Thursday, June 9, 2011

Wow is it hot in Ohio!!!

After all the rain in April and May we jumped right into August heat and humidity even though it's only the beginning of June.  My projects are moving along slowly....I'm not sure I can blame it on the heat, but it does seem like planting the flowers and weeding have taken precedence over my knitting and quilting....oh, and a little anniversary vacation took place too which was followed by the birth of our newest granddaughter! So, on with the photos and comments....

This is the Noro Summer Cardigan I'm knitting, being used as a blanket by Cosette.  This is the back with the cables.  I love the color of this yarn!

These are my alliums that I planted in memory of my ex-father-in-law.  He used to grow these and I think of him alot when they come up.  As I was weeding around them I felt a tug on my shirt and thought it was Mark trying to get my attention....I was wrong.  No one was there.  It was Bernie letting me know that he thinks of me too.  That's the first time that has happened with him.  It gives you a warm feeling to know their spirit lives on.
_______________________________________________

Our trip this year was to Cape Cod.  We had never been there even though we have visited New England and Martha's Vineyard on two other trips.  It rained 5 of the 7 days we were there, but it didn't stop us from doing the siteseeing we wanted.  We drove to Provincetown, Chatham, Sandwich, Hyannisport, Dennis, Woods Hole and we stayed in a cute little cottage in Barnstable Village which was centrally located to all the places we wanted to visit.  The only place we couldn't go to was Nantucket Island because the waters were too rough...oh, well, I guess we'll have to go back another day....sigh.

 The rhododendrons were blooming at Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich.  It was truly beautiful.  If you look hard at the right side of this photo you can see a flume with water flowing over it down into a pool.  What a peaceful place it was.

Here's the flume from the top...just look at the gorgeous color of that rhody!

 Look at this handsome guy I picked up while I was there!

Another rhody up close and personal.

 This is the antique car museum at the Heritage Museum and Gardens.  Mark loved visiting this part.  All of the cars were from the collection of Mr. Lilly, the son of the famed Lilly Pharmaceuticals.

This was the only car that could be touched so of course, Mark jumped right in. 

This was the view out of our cottage window.  There was a pond right there that Mark fished in and I got to enjoy the beautiful lilac tree. 

 
You can't go to Cape Cod and not see lighthouses!  This is the one in Chatham.  It was overcast that day but it was pretty neat all the same.

We cooked lobsters one night in the cottage lobster pot and they were great tasting!  Enough about our trip...on to other things....like grandchildren!

On Memorial Day we went to the Columbus Zoo with Stef, Joel and little Luke who turned 2 yrs. old today.  We saw the polar bears, penguins, lions, tigers and bears and then went into the petting zoo where Luke was fearless with the grooming brush and the goats.

"Hey, Mr. Goat, I'm pretty good at brushing, would you like brushed too?"

The other highlight of his day, after riding the choo choo was riding the carousel.  Look at the happiness on his face!

.....and then there was Haley Marie Swaggard's entrance into our family!

June 3rd was the birthdate.  We had a long day at the hospital waiting for her arrival which had to be C-section after 16 hrs. of labor for her mom.  Here's dad getting ready to go to surgery.

She wasn't too happy about the nurse checking her all out so she stretched her legs out as far as she could which shows how nice and long they will be like her mom's.  She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20" long.

She is just as cute as can be and look at all of that hair!  Her cousin, Maya, is in love with her and wants to hold her all the time.  We're all in love with her and can't wait to see her again.  We are so thankful that she's a healthy baby and that she and mom are doing well.

Until next time.....