Summertime, and the Livin' is Easy

Hello Friends!

It is a beautiful summertime day here in SE Michigan. I think everyone has recovered after our storms, although there are still some folks without power. My sampler, I'm happy to say, survived beautifully and there is no harm done. Unfortunately, I haven't stitched on it at all for a few days so there is no progress to show. In fact, I haven't stitched at all, on anything, in a few days - just too much going on. Thanks for each and every one of your comments regarding the storm and thanks for not calling me stupid (at least not in writing :-) for leaving the sampler outside!

We had baseball games today for Tyler's last day of little league (it was a double header; they won the first game, lost the 2nd). The league only goes up to 16 years old so this is Ty's last year. We have been going to baseball games since the boys were in T-ball and we are really going to miss it next year. Here's a pic of one of Tyler's last at bats in his Little League Career.



Tyler is a lot of fun to watch play - he's fast as lightening and it's really fun to watch him steal bases. I am really going to miss watching him play.

Now that we're all home, it's very quiet and relaxing around here. Both boys are plum tuckered out and so are the animals apparently..... This little guy was taking a nap on our garage peak earlier today.


ANDREA had a giveaway on her blog and she just announced the winner ~ lucky Tricia won. I am bummed, but not surprised. I never win anything. Nope, that's not true at all. I do win, come to think of it and I've won some pretty amazing things. Now that I have recovered from losing ANDREA'Sdrawing, I am thinking more clearly. For example, when I was maybe 12 years old, I went to BINGO with my mom. Hmmmmm... now I'm wondering how a minor was allowed to gamble but that's something I'll have to ponder another day. Anyway, we were living on a military base and we were playing BINGO. At the same exact moment that I, in all my 12 year old exhuberance could muster yelled "BINGO" another woman (she seemed grandmotherly at the time but was probably in her 30's!) yelled BINGO! too. Oh no! Now what to do? Well the BINGO caller said we could each pick a smaller prize or we could draw for the big prize (we didn't know what that was) and only one would win. I, being young and sweet and darling said I would be very happy with the less significant prize because that way, we'd both win. What could be better? Nope! Not the OLD, MEAN and UGLY, old woman. No - she wanted us to draw cards to see who would win. My mom, sweet as ever said "Don't worry honey, if you don't win, I'll get you a prize." As luck would have it, I won! OMG! The pure excitement, the exhilaration of it all. What did I win? From behind the curtain was wheeled out the most beautiful thing ever! Oh the joy!!! Just imagine the fun I am going to have with this beautiful, shiny, red, lawn mower! YEP! The first big prize I ever won in my life and it's a lawn mower. I have to tell you though that rather than being disappointed, I was so excited to take this home to my dad. He was going to be so surprised and I was so excited. He loved it. The really sad part of the story is for that woman. After they wheeled out the lawn mower she said in a very hateful voice, as I recall "What is SHE going to do with a lawn mower?" "Give it to my daddy!" I said. Funny thing ~ I've never been a gambler - doesn't interest me one bit. I wonder if the sore loser, BINGO lady has anything to do with that?

I'm also pretty lucky, I guess. This is a little something I found on my way out of the subdivision early one morning. The homeowners of a beautiful home had put it at the curb on trash day. I saw it and couldn't believe it so I pulled over. At the same time, another gal pulled over and beat me to it. She had a tiny car and I knew she couldn't get it in there so I waited and watched. She debated, paced around a bit and finally left. I swooped in and quickly put it in my van! I mean to tell you, I worked FAST. I didn't want anyone to see me garbage picking - what would they think? It was pretty comical because the piece is quite heavy. When I finally got it loaded in my car and made it to work I asked my dear friend Sheila to come look what I had picked up on the street. Yeah, she couldn't believe it either! It's a beautiful, little secretary and it now sits in my living room. It's a little too early American looking for me so I think I'm going to paint it. Why not..... Are some of you fainting in your chairs - what? Paint that pretty piece of furniture. Yeah! Why not? I think it''ll look great when I'm done. Don't hold your breath waiting though - who knows when I'll get to it.

This is with the desk closed:

And this is with it opened:

The little chair sitting next to it is a real treasure. My mom found the chair, refinished it and because the caneing was pretty non-existent she actually re-caned it for me. Thada definitely has skills! I love the chair and really cherish it.

And finally, summertime is easy living and we really enjoy eating outside when the weather is perfect. This evening was just such an evening. There were no bugs, it was comfortably cool on the patio and the food was yummy. Sorry for the upside down plates - I keep them that way until just ready to serve, just in case there are any bugs. I tried to get the boys to let me take another pic when I realized it but they were having none of that. They were ready to EAT!


I hope your weekend, no matter what the weather, brings you happy moments!

Peace,
Terri