Grammy Camp 2011

One of the reasons for staying at the river so long this past 2 weeks was so we could have Grammy Camp again.   Our two oldest grandkids came up on Monday and stayed until I took them home late Thursday, although they kept asking if they could stay another day.   Honestly, I was bushed!  Here is a brief overview of 4 very busy, fun-filled days....

Lots of crafts:  Jackson built a cool air propelled car and tried running it on every flat surface in the park.

He also honed his skill driving the golf cart.......for hours.....and hours...and hours.....just kidding.

We built balsam wood airplanes, drew on the pavement with colored chalk and snacked on Dunkin' Donuts.

When it became too hot to play outside, the kids improvised and played bean bag toss down our long hallway.

Sydney made friends with a girl camping with her family and they became fast friends, even sharing chocolate chip cookie dough.

Joel's cousin Steve took the three of us out on his boat up to Lake George.   On our way there, we passed a pontoon boat with a car permanently attached.  It is appropriately named, "Cartoon".  Get it?   Car-toon, instead of Pon-toon.   Ha-ha!  If you double click on the pic you can see the name on the license plate.

We saw nesting osprey on top of channel markers and got sprayed by river water as we crossed over the wake from passing boats.   (That was Sydney's favorite part.)

The kids even painted "I survived Grammy Camp 2011" shirts to wear home.

Our last night together we had a campfire and toasted marshmallows for S'more's.  All of a sudden a 12" thick branch from an overhanging tree broke free from the trunk and landed on the deck moments after Sydney had walked under it.   Much screaming and terror followed along with a call to the electric company who had to come and use their chainsaws to remove the limb which was causing our power pole to list at a 45 degree angle.   Yikes!

Whew!   Much cuddling and praising God followed as we felt He was protecting Sydney from any harm.  We are definitely held in His hands.

The kids were amazingly resilient and went back to having a good time being silly and playing Barbie's the next day.  Our time together went way too fast for all three of us and it was Thursday afternoon before we knew it and time to pack up and go back home.  

Can't wait to do it all again next summer.   I do think that a year is way too long to wait, so maybe we'll do an abbreviated version of Grammy Camp during the winter when it'll be fun to snuggle up in blue jeans by the fire pit and watch the night stars.

Signing off,
Grammy

Yard Work

Uhhhh, yeah, just a light day's work out in the yard up at the river....work that lasted 3 days!   First there was topsoil to be spread out and raked level.    My arm was killing me that night!   I had gone up to the river alone to "help" with the yard planning and Joel came up a couple days later and installed the sprinklers.

Then, Billy brought the zoysia sod and we laid 2 pallets till we were covered in dirt from head to toe. Trust me, I slept really well both nights as soon as my head hit the pillow.

It's amazing to me what a difference sod and mulch has made in what was once nothing but a sandy/silty mess of a yard.

 We also now have a boardwalk leading from the golf cart's "circular driveway" up to the front door.

Check out the shabby chic 50's chairs I found at an architectural salvage place in DeLand.   They are hidden back by the split rail fence.   That's my version of yard art.  I also picked up an old garden gate there from an early 1900's home and planted bleeding heart vine on it to disguise the back end of the old office trailer.

And my blueberry bushes are thriving.   Joel and I went out a couple of mornings and picked fresh, sweet blueberries and popped them in our mouths.   Love it!

Even the staghorn fern is happy in it's home hanging under the oaks.   I especially like the view of the "back yard" with all the crazy colored painted furniture.

Now I believe it's time to sit back and enjoy all our hard work.   It's officially summer and I would like to wish you time swinging in your hammock reading a good book and sipping some cool lemonade.  I know that is exactly what I plan to do with some of my summer days.
Debbie

I Love the Rain

Soooo......I've been up at the river for 10 days now, and here is a sample of today's excitement.    A fire started in the woods across the road from the campground and spread rapidly with the wind and dry conditions we've been experiencing.   Joel was outside working on some lighting when he came in to tell me he smelled smoke and that ash was falling out of the sky.    Hmmmmm.......ummmmmm.....wonder where that is coming from?

Well, we hopped in the golf cart and headed toward the road leading into the campground and this is what we saw.  By the way, there is only one road out of here, and if you head the other direction, it deadends at the river.   Ummmm.......now my stomach was starting to roll a little bit.

 The helicopter kept ferrying from the fire to the river to reload it's bucket.

 The smoke is blocking out the tops of the trees across the street from the campground and the fire is about 10 feet behind the trees.

 Ok, now it was getting a little too scary.

 The wind was blowing the smoke into the campers now!

And then, we heard thunder....and more thunder......and about 15 minutes later it started to rain. It was slow at first and then became steady and lasted for an hour. Praise God!

And the cavalry arrived in the form of bulldozers.

So, yes, I love the rain!

Debbie

Silver and aiming for Gold

                                                            

This past week Joel and I celebrated our 25th "silver" anniversary up at the river.    It's hard for me to believe it was 25 years ago that we met, got engaged and married.......all in just six short weeks!   There have most definitely been some ups and downs over the years, but I can honestly say that I/we are happier now than at any time since saying "I do". 

Joel's medical scare at Easter made reaching this milestone all the sweeter for us.   Thanks to all of our friends and family for your well wishes.   And now we aim to be healthier so we will be around for the next 25 years.

Reaching for the "gold",
Debbie & Joel