A Bit of This and That and a Graduation Party!!

Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

Good Morning!!!

Today, I am going to be sharing a bit of this and that and a CELEBRATION!!!!

Thanks, Bev, over at Eclectic Red Barn, for featuring my post, A Little Bit of Crafting and Transplanting, from last week's Thursday Favorite Things Linky Party!!!!

 Thanks so much, Bev!!

Please stop by and link up to this charming party!!!

For the last few years, I have been buying Copper Cookware......

I even use copper cookie sheets for baking......

This is one of the pans that I pretty much use non stop as it is nice and deep and I do LOVE that nothing sticks to the surface of copper cookware!!

So when I received a notification on face book that Big Lot's was offering the Copper Chef WonderCooker Xl for a mere $20, I immediately researched it on Google and watched the video Infomercial on it!!

 SOLD!!

I sent Joe right down to Big Lots' ( 5 minutes from our house) to pick up one......

This same 3 piece set sells on Amazon for $44.95, Walmart for $49.99 and Wayfair for $47.99!!

I am looking forward to doing a Turkey Breast in the roaster....

This is another reason why I am not an Amazon shopper because I have frequently found items cheaper in the Brick and Mortar stores than online.....

NO!! I am not getting any compensation from Big Lot's!!!!

Joe made his weekly trip to the Amish Farmer that sets up on Fridays at the convenience store right down the road from our house.....

Looks like I will be making some more zucchini bread!!

Our son, Joey, and our great niece Cortney loves it so I always share with them!!!

And he has the best tomatoes and they are only $2.99 a pound!!!

We had several downpours the other day and this little Bugger was heck bent on finding shelter from the rain in the pot in the corner of our patio that I leave open in case the morning doves would come back to nest in it.......

He was rolling around in the dirt and tossing it out , all over the corner of the Patio!!!

3 Times I had to go out and chase him out of that pot!!!

He then tries to "hide" on me by hanging on to the lattice behind this hanging basket!!!!

See his belly and claws???????

Yes, I am still fighting my war against the squirrels coming into my yard!!!!!

Our son, Joey, treats us to dinner every Friday evening and this Friday , it was this delicious Sicilian pizza from Norm's Pizza!!

Of course, Joey had to add boneless chicken bites......

And mozzarella sticks to the menu!!

Also on Friday, we were hammered by rain from Tropical Storm Fay in our area!!!!

2 1/4 inches of rain in my back yard in less than 18 hours!!!!

 Many areas received in excess of 4-5 inches of rain!!!

 Added to the 1 1/4 inch of rain we got earlier in the week, my garden and flowers got a much needed drink of Mother Nature's water!!!

So much so that I think  this  doubled in size over night!!!!!

Especially with temps. hovering around 90 all week!!!

It is called Lythrum, commonly known as loosestrife.....

 I had transplanted it from my neighbor's yard!!!!

In a previous post, I revealed that my Word of the Month for July was CELEBRATE!!!!!

Click HERE if you missed that post!!

And that is what we did this weekend!!!!

My nephew John's wish was to host his oldest daughter Cortney's Graduation Party at their home in their back yard.......

With the help of many, our Niece Renae honored her late husband's wishes and did just that!!!!

I made 2 pans of my 4 Cheese Italian Sausage/Beef lasagna for the event!

I had some lasagna noodles and the cheese mix left over but no more meat sauce left....

So in a small casserole dish, I layered like I do for lasagna and used a jar of Fettucini Alfredo sauce that I had on hand!!

It came out pretty good even though it is Heart Attack on a plate!!!!

Joe picked up the cake for the Graduation Party at Wegman's......

We did have a few downpours move over the area but Renae had Pop Up tents set up all over her yard and umbrellas over some tables.....

Luckily, after a hole was found in her 18 year old liner of their pool, right before the party, her pool went from looking like this.......

To this!!!!!

I LOVE the color blue of this new liner!!!!!

And yes, some people were swimming as it was in the mid 80's with fairly high humidity!!!

Setting up before everyone came......

Joe helped bring food out of the house and fill the sterno's with hot water.......

And of course, he has to stop to talk!!!!!

 Joey and I helped Renae light the sternos and set up the food....
 
We set up the food underneath the covered deck or in the "Pavillion" as I call it!!!!!

Renae's sister Charlene, here setting up food, and her daughters Jess and Gina made salads and lots of baked goods!!!!!

There was LOTS of food....

Lasagna, Penne Pasta in Vodka Sauce, Chicken Fingers, Buttered Noodles with Parmasan Cheese and garlic, which my son Joey went to town on, Pierogies, Meatballs, Hoagies, a Potato Casserole that I particularly loved and all kinds of salads!!!!

That's our great niece Carly and Joe running for cover during a downpour....

And then the Sun would come out!!!

Cortney, the graduate, is wearing the white cap......

The cake was under the one Pop Up tent by the hot tub......

That is the adirondack settee that Cortney made by the pool......

We got to spend some time with these charming fur babies!!!

Joey with Chewie who is under our table!!

Chewie is a 6 month old Australian Shepherd mix who has the sweetest dispostion...very docile especially for a pup!!!!

And this older gentleman, Cody!!!

Carson, a rambunctious chocolate lab was confined to the house, as he would be taking running leaps into the pool!!!

Have you ever heard about Six Degrees of Separation???????

"Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six, or fewer, social connections away from each other. "

A perfect example of such is this picture......

 Sally , in the middle is my nephew Brian's MIL......

I am Friends on Face book with Suzanne, who lived by me growing up.....

You can imagine my surprise when a few months back, I saw Sally's picture with Suzanne on Face book....

Sally met and became friends with Suzanne through Dee, pictured on the far right!!! 

Sally and I were already friends on face book and Dee kept seeing my name as I comment frequently on Suzanne's posts....

Sally was invited to the Graduation party because she is the MIL of Renae's BIL, my nephew Brian....

Sally brought Dee as her Plus one!!

It was the first time Dee and I met and found out that we also graduated from the same school district and she also worked for my former employer!!!!!

We had a wonderful time sitting together for a bit talking!!!

Six Degrees of Separation!!!!

We also had a great time sitting with my oldest niece Lisa and her husband John and Renae's sister Charlene and her daughter Jess.....

Jess and I both suffer from Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and go to the same Endocrinologist so we were comparing notes!!

During the whole time, there was a red cardinal in the yard, perching on the fence watching.....

 At first, I didn't see it but our Great Niece Caitlin, who came and sat with us for awhile, pointed it out to us!!!

A red cardinal has frequented their yard starting right after John passed away......

 We like to think that John was there, looking over the party with approval and PRIDE!!!!

 It truly was a great CELEBRATION!!!!

 I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

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