I love summertime.  Everyone plays their instruments more because of the free time.  We read books and play more games. 

 I took Maggie alongside a back road to collect clover to make a tincture.  I was so afraid a horse and buggy would come around the corner and run into us!

 Ruthie was given a bunch of keys, so she painted them and labeled them to become herb markers.

 Allen and Lizzie each got switch plates from Dr. and Mr. Hebron. What a wonderful idea!

 Meemaw's birthday was June 3rd, so Maggie and Lizzie made her this tall 4-layer cake.  They wanted to try two recipes, so they figured they'd kill one bird with two stones.  The cake ended up being top heavy and kept trying to slide off the cake plate.  We got many laughs out of it.

 We cut 10 slices out of it and then the cake toppled.  But it was good!

 I went to harvest my lettuce and discovered I had hung the planter too close to the bird feeders.  Oh well.  I'll move it to the other side of the house and start over.

 I found this picture of Sarah's coffee machine and K cups.  What a life saver this set-up is when we have overnight guests.

 The next pictures were taken at Allen's martial arts' picnic.  Jeff and his family are moving next month, so this was a farewell picnic.  Allen will definitely miss his closest friend.

 On the way home, I stopped to take a picture of one of my favorite places around the county.  I love rail fences and wildflowers!

 Our family enjoys eating charred baby bell peppers.  We have them often.

 Here are the twins getting ready to ride to church...this is their first time riding double. 

 Our church honored the recent high school graduates.  I didn't realize Allen's face was blurry until later.

 Lizzie's turn.

 This year's group.

 Nice cake.

 Now that Abigail is out of school for the summer, we see her often.  She wanted to do a bee inspection with Maggie, so Maggie rigged up an extra adult-size suit.  So cute!

 Last week I ate papaya salad twice out in town.  It was delicious, so naturally I want to make my own.  Our Asian market sells green papaya but instead I'll stop at the Asian market in Silver Springs to get pre-shredded papaya.  Can't wait to experiment with it!

 I found this vintage banjo thing at the thrift shop.  It had gaudy plastic flowers in it but I took them out and use it to store Allen's banjo picks.  Handy!

 Jeff came over to watch another movie.  I was trying out a new setting on my camera and they thought the pulsating flash was funny.

 Thursday night is Family Night at my parents' home.  This is my Dad, Lizzie and Zoey, my brother's granddaughter.  Sometimes we have 20+ people and sometimes only a dozen. 

 But we always eat well!  We love my Dad's brisket.

 I found this picture on my camera.  This is Mike in his tux ready to go to the graduation dinner/ceremony at the Navy's Test Pilot School. 

 This is our latest sushi attempt.  They might not look like much but they sure taste good!

 Paul from church bought this wig at the teens' yard sale.  I guess he misses not having his own hair!

 This past spring we've had 4 bird nests around our porch...plus one feisty black snake.  I had to bat him away from one nest...

 ...but he obviously got an egg from somewhere.  All four nests are now empty and I can breathe more easily.

 More music playing.  Never get tired of it!

 I enjoyed watching this dove swinging on one of Allen's three ham radio antennae.  I have 6 mourning doves this year.

Sarah's 27th birthday was also in June.  We didn't expect to see her that day, so Maggie bought her a little cake at the last minute.

 We've been experimenting with several veggie cutters that cut into julienne strips.  We bought them for cheap, so it was worth trying them out.

 We didn't like this green cutter.  It only works for carrots.  Our cucumbers weren't firm enough.

 We do like this Vegetti for zucchini and squash.

 My personal favorite is this one that I use to make carrot and cucumber strips for sushi.  Hard to wash though.

This one I hope to try someday.  I'll keep looking at the thrift shop for a used one.

Allen has ended his 6-month employment at the Sakura restaurant.  It was too much to work so many 12-hour days straight and then try to stay awake in church on Sunday.  They also couldn't afford to pay him even minimum wage, so he is again unemployed.  We are encouraging him to take a couple weeks off to recover and get some projects done here at home.  I'm so glad to have him free on Friday and Saturday evenings!

Anna is in Tennessee at Camp Bimi for three weeks.  Maggie and Lizzie will join her for the third week.  I sure miss her.  She's working hard.

The sermon this morning was about prayer.  I am encouraged to pray more often and for more folks.  Pastor shared with us the power of prayer in the early church in Acts.  Very convicting.

Enjoy your summer days.  I'm afraid to blink for fear it will be September!

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Have Thine own way, Lord.

Have Thine own way.

Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after Thy will.

While I am waiting, yielded and still.

 Last week we got a phone call from a friend who asked if we could come to the local shopping center to rescue a bee swarm.  (For my local friends, it was in First Colony in front of Bed and Bath.)

 It took Maggie and Allen just a few minutes to gather their supplies.  Fortunately, the bees were only 8 feet off the ground. 

 The swarm was easy to sweep into a bucket.  Swarming bees are pretty docile since they have no hive to protect.  As expected, people stopped to watch. 



Someone else had called their friend to rescue the swarm, so Allen offered to let him have the bees.  But this guy said he really didn't want them.  Turns out, Allen had talked to this guy on his ham radio.  Small world!  Thanks so much for calling us, Heather, and for the pictures.  It's been 2 weeks or so and the new hive is doing wonderfully!  They definitely got the queen.



Maggie and Lizzie have been doing serious gardening this year.  They picked one of the hottest days (low 90s) to start planting.

This past Mother's Day, I was invited to bring my hubby to Allen's restaurant for a complimentary meal.

The food and service were exceptional.  I asked about the seaweed salad...I was curious what was in it...and they gave me a bunch to take home!  It was delicious.

I ordered the tempura because I knew Allen made all the tempura.  I really like the dipping sauce.

Since I couldn't have the Mother's Day cake (dairy and egg allergies), they brought me steamed edamame (soybeans).  I love them!  They had large kosher salt sprinkled on them which really made it.  Mike had the Sakura Seafood Soup which I tasted.  I've decided I have to get that next time. So many thanks to the Sakura staff (especially my friend Hannah).

Lizzie has played the organ for church several times.  I wish she could play on a real organ. Brings back memories of my two years of playing the organ in San Francisco.

Back to Sakura again!  Allen has put in many 60 hour weeks working at Sakura helping them to get this restaurant through its first year.  We do our part by eating dinner there once in a while.  We especially like their miso soup and house salad...and Allen's employee discount that they always give us *smile*.

Ruthie likes the miso soup too.  Mike looks like he doesn't like it...but he does!

I drove deep into the woods and found these beautiful irises.  A tree had fallen which allowed just enough sunlight to grow this patch.

Allen and Lizzie love their new bikes and enjoy driving around the countryside with Mike and his brother.

I bought these two bottles from the thrift shop to put my salad dressings in.  I sterilized them but I'm wondering what was in them...wine? bath bubbles?  If you know, please email me.  I'm just curious.  They are fairly tall (11" and 13").  Two of my friends say they have seen them with soda in them when they were in Italy.

This year for Autism Awareness Day, Maggie made this lion for the auction.  Every year the same little girl buys Maggie's stuffed animals.  So cute!

Remember the Canada geese at the doctor's office?  They hatched...and a few days later they flew away...much to Dr. Hebron's sadness. 

Somewhere in our busy lives we celebrated Anna and the twins' birthdays.  Tomorrow we celebrate my Mom's birthday.  Lots of cake and ice cream!

Allen wears his leather chaps over his suit and rides his bike to church.  As you can imagine, I pray a lot these days!

Last month we held a yard sale with my nephew.  We chose a good location in town (at one of my Dad's properties). 

We got a lot of customers and it felt good to unload much stuff!  I enjoyed seeing a lot of people I know.  But I really don't ever want to do another!

I enjoyed trying out this snack I saw on pinterest.  I wish I had an artistic flair to make it work!

This necklace was Ruthie's contribution to the Autism Awareness Day auction.  She made this and I tried to show the brilliant shine it gives off. 

I've been having lots of fun with all the jeans I've been given to recycle. I bought the yellow denim at the thrift shop.  These are large 10" hexagons...so you can see how big this quilt is! 

Mike and Allen drove their bikes to church together.  They love posing in their leather chaps and jackets!

We had some friends over twice.  Once to watch a movie and another time because Matthew was in town.  Always good to fellowship with them.

I found 4 yards of this floral denim at the thrift shop for $2.90.  And a friend said he has some white denim for me...so all I have to do is choose a quilt pattern!  I love working with denim.

We got to babysit little Clara (4 years old now!).  The time flew too fast.  She had fun seeing all the musical instruments.  I sure miss her!

I took this picture on a day when Maggie and Lizzie were playing different pieces at the same time...and Anna was in the living room playing another piece on the grand piano.  This made me smile.

I always love the time of year when my rhododendrons are in full bloom.

We have several birds nests around our home.  I almost stuck my hand in this one that is hidden on our shelf. 

Allen downloaded an app on his cellphone that tracks how many steps he takes each day.  He walked 6.9 miles and took 18,000 steps!

Sarah is enjoying being a part-time nanny to a set of one-year-old triplets ("the trips") and we enjoy seeing all her pictures. 

My children are preparing to go to summer camps and outings, so I'm preparing to do a lot of projects...fun and otherwise.  This is a hard time of life for me.  I never know how many will be home and for how long.  Five adults now...and it happened overnight.  So thankful they are all doing well.  God is definitely blessing.

Many blessings ~ Kathie