That's My Boy!!

This past weekend, my son competed in his first triathlon.  He has been training for the event, but wasn't sure how he would fare.  I couldn't have been more proud of him.  He did amazing!!  Here he is swimming in the river:

Next came the bike portion:

Followed up by the run.  Here he is crossing the finish line:

He did awesome!!  In his age bracket he finished in 6th place.  Overall, he was in the top 25%.  I was very pleased with how he did.  Afterwards of course a celebration was in order ..... here is how he celebrated:

Triathlon number 2 will be coming this weekend.  I think he is hooked.

Being Neighborly

Having neighbors is a part of life for most of us.  Some have bad neighbors, some have good.  I have been blessed by having the best neighbors for so many years.  They were recently gone for a few days, and upon their return brought us the most delightful treats:

A box full of very large apricots:

Another box with a lid on it (hmmmmm what could be in this one?) ....

Ahhhhh, fresh peaches (yum) :-)

And then to top it all off, after checking their garden, they met me at the fence with a bounty of fresh zucchini

I am so excited.  This means I get to make peach pies, apricot jam, zucchini bread .......  not to mention the ability to grab a fresh apricot or peach any time of day for a delicious snack, and all because I have such nice neighbors ..... thank you Jerry and Addie!!

Busy with Berries

This time of year is just perfect in every way.  The garden is growing, the sun is shining, the days are long, and it's time to begin making jam.  I find such a feeling of accomplishment each summer as I put away jam for the upcoming year.  I always begin with strawberries.  And don't these strawberries look like they will be the perfect candidates for my first batch?

They were perfect indeed!!

Tinkered Berry Muffins

When I find time for visiting various blogs, I never miss hopping over to Bluebird Notes.  Koralee has one of the cheeriest blogs around I think.  While meandering through her list of "inspiring friends" along her sidebar, I happened upon Cottage, where I found the recipe for these delicious muffins.  They went together so quick, and were so easy.  At first I wasn't sure about a muffin recipe using Bisquick since sometimes they seem to have a tendency to be "heavy".  These Tinkered Berry Muffins weren't heavy at all, and the combination of bananas, blueberries, and oats was very good.  And just as a side note .... I read once that when you take muffins out of the oven, if you tip them on their side while they cool, it will prevent the bottoms of them from becoming soggy. 

Raggedy Ann Effect

The 4th of July is behind us now.  I hope that all of you in the U.S. had a very enjoyable holiday.  My kids and I made our traditional trek downtown to see the parade.  We always show up early to get our chairs placed in our usual spot.  After the official "chair placement", we will wander around downtown, buying ice cream or little snacks, and just enjoying the atmosphere.  This year before I left home I put on my new shoes that one of my daughter's had given me as a birthday gift, along with my new 4th of July socks.  To wear these two items together anywhere else, other than a 4th of July parade, might cause a few raised eyebrows because of the similarity to Raggedy Ann's attire.  However, they seemed to fit right in at the parade.