Birthday Time

The last week in September is birthday time for our family. Drew was 31 on the 25th, Hannah was 5 on the 27th and Andy (Drew's father-in-law) is 60-something today - the 30th. All these birthdays in a 5-day period make for a fun family party. We all gathered together on Saturday for one big birthday bash and barbeque. The weather was beautiful and sunny so we got to be outside all day.

We started off the day by going to JJ's soccer game. He was the goal keeper for most of the game and stopped a couple of goals from being made, so he was happy as the crowd cheered his successes.
JJ is in the green facing forward.

The birthday celebrations began right after the soccer game ended. There were 17 family members there and it made for a great time for everyone. Hannah had all her grandparents and great-grandparents there, as well as, all her aunts, uncles and cousins with the one exception of Mark who just could not fly in from Boston for the day.

Among many other gifts, Hannah got a matching nightgown for herself and her doll "Sally".

For those interested in a Penny (the puppy) update...........

She was recovering well until she went down the slide and suffered a setback, but is now once again on the mend.

Saturday Morning

This is the first Saturday for us in quite a while that no one is visiting and we are not traveling somewhere. So we have been able to revert to our usual Saturday morning routine. For us that is going to Starbuck's and splitting a 'non-fat, decaf, no whip, venti mocha' while we peruse the New York Times. Generally some friends stop in and we converse for a while before getting on with our day. Since fall has not yet begun, that means our local Saturday Farmers' Market is still open. It is a sunny, albeit cool day, so we meandered through and picked up some fresh produce to tide us over for the week. Soon it will be time to harvest our own apple crop.

Here are some pictures of our morning......

Sunrise brings atypical sun rays bursting through the trees as seen from our bedroom window.

John reading the NY Times and enjoying our mocha at our favorite local Starbucks.

Our hometown local farmers' market

Penny the Puppy - The Newest Family Member

What an eventful week it has been. Mid-week Drew and his family were at a local park and this cute little puppy with a hurt leg came up to them with a soulful look as if to say "I'm hurt, please help me". She 'appealed' to others at the park, too, but it was our kids who all decided they would take this little dog home and see if they could help her. Before making a final decision on whether to keep her or not, they took her to the vet. Well, it seems her leg was severely fractured and had been that way for about 7-10 days. What's more it, would take some extensive surgery to fix the problem - this would be surgery costing close to $900 to fix a stray they had picked up the park a couple of days earlier. It would need to be done the next day or she'd be put down because of the severity of the fracture.

Our 7-year-old grandson, JJ, decided to get on the phone (unbeknownst to his parents) and call both sets of grandparents telling of their dilemma. They would all sleep on it and make a decision in the morning. Before going to bed, JJ prayed that something would work out and they could keep the puppy. Well, early the next morning, the other grandparents called to say they had not been able to sleep all night. They had decided they wanted to pay the total cost of getting the puppy fixed . It was important to them that the children had this puppy. Every child should have grandparents like that! The surgery took place that morning and the next day (Saturday), Penny was home again. - this time permanently, with her new family.

That afternoon Drew called to tell us that there was a home tour going on in their town and since we are planning a move over that way next year, it would be a great time to go see some of the local homes. Of course, with the exciting news of the new puppy, too, we decided we'd go, so yesterday we drove over (3 hours each way) and spent the day. We saw several houses and met our newest family member - Penny.

Here are some pictures of Penny with her new family and her own special doghouse.

Hannah and Penny

JJ trying out the new doghouse

Last Tastes and Harvests of Summer

Just as we were thinking summer was about gone, we realized our blueberry and apple 'crops' were about ready for harvest and the roses are still blooming. The blueberries are at their peak and the apples are not far behind. We should be harvesting them later this month. We'll need another couple of weeks for the blackberries, though.

Surprisingly, we don't fertilize, spray, or even water these plants, at all. They just thrive being cared for by mother nature. We do have to compete with the birds, deer, and squirrels to get our share, though.