Maggie is gathering all her photos so she can enter them into the upcoming fair.  I chose a few I like to post here.  Tonight I mowed this corn patch flat.  The weather has turned very cool this week, so my thoughts have turned towards preparing the gardens for the winter. 

This is really a miscellaneous bunch of photos.  Maggie took this photo when my parents' piers were underwater during Hurricane Irene.   

My turkeys have discovered the birdseed on my platform feeder.  Now I can't keep them off the porch railing.  They also ate all the blossoms off my flowers on my porch.  I had been enjoying those flowers so much lately. 

 This picture shows how dark our honey is this year.  (Obviously this honey hasn't been strained yet...you can see bits of beeswax floating in it.)  Last year's honey was almost crystal clear.  Evidently the color of the honey has to do with what time of year the honeybees gather their nectar...as in fall vs. spring. 

 I couldn't believe it when I saw Ranger drinking out of the dirty duck pool.  Yucko!  I hope I have the camera ready for when he falls in!

Maggie took this fantastic picture of the Blue Angels.  She certainly didn't take this with my camera! 

Well, this is a quick post.  Hubby has been up in Baltimore for a few days attending a digital communications conference.  I hear him downstairs...he just got home.  So I'm off!

Many blessings ~ Kathie

 On Wednesday, August 24th, we drove to the city to Strathmore for the annual Ukefest.  This is part of the free outdoor concerts series.  This year was special because we tried to break the Guiness world record for largest number of uke players...which was 851 players.  We did beat 851...but what we didn't know was that Sweden broke that record 4 days earlier with 1500+ players.  Oh well, at least we had fun!

 We arrived early because you never know what traffic will be like.  We packed a picnic lunch of homemade sandwiches. 

 Aren't we a happy bunch?!  We were a bit nervous...not knowing what to expect.  Sometimes these events are too worldly for us, so we were anxious. 

We ended up waiting an hour for the show to start...but it was a fun wait.  We got to hear lots of people strumming their ukuleles.  There was also a father/son team walking around who entertained us with their juggling act.  They were very impressive.  (Sorry, no photo of them.)  

 Mike practicing his ukulele.  To break the record, we played two songs...This Land Is Your Land and Aloha 'Oe.  If you go to the website, you can download the music for both songs.  There are also videos of both songs...for beginners. 

As the night went on, there were hundreds more folks showing up.  We ended up having 944 folks. At one point, the speaker asked how many folks had bought a uke just for this event...and the number of folks who raised their ukes was a lot!  Probably half the folks!



We were given a copy of the music as well as chords.  Our family had a lot of fun playing the two songs.  We wish the entire evening had been a strum-along.  All too quickly the strum-along part was over, and the concert part began. 

It was a fun night out for our family.  I have to admit...I've been pondering how to organize a ukulele strum-along here in our county.  It's such an enjoyable and relaxing hobby. 

My friend, Joan, from Wyoming, has sent me another good, fun, online game called Underwater Bowling.  Really a stretch to call it educational...but have fun trying anyway!  Thanks, Joan.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

I have switched my blog over to Blogger's new and improved system...and so far I love it!  It's super easy to upload photos, I can once again click and drag my photos...and so far there are no huge spaces that appear out of nowhere.  

I stumbled onto my childrens' pictures from The Wilds camp this summer.  Anna, Lizzie and Allen had a wonderful time.  Steve Petit was the guest speaker.   

Anna and Lizzie joined the 150-person choir and enjoyed that.  One thing about the Wilds...they have excellent music standards.   

 Here's Lizzie getting ready to go on the land trolley.  Lots of fun things to do at this camp. 

This is Allen coming in for a landing on the trolley.

The rifle range.  

I am impressed with the amount of bullets they use!

Here are Allen and Lizzie getting ready to take off on the giant swing.  

Up, up, and away! 

Lizzie got hit by the big, muddy ball.  Nice face print.

Allen loved his counselor, John (in the green shirt).

Lizzie and Anna loved their counselor, Lauren.  I'm glad my children had a good time...but it is nice having them home again.

This week we brought home an adorable female duck from the Farmer's Market.  We haven't given up hope of raising duck eggs.  We are surprised that the drakes aren't fighting over her...but just in case, we're trying to give one of them away on freecyle.org.

My marigolds are doing beautifully thanks to all the recent rains.

I love the way Tom turkey fans out all his feathers and looks like a true Thanksgiving turkey. 

And finally...this picture of a line of traffic behind an amish tractor.  The line was just as long behind us.

Well, I'm not sure yet if I prefer the new blogging system.  There are just as many quirks.  Hopefully I will get used to it.

This week is surely a rainy week.  With all the drought and fires in Texas, I'm extra thankful for any rain we get.  But all the lightening makes it hard to get my blog written...like right now.  Time to quickly unplug the computer.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Last Friday, my hubby and children went down to the base for the preview of Saturday's airshow. The Blue Angels performed...always an amazing time.

I always hate this part of the performance...where two jets go full steam towards each other and then roll to the side at the last moment. Makes the hair stand up on my neck! I stayed home and enjoyed cleaning and reading...but not sewing. Need to sew!

One of the best things about shopping at amish/mennonite stores is the drive through the countryside. We enjoy seeing cattle and horses. This is on the road to Pine View Store on Glock Road, Mechanicsville.

And sheep. I was hoping they'd be out grazing for a better picture.

Lizzie loved this cow playing King of the Hill. This is on Route 6.

These goats were not having fun in the humidity. Photo taken at Locust Grove store on North Ryceville Road.

Now that organic lettuce is starting to reappear in the stores after the summer's heat, we have been enjoying Maggie's grilled lettuce salad. It is SO delicious! She sprays the lettuce with oil, then grills, then serves it with the best balsamic dressing ever. Never leftovers. Fast and easy.

I love seeing my children enjoy the wonders of nature...even at the risk of collecting chiggers! Anna was in a deep contemplative mood that day. I guess if you don't have a truck or a treefort, the burnpile is the next best place.

This past July 14th, our county suffered a glider accident on Route 235, just outside our small regional airport.

We were very nervous that day because we thought Mike's boss was one of the victims in the glider, knowing he had bought a glider that morning. Later on we were relieved to learn he was the pilot of the cessna towing the glider. The accident killed one man and injured a second.

The wires made recovery tricky. My parents own two houses right next to this accident...so it was a close call for them.

We joined a bunch of onlookers and watched from across the highway.

Finally to the ground and carried away on a flatbed truck.

I discovered a new recipe this summer that my family loves. Best Ever Chinese Chicken Salad. Since asparagus isn't in season, I will wait until fall to add that. And I used flour tortillas instead of wonton wrappers (since they contain egg). Definitely a recipe to try.

We were supposed to take a day trip to Harper's Ferry today...but the weatherman says 100% chance of rain...even though the sun is shining brightly right now. I am so disappointed. It took a lot of work to keep this day free of appointments and lessons! Instead, I think we will go drive around and see a few houses that are for sale. Our tenant has requested to buy our house...so we need to find another house to buy. It's definitely a buyer's market.

My children are practicing almost daily for their Christmas performances. Skits, music, solos, etc. This year their theme is "It's a Cowboy Christmas!" I love it!

Enjoy your day. Many blessings ~ Kathie