A WEEKEND AT THE LAKE

Hi everyone!  It's a balmy 58 degrees here in Chicago.  I'm actually glad though, yesterday was close to 90 and SO humid.  The rain came about 9:00 p.m. and cooled everything off tremendously.  Our re~seeded front lawn is loving this weather, it was actually mowed for the first time yesterday.  Yay!

It was a quiet and restful weekend at the lake.  It rained on Saturday and I mostly just puttered around the house.  I still have a lot to do before the family comes up for the 4th of July (which is coming up so fast!), but the rain was making me lazy.  I read and napped and read some more.  I was useless.

The Husband was able to get his boat in the water with the help of his friends at the marina.  He fished a bit but had little luck.  He came home and fished off the dock.  Above you can see him and if you look at the water, you can see it's pouring rain.  That didn't stop him!

Sunday morning we were up at 6:00 a.m., had coffee and then he was off again to catch the big one.  I went back to bed.  Well, he got lucky and caught about 4 of these big bass (yes, he brought his phone to take pictures and back up his fish tales).  We are total catch and release people so there was no harm done to this slimy guy

I was in shock when we arrived and I saw all the blooms on my climbing rose.  Last weekend it was just buds.  Now I'm wondering, do you see where the roses have grown above the trellis?  Should I prune that off so it spreads out more?  I know zilch about pruning roses and it's time I learned.  I have an arbor along a walkway to the garden and it was my original idea to plant clematis.  Now I'm thinking of roses.  I've caught the bug!

Aren't these gorgeous?  While I have your attention, I thought I'd mention my battle with the milkweed along the side of my house.  Where it came from, I'm not sure, but I'm trying to clear it all out to plant peonies.  There are about 10 plants and they are taller then me.  For years I've avoided this project because of all the bees hovering around them.  So Saturday I consulted my best friend, Google, and lo and behold, these plants are highly coveted.  I even found a milkweed club!  Apparently, their claim to fame is that they attract all sorts of butterflies (and bees).  I've cut them down before and they just keep coming back.  Between the milkweed and my crazy wisteria, which has wrapped itself around a power line, I have a mess on this side of my house. 

I made up for my lazy, rainy Saturday by spending most of the time outside on Sunday.  I cleaned up my section of the workbench in the garage where I keep all my outdoor table and patio decorations, and my alotted space in the shed for my gardening tools.  I found this funky birdhouse that I bought a few years ago at some sort of roadside stand.  I attached it to a tree by the driveway.  All of my birdhouses have No Vacancy signs, the little wrens are loving them.  I also planted some pots with flowers I had left over from planting here, so I got a lot of bang for my buck.  

Not only was it Father's Day on Sunday, it was also Emily's birthday.  We got on the road for Chicago early and we all met at a little Irish pub, the whole family and then a few, to celebrate both occasions.  Pizza, beer and a lot of laughs.  We also celebrated our son, Jeff, buying his first home.  He has been staying with us for the past few weeks and he is closing on his house in about 2 weeks.  It is awesome, just beautiful and only 15 minutes away.  We are so happy for him!

So that's all I have for now.  I brought my boxwood clippings home with me and I'm going to get to work on that wreath today.  I've also been working feverishly on cleaning up my laundry/storage room in the basement.  I can't even describe what a mess it was.  I spent three straight days sorting and washing clothes, some that the kids left behind when they moved out, came back, moved out...I can see the floor again.  We also have a big standing freezer that I totally emptied and scoured.  As much as I like to clean and organize, this freezer (and the whole laundry room) was the bane of my existence.  I found whole roasts and chickens going back to 2009.  All sorts of packaged foods that The Husband would load up on at Costco.  I would just forget I had stuff in there.  So it's clean and sparkling and even though it's just a dark, dungeon of a room, I'm happy! :)

See you soon!

XO,

Jane