Lake time is winding down

EXTENDED lake time, that is.  My summer is quickly coming to an end.  This is the last of my extended stays here, and I'm feeling really depressed. 

Next week we have orientation.  Since I have seniors, I have to be at the school Monday by 8, and Mr. Reyes has requested that we come back on Wednesday for the make-up day, so I'll be there then, too.  I'll probably go back Thursday, and maybe Friday, to get everything back in place and make some copies.  Then the next week will be our inservice/professional development days on August 3, 4, and 5.  More than likely, I'll be there on that Monday (2nd), too, but unless I feel like I HAVE to be there on Friday (6th), I'll enjoy my last day of summer at home.  Maybe John can take that day off and we can come back on Thursday.  (That may not be possible though because he just had to let two of his techs go because of financial reasons.)

I planned on coming up Sunday, but I was so tired from all of the wedding festivities, I knew I couldn't make it.  It isn't that I was running around like a crazy woman (she didn't come to the wedding), but there are always those last minute things that have to be taken care of.  And on Saturday, I ran a couple of quick errands for Jessi.  Anyhoo, if you read my other blog, you know I was worthless on Sunday.  I decided to clean house on Monday so I'd have that out of the way, so the pups and I didn't get here until mid-afternoon yesterday.

One of the first things I did when I got here was to check on the wrens.  Either they have flown or something got them.  I'm not sure they were quite old enough to fly, but I can't stand to think that something bad happened, so as far as I'm concerned, they flew.  (Hey, this is my blog and Momma Wren made their "nursery" outside my window, so I can think what I want.  LOL)

It is HOT and HUMID, and the lake level is falling.  The level is down almost three feet.  By next weekend, unless we have a monsoon, we should be able to burn the brush in the slough.  I hope so anyway...I don't like anything that looks snaky, even if we haven't seen any so far.  (Knock on wood!!!)

I'm staying here until Friday, and then I'll meet John at his mom's for our weekend.  I haven't been since April.  (Bless her heart.  She won't even remember it's been that long either.)  We swapped with Danny and Linda in May--they did their weekend and our weekend that month, and John did their weekend in June since Linda was supposed to have gone to the beach with us.  Then we had Christie (Billie's neighbor) stay on our regular weekend in June because that was the weekend of Lance and Jess's couple's shower. 

Hopefully, the next couple of days will be sunny.  I want to get as much sun as I can while I can.  I know...I'll look like a piece of old shoe leather by the time I'm an old woman, but John will still love me.  :)

I think I'm about to get an adult beverage and sit on the porch for a while.

Remember, KEEP DREAMING!

River Rat

Phillip and Sam came up to the lake today to visit.  Katy was in PCB with Jessi and a few of her friends for Jess's bachelorette party, so it was just Phillip, Sam, Pop Pop, and Grana.  Right after they got here, we took a short cruise on the pontoon, and then we came back to swim.  Let me tell ya what...Sam LOVES the water!!!  He must have been a fish in a previous life.  LOL

We got in to swim/float about 11 or so, and we didn't get out until about 1.  Sam was NOT a happy camper (fish??) when we had to come in, but it was lunchtime.  I have never seen him pitch a tantrum like this, but pitch one he did.  I had a hard time not laughing at him.  Once Phillip got him changed, though, and he realized he was hungry, he stopped.  Pop Pop fixed him a delicious PBJ sandwich, some chips, and a cup of milk, and then Pop Pop gave him a Nutty Bar.  (John had grilled burgers for himself, Phillip, and me.)

After lunch, we just sat and talked and let Sam entertain us. This is the third time we've gotten to see him in the last three weeks, and we're loving all the Sam time!  We'll get to see him again this coming weekend because of the weekend.  He sat with John and "shared" his milk.  Actually, John pretended to drink it, and Sam would just cackle.  John is in HEAVEN when Sam is around.  So am I.  He was very generous with his lovin, too.  Hugs, kisses, and snuggles were there for the taking.  :)

After Phillip and Sam left, John got his stuff together and left soon after.  I came in and checked fb, only to learn that the daughter of someone I taught with years ago had passed away.  Kara was just 20, but she had CF.  She went into the hospital on June 13 and had surgery on June 18, but she lost her battle today.  Karen posted this on Kara's Praise Page (on fb) yesterday at 8:02 AM:  "Kara had another good night last night. She is responding well to everything. A slow process most definitely, but she is following Matt Crenshaw's advice to "keep on keeping on!" That is the plan today because. . .well, she's IN IT TO WIN IT!! Keep thanking God for the GREAT work He is doing in Kara! Happy Saturday! ~kc"  I'm not sure what happened or why...only God knows that...but my heart is breaking for Karen, Kara's dad, step-dad, and brothers.  I know this part of this post has nothing to do with the lake, but I just felt compelled to include it.  Take a minute to hug your child, your husband, your wife.  Tell them you love them.  Please pray for this family as they walk this difficult path.

As always, keep dreaming...

Bird orgy

We have herons (or maybe they are cranes) that live around here.  We've seen them flying around as long as we've been coming up here, and that's been quite a while since Danny and Linda have had their place for about 13 years now.  They've landed on the boat docks and made the dogs crazy.  They've done fly-bys that will scare the poop out of you if you aren't expecting it.  I mean, these are HUGE birds, after all. 

Well, now we have them nesting just across the lake from us.  For the longest, we didn't know WHAT IN THE WORLD was making all of that gosh-awful racket, but Marty told John last week that it is the herons (or cranes.  I googled both, and honestly, I still don't know what we have.)  Anywho, Marty said they were there, so John got out the binoculars.  At first we couldn't find them, but Sunday morning I got the binoculars out again and found them.  At that time, there were two in the tree. 

I heard them squawking when I was sitting on the porch a while ago, so I got the binoculars out again.  Knowing where they are made it much easier to find them, but you can easily see them without the binoculars.  This time, I bet there were six on the nest.  One of them kept sticking its neck up and the others were "bowing" to it.  (Maybe that's the Momma Bird????)  No lie...that one had its neck stretched out as far as it would go, and the others were gathered around flapping their wings.  Looked like an orgy to me.  Not that I would know what an orgy looks like since I've never been involved in one and never intend to be involved in one.  My only experience with them is what I've seen in movies.

I need to google to find out how long it will be before the babies are hatched.

Speaking of hatched babies...time before last when we were up here, we saw that a bird had built a nest in the bathroom window.  John was going to clean the nest out until he saw the eggs.  It looked like there were five or six total.  We kept watching, but we never have seen a momma bird anywhere near the nest.  We figured she had abandoned it.  After I came in from watching the heron/crane orgy, I went to the bathroom (okay, so maybe that's TMI, but hey...we all do it) and I thought I heard cheeping.  So I pulled the shower curtain back and stood on the tub to look.  I could have sworn I saw something moving, so I looked a little closer.  (It's kind of hard to look very close because of the screen and the way the nest is built.)  Sure 'nuff, a baby bird was in there!  Just to make sure again, I put my ear right next to the screen and heard the little cheep.  I think I saw an egg that hadn't hatched, but I really couldn't tell how many babies there might be.  So I guess momma bird hadn't abandoned the nest after all.  Either that or it's been so dang hot they hatched without her sititng on the nest.  LOL 

I thought we were going to get some rain, but alas, I think it has gone around us.  Again.  We need some rain SO badly!  The lake is down about two feet.  That's normal for this time of year because Alabama Power Co. uses the water from this lake to cool the towers at one of the steam plants.  I still hate to see the level go down this early. 

I guess that's about it for now.  I stopped to get some barbecue on my way up, so I'm about to make a sandwich for supper.

Don't forget...KEEP DREAMING!

Lake Vacation Part Two

I meant to get another update done before now, but it just didn't happen, but here it is now.

Day Four -- Wednesday
Yard work.  All. Day. Long.  Well, maybe not all day long, but most of the day.  We started about 8 and thought we'd be finished by about noon, and had it not gotten all humid, we probably would have.  It was pretty humid at 8, but by 10, it was extremely humid, so breaks were much more frequent and lasted just a little longer.  Finally about 2, we hauled the last load of leaves/sticks and dumped them.  If we hadn't paid someone to come clean the yard back in the spring, it would have taken twice as long to do the yard.  Our yard isn't huge, but it is filled with trees, so the leaves, the pine straw, pine cones, and limbs take forever to clean up at the beginning of the spring.  I'll gladly pay someone to do it every year from now on.  The maintenance is enough for me.  :)  The yard looks SO much better though!

Day Five -- Thursday
I got up about 6.  I guess I was excited about Katy and Sam coming and I just couldn't sleep any later.  They got here about 11, I guess.  We had lunch--Sam established HIS seat while he was here.  So funny...every time we were about to eat, he would run over to the table, pull out a chair, and climb up.  He did that every single meal.  :) 

After lunch, Katy got herself and Sam ready for the lake.  Pop Pop got the boat gassed up, and we headed over to Rock Creek Marina to see the "big fish."  There are carp over there that are as big as Sam is.  NO LIE.  John got some crackers so we could feed them.  By that time, some other people had come up and had gotten ice cream.  When John was getting the crackers (you have to buy them there) I got an ice cream sandwich.  Well, the other people's ice cream was more interesting to Sam than the big fish, so I gave him what was left of mine.  Maybe next year he'll be more amazed by the big carp.

We got back in the boat and headed back home.  The other times Sam has been in the lake, he wasn't that crazy about floating by himself.  Well, something changed this time.  Katy had him in the float with her, but he wasn't happy.  So put him in the water thinking he'd want right back out.  Nope.  He was like a little fish.  He "swam" all over the place.  He has really gotten the hang of kicking, so by next summer, he'll be swimming like a fish.  He's gonna be a little river rat as it is. 

After playing all day, Pop Pop made burgers on the grill.  Katy and I loved them, but Sam isn't much on meat.  He had beans and chips.  (The boy is going to turn into a chip.)  Katy gave him a bath and he entertained us.  Then, he climbed up into Pop Pop's lap. 

This trip, Sam really "took" to his pop pop.  He's always loved being around John (all kids do...he's just a big kid himself) but he "hung out" with John a lot more this time.  John was thrilled (as you can probably tell by his face.)  He loves this child more than he loves life itself. 


Not long after I took this picture, it was bedtime for Sam AND for Grana.  I probably didn't last 30 minutes after he went to sleep.  Between the yard work the day before and playing in the lake, I was a tired girl.

Day Six -- Friday
Sam was awake and giggling about 7, so Katy got him out of bed and tried to get a little more shut eye herself.  He entertained John and me by jumping off the step between the kitchen and den. (I'm sure he is thinking "Boy, they don't have much of a life if all I have to do is jump off this step to entertain them."  LOL)

After breakfast, John was sitting in the swing.  Sam decided he wanted to swing, too, so I put him up in Pop Pop's lap.  What a great picture!  I love the way Sam has his foot propped up on the rope.  Now, THIS is lake living.  :)  The two of them sat there for about ten minutes before Sam needed to get up and move.  (He is rarely still for very long.)  Whenever there is a moment like this, the camera better be handy.  :)

Katy and Sam left a bit before 10, and when the did, it was SO quiet around here!  Once they were gone, I decided to head down to the dock for some sun.  It was quite warm, so I did almost as much floating as I did sunning.  I couldn't really relax while I was floating though because I felt like I was going to fall asleep.  I can imagine waking up down at the dam.  Fortunately, if I did, my friend Cindy lives right there, so I know she'd rescue me.  hahahaha

John and I had "date night" last night.  Well, it wasn't really a date.  We went to eat at The Angler.  Yum! 

Day Seven -- Saturday

We're heading over to Ron and Cindy's in a few hours to cook out with them, Heinz and Suzanne, and Steve and Cindy.  This will be the first time we've seen Steve since his biking accident back in October.  He is a walking miracle.  Seriously!  He was on a cycling trip and wrecked, breaking his neck.  He was at Erlanger in Chattanooga and then he went to Shepherd's in Atlanta.  With the type of break he sustained, the fact that he isn't paralyzed is truly a God thing. 

I'm taking my camera, so I'll post some pictures of our day.  Maybe...

Just remember...KEEP DREAMING!

Vacation at the lake

One thing John and I decided when we decided to buy our lake place was that we wouldn't take "real" vacations, but we would vacation at the lake.  And that was fine by me!  Of course, I still do my beach trips any time I can, but when it comes to the time I spend on vacation with John, I would rather spend it here as anywhere.

So, how has vacay been so far?  GREAT!  Just a quick update.

Day One -- Sunday
We got up about 7 Sunday morning, did a few odd and ends around the house, and got on the road about 8:45.  We had to make a couple of stops because my back was KILLING me, and I HAD to get out and stretch it.  (Saturday night, I rolled over and tweaked my back AGAIN.  I barely slept for the spasms.  Finally about 2 AM, I got up, took Aleve--should've done that at 10 PM--got an ice pack and snuggled up with it until about 4:30.)  We got to the lake about 12:15, unloaded the truck, and had some ribs for lunch from a great little barbecue place in Good Hope.  I got an ice pack again, got comfy (or as comfy as I could) and napped until about 4:30.  We sat on the porch for a while, had the rest of the ribs for supper, and that was about it.  We didn't even go get the boat. 

Day Two -- Monday
I got up about 7, made coffee, and sat on the porch.  It wasn't too hot or humid yet, so it was a nice morning.  We left about 8:30 to go back to Good Hope to get a ladder for the swim dock.  THAT made me very happy because now we can swim off our dock.  I know Danny and Linda didn't mind us using theirs, but by the time I lug a float, bag (because I need it for my towel, book, iPod, etc.), and a cooler of water (soft side, so it isn't big, but still) I would be worn out.  And then I'd lug it all back after spending hours in the hot sun.  Ugh.  So now, we only have to walk to our dock.  I don't even take a cooler because I can walk back to the trailer for water.  After we did that, we did our grocery shopping for the week.  My Grillmeister will work his magic, and any weight I MAY have lost this summer will be put right back on.

On the way home, I dropped John off to get the boat.  I got home, unloaded and put away groceries, and then we put the ladder on the dock.  I'm proud to say I did a LARGE part of it myself.  :)  Of course, John was telling me what to do.  (It should be apparent that the back spasms went away.  Spending hours freezing those muscles must've done the trick.)  He was under the dock doing what had to be done there.  Then we floated for about a hour.  Ahhhhh...

Day Three -- Tuesday
We slept a little later than usual, but that was fine.  I planted some elephant ears (yeah...I know they should have been planted months ago, but I kept forgetting or we didn't have time or the weather didn't cooperate.) 
Danny and Linda rode out for a while.  They had to meet with the cabinet guy, and then they visited for a couple of hours or so.  Their house is coming along really well!  I told Linda that every time we come down here, I think I get as excited as to see what has been done as I would if it were our house.  Marty and I talked today about what I'd like to see whenever we build.  Unless something changes, he'll be building for us, too.

After Danny and Linda left, I went down to the dock for about an hour, and then it sounded like a storm was brewing.  It finally rained, but that was about it.  John worked on the door to the old boat shed and got it fixed, so now he can open it and close it much easier.  After he finished, we...floated.  :)

Now, he has the grill going.  He took thin cut pork loin, seasoned it up, put a slice of cream cheese and a few (3-4) jalapeno slices on them, rolled them up, and put them on the grill.  YUM!!!!  Believe me, these will make you slap yo' momma!!

The rest of the week
I hope tomorrow is a beautiful, sunny day because I want to spend it in the sun.  With a book.  Thursday, Katy and Sam are coming up.  They're going to stay until Friday.  Phillip won't get to come because of other obligations he has.  :(  Right now, I'm not really sure what the weekend holds, but I'm sure it will be fun.

Think I'm about to go jump in the shower, get comfy, and sit on the porch for a while. 

Just remember, KEEP DREAMING!

A perfect day at the lake

Mom came up to the lake and spent the day today.  This was the first time in a long time that we've been able to spend this much time together, just the two of us.  We didn't do anything "special", but it was a special day.  I gave her the tour of Danny and Linda's house, and then we had lunch on the porch.  At that time, it wasn't too hot to sit out there as long as the fan was going.  After lunch, we just sat and talked and enjoyed the view.  Finally about 3:00 we came inside because it was beginning to heat up.  She crocheted and we continued to talk.  She stayed until almost 6.  I told her she should have brought her stuff and spent the night, but she doesn't like being away from her "babies" that long though (and I understand completely.) 

John is taking next week off and we'll be up for vacation.  Maybe we can get Mom and Dad to come up one day.  Mom and I will get together and plan it.  :)

I'll be heading home tomorrow.  I would stay longer, but bunco is tomorrow night.  Since I haven't gotten to go the last two months, I don't want to miss again.  Jess and Lance have a couples' shower Saturday that we're going to, but we'll come up on Sunday and stay until the next Sunday.  I'll probably go home Sunday, but I may come back the middle that week and stay another week or so.  I won't have many weeks left to come stay since I'll have to start back to work August 3rd.  Yuck!

I think I'm about to go sit on the porch and watch the sun set. 

Always remember, KEEP DREAMING!

Hotter'n three acres of hades

Whew!!!  It was  SCORCHER at the lake this weekend!  But because we had great company and great food, the heat was hardly even noticable bearable.  It really wasn't even the heat as much as it was the humidty.  It was almost impossible to sit out on the porch unless you were directly in front of the fan.

John and I got up there 7ish or so.  We went by Arrowhead first and got the boat out so we could cruise on Saturday.  It was nice to get there before dark, even if it wasn't much before dark.  By the time he got the boat tied up and came up to the trailer, I had the truck unloaded and was enjoying a Bud.  :)

We were up early Saturday, and it was already steamy.  About 11, I walked down to Danny and Linda's dock for some sun therapy.  We don't have a ladder on our dock yet, so getting out of the water would be a chore.  Climbing the rip rap isn't something I'd want to do.  It was so humid, I knew I'd be taking a dip. 

Susan and Tim came up about 1:00, and we went over to see where their new place is.  By boat, it's about a 40 minute ride, so that isn't too bad.  I thought it would have taken a little longer.  I told them I think I was as excited for them as I was when we closed on our place.  LOL  Now, the test will be to see if I will feel comfortable enough to take the boat out and head that way by myself.  Before that ever happens, I'll have to do a few trips with John as my co-captain.  Danny and Linda have said we can use their pontoon this summer, so I might feel a little more comfortable taking it instead of taking our runabout.  We'll see!  By land, it should take only about 25 minutes, so if Susan and I want to hang out and the guys aren't around and I'm too chicken to take the boat, one of us could make the drive.

After we got back, Susan and I jumped in the lake and cooled off while the guys headed up to start the grill.  John worked his magic on some rib eyes.  Oh my!  That was exactly what I've been wanting!  John is good at everything he does, but as a cook/grill master...he is hard to beat!

Yesterday we got up about 6, loaded up, and headed home because Jessi's future sister-in-law was giving her a shower, and I wanted to be there.  Otherwise, I might still be at the lake.  It's like I told John, though, you make sacrifices for the ones you love.  LOL 

I was planning on going back on Thursday after I got my hair "did" and staying until Tuesday.  Cindy, a friend from high school, and her husband Sam have invited a bunch of us from high school to their lake house to cook out on Saturday, but Jessi has a fitting for her dress at 10 Saturday, and she asked me to go.  Naturally, I said I would LOVE to.  ("Sacrificing" seeing friends I haven't seen in about 20 years, but I love my Jessi!)  I may leave from the fitting and head up to the lake and stay until Tuesday. John could go on up Friday if he wanted to.  He's been going so hard lately, he may choose to just stay home for the weekend.  We'll see.  But I'm thinking I'm definitely going.  And depending on what time Cindy and Sam were planning on having everybody over, I might manage to pop by for a bit close to the end of the shin-dig.  :)

Now, I need to get up and get busy.  Got to run to Auburn for a quick errand or two. 

Just remember...KEEP DREAMING!

Memorial Day fun

The summer has started! I had graduation Friday night, so the pups and I didn't head to the lake until Saturday morning. John had taken Friday off, though, so he came up then. Jessi and Lance came Friday night after they got off work, and Katy, Phillip, and Sam came up Saturday around noonish.

The weather wasn't as great as I would have liked, but on Saturday it cleared enough for us to take Sam on a boat ride. His first summer to visit the lake he was only about four months old, so he slept the entire time we were on the boat. Last summer, he was MISERABLE because he had to have on his life jacket, and it was H.O.T. and H.U.M.I.D. It was miserable for all of us, but especially Sam because of the life jacket. This time, he LOVED the boat, as you can see from the pictures below. From the time we started until we got back to the dock, he didn't stop smiling and laughing. He loved the "bumps" when we hit the wakes of other boats.

For his birthday, he got a Puddle Jumper, and boy, was it a huge improvement over the life jacket, and they are Coast Guard approved.

LOVING the boat ride!

He did not stop smiling the whole time!

Sitting up high
The lake felt GOOD!

No fear...he sat right on the edge of the dock and scootched down far enough to get his feet wet.

Testing the waters...

After slipping in, he still was right at the edge.

Sam doesn't seem to be afraid of ANYTHING. I think this will be a great summer for him to take swimming lessons because he loved the water. After we had all gotten out and were sitting on the dock, he was right on the edge. He would scootch out far enough to get his feet wet and then he'd ease back. We all knew that he would eventually scootch too far and slip in, and he did. (Don't worry...six VERY cautious adults were there with all eyes on him.) When he slipped in, he did go under...the Puddle Jumper didn't prevent that. I was sitting the closest to the edge, so I saw his face when he came back up. His eyes were HUGE, but we all clapped and called out "YEA, SAM!" Anything to keep him from being scared. Apparently, he wasn't too scared because he was right back at the edge just minutes later. I think he'll be jumping off before the end of the summer.

Katy, Phillip, and Sam left yesterday, and Jessi and Lance left just a little while ago, so now, it's quiet here. I have a feeling that we'll have many fun-filled and family-filled weekends, though. Jessi and Lance won't have as many chances to come up with the wedding, but once they are an old married couple and the parties and showers are over, they'll get to come up more. :)

It looks like the sun is trying to peep through the clouds, so I think I'll suit up and head to the dock.

As always, KEEP DREAMING!

A beautiful, but cool, weekend

It was a gorgeous weekend at the lake, but it was very breezy! If you weren't in the sun, you needed sleeves. So I sat in the sun as much as possible. :)

Danny, Linda, and Billie came out and stayed most of the afternoon. It was good for Billie to get out. I was surprised she came because she doesn't leave her house that much. She says she wants to go places, but when anybody tries to get to her actually go, she has reasons why she can't. About 3, she started worrying about getting back home though.

John and I fished for a while late yesterday afternoon. We each caught about six bream. Most of them were of the "catch and release" size, but a couple were "catch and grease" size. We released them though. We flung a few crickets this morning, too, but they weren't biting. John got two really small ones.

We waited until just after noon before we packed up and headed back to Dadeville. John may have to work Friday night, but I'm really hoping he won't. I could go back without him, but I'd rather not. :)

Gotta go and get ready for a new week. Only three more until summer vacation!

Keep dreaming!

Home, Sweet Home

We got "home" about 8:30 last night, and boy, was it nice! We would have gotten here sooner, but we needed to make a grocery run. My plan was to buy what we'd need so we didn't have to stop, but that just didn't happen this week.

We got up about 6:30. At "real" home, getting up at 6:30 on a Saturday when I didn't have to would irritate me beyond belief. It's so different here, though. Most of the time, I WANT to be up early so I can enjoy the lake. The water is usually so calm that early. This morning, though, it is quite breezy. I hung my wind chimes out, and they haven't stopped ringing.

With the wind blowing, it's pretty cool. That's a VERY welcome change from yesterday, though, when it was so humid. After the extremely cold winter, I said I wouldn't complain about the heat, but I never said I wouldn't complain about the humidity. hahaha

I have only three more weeks of school (woo hoo!!!) before I can "move" up for the summer. Well, that's not entirely true. My last day of work is June 1 (but that's a make up professional development day, and I might be sick. I'm beginning to feel a little feverish. LOL) On June 2, my three sisters-in-law and one of my nieces and I are going to Gulf Shores. John is thinking his neck surgery will be the next week, and if the doc says it will be okay, we'll come here once he's out of the hospital. He'd much rather recuperate here than in Dadeville. The view is quite a bit nicer.

Guess that's it for this morning. I need to grade a few research papers so I can emjoy my afternoon. The dock is calling my name, but it still just a touch too cool, and the dock isn't in the sun yet.

Have a GREAT day, and

KEEP DREAMING!

Night sounds

I love night sounds. Not just any night sounds...not a fan of the night sounds in the city...I love the night sounds out in the middle of the country--frogs croaking, crickets chirping, owls hooting (not screeching, though). And when we're here at the lake, I get to hear lots of night sounds.

We didn't get here until about 8:30 last night, so we unloaded (well, I unloaded...not about to let John do anything that could possibly screw up his wrist) and then we sat on the porch for a bit. The frogs were in grand form. Danny and Linda had left some crickets on the porch, and they were doing a lot of leg rubbing. No owls hooted, though, and fortunately, we didn't hear any coyotes yipping.

We opened the window in the bedroom before we went to bed, so I got to fall asleep to the sounds that I love. These are the sounds of my childhood.

Welcome back to the lake!

Yeah, I meant to make this post TWO weeks ago when we were AT the lake, but that didn't happen, and then last week I was exhausted from getting back into the swing of things.

We went up to the lake on the Tuesday I was out for spring break and stayed until last Sunday. The weather wasn't quite as nice as we'd have liked, but most all day Friday and then Saturday afternoon were perfect early spring days.

From here on, until it's too cold, we'll be "laking it" most every weekend, so hopefully I'll have some fun posts. =) We were at John's mom's this weekend, so the pictures are from week before.

I'm not sure these will be the permanent homes for the rooster and the flying pig, but for now, this will do.

We have a pair of ducks who live nearby. They swim by our place every morning and every afternoon. I hope to get some more pictures that will be better.

Ahhh...I love kicking back on the dock with a good book.

This is our "new" walkway and dock. It needs work, and we will be adding a covered boat slip, but for now, it serves my purpose JUST FINE. =)

It is always 5:00 somewhere...