~~ Chatting Over the Fence w/COF ~~ July 1 - 15 ~~

Happy July everyone!!! 

Can you believe we're half way through the year 2012? You know when we were young, we would wish for things like being old enough to date or to drive, old enough to not need a babysitter, old enough to have a job, etc. etc. etc. Come on ladies! Admit it! You did it too. Anyway, the folks would always say, 'The older you get, the quicker life goes by! Don't waste it by wishing you'd grow up faster! The day will come when you'll wish life would slow down a bit!" Of course we used think they had no clue what they were talking about, right? Well, guess what? They were right............AGAIN!!! lol Just so hard to believe another year is flying by and for crying out loud, we're already 13 years into the new millenium!! How'd that happen? I think I blinked and whoosh.....there went a big chunk of time! Anyway.................

It's a new month so time to begin a new chat thread for the first half of July! So much has been going on around here and I suspect it's much the same for all of you! 

We've got a lot of celebrations coming up this month in the neighborhoods so be sure to keep an eye open for those announcements. 

The Club House has sure been busy - reading, soap making, counted x-stitching, candy bouquets, recipe sharing and parties aplenty!  It's quilting this month and then come August and card-making!

 I'm wondering if any of you have any ideas or suggestions for projects the Club House might consider this fall? I've got a few things swimming around in my brain!!!  How 'bout you? 

Hope you all are ready for the big 4th of July Block Party! I know the Chez Amis Neighborhood is going all out with decorations and entertainment so hope you all will be able to pop in for at least a little while! I hear the cabana boys are gonna be making an appearance again! I even heard a rumor that some of them are wearing, not yellow, but PINK hard hats!!! :o) 

Good Morning Neighbors!  A special Hi to my close neighbors in Grandma's Place

It was HOT last week. Stayed over 100° for about 5 days. It is cooler this weekend, probably because it has been raining yesterday and today will be rainy too.

I'm thinking about getting some ground chuck and making a couple of burgers inside. I've asked my GS if he wants to come over. He's not sure if he can make. Oh well another time I guess.

Need to get dress now. Will check in later.

Wow! Where is everyone? Must be everyone had found a lake or a pool to reside in for the foreseeable future what with all this heat and humidity! It's only the first of July and already we've had more 90+ degree days along with high humidities to make it feel well over 105. I am sooooooooooooooooo done with summer!! Seriously!!

Well, just popping in to see what everyone's been up to! But looks like it's just me and Pat here! lol

Happy 4th!!!!

Kay...come to Florida, it is much cooler here.  Don't know why.  Sit near the refrigerator and only think cool thoughts.

The clouds are coming in and the rain will be here shortly but that is okay, the grill area is covered.  

To my friends and neighbors...especially Andrea, Paula and Karen, hope you are surrounded with smiles today.

Mary, hang in there and good luck to you and Ron tomorrow. 

This is my PT day off so I will only have to worry about the simple home exercises.  Something to celebrate! 

nancy

Everyone must be at the party today. I am home listening to the 'bangs' go off outside. We have a lot of trees around, I just hope something doesn't start a fire.
I don't like to be on the roads during holidays. Too many 'idiots behind the wheel' for me.

I'm just watching a Twilight Zone Marathon on the SciFi channel and getting ready to go to bed.

Hope everyone had a Great 4th of July!!

Good Morning COF!  The holikday is over and I hope that you are now back in the neighborhood.  Missed many of you!  Thanks to Karen and the Chez Amis ladies for hosting the pool party.  What to watch for next???  The cookbook, Quiliting with Kay and Cards by Lynn.  My goodness this has been a busy summer!  To all those affected by the storms, we hope you are back to "normal" with electricity and A/C.  To those with medical conditions, we surround you with hugs and continue to pray.  This is a godd time to let both groups know you had been thinking of them...drop a card in the mail box.  We are neighbors and care.  To those that have plans for the rest of the summer, please drop by and let us know what is ahead for you.  

My DIL is working with the 7 1/2 year old in regards to selection, planning and critquing.  He has a childs cookbook, selects a dish that he would like to eat.  Goes to the store (when she does her shopping) and selects his ingredients, takes them home, makes the dish (sometimes with mom's help) and after eating it, he rates the dish.  Good idea.

Plans for the weekend?  A pedicure...no PT!  yea!

nancy

It is a quiet day here in my neighborhood of Northern California.  To the south of us in Redding, California, area there are lots of fires.  Scary to say the least.  Thank God there are none around here so far.   It there is any smoke, I will have to use a mask to go outside.  I do not want that.  We have a severe drought here.   I am still using hot packs on the bite and also taking antibiotics to help resolve the problem.  I do NOT want to have it lanced.  It would be horribly painful. I am sad to see people not coming ot the chat over here.  I guess I feel this is an important part of COF.

It's going to be a hot one again today... 104 with high humidity. Anyone want to come back over to my place for a swim?!? I just came in from watering flowers and cleaning the pool... I'm sweating profusely and it's not quite 9am!

Maryann, you're right about the COF chat.... I post and read posts daily on fb but this is the first time I've thought to post on COF in over a week! Thanks for the reminder. Hope you don't have to have that bite lanced... but it may actually feel better than you think! Are you using WET hot packs?? If not, try that... often times the moisture will help the skin to break open on it's own without the need for medical attention (sorry... nurse advice!!). However, if you see red streaks surrounding the bite, go to the doc ASAP!! Here's hoping the fires stay far away from you! My nephew is 16, a boy scout, and just flew out yesterday to do a survival experience in Colorado. He will be very close to where the fires are burning.

I agreed to make a casserole for church tomorrow morning for a group of 50. I'm looking for an EASY recipe that I can do ahead tonight. I used to have a recipe that called for shredded frozen hash browns, eggs, ham cubes, cheese, etc, but I can't find it.... anyone have something like that??

Here's hoping everyone finds a way to stay cool this weekend. From what I hear, it's hot everywhere! Have a great day

Mary Ann...I just posted on COF in facebook and mentioned the same thing...where are our neighbors and is everyone doing okay?  I know a weekend is not busy on the boards but I do hope a number of them will drop by to let us know that they are surviving this unbearable heat, fires and flooding.  Consider this MY check in...I am here and doing fine.  Whose next?

Drinking water cannot be mentioned enough!!  Stay inside!!   

Cross-stitch will keep me busy as I ice my knee.  For a break from that, I think I'll try a simple and new recipe.  Since receiving my new TOH Almost Homemade cookbook, we have had a number of new and different dishes.  Makes looking forward to dinner fun again. 

nancy

Yes, Mary Ann, thank you for the reminder.  I am here!  Trying to keep cool.  I have the house to myself today.  Plan to go get a haircut, and I need to buy a new ceiling fan for one of our bedrooms.  I have been offline for most of last week because of the power outage, and it is good to be back. 

I need to search for some "keep cool" recipes.  I cooked on our gas grill (it was a hand-me down from my daughter-- and my first gas grill) while the power was out and I love it!  I think we will invest in a brand new one as this one has a few issues.  I had never thought about being able to cook on one other than grilling!  I cooked bacon and eggs and boiled water for macaroni and cheese on there. 

Nancy, I need to check out hat Almost Homemade cookbook.  I love new recipes, but have a husband who is a meat and potatoes guy, so he sometimes makes planning new dinners a bit challenging! 

Stay cool everybody!  Hugs to all the neighbors!

Forecast for today says temps will be 10 degrees lower than our high of 104 yesterday, but it sure does feel hot and humid out there already this morning. I found a breakfast casserole recipe on TOH that is just what I needed. It's in the oven now! Hoping for rain later this afternoon. I'm tired of watering and seeing all my efforts of June die off in July! Have a great rest-of-the-weekend, everyone!

Mornin' All!

The rest of you are getting the last of all that heat and humidity we had all last week! If our weather trend continues in your direction, you'll start to see some big drops in humidity! It's still plenty warm, especially for someone who isn't a fan of summer, that would be me! lol But this drier heat I can handle better! And of course, wouldn't you know all the lawns are starting to look pretty brown again! So I guess we still are not completely out of the drought we've had for the past several years. The local weatherman put a map of the state of MN up the other night to show drought conditions. Even with all the rain and flooding parts of MN have had recently, the drought does still continue! The NW corner of the state is the worst right now! It was kind of surprising to see that map! Anyway...........

I'm just about finished with the tweaking of instructions for the 'Quilting w/Kay' project! Have to put together a few more kits. But guess what I thought I had and don't? ENVELOPES!!! Sheesh!! So tomorrow morning that's gonna be the very first thing on my 'to do' list! Hopefully I can still get them in the mail tomorrow! But if not tomorrow, you can bet first thing Tues. morn they'll be on there way! I'll keep you posted!

Nancy - A busy summer? Holy cow! You sure hit the nail on the head with that one! I can hardly believe how quickly summer is going. Actually, it's pretty amazing how quickly the whole year is going! I think, based on the slow chat both here and on COF, that we have a lot of gals who're busy, busy, busy!! lol

Mary Ann - I can't imagine how scary all those fires are! Just so sad to see all the destruction and beauty charred and destroyed like that! I guess it doesn't matter where you live, Mother Nature will do what she will with whatever method she chooses - fire, floods, droughts, whatever !!  Just so sad to watch it all happen and know there's not a darn thing you can do but pray !!

Karen - I, too, try to at least check in here daily! It's hard to do when I know I'm gonna pop in and see no one has responded. Especially when no one responds on the bday and anniv. postings! But...........people have been busy, inconvenienced with down computers/internet, whatever. I' m so glad we have the FB option!! Even though it's been really slow there too, at least you don't feel like you've hit a dead zone! When I think back on how things used to be here on TOH, well, it's really sad how slow it's gotten over here! BTW, glad you found a recipe! 

Well, time's a wastin'! Just checking in before I really get geared up to face the rest of the day! Hope you ALL have a great day! Now to grab that cup of coffee and head on out to the porch to relax and enjoy it!!

{{hugs}}

BTW, Pat E - Safe travels this week! Have fun! You deserve ti!

Oh yeah, - Ditto for Karen! I'm so envious of you getting to meet Nancy and Charney! How fun!! I've not had a chance to do a 'meet' from folks here for a few years now! Oh well, I just know you gals are gonna have PLENTY to TALK about! lol

Hi Everyone

Just popping in to say "Hi" to everyone and see how all of you are doing.  I do miss being part of COF.  Hope you all had a good Fourth Of July.

To those of you experieincing the extreme heat, I hope you get some relief soon. 

Hedgie

Hi,

Waving hi to everyone.

Finally getting some relief from the heat.Right now we are getting some much needed rain,hope it continues for a while.Everything here is so dry.

Have a great day.

Pat (kity)

Kay, what is really tough are all the smoke inversions we get.  I live along Interstate 5 in Northern California and the best way to describe where I live is like a Volcanic Valley with mountains around me to the west.  When the fires are bad the smoke is really bad depending upon how the wind blows. In 2002 there were severe fires in Southern Oregon, which is 50-60 miles to the north of me.  That fire produced smoke for 3 months. In 2008 and 2009 we had a lot of smoke from fires all around us.  We have had severe drought for several years.  Also if we do not get enough snow pack, then the reservoirs do not fill and there is a lack of water.  I love this area, it does not get all that cold.  The coldest it has been since I moved here from Minnesota is in the single digits. I have the best of two worlds as there is snow on the mountains all around me when it snows. Since I had the blood clots in both lungs, I was told if there is severe smoke to get a mask.  That worries me.  I am a survivor.  The national information for wildfires has a site on the Internet to check where the fires are and tend to check that at least once a day.  It was really hazy here this am so wonder if there are any fires close.

I hope that Amy is having a good camping trip with the youth.  It sounds like Ce is having a good trip also.