Stink & other July Happenings

Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota.  How you doing?  July is my birthday month & it was time to get my drivers license renewed.   We had Grands visiting, dry weather conditions continued, there was a BIG stink & the deer ate on things in the garden they've not ever bothered before.  This is Sentence a Day where I write a little something about each of my days, wrote in a long drawn out sentence or 2, somedays there was lots to write about & other days not so much.  I've joined up here with others if you'd like to see what they've been up to.  

* Thurs 1st - Planned meals for camping, went grocery shopping after work, pizza for supper, had root beer floats while watching episodes of Camp Cretaceous, town implemented a fireworks & open ban burn.

* Fri 2nd - Double checked that we had all ingredients for our camping  meals, got some rain from a thunderstorm that seemed to have started a fire south of town, the fire trucks went out, ate ice cream & watched episodes of Camp Cretaceous.

Week 27

* Sat 3rd/Sun 4th -  Found out information about friends that were in a motorcycle wreak, she passed away & he was in ICU fighting to live, went camping in the buttes, did lots of 4wheeler riding & looking at wildflowers, noticed there's plums growing, got covered with ticks down at the grave, watched the last episode of Camp Cretaceous & told ghost stories.

* Mon 5th - Went to the lake, all the boys have caught at least 1 fish, Kevin heated up pulled pork for sandwiches for our picnic lunch, baseball got rained out, made cookies, watched the 4th Harry Potter movie.

* Tues 6th -  Seemed like Monday since it was a long 4th of July holiday weekend, did a couple loads of laundry before work, Grands folded & put away their own clothes, went grocery shopping for a few things we were out of such as ice cream & root beer, Grands had friends over for a game of whiffle ball & root beer floats, watched 5th Harry Potter movie.

* Wed 7th -  Misting rain & low 60s F during 1st dog walk of the day, later start time for work, relaxed for a while in the coolness of the open window before doing morning routine stuff, did some blog work & reading while the Grands slept in, a busy afternoon at work kept me hustling to get everything done, went to the youth rodeo in the evening, had supper from the concession stand, watched 6th Harry Potter movie.

Ranch was chosen the overall favorite.

* Thurs 8th -  Tracked down where Kevin had got his mower blades, he desperately needed new ones, cooked supper while Grands split up going to basketball & baseball, watched the 7th Harry Potter movie.

* Fri 9th - Grands helped prepare supper making 3 different seasonings for chicken breast stripes; BBQ shake & bake, ranch dressing & butter.

Week 28

* Sat 10th - Grands packed their bags, tidied their rooms & said good-byes to friends, a coworker announced she was pregnant, I love baby showers, went to the arcade for supper, had burgers & wings, kept the Harry Potter movie series so I could watch the last one, lots of stuff to be mailed to the Grands.

* Sun 11th - On the road at 2 am to get Grands to the airport, did a little shopping on the way back, got a new microwave since the old one decided it was going to stay on all the time, good news update on friend - had surgery on broken leg, had knee replacement that had already needed to be done & got out of ICU. 

Glue seems to be kind of
expensive this year for
back to school shoppers.

In line waiting to get the
Grands checked in for their
flights home.

Got the new Grand some dresses
& a pair of sandals for church.

Christmas items were being stocked.

 

* Mon 12th - Back to the cleaning schedule, washed sheets, put away toys & games, dusted & vacuumed in the living room, mailed a box to the Grands of their left behind belongings, need a box big enough for a couple of skateboards. 

Taking apart Legos, at least 1 set a day.

* Tues 13th - 

Got several cabbage heads growing.

Washed some more sheets, cleaned in the kitchen, got our 1st harvest of the season from the garden, Kevin fried up some summer & zucchini squash for supper & made a rhubarb strawberry cobbler, organized the freezer & made meal plans to get things eat up to make room for this year's garden stuff, threw out several packs that were frosted & freezer burnt, laid out ribs for Kevin to smoke during the weekend.

Looks like there will be 
plenty of zucchini to share.

* Wed 14th -  Cleaned in the bedroom, put away Grands books & movies, a perfect day walking to work, overcast & mid 60s F, long tiring day, watched episodes of Manifest & Atypical.

* Thurs 15th -  Discovered hamper full of Grands clothes, washed those up, started another box to mail, paid due bills, did bank business, renewed drivers license through the online process, went to Summer in the Streets, got burger meals from the booster club's BBQ fundraiser, good turnout.

* Fri 16th -  Cleaned in the bathroom, took another look at balancing the check book, found the missing numbers.

Week 29

* Sat 17th - Facetimed with Daughter & Grands, they were going to the park for a picnic, mailed oldest Grand's birthday box & goodies for everyone, went to Lions club bingo. 

BINGO!

Christmas gift idea for
the Grandgirls.

    

* Sun 18th - Went for a ride in the side by side, had a picnic early before it got too hot, relaxed inside in the coolness in the afternoon, watched tv the rest of the day.

* Mon 19th - Felt down & out about so many things, struggled to put on my happy face, kept busy doing house work in the morning & on the job, went to bed early to recharge, relaxed in the coolness & quite, wondered if there would be more seasons of Virgin River.

* Tues 20th - Happy birthday to me, ate cake & ice cream for supper, the town's sewer lagoon has been stinking up the whole town off & on for weeks, phew.

* Wed 21st -  Read the newspaper, the clinic is giving free sports physicals to student athletes, the town board president retired after 34 years of service, new water meters are going to be installed over the next few months.

Hollyhocks behind the old motel that's
 schedule to be demolished.

Balloon flowers at the bank.

Roses beside the grocery store.

* Thurs 22nd - Scheduled day off work, facetimed with Moma, we had coffee together, she had canned a run of green beans & been working in her flower gardens, rooter was out in the street, inside smelled like the sewer lagoon, got a haircut, helped prep the kitchen & dinning room floor for a waxing, pulled out the fridge, stove & freezer then cleaned underneath, icky, Kevin put down the stripper/scrubber, I mopped it up.

* Fri 23rd -  Kevin waxed the kitchen & dinning room floor 1st thing after our quick breakfast of leftover Thursday pizza; puttered, cleaned & organized around in the basement till work time, decluttered boxes & shipping supplies, ate out for supper since the kitchen wasn't accessible. 

Week 30

* Sat 24th -  Went camping after work, found a shady spot with a view, went walking with Rose, finished reading the last book of the Little House series, rode the side by side after supper when the weather was cooler, saw turkeys & deer.

The long range view during camping was hazy due to the wind blowing

in smoke from wildfires, though we didn't smell any smoke.  Our area 

has been really dry, some places dryer than others.  

* Sun 25th - Went for a ride in the side by side after breakfast, saw lots of flowers & some beavers, cut the camping trip short because of the heat, made turkey salad for sandwiches using leftover lunch meat, moved everything back to it's place in the kitchen & dinning room, the floor looked so clean & shiny after the waxing.

Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers.

 

* Mon 26th - Did a couple loads of laundry, broke down boxes, took some priority packaging supplies back to the Post Office, cut up old paperwork with blank sides to use for scratch paper, the AC was out at work, Kevin brought a fan & iced drink.

* Tues 27th - Another hot day in the office without AC, a part had to be ordered, cooked a stuffed pork roast in the crockpot for supper, got a birthday box from Moma - towels & some of her canned goodies; green beans, relish & cranberry blackberry jelly. 

* Wed 28th -  Took a longer morning walk with Rose while the temperature was cooler, made some lists - camping stuff, groceries & to-do, shared squash from the garden with coworkers, had to evacuate the office due to an electrical burning smell, probable cause was a ceiling fan, Kevin covered the pumpkins & melons due to the deer already eating on them.

* Thurs 29th -  Had the day off work, sipped on a 2nd cup of morning coffee, checked things off lists as stuff got done, enjoyed the respite from the heat, weather was cloudy with a chance of meatballs high temperatures in the upper 70s F, got several gentle rain showers in the afternoon, made squash pizzas for Thursday pizza night.

* Fri 30th - Haze from smoke was about 100 yards in viewing distance, some could smell it, funeral of friend that was killed in the motorcycle accident, watched the last episode of Manifest.

Week 31

* Sat 31st - Went camping back to the shady spot underneath the big pine tree, took a late evening ride in the side by side, saw deer, antelope, grouse, a skunk & lots of grasshoppers, got back to camp after dark.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?

Baseball, Basketball & other June Happenings

Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota. How you doing?  Daughter, Son in Law & all the Grands came for a visit.  It was such a blessing & pure enjoyment having all the kids together to do activities with.  We all had good times together.  

Our area has had some rain but not enough.  Ponds are dry & the grass has not grown much.  Some ranchers are getting desperate for water & hay for their livestock.  An announcement was made the last week of this month that the 4th of July fireworks are canceled this year because the ground is so dry.  

This is my Sentence a Day where I write a little something about each day, wrote in a long drawn out sentence or 2.  I've joined up here with others if you'd like to see what they've been up to.

Kevin discovered baby rabbits out in the
rock garden.  See the little one digging to
get back in the hole underneath the
landscape fabric.  
  

* Tues 1st - Seemed like Monday, enjoyed the long Memorial weekend camping, picnicking, walking & riding, summer is on it's way by the end of the week with temperatures forecasted in the upper 90s, later start time for work this week will be used for spring cleaning, cleaned in the living room.

* Wed 2nd - Changed the sheets on our bed, got the enamelware table set I ordered from Cabalas, washed it up & put in the camper, cleaned in the kitchen. 

Happy Birthday Grand Chandler.

* Thurs 3rd -  Set up a coffee/cider/hot chocolate bar, cleaned some more in the kitchen, paid the water bill, went to drop off items for Grand's summer program/daycare & no one was there, got groceries that included lots of ice cream, put gas in my car.

* Fri 4th -  Turned on some uplifting music & cleaned the bathroom, set up a bathing, toothbrushing & hair combing station for the littlest Grands.

Week 23

Coffee & Legos, wishing we were
at that cabin fishing.

* Sat 5th - Summer has arrived, it's been so hot, cleaned the other bathroom, went to Summer in the Streets, got a burger meal for supper from the fire department's BBQ fundraiser, did some talking & listening to live music, not a big turnout. 

* Sun 6th - Chatted with Walmart, got replacements sent for the 4 items I didn't receive, packed a lunchbox of food for the Grands, picked them up at the airport, did some shopping on the way.

* Mon 7th -  Younger Grand up early to work on Legos, older Grand drove us home after work, made walking tacos for Lions club meeting.

* Tues 8th -  Took Rose to get her 1 year shots & town registration, popcorn & ice cream with the Grands watching Gilligan's Island. 

* Wed 9th -  Went driving with the older Grand, was the piece finder for Lego building with  the younger Grand, there has been so many mosquitos. 

Happy Birth-day Grand Gracie.

* Thurs 10th -  Did some reading & writing with the younger Grand, did some grocery shopping with the older Grand.

* Fri 11th - It's a girl, Grand # 8 was born.

Week 24

* Sat 12th/Sun 13th - Went camping in the buttes, did lots of 4 wheeler riding.

Surprised to see the cactus blooming.

* Mon 14th - Played Trouble with each of the Grands, lost both games.

* Tues 15th - Grands worked on making leather name bracelets.

* Wed 16th -  Finished the bracelets.

* Thurs 17th - Went to the arcade, ate burgers & wings, got groceries.

* Fri 18th -  Daughter, Son in Law & Grands arrived, gave bear hugs to everyone, snuggled baby Grand #8.

Week 25

"I'm making a rainbow."

* Sat 19th - Daughter & Son in Law went on an overnight mini vacation adventure, the rest of us made snowman with playdough, built with Legos, played on the playground, colored, painted, played basketball, rode bicycles to the store & got snacks, the little ones including me took a nap.

* Sun 20th - Older Grands made a cake to celebrate Father's/Mother's day & all our birthdays, younger Grands made a banana pudding to have for picnic.

* Mon 21st -  Daughter & Son in Law took Grands to the waterpark, ate pizza in the park for supper & played on the playground, older Grands went to open field & played baseball with other kids, Kevin & Son in Law helped ump & worked with the kids.

* Tues 22nd -  Had a picnic with a view of George Washington's profile on Mt Rushmore, went to a snake show at Reptiles Gardens.

No petting the snake for me,
how about you?

Do you see George Washington?

* Wed 23rd -  Went rock climbing, roasted hotdogs & made smores, there was slip & slide kick ball, my job was keeping dish detergent on the plastic to make it slippery.

* Thurs 24th -  Daughter, Son in Law & Grands headed home, middle 3 Grands stayed, watched the 1st 3 episodes of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, snacked on popcorn & m&ms.

* Fri 25th - Had another hotdog roast to use up leftovers, 72 degrees F & no bugs, perfect evening.

My favorite kind of dinner party.

Week 26

* Sat 26th - Everyone pitched in to do laundry & tidy up the house, walked with Rose & watched the Grands play basketball.

* Sun 27th - Went to the lake, started watching the Harry Potter series, played Trouble with Grand, won 1 out of 4 games, a thunderstorm rolled though in the evening, the rain sounded so good.

* Mon 28th - Worked on laundry & watched an episode of Camp Cretaceous with Grands before work, seems Grands are surely changing clothes at least 3 times a day, open field baseball after supper, watched the 2nd Harry Potter movie, fell asleep & woke up at the ending.

* Tues 29th -  Kevin cooked fish for supper, I made root beer floats, older 2 Grands went to open gym & played basketball with other kids, younger Grand finished a Lego set, we played several games of Trouble & watched the 2nd Harry Potter movie again.

* Wed 30th -  Grands prepared chicken in the crockpot for supper, cleaned up after the Lions club sponsored blood drive then went up to the field to watch Grands play ball, played several games of Trouble while everyone got their shower, had ice cream & root beer floats while watching Camp Cretaceous.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?

Camping & other May Happenings

Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota. How you doing?  This is my Sentence a Day where I write a little something about each day, wrote in a long drawn out sentence or 2.   Here are others I've joined up with if you'd like to see what they've been up to.  It's been so dry in our area, the grass started going back dormant before some if it turned green.  We upgraded our tent camping to a slide in camper on the back of a truck.  Let's see what other happenings went on this month.  

Silent auction item I bid on &
quickly lost out on.

Week 18

* Sat May 1st - Kevin planted our tators, went to a fundraiser benefit, bid on some items in the silent auction & ate supper, started watching Survivor season 20 - Heroes versus Villains.

* Sun May 2nd - Happy to have to use the windshield wipers while getting much needed rain, went walking & fishing in the canyon, got brunch at Hardees, got supper at McDonalds, rain drizzled all day.

* Mon May 3rd - Participated in Lions club activity doing trash pickup on the side of the road then had a meeting at the restaurant, selected scholarship winners.

Happy Birthday to Moma, pictured here
with the youngest Grand, celebrating
with Daughter & Grands having
a pineapple upside down cake, one
of my favorites.

* Tues 4th - Ate asparagus from the garden, wrapped in bacon & baked, our 1st harvest of the season, the deer are eating the rhubarb, they never bothered it before.

* Wed 5th - Good to walk to work again, working in town for at least the rest of the week, watched Notting Hill along with several episodes of Survivor. 

Over the hill to work I go, no green
leaves yet.

* Thurs 6th - Had a pizza picnic, walking & a scavenger hunt out out the lake.                    

A friend shared this on facebook.  It was something 

fun to do on my Thursday evening walk while Kevin

fished.  I found all the items on the list. - wild parsley

yellow wildflower; dandelion leaf, fern type leaf, briar

leaves; red straw;  spiderwebs in the outhouse; a black 

bird flying; jet vapor trail & clouds in the sky; long boat

dock; green cactus growing; geese & ducks birds 

swimming in the lake; water levels were down in the 

lake; smushed purple can; fire ants crawling on an ant hill.

* Fri 7th - Went to the greenhouse after work, got some flowers & vegetable plants.

The flowers are so pretty, what to get?
Marigolds, petunias & coleus. 

 

Week 19

* Sat 8th - Heard a lawn mower running on my walk home from work, fresh cut grass is one of my favorite smells, got caught up on a few things in the house, did several loads of laundry, washed the sheets on the guest bed, opened the mail, balanced the check books, made rhubarb muffins & put some in the freezer to have when Daughter comes.

Happy birthday to my little Rosie.

                  

* Sun 9th - Did some stock up shopping at Walmart, looked at trucks & campers, we're talking about upgrading our tent camping to a slide in camper on the back of the truck, my glasses fell out of the car & got ran over, Kevin was able to fix them.

Hotdog in a leftover cheddar
cheese taco shell.

* Mon 10th - Kevin made a purchase agreement for us to get a slide in camper, the search is on to get a truck to put it on, watched several episodes of Hoarders & Tiny House Nation.

* Tues 11th -  Made a pot of chili for supper during lunch break, counted 18 in the herd of deer that hangs out in our trees & scavenges the garden, neighbor up the road said they saw 32 deer & they're putting a fence around their garden, started watching Dances with Wolves, a part of the movie was filmed in the canyon where we go fishing.

* Wed 12th - Made a taco for supper using a hotdog & leftover chili, finished watching Dances with Wolves & ate popcorn.

* Thurs 13th - Facetimed with Moma & the youngest Grand, Moma is making baby Grand # 8 a quilt, she talked about the gas shortage in her area due to the hacked pipeline, had a picnic & walking up at the pond.

* Fri 14th - Kevin brought home our (new to us) truck & camper, took it for a test spin up the road, joined truck camper's facebook groups, excited! 

Our new camping pal is a 1992 Palomino, hail damaged on
the top & one side, pops up, need different tie downs & a
 few other things.

Week 20

Still frosty in the mornings, not risking planting
these in their containers yet.

* Sat 15th - Got materials for slip & slide kickball, went to Lions club bingo, won some marigold plants & $5.00, helped clean up.

* Sun 16th - Went fishing up in the canyon again, all roads were open for summer recreational use, rode up to the lake, fished & walked some more, ate a burger from Culver's for a picnic supper in the city park.

Rose & I walking around the lake while Kevin does some extra fishing.

I noticed a little green in the trees
on my walk to work.

* Mon 17th -  Gathered bedding & a few other things to go in the camper, went to Lions club meeting, worked on preparing bottles for Happy Day Award drawings.

* Tues 18th -  Cleaned in the camper, made the bed, got overwhelmed where to put stuff in the drawers & cabinets, need some baskets.

* Wed 19th - Cleaned in the camper some more, rounded up some baskets & had better luck organizing stuff, got the water hooked up.

* Thurs 20th - Cleaned in the camper a little more, rounded up a cutting board to put over the sink to have more workable counter space when needed, Kevin worked to hook up the fridge, there is an extra wire, what to do with it, watched youtube videos of camper wiring & organization ideas, it rained, Yay!

* Fri 21st - Final touches were completed in the camper, got the fridge & furnace hooked up, saving up Cabala's points to get an enamelware table set, it rained some more, Yay!  Yay!

Week 21

Chokecherry & current in bloom, wildflower
book read that the berries from both these shrubs
can be used to make pemmican along with jams,
jellies & wine.  

* Sat 22nd -  The tubs are full of rainwater to use to water the garden, Yay! Yay! Yay!  Rose was up early sick, too much people food, took our camping pal on our 1st overnight outing together, got set up then took a ride in the side by side, did some walking & exploring, sweet pea (prairie goldenpea) was blooming.

* Sun 23rd -  It rained some more, slept good, no leaks in the camper, everything worked, did some reading & relaxing, packed up & went home after lunch, tornado watch throughout the evening.

Foggy, rainy, windy & cold morning; reading & watching
the geese, there are some goslings out there.

No one noticed or cared that I hadn't
brushed my hair while camping because I
forget to bring a brush & comb.  

* Mon 24th - Got about 3 inches total of rain according to the talk around town, our yard looked vibrant green & scruffy around the edges, Kevin mowed, the deer have ate all our lilac bloom buds that are within their reach, ordered battery candles, collapsible dish drainer & some other things for the camper, had a taste sampling of a variety of Japanese sweet treats at our friend's house.

 

* Tues 25th - Saw several yellow finches in the neighbor's yard on my walk home from work, no dandelions in our yard for the birds to feast on since Kevin just mowed.

There's a robin's nest way up there
too high for me to peek inside. See
the tail sticking out?

* Wed 26th - Planned weekend camping menu, hamburgers to kickstart summer's arrival, met Kevin at the grocery store after work & we stocked up on drinks that were on sale, watched Wish Man.

* Thurs 27th - Daughter was having contractions, she was hoping to wait a few more days till graduations & awards ceremonies were over, she laid down & the contractions stopped, so at least a day or 2 more till Grand #8 arrives. 

Moving on up to high school.

Moving on up to kindergarten.

Moving on up to 1st grade.

* Fri 28th - Checked in with Daughter 1st thing, she was getting ready for the baby shower I hosted, hatching soon farm theme, made spam salad, tator salad & deviled eggs for weekend camping picnics. 

Week 22

* Sat 29th - Set up camp, listened to the frogs & crickets, the propane fridge wouldn't stay lit due to the wind, went riding. 

* Sun 30th - Went exploring around camp, discovered gumbo lilies in bloom, went riding & had a picnic, burgers for supper, watched Andy Griffith on portable dvd player.

* Mon 31st - Played frisbee with Rose, went for a ride, had lunch, packed up & came home.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?