Farewell to June.

Guess who I got to meet up with last week?

Little Calista and her Mommy and Daddy!

It had been six long months since we saw her pretty little face.

My son and his family flew to Canton, Michigan to visit my daughter-in-law's mom, sister and grandfather.

Hubby and I decided to make the 500 mile trek around the lake and the city of Chicago since this would be their only visit to the Midwest this summer.

At first little Calista who is 22 months was a little stand offish towards me.

However it didn't take long for her to warm up.

Such are the struggles of being a long distant grandparent.

We had such a nice visit with them.

It was short but so worth the drive over.

Hopefully we will be able to fly to Phoenix in October.

With the heat wave they are having I think that it might be a better month to go.

On the other hand, we have had a rather cool and wet summer so far.

Although there have been some beautiful days in the low 80's I think we've only hit 90 twice so far.

Just past week we ran our AC for the first time and that was more because of the high humidity.

My plants however are loving it!

My baby's breath is as full as it's ever been.

My clematis is just starting to fill in.

I trimmed it way down in early April and I am so glad I did.

It's coming back so much better.

And this spirea plant has grown to rather gigantic proportions.

After it's done blooming I think a little haircut is in order.

Well I just hate to say good-bye to June.

It's always been my favorite month.

I guess that's why it goes so quickly.

And now on to the 4th and the rest of summer.

Cindy

 

Patio re-hab

Hello friends.

We've had some beautiful June weather this past week.

The kind as my DH puts it, we dream of all winter.

June means my painted daisies are in bloom.

Oh how I love their vibrant pink color.

June also means school has finally ended and my building construction teacher hubby has time to do a few projects around our home as well.

One of his first priorities is this peeling and nasty looking fencing that surrounds our back patio.

Five years ago, he scraped it, primed it and painted it.

It had been a nasty beige color.

It was quite the job and looked really pretty for awhile.

However as of late it has taken a turn for the worse.

We looked into replacing it with the white vinyl fencing and priced it out.

However it's very pricey and we really didn't find one we liked that well.

So my resourceful hubby took down every single piece.

( a job in itself.)

He then planed every single piece and applied coats of Thompson Water Sealer.

And just look at the difference it has made.

The wood is cedar as my hubby suspected and I love the different knots and grains.

Sorry this is a little too bright but I think you can see the difference it has made.

From this...

to this.

And the only cost was the can of water sealer.

He is working on the other side now as well and when he has it all done I will update you with the results.

June is just bursting out all over and I love it.

I could re-run June several times every year and never tire of it.

Have a lovely week my friends,

Joining these great blog parties.

Tweak it Tuesday @ Cozy Little House

A Stroll thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday

Nurturing, Planting and Blooming.

Nurture:

To care for and encourage the growth and development of.

That is one definition of the word nurture.

It also describes my life at this moment. I am helping to nurture my grand-daughter.  It also is why my blogging is set aside at times.  

But I feel like I have been given a gift.

Because to me there is no more important job in this world than the nurturing of our children and grand-children.

The last two weeks have been busy ones.  Graduations parties, parades, festivals and the end of school.

And this little gal came right along with us to most of the festivities.

One morning while watching Nick Jr. and having a little breakfast I was able to give Addison her first up-do. 

But she prefers to be outside on her grand-pa's lap when he mows.

On the few days that I haven't had little Addison it seemed to be raining.

Finally with some sunny days I was able to finish most of my planting.

I found the shelf at a garage sale.

It had the Homegoods price tag still on it.

DH was able to mount it on the stone using drywall screws.

I like the look and I am hoping to fluff it a bit more in the days to come.

I finished planting annuals and a few perennials out here.

Now for some good growing weather.

Because we've had rain to last a month or more.

So I plant.

And I look forward to things blooming and filling in.

And I nurture.

But I also know that I need to nurture myself sometimes as well.

And that my friends is something us gals sometimes have a hard time doing.

Have a wonderful week and don't forget to nurture when you can.

Cindy