It's either raining or sooo hot!!!

Yesterday it took all three of us to cut the grass.  I did my front and side yards, Renea did her front yard, Kevin did inside the fence and cleaned up the garden.  Then all three of us worked on the back yard.  Afterwards we all collapsed.  What a day!!!!
 

Today Kevin is helping Patrick with a tree that fell and took out two of his fences.  Not sure what Renea is doing.  I have filled the bird feeders, fed the plants, did some weeding, emptied some supplies I had in the back of my car and next on the agenda is weed eating.    All of my bushes and plants seem to be doing okay.  We have had so much rain and then heat that I have been worried about them.

 

I am amazed at the amount of butterflies I have coming to my plants, especially the lantanas.  I bought a book so I can, hopefully, learn the names of some of them.  They are really pretty.

 

Still having problems with my computer so I haven’t been doing too much with my family tree.  Just a few bits and pieces.  Brian is coming down in mid August and hopefully we will get some of the problems solved then.  Whether we do or not it will be good to see him.  Don’t know if anyone will be coming with him.

 

Thursday night I went to dinner with the Prime Timers group from church.  We went to Cheddars in Columbus.  It was the first time I had been there, and I really enjoyed the food.  Great selection.  Good prices.  And plenty to eat.  The only drawback was the noise.  I have never been in a restaurant where the noise level was so high.  Left with a headache! 

 

Been cleaning out drawers and cupboards to get ready for the Prime Timers yard sale.  Not sure how much I will have to donate, but I am coming up with a few things.  The yard sale is in September so I have time to get stuff together. Last year we did real well.  Hopefully, we will do as well this year.

 

Time to get back to work.  The grass should be dry enough now to use the weedeater.  

Gonna Give It A Try!

I know I haven’t posted anything for quite a while.  My computer has been acting up and I am having all kinds of problems with it; including my blog, email, etc.  However, I refuse to buy a new one with Windows 8, and my computer tech is 600 miles north of where I live.  When he gets a chance we are going to see if we can resolve the problems via telephone.
 

Meanwhile, to bring y’all up to date the grass is mowed.  I have planted plenty of flowers.  Since it has been so hot some of them have died.  I am trying my best though.  A couple of my favorites did not make it this year – especially the sunpatients.  My new crape myrtles seem to be doing just fine.  I would like to post pictures on here, but that is one of my problems.

 

Haven’t seen or heard any coyotes lately.  Nor have I seen any wild turkey or deer.  The most exciting animal was one that Kevin had in his backyard in the middle of the night.  Roscoe was barking and getting really upset so Kevin let him out.  There was a four foot diamondback rattle snake in their backyard next to the back of their house.  Kevin woke up the neighborhood with a couple of loud gunshots.  Needless to say, that took care of the snake.  Luckily he was able to keep Roscoe back so he didn’t get bit. 

 

I’ve been a little depressed lately.  Of course, most of you know that my Mom passed away the last part of April.  Sure do miss her.  Also, my Uncle Bill, her brother, passed away one week to the day after Mom.  He had been really sick and having a lot of problems so it wasn’t too surprising.  I have been having some tests run because I am having a few health problems again.  Just keep me in your prayers. 

 

I am doing my best to get things back to normal.  Working in the yard when I can.  I have a few projects I would like to do regarding plastic canvas.  I also brought back some items Mom had started to embroider which I hope to finish.

 

Fourth of July was a lot of fun.  Renea’s brother, Mark, and his wife, Sandy, and their two granddaughters, one of the granddaughters brother, a teenage neighbor and their three dogs came to visit for a week.  They were here for the fourth so Kevin had a cookout and invited a few other friends and neighbors.  We even had a fireworks show that was great!  They also have had Copper, Stephanie’s dog, for about two weeks.  Stephanie went to New York to visit friends and now she is in Savannah visiting friends.  This meant there were six dogs.  They all got along just fine. 

 

Haven’t been working on my family tree lately.  I need to get back to that.  If I ever get my computer working right again.  I also need to get back to my To Do List!

 

Hope everyone is having a great summer.  I will try to do better with the blog.  Unless you are tired of hearing about me cutting grass J

110 IN THE SHADE

I’m sure we have all heard that expression.  Well, for the past two weeks it’s been that way here in Alabama.  At least that is what my thermometer says most days.  However, we still cut the grass and did a few other things outdoors.  We just came inside to cool off and drink a lot of water.

 

My trees and flowers are doing great.  I’ve got my weeding caught up.  Kevin planted my two crape myrtles and they look really good.  They both have blooms on them now.  The one he planted that I received from Arbor Day looks like it survived.  I also did something different with the other one I received from Arbor Day.  I bought a really large container and planted it in there. I have placed it in front of my new addition.  Of course, it’s so small you really can’t see much of it yet.  However, it does look like it has survived so far.

 

A couple of nights ago I got out of bed about 1:00 a.m. to take a couple of Tylenol and saw 3 large deer in my front yard.  They were eating the birdseed.  I didn’t know they ate birdseed.  I think they were also snacking on a few of the lower branches of my Bradford Pear trees. 

 

I haven’t seen them, but Kevin said I have a family of rabbits living under my shed.  Every once in a while I see a toad in my front garden.  I also have a mockingbird that is driving me crazy(ier). He just doesn’t shut up.  He spends a lot of time in my front yard.  I have several hummingbirds coming to the feeder.  The “bully” is allowing a few females to feed.  The funniest thing is when I pull weeds in the area of the hummingbird feeders the “bully” flies around them.  I guess he thinks I am going to take his food.

 

The coyotes are out in full force right now.  We’ve had several roaming our backyards at night.  Roscoe gets really upset when they come around.  Hunting season for coyotes is 24/7/365 around here and you do not need a license.  Since most of the neighbors have guns (including Kevin) we hear quite a bit of gunshots at night.  Hopefully, they will get enough to get rid of them.  It’s a little scary knowing they are back there.

 

The garden is starting to produce a lot of veggies.  Renea is busy freezing and canning.  The past couple of days it was potatoes and green beans.  Today she is pickling.  Which means the cucumbers are in along with onions and peppers.  Kevin is cutting grass today.  I am taking a break right now.  I’ve been going strong all morning, and this is the time of day it gets REALLY HOT!  So I am doing inside stuff until after supper.

 

 

Back on Track

I won’t go into detail about the last couple of weeks.  Let’s just say I was sick and had a major meltdown.  Spent a lot of time in bed feeling sorry for myself and angry at everyone.  Went to church this past Sunday and did a lot of praying.  Monday morning I got out of bed and declared myself better.  I am now back on track.

 

I am in the process of spring cleaning my house. I am even washing windows.  My gardens are weeded.  Most of my bushes and flowers are planted.  I bought a couple of new crape myrtles and Kevin planted them for me.   The birdfeeders have been filled.  Even the one in the back yard.  I have a lot of bluebirds.  I have not seen them eating at the feeders.  I even put out mealworms and they are not eating them.  However, the hummingbirds are drinking the feeders dry.

 

The grass needs cutting and I am hoping to get to that this weekend.  When Kevin and Renea were in Cincinnati the last time they stayed at Renea’s brother’s house.  Their neighbor gave them a hummingbird bush which Renea gave to me.  She said she didn’t need any more birds visiting her.  I transplanted it into a larger pot and then researched it on the internet and found that the bush gets rather large.  Therefore, I need to transplant it again – this time in the ground next to my deck.

 

My trees and bushes are looking good.  My lantanas are doing great!  Lots of flowers so I should have a lot of butterflies.

 

I haven’t been any help in the vegetable garden, but Kevin said it is doing great.  However, it does need to be weeded.  He told me last night that today was going to be all hands on deck to get some work done.  I’ve been up since 8:00 this morning and haven’t seen hide nor hair of either Kevin or Renea.  I guess that means plans have changed.  So, I will work on my TO DO LIST, and it is constantly growing.

 

Okay, break time is over.  That doesn’t mean I am going to get back to work.  Just means I am going to move from the computer.  Or I may sit here and watch the birds in my backyard.  There is a beautiful bluebird sitting on top of the birdfeeder.

Yep, I'm Back Home

Okay, I’m back home in Alabama so I guess it’s time for me to start up my blog again.  I arrived home one Tuesday, May 13^th.  I came home down I-75 this time.  It seems to be shorter and for some reason there was less construction and less trucks. 

 

After arriving home I brought everything in from my car, went thru my mail, checked out my garden (lots of weeding needs to be done and grass needs to be cut), checked my trees (they are all looking good except for the crepe myrtles.  Looks like I lost all three new ones. Hollyh bushes look good but the snowball bush looks kind of sad.  Needs some TLC. The garden is looking good.  Needs weeding but there are a lot of veggies growing. 

 

After a good nights sleep I worked on putting my “stuff” away. It was nice being in my own bed.  Still have a little more to do. Don’t want to do too much at a time J  I filled the birdfeeders in the front yard.  Birds are happy.  Cleaned and filled the hummingbird feeders.  Haven’t seen any hummingbirds yet.  I also need to buy more birdseed.  Paid some bills, wrote some thank you cards and finished the book I was reading.

 

Next day I went to Kroger’s and bought a few groceries.  Renea had bought milk, bread and orange juice for me so I would have that when I arrived home.  Also filled the gas tank.  I then stopped at Lowe’s and bought a few flowers.  Spent some of the money Brian and his family and Kevin and his family gave me for Mother’s Day. These were a few of the annuals I usually buy.  I also bought some birdseed.  Stopped at Stephanie’s Thursday evening with Kevin and Renea and met her new puppy.  His name is copper and he is adorable.  After leaving Stephanie’s Kevin and I took Renea to have her sleep study done.  We made arrangements for them to call me in the morning when it was time to pick her up.

 

Friday morning the  nurse called me at 4:30 a.m. to pick up Renea.  After arriving home we both slept for a while.  After that I started cutting grass.  Cut the grass in what I refer to as the round, did some weedeating in the round, and picked up some twigs in the round. I then cleaned the birdbath (which is also in the round) and weeded around it. Still had some energy so I cut the front half of the grass on north side of driveway. Came inside, took a shower and watched the NASCAR truck race.

 

Saturday Renea and I went to SAM’S.  When at Mom’s funeral my cousin Sue and I talked about our work we have been doing on the Family Tree.  I have some information she wants and she has some that I want. So today I  printed the family tree information I have for Sue.  I also finished cutting the front grass and did a little weeding.
 

Sunday I went to church. It was good to be back.  Everyone expressed their condolences and said they missed me and was glad I was back.  Made me feel good.  I planted a few of my new flowers. Did some more weeding.  And finally saw my first hummingbird since I got back from OH.

 

Monday  Renea, Stephanie and I had a girls day.  We went shopping and spent the day doing so in Opelika. Shopped at Ollie’s, had a frozen yogurt at Chill, shopped at Hobby Lobby and Home Depot. Bought a few items everywhere we went.  We had a great time. Came home and collapsed.  However, I did watch DWT while reclining on the couch.

 

Good Morning!

It’s a beautiful day in Alabama.  I must say we had a lot of rain this past Friday and Saturday, but it has been sunny and 80 ever since. 

 

This week has been one of those weeks where I did my laundry, finished reading two books (they were both good), and finished and mailed my taxes.  We had a couple of days early in the week that were very windy and a couple of nights that we had a freeze and/or frost.  Hopefully, that is over now.  In fact, it was so windy (how windy was it you asked?) that it blew one of my birdfeeders off the hook and I found it by the birdbath.  As for the cold (how cold was it you asked?) my hummingbird feeders actually froze.  Speaking of the hummingbird feeders, yesterday I had my first two hummingbirds eating at the feeders.  This was Monday 3/31.

 

Sill watching the eagles.  The baby is starting to get regular feathers now and is moving around more in the nest.  My purple martin house is really busy. It looks like every area has a nest.  The birds have been flying in and out constantly. 

 

Wednesday morning I had my hair cut.  Then later in the afternoon I headed for church. The Prime Timers group that I belong to serves a meal once a month to raise money for different projects.  They used to do it twice a month but it got to be too much for the small group.  Last year they did not do it at all; that’s why I didn’t know about it.  Anyway, I helped set up, fix some of the food, and clean up.  Scott and Linda did the serving.  After dinner we had bible study.  A great evening.  On the way home Renea sent me a text (which I did not read until I was home since I was driving) asking if I had ice cream.  A silly question – I always have ice cream.  So I called her, she picked her choice of peanut butter cup, I took it over and we both had a dish of peanut butter cup ice cream – yummmmm!  Had a nice visit with both Kevin and Renea.  Roscoe and Lola were also glad to see me J  That’s because I give them treats.

 

Thursday I spent the day cutting my grass. Friday I went to the doctor for my lab results (all is well), post office, bank and Walmart.  We had about 2 inches of rain. My rain gauge cracked this winter because of the cold so I’m not sure exactly how much rain we had.  I’m just going by the weather on the news.  Kevin and Renea treated to supper at Ryan’s. Stephanie and her room mate (Rachael) met us there and were also treated to supper. Next we stopped at Stephanie’s since she was having trouble with her washer. Turned out to be a stopped up drain.  This trip was the first time I rode in Kevin’s new truck and I can’t get in without a step. He now carries a two step ladder for me. 

 

Saturday I went to Lowe’s with Kevin and Renea.  I bought a Chinese Snowball Viburnum bush and 2 Compact Japanese Holly bushes.  Kevin and Renea bought an apple tree, orange tree and red grapefruit tree along with seeds, etc. for the garden. After arriving home and unloading the truck Kevin grilled pork chops for supper. We all sat and discussed the garden etc for a while.

 

Sunday Kevin planted their apple, orange and grapefruit trees in his backyard.  He also put up the fence around the garden.  Renea planted everything in the garden.  Kevin also planted my snowball bush and the two compact Japanese holly bushes.  He also planted three of my crepe myrtles in the front yard.  I tried to help as much as I could, but I don’t think I was much help.  I watered my bushes and carried a few things for both Kevin and Renea.  Kevin also staked my weeping willow. The wind had blown it so far over that it was almost laying flat.

 

Renea had put meatballs and spaghetti sauce in the crockpot for supper.  Add the spaghetti and garlic bread and it was awesome.  Needless to say, it was an early night!

 

 

 

A Really Nice Busy Week

Roscoe had a cyst removed from the top of his head early Tuesday morning. He had to stay until 5:00 before Renea could pick him up.  He is doing fine. They need to keep an eye on him for a few days to be sure he doesn’t try to “scratch” the stitches out.  He will go back a week from Friday to have the vet remove them.

 

Now I know you are tired of hearing about all of my yard work, but I’m going to tell you about it anyway.  I have finished weeding the rock garden.  As an FYI – the reason I pull the weeds is because I have plants in the ground and I don’t want to kill them.  Also, I have a lot of birds and I don’t want to harm them either.

 

All of the azalea plants are weeded, the dead leaves are cleaned out and they have been fed. I also fed the hydrangeas, rhododendron and a few other flowering perennials.  Of course, now they are predicting that the temperature is going down in the 20’s two nights this week.

 

I finished weedeating around the weeping cherry tree, both rock gardens, the front entry way, in front of the new addition, the north side of the house and the south side of the house. 

 

On Thursday I spent 2 ½ hours cutting Kevin and Renea’s front grass.  Got it finished.  Cut a section of my backyard grass – closest to my house.  Found all kinds of pieces of wood, concrete and a small level.  Cleaning up the back of my house is next on my list.  When I checked my “trees” that were growing in pots it looks like only the two crabapple trees survived.  I will be planting them in my back yard to give me some shade back there.  Of course, I probably won’t live long enough to see them get that big even though they are fast growers J  I also plan on putting my new birdfeeder between the two of them so I can see it from my back window.

 

Saturday I put out the hummingbird feeders with a small amount of feed in them in case they are starting to move in. I know last year I started seeing them by the first of April. I have also noticed that I have purple martins in house now. They have been busy building news nests.  It’s been fun watching them. I have about 10 male cardinals eating at my feeders in the front yard along with a lot of other birds.  I am sure there are females there also just can’t get close enough to see.  Also have a lot of finches coming to the finch feeder.

 

Speaking of watching birds, I accidentally found a website for Berry College in Georgia which has a webcam looking at an eagle’s nest.  One egg has hatched (I missed that because the egg had hatched by the time I found the site).  Anyway, I have been watching the eaglet grow. I check in a couple of times a day and have seen the adults feeding the eaglet.  I have seen one of the adults fly in with a fish which it proceeded to feed the baby.  Another time one of the adults was feeding it something but I couldn’t tell what it was.  Sure is interesting.

 

Last year I bought a carpenter bee trap because I was having such a problem with them.  After setting it up I not only caught carpenter bees, but I caught wasps and flies.  So far this year I have caught three carpenter bees.  There is another one flying around, just haven’t caught it yet.

 

Sunday was a lazy day.  Went to church, watched the NASCAR race and had dinner with Kevin and Renea.