Woman in Real Life

As I mentioned the other day, we recently celebrated my father-in-law's 75th birthday and the end of his chemotherapy treatments. We enjoyed a lovely outdoor party at my sister-in-law's country home. For part one pictures, click here.

Papa's eight grandchildren were thrilled to be together and in a place with lots of fun activities to do. Here's my daughter making use of the tire swing.
 They also enjoyed the trampoline.
 And played baseball. Impressive that brother-in-law #1 can play with a drink in his hand, huh?
In an earlier look at my sister-in-law's home, I showed you some of their many animals. This little doggie, above, is a new addition to the group. After an extensive search that turned up no owners, they figure someone abandoned her on this country road. She couldn't have happened on a better place. My sister-in-law cannot turn any animal away.

And this dog certainly appreciates it. She sticks to my SIL like glue, following her everywhere and even waiting outside the bathroom door. The funny thing is, whenever she couldn't find her new mom at the party, she went straight for her mom's sister, pictured above, bottom right. Not so much of a dog lover as her sister, my other SIL put up with the attention nevertheless.

An interesting story: My SIL decided to call this little gal Coco, even though her kids wanted to use another name. She then discovered that a previous owner had written Coco faintly inside the dog's collar.
Maple, who joined the family as a puppy last December, is becoming GIGANTIC. She is one lucky dog, and makes good use of her time, following the kids, following the chickens and wading in the pond.
 Unfortunately, I think she is hunting for frogs. I didn't stick around to find out.
 I think my brother-in-law might have slightly overstocked the pond with frogs. What do you think?
 With four children in the house, I can understand the sign that my SIL has displayed.
Their garlic crop is impressive. That's about 3,000 bulbs, most of which will be replanted so that they can start selling in the future.
 Here is Papa enjoying his party, along with his brother-in-law.
 Two of Papa's sisters.
Brother-in-law #2, our host, with after dinner drinks. Both of my (Italian) sisters-in-law married redheads from the East Coast of Canada. And, their brother married someone whose parents come from Nova Scotia (that would be me).