Hall of Flowers

Twilight in Christmas Gift Bag

2012-01-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

Chinese Gift Exchange

2012-01-16T10:14:00.001-08:00

Our loot from the Chinese Gift Exchange. Frank got this serving tray and Summer Sausage and Cheese. We had already eaten some cheese before I took the picture.

And I got this set of Christmas Dishes. Had to wait til shipment came from Italy.

More Christmas Gifts

2012-01-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

Eddie and Trudi gave me this nice shawl/sweater and black jewelry. Looks great together.

They gave Frank new slippers, earmuffs, tool-magnet arm band and a RPM meter.

From Teresa, Rafe and Eaven, I always love the dishtowels ( nice color ), dried tomatoes, new pitchers and the Caramel Popcorn. We've already eaten that of course.

Keith and Family gave us the Keurig Coffee Maker and Aaron and Ashley gave us the Carousel.

These pictures are sideways. I tried to rearrange but it kept coming up that way.
This is a lot of Coffee, Tea and Hot Chocolate packs and some very thin gingersnaps. They are really good, not like Keith's homemade ones but tasty and different. These are from KDAB also.

My slippers, Cream and Perfume in Santa Pants, Notepads and Licorice Cats from Bridget.

RC Helicopter for Frank from Brittany, Eddie II and Connor.

New Isotoner gloves and a Christmas pin for me from BEC.

A Christmas Calendar from BEC. Just have to move a candy cane pointer from day to day.

Christmas at Keith's

2012-01-11T08:26:00.001-08:00

We went to Keith and Denise's on Christmas night for snacks and gift exchange.

Keith and Denise relaxing on couch.

Grandma and Daisy opening gifts.

Keith with his new Cookware set his family got for him.

Denise modeling the life vest we got them. Daisy got a pink one, too.

Tyler and Bridget.

Christmas at Eddie's

2012-01-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

We went to Eddie and Trudi's for breakfast Christmas morning.

Eddie II in his Santa PJs

Connor and Grandma

Grandma, Connor, Eddie II, Brittany and Emily.

Eddie and Trudi gave Eddie II and Brittany a new KitchenAid mixer.

Trudi, Eddie II, Eddie and Connor

Trudi with Wine Plaque.

Trudi and Eddie with Copper Pot from Italy.

Sophie and neighbor DJ.

Tara and Connor

Eddie with stein that Eddie II brought him from Italy. Actually made in Germany.

Brandon and girlfriend Emily.

Emily's daughter Caylynn.

Winter Veggies

2012-01-10T16:49:00.000-08:00

We had a fairly nice day today so I decided to see if there were any vegetables left in my garden. I was happy to find these turnip greens and kale.

Also found a few green onions. We had freezing weather down to the teens so I was surprised they survived.

These turnips are quite small but I was happy to get them. After peeling the larger ones, I decided to try the "hot water to cook the skins off" technique. I didn't take any pictures but it worked great. Even for the smallest ( 1/2 inch ). I'll be using that for all my turnips from now on. Less waste than peeling. Just like peeling tomatoes.

New Microwave

2011-12-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

This is my new microwave that Duane and Karen gave us for Christmas. I had worn the start button out on my other one and it was hard to start. We moved it to other side of kitchen for extra room. I really like it there. It is a convection/microwave.

I got to retire my toaster oven as well as the old microwave so now I have a lot more room on the bar side.

Our Christmas Here

2011-12-21T17:13:00.001-08:00

Highlight of our Christmas party here was the SKYPE visit we had with Connor, Eddie II and Brittany during our 'Chinese' gift exchange that they joined in with gifts they had sent earlier.

Karen, Richard and Robert and their bikes.

Aaron

Karen, Duane, Keith and Denise

Keith, Denise, Ashlee and Trudi

Finger Foods. Bruschetta, Roll-ups, Meatballs, Etc.

Lots of Sweets. Ritz Cookies, Baklava, Candies

Bridget and Tyler

Elf Karen

Hall Christmas 2011

2011-12-21T16:48:00.000-08:00

Grandma Hall had her annual Christmas party at the Golden Corral in Hendersonville. 17 People had a great time.

Family Picture - Curt, Ted, Elizabeth, David, Jon and Grandma Hall

Ellie, David, Trudi, Eddie, Curt and Judy

Judy, Pam and Emily

Miranda and Abi

Judy, Trudi, Curt and Ted

Emily, Pam and Jon

Curt, Ted and Jon

David Playing Carols

Elizabeth

2011 Hall Reunion

2011-12-21T16:30:00.000-08:00

I decided to catch up on my blogs before I posted Christmas photos.
These were taken at the Summer Hall Reunion in Leicester.
This is Robbie and Nicole, Susan's husband and daughter.

Grandma Hall eating.

Grandma and Susan

Ellie, Polly and Patty

Grandma Hall

David and Ted

Marlene and Judy

Grandma, Susan, Jon and Pam

Mailbox Wheelbarrow Flowers

2011-11-10T14:26:00.001-08:00

We had an old wheelbarrow and I decided to plant flowers in it behind the mailbox.

Frank helped.

Wheelbarrow full of summer flowers and Blackeyed Susans in the ground.

Skip 4 months to getting ready to plant pansies. I planted some in the wheelbarrow and some in beds around the house.

Hope they get established before too cold and they should last all winter. Our resident cat likes to ride the golf cart and oversee whatever is going on.

July 4th 2011

2011-11-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

I know this is 4 months late but I had it all arranged so I decided to post it anyway. Aaron had a new smoker with remote controls and fancy thermometers.

Aaron cutting the delicious Brisket. Ashlee's brother is looking on.

Trudi and Denise sunning.

Ashlee and Bridget having fun.

Cookout Fun

Fireworks.

Trudi relaxing in swing.

Night Swim. Usally not warm enough after sun goes down but was good that night.

ARROWOOD WEDDING

2011-10-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

We had a neighbor's wedding in the field near the pond and dock. The guests parked in other open field.

Just before the bridesmaids came down, one of the groomsmen had to chase off a barking dog.

Bridesmaids arriving.

Jarrett

Tim and Mindy Bayless.

One of the groom's brothers.

Another brother.

The wedding guests.

Flower Girl.

Ringbearer.

Bride Alicia and her father.

Groomsmen and Flower Girl.

Groomsmen and Ringbearer.

Andy and Alicia Vows

Wedding Party.

Presenting the Married Couple.

Married.
Leaving in the Golf Cart.

20 gallon fish tank

2011-10-27T17:31:00.001-07:00

Our 10 gallon fish tank has gotten too small for the 3 fish we have.

We followed instructions for transferring to larger tank.

Fish all happy in 20 gallon tank.

Rebuilding Dock and Ramp

2011-10-26T17:21:00.001-07:00

This is the old dock.

We put in new post to support the ramp and joists.

We cut most of the boards at the barn.

I am laying out the new floor boards ( 2 X 6's).

We found the old joists were weak so we added new 2 X 4 runners on the outside of the posts.

Finished dock.

We cleaned the old vines and fencing from around the tree near dock.

Flower display at Forge Valley Event Center

2011-09-17T14:18:00.001-07:00

This is a neat display of flowers spilling from wooden barrels at a local event center. Karen's High School Reunion will be there in a couple of weeks.

Miranda's pinning ceremony for Nursing

2011-07-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

At J & S Cafeteria before Miranda's pinning ceremony.
Dave, Miranda, Michael, Polly, Patty, Ellie, Abi, Elizabeth.

Patty, Miranda and Abi.

Miranda getting her nursing pin.

With candle.

With Grandma Hall

Pictures in the yard.

2011-07-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

We found this tag in an abandoned parking lot and put it on the golf cart. We were looking through a book that Grandma Hall just got by Charles Kuralt on North Carolina that has a picture of a sign with 'Loafer's Glory' in it. I think it is a community or development.

I planted lettuce, tomatoes and carrots in the old sand box garden. I have to put screens over seed beds to keep cats out.

The posts holding up my wisteria vine were rotting at ground so Frank drove metal stakes next to them for support.

Garden at stump with beehive birdfeeder that Keith and Denise gave me.

More mother's Day pics

2011-07-16T19:07:00.001-07:00

Frank and Elizabeth in Keith's hot tub.

Elizabeth and Denise in flowers.

Karen and Duane.

Mother's Day at Grandma Hall's

2011-07-16T19:02:00.001-07:00

Grandma Hall

Curt and Judy

Dave and Ellie

Eddie II and Brittany with "Italy" books.

2011-07-16T18:59:00.001-07:00

Karen brought Eddie II and Brittany some books on Italy. They are already there you know.

Mother's Day

2011-07-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late showing my Mother's Day gifts for this year.

Teresa sent this lovely blue print summer pajamas. Grandma Hall also got this print in a summer gown. She loves it.

Eddie and Trudi gave me this coral soft blouse and earrings to match.

Karen gave me hanging basket of strawberries. I have gotten a lot of berries from it and I will plant them into my strawberry bed before fall.

Keith and Denise got me this lily plant. I will plant it in the ground also.

They also gave me a bag full of books, 2 of which I will be filling out with memories and thoughts.

Repairing side of house

2011-07-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Finished paint with #s, flag and eagle.

Window finished.

Light finished.

Pressure washing after paint spill.

Frank's bucket handle broke and spilled a lot of white paint onto porch and splattered everything nearby.

Frank on ladder painting.

The side of the house has been needing repair so we decided to work on it. This shows how bad the bottom board was.

The only 12in board we could find was shelving so I painted 2 of them to mount over the bottom board.

I decided the house numbers and the eagle needed a fresh coat of black paint.

Frank caulking the seams in the siding.

Feeding the squirrels

2011-05-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

Putting corn cobs on tree feeders.

We found this cute chair feeder for the squirrels.

Repairing floor in dining room at Nanny's house

2011-05-29T18:25:00.001-07:00

We had to replace the flooring in the dining room. Thought it was just a 1 square foot problem, turned out it was a 4' X 8' problem.

This is the old subflooring.

This shows some of the old joist and framing.

We decided to remove the wood stove from the house since we are putting in a new heating system.

Repairing siding on back of Nanny's house

2011-05-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is the finished back of house ( except for painting white ).

This shows some of the old siding and new framing we had to do.

Eddie II and Brittany in new swing

2011-05-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

Eddie II aand Brittany are checking out the new swing.

Kubota in the ditch

2011-04-11T17:45:00.001-07:00

Frank was mowing the lower field Friday and the ditch sucked him in.

The Chevy truck knows how to get it out.

This is the hole it left at edge of ditch.

Hail on April 9

2011-04-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

We had a quick hail storm on Saturday. No damage.

White Crane in pond

2011-04-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

We often have a gray crane in the pond but today saw a white one. Really stands out.

Selling the Thunderbird

2011-04-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

Just thought you all might like to see a final photo of the red Thunderbird. We have decided to sell it. We have spent a lot of time prettying it up.

Replaced Swing

2011-04-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

Remember the red swing that had gotten so old I just put potted plants on it?

The wooden bench that Karen gave us about 20 years ago had lost its legs and spent its latest years on cement blocks as Chock's perch has been renewed with new I-bolts and hung on chains.

Now, it's strong enough for us to actually swing in.

Finished Stairs

2011-04-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

I thought I had alrealy posted the finished stairs.
This is the newly painted risers. We had flipped a few of the stairs that were in reasonably good shape and replaced several.

These are the treads being painted on the workbench. Much easier than painting against the risers in place.

Finished. I am very happy with the clean brighter look.

Stairs Remodel

2011-03-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

We have been planning to remove carpet from stairs and upstairs hallway so decided to do it today. This is the stairs before.

Frank started removing carpet before I got a true 'before' shot.

After the carpet comes up there is a lot of removing padding, tack strips and staples.

This is the stairs while doing cleanup.

Stairs all cleaned up. The plan is to paint the treads brown and the risers white. I'll blog that when finished.

Upstairs hallway all cleaned up.

The Welcoming Committee

2011-02-09T12:57:00.001-08:00

We stood out in the cold blowing snow to see Eddie come in.That's me, Britt and Nyle.

Grandma and Eddie

Eddie carrying the TV into barracks.

Eddie II's Homecoming Airplane

2011-02-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

There was a blinding snowstorm as Eddie II's plane from Afghanistan was landing. We heard but could not see the landing. First saw the plane on taxiway.

Plane stopped for unloading

About 200 men deplaning

Frank's first great-grandchild

2011-01-28T16:59:00.001-08:00

This is Kelly's new baby girl, Audrianna Marie Trogdon. She is Frank's first great-grandchild. She was born on January 20th.

All dressed up in pink for the ride home from the hospital.

Hauling wood

2011-01-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

Frank thought it would be cute to get a picture of me hauling wood. We usually do it with the Kubota but it was so muddy from the melted snow, I just wheeled it down in my little trolley Cami and Dick had given us years ago.

Geese standing on icy pond and pecking worms

2011-01-28T16:47:00.001-08:00

The snow has melted and the geese that visit us nearly every day are getting a lot of worms out of the soaked turf.

The pond was frozen over so the geese are standing on top of the pond.
Frank had seen them flying in and landing then skating to the other side. I guess they didn't know it was frozen. To bad we didn't have a video of that.

Frank sledding

2011-01-28T16:42:00.001-08:00

You notice there are no pictures of me sledding. Because I didn't.

Snow on Dec 11, 2010

2011-01-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

Karen reminded me to post something. This is our snow from December.

Jeffrey and Ron visiting on Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T11:33:00.001-08:00

Jeffrey and his dad had Thanksgiving dinner with us and later flew Frank's little model RC plane.

It hit a tree in the field and Jeffrey had to shake it loose. They repaired it and flew successfully several times.

Sail to River Dunes

2010-11-28T11:23:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we sailed to a Marina/Residental Harbor at River Dunes for lunch.
View of the pool and spa.

Nice Clubhouse and Restaurant

Duane and Karen's boat at dock in River Dunes

Karen making a funny face on a nice smooth sail.

Touring New Bern

2010-11-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

On Friday we drove to New Bern and took a short walk through the historic district. Pretty little town founded early 1700s.

Mexican Dinner at Karen's

2010-11-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

On our trip to Karen and Duane's last weekend, she had fixed a Mexican dinner for our first night there. The appointment at Duke was late so we got there late. Duane was on a conference call so his tea has not been poured but he joined us soon and we all enjoyed a very pretty and delicious Mexican dinner.

Earrings from Keith and Denise

2010-10-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Keith and Denise took Frank and me to Red Lobster for my birthday and gave me these earrings that she had made.

Weekend Wedding

2010-10-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

We went to Karen's over the weekend so we could attend Dick's daughter's wedding. This is all the bride's family, you may recognize Dick and Cami. He's the one with the white curls and beard.

I am talking to one of Dick's daughters and her husband.

These are Dick's grandchildren.

Repairing floor in rental bath

2010-10-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

These are not in the order I wanted but you can get the picture.

We put new molding at tub

Finished Floor

I guess this patch was made for us.

After putting in new flooring we 'leveled' the floor.

Because we were reusing adhesive tiles, we had to add glue.

To fill in where tiles were ruined, we added a block of new black tile.

I laid the last tile.

Grandma with new attic door

2010-10-21T19:14:00.001-07:00

Grandma's New Attic Door

2010-10-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Old Curtain at Attic

Door parts painted at our barn.

Frank Working on door.

Door overlaps stairs so this is folding underdoor.

Finished Door.

Twilight or Graybeard ? ?

2010-10-04T05:03:00.000-07:00

We have started calling Twilight 'Graybeard'. After her medical issues last spring, during which she lost all the hair off streaks down her backbone ( which are going back nicely ) we noticed that along her cheekbones, the hair was gray. Looks kinda weird but interesting.

Might be hard to see here.

I guess it makes her look distinquished.

Strawberry Bed Project

2010-10-03T13:07:00.001-07:00

Grandma Hall wanted to get rid of the strawberry plants that were in her 1/2 water tank and plant some greens, so she gave me the plants. I dug them last week and planted her some lettuce, turnips and mustard. I needed a place to plant them so Frank built this box to attach to the sandbox garden, we filled it with fresh dirt and compost.

I turned it with my twister tool and got ready to plant.

Finished bed of Strawberries. Looking forward to lots of berries next year.

Pepper plants and box gardens

2010-10-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

I had some hot pepper plants in pots.

Denise said I could plant in her 3 box gardens, so I left a few of her plants and added beets, lettuce, turnips, kale and mustard greens. They are just coming up.

Fish in Pond

2010-10-03T12:54:00.001-07:00

I snapped a few pictures of the fish and the pond. They seem to be doing well.

New way to cook okra

2010-10-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

I have seen okra grilled ( Karen ) and my neighbor said he bakes his whole so I tried something new. I cut and breaded the okra as usual then sprayed a sheet pan with Pam, spread the okra and sprayed it, then baked in hot (500*) oven. Turned out crispy and tasty.

This was our vegetable dinner that night, the okra, white beans, leftover Mexican cornbread for me and roll for Frank, and my 'cheat' salad, just cut up veggies.

Tall Sunflower and some Cosmos

2010-10-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

We had a sunflower that grew in my squash row and it got very tall.

I don't think I have posted this picture of some cosmos I started from seed in the greenhouse. They turned out to be easy to transplant and really brightened up the flower beds. I had pink tones and yellow tones.

Birthday Gifts from the girls

2010-10-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for the lovely gifts.

Shannon gave me these garden tools, a shephard's hook and basket and an ajustable rake.

Cami sent these special earrings, note the green color. Sorry it's sideways.

Karen sent some 'warm' things, a neutral sweater-shawl, a green scarf and some nice slippers.

Teresa sent a collection of Elizabeth Taylor perfumes. Very nice.

Grandparent's Day

2010-09-26T18:49:00.001-07:00

We went to Boone on Grandparent's Day to visit Bridget.

Grandma and Bridget

Grayson and Bridget at Bandana's ( really good BBQ place )

Frank and Elizabeth at Bandana's

Birthday Gifts

2010-09-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Eddie and Trudi gave me a nice shirt and earrings.

Trip to wine country with Eddie and Trudi

2010-09-26T18:08:00.000-07:00

Eddie and Trudi took us to NC wine country for my birthday.

On balcony

Trudi, Eddie, Frank and Elizabeth

They set up a nice picnic lunch here.

Chateau

Dave singing with cousins at Hall Reunion 2010

2010-09-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

The blog will only take about 13 seconds but the singing was good.

Miracle Fish

2010-09-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

In the flood posted earlier, we found a little brown fish in road puddle. Brought it in and put into tank with our goldfish.

Our two goldfish

We named little fish Miracle and he gets along well with the goldfish.

As you can see he has become bright yellow.

We are trying to find out what kind of fish he is. If you have any idea, let me know.

Flood

2010-09-26T12:18:00.001-07:00

Some pictures of the flood we had a couple of months ago.

Apples from our tree

2010-09-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Frank picked me a box of apples from our tree.

I set up to peel for drying and pies.

Apple Pies

2010-09-26T12:03:00.001-07:00

I dried several loads of the apples.

Decided to make a couples of pies and made crust from scratch.

Two pies ready for top crust.

Finished pies

Hade some extra crust so made a shell for another pie.

The Man's visit

2010-09-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to catch up on my blogs. These are a couple of pictures from visit last month. The green shirt is still here.

Hall Reunion

2010-09-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

This is all the Hall Grandchildren attending the 2010 Reunion.

This is Grandma and all her children

Trudi and Elizabeth

Elizabeth and Abi

Eddie and Keith

Veggies

2010-07-13T11:33:00.001-07:00

We had to go to garden to tie up several rows of corn that blew down in the storm and I picked a few veggies while we were there. Swiss Chard, cukes, patty pan squash, zucchini, pepper,green beans and red potatoes. Tomatoes are not quite ready. The okra is red, a new variety that Mrs. Carland said will turn green when cooked, we will see. Dinner tonight.

Boo Boo

2010-07-13T11:26:00.001-07:00

I just brushed my finger across a plastic hose connection but felt a little sting. Almost immediately, the finger went numb and by night had turned almost black. I wouldn't have worried except as you can see, it was my ring finger and it did swell but I followed Frank's advise and held it up and keep ice on it for a couple of hours and it regained feeling and rings did not get tight. I do plan to have them ( the rings ) cut off and made larger.

Storm

2010-07-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at putting a video onto the blog. We had a real storm here Sunday with 2+ inches of rain, a little hail and a lot of wind. Then our power was out all night.

Finally, the Hydrangea Story

2010-07-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure the three colors of Hydrangea would show up by themselves so I got a vase of all together.

These are next to old pumphouse and are darker.

I have tried to keep these pink by adding lime each year but the acid must come through because they still have some blue in them.

Pale blue.

This year's flowers

2010-07-06T11:16:00.001-07:00

Yellow Conefower

Remember the empty sandbox from previous post. Well, it has cucumbers climbing the corners, garlic in each corner, peppers and tomatoes in pots on shelves, and rows of lettuce, kholrabi and tomatoes and two rhubarb. Yellow trumpet vine on frame at power pole.

Rose blooming for second time this year in garden in woods, from Teresa.

Red swing with pots of impatiens and elephant ears, calla lily and hanging spider plant.

Verbena, Coleus, Dusty Miller and Spotted Begonia

Lemon Lily

These are green strawberry pots and another green planter that Karen gave me. I added the flowers, Sea Roses, Dianthus, Blue Salvia, "Those Spotted Plants" and in the big pot, Mandavilla. That's Angel the cat on the path.

Striped Grass from Grandma Hall's and leftover day lilies.

Visitors from ND

2010-07-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

While our North Dakota visitors were here, we had some fun pool time. Here is Keith, Rafe and Denise cooling it.

Daisy likes to stay dry so she's on the float by Bridget, and Scout and Teresa are watching.

A better picture of Daisy and Bridget

Mills River School brick

2010-05-30T20:04:00.001-07:00

These are the brick from Mills River School Gym they offered for sale.

Left is a piece of gym flooring with brick and placard. Right is brick with placard (this one is yours, Teresa).

Eddie II's belated birthday celebration

2010-05-30T19:43:00.001-07:00

Hamburger sliders and hot dogs with all the fixings.

Bridget coming in when rain started. We had a good swim before that.

Eddie II, Trudi and Eddie.

We had a strawberry torte as his birthday 'cake'

First pooling of the season.

Bridget and Trudi getting some sun.

Denise enjoying a Margarita

Me floating in the pool. Did you notice we all were dressed in black and white.

Keith cooling it

Eddie getting some rays.

Painted Adirondick chairs and new firepit

2010-05-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

I put a new coat of paint on the chairs Eddie and Trudi gave us and bought a new square firepit. That's Shannon showing them off. NOte the old swing, (see next post).

Yard swing cover

2010-05-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

I needed to cover the old yard swing so I bought this heavy printed cloth. I liked the pattern.

I made covers for the back and this pocket for the seat cushion.

Seat cover and foam.

Finished cover and the plastic bamboo screen we used for a new roof.

Mother's Day Gifts

2010-05-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

From Eddie and Trudi, a pretty plant stand and the plants.

From Teresa and Rafe, a pretty top she made from vintage cloth. I love it with the red belt.

From Karen and Duane, a lovely vase of flowers.

From Keith and Denise , a monogrammed purse and glass suncatcher, and from Bridget, a glass butterfly.

Thank you everyone!!!

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Eddie and Trudi had a nice Mother's Day brunch for us and Trudi's mom and Ray. Tara and Brandon were there too.

This is the quiches, excellent.

Fruit tray

Trudi and I around the Bloody Marys

Sandbox canopy, flowers and clouds

2010-05-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

May 6, 2010
Eddie and Trudi gave me the frame of a canopy and we erected it around the sandbox garden. We think it looks neat and it can hold potted plants and serve as climbers for vines. The posts in center are from Eddie II's chin-up bar but I'm leaving it to hang things on, too.

The ajuga around the pool bloomed nice this year.

Frank took this picture of pretty pink clouds over the barn.

Mountain property

2010-05-30T18:33:00.001-07:00

April 21, 2010
This does not do justice to the steep slope of our mountain property. We were touring it with realtor. It's up for sale, actually have a contract.

Me and realtor

Ted's house

Wheat Berries and Asparagus

2010-05-30T18:23:00.001-07:00

April 13, 2010
Karen had mentioned she cooked some wheat berries so I bought some and was looking for something to cook with my first batch of asparagus so I cooked them for an hour, made a salad and threw the asparagus into wheat berries for a few minutes and it was very good.

Wild Turkeys in yard

2010-05-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

March 23, 2010
A group of turkeys ( I don't know what a group of turkeys are called ) came through the yard and Zipper kept an eye on them.

Robert's band in Ireland

2010-05-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

I know Karen has already posted a picture of Robert's band in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day but we took a picture of the screen and since I am trying to catch up with my missing blogs, I included it here.

Vent cover for #51 trailer

2010-05-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

March 10, 2010
We wanted to clean and paint the kitchen vent cover from the trailer. Frank couldn't find his goggles so he used an old storm window to shield his eyes from the little sand blaster. Shield worked great but the sand blaster did not.

Changed to his Dremel

Cleaned it off. Didn't get an after picture but I painted it white and it looks new.

Super Bowl Party

2010-02-15T17:19:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Eddie's birthday again with a strawberry cake.

Eating cake

Tara and Trudi

DJ and Tom

Eddie and Sophie

Eddie and Brandon

Eddie II

Amanda

Eddie II's Army buddies

Jarrett O'Brien

Joshua Tashjian

Will Malloy

That's me dressed to go out in the cold

Eddie's 50th Birthday

2010-02-15T16:40:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time at The Purple Sage, a kitchen and wine shop in Hendersonville.
Eddie and Trudi arriving

Keith, Denise and Eddie II

Karen and Duane

Tara and Elizabeth

Frank

Caterers Tom Young and assistant

Couple Eddie knows from biking and Keith knows from dentistry

Charles who built Eddie's deck and next door neighbor DJ

Eddie's ABTECH instructor and Denise

Eddie II and Eddie with photo album

Trudi talking with instructor and husband

We had a beautiful Hors D'oeu'vre/Dinner of Oysters, scallops, potato and bacon tart, mushrooms, tomato and cheese salad ( Sorry no pictures) This is dessert- Chocolate Tart, Fruit and Cheese, Cheesecake and Strawberries

Fixing breakfast

Quiche

Fort Campbell Visit

2010-02-14T08:46:00.001-08:00

We went to Fort Campbell on Friday to visit with Eddie II before he left for Afghanistan. This is the Headquarter Building he is assign to.
Relaxing in his room at 6 AM Saturday
Hallway where they were dressing for trip to Ireland and beyond.
Eddie in all his gear with Grandma
In ranks for inspection before boarding plane.

Potato Soup and Mexican Dinner

2010-01-30T16:35:00.000-08:00

I did make potato soup for lunch today. No recipe really, just an "appropiate" amount of celery, onion, potato, butter and milk.I had mexican cornbread muffin with mine and Frank had a wedge of regular cornbrea.
Dinner was Mexican. Ground beef (sorry, girls), black beans, veggies and sauces. We ate some with tortillas and some with chips.
This is mine assembled.

Double Rainbow

2010-01-30T09:36:00.001-08:00

I was up early ( 7:00 AM ) after a rain last week and took this picture of a double rainbow. I loaded both pics. Hope you can make out the 2nd one right of the other.

January 29, 2010 Snow

2010-01-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

We got 13 inches of snow last night. We are warm and still have power. Frank took this picture of the bird feeder under the light on power pole.
Cars under snow.

Truck during snow.

Hall Christmas Party

2009-12-21T05:51:00.001-08:00

Eddie and Trudi with Grandma

Ted, Judy, Curt, Elizabeth, Keith, Emily, Pam, Bridget, Jon

Polly and Jack

Snow

2009-12-18T12:31:00.000-08:00

Some pictures of our new snow. It's still coming down, may get 6-12 inches.
Frank got a picture of me after I dumped my compost. It had just snowed a couple of inches then.

Saturday Fun

2009-11-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

Frank and I went to the club's "flying field" yesterday and flew his new RC Cherokee. He had flown it for the first time last Sunday with a bunch of other members. It flew great both times and he was very pleased. Apparently the first flight of a new model is always an iffy thing. Of course he had been using his simulator to stay in practice. It was a beautiful day and we were there by ourselves.
The chair was for me.

My Angel Cat

2009-10-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

This is my newest adopted cat, named Angel. We thought it was a girl but is a boy (has been neutered). The other kitten here is his sibling and we will 'fix' it too. That is definitely the LAST cat we keep.

Frank's new toy

2009-10-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

We got a real deal on this Club Car gasoline golf cart. Looks and runs great. We will use it to get mail, go to river and maybe pick up trash with trailer.

Real Age

2009-10-14T07:55:00.000-07:00

I saw on TV a test for determining your "real age". Hope the link below works for you to try it for yourself.

I am proud to say that my real age is 49.1. Not sure I feel like it but glad to see my life expectancy is 99.9 years. I guess you all know I am actually 68.

http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/VirtualAge.php

Birthday Gifts

2009-10-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

I got some great Birthday gifts.

Eddie and Trudi gave me the bundle of lavender, some neat soaps and cream and a gift certificate to get a manicure and pedicure. I'll wait til Trudi is going back and we will make a lunch date and have our nails done.

Teresa and family sent me this fall Devils Lake ND shirt. I will wear it a lot.

Karen and family sent these Peony roses roots. I am looking for a good place to plant them before frost.

Keith and Denise got me this beautiful stained glass hanger and flower container. I'll put it to good use next spring.

Cami and family sent this dress blouse. It looks great and I can wear it year round. I wore it to dinner on my birthday.

October Pictures and Birthday Gift

2009-10-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

A few late flowers I took to Grandma's.

Two roses bloom again in the fall. The yellow one Teresa gave me years ago and the pink on is from Nanny's bush I moved down from house at #11.

Frank got this picture of twilight "swinging".

Aaron's aunt Phyliss gave me this Bear birdhouse/feeder while visiting here last month.

Eggplant Parmesan

2009-09-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Frank's Physical Therapist gave him an eggplant this morning, so I got together some ingredients for a casserole.

Fried the eggplant slices.

Assembled sauce, eggplant, homemade ricotta cheese and parmesan cheese.

Served with steak and rice, and cabbage, green beans and squash medley.