Another Week

I haven't been very good about blogging lately. It's not because I've been too busy, it's not because of all my normal excuses. I'll be totally honest here, it's been because I've been too darned crabby. I keep saying to myself, if you can't say anything nice just shut yer yap. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but I really didn't want to end up venting here, so I've been putting off blogging. You're welcome.

Billy had his last few baseball games last week. Thursdays game was at Round Lake Stadium. It's where the High School Varsity team plays, and the Senior legion team, and sometimes when he's been lucky his team has played there too.

Maybe it's not lucky, they usually lose if they play there. It's kind strange actually. Billy and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings after the game, Eric joined us later. I love spending one on one time with my boys, it's one of my favorite things to do.

Friday night was what ended up being Billy's final game of the season. We found out today that the tournament that he was supposed to play in this week end was cancelled. He'll miss the last, hastily scheduled tournament the following weekend because he's going on a mission trip. Summers get sort of busy around here. I was happy to get a picture of his last at bat. He was thrown out at first.

At that point I was just happy that he was ok and could bat again. He had struck out at his last at bat. He turned to walk to the dug out when the catcher decided to fire the ball over to their 3rd basemen to throw the ball around the horn. Unfortunately he didn't notice Billy walking to the bench and he hit him in the head with the ball from just a few feet away. Luckily he still had his helmet on. It still knocked him to the dirt. This isn't a sight a mom ever wants to see.

He had his bell rung pretty good. First I was worried that he was ok, when I saw that he was ok then I was mad that the catcher would do something that stupid. Irritated. Irked. Peeved. See, cranky. I know it wasn't on purpose....but it sure brought out the mama bear in me. Maybe the fences around the field are to keep the mom's out. Good idea.

Saturday was busy. We went to the farm, I helped my brother with some hay and then the farrier stopped by to trim the horses hooves. My horses get pedicures but I've never had one, how does that work? The good news was that he couldn't really tell which horse it was that had foundered last summer. I guess old Czar healed up pretty good.

I knew that we couldn't stay over at the farm since the boys weren't able to go with us, so we decided to go to a rodeo on our way home. Well, sort of on the way. We somehow had preferred seating...which was a grassy hill...but it was nice and close and the rodeo wasn't too bad.

Best of all it was a nice night for Eric and I to just sit and relax on a warm summer evening. The clown and announcer were from Canada, they put on a fun show. I'll post more pictures in a day or so.

The hot humid days have brought out my flowers like crazy. A few weeds too. These are day lilies in my perennial garden.

Billy is going on a mission trip to Lame Deer, Montana. We had a meeting after church to talk about the trip. It was good to meet the new pastor there. It will be good to be able to attend church more regularly again now that baseball is done. Maybe it will help with my crankiness.

Red and white petunias on my little red table next to my red chair. It says summer to me!

I bought myself some grocery store roses the other day, wild and crazy colors that don't seem like they should go together...but I love them. There is something about flowers in that you can put unlikely colors together and they work somehow.

We've had a few wonderful days of respite from the heat and humidity. Low 70's, a nice breeze. Perfect for our ladies round of golf.

My gerbera daisies are on a second blooming. I'm really liking the red and white combination this summer.

I ordered some new cowboy boots on-line, they arrived in the mail. Just like my last pair, I had to send them to the leather repair place to see if they can stretch the instep enough for me to get them on. High arch, wide feet...not the best combination for cowboy boots, but I love them and I had to try. I'll post pictures next week when I get them back, if they can stretch them enough. Just looking at them makes me smile, so I hope it works.

We had an almost all day rain today. Cool and cloudy all day. Just what the lawn and the crops around here needed. More heat and humidity are coming. Makes me cranky to think about it...oh wait, I already was cranky. Seriously, average temps would be nice for a change. I do like the raindrops on my day lily.

Sometimes it's good to blog even when you're cranky. I was so cranky I was thinking that there was no way I could find anything to be grateful for this last week. But then I remembered why I've been keeping track of the things I'm grateful for. I do it because when you look for the good things in your life, you lose focus of the bad things...they just sort of fade away.

So for the rest of the week I'm making a point to really focus on the good, because whether you are looking for good things or bad...if you only look towards one, you are sure to find it.

I hope you are having a happy day where you are. Thanks for stopping by.

Summer Time

Warm days, busy evenings, storms moving through, green grass, flowers blooming, mosquitoes biting....it really is summer time.

Sunset at the baseball game. This was really the first night that the mosquitoes were fierce. Swat, ouch, itch....it's just a part of living in Minnesota.

There was the possibility of storms predicted for Friday night. It was a hot and humid 96 degrees. The baseball game started at 6:00...at 6:30 the pitcher was nearly blown off the mound with the strong winds that passed through. The pressure dropped so fast that Billy got a nose bleed. After the initial winds things calmed down and they continued the game. At about 7:30 the wall of clouds was looming. Thunder, lightening, and a 25 degree temperature drop...game over after 5 innings and a 3 to 3 tie.

We made it home safe and sound, packed our bags and headed up North for the weekend after the storm had passed. We arrived at the cabin at about midnight to find that the power was out. 4 little candle stubs...it was dark....but the cooler air made it pretty nice for sleeping. Ahhh...long weekend ahead.

Saturday, still no power. The best plan seemed to be to go out for brunch, so we did. Nothing like a breakfast buffet to fill you up....read over eat...let the weekend begin.

The power was on when we returned, hurray for running water, a shower and most of all brushed teeth! Eric and I had brought our golf clubs, so we went golfing with Eric's dad on Saturday afternoon. It was a good day.

Wild daisies at my mom's house.

Sunday was started by going to the little white church on the hill, followed by the Pizzaria...traditions that we all enjoy. We mowed my mom's yard for most of the afternoon, leaving the wild daisies to bloom. Then a trip to the farm to talk with my brother and enjoy the view...which included this eagle. Everyone should have a back yard that is big enough for eagles to live don't you think?

We ended the day with fireworks in the field at the cabin. KaBoom! Some of them were pretty amazing. We just had fire crackers when I was a kid!

July 4th, Independence Day but also my Grandma's birthday. She was born in 1908. It's hard to envision all of the changes that she had seen in her life time. Amazing. Growing up we always had a picnic on the 4th of July for grandma's birthday. Nice memories.

I took this picture with my cell phone. I spent a little bit of time at the farm raking hay for my brother. I missed a lot of the corners, so I don't know how much I helped, but it was so nice just to hang out there with him. And to top it off, it was a beautiful sunny day.

I took this picture when we got back home. I liked how the flowers were red, white and blue for the 4th of July.

A quick snap shot of a daisy and red yarrow on my way out the door to golf.

It had been another warm day, getting steamier as the day went on. I didn't realize that storms were predicted before I left for golf. It was looking a little dark when I got to the golf course. My golfing partners decided that driving carts would be a good idea...and they sure were. On our 2nd hole the thunder started to rumble, the lightening looked close, the rain was coming down, and then the siren went off at the clubhouse. We were pretty far from the clubhouse, but having a covered cart made the trip to safety pretty quick. 20 minutes later the storm had passed.

The sun came out and brought a rainbow with it. It was double for a while, faintly triple at one point. And with the sun and rain came the steam...it was a sticky one. And not a very good round for me. But sometimes you just have to think about being with friends and being outside and the whole golf thing just doesn't matter. I will say that golf is a lot more fun when you're playing better.

Long weekend, summer days, working from home, it all makes me forget what day it is most of the time. There is a lot going on here. Billy had a game last night and it sure felt nice to get out of the house. Only two more games and maybe a tournament...and then summer baseball is done. It feels like we just got started.

I talked with a dear friend yesterday, she's going through a tough time right now. I was so glad that she called, so glad that we could talk and even laugh in spite of the situation that she is in. Life can sure toss you some curve balls now and again.

But having a good friend, and being a good friend, can go a long, long way to help you through the tough times with a smile. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Summer.