Contrasting pictures-April 29, 2017

Could two pictures be any more different?

 

Taken on Thursday by my niece in Birmingham, AL. She planted all of these

herself. Look at the brilliant colors. She has a keen eye for color.

 

Taken by me on Friday. It almost does not need words. It stopped snowing last night but started again this morning. It is predicted to change to rain later today but the temperature is too low to be rain. We are happy to be inside, warm and dry.

 

Which would you prefer? Care to guess which we would prefer?

"Working hard"-April 28, 2017

Remember the cardboard castle we gave the girls for Valentine's Day? We are still working on it. Hannah and Zoey both spent two days in the past week coloring hard and vigorously.

It isn't the way we would have done it, but it is not our castle.

We have given them free reign. And we have never criticized.

To make it look more like a princess castle we had to hang old

costume jewelry on it.

 

When we get tired of being indoors we go out and draw with sidewalk chalk. We are working with Hannah on learning to throw a Frisbee. She is doing very well with her toss.

 

 

 

 

For a reason we don't know Hannah always wants to draw trains

on train tracks. Then they both run all over the tracks. We leave it and the sprinkler

washes it away so they have a blank canvas when they come back.

Those chalk pencils have been a blessing. It keeps their hands clean!

 

 

 

Bad Daddy's Burger Bar-April 25, 2017

These franchises are popping up everywhere. We ate at one today. And we are still not sure if we would go back. We each had a burger and water. Our bill was $25. Is that high for hamburgers? The meal was cooked well. The cole slaw was made with horseradish. That's just plain wrong. I think we know we will stick with Five Guys in the near future.

If you have a chance to try Bad Daddy's please let me know what you think. It must not have impressed us if we are not jumping up and down. Just can't make up our minds.

Having fun-April 24, 2017

 

 

Guess who is the horsey? Hint: Not me.

 

Jerry bent over to get something off the floor and Zoey pounced on him in the blink of an eye. In another split second Hannah was on the horse, too. They thought it was so funny. It was cute to see them have so much fun by abusing their granddaddy.

 

Deadwood, South Dakota-April 20, 2017

We just returned from another trip to Deadwood. This trip ended up being as educational as it was just plain fun. We have always felt that Deadwood was very unique and interesting. As it turns out the entire city of Deadwood is on the National Registry of Historical Places. Not just a building but the entire city. Therefore most of the buildings are the same as they have been for over 100 years. They are not newly built to look old. They are old! But, oh so fascinating. Please allow me to share a few pictures with you.

Deadwood is positively a mountain town. No flat land anywhere.

Therefore, houses are built up and down the mountainside. They

are stacked almost on top of each other. At night it is like Christmas

and it's really pretty. In the daytime it looks perilous to me. This was taken

from our hotel which is also on the side of the mountain.

 

 

This is in front of the Lee Street Station which was a gas

station at one time. It is now a hotel/casino/restaurant. We had

breakfast there one morning. These gas pumps are original.

The one on the left had the glass replaced so it has a blue tint to it.

The one on the right is all original including the nozzles. They are

very, very nicely restored. Our waitress told us people have tried on more

than one occasion to steal them but they are bolted into the ground so

deeply it is almost impossible. At least, so far.

 

 

This is probably Deadwood's most famous resident, Wild Bill Hickok.

It stated that this is a life size figure. He was not a giant of a man in stature.

If he died with his boots on, they were certainly a very nice pair.

 

 

Poor Wild Bill met his demise in Deadwood, too.

 

I could tell you more but I don't want to bore you. However, it didn't bore us. This is just a fascinating part of the state of South Dakota. The western part is extremely different from the eastern part. We really like it in this area. It is also very, very pretty and the people are extremely polite and friendly. We hope to go back many, many times.

 

 

Daisy Lynn-April 13, 2017

A tisket, a tasket.

A Daisy in a basket.

 

Daisy has a really cute smile but I could not get her to show it for this picture. Oddly, she really liked sitting in this basket and playing. No doubt this was a first for her. Bless her heart. She's 6 months old.

 

 

 

Another project-April 8, 2017

Today's project with the girls was to dye Easter eggs. I think it is way too early but Hannah wanted to get it done today. It ended up being over a 4 hour project. And I had cooked, cooled and dried the eggs before we ever left to pick them up. All eggs were dyed. Some got stickers. Some were painted with glitter paint and some were shrink wrapped. My kitchen looked like a tornado had been through it!

Hannah's basket which is really a box. We already have baskets

for them and did not want them to know that. Instead of that

cellophane Easter grass I just shredded pretty pastel paper.

Daisy has an egg in here, too.

 

 

Zoey's box. As soon as we got them home, Zoey picked up two

eggs and bashed them together. Oh well, at least we got them home!

 

We have two more Easter projects and then we are done for this Easter season.

 

Tribute to friends-April 7, 2017

We have lost two longtime friends very recently. And we are definitely sorry for that.

Ken Anderson of Loveland, Colorado, age 75. Service is Monday. We met Ken over 40 years ago. He was a brilliantly talented musician, extremely intelligent and very respectful.

Wilbur Conway of Trussville, Alabama, age 76. Service is tomorrow. We met Wilbur 50 years ago. He was a fun loving guy who was a dynamite bowler, good golfer and quite a dancer. He loved to dance!

Two men could not be more different. But they were both a part of our lives and we will miss them.

Rest in peace, dear friends.

Flower-April 1, 2017

Here's a treat I made for Hannah and Zoey in an attempt to get them

to eat some fruit. The flower is made of mandarin oranges and a cherry.

The flower pot is a chocolate graham cracker and the stem is made of

chocolate chips. So which did they eat first? Yep, chocolate chips.

So much for trying to eat healthy.