Summer On

It’s already August,  but summer is just getting started! We refuse to go quietly into fall. Hold your horses, autumn. We’re hanging onto summer as long as we can! These last couple weeks have been a whirlwind of sun, sand and sanding. I’ll start with the fun stuff.

Camping

We went camping in Alexandria, MN and spent a lot of time on the water!

Joe got some action on the lake.

As usual.

He even made a little friend.

The younger, the better to start ’em jetskiing I guess.

Ladies and little gentle man.

Here’s a goofy group pic. Thanks for a fun weekend, Martinsons!!!

Sanding

It’s a fact: My car is not in the best shape…

I’ve been meaning to sand and paint it for awhile.

Really not sure why a mattress was on my car, but these things no longer surprise me.

I started with this handy sander.

And took it to some of my rust spots.

You do NOT want to get it near your face. Gloves and safety goggles and long sleeves.

Then I put a primer on the spots I planned to paint.

(Later, Joe told me that I should have used a white primer, not clear) Lesson learned.

I picked up a custom-mixed paint from an auto parts store that mixes in house.

I thought this little aerosol can was a really good idea! I have such an odd color that this was the only option. Has anyone worked with one before? They get freezing cold.

Here’s the before:

Here’s the after:

It did an OK job. Overall, it didn’t exactly match and I probably wouldn’t do it again.

So either of these vehicles are up for sale if you know anyone interested 😉

For Fun

I watched softball tournaments all last weekend while Joe spent 15+ hours working on a furnace and AC. I think I had a tad bit more fun than he did. But he’s on call all week anyay, so he figures he may as well stay busy.

Although my bro won the division, the team didn’t do so hot in the state tourney. It was a good run.

But my uncle’s team clenched their state ‘ship, playing 6 games in one day! The final game was against a team of former Minnesota Northstars players. How cool is that!? Their uniforms are old hockey jerseys.

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Check out this plant I picked up! It’s grown a whole foot! I can’t even believe it.

It’s already taller than this. I think it grows at least .5″/day!

What is budding? More palm frons or flowers? I have no idea.

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One other think I just have to share is Birthday Cake Popcorn. I got the recipe here and made it for my mom’s birthday.

I used raw kernals in the air popper. Which I’d never done before and thought was really cool!

Just mix melted white chocolate with yellow cake mix and drizzle over the popcorn

And add birthday cake sprinkles. How cool is that? I even made a batch with fruity pebbles for the boys and a dark chocolate batch for moi.

If that got you thinking about dessert…

Today is Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen, so you basically have to go buy a blizzard. We all got $5 at work to get one!