Here's a PA downside...

Here's a PA downside...rain. I know we have rain everywhere, but get this. We live on a dirt road and contrary to what my sweet husband says, it is dirt. The kind of dirt that when it gets wet it likes to jump up and stick to your car. Well, now any good Florida girl knows that if your wait long enough with a dirty car the rains will eventually come and viola, you have a clean car. Run out just before it rains, squirt some car wash soap on your car and you are good to go. Not so in Pennsylvania. They have what I am calling "soft rains". They are these gentle, misty kinds of rains that are so wonderful to fall asleep to, but will not wash away the above mentioned sticky mud. All this kind of rain does is make the mud spots look like mud drips. Drats! I guess this means I'm gonna have to wash my car from now on.

Big night out!

Last night we went out with some folks that Charles had met while he was up here. What a great couple-so much fun and very lively!! We went out with them, his 14 year old daughter and their 8 year old family friend. We headed to a classic diner in one of those old metal diner cars. Kayla said, "We are eating dinner in that?!" Too funny. After dinner we walked to the movie theatre and split up to see two movies. One was R (The Ugly Truth) and one was G (G-Force). I should have taken K to the G movie. The Ugly Truth was SO VERY MUCH an R-rated movie! Charles and I squirmed through most of the movie-discussing when would be the best time to leave early! Now I know exactly how my dad felt when he took me to see The World According to Garp a million years ago! Yikes! I really felt like a heel of a parent last night!
We did get to talk about horses though and K loves to go horseback riding. So we are going to Morgan's horseback riding lesson with her on Wednesday and see if K wants to start. Ann said she had horses that needs someone to ride them regularly and Kayla's ears perked up to that! She may have found a new hobby.

Eye Spy

When I took this photo I just saw it as a huge mess and was kind-of funny, but when I looked at it I thought it would make a great "Eye Spy" game.
So...can you find the following:

Minnie Mae
Diet coke
The Art of War
Tomato
Glass jar
Tool box
Black shot glass
Pair of lime green pants
Sketch of Kayla
Swizzle sticks
"Fragile" sticker
Little red stool



Thanks for playing!

My new friend

Have seen this barn kitty walking around the perimeter of our property for a few weeks and a few days ago I walked out to the back porch and chatted with her. I said, "Come on over here and visit." and she did. I sat on the back porch and just petted her for the longest time. She was so sweet! I cannot tell if she is someone's cat that just lets her roam or if she was someone's cat that got lost. Either way, she is tame, has a nice coat and sits on the back porch waiting for more love. I know she is eating 'cause Charles saw her the other day with a mouse and I took a few bird feathers out of her claws yesterday. But of course, I gave her a few kitty treats and now she is my best friend! She is my outdoor shadow. She walks with me whenever I take the dogs out. Kiwi loves her-they rub up against each other on our walks. She sits in the outside part of the open window just watching us inside. Elphaba doesn't like her one bit and they hiss through the screen. I just have one question...what happens to outdoor cats in the winter?

We are staying busy

Kayla's 15th birthday. I wish we could have done a bigger party, but we don't know all that many people yet, and I don't think that cows make good party guests!


Charles is lounging out around the house enjoying the fact that we finally have a wireless hook up!


We saw a sign advertising a "Strawberry Festival" a few weeks back and we put it on our calendar. We all understood that this would be a very small festival since it was in the town of Roseville. Roseville is so small. (How small is it?) It's so small that they don't even have a traffic light! But they did have this cool banner that advertised the festival that we've all been looking forward to. Well. We knew there wouldn't be any rides. We thought that there might be a craft booth or two, possibly some low-tech games like bean bag toss or the duck pond thing. Nope. When we arrived (a tad early 'cause we were excited!) we sat in the car and waited for it to open. It was being held in the fellowship hall of the town church. Uh-oh. Then as cars started arriving we noticed that we were the youngest there-by a long shot! Uh-oh. So we started heading in when a man asked us if we were here for the dinner or just berries. He instructed us that the dinner line was on the left and dessert was on the right. We moved to the right and started talking to the lady who was setting up the ice cream for the dessert tables. Holy Moly. They had over a half dozen machines all filled with home made ice cream. OK. So there were no games. No craft booths. But they had THE most wonderful strawberry shortcake!! BISCUITS for the base (happy, Ginni?!) Fresh strawberry sauce. And the most divine vanilla ice cream I've had since I was little and we cranked our own. We had the dogs and we sat down on an outside picnic table and since Kiwi was there we made friends fast! Kiwi was a MAJOR hit and as we were leaving Kayla said, "Kiwi sure was popular! They might have made the strawberries, but Kiwi made the festival!"


After we didn't stay long at the festival we decided to go to the movies instead. Off to Wellsboro and the closest movie theatre. We saw Harry Potter and it was great! But I loved the marquee so much I had to share the photo. I am so enjoying P365-it forces you to take photos all the time and of stuff you would normally just walk past. For you P365'ers-Do you just sit and re-look at your year-so-far of photos? I know I do!


That's all the news from our bit of the woods!

What a great evening...

When we first visited Wellsboro for our Internet run before we were hooked up Kayla and I saw a sign that read, "Wellsboro Town Band, Wednesday, July 15, 7pm". Since that was the exact date of K's birthday, we talked and she said we should try it out for her birthday. Knowing that she got to go to her beloved Red Lobster the weekend before, she was cool with this.
We went out to dinner first, then walked to the...to the...well, if I say exactly where we walked it will sound pretty corny...but we walked to the town square. Yep! A good ole' fashioned, middle-of-town, green space, just off Main Street. It was complete with a fountain in the center and dotted with Victorian-era gas-lit lamp posts! No joke! The whole Main Street area uses gas-lit lamp posts! LOVE IT!!
Once we got there, we joined a bunch of people already gathered to listen to a classic band concert. This band was comprised of teens up to not-so-teens and played classic band-style music, mixed with religious, popular and (hold on to your seats) SHOW TUNES!! You know I was in heaven when the conductor introduced that the next set would be from Music Man! But I have to tell you that the best moment came when just as twilight was settling around us, a soft breeze was blowing through the trees and mixed with the sounds of neighbors softly chatting and children laughing the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow starts. I just sighed, leaned back against my tree, closed my eyes and had myself a happy moment!
Aaahhh....the simple life for me!

More random photos

Big truck-little dog...


BrotherDoug & Kayla at "The Last Supper"


Me, Craig(YIPPEE!)and Charles at "The Last Supper" at Piccidilly


Turtle transportation!


K and Ginger nap on the long ride...(Stacey, K loves that pillow!)


Charles & Kayla doing our first trash burn


(I love this photo) Charles playing with the kids-but check out Joe! Too funny!



Elphaba hiding out in a hotel dresser


Miss Barbara ordering wine at the jazz concert


Kayla after rolling down the hill in our back yard

Random photos

I have been wanting to share photos and finally have a few spare moments before I have to meet Charles and his boss for lunch. So these are in totally random order, but they are of what has been happening since leaving Tampa.


This was snapped of a cemetery as I passed on the drive up.


Kayla and Charles walk down to the lake by Pat's house. Such a beautiful place, but a steep walk!


Ginger slept in my suitcase for a few days just to make sure I wouldn't leave without her!


My food cupboard! Isn't it divine?


Charles, Carol and Henry at the "Last Supper" in Tampa.


K & me at the Museum of Fine Arts' Jazz concert


The U-Haul finally makes it to PA!!


Where we are going for Kayla's b'day tonight


A note I tucked into a box to remind me to be careful


Target in the mountians



Radishes from a nice neighbor

Charles and K at her 1st b'day dinner at Red Lobster

We have arrived!

The Pecks are officially in PA! We arrived last Friday and were just about to have to be put down we were all so tired! The animals all survived with a few "almost losts" in hotel rooms-Elphaba went in between the mattress liner and the bed frame and Ginger escaped down the hall to check out the breakfast options one morning. Poor Minnie Mae is terrified of the new surroundings that she has become a recluse in Kayla's bedroom.
The house that Charles found for us is just heaven! I am in love with a house! The cupboards in the kitchen are grand. I told Charles that any home in our future must have this kind of cupboard space 'cause I am getting quickly spoiled. The turn off to our house is really a "turn up" because you have to head up the mountain. In the front of the house you look out at the tree tops, but in the back you are level with the ground. There is no AC and really no need, with a few windows open you can cool the whole house. In fact it gets down to the 50's at night, so a few windows cracked does the trick! The views are just so wonderful that I just sit and watch what I have dubbed "the Nature Channel" which is really just looking out a window. The wind through the trees sings a constant song to me. Sometimes the birds or neigh boor's dogs join in, but it has fast become a song I listen for every day. We have found a little stream that runs through the property and Kayla spent some time down there with Kiwi yesterday, just gathering her thoughts. So far the wildlife spotting has been slim...barn swallows dive bomb all the time, tons of bats gather around a light just outside our living room window, there was a barn cat I tried to make friends with, a half of a groundhog in our yard (don't know what happened to the other half...), one doe this morning in our yard, fireflies at night and two very friendly "neighbors"-a beagle and a small white dog of undetermined breed.
K and I have noticed that the people up here are very friendly-they wave when they pass, take time to sit and chat with you and offer what help they can. We just need to get unpacked quicker and go out and mingle more!
My car stays constantly splatted with the mud from the road that Charles insists isn't a dirt road that leads to our house. But to me a road that is compacted earth and rocks is a dirt road...maybe I am wrong here, but I don't think so! I know I am going to soon need some brake and transmission work 'cause my Vibe isn't used to going up and down all the time.
I have learned that road kill is inevitable. Have not killed anything yet, but have been close on a mouse, a groundhog and today a bird. Charles had to stop yesterday and let a doe cross the road.
Kayla and I drove 45 minutes today to get to a Target. In fact we found a bounty of stores that we love-PetSmart, Sam's Club, Pannera, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnns, Kohls and more! We are planning out either weekly or bi-monthly runs since it is far.
I have photos to share but they will have to wait until we get our DSL hooked up on Monday. There is lots more to tell, so keep checking! And send me a shout-out to let me know who is reading!
We have lots of extra space for visitors and have our first visit planned with Charles' folks at the end of the month. Ya'll come on up, 'ya hear?!