too busy to blog.....

I know there hasn't been a blog all week, but honestly, dear readers, we have just been too busy!!! OR, by the time I do have time to sit and write, I am simply too sleepy and doubt the blog would have made much sense. So, here's a new one for you!!!

With the open house behind us and Memorial Day weekend ..well... almost here!!! It was time for Ed and I to focus our energies on the camps. So, we (wisely) took a week off from house work, and moved into yard work!!! The mess caused by the winter storms was "amazing", and we spent three full days of raking, picking up sticks, trimming back broken trees and mowing. I am glad we gave ourselves amble time, we worked at a pretty steady pace without "killing ourselves". Both the "gator" and tractor were put to good use, and what a blessing that turned out to be!!!!

But, when you wake up in the morning, and the lake view is this... who has the right to "complain" about work!!!

I have had a couple of emails and the like with questions about the "camps"... because it is sort of confusing as to who and what that's all about. So, for those of you who might be interested, the story goes like this. Ed's (and Bill's) parents bought a small fishing camp on the lake back in the 1950's. They used it as an escape from work and home, and moved into it during the summers while they rented out their home on the ocean. (this helped them pay taxes and such) For the better part of growing up, Ed lived at the lake in the summer time. Naturally he has many fond memories of that, escept for Labor Day weekend, when it meant moving "back home and going back to school". When we started dating and all, Ed and I spent many weekends at the camp, and then the girls came along, we were there often.

In the '80s, Ed parents decided to take the fishing camp down and build a house that would be more suitable as a "retirement house", that way they could spend more of the year on the lake... the little fishing camp was really not suited for cold weather!!! Sadly, Ed's Dad passed before he had much time to spend in the new (big) camp... but Ed's Mom was able to spend a number of summers there.

In the early 90's, the camp beside "Kay's" and another camp "behind "came up for sale.(both camps were being sold together as a package) Since we were spending so much time at the lake, Ed and I decided to buy those camp and have one of our own and one to rent out. Like Kay's old camp, the one we bought on the lakeside, was in bad need, and we decided to take it down, and build a new one for ourselves... the "little" camp, as we call it. As you can see, these two camps are very close (as are all the camps on the lake), so it's important that you like your neighbor!!!

As life made it's way along, and Ed and I began to talk about "what we would do when the girls were grown"..and it turned out that we would like to have a farm. I have dreamed of living on a farm since I was a little girl, anyone who knows me, knows that animals have been a HUGE part of my life!!!! Because we had the camp, and knew that we would need to "tend a farm and still be able to have time at camp"... it only made sense that we try and find our farm near the camp. After a couple of years of searching, we found the land that we have now.... and slowly began to make plans to change our lives over and move. (And, if you have been a blog follower, you know that the move happened last summer.)



We moved here last summer, even though our farm house isn't done, for a couple of reasons - one being, we wanted to be "around" with the house going up... and driving back and forth (an hour each way) wasn't practical. And two, with Kas and Nate getting ready to start their lives outside of the military, they needed a home to live in, our old house seemed like the perfect answer. The fact, too, that our barn up was, also meant that we could bring the horses with us, and save quite a bit in boarding fees as well. So, it made good sense to make our move.



All winter, we have lived in the "big" camp, which actually is a nice sized cape and is just two miles from our farm. It has worked well, with 6 dogs, 3 cats, guinea pigs and Titus. But, in about three weeks, we need to move from the big camp and back into our little camp. After Ed's Mom passed a few summers ago, we began to rent out the big camp, and we have it rented pretty much the entire summer this year. I am a little "worried" about living in the little camp.... it's really little, and we already know that Titus can't be with us (there is NO room for his tank) and the "piggies" can't be with us either, so we are looking at places in the barn or even the house for them to live. And with ANY luck, we will be in our new house before the fall.......so, that is pretty much the "story" in a nutshell.... and what we call "the big camp" (Kay's), the "little camp" (ours) and the "back camp" (the rental)......





For the holiday weekend, I was able to rent both the "back" camp and our "little" camp, thus the reason that we needed to "get it together" and have things picked up, opened up and ready to go.

Last night, Dave, Nate and Sean came to help Ed get the docks back in!!!(thanks guys, we couldn't do it without you!!!!) It's so very nice to see them in the water once again!!!!

And "this" will be "home" for the summer... certainly not a bad spot to be in!!!!!

And here is the "back" camp, .. it's isn't on the water side, but we have pretty good luck renting it out. The people who do rent it, just have a short walk to the lake, and a grand view from their "perch" on the hill..... the lawns look so much better now!!! (wished I had take a before picture)

Goodness, you'd think they had done all the work!!!!!!

Another summer season is just beginning.... I don't even want to think of how quickly it will go by!!!!!