Words of Wisdom Wednesday

As you are reading this today, we are heading out for our family vacation. 16 of us are taking a Rhine River cruise. Can't wait to share our adventures.

In the meantime, here's something new for you:

Travel Tuesday

My nephew, Zachary is at the beach this week with his family. He sent me these pictures. That makes me so happy! He's a sweetheart!

His children--Reese and Nolan. I hope they have a great week! 

As for us, we leave on our family vacation on Wednesday. Zachary's mom and dad---my brother, Matt and sil, Sharon are going with us. We're doing a Rhine River Cruise through Germany. There will be 16 of us all together. We're all pretty excited but not for the actual traveling part. 

This trip may very well determine my travels going forward. The airlines are no longer reliable. EVERY time we go somewhere, there's a delay or problem causing the trip to hours longer. That's just not okay with me. The price we have to pay should come with some sort of guarantees. I just don't buy that it's always weather related. 

We'll see! 

Monday Mystery

I do not understand why movies and series are so dark these days. I heard something about the producers are trying to make films have the surroundings as they actually were. I think the first one I remember as being very dark---I mean in the lighting department---not necessarily the story line (although there are some very dark ones)--is Game of Thrones. It was often hard to see the picture. And then there's Outlander. Another dark one. It's so annoying. But this one takes the cake:

Yes, the tv in on! The show is We Were the Lucky Ones. I read the book several years ago. The book was good and so was the series.. But much of it was like this. Now, granted, the room is also pretty light which doesn't help. So, I closed the shutters and the French doors. 

It wasn't much better. Also, I went in to the settings to find the brightness. I have it as high as it will go. This is just crazy. As annoying as this was, I still really liked the series. It wasn't all this dark, but plenty of scenes were. 

I just don't understand it--it's a mystery to me.

You might notice that the houseplant I usually have on the little table is missing. I brought everything outside. It's pretty amazing what a little fresh air and direct sun do for my plants!

Something for Sunday

A week ago last Friday, we went down to The Nashville City Club--where Justin is the Marketing Manager. He was putting on a "Murder Mystery Dinner." The theme was '80's, so, Mindy & Justin, Stephanie & Nicky all dressed up! Not me. The only thing I could think to do was to get myself some big hair. But I didn't. I just went as myself!

Justin had something to do with our table seating.

Considering our recent NKOTB concert, this was perfect. 

We had a three course dinner starting with a wedge salad. The main course was this:

Seafood Newburg in a puff pastry. It was delicious---and huge! The asparagus was cooked perfectly--firm, but not raw! Normally, restaurants do it way too crunchy for my taste. 

Justin got the part of Rick Astley, the rocker. Stephanie---I can't remember her name--but he was some mega rich dude. During dinner, Stephanie--who was sitting between Nicky and me--started to choke. She got up while Nicky and I were asking her if she was okay. She stumbled and fell to the floor DEAD!

At the end of the night, as a team we got the award for being "Dead Last!" Stephanie and Mindy put together an awesome theory. I was certain they were right! But, Stephanie got an award that they said they had never given out before--"Best Dramatic Death!" And it was!! Actually, if truth be told, Steph was a better actress than the two putting on the show.

Butch elected not to go as he doesn't like this sort of thing. When I got home, he admitted that he came really close to going with us---because--are you ready for this? He thought the food sounded good!! What?? He doesn't care about food! Yet, he was almost swayed! Well, he did miss a really good meal. The cheesecake we had for dessert might have been the very best I've ever had. He loves cheesecake, I do not. I even had a thought to bring it home for him. But then, it was so good, that I just kept having one more bite until it was just about gone!

Thanks Justin for a fun night! Gotta' love the family discount!!

Scrapbook Saturday

I saw this earlier in the week on a group that I follow. I started to figure out how to make it. Then I got the bright idea to contact the creator and ask if it was for sale. She sent me the SVG file and I uploaded it to my Cricut.

I had no trouble cutting it. This is 4 layers. It’s about 3” x 6”. The hardest thing was the word “photos.” It cut perfectly. I ran it through the little X (sticker maker), but it kept sticking to everything. I copied it exactly as the woman designed it. Really, you could use any color on the background. 

To prove the point, I cut this one. 

We (Butch, me, Sandy, Greg, Stephanie, Nicky, Mindy and Justin) are going to Disney in October for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween--and a 5K. That will be my first and last race! I just don't want to miss out---you know---"fomo." That runs in our family.

Anyway, I love how both of them turned out. I sent the owner of the design my Disney take. She was really happy that I did! 

Friday Funnies

Five Things Thursday

Since it's summertime, I'm all about the gardens. Enjoy these.

Send me pictures of your garden. I would love to see them--and even post them.

What I Buy Wednesday

Today, I have to admit to a stupid purchase. You know that old saying, "If it's too good to be true---it usually is"? Well, I cannot believe I got sucked in to something so stupid. I should have known better.

I'm so aggravated with myself, that I don't even care if it's a crappy picture. You get the gist of it.

Let's back up to the story.

In February, I went to Chicago to visit Morgan. We had a great weekend together. We stayed at The Drake Hotel. One evening, when we got back to the hotel, a girl (hotel employee) stopped us and offered us a great deal for being a loyal Hilton Honors customer. 

I'm just going to cut to the chase here. She offered me 3 nights and 4 days at The Drake or any other Hilton property for $409. I jumped at it---that was half of what we were paying  for that weekend.

Once I got home and looked in to it, it's one of those "come ons" for a timeshare. What??! I cannot believe I was hoodwinked. Not once was that mentioned. 

So now, we have a decision to make--I say we--because if Butch goes with me, he has to attend the presentation too. We planned to use it for Sedona so he could go to the Barrett Jackson car auction--one of his bucket list items (well, to actually buy a car). We're trying to decide if we're willing to be held captive for a couple hours or just chalk it up to another stupid life lesson. 

I'm leaning towards the stupid lesson. You would think with all of my life lessons, I wouldn't have fallen for this one. I liked to pride myself in being too smart for a scam. Although this is not technically a scam, I still fell for it and that makes me mad!

It ain't Mayberry, but I can hear the whistling!

Different state,  different kid, different dad, different story. Here we go...

So. When the “littles”—who aren’t so little anymore—were here for Camp Aunt Barb, 12 year old Travis was telling me about his new job. He’s mowing lawns! Of course, that’s the quintessential job for pre-teen boys. It's a rite of passage isn't it? Lawn mowing. But for this young entrepreneur, he has come up with a brilliant plan! He hired his dad to work for him. After all, who else could handle the weedeater which can be dangerous for a kid? 

Orrrrr, maybe there’s more to it than that. Perhaps Brian, an airline pilot for American Airlines wanted a “side gig!” Everyone needs a “side gig”—right? Yeah, that’s it. 

Orrrr, maybe Brian was longing for a way to recall the days of his own youth? Nah, that can’t be right. Most kids end up hating the mowing. 

Orrr, maybe Brian sees the money in mowing! Travis gets $30 per lawn. He says it takes about a half hour. 60 bucks an hour sounds pretty good. Oh wait, dad is a free worker! Okay, that’s not it!

Orrrr, maybe he just wanted to get out of the house for awhile. Yeah because everyone would rather be outside sweating in the hot sun and batting away insects rather than relaxing on the couch watching sports in the cool of air conditioning with a beer in hand! Okay, that’s not it.

That takes us back to the “side gig” theory. I never thought I’d see an airline pilot doing lawn work as a side gig. Apparently with the increasing costs of flying, the pilots aren’t getting that money!! Only kidding they make plenty. Plenty. So that’s not it after all. 

My theory is—he can keep an eye on the “boy.” No one’s going to mess with a kid if his dad is right there! Well, unless you are cicadas. They don’t care. They swarmed the kid pretty regularly in their recent heyday. Just one of the downsides of a lawn job—insects! 

Keeping an eye on the boy must be it—and—this is probably a little more likely.

Whatever the reason, Travis needs the help. He’s got quite a nice business going. Already, this early in the summer--June--he’s saved a thousand dollars! I asked him what he was planning to use the money for. He said that he didn’t know. I think he just likes to see that cash piling up. I asked him if he was going to open a bank account. He replied, “No, I have a little safe!” Yeah, I’m not sure a toy safe is all that “safe” if you know what I mean!!

I love these kids so much and this was my favorite story of Camp Aunt Barb 2024. Another one in the books!

Monday Mystery

Well, this mystery is actually solved or so we think. But first, let me take you back to where this mystery began.

You will recall that I've decided to go with all red flowers on the patio this year. We are really loving that. They are so bright and showy. We had this beautiful angel wing begonia--probably my most favorite thing I bought. It was so lush and full. All of a sudden, one day, it was just smashed--like some animal decided to sit on top of the thing and crush it to bits. 

This picture is from the first part of June. You can see the flower in the background. Picture it filling that entire space until something smashed it. I thought Butch had stepped on it getting to the electrical outlet for the fountain. Secretly, I sorta' still thought that's what happened and he didn't want to admit it. (Okay, sorry Butch!) There just was no explanation. It was a mystery. Until...

...it happened again. This groundcover (pachysandra) that looked so nice, was now a mess. 

Upon closer inspection, there was this debris. At first I thought it looked like some sort of hive.

But it's snakeskin---from a pretty big snake! It really freaks me out. Then I remembered these pictures that my neighbor took in our yard from 6 years ago. 

That is one huge snake! The neighbor said it was 6-8ft. long. 

I am very happy that I never saw it in person. Now, I'm convinced that it's still living here. I do not know how long snakes live or what their predators are. I know that they are supposed to be really good for the garden. But this one isn't helping at all. The side yard is full of moles. And, unless it's really old for a snake, I have a feeling it's laid many eggs. The one currently doing all the damage could be a descendent. 

I swear, if I ever do see it, I'm pretty sure I'll have to move!

Update:

We are suddenly having all kinds of yard/garden problems. Butch noticed the work of a mole/moles (must be multiples due to the amount of damage) in our side yard next to the pool. Then he noticed that much of our beautiful ivy is dead. 

Completely dead. It looks like someone sprayed it with some sort of plant killer. Sooo, I had Sara, our garden girl come over. She was baffled as her crew had not sprayed anything. As we walked all around, she notice that much of the remaining ivy has some sort of fungus called leaf spot. It spreads quickly--which accounts for the entire bed being dead. 

Then we continued to walk through the garden to the back yard, noticing that leaf spot everywhere. Sara is going to handle it.

I took this picture from my bedroom about a week ago admiring how nice everything looked. You can see some of the damage in the grass close to the patio. 

What you can't really see from this angle is that the entire yard is torn up.

And on in to the beds. Sara is pretty sure we have an armadillo. She has seen their "work" before. Still, she's going to treat it like moles and dose the entire area with whatever kills moles and something else to get rid of the grubs that moles feed on. In the meantime, she put a "mole bomb" down the snake hole (she verified that for sure). This happened:

Sara told me that the smoke is supposed to permeate the tunnels underground. The fact that the smoke came out of the hole told her that either something was sitting in there blocking it, or that there is not an actual tunnel there. Either which way, I'm still freaked out. I think about when I'm sticking my hand in the pond to trim my water plants and gather any other debris, there might be a snake in there. Makes me kinda' scared. No, not "kinda"---really scared!

Then, Sara sent me this picture from the front yard. 

What the?? This is ridiculous! I have no idea what's going on around here!

Oh and then to add insult to. injury, the dang rabbit is back!

I think I'm going insane! I could understand if he was eating the leaves but he's just stripping them.

Just when we seem to have our pool problems under control (I guess I shouldn't have said that), it something else. There's always something else. And just when everything was looking so nice. I just want someone to wave a magic wand and make all these problems disappear. If only....

Further update:

Butch went out at 2:30 a.m. with a flashlight to see if he could find some nocturnal animals reaping havoc in the yard. He didn't see anything. I guess they just weren't frolicking at 2:30 a.m. Sheesh!

Further, further update:

Yesterday, I prayed for help with our yard. I don't recall ever praying for landscaping. I don't know if God intercedes for the benefit of a nice yard. I guess that would mean he'd have to do something about his other creatures who are annoying the "he**" out of me! I sure hope he does.