Floors, Trees, & Dog Shoes

The first full tree weekend of 2007 has come and gone. The first day was hectic, as usual, but dry. Sunday was wet and rather miserable. The people still came out, though. I guess when it's tree day, you come and get your tree no matter the weather. Kim and Harry and family were down over the weekend to ride Thomas the Train in Strasburg, PA.

Adding to the craziness of the tree weekend was the hardwood floor project that we had going on. We got up early both tree days and put fresh tung oil on the new floors before going to the trees. The tung oil was so smelly! I don't think I was even thinking properly all weekend because of those fumes! We spent the night at dad's the first night that we had tung oiled. I believe it was Thursday night.

In the slide show above, you can see Sparky sporting his new shoes. We got them not only to protect the new hardwood floors from Sparky's nails, but to muffle the noise while Sparky is doing his pacing throughout the house. He wore them for about a half an hour and then took them off. They did look rather fancy while he was wearing them.

Paula's Birthday Party

Pop's (Doug, Sr.) Pics from October 07

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Extreme Makeover Home Edition has come to Port Deposit! They started the project on Sunday and it is unbelievable what they have completed in a few days. It will all be finished by this Sunday. We went over last night and watched for a while. Workers (all vonlunteers) were crawling all over the house and barn like ants. The picture above shows the back of the house. Hard to believe that four days ago, that was just a field. Really a neat thing to watch. Here's the website to follow the progress: http://www.ctextremedream.com/index.html.

Mostly Brady

Here are some pictures of various things - Brady's trip to the creek, Dillon swinging, and our new hardwood floors.
Our new floors are finished upstairs and now we just have to get the house all put back together. We really love the new floors. Calvin did a great job.

Click here to see a video of the latest performance of the fabulous musical duo of Benjamin and Huang.

It was a lucky day for me today - I won a $30 gift certificate at the Quilter's Hive Demo! Very exciting! On my way home, I stopped at Milburn's Orchards to get some apple cider donuts. Mmmm! I ate one in the car before I even got out of the parking field. Then, shortly after I got home, Kristina, Pat, Debbie, Aubrey & Drew stopped by and brought me a little present - some apple cider donuts from Milburn's!! That was very thoughtful, although I will probably gain 8 pounds this weekend!

Apple Festival Weekend Activities

Fall is here.

Fall has arrived in Conowingo, although the thermometer doesn't seem to know it. The soybeans are turning gold in the field and the trees are just starting to turn.



We stopped by the Solanco Fair this weekend and saw some really cool pigs. One pig couple was cuddled up and taking a little nap. The other picture I have here shows a pig with some fancy cutouts in its ears. Very snazzy.

A Double Birthday Party and an Almost Arts Festival

Today was a nice day. We went to the Bel Air Festival for the Arts and it wasn't crowded at all . . . because the festival is tomorrow! Oh well, we did discover a nice store on Main St. in Bel Air that we hadn't even known was there. It's called the Bel Air Country Store. We bought Dot's birthday gift in there and a few other things. Hopefully, we can make it back tomorrow on the right day for the arts festival! :-)

We all had a nice time at Jerry's 80th/Dot's 81st combined birthday party. Dudley was able to join us at the party since he had flown up from Florida for the weekend. There was plenty of good food and fun. You can see this for yourself in the slide show below. A youtube video from the party can be seen by clicking this link.

Jerry's 80th, Dot's 81st - Birthday Party 9/15/07

Chicago Trip - August 2007

Hardwood Floors

We now have new hardwood floor in our hallway downstairs. Unfortunately, it is neatly packed in 28 boxes!

Harry Potter Party

Kathy and I went to the Harry Potter book release party at the Barnes & Noble in Bel Air (after taking in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie). Check out the baby that we saw there!

(Note: PLEASE CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE AND CHECK OUT THE LIGHTNING BOLT ON THE FOREHEAD! I AM HEARING SOME FEEDBACK THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE NOT NOTICING THIS.)

NOTE TO NON-HARRY POTTER READERS: HARRY HAS A LIGHTNING BOLT SCAR ON HIS FOREHEAD.

Our Backyard - Summer 2007

The Rowlandville Mill

I got the salt and pepper shakers!

Anyone who has ever eaten a meal with me at Lapp's in Quarryville has heard me coveting the salt and pepper shakers. I have been on the lookout for these shakers for at least a year now. Well, tonight I asked the owner where he gets them and he told me Clark's Restaurant Supply, but then he said he might have an extra set that he would sell me. So he went into the back, came back with a pair, which I bought for $5!! Yay! Who needs jewelry, designer clothes, cars? Not me, just a $5 set of salt and pepper shakers.

Just so you know, the man also said that I am not the only one who has asked about the salt and pepper shakers.

Aubrey's birthday video

I put Aubrey's happy birthday song on youtube and here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okFw-8TRX0s

Aubrey's birthday party slideshow

Aubrey is 2 (and 3 parties in 1 day!)

Aubrey Irene Lovelace turned two years old this week and her birthday party was Saturday. It was a fun party with lots of family and friends. Aubrey especially enjoyed the singing of happy birthday. Little Brad entertained everyone throughout the evening by strolling through the house playing guitar. Check out the slide show on my blog of pics from Aubrey's party.

Also, on that same day, Gary and I went to two other parties. We're very popular, you see! The first party was in Pylesville at the home of one of my new coworkers, Greg Dietrich. We were having a lot of fun there, but like the socialites that we are, we had to move on to the next party. We finished out the night with yet another crab party at Doug and Ruth's. Good food and good fun, as usual. Especially good brownies!

Bon Voyage Party Slideshow

Bon Voyage!

Well, Gar and Lauren have crossed the pond and are now in Sicily getting ready to start their classes for the fall semester. They are living in apartments in Ortygia, a small island off the city of Siracusa. Their school is the Mediterranean Center for Arts & Sciences. There is a photo gallery on the school's website with some really neat pictures of the school and the area.

We had a party at the house for them the weekend before they left. It was a lot of fun, but it was HOT! I think maybe the hottest day I can remember in many years. There is a slide show on my blog site with some pictures from the party.

After some internet research, we have educated ourselves on international calling and getting the best rates possible, so we have been able to talk to them several times without breaking the bank. Sounds like they are doing fine and having fun. They start classes tomorrow, Sept. 3. There has been a lot of touring around with professors, eating out with classmates, and some swimming in the Mediterranean. Those two have it rough.

They closed McCauley Rd. the other day and we soon discovered why - the mill had fallen down. Here's a picture of it after it fell over. Now it is almost gone. They have demolished it and loaded it into a dumpster.