Peonies just to the left of the porch...

I love getting close with my 100mm Macro. I find flowers fascinating close up.
Went to the beach today with eight grands and their Moms. It was deja vu all over again. Back when my girls were little we biked to this same beach three times a week for swim lessons in Lake Michigan. After lessons we would eat our lunch of peanut butter , jelly and sand, sandwiches. The girls would play on the beach and in the water for hours while I read my books. I had a sense of that today...those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer with my girls.

Blooming near the porch...

It's raining, it's pouring...It has been unrelenting, the rain. But the flowers are out. The Texas grands & family are in da U.P. for a month. We have been in T.C. where the flowers and veggies in the H family's yard are beautiful. I loved the rain drops on everything. The grands are so much fun to watch as they reaquaint after months of separation. The two 4 year olds became in their own words "BFFs" These funny little girls dressed each other in high fashion, raided their Mom's make up stash and snacked...and snacked. They cuddled together on a little sofa and watched Barbie movies. Trampoline jumping, water sliding in the rain and hiding from the big kids...

Muddy little footprints on my heart...

I won a "six word saturday" on a favorite blog of mine The One Minute Writer. I wrote those six words after spending a soggy weekend at camp with grandkids. Even though it rained and was wet and muddy the kids played outside and had so much fun... leaving muddy little footprints on my heart.

I baked an Aslan cake and my delicious coconut cupcakes for an 8 year old birthday party on Sunday. Papa and Granny (me) are waiting anxiously for our Texas grands to arrive any minute for a month on our cool (48 degree) porch. They left 96 degrees behind and their house and city. Our middle daughter and family are moving to a new town in Texas when they go back. Good thing they are young we say...

Rusty hinges...

My hinges are a little rusty today...not just the ones on the gate. I cleaned out my refrigerator. Emptied it. Scrubbed it. There were some things in there at the back that I could not put a name to. I am only documenting this because I write my favorite things so I must tell a few of my very least favorite things. Frig cleaning is right up there with bathroom cleaning and liver...

Question #1. What questions should I be asking myself? Asking questions of ourselves (Beck) creates an alert, thoughtful mind state. Ask frequently. Asking myself these 20 questions I have been addressing in my blog have truly made me think. I feel like I have often gone days, maybe years without being thoughtful...Sometimes while raising my girls, working, managing my home and marraige, surviving the challenges life has tossed at me, all I did was run as fast as I could just to keep up. If I knew then what I know now I would have asked more questions and been more thoughtful. Maybe even smelled a few more roses.

I must set up the tea service on the porch...

K (4year old grand girl) is on her way to visit Granny from Texas. I always have a tea service set up on a wicker table on the old front porch. Candles lit, cloth napkins, crumpets...she will say, "I would like a spot of tea, please." Her entourage includes my middle daughter, her Mom, her Dad and her 9 & 7 years old brothers.

Question # 15. Where could I work less and achieve more?  Martha Beck says that to spend more time practicing your passion, minimize everything else. Get creative to find more time in your life and more life in your time.
I know that if I could get myself organized, make better use of my time, chuck some junk, drop something every day, I could minimize the time I spend taking care of my home, self, family. I take so much time doing the basics that I don't give myself enough time to photog, read, bike, explore, create my art. I start, stop, become distracted by anything that sparkles and never really get things done. It does not help that I was born messy. My girls all left for college and my hubby noticed the house was still a mess, "All this time, it was you!" he said. So I think I need to simplify my stuff so I can create!

Warm and sunny on the porch...

Actually spent time in our backyard today! Weeded my perennial garden...lost a few flowers to cold winter. I was so hot and tired when I finished. but it looks good. First really warm day of the summer 78 degrees. Milo said "I wish I could bottle this day and keep it!" I liked that.

Question #18. So say I lived in that fab house in Tuscany, with untold wealth, an adoring mate and a full staff of servants...then what? Not gonna happen...I am not working toward those goals. With age I have come to realize that you have to live your life the way it is. Now. Enjoy loved ones, spend time in nature, find inner peace, check something off your to do (bucket) list.

Something wild...

I took my camera, macro lens & cousin J.R. to the woods near Cooks, MI and photoed wild flowers...I would have been lost without you, J.R. Really I had no idea where I was but it was so beautiful.

My birthday Canon 100mm Macro lens is fun, fun, fun to play with!
On a sad note Marshall Matt Dillon died today at 88...I remember watching Gunsmoke as a kid after my weekly bath in a metal washtub...