Pokey Peas Challenge for August 2019

Thank you - yes, lots of memories and photographs

Oh NO!  Please take care of yourself!  Dd has been fighting bronchitis and an asthma flair for a few weeks, but she saw the dr yesterday and was given a prescription for two different inhalers and an antibiotic. They seem to be helping. 

Wow I need to check in more often! So much to catch up on!


grammadee I LOL'd at your DGS talk your ears off! Rudy does the same thing! Trying to read to him or watch a movie with him is a lost cause. He asks question after question that would be answered if he'd be quiet and listen lol. I have heard of kids that ask allll the questions about why the sky is blue, is etc. Neither of mine were too bad about that, but this kid can play the why game forever! I love zucchini bread and I bet that cake was delicious! Yay for a new puppy!! That's so exciting and I can't wait to see pics! And another big YAY for the gallbladder staying calm. Hope you are digging out lol.

LisaDV a quarterly movie night would be a blast! We have two episodes of The Boys left now so I'm sure we will finish that this weekend. I'm not ready for it to be over! All my 'stories' are over. The Handmaid finale was this week too. That's good news that your foot is feeling better! I get a free weekday pass to the zoo in the mail every month during summer and I always tell myself I'm going to take a day off and go. I would love to just wander around and look at animals all day. I need to make that happen lol. I totally relate to the dinner out thing. If I'm in the right mood to cook I can turn out some meals that rival any fancy restaurant and then eating out is disappointing (except the cleaning up part lol) How is the pool coming? Was the first guy able to get it going again?

nylene I hope you feel better soon!! The flu the past few years has been nothing to mess around with! That's exciting about your reunion and I'm glad you will be going even if it's short notice. Take care of yourself!!

kellyr21 it's football season I'm still only a half in fan but I'm sure as the season goes on I will be all in lol. I will check out your blog next. I have really been enjoying it when you post something new.

linda ! It's so good to hear from you! I'm so glad you got enjoy a good chunk of time with your DS. That sucks about the vehicle though, and all the finding housing stress. I'm glad he's getting settled. I would totally be talking to the school about the bus situation and your DS being late every morning. I understand the teachers frustration, but it's not your daughters fault, it's not like she is driving herself to school every morning!

My spot is fading away so that's a plus and I'm happy about that! Of course I would jump to worst case scenario but you never know lol. No scrapping this week though. Maybe Sunday. We are having a surprise party for my mom tomorrow so I'm going to go fake scrapbook with her and then she thinks one of my sisters and I are taking her to lunch. Which we are, but not the way she is thinking lol. I haven't gotten any commenting done, or even looked at the sharing thread this month, I'm a terrible teammate And I haven't done anything to share either. Oh well, some months are like that.   Annnd I went grocery shopping for myself tonight because I felt the quality of the produce was slipping on the online pick up. Um, yeah, I won't be doing that again.  I spent more due to impulse shopping and well, grocery shopping is highly overrated lol. I much prefer knowing exactly what I'm spending and just letting them load my trunk lol. 

Shout out to everyone to have a happy weekend!! justlisa7 , msliz , woodysbetty hope you are having a great summer!

Hoping you are feeling better today, nylene, or that someone is taking you to the doctor. You need to be all recovered for that family reunion!!!

Glad your ds is happy with his posting, Linda. Dd's hubby reports for duty on Monday. He will be staying on base during the week and then returning to their home about 3 hours away every weekend. He will also be putting in some time at military training centres in Latvia and at a couple of bases in Canada.

Whooo Hooo on the effectiveness of the cream, joyfulnana. Bet that is a relief. I am certain your mom will be over the moon with your planned surprise. Hope you get lots of photos and get to scrap this later.

I hope you find the perfect shoes, LisaDV and that the electrical issues will all be resolved. And enjoy the last week of your ds being 16! I did not end up buried under jars, but the house is still a complete disaster. One of these days I will need to grit my teeth and just dive into housecleaning mode. Right now I am happy doing a little scrapping every morning and a little gardening mid day.

Today is our 51st wedding anniversary. A year ago we were in Florida with the whole damfam, but this year we are on our own at home. Will be driving into the nearest small city for a little shopping (and some photo printing) and then supper with justjac and hubby.

Feels like fall outside. I went out to pick some of the last raspberries, and the wind seemed to want to blow right through me. Came in and wrapped myself up in a blanket for a bit. Seems like we have not had summer at all...

I finished the baby quilt - it's not perfect and it's not a real quilt - I backed it with fleece and turned and top-stitched and then tyed it - but hopefully it'll be useful to a mummy and baby (it's going to the local crisis pregnancy centre)

Happy belated anniversary, grammadee!

Linda, that’s a very pretty quilt. Whoever receives it will be very happy.

Rainy, stormy day and DD and I are watching movies and snuggling the storm anxiety dog. We went to the fair yesterday and DD is wiped, so it’s a good plan for the day. Just wish I had my computer since we’re rewatching already seen movies

Thank you LisaDV and Kellyr21 - I'm not sure how long it took - the squares were precut and it probably took a couple of hours to assemble the top, less than an hour to turn and topstitch, and maybe an hour (or a bit more or less?) to tie it. We won't talk about the time I spent un-sewing (seam ripping).

Hope your health is improving, nylene . Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Lovely quilt, Linda . You have really been sewing up a storm!

Took a quick look at your blog, kellyr21 . Interesting to hear about Jen Gallagher's creative journey.

A day snuggling watching movies sounds wonderful, LisaDV : perfect way to spend a stormy day. Glad you enjoyed the Fair.

How was the surprise party, joyfulnana?

Have had a few busy days around here. Saturday was our anniversary and we joined justjac and her hubby for supper. Sunday I drove to a potato festival with my sister in law. They had potato sack races, a spud derby (racing cars made from potatoes by the participants) and a bunch of other fun activities. Dd and her family joined us there and dgs had a blast. Afterward we all drove to meet our new pup. Dgs and pup immediately hit it off. We won't be bringing her home until she has been spayed, but it was nice to meet her.

Started picking chokecherries yesterday, but then didn't finish when we were invited over to the neighbours' for coffee. Need to get the rest of the berries picked so I can cook them up tomorrow to get ready to make some jelly later in the week.

Today justjac came over to make cards. She created some gorgeous Christmas cards. I worked at making most of the birthday cards I will need this year. Then I went on to make some extra bd cards and some sympathy cards. Took pic's of most of them today, and will upload tomorrow.

Oh Happy belated Anniversary grammadee !!! 51 years! That's amazing! I feel you about housework. I need to do a deep clean around here but I can always find something else to occupy my time instead lol. Your potato festival sounds like it was a lot of fun.

kellyr21 I am seriously loving your blog. It's so interesting! If the traffic around the new stadium is anything like it is here - and it will probably be worse! - your in-laws will dread home games. But I dread it because I don't really follow too closely anymore so home games mean I have to stay home. Which is not all bad really, it's a good excuse to craft lol

linda that quilt is beautiful and I'm sure it will be very much appreciated. What a great cause! That's awesome that you sew. You can make sooo many things and they are useful which is a big plus. I used to do all kinds of hand crafted gifts. Then I got involved in scrapbooking and have been selfish with my crafts ever since lol.

LisaDV a rainy day watching movies sounds so good! It's been raining quite a bit here as well. It really cooled off quite a bit today with the rain we've had. I know this past July was the hottest on record ever, but oddly the summer hasn't been as hot here as it has the past few years. It's been much, much wetter too. But I know there were records broken all over the rest of the world.

nylene thanks for checking in! I'm glad things are headed up. Sleep is the best thing for sickness for me. I could never understand why my kids didn't want to sleep when they were sick. If I'm the sick one, that's all I want to do. I hope you are back to yourself soon!!

My mom's party was excellent! She was completely surprised! We had it a BBQ place and nearly everyone was there waiting as I took her a bit late so they could all get there. My niece that we scraps with us came up "to scrap" so we cropped for a couple hours and then pretended we were going to Joann's. She had a great time. We all did! And of course we all left saying we have to get together more often. Now to see if we actually do it!  It was funny,  Rudy hasn't seen mom since we was less than a year old.  He rode home with me,  so when we dropped him off she told him she loved him.  He said "I love you too.  No I don't love you.  I just met you! "  He has seen Frozen about a million times and I was proud of him for realizing he couldn't love someone he just met! It made me laugh and still does lol.  She was ok with it and totally understood lol.  

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

nylene , I hope you are feeling better. Sending virtual ((((hugs)))) and tea.

A day at the beach sounds wonderful, kellyr21 . It is getting a bit late for beach weather around here. Cool and foggy in the mornings. Feels like fall.

Glad your mom's party went so well, joyfulnana . So nice to have a fun visit with friends and family.

Hopping you are having a wonderful time with your friend and sister, justjac , on your girls' getaway, and that you will be all refreshed for the start of the school year on Monday.

Happy Saturday. Busy day out here at the farm. Dd and family are here. Dgs is switching off between people, getting rides on the quad and doing stuff in the yard. I think he will be helping me in the garden later.

Yesterday dgs spent a lot of time with Grampa and then we all went to the neighbours' to pick apples and I baked an apple spice cake. Today dh is getting help to build the new puppy's kennel to be ready for when she arrives next month. While dh & dsil are doing this, dd will take the little man for a "walk in the forest".

If I get some time, today or tomorrow I will post in the Gallery some of the rest of the cards I put together last week. I have put up the thread for September Team sign ups. Hope everyone can jump in there. And this next week I need to find a sketch and do something with it for Day One of SKETCHTEMBER. Whew! This summer is just slipping away!

Happy Saturday! It's hot and sunny today and we are resting and staying nice and cool. Hope you all are having a nice weekend. Did some crocheting and new art this past week. It felt good to be on my art table after a little break. Also, I will be installing the new printer. I can't wait to see how it prints. Our regular HP printer is old and doesn't printer color sometimes.

I am enjoying my blog series too. The process of interviewing and composing these posts is another creative process for me. Since my scrapping has slowed down after years of scrapping, it is fun to talk about it in these posts. Thanks for cheering me on ladies!

Are you all on Instagram? If you are, my name over there is @kellysunlight. I'll follow you too.

nylene- Hope today is a better day for you! Praying you feel better soon. Sending you some Cali sunshine!

joyfulnana- What a fun party you had for your mom. Glad you were able to do something so sweet for her.

@elaynef- Look at that cabin!!! What a beautiful camp site. And spending time with your long time friend just made the trip extra special. I hope you enjoy scrapping about your trip. So fun!

grammadee- It is so interesting that Fall has decided to show in your neck of the woods when it still Summer. I wish you could send some of that cool here and I could send some of our hot, warm weather to Canada. Glad you had a fun time with your family. That apple cake sounds good. Glad you are feeling better and enjoying all the activities.

I had a pretty busy day today. Dh was in town this morning, then cutting hay this afternoon. I put together a couple of quick pages this morning, then went out into the garden to dig some beets and collect some other veggies for the borscht I will be making with my dsil tomorrow. We always make beet pickles as well when we are elbow deep in beets, so it will be a busy day. Then this afternoon I made my chokecherry jelly. Good to have that all in jars.

So relieved to hear you are feeling much better, nylene. And I see you have been busy, going through the Gallery and leaving love. How sweet! I really hope you continue to feel better and that you don't over tire yourself. Is this next weekend the family reunion? I want you to enjoy it, but please look after yourself and don't overdo. Glad you won't have to drive yourself. I know what you mean about the chokecherries. I still eat a few, I think hoping that some of that delicious flavour will come through. Our dgs helped me pick and kept tasting them as well. I just tasted the jelly left in the cooking pot, and it is as delicious as I remember it. I used my dmil's recipe which tastes very much like my own mother's jelly.

Glad you are having fun and creating things, kellyr21. I am not on IG but I have been enjoying reading your blog.

You have such interesting vacations, @elaynef. Love that you share some of your adventures with us. Great to spend time with family and with old friends.

Oops, been missing in action again.

joyfulnana , I’m glad your mom’s party was a success. You have to love the honesty of kids! Rudy is very smart. I’m glad your spot is fading away too! Has work started to slow down? Was it slower this year than last? I kind of want to see the Handmaid’s Tale but think it might be too much for me.

Linda , did the juggling of bus times help your DD get to class on time?

kellyr21 , I have always admired Jen Gallacher. I haven’t read your blog post yet, but have seen or read her stories for years so I’m looking forward to having some time to go see it. I’m glad you are getting creative at your art table too. I followed you on IG. I’m @lisadv02.

grammadee , how long until you can pick up your pup? Can’t wait to see puppy photos! You and justjac created gorgeous cards!! I’m glad you’ve been getting enough from your garden to put up.

@elaynef , awe! That’s so nice to get together with an old friend. That cabin has a cool history as well. Good luck organizing your albums. It can be a chore for sure.

nylene , I’m so glad you are feeling better but take it easy and don’t overdo it. Give that respiratory system a chance to get right too. I’m also glad Emily will be driving you, especially as you’re getting over the flu. 4+ hour drive can really take it out of you. kellyr21 sent you a beautiful card. I love the pop up.

The pool is now fixed-ish. The first electrician didn’t completely fix the problem but got us to where the pump was running. He just had a shorter appointment than scheduled and squeezed me in. I have an electrician coming tomorrow that will finish everything up. Don worked very hard to get the pool cleaned and we even went in (them 2x, me once). All that new water made it quite cold. It’s warmed up over the week and it should be sunny and 80 tomorrow so I’m hoping the electrician will be out of here early so we can go.

We have not been to the farm at all this month, but I will go mid-September with the kids. Not sure yet about DH’s schedule.

DS turned 17 on Monday. (I’m not doing well with it.) We went to the Shedd aquarium in Chicago on Friday. DD barely remembered being there ever. We used to go all. the. time. when they were little. We had a membership. The day before that DS & I went driving, with him as the driver. I told him to go wherever he wanted to roam. He drove 4 hours that day. He now only has 3 hours of day driving and 6 of nighttime. I’m hoping we can finish it off in September and get him signed up for his 2nd class. I’m so thankful he is finally interested in getting his license. It’s not fun to make him drive, but when he wants to drive it’s awesome.

Oh, and I sprayed off the window screens we found throughout the house and DH helped me find their homes. We’ve had it cool enough to open the house 2x since putting them in, including today. Yay! I’m missing the screens for my bedroom and for one in the upstairs guest room. I haven’t put in the basement screens yet to see if any are missing there. It’s nice to have the fresh air, but I’m so not ready for summer to be over.

My Fil and his wife went around the Lake (Lake Michigan) and came to visit today as they were on their way home. DH was at work and then was driving to Chicago while they were here. The irony. We had a good visit.

My sister and bil come this weekend. I'm really looking forward to that.