It is just too darn bad that later on in life, kids don’t think this is fun anymore! : )
Reminds me of when my sons were teens and I’d remind them to do their dishes, and they took me literally and would wash the dishes, leaving all of the silverware in the sink!
Posted in Simple Pleasures: The Kids, Sunday Snapshot | Tagged doing the dishes | 5 Comments »
I inherited my dog Lily when my neighbors had to move. I moved into this neighborhood about 14 years ago. I have several very nice neighbors. One was a family of five living across the street. Mom & Dad, and 3 children…two boys and a girl.
When I moved here I bought a lawnmower. A cheap one. It mowed the grass just fine, if you could start it. I’d spend 10 minutes trying to start the thing and my youngest son who lived with me at the time and was a big strong teenager, had the same problem. This torture went on for about 3 years. So when Chris, the neighbor boy, hit around 10-11 years old and wanted a grass mowing job, I was as happy as could be. So he started mowing my grass, ( with their lawnmower ) and his dad, in the military, would weed whack it and inspect Chris’s work. For years I had the ultimate lawn service all for 20.00! :) Eventually Chris did everything himself but Mr. Military would check on him here and there :) Chris was the kind of kid that if there was a school delay due to snow, he’d be bored and come over and shovel snow for free just to be nice.
When my little grandson came along they all enjoyed seeing him / we were good friends by then. The oldest son was autistic and also was burdened with so many health problems…he was a joy to know and also what he went through was unimaginable. I won’t get into all of that here, but the Air Force held off any transfers until he died about two years ago at the age of nineteen. He was one of the bravest souls I know. I will tell you something fun..he could put complicated puzzles together faster than most people could dream of yet he loved stuffed animals. I have some of his here now for my grands and remembrance.
Anyway, about four months after his death, the family transferred to the South. Hard enough to leave your home, with that terrible grief, and then have to leave a beloved dog behind as well. I post pictures of her on Facebook sometimes for them.
Chris and his dad visited last summer, and the mom and daughter are due here around spring break. Dad got a promotion to Chief recently and Chris completed Air Force initial training, following in Dad’s footsteps. Keeping in touch via Facebook, I knew that Chris was on his way to Alaska, and since that was the last I’d heard, over a month ago, I thought that he was there.
Therefore I was quite surprised when the doorbell rang the other day and there was Chris! And he was another foot taller than last summer! My little lawnmowing, snow shoveling gangly sweetheart of a neighbor kid…all the way here from Alaska ? :) Lol, no, this was his last trip back to his childhood home and friends and neighbors and it was to be a surprise for all of us, save for the family that he was staying with…good friends from their church.
So we had a nice reunion, and so did he and Lily …
Posted in Misc, pets and wildlife | 5 Comments »
Not the best picture but in years past ( this decade of milder-than-usual-winters ) my Rott-Husky mix dog goes into full and horrible shed by the 3rd week of February and he’s not done so yet. ( I don’t really mind that! : ) Furthermore I always see Robins by now and have not seen one. So I figured that winter was going to hang on for longer than usual this year.
BUT just before the latest snowfall I saw THIS and ran to get my camera as it’s my first spring-summer bird return. The first finch. And after eating some sunflower seeds it went to a bush in the back of the yard and sang for a good ten minutes :)
Posted in pets and wildlife | Tagged finch | 6 Comments »
Yet another round of snow is predicted to head our way this weekend. Here are some sun and shadow shots from a previous round, on a day after, with the sun shining brightly and pretty cotton ball clouds moving across the sky.
Sharing at My Little Home and Garden : Sunlit Sunday
Posted in Sunday Snapshot | Tagged puffy clouds, sun and shadows on snow, Sunlit Sunday | 12 Comments »
I had Brent over here last week on two occasions. On one day, we’d had a bit of a warm up but it was still quite chilly due to the wind. He wanted to ride his bike outside, though. Thankfully that did not last long, because I was freezing! It did spark quite the appetite afterwards…he ate a full sandwich, several pickles, and two cookies! Then he put on his construction jacket and tool belt and he helped me tear some fabric strips, he measured just about everything in the house, and once again, I had to think that the little toolbox kit that I got for him a year or two ago was a wonderful investment. I got quite the bang for my 20 bucks there! :)
Another good buy was this, which I picked up at the mission store for only around 5.00 or so. We had it out in the summer on the front porch to play with and when he got bored with it after a month or two I put it away in the basement. Now he likes it again.
On Sunday morning I was working on a rag rug on a loom..almost finished but it is probably not finished because I am quite easily distracted.
For instance…”what’s going on now, Kanga?” as she is quivering, making strange sounds, and her tail is twitching. Every day there are birds right outside the window and squirrels running around so what is so fascinating now ? OH, a squirrel is on top of a feeder, less than a foot away from her!
Then there are the birds…see why I get so distracted? :) Excuse me, little squirrel, but this is the proper use for the feeder and bird bell…see? It is for little birds such as the wren, not you!
On Sunday afternoon some very pleasant distractions came along as well. On this occasion, my visitors were not coming for dinner, just to visit and I was told ‘not to worry about food’. HA, the minute little kids come in to this house they want to eat something, whether their parents just fed them lunch or dinner, and I know that. So a quick run to the store and a snack was ready. I bought a large bag of grapes, some bunny marshmallows and bunny ‘poop’ which was a small bag of Milky Way unwrapped bites that were on sale for a dollar.
I think the little snack was a hit.
Since I’d had some sewing out when they arrived, the children wanted to sew for awhile. I have sewing cards and got them out. The boys each did one and then went upstairs to the play room. Mya then got behind me on the chair with a hairbrush and brushed my hair for around 10 minutes while her sister continued to sew with Mommy. My hair got quite the workout! :) I could tell that she was used to having her hair done and playing with Mommy’s because she brushed hard, gathering the hair into a ponytail, then let it go and started again…I was getting so relaxed while this was going on…
Well, my little hairdresser left me to go kiss Mommy and then both girls went to brush the dolls hair instead of mine :)
Posted in Children Toys and Tools, Simple Pleasures: The Kids | 8 Comments »
The sunlight comes in through the bathroom curtains, spills onto the wooden railing in the hallway and shines on the wall below, on the landing.
Sharing at My Little Home and Garden for Sunlit Sunday
Posted in Sunday Snapshot | Tagged sunlight spilling into room, Sunlit Sunday | 10 Comments »