Steven and John

Here is Steven and Grandpa John blowing bubbles on the dock in Rocky Mount.  It was a HOT afternoon, which is very common this year.  Sara, Steven was a 3 month premie who weighed 1 pound!!  He now has a mouth full of teeth, a big smile, and he talks constantly.  He likes to blow the bubbles BACK at you.  He has red hair so they had him wear the hat and he was covered in sun tan lotion.

Happy Father's Day 2010

I'll bet you can't figure out why a potato fork in a white bucket of rock and dirt could be a REALLY good father's day present??    Well, when you have been looking for the potato fork, your favorite garden digging tool for the past 3 weeks and were almost ready to BLOW $24 to buy a new one, and your wife comes around the corner of the deck on Father's day carrying the wonderful tool, then you just might understand!!!!

Of course, I did enjoy the e-mails from Eric and Sara and the webcam call with Max and Lucas doing their "things" in the background, too. 

I did also enjoy the visit from 3 year old Steven (Stephen) who brought his "families" along while visiting John and Carol.  He finally gathered the courage to get into the lake with his life preserver in place and had a good time swimming.  BUT the most fun was blowing bubbles with him on the dock.  He took a shine to grandpa Ron.  Hopefully sis got some good pictures and will share.

Oh, I'm widening the driveway and making a water diversion wall near the back door of the house.  I've moved about 500 gallons of dirt and rock so far and am just about ready to start the rock/cement work.   Come on down and sweat with me for a while.  I only work in the "cool" of the morning!!

Monday, June 14, 2010

We drove to KC  for a routine Dr visit for Carol and I always check out the rental house by KU.  Figured there would be a few weeds, but Mother Nature was generous this time with a back yard you could barely walk through and a side garden overgrown.  Even the path to the garage had some nice cone flowers, purple mallow and weeds growing up in front of it.  I think Robert,  the next door neighbor had mowed the front and side drive, as they looked pretty good.  Guess the renters don't use the far  end of the drive, although there was a motorcycle in the garage.   I pulled weeds and mowed for about 2 hours and then changed clothes, as there were 4 poison ivy plants scattered in lawns and gardens.  I did take some "after" shots but they were too blurry to post.  Either I was too tired to hold the camera still or the damn thing is going BAD!!  We had a yummy lunch of pizza and salad  at Barbi and Deane's and then drove back to the lake. Barbi looks great and Deane had to get ready to break more sales records at the Ward Parkway Radio Shack!!   

 Gas at the Roadway Mini Mart in LaMonte was $2.35 per gallon if you pay with cash.  Sedalia was $2.45 and lake is $2.49.  Just a little info in case you are driving Hiway 50 in the near future.  Sara just e-mailed that Wem has been diagnosed with narcolepsy.  We will have to see what that means for the future.  She does ask for your prayers.  Tuesday morning:::: I need to get ready for ReStore in Camdenton from 9-1 today.  Mom has dentist appointment this afternoon in Jeff City so she will miss her swim excercise today.

ReStore, Camdenton, MO

The ReStore, Habitat for Humanity, facility is located about 5 miles south of the "square" in Camdenton.  It is staffed by volunteers and proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity houses built in the area.  There are 6-8 regular volunteers who keep the place running and several like myself who fill in on Tues, Thurs and Sat from 9-1.  They handle almost everything except clothing that might come from a house or garage.  They do not have much lumber or larger construction items, but do have lots of lighting, windows, hardware, paint, sinks, countertops, appliances, pictures, knickknacks, dishes, electronic items, paint, beds, furniture, etc.  A truck is available to pickup items from locations around the lake.  An expansion of the building is underway and the foundation was in a week after I took this photo.  The construction truck is in the background.  The truck is parked at the receiving dock which leads to a very small area for cleaning and repairing.  They keep a very clean building and all items are cleaned before being put on the "retail" shelves.  I have been volunteering on Tuesdays.  Come down and find some bargains!!