Where has the Summer Gone!

Here it is August already! The kids in our area have gone back to school. They have year round school, that they started when my daughters were in middle and high school. Loved the schedule. They are now all grown up, 27 and 29 years old.

A couple of weeks ago my daughter and her family visited us for 4 days as they had another wedding to attend in Peoria. My son in law has lots of family there. I treasured every second they were here because we won't see them until Christmas.

In this shot Max and Cora kept running up to the garage door saying "cheese" because I was taking their picture. :)

This is the sandbox my daughter (pictured to the right) played in when she was a little girl. That's my son in law Michael and Cora. The week before they got to our house hubby cleaned out the sandbox. For years it was filled with weeds, sticks and ash from years of burning leaves in the fall. About 5 years ago they banned burning in our area. Hubby bought fresh sand and it was as good as new!

Here's my little blondie Max. He is the most sweetest little boy. Now I'm missing them again. Oh well...time to get on Skype again.

The deer are still hanging around in our neighborhood. I don't see them as often as I was. Here's a couple shots that I caught of them today. The babies are getting bigger.

Now that my grand kids have gone back home to North Carolina, I've gotten back into sewing and jewelry making. Working on snowmen and pumpkins. I've had several requests for snowmen already! I'll be sure to update about them when they are finished.

I've made a few pairs of earrings with my photo's for my Red Oak Images etsy shop. They are for sale now. I love the way have turned out. I'll be listed more as I'm getting my shop ready for Christmas!

They measure 1" long and little over a half inch wide.

Impatiens from my flower boxes

New Guinea Impatiens

Pretty Much Picasso Petunia's 

Sweetunia Mystery Petunias

My Ornamental Grass is starting to bloom!

OK I need your help. This is my first time growing strawberries. I had 3 strawberries in the spring when I planted this. They didn't last very long as the birds got them. I haven't had one blossom since. What am I doing wrong? The plant looks really healthy!