Our Cottage (without the roof cover)
View of inside and one of the closets

The "MEGASTATION"

Good Monday to you,

Definately summer time here in NC. Our highs are in the 90s and clear blue skies. Lawns are baking, container plants are withering and corn is about 5ft. tall and lookin good....perfect summer. We are "stay-cation" pros here on Arrowhead Way...Paul and I are loving camping at the lake and each time we go we up the anti on comfort....this trip we added a wonderful screen room to our inventory....it is 10' x 20' and a delight to set up and just keeps us about totally bug free, plus great shade and protection from rain....if it ever rains again. We get a site with elec. and water and hook up a good heavy-duty extension cord to a multi-port elect. power strip and we can plug in our dorm fridge, our elec. skillet, our crock pot, or elec. tea kettle...our wonderful fan or even our Ipod dock...

I also connect a long hose to the water source and we have water on demand without going out of the screen room! Next on my "hafta have" list is the Coleman Hot water on demand unit and a free standing shower room and I will be in bliss!!! I love camping. Luckily, so does Paul and 2 of our 3 children, so we all head for the Lake and have some fun. Amy has a canoe, we have the Mega Station, lots of blow up rafts and such, and it is total water fun, campfire, eating smores, hanging out fun. and cheap too...no it is not Disneyland, we make most of our fun ourselves...and cook all our food too. The best part is being together and enjoying the moments. Paul and I like to head out alone too... so we have our recreation and don't spend a bunch.

When we pack up, it looks a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies tho....I promise to take a bunch of photos to show my mother...so I will share with you all after the 4th. Now remember, we all love doing this. It would be a different story if one of us was not as enthusiastic.

Well, I am off the find the two-room shower tent......

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cathy

Thursday thoughts

Hello all... I saw this poster first time in an article I was reading about a couple in NYC. The article was in Domino...a now defunct design magazine I really enjoyed....along with Country Home, Blueprint, and Mary Engelbreight's magazine....anyhooo. Then I kept seeing the poster pop up in all kinds of cool apartments, homes, kitchens, bedrooms, just everywhere and I wanted it too! So, I ordered it off Etsy and framed it and hung it over our fireplace where a big basket of neat flowers and such used to hang over a neat arched window frame....that is now gone! I had noticed an abundance of silk flowers in our great room...they were all great, and I love them and they look not silk, but real and you would love them too and not think they were fake or anything....but they were just too much, so now here is our way=cool poster instead. How's that for thinking outta the box?
The fireplace mantle used to be white....boring...then I painted it dark dark blue, better....after our fire in '05 I had them paint it black and I added the embellishments and voila! better.
I am debating with myself on the idea of painting our kitchen cabinets...we have lived here at least 19 years longer than I ever thought we would.....we moved into the house brand new back in 1988!!! I turned 40 that summer too....we have moved into this house 3 times!!! painted the outside 4 times already, replaced the hv/ac 3 times and the water heater twice. We have had a house fire that netted us a brand new roof, all new insulation and dry wall not to mention pergo flooring downstairs and smooth ceilings throughout and all new ceramic tiles in the bathrooms....we are blessed. Now I think we should paint the kitchen cabinets....white....but I am scared. It is a big job, could look really bad and would be a mess or could look fantastic and we would do the happy dance....
I have been seeing alot of photos of bloggers who do this very thing and they all look so nice and everyone looks pleased....what do you think? Is this a fad (painted cabinets) or a real style statement?
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cathy

Camp Lake-In-the-Woods

Dear Ones,

We made it home safe and sound and pleased with our 4 day camping adventure with our teens, wow, it was a whole lot of work, but also alot of fun too. Paul and I went out a day early to get set up and we stayed a day longer to take down...the stuff we hauled was huge....would you believe we even had a dorm-sized fridge???? yep we did. The kids ate well......and no rain the entire time!!! Dave Ramsey's Generation Change for teens program was awesome and we believe the kids learned a whole lot about the value of money and their own value too!!! So, all in all, we are pleased, but pooped.

Next week is Vacation Bible School at church and I am helping there so it will be another busy week. I am glad for this bit of a break although, I need to do some planning and prep for the week ahead.....

Our yard looks like the "Land that time forgot"....just a week of neglect and it shows. So, we will spend a bit of our weekend on the yard along with setting up for VBS and Father's Day....

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cathy

Summer Time

Summer time is....camping! (our new "camp cottage")

I took over 200 photos of setting this little baby up....it is quite a process, but oh, so nice!

Summer time is "end-of-the-year" programs above is Bella in her dance recital

Woody on far left with his buds at the High School Band concert (he had a solo btw, and did awesome)

Zion recites poetry at the Poetry tea at his school

Summer time is parents attending all the wonderful programs!

Summer time is tea parties!!! with friends

Summer time is re-covering the sofa in a soft white with new pillows! A "no sew" project, of course!

Summer time is gardens....my small herb garden

So, are you ready for summer???? It will be in the 90s all week long here in NC. Camp Lake-in-the-Woods begins this Friday.....ye gadz and rain and heat are in the forecast, so folks, it is going to be ****fun***** really, it will be. I have so much planned, just hope I can pull it off.

Took our friend Fiona for her check-up and found out she and I are the same age!!! both 60. And the vet is just like my Dr. trying to push lots of tests and such...me and Fiona just say, "No thanks" Still cost over $200. whew, she is glad it is over, and I still have to go back cuz I did not get her heartworm pills.....well, this post is just to keep in touch, I don't know how much I will get to post until after camp, then VBS begins. But July promises to be lots less eventful.

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cathy

I promise to do better.....

Hi friends---family---et al
I have been very slack and altho I have some good excuses, still, I could have been a bit better keeping in touch.
1) I got a bad bug, maybe a bit of flu, not of the swine persuasion tho....and I have been out of it for 2 whole weeks.
2) My life is mundane
3) Couldn't think of a thing worth saying and that is pretty difficult to admit as I can usually chat to wrong numbers!
So, here and now, I do so promise to do better.
Now, I need to post a bit of great retail info. I found Wild Olive via another blog....(don't ask me who, I do so much blogging and love it so...)
oh, I know from Stellan's mom at this blog you need to check that one out! Such a wonderful family...there's ever so many of them out "there". Anyhow, the mom was wearing a tee that I loved and had my favorite Bible verse on it and she gave a link to the web site where you can buy the tee yourself, and I did and I also bought another so now I have two and can't wait to get out there and witness and you should get one or two of them too! I got the "transform your mind" one...and they are both way way too cool, I love them and you will too.
Just two weeks from today and Camp Lake-In-The-Woods begins! Planning is at fever pitch here at camp headquarters....lots of fun for the campers. Since I have been a bit under the weather, I have not done much planning but that is behind me now. There will be 8-10 teens and tweens at the camp plus me, my dh and my two daughters. Adults are the councilors. We will have 3 tents (cabins) plus the Lodge where food will be prepared and campfires will be held, oh, it is all alot of fun, plus this year we will do Dave Ramsey's Generation Change for financial freedom! I think they will enjoy the sessions with Dave and then we will have tons of other stuff to do too. I'll let you know more about the plans as the days progress towards camp! Even at my advanced age, I love camping and being outdoors. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, check out Wild Olive and let me know what you think!
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cathy

Did I NOT blog one single day in April???

Five perfect small blue eggs
5 perfect little house wren babies

Mama is watching me watch her!

Yep, they are all there and thriving

Oh look, only two left, we watched the Mom and Dad come and persuade the babies to fly the coop! These two are reluctant, but ready!

Empty nest says it all....

That is a rhetorical question...... the heading, I mean...not the empty nest (altho I know what an empty nest feels like...lonely/quiet/finished.)

oh dear, I am terribly sorry and all. If you missed me, I was still here, just not much to share altho I had a lovely April and no catastrophes that I can recall....and May is going quite nicely so far......I feel a bit like Alice as she falls down the tunnel......life is passing me by very quickly and I have no idea where I will end up...well, I mean I know where I ultimately will end up...but for this here and now...I still am waiting to turn the page. I have made some very strong decisions about my health. I am watching what I eat very closely...using http://www.sparkpeople.com/ an excellent FREE site for healthy weight loss. I am working hard on my $ habits (learning new areas of self-control is painful friends!) I take a cart and do my twice around Target all the while saying, "can't eat this...can't eat that, can't buy this, won't buy that!" painful.......I think my source of happiness quite honestly came from food and stuff I bought. Pitiful. So I sit here and I want to eat SOMETHING probably salty or chocolate....but I WILL NOT. I will eat yet another delicious tangerine! Yes, I am coming face-to-face with the truth about Cathy! I have lost 8 lbs so far. I am not trying to loose weight to fit into a size 8...I want my numbers to go down for my blood work as in cholesterol and diabetes and blood pressure and oh yes, my liver count too....none of which are yet over the top....but I am heading that way and if I simply use a bit of self-control and change some bad (not illegal or immoral) habits...I could make a huge difference in the next 20 years of my life (Lord willing).

I have also discovered http://www.daveramsey.com/ and am totally hooked on the Total Money Makeover! so....that has been my April....and will be my May....etc.

I did do a desert tea for the local library and if you would like to see a slide show of the event here is the link.

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cathy

Saint Patrick's Day in Raleigh

My husband Paul, has been on the "parade committee" for 17 years and his particular job has been to oversee the Irish Village. This is held on Moore Square in downtown Raleigh and involves food, drink, entertainment, bathrooms skydivers and crowd control...not necessairily in that order...well This year, he has given the lead over to another, and did just non-profits and the dancers...which was way less stressful. Also, the parade was post-poned for a week due to terrible weather...so on the 21st of March Raleigh celebrated!!! And what a grand day it was.
The largest American flag to "fly" with a sky diver!

Awesome!

I have tons more photos here

Just click on Raleigh St. Patrick's Day parade and you can have a look.

Last night was the beginning of a good thing. A book club. 9 of us met...some knew each other well, others had never met. Really a nice evening. Our first book is Water for Elephants. I am looking forward to reading the book and getting to know these ladies better! Thanks Joyce and Karen for getting us organized! Neither of those ladies had met before last night. They "met" in the blog world. Isn't it a small world after all????

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cathy