Lazy Days of Summer

I know that the image above doesn't exactly invoke thoughts of the lazy days of summer. This week has been, fr me, the laziest on record. Sure, I've been doing laundry, cleaning the craft room, but really other than that, nothing, nada, zilch. I would describe my energy level as that of a dying slug.

Now I could blame it all on the trauma of our Sunday morning trip to the emergency room. I could blame it on the fact that I am staying inside to keep an eye on SJ. Or I could just speak the truth and say that I am just tired and lazy.

So lazy, in fact, that the thought of standing up to get my camera and download some great picture on here is just too much for me to handle right now.

Tomorrow that all changes. Tomorrow I will move my slug like body to a beach chair on the beach in Ocean Grove and be a sunbathing, sun basking slug.

Ahhhhhh.......

Emergency!

I have sufficiently recovered from the events of Sunday. Sunday morning to be exact. very early Sunday morning. At about 3 in the morning I heard SJ calling me from the bathroom. When I get to the bathroom she is passed out cold. I try to lift her up and she starts moaning about her head and then....seizure. The most horrible thing I have ever seen and I pray to God that I never see again.

Long story short , police cars, ambulance and paramedics at my house and we are on the way to Jersey Shore Hospital. SJ was a trooper. Tons of tests - but she seems to be OK now. Something about dehydration and low blood pressure and a wicked virus - the "perfect storm".

I don't need any more excitement for the rest of the summer!

Kayaking in Cedar Creek

Today was a very fun day! I woke up early and put my kayak in my car. It was my kayak's maiden voyage. My mom,dad and I drove to my brother's and his wife, and two sons came with us as we went kayaking and canoeing.

My brother and his family had been down Cedar Creek before so we followed them. What fun! True, I was the first one to flip over in my kayak but my brother helped me drain the water and get back in.

It was a three hour paddle but it was easy and fun. (Do you hear Gilligan's music? a three hour tour...)

We stopped for lunch and had subs and soda on a small patch of sand. It was really beautiful. I really wanted to take pictures as we were paddling but after my first flip over I didn't want to chance it with my newly found camera (which, Thank God, was in a ziploc bag).

The weather was perfect partly sunny, with clouds just when we needed them. I am glad that I finally got to take the new kayak out - now I will feel better when I take it out myself.

Thank you Joe Joe for the great day!

Pea Success!

Even though it has been crazy storming here for the last week I thought I would creep out to the garden to see how everything was coming. Some of my potted herbs are a bit waterlogged - hopefully I can dry them out a bit. The pumpkins and squash seem to be doing really well - I think I'll have to rig a trellis for their vines to grow up. But the good news is - peas!!! OK one pod of peas - but still pea success!! The groundhog has not beaten me all the way! Mom and I tasted them - they were really very sweet - delicious!

So, of course, the second picture is the cake I made during the storms - yum chocolate cake with white icing. We have been enjoying it. As a matter of fact I think I hear it calling me now."Elaine....."

Of course I posted the picture sideways. But on a positive note, I did find my camera. After ripping the house apart, I went down to my craft room to do some work and lo and behold! Sitting right in the center of the table sat my camera. The strange part is I had already looked there. Sometimes I think that the harder you look for something the less you see.

Anyway - that is the first dress that Sara Jane made. I am very impressed with her. She is all over the internet and teaching herself. I like to see her excited about this - it is a good use of her spare time.

In the meantime, I have finished all the red, white and blue yo-yos to make my flag. I just have to read how to attach them to one another and I'll be done and now, since I found my camera, I will post a picture.

Bottle Trees

I have been looking at these bottle trees since May. I know that you can make some wooden ones on your own. You can make them out of rebar also but you need to have the welding tools. I started pricing them on the internet and they can get pretty pricey. I think that I have found a solution. EBay. I am going to try to bid on some of the bottle trees sans the bottles. I'll keep you posted.

Oh Happy Day!

Oh happy day! Sara Jane has been going to class since school let out because she needs to get some more education classes under her belt before the fall. She has been working like crazy and has down time but doesn't seem to know what to do with herself.

We set the sewing machine up in her bedroom and she has been a sewing maniac. She is attacking it like she attacks her classes - with abandon! She has made two very cute dresses - learning how to do it on the internet. These are her first sewing attempts and they are very impressive. I was going to post pictures of them - but of course, my camera has grown legs and has wandered off somewhere.

I am so proud of the work she has been doing!

Happy Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day today! First of all we were lucky that the weather cooperated. It was sunny and not too humid. A beautiful day to sit on the deck and talk. Secondly, everyone made it to the house without incident. The only person we were missing was my nephew , Jake, 15 who is away at Diabetic Camp. Finally, we had great food. It was all delicious, chicken, macaroni salad, spaghetti salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, Italian cookies and Boston Cream pie! Whew! A lot of food but it was all fantastic!

Everyone had a very relaxing day. I got to show off my garden as well - even though it was AGM (After Groundhog Munched).

The pictures show Haskell and Sara Jane; Joe, Matt and Dad, and Joe and Dad.

RIP Clarence

Groundhog in My Garden

I thought I had gotten rid of the squirrels in my garden. I was walking through it and noticed that the green beans looked different. Next thing you know a groundhog comes running out of the garden!

I walk over to the peas and green beans and really check it out. Bastard groundhog! Most of the peas are gone and my green beans that had climbed to the top of their poles. Razed. Looks like that fat groundhog was rolling in them and stuffing his face.

I sprinkled Epsom salts around my garden, moved my owls around -- this morning I went out and bought some fox urine spray (the depths have plunged to). It has been raining for most of the day and it is supposed to rain tonight. At $15 a bottle I don't want to go out and spray until the threat of rain has passed.

Now I sit in my house and a sense of unease creeps over me. Is he out there right now, munching away? I get up, check out the garden, sit back down. Then my thoughts wander... now...now is he out there chomping away?

I can see becoming totally psychotic over this....I think I'll go out and check.....

Yo Yo Flag

I joined a "yo yo" swap over at MJF a couple of weeks ago. I had never made a yo yo before in my life. I knew that there were patterns to buy to help with the yo yo making. I went to JoAnns Fabrics - no go, Walmart no go, Michaels - no go and finally AC Moore - no go. I go online and order a few different ones.

Since I am the High Queen of Procrastination I waited for about a week before they were supposed to be mailed out to everyone to start making 72 yo yos. The first few were disasters. I started researching ebay to see if I could buy premade ones to fulfill this swap. But I persevered. I had a few days of subbing (babysitting) and brought them with me.

I actually got the hang of it. I was making them left, right and center. And, quite possibly, it saved many a middle schooler's life, because my hands were busy and they were transfixed by them).

In a few days i got them all done - and mailed them out.

But now I am addicted. I feel I must be making yo yos at all times. It keeps my hands busy, its quick and yes - its fun!

While surfing the net I found pictures of yo yo creations. The picture above is someone else's completed yo yo flag. I took myself to the store today and bought red, white and blue fabric. I am in an Americana patriotic swap and I want to make the yo yo flag for my swap partner.

I think I'll start now.

First Official Day at the Beach

Today Sara Jane and I spent our first official day at the beach. We go to the beach in Ocean Grove and we love it. Last year and this year we bought beach badges so that no matter our financial status - we can always got to the beach.

It started out windy and a little cold this morning. It was about 68 degrees. We ran a few errands for Father's Day and we noticed that it was warming up. We ran home, put on our bathing suits, and to the beach we went!

It was really nice. very hot but a little breeze. We walked down to the water and it felt good. Thing was - no lifeguards on duty. And last week the next town over a teenager got caught in the rip tide and was dragged out to sea. So we weren't taking any chances today.

We only spent about two hours there but it was relaxing. The last day of schools for most places is this Friday. I'm sure that this weekend and next week the guards will be there... can't wait to get my boogie board out!!

S'mores

So my mom and dad have come back from Maine and I am very happy to have them back in NJ. Yesterday was such a yucky overcast day and I really thought it was going to rain in the evening. But it didn't. Which was great for me.

My mom and dad came over. Sara Jane and i had made a fire in the chimnea and we got all of our s'mores stuff ready to go. We had these great flat square marshmallows for toasting. Because they were flat it made it easier to squash them in the graham cracker. We had graham crackers and , of course, Hershey's chocolate bars.

The s'mores were great!

Mail Art for June

Today started off as a not so nice weather day. Sara Jane and I woke up early to go to the flea market at Allaire State Park. We tried to go yesterday but it was cancelled. This morning I got smart and called the number for weather closing before we left for the park.

It was a big disappointment. Only 20 vendors showed up, probably because of the soggy field, and what they had was junk. Really crummy junk. Next weekend Sara Jane and I are going to try to head out to some garage sales and see if we can do any better.

When I came home it was still overcast and I decided to head to the craft room. I make Mail Art for the MJF forum and I volunteered to do two pieces this month. It was nice to sit down nd ust start working. I completed both pieces(they go out in tomorrow's mail) and decided to straighten up. An hour later I was very happy sitting in my neat craft room. I even found some things that I forgot I had!

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

I am so excited. I have been looking all over for a hard cover older version of Eleanor Cameron's book "The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet." Finally I founf an old library copy on sale on E-Bay. It finally came in the mail.

I remember getting this book out of the library at St. Leo's when I was in 4th grade. I remember the sisters that ran the library and how they got to stand behind the big librarian desk and write our names on the card catalogue and stamp the day the book was due on the card.

That library was small and beautiful. All the book shelves and tables were a dark wood and they gleamed and smelled like lemon polish. It was usually the afternoon when we were able to go to the library, so the sun shone in the windows and made it cozy warm.

I remember taking out this book several times. It was wonderful to open the pages and lose myself in that journey to the Mushroom Planet.

Knock Out Roses

These are the red Knock Out roses that my mom bought for me last year. In this picture are two bushes. They are beautiful. I love their color. It is like a POP of happiness in my backyard!

I liked them so much that this year I bought two pink Knock Out rose bushes for the front yard next to my mail box. I had hosta planted there and had to relocate them. Some of the hosta went into three planters on my front step, some filled in some gaps in my front bed and the rest I planted along the side of the house. They look good.

A dream of mine would be to have a split rail fence along the front of my yard and all along that fence there would be Knock Out roses. All different colors - reds, pinks, corals, white - you name it - I would love to plant them.

*Sigh* Maybe someday...

I love these fiesta ware bowls. My mom gave them to me a few years back. They were her mom's from when she was married. I guess they are vintage. I used to put them on a shelf just to look at them. But for the last year I have been using them to cook. I love to think of how many different meals and treats were made using these bowls!

Island Beach State Park

Thank God we put the air on last might. Today my husband's car thermometer hit 109. yuck. Sara Jane and I had a few errands to run this morning and then I told her we were going to drive down Route 35 south to see where it ended up.

The trip took us about an hour and we had fun.We had a good time going slowly and looking at sights that we had forgotten or never seen.

As we drove through Mantoloking and Ortley Beach, Sara Jane made the comment that they needed to "grass it up". I pointed out to her that the soil was actually sand here and "grassing it up" could become a very expensive venture.

We had several "close calls" navigating the circles. Mostly bennies who had no idea what the heck a circle was. It was funny. We saw lots and lots of inns, pubs and ice cream parlors. When we finally came to the end of Route 35 we were at Island beach State Park.

Still Dreaming...

Still dreaming of potting sheds/greenhouses.

St. Fiacre

I love my St. Fiacre statue. My mom and dad bought him in Harrisburg PA. and brought him home to me. he has been in several different places in my backyard. He was under my deck surrounded by hostas. He was next to the water spigot but i was afraid he would get knocked down. He was placed next to a lovely raspberry bush but the bush turned mutant and is now taking over. I moved him next to my Scottish Broom plant but he just seemed pushed to the side and kind of forlorn.

So my new goal is to find a nice spot for him in my garden and make a little shrine for him. Kind of a meditative spot for me. Hopefully we will have nice weather on Wednesday and Thursday because that is the next time I will be able to work in my garden.

Me and My Baby

Today was a lovely day. I was able to spend the whole day with my daughter, Sara Jane. We did a lot of running around, nothing too strenuous...and a lot of talking.

I love spending those kinds of days with her. I love it when my mom is home and I get to spend those kinds of days with her also.

Now I am looking forward to tonight. We are having a sleepover. Watching TV and sacking out on futons in her room. It is nice to feel wanted and loved!

FaceBook has been a wonderfu tool for finding and keeping in touch with people from my past. I have found people I went to college, highschool, even elementary school with. They have found me also.

It is a nice way to keep in touch. Light, and if you want to get deeper there is messsaging. An easy way to get the word out if you want to get together.

A friend of mine, Stephanie, is living in Pittsburgh and decided to come to NJ for the long weekend. She stayed with another friend, Janine.

Through our connection with FaceBook a group of us decided to get together at a local pizza place that we all used to go to through our lives.

We has a great time going over the old days. We had a lot of laughs and some tears. Most imprtntly we decided that we are not going to let another 30 years pass us by before we get together again.

Thanks for the memories girls.

Frat House Move AKA My Day in Hell

I would help my friend Linda with anything. She has been a lifesaver on more than one occasion and was instrumental in helping me come back from many a bad situation.

She asked if it would be possible for me to help her move her son out of his frat house and into another house that a bunch of brothers are renting. Of course I said yes - she would do the same for me and more.

So I picked her up this morning and we headed to Rutgers. We parked in front of the frat. Walking up to the front door I noticed that it made Animal House look good.

We walked in and were greeted by a very nice bunch of boys. Linda introduced herself as "Moose's Mom".

The house had a very original odor to it. I would say the scent of stale beer, stinky cigars, rampant body odor, axe and a hint of urine was the exact smell.

We walked up four flights of stairs to the attic room that her son shared with two other guys. How do I describe this attic room? I don't want to sound horrible but Anne Frank would have run into the arms of the Germans rather than spend 5 minutes in this room. I am not exaggerating.

We spent the next four hours moving, a double mattress, boxspring, desk, chair, nightstand, bedding, clothing, assorted liquors, toiletries, mysterious backpacks and boxes that there as no way on God's green earth we were looking into. We made four trips in my car, countless times up and down four flights of stairs and then up and down three flights in the new house. The weather was a refreshing 95 degrees with almost 100 % humidity (it rained on my way home). For those of you who are so unlucky to have never experienced a summer day in NJ - it is comparable to a pleasant day in ..well....Hell.

By the time we were finished I had sweat through all of my clothing, my face was a shade of red I have never seen occuring naturally and I was seeing double.

When we hit Chilli's at 3pm I actually fell into the booth (so did Linda and she had to go to an Award's Ceremony at work from 6 to 10pm tonight). I drank two diet cokes in about 15 minutes and scarfed down my hamburger without breathing.

I actually didn't mind the traffic trying to leave New Brunswick because it just meant extra time in the air conditioned car. Linda and I did have a fun time - we do with anything we do together.

I walked into my house, grunted hello to my daughter, and took a shower (I bagged my clothes for bio hazardous disposal).

I am laying on my couch in the nice air conditioned house WITH a fan also on. If I don't have to move until tomorrow morning I will be a very happy person. Maybe I will move to get some sherbert or maybe if I yell loud enough and long enough someone else will get it for me.