I Had a Happy Birthday!

 My big night out! We actually left the park and met our friends, Deb and Butch, at a restaurant for my birthday dinner. We had so much fun. Laughing and talking. It was so ......... normal.

 My favorite birthday card came from my Dad. A frog, of course. The message on the inside:

 I can just see my Dad laughing out loud in the store, while Mama is trying to make him put the card back and telling him he is not going to send that to me.

 I really made a haul with Deb! Journals to write thoughts down, a candle to help me relax as I write and a cookbook holder. Also a couple of pictures. She framed a picture of our new puppy and there were pictures of me and her granddaughter, Kiley, from last year. Deb and I are convinced that Kiley and Gavin will marry one day and we will share beautiful great grandchildren.

 The candle smells good enough to eat!

 Suppose it is just coincidence that the cookbook is open to cake recipes?

 He who knows me all too well presented me with a bucket of treasures.

 Six ounce bottles of Coke! In their very own bucket, ready to be iced down. It even came with a bottle opener. And a new cordless drill that is light weight. For my arthritis challenged hands. I think. Or maybe he thinks I will stop removing walls and such if my tools are smaller?

 And a Coca-Cola clock with a neon light! Chrome on the outside. Love it!

He seems to be quite pleased with his sweet self! Yes, my pupils are dilated. Yes, I had a drink. Hey, it's my birthday! The men were driving, so the ladies indulged.

Life Can Be Sticky

Okay, this image does not capture my subject matter and you will have to look closely. I took two pictures, same camera and downloaded to the exact same folder, but when I try to add it I get a server rejected.

Anyway, today is my birthday. I am having a good day. Started the day with a leisurely cup of coffee and a chat with my my dear friend, Deb. I will be meeting her later for dinner, then he who loves me will be taking me along to WalMart to get a new battery for the tractor! I just bet he will buy me a trinket if I fancy one. Kind of like dinner and a movie, if you like to people watch.

But this is not what I am writing about today. If you read me fairly regularly, you will recall my ongoing battle with the flies. Remember my ill-fated experience with the fly trap that fell and exploded its contents at my back door. Even though I pour a bleach solution almost daily on the stoop, that powerful fly bait continues to beckon to all the flies in a 100 mile radius to enter this door. This being the door that leads the dogs to their yard, it sees a lot of action.

In an effort to help me, he who shops more than any woman I know, bought a package of fly tape. You know, the kind that is in a little tube and you pull slowly to unwind the sticky tape that will holds bugs captive. So, I put one near the back door and it finally got some flies. I still have plenty to swat. The store door is opened and closed a lot, too. This brings flies in. So, I decided to employ a second line of this sticky tape. I wanted to put it somewhere that wasn't so noticeable, so I hung it with the stained glass stuff hanging near the window.

This was also near the table and when Johnny chose the seat on the backside of the table I was afraid it would stick to him. I handed it to he who solves all my problems and told him to hang it outside. He did. I did not ask exactly where he hung it and promptly forgot about it. Until today.

Look closely at the photo and you will see edges of the tape behind the frog. I had a clear shot of it, but ..... When I am outside I am usually mowing, mopping, mulching or weeding. Not walking along the sidewalk. When I water the hanging plants I am usually on the outside of the porch. But today, I was watering from the inside. I did mention that this tape that traps flies is very sticky, didn't I? So sticky that it will easily grab your hair and hold on.

So, after disentangling my hair, here I sit. I have shampooed twice and put gobs of conditioner on the hair involved and it is still sticky. I guess I could always use the old chewing gum in the hair remedies ...... as soon as I decide if I would rather smell like peanut butter or mayonnaise.

Surprise!!!

I looked out my window as I opened the door. I see Crazy Tom and Buddy headed towards the dumpster. What are those two up to, I wonder ....                                                    

 Look, here comes Patrick, Julie and their dogs ..........

 My Johnnie and Sue are out with their dogs, too!

 Is this a parade? No, this is just what kampers do on a hot evening here in the kampground.

It has been a wonderful day. The same campers out for a ride with their dogs had surprised me earlier with cake and ice cream and birthday wishes along with Jim and Yvonne and a nice bottle of wine. I am all a tingle from the attention as I watch the sun set.

I had a 45 minute nap while he who loves me watched the store and then he went to China and bought take out. I am feeling the love tonight!

1975 Was A Very Good Year

And all the years since. Yes, they are twins. No, they are not identical ...... one is a boy and one is a girl. Do they look alike? You tell me.

Same eye color is about all they share. Jill looks like her Dad and Jeff grew to look like my Dad.

I think this their thirteenth birthday party. Little sister Adrienne thought it would be cool to throw a surprise party. Too bad that she could not keep a secret.

This is a picture I stole from Jeff's Facebook photos. High school. They appear to be very happy. Do I want to know why? No, not really. I did not take this picture and had not seen it until today.

Thirty-six years. I have known them for thirty-six years. And, yet, it seems like only yesterday that I was wiping sticky little hands and asking if homework was done. I am working on their story. It may take awhile, this stroll down memory lane. I suppose it will be done when it is done. I miss them today, but am happy to know they are spending time together and with their little sister.

Today is my friend, Patti's birthday, too. Has to be a bittersweet day for her as she is still caring for her mate as he succumbs to cancer. Wish I could go give her a respite, but will have to wait until mid week. She sent birthday wishes to the twins when I called to wish her a happy day.

Funny, I still call my kids "the twins" when I talk about them. Life is funny.

Meet Toni Louise

New pup here at the kampground. Saw her on-line at the shelter in Montgomery, so I called and the adoption fee is very low. I debated with myself. Puppies are a pain, but it doesn't last forever ......... I told he who loves dogs as much as me about her and showed him the picture. We just kind of let it go, then the lady called to tell me that the shelter had gotten a few more dogs and was over crowded. This is not a no-kill shelter. So, he who loves dogs went to just look at this puppy ............ and here she is!

Don't let that sweet face fool you! She has been up to no good! See the mud on her face? She dug a hole so deep she hit water! Then proceeded to get herself into a fine mess. Good thing my furniture is leather and I can wash it. She managed to get mud all over Wall-E, the wonder dog. He got scolded for something he didn't even do! She got poor Oscar in the eye with her muddy paw. She is named after Louise, my old Saint Bernard. Louise possessed an easy going disposition and was hard to stay mad at. Louise ate a coffee table when she was a puppy ....... Toni was chewing on my coffee table yesterday.

Hard to get mad at that dirty little face. I guess she will get yet another bath tonight!

Weed Puller Extraordinaire

I awoke to overcast skies this morning. Still very humid out there. I enjoyed a solo walk around the garden this morning. I finally harvested two tomatoes! The baby limas should be ready to pick next week, the pods still aren't fat enough. I am watching one yellow squash grow. All the other blooms seem to wither and fall off before fruit can form. The corn has tassels.

Last year I planted asparagus. You get nothing the first couple of years. It looks like dill right now, all ferny. Last week I spent a whole evening pulling all the weeds and grass out of that bed. I then drove four stakes into the ground, two at either end and using twine I made it all stand straight and tall while I mulched it in. I felt very accomplished when I finished. As I was admiring my handiwork this morning, coffee cup in hand, I spied a sprig of grass and spilled the contents of my cup as I lunged forward to snatch the intruder out of my garden.

I ambled on with my empty cup dangling in my hand. I stopped a couple of times to pull a weed here and there. My caffeine deprived mind wondered if weed pulling could be a marketable talent ............ Yes, I know, gardeners. Duh. I did lose my coffee in the asparagus bed, remember? I was picturing a bill board full of weeds, save one small spot with the ad in it. Kind of like the billboard boasting the poop scooping business I see on I-70 when I drive towards St. Louis. I think I would rather pull weeds, although weed pulling could lead to an encounter with poop from a critter.

What am I saying! I already do both! Somehow I don't mind picking up my dogs' poop. They are, after all, mine. I can even identify whose poop is whose ........ that may be a little too much information. I detest finding the poop of another dog in my yard, though. Kind of like changing diapers. My babies diapers were never as bad as the diapers of other babies.

On that note I think I should refill my coffee cup before I go on ..........

Heading For A Meltdown

Hot weather, lack of sleep, and constant irritation. Today is Friday. Only 9 more hours to go here in the office, then I will excuse myself from the world at large and hide in my humble abode. I am not fit to be around people today. I am not pleasant and not even trying to be. As luck would have it, most of my clientele won't notice.

The fly bait from yesterday continues to attract them to my door, despite the fact that I have doused the area repeatedly with bleach. I resorted to fly tape hanging just inside. Hung it last night, but it caught not a one. That's okay, I am deriving a certain amount of satisfaction with the fly swatter (or in my case today ..... fly smasher ).

I was cleaning the area around the dumpster and sorting out the cans. This is nasty work and it was hot and I was sweaty and irritated. I am no longer amazed at what I might find in the recycle cans, but it doesn't make the task any less disgusting. I was doing this to help out my husband who does so many things for me and other people. I bagged the cans and threw the nasty stuff in the dumpster and cleaned up the area, then started spraying Round-Up on the weeds and grass in that area. This was after I had mowed my lawn and put the soaker hose on in my vegetable garden. It was beginning to get dark .......... here comes Harvey, our helper, with one of the chairs from the pool. These were new last year. My pal, Deb, bought them and gifted them to me. She also wanted to purchase 6 loungers at $100 each and I told her I would not accept them. Yes, I want the area to look appealing and I want my campers to be comfy ........ but I know my clientele ..............


I think I might know how this happened.

And ........ I am pretty sure I know who did it. Through my great powers of deduction, I think it would have to be the slew of children that were here all week. Same thing happened Memorial Day weekend. I was upset, since these chairs were a gift and nearly new. Same group was here then and twice I had to pull chairs out of the pool. I think the children were placing the chair in the water, front side down and using the back as a diving board. From my vantage point, I would be unaware of this when I looked out to check on things. It would just look like they were jumping into the air and playing in the water. The people in question had already left when I discovered the first broken chair, but they were still in their campsite last night when Harvey brought the second broken chair to my attention. I proceeded to have a small fit right there in the parking lot ........... and I am quite certain they heard me.

These would be the same children wandering the park in a pack. It is several families and they are cousins. They overheard one of the adults say my name and now they think they are all on a first name basis with me. These would be the same children who trampled through my flower beds and gathered my blooms, leaving them on the checker table on the front porch of the store for me to find the next morning. These would be the same children who wanted to know if they could help me weed ...... absolutely NOT! These would be the same children, who I suppose may have been bored and played with the four way connection on my hydrant in my yard. My private personal living space, a space I should think I could escape to and call my own. Remember the soaker hose I turned on at 7, when I closed for the evening? I did not remember to turn it off ............. and I did not know that the other hose attached that was in my back yard was turned on. My back yard is flooded now. A soaker hose left on all night wouldn't be such a big deal.

Now, I could be wrong about the identity of the culprits. They did confess to picking my flowers and I asked them not to do that again. He who knows not to bother my garden equipment would not have touched my watering set-up. I have not noticed any other kampers lurking about in my private area (gee, that sounds a little dirty .....).

If your child breaks something, what do you do? You own up and offer to pay for the repairs or a replacement. What happened to taking responsibility for your actions?

It is Friday. In a campground. The busiest day of the week. Now I have 8 more hours left until I can lock the door and hide.