Lunchtime!!!

Who doesn't love going out for lunch - especially when it's paid for ^.^

For 6 years my brother, sister and I get together to celebrate our birthdays. We each take turns buying the lunch, so for every three lunches; I only pay for one - pretty sweet deal, huh?

Since Barry's birthday is in July and it was my turn to buy we decided to head to Grand Bend. We tried the new restaurant "the Sunset". It's likely called that because it's like right beside the beach - in fact this was our view while we ate. Beautiful! just beautiful.
It was great to catch up with the busyness of all our lives and to spend some time together. Thanks for a great day and I'm looking forward to the next one in October when we celebrate my birthday!

Blessings

Sparrow

As I was cleaning up around the yard today I saw this little fella and was instantly reminded of this song:

God sees the little sparrow fall,
It meets His tender view;
If God so loves the little birds,
I know He loves me, too.

He loves me, too, He loves me, too,
I know He loves me, too;
Because He loves the little things,
I know He loves me, too.

and I felt completely loved. I am always amazed when those random God moments hit me. Do you ever get those? I think we too often are so caught up in the busyness of our lives that we don't recognize a "God-moment" when we see one. Would you be willing to share one such moment with me?

Blessings

Hot Days of Summer

ah yes the hot, hazy, lazy, days of summer, have finally arrived. It's times like this when I find myself missing our swimming pool and watching our kids to crazy things like this - After a long, cold, lonely, winter it's wonderful to see the sun, just like the Beatles sing in this song.

Thankfully, if we do ever find it so unbearably hot and we are in desperate need of cooling off; we only live a few minutes {yes, literally 3 minutes} from the beautiful beaches of Lake Huron. While I'm not a super fan of beaches and all the sand, it does at least provide some relief to the heat. Not that I am complaining about the heat, on the contrary I love, LOVE this time of year. In fact it can't get too hot for me. Like Krystle says in this post there are just so many things to love about summertime. Hope you enjoy your summer!

Blessings

Wise ole farmer

One of the many farmer's sayings that I remember my Grandpa S saying was "the corn should be knee high by July". Ironically it's also one my husband also says. {must be a "farmer" thing} This year however the corn was more than knee high by the 1st of July and if we went by this picture, we'd have to change the saying completely. ^.^

Blessings

Table for 5

Last night we were invited to dinner at Krystle & Gerard's. The table was lovingly set for 5 and as our family sat down we were served the most scrumptious meal. BBQ steak, baked potatoes {with sour cream, bacon, cheese & chives}, creamy broccoli slaw and of course no meal is complete without a nice glass of Pinot Grigio.

It's always a treat when I don't have to cook. It's even more of a treat when we're invited to spend time with our daughter & son-in-law, at their place.

We had a fabulous evening. After dinner, we played many games and before we knew it, it was time to head for home. Why is it, that time flies when you're having fun? Thank you K & G for an awesome dinner and evening - looking forward to the next one!

Blessings

Out of touch

Saturday night we had yet another wicked wind & rain storm, leaving us without hydro, Internet, television or telephone. Talk about being cut off from the rest of the world.

Normally I do not mind when the hydro is out. It gives us a break from all the gadgets and gizmo's, allowing us to spend time together without any distractions. We can usually find something to do, whether it's playing a game, or just chatting away catching up on everyday things. And at this time of year we can BBQ so we can eat. Yes, we do have a generator so we can run the necessary items, like our sump-pump so the basement doesn't flood and in the winter months it helps to keep us from freezing.

But, with no phone.. .. . . it was really frustrating! No-one {except those who have our cell-phone} could get a hold of us. We ended up spending the most of the day yesterday waiting for the phone & hydro service repair guys. It was quite surprising that we, out of all the neighbours, were the only ones without hydro. It seems a hydro wire at the end of our lane got zapped. Needless to say I am glad to be back n the land of technology.

Blessings

Out with old and in with the new

Yesterday, we {as in Wayne - ^.^} spent the afternoon taking out the old and long overgrown shrubs and replaced them with new ones we got from Lakewood Garden Center.

Before. .. . During. .. . After. .. . It's a little hard in the last picture to see them but we did plant a Flowering Crab Tree, a Weeping Pea-shrub Tree and just around the steps of the front porch we have a Japanese Conical Yew Shrub.

Next on the agenda is the back patio. Last October we built a deck and we knew that we'd have to change the size of the patio. It was great that the local building center was having a sale on patio slabs. We got them delivered on Friday - and today the chips & dust and top soil is getting delivered. So hopefully in the next few days, I'll be saying good-bye to the old patio and hello to the new one.

Blessings