New Grill

 Mike’s grill was 7 years old and he’s been replacing parts and making it work. We - I mean Mike - grill a bunch. I prepare the food and he grills it. He’s really good at it! 

I told him he was getting a new grill for Father’s Day. He found one at Sam’s he liked a lot. Every morning I would check the Sam’s website to see if it’s on sale. Doesn’t Everything goes on sale before Fathers Day. It showed up $100 off, but not at our Sam’s club. I finally said let’s just go get it. Still no sale sign. We get to the register and the price she gave me was the sale price. I kept my mouth shut, paid for it and wanted to run to the car yelling “start the car!” Just like in the commercial. 

Wasting no time assembling it

Our first dinner Saturday night was courtesy of Stacy who bought us kabobs from Reams. They are soooo good. Sunday we went into the city to watch Luke play baseball. We may not have gotten any cecada at our house, but man of man Park Ridge is covered and flying around. It’s funny to watch people grownups and kiddos scream and run around. Then you have the kids (Luke) chase them down and try to catch them. They don’t bother me, one even got tangled in my hair. 

A stop for ice cream after the game and Mike’s Fathers Day was complete. 

The family

I did get Mike these heat gloves - he was ruining my pot holders. 

He’s getting really good at grilling my fruit and vegetables. 

Owen Tree

 Last May for Mary’s birthday Owen wanted to pick some of my flowers around the house. He made a beautiful bouquet of my peonies. As he was picking he found a tiny tree growing between the plants. It was just a stick with a tiny bud on the top. 

Sweet Owen wanted to rescue the tree. He helped me dig it up and I let him pick a spot where he wanted to replant it. He chose a place in the back yard ‘out in the open where it could get sunshine and grow big”

I had a hard time mowing around it - even ran over it, but that tree was not going to give up. It grew, just like Owen said.

Owen tree this spring 

We’re both pretty proud of this little thing. 

I wasn’t sure if the cecada were going to show up in our yard (they did last time), so I promised Owen I would protect it.

All wrapped up

We haven’t gotten any bugs yet, but they can find something else to feed on if they do come.

The Owen tree is safe.

Total Eclipse 4/8/2024

 I don’t care about what goes on in outer space. Space adventure is not my thing. But when every time you turn on the news they would talk about the total eclipse. How rare it is and won’t happen again in our area for 20 years. I couldn’t take the chance that I would still be around then, so I bought some special glasses and planned on sitting in the backyard and check it out. 

Sharen is about excited about this stuff as I am, but  I got her a pair of glasses too and told her we had to see it. If just to say we did. 

View Party 

The weather was perfect. We spent about an hour sitting in the backyard.

Yes we both thought it was pretty cool. 

Yes we both did notice the temperature drop.

We both did not notice any difference in the darkness/lightness.

For sure we both are glad we saw it!!!

Mississippi Rental

 We really enjoyed this rental. 

The appliances were high grade and the space was pretty spacious. The kitchen had everything you would want.  I loved the laundry room. The TV was huge and someone had left their YouTube access so we used that. 

Laundry room

The back deck was overlooking the bay and the furniture was super comfortable. There was so many birds and ducks swooping down into the water.at sunset you can see the fish all jumping. I really was disappointed I left my binoculars on the kitchen counter. Forgot to pack em.

Back deck

We brought our fishing poles, but the fish just were not biting. I did catch a crab, but that was all.

Fishing dock

That’s the house behind me

The place didn’t have any shoshke crap that nobody cared about anyway laying around. What it did have was a huge dining room table for the puzzle I brought along. Yes - I always bring a puzzle on vacation. Blame it on my Mother who always brought one along when we vacation at the lake when I was a kid. 

1000 piece puzzle

More Surgery

  MIke’s shoulder was hurting. His Ortho doctor informed him he needed another surgery on his left shoulder. 2 years ago he had shoulder (the other shoulder)  surgery before our winter trip, well this year he was not going to miss golfing. We got back home from vacation and now his arm is in a sling. Therapy visits are scheduled and come warmer weather he will be swinging the golf club. He understands rest and following doctors orders is what he has to do. Trust me it is not easy for him.

Nap time

Mississippi Travels

 I chose this place because it was on the water, but away from the crowds and vacationers. This was the first time we were not right on the ocean and I was worried we would miss walking along the beach. Turns out there was a park with a paved walking path 5 minutes down the road across the street from the ocean.

Walking track

Ocean views

We walked twice everyday once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

That is except for the days we played golf. Mississippi was state number 20. The courses were in winter conditions, but We Golfed at 2 different courses. Weather cooperated. 

Used his Christmas present from the Flory boys

New Orleans was only bout 70 minutes away - I have never been there so we took a side trip. I was not impressed at all. It was smelly, and dirty. You had to walk around homeless people sleeping right in the French Quarter. I did enjoy the river walk though. I guess I can say I’ve been there now.

The best part of this trip was the assortment of restaurants. 

 My favorite was Shaggy’s. Right on the Gulf at Pass Christian Harbor. 

15 coconut shrimp What?

Outdoor dining view

Mississippi Vacation

 Mike and I wanted to avoid driving thru Nashville or Atlanta this winter vacation. I found a house for rent on the Bay of St. Louis in Mississippi. Since we haven’t golfed if MS yet, I  booked it.

We mapped it out to go straight down the state of Illinois thru Memphis. The one thing we couldn’t avoid was the weather. 

It Snowed and snowed. We knew snow was in the forecast we just didn’t count on a storm. It was brutal. 

One lane on a 4 lane highway

We tried to get off but most off ramps were jammed with cars stuck. We saw 2 major pile ups thankfully on the other side of the road. I tried calling around to find a hotel room somewhere in the St. Louis area, but no luck. I was crying and Mike was calm and pushed through it. We had a reservation in Arkansas, so he decided we could make it and on we went. 

Stopped for gas and scrapped the front

We did finally got to our destination  couple hours later than planned, ending going thru hail and rain storms. It sure was worse than the forecasters predicted. Not a very good start.

Day 2 we took a detour - I really wanted to visit Laurel MS. I enjoy HGTV Home Town. After we finally found the downtown, it was just like the show. We parked and walked around the historic downtown. We looked for the Scotsman workshop (took the road along the railroad tracks) but didn’t find it.  I’m happy we stopped. Mike was happy for ME.