Showing posts with label Flowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flowers. Show all posts

BLUE SAVANNAH


We have had an early Spring this year.  Azaleas are blooming, promising to ruin the Azalea Trail in April as they shall be all bloomed-out!  But who can fuss about lovely weather like we're having, including plenty of rain last week.

Above are the hyacinths that decided to bloom once the rains came.  In the far background are the camellias.  There are also pink oxalis and purple irises; not nearly as many flowers as we had at the old house - but enough to make me smile

Vera

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything. Of course I recovered quickly and completely since my last entry. Although I must admit I enjoyed my time with Colin Firth!

I'm not feeling so very talkative today so I'll just post some photos of what's been going on since December! They are not in any particular order. . . . just a quick catch-up!

First off - I've been doing lots of snuggling with Kevin's cat, Morigan. Last year Kevin and his wife Mira went to Norway, Mira's home. They had return flights for September, but because of some health issues, they are still in Norway and it looks like they'll be there for quite a while. I am so very thankful for Skype!

Anyway - we don't mind at all, being grandparents to Morigan. She is the sweetest of all cats and hubby and I both love her!



As you know, we live out in the country, surrounded by pastures on two sides and woods on the other two. One morning I was talking to my daughter Amanda , when I saw a steer at the my front door! He looked as if he were contemplating climbing up onto the porch! I almost yelled to Amanda, "I gotta' go - there's a cow at the door"! I tried to take a photo through the open blinds, but it didn't turn out too well.

I then opened the front door and he started to leave, but did turn and pose for me! Then off he went to knock some stuff over in an open shed and then turn over the burn barrel. Thankfully we hadn't recently burned anything so there were no hot coals to worry about.

He is a stubborn one, this #405. Later in the day I needed to go into town, and he was in the middle of the road, contesting me to get by him! He would NOT budge! I'd creep a little closer and he bend his head downward, threatening me with those little horns of his. . . which by the way, could scratch up a vehicle. Fortunately for everyone, the owner of the cattle has repaired all the fences. For now. Cattle have a way of finding/making an escape!

I've been practicing with PicMonkey I was a big fan of picnik, but since they'll no longer be available this April, I've been looking for something else to use. I have Photoshop Elements, but it's on the desktop, not on my laptop, and I would much rather lounge while editing photos.

The sunflowers were edited using HDR effect. I don't think I'll be using it often, since it distorts the photo too much for my liking, even though it does give a bit of an artsy look.

OK - that's it for a while. I'll be posting more often. . . . although I'm not NEARLY as faithful as my daughter!
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ALL IS CALM


. . . all is bright

I LOVE LIFE - ALL AROUND THE HOUSE

My daughter over at http://daeofourlives.blogspot.com/ is hosting her first linky party and I'm thrilled to be part of it! Woohoo!

OK - let's get started with iLove {around the house}!

There are many things iLove about my house. . . mainly the quirky charming little house itself, an old dog-trot.
iLove its wonky charming porch that has 3 sections to it.

iLove gently swinging in it with my hubby and I've also enjoyed times with my 90 year old mom; old friends; children, grandchildren, etc.

iLove listening to the birds; rain; leaves falling; cows mooing and donkeys braying while in that swing.

iLove shelling peas; shucking corn.

and iLove taking business calls there; or sometimes taking a nap!

Yep - this little spot on the porch is very special to me with the quilt made by my dearest friend; day lilies in pitcher transplanted from my mom's yard years ago and moved with me numerous times and other little treasures, special to no one but my hubby and me.

There area lots of memories here but I won't bore you with them. But I must add that the slapping of the screen door almost brings about tears of joy and contentment!

Like I said, there are many things iLove about this home but one that I really appreciate is the lighting inside. Every room that has a window has marvelous lighting.

Come inside and I'll show you what I mean.
Here's a wee bit of the living room. See what I mean?
Glorious light!

The insect boxes are on shelves in the living room and never get direct sun, which is a good thing as they are very special treasures to me, along with the old Stetson that belonged to my Grandpa. See the can of Prince Albert? That's what he smoked in his pipe. Youngest son actually smoked some of it for me so I could recall the exact same smell of my childhood.


Beyond the living room is the Nature Room, with the majority of it decorated with naturey stuff. I'm grateful that my husband agreed that twigs would make good drawer pulls. iLove this room that has somehow morphed into my home office



Our bedroom has since been rearranged with the bed now between the two large windows but here's a glimpse of the great light in there. . . .



A quick peek into the dining/computer/sitting room which has six large windows!




What can I tell you about my kitchen? It is small, really small. I mean tiny! But iLove it anyway. Do you see those two upper cabinets? Yep - those are the ONLY ones I have! There is no dishwasher, but that's okay with me because most days as it's just hubby and me. When there are lots of folks here, well we just all pitch in and wash and dry them and put them away! It's little - but it works and iLove it!

Only a few more things about home to write about. . . . but one I really, really love is the guest bathroom in the L'Hotel. I'll write later about why it's called that. Anyway - when the house was first built the kitchen was separate from the main house, to keep from adding any extra heat to it. Somewhere along the line things got "modernized" and now it's our guest room and 2nd bath. I'm too tired to find any pictures of what it looked like when we moved in. . . . but Bates Motel definitely comes to mind! It had a horrible cabinet and flooring and walls and was just awful. Awful. You practically needed a seat belt to keep from falling off the toilet! Anyway - hubby did all this himself, putting up the bead-board and new flooring and sink, etc. It came with one of those horrid old rusted metal medicine cabinets which got replaced by a spray-painted top of the line mirror! LOL I am so pleased with it all. It is still one of the world's smallest bathrooms (the length of the room is the length of a standard tub) . . . but it is clean and neat and bright. iLove it!
And yes, the tub is pink!

OK- finally coming to the end! iLove the fact that my husband takes care of things that may go wrong and as money and time allow, fixes up the place. He works hard; almost always preferring to just do things himself.

I'm posting this photo of him jerry-rigging the ladder! I didn't say he always did things the safest way, now did I?

We're in the middle of the worst heat-wave/drought Texas has seen in a long, long time. Yesterday a freak little 10 minute storm blew through and broke limbs and branches, most of which landed all around the property. But do you see that really, really big one? That one landed on the roof! I was SO GLAD that Tim and Christiy stopped by and even though he wasn't wearing work clothes, and had gotten only 3-4 hours sleep the night before, Tim jumped right in, offering to help. What a blessing. iLove Tim!
But what iLove most about my home is that I get to share it with that crazy handsome man on the ladder. We've been married 42 years and HE is was iLove most about this house.
He is what makes it all so very special to me.

DAES of Our Lives



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IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR


This is cozy little cabin decorating at its simplest! We spent Friday afternoon & all day Saturday out of town with our grandchildren. My hubby went to Boy Scout Twilight Camp with our youngest grandson & had a blast! The girls & I stayed home & watched movies & played many, many, many hands of "Go Fish". Our son, his wife & our oldest grandson went out-of-state to get all registered for college. It's hard to believe he's old enough for college - but it's true.

We got home late last night & I hadn't really made a lot of plans for my sweet mama's 89th birthday. We had gone out for a fabulous shrimp dinner on Wednesday but I wanted to do something a little special for today.

Soooo - I made a special lunch for her: salad, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans & lemon cake (thank you Pepperidge Farms!). We had balloons & a card for her & this simple, simple flower arrangement.

Directions (as if you need them) ;)

Empty bottles and/or jars
Peel N' Stick type of numbers/letters. These are nothing fancy, the inexpensive kind you buy at the discount store or hobby store. They're the type you use to put on a mail box. These are 2" high.

1. Wash jars, scouring off glue if necessary, and dry.
2. Adhere numbers!
3. Fill with flowers or even candles!

Could anything be easier? I'm thinking "1776" w/flags for the 4th of July!

I have very few creative bones in my body & blatantly stole the idea from the very creative Candy at Junk Sophisticates & thank her once again for sharing her great ideas. I love all the things she has embellished with sticky numbers & letters!

I hope you all had a great weekend & I wish there was some way to let you know how much I appreciate you sharing your creativity with me!
Happy birthday, mama. We love you!


See y'all later in the week,
Vera