Confessions of a Grandma

So many kids are heading back to school already, but my grandchildren are enjoying two weeks vacation on the Florida beaches. The water temperature is about body temperature...no inching myself in like in the lake.  And the kids, especially Dane, are in the water like a flash but it seems it is the wet that lures them, not the temperature.  Warm or cool, water is water. We went to the North Jetty Beach in Nokomis after dinner at a seafood restaurant the other night.  The children ordered a hamburger and chicken fingers, which kind of defeated the purpose (but I keep trying, without success to expand their palates, so that means I am insane).  It was too early  for the sunset -- seniors and children go for the early bird specials. But I did get a photo of the sunset when we got home. Thunderstorms happen most evenings. We went back for swimming the next day and we saw a mama manatee with a calf!  They came very close to the sh...

Make America Great Again! You know, like it was when the country was founded on equality for all.  All property owning, white Protestant males, that is.  Do you doubt that is exactly what is meant by that slogan? I wonder of native Americans are thumping their heads and thinking, "We shoulda built a wall!!!"

I have no idea why Blogger no longer updates my posts on reading lists out there adjust writing a post seems to be a trial these days, what with the cursor disappearing at random times and the key board seeming to lock up in a willy-nilly kind of way. But it was an excuse for me to just start a new blog with a slightly different focus.  It is here  and also posts to my Facebook page.

It's strawberry season in Vermont. Such a brief time frame, but oh those delicious, sweet strawberries! My friend Donna called me this morning and asked if I wanted to go strawberry picking with her.  She had heard it was a good year.  Big berries fill up the boxes faster. Now to the task of cleaning and freezing.  Mostly they will be used for smoothies, one of my go-to lunches.  But I will have to maybe find a recipe for a strawberry daiquiri too.

VT State Capital Building Guarded by a statue of Ethan Allen My grandson visited for a week as soon as school let out for the summer. We got to go swimming, do some painting, watch some movies, go out for lunch with my sister and my friend, Donna.  Dane likes to walk around downtown Burlington...it can be entertaining. When Dane asked me to toss an empty ginger ale plastic bottle around in the back yard,  I thought maybe time to go out and buy a ball.  Then we had lots of soccer and volley ball skills practice sessions.  The kids in the neighborhood are mostly toddlers so I got to get lots of fresh air and exercise.  Dane called me his BFEV(best friend, elder version. ) Of course there was a lot of story telling.  Even though he started out saying that he was maybe getting too old for my "Adventures of Dane" stories, he willingly listened.  He has started writing his own stories, too, so I feel as though I had some good influence ...

School has let out for the summer.  My grandson has arrived for a week long visit and getting spoiled by grandma time. Today we painted. Dane has been watching Bob Ross on Netflix. I think he has learned a lot.

Yard Work You might think it is spring time in Vermont from looking out the window.  Rhododendron coming to bloom Peonies thinking about blooming In fact it is more like the dead of winter from the perspective of a Florida snowbird.  Cold and cloudy and very windy.   Most of my neighbors have air conditioner units sprouting from their windows.  We did have unseasonable hot weather last week, but nothing that tempted me to wrestle with one of those window units. Kitchen Work The woman I bought the condo from had put a lot of work into the place -- new windows and large patio door, new flooring throughout, all freshly painted, updated bath and half bath, all new appliances including a gas fireplace insert (which I fired up yesterday, in  June !)  I am really happy with it. However, I did decide to treat myself to new kitchen countertops. The old laminate was worn and I know from watching HGTV house hunters that stain...