Right Answer

Good Morning!  I have two correct answers to the "spot the difference" challenge!  First prize winner is Aunt Muffy.  She sent Taffy an e-mail at 11:27am yesterday.  For those still puzzling over the pics.... here is a better clue.....

... and now when you look at the pictures it will be blatantly obvious!  Hee!  Early this morning Auntie Colleen figured it out - her e-mail arrived at 2:17am!  Yikes!  I hope she didn't stay up that late looking back and forth at those two pictures.  Here is the finished product.....

.... of course, it would not have turned out so well without.........

......... Squeegie's supervision - which he provided from his comfy chair in the shade!

First Guess

Mommy gave her guess at 8:39am this morning!  I guess I should have mentioned that the top picture was taken in the spring - when we were getting lots of rain; and the bottom picture was taken last weekend - after a long period with no rain.  No Mommy, it is not the grass.

We had Munchie here with us for a couple of days last week.  Poppa picked him up on Tuesday after supper, and returned him to Mommy and Daddy on Thursday.  We enjoyed his company a lot, but the visit seemed awfully short, and I didn't get many pictures.  I managed to snap this one while he was staying with me so Poppa could get to an appointment.  He was drawing pictures for me....

... to put on the fridge.... and it is quite covered now.  We missed him on Friday!

I'd better go see what Poppa is doing now!

Poppa's Weekend Project

Can you guess what Poppa's weekend project was?  Look closely at this picture.....

.... and see if you can spot the difference......

.... between this one and the first one? Hint: it is very subtle and has nothing to do with windows or flowers, and - no - it is not the car!  E-mail your answer to Taffy (taffy.robert@gmail.com) - there will be a prize to the first person to respond!  Good luck!

Critters....

... if you had a lot of critters sitting around your house - what would you do with them?  Would you like a jungle theme?  Or would you prefer a farm country scene?  Auntie Colleen wanted a smaller tea cozy for her "everyday" teapot.  When I asked if I could do something besides flowers (just for a change), she quietly said "Animals?".  How could I say "No"? Hence the menagerie you saw in my last post.  I got carried away once I started and then had to try to conceive of a method to attach 3-D handknit and stuffed critters to a tea cozy!  I spent nearly two months creating all those little critters, and.....

 then had to attach them which was actually more difficult than knitting them.  But eventually I did manage to get that done.  Recently Auntie Colleen was here for a family meeting - so I presented her with the finished cozy...

.... she seemed quite pleased.  She hadn't indicated what kind of critter she wanted.... so I went looking at critter patterns and I couldn't decide either - oh dear!  So, after two months with Uncle Shaun having to use a substitute teapot (luckily they found one he liked at the GoodWill store!) I finally did this..........

...... a wild bunch of safari animals on one side.... and.....

...... a herd of farm country critter on the other side.  I'm so glad..........

........that she was happy with it!  

A Zoo, A Visit and A Breakfast

Does this look like a zoo to you?

How many animals can you identify??  You want another angle - oh all right then, here..

... I'll tell you in a minute what all these animals are doing here.  In the meantime, a couple of weekends ago (time flies, I meant to post much sooner!) Munchie and Curtie came for a visit.  They brought along Mommy and Daddy of course, and we had a great weekend with them.  Unfortunately, they kept me so busy that my pictures are somewhat limited.  As usual, Poppa and the boys had a good time.....

..... they all played pretend - one of Munchie's favourite things, and Curtie is learning quickly.  I actually don't have a face-on picture of Munchie (maybe next time!), but I did get a cute shot of Curtie when he was trying to see what I was doing on my computer.

The lighting isn't so great, but I love the picture.  Poppa is going to Munchie's house today and bringing him back for a visit - all by himself.  He is going to stay for a couple of days, and Poppa will take him home on Thursday.  I'll try to get a good picture of him then.  I have more time when I only have one little boy here!  Now, closer in time, last Saturday we were invited out for breakfast at Uncle Ernie's "cottage".  A few years ago, Uncle Ernie and Aunt Lynda decided to "park" their fifth-wheeler.  They chose a beautiful spot about an hour and 10 minutes north.  Poppa had been there several times to help Uncle Ernie with some chores, but I hadn't had the opportunity.  What a perfect place to be on a hot summer day!  First, an inside peek at the trailer.....

........ here is Aunt Lynda relaxing in the sitting area - notice that outside the windows everything is green and leafy - it was such a beautiful and cool place to relax.  I took a peek into the bedroom...

.... glanced at the eating area .....

....... and we headed out to see what the men were up to.... we found them....

.... and found them sitting in a shady spot chatting happily - but wondering when breakfast was coming.  Aunt Lynda made breakfast on the barbeque and we ate in their outdoor dining room....

.....where Poppa was the first one to have a seat!  After breakfast we walked to the beach...

.. which looked extremely inviting - but no, we didn't go swimming.  What did we do?  Well I'd love to tell you, but I'm out of time.  I must get out the door soon and head to work!  So I will finish the story later, and leave you with a hint of what became of all those animals at the beginning of this post...

... and now I'm off to work!  Later folks!

An Invitation

We recently received this photo via e-mail....

..... from Florida - accompanied by the following message.....
"Please find attached photo of our table set for dinner.  You are invited to come join us tonight.  Denis said we'll hold the meal till 7:00 pm to give you plenty of time to arrive.
Hope you can make it!"
Can you even begin to imagine how tempting that invitation was?  This is the dining area at the villa in Florida which is owned by Poppa's cousin, Denis, and his wife Liz - our frequent companions when we are in Florida.  They have been down there for a couple of weeks, and we have been feeling extremely envious!  We were about to rush off to buy tickets for a flight to Florida, but realized we would never make it to the airport in time for the departure, so we resisted the impulse, and were forced to regretfully decline the invitation!  And.......... our little boys were coming to spend the weekend with us ......... so I needed to prepare.  Thanks for the invite folks!  Have a great summer break and a safe trip home!

Normal

I guess you're wondering why my posts are so far apart these days - right?  Well, to be honest - it is a good reason.  There is nothing exciting or different to report.  Now that I am working every morning - I seem to have way less time for other stuff - and I am wondering how on earth I ever managed to get so much done when I worked full-time!  Now, I spend a couple of afternoons each week with Auntie Colleen.  I pick her up when I get off work, we stop for a little snack and then we go to visit Gramma Grace until it is time to drop off Auntie Colleen and go to visit Aunt Peggy and prepare something nice for her supper.  A lot of the time she has already started vegetables in the steamer and I just have to get some meat ready.  Some days I take in a portion of whatever I have prepared for Poppa and myself.  Some days I get caught up in appointments for myself or someone else, running for groceries and other mundane errands that are not very exciting or interesting - so - to make this long story short - I don't have anything fun to write about.

Little Curtie is wishing he could come to visit Poppa.  He is waiting at the back door, but nobody is coming to take him.

He eventually managed to get Munchie in the car with him - but all Mommy did was take this picture and then he was stuck in the car - still nobody to take him to Poppa's house!  (I'm looking at the reflection of the photographer in the car - and wondering if that is Mommy or Daddy! What do you think?)

So, he finally gave up and went in the house for a nap!  Poor little thing!  Meanwhile, Munchie found himself in a sticky situation.....

........ which kept him in one place for a while!  I really have no idea what someone was thinking, but....

............ evidently Mommy and Little Curtie were also stuck - and it appears that they were not very pleased about it all!