Friends, Fish & Feathers

We’re getting a much needed rain here today so it’s a good day for catching up on our blog reading and writing.

Just as a follow up to Shy’s post  . . . she didn’t really give herself enough credit and please keep in mind that this is her Mother speaking so I apologize in advance.

The kids started showing up for face painting at 3 pm and lining up right up till 6:15 pm. She worked non-stop all that time, using all of her own product. She had a wonderful time and best of all the kids loved it and the parents were pretty happy too that it was all free.

Not only did Shy invest her time but the kids (and their parents) really must have spent a lot of time and effort getting dressed up. the costumes were great – not just something thrown together. It was a great day!

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While The Cowboy is pretty laid back and doesn’t get overly excited about much he does become a little antsy this time of year. The last Saturday in June marks the opening of Bass Season down here in Long Point and the rods, reels and tackle boxes are all loaded up and ready to go the night before in preparation for the 7 AM take off!

You might want to read a previous post Something Fishy Going On Here

The weather was perfect, altho’ a bit choppy on the bay, the boys had a great time and yes, we had to hear all about the one many that got away.

It takes them almost as long to clean them as it does to catch them but they seem to forget that when this is put in front of them:

Served with these wonderful new small gourmet potatoes supplied by our friends Wayne & Sandy here in the park.

 

They grow about 60 acres of these on their farm and they are simply melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

 

 

Along with Bass season comes Strawberry season and Sandy had asked us to join them later that evening for dessert with another awesome friend, Nancy. We are back and forth all the time whether it be for coffee, drinks or campfires and of course, there’s usually food involved.

We trooped all the way over there (across the road) with our contribution – Bailey’s Irish Cream. What we didn’t know was that they wanted to acknowledge and celebrate our wedding. They gifted us with a beautiful (tear-jerking) card and this beautiful Mad Mat:

Made up of all recycled materials, it’s a perfect outdoor rug - plus it’s reversible:

The colours are so bright and perfect for our gazebo!

 

Thank You Wayne, Sandy and Nancy.

 

Your friendship means the world to us!

 

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So while The Cowboy has been out fishing (3 times this week) and our freezer is being stocked I took on a few more projects around here.

Last year I started collecting a few – no several  well, alright many bird and butterfly houses. I won’t admit to the number of them that I have but there were a few that needed some sprucing up.

The round one – top right – transformed into this:

The following shows the ‘before’ on the left:

 

Yup! Life is For the Birds!

Trick or Treat

Our daughter Shy is our guest poster tonight – no tricks and I’m sure you’ll find it a real treat . . .

Halloween in the summer is just a great excuse for my family to get in touch with their inner child, create creepy crawlers, boo-tiful ghosts, and yes, get dressed up and act silly! Here is my family – as I am told we know how to put the “FUN” in dis-FUN-ctional!

Now, to share with you some of the memorable moments leading up to this grand TA-DA! There was learning to be a spider….I’m sure they did it a LOT quicker than I did, but with COWBOY Dad’s wisdom and handiwork, and my repeated circles and knots – we “GOT ER DONE!”

Then we lured some of the neighbours kids over and painted scary stuff all over their faces!

 

   That should get them some treats!

 

 

 

Then I toned it down a bit for the “cute little buggers” and many were transformed into beautiful butterflies:

Another benefit of being previously employed at a Party Supply Store was bringing home loads of Balloons that were on their way to the dumpster

(Dad taught me how to dumpster dive at a very young age - probably before I was old enough to be able to get myself out – but I’m ok, therapy is helping me A LOT!)

A perfect TREAT for the little vultures – after all WE don’t want them all wired up on sugar running around our campground!

 

 

 

 My Ma & Pa – so did I mention how HAPPY I am that they are married AGAIN?!

The other trailer park peeps got involved and had fun with Halloween too…

 

….especially my husband…he’s such a good sport! Here he is, and yes he has been working out lately! Love you baby!

 

So much fun…so little time. Grateful for all the great memories with my family - as crazy as they, or should I say WE all are!

               --- Shy (A.K.A: Punky)

Nourishing Our Souls

 

So while we weren’t sitting around waiting for our flowers to bloom we were keeping ourselves busy with other stuff.

Since Halloween comes in October, after the park closes for the season, we celebrate it here in June. For the kids of course. In preparation of this event The Cowboy and our daughter Shy created some amazing decorations. They did an amazing job on this huge spider web. A couple of ghosts, skulls and skeletons were added and people have been stopping by to view and take pictures.

Zooming in on the dragonfly on the tree, top right, is another idea from my Pinterest collection. A wooden spindle and old ceiling fan blades all upcycled to create more yard art.

A friend from here in the park lined us up with about 17 round patio stones that were headed for the landfill.

The before and after – The Cowboy ground them down and scored a design to brighten them up and add some interest. I will never deny that man from buying any tool his big heart desires.

We love our trees but there are a few places on our site where the sunlight is limited. There are a few bare spots and grass is sparse so the stones fit right in.

More work on the Man Cave.

Our new park owner, Scott, helped freshen up our driveway with a few loads of gravel.

It was a busy week around here but one of my highlights was getting together with a couple of girlfriends. I worked with these ladies at Alliance One last fall and it was such fun getting together . . .  and spending 3 hours over coffee. We could have spent 3 days I’m sure. We had a great time catching up. Laughing, crying and sharing. One heart touching moment was when a lady in the booth behind us told us how envious she was of us, how she missed her girlfriends – but was looking forward to getting together with them in the next couple of weeks.

You just can’t buy this type of therapy. 

So why don’t you give a friend a call and make some plans?

It’s good for your soul. Trust Me.

Old Wives and Peonies

Just sitting around waiting for the flowers to bloom . . .

11 AM 4 PM 8 PM VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

OLD WIVES TALE: Peonies need ants to bloom or be pollinated by them.

FACT: The eye buds are set in the late summer into fall for the upcoming year.

Having said that, and this information was found on the internet so it must be true:

Ants like the sweet peony secretions and as they walk about and eat away at the waxy coating it loosens the the very tight cabbage-like blossom holders. I don't think it's required by the peony for ants to be present, but I do notice that my peonies with the most ants bloom all at once and the blooms are fully opened, gorgeous and fragrant, whereas the peonies in a different area that gets regular bug treatments and thus no ants, bloom a lot more sporadically.

 

This little guy thinks he found a new friend . . . that’s our rear view mirror on the motorhome. There’s quite a bit of glare in the photo but not a bad shot through the windshield.

So what do you think his thoughts are here?

The following shots are just random photos taken around our site.

Here’s a couple of shots taken around the park. The white fluff on the water is not snow. We have a few poplar trees around.

Some of you may not recognize the subject in this very rare shot.

SUNSHINE!

God Grant Me The Serenity of My Garden

Hello. My name is Sharon and I’m a Pinterest addict.

There. I’ve said it.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pinterest here are a couple of definitions:

Noun. pinterest [pin-ter-est]      Verb. pin, pinning, pinned

1. A virtual pinboard.

2. An inspiration board comprised of collections of favourite inspiration in the form of photos and imagery.

3. A place to waste a lot of time.

I’m not sure how it happened. All I can remember is someone sent me an online invitation and I (politely) joined. Wow, this must be quite an elite group (only 48.7 million users) because then I had to wait and see if I was accepted! 

It started out slowly with me just casually browsing the website and thinking how cute and so easy some of the DIY (Do It Yourself) projects seemed.

The boards are simple clean spaces with really cool pictures of crafts, decorating ideas and garden inspirations.. There are tutorials on how to recycle toilet paper rolls to fit any décor or how to upcycle mason jars into lamps that would look great anywhere. Or you can find health tips and just plain old cycling – if you’re into fitness that is. New simple menus and modern updates on your Grandmother’s secret traditional recipes. .

I know. It sounded useless and harmless to me too.

Then I pinned and fell into this black hole.

Now, I’m not naturally artsy crafty but I am resourceful enough if I see something I like I can usually figure out a way to git-r-done . . . or I ask The Cowboy.

So just to let you know that I have proudly taken the first step and admitted I was powerless over Pinterest.

Another glass flower – proving that I am not in the full ‘bloom’ of denial.

Now watch as these yard sale items magically, with some silicone, turn into a wonderful garden display.

The most expensive piece is the little jam jar, top center, which was $1.00. The plates were 25 cents and the other pieces about 50 cents each.

A $2.00 solar light was added later to the jam jar on top bringing the total to $6.00.

Then these mushrooms started sprouting up and spreading everywhere.

Much like my life, they’ve  become unmanageable.

I’m afraid this addiction is contagious and has spread throughout the whole family. This is our daughter, Shy’s creation. She is much more imaginable than I am.

The next one is still a work in progress but we are enjoying it even at this stage.

For those of you who haven’t jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon, it’s not too late. Trust me, you will never look at a Mason Jar the same way again.