Car Snowman

This is the car snowman that sits in the corner of our dashboard.  He has been there so long I really don't even see him anymore, or her I guess because she wears a necklace we found in a geocache. In the winter she fits right in with our below freezing temps and in the summer it makes us feel cooler. It's the little things that make us happy :)

Stacked Front Porch Planter

Most of the parts to the planter in the order from bottom to top of the picture how I stacked them together, I added one more saucer and pot not pictured. No need for all of them to be the same color, because I have confidence I am going to keep all the plants alive and they are going to thrive so much on the porch that no one will even notice the non white pots.  Plus I am cheap and there was no way I was going to go out and buy new pots for a project when we have a shed full of old ones. Wait, I'll just tell people, if they ask, that I am so green I reused pots from other years, that sounds better than cheap.

First layer, pot with saucer in it and upside down pot on the saucer.  Fill in dirt around the saucer and insert plants

Second layer is saucer, large pot then another saucer to make a planting area. By putting the saucers in the large pots it also took way less potting mix which would have added a lot of weight and money to the project. I will have to water it a lot more often because less dirts means it will dry out faster, but if I decide to move it I won't need two men and small boy to lift it.

View from the side, just keep adding saucers and pots until it is the desired height.

Top view, can hardly wait for the flowers to start growing and make all the layers full and beautiful!

27 on the 28th

We celebrated 27 years of marriage on the 28th.  We went out for lunch at Mongo's Grill, had dessert at Dairy Queen and did a little shopping in between.  I keep saying one of these years we are going to do it up big, but not this year. We did go out just the two of us though so that was sort of romantic ;)

Cabbage and Hamburger Hotdish

I know the pictures not much to look at, but the dish is really tasty.  This is so fast to put together, almost as fast as those nights when you don't know what to make so scrambled eggs get served for supper. Also my family likes cabbage so we almost always have a head in the fridge. If this isn't the case for you it would take a little planning for the ingredients.

Cabbage and Hamburger Hotdish

1 1/2 pounds hamburger
1 large onion
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup milk
1 head cabbage
salt/pepper or other favorite spices

Brown the hamburger and onion.  Slice the cabbage and break apart in 9X13 pan.  Season cabbage with salt and pepper or other spices. Spread hamburger/onion over cabbage.  Mix together soup and milk.  Pour over top of hamburger.  Bake at 350 for about an hour until cabbage is soft.  If you needed to get dinner on the table quicker, just boil the cabbage and then put the dish together.

Dancer Graduates!!

Her graduation date was May 11th. She earned an AA Liberal Arts degree from Alexandria Technical and Community College.  Since she completed the entire degree on line and never met another student, or any of her teachers, she didn't go through the graduation ceremony.  We were at the party store and saw this decoration in the colors of the school so I snapped a picture to commemorate the occasion. 

We did get her a gift, a big gift at that.

Ripping off the paper she smiled bigger and bigger.

I didn't even know a counter top ice maker was a thing until Dad bought it for her.  Probably not a normal graduation gift, but she loves ice. She used to bring a cup of it home from work on the nights she works like a great treasure. Now she can have it anytime she wants, no we didn't have an ice maker in our refrigerator.  

A Life Remembered

This is my Dad, Grandpa Bob, who passed way before we were expecting it on May 15th.

Graduation picture, 1944.  Right after this he joined the US Marine Corps and fought in WWII.  He  traveled much of the Pacific aboard the U.S.S. Antietam. 

He was a 70 year member of the American Legion, He was also a long time member of the Shriner's (where he love the circus), Masons, other area clubs and an active member of his church for over 60 years where he served as an elder

My mom and dad celebrated their 60th anniversary on March 17th.

My mom has suffered demenia for about 18 years. Over the years they were both true role models of what it means to live out the marriage vows, in better and worse, in sickness and in health. 

They have not, however, parted in death. She doesn't belive he has died and tells us he's in town.  Is that one of the few gifts of dementia?

They just celebrated their birthdays the end of last month, he turned 90 and she turned 87.  Her birthday was the last day they saw each other.

We tried to sum up his life on two bulliten boards and one table.

He lived a big life, not sure how you show that in pictures and things.

His grandchildren, who were also the urn bearers.

This was the last morning I picked him up at his house for an appointment, there were geese with their little goslings in his front yard.  He wanted to stay at his house, where he had lived for over 60 years, until the fall. He didn't want to go into a nursing home and he didn't.

He was never a man of few words, if he thought it, he said it.  This was his water glass, which he as of late struggled to drink enough of.  It says, "Sounds like Bullshit to me."  Yep, I agree, that sums up the situation of last few weeks.

This is how we will remember him, Sweet Old Bob.