The County Fair is Calling

The County Fair where I showed as a 4-H'er

and where my children also showed was

this past week.

And yes the fair does call...  I grew up

showing mostly hogs, horses for a 

period of time and one year I also took

a lamb.

So, of course, the livestock barn is a

main attraction...

Things have changed - the livestock numbers

are up (way up).  They moved and added in

lots of pens for the goats and some sheep. 

There were many cattle!

This time we tagged along with Grand

#1 and #3 but sometimes we go just

on our own.

A little Midway excitement is 

always necessary.

We didn't see many 4-H families that we

know - we are getting old although the

4-H Office Lady is still there - I had a 

nice visit with her.

We walked through the 4-H exhibits - there

were some beautiful quilts done by

young people.

Darn-it!

I planted this seedling tree in 2016 ~ 

this specific one did really well. 

Well Sunday it looked like this, tall and

beautiful with its' leaves starting to 

change just a slight bit preparing for fall.

tree - just left of the Hoefs rock

A couple of days later - yikes the wind

took it down.

I am not very pleased with myself - we had
it staked and the support needed to be
changed  so I took down the stakes but 
didn't redo it.   I should have done
it immediately.

Times Change

I recently just finished our next book

in the Family Christmas Series (a photobook

of our family Christmas celebration

starting when hubby and I were married

in 1986.

Book #1 covered 1986 through 2011

back when the traditions were pretty much

the same as when we grew up.

Christmas on the in-laws side began to

change when our nieces grew up and spent

time with their families celebrating in one

way or another.

Then our children grew up and fell
in love. 

Book #2 covers 2012 through 2016, a son-in-law
 and daughter-in-law both have joined the
family and Grandson #1.

Oh how we have changed.

In our larger family, we have also seen some
changes.   "Times Change".... 

Old Barn Treasures

The barn on the farm where I grew up is

getting some modifications... so it was

time for some pictures and looking 

through some junk....

The hay mow has been room for storage

for a long time....

There was all kinds of stuff up there

The guys were looking at stuff and look

what we found.... you can see it just to

the left of the picture.... Rusty, rusty and 

some metal.   It took me a second and maybe

a third trip to decide I would take the 

piece of junk   :) 

But look what we came up with ~ my only

idea for it was something to do with

flowers outside...  And Hubby came 

up with this.  

This is an old pig feeder of sorts - the bottom
where the pigs would eat out of no longer exists.

This may not be the permanent spot but we

will try it it for awhile and then store it out

of the weather this winter.  (the bottom rust

was treated so that it will last longer - 

give it a little time and it will blend in real well).

The barn has a new roof... sad to see the

old roof go but this will look nice. 

Wait til you see what other old treasure

I have...

Car Show on the Beach

Last week we went to a car show 

on the beach...

It was a perfect night for it, it was

hot and sticky.  One of those days when

the heat index is way more warmer

than the actual temperature.

This is the second time we have gone

to the Car Show on the beach this summer.

Last month there were so many cars that some

actually parked on the beach and the sidestreets.

It sure seems like a great way to bring people to

town - it is fun to watch people looking, 

sharing stories and smiling!

The Lillies Are Blooming!

Many varieties of the Lillies are blooming...

adding color all over the yard! 

It seems that I have added quite a few

colors of these hardy plants....  they grow easily.

Dreaming - Parks

I have been taking one of my breaks during

the day to read...   I enjoy reading but

have to take time to sit down and read.

This book was in my Christmas stocking

from good ol' St Nick

As I read a section than I do a little

research in the atlas to actually locate

the parks - I have found some 
interesting information.  The details that
Matt and Karen provide in their book are
"their" experiences in visiting national parks.

I have found these parks very interesting:

*Olympic National Park in Washington State - it 
has three ecosystems:  Mountains (one of my
favorites), Rainforest (I have never visited) and
Ocean Beach.

*Cuyahoga Valley National Park in the State of Ohio -
between Akron and Cleveland,
where the famous polluted Cuyahoga 
River runs.  Yes, polluted.  Apparently signs there
indicated "No Swimming, No Wading, No Boating
(I hope this has improved in the last 8 years).
This park didn't become a park to protect or
preserve it, it became a park because local
citizens wanted it to be.  President Ford signed
the bill to establish Cuyahoga Valley National
Recreation Area.  The next 34 years found land
being purchased, structures being restored and
in 2000 it became a National Park.  It is the
only National Park in the State of Ohio.   This
park isn't on my list to visit at this time. 

**Rocky Mountain National Park - in the northern
part of Colorado.  This is on my list to visit, hubby
has been in or close to this area years ago.  This
national park has five visitor centers.

My destination vacation list is getting longer!!

Summer Family Time

Our last couple of weeks have been filled

with Family Time

Mom and Dad celebrated their 48th

Wedding Anniversary.

Our Niece and grandsons (her cousins)

Lots of family visiting - sitting and

relaxing.

Great Uncle time.

Some painting time for us gals.

A birthday party - turning 9!

July 4th Picnic - with hotdish  :)

4th of July Parade

4th of July Fireworks - many of us meet at the

beach after the parade and spend the evening

waiting for the fireworks.

We recreated this picture - I will have to

look for the older one and post together.

"Aunt, Nephew and Niece"

Us and our grands!   We had to be a bit

clever to get everybody in the picture

at one time  :)   The boys are all

now getting very busy!