Poppa's Projects

We have had some very hot weather lately and I couldn't resist posting this......

..... picture of the bears in their sunsuits - trying to keep cool!  But, as suggested in the title of this blog, I think it is time to catch up with Poppa and his projects!  Remember we bought this condo because it was "move-in ready"?  Well, not when you're living with Poppa!  I guess we'll start with the flowers I showed you briefly in an earlier post.  When we moved here we had............

....... we had small flower beds on both sides of the walkway to the front entrance.  As you know Poppa replaced the flower bed on the garage side (left in the picture) with paving stones so that the rain or melting snow would run away from the garage foundations and out to the lawn.  This spring he wanted to put flowers at the front, but didn't want to have to be bent over all the time, pulling weeds.  So..........

....... under Squeegie's close scrutiny (he moved a stool from the kitchen).........

........... Poppa carefully put.....

 paving stones in the other flower bed too.  Then he mixed up some cement mixture  ..........

...... and filled the little gap between ............

.......... the landscape ties and the paving stones.  Then he began placing.....

......... his planters in strategic places to enhance the entrance... and when he was finished.........

...... it looked quite appealing!  I was heading to the back yard to take a picture of the plants back there for you, but.....

........ I was distracted by this little visitor on the fence.  He actually seemed to pause and strike a pose for me!  The picture isn't very clear because I didn't want to open the sliding door and scare him away - but he is a perfect example of his species!  One more project (a much smaller one!).............

......... was cleaning some golf balls and putting his distinctive red ring around each one to identify it as his.  Who knew golfers actually washed their golf balls? Leave it to Poppa!  Speaking of unexpected things.............

.......... I noticed Poppa at a neighbour's place one day.  On further investigation....

........ I discovered that the owner (a very nice lady) had asked him about painting her front porch.  She had bought some paint, but it wasn't sticking properly and she came to ask him what to do about it - since she had noticed that he repaired and painted our front porch.  Typically, he offered to do it for her!  Then he headed back to our place..........

.... where his flowers were looking lovely - as well as the work he had done on our next door neighbour's flower beds.  But............

........ why did he take my kitchen cupboard door off????

A Bit More

I found a couple more pictures I'd like to share with you....

........ this is a really cute picture of Auntie Cecile at the English Tea Party we attended in June - and you can see another of those leaded glass windows behind her.  This a another shot..........

.......taken in the same room of the rectory, but taken from a greater distance allowing you to see how nicely appointed the room was for the occasion.  This one...........

......... shows Auntie Cecile again, with her new camera, in the graveyard taking a picture of............

......... of that pretty little meditation spot.  On a totally different topic........

....... we had Lydia (our real estate agent!) and her husband Rob over for dinner a while ago, and when they arrived she had this lovely bouquet of flower in her hand!  Needless to say, they stayed here - aren't they lovely?  And, one more thing.....

.......... our little boys stayed with Gramma last week.  In the photo are Curtie, Reese (their cousin, who was also staying with Gramma) and Munchie.  They look like little boys now - my babies are growing up!!!!  We hope to see them in August.

Sum-Sum-Summertime!

Summer has arrived.........

.......... school is out and Taffy is spending hours on her phone talking to the friends she misses when she isn't on-line doing school work!  And....

....... Munchie went on a vacation to a campground north of here with Mommy, Daddy and, of course, Curtie too!  Munchie helped.......

........... Daddy prepare for the campfire.........

.......... he and Daddy carefully arranged the necessary fuel ever so carefully....

...... and finally pronounced it to be perfect for the evening's campfire stories.  The most exciting thing that happened while they were there (much to my own personal dismay!).......

......... was the acquisition of Bam!  Yes that dog's name is Bam and it belongs to Munchie and his family.  I'm told it will grow to be quite large - but right now he is kinda cute!  On another side note, while Daddy and the boys got accustomed to Bam and Bam got acquainted with them..........

........ Mommy got into the car and headed even further north.......

...... to have a short visit with Aunt Muffy!  It had been about 5 years since they had last seen each other, and by all accounts they both enjoyed the chance to catch up!  I must say it pleased me to see them together for a little while!  Thanks for the photos of the vacation and the visit Mommy!

Another Knitter

Of course, you remember Denis and Liz - Poppa's cousins who own a villa in Florida - right?  Well - their daughter-in-law has taken up her knitting needles and created this..........

..........pretty little bag/purse/tote for her little niece, Audrey.  Gramma Liz sent me this picture and then was kind enough to send me some additional photos of the purse in use........

.......... here is little Audrey (who is a year-and-a-half old already!) deciding just what to put in there.....

...... she stopped to see what the clicking noise was - "Oh - hi Gramma!".  I'm glad she took a brief moment to look at the camera so we could see her pretty little face!

........... A few more items were placed in the tote and.......

....... she was ready to go shopping!  Good job Ashley!  Thanks to our little model!  And.....thanks to Gramma Liz for all the pics!

A New Knitter

Well, she isn't exactly new at knitting, but her project is new to my blog.  She is my good friend from the UK - Allison.  I'm going to let her explain in her own words, so I quote from her e-mail to me.....

We have just finished the basket fruit etc and it is due to be presented to a child in the village school sometime in July. If I say so myself - not bad. My contribution was the pear the grapes and the cherries. My friends Lesley and Kath did the rest. The coconut was the best but forgot to take a picture of that. Anyway thought you would like to see the end resullt. 

Here are some pictures:

 This is the famous pear.  Our whole conversation in Florida in the spring started with Allison trying to figure out how to knit a pear.  She sure did a great job!

 These are the most adorable cherries I've ever seen - I want some!

 Here is a veiw of the basket - also made by the ladies.  Notice the watermelon in the basket and the banana on the left.

 There is a banana inside this kindly peel!

 The famous pear and a perfect green apple.

 Here is a peach-ey (note: the fruit is a peaceful lemon!) example of the talent in Allison's group.

 I think these grapes are my favourite of all the lovely creations!  Aren't they great?

 And here is the finished project.  A lot of hours and a lot of fun.  Congrats ladies - it turned out very well!  Thanks for sharing with us Allison!  And give our regards to the other ladies as well!

Another Outing

Do you remember this picture...........

......... taken by Auntie Cecile on an excursion we made to see the Famous Peoples' Players?  We had such a good time.  Well... recently we went on another outing.  This time to.....

........ an English Afternoon Tea (I had green tea mint - it was very good!) held at....

........ St. Columbkille's Catholic Church.  This is the church I was baptized in and attended until I was 9 when we moved into town from the farm.  The tea was served in the rectory which was delightful - I should have gotten more photos!  Auntie Cecile knew almost everyone, since she was a little older when we moved into town and already knew most of the parishioners at St. Columbkille's.  But....

...... I did know this young lady!  Her name is Norma and she is now a mother and an active member of the CWL at St. Columbkille's.  I worked with her Dad for years.  Better yet, she came and worked with me as a summer student when she was still in high school.  Good memories of both of them!  By the way, her Mom was also in attendance, keeping an eye on things to make sure they were going smoothly.  And.....

...... this is Margaret.  She was a childhood friend of Granny's when we lived at the farm and was kind enough to pose for a picture with us as she was busy serving tea to other guests.

Auntie Cecile and I were having a great time, enjoying our tea and cucumber with cream cheese sandwiches (which I love!).  I think Auntie Cecile had salmon.  And then........

...... we were presented with this delightful tray of desserts and we had a difficult time choosing which to have.  They were quite tasty!  After we had finished our tea, we were invited to take a tour of the rectory and accepted eagerly.  Auntie Cecile had seen it before, but I hadn't ever been inside at all.  It was off-limits to little children when we attended church there.  I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have, but..........

... I did snap one of Auntie Cecile on the stairs in front of a beautiful leaded glass window.  It doesn't show up too well because at that time of day, the sun is shining through - and I only had my little camera with me, which doesn't have all the nice settings for those circumstances.  The rectory is kept very clean and tidy and is mostly in its original condition.  We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and afterwards decided to take a stroll in the graveyard to visit some of our ancestors buried there.  Again, I didn't take enough pictures, but........

....... I did get one of this little spot where you can stop to pray or meditate - so pretty and so peaceful!  Of course..........

...... we had to take pictures beside this flowering shrub which was growing there, because..... well........it was very pretty too and Auntie Cecile looked pretty posing beside it!  So, while there were no lions with rounded tummies, there was lots of good tea and treats, old friends to chat with, and an opportunity to get together for some leisure time.  All in all, a great day!  So, to finish off this post I want to share something Auntie Cecile sent me the other day..........

......... LOL!