Just Ducky

Jennifer and I got to spend a couple of days at the lake this week, and her roommate, Janelle, joined us as well. While the girls were out for a boat ride, this family of ducks came right into the boat slip. It might be because I was feeding them Cheez-Its.

We fed them some more when the girls got back. They even came back while we were floating. I guess they thought Jennifer was a friendly face. And an easy snack!

We went to the cute Farmhouse Cafe for dinner, and had a nice meal there. No, we did not have duck.

The girls posed for a couple pictures.

We were laughing too much to take the picture! After dinner, we went upstairs where they have gifts and antiques for sale.

I found this old fence in the garden outside. I think I might need it!

There are always pretty things to see outside the restaurant.

I found another blog post about the Farmhouse Cafe written by the Gallivanting Girl. She has lots of photos you might enjoy.

Here's Your Sign

I finally picked up our sign for the end of our road at the lake. I ordered it from a shop in Nashville, and I have been back two times before today to pick it up. Once it wasn't finished, and once they weren't open, but the third time's a charm, and it was ready today.

I got it from "Through the Looking Glass," a shop located in Antique Alley in Nashville, Indiana. The owners/artists, Mary Ann and Tommy, are friendly and talented, and possibly my new best friends. :) I think Jennifer and I even convinced them that their daughter should attend Purdue instead of that school in Bloomington. They were recently featured in Homes & Lifestyles Magazine. They gave me a copy.

I walked to the end of the road to hang the sign, and these two were watching me. Can you see them both? I had to hurry to take the picture before they high-tailed it away. That's what they do you know.

I think it looks pretty nice in the group of signs. I wanted the Purdue "P" to balance the IU on the other side.

When I left the shop with my sign, Tommy insisted that I take some of his organic cucumbers. Um, thank you? Now what to do with them? I think there is a recipe for fixing cucumbers in Lucy's cookbook submitted by Uncle Gilman. The final step is something like "throw them out the back door." Sounds good to me!

Peaches Peaches

Matthew and I bought some fresh peaches at the Farmers' Market on Friday. They were a little too ripe for Jonathan's taste (he likes them crunchy), so I decided to make Jill's Peach Batter Cake for our Saturday evening dessert. I've known Jill since she was a little girl showing cattle, and now she's a mom of two cute little boys enjoying their busy life in the country. You can read about their sweet family on Jill's blog.

Here is the cake, fresh from the oven.

And here's the recipe:

Jill's Peach Batter Cake

4 cups sliced peaches
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 Tbsp. butter
3 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 3/4 cups boiling water
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 X 13 greased pan with 4 cups peaches.

Cream together 1 1/2 cups sugar and butter. Sift dry ingredients. Mix dry
ingredients with sugar and butter, alternating with milk. Spread batter evenly over peaches.

Combine 2 cups sugar and 2 T. cornstarch and sprinkle over cake batter.
Pour boiling water over all and bake for 1 hour. Enjoy with ice cream!

Jill says this is also awesome with fresh blackberries!

YUMMY!

Real Water Bed

In case you didn't see this posted on Facebook, I thought I would share it here. Good for a chuckle to brighten your day. Even Adam laughed!

Doctor Doctor

Matthew had a check up on Monday to get ready for first grade. No immunizations necessary, just a quick check and he was good to go. I think the shots were all taken care of last year before he started kindergarten.

He enjoyed reading Highlights Magazine in the waiting room. How long have doctors had those in their offices?

He got weighed.

And measured.

He got his blood pressure checked.

And his hearing.

I tried to get a few photos while we were waiting for the doctor to come in, but of course he didn't want me to, so I had to be a little sneaky.

I took this one with the camera on my lap.

Dr. C showed him his height and weight chart on his computer.

He also checked out his reflexes before sending us on our way. Dr. C is so good with his patients, and keeps them laughing and comfortable during the exam.

Hey first grade, bring it on!!

A Swing and a Prayer

We had a great time last weekend at the lake when Andrew and Darci brought their friends Matt, Shelly, Abbi, and Makenna. They enjoyed some tubing and water skiing on Saturday, met the neighbors, and tried out their rope swing. I spent the day enjoying Haleigh, watching the girls in the water, and relaxing. In fact, I didn't take any pictures until after supper, when I got this one of Makenna introducing Jim to the fun of barbie.com.

Everyone slept in a bit on Sunday, and Abbi and Jim spent a little more time with Barbie.

The girls enjoyed the trampoline, and I think Makenna was practicing her ballet, or bal-la-lay, as she called it.

Shelly decided to swim a few laps across the lake, so Matt served as her spotter in the kayak.

Makenna is usually a little bit afraid of dogs, but Gumbo quickly won their hearts, and they enjoyed playing with him all weekend.

They jumped off the trampoline over and over and over....

and over again!

Abbi took a couple minutes to rest.

And they shared some fun with Mom Shelly.

Haleigh was entertained by the girls. Sorry for cutting your head off, Andrew, I was focusing on the baby!

Makenna says, "Oh yeah, oh yeah!"

They went across the lake to jump off the high dock and go down the slide. Makenna decided to hitch a ride with Drew and Darci in the paddle boat.

Daredevil Shelly jumped from the top of the railing. Andrew and Matt did it the day before. Holding hands even. But I didn't have my camera. It was sweet.

They returned to the rope swing on Sunday so I could get a few pictures. Jim passed, as he was a bit sore from a bad landing on Saturday. Hmmmm.... maybe someone is getting a little too old for the rope swing?

Andrew gets ready to go. I tried my best to get some pictures of everyone going off the swing. I call it crazy, actually. Thus, the title of this post... they did the swing, I said the prayer.

Shelly was the craziest bravest one in the group, as she was trying FLIPS off that thing.

Andrew did not try any flips.

Shelly got cheers from all the neighbors.

Matt did not try any flips either. I think he was feeling a bit sore from Saturday's tubing, skiing, swinging. Makes me sore just thinking about it.

This is part of the audience watching from the gallery.

These next four photos are in succession to show one of Shelly's flips. Yes, I'm still praying.

This one was a different turn, but I just liked the shot. That girl is fearless!

After the swinging, it was time for a little lunch.

And a little floating.

One of the neighbors was enjoying a float with her dog. Wonder if Gumbo would like that?

We ended with a snack of Star Kisses on the trampoline.

I'm not sure if there was more in their mouths or on their faces. Andrew took this just before Makenna decided to jump off the back of the trampoline without her life jacket. Fortunately, Shelly was nearby. That Makenna is fearless! Are you surprised??