Here's our new addition

Finally I can post pics of Joe, our new grandcat. It appears that Joe is all settled in to his new home and he is loved.

Wood, wood--go away

Well...here's what we accomplished the other morning. We had a bunch of old wood left over from....I wish I knew...some of it seemed to be old half-rotted 4 by 4s, a few old fence posts, old wood from our former wood-burning stove, etc..and I wanted the yard to be all cleaned up.
We cut and cut for about an hour or so and stacked up the wood for its final destination--the outdoor fireplace. Since the wood just needed to be destroyed, I burned the wood and babysat the fire for about 5 hours while I worked in the yard with other duties. The stack in the above pic shows what was left after about 4 hours of burning.
Part of the time, after wetting down the grass near the blazing fire, I would just sit and watch jets flying over my house, headed to Logan Airport. (Well, not close...maybe they were up 20 or 30 thousand feet) I would see one appear out of the clouds and continue on towards Boston. What I noticed was that one goes over about every 3-4 minutes. Doesn't that seem a little too close for comfort?
Anyhow, I got about one half of the wood burned, and that means I have probably another 5 hours of burning till I am done. But it sure feels great to tidy up the yard when old things have been hanging around for a few years.

Wanna see two cuties?

I might have "borrowed" this pic from my daughter's blog...but I couldn't help myself. Click on the photo to enlarge the special beautiousness of these two little angels. (Beautiousness IS a word...it's MY word.)

It's birthday weekend

Grampa had his birthday. (He doesn't want to talk about the number of candles.)
What a great cake with the Marine Corps insignia on it!
Someone made a special card for Grampa, and look at the cute brother/sister act.

Very sad crash

Chad investigates (He's in shirt & tie next to State Police truck)--click on pics to enlarge.

Yesterday, a small, privately-owned plane used in an "Angel Flight" crashed in Easton, MA, killing the pilot, cancer patient (on the way to Boston for treatment) and the patient's wife. Miraculously, the plane did the nose-dive into a shopping plaza parking lot, away from any people or parked vehicles.
The remains of the plane are covered by tarps.

We're dropping prices faster than Wal*Mart

Instead of chasing down everyone else's yard sale today, we had one of our own. My daughter spent a lot of time carefully making bright signs and she got up extra early after last night's rain, to post the signs at crucial intersections. I packed up my car and got over to her house at about 7:30 this morning. The sale started at 9. However, we had customers driving in as soon as we began placing things in the driveway. One man came up to us and asked if we had any jewelry for sale. The next early bird asked if we had any records. They made a quick exit. These yard sale pros know what they are looking for. One drawback to having a yard sale is trying to explain to a 4 year old why her bathing suit that she wore when she was 1 is a tad small now and must be sold. (like me thinking that I could fit into my wedding gown again) It's amazing how attractive toys become to the owners, when they rediscover them after the items have been stored away for awhile. But they cheerfully went along with the plan. A lot of kids in neighboring towns have a new stash of beautiful clothes for just a few dollars tonight. They went like hotcakes. Where did that saying come from, anyhow? How fast do hotcakes go...and where do they go? Well, we'll think about that later.
Anyhow, bikes, skateboards and the eliptical machine, desk, books, TV, you name it, it went, and all for cheap money. By the time these photos were taken, a lot had been sold. That's me making up a "free" box which we left at the end of the street. You really can't beat "free" I guess, because as low as our prices were....the free stuff was a big hit. The day started out very cloudy and I was worried about rain, but soon we had a splendid, sunny day. The little kids are REALLY into sales. I wonder if that's something genetic? Without any training, they began approaching our customers with their sales pitches. We met some interesting and very sociable people. It's a great feeling to get rid of seldom-used items that have been taking up room in your house...and other people are thrilled with their new treasures.
This was definitely a "win-win". (We kept big doggie behind the fence to avoid scaring customers.)

It really was "shocking"...so don't try this at home

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>It's hot<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Now everything is right with the world...

Changing over our dining room light ourselves COULD have been a disaster...but our good neighbor, Joe the electrician, came to the rescue. Thanks, Joe!

Aren't those misting machines great on a summer day?

Peek-a-boo!

It's still a cat to me.
Always stop at Dunkin Donuts on the way home!

A new addition!

We have a new addition to our family! His name is Joe, and I think he is about 4. He's black and white and was recently adopted by my son and daughter-in-law because his owner is ill. They will take good care of him, so his former owner can feel relaxed about that. He's very sweet. Joe is tall, and a "big nosed cat", which is my favorite. Most vets refer to them as "Roman noses". So far he is in the adjustment period of trying to figure out where he is in the new house... and when his other owner is coming back for him, I think. Pics will be posted soon.

Sum Sum Summertime......