I am BACK!!!!

Life got a little busy there for a while! So I had better catch up!

Lets see.....Todd now works out of the Dallas area and travels all over! Erin and Nika will be joining him soon. So life is getting better for them. He is enjoying what he is doing and he is working his behind off, literally!

Xavier is now officially 2, had a great party and is growing up so fast! He is enjoying all his new toys and learning how to drive a truck! LOL

The gardens are growing and we are starting to eat tomatoes fresh from the garden, I have green peppers that are growing, and waiting to see some squash appear on the vines, so far the tons of blossom must all be male!

We have seen Randys family more than usual this summer, which is great and Xavier is getting use to seeing them and calls Randys Dad, Great Papa, which never fails to put a smile on his face!

I am still contemplating an additional dog. I have had good info shared with me on bringing in another dog. So, it's really a matter of finding a dog/puppy I can't live without! Could happen, maybe not we will just wait and see!

Plans are in the works for a trip to Dallas the first part of November, I am putting my spare change away and hopefully that will help pay for our part of the gas needed. It will be a driving trip...my favorite!!! OH, that isn't sarcasm I really do enjoy traveling across the US by car!!

I had better run befor the day passes me by. I will try to get back to being more regular on here.

Dilly

I am so Hot!

That is not a statement of how super cool I am. That is a statement of how frigging warm it has been this last week. It's so hot out it has been killing the goldfish in our Aquaponics unit outside. It's time to move the Tilapia out there who are more heat tolerant. We have even been putting a tarp up over things to create some shade but when it's in the 90's day after day it's difficult to keep the temps down.

The rain barrels are in need of a fill up and I am hoping in the next day or two that will be taken care of by some thunder storms they have been predicting. But the weatherman with todays specialty toys doesn't do any better than 40 years ago! It's all a shot in the dark. Until then I will be dragging the hose around watering the garden. Which is exactly what I have to do when I get done with this!

The highlight of many months happened yesterday. Randy and I took Xavier on part of his birthday present! He just adores Choo Choo's and we took him on Amtrak from Battle Creek to Kalamazoo and back again. He has been close and watched trains, but we were concerned when he was 20 feet away would he get scared. As long as he had your hand he was wide eyed and amazed and loved every minute! It was pure joy to spend that couple of hours with him and see the world through his eyes. That's the best part of being a parent and now a Grand Parent. To take the time to slow down and pay attention to all those things that the little ones are amazed by!

Todd should be getting ready to make the last leg of his trip to Oklahoma today. He will be stopping there for a couple of days to over see a job....so Rob the young man he is working for can go home and celebrate his anniversary with his wife! Then on to Dallas...he promised his Mom to drink lot's of liquids and try not to faint away in the Texas Heat. Good Luck with that my boy!!!! I will miss the opportunity to revisit Creede, CO it was such a spectacular place but new vistas are provided and I can see a warm setting calling to us in the middle of dark, dank and cold here in Michigan!! LOL Happy Birthday my Boy....I can't belive you are 25....I now am feeling old. Of course Ringo Starr turning 70 was a kick in the pants too! LOL

So I am off to melt some glass I have some weird inspirations floating around in my head, we will see if I can make them into something presentable. Stay cool, stay safe and huggies all around for everyone!

Love ya all,
Dilly

Looks like I am MIA!!

Boy you think it's not a big thing to get on here regularly....then life gets in the way and you get busy and all of a sudden you realize it's been almost a week and you haven't visited your blog! Shame on me!!!

We have had some beautiful weather this past week. In the 70's with blue skies, light winds and just perfect. Now we are looking at some heat rolling through again for the next few days. If I could find someplace that had these last days regularly I would move!! Of course I would have to drag my entire family to be happy but hey it's worth a shot!

The 3rd aquaponic garden is up and running. We planted seeds and plants in it on Tuesday nght. So we will see how that goes! It is keeping Randy busy feeing and watching 3 gardens. The dirt garden is lush and doing good. We have had strawberries and fresh beans out of it so far. The tomatos are going to town and I can see canning in my future. A new thing to learn in my old age!

We have the train tickets to take Xavier on his train ride next week for part of his Birthday Present. We will be getting on an Amtrak train here in Battle Creek and riding it to Kalamazoo, a half hour layover and then pick up another Amtrak and ride it back to Battle Creek. All before noon I hope he likes it, since he is mesmerized by Choo-choo's I think it will be a hit. Lot's of photos for a memory book for him! It's hard to believe he will be 2 on the 10th of this month. It's even harder to believe his Uncle Todd will be 25 on the 7th. Life certainly races by if you don't pay attention!

I hope all of you that read this are taking the time to enjoy each moment of your summer. To my sis have a wonderful and safe trip to Germany! Find all that good information that you are looking for!

Have a wonderful 4th weekend everyone.

Dilly