Learning how to carve on wood...without cutting my hand or finger off.

This is Bruce and I went to his house and he was teaching me how to carve on wood.. This piece he carved and I thought it was so cool. See the little steps leading up to the house.. He has carved a ladder so one can get to the house on top.. He said it was from a piece of hickory.. WOW or maybe it was cotton wood.. Gosh, I forgot..

He made me a walking stick made from dogwood.. The picture is below.. I love light houses . The wood troll that he carved on it I thought was cool..

When I go geocaching I take this walking stick with me and it's very useful.. Not for just keeping my balance but when you are walking on the trails and you see a big spider web and use the stick to get rid of the web so you don't walk into it.. For any of you that don't know what geocaching is go to website : www.geocaching.com and find all the information there.Click on right side of the page where it says getting started. Or there is a video on the main page.. Just watch that and you well get an idea what geocaching is all about. It's a great sport that takes you places where you have never been. Geocaching is finding treasures with a hand held gps.. You can do this all over the world.. I found caches in Ireland, Austria and Czech Republic. Whenever I go on vacation I look up locations where the caches are hidden in places where I well be going.. all over the U.S.A. It's lots of fun and gets one outside in the fresh air and exercise by walking..
So far I have found 537 caches.. Some people have found as high as 8,000.. Caches are containers that are the size of a 35 mm film canister or as large as a ammunition box. Theres a log sheet inside each cache and you need to sign the log book. It's a lot of fun and very interesting where you find them and very rewarding.. You can yell "I found it". and that's enough to get you excited to go to the next place and find another one for the day..

Today my daughter , Tracie gave me a new puzzle game book>>> It's called fill-in Puzzles.. I have heard that doing cross-word puzzles and find the word puzzles are good for expanding ones brain.. So now I have a new one called fill in puzzles.. That should keep me busy for a little while..
Have a great day~!~! ta ta for now...

Ben at Thomas Park

Yesterday after Tracie got off of work and picked up Ben at daycare I met them at Thomas Park.. Oh he loves this park... When we got there a hot air baloon was just getting started in putting it in the air.. WOW~! is all Ben said over and over. He thought that was so cool.

He loved this excavating equipment. Don't know how he knows the noises of these machines but he does very well in making the noise. It was fun to watch him dig holes and then deposit the sand in another area... Good hand/eye coordination~!

He had to stop periodically for a cool drink... He was a busy boy.

Riding this motorcycle was lots of fun. He would get it going and then jump off . we thought he was so funny..

opps picture is a little blurry.. He likes the slides ~ the biggerr the better.

While I was in Ohio ~~~

This is Delmar and Linda..they are two children that were at the Mennoite Auction Sale I went to last Wednesday.. Linda is 9 and Delmar is 11.. They sat with me at a table and pretty much told me their life stories.. They were so cute. No shoes for these kids.. It was a very hot and humid day and Delmar said when he got home he had to mow the grass.. Yikes~! They have 10 children and these two are in the younger group.. They have 2 smaller siblings below them. They told me about the daily chores they have to do everyday.. Shame most families today do not have their children do what these children do daily. They told me the lanuage that they spoke at home was Pennslyvania Dutch and when they are in public they speak English.. At school they are learning how to speak German..

I thought it was very interesting how the Mennoites made their vegetables they sold look appealing.. Everything looked so good and all sold at a good price.. Sweet Corn sold for 5 dozen for $4. Everyone in this area has a vegetable stand and they come to this sale to buy things for their stands.

It was a very interesting day and lots of fun.. I wish something like this was close to my house..

For lunch my brother , Leroy and I had a hot dog with homemade french fries and delicious peach pie with whipped cream.. for dessert..

What a day~everyday~!

For three days now I have worked dillegently packing my daughter, Tracie's house for her to move out on Saturday. I have the whole upstairs finished. She lives in a big old 2 story home.. It has 3 bedrooms a sitting room and a bathroom on the 2nd floor.. I have the bathroom on the 1st floor packed, the bedroom, part of the kitchen and 1/2 of the basement.. Yikes.. I have one more day... I have been packing and then putting it into my car and bringing it to my house (9 miles south of her house) and unloading it in my garage.. When she gets home from work she comes here and goes through every thing and then decides Keep~ give away~ throw away.. So far it's working really good.. Her husband , Cory and her are getting a divorce.. They have a boy that you will see in my blogs almost everyday.. Ben is 3 1/2.. We call him Rascal Shorts.. He is so ornery.. but he is a typical boy.. Have rented a U-hall truck to use on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. Hopefully the move will be complete by noon... At least the big stuff . We have 30 days after the divorce to have everything moved out.. The divorce is not final so I'm not worried we have plenty of time. But I sure want to get it done soon.. Get that part behind us.
It's been a big job and some days very tiring but it's a good thing I am strong...I'm 1/2 way to 132 this year and so glad I'm able to help her out..
When I picked up Ben today from Daycare he was having a good time playing outside on the playground.. He loves to be outside.. When he saw me he ran into my arms yelling "GranAnnie"..~! He is so dear and I love him so much.. On the way home from daycare we always stop at Waltz'n Meadows.. It's a farm that raises boer goats.. Ben loves to see the goats and pet them.. They are so cute and there are so many.. When we get home we always go to the freezer now that it's hot outside and grab a popsicle and sit in the shade behind the house. We talk and I read him books. He is quite a boy and is given much love from Grandpa Dee Dee , his Mom and of course GranAnnie. (me) After supper Grandpa Dee Dee gives him a ride on the John Deere A (affectionately called "the old A". Ben also gets a ride on the John Deere 530. He loves the tractors ~! So we have great fun when he is here making lots of memories.
Have a great 4th of July ~! Ta Ta For Now~!~!