Picnic in the Park

Always Time for a Picnic

We are very blessed to live a few blocks away from one of the largest inland lakes... Lake Winnebago! The park along the lake is lovely... Menominee Park. There's an old-fashioned carousel, a little red train that carries happy children through the park, a great zoo, a built-by-the-community playground (yes, I hammered some nails), Sea, Sand and Sailorland... another playground, a lagoon with paddle boats, bike and walking paths, and every sport you can imagine being played! I love to just sit under a tree and read!

Today, Jerry and I headed to the park with my picnic basket in hand. We munched  tasty but very messy egg salad sandwiches... as the photos show. Everything slid out of the bread as we took a bite! 

Jerry was gathering odds and ends of his sandwich to feed the ducks.

This photo gives you a better view of the shoreline up to the swimming pavilion.

Jerry took an afternoon nap while I played with my camera. The sound of the water, the ducks and the seagulls make a very conducive atmosphere for napping.

There are lots of boats on the lake... especially sailboats. These boats were returning from the end of a race. It's actually one of my favorite photos of the Summer.

I love our little Midwest city!

A lovely place to live and raise a family.

When we want a taste of an urban life, we just hop on down to Chicago.

But then we get to come home again to fireflies and quiet.

Make this a great day!

~Joni

Lovin' Italy!!

Ten Days in Tuscany

Celebrating Kristin's 40th Bday

Kristin wanted to do something special for her 40th so she decided to rent a villa in

Tuscany... and invite 8 other close friends. They all chipped in for the Villa.

As a 'thank you' to them for helping her celebrate, Kristin hired an Italian chef

to come to the Villa and give them a cooking lesson and serve them a complete dinner.

Kristin said that this was the highlight of the trip her... being able to share this meal

with her wonderful friends.

 

This photo is out of order, but special to me.

This is the town of Portofino. A much-loved spot by me and

full of wonderful memories.

Wendy and Kristin

This is their Villa and they said it was much better than they ever expected.

You never know when you make all of your arrangements online.

They went to the small nearby town of Greve where they

were having a festival-of-sorts.

The town put on a version of "Grease".

They gathered in Florence for a glass of wine and to discuss

plans for the rest of the day.

Fried cheese balls!

Just like being at home.

Kristin, Wendy, and Wendy's husband Darin spent several days in Rome and

went to The Vatican.

They're on their way home as I write.

I pray for their safe travel.

Make this a great day!

~joni

Looks Like Fall!

The Farmer's Market

Signs of Fall

This summer, we (my camera, friends, and I) spent almost every Saturday morning at our local Farmer's Market.

Last week the temperatures dropped and Fall showed it's true colors. It was amazing to see

the changes reflected at the market. 

Acorn squash (Winter squash) appeared for the first time in the vendor's booths.

Baskets replaced some of the crates.

The flowers changed to those that can survive our chilly weather.

Soooooooo BEAUTIFUL!!!

The bands dressed warmer!

Beautiful orange pumpkins appeared in a number of the booths.

I also saw some colorful Indian Corn.

Warm clothing and warm egg rolls. They also make great crab rangoons!

Mum plants for sale!

Time to get those frost-tolerant flowers in the ground.

Isn't she lovely?

This morning it has been raining and we missed the Market, but there will be other

Saturdays thru October!

Missed you all this Summer!!

Make this a great day!

~Joni

PS All materials used in the making of my Blog Header are from Designer Digitals.

Check out their fantastic sale going on right now!!

Happy Birthday WENDY!!

Today is Wendy's 38th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO WENDY!! Wendy is my youngest and lives in Phoenix with her husband and 2 dogs. She is Operations Director for Pure Grips, a company that manufactures and sells Golf grips. Her husband is a scratch golfer! The whole family is involved and addicted to golfing.

Queen Wendy shall walk among her people later today!!
Thanks Sunny for decorating her office!

~Joni

A Summer Place

Ardy and Eds has been in Oshkosh since 1948. It's an old fashioned 'Drive-In' that is only open in the Summer. 50's and 60's music plays outside... ah, memories!! The Car Hops wear roller skates and do a great job of staying up-right. When my girls were little they would ask if we could go to Ardy and Eds and "watch the Car Hops wipe out"... which does happen occasionally.

They serve great root beer in frosty mugs!

My friend GJ is eating a pizza burger. I had one also and it was tasty!

Great buns!

I ordered a diet root beer in a bottle. It was so darn good! It was also 90 degrees out.

We arrived in GJ's convertible... his Summer car. Perfect for eating at Drive-Ins,

but it was so hot we headed to an umbrella table for some shade. I love this photo of the underside of the umbrella.

So, if you're ever in Oshkosh...

~Joni

Happy 4th of July!

I met my friend DW for a sandwich at a local coffee shop yesterday. They make the BEST egg salad sandwiches on a yummy grainy bread. Great place to meet when you don't feel like getting out of your garden clothes. When I saw DW's shoes, I had to have a picture! My camera takes up most of the space in my purse, but it's worth it. Aren't those shoes perfect for the weekend? And so adorable!

Our fireworks are tonight and I wanted to play with my camera & the fireworks. However, My doggie is terrified of the noise of the crackers going off as they did last night. Tonight would be a bigger and much louder display (we live a few blocks from the lake) and I think he needs his Mom home to protect him.

Happy 4th to all of you!
~Joni

Free "Computer Tricks" class

I have taken so many classes from Jessica Sprague. She is a fantastic teacher and person. She's offering a FREE online class... Compute Tricks for Cards. I'm not a card-maker but I know I will learn something new from this class. So, join me and register now!
Click on http://www.jessicasprague.com/ to register now!
Hope to see you there!!
~Joni

My BIL's funeral is this afternoon and I'm feeling very nervous.
Same funeral home and restaurant (including same menu) as
we had for Boyds. The memory is too fresh!
But this too shall pass.

Another Sad Loss

Boyd's brother Dana, died on June 9, 2010 from cancer. He was in his 50's. So sad. He was a talented musician, composer, and actor. Like Boyd, he graduated from UW-Madison. He was also a member of the UW marching Band. The memorial service is this Saturday. Please keep his mom, dad, and sister Mary in your thoughts and prayers.

~Joni

Otter's Album

I am continuing to work on Otter's album. As soon as I get caught up I am anxious to start an album about the transformation of my backyard... the picket fence and the tons of perennials and some annuals also. It's looking good and is so cozy. My own little world. Just needs a hammock!

And here's Otter...

If you want to know the name of any of the supplies that I used, just click on Designer Digitals on the right side of the blog.

Make this a great day!

Joni

Favorite NEW TV Series!

I am head over heels in love with this new TV docu-series on Bravo... 9 By Design !

Husband and wife team Bob and Cortney Novogratz are owners of a NYC based design firm... Sixx Design. They're young and hip and artsy and have developed and designed UNIQUE in Manhattan. They've rebuilt entire blocks in the city and turned funky into fabulous! They face daunting construction challenges against rapidly ticking clocks. They create sumptuous spaces from wrecks and empty lots and then decorate with rare and inspiring collections.

Did I mention they have 7... yes, seven... children? The kids are loved and nurtured and put an interesting twist into the program.

The parents have a new book out, Downtown Chic! I saw it on Amazon.com and it's on my wish list.

Here are a few family photos...

They use a lot of photography in their decorating!

To read more about this fascinating family and show, click on Bravotv.com

Our cable company offers 9 By Design on Primetime on Demand so you can catch up or re watch the show. Also check their website for possible episodes online.

Enjoy!!

Joni

Signs of Summer

Today is such a BEAUTIFUL day outside! It's hard to stay inside and work on anything! The rain and wind last night brought down most of the pods from my maple trees so it might be a good day to start raking them up. What a job! So many happenings outside are screaming "SUMMER"! I've listed a few on this layout... Can you add more? Share them with us all!

I hope your weather is as lovely where you live!

Make this a great day!!

Joni

PS Just got back from my doctor and she thinks I have a 'torn rotator cuff'.

I have an MRI next Tuesday.

Always something!

Otter's Album

Otter's album is growing... finally! I seem to have my old love back for scrapbooking. I haven't had any interest in it since Boyd died. All of a sudden it returned and I could 'scrap' 24/7. However, my yard is loaded with newly planted perennials and they require a lot of watering to get those roots to head downward and get established. And my 3 huge maple trees have been dropping their seedlings all over the ground. I'm raking and sweeping constantly but I can't keep up with them. I'll be pulling tiny maple trees out of the flower beds all summer.

The credits for any of the materials used on the layouts can be located by clicking 'Designer Digitals' on the right side bar.

Make your day a great one!

Joni

Otter's Journal

What a day I had today! My mom took me to this place called "See Spot Run"... and I almost ran the other way... to get a bath. I knew I was going to hate every minute of it and I was right. And to make things really bad, my mom left me and went some place in OUR car! And there I was, left to endure all those horrid things like soap suds and eeeeeek... the dreaded blow dryer! Hot, noisy and yuck, yuck, yuck!! They cut my toe nails and didn't even put polish on them like my mom has on hers. An here's the humiliating part... they put a scarf around my neck. I'm a boy, you nit-wits!

Then my mom came back to get me... had a little scare there for a moment... being a shelter-dog and all. Hey mom... I'm over here! Get me out of this place!! Whoa... what's this I spy. A little girl dog and she's a cutie! Wanna share a biscuit?

Home sweet home! Just in time to walk around in all that dirt for the garden.

Wags to you,

Otter

The Best Egg Salad Ever!!

I have recently been trying to make great egg salad and have made batch after batch. This morning I finally got it right and it was YUMMERS!! That's my lunch in the photo below. And here is my recipe... for you sweet people out there!

Joni's Egg Salad

4 hard boiled eggs chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped fine

2 green onions sliced thin

4 small sweet pickles chopped fine

(pickle relish isn't as good)

4 T Hellman's Light Mayo

1 T yellow mustard

Heaping T of Dill

Ground sea salt

Ground pepper

Mash together with a fork and stir well.

Refrigerate so flavors blend.

Serve in pita bread or bread of choice

on a bed of alfalfa sprouts.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Joni

Someday...

This is a photo of my gardener's backyard. It's a small yard but carefully planted to have flowers in bloom all summer. I think it's a fairyland! This is his hobby! But through a mutual friend he has agreed to take me on as a client. He has already dug up 3 feet of my lawn all around the inside of the fence and along the garage. Planting will begin sometime this week. This weekend he's visiting nurseries all over Wisconsin looking for healthy and larger perennials. He's already bought all of my herbs and the lavender. Tomatoes will go in along the garage with green peppers. But, most planting will be flowers that will come up each year. Although annuals will be planted too! I'm excited to see what he is going to do with the window box under the 2 kitchen windows. My yard will still have some grass (for Otter) and a bigger central area than he has in his photo. I have brick patio which will have to do this year.

I'm anxious to post pictures as he uses his wealth of knowledge and works his creativity!!

Make this a great day!!
Hugs to you all!
Joni

Mother's Day 2010

Rarely do I have my picture taken, however the photo on my blog was two years old. So I braved the lens on Mother's Day! Also got a quick picture of Wendy and Kristin... and Wendy took a pic of Otter and I together in our favorite evening chair. This is my whole entire family! No Aunts, Uncles, or cousins. Small lot that we are, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Me

Wendy

Kristin

Otter and his Mom

Otter doesn't mind having the flash go off in his face... good boy that he is! Actually I have so many photos of him that I started working on his album this morning. I made a quick trip to Achievers yesterday and found the perfect album, paper, and embellishments. Boyd's desk is now my work table. Nice to have it!

It was a GREAT Mother's Day weekend!! Thanks for traveling here girls!

I am so proud to be your Mom!!