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| Week One: |
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Sorry this update took a while to get online this month. As you'll see, I took a lot of pictures (of flowers, the zoo, the dogz and the pool); but it seemed that just about the time I got the pictures ready for an update, something else was happening. LOL Plus, with the excellent weather we've been having here in Ohio, I spent nearly a whole week out at Jim's pool.  |
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We transplanted some irises, from Jim's house, last summer to around DO and Cliff's back deck. This year, the plants are growing well, and are finally blooming.  |
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Recently, one of DO's grandsons has gone into the tattoo business, and for a beginner, he's pretty darned good. Russell did this
scorpion on Richard's bicep (covering up an old tattoo), while the dragon and demon are brand new tats on John. I'm hoping to exchange some computer work for a tattoo soon. (I'd like to have a tribal art design running around my left leg with the names of my dogs. |
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| Cliff and DO held a big cookout for Memorial Day to kick off the Summer. Linda, Jim, Kerrie, and Cliff did the grilling while DO worked in the kitchen fixing the side dishes. |
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| DO's mom, brother and sister even showed up for the cookout from Alliance. |
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| The kids playing in the warm weather |
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DO's sister, Justine |
MouseOver to see
who was caught in the frig |
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mIkIE looks happy filling up his plate in the kitchen |
| Do was anxious to see the pictures from the cookout. With her mom, daughter, grandson, and great-grandson, there were five generations all together at one time. |
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| I had to go to Tara's house to work on her home computer. And to see "my other doggie", Lucy. I keep telling Lucy that she can come live with me and the spaniels and be my 5th and 6th spaniel (since she's as big as two Joxers). |
| Jim out cleaning the pool and getting it ready for swimming |
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| DO and Cliff have put out two bird feeders (that DO got for Mother's Day) and have attracted every bird in a 50 mile radius. I don't know which will bankrupt them first, feeding all the birds or me. ROFL |
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DO's irises are in full bloom less than a week later.
DO spent a nice afternoon planting some pansies. |
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| Willow provides the Gratuitous Butt Shot of the Month |
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| A nice summer evening was spent at Cliff and DO's holding an Italian sausage cookout birthday party for their friend Veronica. |
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| With all the good weather finally in the area, Jim and I didn't want to just hang around the house this weekend, so we took a short trip up to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. For a ton of pictures of a bunch of animals, click the image below. |
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Week Two: |
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All of my irises are in full bloom and I've been taking batches to DO and to Tara, so that everyone can enjoy some of nature's beauty.  |
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MouseOver to see the irises blooming in 2 days |
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Along with transplanting irises from Jim's to DO's, we also transplanted a bunch to my house. Within less than a week's time, these starting budding and blooming. |
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| What a difference a few days make |
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the Hollyhocks are jumping up now with the heat; |
| while the crepe myrtle is still doing well. |
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Out back the mint is growing good, |
| and the morning glories are starting to spread and grow. |
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| The cosmos are also growing like mad out back (blooms should come out around the 6th). The tiger
lilies under the kitchen window are getting tall and filling up with buds that will soon be beautiful flowers. |
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| But my yard is not the only one blooming, Jim's got flowers everywhere too. The lilacs have finished; but the irises are going strong. |
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| In Jim's front yard, the cosmos are doing even better than mine (at least one side of his driveway is going well; the other, as you can see isn't too happy.) According to the internet, the cosmos should have bloomed by June 6th. However, I think that the cold snap that we had back in early April may have delayed the blooming. |
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But the cold spell obviously didn't hurt the flowers too much. By the 9th, Jim had blooms and by the 10th so did I!  Next week, I'll check and give you an update on the flowers over at Expert Auto. |
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| Finally, summer is here! For a change, I can tell you that it's really warm up here in Ohio. We've been up near 90 degrees for several days. AND the pool is OPEN!! |
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PoolCam
PoolFriends |
| DO and Mike came over to celebrate the pool opening for the first time. We had a great time! Boy, that DO is sneaky with those water bomb balls, and Mike has great aim with the squirt guns. |
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| Even getting blasted from behind, DO laughed and laughed. It's lucky she didn't drown; but it's great that she had such a good time. |
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| Tara and Austin got to come over and visit the pool this past weekend. Although Austin had never been in a pool before, he took right to the water, and except for two incidents, he did really well. He slipped out of his ring once and, by the time Tara and I had reached him, he had already paddled to the side and had grabbed onto the edge of the pool. Austin was funny because he seemed to blame his mom for the slip and was quite put out with her for a short bit. |
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| Then just before leaving, while I was getting the last of the toys out of the pool, the crazy kid jumped in again - without his ring!! But he obviously trusts me enough, because he knew I was still in the water and jumped out to me. Of course, I caught him! Tara and Austin both had a great time, and I hope that they get to come back over again before summer is over. (Hey, summer hadn't even started yet, so I bet there WILL be more pictures of them in the pool later this season. ) |
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| As fast as I can take pictures to post of my yard, things seem to change. Here's a few more pictures of the yard in the last two days. Now my tiger
lilies are beginning to bloom. |
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| Look how the hollyhocks have grown up taller than the shrubs now. Unfortunately, my irises, around the fountain, have nearly finished blooming. |
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However the irises in front of my porch are still doing well. (and wonder of wonders, I think that the gladioli that I thought were gone from this front flower bed seem to be sprouting up between the clumps of irises.  ) |
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My doggies had a big adventure this weekend. Jim and I loaded them all up into Darth, and took them over to his house to play - and to take a dip in the pool!! Click the picture to see all the fun! |
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Week Three: |
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The temperature has gone down a little bit this week, so I haven't been in the pool as much lately. I also haven't been feeling too well. Nothing I can put my finger on (a little
intestinal illness, some headaches and "fuzziness"); but I just take it all in stride. It's one of the reasons that I can't hold down a full-time job. I have these problems once in a while and would have missed several days this week.
But just because I was sick didn't stop nature. Outside the tiger lilies are blooming like mad. |
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Me and my Shadow, |
and the Flowers Close-Up |
| Jim's cosmos are really blooming well (more on that later); but mine are only just starting to bloom |
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Last year, I transplanted one of these from Jim's house, this year I have them growing all around my back and front yard. It's worse than a weed. LOL |
| I'm constantly amazed at how quickly nature can change. Although my irises have bloomed and died out already, the cosmos are coming out, and now, the hollyhocks are appearing! This first picture is one I took in the morning on the way out for work; and the second picture is when I returned home that afternoon. |
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| Within two days, even more hollyhocks were blooming. |
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I still don't know why my burgundy hollyhocks have turned pink (it started happening last year); but they are pretty! |
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| Of course, I have to have some pictures of my doggies. Here Zeus and Aries have gotten trapped out back while I was working in the yard. |
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| And here are some pictures of the doggies from PorchCam. In the second picture, the kidz are waiting for Jim to come in one night after work (he's working 2:30pm to midnight right now). |
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| Pictures of the cosmos at Jim's house |
Carolynn finally got her surgery done and is doing much, much better.  |
| After a week of cool weather and sickness, things have gotten better. I'm feeling back to normal and the temperature has gone back up to 90. (After so many summers that have sucked up here in Ohio, it's sure nice to have some warmth!) So back up to par and with the weather so nice, it was time for Jim and I have another outing - so we decided to go canoeing. |
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| Jim took these pictures from the back of the canoe. We spent about 2.5 hrs. cruising down the Mohican River in Loudonville (which is about an hour's drive west from Canton). |
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| The scenery was beautiful and once again, Jim and I had an excellent "adventure". We even missed a major thunder storm on the River by about 1/2 an hour. |
Look closely and you might notice that Jim is growing a moustache and goatee now. |
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| At the end of our trip, they loaded the canoes up while we loaded onto a bus. It was about a 15 minute trip back up the road to where we started our river excursion. |
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Week Four: |
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| Tara's family has grown again. Not only does she have Fred and Ethel (the
Siamese cats); but now along with Lucy, she had Ricky - Lucy's brother from another litter! |
two litters of Airedales |
the grownup Airedales |
| Austin and Lucy check out the little ones |
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Austin and Ricky |
| Speaking of Tara, she and Austin got to come back over and visit Jim's pool on Sunday afternoon. Do was over too, so she and Tara finally met in person (they basically know each other anyway. I tell stories about each one to the other, and they've seen each other through the webcams numerous times.) |
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| It's even been hot enough here (can you believe it? A summer in Ohio with 90 degree temperatures?!? ) that Jim and I did some midnight swimming.
MouseOver for a brighter picture. See all the floats and tiki torches? |
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| Things are still blooming, especially the hollyhocks. And now there are even some
burgundy-colored one coming out. Coming next month: more cosmos pictures and the morning glories should be blooming too. |
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