I Miss Blogging, I Just Hate Spam Comments

My son took this photo of a deer on the roadside this summer.  I think he is a very good photographer!  He just loves nature and being outside.

I've gotten alot of e-mails asking if everything is ok.  I know - so unusual for me not to blog in a very long time.  Because you all know, I la-la-love to blog.  BUT I've been getting alot of Spam comments - all in Chinese.  I don't like it, not one bit.  So, I took some time off from Blogging.  I changed my blog settings that I have to approve comments.  I still get the Spam and on alot of old posts too.   But it appears that the comments are all the same and are probably automatically generated.  I am not sure how they get past Blogger though. If anyone else gets this type of Spam I would be interested to hear about it.  In anycase, I won't be posting any close-up photos of my cutest boy in the whole wide world son anymore, but the far away action shots and side profile shots really capture his personality right now just fine.

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 Anyway - summer is super busy for me.  Usually I am up at 5:30 and I will work until 10 or 10:30 with the afternoon "off".  Off meaning - time to spend with my son, so while it is "off" time - we usually run the errands together and go do something fun and I don't get any rest!  I rest in the winter - you just have to deal with it when you have seasonal work.

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One thing I do - I cook alot of these guys - this is all part of ONE order.

I work alot, but do try to make sure my son has a "summer".  We went camping for I think 9 nights this year - 2 nights here, 2 nights there kind of thing.  We did end up buying a screen tent to go over the picnic table just to keep the night dampness off the table area.  Please be impressed that I can set this thing up all by myself!  Not a chance of it fitting back into the bag it came with, but hopefully I will get a chance to make a big bag for it out of some heavy-duty fabric I have.

And I love, love, love my new camp stove from LL Bean.  Every year I buy myself a birthday present and this year it was a camp stove (a little late, but I waited).  We can stop at picnic stops and make hot tea and cheeseburgers for lunch now!  I like to toast my bagel on the grill part in the morning.  I think this photo was taken the 1st time we used it - now I line the bottom with foil for easy clean up. 

He went away to camp for 5 days which he liked some parts of it and not others, but overall I think it was ok for him to go.  It was his very first time to sleep away from home and it probably was harder on me than him.  And we went and visited friends for a few days - we did all sorts of fun things those days - it was the best part of my summe - kayaking (he had the best time paddling around the river),

 boat ride, splitting kindling with a real ax (just teach the kids to keep their feet well back from where the ax may fall - in this photo you can see that he has his feet in the correct place), 

planing cedar planks (here he is measuring the board to make sure it is the right size - don't you love his safety helmet/visor?  He is also wearing ear plugs),

 fixing a deck, cooking out, just relaxing with friends and talking and laughing... and he fell in love with a 4 lb pom they were doggy sitting.  Here is the best photo of have of her all by her pretty little self.  Our friends also have 2 huskys.  We hooked them up to the dog sled but they weren't interested in pulling it through the grass, LOL!

So, that is a snapshot of part of our summer.  Busy, busy.