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