Morning Walk

I enjoy morning walks, especially in my neighborhood.. which is a great place to live!  We have been here 20+ years.. so it is home.. we are rooted here.  As I was walking yesterday, I took some pictures. I tried desperately to snap some shots of the crazy squirrels and their antics, but they would never let me get close enough.  I also tried to capture some pictures of the lovely birds that fill our trees with their songs, but again.. they skittered away. There was this one fat robin that I tried to stealthily chase down.. didn't work!  Evidently, I don't have what it takes to be a stalker.

But I did get shots of flowers and such... one of my favorite subjects!

A number of our neighbors have knock-out roses in this vibrant red-pink color.

These neighbors always have lovely blooms in their yard!

Our neighborhood was built in the early 1970s, so we have nice big lush trees for shade 

and to house those crazy squirrels and melodic birds.

So the sun was soo bright that this picture didn't come out like I wanted.. BUT you can see the size of this majestic pine and also the gorgeous blue sky we enjoyed here yesterday.

I love oleander!

Horrible photo.. I know.. I am determined to take another and post soon. But I wanted you to see the vibrant color of this clematis.  Isn't it gorgeous!?

Yes, that is a bush... look at the depth of variation of the greens. I love the greens of nature!

The cross in this yard is cute, but I took this shot because of those ropes. They have foot loops at the bottom. I have no doubt you will often find children swinging and giggling here.  Fun!

A reminder to STOP today and enjoy the beauty the Lord has placed all around you. 

There is nothing like Spring in the South!

Enjoying the Rain

It has been raining all day here today... some pretty heavy rain at times. But this afternoon it has tapered off to a steady slow rhythm that has enticed the birds to come out of their hiding places and play!  I wish I could video tape them. Their antics and singing is so fun!  I have seen a mockingbird splashing in a puddle... hubby saw a blue bird enjoying a break from nest watching to have a splash.  The cardinals are singing as loud as they can and getting what little food is left in the feeders. Of course the finches and sparrows and chickadees are flitting here and there. But the surprise for me came when I saw a male Rose Breasted Grosbeak on the bird feeder... and he didn't fly away as I ran in the house for the camera and then got as close as I could for a shot!  The rain and lack of sunshine don't make these these prettiest photo ever, but still... he was fun to watch.

He had a lady friend with him, but she was camera shy. After all it is raining, no doubt her feathers are a mess!  LOL!  

Thank you, Lord for birds!  

A Different Kind of Candlelight Dinner

Years ago my husband landscaped our back yard.  I have shared many photos of the flowers blooming and such.  We have worked on the beds over the years adding this and that. Everything has grown and is so lush and lovely.  2 years ago he added some iron stakes that hold these glass containers which in turn hold candles.  They are spread throughout the garden and when they are lit, it is magical!  

We are having an amazing Spring here in Mississippi. The mild winter melded into gentle spring warmth and has given us amazing color and scents from flowers blooming everywhere!  And our temperatures and humidity have been staying low and sweet.  I would love for it to stay like this for many, many months. But alas, I know the spring will soon give way to summer and the heat and humidity of the deep South will return as it faithfully does each year. 

In the meantime, Bill and I have decided to enjoy it while we can!  Sunday night I was reheating some leftovers for us. I went to put my plate on the kitchen table and he shooed me out the back door to the patio... where I found the outside table set with linens and a candle and all the garden candles were lit. Magic!  

It is a bit dark, but here is the view from the patio table.  

I wish you could smell the light scent of our confederate jasmine as it wafts by on the wind.

It was quiet except for an occasional frog croak or a dog barking in the distance.  Even the 2 wild wiener dogs were quiet as they explored the flower beds (their own personal jungle) looking for frogs and bugs and such.  

We will continue to eat by candlelight in the garden as long as the weather permits.  There is just something special about eating outside.

Easter

I realized, as I was uploading pictures from my phone, that I failed to take pictures of the people involved in our celebrating Easter!  I do that a lot!  It is easy to think to take pictures beforehand, but once we start eating and talking and having fun, well the camera is forgotten.

We had a truly lovely Easter.  As with every Sunday, we went to Church.  One of the things I love about our church is the Come as You are Attitude.  Yes, there were some in suits and some in new dresses.. especially the little girls.  But there were lots of folks, like us, in clothes we have wore to church many times before and even some in jeans.  And no one was offended or rude or such about it.  It really isn't about the clothes!  Normally Bill and I sit with friends, but this Sunday our 2 young adult children sat with us and our daughter's fella was in town. Son has a girl, but she was with her family.

Afterwards, we gathered at our home.. my mom joined us.  We had a lovely meal with lots of story telling and laughter and fun.  It was just what every family holiday should be.

This was the first year in a long while that we did not have extra folks. We often have some of mother's friends who have no where to go or our kid's friends from college who aren't going home. Not so this year.. not really sure why. It seems everyone had somewhere to go this year.

I do the cooking... my husband sets the table. I have shared on here before his artistic flare. He loves to set a table. And while we often have folks marvel at the tablescape, honestly, we are use to it. We love it.. but we also expect it.  It is the "norm" here for holidays. Even our everyday table is set with linens and flowers.  It makes no sense to save the "nice" things in life for guests and never use them for yourselves.

Here is a look at our table.. no food on it, we serve that buffet style!  But trust me, there was plenty!

Above all we took time to celebrate our Risen Lord who is alive forevermore!  I hope you know Him and share in the power of His Resurrection.

They were lost, but then were found

This past Saturday my husband, Bill,  and I ran a few errands in preparation for Easter Dinner at our house the next day.  When we drove into our garage he noticed a neighbor out in the yard and walked over to talk with him. Shortly after, our son, Luke,  hopped in his car and drove off to meet up with a friend at a local coffee shop called Cups.  Cups is only about 2 miles from our home.

A few minutes after Luke left, the phone rang and when my husband answered it Luke said "I have your phone."  Bill had set it on the back of Luke's car and Luke, not knowing, had driven away. My husband never sets things on the back of a car. We have a patio table just outside our door and he always puts things there if he is not going straight inside the house. So no one ever things to check cars for random items placed on them.  We thanked the Lord that the phone made it to the Coffee Shop in tact and that Luke found it.

Later than night as Bill began to lock up the house in preparation for our going to bed, he said "Where are my keys!?"  He always puts his keys in the same place every day when he comes in. In fact, he just walked in from work and I hear him putting them up right now. At that moment he realized his keys had been with his phone.. on the back of Luke's car!

So off my 2 men went with flashlights.. roaming the neighborhood on foot in hopes of finding some keys. They didn't. We sat down and figured out what was on the key ring and realized I had duplicates of the each one except his desk key and he had 2 duplicates of it put away.  He went and pulled them out.  All was well.. it would be a bit of a nuisance to have copies made, but it was doable. He also had a local hardware store's reward card and the remote for his vehicle. The card was replaceable.. the remote we would live without.

In the meantime, I send an email to our neighborhood email list asking folks to be on the lookout for the keys. I know it is a long shot, but figure it is worth trying.  We have great neighbors who look out for each other and help whenever they can.

Sunday morning rolls around. Luke leaves early for church (he is in the worship team and has practice at 8).  Bill takes off again.. walking the neighborhood.. just hoping to find some keys.  While out a neighbor comes by and picks on Bill.. "You going to walk all the way to Cups looking for those keys?"  Bill replied "Probably so."  Gaylan, the neighbor, headed on.. he was going to get donuts.  As he is driving along... the same path that leads to Cups.. the sun bounces off something and hits in the eye. He goes on, but on the way back it happens again.. and so he decides to investigate.

You guessed it.. KEYS... spread here and there along with some mangled pieces of key ring.  He scooped them all up and found Bill, still walking the neighborhood.  I have no doubt they were like 2 little boys with treasure!  LOL!  At that point we had some pieces of key ring that were mangled beyond repair.. the battery from the remote, which was banged up pretty bad... and all his keys.  Some are a bit bent, but they work!  The only one that was destroyed was his office desk key.. the end of it was snapped off.

Later that afternoon.. after a lovely Easter service and lunch, my 2 men went back to the site where the keys were found to see if anything else was there. They found the pieces of the remote and a few more pieces of key ring.

Bill has a new key ring now... and a story to tell of how the Lord is in ALL the details of our life.. even lost keys.

Dachshund Fever

When I was a little girl we had large dogs... pitt bulls to be exact. Let me quickly say that raised correctly, they are very sweet dogs.. extremely protective and loyal, but sweet.  Our last pitt died when I was 9.  I am the only girl and the baby of the bunch, so my mother declared... No more big dogs!  My dad set out to find the perfect little house dog for me.  A friend raised dachshunds and had a litter on the way, so Dad decided I would have a wiener dog. He had no idea what he was starting. I am not sure whose addiction to these wild hot dogs was greatest... mine or his.  They are not perfect dogs.. not hardly!  They are stubborn and the males tend to be very territorial and horrible barkers.  But oh my... they are too cute and soo very sweet and I just adore them.

So it is probably no surprise that my husband bought these for me...

Let me quickly add that while he will adamantly deny it, he has gotten just as hooked on our 2 dachies as I am!

We have a male and female... Mac and Mia... I have talked about them before and, no doubt, will talk about them again.  I tend to post photos of Mac, because Miss Mia is difficult to catch on camera.  But I did get a few shots of her recently.

Mia is exactly what I wanted in dog temperament.  She is laid back... low maintenance... she loves to cuddle up in your lap and sleep.  All you have to do is feed her and give her belly rubs and she is one happy pups.

Here she is bird watching through the bedroom window...

Here is a rare close up.

She is intently watching her brother try to catch a mosquito hawk.  She has the softest silkiest longest hair!  I love it.. but it gets knots even if we brush it daily! And of course her collar is pink.. with flowers!

Here she is waiting for a belly rub. Mia will just roll over on the floor and wait for someone to come along and give her a rub!

I love Miss Amelia Louise... she does my heart good!

Welcome!

We like having the entrances to our home decorated and colorful and welcoming.  So recently they were "spring-a-fied" just like the inside.

Normally my hubby makes the wreaths and such for the entrances, but this year we bought some for the back doors. I saw these at Dollar General and thought they were cute. The eggs look a little like painted mercury glass.

We also bought new cocoa mats.. we love cocoa mats.. so does Miss Mia.. she chews them up!  So far she has not touched these.. PTL!  Maybe they don't taste as good as the others! LOL!

Here is a shot of our front entrance...

I think it is very welcoming.

We even added a new colorful mat there...

My favorite of the decoration are these big flower baskets hung from the lights.

Hubby made these and the wreath on the door.  He is one talented fella!

Be sure to make your home welcoming and inviting. You never know who might drop by!

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Hebrews 13:2 NLT

Anticipation...

I haven't really looked at the flower beds here for a week or so. I see them daily, but just glimpses as I run in and out the door.  Yesterday I decided to take a stroll around the yard and see how things were doing.

Now these pansies probably don't look that amazing to you... but here is the deal. We bought these for my mom back in the fall.  They got fairly neglected and for all appearances were dead.  She was going to toss them in the trash, but Hubs said "I'll take them."  He has fertilized and pruned and nurtured them and we have enjoyed a lovely late winter - early Spring showing.  These are the last of the blooms I fear, but they still look pretty....

I found this waiting amongs the tall green iris plants....

and there are many others showing hints of purple that no doubt will be popping over in the days ahead.

We have walked through a number of nurseries lately... we like to do that.  On the last trip, I snagged a few herbs to replinish the supply here.  Our mint huge and going strong... but the rosemary and basil did not fare well over the winter and I wanted to add some thyme to the mix. These will be potted up soon.

And lastly.... I am looking forward to seeing all the little white tips of this Jasime open and pouring out fragrance for us to enjoy. My husband's office purchased this for him a few years ago when his father died.  It has almost sucumbed to a couple of cold winters, but it is a tough ole bird (a bit like my father-in-law) and is ready to bloom!

I love the anticipation of what is to come!