Scrappin' Time

One of the hobbies I enjoy is scrapbooking.  It's been a LONG time since I've scrapbooked though.  When you work over 240 hours every month, there isn't much time left over for anything but sleeping, eating and doing laundry!  Well, now that I am 'retired' (term used loosely!) I've decided it's time to start doing some of the other hobbies I enjoy in addition to the reading and photography that I've already been doing!

I met up with some fellow scrapbooking friends today and we had a wonderful time of scrappin', chattin, eatin' and carryin' on!  And, each of us actually got a couple of pages done too!  What a time I had, though, trying to figure out which photos to use yesterday.  It has been SO long since I've done it that I almost didn't know where to start and then I had to pack everything up to take, i.e., photos, pages, tools, stickers, and then paper that matched my color scheme once I decided which photos to use.  Well, since it literally took me until five minutes before time to leave to make up my mind, I was busy gathering everything up and walked out the door without any paper, ugh!  It wasn't until I got all my stuff out and ready to start that I realized I didn't bring my paper.  Great!  Can't really scrap without it *sigh*!  Thankfully, my friend used to be a Creative Memories consultant and she let me shop in her Scrap'n'Crap store!  I bought two different sets of papers (because I couldn't make up mind, AGAIN!   Hmmm, I'm beginning to see a pattern here...) and off I went finally laying out my pages!  Time flew by and before we knew it the day had gotten away from us!  I'm already looking forward to the next time we meet and I am definitely going to be more prepared than I was today!  (It will also help because I'm going to host it next month and I won't have to pack stuff up *smile*.)

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I had a faithful follower identify the new residents of the condo for me (thanks texwisgirl!)... Great Crested Flycatchers.

As I was sorting through my photos yesterday and trying to organize them better, I came across a picture of some Great Crested Flycatchers that I took several years ago.  They were taking up residence in a new bird house that Country Boy had built.  It was hanging on a tree about ten feet from our back porch.  I'm glad to have finally identified these birds.  And, apparently, these guys like new housing!

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How is your weekend going?  Any big plans?  Still recovering from the Royal Wedding?  I would love to hear what all is going on in your neck of the woods (or city or wherever you are!)!  Happy Weekend!

Till next time,

Day of Ups & Downs

We had a wonderful time celebrating Dad's 84th birthday yesterday!  The food was delicious, the games were fun and the company was great!  We're praying he has many more birthdays to come!

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Today was laundry day.  I don't mind doing laundry especially since I started hanging the clothes on the line to dry.  It's actually quite enjoyable and is a time of reflection for me.  I know, you're thinking I'm nuts right about now, huh?!  I really do enjoy it though and it makes me feel good knowing that I am conserving a bit of energy and also utilizing some of my energy in the process!  I can always use that!

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Speaking of utilizing energy, Country Boy and I are officially on a diet.  Well, we're actually starting on Sunday but today and tomorrow we're loading up and eating up all the stuff in the house that doesn't coincide with the diet.  We want to lose a total of 75 lbs. between us.  I'll keep you posted on our progress!

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Today was also the Royal Wedding!  Did you watch any of it?  Me?  Nope; totally missed it!  I wasn't sure what time it was on in the first place and by the time I turned my computer on, there were already headlines talking about the wedding, the crazy hat styles, etc.!  While I'm a romantic at heart, for some reason, I just wasn't in to the whole Royal Wedding thing!  She was a beautiful bride though!

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Before moving to the country, we attended a wonderful church that we were very active in.  Even after moving we continued to go there for a couple more years because we loved the pastor and the church family so much.  When the gas prices soared several years ago, we had to make the decision to find a church closer to home.  We just received a devastating phone call from a friend of ours from that church telling us that the dear pastor had suffered a massive heart attack and died.  While we rejoice that he no longer suffers from any health problems and is praising God in heaven right now, those left behind will need prayer and support to deal with their loss.  Please pray for his family and the church during this difficult time.  

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There is also a fellow blogger, the Lee family, who needs your prayers and support also.  She lost her house and her husband in one of the recent, terrible tornadoes.  You can read about it HERE at the Homestead Revival.  Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers also.

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These are trying times for many people.  Let's encourage one another and do what we can for those in need.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Till next time,

Happy 84th Birthday Dad!

Today my Dad celebrates his 84th birthday!  The family is gathering at our place this afternoon to celebrate with him!  We are blessed to have his smiling face that has lots of stories to tell be with us for this wonderful occasion!  We are also blessed that he is healthy and able to still work around the house and play a round of golf at least once a week!

We're serving up a salad, grilled steaks and oven-roasted chicken, grilled potatoes & onions, corn-on-the-cob, home-grown green beans, dinner rolls and of course, southern sweet tea!  For dessert?  A Carvel ice cream cake!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Till next time,

Be Who You Are

I saw this phrase in an email that my Mom sent me today and it says exactly what I have been contemplating all day...

"Be who you are and say what you feel....

Because those that matter... 

don't mind...

And those that mind... 

don't matter."

As many of my wonderful blogging friends and followers know, I had a very rough confrontation with one of my neighbors about a week and a half ago whom I thought was a friend.  She was very mean and ugly to me that day and proceeded to tell the other neighbors about our spat, why, I don't know other than to try and turn them against me as well, who knows!  That just proved to me what kind of person she is and I'm glad to have the friendship severed although I did not want it to end that way.  I have had to do a lot of praying to get over the hurt she caused.  I have been doing much better and thought I was over it but today, for some reason, I'm feeling a little blue.  I need to memorize that phrase and keep praying!  I'll be OK!

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While I was enjoying the Bathing Beauties the other day, a dragonfly landed on the tree next to where I was sitting.  I believe he took a power nap since he was sitting there for quite a while!

I've heard that dragonflies are a symbol of good luck so I looked up the symbolism of the dragonfly and came across this...

The meaning of a dragonfly changes with each culture. The main symbolisms of the dragonfly are renewal, positive force and the power of life in general. Dragonflies can also be a symbol of the sense of self that comes with maturity. Also, as a creature of the wind, the dragonfly frequently represents change. And as a dragonfly lives a short life, it knows it must live its life to the fullest with the short time it has - which is a lesson for all of us.

I love dragonflies!  I think they are beautiful!

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday!

Till next time,

Bathing Beauties

Country Boy had to put on his dress uniform and go to town to the courthouse this morning to give a deposition. Just another part of his job!  Ya' gotta love a man in uniform!  He also fixed the waterfall in my pond before he left.  For some reason, half the water was gone the other day so he rearranged the rocks and filled it back up.  Seems to be OK now.  He also ran some errands for me while he was in town.  What a guy!  

Me?  I pulled some weeds in the deserted flower garden (as Country Boy calls it) this morning and then sat on my patio and took some more bird photos and read my Hobby Farm Home magazine while Country Boy was gone.  One day I'll get at the deserted garden and rake the leaves out of it and maybe it will look better!  I have some flowers that have come back from the winter and are blooming so it's looking less deserted each day!

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There are some days where it seems there's a good photo every time you turn around and other days not so much.  Yesterday, in a matter of about twenty minutes or so, the bird bath and feeders saw a LOT of action!  I'm only going to show you the bird bath photos today because there are LOTS of them!  Soooo, I hope you have your favorite beverage and snack nearby and are ready to kick back and enjoy these bathing beauties!  I know I sure did!

Female Cardinal

The little one on the right has been so patiently waiting!  Again, don't know what kind of bird this is.  The other bird is a Tufted Titmouse.

No wonder I have to fill the bird bath every other day!

Back in for another dip!

Male Cardinal checking it out!

Still with me?

Do you think he's enjoying his bath?

I can almost hear him thinking "Man that felt good!"

We're almost finished, hang in there!

Mrs. Cardinal is back for another round!

Love the hair-do!

Guess what?  You made it!  I have a lot more bird photos to show you but those can wait for another day!

Do y'all know what kind of bird that little blue/gray & yellow bird is?  I'm thinking it might be a Northern Parula but not sure.

I hope you're having a great day!

Till next time,

Progress in the Garden

Since Spring came to us a bit early, we already have quite a bit of progress in the gardens.  These tomatoes were 'rescued' out of the old chicken run and transplanted into the garden.  The tomatoes we started from seed are also doing well but aren't as far along as these.

There are lots of blooms so we're hoping for a good crop again this year!

Our cucumber plants also have lots of blooms on them and are vining nicely.

They're just so cute right now!

The corn is also coming along.

We can't seem to get the radishes or beets to do anything.  Country Boy gave up on the beets and the radishes are starting to flower but it's just a root and no radish *sad face*.  Also, our okra and cowpeas are not doing well either this year.  They have always grown so well in our soil with little to no effort on our part.  We don't know what the problem is this year *another sad face*.  We do have cantaloupes, green beans, herbs, green peppers, onions, potatoes and garlic that seem to be doing well so far so we can't complain!

Some rain would be greatly appreciated!  At this point, I would almost be willing to do a rain dance!  There's just something about rain water that the plants love!

It's Barn Hop Monday!

This post is linked with Homestead Revival for Barn Hop Monday.  Click on the text under the Homestead Barn Hop image to see what other homesteaders are doing.

Till next time,