The Varney New's

Pole Beans....a new approach and system for us!

2010-05-16T21:30:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of the new Pole Bean garden that we installed and planted. We are trying pole beans for the first time, we usually plant bush beans. I am trying to do more vertical planting within the context of my square foot garden. We still have cucumbers, tomatoes, 4 more kinds of lettuce and 4 kinds of peppers to plant.

Keep yours eyes open to see what comes next!!

Jim and Peter fixing the posts that they were putting in along with hanging the chicken wire for the beans to grow up!

Getting the Big garden ready!

2010-05-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

Here is Jim getting the garden tilled so that we can plan and plant the cops for the season

Jim continued to till the garden until all the peat moss chicken poop was blended into the soil. While sifting through the soil, I saw lots and lots of worms....some of my students would love to come find some of the big fat worms I saw today!

Bing on the Fresh Veggies!

2010-05-16T20:57:00.000-04:00

2010 Garden

Jim and I began our garden quest by planting 110 onion bulbs and six head lettuce plants in the 4 x 4 stand alone garden. We added a plastic fence so that the wild rabbits , chickens and dogs would stay out of the plants. It doesn't seem to matter what I plant, the chickens love to eat it all....flowers, veggies, weeds...you name it, they eat it!

It's Spring and We want to run around!

2010-05-16T20:44:00.001-04:00

Don't you just love spring? What about all the new life that is starting to grow in the gardens? I can tell you that this has been an incredible weekend here in New Hampshire. The weather was so nice 60's with a slight breeze and sun shining. So here I decided to take a pictue of some of my girls in their coop. While working in the garden, theykept running back and forth talking to each other. Any time I got close to the coop, Mr Peeper started crowing!

Jamestown - Scottland Ferry

2010-04-20T20:06:00.000-04:00

Today, Jim and I went on a Ferry ride to Surry County, VA. We began our trip in Williamsburg, driving down Rt 199 towards the Ferry dock. We were the first car on the Pocahontas which was built in 1995 and holds 70 cars. It amazed me that in the twenty minutes we waited for the ferry, there were 70 cars that came up behind us to take the ride across the James River. On the ride back across the James River, We took the Williamsburg which can only hold 50 cars. The pictures you see are of the Williamsburg as the sun was positioned in such a way that all of my pictures did not come out!

HOG ISLAND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA

From the 17th century practice by English settlers of allowing hogs to forage at the tip of a peninsula jutting into the lower James River came the name Hog Island. Today, this "island" is the largest of several tracts that make up the Hog Island Wildlife Management Area. Here, waterfowl are attracted, often by the thousands, to forage and rest on the tidal marshes, diked impoundments and planted fields. There is also the opportunity to see eagles, an array of shorebirds, and even upland wildlife species on some parts of the area.

This is a picture of the Jamestown Island.

Jamestown is the site of the first permanent English colony in America. On May 13, 1607, one hundred four Englishmen arrived in three small ships and moored them to the trees on this island. The following day the English came ashore--never to leave!

These are two more pictures of the Jamestown land from the Ferry boat. These were taken from the Surry County side of the ride.

Pictures of the condo

2010-04-20T19:39:00.001-04:00

So here are some pictures of the inside of the condo. As you can see, Jim is standing in one of the two living rooms that we have. I also took picture of the dining room; you can see some of the kitchen and the hall that leads to another bedroom, full bathroom and laundry area.

We have used the fireplace each nice. It has been a pleasure to sit in front of a fire and enjoy its reflections in the dark...very romantic!

The start of April Vacation 2010!

2010-04-16T22:23:00.000-04:00

So Jim and I started on our jouney to Williamsburg, VA at 2:30 this afternoon. We drove or six hours and decided to stop in New Jersey at a Days Inn to get some rest. I must say, this is a very nice room with a king size bed. We have stayed at Days Inn's before and don't recall that them being this nice. The price was not bad for the nightly rate, but boy the tax sure shocked us!! So here we will sleep and get up in the morning to continue our journey. It will be nice to travel during the day!

Kristin's Webam Baby Shower

2010-03-28T15:35:00.000-04:00

WOW is all I can say for this shower....with all the technical difficulties, everyone still had a great time. We had such fun watching Kristin open her presents and to see Wes get so excited over Butt Cream and Nipple Butter!! Kristin was able to also enjoy the day with her mother in law Deb, sister in law Amie, Wes (of course) and two of her friends, Nanette and Stacey.

Here are a few pictures I was able to take, I would have liked to have gotten more, but some of the pictures of the TV didn't come out very good.. The cake was made by Kristin's friend Amanda Bernius along with the brownie favors which were also made by Stephanie Kimber, Amanda's sister!

Jim and I went out for breakfast this morning and we saw these beautiful frogs which were "twins". Given that this was a fundraiser for Easter Seals and I wanted to get a couple of stuffed animals for the babies to be, I got them!!

So here are my Twin Frogs for my Twin Grandbabies............................................ :)

Friends and Family gathered together to celebrate this special day with Kristin and Wes.....Here are some pictures of the people who celebrated with them.

Mary and Jean

Donna Aunt Joan, and Barbara

Aunt Cheryl and Beth Jamie and Katie

Candy Nolin, Kate with her tongue out and Dad (Jim) mesmerized!

Kristin reading a card to us over the internet!

Another picture of Kristin opening her gifts.

Willow Angel Twins! Donna gave these to Kristin in addition to two crib mattresses.

Kristin looking at the boxes that still sit in the corner and talking to Deb her mother in law!

Here is another presant tht Kristin recieved, she has been lucky enough to get two swings, two excersaucers, two car seats with a double stroller that these hook into, lots of diapers, clothing, and fun stuff!

This is the cake that Amanda made for the shower. She did such a nice job!

Painting and Renovating the Formal Livingroom

2010-03-25T20:32:00.000-04:00

Jim and I have have been renovating and updating rooms in the house. This is the first room that we completely renovating the formal living room. I could say that this was a fun project, but I must admit that Jim did most of the work!

This was the first step in the process of renovating our room. Jim fixed the plaster walls, leveled things out and even installed a plug for the pellet stove! The cream color you see is butter cream. I just fell in love with this color, it is a neutral, off white color in the beige line. The window that you see is a brown along with the pellet stove wall which is a much lighter version. This room is so warm and cozy now!

This is the border that I found in a wallpaper book and fell in love with it. Jim says I'm so frugal as I found it for 6.99 or five yards instead of 31.99 plus shipping for five yards!!

This is one of my favorite pictures. Kristin and Wes gave this to us when we were sealed. I waited a year to get this picture, hung it on a wall just to have it on the wall. I knew just where I wanted the picture, but I had to get the room finished!! So here it is, above the fireplace and pellet stove!

I found this picture at the Christmas Tree Shop. It matched the border I had put up in the family room. I decided to move it to the formal living room because i think the houses go with that border and the colors within the room so much better!

My Beautiful daughter Kristin made this or Jim and I for Christmas 2009. It has been sitting in my closet since Christmas waiting for my room to be complete. I knew instantly where I was going to hang this! What I love most besides all our names being on this plague, is that she made it for us! I love handmade gifts.

I found this chandelier at Yankee Candle. I really like wrought iron decorations, I think they compliment any decor. When we purchased this house, we had two small windows, one on either side of the fireplace. After we added on for my mother in law, I lost one of those windows. When I found this at Yankee Candle, I thought it would look nice there with candles lite up, it has certainly given the window a lift!!

Kristin's Baby Shower Invitation

2010-03-06T21:46:00.000-05:00

We are going to give Kristin a Web-cam baby shower. Since Kristin is pregnant with Twins and can't come to us in the East for a shower, we will give her one!! We have invited many, many family and friends to join us for this fun festive occasion. Here are pictures of the invitations that I made!

This is the front of the card

This is the inside top of the card

Here is the inside of the card. There are two inserts, one explains the shower, twins, and websites that Kristin and Wes have registered at. The top insert is made of vellum and this has the time, date, and place of the shower along with Kristin's address so that all of the gifts can be mailed to her!

Dad and Jim on Christmas Day

2010-01-30T18:37:00.001-05:00

Kristin made these wonderful presents for us. I just love how she put all of our names on the sign for us. Grandpa Fleming was so excited when I told him that Kristin made the plaque for him. She is such a crative yound lady!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-30T18:24:00.002-05:00

Decorating for Christmas this year was interesting....We decided not to put everything out so I only placed the items that I really wanted t o have around. Above you will see a three piece wooden manager. This was my mother in laws, and she gave it to me last Christmas. I decided to put it out for everyone to see instead of in the bedroom where she wanted it. We had so many wonderful compliements on this piece, that I felt it deserved to be mentioned.

I love this self sitting snowman. It looks wonderful on my grandmothers picture. I'm so excited to have found a new home for this. I used to bring it to work for my desk, but decided it in my livingroom.

We placed the Christmas tree in te corner again this year. I often wonder, if my house will be full of family again. This year, it was just my father, Jim, Peter and I for christmas day and dinner. We had fun opening presents, but missed the extended family.

Lucy's sore food

2010-01-30T18:14:00.001-05:00

POOR LUCY, SHE HURT HER FOOT RUNNING AROUND THE YARD WITH TOOLIE. WE HAD TO TAKE HER TO THE VETRINARIAN AS IT WAS NOT GETTING ANY BETTER :( tHE VET WRAPPED HER LEG AND PUT A SPCIAL GAUZE ON IT. SHE HAD TO LEAVE IT THIS WAY FOR ONE WEEK AND WHEN SHE WENT OUT, SHE HAD TO WHERE A PLASTIC BAG...IT WAS REALLY FUNNY BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT LET US PUT THE BAG ON :)

Helen's Urn

2010-01-30T18:11:00.001-05:00

Hellen Passed away on June 13, 2009. Jim picked out this absolutely beautiful urn for his mother with the cross enscribed. What is funny about one of these pictures, its that Jim thought Mickey Mouse should be part of the picture as Helen loved this stuffed animal!

Kings Creek Resort Williamsburg VA

2010-01-30T17:54:00.000-05:00

Colonial Williamsburg

2010-01-30T17:52:00.002-05:00

When we arrived at the resort, Jim and I were offered Colonial Williamsburg tickets as part of our package deal. We were very excited as this was one of the attractions we wanted to see. This is an 18th Century Community which was restored by Mr. Rockefeller. We started our tour by going to the welcome center and walking to an incredible farm. This farm represented how the middle class (at the time) lived.

2010-01-30T17:47:00.001-05:00

Jim and I took this wonderful Vacation in april and one of the places we wanted to go visit was Presidents Park. Jim had his picture taken with President Carter while I had mine taken with President Clinton. Each of these heads is made out of concrete and we even got to see how they repare the faces when the weather has damaged them. With each head, was a bored with all of th information from not only the presidency but also what they did before and after. The historical information given will be very helpful when I do my lessons on presidents.

Condo Insides

2009-05-03T20:25:00.006-04:00

WELL, I feel like in posting this I am doing it backwards! Here are the insides of the condo we stayed in. First let me say that this was a nice condo, but we did feel that there were a few things that could have been better. Every time we sat on the couch, Jim and I thought that it was going to fall apart...we think that the frame was broken! And if you wanted to get a comfortable, good night sleep, the bed you see was not the one to sleep in (although it was m uch better than the one at Days Inn which we slept at one the way home!)

I was having Internet withdrawals as in order to get Internet at this facility we had to pay 7 dollars a day and as we know, I was too cheap to pay the money for it! We were able to go to the club house and use the computers in the computer room, but you were only allowed a 1/2 hour and then the computer shut itself down.

All in all, it was a clean unit and it was very private. The unit we stayed in had the woods surround the back which is where the bedroom was so it was very quite. We were able to prepare some of our meals (there was a convection microwave). And I must applaud both of us as neither one of us gained any weight on vacation...we were able to maintain what we had already lost!!

More to come!

Wyndam Kingsgate, Williamsburg, Virgina

2009-05-03T20:09:00.004-04:00

On April 17, we headed to Williamsburg, Virginia. The name of the resort we stayed at is Wyndam Kingsgate. We rented a one bedroom condo for the week. The pictures here are of the grounds and. The grass was so green and all the flowers were in bloom...lit was gorgeous! The grounds were very well kept, one pool was filled outside, and there was miniature golf. The weather was just getting to the point where all of the outside pools and hot tubs were getting filled.

That's the spot I like!

2009-03-30T21:52:00.003-04:00

I know just where to scratch my little baby. She loves her butt scratched and loves to bring her head around to see what you are doing. When we are finished, she will usually take her nose and snuggle it into you. Isn't she just precious?

Is that a bone I see....here I come!

2009-03-30T21:47:00.003-04:00

Mom called me so I went running...I was hoping for a yummy bone! Is there one around the corner??

A little rub on the tummy

2009-03-30T21:39:00.008-04:00

Jim and I decided to play with the dogs tonight. While Jim was goofing around with Toolie, I quickly snapped a picture of them, Toolie was on her back loving her tummy scratched.........

Having fun making cards with friends!

2009-03-28T16:40:00.006-04:00

I decided that it was time to start stamping and making cards. I made six cards total....two of each design. After I made them, I decided that I also needed to purchase a punch of embellishments because I dreally didn't have much in the way of things to embellish my stamping projects. So I had a lot of funny searching through the Stampin up catalog to pick out some wonderful items that I will use in furture projects.

The first card pictured is a Saint Patrick's Day Card. To make the pot of gold, I used two different size oval punches. The gold was made with a dauber, and the gold encore ink pad and the rainbow was made with a stamp that came out of a winter scene.

This Easter Bunny card was so much fun to make. It was stamped with the basic black ink pad for the bunny and Chocolate for the tree. It was so much fun to place the Easter eggs on the tree and then color and blend the colors together. It is a very simple card to make.

The last card was made using a layered approach. I made this into a someone special card. I love Pussy Willows so I used the stamp as a focus for this card.

It is so much fun to be able to start crafting again. I find that I am much more relaxed when I have the time to take some "me time"..Shouldn't we all do do this??!

Going shopping can be lots of fun......even when you do it alone!!

2009-03-28T16:36:00.002-04:00

I decided to go shopping one day as my pocket book was really a mess. I have two great summer bags, but didn't want to start using them yet. So I took myself to JC Penny and what did I find, A sale on all pocketbooks and accessories........50% off....I thought to my self...self you need to find one and buy it! So here is what I purchased. I needed something bigger than what I had as I could never fit everything into my tiny thing. It even has a place for my cell phone, I POD, and PDA (If I ever get it back!! that is another story)

What are you doing to the Chicken Coop boys?

2009-03-28T15:43:00.007-04:00

These are my Chicky girls on a nice warm winter day. They are enjoying the little bit of sun and the 30 degree temperature. We kept them separated from part of the coop while the boys were putting in the laying boxes which you will see below.

After months of trying to get the coop finished for the Chicky girls, Jim and the missionaries built and installed six laying boxes. I have to say that I was so excited to have the boxes finished as I really don't like to collect the eggs from the floor. One never knows when there was an eggs on the floor in a place to get stepped on. All Thirty girls now lay their eggs in the boxes and have become less possessive of the. I have been selling some of the eggs to my co workers who swear that they are the best they have ever tasted. I have to admit that these eggs are so much better than store bought. They are so yellow and yummy! I have been wishing my kids were here to taste some of the fantastic things I have made with them!

2009-02-12T21:19:00.003-05:00

Gee mom, do I really fit in this bed????

Hey, what do you think your doing???? I'm trying to relax here!!

Here are pictures of the little one sprawled out in her new bed and on the floor. She just loves the couch as well. It is really funny how fast these furry friends become so comfortable.....

2009-02-12T21:18:00.003-05:00

Greyhounds do not know how to climb stairs and as you can tell from this picture, I have lots of stairs to climb if someone wants to go to bed at night! Heather, the behavior specialst came to help me teach Lucy how to climb stairs. This was not an easy task for Lucy and she is still learning. Stairs are very scary things for this type of dog. It will take us at least a week to learn how to climb the stairs.

2009-02-12T20:43:00.004-05:00

Jim and I decided that Toolie, our Australian needed another playmate. So we decided to go and look at Greyhounds and then took Toolie to look at them as well.. There were two that we fell in love with....Julie and Lucy.....Toolie decided that Lucy needed to be part of our family.....So here she is the day we decided to adopt. Lucy had just been fixed so we had to wait an additional week before bringing this beautiful girl home.

This is our beautiful girl Lucy whom we adopted on Friday, February 6th, 2009. Jim and i saw a greyhound at a meet and greet on the first of February so Jim and I decided to go down to Hinsdale and look at the greyhounds. We took Toolie our Australian Heeler to meet these dogs and Lucy is the girls she chose.

Lucy is a red brindle who was rescued and lived in the shelter for a year until was back to the normal weight.

Look at the size of the tiny egg!

2009-02-12T20:11:00.003-05:00

As most of you know, Jim and I have chickens. We started with just 10 little birds, but have inherited another 20 plus Mr. Rooster from a friend who could not keep her chickies.....Lucky for me (as Jim keeps telling me!), my cousin Michael and his wife Pam are going to take about a dozen off my hands late spring or early summer. For now, I am collecting no less than 18 eggs a day with some being double yolkers! These are a couple of pictures of the eggs that I have been getting. I have two Ameraucana chickens and they lay very tiny eggs. When I took this picture, I thought it was the tiniest egg ever, but I found an egg about the size of a marble the other day. This came from one of my chickens who have just stared laying eggs.

Comfort foods are the best

2008-11-09T13:03:00.003-05:00

Apples, they are one of the best comfort foods during the long winter months....

Let me tell you, when my students helped me pick three bushel of apples, little did I know I would be sick of them by the time I finished caning. I have been trying all new kinds of recipies and even making some up. Those of you that have been to my house, know that I like to make apple pie, so I decided to make apple pie filling...easy right? Well, it is unless you are cuttig over a bushel of apples to make filling with....can you say sore thumbs!!! I'm still canning the apple pie filling, but here are the first 10 I finished. Again, I created this recipe. I had tried two new recipes and there were things about each I liked and didn't like so I took the best of both and created my own........So hopefully when my children are home at Christmas time, they will agree that this is the best pie filling they have ever had! :)

I also made apple rings as I just love them and at the holiday, I purchase one jar and I don't like to share....well, this year, I made my own and will share them with everyone....they are so yummy. I gave them to two friends already and they went wild!!!

More chicken coop magic

2008-11-09T12:59:00.003-05:00

So on this fine Saturday morning, Elders Ralphs and Hatch came over to help construct the doors that were going onto the chicken coop. Now I must tell everyone that it was a very chilly, cold October morning when they did this. As a matter of fact, the weatherman was predicting flurries for that day.....lucky for us, we had not flurries!

Apple Butter, Caramel Apple Butter and Spicy Rosey Apple Butter

2008-11-09T12:54:00.003-05:00

As you can tell, I am very busy canning still......... I have these three wonderful apple butters, the third is my own creation....Krisitn wait until you sink your teeth into these! the first picture is of the regular apple butter. The second picture is the Caramel apple butter....Jim ran off with the Spicy apple butter before I could take pictures......Kristin you will have to try to find it when you come out at Christmas time.

30 Pound of hamburg....Anyone up for canning another 50 pounds?

2008-11-09T12:44:00.004-05:00

Well, This is the start of the 80 pound of hamburg in the freezer. I need to make room for the upcoming Turkey sales! So here I am cooking the hamburg. I have the Stir fry pan on the stove as well as the electric frying pan cooking the burger...... THEN
I put the burger into my big roaster to finish cooking what I had already. Once all of the burger was cooked, I put them into sterilized jars, added hot water (no salt or seasonings) and put them in the pressure caner for 90 minutes.........now off to more good food.

Here come the chickens!

2008-10-23T21:49:00.005-04:00

These are my two spotted Sussex. They were in the last batch of chickens I purchased. They will start producing eggs around February. Toolie loves to chase one of these and does not leave her alone when they are out in the yard together.

My girls are running in the yard, eating what bugs they can find in the 50 degree weather that we have been having. Here you see on of the Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds and a NH Red which is similar to a Rhode Island Red.

Another shot of my girls just hanging around playing.

Here you see one of the Buff Orpingtons and my NH Red. The NH Red was named Footie by one of my students who came to the farm to get her with me. The first thing this student saw was the chicken's feet! Footie gives us one egg a day!

This is Blacky. I received her from friends who live near us. I gave them one of my chickens as she turned out to be a he...ROOSTER! I didn't want any roosters, so I offered him up for free. In return, they gave me Blacky. She is very friendly and loves to be with People. She is a bit fickle about laying eggs though so right now we get them every other to every third day.

It has been fun having these chickens. We really enjoy the eggs that we are eating. They are very fresh. It will be interesting when I begin to get 10 a day....I'll really be in the eggs!!

Good-Bye Princess

2008-10-17T21:07:00.004-04:00

Today was one of the hardest days for me. I had to take Princess to see another veterinarian for a second opinion on her health. This vet confirmed that she was blind (which came one within the last week). He also confirmed what Dr. Righter was thinking that she had Cushing's Disease. Jim and I had to decide what quality of life Princess would and is having. After listening to the pro's an con's, Jim and I decided put Princess down. It was one of the hardest decisions we have had to make. She is now in heaven with my mother, our dog Cocoa, and our cat Rascal. We will miss her a lot.

Saying Goodbye to Elder Gibson

2008-10-10T20:45:00.008-04:00

Elder Gibson came over to say good bye as he was being transferred. In this picture, he is trying to get Peter to loosen up!

All The Boys............

Jim, Elder Gibson, Elder Ralphs and Peter

The Last of the Vegetables from the Garden

2008-10-10T20:34:00.004-04:00

These are the last of the vegetables from our garden this year.

The Tomatoes and Peppers were used in Salsa. I also froze some of the peppers for use later this winter in my soups and stews.

This is the first time I have ever successfully grown carrots. I put these in my meatball soup which I canned for winter use. I'm so excited to be able to share m y soup with friends.

I canned 7 quarts of meatball soup and 14 pints of salsa...YUMMY!

The Varney Animals..........

2008-10-05T20:35:00.006-04:00

This is Jasmine. Kristin named her after Aladdin was released.

She is a very big cat, weighing almost 20 pounds. She sleeps most of the time, but really likes to snuggle when she is awake.

And here is Masey....she is a little devil. When you want to sit and pat her, she runs away. But......when you want to sleep, she will be right on top of your head! One day, my husband saw this lump in the bed and discovered it was her. She continues to hide in the blankets every chance she gets and she even continues to sleep on my head!

Toolie is an Australian Red Heeler. She has the Bentley Marking on her head which is a prestigious thing in the dog world. We rescued her from a family in the area when they realized that they could not keep her any longer. Little did we know she was a ball of energy!!! She is now 3 years old and still a ball of energy... She has learned how to heard our chickens.

This is Princess, she is a Boarder Collie/Spaniel mix. We rescued her from the shelter back in March. Toolie needed a playmate so we searched and searched for many weeks, then one day one of the workers at the shelter wanted to show her to us, but she wasn't in the cage (or so we thought). So we began to look at all of the other dogs at the shelter. It was funny because I felt like someone was looking at me, and when I turned around, Princess was on top of the dog crate in her cage following every move we made. We spent an hour with her and fell in love with her. So we brought Toolie to meet her and adopted her that day.

The arrival of Damien Cosgrove

2008-10-05T20:23:00.005-04:00

On September 15, 2008 Damien Cosgrove decided to make his presence known. The best part of his birth for us is not that he arrived safely, but that he was born on my father in law's (Robert Varney, deceased) birthday and my in laws anniversary.

The happy father, Jeff and Damien. They are each wearing matching hats. Like father, like son.

The proud mother, Cathy holding Damien.

More Pictures of Dad's birthday

2008-10-05T19:47:00.005-04:00

So here is the cake that we got for dad. Of course we didn't put 80 candles on it because we would have such a bonfire!!
He will huff and puff and blow the frosting across the room!

Dad opened many presents from family and friends. He was so surprised about this party, he had no clue that I put something together so quickly for him.
The Fleming clan came to celebrate with us. At this table is Laurie and Fred, Fran and Nadine Malone, Micheal and Pam Fleming, Jordan Fleming, Stacey and her children.
At this table were my father's long time friend Mary and Cynthia. His brother and wife, Kenny and Ruthann. Along with my brother Henry, his wife Cheryl, their two girls Nancy and Beth and grandson Connor.

My grown up son, being very goofy and silly.....it is very nice to see him this way!

My good friend Nancy and her husband Warren came to join in the celebration with us.

Elder Gibson and Elder Ralphs joined us in the celebration. The missionaries love to join in on the festivities at the Varney's....they never know what to expect!
Grandma Varney (Jim's mom) watching as the cake is being cut, Peter giving both Nancy and Warren rabbit ears! Jim is just hanging around.

Uncle Kenny and Dad showing their better sides! Wait until you see their faces!

What did I tell you, back side looks so much better!

The wonderful waitresses who took care of everything including setting up for thirty.

Life begins at 80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .or so we are told!

2008-09-29T20:50:00.005-04:00

On September 22ND my father (grandpa Fleming) turned 80 so on the 21st, I decided to give him a party. He had no idea and can I say what a look of surprise on his face. He thought we were going to our favorite Chinese food restaurant - Lee and Mt. Fuji. Little did he know that I invited 30 additional people to attend the celebration!

And there he goes........

2008-09-29T20:45:00.004-04:00

So, the moose decided to break through the fence and move on to greener pastures. Jim told me that this moose weighed more than 800 pound! Can you imagine being a baby and weighing more than 800 pound? I wouldn't want to meet this creature in the wild alone...it was bigger than me!

A Moose in my yard!

2008-09-29T20:30:00.005-04:00

On September 19, 2008 I received a phone call from my husband asking me how I missed the moose in our yard when I left for work. I leave for work at 6:20 when it is still fairly dark so if the moose was there, I didn't see it. Apparently, the moose, which was a baby, climbed over my 3 foot fence on the driveway side of the house and after eating some leaves, grass and fresh veggies decide to knock the back fence down and go into my neighbors yard. According to another neighbor, the moose was in the yard most of the morning and eventually went out through the gate which my neighbor opened so as more fence did not get knocked over.