July 23, 2012

The kids left on Saturday.
It's always a very sad time for me, saying good-bye to them, because I know it will be a long time before I see them again. We have to have many, many hugs (and a few tears) before I let them go.....

Took a few pictures in the backyard.

Rich and Tina planned on leaving Sunday, but with a little persuasion,  stayed until Monday. So we took the day and showed them around the area a little bit. Drove into Grand Forks for the afternoon, had lunch there..... just had a nice day.  AND I didn't think so much about my kids being gone, so it was a win-win!!



BUT now everyone is gone and my house is empty and quiet.

Back to 'normal' so it is said, whatever 'normal' is !!

July 20, 2012



Today I turned 60, and we had a little get-together this evening to celebrate. It was great to have family and friends to help share this milestone event. After all, you don't turn 60 every day!

Here is a picture of the girls:

l to r:  myself, Doreen, Tina and my daughter Tammy.



 

And here is a picture of the boys:

l to r:  my grandson Tristan, Rich, Steve and Michel.

We had a good time visiting, laughing and singing. Steve is a very good guitarist and singer, so he entertained us off and on throughout the evening. 

Michel had us girls up dancing.
I think everyone enjoyed themselves, I know I sure did....

Birthday flowers and gifts......

July 19, 2012

Today we enjoyed the arrival of our dear friends Rich and Tina from Ranier, WA. It was an expected visit, so we were a little more prepared for their arrival. They too came to help celebrate the big b'day. So here we enjoy happy hour with family and friends.

Later in the evening, Michel got a fire going and we sat around and visited and just enjoyed the company.

We like the hamock chairs we got in Cozumel last winter.

It was already getting dark when this picture was taken, but we managed to get a shot of me and my 'kids'.....

July 18, 2012

What a surprise I had today! After working in the yard this morning, we were just relaxing when the doorbell rang. We weren't expecting anyone, (at least I wasn't expecting anyone), so when we opened up the door to see my daughter Tammy, and my grandson Tristan, I was very surprised. More like shock, I think. Michel has known they were coming since we visited them in May, but the surprise was for me - I celebrate my 60th birthday on Friday, so they came in from Grimshaw, AB to help me celebrate.  This was by far the BEST birthday present. I so enjoy having them here.
It could only have been amplified, if my son could have made the trip too, but work and other commitments kept him from coming.

Beautiful birthday flowers - roses from Michel, mixed flowers from Tammy and Tristan.

July 18, 2012

Well, we finished laying the bricks in the backyard!! WOW, what a job. Three weeks from the time we received the bricks, we had them all laid out, and we're quite satisfied with the outcome. Expocrete supplied us with enough bricks to complete the entire project..... and then some. 

July 6, 2012

Donna's roses! 

Last fall Donna (and Ray - friends in Grand Forks) gave us a few rose bushes. And this year we have roses. Beautiful little pink roses!

I've never grown roses, but she guaranteed me these were pretty much maintenance-free. And she was right - here they bloom and I didn't have to do much of anything. Never even had to water for the first 4-6 weeks, it rained so much. But a few days of sunshine and voila!!

We were concerned that the deer might eat them, for that is the reason she uprooted them to a new home, but so far we've been very blessed. I guess they've found someone else's roses to nibble on. Thank you Donna for the roses - and thank God for giving the deer lots of other flowers to eat!

June 28, 2012

The truck arrived at 8:40 a.m. carrying our 12 pallets of paver stones. Each pallet has over 500 stones and covers over 100 sq. ft. That's a lot of concrete!

Michel arranged to use a forklift from a guy here in Greenwood, and he arrived back at the same time as the truck arrived.  So the work began right away.

Here he comes with the first pallet - only 11 left to go !!

The first two pallets - out front where they'll be easy to get at.

The rest of the pallets - all 10 of them - tucked away behind the house. (Actually this is the front of the house - it faces the street.) By 9:30 a.m. the unloading was done!! Thank you !Thank you! for the use of the forklift. Could you just imagine having to unload that truck by hand, brick by brick??

So we'll be busy for awhile.
They are very nice stones and we are extremely pleased with "Expocrete", the company who manufactures them. They've supplied us with well over 1200 sq. ft. of stones, which will more than do our pathways - we'll should be able to do the gazebo as well.