendors) and the other side (under the bridge and out) was an 'open' field. We had a clear view. And when it was over we managed to get out quite quickly...I was really shocked. I figured it would take forever but it didn't. Yay! We got home around 11 after dropping everyone off. It was a really nice evening. Glad we went. Thanks Amy, for letting me know about this one!

the stage and one of the bands

lots of people...

even more people (and this was only one side of the park)

some of the fireworks

That was my Saturday...hope yours was a great one too! Til next time...

TTFN

Last Dayz...

Good Saturday morning to Y'all!
Been on vacation this past week...I think I need a vacation from my vacation. :)
Got the arbor all done except for the paint (see previous post). Got the yard mowed and weed whacked. Didn't get near the front porch. It needs to be pressure washed and sealed. Oh well, guess it will be a 'weekend' project.

The lab results from Monday came in the mail yesterday (Friday). It simply said - 'make an appointment, you're results were not normal'. And then they wonder why my blood pressure goes up. I mean, really, what kind of message is that? At least it was that one and not one of the other two..."not normal, make an appointment in the next week" or "not normal, call immediately". I have a feeling he's going to tell me I'm fat and my cholestorol is too high....or something similar to that. Oh well, what are ya gonna do?

Sally sent me a link to a haunted tour in Lawerenceville the other day too! It looks really cool. Yes, I know, it's only July. I can't help it, I have Halloween on the brain 24/7. It does look like it would be a great tour though. They have a walking tour and a trolley tour. They're both about 90 minutes. The great thing is that I don't have to wait til October if I don't want to. They have ghost tours all the time. :)  YAY! If you want to check it out, you can do so here.

Wanna see something really disturbing? Ok, maybe it's more like irratating...my poor pumpkins look like poop! We had to clean them up some, the vines were wilted and dryed up and the leaves were brown and dead. This is what was left...

such a sad, sad sight.

this one has two that are already turning orange.

this is the two big ones. ones almost all orange and the other hasn't gotten any larger.

Needless to say, I am really becoming bummed about this.

Yesterday, we decided to go on a road trip for our last day of vacation...had a blast. Wound up covering a good portion of the upper part of the state. :) We stopped in Dallas and checked out some of the antique stores. The people there were really friendly. It was like visiting friends you hadn't seen in a while. We found a shop that is going to require a second trip...Christmas gifts, I think (ssshhhhh, don't tell anyone). From there we went to Cartersville. My son used to live out that way and it seemed we were always there on Sunday when things were closed. They had some nice shops. The attitude was really quite crappy though. Especially after stopping in Dallas. At the first antique store the woman acted like it was beneath her to speak to us. The next place was a 'this and that, knick knacky' store. The woman there was friendly, to my wife. I may as well have been a chair. Then we stopped at a pottery store/gallery. The woman there (who turned out to be the owner/artist) was very friendly and very nice to chat with. She had some wonderful pieces. The name of her place is SPRING PLACE POTTERY. I don't have a website for her but if you're in Cartersville you should stop in and pay her a visit. From there we went next door to Psycho Sisters, a 'hand me down, used clothing boutique'. My wife was looking for something for my daughter. Let me say this...My money will NEVER be spent in this womans store. She was extremely rude. She acted like we weren't even there. She never smiled. She had that 'what the hell are you doing here' look on her face and in her attitude. At any rate, I will not be going back into that store ever again. From there we went to Helen. It's a German/Bavarian town. It's a tourist trap...but I love going up there to wander through the stores and watch (sometimes participate) the

tubers. You can rent a tube and float down the river. Spent a little while there. When we left we managed to miss our exit (still don't know how, we've only been there a hundred times) and wound up going 50 miles out of our way. Good thing we didn't have anywhere to be. LOL! Finally got home around 8:30. I was really glad to be out of the car. All in all, it was a good day.

Now that I've bored you....I think I will say Au revoir. Til next time....


TTFN
p.s. gonna go check my lottery ticket from last night....if you hear a fool screaming and hollering you'll know I've won. HA!

Brain Melt!

Hi All! Hope everyone is doing well.

I've been working on an outside project the last few days.....I think I finally melted my brain today. It was miserably hot. We started early...about 9am. By 10:30 / 11 I looked like someone had dunked me in a river. But I persevered and finished everything that I had materials for. YAY!
What was the project? Glad you asked....I have been building an arbor that will be the enterance to my backyard. It has come along quite well (even if I do say so myself).

Day 1 ~ Post cemented in with spacers and braces

Day 2 ~ Got the dirt packed, boxed in and cemented (it rained 20 minutes later)

Day 3 ~ Got the lattice up, a little design work on the front boards and the slats in (needs one more in the middle, ran out of wood). Started leveling the ground around it too.

Now I just have to wait for the cement to fully dry...then it will be painted white. The arbor, not the cement. :)

When that is all done, I will be planting wysteria and creeping, thornless roses. It will be Roses, Wysteria, Roses on both sides. There will also be a black wire mesh fence eventually too.

At this point I had to stop...pounding headache from being out in the sun for way too long.

What do you think? Not too bad for my first arbor.  :)

Went to the Lab on monday...Yippee. Had to have blood drawn. My doctor wanted me to have blood tests to make sure I was as old as he thought I was - HA! I'll know in a few weeks if things are 'normal'. Like thats likely - normal, that is.
Speaking of doctors, I forgot to mention that my mother in law is doing fine. Her spider bite doesn't look any where near as bad as it did when I took her to have it checked. All the swelling and redness has gone. It's healing up well.

My baby (she's 19), who is in California, has a cist on her hand that is causing her a lot of pain. It's keeping her from doing things - her school work, her dishes, etc. She goes to the doctor tomorrow, hopefully they can do something so she can get back to business. Keep your fingers crossed! I miss you, Jenifer!!!

The heat and humidity has been playing havoc with my pumpkins. They look horrible. The leaves are wilted and yellowed. One of the big green ones (the smaller of the two) isn't going to make it. :(  The vine has all but died and the pumpkin is already turning soft. The other one is still growing, at a much slower pace now. I'm hoping it isn't going to shrivel up on me too. The others seem to be doing well at this point.

Well, I guess that's all for now.
Have a great evening!


TTFN

We be Swingin' - western style.

Hey Eveybody! Hope you all are having a fantastic day!
It's been a great day on my end. Got up early (way too early for a saturday). Got some photos of the bunnies (cause two of them left this morning on a cross country trip), went to the post office, bank, flea market, antique shop, walmart, lunch at Stevie B's pizza (my daughter's suggestion) and out to my son's to deliver Lawon's belated birthday present. He got a remote controlled Jeep. He seemed really happy with it. Played with it the whole time we were there. :)  YAY! picked out a good one. Came home, took me a nap (I really feel old sometimes) and then we went to The Mill. It's a local amitheatre. Had a really good time with the neighbors listening to Carolyn Martin.....Now on to the pics.

Let's start with the pumpkins....
So far I have counted 11 pumpkins (that seem to be doing very well). I was really amazed at how many there are now.

this is one of the first two. I'm going to have to break out the ruler..it's hard to see how big this really is.

This one is a few days old. I think this is going to be a cinderella or a jaharradale.

this one is about a week or so old and I believe it is a cotton candy or a lumina (white). there's two of them and they both look like tomatoes. Soft skins too.

and these are two new ones that have just popped up in the last day or so.

was that enough pumpkins, Susie?? lol!

The sunflowers out front are looking good (aside from the heat stress). There have been four or five blooms and many more on the verge.

 The bunnies are finally done (I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing about them by now). I got a couple of shots before I had to pack up a couple of them for their long trip. Here's the four of them. I'm really glad that the ladies over at Freebies for Crafters and Sew4Home posted about these bunnies. I had a blast making them (and I have a feeling that there may be more in the future). Thanks again, Ladies!!

The Mill is a fairly new (fall 2010) ampitheatre located in Villa Rica, Georgia. If you're local you should come check it out sometime. They have a farmers market on Wednesdays and various other events going on all the time. Tonight was their 2nd of the summer music series. My neighbors (Barry and Amy) went to the first one a couple of weeks ago and got to see The Drifters (of course I found out about it afterwards). Tonight was "Western Swing". I was not too excited about the music style when I heard it...however, I decided I would give it a chance. I'm really glad I did. We had a really good time. We got to see the Carolyn Martin Band. They were really good and I was surprised at how much of the music I knew. My parents listened to this style of music (among many others). It wasn't just the music, I knew the words to a lot of the songs. Made me miss my mom and dad a lot (my mom passed away in 2005 and my dad in 2007). I got to talk with Carolyn after the show...she's a very sweet lady. I even got an autograph.  :)  Go check out her website. Who knows, you may be surprised how much you like her music too.

Carolyn Martin and her band.

more Carolyn

my neighbor Amy (left) and Faith (right) and Shaylor (in the middle) dancing with some of the kids that were out and dancing all night to the bands music.

Shaylor (my grandbaby) shaking her thing. she has a big ol' fan to cool off with. :)

And guess what I found out? There is Paranormal Investigators right here in Villa Rica. Who knew? They are going to be starting to give tours of the area and one of the guys from Paranormal Nation is going to come and help them kick it off in October. My neighbor, Amy and I will be in line waiting for this one. I even bought a raffle ticket for a chance to win a tour package (didn't win though). Their name is Wartime Paranormal. You can check out their website here. Who knows, maybe we'll be in the same tour.

Have a GREAT night!

TTFN

New blogger visuals...

Well, here it is...Friday again. YAY!
I have been busy. I've changed my background - Changed out the flag/soldier background I had created and replaced it with a bright, vivid one. I think it looks pretty good. What do you think??

The bunnies are all done. I just have to take some 'professional' pictures of them now. As soon as I do that  I will post them so you can see how all four of them came out. I like the way they look, I think you will too.

My pumpkins are doing great. The two large ones have gotten even larger (one moreso than the other). I also have several (at least 5) that have taken and appear to be doing well. I had taken some pictures of the largest one a couple of days ago but it has gotten so much bigger since then that I will have to take more so you can see how well they are doing.

I promised myself that this would just be a short update with no photos....:(
So I will post some photos this weekend of pumpkins, bunnies and who knows what else.

OH YEAH, I'm on vacation!! Hip, Hip, Hooray!! Or at least that's what I'm saying now. I have a lot (and I mean A LOT) of things that I want to get done in the next week. Wish me luck!!

Have a Great Night!!


TTFN

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!

Good day to you all!!
I trust that everyone is enjoying their long weekend?

It's been a busy one! I managed to get some crafting in amoungst everything else...
I think I've got the 'sew bug'.....what do you think?

I've started working on Christmas gift...After the second go round. The first pattern didn't give me the outcome I wanted. The two dollies in the front (right side) are "Ju-Ju dolls" which need eyes and adornments. These are smaller versions of a pattern I made a few years back. The original is about 5 times this size and were made for my nieces at Christmas. I've been told that they still have them but I haven't seen them. Maybe I can get a pic or two so I can see how well they held up. The large half doll in the back is the beginnings of my "Bag Lady". She still has a ways to go as you can clearly see. And of course my bunnies. I haven't been able to get to the store for what I need. Maybe today? Ya never know.  :)

The pumpkins have doubled in size just since my last post. I didn't take any pictures, I will at the end of the week. I'm sure you all are tired of hearing about my pumpkins. What can I say? I'm excited. Wait til they turn orange.....;P

Out in the front yard....My sunflowers are just about to bloom. I have a large pot with about 20 plants in it. When they bloom it should look like a pot of gold. Well, as close as can be expected...there are 3 or 4 differnet varities in the pot. Yellow, Red, Orange and a mix.

I have had my other puppies this weekend too! Yup, been babysitting. They've been really good and well behaved little boys. I'm glad it hasn't rained this weekend. They say it's supposed to today. Hopefully their owners will get back before it decides to pour. I have also discovered that they (like my two) do not like fireworks. The loud bangs and pops scare them. I had to go and make sure they were ok about 10:30 last night because of all the racket that was going on in my neighborhood. They weren't happy with all the noise but they were glad I came to sit with them for a little bit. They calmed down once I convinced them I wasn't going to let anyone hurt them. Then I had to go back in and get my two calmed down. Roxxy thought it was thunder and started to freak out. She REALLY doesn't like thunder. Everything worked out in the end. Here's my other dogs.....

Rocky

Newton

Cotton

Yesterday was Lawton's (my oldest grandson) birthday. He turned 6. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAWTON - LOVE YOU!! My how time flies...can't believe he's six already. We're gonna have a pool party for him next weekend.

That's my grandchild! (swiped this from FB) 

I guess that's all for now.....Have a great day and I will leave you with this....

The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics

By Francis Scott Key 1814

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

TTFN