Farewell 2010

I don't have anything profound to say as I bid a fond farewell to 2010 tonight. It's been a very good year, in spite of losing my beloved cat, Cooper, to an untimely death, but fortunately that was my only greatest lost. I am truly blessed to have my 80 plus year old parents still with us and in good health, and the rest of my family near and far are also equally blessed with health.

Our new home!

It was a year of change; with saying good-bye to my old life and home, and embracing our new house, a new city and location in the country. A year of celebration; of my parents 60th Anniversary; of news that a son will marry; of news that we will be grandparents again, not once, but twice in the new year! It was a year of blessing, as is every year that I'm fortunate enough to pay witness to. I pray for peace, love, happiness and health to all, especially to those who are near and dear to my heart.

~*~ Happy 2011 to us all! ~*~

        

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There Go the Neighborhood?

It started again this afternoon. The beep, beep, beep, beep of heavy construction equipment. My heart sank, again! I wanted to shout, "Knock it off! Go home! Get lost! LEAVE!!" The angry expletives turned to simple pleads of "please, just go".

It began in mid November. The heavy machinery came, as did the flat bed trucks, ready to haul the fallen pine trees away that were felled on the wooded acreage directly across the dirt road from us. I lost count after 16 flat-bed, timber-laden loads lumbered down our dirt road. Nearly a weeks worth of machinery noise, 7 a.m.- 4 p.m., disturbing our country quite. And then, all was quiet again.

Several weeks have passed, and a new fear grips me..that now it's not just logging going on, but a clearing of land that may be happening. I want to believe perhaps a pond is being put in, or a new easier access drive. a  short-cut across their land to the dirt road that's happening. In reality, I sense perhaps a new home might be getting ready to be built. But worst case scenario would be a development of several new homes. Oh, how sad that would be. I will be heartbroken! I can't imagine having a lifelong dream of finally moving to the country, having only the woods and wildlife as our neighbors, shattered...the irony. I pray it's only my imagination getting the better of me. The new year ahead will prove what will come to be!

Ho Ho Home

Wonderful first Christmas in our new home! Our four kids and their spouses/significant others and five of our six grand kids spent several hours here Christmas night, the last stop for them all of the day. We hunkered down in the LR and exchanged gifts, munched on a table full of heavy appetizers and sipped either wine, coolers, beer, punch or soda. The night even blessed us with snow flurries (!!), which was so special for several reasons: a) our location b) to happen near or on Xmas c) to have the whole family together in one place to actually witness and enjoy!

I will say, initially, it was an emotional first Christmas here. I was so missing our sweet kitty, Cooper, who passed in February and always made Christmas even more special with his presence.  I miss that boy so very much!
It was also hard opening the boxes of Christmas deco's, and feeling totally overwhelmed, flooded with 23 yr's of past memories in the old house, and feeling like nothing belonged here. I had a mini melt-down when I opened that first box and began to sort through all the Christmas decorations that always had their own special place in the old house. I had to stop; I went to the window to watch the feeding birds out back and just let the tears flow..much to grieve before I could embrace the new. It was needed and cathartic, and helped me gain perspective to move on and enjoy the rest of the holiday season, which turned out just great!
Yup. Sigh. Welcome ho, ho, home :)

Buggin' Out..

A walking stick paid us a visit. They are just too cool!! Coming or going?

These other guys are quite unusual also. The red one, so brightly colored (!) moved very fast..couldn't keep up with it, thus the blurry picture. The other bug was quite large, carrying either a mate or a young one on its back.

Celebrating 60 Years!

The surprise garden party for my parent's 60th anniversary turned out great, and they were none the wiser. It was just us five kids and their spouses and children. The day was gorgeous, sunny and warm. 
We started the gathering under the canopy with appetizers, wine, beer and sodas..my folks thought that alone was great, just that we could all be together on their special day. A little later, a limo arrived. Dad saw it pull up out front, and said, "that's odd..they must be lost". Little did they know it was for them! They were totally surprised..a champagne limo ride with just their children included to destinations of their choice. They chose to give us a guided tour down memory lane of all their favorite haunts and hangouts, schools, etc while dating and during their early marriage (in the neighboring town).
While we were all away, our sisters-in-law quickly decorated the back yard swing with white balloons and crepe paper, and pulled up some chairs and table benches in front of it. Upon returning, we surprised them with a ceremony of reaffirming their vows as they sat on the swing (one of my brother's "officiated"), exchanging cute little mood rings, while bubbles filled the air after the "I do's" were exchanged. With some special music, they danced to their song. There were tears in all of our eyes. We then had our fill of some great catered food and as evening grew dark we all sat around the fire pit in the woods and roasted marshmallows till we couldn't hang any longer and hit the bed.
 
It was wonderful. They were amazed how we pulled all the details and arrangements off without a hitch, especially with my sister and I out of state, without them knowing a thing. They thought it the greatest gift. Actually, the gift is ours, to have such loving and wonderful parents. We are truly blessed!  
Love you, Mom and Dad, and wish you many more happy years together!!

Winter Garden

Got back from NY and decided it wasn't too late to get a little garden going, of winter veg. So bought some T-posts, some flexible fencing (hardware cloth?), some manure and compost, some veg and seed and dug right in. I have a small rototiller that helped speed things along breaking up the soil and mixing the amendments in. I planted plants of broccoli, collards, cabbage and kale, and seeded a separate bed of winter squash. I also planted seeds of spinach, Swiss chard and rutabaga, and some garlic cloves. I've not tried growing any of them, other than garlic before. So, I believe, all being cool weather veg, I hope they'll do well. Everything is up and growing, so far. I made it a long and narrow plot, 2' x 20' ft, as I read deer won't likely try to jump into a space that's too small. We'll see! I love all the winter veggies, and would be real tickled if I managed to grow a few myself!

Family Changes..7 and 8!

The grand kids (l-r): Will, Jaycie, Alex, Dawson, Abby and Brody

Well, I'll be darned. Just found out I'll be a grandma, again!! Just before going to NY my daughter informed me she and her husband were expecting their 4th child next April (we're all thinking it's a boy..she'll find out next month)..excitement enough there. And now I just found out my step-son and fiance (who are to be married in February 2011) are expecting a baby, too..in June! That will be grandchild # 8!! Wholly molly!! Our kids are keeping us on our toes with all these grand children, but we love it, and are thankful we're young enough and fit enough to enjoy them. We are blessed! Hope both pregnancies go smoothly and without a hitch!

Wildlife Friends..

The turkeys from a few months ago are back..saw the rafter of 10, more grown since then. We always call out "turk alert!" to let each other know they're spotted and to come look. The little covey of bobwhite quail have been regular visitors, sometimes several times a day, to the seed I throw on the ground for the birds everyday..so cute! And a young doe had been stopping by to nibble the seed on the ground nearly every day, but haven't seen her for the past week or so. Hope she's okay. Nicknamed "Deary" by my sister, she has a scar on both shoulders, which always helped me identify that it was her. I've seen a few spotted fawns together across the road, and a mama and her yearling out front. I love it! I made a little chart, placed on the door inside a kitchen cabinet, where I notate which species I saw, how many, the date, time and location around the house..just for fun. Aaah..I love seeing the wildlife!

Broken Pond..

Don't know what to do with the little ornamental pond the previous owners built. There must be a leak in the liner, as every time I fill it, the water level drops and stops at the same level. I'll have to completely drain it and see if I can find the hole. But not now. Maybe once all the leaves have dropped. I just put a net across the top so it wouldn't fill with a foot of leaves (like when I first saw it last year). 
Previous owner said the pond is just a child's plastic pool with a liner over it. Can't find where they had any tubing to go to the waterfall, or electric to pump it, for that matter, yet rock is stacked for the falls. Hmmm. Then they surrounded it by rock, cementing the rock together, which will not make replacing the liner easy without being able to easily remove the cemented rock. It's not done well at all. I'd like to redo it so it looks more natural, one day, like the one I had to leave behind at our old place (I miss it!). But for now the two little frogs in there who found it call it home:)

Summer or Fall??!

The leaves are turning color and the many oak trees surrounding the house are dropping leaves like crazy. We listen to the acorns bounce off the roof as they drop from tree to ground. The squirrels are out there busy gathering nuts and we know it's Fall. But the temps are still summer-ish, in the 80's during the day, 40's or 50's at night. I dug out the sweats, ready for cooler weather, but it ain't happening yet! I'm ready for the change. But that's okay..I love Fall, and hope it sticks around for quite a bit longer!

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Grand kids Dawson and Jaycie..love the eeewww faces!

Boys Bake, too!

I kept grandson, Brody, here after school for a while the other day till his daddy came for him, and so to keep him occupied, we baked an apple pie for Pop Pop, to surprise him. Pop Pop loves anything with apples, and if it has cinnamon, all the better. He's got a real sweet tooth, anyway! So, when telling Brody of the plan, he said "but I don't know how to make a pie!", that's when Grandma (me) told him I'd show him how. First, we had to don the customary apron all the grand kids know they wear when cooking/baking with me. We proceeded to make the pie, and a mess and he had a blast doing it. And was Pop Pop happy and surprised!

Brody and his Dad..it was a good pie..yum!

Shedding It's Walls

We tore down the old paneling in my garden shed the other day to get to the wiring, which was all screwed up. We knew we'd have to do it when we bought this place. Had to first pull all the stuff stored in there to center of the room, then armed with pry bars and claw hammers, Pete, myself and our two good friends went to town tearing the walls down. Made fast work of it. Loaded the panels into the utility trailer to take to the dump Saturday. Lots of yuk mixed in with the insulation (mouse droppings) through the years, which will all be replaced when new walls go up. And once new walls are up Pete will build me a closet and shelves for storage and finally get everything up off the floor. Hubby helped friend Pat rewire it, so now everything is working as it should. Thanks guys!

Cheese Souffle'

Thought I'd try my hand at a cheese souffle'. Came out great and not that hard at all to make. Doesn't it look pretty? Lexi kitty thinks so, too. Love that shot. It's so her! She thinks her job is to be food quality control cat..wanting to taste any and every food item she can get away with. Sorry, girl :)

We're Back..Home from NY

It's been several month's since my sister came for a visit, then she and I taking the train to NY to celebrate with family our parents 60th wedding anniversary in August. What a wonderful couple of weeks. Time with my sister went all too fast but it was great to have her here at our new house and have some quality one-on-one sister time before the big trip home. We filled our time wisely! And need I say time with the folks and family back home was delightful. And it was great to have Pete drive up to spend some time with everyone before collecting me for the trip back to AL. Though I miss everyone terribly, it did feel good getting grounded again here and back in routine of daily life, surrounded by things I love in my little corner of the world. I've got so much to catch up on, including this blog!