FRIDAY THIS AND THAT---DID YOU KNOW I AM THE FERRY GODMOTHER?

 YES, INDEEDY!

I told you I had a secret, remember?

Well- The cat is out of the bag...

OK!  I don't have a cat so I guess it has to be

The dog is out of the kennel!

As if the two pictured above have

EVER spent time in a kennel at home.

Here's my secret!

We bought a cottage!

It's a fairy tale cottage

but, to please my hubby, I am calling it

FERRY TALE COTTAGE

He said he is not inviting anyone he knows

to a cabin called Fairy Tale Cottage.

What would his 'hunting buddies' think?

The man has never hunted since I have

known him..but that's the dream..

a hunting party at the cottage.

I might be snickering here but will

control myself and finish the post.

So, being the clever person I am...

I am making a play on words.

The cottage is on 

WASHINGTON ISLAND, WI.

It's a 90 minute drive to the FERRY

then about a 30 minute FERRY ride across

DEATH'S DOOR (yep-that's real)!

It is where Lake Michigan meets the bay of Green Bay.

Also known as

Port des Morts

So I am showing you what the cottage 

WILL LOOK LIKE FIRST.

           However, this is what it looks like now.

                       Can you see it?

                                 Can you see the vision?

There is a nice addition on the back that has

cream colored siding so 

I will paint the front to match.

Inside is clean but needs a kitchenette

and a water heater.

Nothing fancy as this is a 3 season cabin

with a large sunroom on the back.

I will post more pictures in the future.

There are 5 cabins on the road.

Two of them are owned by  

members of our family-

and all 5 have water rights to the inlet.

All have water views.  

It's quaint and charming and I can't wait

to get there and start working on it.

We are leaving today and will be there 

for a few days.

Thing One and Thing Two

(also known as Scruffy & Coco Chanel or CocoPuff or Cocobean)

will be joining us.

Lots of work ahead of us-

inside and out but it will be 

a wonderful get-away.

Wait till hubby sees the 

pink and white kitchen

I have planned......shhhhhh......

This is not final-(yet)😊

                                This is the kitchen now.

I fought to keep the big old drainboard sink!

If hubby doesn't like it my friend says she

"has a shovel"

whatever THAT means!

Have a wonderful weekend!

I don't know why my print is off center 

and screwed up-bear with me-

I am not techy (at all) and envy

those of you that are.

However, I am 

'the dog whisperer' 

so I do have a talent of some sort.

.....kind of....

FRIDAY THIS AND THAT-- GIVING YOU THE BIRD!

 

 GOOD MORNING~

Rise and Shine!

Mama Bird has risen and is out

looking for baby food.

She started with three

ROBIN EGGS.

All 3 hatched but one baby

did not make it.

I found that baby in the driveway 

about 100' from the nest.

I looked it up and found out that

mother birds will carry 

a unresponsive baby away

from the nest so that  

predators are not attracted by

the smell of something that has died.

I never knew that about birds.

Anyway,

Eggs- 1 day old - 1 week old.

Cute as cute can be!

         I have been waiting to paint my porch 

and the door until they have 

GROWN & FLOWN.

I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful June week.

My 'boyfriend' and I will be hanging out.

He will be sleeping and I will be working.

Life is just not fair sometimes!

As you can see,

he likes to eat in bed and keeps

his bone(s) close at hand-er-paw.

And little Miss Coco Chanel

likes keeping him company.

             Have a wonderful weekend.

I have some exciting news coming up

but not quite ready to share it yet.

Soon---soon---soon---

And, thank you for asking,

BUT

I am NOT pregnant- 

in spite of persistent rumors

about my expanding size.

FRIDAY THIS & THAT- MAYA RIVERIA PHOTO OVERLOAD!

 This is the

'real us'!

No time to edit and make the pictures purty-

Here we go-

On the way there I gave my 

daughter a diamond shamrock 

bracelet that she loved.

All 5 of us wear the plain round 

beaded bracelets.

I never take mine off.

They were a Christmas gift

from Tara to all of us

to keep us all connected.

I will take you from night one arrival

thru to transport home.

These are sifted out of 

HUNDREDS of pictures!

The lush beauty here is like

entering another world.

Immediately, stress floated away

on the breeze that swayed the 

palms that surrounded us

A beautiful lobby welcomed us-

                                               

We had 3 casistas for 5 of us

in this beautiful all-inclusive resort.

All 3 of ours faced the ocean

and the pool and were next

to each other.

                 The three girls shared one casista.

Tara & I each had our own.

However, Alana (Lulu), chose to sleep

with Tara and dress and hang out 

with the other two girls

in their casita during the daytime.

The first night after dinner everyone was tired.

We all went to our casitas but Alana

wanted a piece of chocolate cake and

coffee delivered (11pm or so).

Room service runs 24 hours a day at no charge.

Before the cake and coffee arrived,

Alana fell asleep and was dreaming of the days to come.

Coffee was delivered to the room each morning

at 6:30 (our time request).

The casistas were lovely.

Each one had an indoor shower and a private outdoor shower

plus a whirlpool tub

and a private patio with table/chairs and a huge lounger.

I will tell you that we dressed 

for dinner every night.

AND~thanks to the girls pre-planning

each night had a 'theme' color.

I think Alana fostered that idea.

Let me also tell you that

my hair products 

DID NOT WORK

in the humidity.

I could have applied for a clown job

and not needed a wig while working.

I do not like my picture taken

but it happened several times anyway.

Please be advised that I am

standing next to 4 girls

that wear anything from a 

Size 2 to a Size 4.

I am 5'6" so you know how tall

these beauties are.

Yeah---I kinda felt like a lumberjack!

On the night of the Fiesta

It was colorful clothing.

We also had a green night~

A blue night~

And, to combat the blue night

we had a pink night....of course we did-

from pale pink to vibrant hues.

There was a black night

And after the 'old lady' went back to her casista

the lovelies went out to dance

There was a white night.

That night -

We went to a Chef's table and watched

as they prepared food.

Alana had a chance to work with the chef there

but I can't find the picture of the video.

There was time to laze by the beach one day

"Mom- We need a credit card to buy some

goggles so we can see the fish at the drop off".

The word "drop-off" scared me to craziness

so I was hoping Mom didn't have her credit card.

Well $75!!! later-they looked like this!

They wore those goggles for at least 10 minutes.

Not bad for $7.50 a minute...lol...

2 of them were too scared to go 

to the "drop off"-lol

Of course, they could also be used to look 

at one's feet in the pool, right?

Most days were spent at the pool~

Some time was spent reading.

I read 4 books while we were there.

There was a huge 'bed' swing 

by the pool with a swim up bar.

The girls hung out on this almost every day.

One day we all sat on it and played games.

Someone might have cheated but 

I'm not sure.

Some randomness~

And just as it had welcomed us in,

we met at the lobby once again

This time to take transport to

the airport.

There a plane waited

to whisk us to Atlanta, GA.

From there,

Tara, Maria, Julia and I 

headed home to Green Bay-

and our sweet Lulu (Alana)

headed to Charleston.

While I loved the vacation,

it was also nice to get home

to sleep in my own bed.

I have another adventure upcoming

but you can bet I won't have

almost a thousand pictures

(YES-Close to a 1000 pictures of vacay

thanks to all my grandgirls)

to share with you.

Meanwhile,

Have a wonderful weekend.

Smile at someone you don't know.

Or if you're feeling like an old hippie

give them the peace sign.

Ummmm....just remember...

Use TWO fingers cuz using ONE finger

can get you in a whole lotta trouble.

Don't ask me how I know that...

m...kay?

                                                                       

FRIDAY THIS & THAT- SECRETS BIG AND LITTLE

     Secrets can do us in, right?

There are SOME secrets

I will take to the grave.

Those secrets are in 

"THE VAULT"

There were lots of secrets to share

at Disney World with three little girls

planning something.

Only two of there were in on

"the planning"

because 

Sweet Cheeks was known to 

tell everything she knew

to Nana!

As you can see here,

there are plans afoot.

But maybe if Sweet Cheeks leans in

she can be in on

'THE PLAN'.

NOPE! Not happening.

Most things change over the years, right?

Confidences are shared more freely....

Or....Maybe Not!

Listen....Do you hear it now?

   NOPE!  Some things never change!

The last two pictures are 

from our recent vacation.

I will be back next week

with more pictures 

of our time there.

Today, I am taking the little VW bug,

putting the top down,

loading in 

Thing One & Thing Two

and going to get a Starbucks

and two

Pupacinos

(also known as pup cups).

Have a wonderful weekend.

AND

Please, if you know me,

don't tell anyone any of

MY SECRETS!