A Boy on the Beach

At the Beach

Sunday was a perfect day at the Lake Michigan beach. Winds coming off the lake resulted the large waves seen in the video. A special little beach just a few minutes from Steve and Marta's house that not many people know about is a great place to go. It felt almost like we had the lake to ourselves. What a great day.

At the Library with GrandpaHere's Grandpa and Gabe at the library last Saturday afternoon reading a magazine and enjoying some time together.

The library has always been one of my favorite places. All those fascinating books are just waiting to be read! I'll never have enough time to read them all but I try to read at least 50 books a year. Reading gives me a chance to experience places and situations , and also explore and learn interesting facts about all kinds of things, adding a dimension to life that otherwise could not be had.

If I can see my grandchildren have similar experiences with reading, it will be very satisfying. There is a wonderful library not so far from Gabe's house. It has a large children's area with a tree, tables, playhouse, areas where it's fine to quietly share a book or magazine with a child. We love to go there.

Summer Fun

Last weekend we enjoyed visiting Steve, Marta, and Gabriel. Friday evening we all went to our favorite Chinese restaurant. Here we are with our favorite waitress in the middle,having enjoyed a delicious meal.












Saturday Steve and Marta had a chance to go shopping alone while we spent time with Gabe. Here's Gabe with Marta.








Here we are in the beach where Gabe made a new friend.










Here's Gabe at Dairy Queen.

Here are more pictures of our weekend at Kelly, Tom, and Matthew's house:

Swinging at the Park

We just arrived back home from visiting Tom, Kelly, and Matthew at their home in New Jersey. There is a park near their house, so on Monday Tony and I walked there with Matthew in his stroller. Then at the park Matthew enjoyed a ride in the swing. He is a delightful little boy, really curious and enjoying his life. At 15 months he can walk very well, get into his toys, point at something he wants, eat a huge meal, and love his mom and dad. He is a wonderful baby, and I am so lucky to be his grandma. (Also lucky to be the grandma of Gabriel, Scarlett, and a little one on the way!)

A Visit to the Blueberry Farm

This afternoon we went to the blueberry farm and picked about 10 pounds of berries. We put them in the freezer to enjoy in the cold winter months to come. Blueberries are very easy to freeze; just put them in bags without washing and place in the freezer.When you're ready to use them, take them out of the freezer, put them in a colander, wash them and they're ready to use.

Tomorrow morning we're heading out for a long drive to Tom and Kelly's lake house in the Pocono Mountains of New York. I'm very excited to see them all, especially Matthew who is perfecting his new walking skill.

Summer Weekend

Here are a few more pictures from this weekend, Cath and Tony hanging out by the grill. If you look closely, you can see that Tony's barbecuing fresh garden vegetables: zucchini, eggplant, green pepper, and tomatoes. Barbecued garden veggies that were picked minutes before are one of the special treats of summer.

Here's Scarlett enjoying her juice while modeling her new sundress. Little girls in sundresses are so cute. We had fun reading stories and playing together.

Sunday in the Park with Scarlett

One of my favorite things to do is to take a grandchild to the park. Cathy and Scarlett came to see us this weekend. Sunday afternoon Cathy went shopping so Tony and I took Scarlett to the park. It was a beautiful afternoon, warm and not too hot, with a little breeze. Scarlett still is very careful on playground equipment but is getting just a little more brave every time we go to the park. She could climb everything on the playground structure, could go down the smallest slide but not the others, and especially enjoyed climbing on the concrete animals. We stayed quite a while and then she fell asleep in the short ride home, having played so much that she slept for a couple of hours.

Last Weekend

After spending some time with Steve, Marta, and Gabriel, we continued on to Cathy, Sasha, and Scarlett's house.




At Mitsuwa Marketplace in Chicago having eaten delicious ramen and sushi:

A close look at Scarlett; she recently began attending a summer school program to her great enjoyment. More information can be found on Cathy's blog.
















Saturday morning we went to a small neighborhood park with Scarlett. It was a beautiful day.














I like to be an active grandmother, if possible, so I enjoy the playground too! Scarlett is a very careful girl, so I climbed up the play structure first and then she followed me.





Scarlett in a thoughtful mood at the playground:









When we returned home, our garden had been thriving, producing these delicious vegetables!

Yesterday Gabe had a haircut

This is before:

This is after:

Then we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant.
Steve, Marta, and Gabe at the restaurant:

Fun with Gabe

Gabriel's family just returned from their vacation so I'm spending a few days with them while Steve and Marta return to work and everyone eases back to daily life. This is such a pleasure for me because I love to spend time with my grandchildren. Let me tell you what we did today:















First we went to McDonald's for lunch. (Gabe's choice.) I know it's not the healthiest food, but we had such a good time talking together.

McDonald's has an excellent play area which Gabe enjoyed.
































Then we went to the local library, one of my favorite places. The library in Gabe's town is excellent in design; we could read books and talk quietly without bothering anyone. We stayed there a long time looking at books, magazines, and seeing what was going on.















This evening we baked cookies. I didn't take any pictures but I think I've shown you pictures of Gabe's cookie helping skill before!


Such a glorious day for Gabe and me!

The Barbecue Chef

Tony very much enjoys barbecuing. Summer evenings he can be found at the grill cooking salmon, steak, hamburgers, chicken, pork chops, etc. He's really proud of his cooking and always checks that everyone enjoys what he prepares.





After barbecuing, Tony enjoys eating, a curious fact for someone who is so thin.


















The cook's helper: Coco, who is temporarily staying at our house while Steve, Marta, and Gabriel are on vacation.

At the moment three of my four orchid plants are blooming. I don't know a lot about orchids; sometimes I remember to water them but mostly they thrive on neglect. I remember Tony's brother Gus in the Philippines having an orchid collection attached to a coconut tree in the yard outside his house. There is almost nothing more beautiful than an orchid in bloom.

I've always enjoyed hobbies in my spare time. Several years ago I was into African violets; I was starting new plants and expanding my collection all the time. They were filling up my living room. I was giving them away to friends and family, anyone who would take them!

Other hobbies that I've enjoyed: exercise (for years I loved to run and still walk a few miles almost every day); reading (I keep a list and read about 50 books a year, mostly fiction), knitting (keeps my hands busy while the TV is on); sewing (I used to make clothes and patchwork), and the internet (love to read news, blogs, and whatever is going on). Also we are enjoying our garden and especially right now because it is beginning to produce. Yesterday I picked the first cucumber of the season (so tasty!)

A Simple Supper

These are the first green beans from our garden:

And the first zucchini, browning in my pan:

So I made a simple supper:
My rule of life is "simple is best"! This is an easy one pan meal. A non stick pan is used with just a little olive oil. Chop an onion and saute for a couple minutes. Peel and slice some potatoes and saute them. Add any available garden vegetables (zucchini and green beans for today), cook a couple minutes at a fairly high temperature. Then add just a little water, cover, and turn the stove down to low to simmer for a few minutes until the vegetables are cooked through. In the above picture I added one smoked pork chop, cut in two because we eat only a little meat. The pork adds a little salty taste, but you can add spices as you like.

This is too simple to be a recipe, but it is tasty and easy to make. The best thing is the easy clean up with one pot to wash.

Summer Salad

Today was hot and muggy. A few thunderstorms passed over with heavy rain pounding down followed by clearing and a little sun; then the cycle repeated. On a day like this, Summer Salad tastes good. Here is the one I made today, served with steamed broccoli and watermelon chunks on the side:

Pasta, cooked according to directions, drained and cooled. (can use spaghetti or any shape of pasta, about 2 cups before cooking)
Cooked shrimp (or tuna or chicken), about 1 cup or according to your preference.
Chopped raw vegetables; today I used chopped onion, celery, and radish.
Mayonnaise (low fat).
Ranch dressing (low fat). (I use about half mayo and half ranch, just enough to lightly coat.)
Seasoning as desired (today I used a little paprika, black pepper, hot pepper, and salt.)

Mix above ingredients together, place in salad bowl, garnish as desired (I had lettuce from my garden!), cover and cool in frig until dinner time.

This is nice to make in the morning of a hot day; then you can relax a little when dinner time is approaching.)

Coco Enjoying the Sun

Coco is a quiet and calm dog, very easy to have in our house. Every morning and evening she has a walk, with me or Tony, or sometimes with both of us. After a good walk, she likes to sleep most of the day. She is very enjoyable company!

Our Visitor

Yesterday we went to Steve and Marta's house to pick up their boxer, Coco. Marta and Gabriel are already in Spain and Steve is leaving today to join them so Coco will spend the next two weeks at "Grandma's house". She usually comes here when her family takes a vacation, so she is very familiar with our house. We always start off the day with a long walk, which tires Coco out and she needs to spend most of the rest of the day on her blanket. Coco is a very kind and intelligent dog so she is a pleasure to have in our house.

Our little friends, Ann Marie and Mary Jo stopped by to talk to Coco.

Please be sure to check Marta's blog because today she has the most beautiful pictures! Marta (my wonderful daughter-in-law) and my grandson Gabriel are enjoying a holiday in Spain right now. My son Steve is joining them very soon. Marta's blog today has the most beautiful pictures of poppies blooming in Spain right now! They are just as beautiful as I remember them! Thanks, Marta, for showing us the pictures from Spain!
Marta's blog is here.

Strawberries

A nearby strawberry farm is open for picking home grown berries every June. I have been picking strawberries all my life, starting when I was a child and my mother had a small field of berries at home. The berries that we picked were sold in a roadside stand, and the price, more years ago than I care to think about, was sometimes 3 quarts for a dollar. Picking strawberries was not the most enjoyable work for a child because it was hot and uncomfortable , but as I became an adult appreciating fresh fruit, I've come to enjoy this season very much.

















Yesterday we went to the farm and came home with two large boxes full of strawberries. We cleaned and froze the berries as Tony enjoys them with his breakfast all year. Later in the day I made strawberry shortcake. The local berries are much sweeter and tastier than those coming to the supermarket from out of state and the picking season is never long enough. It is wonderful to be in the open air picking the red treasures that are ripe strawberries.