If I Had A Boat

It's been almost a week already since Cindy and I travelled to Meijer Gardens to see Lyle Lovett. The concert was fantastic! Over 2 1/2 hours without an intermission. Beth saw him at Common Ground the next night and loved that concert also.  I don't know how performers do it night after night.  One of my favorite songs is "If I had a Boat". In the song, Lyle says that he would take his pony on his boat out on the ocean.

I just finished reading "A Salty Piece of Land" by Jimmy Buffett. He must have liked Lyle's song too because it is a story about a character who leaves Wyoming and takes "his pony on a boat out on the ocean" and all of the characters they meet and the crazy adventures they have. It's interesting how a line from a song can influence a whole novel. (Like when a photo or a texture can inspire an entire quilt. Cindy, I still haven't done my 'sing a quilt' project...) It's great summer reading.

Cindy enjoying the crowd before Lyle. Note, her chairback is just slightly higher than regulation (they officially measure them).

Debra and Tom having a picnic.

Margaritaville

What a wonderful summer evening to be outside! Especially enjoying fun music, friends, food and a few beverages. Tonight, Carol, Daisy, Ruth, Tish and I went to Reno's to hear the band Living Soul. The band plays Jimmy Buffett music.

That's Carol and Daisy behind the shades. Daisy commented that there weren't many white-headed people on the patio.  We're glad that she's adventurous and willing to kick up her heels with the 'kids'.  You go girl!

Ruth and Tish. You can see their beverage of choice! Tish has been refinishing a challenging door and earned the rest.  Living Soul is playing most Wednesday evenings so if you're interested, let us know. The food's great and you don't have to cook!

Summer Evening

Tonight was my night to babysit Cubby while his mom went to school. One of our favorite things to do is 'stroll' down to the Tollgate Wetlands to check out the ducks. There are all kinds of wildflowers in bloom right now and if you look carefully along the path, you can see a whole bunch of new Japanese Iris, Sedum, Daisies, and other flowers planted by the Drain Commission in the last few weeks. The mulberries are almost done and the the baby ducks (7 at last count) are now 'youth' ducks - the male mallards are starting to get their shiny feathers.

Cubby spent a few days with his other grandparents at the lake and Claire and I just barely survived being without him.  Sunday afternoon he came over and said, "up,up, pease, pease, pease." He wanted to play in the sink. (His mom didn't know we had done it before - what happens at grandma's...). He's wearing Gennie's packable water dish as a hat.  It struck me that it looks kind of like a graduation cap... oh no! He's never growing up!

My New Grandbaby?

Here is a picture of Ian and Liz taken at Mother's Day.  It was so good to have them here. I don't get to see them very often. They are both students, both working and trying to keep up with maintaining a house. Ian emailed me this week that they had a new addition at their house......

Yikes! A snake.  They've talked about bearded dragons (Terry P) for awhile but I guess this little guy just called out to them at the Reptile Show. He's a red-tailed boa and is about 18" long. Eats mice for now... Irene pointed out that it's easier to leave on vacation with a snake as opposed to most other pets. I guess that gets me out of grandma babysitting duty. Phew!

California Boys

No, it's not Lassie and Timmy but it is Timmy and Matthew.  These are my sister's boys. They are full Collie brothers and are about a year old. She started out with just Timmy (the darker one) but through circumstances, Matthew needed a home too. They play and wrestle just like good brothers should.

These good looking guys are my sister's other two boys. This was taken prom night in their yard. How do kids grow so fast? They have this lemon tree, a huge avocado tree, plums (picked 10 pounds just this week) and apples. They can also grow tomatoes year-round. (Don't we wish...)

Graduation Day.  640 graduates on the field and about 5,000 fans in the stands. After graduation, they bus them to Disneyland all night for a 'safe celebration'. Needless to say, my nephew slept the whole next day. 

First Visitors

Don't they look great? Phyllis, Tim and Dewey on the front porch of their new house in Burbank, CA. My sister and I went to visit - was it only last week?  They are still waiting to close and have furniture and washer and dryer on hold just waiting for the paperwork to be final.

The old owners got as far as remodeling the kitchen complete with enormous stainless steel appliances including Tim's Viking Range (we know who does the cooking in this family).

Phyllis and Tim have great plans for the house including moving some walls and installing a master bath. The garage will be Phyllis' new quilt studio with a sliding glass door and a skylight for plenty of light and artistic inspiration.

We had a wonderful visit. Phyllis told Tim it was exciting to be entertaining their first guests in their new home and I was happy to be a part of it.

A view from the front, lots of square feet for the fabric storage, um... studio. Don't look for this house the next time you're in Burbank. You may not recognize it. Tim plans to take off the flagstone and brick the lower half and stucco the top to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood. Phyllis and Tim (and Dewey) are like two kids off on a wild adventure and loving every minute of it.  If anyone has any favorite paint chips they'd like to send (fabric samples maybe?), they are having trouble deciding on colors.

California Hi Ho!

Off to California!  My nephew is graduating from High school in Burbank, CA and my mom and dad and I are flying out for the festivities.  My sister has planned an itinerary which includes a Dodger Game, fabric shopping, family picnic, bead shopping, oh yeah, graduation, more fabric shopping, fresh seafood, LA Garment district (fabric, embellishments, beads) and a concert at the Walt Disney Center by the U of M (sorry green fans) Men's Glee Club.  

This is the building designed by Frank Gehry.

I'm not sure where we are sitting but I'm excited just to be going there.

If we get the chance, I'll try to connect with Phyllis and Tim.  They are supposed to be moving in to their new house tomorrow.