It's About Time!

Where the heck has the time gone? It seems like it was just yesterday when I was worrying about my plants and if they were getting enough water or too much. Now I'm in the middle of the decorating season and celebrating it all! I have been so re missed at keeping up with this blog that it hit me yesterday when someone told me they keep checking my blog and only see flowers! OOOPs! So I will pledge to start again today and so you my road to Christmas Beauty! Enjoy!

A Summer of Growing Challenges

You might know that the one year that I wanted my gardens to be perfect for the wedding, it would be a year in the North Country of cool tempetures, too much rain and not much sunshine! It was a lot of work to get things looking the way I wanted but it did turn out pretty good! These pics were from the first week of August and at this time I had hired a talented lady to do the day to day watering, weeding and dead heading. What a godsend she was! Thanks Kathie!

Ziggy

You would think that when your parents left you,
you would be a little homesick! Not this cat!
He has made this place his own!
His only regret is that the Dog of the House, Dasher
really doesn't care that he's even here!
Ziggy sleeps in our room.
Ziggy trys to get Dash to play.
The only time Dasher pays attention to him
is when Dick is playing or petting Zig and then
Dash is right there on the other side of Dick looking for attention too!
Don't worry Zig, Mom and Dad will be here in a couple of days!

"I've never seen a woodchuck climb a tree!" Richard L Wright

Dick came running into the house today yelling "Get your camera!"
We drove up the road (I can't run) to our neighbors property!
Sure enough there was a woodchuck in the crotch of the tree!
"I've got to have pictures or no one will believe me!" So here they are.

Happy Father's Day!

To my Husband Dick who has always been an amazing father and now grandfather!
And to my son Nick for being such a great Dad!

My Dad, Richard E Winter
Happy Fathers Day to the Men of my Life!
You have all made my life complete!
Thank you!

Shower on the River!

The Northern group of maids!
Jen Shaver, Jill O'Brien, Michell Durr, Matron of Honor
Amy Wright, "THE BRIDE", Shawna Sias, Jessica Fields and Emily Wright
Flower girls Makayla, Jenna and Lily Wright!
We missed having Makenzie, Junior Bridesmaid with us!

June 13th the bridesmaids from here had a Shower for Shannon. It turned out
to be a great day on the river although the sun wasn't out. We had a large turnout of wonderful friends and a tremendous amount of delicious food!
Shannon received many beautiful gifts!
The bridesmaids and matron of honor Amy deserve all the credit! Thanks again Girls!

Southern Ladies Shower the Bride!

On Sunday June 6th we had a shower at the Springdale House and Gardens a
wonderful place for a party!
Shannon's bridesmaids and friends were in charge of the decorating
and games! Kelsey Geary drove in from Charlotte and her college friend Julie Becraft
from Atlanta also drove up! My friend (and Shannon's dance teacher!) Vicki Lewis
drove down from North Carolina. Bridesmaid Laruen Dumsky drove from Florida.
Bridesmaids Tara Connor, Katrina Smaciak, Amie Smaciak and flower girl Kayliegh Smaciak
and ring bearer Tyler Smaciak were all part of the festivities! Shawn's mom Elaine
also attended!
We had such a great time and she recieved many nice gifts!

Bachlorette Party in South Carolina!

It was so great to travel to Columbia to be with Shannon for
her parties! I arrived on Thursday and she had arranged for me
to have a room at the Hilton Downtown. What a nice treat!
Of course we did some shopping. Almost a natural for mom and daughter!
Ate out at great restaurants and generaly enjoyed ourselves!
Saturday evening my friend Vicki Lewis drove down from North Carolina to join me!
It was so great to see her. I had not seen her in 9 years! We had a lot of catching up
to do. She spent the night with me and met Shannon's friends.
It was also a chance for me to meet her friends who I only had known by name.
All very nice young ladies! Thank you for including me and making me feel welcome!

And now it's Shannon's turn to be Congratulated!

Shannon has finished her Master's!
with a GPA of 3.86!
We are very proud of her!
Now she is with her girlfriends and
sisters-in-law in Daytona Beach to relax!
The soon to be Mr.& Mrs. Smaciak have a right to smile!
Love you so much!

Congratulations Shawn and Amy!

We are so proud to announce that Shaw n graduated from University of South Carolina on May 9th. We were there to share in their celebration with his family and friends. Best of all he already has a job. Phyiscal Education teacher at an elementary school. Bad news he starts on Tuesday after the wedding!

Amy graduated this past weekend fron SUNY Canton with a Nursing Degree. But she's not done yet! Big future for her. She received the McCallister Award for being the Outstanding Senior Nursing Student! Our extended family is as talented as our own. Love you guys!

It's Time To Go North!

Everyone has gone home! We are the only ones still here! They have returned to Maine, Ogdensburg, and Ohio. And you notice the way Dick is looking it is to the North. A week from today we will leave for South Carolina to celebrate Shawn's graduation. And then home by the 12th! Miss everyone! See you soon!

A Special Celebration!

Happy Anniversary to a wonderful couple. A 60th Anniversary to be exact! Thursday evening we had the special honor of attending a party for Marilyn and Ralph Jewitt from Bucksport Maine. Sixty years! They are such a sweet couple that we have met down here in Daytona! We have known them for only 3 years but they have been an influence to all of us! He was a teacher, Atheletic Director and principal. Marilyn was a stay at home mom who kept it all going. Can you name anyone you know that has been married this long? And by the way they eloped!

Another Pleasure of Daytona Beach!

On Sunday March 15th the Space Shuttle Discovery Lifted off from Kennedy Space Center. We all went down to the beach to watch. It was a cool very breezy evening with the sun setting. And then the it appeared! What a feeling to see the large glowing figure rise in the sky. We watch for about 10 minutes and then definitely saw the fuel tanks separate from the shuttle. Everyone was clapping and yelling. Old and young truly mesmerized! Another little joy we get to enjoy here in paradise!

Long Time No Blog

To all my friends I apologize for not having any posts the entire month of January. It was definitely a busy month. Three Wright family birthdays: Makayla 6. Nick 30, and Lily 3! They came the week before and Emily had a surprise party for Nick. You have to understand that Nick hasn't been surprised about anything since he was born! She pulled it off and he was truly surprised. We had an early party for Makayla and Lily with Aunt Shannon. Our girls our getting big. The month was taken up by undecorating ( yes I took everything down this year!). Dick and I had dentist, dr. and appointments that needed to be taken care of before we left town. Dick was going to physical therapy for his "tennis elbow" didn't seem to help but low and behold now that he is not at home it feels better! Hum, I wonder why :) Of course I had many meetings for the Auxiliary and the Gift Shop. We all needed to coordinate who was leaving town and who had to cover for who. Many exciting things going on with the shop! New items have been well recieved. We have had 2 over $1000.00 days! Scheduled to get new customer service counters which will provide much needed space!
The photo here is of a beautiful River Walk in Columbia,SC where Shannon and Shawn live. Their place was our first stop south. It was a beautiful Sunday. Shannon and Shawn wanted pictures taken so we drove into the parking lot and headed down to the river. When we returned this is what we found:
We had left the car for less than 45min. Shannon opened the back door and found that they had taken her wallet. I opened mine and they had taken my wallet and my checkbook! The police came and then a detective came who took fingerprints. When he found out that we had a lot of cash, he said he would call some of his "informants". We were able to call the CC people and our bank. Shannon recieved a new license the next day ( I am still waiting for my temporary) and our day was completely ruined.
We did go out to dinner but it was a very invasive day. Don't leave anything in your car that someone could see. The police say it's getting worse and worse.
We are on the beach now. I will have more things to share now. Miss everyone!