Too Quiet

It is way too quiet in my house this afternoon! No muffled growls from dogs or high pitched yips when the big dog accidentally steps on a little dog. No slamming doors, no "Gramma, my mom needs a towel.", no little boy voice asking for a bowl of cereal and the use of my computer.


They are on their way home and there is a huge void in my house. Even my dogs are subdued. Oscar and Emmy are no doubt relieved that the big, goofy Rocky has left the building, but Wall-E is sad and hasn't moved from the chair that Gavin left him in. Gramma isn't much better than the little white dog. Papa is mowing........... go figure.


Rocky was ready to hit the road and once in the car, did not want to get out, even though they weren't quite ready to leave. He liked playing with Wall-E, but Oscar was having none of that on his watch and would quickly put a stop to it .........

Car seats and quilts ............ creature comforts for dog and child........

"I can do it myself, Mom!"

My girl is so pretty, even if the picture is a little fuzzy. Hard to focus through sunglasses to hide the tears ........

Rocky takes one last walk with Papa ............

Gavin and Papa share a private talk .........

then Papa gets a bear hug.

Kiley invites Gavin down to meet her parents, so he takes one last bike ride .....

and catches up with her.

Then he wants one last golf cart ride. Rocky decides to go, too. Must be afraid he will have to stay here with those annoying little dogs ......

Good thing I got a cart with extra seats!

This what the park looked like yesterday! The sky opened and we got flooding rain. It cooled things off just a little, but I am glad they didn't leave in a storm like this!

Right before the storm the sky darkened and I couldn't see very far. Really gloomy........... and that is how I feel today.

The Week Is Almost Over!!

My week with my daughter and grandson is almost over. Seems to have flown by and I didn't have my camera when I really needed it .........


Gavin was a little lonely without his new friend, Kiley. Cody was sweet and left a bike for Gavin to ride, but he went home, too. Not many kids are here during the week, so Gavin was stuck with Gramma and Papa to provide adventures. It was very hot and humid all week and he spent a lot of time in the pool with his mom. I managed to spend a little time in the pool one day and got to watch him swim and taught him to float on his back. He went on several excursions with Papa, even helped him change a fuse in the tractor.



His favorite thing to do was frog hunting in the golf cart. We zipped through the park and I pulled a few weeds here and there and caught frogs for him to hold. He was very careful and aware of how fragile their little bodies were. He would let them go quickly when they peed on his hand. He helped me relocate a pile of wood and we found two good sized toads. He held one for a bit and then asked if we could find another so that the one he was holding wouldn't be lonely. Is that the sweetest thing? He carefully put his toad down by the wood pile so that he could find his friend. My little guy possesses a gentle nature. He is one of a very few children that my tiny dog Emmy will allow to pick her up.


He helped me tend all the gardens and suggested that we water Kiley's garden..........


I would have forgotten to turn the water off if he hadn't reminded me. Kiley's big cousin, Nicole, helped her paint her stump throne.

Someone gave me this tricycle planter and I thought it was the perfect addition to the magical garden.

I shamelessly stole the idea for this pot arrangement from a fellow blogger and left Jiminy Cricket standing guard.

Gavin and Rocky were having a moment ..........

while Kiley was being greeted by the dachshund duo ........

and Adrienne napped under the quilt I made her when she was a little girl.

It was raining and storming, so Gavin and Kiley decided to play store keepers and rearrange the merchandise.

The rain has let up finally. I am alone here in the store. So much more fun outside, but they will be back when they want a popsicle or some candy, or maybe a big giant cookie. They know Gramma won't say no!

My Happy Birthday Month

They are here!! My baby, her baby and the new dog.

Gavin's little dog Wall-E growled when we came in the house, then saw that it was his boy and couldn't get to him fast enough. He wasn't as excited to meet Rocky, the boxer, though. We kept Rocky in the store and let him meet all the dogs separately. Oscar (aka Spawn of Satan) attacked him and had to be pulled off and got more than one swat with my flyswatter before he reconciled himself to co-existing with another dog. Wall-E barked, yelped and wet himself. Emmy's hackles rose (her hair will stand on end, much like a cat about to attack) and she has been hiding ............ a lot. She isn't the least bit enchanted with this new canine in her midst. Wall-E has gotten over the initial shock and is even playing with Rocky.

Wall-E and Rocky are close to the same age and still have some puppy playfulness left in them.

Rocky has been greeting customers all weekend. Look at the size of those feet! No one has bothered me lately ............. guess they are afraid I will open that door.

Rocky is clearly confused about his size and tries to get in our laps. He was truly enchanted with he who loves dogs. He has been waking he who would like to sleep in each morning by jumping in our bed and sitting on his head. Wish I could keep him just for that!!

My birthday was yesterday and I have already had two parties this month! Sweet Nan had a get-together at her site and there was cake for her sister and me! We share a July birthday month. I was honored to be included with her sister in the celebration. Makes me feel like family! We were all treated to a hearty meal of Nan's Chicken and Dumplings and some of the best corn on the cob I have had in quite some time. I am always happy to spend time with Nan, Barb and Mike.

Best buddy, Deb arrived shortly after my daughter with her granddaughter, Kiley. Kiley and Gavin hit it off and were inseparable all weekend.

All day in the pool produced happy faces.......


No sunburns, thank goodness!


Finally ready for the birthday cake, then a late arrival comes in. What a sad little face!

Gramma Debbie encourages a little tasting while I finish up with the customer...


They sang, I blew out candles and we ate cake. Yummy! I shared as much as I could with customers the next day. Deb was hoping I could just give cake away and not have to make cinnamon buns and sticky buns ................ Too many requests, though. I thought about doubling the amount, but was afraid that might be too ambitious. Should have followed that first instinct! I made half-again more and sold out by 9:30!

Yesterday my daughter, Adrienne and I went shopping. I have been making cute little sundresses using a tank top and sewing a skirt on the bottom. For little girls. My little girl is a big girl, but she wanted one. We went to lunch first at Joe's Crab Shack. I told the server it was my birthday. If you go there and you are shy in the least ..... don't do that. No free dessert or a quartet of employees singing off-key. No. Instead they announce to the entire restaurant that it is your birthday, then make you stand, put a goofy hat on your head, a hula hoop around your waist and tell you that you must hula hoop while being serenaded by the other diners. If you drop it, they will start over and continue until you have managed to keep it riding on your hips through the entire song.

I knew this wasn't going to happen without cheating, so I kept my hands on that hoop and rotated it manually around my hips. Told my audience that you don't get to be this old without being smart. They also take pictures and post them on-line. I haven't looked at mine yet, but I doubt I will be sharing this moment unless I look a full 20 lbs lighter than I actually am!

Had the very best birthday. We fabric shopped!! Now I am sitting here biding time behind my desk until it is time to close. Then I will go fry chicken and make macaroni and cheese for my guys. I will try to squeeze all the hugs and kisses out of Gavin I can get this week!

Here Comes Santa Claus........

I peeked out the window........ and what should appear........... a big truck pulling a camper............ being led by a reindeer!

Will work for milk and cookies.......... was the sign one the front............ and what luck.......... I just happen to have some!

Santa, where is your sleigh, I say................. at the north pole waiting........... it is only July!

Santa's elves are busy filling the sleigh............. while Santa is busy while he is away.......... checking up on all the boys and girls at play............. in all the campgrounds he visits along the way.

Yes, Santa stopped by our kampground for a spell. I was out of milk and he had to settle for diet Coke. He wasn't used to the heat we have been subjected to lately. Mrs. Claus was along for the ride. What a sweet couple they were! See, I do get to meet some of the most interesting folks!!

35 Years Today

Today is a very special day. My twins are 35 years old!!! This picture is about 20 years old. They look more alike in this picture than at any other time in their lives.

The most common question people will ask you when you have two babies is "Are they twins?". When you answer in the affirmative you will be asked "Are they identical?". I would always answer, "No, one is a boy and one is a girl........." To be identical the babies would share the same sex. One egg splits with identical twins, with fraternal twins there are two eggs involved. So, the next question was "Well, I mean, do they look alike?". I would always ask my own question at that point..."Well, do they??"


They may not look alike or think alike, but they share a bond to this day. I am very proud of my grown up babies. They have each chosen mates that I love as much as I love my own children. They each have given me the most wonderful grandchildren I could ask for. They are both responsible, productive members of society and make me proud every day.


I suppose the only thing that would make me happier about these two would be a visit ..................to come see your mom and dad .............


I am missing my twins today and remembering the past 35 years ............. well, only the good parts..............

Prescription Scams

Since he who no longer works outside the campground has no insurance and was out of his array of blood pressure, cholesterol lowering, heart strengthening drugs, I had to decide if the COBRA was the way to go or if another option was available. We still have about 40 days to research the decision and I have turned that over to my broker, since he definitely knows more about insurance than I do. While he investigates all the possibilities, I still had to get those scripts filled.


So, off to WalMart I go. Some of the generics fall into that $10 category and I even called our doctor to try to change any that we could. All of my efforts resulted in filling his RX for a 90 day supply and mine for a 30 day supply for $1000 ..... give or take. I wanted to cry, but the COBRA was $1000 a month and then the co-pays on the RX is around $600. Lose-lose situation. I came home in a pretty down mood, wondering if we would be reduced to eating Fancy Feast this winter just to be able to have our medications. (not to worry, remember "he who" bought a hog and it is in the freezer, so we might oink, but we won't meow).


So, I click on to my e-mail and see this RX discount site. I almost spammed it without looking. But I opened it up and read it and it looked legit. I printed the first coupon that would save me $64 on a $300 script. It had all the necessary info on it to run it through the system. I used to work in WalMart pharmacy and know what is necessary. So I was elated. I was sure that I had found a solution to my dilemma. I printed happily, knowing that they could be run after the fact on the prescriptions I had already purchased and I was going to save about 60%.


I was so happy that I was eager to share my good fortune with others and I did. Off to WalMart yesterday to pick up the rest of my order and receive my refund. Light of heart and a skip in my step, I handed over my valuable coupons and went strolling through the clearance section to see what I could see. I hear my name requesting my presence back to the pharmacy. The whole thing was a scam! They were going to charge me a "processing fee" each RX that was coincidentally the amount of the discount. That light-hearted mood flew right to the moon and I came on home in a rather foul mood. My foot still hurts from my misadventure Monday and now my back is hurting where the handle of the tool whacked me when it flipped up off the ground.


I tried to call the number related to the card and will try again and get a person I can vent my frustration on. In the meantime I will go put fresh sheets on the guest bed and clean the room in preparation for this weekend when my baby and her baby arrive for a visit. I can't wait to smell that sweet little boy head while he wraps his sweet arms around my neck. We get to meet our new 'grand dog' too. Wonderful chaos is on its way and that's no scam!

Wonderful Weekend

The store has turned into a little meeting place for all the "regulars" to grab a cup of coffee and a roll. This past winter while he who was working worked, my soul sister, Deb and I put puzzles together, talked for hours, and sang along with the songs of the sixties together. We also tossed around ideas. We cooked a lot, too. We share similar interests and we both love to cook. Neither of us are afraid to experiment with recipes ........ Sometimes that is good .......... sometimes not so good. He who will try almost anything was our guinea pig of sorts .... he is also unafraid of hurting feelings if he doesn't like something. He has been known to make an awful face and spit the offensive bite into a napkin and tell us it is "nasty".

Anyhow we decided to try a weekend breakfast of sweet rolls and coffee. We also have decaf and hot chocolate available, but our crowd seems to prefer the full measure of caffeine. Cinnamon rolls were our first choice because the dough can be made ahead and frozen. Muffins were my choice, but they just don't sell as well as the cinnamon rolls slathered in Deb's cream cheese icing. Not too long ago I did a little research and tried out several recipes for sticky buns. I use the same dough for these and add the "sticky". I prefer the sticky buns, while Deb prefers the cream cheese iced buns and each of us have our faithful followers.


We sold out two days in a row this past weekend! That meant I had to get up at 5 am, but, I actually enjoy that alone time in the morning. My weekend days are not as physical as the week days and I have been known to lean way back in my office chair and take a little power nap in the afternoon. My desk is high and no-one knows that I have been dozing when they come in. (I guess they do now!


He who is forbidden to mow on the weekends actually sat awhile and chatted with our customers Sunday morning. He is sporting his new day-glo colors, courtesy of Crazy Tom. I seem to recall requesting a visor for myself ........... That's okay, this makes him be he who is easy to spot from afar.

Soon I will need a bigger store, more tables, more chairs ................ more help?

Several times I was told how nice my kampground was this past weekend and that is what makes it all worthwhile ................ well, that and money.

Laugh Of The Day ......

I was chastised this past weekend for not posting more often ........... I am trying, but the weeds are taking over with this hot humid weather and I have been in a garden all day!! When I close my eyes at night I see weeds and hear the door chime that signals a customer has come in. You would think I could sleep like a log, but my muscles ache from all that bending and pulling. I swear I have a charley-horse in my butt muscle!

Got a call from my competitor across the interstate awhile ago. She was calling to give me a laugh. I needed one since I had just stepped on this wicked tool with tines and stuck it in my foot and as I tripped forward the handle came up and slapped me in the back. I am sure it looked like a slap-stick comedy routine and I admit that the first thing I did was check to see if anyone saw me. Try, though I might, I could not blame this on he who leaves tools scattered about. I was using it and I left it laying on the ground, tines up. I was tired and eager to finish mulching the bed I spent the whole morning weeding and I was careless. Let this be a lesson to us all ...... I continued to work with my foot bleeding in my shoe and I finished the job. Well, I ran out of mulch, so that was the end of my work for the day.

So, now, as I sit here with my injured foot propped up, I will regale you with a stupid camper story. Seems that he who is loathe to answer the phone took a call from a camper who wanted a drive-thru site with 500 amp service. She no doubt meant a pull-thru with 50 amp service. Any how, I don't know if this was the camper who could not find us and ended up at the other park where he tried to turn around and made a muddy mess of his rig and told that camp owner that he was going to bill ME for it, since it was my fault for not having any signs up. I do have signs, I pay a pretty penny to have those signs and I even have a new sign up at the end of our road with a nice green frog pointing my way with our name and an arrow on it. I would love it if I got a bill for this ......... I would frame it and hang it in the store.

You can see my efforts of this day in the picture. I filled the wheelbarrow THREE times with weeds and grass. It was the bed that really needed the most attention. I started at 8 this morning and finally ran out of mulch at 4:30, thank heavens. It still needs more mulch, but that will be for another day. You can see that the apple tree is so full that I had to prop her up. She is sooooo pregnant with fruit!

Payback........

The temperature has been in the high 90's and the humidity is killer. Even so, the pool hasn't seen much action. Every July is like this. They can't wait to swim, then enthusiasm fades, but as the stores fill up with back to school supplies and the reality that summer won't last forever sets in, the pool goers will be back in force.

When we bought the campground the pool hours for day swimmers was set at 1 pm til 5 pm; and the previous owners were very strict about the time frame. I have heard tales of them shouting that your time was up and that you must leave. Awful! However, I am beginning to appreciate the need for some private time. Being new and eager to please our customers we let them swim from 9 am til 9 pm. That meant that sometimes they would arrive a bit early and then some would not want to leave the pool when I would try to lock up. Last year I started to wear thin and decided that this year I would change the pool and the store hours. Twelve hour days 7 days a week is just too much ......... even for me.

The new pool hours for day swimmers is 11 am til 7 pm. That is eight hours. I still have people show up as early as 10 and stay later than 7, but it is not as big a deal when you haven't been stuck inside that store for twelve hours. At first, those regulars who had been accustomed to a twelve hour day arrived too early and were told the new hours. I let them swim early anyway, since they were already here. Most everybody now knows the hours and they are fine with it and agree that I shouldn't have to be open twelve hours. Today, though, a young mother came in at almost 6. I would never want to charge full price for only one hour of swimming and have become so accustomed to reminding people of the new hours and said to her, "You do know that the pool closes at 7, don't you?" (She looked really familiar). She looked at me like I am somehow beneath her and said, "No, it doesn't." I told her that it did indeed close at 7. She proceeded to argue that I had told her it closed at 9 the last time she came in and I recall with clarity my last encounter with her. I charged her half-price and let them swim until 9 because they got here at 7 and I didn't want her to leave with a bad impression. Well, no good deed goes unpunished, does it? I remind her that I let her stay until 9 last time because she had been unaware of the new hours....... "Oh, yes, I remember you now and I did let you swim until 9 since you had come out thinking the hours were the same as last year. But, now you know the new hours." She huffed and looked at me like I was of a lesser life form and said, "So, you aren't going to let us swim even though you told me that the pool doesn't close until 9....."

I did let her swim. I charged her full price, though. She didn't stay til 9, though. The horse flies got her. Cosmic justice.

Nature's Beauty

It is Monday once again. The days seem to fly by and I am always busy doing three things at once. It was a good weekend and I spent Saturday evening on my knees pulling weeds out of a flower bed. The evening was perfect, a cool light breeze, I could hear families enjoying the pool and the smell of campfires drifted my way as I pulled all the crab grass out that was choking my tiny marigolds as they tried to push themselves higher. I got the whole bed done and was quite happy with the results. I went on to clean the restrooms as dusk made it hard to see and then fell exhausted into bed after showering.

Sunday morning I dragged my old bones out to the kitchen at 5:30 and prepared the sticky for the buns, got the cinnamon and the sticky buns in the pans rising and went out to clean the restrooms and admire my handiwork of the last evening. Saw some weeds I missed and attended to them. If I clean and stock the restrooms as night falls, you would think that the morning's cleaning would be easy. It was this weekend, except for a Friday afternoon event of finger painting the wall with poop..........

It has finally happened .............. I sold out of pastries Saturday! That is why I dragged myself out of my comfy bed so early on Sunday. Sunday sales were good, too. Only three buns out of the dozen I cooked were left and the muffins went also. The muffins this week were healthy. I put out a sample tray Sunday morning and every one agreed that they were as tasty as they were healthy, with carrots and coconut, raisins and walnuts. They were really good warm, if I hadn't been so busy I would have slathered one with butter, but I had to eat it plain.

Rain threatened and fell a little yesterday and I got a lot more gardening done, until I realized how very weary I was. I spent a few hours staring dumbly at the TV when not dozing. So, all rested this morning I was ready to tackle the world. I worked in my garden all morning in the heat and humidity ( my youngest used to call it humility......... I guess sweating is humbling .......). I was standing in the shadow of my peach tree leaning on my rake watching the hummingbirds feed at the feeders on my front porch; a gentle breeze against my back cooled me as I marveled at the beauty of nature ................ that is when the horsefly bit me and I got myself inside with air conditioning and a window between me and the nature's beauty!

Fourth Of July........Kan-Do Style

What a beautiful day it was! The sun was shining and everything ran smoothly. It was actually July 3rd that we had our celebration. Many of our weekenders had to go home on Sunday to go to work on Monday. The parade started a little late due to some confusion and the fact that I had to stop and check campers in .......... if only I had a clone ............

Everyone got into the patriotic spirit and decorated the golf carts.

Even the bikes were decorated!

Crazy Tom and Miss Martha went all out!

Cody says, "Hey, wait for me!"

There they go rounding the first bend ........

Hope they are hungry when they come back! We had quite a spread of delectable dishes. I was expecting lots of the standard beans and potato salad. The baked beans were a tasty creation involving Dr. Pepper. There were lots of salads and some really yummy marinated vegetables. I ate a hot dog and a lot of little spoons of everything on the table. I must confess that my eye was on the desert table, though.

Part of the crowd of hungry campers. We invited all those that just happened in off the road for a night, too. I met some lovely folks and chatted with them. I could not tell you their names if my life depended on it, but I will recognize their faces should they drop in again.

This is what my mouth was longing for and when I got to the table it was gone!!!!

This wasn't, though. This dish involved Mountain Dew and apples, along with biscuits and was phenomenal. Fortunately, I only got a small bit, I would have eaten the whole dish if others had not beat me to it.

Very well behaved dogs! These folks were just passing through. I hope they come again, I liked their dogs!

Hanging out waiting for fireworks to start. These cuties brought a blanket, just in case the cool wind picked up.

Friends and families, pets and people. All with happy faces.

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH, AAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!