Summer Solstice Celebration - Sons of Norway

Good morning,

Today's images were taken earlier this month when we attended our Sons of Norway Lodge Summer Solstice Party at the home of Susie and Glenn.

We had seen some of the people here in May at our Norway Independence Day gathering;  others it hadn't been since the Christmas Party.

It's always fun to get together, catch up on the news, and share stories (sometimes the same stories over and over) with friends.

What we do very, very well is cook and EAT!  ;)

 This is a snapshot selfie of us that My Honey took.  Not too bad....

Happy Summer!

;),
Lois

Portraits of Wendy in the Sun

Good morning,

When we got home from errands recently, Wendy immediately went outside to sit in the sun.

"Mom, I'm still tired...."

Such a pretty girl!

:),
Lois

Blooming Again!

Good morning,

My indoor garden (we call it my jungle) is blooming again. 

Gorgeous!

All the best,
Lois

Tumble is BACK!

Good morning,

Tumble is just so cute!

Every day he is here he is growing and becoming even more confident. 

His social interaction with people and other dogs is excellent as he enjoys learning about the world.

 This is so cute!  He is "on alert" when he hears birds on the other side of the fence.

 Precious!

:),
Lois

Another Father's Day Present for My Honey

Good morning,

This is the front of a t-shirt I gave to My Honey for Father's Day.

Is that perfect or WHAT?!?

;),
Lois

My Honey's Fish Soup

Good morning,

Every once in awhile, My Honey takes over the kitchen and makes something very special! 

This is fish and shrimp soup in a sour cream sauce.  Oh, my goodness, this is fabulous!

I'm a lucky lady to have such a wonderful chef in the house!

All the best,
Lois

Baby Tumble is Back

Good morning,

Baby Tumble is here to spend the day with Catherine once again.  He's here most weekdays and goes to work with Catherine to meet lots of people and play with other dogs.  It's part of his socialization program.  It certainly is better than staying home alone while his Mommy goes to work!

Catherine has her own business in her own building so she has facilities for the dogs during the day while she works.  This day she would take Tumble, his "sister" Tillie (the Border Collie in the pictures), and our Wendy.

Aside:  When Catherine works late at night alone during tax season she often takes one or two of our bigger dogs as part of her security system.

Little Tumble loves all the company and attention.  He's fully integrated into the family and romps and plays with the older dogs.  The older, bigger dogs are very gentle with him.

He's investigating Wendy's wagging tail.

"Maybe if I stand on it, it will stop moving...."

He learned he will get doggie cookies if he sits pretty.

 So sweet!

 He's investigating my PJ's and slippers.

 Penny is investigating him. 

 What a sweet face.  I'm sorry this image wasn't more clear, but he moved so fast I didn't get it focused.  He's here almost every week day so I'll surely have another chance. 

:),
Lois

Trumpet Vine

Good morning,

The huge tree in the middle of our back yard came down during a wind storm last year.  I had originally planted this Trumpet Vine that happily grew up the tree because it attracts hummingbirds.  And, it certainly does!  When the vine was blooming high on the tree in the middle of the yard we enjoyed watching the photographing the hummingbirds.

The Trumpet Vine that was on the big tree now lives on all over our yard.  In fact, it has become so invasive that we have to keep cutting it back as it tries to take over other plants, walls, and walkways.

A word of advice for those of you who think this is pretty and might add one to your garden.  If you do, the only way to get rid of it will be to move!

We don't use any poisons to control weeds in our yard for many reasons, the most important of which is our dogs.  

Lois

Tumble! Erica's New Baby

Good morning,

That sweet little Brittany puppy on my lap is Tumble.  It's his first visit here early one morning when Erica dropped him off for socialization time on her way to work.  Catherine surprised me by taking this picture.  Had I known, I would have smiled! 

In our dog club we pass our puppies around to get them used to lots of loving hands and soft voices so they will be well-adjusted and acclimated to being in classes and shows with other dogs and people.  That tail in the bottom corner of the image above is our Wendy wagging happily to have Tumble visit.  Our dogs and Tumble are now fast friends.

Catherine took Tumble (his AKC name includes "Head Over Heels," thus his call name) to her office with her that day and Tumble got to meet quite a few more people who told him how sweet he is. 

Tumble will be back to visit us regularly so there will definitely be more pictures.

;),
Lois

Waiting Room Knitting

Good morning,

Here's a recent waiting room knitting project.  It is the beginning of a boot cuff that is a custom order.  It is finished now and has been delivered.

To see what these look like when finished, I have a pair of tan boot cuffs/boot toppers here. 

Every minute counts when I'm waiting somewhere or riding in the car.  I love these portable projects!  They make the time fly buy while waiting and I have something to show for that time spent.  Win-win!

:),
Lois

Cincy in Sight!

Good morning,

We always love seeing the first sign for Cincinnati when we're on the way home on a road trip.  We had been out for two weeks so getting home sounded very, very good!

We still had some beautiful Southern Illinois farm land to see before we got home, but it didn't take long after this.

Lois

Missouri Route 66

Good morning,

This display was at a rest stop in Missouri.  We were on the expressway, not on the old Route 66, but this was so cool!  The inside of the rest stop had a huge map on the floor of the entire Route 66.

I'm very impressed with these play areas for children at rest stops.  It's great to give the kids a chance to get out of the car and unwind during long road trips.  There were no kids here when we were there in early May, but I bet it gets busy when school is out!

Lois

Branson Scenic Railway

Good morning,

The highlight of our trip to Branson, Missouri, was our ride on the Branson Scenic Railway.

We arrived at the station early in the morning, bought our tickets, then enjoyed sitting there watching the activity in downtown Branson as others arrived and bought tickets.

The historic engines pulled cars that had been in service during the heyday of rail travel in the USA.

Have tickets, will ride.  The cost for this trip was very reasonable!

And, off we go!

Across rivers...

...past small towns...

...and the ruins of buildings from the past. 

Our conductors were great fun...

...and obviously enjoyed their jobs!

We moved into hilly farmland and crossed tressels high above streams.

I snapped this image just before we returned to the station at the end of our ride.  What makes this rail road crossing unique is the speaker on that pole just above the lights.  That speaker blasts the sound of a train whistle when our train approached and was crossing.  Brilliant!  There was no excuse for traffic to miss hearing that whistle!

What a fun trip!  This was just fantastic!

All the best,
Lois

Happy Father's Day and Dinner at The Fish House - Branson, Missouri

Good morning,

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there!  We're celebrating all the men who are special to us today.

And, continuing with our images from our recent road trip:

We hadn't been to Branson for 13 or 14 years and, wow, have things changed there!

The first evening in town we went to dinner at the Fish House.

The restaurant is on a boat over the White River.

This was the chowder.  It was tasty, but way too spicy for me.

I had the same reaction to the bread.  There were hot peppers in the corn bread.

This mushroom appetizer was quite tasty!

 We each ordered the shrimp and scallops for our main course.  This, too, had way too many spices.

So, we enjoyed the view, but wouldn't eat here again.

If you really like lots of spice in your food, you'll like The Fish House in Branson.

:),
Lois