Into July!

Hal"s cake

   Where has the time gone? We are already into July and I did not blog the whole month of June. Summer goes too quickly.
   We just came back from New Jersey where we had a great time surprising my brother, Hal, on his upcoming 60th  birthday in August. His wife,Charlotte and daughters, Jill and Cindy, planned a great time with family and friends.
   It is hard to surprise Hal since he tries to figure out everything. But they were just too clever for him.
  It was a great time, but glad to be back home in Yarmouth, Maine.
 

Fun for all...

 These are scenes of the Fourth of July barbecue that Hal and Charlotte, with help from their friends, put on every year. We got to go this year 'cause we were there.

What beautiful weather for the Fourth.

The food was fabulous.

 

The box

Hal's daughter, Jill, is expecting their second child in August. I made a card in a box for the baby's arrival.
   I have the Spellbinder's die for this project. It is so much easier than measuring and folding, plus you get two decorative edges that you see in the pictures. Love it.

It fold to fit in an envelope.

  I used some stamps from Stampin Up for the animals and bunny die cut for decorating and filling the box. Some images I took off the computer to add more pink color. Did you guess that they are having a girl?

The back has a pocket for money holdings.

Another type of lettuce

  We have been weeding our garden for three days straight. We have not planted as much as we have in the past. I have a section for cut flowers. The lettuce is really doing well.

One type of  lettuce

Garden project done!

   This garden project I wanted to do last year but never got around to it. I found the buckets at The Christmas Tree Shop for a song.
  I stained them and sprayed a rubber protection on the inside and sprayed outdoor poly to protect the outside.
  Filled the buckets with soil and bought annuals.
  The pump my sister found for me at a flea market. My husband anchored the pump to the bucket with bolts after putting pieces of wood across the back of both buckets.
  Love how it came out. Next year I might put it in front of the mailbox.

Two fellas with sttawberries

  We went on our annual strawberry picking trek with my sister, Rochelle , and her husband, Mark. The fields were full of huge strawberries at Fairwinds Farm in Bowdoinham. We had a great time. It only took about 20 minutes to pick what you see in the picture. We froze quite a bit after eating strawberry shortcake for a few days.

A beautiful day for family fun

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The ducks were a hit....

 In June we took a trip to York's Animal Kingdom with our son, Nathaniel, and his family. What a blast! Evy thought it was great fun.
   We saw so many different animals. Evy loved the ducks, though. She could walk right up to them and feed them.
   We saw an ostrich, zebras, monkeys, and many more.

A long day for Evy...

Well, July has been a busy month. I am sure the rest of the summer will be equally fun. We are planning a trip up North in the Lake Madawaska region. That should be wicked fun. We will be golfing, junking, and looking for craft stores. 
   Will be blogging after we get back to let  you know what all the goings on there are up country . 
    Enjoy the rest of the month of July!