Sachiko, absolutley glorious color, it would make anyone feel great!

Not sure how I've missed being in here & missing so much.... so many photos to catch up with~~~

Sachiko, sorry to have missed your birthday but looks like it was a spectacular day!  Many more Happy Birthdays to you ... to share with us!   

Jack, three cheers for chocolate & ice cream!  My mouth is watering & think I have one more ice cream bar in the freezer.... been addicted to them this summer. 

Better get moving, need to walk the cats down to the river.  The fish were happy to see me again.  I was surprised they remembered where I live but soon as I whistled they were flipping around at my feet.  The heat index was still about 100 last I checked... really humid, putting off the walk as long as possible but sun is going down. 

angelface, Shirley, thank you very much for your comments.
This geranium was valid with my life.

Shirley, thank you very much for the celebration to my birthday! It was spiritually rich, and I was able to spend time with the dishes which my husband cooked.

Life has been busy around here... I'd like you to meet my 5 great grands, the newest came home from the hospital today. 

Here are Jace (6), Amelia (2), baby Kate Elizabeth (2 days old) and Dad, soon to be 40 (my oldest gr-son).
     

My little red head is 3, starting ballet, meet Hadley.
   

And Cole's first day hiking Mt. Rainier
   

Shirley,  thanks for sharing those beautiful great-grandchildren.  You sure don't look like you could have a "Grandson" who is almost 40.   

Joy

Shirley, dont you just want to keep them at this age?  

Shirley, how wonderful to have those beautiful great grands, and your grandson is a young looking 40. He has so much to be proud of.

Shirley they all have such personal charm, even that bundle of  a baby.  The little ballerina is adorable. Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks, Joy, Jackie, Jack & Bubble..... I see I forgot to mention that Cole just turned one.  The kids birthdays are all summer, so current.... my grands had a run on November birthdays. 

Joy, I have so many wrinkles I told my mother years ago that "I'm afraid to look down & smile, my face may crack and fall on the ground!"   My mother didn't have wrinkles when she died at 84, got those from my father's side, but we don't get to pick the genes, do we?  Between wind in KS & the hard water, not easy keeping the skin soft. I don't think about it 'cause not worth wasting time when you can't change facts.  But thank you for the nice words.   

Jack, I think "Dad" is still in shock, 3 to keep up with now.  He does equal "care giving" as Mommy does as both have worked up till now.  Not sure what plans are since they couldn't find a nanny.  Both have jobs that take them all over the world at times, so she/they may decide time out!

Jackie, I'm having trouble keeping up with all these kids "multiplying" .... the little ballerina will have a new baby brother in November.

Bubble, I think our 6 year olds are about the same age, not sure how he will react having to share time with another little girl.  Amelia has been such a scene steal-er it was hard on him (as the first gr-grand he got lots of attention). 

Better get busy, maybe a nap later in the day.... 

Shirley, such beautiful children.  I hope to meet Norm's great-granddaughter Sunday - if Tom feels up to it; he is nursing a chest cold, something he does not need!

Mary Ann

Shirley, beautiful grandchildren and goodlooking grandson!

Shirley, what a lovely cute looking family.  Their dad is good looking too,

Shirley, such a beautiful family.  The great grands are just precious.  (From another proud grandma and great grandma  )

Thanks, Jean, Linedancer, Patricia & Mary Ann.... I think the greats are more fun to see which family genes they show up with. I did some baby sitting with the greats but don't offer with the gr-greats, no way could I keep up~

Mary Ann, hope you get to see Norm's great and that she looks just like you did when little.  Surprising how we pick certain features out that ... like the blue eyes of the little red head... are just like my mother's twin sisters.  I look into her eyes & see them and honestly, think she feels some connection as well.  Hope Tom feels better, any chance it is allergy related?  My sinus infection turned into a cough that sounds like it is coming from my toes... but only after getting meds for it.... and the cough kept getting worse so a trip in for X-ray showed no pneumonia.  Read side effects of the 'script & "having a cough" is one.  Just what I needed! 

This gr-son is about 6'4" (at least), got those long legs from my husband.... our daughter got my short legs but she has 2 very tall daughters (like my husband's mother & Cas) & this lanky son, her other son is built husky like his father.  Jean, do you have grands or greats that live near?

Don't know what it is today but I am wiped out & half asleep. Think it may be lack of sleep night before when I stayed up to do laundry.  That's the last time I do that, black out or brown out, laundry gets done during the day!     

Shirley, Dot thinks Avery looks like her grandfather, my nephew Tim who died 1 1/2 years ago.  I have some pictures of me as a baby so I'll have to compare.  I did think she has my ears, which protrude a bit which is the reason I've always wanted my ears to be covered by my hair.  Since this little girl lives in Eaton Rapids, I know I won't see her often so I want to get at least the one chance. 

I smile when you mention "tall" because all of my cousins (all six of them) are/were tall.  Norm and I were the only short ones, me especially.  I think my parents were of normal height for their times, but whatever short genes they had, they passed them to Norm and me!

Erin, Terry and Jan's daughter, is up from Indianapolis.  Her job contract ended so she is at loose ends until she finds another job, preferably in Indy because she has grown to like the city.  The city has a lot of culture and I was exposed to much of it when I would visit Joan and Jim.

Tom doesn't think he should go Sunday, nor is Dot going, so I have asked Terry if I can ride with them.  It is a bit out of his way, but I live close to I-96 which takes us toward Lansing and Eaton Rapids.  I wonder, too, about allergy for Tom.  It is the grass season and soon will be hay fever season and since the seasons have all been cockeyed, who knows what bothers anyone. 

Mary Ann

Grand Haven water temperature is 76 degrees which is like bath water.  Air temp is 77 degrees, which is what my indoor/outdoor thermometer reads.

Mary Ann

Shirley, you and Cas did great work.  All are beautiful, especially the little red head in her ballerina costume.  What would we do (and what those without big families are missing) if we didn't have our broods.  They all soon grow up.

Quote from: Mary Ann on July 29, 2016, 05:03:19 PM
Grand Haven water temperature is 76 degrees which is like bath water.  Air temp is 77 degrees, which is what my indoor/outdoor thermometer reads.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, must be rugged folk up there in Michigan.    I would go to my sons to swim when the water got above 85.  77 sounds cold to me.   Had to look it up and found this.  Like the word tepid, my mom would use that term when we were running low on hot water.  They are calling 90 degrees lukewarm.  A hot bath would be close to body temp.

"Give a tepid sponge bath by washing the body using a sponge and lukewarm water between 90 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, advises WebMD. A tepid sponge bath is used to clean newborns; reduce fever and rash in children; and care for ill adults and the elderly, according to Mayo Clinic."

Shirley, what a lovely cute children! Their dad is good looking too.

My daughter comes to Fukuyama from Tokyo today and stays for 3 days.

Jack, it's been so long since I was in Lake Michigan and I have no idea what the temp was then, but I and a lot of other kids and adults were in that water and stayed in it for some time.  Since we're north of West Virginia maybe we are more used to cooler temps. 

For the record, I put a toe in Lake Superior one time.  Now that was COLD!

Mary Ann

Jack, you wouldn't like Alaskan rivers, lakes, and streams. Many of those are glacial fed, and the temperatures hover at around 45 to 32 degrees. But that has never stopped any of us from swimming or cavorting!

Mary Ann, hope you take those pictures with you & get some photos with the baby insome of the same positions to compare.  I think she would be thrilled to inherit your genes.  My father had one brother about same size, typical short French, but his other 2 brothers were a head taller.  My mother & her twin sisters were at least 3 or 4 inches taller than me and I was taller than my sister, but her brothers were all fairly tall and her older sister was a very tall woman.  My brothers were fairly short, maybe 5'10", so it was okay to be any size in my family.  I only had 6 cousins on Dad's side but 50 some on Mother's side. 

Jack, I do a lot of adjusting when getting the shower to suit me.... my body is always warmer than the normal 98.6.  They kept my mother in the hospital 3 extra days trying to get her temp down and gave up when she explained "she'd have to go home to get it down".  When I sit in the sun in the car, my temp will keep going up... have to drive with the sun shades as much as possible.  I get this problem from both parents.  Only last few years has the body objected to cold water, I can still take cold & snow easier than heat. When I am extremely hot I can stick my feet in cold water & recover fast. 

Patricia, I had friends that always broke the ice to swim on New Year's Day....(if it was frozen) but I never pushed those extremes.  I don't like to swim if everything is perfect!  Those water temps sound warm to me, but I have no idea what water should be.  I can't tolerate the hot springs water in CO, takes my breath away.  They use the hot springs water in the public showers  & last time I came out with "I know what a lobster feels like now!"  Had the same hot temps at the private campground, the Aquatic Center & the park showers. The little towns cater to campers, their main income, I think.

Thanks, Hal & Sachiko, families are what it's all about, I agree.  Sachiko, know you will enjoy the 3 days with your daughter.  I expect she has been very concerned about your health. 

Time to give cats a chance to eat again before I go to bed.  Son is coming in the morning to find why one sprinkler zone doesn't work automatically... I can manually turn it on but it's supposed to go all around on it's own.  We discovered a control box in the yard that should have one wire not doing it's job (he has a degree in Ele Engineering & all the testers to work with.)  Got to get up & out before it gets too hot.  Sweet Dreams to all....

Patricia I would love to visit and see your lakes and streams, but would not step in the water. 

Shirley I would not like a hot tub but like my showers warm, not hot.   Never took a cold shower but have soaked my feet in cold water.   

Sorry no photos

Rain on and off all day.  Sky cleared late and temp dropped to 72.  Too late for photos but a nice walk.  Posting this photo taken earlier in the day of a rainbow. Taken from a parking lot, fortunate to have the iPhone.



Took two photos in the evening.  The one with mist in the trees following the rain and the other late sunset (Missed the sun)

Wow, what a vivid rainbow, Jack!  Usually ours are so faded it is hard to see them in a photo.  You can't get a bad shot of that view, but always wonder why they don't have some kind of vines growing across the "arbor". My grandmother's grapes grew on an arbor like that, always felt so cool walking under & loved watching the grapes grow and ripen. Dad said they had 3 kinds for making wine, but by the time I came along they didn't make wine anymore.  I'm still wondering why the mist.... we don't see that often here but I recall we did in MO.  Beautiful photos, thanks!

Jack, you do have an artist eye for great pictures!  I really enjoyed these, thanks!

Shirley and Bubble thanks.  I did crop the rainbow photo.  It ended just about at the upper left, and did not go back down.  I cropped out the tops of a number of buildings in the shopping lot.   I may just pose that question about vines on the arbor.

Bubble.    When I see something I like and want to share I try to capture only what is worth showing.   Sometimes I take possibly 20 photos and keep only a few.  Love digital cameras, and iPhone, a far cry from when we had to buy film and pay to develop.   Large family, poor times growing up, and have very few photos until I was in my mid 20's and wanted to capture my young ones growing up.

Lovely photos, Jack.  It has been so hot this summer we haven't gotten out and about as much.  Looking forward to some fall weather.

Jackwv, I love to see a rainbow, just not too many about....Now I have to ask, did you find that " pot of gold " at the end of it?

Jack, you always take such nice photos! My grandparents and older sister had similar trellis with grapes or bean vines growing across.

We have a lot of mist, fog, what have you here as it has been steadily raining since April and now we are under a flood watch until Tuesday. We've had the low-lying areas between two rivers overflowing, always wonder why they keep building in that area? It is along the road to one of the military bases, but still, a little reasoning? And a couple of villages that have evacuated.