A race, a “pool” and a Slip n’ Slide, Indy style…

  Had a great 3 nights just North of Race City (Indianapolis, IN)…and just in time for the big event..The Indy 500!! We actually didn’t attend, but we used it as an excuse to do some family wagering and a cookout in the Wolff’s back yard…

Even Aiden and Maddox had some picks in this pool…(Hey, we had to have X amount of peeps to form this betting operation)..Also included were John’s Dad and Step-mom…McGyver won the pool and promptly donated the winnings to the Wolff Cub’s College fund.

Left is John’s Dad and Step-mom…right is John’s step sister, Christy, A.K.A. Crash Gladys.  “Crash” lives in California and is part of a motorsports radio show out there called  SpeedFreaks.  She did some live interviews at the Indy track on Saturday with Gladys Knight ( as in the Pips,) and Garth Brooks, I KID YOU NOT!!…Check out the link and read about Crash and the SpeedFreaks…Dennis and I have quite a few SpeekFreak items, courtesy of Crash….

 

NOTE MCGYVER’S “SF” CAP CRASHER GOT FOR HIM…

HEY, DEN!! JUST REMEMBER THAT CRASH COULD BE YOUR DAUGHTER!!

Our visit was really fun…I brought the boys a new slip and slide…Remember those??? They are made for little kids and stupid adults..and NO , I didn’t try it….this time.

Aiden sure did enjoy it though!!

We took our walk with the Wolff family around their neighborhood.  They live in a lovely “subdivision” called Raintree…When Den and I win the lottery, I want to move here…. I guess my evening “ensemble” is OK there..I wore it on their patio every AM and PM and the nightwear police never did show up…

Above 3 photos are John’s Dad’s home. He lives just a couple blocks from Chris and John…That last photo is from the back of their house…

Aiden got tired of riding his bike, so his Dad found a way NOT to have to carry it…Can I just say “I LOVE John Wolff!”….

 

 

 

 

I sure had some good times with those boys…I hugged, nuzzled, played in the sand, pushed around cars, sang the ABC’s, rock-a-bye’d, baby!!!!

Friday night we had Dennis pork chops on the grill, which I neglected to get a photo of…(Hey, I was busy with my Grandma hat on, not to be disturbed by a photo of food!)

 

 

 

 

 

Coffee on the patio every morning…swinging in the evening…..Life is good!  Heck, some of us even did a little “skinny dipping”……sans his swim diaper…

…and some of us were …………..CHICKEN!

“If everything seems to be in control, you're not going fast

enough.” - Mario Andretti

When I’m 64….

“When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now
Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I'd been out 'til quarter to three, would you lock the door?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm sixty-four?”

When I was rockin’ this song out during my teen years I had no vision of actually BEING a 64 year old..But “Yesterday”,(another old Beatles number), I had my 64th birthday…Gosh, only one more year until I qualify for Medicare (we use to call it “Dreadicare” at the Dr.’s office I worked at.)..The way it looks, there is a very good possibility Medicare will be getting a complete overhaul soon.  It probably will not even resemble the plan that is now out there…oh well.

My Ya Ya friends surprised me with some nifty gifts…I got a Purple  Smoke Tree, and a peach colored Hibiscus plant…Dennis planted the Smoke Tree right by our deck and it looks just great there…and then we planted the Hibiscus right next to it…FABULOUS!

 

HEY!! Check out this great garden flag..Great for ME, that is…Thanks, YaYa Mary..you know me waaaay too well..

 

 

 

 

 

My birthday DAY was a beautiful sunny day..We went up to our aunt and uncles house, and I gave Uncle Jr. a haircut.  Then we sat around and had a great visit…I couldn’t think of two more wonderful people to be with…

Monday evening we went to Taylor’s concert at her school.  It was a combination of the talent singing group called “Midknight Special”..(the school mascot is a Knight)..and a jazz band concert.  It never ceases to amaze me at the talented kids out there….We really enjoyed it..

They sang songs from the show “Hairspray”, and dressed up like the ‘50’s…The 8th grade girls did make up and hair…note Taylors attempted “french twist”..(OK, I KNOW I’m not the only one out there who remembers that ‘do)..Tay said that the girl who attempted it teased it up before twisting it…Ladies, remember teasing hair??? A.K.A. ratting and snarling up your hair so bad you were destined to wear that hairdo one full week before trying to brush it out?? And , being an OLD hairdresser, I know that the length of Taylor’s hair made it nearly impossible to get that stuff held up with some meager bobby pins..but they did try and I give them credit.

Above is the jazz band…I don’t remember an electric guitar in our high school jazz band, do you?? These kids were all really good, and McGyver and I were tapping our toes.

The highlight of my birthday DAY was going to Menards with Dennis…Since our old fountain fell apart last year, I have been wanting another one.  I miss that sound of trickling , running water when sitting on our deck ..I need to get that sound back before I need Depends just to enjoy it…I decided I would like a “jar” fountain, and have been looking around at some..Well, McGyver is going to live up to his name yet again..He told me he is going to MAKE me a jar fountain…So, yesterday we stopped at Menards and came away with some pieces to make one…

 

Here is the huge terra cotta jar we got on sale…Original price $99, on sale for $49…

We also got some bricks, rocks, water spewer (hey, I don’t know what else to call it), a container for water…Heck , we just got a  whole bunch of stuff!! We still might need a bigger pump than the one we got, but that is yet to be decided..OK, McGyver..DO YOUR MAGIC!!

 

This weekend we are going to Zionsville, IN to visit our youngest daughter and their family.  We haven’t been there since last Fall, so I cannot wait…John has Dennis  booked to  help install a screen door out to their patio…Rest assured , photos will be involved…

“After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching somewhere, you may be dead.”   ~ Maxine

 

Had me a pretty “fair” bike ride…

  You may remember my couple posts about our DeKalb County Fair A.K.A. "The Sandwich Fair"…While this fairgrounds is used for other things throughout the year, it is often empty with the exception of the horses, and their trainers.  I took a bike ride through the fairgrounds the other morning and found one of the owners out on the race track, working his horse….It would have made a great photo, but I didn’t think to bring my camera..and I am still clueless with my “smart phone” camera…

So yesterday, I took my bike AND my camera to see if I could catch them again…Nope, I was too late.  You could see where they had been though, by the hoof prints on the track..

I had missed their practice..DARN!..This contraption on the right is used to drag the track and smooth it out after the horses run on it…

I took my bike around the livestock area of the fairgrounds….

 

I know exactly what you are thinking…What is the Milk House used for???…Not being “farm bred”, I  have NO idea…storing milk??(My Dad was a Milkman, he would be so ashamed of me..)

I DO know what they keep in these buildings…(If those signs weren’t there, I wouldn’t!)

 

Speaking of signs, here are a couple that mean business!..If any kids exhibiting their animals are caught drinking on the fairgrounds property..they gotta give back the money they won and their little arses are HISTORY!!!

I took another wander over by the horse barns.  Our good friend, Don Hann, who just passed away, use to own a race horse.  They boarded it here at the fairgrounds, and it ran in lots of harness races..Maybe I neglected to state that there are harness races here on the Thursday of the fair…Those are really fun to watch…There is no betting (yeah, right.).

 

Remember the days when the horse barns had to be cleaned out with a pitchfork and some sweat equity??? Well….now I guess a Bobcat is the way to get the job done…Somehow, I think these guys are missing something in the process…It’s hard to bond with the horse when you are driving a big bulky machine to scoop out the stalls…Maybe it’s just me, but the act of stabbing the pitchfork into the hay has waaaay more ambiance…

 

 

 

 

 

I stuck my head in the barn and looked around..There are quite a few stalls and they really keep this barn very clean.  During the fair, sometimes you can walk through the barns and see the horses in their stalls.  This morning they had a rope across the entrance with a “no trespassing” sign on it.  Normally this would not deter me, but in a place with skittish animals watching me, I chose to obey the rules,…I know, …I couldn’t believe it either.

 

Just as I was about to leave, I thought I felt a pair of eyes watching me…

 

HEY!!! IT’S MR. ED!!

Of COURSE I talked to him….but he wasn’t buying my lingo and we ended up doing a  stare down…He won ..and I left…(All I wanted was one “Hello, I’m Mr. Ed”…Maybe if I looked more like Wilbur???…

This is one of the activities that goes on during the year…The 3rd weekend on every month May through September, there is a Sandwich Antiques Market on Sunday…We use to walk out, pay our $1.00 and walk around, looking at the stuff.  But then they raised the entry gradually..Last time I checked it was $5.00.  I can sit on our front porch , enjoying a cocktail and watching the people coming out with “treasures” in the back of their trucks…for FREE…

So, there it is.. a small tour of the “animal” end of the fairgrounds (did I just say “animal end”??)…By clicking on my link at the top of this blog, you can find out LOTS of info for this year’s 125th anniversary of the Sandwich Fair…

Oh, I almost forgot..An update on the baby Robins nest…I snuck out yesterday, almost got myself poked in the eye with a branch, and got this photo..

These poor dudes are just about to fall out of the nest…Mom and Dad apparently did NOT major in Nest Architecture at Robin College…

..And here’s the rub…I just went out a few minutes ago and stuck my head in the bush one more time…and..THEY WERE GONE!!  Either they fell out and walked away, or Mom was tired of paying for their insurance and kicked ‘em out!! Good luck, kids!!

“A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister Ed.

Go right to the source and ask the horse
He'll give you the answer that you'll endorse.
He's always on a steady course.
Talk to Mister Ed.

People yakkity-yak the street and waste your time of day
But Mr. Ed will never speak unless he has something to say

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And this one'll talk 'til his voice is hoarse.
You never heard of a talking horse?

Well listen to this: "I'm Mister Ed."”

(If only I had heard him.)

…Doing my Civic Duty, yet again….

  Not too much going on here.  We are still being held hostage by our yard.  We did discover another use for Den’s very “a peeling” old blue truck…It makes a very nice potting bench.  You can work easily on your chosen flower pot without having to bend over (not my best side, as you will soon see)…and it doesn’t matter how much of a mess you make…You just sweep off the dirt and hose off the driveway…

It also helps if you have a willing slave who is meticulous when it comes to planting and plowing.  ..Hey!  I just noticed.  This potting bench comes equipped with it’s own cooler…how convenient….HMMMMMM> Just how many beers does it take to transplant a decorative pot, anyway??

There were a few inquiries as to exactly what (if any) clothes I had on in my photo of my gardening hairdo…Well, ask and you shall receive…WARNING..KEEP ALL PETS AND SMALL CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER MONITOR!!

 

 

 

Yes, those are truly men’s “South Park”  boxer shorts…and if you cannot tell, I have on my very stylish leopard head bandana..Well, what can I say?  I am in my own backyard, darnit, and if people are offended, they need to “GET OFF MY LAWN!!!”

 

 

 

Today, Den and I went up to see Uncle Jr. and Aunt Jeanette…I have to tell you that his real name is Clarence, and so was his Dad’s, hence the tag of Junior…Jeanette has NEVER called him that, and only refers to him as Clarence. We took them to get a few groceries and some tomato plants.. Jeanette has dug up some flowers behind their garage and wants to plant some of  her own tomatoes….At 96 years old, the last thing I will be thinking of is planting tomatoes…Heck, I won’t even be able to SAY tomatoes without drueling…(and NOT because it sounds yummy!)

McGyver was the chauffeur for the day..Jeanette and I sat in the back seat and told the men where to go…(in our dreams)…We always end up at Meijer so they can get their weekly 2 gallons of ice cream…If eating ice cream everyday makes you live longer, than count me IN!!! Note how dressed up she is…She puts me to shame. I actually had on my famous lighthouse cardigan, shorts and no make up…upstaged by a 96 year old…JEEZ!!

This is their living room..notice the giraffe on the table….

Here is Jeanette opening that very same giraffe as a Xmas gift from Uncle Jr…This photo is vintage late 1950’s or there abouts…LOVE IT!!

Soooo, I got a surprise in the mail Monday…A summons for jury duty June 4th…I swear they draw out of the C’s every 4 years or so… I have served on a jury twice in the last 8 years and I guess “duty calls”, yet again.  It isn’t that I mind…Actually it is very interesting, and the DeKalb County Courthouse is very old and historic.  But I would much rather be spending my Summer days outside than in a marble floored courtroom, where my loud voice echos even if I whisper.  I am hoping the fact that my son-in-law is a detective, and we are friends with a lawyer might get me out of it..We shall see…If only I could take pictures…But, alas, the guards who are at the door, X-raying  purses and taking keys before you go through the metal detector, have NO sense of humor at all…

And so I get to the bottom of the page , and it is now cocktail hour for McGyver and me…So, I need to get into my “ensemble”....Thanks for tuning in for my drivel…

 

THE END….