Wanted, Unwanted, Weird Residents and Garden Goodies

Lenny

Our newest "wanted" resident.  Lenny.  Lenny is from A.'s buddy L. and has been long anticipated.  He is very cute, extremely playful, and wants to suck on your finger to go to sleep.  Silly kitty!



Lenny and Roscoe, new BFF's




Paper Wasp Nest

So we have been working on the camper, getting it ready for the convention.  One day we go outside to find this "unwelcome" guest that had attached itself to the camper.  This is a paper wasp nest.  I have been seeing a lot of these in service lately.  They can get HUGE!  This is how it looked the first day we discovered it.

And this is the nest two days later.  Not really much bigger but they had finished off the bottom and you can see a new layer starting at the top.  Cameron took care of it though so unwanted quests are now gone.



American Dagger Moth Caterpillar

And this "weird" resident is an American Dagger Moth caterpillar.  A. captured him while last week.  Very strange looking creature.  When they are attacked by a predator they curl up in a ball and those black hairs on his back look like spikes to ward off attackers.  Clever.  And as colorful as he is, he turns into a very blah, grey moth.

And lastly, a few garden goodies.  Starting off with something we got nothing of last year.  Bell peppers!  Yum!

The bell peppers are doing well.  Although the plants are not getting very big so the peppers really weigh them down and they end up bent over.  They are delicious though.  And the jalapeño plants are doing awesome.  We are getting a ton of jalapeño's.

Our zucchini plants are doing awesome as well.  I have been checking them every couple of days and getting one or two each day.  Somehow I missed one.  And this is what happens after you miss that same one for a few days.

Guess I better get busy baking some zucchini bread!

This next week will be very busy.  Thursday morning we head over to Saginaw for our convention.  Can't wait.  Talk to you all soon. 

Hugs and kisses from all of us here in Michigan!

The Great Debate

Thirty years ago when I moved to Arizona, I went through this same debate in reverse.  Now I am back in Michigan and my kids are going through it and have great debates with their friends about which is correct. . . . soda or pop?  They always grab the closest soda or pop (whichever you prefer) bottle and search to see what it says on the label.

Soda or Pop?

This article is pretty funny.  For my "pop" saying buddies, please ignore the snide remark in the article.  I personally say, be the minority!  It sparks a conversation in the very least.  Besides, saying "pop" makes me feel all nostalgic.

Weekend Rewind and Garden Update

What a great weekend!  This weekend we took a break from working on the 13 Mile Road house.  A.K.A Reuben's house.  I know it is no longer his house but I will never drive by it again without thinking of Reuben and Aubrei and their super cute kiddos.  I will never drive by it again without feeling sad that they are no longer here but far, far away in Arizona.  But, that is another story!  This weekend we took a break from all the work and just had fun.

We started our weekend with Saturday morning service.  Here is just some of our views from Saturday.

For my Lakeside friends, if anyone has the opportunity, can you please show this picture to Bro. Spence?  He asked me if we have any open space around where we live.  Please show him this and tell him this is our typical landscape around here.  Yes, we have open space!

We also have lots of wildlife.  These are some Sandhill Cranes we spotted on the way home.  Somewhere around here is the nesting site.  Which I have heard is something to see.  I am going to find that before the end of the summer and share that with you.

We did some yard saleing after service.  Somehow, the weekends we choose to do this, or have the time to do it, there are not the same amount of yard sales as there are when we are out and about with no time to stop.  Still, we found some pretty cool things.  Including this fan that A. and I are fighting over.

A. wants to leave it as is (with some clean-up) for her room and I want to sand it down and paint it for my room.  Hmmm, guess you will have to wait and see who wins.

After that we went out on the boat.  Cameron and Z. went fishing in the row boat and the rest of us headed out on the paddle boat.  Which is hilarious to watch because either something is wrong with our paddle boat or we are just not smart enough to figure it out.  We can't steer so Jake got out in attempts to "help" us but really just wanted an excuse to be in the water.  In the middle of it all Roscoe (Rachel's wiener dog), who was already stressed because we made him wear his little doggie life jacket, decided the firecrackers that were going off were just to much for him.  So he was freaking out and running around the boat trying to jump overboard.  So we headed back to the dock to fix the rutter and to take Roscoe home.  Thank goodness we only live 2 minutes from the dock.

So we headed out again for a second attemp.  So it still seems like we can not figure it out because it didn't matter how soft or how hard we peddled we didn't make it very far very fast.  It didn't help that a couple of teenagers on a smaller boat paddled by us like it was no big deal.  Ugh!  Anyway, I jumped out with J. and him I swam back to shore and let Rachel and A. figure out the stupid boat.

Sunday after meeting we headed for a BBQ at a friends house.  Lots of fun.  We played beach ball volleyball.  Well some of us did, some of us stayed inside and enjoyed the air-conditioning!

It was very fun, but very warm so after they were done playing volleyball they headed to the river and swam in the nice cool water.  So much fun.  Our hostess is a sister who is also a caterer so all the food was delicious.  But she never lets anyone bring anything.  So what do you bring a hostess who has it all?  Hmmm, she is also someone who loves antiques and vintage items.  (side note: I LOVE her house!)  So I gathered up some "items" laying around the house and voila!  Hostess gift made simple, country style.  A vintage canning jar, a beautiful satin ribbon, and some clippings from my hydrangea bush.



Sunday night we worked in the garden and then spent some time with Mom and Dad.  It was a great, relaxing weekend.  And lastly, I promised a garden update.

Our berries are ready!  J. and I went out this morning and picked some berries.  Yum!

Still not sure how we missed all of this last year!  I was contemplating relocation some of these into a berry patch for next year, but they are doing so well right here, I think I will just let them stay where they are!

Roma Tomatoes

Grape Tomatoes

Yellow Bell Pepper

Jalapeño

Sugar Snap Peas

Green Onions

Lettuce

And much, much more.  Next week I will try to remember to take a picture of the entire garden.

Oh and before I go, a picture of our newest resident.

Our little June-Bug

Hugs and kisses to all of you.