leder legends

The last time we had a heat advisory it 2012.  I remember because a post came up on Facebook memories today!  I am not a fan!  Asher was here for two days and I was thankful that water could keep him happy for hours.  He’s only 22 months old and as tall as a 3yr old 

When I think back to how we started out, I wonder if things would have been different had we lived close to family.  We were not sweet children...we were extremely independent. We went to college far from home, got married far from home, lived and traveled very far from home, had our children (except one) far from home.  We did it together and survived all the good and happy and all the bad and unhappy.  There is only one time (at the end of college) that we asked for monetary help.       Don't get me wrong...we loved our families and wanted our children to do the same.  What we couldn't do, is what we can't do for two of our children who have chosen to live FAR away from home.  The two who live close by often have needs on the same day.  It's a good thing we are both retired.  Yesterday we had agreed to babysit the almost two year old all day. He came early and we enjoyed a morning of fun outside.  At 11:00 he was done....

Asher arrived at 7:15 this morning. He's been fairly quiet but oh so sleepy so he is taking a nap (11:20) and he slept until 1:35.  He was very vocal and loud after that...a good sign that he really needed that. At 3:15 we packed up and went to a friend's pool.  Asher's first experience in the deep water.  He has a natural kick. This kid really loves the water. It was 90 degrees out today so I loved it too.

I received  this last night from my sister-in-law Louise. My oldest brother Chuck is 82 and has vascular dementia. This is so difficult. I'm posting this here in order to keep a record etc Respite….hmmm….not quite what I imagined it would be!! Dropped him off Tues afternoon, got him settled and walked around to get him familiar with the place and he seemed to understand why he was there. In the morning…not so much…up wandering all night…didn’t understand what all these people were doing in his house…and the next 2 days were much the same only he was becoming more agitated about all the people in his house and angry at me for letting them in.  They called me in a few times to calm him down and help get some meds into him to calm him down…not what I imagined my rest would look like. Thursday  night they called me at  10pm  to ask for help to get some meds into him that they put in his coffee but he was refusing to drink it.  When I got th...

They say the temperature should reach 94 degrees today. Church Golf World cup soccer-  upset-  Mexico beat Germany Ice cream Nap In random order...

After all the work of the past few days my goal today was to do as little as possible physically.  I was tired! I did some fun things. 1. Rose and I headed out to the OTTAWA neighborhood garden tour.  This year was their 25th anniversary and they had 25 gardens on the tour. We decided to go early to beat the crowds and beat them we did.  The sprinkle of rain at the start turned into a downpour but fortunately the high temperature kept it semi-comfortable. We didn't do all 25 gardens but the ones we did see had beautiful plants and ideas and enthusiastic garden owners. I appreciated that in the midst of the pristine gardens there were also some that were a work in progress. There is still hope for mine! Next year I'll take some pictures. In all of the 25 years, this was the first time it rained. 2.  We then headed out to Allendale to drop off a bunch of gardening plastic that they will recycle at Countryside Greenhouse.  Rose had two very large garbage bags f...

Survive another day...that's my goal! Yesterday was an outdoor day.  It's not all done but the yard looks better. Planting everything I had in pots and giving all the other plants away has made a big difference. I swept the sidewalk and watered the front yard pots and transplants. I'm going in to help at Toppers from 10 to 3.  That's what happens when you say you can help a bit.  You get put on the schedule for an entire shift. At 4:00 I'm going to New2You.  I'm such a sucker. I can't say no.  I was asked if I could come in Friday from 4-7 instead of Thursday. Volunteers are hard to come by sometimes. Arie "volunteered" to do deliveries from 2-3.  He's such a sweetheart! I'll go home for a 15 minute nap and then I WILL survive!

It's 9:40 PM I'm done!! Hooray.!!!!! Not only did I get EVERYTHING planted, I transplanted, thinned,  weeded and best of all gave all the extra plants away! I had lots of responses to my posting for free plants.  Some were very weird. I did have to say no to a lot of people.  Eight people got the plants. A few pics new hostas, transplants, WHEE, lilies I was informed that the official name of the fun hosta is WHEEE!  The name includes the exclamation mark. 

I often set small goals for a particular day and then often find that at the end of the day "failing" to accomplish those goals.  I think that's pretty normal, right? It does help to write things down ...so here goes. TODAY-  I will plant everything that needs to get in the ground before they die!                  6 perennials --Bear's breeches and 5 new hostas                        Annuals-- some dusty miller  (4), some tall yellow                                   marigolds ( 8), some pink petunias (1/2 a flat)                                    and a few cosmos.  If I have the energy ( at this age it's all about that and not time, right?) I'll transplant.  It's a lon...

It seemed like I was doing nothing ALL day yesterday.  I actually took two naps on the couch and played around with electronic devices for a long time while watching some CHOPPED shows. When I tallied up what I had done, I actually had accomplished much more than I realized. I pulled weeds quite extensively during my walks around the yard. I mixed fertilizer and generously watered the pots and flowering plants in the front yard with it.  I think it was at least 20 gallons! I hope the plants are happy.  Next time I think I'll sing to them at the same time.  That's what they say, right? " plants do better if you talk and sing to them?" I was out of Super Bloom and happily so because I don't like mixing it.  I found another product in my cupboard that supposedly also encourages blooms but this one I could attach to the end of the hose.  The backyard got a good feed.  One of my goals for the garden this year is to "formalize" it some.  I don't wa...