A new sidewalk

For this year's Parsonage Improvement Project - they decided to extend the existing sidewalk over from the church to the parsonage sidewalk.
...there's a sort of a little ditch that runs from the parking lot under the fence and through the yard - and in the springtime when all the snow is melting we can't walk to the church - it's only about 100 feet or so and it seems so ridiculous to drive...
...so they piled up some dirt...
...and set to work...
...I love that they bring their dog to work with them (Jack did not love this quite so much)...
...Day 1 - notice the pipes under the sidewalk that will hopefully carry the spring run-off...
...Day 2 - the cement mixer arrives...
...so then they pour all the cement in the truck and it's nearly 5:00 PM and guess what...

...that's right they ran out of cement with only about a foot to go - I hope they come back soon to finish the sidewalk...

Virtual Age

Mom and Karen were doing this Virtual Age Test - and it was a lot of fun - apparently I do act my (Virtual) age (14.5) Hahahaha...

Seagulls

We had a flock of seagulls in our yard the other day - which led to lots of questions (of the migratory - non-migratory - But then of course African swallows are not migratory - type) JK...
...I guess we have so many gulls because of the big lake - but since we are about equidistant from either coast it sure does seem strange to see them here in the upper midwest at all...

Putting By...

A can of Organic Garbanzo Beans (or Chickpeas) costs $1.90...
...and I can get a 1 lb. bag of dried Organic Garbanzo Beans for $2.29 - which with the help of my trusty 25 year old crock pot I can turn into 4 pints (= cans) of Garbanzo Beans - so now I'm thinking Hummus - Salad Toppers - Besan...

Notecards

The Notecards are on their way - there are still a couple of people I've not heard from - but the majority of the cards have left the building...
...the stenciling is fun and it was so nice just thinking about each of you as I worked on your cards...

Love Birds

We had a pile of sand/dirt/gravel delivered for an extension to the sidewalk - so that we don't have to drive to the church during the muddy spring :)

...I'll post about the sidewalk a little later - but for now - these little lovebirds are enjoying a nice little pile of dirt...

...Coming In...

As we transition from outside to inside for the long winter ahead of us - we enjoy some of the new colours of fall inside too...

...a little milk glass dish of fall coloured candy...
...jackets hanging on the chairs...
...a pumpkin waiting for Halloween, boots and the Jack's bed next to the heater...
...a new tablescape...

...I love coming in...

100 and the Salt Dough Project

Scout came out of school with his project and as he hopped into the car he said - 'Guess how many points this project was worth?' - '100' I said...
...'and guess how many points I got?' - '100' I said again...
...he was just beaming - this sort of 3D project is right up his alley - we made the salt dough together at home - but he completed the project entirely on his own at school...

Rally Night

We had Rally Night for new Cub Scouts...
...Our Scout came and helped after his Boy Scout meeting...
...all of the New Cub Scouts got to assemble a Marshmallow Shooter...

...we had set up targets - but it seemed like everyone just wanted to run around shooting marshmallows at each other...

Fun is where you find it...

...We had taken our recyclables to the recycle center and Scout asked if he could play on the pile of mulch while I sorted the recyclables into the proper bins - proving once again that you really can have fun anywhere/anytime...

Photo-Tag

Liesl tagged me for a game of Photo-Tag...
1978TeresaChantalSlidingRock.JPG is the picture's name in the first folder of my PICTURES directory and it's the tenth one from the top - I didn't check to see how they were sorted - I just opened the folder and grabbed the 10th one...

...and it's name says a lot about it - it's an old polaroid shot taken by Mom on my birthday which we celebrated at Sliding Rock in Pisgah Forest, NC. the year that we had a foreign exchange student living with us. The video on this site is pretty neat - but way back then, there were no fancy steps no lifeguard and no entrance fee - it was just a really super place to go in the mountains and have some icy water fun...

These are the simple rules:

1. open your first photo folder
2. scroll to the 10th photo
3. post the photo on your blog and tell the story behind it
4. tag people to do the same

so play along!

...and the last of the zucchini...

This zucchini is all destined for the freezer...

...we just shred it up using our 25 year old Emmie...

...measure it in 2 cup increments (that's what my zucchini bread recipe calls for)...

...some we'll just chop for casseroles this winter...

...label and date and we're done - really no trouble at all...

...the last of the tomatoes...

...of course it was also the last of the tomatoes...

...the ones with the orange tint will probably still ripen...
...but I'm thinking there's going to be a big batch of fried green tomatoes in my future...

...the last of the lettuce...

The weather this summer/fall has just been CRAZY - I said we didn't even have summer until after Labor Day - when we finally saw temps in the 80's - but we've had a couple of frosts now and I'm afraid covering the garden up every night won't do the trick much longer - we're due for a hard freeze...
...so we harvested the last of the lettuce...
...we just pulled it all up by the roots (we'll compost those) then pulled all the leaves off...

...gave them 3 good rinses to get all the dirt out...

...spun it all dry and bagged it up - hopefully we'll have at least another week or 2 of homegrown salad goodness...

The Final Mowing

Scout mowed the lawn for the last time this year...
...it's always good to give it a final haircut before the frost and snow...

Eagle Scout Project

...Not Scout's...someone else's...but all of the scouts got to help...
...before the work began Scout did some tree-climbing......he's a pretty good tree climber...

...then once everyone got there - the wood was hauled out...
...The project is a gazebo at a local park - this is the foundation...
...ladders were climbed...
...boards were leveled - nails were pounded - and everyone had a lot of fun!

Aren't Moms the BEST

I know mine is...
...after I mentioned in a post about zinnias the other day that I needed one of the Tupperware flower arrangers (did you know that it's called a 'Floralier'?) - LOOK what arrived on my doorstep yesterday afternoon...

...I was so surprised (thrilled)!!!

...that's what I'm talking about...

...PS...You're all Winners...

Thank you all so much for the sweet comments and for visiting my blog - You're all winners as far as I'm concerned. So even though Elizabeth won the little folder - I'll send each of you a little packet of initial cards - just send me your address and the initial you would like...

...And the Winner is...

We decided to use random.org to choose our winner for this giveaway - I'm just geeky enough for that to be fun for me...
...so imagine my surprise when the number 1 was the first one up - I guess I had seen too many people post a comment that since they were the first one in the list they wouldn't be chosen but Elizabeth was the first to post and her number was the first one 'drawn'...
...first I made a list of all the eligible posts...
...then after I generated the first number I started playing with random.org - I told you I was a geek...

...this is the list after 10 hits - I was so surprised that already a few numbers were 'chosen' more than once - I guess I expected to see 10 different numbers...

...OK - so you can see where I'm going with this can't you - this is the list after 20 hits - and there were only 19 numbers to choose from - some numbers haven't been chosen at all...

...after 30 hits...
...after 40 hits...
...after 50 hits - did you notice that Nicola hadn't been chosen in 40 hits and then in the next 10 she was chosen 3 times - hmmmm...
...after 60 hits and Liss hasn't been chosen yet - how long...
...not much longer after 62 hits the number 11 is finally chosen...
...after 70 hits - it appears that 4 - 12 and 14 are the best numbers to have...

...so of course my inner geek wouldn't let me stop until I had gone all the way to 100 - and guess what...
...#4 - had the most hits...go figure...

CONGRATULATIONS ELIZABETH!!!