My gifts

I told everyone that I would post pictures of some of the gifts I recieved this weekend. Poor picture taking but I will still show them here . The first pic is of the bench our son gave me. He really surprised me with this one. I had sat on it and told him how comfortable it was. I thought he had gotten it for himself. This is of the topiary that Sarah got us. You have to use your imagination of it filled with flowers. They have them planted at the nursery and are very expensive, but I know that we can do it much less expensively. I will have to get some spaghnum moss this week and start planting some ivy. The color plants will have to wait until later.
The other pics didn't show up very well. I will have to re-take them.

Dallas was fun!

We left early Sunday morning for a day in Dallas. That's where my daughter is. Our son who lives in Ft. Worth joined us. We had taken lots of material for her, plus food. Yes I know she is on her own but we cant resist some extra help now and then. She has a tight budget. It was my birthday Friday and she had some very nice gifts for me. He main gift was a aged copper weather vane. It's shaped like a rooster. It will find a spot somewhere in the yard. We haven't thought where to put it yet. She also had purchased quite a few goodies from Crate and Barrel to use at our famous 4th of July picnic. 4 star shaped glass bowls, a large bbq platter, a star shaped muffin(?) pan, and 2 clear glass plates with a star pattern on them.
We went to the Dallas Farmers Market. I love that place!!! The men liked it too. We walked through the "mexican" market first. Thats all the pots , iron works and plants. My son bought a bird bath, an iron sculpture and for Sarah a large cross and a iron bench, that I found out was for me!!! I will take a picture of it tomorrow. We then walked through the fruit and vegetable area. And I confess we bought a bunch. Turnip greens, new red potatoes, bell peppers, onions, and zuchinni squash. Adam bought some pinapples and gave us one.
Sarah's bf treated us to a late lunch at an awesome mexican food place. (The original frozen margurita machine had been invented there) We had fajitas that were soooooo good.
All in all it was a very special day. OOOOPS I forgot that Sarah got us the frame for a topiary. All we had to do was buy the pot. It will look so good on the patio. All we have to do is get some spagnum moss and start the ivy. Color plants will go in later.
The traffic on the way home was aweful. It took forever. I confess that I slept most of the way.

Fishing!

We are blessed in Texas. The Parks and Wildlife stock rainbow trout in lakes, pond and streams all over the state. We have been taking advantage of the area stocking. We are allowed 5 per person. They are soooooooo good to eat. I so enjoy sitting on the bank catching them.
At times someone will bring their kids to fish. The problem is that nearly everyone brings them with bass fishing equiptment. Trout like very small hooks and small baits. We often give them hooks, bait and advice on how to catch them. It's very nice to see their smiles when they catch their 1st trout. I can't stand it when parents are willing to let the kids be dissapointed. Some don't know better, but others do and they are the ones that tick me off.
Conversely, I dislike kids who almost demand that you help. Begging for bait, hooks, and in one case even your rod and reel! I admit that I favor the young ones. Under 7-8. By the way, most of the newspapers print a list of the type of bait, hooks etc. needed.

Did I say spring?

Well forget the spring weather. We were hit with very cold weather. At least cold for us. Light drizzle that froze on the streets, bridges, and everything else. Fortunatly here in Texas this kind of weather never lasts long. Tomorrow it will be back in the 50's. My poor daffodils are laying on the ground. Hopefully they will revive, if not I will have a fresh flower arrangement.
Our dog, Trouble, loves this weather. He has been in and out all day yesterday and today. Of course with his fur it was far more comfortable outside than in. We had to turn our heater on and he prefers it chilly in here. Needless to say, I DON'T. I win too. He has been shedding for over a month now. I keep him brushed but I still have hunks of hair all over the house. We clip him in late spring and middle summer. He is a peke a poo. His under fur is like poodle fur, his over hair is pekenese.

There is nothing on TV! We watch re-runs and I don't really like them that much. If it's a good show, I remember too much about it to enjoy. If not, what's the point.........lol.
Hubby is happy with the westerns. I sneak in a few here and there of my type of show. Anything crafty or home deco. (he dislikes them whole heartedly).

Is it spring?

At last my daffodils have bloomed! Both bloomed late yesterday. I had to wait until this morning to take pictures. Of course the wind was blowing quite hard. You should have seen me out on my sidewalk, on my knees, trying to get these pictures. I move the hose, but forgot the sprinkler! Oh well. It was 78 degrees yesterday and will be near that today. Then a cold front moves in tomorrow. We have a chance of freezing rain, sleet or just cold rain. That will last for about 5 days. It's a wonder that anything survives. Including the ash trees that are blooming. One of the pictures is of part of our front bed. There is a large Mahonia (Oregon Grape) that the mocking birds love. The eat the berries(grapes). Very comical watching them trying to protect their "dinner table" from others. The chairs are garage sale finds. Eventually I will plant flowers in both. The red one was planted last year with impatients. The white one was just purchased late in the summer.

Happy Valentines day

Hi, what a wonderful day this has been! I woke up to coffee made and poured, and hidden under my lap robe was a beautiful card and a box of chocolates from my wonderful husband. I honestly did not know he was getting them for me. This month has been kind of tight, money wise so I didn't think he would. But as usual, he came thru.
Our wonderful friends next door were given boxes of chocolates from us, and this year they returned with chocolate dipped strawberries and the sweetest teddy bears ! They sing "I've got you babe" with each one moving their heads when singing their parts. They are so cute!
I hope ya'all had a great day too.

Daffodils

I have daffodils ready to bloom! I love them. Ones that have not bloomed in years because of shade are now nearly ready to burst out. We took out a shrub that was in bad shape and opened a spot for the daffodils to get sun for once. We have most of them returned in the back yard, but they aren't ready to bloom yet. I will get pics of the ones in the front as soon as possible. I think we lost some plants due to a drought. I have my fingers crossed. A myrtle tree died, but shoots are coming up from the base. We will give it tender care. We watered 2-3 times a week but never can replace water lost deep down. Our water bill was outrageous! Hopefully we can make up the deficit this spring.

Why Mothers get Gray hair!

Last night my darling daughter ( Sunflower rain) called, in tears. She had sliced a good chunk off of her thumb! Trying to decide if she needed to go to the hospital. Her bf was on his way to the rescue. After she calmed down, we decided since stiches were out of the question, that she should go to the drugstore and stock up on some antiseptic cream, bandages and a water proof guard and watch closely for infection. She heals quickly so there shouldn't be too much of a problem. Of course it hurts like craZy so bless her heart, we got 3 updates about her injuries. We told her bf to keep the knives out of reach.....lol This was about the third time she has done something like this. And we are always more than 100 miles or more away. And she is always just a little short on the money to pay for Dr. care. Yes, she has good insurance but the co-pay will kill a budget real fast.
While in college it was a constant emergency with her. I hope that she will grow out of the 911 emergencies, but I doubt it.

Bragging rights

I now have another talented child to brag about. Check out Pink Rockets sight and see what Jerrett did. He's my great grandson. I think the picture he painted is outstanding. And while there, check out Shanna's water color. Both are just bursting with talent.
I guess I should brag on the other talented grand children too.
My eldest son (Carol Jr.) has 3 children, all grown now. His eldest, Jessica is a talented trumpet player, she now teaches music. His 2nd daughter, Jennifer, is expecting her 1st baby, but before that she was a Super hairdresser, with a large client list. Justin, our only grandson is attending Baylor as a music performance major. He plays Saxaphone, clarinet, flute, piccalo, bassoon, piano and any other instrament he chooses. He taught himself to play all but the saxaphone. He is classified as a jr. with only his 2nd year at Baylor.
My 2nd son produced the talented Shanna, Taryn her sister and Angela their half sister.
Tim our third son has Kelly who is planning to be a dental hygenist and Sarah who is a very talented softball player.
Adam our son seems to be a confirmed bachelor, but he is a super teacher.
Sarah our sister blogger (sunflower rain) is just now working on a doll. She paints, designs, sews, knits and in the meantime laughs alot.
See, I do get bragging rights.

Self portrait

Actually I have been thinking of this since I joined. Where to begin?
I guess it would be easier to work from the early me. I was 15 when I met the man in my life. At 16 we were married 1956, at San Luis Obispo Ca. Did not have too, we were just in love and too impatient to wait. Hubby (Carol) came from a broken home, a mildly disfunctional family. I came from a solid family. Neither one of us had a dime to our name. It must have been the right thing because we are still together and still very much in love.
We were married by a Judge with just my parents and his mother. Simple ceremony. Carol was in the army stationed at Camp Roberts, Ca. I became the housewife and a year later a mother. He didn't want me to work and I took him up on it. When I became pregnant to our joy, he re-enlisted in the army, mostly because the jobs were not available and for security.
I loved being a mom and wife. We moved back to my home town when he went to Alaska. While he was there I made friends and found comfort in the fact that he was trying desperatly to get me authorized to join him. I was able to go finally and he found a trailer with a cabin built on to it at Delta Junction Alaska. Our son, Carol Jr. was just 10mos old. I had the job of packing all our worldly goods, making all the arrangements and getting to the airport. How scary that was! My sister, bless her, drove me. I didn't even know how to drive!
I loved Alaska!!!! We both loved to fish, to walk old trails and to hunt. I didn't get to hunt but got to eat the game. We made many friends and when I became pregnant with Mark, I actually had a baby shower! We left in 1960 not too long after Mark was born. I still miss Alaska.

Wind

We have had way too much wind. It is typical here, but we dont have to like it. We go out every day just to pick up broken twigs, plastic bags that seem to multiply and school papers that just "happened" to blow out of kids hands. An elementary school is just 3 houses from our house. Most of the papers we find are bad grades. But some are great and it seems a shame that the parents will never see them. Of course we get stuff thrown out of car windows too.
I just hate that! Our truck stays trashy because I dont like seeing all the trash on the side of the roads. We do clean it out at least once a week because hubby is a neat freak when it comes to the truck. In fact hubby would love to have a neat freak for a wife. Sadly, he missed out on me.

Crafting.

Hubby got a streak today and cut out 42 tin Texas' . We use old corrugated ( hope thats spelled right) tin from roofs and buildings. I paint them with Tx flag colors or with country scenes. At right hubby cutting out shapes, different sizes sitting out drying after washing them, and the finished product. I still have to add the wire hangers. They sell very well here, we all love our state!

good news!

My daughters computer is back on line. She got very lucky and found a gentleman that fixed it. It was the power supply. Best thing about it was that he didn't charge her the full rate! A 40 dollar part, and she paid only 43 and change. There are some really GOOD people out there. She was so excited. Now she will have gas and grocery money for the next 2 weeks.

Oh No!

Somewhere out in blogger land my last post is drifting. It never did get posted as I wanted..lol
My daughter, sunflower rain, lost her computer yesterday. It died an untimely death. It had been acting up the day before, but wouldn't even open for her last night.. She hopes to take it to a repairman and at least have her files downloaded. All her pictures, her music and resume' is on it. In the meantime she still has to pay her internet fee. SBC won't cancel for 2 months. Having just paid her rent, she has no spare money to buy a new one. We don't either so, poor baby will have to be without. I feel for her because I am sooooooooo attached to mine. It would hurt very much to be without. I will let you know what happens at the repair shop.....lol The guy on the phone thought it would be over 300 to fix it. I don't think so. Its a good one but over 4 years old. So 300 would be a waste I think.
We went garage saleing this morning. A bust! I did pick up 10 new books tho. Nora Roberts, Catherine Coulter, James Patterson among them. I do love to read!! The book I am currently reading is just so so.

After the storm

We did get rain! And more. The thunder and lightning flashed and crashed around us all evening. About 10:30 PM our lights went out. It looked as if the whole southside of town was blacked out. We got our flashlights, the battery radio, the candles out and sat for awhile waiting for the lights to come back on. When, an hour later they still hadn't come on, we gave it up and went to bed. Hubby said they came on about 12:30 AM. He got up and shut off the kitchen light that was on. I slept thru! This morning I had to go around re-setting all the clocks. But it is a beautiful sunny day, all washed clean by the storm. My gauge said 2+ inches.
Our dog, Trouble, went for his walk this morning with "daddy" and about halfway stopped cold in the middle of the street. Hubby went over to see what was the matter. He had mud on his paws, perhaps with a stone imbedded. Hubby had to clean his paws before he would go on. He does this in the summer with burrs but not with mud. He loves the cool wet weather. My kitchen floor usually has muddy tracks on it thru out the day from the back door to his kennel. Even when not wet, he runs to it hoping for a treat.
As you can see, he is the king of the castle. He is a 5yr old pekeapoo. His favorite spot is in my chair.

Rain again!

We are being blessed again. Rain and thunder and lightning. My garden is loving it. Maybe we will actually get some winter here. Our neighbors peach trees are blooming! Beautiful pink blossoms. I warned them that we will be sure to get a freeze in the next month or two. We usually do. And since the winter was so mild so far I could almost promise it.
Our neighbors bought the house next door to us 2 years ago and I still thank God for them.
Thunder and lightning too close. More later