My Crepe Myrtle

This crepe myrtle bush was given to me as a retirement gift by my friend Linda. That was three years ago. It finally decided that it was time to bloom and I must say that it has done a good job. I think that it must have heard my son threatening to dig it up if it did not do something this season.

I am so glad that it listened. She has attracted butterflies galore, which has been an added pleasure. I like watching the wildlife around my home and "flutterbys" are a particular favorite to watch.

The color is called raspberry. It is mostly pink with white on the very edges of each petal. I have tried to take good close up photos of the blossoms, but to no avail. For some reason the white just does not want to show up all that well. Therefore, I must be satisfied with this picture of the full bush, Hopefully it will bloom more and more for many years to come. Thanks to my friend - Linda - for the years of joy that I have to look forward to.

That is the life of a retiree - when a mere flowering bush can create so much excitement and happiness.

Golly- part two

More travels of Golly - these pictures were taken in Amish Country in Pennsylvania. He went to the Amish Village, rode the Strasburg Railroad with us and did some shopping at a store specializing in selling nik-naks featuring Amish stuff like hex signs. He had a good time despite the extremely hot weather. He has a very long way to make it back home so that he can tell the kids all about his adventures. I am sure that he will be glad to be home again, but he will be greatly missed after he leaves.

Golly - part one

Meet Golly - he belongs to the kids in Adrienne's class at school. He is traveling along with Adrienne so that the kids have an idea where she has gone on her travels to the U.S. He is a cute little character and has come a very long way to visit.

53 years in the making

This is me with my penpal (Adrienne Gelton) of 53 years. This was the very first time that we met in person. We were on the Strasburg RR in Pennsylvania when this picture was taken. It was a very hot day (7/6/10) - in the triple digits and it showed as far as I was concerned. Another passenger on the train took this picture for us. I have a ton of other pictures that we took during our three days in the Amish Country in Pennsylvania, as well as other pictures that she took to take back home (New Zealand) with her.

Even though it was 53 years ago that we started writing to each other and we had never met in person before, it was as if we had lived next door to each other all that time. We found out that we are actually very similar in many ways, i.e. the way that we think about things, the way we live our lives and the way that we were when we were kids. It has been fun and it is going to be a sad day when she leaves. We have been talking non-stop ever since I picked her up at Dullas International Airport in Virginia.

We went out to lunch today (7/12/10) with a friend of mine and had salads at Potbellies, a favorite place of mine to eat. We had a good time and on the way home we saw more sites and even more pictures were taken. It has been fun and a memory that I will have for the rest of my life. I am now very motivated to save up my money and go to New Zealand to see her country and meet her family. I can't wait and am very excited to get started.

Summer Getting Closer and Closer

Soon Spring will be over and Summer will be here. I did not think that it was ever going to happen the way that winter was holding on. We have survived wind, rain and even some early bouts of high temps and high humidity. But here we are....

As I look out my bedroom window I see all of the yardwork that needs to be done in my back yard. Trees are in desperate need of trimming and my fence is disappearing fast into the jungle of plants, vines and trees that belong to my neighbor (this will be taken care of when the trees are trimmed).

I finally managed to get all the weeds pulled in the front yard - now all I have left to do is replace the window well covers and plant flowers in my pots. I am a pot gardener because I can no longer lower myself to the ground comfortably. Once I get down there I have a devil of a time getting back up again. Thus, the reason for the garden seat that I am using this year. Will be working on this project later today after I go out to lunch, which is going to happen very soon.

I am so looking forward to having my yardwork done so that I can sit outside and enjoy my yard when the weather is nice enough. I would like to be able to sit at my picnic table with either a book in hand to read or my computer to write, a nice way to enjoy some of the days of my retirement.