A Great Day!

About this time twenty three years, ago my Aunt Sadie and one of her sisters decided to have a little spontaneous picnic. It was a great day. Since Aunt Sadie was my neighbor growing up, she yelled to us to get ready. Dad was working in Detroit at the time so mom and I quickly prepared for an afternoon at the lake. This is one of my very favorite pictures. My grandfather didn't come, but grandma sent some goodies for the picnic. I wish he'd have come. He would've had a blast because the rest of us did. This is my dad's family. In the above picture, Aunt Sadie, Aunt Marie, Aunt Juanita, and Aunt Estel. They are my grandfather's sisters. And what a hoot they were. I miss them greatly.

It's beyond me where or even if I took pictures of the menfolk. But there is Uncle Ralph. Aunt Sadie's husband. Only at that time he was a boyfriend. They married one year later in December after I went away to college.

He was fun in a grouchy kinda way. He's in most of my good memories growing up. You had to take him with a grain of salt. Ralph's middle name was onery. He couldn't pronounce my name, so he usually called me "that girl" or "Liza".

I wish I could find more pictures from this day. We visited, we laughed, we walked the lake, we laughed, we ate, we laughed...I think of that day every single time I walk the dam.

Always remember, the best things in life aren't planned...

Monday Evening

A good evening for being outside. Mom has some awesome ferns all over her porch this summer. This is one of them.

Moms neighbor's dog. Doesn't he look like an ugly old man?

My neighbor's shed. I tried to catch the essence of the sunlight, but I didn't quite get it right.

My favorite tree. An Ash Tree in our side yard. We had a baby birdie in the acorn this summer.

Who knows...

Yes, we still have Miss Callee. She stays outside and in the garage at night. The boys like her. Rotten Toms. She doesn't like them. I have a shovel handy. I plan to hit and scoop when I get the chance. Smart Callee...

My Mandevilla in the sunlight.

One of my favorite flowers, Zinnia.

Annie P. and one of my favorie flowers...

Mom's Mandevilla. It's really taken off this summer. Great summer weather for those babies.

Surprise Eye Candy

I kept hearing something weird outside my window yesterday evening. It kept going on and on. Finally I went outside and lo and behold. A beautiful sight! I wish I could have been in that balloon on such a beautful evening!!

Union Covered Bridge & Other Sites

We've been wanting to go to the Union Covered Bridge since last fall. However, due to all the rain from last summer, we never made it. So, last night we decided it would be a good road trip!

There was lots of info about the bridge. I didn't take the time to read any of it, but wish I had now. At least about the the history of covered bridges.

You will see shortly this bridge has the Burr Arch Trusses.

I've loved this place since the first time I laid eyes on it when my grandma took me and my cousin Amy there many, many moons ago.

Actually since then it has been refurbished. I believe it was in 1987. You can see the boards that were removed and torn off due to the rain last summer. It's hard to imagine the water running that deep but it sure did. I was in hopes they would've fixed that by now. Maybe in the near future...

Recalling what someone told me at work who lives close to this area, a work crew removed some of the boards to allow water to run through. Otherwise the water was so deep and fast they were afraid the bridge would get completely destroyed. So, thankfully that didn't happen. One of the local newspapers had pictures of the water being that high. I wish I could retrieve those pictures!

The arched trusses. I remember Amy and I running across this bridge. Now as a 40 year old I was a bit chicken. And couldn't, until I crossed the river below.

This is a better view to see how high the river would have been last summer. Those are little windows to peep out of while you are on the bridge.

Mom loves yellow. She thought this was probably a weed, but wanted to find out what it was anyhow. You can see the cement road that runs through the river just a short way from the bridge.

Standing on the road.

I put too much shadow in this picture. This is from the opposite side. This side makes me want to play Little House on the Prairie Days. In fact some girlfriends and I even talked about putting on our bonnets and taking a picnic here several years ago. I regretted that we never did. Bucket list idea!

This picture would have belonged in Laura Ingalls Wilder's memory book. Minus the graffiti spray painted on the boulders.

Since I made it across from the bottom of the bridge I swallowed my fright and walked across those old rickety boards. Breathing heavy, I stopped to take a picture out of one of those little windows. If we had stayed a moment's longer we would have been able to see some people rafting. Too late we were in the car to leave.

Next we drove to Finger Lakes State Park. Beautiful lake. So calm and pretty. There were several people fishing and boating.

These guys were having a great time.

On we went to a youth area and I cannot for the life of me remember the name. I haven't been here for 11 years. I love the shallow water and cliffs. The last time I was here there were several people rock climbing. If you can see, there are 2 people in the hollow through the branches.

These last 2 photos I took today are my favorite from the whole day. Looked like there was a young girl getting senior pictures taken. There was a chair that must have been used for a prop. I took 2 other pictures of this chair with the bridge in the background. Mysteriously they disappeared by the time I got home. My battery was starting to go dead and I didn't double check to see if I got the pics or not. I tend to learn things the hard way.


No kidding allowed here, I took this one today and just sharpened it a bit. Just barely. The lone little purple flower amongst these yellow daisies.

What's Going On???

Okay folks, not sure what's going on with blogger. I cannot upload my pictures of my walk last night. I'll keep trying...

For Ashley

After being so neglectful of my blog lately, I decided to do something for Ashley. She suggested I take pictures of my walk so she could see where I go. Ashley, this is just a taste. Kinda like dessert first. These were the last pictures I took tonight after I ended my walk. They were by far my favorite. I will post more tomorrow evening. As the sun sets much sooner now, the colors of the sky have been incredible. I was blessed to get this shot tonight. Thank you Ashley, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten it! This may have to go in a frame!

Hello

Hello everyone. I'm not gone, just a little boring lately. Don't have much to blog about. Hopefully this weekend I will dust the cobwebs off my camera and do something fun!

One thing I will complain, errr, say I do not care for the darkness at 8:30pm! This is the part I hate about summer's ending. As you recall, I hate fall. Unfortunately it's just around the corner.
I spoke to a health coach on the phone and before you know it, the stars are out and the sky is dark. She called at a bad time, I was preparing for my walk across the dam. Tomorrow I have no excuses...

We'll see...

Have a great Thursday everyone. Even though I haven't had much to post about lately, I still lurk among you!! See ya soon, Lisa D.

I'm Pooped

Today was a long, busy day. We ended it with a quick trip to Columbia to get a few needful things. I'm so pooped I cannot sleep. Hubby is snoring pathetically. Kia is sleeping with her eyes open. Something I've never seen her do before. Annie has the toots and Reynaldo is my buddy. We are just hanging out and playing FarmTown on Face Book.

Good Thing

The good thing about today is, it's Thursday. The last night for me to be duty officer at work. . Tonight I met some friends and coworkers at a great place for supper. Yeah!! Tomorrow is Friday after a terribly long, sad, super busy week at work. Tomorrow night, I may actually have to consider doing something special, with or without the hubby.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend. I plan on it!!

It's a Hot One Today

It's hot here in NE Missouri. My goodness we were so spoiled with the July weather we were blessed with. I had a feeling August would be pay back time. Time has absolutely flown by this summer. We've done several things, but it just feels like we haven't had a chance to catch our breath. I'm catching up on several blogs after making my hubby some potatoes he really likes for supper. He's got the grill tonight so I can't rush him. He has to read every word in 2 different newspapers before he fires up the grill.

Everyone, have a great week!!

We'll Miss You Roger!!

This has been a difficult week for us at MCC. We have lost two officers this week. Most of you probably understand what I mean when I say when you lose a wonderful person you work with it's like the world just needs to stand still for a day so we can catch up. We grow to appreciate each other probably even more than we appreciate our own family. We spend just as much time, if not more, together as we do our "other" loved ones. So when a coworker passes it effects all of us. I know my heart has a hole in it that cannot be filled. Only 48 years old, Officer Roger Mitchell passed away unexpectedly while preparing for work yesterday morning. He always gave me my "annual Christmas hug" at the Christmas Party every year. I'll think of you every Christmas Roger! You are already greatly missed!! May you rest in peace and I cannot wait to see you again...

Entertainment - Photo Hunt Saturday

Missouri's American Idol, David Cook, at the Home Run Derby 2009.