Wordless Wednesday

Happy 4th of July

Bunnies and Flowers and CLAYTON

The weekend at the cabin was the annual 4th of July celebration that I DON'T participate in.  Actually, I sat inside most of the time and read.  I finished yet another book and am 35 books into my 60 read goal.  I finished Summer People, by Elin Hilderbrand.  She has become one of my favorite authors and I can't seem to get enough of her stuff right now, helps that she writes about the beach, my favorite kind of place, and Nantucket, where I have never been.

Yesterday I woke up early thanks to little Mr. Clayton, 5 a.m. thank you, his usual time and try as I might I could not go back to sleep.  When I let him out to do his business the air was fairly nice, not like the usual heat wave that early, so I grabbed my Kindle and headed to the screened porch to finish the book with my coffee.  It was so quiet, but about 8:19, the low drone of the cicadas started their sing-song, "It's gonna be another hot day" song.  Great.  Soon The Hubby was up and being the kind of guy that can't sit still long when he sees something that needs to be done, he's up to clip grass around the fence row and our new plants.  I was, but it's just too hot and since I'm on this medication I'm not supposed to be in the sun.  (Good excuse.)  

He started clipping and soon discovered a tiny little bunny that Mr. Clayton had a bead on.

Not one bunny but two.  There is a tall wall that separates the yard and the drive and one of the little buggers just jumped down, straight onto the concrete.  I cried out and raced down to find it staggering around.  Oh gosh, I scooped it up and took it to a nearby side of grass where it promptly jumped out of my hands.  Poor little baby, but Clayton had it in his sights.   

Soon Clayton jumped the second one out of its hiding place and was after it like nobody's business.  He watched them through the fence after that.   

At least in this heat my pretty hardy hibiscus are blooming. 

How was your hot weekend!

Happy 4th of July

The 4th was celebrated at the cabin retreat area with lots of bang, boom and Hoorah!  Dancing was the thing to do as The Hubby and B enjoyed.  I chose to stay close to the cabin and watch Clayton and Mondo through all the whoopla! 

Old time friend, Bucky came to join in the festivities with The Hubby.  They had a fabulous time catching up on old times...

and partaking of the fireworks show, a very safe distance away, thank you very much The Hubby!  No more accidents for him! 

Earlier in the day we did have a slight accident when Clayton took a slip-slideing away trip down some rocks into the river.  He's fine and a bit cooled off from the 100 degree days. 

So did Bucky and The Hubby on Sunday evening.  Ahhhhh, that is cool and refreshing. 

I chose to sit in a chair and take some pictures.  I don't do creek or lake water much anymore after a lifetime of swimmers ear. 

Happy 4th of July to one and all!

My 4th of July in Review

Last night was the 4th of July fireworks show here at our getaway from the world. Thank goodness all The Hubby has to do is hand over a check and coordinate. I told him that he needs to not do it anymore as he is tired of the responsibility. He agrees and hopefully we won't even have to be here next year. I am not happy with all the people and craziness that goes with it all. Thankfully the rain kept it to a minimum.

Today the purple hull peas I shelled on Friday night are slowly simmering on the stove with a little bacon fat, onion and jalepeno salt.  It should be yummy with the smoked pork tenderloin The Hubby is preparing and our fresh tomatoes that I picked as soon as we arrived. 

Yesterday this is where my bootie plopped itself down and spent the entire day while it rained and rained. 

My view was just awesome as I finished Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich and started Eat, Love, Pray and journaled in my hand written journal.

This morning I was up early with a sleep-in kind of headache but a good strong cup of coffee helped to make it vanish.  I journaled some more, read and showered.  Then I felt the need to take a golf cart ride around the grounds to see if any of the fireworks debris was still around.  Someone got up very, very early and cleaned up all the mess.  Down by the boat ramp I found two pontoon boats ready for the water.  I've been on them before for sunset cruises and a couple of weekends ago an all day event.  They are ready and waiting for the next excursion and hopefully the rain will stay at bay.  A bunch is planning on going to Whitehorn Cove to watch their fireworks celebration tonight and having a cookout on the boat.  I plan on staying nice and comfy in front of my TV. 

More sights on my early morning golf cart ride.  I like this picture and may try to incorporate it into a painting.

Poor little Clayton watching me take off in the golf cart.  He so loves to ride and have The Hubby, his best bud, take him to the meadow to run till his hearts content.  The little guy has a problem though as he over heats very quickly.  On Friday evening The Hubby took him on a run and they found a part of the creek to stand in the cool running water.  He laid down in it and loved the rush of coolness on his overheated belly.  I so love this little guy and had no idea how much he would enrich our lives (I probably said this before). 

I almost forgot to say something about this...

Remember  I wrote in May about the prothonotary warbler that had nested in our nest on the porch, well we got so lucky on Friday evening to see the two babies peak their heads out and fly.  Oh my goodness it was so awesome to see that.  Hopefully the little couple will hatch another brood before the summer is over.

Happy 4th of July

Fireworks...not good!

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This weekend, the 4th of July, Independence Day is also an anniversary that I want to acknowledge but truly don't want to celebrate.  Oh, I might want to celebrate the fact that The Hubby is 100% fine after a harrowing ordeal.  On July 5, 2008 I was feeling fine but not too happy with the fireworks day and in this post I was having my concerns and rightly so.  The Hubby was injured during the fireworks show in 2008 and this weekend we will again be faced with being around the stuff again, but all we have to do now is write a check and hand it to the "professionals."  I never want to do that ICU thing again, EVER! Three days intubated, lying in the ICU burn unit, nurses, doctors, ICK!   Read here what we, he went through because of fireworks.  I will say it again.  I HATE FIREWORKS!  Wish they were banned. 

July 5...the day after

We have survived yet another 4th of July, but it was not without injury. The weekend was spent at the cabin with B&B2 bringing a couple of friends to join the fun. B's friend VS came in from Washington DC while R was in from here. Love both of them. I had my world kind of widened when R arrived because he shared some of his new piercings he recently received. Let's just say it is a good thing I think of the guy as my son because one was down south! I'm glad I'm a very open-minded person and not easily shocked.

After last years horrible trip to the ER I told everyone that I would help with security and somehow it turned into me sitting at the entrance gate for hours making sure everyone that came in was supposed to be there. Well, I just said I would help not man the gate, I was a wuss and backed out but The Hubby felt he needed to do something since he wasn't doing the fireworks anymore so he did it. He was Safety Man!We had an awesome day yesterday with fun in the sun, after a downpour for several hours. I spent most of my day reading a book on my Kindle while the crew spent time at the creek. I fixed a fantastic dinner of grilled chicken, a couple of salads and fresh fruit. It soon began time for one of the highly anticipated events of the day (for B), Best Costumed Dog. B&B2 of course brought the granddog, Mondo, and dolled him up as a lady. The little fellow won, blue ribbon and all. They had a girly hat, a mumu and sunglasses that he kept on the whole time he sat there.

The evening was moving on and the four friends decided to take a ride on one of the golf carts. Yes, they were also full of a lot of liquid stuff so it didn't help what was about to happen. R was driving when B2 told him to turn left urgently. Well, four on the golf cart turning that rapidly is not a good combination and over they went onto the asphalt and gravel. B2 and VS were on the side that hit the road, and the golf cart actually was on B2's foot. He was in so much shock and pain that he just took off walking while B and R helped VS off the ground. She sustained a road burn on her shoulder and elbow while B2's elbow and his foot were cut, smashed and road burned. I don't know how he walked off except he was in shock. Luckily the paramedics are always on hand so both got immediate help and aid. B2's foot was still in bad shape this morning but the paramedics did not seem to think it was broken and today he had it x-rayed with the same result. The chaos after the accident was horrible as R was just distraught that he hurt his friends that he feels as close to as siblings. It didn't help that alcohol was playing a huge part in the tears and self-blame. If I did not hide his keys he was going to drive home and that was not going to happen. It was just horrible with drama. We finally got him settled down but I don't think he got the point about drinking until this morning because he drank more and was worse. He felt bad because the golf cart was damaged and he knew The Hubby would be pissed, he was. A statue light also got knocked over and then this morning a piece of summer sausage was found on the floor when The Hubby took a spill on it. R was eating it when we went to bed. It was a tragic night but after a short talk with him this morning he may get it, I hope. I plan on giving him a call as a friend and pseudo-mom and try to talk to him about his behavior and his drinking and choices. I think he's a little lost right. I don't want him to use this as a pitiful me ploy, I'm a f...up...I want him to learn from this and be responsible. Just scary stuff you know.

This morning everyone was a little on edge, tired, sore and angry. I fixed a great breakfast of Creekbank (eggs, potatoes, bell peppers, onions), bacon, sausage, biscuits, juice....we were stuffed. It was definitely a rather quiet breakfast with soft chatter. The Hubby is angry but surprisingly not as much as I thought he would be. I think he sees a very troubled young man.

The golf carts battery was upended so battery acid spilled and burned a hole somewhere and damaged the starter but they were things that can be fixed which The Hubby has half done already. Things will be okay.

I really hate this holiday. Fireworks, masses of people and drink are just not ever a good combination.

The Weekend is HERE!

The Hubby and I decided to close the office today, Friday and so headed to the cabin last night. We arrived and were quickly invited to a sunset Booze Cruise on Sin & Bare's pontoon boat. 19 people aboard and we were off. The day had finally cooled off so we didn't bake on the boat. There was lots of food, music, country music (yuck) and DRINK. Lots of DRINK. We left about 8 and when we finally rolled into the ramp it hit midnight. It was quite an experience being in the middle of the river with a lot of drinking and needing to pee. Bare would stop the boat and the guys would hang it off the front of the boat while we ladies would climb down a ladder on the back of the boat, drop our drawers, squat with our shining buttocks close to the lapping water and AWWWwwwww. Thank God for squats with my personal trainer. It was an experience. This may offend the country music lovers but I HATE COUNTRY MUSIC and four hours of it, well, I'm done. I'm just not a fan. To me it is like fingernails on a chalkboard. That is why we have so many different kinds of music for the listening pleasure of different ears. Don't get me wrong I do like some country music but not much.

Oh well, I'm back to the weekend fun, or not fun. It is not even noon on Friday and the fireworks have been popping all morning. I'm so done with that. Next year I'm staying in town, inside, away from it all. After last year I'm so done with it all. The next door cabin neighbors are up. They live in Houston so usually don't make it up but a couple of times a year. This year they have 3 dogs in tow so early this morning all I heard was them yelling at one of the dogs, ROXIE, ROXIE, ROXIE! The neighbors on the other side also have multiple dogs and they all are running free, contrary to the by-laws of the place. Next I hear ROXIE, ROXIE, ROXIE, NOOOOooo, the dogs barking then fighting. Now some of them are on leads and some are captured inside cabins. Good Grief! A lot of the people here have dogs and some let them run free. It is not good, especially when so many more people are going to be here for the weekend. I can't wait for the weekend to be over and back to the peace and quiet.

Ohhhh...I took the most AWESOME picture last night of the pink light in the trees and the reflections on the water...but, alas it was not with my camera which was in my bag at the cabin but with Bare's. Hopefully, I will be able to download it today. I want to paint it.

Monday, Monday

Yes it is Monday and sort of the eve of the biggest holiday of the summer but as some of you well know a year ago was a nightmare for me, and The Hubby. I am not looking forward to another round of burning my money in the sky for a momentary, "Oh it's pretty." I have always hated fireworks, the cost and the noise and now the danger. I like having people at the cabin but not too many as I like my solitude there but this weekend the whole place is a huge MASS of people, EVERYWHERE! People, kids, dogs, cars, pop-pop, bang-bang and lots of drinking. Not my idea of fun, really! I would just as soon stay at home in Tulsa but I told the board that I would "help" with security. What was I thinking. I may have to spend most of the day at the entrance and let or not-let people in for the festivities. We found out that the invitation to some of the towns-people has been put out. I think that is not good. Our little weekend community has become a HUGE event and I thought we wanted to keep the place a little secret, this is not doing it. It also invites a lot of ne'er-do-well's to possibly have some not good intentions to our open cabins and availability. It's just my opinion and I'm entitled to one. The bottom line is that I hate this time of year. Love what it stands for but hate the masses of people and noise and the potential of injury!

Okay, I'm off the soapbox.

ICU

It is 3:28 am Sunday morning and I just got home. The Hubby is in Hillcrest burn center ICU. A fireworks accident. He is on a ventilator and hopefully will be off in a few days....hopefully. I'm exhausted and just not sure about any of it. I will write more when I know. The whole emergency room thing was weird. Later.

July 5th

Today is the official fireworks blast here at our lake place. Since the 4th was on friday it was decided to do the big blast on Saturday so here we go. The Hubby is shooting the show so today he has spent from noon to 6pm setting up the show, wiring the stuff and sweating his ass off, and he doesn't even get paid. He does it for the people, our friends but he is absolutely exhausted. He is doing a bigger show this year so he has to really make it safe and that is my concern too. It is very dangerous if you don't know what you are doing and thank goodness he does but he does have helpers and he has to corral them sometimes. I wish he didn't want to do it so we could stay in town but that is okay, I guess.

This morning I awoke with a terrific sunburn on my back shoulders. OUCH! I forgot to have someone put sunscreen on my back and I am paying the price. I spent nearly all day long in my wonderful hammock reading and finishing my newest book, The Book Thief. What a good book. I can't say I "enjoyed" it because the subject matter is not to be enjoyed. It was about a little girl in Nazi Germany and her life growing up there with all that was happening in those times and the author was very good and different in his writing styles. I would highly recommend it. B and B2 showed up about 1:30 with another couple Barry and Casey and they all plan on staying the night. We've already delved into the homemade cheeseburgers and a multitude of salads. Barry and Casey are vegetarians so I Boco burgers for them.

I'm babbling because I don't want to go and watch the fireworks later. Way toooooooo mannnnnnny people for me to be around. I'm just not a crowd person. I'm not afraid of crowds or anything just too many people, drinking so things can go wrong.

Happy 4th of July

Not really. Yeah, yeah yeah I am patriotic and all but I so hate the fireworks and the people and the drinking and crap like that...wow got distracted...really cute, cute guy just went by on his golf cart...WOO HOO! Nice. Okay, now back to the original thought. Last night we finally took off from T-town about 5:30 pm. That meant that we would hit the mass evacuation of town to the lake. It took about 45 minutes to navigate through the merging and inch-by-inch 5 miles stretch to break free. I was driving The Hubby's really nice Avalanche while he drove our company truck. He is in charge of the firework show (licensed and all) and needed the company truck to get the fireworks the day of the show. I like driving his truck. We arrived about 6:30 and we immediately went next door to Harri and Jimbo's cabin to check out the new deck they have been building for the past couple of months. Nice, very nice and where I'm blogging from right now with the aid of the other neighbor's Internet (with his blessing.) Harri was busy getting food and drink ready to go out on Sin and Bare's pontoon boat with some other guests they all were having over. We were not invited to this little shindig which I was fine with. The Hubby was exhausted and needed to lay down before dinner, but little did I know that it would be 8:30 before he would arise. I HAD to eat and instead of steaks I dug into the pre-cooked chicken from Reasor's. Right when I put the last morsel into my mouth he appeared and said do you want me to start the coals, well no. He was a little perturbed but too bad. About 9:30 the neighbors started the fireworks and I was none too happy about it. I hit the sheets about 10:15 and thankfully the fan drowned out most of the sound of the boom, boom, boom. I HATE FIREWORKS! Uh Oh...trying to rain so I'll make it quick. Oh...the pontoon boat crew got rained out big time. I was watching outside and all of a sudden it was just utter darkness and wind and I knew they were out on the water. I went to the kitchen just as it was beginning to pour and saw Harri drive up on her golf cart and unload food. They must have had a pretty scary time on the water as there was a tremendous amount of lightening. I got up this morning about 7:15, my bladder won't let me sleep much longer than that, and enjoyed some peace and solitude on my porch. I spent most of the time chasing stupid squirrels from my bird feeders. I had an indigo bunting several times but couldn't get a picture of it. I decided that it was time to do some walking/jogging so I attired myself in my workout clothes and hit the gravel/pavement. Wow, all the rain made it so very humid. I quit an hour ago and my face is still red and I'm dripping in sweat but hopefully it translates to pounds lost. I tell you when I workout and The Hubby sees me do it he is enamored with it all. He is absolutely turned on to think I'm working on getting rid of the weight. Now I know what he does for me and he told my mother one time when she called. She asked him what he was doing and responded, "Foreplay, the dishes." He totally had it down and knows me all too well. My mother thought that was the funniest thing she had ever heard.

That stupid cardinal is at it again, like last week, hitting the window over and over again. Dumb bird.

Holiday

Well, the weekend is fast approaching and the deluge of people at the lake will be happening soon. OH MY GOD I don't look forward to this weekend. I know it is a holiday but I HATE fireworks and all it entails: people, noise, alcohol consumption, and stupidity. It has become a tradition to drink, blow up stuff, be loud and obnoxious. These are my observations. I would really like to stay in town in my home and just watch TV, blog and twitter all weekend but since The Hubby is in charge of the big show I have to go and support him. It also makes me a little nervous as he is dealing with very big powerful stuff and it is dangerous but he is very careful.

I went to Jazzercise this morning but I didn't workout. I just checked people in then came home and washed my car. I'm just not ready physically for the rigorous workout that I do yet, next week.

My poor little car. It is really pretty when washed but it also means I see the hail damage and the shopping cart dent in the side of it. People, when you go to the grocery store PLEASE make sure the carts are in the little corrals. That is what happened to my little car on a windy day. Someone just left the cart standing and when I came out to my car the stupid thing had rolled into my passenger door and put a HUGE dent in the darn thing. NOT GOOD!

Last night one of my high school classmates, Roger came over and we began the early stages of planning the 35th class reunion. I can't believe I have been out of school almost 35 years. I really don't feel that old but I guess I am. I'm not sure I'm ready to get it going again. We have one every five years and sometimes I think that is too much but it got started a long time ago, long before I was on the planning gig. I used to do a newsletter every six months but quit it a few years ago after a 10 gig at it. It's called burnout. Now there is talk of a multi-year reunion in a couple of years so I guess I had better get with the plan.

Think I'll take the day off again.

Now I know why!

I have figured out the reason for the depression.

I was able to get away for the weekend early on Friday to the cabin. YIPEE! I arrived and enjoyed an afternoon sitting in the screened in porch reading and alone. The Hubby would arrive in the late afternoon as we had a dinner/birthday party to go to. The dinner was great fun but I was just exhausted and still feeling in the dumps. Saturday morning came and I was up and on the porch again to enjoy journaling and reading. About 10 am I headed to the little girls room and who should join me but Mother Nature. Aw, that explains a lot of my mood swings, depression, crying, and general bitchiness. I have not met the woman since January so it was a complete shock to encounter her but I should have known. I couldn't believe it.

Last night a group of us went on a ride on the pontoon boat that Bare and Sin own and watched the sunset.

It was quite awesome as the water is so high that no one is on the river.
This morning I was up at 7am (slept in a couple of hours) and on the porch to read and journal but the morning was moving fast. I knew the guys from the boat last night were planning on going jug fishing this morning but of the four of them three were a lot drunk and I wasn't sure they would remember the plan. But, at 8am the phone rang and Bare was next door calling all the guys out to play, with bloodshot eyes. So off they have gone fishing on this absolutely beautiful morning. The plan for the girls this afternoon is to take a floating cruise on the pontoon and sunbathe but I'm begging off because I don't thing my body will allow that luxury today. So I will sit in my hammock in my bathing suit and maybe turn the sprinkler on myself occassionaly. It is a beautiful morning with a cool breeze, wonderful sunshine and peace an quiet. Next weekend won't be the case as the families and extended famlies and friends will descend on this most precious real estate and I will want to hide in my cabin. I hate all the hoopla that goes with the 4th, like the concept but hate the bigillion people and noise that comes with it. Here is a short video of my morning so far: