Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A Passion for Fishing



A week ago my husband and I went to our youngest son's home to eat and do some fishing at their neighbor's pond.  His wife and two sons were with us. Naturally, I'm the one holding the camera, so I'm not in any of the pictures. I didn't do any fishing, but took pictures and man-handled the three year old.

The day was cloudy and while we were at the pond a rain cloud in the west started getting darker and darker, so we knew rain was on the way. Our daughter-in-law and I rounded up the two grandsons and headed toward their house.  The guys said they were going to take their chances that it wouldn't rain and kept on fishing.  It wasn't ten minutes later a gully washer drenched them but they kept on fishing. They were catching fish by the way, and that might have been why they didn't want to quit.  They decided to come in when they heard thunder. Didn't want to take chances with lightning.

Yesterday, Memorial Day, we once again went to our son's house for food and fishing.  It was a beautiful day but windy. As far as I'm concerned the food was much better than the fishing. Grilled steak and shrimp, potato salad, corn on the cob and brownies were on the menu.

I've got a feeling that our son and his family are going to be seeing a lot of us this summer. Fishing is my husband's new passion.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

When All Else Fails...

You've heard the expression, if all else fails, read the directions.  My husband bought me a new camera for Christmas and I'm still learning all the nuts and bolts on how to use it.  I've been having problems importing pictures from it to my computer, so much so, I haven't been bloggng much from discouragement. Have you noticed? This morning I had some time on my hands and thought I'd try again.  Only this time I decided to read the directions from my camera "how to" book. Why didn't I think of this before you ask?  (Now I know where my youngest son gets his "I don't need directions when I can figure it out myself" attitude.) I taught elementary students for 31 years and I would like a penny for everytime I told them to be sure and read the directions, yet I can't take my own advice. Anyhow, I can now import pictures with my new camera to my computer. 


This is a picture of one of the garden projects that I've been working on since I've had so much free time.  This is the east side of our home in the front. It gets so much shade that we were having problems growing grass of any kind, so I designed a small garden of hostas and other shade loving plants. I have seen a bench for sitting at Lowe's that I would like to place at the far end of it. In a few months the cannas will be blooming which will add some color.



The shed in the backyard had big holly bushes against it and they were diseased and needed to be cut down and removed.  Again, this area gets alot of shade so we planted hostas and begonias and a hydrangea on the end to take the place of the holly bushes.  In a few years the hostas will be bigger and will fill this space well. We are still working on a walkway using stone blocks. Our veggie garden is behind the shed. We've already harvested some green beans and strawberries and it won't be long and we'll have yellow squash to eat. I didn't plant cucumbers or okra this year because we are still eating those from last year.

Hopefully, now that I've figured out how to import pics from my camera to my computer you will see more posts from me. Or maybe not, if I get started on another project. 

Have a fun and safe Memorial Day.
Christine


Thursday, May 19, 2011

Rocky's Antics


Can you come up with a cute quote for this picture? 

Christine

Monday, May 16, 2011

Sister Act


I spent the weekend with my sister and her husband and had a great time. She and I use to fight like cats and dogs when we were kids and even into our teenage years. I was a big tease and she was an easy target. I knew just how to push her buttons. You would think after having to put up with me all those years she would have distanced herself from me but after we both got married and had children we seemed to actually get closer. Now that our children are grown and have children of their own we see each other often and have a great time. We have a lot in common and talk nonstop when we are together. In fact, this weekend we both complained of chapped lips and dry mouths from talking so much. I was helping her with a garage sale she was having and that gave us plenty of time to catch up on this and that. In fact, when I got home yesterday from the visit we talked three more times on the phone. That would have never happened when we were teenagers. In those days we had our own friends and activities to keep us busy. But, now, I'm happy to say she is my best friend and I don't tease her as much as I use to.  

Christine

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Rocky's Antics





Nothing fancy for me when it comes to dog toys. Just give me a shoe, sock or anything I can chew on and I'm happy. My favorite toy is kleenex but I have to be sneaky and hide when I play with it.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day


My mother, 1920-2005.

I love you and miss you.

Christine

Those of us that have lost our mothers to death will spend this day remembering. I wish everyone of you a Happy Mother's Day and hope all your memories are as sweet as mine.


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Rowdy Says


Mug shot of public enemy #1. Answers to the name of Rocky. Be cautious when approaching. Will attack when you least expect it. Reward for anyone who can tame this beast.


Monday, May 2, 2011

Soaklahoma

A local park in our area.

Our home last fall.

We have had so much rain in the last month that I have forgotten what it's like to have a sunny day like the pictures show above.  The rain has soaked our part of the state while western Oklahoma is still suffering from drought.  My estimation is that we've had at least 12 inches of rain in the last month. That's a lot of water!  The abundance of rain has also brought cold temps with it. Yesterday's high was 54 degrees and today will be 58 degrees. Weather forecasters have promised sunny days ahead and climbing temperatures. I sure am ready for warmer and dryer weather because it's hard to plant flowers in mud.

Christine