Day One Hundred Eighty One

I had fun visiting my mom today at her place. Hung out with my sisters and niece and grand kids (first time I've seen Shelby and Elijah in a whole week!). Here is Jane, Shelby and Elijah laughing at a funny video of Jane's kittens playing at her back door. We sat outside on the front porch and enjoyed this beautiful afternoon--although the temperature was almost 90 today, the humidity was low for a change and there was a nice breeze blowing. The kids passed the time creating works of art with paper and markers. Ann took them on the hillside for the traditional throwing of rocks into the pond. Good times with family!

Day One Hundred Eighty

Even though our back yard is a jungle right now, there are little surprises of beauty and color here and there, such as this pink Dahlia--one of God's awesome creations that a picture will never do justice.

Day One Hundred Seventy Nine

Buddy cat takes it easy these hot and humid Summer days. I took this with my cell phone camera and used the solari (or solarize) setting. He's got one ear cocked. Probably listening to the little mama bird that fusses at him every time he's around her nest of babies inside one of the bird houses hanging around the yard. His nonchalance is deceptive!

Day One Hundred Seventy Eight

I noticed these cute little mushrooms growing outside my back door this afternoon. Had to get down real low to capture a shot of these. I looked them up on the 'net, and I'm not real positive, but they may be known as Copelandia cyanescens (a.k.a. "blue meanies" in Australia and New Zealand or "magic mushrooms"). I thought the "blue meanies" reference was interesting. Now, after all these decades, I'm making a connection between "magic mushrooms" and those crazed characters The Blue Meanies in The Beatles' animated movie 'Yellow Submarine'. A light bulb moment, folks. I'm not sure if it's life imitating art or the other way around. At any rate, and either way, they're cute as all get out.

Day One Hundred Seventy Seven

Here is one tired puppy! Picture for today comes from daughter Kelly who took this of grand son Elijah. My kids and grand kids have been at Six Flags in Louisville, KY the past two days. They've been having a blast in the water park and riding the roller coasters. Elijah man is tuckered out it seems after all the fun in the Summer sun this afternoon! They're all back home tonight. Thanks for this priceless picture, Kelly!

Day One Hundred Seventy Six

After yesterday's gnashing of teeth over clear sealer or a yellowish wood colored stain, Neil and I settled on the clear sealer for the deck. Wise decision. The deck looks pretty good after he got it all applied. On to the next big chore on the list: painting woodwork on both porches. More fun than human beings should be allowed to have.

Day One Hundred Seventy Five

I was fooling around with filters on Photoshop today with this picture of Day lilies. This is the glowing edges filter. Wish the picture was bigger. This one just doesn't do it justice. It outlined everything in a neon glow. Pretty cool. Aside from much angst over whether to use clear sealer or a stain on the newly washed deck, my day was quiet and happily uneventful. I printed out copies of pictures for family members and did a digi scrapbook page and played with Photoshop filters just cause it was fun.

Day One Hundred Seventy Four

Zantedeschia better known as calla lily. Found this yellow beauty blooming in our backyard this morning. One of my fave flowers. I hope there are more growing out there. Even if it's the only one, it sure is a bright spot in our poor neglected yard.

Day One Hundred Seventy Three

Can you find a four leaf clover in this mess of tall grass in
our backyard? My mom is fond of saying 'It's a jungle out
there.' Out there referring to the world in general. She
should see my backyard right now. Talk about a jungle
out there! Neil has been busy cleaning porches and wood
work, trying to get ready for some new siding. Needless to
say, the yard has gone to seed in the last couple of weeks!

Day One Hundred Seventy Two

Today is Father's Day. Here is Neil with daughters Kelly
and Holly. They treated him to a homemade spaghetti
lunch with all the fixins at Holly's house. We enjoyed a D.Q.
ice cream cake for dessert.

Here is our son in law Jerry with his kiddos Shelby and
Elijah. We all had a fun time together this afternoon.

My dad passed away ten years ago. Here he is with me and
my brother Ken back in 1953. He was with us in spirit today
because the spaghetti sauce we enjoyed for our special lunch
was his own unique recipe and simply the best in the world.
Love you and miss you, Pop!
God bless fathers everywhere!

Day One Hundred Seventy One

Daughter Kelly came in from Murfreesboro today, bearing gifts--two (that's 2!) boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a bag of fresh white peaches from the produce stand on Willow.

This evening, the Myers family dropped in after their day at the lake. Shelby and Elijah couldn't wait to get their hands on a Krispy Kreme chocolate covered with sprinkles.

Shelby got her bangs cut. Elijah is sporting his new buzz cut. They're ready for Summer!

It's always a good day for me when my family is around.

Day One Hundred Seventy

Neil power washed our front porch this morning. Wet paint globs were flying everywhere, as you can tell from the view through our front door. The front porch will get a new coat of paint in anticipation of new siding going up very soon. He's been power washing since 8:30 this morning and is still going at it at 6:03, having moved to the back porch where the deck and just about everything else is receiving a nice scrubbing. I know our neighbors hate us for all the racket that machine has made for almost ten hours straight, but it can't be helped. Neil is going to be one tired puppy when it's all over with.

Day One Hundred Sixty Nine

Thursday at Granny's house. Shelby and Elijah in sepia. Elijah fell off his stool and is just laying there in the floor. Shelby prefers to remain oblivious. Good times with the grand kids.

Day One Hundred Sixty Eight

Every Spring, the Mulberry tree in our backyard sprouts...well....Mulberries. They ripen into these big fat juicy things that are very tasty. Daughter Holly used to pick and eat them off the tree when she was little. The grand kids have recently discovered them, too. We've had a bumper crop the past two years. The only draw back is when they start to drop off the tree and make a big mushy purple mess in the yard and on the deck. And speaking of purple mess, the birds love them. The squirrels feast on them, too. The berries are usually done by the end of June. And it's really the only decent shade tree we have in the back yard, which makes it worth the mess. I guess.

Day One Hundred Sixty Seven

These two cocoons on my living room floor this morning are
none other than Shelby (top) and Elijah. Shelby got cold
after drinking some juice. Elijah just has to do whatever his
sister does.

My artist-in-residence. After watching the latest 'Jonas'
episode on her iPod this morning, she gathered her pens
and paper and literally drew pictures all day long, while
watching various TV shows on Disney and Nick. She did
break for lunch.

Copy cat artist-in-residence. He makes pictures for me and
hangs them on my fridge with all the magnets in my kitchen
drawer. He did venture outdoors this morning to jump on the
trampoline and play with the water hose. For about five minutes.
It was hot, so he headed back to the air conditioning and a cold
drink. After lunch, a nice nap and home again.

Later this afternoon, our fair city was treated to
a nice little thunder storm. Ominous dark clouds,
then heavy rain, some wind, some thunder and it
was gone just as quickly as it blew in. Can you tell
we need new gutters? Coming soon to a remodel
at our house. Ya!

Day One Hundred Sixty Six

June 15. This year is half gone already. Looking forward to the next half, aren't you? So I thought I'd celebrate by eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Not that I needed the excuse. It was yummy, by the way.

Day One Hundred Sixty Five

My front porch flag--long may she wave over my house
every day.

June 14 is Flag Day in the United States. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Day_in_the_United_States

Day One Hundred Sixty Four

I love the night life. I like to boogie. Hahahaha! Yeah, right. This is restaurant row in Cookeville, Tennessee, at about 8:30 P.M. on a Saturday night. The day got long for some reason and supper time got late. We ended up at Chili's for better or worse. My stomach will hate me later.

No boogie.

Day One Hundred Sixty Three

I'm always at least one step behind the times it seems. I just ran across this cool web site today. It's Pandora.com where you can create your own radio station. Type in the artists or songs you like. A random stream of those songs is created for your listening pleasure, plus it will seek out similar types of music and artists and add that to your station. I'm listening to it right now. A Journey tune. You can check out other people's stations, too. It's nice if you want some background music while you surf the net. Thing is, it's so random, you never know what tune is going to pop up next. If you like the tune, give it a thumbs up and they'll keep playing that tune plus others similar to it. Or if you can't stand the tune, give it a thumbs down and they promise never to play that song again. I've just begun adding to my list of artists. Thought you might like to check it out if you haven't already. http://www.pandora.com Have a great weekend, Everyone!

Day One Hundred Sixty Two

Do you have an apartment in Yoville? No? Why not? My family and I always manage to discover and whole heartedly jump into major time wasters on Facebook. Recently, I've become a citizen of Yoville, a virtual city where my little "Kay" avatar visits friends and sends them messages, dances with them, fights with them, kisses their boo boos, tells them jokes, and sends them gifts. All of this is to earn Yoville coins. My little "Kay" avatar also reports to work in the Widget Factory twice daily where 200 coins are added to her account. If you don't earn coins, you cannot buy stuff to furnish your apartment, to eat or to wear. You may as well move back to Farm Town if that's the case. Yoville is weird, but I'm drawn to it for some reason. I've recently redecorated the rooms in my apartment. Dig the checkerboard tile in my virtual kitchen where as you can see my little "Kay" avatar is sitting and patiently waiting.....for what, I'm not sure. I just acquired a bathroom in my apartment and spent most of my savings decorating it with pink fixtures and tacky wallpaper. I enjoy Farm Town on Facebook way more than Yoville. But if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood, drop in sometime. We'll play Foosball while we dance to music on the jukebox, drink tall lattes and pig out on egg rolls and hot dogs. It doesn't get any better than that, folks!

Day One Hundred Sixty One

I'm not an environmentalist nor a tree hugger, but I do my "green" part by recycling everything I can. Recently, I've started collecting these reusable shopping bags whenever I shop at Wal-Mart. I've got maybe eight or nine now. The trick is to return them to the trunk or backseat of your car after you empty them at home. And then the other trick is to remember to take them into Wal-Mart with you when you shop there. I'm pretty good at it now. I think those plastic shopping bags should be banned from the face of the earth. These are cheap and sturdy and if the check out person packs them right, they hold a lot of groceries. These bags are available now in most grocery stores and places like Big K Mart and Sams. So I say Why not?

Day One Hundred Sixty

Hooked up the sprinkler under the trampoline this morning
so Shelby and Elijah could jump and splash. Nice hot day for
this activity.

We visited my mom at her place and ventured outside for
a while. The kids (that includes sister Ann!) love to throw
rocks in the pond and make wreaths out of the branches from
the willow trees that grow by the water. Grand daughter
Shelby looks like a child of the Sixties.

Sister Jane and grand son Elijah relax on the front porch.
Sipping icy drinks sure does take the edge off the heat!
It's always fun hanging out with my family! Love you guys!

Day One Hundred Fifty Nine

Neil and I are beginning the prep on our house for new siding and windows. We've lived here since February 28, 1983 and over the decades have done a lot of fixing up, but never anything this big. Right now, we have to clean and paint all the woodwork and that requires some elbow grease. Neil has been scraping paint off the porch ceilings the last several days. I remember when we used to think stuff like this was fun. Let the making of the mess begin!

Day One Hundred Fifty Eight

I love my grand kids. That's why I post so many pictures of them, in case you haven't noticed. Here they are today after lunch at El Tapatio, mugging for my daughter Kelly's camera. (By the way, thanks for sending me this picture, Kelly! I didn't take any pictures today.) Elijah has taken to wearing these goggles everywhere. He wore them to church this morning, took them off during the worship service, then put them back on again on the way out. These two always make me smile!

Day One Hundred Fifty Seven

June 6, 1944. D-Day. The Battle of Normandy. U.S., British, and Canadian troops invaded German occupied France. 10,000 killed or wounded. This was the beginning of the end for Hitler's bid to rule the world. Thank God for all those brave young men who stormed those beaches. A lot of them never made it off those boats. Some of them lived to tell the tale. All of them bravely fought in our place so we can be free. God bless everyone in the military. God Bless America!

Day One Hundred Fifty Six

Here's a blast from the past. Elijah and Shelby one year ago yesterday, splashing around in that tiny kiddie pool in the backyard. We went through about four pools last Summer. They kept getting tears or holes in them. The last one was really big and nice, but it required maintenance--cleaning and filtering and such--and the water ended up so bad it smelled like pond scum. No more pools! Besides, Echo Valley Pool just reopened. We can splash there. And it doesn't smell like pond scum.

Day One Hundred Fifty Five

Enjoyed the afternoon with family at Mom's place. Lots of
discussions and laughter and remembering and picture taking.
As usual, we stirred things up and rocked the place and had
a great time together. Love you guys!! Let's do it all over again
next week.

The girls show off their Summer Toes: from top and going
clockwise: Sarah Foy, Ann Sissom, Julia Foy, me, Jane Foy
and Shelby Myers.

Grand son Elijah shows off his pre-school scrapbook to his
Great Uncle Ken Mabry and his Great Granny Hamp Mabry.
Couldn't leave these important people out, as they did not
make it into the Summer Toes picture.

Check out http://kaykel.blogspot.com for the negative
color setting of Summer Toes!

Day One Hundred Fifty Four

Who loves the 'Twilight' series by Stephanie Meyer? I do! I do! And a bunch of other people do, too, apparently. And we're all looking forward to 'New Moon', the second movie installment of what is being called The Twilight Saga. The first 'New Moon' movie trailer was debuted Sunday on the MTV movie awards, which I'd never watched before and only watched this time because 'Twilight' was nominated for everything (and won 5 out of 6 awards I think). Since I didn't have a picture for today, which is rare for me, I thought I'd post something totally different and just plain fun. Of course, any fan of these books knows that the picture here is of Jacob Black after he shape shifts into a wolf. Fans seem to be torn about the look of Jacob as wolf. As for me, I think it's all good and can't wait to see this story in action on the big screen!

Day One Hundred Fifty Three

Felt like Summer by ten o'clock this morning. Shelby and Elijah enjoyed bouncing around on the trampoline while I sprayed them with the hose. A little over an hour later, they were ready for a break. Making silly faces is also a necessary part of fun in the sun.

Day One Hundred Fifty Two

My latest favorite snack: pretzel sticks dipped in yellow mustard with a caffeine free Diet Pepsi chaser (I like Coke Zero better, but I didn't need the buzz before bedtime tonight). I could eat a million of these little pretzel sticks, but I usually stop when my mustard dollop in a Dixie cup runs out. Yum!