Jet Setting (sort of)

I went to London for a week c/o my company. Awesome...yes. Stressful....yes.

Actually, as I look back, it was a total blur.



I stayed with these friends and had a blast. They were so kind to me- they opened their home, patiently translated Brit speak for me, organized my transport all over the city and shared many a funny story and even more glasses of wine.



And in between working and having fun.....well, there wasn't that much time for anything else. Especially sleep. My word, I was a complete zombie.

I could have planned a little better. My timing was off and sadly, I missed THE EVENT OF THE CENTURY.



The only remnant of this....


Was this...


No matter though. It was such a treat to see everything up close and in person.

Can you tell that I was at the Abbey?


No?
Come on- I was absolutely there!



What about this?


I almost didn't make it home after this one!

Biggest thrill?
It's a toss up.

Either this.....


Notice anything about this couple?

Look closely-


Yup, Louboutins!
Even the senior set is so stylish in London.

This....


Are you kidding me?? Who couldn't use fake grass?

Or this....



A Basil Mint Martini from an amazing terrace bar overlooking the Thames.

Sigh.

Thanks to my favorite expats for making my trip so great!
Can't wait to see you when you're stateside.

The Bees

Jon can't be still, or rest, or slow down or be stagnant. EVER.
It's super admirable especially since I'm close to his polar opposite.
Sometimes it drives me insane, and sometimes I have to step in and call a stop to the madness. Most times I just sit back, accept it, laugh at it and be amazed by it. Sometimes, I even get caught up in the busy.

Spring, Summer and Fall are easy for him to be busy- but Winter is TOUGH. So each year he latches on to something to pass the time.

Last year it was his obsession with RV's, the year before that it was finding THE perfect boat, the year before that it was buying a tractor.

This year? Becoming a beekeeper.
He spent all winter reading books, researching on line and talking about how awesome it would be to have bees. He even offered the honey from his bees to Wade & Sarah to use as wedding favors.

"Honey by Jon"
I told you, obsessed.

On Thursday night his obsession became a reality.
Wade came over and we were outside waiting for them to arrive.



I got a text that said, "Bee ETA 5 minutes"



So exciting.

In these pictures, the opening to the hive is covered so there isn't any danger.

See?


That one bee must have been late getting home because he was stuck outside the hive. He drove for 2 hours in the back of the truck clinging to the screen so that he wouldn't lose his family.

Jon got them all set up on their special "skunk proof" blocks. I wasn't aware that we had a skunk problem, but by all means....let's be on the safe side.



After they were all set up, it was time to remove the safety screening. That meant putting on the bee suit. This picture makes me laugh- clearly bee keeping is very serious business!



Day 1- nobody got stung. Not bad!

Although I have forbidden Cooper to go near the bees until we're more comfortable with them he couldn't' wait to try on the suit.



I'll admit it's pretty interesting, totally green and makes a great story. What's not to love?

Stay tuned for more bee adventures.

Happy Mother's Day

This was the message scrawled on our white board this morning....



Don't mind the mess....it was c/o my hubs- he painted our kitchen today.



LOVE THAT MAN!
Hope your Mother's Day was wonderful too.

xoxo,
Carolyn

Car -1 Garage- 0 (or, how to spend $1K without even trying)

Wednesday morning was cloudy, cold and rainy. The perfect day for sleeping in.
So I did.

Until a little voice said, "hey momma, can you check the clock?"
So I did.

8:01
Cooper needs to be at school between 8:05 and 8:20.

&$^#^$@&@#$%@!

I've never been more efficient...I barked orders, threw lunch into his lunchbox and grabbed the keys.

We were in the car by 8:12
And then I heard a noise I've not heard before.

Yup, I backed out of the garage prior to the door being all the way up.
UGHHHHHH. So. NOT. GOOD.

My car suffered no damage at all (yay).
The door however suffered a different fate.





At first the door was stuck open- at least I was able to exit the garage and get Cooper to school. But a stuck door wasn't going to be ok.

I sent Jon a message and within 20 minutes, he was home. I've never known him to leave school in the middle of the day for any reason. Evidently your wife driving into the garage door hit a new level of emergency.

He was able to get the door down and called someone to come and assess the damage.
I can think of soooo many other ways I would have rather used $1K. Sadly, we had no choice as the door was not able to be saved.



I'm now being VERY careful upon entering and exiting the garage.
No need for a re-match.

My advice for you....always look before you leave.
Hope your week was better than mine!

7 Favorites from the River

There are an endless number of things that we love about spending weekends at the river.

The top 7 this week were-

7) Visits from 4 neighbors before 10am on Saturday morning. One even brought his tractor to "fluff up" our garden!



6) A great friend for Cooper to play with ALL DAY LONG & a kite with easy to understand directions!







5) Perennials that come back with a vengeance



4) and projects that promise to deliver down the road,




both outside...


and in.

3) Looking for a kid and finding him curled up in our bed with a good book.



2) THIS dog...who is always up for a visit



1) and finally, the opportunity to see things like this!



yup, that's a guy in a go-cart sitting in the back of a pick up truck while he eats lunch- they're picking crabs from the basket on the right side of the screen. and to be clear- that is a rebel flag that will blow in the breeze after their tank is full.

You can't make stuff like this up. You just can't!

Happy Hump Day-

Sarah's Shower

The big day is fast approaching for Sarah & Wade and we celebrated on Saturday at her shower.



Not a ton better than spending an afternoon with friends & family...


We had yummy food, beautiful cupcakes and magical German cookies imprinted with their name and wedding date!





The best part?

This moment...



So happy!! Here's wishing you tons more just like them!



I'm so glad that I could be a part of the your day, Sarah!