Blue

Parked in our driveway after a long, relaxing ride
Found on the side of the road, and not a tree in sight
Pretty feather from a notoriously mean species of bird
My hydrangeas seem extra blue this year
The star of our house

Hurray for the flag of the free!
Blue isn't always a color...

**ATTENTION**

Hey everyone - there's a bright new blog on-line for your viewing enjoyment! Check out Gina's new blog and read all about her, her husband Frank, and their six sons! And be sure to leave a comment!

How can I ever thank all of you for the kind, kind words and phone calls? I was very humbled with all the things that were said about my blog and "I AIN'T CHANGIN' A THING!" Just the fact that you take the time to even look at my blog makes you my friends indeed!

"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us,
as the confident knowledge that they will help us."

Thank you for helping me...

Your opinion, please...

I need your opinion, dear reader. Which of the following do you find more interesting, a blog with...

1) Just text - no photos.

2) Photos with short captions and a brief synopsis of the entire post.

3) A LOT of pictures! No text at all - let the title explain.

4) Four or five photos will do; I don't like scrolling through one's entire daily history.

5) All of the above, INCLUDE VIDEOS please - I like variety!

A few questions:

1) Do pictures of food do anything for you? I mean, do you think it can be gross?

2) Do you think that a blog can sometimes give TOO MUCH information? "So I was wiping his nose about six times a day, and then he started to throw up, so now I'm thinking I better get this kid to the doctor.." Get my drift? How do you feel about this kind of "tell-it-all" blogging?

3) What is your opinion about how often one should post?

4) How do you feel about links? Do you actually use them?

5) Do you ever scroll through posts from last year, the year before that one, etc.?

6) Do you enjoy participating in questionnaires?

THANK YOU for you help. I am trying to make my blog as attractive and easy to read as possible and your opinion means a lot to me! Soon I'll be posting my new business venture. WATCH FOR IT!

Looks who's here!

I saw several of these little guys running around in our yard this morning, and again on the front porch. There must be a family of them somewhere in our yard. Chipmunks seem like a cross between a squirrel and a mouse.



That's why I'd rather imagine that they look like this instead.

Or like this...

A break in the routine...

Our family is looking forward to a brief vacation, beginning on July 2nd. We're heading north to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and possibly Vermont. We're planning to be somewhere near the water for the Fourth of July fireworks - maybe Boston? About four years ago, we went to Newport for our anniversary and missed out on several fun activities because of very bad weather. We ended up sitting around the fireplace at Panera Bread for a good portion of our time there (it was really nice - we weren't about to let the bad weather spoil our anniversary!) Hopefully we'll be able to experience the Cliff Walk this time! If you're having difficulty reading the information on any of the following photos, just click on the image and it will come up extra large so you can read it.










Looks beautiful, doesn't it? Can't wait to go there!

Remember to Pray

Randy and I have been thinking about Bro. Nathaniel so much lately. Please remember to pray for him as he labors in Bangladesh. Pray for his wife, Dipti, and their two children, Joel and Jui. Here he is, faithfully serving and testifying before his fellow countrymen.

The places we went, some things we saw...

This store is chock full of eclectic "stuff." The woman who owns the store has wonderful taste and an eye for interior decorating. We spent a lot of time in her store, enjoying all the trinkets and wishing it was okay to spent $50 on a pair of canvas shoes.

The words on this plaque are so fitting for life.

Beauty.

This bakery was right next door to Summer Salt. They were selling their homemade muffins for 30 cents that day! Guess what we had to satisfy our cravings for sweets?

The girls had a hard time deciding...

The Bellport Marina

The girls and I bought a big hero cut into three, drinks, and coleslaw at the Bellport deli. We tucked it all into my wicker bike basket and rode to the Marina where we ate our lunch on the dock. A Bellport Code Policeman agreed to take this picture for us:

Opposites

Abbey and Melissa have been the best of friends since their nursery days at church. Who would have thought it?? These two are opposite in every way! For example:

Melissa is a first born - Abbey is a baby
Melissa has two younger brothers - Abbey has two older brothers
They were born in opposite months on the calendar - Melissa in November, Abbey in October
Melissa has blue eyes, Abbey has green
Melissa has brown hair, Abby has blonde

Given time to think about it, I could create quite a list here! Enjoy the photo of two genuinely sweet girls, who love their parents, love their families, love their church, and love the Lord! (Take it from me, I spent three hours with them in Bellport on Friday and enjoyed every moment with them!)

The girls and I spent three hours tooling about Bellport on our bicycles yesterday and discovered so many new things around the town-of which I will post more pictures later. For now, here are the windowbox photos I promised yesterday. Remember, the plants contained in these boxes are not yet at their peak and are in the baby stages of their growth. By the time August rolls around they will be prolific with colorful blossoms and greenery.

Pretty pinks and purples mixed with variegated greenery:

Monochromatic (white on white) which looks really nice when done correctly:

Not every store had an actual box:


This is somewhat "blah." Seems like the wood of this container screams out for red, purple, yellow, etc. Unique, but not my favorite:

I thought this was pretty, located in front of a garden center:


Love the vines!
My personal favorite. The whole scene looks so "beachy" and so colorful. I love the variety of plants, which makes the windowbox look so interesting.

The flowers here are still so young, but I love the windowbox itself:

Pansies always look perfect in a windowbox. Abbey tried on the striped shoes in the window and they looked so adorable on her that I was going to buy them - then I saw the price tag: $50.
No go.
Isn't this just gorgeous?

Miracle grow, obviously:

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Long Island is experiencing perfection in weather this Thursday morning! Abbey and her lifelong friend, Melissa, are going on a bike ride to Bellport, the beautiful coastal town where I took photos of property gates. Guess who's tagging along? You got it--ME! I will post another photo essay this evening on the windowboxes of beautiful Bellport. See you then!

How much?!

Last evening, I went to the grocery store today to get all the fixin's for tonight's stir fry. The most expensive thing I bought was Teriyaki sauce, or so I thought. When I looked at my receipt, I realized that this purple cabbage cost me nearly twelve dollars!


I guess the check-out guy thought it was worth its weight in cherries. Look at the cost of the second item on my receipt:


When I realized the error, I went back into the store and collected ten dollars at the customer service counter. This is the very first time (that I know of) I've been overcharged at the grocery store. From now on, I'm checkin' my receipt! (Maybe if the check-out people would actually take care of the customer instead of talking on the phone or chatting with the other workers, this kind of thing wouldn't happen! Agree?)

Sunday School Excellence

On Sunday night, Randy and I presented Michael with the "Student of the Quarter" Sunday School award. The student who receives this award has shown good integrity not only in Sunday School, but also in church, at home, in school, etc. Michael, pictured below with his fine parents, was well-deserving of the award for this quarter. Congratulations Michael!

In celebration...

Abbey and I took Randy out for lunch today to celebrate Father's Day. We went to the Red Lobster and had a wonderful time together. We are thankful to our heavenly Father and all the rich blessings He has bestowed upon our family. Although there have been times when we have failed Him, He has NEVER failed us - NEVER.

Abbey and her Daddy...


Me with the king of our castle...


The king of the castle acting like a court jester...

I really didn't want to post this picture, but Abbey begged me...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the King of our Castle!

He is generous, kind, and caring. He is a faithful husband, father, and friend. He is a good Christian man and we love him!

A friend of the family

Here's a picture of the Engesetters with Bro. Curtman - Bible-expositor and good friend of our family and Long Island Baptist Church. Brother Curtman has been the guest speaker at our annual summer revival for twelves years in a row! He means so much to all the good people of our church. It was wonderful to see him again and to hear him preach and teach God's Word! The revival God gave us can be described as only that- God-given. Five of our young men were saved last night and we are REJOICING, we are REVIVED, and we are in deep REVERENCE to the Lord for His goodness and mercy.

Lunch at Wild by Nature

It's Summer Revival time (more on this later) at Long Island Baptist Church! After the morning services today, Abbey and Melissa and I took Nichols Road all the way to the North Shore so we could get lunch at the Wild by Nature lunch counter. Wild by Nature is a fantastic, organically-inclined grocery store where you can buy a very delicious and very generous stir-fry at a very reasonable cost. The best part is that you can watch your lunch being made right before your eyes! Here are some pictures of one of life's most simple pleasures.

Our chef's name was Mike. He cleaned EVERYTHING before he began a new stir-fry and even changed his gloves about a hundred times - I liked his work ethic.


We chose tofu with seasonal vegetables and soy-ginger sauce with short grain brown rice. Colorful, wholesome, and best of all - IT TASTED GREAT!


Two happy customers.