November at the Beach

Last week we had Timmy and Bridget for an overnight visit and their Mom & Dad enjoyed an overnight in the city. The weather was unusually mild for November so we went to First Presidents Beach in Long Branch where a new playground had just opened a few days earlier. The kids had a ball. There is also a huge skateboard park and a roller skating hockey rink there. It was all pretty exciting. It was a good day!

Beach Days

Summer has flown by! We had a wonderful week camping in the Adirondacks, we enjoyed Eileen, Lauren and Thomas' visit with us and in the past two weeks I got to the beach three times! Today I went with Christine, Katie and Stephen. The water had good size waves but the kids did great. Cameramen from NBC news were at the beach today and I thought just maybe one of us might be on tv - not me. Well, none of us were and it turned out the story was about high levels of bacteria in the water on Monday and the need for more testing. Great!!! I was there Monday enjoying the afteraffects of Hurricane Bill!!!

Movie Post

Last night we saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was good. Visual effects were marvelous but the movie doesn't make the story too clear. I didn't read this last book. Bill did - but quite a while ago. We thought the movie seemed a little long. Also the theater was freezing - should've worn a sweater. Maybe I would've enjoyed it more if I wasn't so cold!

4th of July in Matawan

Yesterday was the 4th of July. We had a party here to also celebrate Christine and Teddy's birthdays. Tyler swam in the pool for the first time and he really loved it. Leo played with him moving him through the water making an hmmmmmmm sound for a motor boat. When Leo stopped, Tyler went hmmmmmmmmm. He wanted to keep going! I think we have an early talker here!

No picture of Bridget here. Bridget fell out of the wagon and hit her head on concrete. Her parents took her to the emergency where it was determined she had had a mild concussion. After a cat scan and 4 hours later she cleared to go home. She came home happy because they gave her a stuffed dog which she named Maxy Princess Shadow.

We are looking to seeing our town fireworks tonight from our backyard.

Father's Day

 

Bill and I spent Father's Day Weekend visiting Leo and Kristen and Tyler. This is Leo's first Father's Day as a father! So it was the right time to take a picture of the three generations. On Sunday we visited two beautiful parks which are part of the Delaware Water Gap National Park System. There has been a lot of rain lately so the many waterfalls there were very impressive! The weather was on the cooler side making hiking comfortable. Tyler enjoyed the hike very much also.

Today we went kayaking with Leo. We went on a small lake. We were hoping to go on the Delaware but the water is high and running very fast now and Leo didn't think it was a good idea. We had a real good time even though for a while we were getting rained on. Ahead of us and behind us was blue sky. But we're good sports! Maybe we're in training for our camping vacation! Kristen has gotten Tyler a raincoat so he'll be ready!

Bridget's First Dance Recital

Bridget was so precious in her recital! Her number was called I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU. Six little girls came on stage in their pink tutus, each with a teenage dancer at their side. The little ballet dancers lifted their legs and and did their turns and then they were on their own. Throughout their dance they sat on the floor and pretended to talk on their phones. Without a doubt it was the best performance of the show - although some brave dads did a dance called Thriller which was a thrill! Think we can get Ted on stage next year?

Busy Hubby

Bill is getting close to retirement - less than two months. Presently he works three days a week. That gives him time for other things like opening our pool which we did today and working on our back porch steps which meant dealing with another problem - a tilted brick column. Art suggested Bill brace it with a board to give it support. This worked - thank you Art. Next posting I should have pics of Bill taking a nap, playing his banjo and swimming in the pool to show I'm not a slave driver!

End to a Great Weekend - Visit Leo, Kristen and Baby Tyler

On the way home from Rochester we made a stop in Pennsylvania. Tyler is as cute as ever and I have to show him off. He has begun solid food now and likes his peas! Leo is recuperating very well from last Friday's surgery. We ate a delicious pork dinner from the grill, enjoyed playing with Tyler and relaxing on their porch in the quiet country. The weather for the weekend was beautiful.

50th Wedding Anniversary

 

 

 

Art & Marian had a wonderful dinner to celebrate their anniversary. It was so nice to get together with family and friends who came from near and far. So nice to see everyone! It was a great party! Thank you Art and Marian!

Art & Marian's Backyard Picnic

 

Saturday nite they had a wonderful picnic in their backyard which is absolutely beautiful as you can see.

Twins plant tomatoes and more

Yesterday I had a really great time with Timmy and Bridget. We worked together to plant four tomatoe plants, six impatience, a geranium, and lettuce, carrot and bean seeds. Mommy was a good worker too! The kids kept working until we finished. They are fascinated by grubs and worms which Timmy is more eager to hold than Bridget.

We were so busy I didn't take any pictures while working but after a nice cold drink the kids looked at their plants and sat in front of their garden gate. I will follow up on their family garden.

Bill's Retirement Party

Bill is retiring very soon and his office had a surprise party for him this afternoon. Because Bill has a history of fixing things at the office the theme for his party was Bob the Builder. He got Bob the Builder clothes - boots, overalls, flannel shirt and plastic hat. And since Bill usually makes morning coffee they gave him coffee and a coffee plant. He also got a bottle of Scotch and a National Geographic of 500 places to travel to.

The food was excellent. They had enlarged photos of Bill throughout the years and there was a lot of joking and laughing.

I must say their excuse to get him to his party was pretty poor. They sent out an office e-mail announcing a mandatory meeting about health benefits. Bill insisted he wasn't going to go since it didn't apply to him. He had his suspicions and gave them a hard time about coming. I had thought he was completely surprised. He was surprised to see me.

Spring Helpline Hours

 

 

 

 

As a Master Gardeners we are required to do 10 hours of helpline, 20 hours of community service and 10 hours of education yearly. Usually helpline is done in the office answering phone calls. However, Master Gardeners are invited to attend different events with their displays and handouts and answer people's questions at these functions. So, would we rather be in the office answering the phone or at Earth Day celebrations in Shrewsbury and at Bayonet Farms? Including our helpline booth at the NJ Flower Show we now have completet our 10 hours. Actually, my fellow Master Gardener, Dorothy, and I have gone above and beyond with 10 and a half hours!
The weather was unseasonably warm this year but everything is blooming now!

Super Fun Family Visit

Art & Marian, Linda, Jim and Matt spent the weekend with us. They arrived from Rochester early Saturday afternoon. Christine and Teddy's families were able to join us for the afternoon. The weather was summer like! Sunday was cooler but perfect for outdoor activities. We began by going to Sandy Hook National Park where we first visited the Nature Center and checked to see if the photo of Leo windsurfing about 15 years ago is still part of their exhibit. It is! Then we walked the nature trail through holly forests and then along the beach where we saw quite a few large horseshoe crabs and a lot of pretty shells.

We had a picnic lunch at the park, a tour of both the light house and the history house where officers used to live. We took the scenic ride home through Atlantic Highlands overlooking the bay and ocean stopping at Mitchell Monument Park to see the 911 Memorial and the view of Sandy Hook and NYC from a high eleavation. We also made a stop at Deep Cut Park to see the beautiful spring flowers. End of the day some of us were in the hot tub!

Monday was rainy so we went to the Monmouth Mall where our guests treated Bill and me and Christine to a delicious lunch at Charlie Brown's which is known for its fabulous salad bar. After tea at Christine's house we headed home. Bill started a fire in the wood stove and we just relaxed using the pool table, Bill's train set and Anne's slot machine. We also played Sequence. In the evening we got out my dad's old slides and did a lot of laughing.

This company is welcome any time!

Easter with Tyler

 

 

This Easter Weekend we were in Hawley, Pa. with Leo, Kristen and Baby Tyler. As you can see Tyler is now begginning to walk. I took some video but unfortunately it was too dark.

On the way home we stopped to see Timmy and Bridget and their mommy, who made a very nice lunch for us. Timmy and Bridget colored some eggs for us!

 

 

We had a delicious Easter Dinner with Kristen's family in Towanda. The group picture shows Tyler with both sets of grandparents and his great grandfather Lebo.

This year Easter fell on Kristen's birthday. Happy Birthday Kristen. Weather was cold and windy but sunny.

Out to the Movies

Last night we saw Knowing. It's a science fiction film rated PG and starring Nicolas Cage and as one critic wrote it is frightening, suspenceful, intelligent and awesome. I agree. Bill didn't like the ending. On the way out I heard people saying it was different. It was! I sort of felt like I'd been riding a roller coaster!

March Birthday Celebration

 

Last weekend we got together to celebrate our Birthdays. Bill, I, Patti, Peter, and Anthony were all born in March. Kristen's birthday is in April. It was actually Peter's birthday so although he wasn't present he was remembered. Teddy was away on a work trip but everyone else was able to come even Tyler who spent his first night at his grandparents home. Tyler has changed so much since we saw him a month earlier. He now vocalises to respond to you and he laughs! Christine did a good job writing about the day on her blog Simple Ordinary.

Hurray for Spring

 

Huge clusters of snowflakes were falling yesterday for the first day of spring but the Daffodils were just waiting to bloom. I brought a few inside and they were happy to open up. Still waiting for my Snowbird and Super Snappy peas to show themselves.

My Birthday

Yesterday turned out to be a really nice day. The weather was beautiful - sunny and in the sixties. I went to our monthly Master Garden meeting and our guest speaker was a tree whisperer. He claims he has healed many trees by touching them and talking to them. He gave a power point presentation showing various trees around the country he has worked with. The most impressive was a old tree in Santa Barbara. He sensed from talking with this tree that something happened about 80 years ago in a nearby parking lot. He asked people there to research for him. They discovered there had been an earthquake 79 years ago and the toxic waste was dumped in a near by parking lot. The town has put a barrier in the ground. We were given house plants to practice with during 10 minute meditative exercise. Very,very, interesting!

In the afternoon I helped some other master gardeners with a horticultural therapy program at Mana house which is a temporary home to enable single women with children to get on their feet and become self sufficient. They decorated clay flower pots using colorful tissue paper and glue. They then learned about different varieties of house plants and chose one to plant in their pot. We will be going there once a week for five weeks.

For dinner Bill took me to Charlie Browns where we had an excellent meal. Later we went to a restaurant in town, The Riviera, where they now have a jam session upstairs on Wednesday nights. First the house group plays. Musicians sign in as they arrive and are put into groups. They have a small free buffet which is very good. A friend's husband plays the drums and his family was there. We had a real good time.

Bill gave me a game of Sequence which I had requested. We had played this with Leo and Kristen and it's a lot of fun.

It's Been a Year!

I started my blog March 2, 2008, over a year ago. I've enjoyed doing it. Now it's time to plant peas again. This year I'm trying two varieties, Burpee Super Snappy and Snowbird and I planted them on the 11th. It was a decent day and the soil was ready. Later I looked back at my post a year ago and read that I had soaked the peas in water with a little vitamin C for superior plants. My peas did do very well last year. Maybe I'll plant some more on St. Patrick's Day.

Another Movie

Last night we watched The Confessions of a Shopaholic which is based on a series of books by Sophie Kinsella which I had read a long time ago and enjoyed but can't remember much about now. When Bill asked how closely the movie followed the book I had no idea. But we did enjoy the movie. It was light hearted and had us and the audience laughing.

Some Live Entertainment

Friday night Bill and I went to a performance of The Secret Garden, a musical, at Brookdale Community College. It was fabulous!!! A friend's son, Zach, who attends the college, played a major role and was great. Zach has a wonderful voice and seemed to be so comfortable on the stage. He'd love to be on Broadway and I hope he makes it. The little girl, Mary, was wonderful to watch also. Her facial expressions were so good. I thought of our older granddaughter having that part and how marvelous she would be, of course. We were pleasantly suprised to get 3rd row center seats. I had only ordered our tickets a week earlier. The theater was only half filled which seemed a shame. Tickets were only $10 each.

But this is not all!! Monday night we went to our library to listen to Heather Mulvey play her guitar and sing Celatic and American Music. We had gone to her performance last year and enjoyed it very much. Once again it was a lot of fun to listen to her. She encouraged us to sing along to some of the songs we knew. Once again we did not have a full house. The show began with only four in the audience. By the end there were about 12 people present although 20 people had registered to attend. This program was free. We did buy her CD which she was in the process of creating last year.

For more entertainment we went to the movies last night. But this gets its own post.

Another Movie Nite

Our latest movie was Slumdog Millionaire which just won a number Oscars. The movie shows the poverty of Indian slums, but even worse we see the cruel lives of orphans trying to survive and being so abused. There is more violence and cruelty in this film than I care for but there is also love and hope. The acting by the children was wonderful!

What Would You Say?

Hi, Ammy!
I am creating a story,(110 pages) about these two kids, one prophecy, two separated worlds and an ongoing plot that i have been working on for a while. One kid is named Never, and he lives in the underground world of the Faeries, who, up till the Great Faerie War lived with the humans Above. Of course, then the humans enslaved them, no matter the age, to cure the human sick. The faeries didn't do much magic unless it was to heal people up till then. But the humans didn't care. after a rash kidnapping of faerie children, the faeries fought back. Hence, the Faerie War.
The human is Amora. She is part faerie, and lives on a mountain. She is only connected to Never via the prophecy.
My original story was about a kid named Mike who had his parents taken away by the humans.
Do you want me to send the story to you? Please say yes!!!!
KATIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ROBIN HOOD ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now what do you think I said? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nine Years Old

 

We had another birthday party on Sunday. Stephen was born on George Washington's birthday - something he's very proud of. We had a nice gathering including the twins and their parents. Leo and Kristen and Tyler couldn't make it because of snow. Here we had light rain with the temperatue in the 30's. Stephen's other grandparents were also there along with his Uncle Frank. We had a very nice dinner of pigs in the blanket, broccoli salad and jello salad and of course cake. And of course there were presents. Stephen's big gift this year was a MP3 player which can also be used to view pics and videos.

Drinking Sap and Designing a Closet

This morning Bill and I left for Basking Ridge. While Bill and Teddy worked on a closet, Patti, the twins and I went to nearby Lord Stirling Park and took part in a maple syrup demo. We actually got to drink sap from the sugar maple tree. It tasted pretty much like water with a little sweetness. I couldn't taste any maple flavor. The demo was very interesting and infomative and geared for both adults and kids. At the end we got to sample finished syrup. And when we got back we checked out how the guys were doing. They did great. Tomorrow we all get to party for Stephen's birthday!

Catching up on Movies

A week ago Bill and I saw The Reader. It was very riveting. The time went so quickly because we were both totally so engrossed in the story in which a present day German man thinks back to his youth when he had met an older woman and fallen in love with her. While in law school he observes war crime trials he is shaken to see this woman from his past among the defendants being tried. The movie left me wondering about these characters and human nature.

This week we saw Coraline in 3D. A critic wrote that it was visually dazzling but strangely joyless. That's exactly how I felt. We saw previews for coming attractions and there are more 3D movies coming soon. Although not as good as the 3D you experience at Disneyworld, the 3D is incredible. I was glad we saw it! Actually, this is a movie we paid for because not all theaters show it in 3D and I doubt our small theater where we get free Tuesday nite movies through cablevision will show it in 3D.

You're Welcome

Bridget and Timmy sent us the nicest thank you note!