Memorial Day

We drove down to Andersonville today to visit the grave of our adopted Augustus Schneider, #4088 in the cemetery there.  We adopted Augustus when we were there in September.  He's a Schneider, he's from Indiana (but served with the Ohio 3rd Regiment) and if he's not kin to us, we claim him all the same.  I picked a couple of flowers for him and we took some pictures.  It was a beautiful day, somber and HOT.  The flags went on forever, it seemed.  Such a sad, sad place.  

Larry got that Kepi hat the last time we were there and he added insignia from Augustus' unit and one for Indiana.
 

 I love this one of him saluting. 

 I caught this little birdy just before he took off. 

We left there and went and visited Mama and Daddy for a little while and had some of Daddy's awesome delicious burgers with chips and homemade lemonade and then some orange sherbet Push-Ups for dessert!

We stopped by Whitewater Park on the way home just to see all the new stuff they have there!  They have a splash pad now! 

And lots of folks were out there enjoying the beach today!  I'm so happy for my little hometown park for being able to get these improvements (a walking trail, new playground equipment and newly designed campgrounds, too!).  Whitewater has always been a special place for me and my family.  We spent many Easters there and had years of family Christmas celebrations there in the Pavilion.  We even had our family reunion there a couple of summers ago.  My childhood friend, Nancy Tramel and her husband, Adam, have made such a tremendous difference there and I'm so proud for and of them.  I know y'all will have a GREAT summer!!

Weekend project!

Back in the winter, we made a list of things we wanted to get done around the house this spring and summer.  Repainting the picnic table and benches was one of them.  We did that yesterday and Larry even replaced the whole top of the table that had a couple of rotten spots so now we'll have it for years and years to come.

Being the counterculture folks that we are, we wanted something different from just a brown table and benches.  Larry had the idea of doing every piece a different color and I picked the colors.  I was going for beachy colors.  If you've ever been to our house, you know our "style" is eclectic.  We like vintage, we like the beach and we like stuff that reflects our hippie hearts.  My friend, Lisa, even told me Thursday that our house looked like it belonged at the beach!  

So for the picnic table and benches, I picked stone gray, seafoam green, cool blue, latte and cream.  I painted the benches and Larry painted the table.  And it's a good thing we painted the picnic table and benches before we painted the deck (that's another one on our list!).  I'm just sayin'.  :)

I think they turned out beautiful!!

I didn't plan for them to match our patio set but when I was painting the blue bench after the green one, it hit me.

Yay for three-day weekends and home projects!

My first chili trophy!

We had a chili cook-off two weeks ago at work as a fundraiser for our Wingman Day that we had today.  I entered the cook-off with a chili recipe that was part mine and part two other recipes that I tweaked and came up with one really good pot of chili.  I named my chili "Afterburner" because one, it was hot and would burn you afterwards and two, afterburner is an extra little kick of fuel into the exhaust that makes our girl go a little faster.  And be a little more badass.  :) 

And I got SECOND PLACE!!  My very first time competing in anything since I baked cookies for a 4-H fair in the 5th grade.  First place went to a coworker who is famous for his chili, Brunswick stews, pulled pork, you name it, Mr. Farrell can cook it.  He's won five chili cook-offs with that recipe, which was just meat and seasonings, true Texas chili.  He even has a team down at the Big Pig Jig down in Vienna (and today he invited Larry and me to come down there and be his guests in November!) and they've been cooking pork for over 20 years.  The man knows his stuff.  So for me to come in second behind Mr. Farrell in a chili cook-off was an honor and I was tickled pink!

We didn't have trophies or anything like that, just a certificate for the first place winner so my sweet Larry went and had me a trophy made.  He gave it to me today at Wingman Day so that I could show all my friends.  And I'm showing it here so y'all can see it, too.  If you read my blog, you're my friend.  Even if I don't know you.  :)

My first chili trophy.  I love it.

Tabbie Hoffman is FOUR!

We celebrated first thing this morning with catnip-filled toys and coffee.  Well, maybe Larry and I had the coffee.

I left the blind up in the living room so he could have his sunbeam all day and he was allowed to have all the treats he wanted.

I think he loved his toys!  For about a minute, anyway.  He got a new "kicker" and some cute little catnip tea bags.  

He's had a stubborn little case of feline acne that we've been fighting for a while now.  I'm doing everything the vet told us to, it just doesn't want to let my sweet boy go.  :(  We're scrubbing with Stridex pads and peroxide, washing with Dial soap, washing bowls in hot soapy water every day and we took away his carpeted scratching post.  If anybody out there has any ideas, I'd be grateful to hear 'em!

He's also found a new little hidey-hole that he likes.  Right outside the mudroom window.  

Here's Banjo looking out...

This picture just cracks me up!!  

Happy, happy birthday, Sweet Tater!  You are FOUR years old already!!  Time sure has flown and you've been nothing but pure joy.

Cheery cherry suit!

I bought this adorable 1950's Esther Williams' style bathing suit to wear next month when we go to the BEACH!!  

I ordered it online and I ordered my size but you gals know that bathing suits are not always true to size.  I was a little worried.  It came today and it fits great!  

I hung it on my closet door to remind me to eat right so it will fit perfect come beach time!  :D 

I just love it. 

Garden update!

We've had a lot of rain this week and our little garden loved it!  Everything is so lush and green and growing!

We have eight little green tomatoes that are almost the right size to fry!

Larry cut the grass today and it looks sooooo good!

I have been really, really tired lately so while I slept in yesterday morning, Larry went estate saleing all by himself.  He brought me home lots of goodies!  A good bit of Pyrex and this beautiful seashell chime that we immediately hung on the front porch.

It reminds me of the beach and I just love it!

I'm still loving my blue porch ceiling!!

I've been growing these little beauties in pots on the porch.  

Tabbie Hoffman loves to be on the porch with Mama.  And it was a glorious 78 degrees today so Mama loved it, too!

Just bluetiful!

There's an old Southern tradition to paint your front porch ceiling blue, supposedly to chase away spirits and to keep wasps and bugs from nesting (supposedly, again, insects feel too high up when your porch ceiling is blue and won't nest there).  While I don't believe in haints (the only spirit in this house is the Holy Spirit!), we have had wasp nests and birds nesting on the porch.  

I just loved the idea of a blue ceiling and keeping close to my Southern roots and since we have this super nice front porch now, we decided to do it!

Larry painted it today and I think it turned out beautiful!!!  We used Valspar's Clear Blue Sky and it's as close to the color of the sky today as we could possibly get.  It's so pretty and bright and it makes me happy just to look at it.