oops, on pictures

oops, these are not all on facebook. Some are favorites and some have wonderful memories. I'm still learning about scanning and posting pictures.

my brother, sister & Unclegolfing with Al on Mother's Day

Danny, me & Al.. my 65th birthday

me & Morgan, my 65th birthday

me & Grant

Ken, before we were married and to think he wanted to go sailing in that stormy water. lol

Same day with Ken when a hurricane was threating

Ken took this pic on our 1st anniversary

beautiful sunset after a storm

hot air ballooning in Albuquerque

looks like I didn't want this pic taken.. haha

Sweet, sweet Kendall

End of Summer

Now that Sept is going fast and we will soon be getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas, family and friends.. I always get some sadness about broken dreams and promises never kept.

However, the Fall of year has a way of cleansing like no other time of year. I look forward to happy reunion times with loved ones and friends. And the cool fresh air that only Fall can bring! I have enjoyed my summer with family and grandchildren. And now I can just smell a sweet potato and pumpkin pie in the oven!

My family visits from my sister, niece and nephew were nice. My sister has just come home from the hospital (after a 10 day) from knee replacement surgery. She had a hard time of it & I'm sooo grateful for the love and protection of God as He wrapped his arms around her.

My summer flowers still have some blooms & I'm looking forward to some fall flower bed re-doing and planting more flowers. The butterflies are fluttering around as well as the hummingbirds enjoying all that nectar.

I enjoyed my 65th birthday in August and pray I will have many more! Now time for me to get going with the exercise thing and daily chores.
Posting a few pics from facebook.

Summertime/ butterflies,dragonflies & hummingbirds and

When I go outside.. I am intertained by butterflies, dragonflies and hummingbirds. The dragonflies are so interesting to watch with their 2 sets of wings. I see gold wings, blue wings, black wings. Sure are strange looking. I was visted by one yesterday while I was on the patio eating ice cold watermellon. Guess he wanted a taste:-) They do enjoy dipping in the bird bath. And the hummingbirds zip by so watch out. Sometime I think they will fly right in my face.
Nature's creatures are so carefree and a joy to watch.. very relaxing. I hope to get some pics to post soon.

I have a pork loin cooking with my fresh grown rosemary. Will cook brown rice and yellow squash. Trying to cook very healthy meals.
And my grean beans are growing, growing. Will be happy when I can pick enough to cook with new potatoes and ham.. yum

As a new week starts, I am reminded to leave all worries with God. Hard to do, so best to start small. Give one anxious thought to God, and watch for His faithfulness. Then, as larger worries come, give these to Him also. He can take care of them all, and He will! So don't worry.. Be Happy!

Day with sweet grandaughter

What a nice day today.. made me smile. I had a project planned for today, but a phone call last night changed my plans. You see my Granddaughter Taylor Danielle wanted me to come to her house and hang out at the pool with her. I'm happy that at age 14 she still wants to be with her Grandmother:) Sooo I got up at 6 am, got a beef roast ready for the crock pot, got my swimsuit on and away I went.

We had so much fun and she talked a lot and I listened. She had to tell me all about her vacation trip last week to Destin, Fl. She will be a freshman going to high school and is a little nervous about it all. It seemed to help her to talk with me about things.
It was good to do my pool exercises and just be with her. She is so precious!! I washed my SUV after we got out of the pool. Then we came to my house for lunch. She is like me and would rather eat my home cooking than to get fast food. For dessert.. warm blueberry pound cake with 2 scoops of Blue Bell vanilla bean ice cream. She said you can't get this meal at fast food:)..She is so funny.
It is such a blessing to be a part of a grandchild's life. Children watch us and they begin to form their lives by what they see and how they live. I pray that I will always be a worthy Grandmother.

I heard this about Grace the other day..
Prat ice God's Grace that is given to us each day by living each day with: Gratitude, Humility and Compassion.
I am so very thankful for so much. And when I hear my son thanking me for cooking a meal and telling me how good it is.. I feel blessed to be able to cook a meal.. that I'm not in bed with a feeding tube and I can still walk and take care of myself. I feel so bad when I see someone with no legs or crippled in some way. I always say silent prayers for them.

Now I can see the same Gratitude, Humility and Compassion in my 3 Sons and Grandchildren. Being a parent.. esp. a single parent is not easy but having a wonderful Mother as a teacher has given me the tools to press on and never give up. Live is good.. live each day as though it will be your last. Let your love ones know how important they are and how much they are loved.

Summer days and summer nights

I started Mon washing and cleaning after a 17 day visit from my Sister. I finished Tues by shampooing all the carpets and rugs in my house. I had planned to do the carpet with my Spring cleaning but got started on other projects. Whew.. I am tired now, but have a few more projects. Guess by winter I will be bored and have to go back to work. It's so hard for me to be still for very long. Guess old working habits are hard to break..ha, ha
My Sister gave me a break from cooking and it was nice to eat her cooking. Unfortunately, she has a bad knee that will require knee replacement so we didn't get to go a lot of places. But it was good to be together with one exception... she had her neurotic Yorkie dog with her. I soon found out that my allergies didn't like the situation so I had to take allergy pills while she was visiting.

We traded receipes, did a lot of praying and watched Momma Mia and a Yanni tape of his performance in Greece. My sister liked his music as much as I do. When I lived in New Mexico.. I had the opportunity to see him live. Awesome performer!
When life seems confusing.. look up and ask God what do you need to learn? Stay cool and hope your days are good. And that each day you will try to make God happy, living one day at a time.

Need a rain dance

Wow, is it hot hot hot! It is steamy here in Ms and we sure need rain. I am staying inside as much as possible. Just got finished painting my kitchen and soooo glad it's finished. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing. My next project is sorting through pictures and putting in albums. A nice project for sitting indoors and staying cool:)
Today was my 1st born son's birthday. Too bad he is so far away in Va. It was soooo good to talk to him and he will be coming home this summer for a visit. I can hardly wait!! He wants some good seafood and we do have the BEST shrimp and seafood around. And maybe a trip out to one of the Islands that he grew up going to.
My Grandaughter Taylor spent the day with me Monday and we had a good time going through pictures. She will be going into the 9th grade next yr. Hard to believe how time just keeps on ticking away. You know TIME is a precious thing that we take for granted. I hope to continue to use all my TIME wisely and pray that God will give me many, many more days to enjoy.
For those who read this.. I hope TIME is being good to you. Blessings to all.

Oh what a wonderful day

I hope all Mothers had a wonderful day! Mine was great. I attended a cookout at son Danny's house Sat evening and had a wonderful meal and relaxing around the pool till late in the night. The next day my son Al wanted to take me golfing. I was dreading it because I had not picked up golf clubs since Ken and I last played about 4 years ago. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to hit the ball. Much to my surprise; I did better than expected. Al was surprised and happy that his Mom did so well and was getting to play with him. It was our 1st golf outing together. He has just started playing the game and he said I did better than him at times. We both ended up with a good putt and had a time wiping the smile from our faces.We had so much fun. After golfing, he took me to Applebee's to eat.
My son John couldn't come from Virginia, but we expect to see him this summer. The cards my sons gave me made me cry (of course). They were so beautiful and I keep them each year. I have boxes of cards that I have kept through the years. Guess the boys will enjoy going through them someday when I'm not here.
Looks like rain this afternoon and I will do some trim painting inside. Gotta stay busy, ha ha
I think my boys read my blog, but they don't do the comments things.. ha..typical guys.
Blessings to all.

New visitor at my bird feeder and Mother's Day

My, oh my.. what a surprise to see a pretty raccoon at my bird feeder. It was very entertaining to watch it eat the fallen seeds on the ground. You never know who your next visitor will be, ha ha,ha
We are geting some much needed rain around my house.
I am enjoying my aquatic classes. I'm also going to sign up for Yoga and Tai chi. It's a very nice place for us Seniors to keep in shape :) I'm also trying to stick to very healthy eating to keep this lady going strong!
It's so very important to take care of our body, mind and spirit. If we do that, then life is soooo much better for ourselves and those we love.

With Mother's Day fast approaching, I remember my sweet Mother and wish she were here to give me her special hugs and great time together. So I now give that special love to my 3 sons and grandchildren. I'm so thankful that my Mother was a good teacher. You know most Mothers never stop caring, loving, correcting or giving sound advice. After all that is what God made us to do even if our children don't always want to hear the things we say. My sons have all come to me and thanked me for being there with words of wisdom and never giving up. The thanks is all a Mother needs to keep on giving more of that love. Wouldn't you agree?
For those who still have their Mothers.. treat them with great respect, love and kindness. Life is short, make the most of it and don't worry.. be happy!

Roses, roses and more roses!

Are your gardens ready yet? This year I got a head start and now I am enjoying all the blooms. From the front windows I look out and see lots of red roses blooming and various other flowers. However, the roses are sure putting on a show:)

When I am here in the back of the house I have a kaleidoscope of color and blooms. A yellow and red rose grafted together is just beautiful right outside my desk window. I am going to have to go cut some of these roses and bring inside. Guess the mircle grow is doing it's job along with a lot of help from God. My Easter lillies will be blooming soon. And my day lillies are blooming every day. Oh yes the confederate jasmine is filling the air with wonderful perfume! A person could get drunk on all the aromas.. ha ha I just love it all. Me and my flowers have a great time and my conversations with God seem to be much better when I'm in my gardens.

I found this and will share flower meanings. Of course we all know that the Rose means Love, Freesia is Trust, Carnations is Joy, Mint is Virtue, Sweet Basil is Good Wishes, Primrose is Youth, Ivy is Friendship, Pansy is for Warm Thought, Snowdrop is Hope, Jasmine is Grace and Rossemary is Remembrance.

My bird feeders are attracting some wonderful birds and I'm esp. enjoying the Indigo Buntins. The bright blue is so beautiful to look at. My nephew Stephen was here for the weekend recently and he tried to take a picture but the blue birds flew away. I will try and see if I can capture their beauty. The forest behind my house provides such a wonderful haven for all the birds and those pesky squirrels! I have a mockingbird nesting in my Wisteria vine over my swing. It will be nice to watch the babies hatch and fly away. I always worry for the little birds, but I know our Heavenly Father takes care of the birds just as He does us all.

Take time in your life to smell the flowers and enjoy the Spring before the hot Summer begins.
I gotta go fill up my hummingbird feeders. Blessings and God's peace to all.

Glorious Spring along the Ms. Gulf Coast

One of my favorite times of year is finally here! My yard is beginning to burst with color from my Azaleas, Carolina Jasmine, Daffodils, Iris and lilies are getting buds. I spent 3 days cleaning out all my flower beds.. thank goodness for my indoor hot tub to massage my body. I had a guy come Mon and put mulch in all the beds to keep the weeds out. Thank goodness the yard work is done before the heat of summer begins! Now I can move on to other projects... some painting, garage and shop clean out. I hope to get all projects complete by May.

My sister came for a wk. visit the last wk of Feb. We had a great time and covered years of catch up. In addition, we did house hunting and found her a house within walking distance from my house! Everything came together and we both knew the hand of God was over it all. We think she has a buyer for her house in La. So if all goes well, she should be moving here sometime in April. I am so excited! We both have so much talent and we each said; look out for" sister power " We had some wonderful prayer time and sooo much fun. We had wine in the hot tub her 1st day here, laughed and talked about so much, then we were on the go the rest of the wk. And ended with a cookout at my son Danny's house. It was great to have my uncle, aunt, brother, sister-in-law, niece and her boyfriend. A great time for all. It makes you realize how important family is to you!

We are planning for our best high school friend living in Ca. to come for a visit. We 3 girls were like the Ya Ya sisters growing up :-)... having fun.. driving the boys crazy... going to the beach... dancing at the skating ring..ha, ha. But were not too bad and it will be great to walk down memory lane together!

It will be fun helping my sister Linda decorate her new house. And I have a contractor friend who is looking for houses to buy, redo and sell. He wants me to do the interior design and my sister can help me with the jobs. So it looks like my life will will filled with activity and fun! God always has a wonderful plan for our lives if we are patient and wait on Him to reveal it to us. God always heals a broken heart and brings sunshine to us if we have faith and trust our lives to Him.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring and receiving great blessings!

Cupid day

Hope everyone is ready and prepared for the big "love day":) I hope cupid makes sparks in every heart.

I just have to tell this love story! Feb. 1st, my son Danny called to say I should call his Grandpa and wish him happy birthday. You see he turned 95 and still lives at home with his 93 year old bride! They have been married for an amazing 72 years! They are wonderful people and I was married to their son many years ago as a child bride. We had 2 amazing sons. My husband's parents continued to have a wonderful friendship and love for me that has lasted to this day. My boys would spend summer vacations in Illinois and Grandpa taught them to be very good golfers and Grandma always made favorite apple pies. Through the years they came for a visit each year. Their last visit to my home was about 8 years ago. They don't make the long drive any more.

When I called on Grandpa's birthday he was so excited to hear from me and put Julia on speakerphone so they both could talk. It was so inspiring just to talk with them. Grandpa still has his sense of humor and wanted to know if I still had "that dark hair" and just as pretty. He sure made me laugh. It was good to walk down memory lane with them and they want me to come for a visit. For breakfast.. they eat oatmeal 1 day and eggs the next day rotating through the wk. And with Grandpa's sense of humor.. said and we still make love every day:) My reply was .. that is wonderful.. keep on eating oatmeal and eggs and you'll live to be 100.

They have always considered me as their daughter in law.. even though their son deserted me for another woman in Chicago when I was pregnant with our 2nd son. I knew they couldn't help what their son had done and I never let it affect my relationship with them. They continued to give their love, time and support to me and even to my youngest son from a 2nd marriage. They treated him as their own grandson and he loves them to this day and wants to go with me to see them. They always gave love and respect to me and I gave back love and respect to them that has lasted for 47 years. This is an example of lasting love between families.

During my last visit with them.. they sat on my couch close to each other and held hands and they were in their 80's at that time! I hope all who reads this will have this kind of love story for all to see.

Sometimes a bad love will force you to leave it but God's love is beyond human understanding and will never leave you.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

So this Valentine's day.. hold your dear ones close.. be good to and respect each other and above all be honest and true. A recipe for lasting love. And some yummy chocolate might help out :0) :-)

Weather is teasing me

I guess the weather here just wants to tease and entice us to get outside. Are you as tired of the cold as I am? My garden gloves are calling me to come out and plant flowers! ha, ha, ha However, it looks like rain but just maybe I can get out between rain drops.

Last Spring it was a new patio that me, Al and a good neighbor built. Now this year.. I started on a project yesterday to dig up older plants across my back fence. They have never done well since Katerina, so out they go. I will replace them with an assortment of evergreen things. I just love to create and design things and for the most part things turn out nice. I am so thankful for that gift and talent from God. I have a few plants that I will relocate in the yard. You know that's the way a garden grows.. you have to move things around to suite the plants. I always start early and my goal is to be finished with all outside projects before Easter. I can then enjoy Easter and Mother's day. I should have lots of company this year and plan to travel some myself.

Good news to me that my sister plans to move back here from Louisiana. She is coming for a visit next month and stay for a week. We will have great fun house hunting and going and doing things! My sister , Linda is 16 months older than me and looks more like our Irish Grandmother. She is short, I am tall, she has brown eyes, I have blue-green eyes. I took after my Daddy and my Mother's Italian Father.
My sister likes to cook, sew, etc and I like the outdoors. She did tell me that she planted a garden one year and got lots of veg's. Her husband is retired Air force and has health problems so it will be good for them to be close to KAFB and the VA hospital.

I found this poem that I love and at this time in my life it just seems to fit. Things seem to find their way to you when you need to hear. I will share .. maybe someone else will get something from it also.

After a While

by Veronica A. Shoffstall

After a while, you learn the subtle difference

Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning

And company doesn't mean security

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts

And presents aren't promises,

And you begin to accept your defeats

With your head up and your eyes open

With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,

And you learn to build all your roads on today

Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans.

And futures have a way of falling down in mid flight.

After a while, you learn

That even sunlight burns if you get too much.

So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,

Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure...

That you really are strong.

And you really do have worth.

And you learn and learn...

With every goodbye, you learn.

Oh, I see sunlight.. gotta go get my garden gloves on.. God seems to be closer in my gardens :-)

New day, New year

Al and Danny

Me, Danny (son), Donna Lynn(niece), Mark (nephew)

Well, here we go with another year ahead! New days, new nights, new beginnings. The old year has passed away and the slate is clean for all things new.

I don't know about you, but I get excited about a new year. I start thinking about changes I need to make with myself and I dream of the things to come.

My new year lunch began with the black eye peas, cabbage, sweet potatoes and chicken. Can you tell I'm from the glorious South:-) I did stay up to watch the ball drop in New York.

I'll share the Fruit of the Spirit and what it means to me.

Love: seeks the highest good of others

Joy: gladness not based on circumstances

Peace: contentment, unity between people

Patience: slow to speak and slow to anger

Kindness: merciful, sweet, and tender

Goodness: generous and open hearted

Faithfulness: dependable, loyal, and full of trust

Gentleness: humble, calm, and non-threatening

Self-Control: behaving well

_Galatians 5:22,23

I hope everyone will have a blessed, healthy, and Happy, happy New Year! I have a preview of Spring with my Sweet Olive shrub and Carolina Jasmine blooming and the wonderful fragrance. And I can almost smell the Gardenia, Roses and Lily's that will be blooming in the Spring.

So stay warm and healthy. I hope this New Year will bring out the best in Me and You too!